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alison-anonymous · 4 years

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flawsome bandits pt. 11 ♡ sonic

Flawsome Tessering

Part 11, coming at you! This part doesn’t have too much Sonic x Y/n, but don’t worry my darlings, I am saving that for the next chapter ;) This one includes some mother-daughter relationships and tons of foreshadowing. Enjoy!

Warnings - slight angst, robotnik x stone mentions

♡♡♡

“Why so down, Sonic?” A man with a head as smooth as an eggshell asked his pet boulder as it sat next to him in his poorly repaired drone. The boulder had tiny little dents in its craters that were obviously created by Robotnik to form a dopey grin and two misshapen eye sockets. The man chortled to himself as he tapped the cracked glass where an electric blue quill sat, charging up his entire machine. “Aww, are you sad because I’m coming back home?”

Robotnik stared intently at the little boulder, watching as it practically began to sweat under his intense gaze. He finally sat back up and let out yet another loud chuckle, filling the silent air around him for miles. “Sorry to disappoint, bud, but you and your little girlfriend are going to be toast as soon as I wrap my hands around your puny little necks~” He sang out the last part, his time spent in isolation taking an immense toll on his sanity. His tethered and gloved hands expertly found their way across his very dented control panel, clicking on a bunch of buttons that ended up making the drone begin to whirr. The air surrounding him that reeked of fungus began to churn at the new winds.

“Come on, baby,” Robotnik grumbled, pushing his prized invention to the limit as it began to levitate its misshapen and damaged body a couple feet off the ground. The engines worked in tandem with one another, struggling to compensate for the extreme damage that had been inflicted upon them. Even Robotnik’s expert repair jobs using the emergency kits Stone had made him place in every one of his drones wasn’t enough to make up for it all.

He guessed Stone was right for once. Shocker.

The erratic energy being extracted from Sonic’s quill mingled with the artificial power he was able to save. As the drone began to sputter, he quickly grabbed onto the throttle in an attempt to steady the drone, even his hideously long mustache hairs twitching with anticipation. He had to do it. He had to make this work. He couldn’t stand another second trapped here with Mushroom Bertha, Mushroom Kick-Sonic’s-Ass, Mushroom Carl, and Mushroom I-Want-A-Hedgehog-Skin-Rug or IWAHS for short. After a couple of minutes spent in agonizing suspense, a little glimmer began to form in the air before him. A malicious grin made its way across his lips as he realized that his plan was working.

The energy coming from his drone was enough to cause a small rip in the universe, mostly due to Sonic’s alienated DNA and ability to tesser between universes. The tear grew a decent size wider, its edges glowing an abnormal white and a very faint image of what he presumed to be Green Hills glimmered within it. It was right there. He was going to make it! It was barely big enough for him to pass through, but it was all he needed. With a surge of energy and Robotnik practically gritting his teeth until they chipped, the drone shot through the portal in a flash of blinding light, crash landing onto a very mossy green ground. The impact made Robotnik slam his face against the throttle, but luckily his gigantic mustache hairs cushioned the blow. The drone slowly began to let off steam, already having used all of its juices to float for less than thirty minutes. A steady blow of steam began to shoot up into the air from one of the drones' important capsules, and Robotnik was quick to regain consciousness, standing up and practically falling back down into his seat from the excitement. He looked around the area, hoping taking over his entire internal chemistry as he looked at his surroundings. The hope died almost instantly as he came to a horrific conclusion.

This… this wasn’t Green Hills!

What the actual fuck?!

There were oddly misshapen trees and abnormal creatures waddling around the perimeter and LOOP-DE-LOOPS?! The anger got the better of him as he picked up the boulder sitting next to him and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“God damnit, Sonic! This is all your fault!” And the tiny boulder was sent flying out of the drone to land against the grass, where it rolled down a hill.

It was safe from the evil man’s clutches at last.

Robotnik let out another frustrated groan and slammed his fists down onto the dash, causing even more smoke to secrete from vital components of the drone. But he didn’t care right now. He had been working on building up all of that power for months. To have it all lost getting him somewhere that wasn’t even where he needed to be - where those goddamn hedgehogs were! And now he was stuck in this crazy backwards land with nothing to defend himself with. At least back with the mushrooms the only predator was sleep deprivation.

And of course, that was self inflicted.

“Oh thank god.” A sudden voice broke through his frustrations. Robotnik’s head snapped up so quickly he was sure he heard his neck crack. He was expecting the worst: three headed bear, snake crossed with a lizard, horse sized horsefly, something deadly and positively hideous. So when he saw a little black and red hedgehog staring at him intently with ruby irises and what looked to be a gun and a little bag situated around his hips, he was very, VERY surprised.

“Well, who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Robotnik couldn’t help but blurt. The hedgehog looked incredibly relieved as he came closer to the drone, showing his gloved hands in a means of presenting no harm.

“My name is Shadow. I was created by your assistant, Agent Stone.” Robotnik’s heart stopped at the sound of his name. “He sent me through the different universes to find you. It’s taken forever, but I finally did it. I have more rings left to get us back to the planet where Hedgehog Sonic and Hedgehog Y/n reside.”

Robotnik was floored, to say the least. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Agent Stone, the little guy who made delicious lattes and who knew him better than anyone else, MADE a hedgehog and sent him to help Robotnik defeat the two once and for all?

He owed him a thank you. Or maybe more than that, if you catch my drift ;)

“W-Well then, I suppose it’s nice to have you on board, Mr. Shadow. Unfortunately, my drone was a bit destroyed during the movement here, so unless you have a giant bag of tools next to your gun there, I-”

“Don’t worry, Sir, I’ve got it handled,” Shadow interrupted him, turning around to point into a throng of bushy trees. “I met an Echidna along the way who might be of use to us. Perhaps we could brainwash him into assisting us.”

Damn. Agent Stone really did a number on this guy. Robotnik liked it.

♡♡♡

A few hours later and a lot of impressive manipulation, Shadow and Robotnik had recruited yet another member onto their team: Knuckles the Echidna. He was a very burly red thing with intimidating eyes and an unfortunate lack of brains. But, he had resources and his muscle could even out Robotnik’s brains and Shadow’s apparent fiery temper. They were able to convince him that Y/n and Sonic were two beings from a far away planet that were power hungry and had a plot to destroy the entire universe, including this planet. Of course, Knuckles was petrified and said that they must be stopped immediately. The guy was also pretty handy with supplying the needed instruments to fix up Robotnik’s drone.

Of course, it wasn’t the best job, but it would have to do for now. After Robotnik had done his little patch job, the trio were beginning to prep for their return to earth.

“I assume that you are very excited to defeat the two hedgehogs, Doctor,” Shadow spoke with authority. “But I think it would be better to hide out in a secluded spot for a little while in order for us to build up our resources. We wouldn’t want to go straight into battle without being prepared.”

Even though Robotnik was really looking forward to crushing Bonnie and Clyde, he had to admit that Shadow had a point. He nodded slowly. “We’ll hide out in the woods in order to gather resources and start the formation of Metal Sonic. Agreed? Agreed.” Even though he wasn’t looking for a confirmation, the two nodded despite. Everything was going according to plan. Robotnik had gathered two allies and had already begun his plan to form a metal-based version of Sonic. For two reasons, really. The first was to use Sonic’s greatest power and turn it into his weakness, and the second was to try and trick Y/n into not being able to fight the one that she loves. They were going to destroy the two hedgehogs once and for good, donating their bodies to Robotnik’s favorite charity: science.

But what these little twerps didn’t know was that a certain fox had been spying on the three of them ever since Robotnik had crash landed a couple feet away from his lab. It was finely secluded within the weeping willow trees, so he hadn’t been able to see it. But his security measures sure saw the mustache guy.

The little fox’s stomach began to fill with dread as he thought about all of this. These guys were obviously up to no good. Anyone who loved the color combo red and black was obviously up to no good. Especially someone who grew their mustache past five inches.

On each side.

Those two hedgehogs they had been mentioning… What were their names? Bonnie and Clyde? Funny named for hedgehogs, but he guessed that their world was different than his. He began to rummage through the different gizmos and gadgets he had spent ages on until he finally gathered all of the materials he needed. His little gloved fingers found their way to his energy-tracker as he calibrated it to their energy sources. Funny, he thought. One of them was stronger than the other.

He narrowed his eyes in determination, steadying himself as he thought of the realm they lived in and tossed one of his golden rings. The second the portal opened, he jumped through, landing on what appeared to be a cliff looking over a small town. Relief filled his orangish-yellow chest as he looked across. He hoped he knew what he was doing.

Extending his two tails, he leapt off the cliff.

♡♡♡

“M-Mom?” Maddie stirred in her sleep.

“Mommy?”

The young mother’s eyes slowly opened to be greeted with the sight of her daughter who had tears streaming down her cheeks. The sight of her daughter in distress kicked all of the sleep out of her as she instantly shot up in bed and immediately started wiping away the tears. Most of them got brushed into the fur around her eyes, but she didn’t care.

“N/n, baby, what’s wrong?” She asked softly, trying her best not to wake up her husband who still lay sound asleep behind her. Y/n only continued to cry harder, her e/c eyes glowing in the dark.

“I-I’m sorry, Mommy. I-I didn’t w-want to see i-it, I-” Maddie gently shushed her, standing on her feet and expertly lifting up the frail hedgehog onto her hip, holding her like she was a toddler.

“Y/n, honey, you’re not making any sense.” She glanced over at the clock and realized it was barely five in the morning. What on earth was she doing up this late? Y/n was in such hysterics that all she was able to do was plant her face into Maddie’s shoulder and continue to cry, her chest feeling like a million daggers were being dug into it. Maddie’s heart was ripping at the seams for her daughter, as the last time she had seen her this upset was when Sonic had died. She quickly and quietly took the weeping hedgehog out of her room, making sure not to make a sound as she closed the door to leave her sleeping husband alone, and continued through the darkened halls until they made it to the main bathroom. She closed the door behind them and set the hedgehog onto the counter, grabbing a wad of tissues and quickly dabbing her eyes while Y/n wrapped her arms around her trembling torso.

“I-I’m s-sorry-” She hiccuped, choking on the mucus being created from her tears. Maddie’s gaze softened.

“Sweetie, what on earth could you have to be sorry for?” To her surprise, Y/n’s eyes only filled with guilt and self-disgust as she looked down at the floor.

“...what happened?” Maddie gently cupped her daughter’s furry face in her hands and stared into her liquid e/c eyes. The deeper she looked into them, the more she was able to picture Y/n before she had turned into a hedgehog, back when she was a human. The little hedgehog exhaled a shaky breath and wrung her hands together.

“I… I woke up to singing. And I followed it outside, and there was this… thing out there. It was calling to me, and when I touched it, this is going to sound insane, but it showed me pictures of the future. I-I saw Robotnik, and I saw me and Sonic with two other people and then… the last one… M-Mommy, it looked like someone was trying to k-kill me-” Maddie’s heart stopped in her chest, her eyes widening in horror. Fresh tears began to spill down Y/n’s cheeks even faster. “I-I don’t want to die!”

Maddie quickly enveloped her in a tight hug, pressing her daughter’s head into her chest and stroking her quills gently. “Shh, it’s okay, baby. You’re not going to die.”

“H-how do you k-know that? M-my powers are growing a-and I don’t know how to s-stop it, I don’t want to kn-know how we’re going to d-die, I-”

Maddie hushed her, continuing to stroke her quills. They sat like this for quite some time, with Maddie consoling her hysterical daughter until her sobs finally died down and were replaced with melancholic sniffles. Maddie’s heart continued to pound, however, fear and confusion coursing through her veins. She was trying with all her might to wrap her brain around the matter, but she was the one who had had the worst time figuring out how Sonic and Y/n’s powers worked in tandem with one another. Even Tom relatively understood better than she could. She knew that Y/n had vocal telekinesis, but seeing the future? Little wisp-like creatures? It didn’t seem like those had ever been mentioned or used before.

What was going on? Was her daughter truly in danger?

Her grip around her tightened. Y/n exhaled softly and it was then that Maddie realized she had fallen asleep. A small smile crossed her lips as she picked her daughter back up and began to make her way back into the living room. She could have just taken her to her bedroom, but in all honesty, she felt safer leaving her with Sonic than by herself. As she walked through the darkened hallways, she tried to silence the red alarms blaring endlessly throughout her mind.

Something was wrong.

She could feel it. She didn’t even need magical powers to feel it. Her breath hitched in her throat as she made her way down the stairs, making sure not to trip as she entered the living room. Sonic still lay sound asleep on the couch, not having moved an inch since Y/n had woken up. Maddie gently set her daughter down on the couch, resting her head on Sonic’s chest and covering the two with a fleece blanket. Her fingers softly traced Y/n’s jawline as she slowly stood back up, a small, yet sad, smile staying on her lips.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” she whispered into the silence. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

♡ a.a.

#sonic #sonic x reader #sonic imagines #sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog x reader #sonic the hedgehog imagines #sonic the hedgehog movie #sonic the hedgehog movie x reader #sonic the hedgehog movie imagines #sonic the hedgehog 2020 #sonic the hedgehog 2020 x reader #sonic the hedgehog movie 2020 #sonic the hedgehog movie 2020 x reader #flawsome bandits

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chojin-cu-chulain · 7 years

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Yami Senshi Yokaioh

So this is a story that I came up with back in 2004 which my user name on Rangerboard comes from that I never finished but I keep coming back to because I keep thing if I making changes eventually it will be perfect but at the same time I keep adding whatever I’m obsessed with at the time but at the same time taking out stuff if I don’t think it works that much.

Like after a while I decided to take all the stuff that’s about Japanese mythology, and make it about Irish mythology since I’m not Japanese but I am Irish American, and I think those stories are more like how I want to do it since that’s where my Tumblr name comes from.

"Plot: Hoping to improve it's image the O'Junkies corporation has decided to host it's next live stage show for it's popular children show Ninja Troopers in the small town of Normalton Colorado. Jack Ferguson a commercial, and PSA writer for O'Junkies however wanting to do bigger things has been experimenting with both magic, and technology believing that not only do creatures like fairies, and goblins exist in another dimension but that through human technology to give them physical bodies in our world.

Unfortunately the experiment backfires causing a whole in the time, and space continuum killing Ferguson, and unleashing four of the most horrifying monsters in existence. Makaimaoh a demon made of pure evil magic, Uchuumaoh an evil amoeba like alien overlord, Mechamaoh a demonic artificial intelligence given flesh by nanites.

Needing to survive on our world they take over Ferguson's body which as also been infected with DNA from various animals creating a forth monster called Juumaoh a chimera like mutant with the powers of Earth's deadliest animals collectively calling themselves Daimon Ferguson, and his monster personalities begin a campaign to kill, and transform all life into undead mutants called Phantomoids starting with Normalton.

Meanwhile O'Junkies decides to have auditions for their stage show at the local elementary schools, and a young girl name Mary Donnler is one of the children picked. Daimon has Mary's slacker older brother Robert, and several other people killed so they can be turned into phantomoid slave so he can target the auditions.

However not only does Robert's human side preventing him from carrying out the attack but his phantomoid side not wanting to take orders from Daimon evolves past a point where Daimon let's him be killed by anti-phantomoid forces. However he arrives in Jigoku the land of the dead ruled by the goddess of death herself Izanami who reveals that Ferguson/Daimon is under the control of the ancient interdimensional evil Amatsu Mikaboshi which seeks to reduce the universe back to singularity.

Izanami allows Robert to come back to life provided he use his Phantomoid powers to stop Daimon, and his minions. However in addition to Daimon, and his forces Robert must also deal with those who mistake his attempts to save Normalton for serial killings.

He must become a demon of justice, a heroic grim reaper, he must become Yami Senshi Yokaioh."

Right now I just have a basic idea, I am still working things out.

Robert Donnler/Yami Senshi Yokaioh: A slacker nerd obsessed with tv, video games, and comics. While going to pick up his little sister Mary from the auditions for the O'junkies stage show he was killed by Daimon's phantomoid minions so that he himself could be turned into a phantomoid, however his own unwillingness to kill innocent people, and his phanotmoid side's pride he considered his mission dishonorable, and was killed.

When he went to the land of the dead the goddess Izanami gave him the chance to return to earth to destroy Daimon, and his phantomoids in return he'll be returned to a normal human, or move on to his next existence.

Robert can be very mischievous often coming up with wild schemes to do or get what he wants that end up having consequences that neither he nor anyone else planned for but at the same time he tries to do the right thing.

Powers: Robert has a sword called Yokai Ken that can be charged with demonic energy.

He also has a bio mechanical demon motor cycle called the Kitsune that can ride at speed in excess of 120 miles, sprout laser shooting gatling gun, and wings for flight.

Robert has a lot of powers associated with ghost like invisibility intangibility His finisher is the magic psychic death ray where he fires pure concentrated demonic energy in a beam from his eyes turning every molecule in his target's body into unstable atomic matter causing them to explode.

Ichiro Sasaki/ Lord Shinigami: A samurai from the Sengoku period who served under Oda Nobunaga, he sold his soul to Izanami to live forever but at the cost of becoming an undead creature called a Yurei.

He now serves as Robert's mentor showing him the ropes of being a shinigami, and fighting the phantomoids.

His personality is very honor driven, and he still tries to live up to the samurai code even in modern times when he works as a janitor or a narrator on some Saturday morning kid show.

His personality often clashes with Roberts, but at the end of the day they have a mutual understanding that allows them both to fgrow.

Powers. He as a lot of the same powers as Robert only his are stronger, and instead of a motorcycle he rides around on a Kirin.

Samantha Michaels/Yami Hime: Samantha was a nerdy girl who wanted to be pretty, and popular till someone offered to grant her wish, unfortunately that person was a phanotmoid, and they turned her into one.

At first she liked the power but then it started corrupting her, and she went psychotic, now she tries to user her phantomoid powers for good while trying to get rid of her own phantomoid side.

As a human she can be nice, and innocent, but can get very angry with pushed too far, her phantomoid side on the other hand is manipulative, and wouldn't think twice about killing you if she thought she had to.

Powers: Being able to regenerate from even the smallest cell, acid venom saliva, able to grow swords from her forearms, being able to shoot laser beams.

Captain Percival Grant/ Captain Aka Kabuto: Captain Percival is a member of a top secret international law enforcement agency that investigates extra-terrestrial phenomena. While investigating attacks by parasitic body snatching alien insects called Insectoids he was killed, and cocooned so that his body would be used to create an insectoid slave to carry out their plans, but after being killed as an insectoid he mysteriously came back to life but with his human soul returned.

He now continues to investigate attacks by the Insectoids using his own insectoid powers to stop them.

Powers: Can generate electrical energy, and focus it through pincers in his arms, and legs, and carries two laser pistols that fire electric energy.

Lt Howard McMullen/Uchuujin: Howard was low level fighter pilot for another organization that investigates paranormal phenomena when he was investigating a strange glowing light when his jet crashed that light revealed itself as an alien from the planet ZX12-1000 that had come to Earth to deal with the phantomoid menace but due to Earth's atmosphere can't survive more than five minutes.

So the alien fused with Howard so that he can use it's powers to fight pjantomoids, and giant creatures

In his human form Howard can seem bumbling, and incompetent but is always able to save the day as Uchuujin.

Professor Chronos: An alien from another planet who resembles an elderly British man, he travels around in a space ship called Time And Space Cruise that can transform into any kind building in order to blend into it's environment.

He comes to Earth to not only investigate the phantomoid menace but also to escape the destruction of his home planet at the hands of creatures called the Cydrack.

Unlike the other heroes he doesn't engage in direct conflict, and instead uses his superior intellect to figure his way out of trouble.

Powers: Advanced intellect that allows him to figure his way out of any situation, a regeneration factor that allows him to survive death by rearranging his molecular structure allowing him to take on different appearances.

Villains:

Jack Ferguson: A public service announcement, and commercial writer for the O'Junkies corporation. Bored, and underpaid with his job he dreamed of finding a way to access the world of fairies, and goblins so that he could bring them to our world.

However his experiments to do so went horribly awry resulting in not only him becoming possessed by not four demonic personalities but giving unleashing other demonic creatures on Earth, and giving him the ability to turn any life form into phantomoids.

Jack himself is not intentionally evil, in fact he can actually be a nice guy most of the time but his various phantomoid personalities constantly encourage him to act on his darkest impulses to further their own goals.

Makaimao: A Demon sorcerer made of pure evil magic. He is the most spiritual of Jack's personalities having been a demon, angel, or spirit for all the universes religions until his own desire to become the one god was revealed, and he was banished.

He can summon, and create all kinds of curses and spells, and turn anything into a supernatural monster.

Uchuumaoh: Uchuumaoh is a bit of a contradiction as he is mentally very advanced having evolved over millions of years, and yet has a simple amoeba like genetic structure that allows him to to evolve to anything thrown at him.

In addition he knows about all the life forms in the universe, and can call them to invade earth, he can consume the genetic material of any organism, and gain it's abilities.

Mechamaoh: An evil artificial intelligence made of nanites, and is the most scientifically minded of Jack's phantomoid forms.

His big thing is technology as he seeks to become the most advanced technology in the universe, he can absorb any technology, and in turn transform any technology into one of his killer robots.

Jumaoh: a chimera like creature made of the DNA of carious animals i.e. a bat's ears, bears head with a lion's mane, and a rhino's horn, wings from bat's, birds, and insects, tentacles, gills, etc.

He is the only one of Jack's personalities that was not a pre existing creature, and is also the strongest, and least intelligent of them.

He can also turn humans into animal hybrids, and animals into giant creatures.

Phantomoids: Demonic undead mutants created by Daimon they usually appear in four types (mutant, robot, alien, demon) they typically start off as humans, and are converted into phantomoids by one of Jack's own phantomoid forms, though plants, animals, machines, anything can become a phantomoid.

#fanfiction #tokusatsu

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awed-frog · 7 years

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Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets/The Most Sacred Oath

I’m guessing you can’t hear me squeal over your own squeals, but I’ll just keep at it a little longer, okay? Okay.

Man, this episode read like very good fanfiction, and while I’m disappointed Dean never found out Cas used to be a woman (although, they did have a conversation about that, so Steve gets points anyway), everything else was plain amazing. I’m actually tempted to do a recap that’s just shouting words into the void, because, seriously, that would be enough, but - okay, let me watch that thing again and then I’ll write a proper meta.

Okay.

(Deep breath.)

So, let’s get one thing out of the way: we already know why this story works so damn well, but it’s worth saying it one more time, because this is what the whole episode was about.

A human and an angel: not meant to be.

Ishim said humans are dangerous to angels, and I agree with him: if angels want to understand humans, to truly become friends with them, to live among them - well - look at what’s that done to Cas. Caring about humans is, apparently, different than caring about another angel; it forces you to give up something deep inside yourself. You become - weaker, unhappy. Doubt-ridden. Trapped between two worlds, and fit for neither. And as for humans - if they truly wish to get closer to angels - to speak their language, to know enough about their magic and weapons to be able help them when they’re in trouble or hurt - that literally costs them their souls.

It’s a tragedy. It’s doomed.

But, of course, it’s not completely hopeless. What would be the point of writing a love story if you know from the start nothing can never happen at all? No - love can conquer all, and this episode dangled it in front of us - the angel who chose humanity, who tried to defend the person he loved from his own brothers, and the human who was fascinated with angels and knew enough about them to make it work.

(They had a daughter, sort of, and let’s cry about that for the rest of eternity, because can you see it? Dean loves kids, and -)

Anyway. We’ve known for a while that angels - I mean, the price Cas paid for his loyalty to the Winchesters (his love for Dean) - that’s harrowing. But this idea that humans need to sacrifice their soul to become closer to angels - thanks for that, Steve. I’m fine.

And surely, at this point, there is no other way this could end? Because what Sam and Cas share - yeah, that’s what friendship looks like, but Dean and Cas - right. And so Cas went and said it (“You mean too much to me.”) and Dean just holed up in his room for the rest of the week? He never said a word to Cas? And, Jesus, Cas thinks Dean’s angry? At him? I’m glad this, at least, was spelled out clearly, because apparently some people still don’t get it and read Dean’s emotions at face value and no, Dean was not angry - he was worried out of his damn mind, and he’s got reason to be, because Cas still doesn’t fucking get it: “I don’t regret what I did, even if it costs me my life”.

The idiot - the useless, fucking idiot.

(“Smelly. Dirty. Twice the worry about getting ganked.”)

But, actually, it’s even worse - Cas is like - I don’t know - he clearly gets it enough to fight back, but not enough to understand what’s going on and react in some other way. When Dean started to have a go at Benjamin, Cas figured it out and was able to play the same game (“Yeah, you know what I like about him? He's sarcastic, but he's thoughtful and appreciative, too.”) and the result is that Dean very nearly crashes the damn car, because, what the hell? That’s alarming and scary in so many ways - Cas getting it - that’s almost worse than Cas not getting it, because there are so many things Dean doesn’t know about Cas, and what if Cas doesn’t - what if Cas can’t -

And the thing is, Cas can’t. We know that now, and he said so himself, back in 1901: “You have lain with a human and you fathered a Nephilim. You have broken our most sacred oath, and the penalty is death.”

We all assumed (or, at least, I assumed) that creating a Nephilim - that was the unforgivable bit. But apparently, the problem is both the laying and the fathering, which suddenly frames the angels’ disgust at Cas living with the Winchesters in a new light - they were being nice, weren’t they, because shunning Cas - that was nothing. If Cas had taken one step closer to Dean’s bed, they would have killed them both. Apparently, sex with a human breaks the oldest law in Heaven, and yep, there it is, I’m squealing again -

- this makes everything so much better (for anyone that loves angsty stories, that is), and also explains why Cas friendzoned Dean so much - not only sex is not on his radar in general, but what Dean wants - that’s, like, specifically the first thing God forbid, and would mark Cas for death - at once. Boy, what a mess.

And it’s too late to turn back now, isn’t it? Dean was so transparent in this episode - as he scoffed at Ishim, I couldn’t help but being reminded of Ron and how he’d attack anyone for calling Hermione all those things he’d call her himself, day in, day out, because remember that? that was fun and that was how you write someone in love and oh my God.

And the mirror - the mirror was glorious, wasn’t it? “All my life, I dreamed about angels.” - that broke my heart, because this is Dean, isn’t it? His mother telling him about angels - that’s about the only memory he has of her, and he hunts monsters for a job, knew monsters were real since he was a very small child, so how many times must he have told himself that angels existed too?

(They must, they must, they must, because look at all the rotten and dark and evil things out there - angels must exist, and Mommy said so.)

Of course, Dean would never share this with anyone - not his father, who handled The Conversation so poorly Dean didn’t speak again for months and months, and certainly not Sam, who is good and worthy and never deserved his freak brother putting his crap on him. But when he sees Cas for the first time (“When I first saw him...I thought he was perfect.”), Dean can’t help himself: “I thought angels were supposed to be guardians,” and yes, that’s the lie and the dream he’s been telling himself, over and over, for years. And Cas - Cas turned out to be both Ishim and Akobel, because he came when Dean called, and he opened up to him (because he loved Dean, that is, and that’s canon), and he hurt Dean, but he also managed to stop - to see that what he was doing was wrong - and of course he saw that, because “How could anyone know them and not love them?”, and that’s why he chose to remain on Earth, this wet, unpleasant place, and keep watching over Dean (and Lily had a child; how subtle, Steve, and thank you, Steve).

And man, now I’ve got all the feels about Cas -

- because Balthazar - Jesus, he was Balthazar’s commander - hello 91W flashbacks - and I don’t care if the timeline’s a bit wonky (like, he got his own ‘flight’ of angels after he was serving under Ishim, but if in 1901 he was still doing that and Balthazar had been long dead, then what...?), because Ishim said Cas survived Hell, and that’s weird and unusual and does this mean dozens of angels tried to save Dean and died and how did Cas swing it, then, or does this mean nobody wanted that mission or Cas improvised and went down there of his own volition, just because he could feel this human soul calling for him and if he died for that, so what?

(Okay, that’s it - we need to know how and why Cas saved Dean from Hell, and we need it stat.)

Also - a flight of angels - that’s five of them? Man, we always forget about this because we know them now, and Cas is a cinnamon roll and all that, but angels are terrifyingly powerful, and turns out there are few of them not because SPN can’t afford extras, but because the playing field’s not level at all and just one of them will kick your ass to Hell and back and fucking watch him. And not only that - they’re weird, obsessive creatures - that thing with the game at the beginning - Steve, that was awesome and perfect in every way and thank you.

(It also highlighted, again, how unusual it was that Cas made his own path and chose to take a step back and trust Dean - chose to be patient, instead of giving in to his factory settings, like Ishim did with Lily. Wow.)

And something else I was lowkey wondering about - “She gave him everything her trust and her body.” - I don’t know if anyone feels the same way, but this reminded me of Hannah and how she told Cas, ‘We gave you our trust’ - because that’s all an angel can give, right? and they don’t have bodies of their own - except for Cas. So now I’m wondering if there’s something to this - if the way out from a world of evil and monsters is a sort of union between Grace and soul - body and trust - if this something Cas will become on his own, turning more and more human as his love for Dean burns his Grace out - so, does this refer to some future plot point (a girl can dream)? What if putting Cas inside Dean’s body (I meant using him as a vessel, get your minds out of the gutter) makes Cas much, much stronger? Oh, the possibilities.

And finally, extra points for Sam’s behaviour in the whole episode (because, yes, he knows, but I still wonder if he knows knows), and especially outside that diner, that was hilarious, poor Sammy, and extra points for that discussion at the end and the Winchesters consoling Cas a little bit and extra points for Cas saying his love for Sam and Dean makes him stronger, not weaker, and extra extra points for Dean choosing to die to keep Cas safe, because, man, are you trying to kill us here? Jesus.

(Finally: does anyone have any idea what’s up with all those ‘spot’ signs we’ve been seeing since the beginning of the season? I’m starting to think they’re a secret message from Wanek, a kind of ‘spot, spot, SPOT’ which, of course, literally means ‘look, look, LOOK’ and I don’t know if it’s a subliminal order to just keep watching SPN or if he’s telling us subtext matters or if maybe he’s just having the time of his life and painted a thousand of those things when he was high and now, goddammit, now he will use them and watch him?)

#spn 12x10 #lily sunder has some regrets #spn meta #destiel #cas #castiel #sam knows #steve yockey #yep #that's how you do it #*sends bunch of virtual flowers to yockey*#(also jelly beans and g-strings)#(because that man deserves all the things)

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bookish-wanderer · 5 years

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Hey, guys! Happy February!

First of all, I’m so excited that I finally wrote a review since the last time I did so, which was probably over a month ago, and the best part is that I highly recommend this book. Another thing that makes me super thrilled is that this is my very first time joining the Penguin Random House International Bloggers Team so they generously provided me with en e-copy of the book to review. Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful came out on December 4th, 2018, and even though I’ve read it back then, I spent the rest of the month(s) working on this review so I hope you’ll enjoy it. 🙂

This book gets me thinking so much about what it means to be a human, and what obstacles we may face in the uncertain future. It’s a wonderfully crafted sci-fi story and I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. Besides, I also share my mini playlist at the end of the review just so you won’t fall asleep while reading it. 😛

Anyways, great to see you all and please sit back, relax, and have a blast!

For fans of television shows like Black Mirror and Westworld and authors like Scott Westerfeld and Marie Lu comes STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL, a compelling, mind-bending work of speculative fiction from Arwen Elys Dayton, author of the Seeker series.

Set in our world, STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL offers a twisted look into the near and distant future through six interconnected stories that ask how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimens, and how hard that will push the definition of “human.”

This extraordinary novel explores the amazing possibilities of genetic manipulation and life extension—from the heavenly to the monstrous—as well as the ethical quandaries that will arise with these advances. Thought-provoking, poignant, horrifying, and action-packed, Arwen Elys Dayton’s gripping new novel is groundbreaking in both form and substance.

My Review

***Actual Rating: 4.5/5 Lucky-to-be-Human Stars***

”How much of you is real?”

Oh, man, this book makes me feel so good about being a human. To begin with, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful consists of six stories, demonstrating six different (yet somehow connected) scenarios of what artificial intelligence (A.I.) may be capable of in the near future. Each story showcases how the cyborgs may coexist with human beings and start to blend in our initial world without being noticed at first. Unlike what most of us believe, these robotic creatures may not want to wipe the entire human race out. They’re quite easy to get along with and they’re also social animals, just like us! The only significant difference between these cyborgs and humans is that the former are nearly immortal (well, technically, they are not mortals but still!), and that scares me a little. *You’ll see why when I further elaborate…*

Since there are six short stories in this book, I’ll just break down my thoughts into six parts as well. Here we go…

[PART ONE // Cyborg Twins]

The first story is about a twin brother trying to live for his dying twin sister because her body’s failing her. However their parents are in disbelief, the doctor insists that the brother should accept his sister’s organs, including her heart, so that at least one of the twins can stay alive. As bizarre as it seems, pumping another person’s heart to live may be the only solution for the twins, and I’m surprised by the invisible yet strong bond cyborgs have. What impresses me more is that A.I. twins do exist! Honestly, before reading this story, the idea of cyborg twins has never ever come across my mind. So color me shock when learning this teeny tiny fact about them!

[PART TWO // Cyborg Couple]

Milla is a part-human, part-robot creature while Gabriel is a human. They sort of have a crush on each other but after Gabriel takes advantage of Milla catches a glimpse of what Milla’s made of, he may not seem to be as reliable as a boyfriend should be. People talk. Rumors spread. Bullying happens.

In Milla and Gabriel’s story, I find their romance a bit disturbing yet mesmerizing since they prove how forgiveness can become a universal language, an ultimate solution, and the catalyst for the elimination of bullying/rumors with the help of advanced medical technology. The best part about their ending? Problems are solved and the world’s getting back the peace it deserves. In general, I think cyborg couples are worthy of living on Earth after all.

[PART THREE // Cyborg God]

When it comes to cyborgs, who would’ve thought that they have some religious beliefs just like humans do? Reverend Tad Tadd is the well-known Cyborg God and as sacred as that sounds, there’s something relatively shocking to me: People actually ”reuse” their deceased family member’s eyes and hair just to symbolize the eternity of life. In all honesty, the concept here is all fresh and original to me and I’m utterly fascinated by it.

In a very short time, we will be able to create novel structural elements, forms that don’t naturally occur in the human body—forms that we haven’t yet imagined. I find myself a pioneer, daunted by the infinite size of the frontier.

[PART FOUR // Advancing Cyborgs]

The fourth story in this book is my least favorite since all I’m aware of is how well these cyborgs are in translating various languages—from human’s communication tools to animals’—and that enhancing their levels of vocabulary is simply a piece of cake. Despite my general lack of interest, I’m fairly intrigued by the usage of anagram in the characters’ conversations. Apparently, the author’s creativity knows no boundaries!

[PART FIVE // Cyborg Betrayals]

This time, the A.I. sensation expands from the U.S. to Europe and throughout Jake, Kostya, and Yulia’s escape to Siberia, the secrets they keep have put their friendship to the test. This story gives readers insight into the life of a cyborg slave, the betrayal between similar species, and how cancers can be cured by implementing, once again, advance medical. Although there may not be anything in common in the topics above, I can guarantee that this tale proves how multidimensional artificial intelligence can be.

None of the reconstructed people could cry actual tears anymore, and yet half the slaves openly wept, by gesture and by sobs, at the sight of their bodies becoming covered by what looked like human flesh. When you had been remade, any sign of your old self was precious. Jake was crying with the rest. There was nothing left, really, except his remembered humanity, and this artificial skin was a reminder, a gift.

[PART SIX // Cyborg Civilization]

Last but not least, we’re coming to the end of the story and let me tell you how incredibly well-done this story is. I’m awestruck by the realization that cyborgs are, in fact, a brand-new generation of living creatures. These A.I.-enhanced “people” aren’t here to annihilate the humanity; they’re here to recreate their very own civilization just as the origin of homo sapiens who appeared millions of years ago did.

Interestingly, it never occurs to me that there’s an evolution for cyborgs to transform their half-human, half-robot being into a fully-developed creature. That is, even though they can function pretty well on their own, they still have to undergo some sort of metamorphosis in order to become part of us, which totally broadens my horizons.

To sum up, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a splendidly written, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED story with unforgettable characters, mind-blowing plot twists, and shocking revelations of cyborgs. Each one of the six stories shows the possibilities and limitless potentials of these A.I.-featured creatures.

As intimidating as A.I. may sound, I’m delighted to say that this book makes me think differently because knowing that as invincible as cyborgs seem, their process of blending in is very likely to bear a resemblance to ours, which provides me with the kind of confidence and strength I need when facing the unknown future. As a matter of fact, this book empowers me so much that I indeed feel much stronger, faster, and more beautiful about being a human. 🙂

At that moment, Luck understood something new. There were horrors and there was death, there was evil and arrogance and apathy. But more than these, there were friends and there was hope. There was her life on the Rez and there was the wide world. And there was love. The bad things collected, but so did the good—and the good, she grasped, was more important than the bad. You could look past the bad if you wanted. Each good thing Luck had experienced, each good thing she had learned, built upon all of the others and added up to one thing which she felt completely for the first time: Human.

[Bonus: Mini Playlist inspired by the book]

The Last Time–Taylor Swift ft. Gary Lightbody

E.T.–Katy Perry ft. Kayne West

Human–Rag’n’Bone Man

About the Author

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON is the author of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful as well as the Seeker series–Seeker, Traveler, and Disruptor and the e-novella The Young Dread–and the science fiction thriller Resurrection. She spends months doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid of Giza, Hong Kong and its islands, the Baltic Sea, and many ruined castles in Scotland. Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can visit her at arwendayton.com and follow @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram.

Praise for Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful

★ “Part cautionary tale and part ode to the inventive human spirit, Dayton’s brilliant collection of stories is best described as a scientific Twilight Zone.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred

★ “Compelling and terrifying, this volume is science fiction at its finest.”

—School Library Journal, Starred

★ “This speculative, thought-provoking novel will take readers on a frightening, remarkable journey through humanity’s past, present, and possible future.” —Booklist, Starred

★ “Imaginative and incisive.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful will send shivers down your spine.” —Teen Vogue

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And that’s all for today’s book review & playlist! Again, massive thanks to Penguin Random House International Sales & Random House Children’s Books for offering me the review chance and social media kit.

To all my lovely readers, thank you for staying until the end and I hope you had a fantastic time here! Please give this book a try if you hadn’t already, and hopefully you liked the songs I picked for the story. ❤

Have a nice week!

Until next time,

Jasmine 🙂

Read-to-Review: Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton (+bonus mini playlist) Hey, guys! Happy February! First of all, I'm so excited that I finally wrote a review since the last time I did so, which was probably over a month ago, and the best part is that I highly recommend this book.

#A.I.#book bloggers #book recs #book reviewers #Book Reviews #bookish #cyborgs #highly recommended #must-read #partner #prhinternational #sci-fi #YALit #young adult

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