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animepopheart · 3 years

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Wonder Egg Priority, Episode 11: “The Temptation of Death”?

Wonder Egg Priority is a beautiful, uncomfortable, moving and confusing series that starts out engaging all the things we don’t talk about—self-harm, abuse, rape, bullying, gender dysmorphia, and homosexuality, to name a few. Our silence and blindness to these issues have a weight and pressure to them, and WEP shows how this reinforces the isolation and hopelessness of the young women of the “eggs” who turn to suicide for relief. The first ten episodes have been exhilarating and exhausting alike.

And then there is Episode 11. This past week, the series took a bit of a turn, leaning hard into the sci-fi-philosophical, with appearances from Greek gods, a murderous artificial intelligence, and really, really disturbing insect girls, one of whom, despite being a brutal killer, is apparently a vegetarian. Has the show gone off the rails? Has it lost its way in departing from the familiar procedural approach of engaging a differing social or mental health issue with each episode?

Such a critique is perfectly legit, but before you write off the penultimate episode of WEP, just hear me out on why the abstract, meta turn in episode 11 may just be the most valuable thing this series has to offer so far.

Before we begin though, a little recap of what we learned this week. In episode 10, we hear the eggheads, Acca and Ura-Acca, discuss the need for warriors of Eros to battle Thanatos. This is our first hint that things are about to get lore-full and maybe a bit weird. Eros and Thanatos are of course gods in the ancient Greek pantheon, Eros being the god of love, and Thanatos, of non-violent death. Within the first minute or so of episode 11, it’s clear that the eggheads’ hope is now focused on Ai becoming the long-awaited warrior. At this point though, rather than continuing with Ai’s story, the episode shifts into flashback mode and we are finally introduced to the villain, an artificial intelligence created by the eggheads back when they were still human. Their lives gradually come to revolve around her: She is the fulfillment of their obsession to create life, and she is good.

Frill is associated with hydrangeas, which symbolise heartlessness and pride in Japanese flower language. But is it her heartlessness and pride, or that of her makers?

(Atelier Emily has done an outstanding series of posts on the flowers in WEP. Check it out!)

Only, it turns out she doesn’t play so nice when others join the happy family. After killing Acca’s wife, and putting the life of the unborn baby at risk, the AI—who named herself Frill—is unrepentant, all traces of her seeming humanity now revealed to be illusory, a mere affectation. Acca locks her away in a hole in the cellar. Years pass. The baby, Himari, grows up and is a ray of sunshine. But after effectively confessing to her ‘uncle’ (why does anime always do this?), she commits suicide. Ura-Acca discovers that Frill is still very much alive and active from her hole in the cellar, having powered up all the discarded monitors and laid down reams of electrical cables—to what end, we do not yet know. Though Ura-Acca surmises that she has somehow influenced Himari to take her own life. How else would the girl have known about Ura-Acca’s admiration for her mother? Where else would she have learned to make what will forever be to me now that uncannily sinister popping sound?

Here’s where it gets weirder. Unlike the suicides of subsequent egg girls, there is no indication that Himari, Frill’s apparent first victim, struggled with any mental health or other issues that would motivate her to take her own life. Indeed, her ‘uncle’ did not even reject her confession. (Again anime, why you do this thing?) Instead, the eggheads explain Himari’s suicide as being on account of the “temptation of death.” What now?

This is implying that death is somehow attractive, not just to someone facing overwhelming brokenness, trauma or pain, like the egg girls we’ve met so far, but to someone on the verge of stepping from a (relatively) happy childhood into young adulthood, with the promise of potential love to look forward to; someone who has not known suffering, but rather only smiles and cake. (To be fair, it is always possible that she experienced trauma in the womb, or was more deeply affected by her father’s sadness than Ura-Acca’s memories belie.)

That’s my question too, Ai.

The notion of death as somehow attractive or even beautiful is rather alien to Western culture. Certainly, there will always be some who romanticize death, à la star-crossed lovers (Shakespeare, I’m looking at you). But in general, Western culture views death as something ugly and frightening, something to avoid until it is staring you directly in the face, and even then, closing your eyes in denial is a perfectly reasonable response. Death is one of those things we don’t talk about. In my experience, Anglo-American culture is not very good at even mourning death. We lack the grieving rituals and observances of other cultures, and instead seek to confine death to the sealed, sanitized spaces of hospitals, care homes, and funeral parlors. We keep it shrouded tightly in silence. How could there ever be anything like the “temptation of death”? How could we ever consider death to be something desirable? Are the eggheads or CloverWorks simply aestheticising suicide and death here to make it sound deep and philosophical?

No, I don’t think that’s it. Instead, Acca and Ura-Acca are doing what all good researchers do—and indeed what all Christians, as believers in an unseen spiritual reality, are also called to do: They are looking more deeply into phenomena that seem, on the surface, to already be explained. The two idol fans were consumed with their obsession, so when their idol killed herself, they followed suit. The young woman whose identity was wrapped up in her own appearance ended her life to preserve her beauty. The abused gymnast saw no way out, no hope in ever living free from torment. Some explanations may be more sympathetic than others, but they all possess their own internal logic. Contemporary society is full of a vast array of pressures and stresses and each one, taken to breaking point, can result in death. Case closed. This might very well be our conclusion from the first ten episodes.

Only the case isn’t closed. Because there is a question that has pervaded every episode until now, but has remained unspoken: How is it that death could even become an option for the egg girls? Why does reaching a breaking point trigger suicide? What made death seem like a savior to these girls? This is the question that episode 11 tackles, in its own admittedly obscure way. The eggheads are focused on the underlying, deeper reality that unites all the eggs’ stories, as disparate as they are—the common thread, which is the idea that death is a release, a rescue, a beautiful ending, and as a result, it is tempting.

“But we wondered if there could be another push that drove them to suicide,” explains Ura-Acca.

This is a really important question for us to be asking. Because it’s not just these traumatized, vulnerable girls who fall for the seduction of death. We do, too.

Just ponder for a moment: Have you ever anticipated how wonderful it will be when, in heaven, you no longer struggle with that particular temptation? When your temper is no longer so short, when you’re not afraid of being hurt anymore? Or maybe you think about how one day, on those gold-paved streets, you won’t have to worry anymore. All your hard work coping and just keeping it together will finally pay off and you’ll cross that finish line and heave a sigh of relief, knowing that you made it in the end. Have you ever contemplated these kinds of things? I know I have.

But here’s the thing: When I expect my liberation to come only after I die and not right here, right now, then it is not Jesus who is my savior, but death. I am waiting for death to free me from temptation and sin and fear and brokenness, and usher me into eternal life. I make Thanatos my god.

The temptation of death is not limited to the drastic act of suicide, but also permeates all the accusations and fears that inspire us to put off living the fullness of life in Christ here and now. It’s the temptation to believe that it is death that will ultimately solve the more difficult and painful problems in life.

Acca and Ura-Acca seek to create a love that suits their ideals, just to relieve their stress.

The source of this “temptation of death” in Wonder Egg Priority is Frill, the AI. That is, a man-made, artificial version of love—with ai meaning “love” in Japanese. According to Ura-Acca, they made her “just for fun,” as a way of dealing with the stress of their enclosed lives. They designed her to suit their preferences, to make it easier to love her and forget that she was artificial. In this sense, Frill is the fruit of their self-centeredness, her every characteristic designed to satisfy their own ideals of how a daughter and woman should be. And this artificial love born of selfishness brings death into their midst and beyond, spreading it through the horrendous deformities of girlhood that she in turn creates, in imitation of her fathers. (Only perhaps her creations are less deceptive than theirs, wearing their monstrosity plainly on the outside…)

Frill’s creations. We’ve met Dash (right) and Dot (center), but who is that on the left? And is her name Morse??

To counter her destructive influence, Acca and Ura-Acca need true love, a genuine love. They need Ai, a messy, at times very weak human being, but one who nevertheless is willing to fight to live up to her name and maybe, just maybe, become a warrior of Eros.

There is also a deep, underlying force at work in our world, one that connects all despair and the actions born of it. A wide range of social issues, traumas and mental health challenges can and do trigger suicide, but they do not explain it fully. The deeper reality is the existence of an enemy who seeks to manipulate us into believing our true savior can only be death, whether it is right away by our own hand, or more subtly, decades from now by natural causes. But this is a lie, and it is one that we can combat. Just as I’m sure we’ll see in the final episode that Ai is equipped to wage the coming battle in WEP, so too are we armed, here and now, with the power to overwhelm the enemy’s “temptation of death”—we possess already the words of life, given to us by our true savior.

Jesus began his ministry with a public announcement that he had come to heal heart wounds, comfort those in pain, fill broken lives with beauty, and wrap those in despair with reasons to praise like a warm protective blanket, so that they might celebrate with joy once again. He came to bring freedom to prisoners and captives alike, giving a fresh new life to those locked up because of deeds done wrong, and those punished and injured at the hands of others. He came to take the outcasts, the weak, the traumatized and broken and transform them into mighty oaks, clean and strong; into people with the vision and skill and compassion and fortitude to rebuild a broken world (Isaiah 61:1-4, Luke 4:18),

He came to rewrite and restore our experience of life here on earth, and through us, to redeem our communities, cities, nations, and the world. God does not withhold the fullness of life from us until we finally make it to him in heaven. No, instead he moved heaven and earth to get right up close so that he could pour his own life out into us, even going so far as to breathe his very spirit into our hearts and bodies and minds. We don’t need to wait for death’s rescue—our hero has already come. But we do need to remind each other and ourselves of this truth pretty often, and let it work down deep into all the cracks and bruises in our souls until it strengthens all our weak spots.

In Deuteronomy 30:19, God tells the Israelites that he has given them the authority to choose between life and death. But he also tips the balances in their favor, urging them to choose life. In Jesus, he comes to tip the balances even further, making it possible for us to step into eternal life here and now, immediately and forever. So let’s do it. Each day, through each struggle we face. Let’s choose life and not death.

Warrior of love? And is Ai’s himawari (sunflower) related to Himari somehow?

Join me (in spirit) for the final episode on Tuesday to see Ai’s love triumph! (At least, I really really hope that’s what happens!)

#wonder egg priority #wep #wep frill #ai ohto #Christianity #blog #NOT by me but rather by one of our other writers: cajk2

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danyka-fendyr · 5 years

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Absence of Good

Chapter 1: Masquerade

Okay so I’ve been talking about starting a Spencer Reid fic for 8 million years and now I’m finally going to do it. So anyway...ya’ll better reblog this and leave nice comments if you want the second part that I will write regardless of whether anyone validates me or not because this is half for myself. Don’t judge you know you’re in the same boat. Anyway, enjoy. Or don’t I can’t make you love me.

Permanent Taglist: @rhabakoli @dreamwritesimagines

Warnings: Extremely graphic gore, descriptions of murder, disturbing themes

Wordcount: 3234

“When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad.”

-Lao Tzu

The most intimidating part of a job was always the first day. You didn’t know anybody, you didn’t really know what you were doing, and you were still a little bit convinced that your boss was judging your every move and kind of hated you. The fact that Aaron Hotchner had not once smiled during your interview did nothing to assuage that fear.

However, here you were, in the elevator at Quantico, with a tray full of coffee, balancing a million creamers and even more sugar, because you weren’t sure what everyone liked but you were trying to win them all over with bribery anyway. A lovely day, truly.

You had wanted this job in the BAU for years. You were morbidly interested in serial killers ever since you were young, and fascinated with catching them. To most people it was...offputting, to say the least. People don’t really warm up to the girl who thinks that announcing how many people Gary Ridgeway killed is a good ice breaker. 49 confirmed, 71 claimed, by the way.

So naturally, you figured you should go somewhere your talents would be better appreciated. Unfortunately, every half-wit piece of muscle in the FBI wanted to be in the BAU, so it had taken you several years to get to where you were today. Frankly, you thought you should have been here much sooner, but it was a rigorous process, and so you had to wait until you were well into your 20′s. But hey, not like you were getting any younger over here, right?

Okay, so you were bitter. What else is new?

Your first few seconds in the bullpen were utterly terrifying for the simple fact that nobody noticed you were there. This was not...how do you say...uncommon, for you. However, it was exceptionally awkward. Did you speak up? Did you just wait until someone noticed you trying to juggle too many coffees and so much sugar you could fill a bathtub with it because that’s how you liked your coffee? Fortunately, you didn’t have to decide.

“Agent Y/L/N,” SSA Hotchner said. “I see you brought coffee.”

That was almost a smile. You knew the coffee was a good idea.

“Oh, uh...yeah. I figured, first day, right? First impressions and everything.” You started unloading your coffee when Hotchner gestured you towards a vacant desk waiting for you. “I hope nobody minds the ridiculous amount of sugar. I just didn’t know how you guys take your coffee, and I like my sugar with a side of coffee you know, so...”

You stood back, swaying awkwardly on your stilettos a little bit and trying not to let your body language cave in on itself like you wanted to. To help with your anxiety, you noticed upon turning around that everyone had swiftly crowded around you. Awkward.

“Ha, you sound like our boy genius. He puts so much sugar in his coffee it’s barely recognizable anymore.” A tall, incredibly fit black man chuckled. “I’m Morgan, by the way, but my friends call me chocolate thunder.”

He winked. Uh...okay. Somebody swooped in to save you from that though.

“Ignore him. I’m Jennifer but everyone just calls me JJ and the coffee was a lovely gesture.” The stunning blonde leaned forward to shake your hand, but not before cutting Morgan a glare.

“Emily Prentiss.” The dark-haired, serious-looking woman gave you a smile as she shook your hand.

“SSA Rossi, pleased to meet you.” The older Italian man gave you a little smile as he shook your hand.

The truth was you already knew a little about all of them, having read through their personnel files before starting this job. Which meant you were prepared when Dr. Spencer Reid began his introduction.

“Hi, I’m-”

Before he could finish his sentence, you were already pulling hand sanitizer out of your purse and applying some of it, stopping him dead in his tracks with confusion.

“Dr. Spencer Reid. Your reputation precedes you.” Now you were in your element, a little smirk on your face and a twinkle in your eye.

Stunned, he reached forward to take your hand even as he said, “You know, hand sanitizer actually only kills-”

“Spencer, please,” JJ interrupted teasingly. “Not yet. We want to keep this one.”

You laughed, already finding it easy to fit in with this crowd. “Oh, don’t worry about it. It would take a lot more than that to scare me away.”

You winked at him, and he blushed. Oh, you were going to have fun with this one. He was cute and smart, the whole package. You’d be damned if you weren’t already a little smitten.

“Oh, there’s a new person!” A cute blonde with absolutely wild style stopped dead in her tracks, surprised to see you. “You’re the new!”

“I’m the new,” You confirmed.

“Oh, hello! I’m Penelope, and unfortunately, I come bearing bad news.”

“There’s a case baby girl?” Agent Morgan spoke up.

“Right as always my sweet, sweet Chocolate Thunder.” Ah. So that was what that was about.

Heading into the briefing room, you and Reid ended up trailing a bit behind, causing you to lean into him to whisper. “Are they a couple?”

He laughed a little bit. “No. Just best friends. That’s just how they communicate.”

You arched an eyebrow. “Nice. I like it.”

“Yeah?” He smiled.

“Yep.”

Before you got the chance to say anything more though, you were officially being briefed. You absolutely couldn’t afford to talk during your very first briefing, so you just smiled at the handsome brunet before giving all of your attention to one Penelope Garcia.

“Alright crime fighters, brace yourselves because this is a bad one, even for our standards. The images I am about to show you are to be viewed with caution and it is not advised you continue on if you are pregnant, have a heart condition or are prone to seizures. I’m going to hit the button now and one of you is going to tell me when I can look again.”

True to her word, Garcia clicked a button on the remote and then shielded her eyes. You could see why. The images on the screen were absolutely brutal. They were women, or at least you were pretty sure they were women, who had had their eyes, noses, and mouths removed. Three of them, one after the other. You liked to think you had a pretty strong stomach, but this...this was giving you the heeby jeebies. All the Scary Mary R.L. Stein nightmares you had as a kid were coming right on back now.

“That’s...really something,” You breathed quietly.

“No kidding.” You were validated in your disgust by Agent Morgan, who looked just as perturbed.

“It gets worse, kiddies,” Garcia spoke, eyes still closed. “Their limbs were all cut off, but those were left at the crime scene. The missing facial bits though, and I deeply, deeply regret having to say this, were nowhere to be found.”

“Trophies,” Rossi said.

“Most likely,” Reid agreed from where he sat next to you. “Most enucleators take the eyes as trophies, and while it’s highly unusual for other facial features to be removed, it seems logical to assume that these would also be taken as trophies, especially given the complete disregard for the rest of the body.”

Garcia hit another button, causing different, less horrifying images to come up.

“Can I look now?”

“You can look baby girl,” Morgan reassured her.

“Oh thank goodness. You know I hate that part.” Garcia continued with the case briefing, letting you know exactly where you would be flying to.

“We’ve already made contact with the Miami police department. They’ll be ready for us when we arrive. Wheel’s up in 30,” Hotch instructed.

“Okay, so the victims,” you said, wanting to voice what was on your mind. “The taking of the eyes, nose, and lips is all extremely personal. But the cutting off of the limbs and then just leaving them there says quite the opposite. Like...there’s this loathing of the body but an obsession with the face.”

JJ nodded. “Agreed. It’s oddly matter of fact too. Very business-like. Look at these cuts,” she said, pointing to the photos. “Aside from the first victim, who’s a little rougher, these are clean, precise chops. Just get it done and over with. But the face, there’s detail there.”

“Agreed,” Rossi said. “Look at those cuts. Not a single piece is missing. It’s absolutely vital to this guy that he get the whole package. The eyes are perfectly severed from the ocular nerve, a clean removal, almost surgical in precision. And the nose...he had to cut through a lot of cartilage to get that kind of clean, flat removal. Our guy has to have some kind of history in the medical field.”

“It’s likely that they symbolize a depersonalization for him,” Reid said, hands bunching as he spoke. “The taking of all of the distinguishing features of the face indicates a sense of ownership. It’s as if he’s saying, ‘Look, I’ve taken who you are. Who people know you as.’ Some believe that the Ancient Greeks used masks in their plays to cause the viewers to focus on the character’s actions, rather than their appearance. All of our victims were relatively low risk. It could be our unsub sees these women as wearing masks, but he doesn’t like the actions that correspond with the face they choose to wear, or he believes their actions do not correspond with their mask and therefore they do not deserve to wear it. This taking of the self, of the soul if you will, could be symbolic of a dissatisfaction with how these women present themselves and how that conflicts with the unsub’s view of them.”

The rest of the team did not seem nearly impressed enough by this. You, for one, were awestruck. You had read about him, of course, but that was nothing compared to the real thing. He was beautiful.

“Okay, so we’re assuming that our guy probably knows his victims,” Morgan said.

“It would make sense. It makes it easier to get close to such low-risk targets if he does know them,” you said.

“You have a point,” Rossi said.

“Alright, well, first we need to determine whether or not our unsub is in the medical field or not. Y/L/N, Reid, head to the M.E.’s and find out what you can about the bodies. Morgan and Prentiss, you’ll head to where they found the last body, and...” Hotch continued dolling out assignments, and before you knew it, you were there.

“The media are already calling him the Face Thief,” the Miami PD chief told Hotch.

“Oh, that’s original,” you grumbled.

“Well, it does its job. People around here are terrified. This is like something straight out of everyone’s worst nightmares.”

Hotch nodded. “Well, don’t worry. My team and I plan on catching this guy as quickly as we can.”

Speaking of which, you and Reid needed to go talk to their M.E. Now, what did a girl have to do to get a dead body around here?

Spencer seemed to know his way around pretty well, probably having memorized the layout of the police station on the plane or something, and so you followed his lead.

“I take it you know where we’re going?”

“Yeah. Been here a few times before,” he said.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”

He paused in the hallway. “No. This is some pretty intense stuff. And while I can’t exactly say it’s not like this all the time, well...”

“It’s not like this all the time,” you finished for him.

“Yeah, exactly.” He laughed a little bit. “So, you’re kind of young to be in the BAU already.”

It wasn’t a rude question. From anyone else, it might have been, but you could tell he was just curious. Plus you happened to know he was a child prodigy, and therefore was in no place to judge.

“Yeah, well, don’t make any mistakes. It took me forever and a day to get here. I just skipped a couple years of high school, fast-tracked my college education, that’s all.”

Spencer nodded. “I read your file. You finished your Bachelor’s in a year and a half, joined the FBI at 19 and gained your doctorate while working for the bureau. That’s pretty impressive.”

You smiled wryly. “Oh, you can’t fool me Dr. Reid. I’ve read your file too, you know. Now you, you are quite impressive.”

The man before you blushed beet red, stammering out something that sounded like the beginnings of an excuse, but fortunately for him you both found yourself in the presence of the M.E. before he had to come up with anything more than, “Well, I don’t know I-I mean-”

“Dr. Reid. Dr. Y/L/N. Let’s get right to it. This guy does some neat work, but he’s no doctor.”

“Really?” You asked, fascinated.

“Yep. Look at these cuts here around the mouth. They’re jagged. There are hesitation marks. Not because of inexperience with the action, but lack of expertise. You can see the same marks around the nose and eyes. And, I’m sorry to say, all of this was done anti-mortem, which did not make his job any easier.”

“He’s a sadist, then,” you deduced. “He gets off on their pain.”

The M.E. nodded before continuing.

“He started with the eyes, which I hate to admit is smart since those are the easiest part to remove wholesale, which seems to be this guy's trademark. After that, the victim usually passes out and dies from blood loss, which makes the rest of his job easier. But if you look closely you can see these aren’t surgical cuts. The only precision here stems from a purely obsessive desire to get things right. It’s good work for an amateur, but it’s just that, amateur,” she said.

“And the limbs?” Dr. Reid asked.

“Well, I can tell you a little bit more about those, since we still have them. They were cut off post-mortem, and it was a pretty quick job. It looks like it was done with some sort of power tool. There’s no beauty to those, and there’s no attempt to make it look pretty. And yes, the torsos do show signs of sexual assault. Additionally, it looks like he knocked his victims out first to incapacitate them before taking them to a secondary location and waiting for them to regain consciousness before beginning his..process.”

“I guess we can tick the sexual box in the sexual sadist checklist.” You sighed.

Reid nodded, leaning forward to more closely examine the nature of the cuts and the body.

“Okay,” you said, thinking out loud. “I’m the victim. You’ve got me tied up and you’re about to remove my eyes. I’m doing a lot of screaming. You scoop my eyes out. Here’s what I’m wondering. Why not start with the nose? If he’s a sadist, wouldn’t he want to like...see the look in their eyes or something sick like that?”

Spencer hummed thoughtfully. “It’s possible it’s an act of remorse, but that seems unlikely given the other details of this case.”

You thanked the M.E. before heading back out, but you stopped Reid in the hallway.

“Okay, indulge me. Let’s play this out. You’re the unsub and I’m the victim,” you said, leaning up against the wall and gesturing for him to get all in your business. “Okay, so you’re looking at me, and what are you thinking.”

Spencer stared at you, and you thought you caught the sharp bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, but you brushed it aside. He took a step closer, fingers brushing across your cheekbones as he stared at you thoughtfully. For your part, you tried not to let your heart race, because you had sincerely not thought about how attractive the good doctor was before signing up for this experience.

“You’re right,” he murmured. “The eyes are the most expressive. But...maybe that’s what he values about them. They’re so beautiful.”

It was your turn to swallow hard. That felt deliciously personal, but you were trying not to read too much into it. His brow furrowed, expression changing.

“Maybe that’s it. This is more about the eyes than the whole face. The eyes take precedent because, if he’s removing the face to capture their essence somehow, what are eyes said to be the window to?”

You grinned. “The soul.”

“Exactly.” He smiled back at you, and you must have forgotten to put a dryer sheet in with your laundry because you swear you felt static electricity crackling up your spine.

For a long moment, neither of you moved, but then you snapped out of it.

“We have to go tell Hotch!”

It was true that the eyes were the window to the soul, and they were the window to this guy’s soul too. Garcia had gone on the prowl for medical school rejects, people who watched too many YouTube videos about surgery without being nursing majors, and otherwise normal folks who just owned way, way too many scalpels. Before you knew it, you had a prime suspect. And uh, tip? If you ever decide to be a serial killer, try not to kill the people you openly have vendettas against. It makes you really easy to catch. So actually, you know what, go for it.

“I can’t believe this guy ran a whole blog based off of the people in his neighborhood he hates,” you said.

“A whole blog positively riddled with face fetishizing symbolism. This guy could go on for weeks about the masks people wear and how our eyes show who we truly are and blah blah blah,” Emily mocked.

You were in the car on the way to his address. Another girl had been reported missing, and you were praying you wouldn’t be too late to find her.

As it turned out, you weren’t. In a stroke of good luck, you arrived just in time to save the day. You and Spencer ended up going in together, Spencer taking the lead in talking this guy down. You couldn’t help but admire the way he did it. It was like art, watching him. The careful way he played right into the fantasy, eased the unsub into trusting him. Masterful, right up until the moment he cuffed the guy and the show was over.

On the plane ride back to Quantico, you found yourself sitting next to him. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” He asked, confused.

“Play into their fantasies so well. Doesn’t that...I don’t know, mess with your head?”

He became quiet for a moment, and his face fell. You worried that you had said the wrong thing. Crossed a line.

“Yeah. It uh...it takes a toll on you, definitely. Some days, working this job, you’ll be afraid of your own mind,” he admitted quietly.

You didn’t totally know why you leaned into his side on the small couch, other than sheer sympathy. You didn’t totally know why he let you.

“Spenc-Reid,” you corrected yourself. “Do you think the people we deal with are evil? Do you think they ever stood a chance?”

“I ask myself that question a lot,” he said softly. “So many of the people we see behave the way they do as a result of trauma of some kind. That doesn’t excuse their actions by any means, but...it makes you wonder. What if things had been different? How many more people would be alive today? How many more brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons? It’s a ruthless cycle. And all because someone didn’t have anything good in their life, and so they passed that down to someone else. So...I don’t know.”

“Do you think it’s better not to think about it?”

“No. I think it’s important for our jobs to at least try to understand. Besides, it’s human nature to try to make sense of things. Even when it’s hard.” He stared at his hands, head hung low.

“You should get some sleep. Clear your head,” you said gently. “I’ll wake you up before we land.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Just as he settled in, he lifted his head one more time to speak to you. “Y/L/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Great work today.”

“Thanks, Reid. You too.”

Dr. Reid was smiling when he fell asleep.

“Darkness is the absence of light: when there is no light, there is darkness. Light is an existing thing, but darkness is nonexistent.”

- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

#spencer reid #dr. spencer reid #spencer reid series #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid oneshot #spencer reid x reader #mgg #matthew gray gubler #criminal minds #criminal minds fan fic #criminal minds:ff

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babykpopsweets · 7 years

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Hidden in Corridors

|Anonymous Requested|

~Life is full of decisions

Genre | angst

Many secrets lie around the Kim sisters. Moreover their agencies, YG and SM Entertainment. You might wonder why they aren’t in the same agency, and how both of them got into the agencies. The Kim sisters will tell us all.

“Sis, sis, wake up!” Your sister, Jennie Kim said as she lightly shook you awake.

“uahanabsjsx whatttt?” You grumble as you awoke

“It’s your first day of your job aish do I have to take care of everything?” She thwacked you on the forehead.

“oW ok ok I’m awake! You woke me up 3 hours earlier than my alarm!” You said as you turned to check your clock.

“That’s because I want you to be early for work! Haven’t you ever heard of the saying when you’re on time your late? Yeah well, I don’t want you to be late.”

Sigh. She’s just like mom.

(15 mins later)

(Jennie’s POV)

*hums playing with fire* As you were making breakfast for your little sis you were worried for how long you can keep it a secret before she finds out.. you don’t want to put her in danger because of your job. But you hate keeping this a secret from her. It;s better off for her that she must never find out.

“Y/N BREAKFAST IS READDDYYYYYYYY”

“OKAYYYYYYYYY” Y/n walks out of the hall and sees what you made for breakfast.

“Mmmm bacon and pancakes,” she said as you put down her meal.

“ So where are you working?“ You asked Y/N.

“ Umm some small business that’s all. So what’s it like working in general?“

“….” You weren’t sure what to say at that moment.

Do you tell her? Do you lie? You lied.

“ It’s… uh fine a bit boring but fine actually.” You smiled at her knowing it was the complete opposite of that. But she didn’t know. She could never know.Ever.

~3 years ago~

“heYyY dEAr wAtS Up?¿” A clearly drunk man said to you as you were walking home late at night.

“I’m sorry sir I’m in a bit of a hurry”

“AwW cOmE oN dOn’T yOu waNNa hAnG WiT mE?”

“I’m sorry sir”

“you better fucking come back here bitch” Then suddely his emotions changed and he grabbed your arm and before he could say another word you punched him in the gut, kneed him in the groin and gave him another punch in the face. Kickboxing was worth it. Then suddenly, a mysterious man came up and as you were about to punch him, he said

“wait I’m not drunk, and your not my type but I saw what you did there. That was pretty impressive. Why don’t you put your skills to use?” The mysterious man handed out a card to you. It read: YG Entertainment. Wait a second. YGE? I thought that spy agency was a myth.

“No thank you, sir, but I’m flattered with the offer"”

“You’ll get a generous pay and work benefits”

“What kind of benefits?” Mr. Kwon Ji Yong ( or GD ) explained that with the generous pay, you’ll be upgraded to live in an apartment of other agents with the other people you live in, and provided with ANYTHING that you need. But, being an agent isn’t so easy, since you are risking your life almost everyday. But anything for Y/n and mom to be in a nice apt without worrying to pay the bills. You mom has been having a hard time to keep up with the bills since your dad left. And Y/n has been losing weight due to eating less.

“I’ll do it.”

~now~

“Jennie? Are you okay? You spaced out” Y/n looked at you, a bit confused.

“Oh yeah I’m fine just daydreaming don’t worry about it. Hey listen I have to go to work good luck on the first day love you bye!” You grabbed your keys and left.

(Y/n’s point of view)

You watched as Jennie left and got up to wash the dishes.*i have 2 hours left. I can make it in time* you thought to yourself. You weren’t sure what to expect from SM Entertainment. When you were training it was very intense. But you had to do it, for Jennie’s sake. Over time, you saw Jennie becoming more and more stressed out from her job, which made her earn less money(For some reason.) And when mom died it only made it worse, since all she has left is you now. It’s also not helping that due to her hard time earning money, (which makes her even MORE stressed out ) she has to work more. So you have to do it. No matter how difficult it may be for you.

~1 year ago~

“Excuse me, are you Kim Y/n?” You were on your way to the supermarket when a random handsome man interrupted your stride.

“It depends, who is asking?”

“I am Kim Jun-myeon, but call me Suho. Let’s talk in a cafe or somewhere public. It looks strange, a man stopping a woman just to talk to her.”

~In a cafe~

“So Jun-myeon, why do you need me?”

“Well, you are currently in Taekwondo and MMA am I correct?”

“…Yes. How did you know that? Who are you?”

“ Do not worry Y/n., I’m just here to recruit you.”

‘Recruit me? To where?”

Jun handed you a card from his pocket. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. SM Entertainment. One of the biggest spy groups. But it was just a myth. Isn’t it?

“So do you see now? We want you in out team Y/n. Will you join us?”

“But why? And how do you know me?

“To explain it, we research the top kids in college or school, ranking in sports and classes. Then we wait a few years until they are of legal age and we see if they are still eligible to join, and you still are. So the question still remains. Will you join? It will only take a year for you to train since you are well in shape.”

“…I uhhh…..” He looks at you patiently. Should I join? I’ve heard rumors about how bad these things can get..but Jennie needs the help.

“I accept the offer.”

~present~

“ Hello Miss Kim. Are you ready for your first mission?” Jun said as he opened the door to SM headquarters. You smile and say:

“Of course I am, after all the best agent trained me to do so.”

“Yes, yes he did.”

You walked in and saw the front desk and checked in. Suho (Jun-myeon) did the same after you. It was almost 8, which meant you had to be in the boss’s office to receive your first ever mission. You were nervous, since this is the first time you are meeting your boss Mr Kim Yung-min, face to face. You weren’t sure what was held in store for you. But, you had to do this. For Jennie. You open the the door.

“Good Morning Miss Kim. I have been expecting you.”

(Jennie’s POV)

Another day, another mission. As per usual. The YGE building has not changed at all, despite the 3 and a half years you’ve been here.

“Hey Jennie! How it’s going?” Your best friend, Lisa greeted you and handed you an envelope.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“I dunno the boss just handed it to me and said to hand it to you. Maybe it’s a toooooop secreeeeettt missssionn? You are the boss’s favorite after all.” She gave you a little nudge and you rolled your eyes and scoffed.

“ Yeah yeah whatever.” You opened the envelope and saw that it IS a secret mission. You had to steal an potentially dangerous weapon. It is a hard drive that can access any technology and steal any information the person chooses. With this hard drive, our information and safety details can be compromised. So you have to destroy this device before it can get to your rival agency, SME. The mission starts at midnight.

(Y/n’s POV)

“Y/n are you ready for your mission?”

“Yes sir.”

“Well I need you to steal a weapon. Do you know what this is?” He shows you a picture of a black hard drive with a blue stripe in the middle.

“It’s a hard drive. But how is it a weapon?”

“Well it is no ordinary hard drive. This has the possibility to obtain any information to the technology it’s plugged in to. With this, we can obtain data from our rivals and destroy their plans. This can be a game changer for all of us. So I am confident with your skills that you will successfully retrieve it from the docks. Your mission starts at midnight. Are you ready?” He sees you slightly turn pale at his words.

“Y-yes sir,”

“Then you are dismissed.”

Still a bit pale, you walk out of Mr. Kim’s office. You were taken aback that out of all people HE chose YOU. It was only your first day and he assigned you such a big mission! I guess he thought you can handle it. You better train with Suho until the mission starts just in case.

“Hey Suho” You said

“Yes Y/n?”

“Mr. Kim assigned me a big mission so I was wondering if we can train for extra practice.”

“Ok lets go into the training room.”

~training room~

Since you have been recruited, you’ve been training with Suho all along. You guys can be pretty brutal when it’s time to train…but that’s what’s like on field right? Just violence, crime, and..murder whenever you go out. This is really it. Your first mission in SME. But were you actually fit for the job? You weren’t really sure…Suho and Mr. Yung-min always seemed to have a lot of faith in you, but you weren’t sure why. All of this pressure put on you made you nervous. Why did he have to put this burden on me? Why do I have to I have to do this? The big question still remained in the back of your head.. Am I ready for this life? You can’t be thinking about these things now Y/n! Especially when training! So you decided to push these thoughts away and finish training with Suho.

~End of Training~

“Hey Y/n are you okay? You were seemed distracted and it made you sloppy.”

“Oh I was? Dangit Y/n!” You lightly slapped your head

“Y/n. Whats wrong?” He looked at you with a concerned face.

“Well..its just that..I don’t think I can do this. I feel like I’m inadequate compared to you guys. Just look at you and Mark from the nct unit. You guys are the top of the class, and i feel like I’. m just some worm that came in a year ago. Then Mr. Kim assigns this huge mission on me and I-I” You choked on your tears.

“Y/n…Don’t say that. You are one of the most capable woman I have ever met, trust me and you are just as good as me and Mark. So don’t say that about yourself. I believe in you. And that mission? I know you’ll succeed. For sure.” He pulls you into a hug and you finally break down while he’s holding you.

"Thank you, Suho"

"No problem, Y/n now let’s continue training shall we?“

Once you guys were finished it was 11:50 at night. It was almost time.

(Jennie’s POV)

You were almost ready when you noticed it was almost 12. Oh shit better hurry. The hard drive was located at the docks, as it was newly shipped from a hidden sender. *bzzt* *bzzt* Your phone’s alarm went off. MISSION STARTS NOW it said. The ‘67 Chevrolet Impala was up and ready you now are on your way . You hoped Y/n was in bed right now. You knew how she would go on late night walks when she couldn’t sleep..

(Y/n’s POV)

“Ok Suho it’s time now I have to go. Thank you for everything.”

“Y/n be safe. Good luck” Suho kissed you on the cheek and headed out.

A bright red hue followed your smile as you went to go get ready. You decided to take a bus to somewhere nearby the docks so you would be more hidden. Once you were waiting for the bus you noticed a Chevy Impala passing by. It was identical to Jennie’s. Your heart was beating so frantically that you couldn’t focus to see if the driver’s plate matched Jennie’s. Man you were n e r v o u s. But remember what Suho said, Y/n. And don’t forget who are doing this for.

You arrived at the docks. It was dark, a bit foggy, only lit by streetlights and moon hidden in the clouds. The air was cool and smelled faintly of the sea. Waves and occasional owls was all you can hear. You took out the scanner and did an area check for the drive. There it was! just 20 feet away from you, to the left. Now it was the time to go into plan.

(Jennie’s POV)

This is it. The moment you’ve been waiting for. But wait. You see movement behind a box. Someone is here. Could you jump them? You think so. Time for a change of plans. Thankfully there was fog which kept you hidden from the other agent. You were only about 3 feet away from them when suddenly WHAM! The agent back kicked you but you caught it and proceeded to twist their foot. cRunCh

“AHHH” The agent let out a familiar cry and dropped down. This..this can’t be. You let go of their leg and saw that.. it was..

….

…

..I-it was Y/n.

“Y-Y/N?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I’M SO SORRY” You tried to whisper but couldn’t control your volume.

“Jennie?! OH SWEET JISOOS, MY FOOT.. Wait what are you doing here?! You wouldn’t be here unless your…your a spy?! Why didn’t you tell me? But FOR FUCKS SAKE MY FOOT”

“….Y-yes I’ve been a spy for 3 and a half years now, I am with YGE..I couldn’t tell you for your own safety.. I did this for you and mom. To protect you guys. B-but now she’s gone and I- I-I’M SO SORRY Y/N I SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED YOU BETTER IM SUCH A TERRIBLE SISTER I- I CAN’- ” You broke down in tears, with Y/n comforting you “ I should-’ve done better..I-I can’t lose you..” You managed to stutter out

“Shhhh shhhhh it’s ok it’s not your fault.”

It took a long time..but Y/n finally calmed you down and you can talk now behind some boxes.

“So… you’ve been SME for like a year? Man how stupid am I not to notice?”

“Yeah..I have.. but what are we gonna do now that we know we are on opposite teams?”

“ I’m not sure yet but I do know we have to keep this a secret and w- wait do you hear that? I hear footsteps.” You and Y/n turn around the box corner to see a petite but lean woman.

“Oh hey guys! I heard that shitty sob story and everything else. Pretty good 10/10 would see again.” She claps obnoxiously “I’ll be taking this now! Thank youuuu and JYP would like to send you his condolences, since he’ll be destroying both SM and YG. Bye guys!!!! :D.”

She then disappeared into the night. Leaving you and Y/n speechless and frozen in shock…

( Sorry this took so long D: Hope Y’all enjoyed!!! <3)

-Admin Rubz

#blackpink reactions #yg entertainment #blackpink #jennie #angst #kpop #kpop story #kpop scenarios #kpop reactions #blackpink scenarios #kpop angst #spygear #smenterteiment #yg family #jyp entertainment

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sobdasha · 4 years

Note

I WISH YOU WOULD WRITE A FIC WHERE LINK TEACHES OLD HYLIAN AT EAST CASTLETON PREP WHERE HYLIAN MILITARY HISTORY TEACHER ZELDA HARKINIAN ALSO WORKS

((the problem with answering these asks is that I have to save them in drafts so I can edit the formatting before posting, but reblogs in my drafts are sorted by the time I sent them to drafts and asks in my drafts are sorted by “this was originally sent to you 3 years ago, so we’ll file it 3 years back instead of making it the most recent thing you sent to drafts” ffffffff guys))

***

When Shad gets afancy letter that says he’s being awarded that grant he’s beenapplying for for years, they all pitch in for a little party in thefaculty lounge. Link kind of wishes they were sending Shad offproperly, at a bar, but he does the best he can by pitching in somepunch that is made of pumpkins.

Well, mostlypumpkins, And it’s mostly not Ordona cider (which isdefinitely mostly pumpkins), and it’s after classes anyway, so it’sfine.

They are celebratingthat Shad, lucky bastard that he is, will be spending the fall termon a mostly-funded vacation right adjacent to the famous DeathMountain Goron Hot Springs, while the rest of them, like Link and hiswatered-down cider, will still be here.

Ilia said that Linkought to get out of rural Ordon and see some other bit of the world.Ilia, who went off to become a doctor but remembers to write her dadand visit regularly and how come Rusl and Uli say they haven’t seenyou in months hmm?, said that Link had better go and makesomething of himself.

So he went and gothis teaching certificate and has made himself a lot poorer, mostly.He misses Ordon, where he could find free food lying on the ground,or swimming in the streams. Here in Castleton you have to pay for itif you pick it up, or risk causing an inter-kingdom fishing rightsdispute with the Zora if you drop a line in the river. So instead ofturning up at Rusl and Uli’s house for dinner, these days he orderstakeout and listens to the delivery persons say “Oh goddessesI’m sorry!” when he absently signs thanks while collecting hisfood.

Fado, who stayed inOrdon not making anything of himself and instead making cheese, isapparently putting away heaps of money.

So Link, who needsmoney and hates enjoying sleep times, finishes his punch so his handsare free to tell Shad that he’ll take over his Old Hylian class whileShad is on sabbatical.

***

Link doesn’tactually know any Old Hylian. But, he reasons after the fact, howhard can it be? After all, Link already teaches HSL, so that meanshe’s a linguist like Shad, right? He’s practically an expert already.

Plus, Link is goingto have the exact same textbook to learn from as his new students,except he’s going to have a head-start and he has theeven-bigger answer key. He literally can’t go wrong.

Besides, Old Hylianis a dead language (which has been reincarnates into Modern Hylian)so it won’t hurt it too much when a bunch of teens brutally murderit. They’re already doing quite a good job on Modern Hylian and it’sstill limping along just fine.

And it’s not likeanyone speaks it anyway, aside from nerdy archaeologists andhistorians (note to self: ask Sarge about it?). So all Link reallyhas to worry about is the writing aspect.

Yeah. It’ll be easymoney.

***

Somehow the rumorgets around before Link gets his ass in front of the school board.Reportedly, so many students have been asking Guidance Councilor GorCoron about the Old Hylian class that they might have to divide itinto two sections.

The school boardapproves Link to take over on the spot.

***

Link has just enoughtime for a proper power nap at his desk between his first Old Hylianclass and his Hylian Sign Language class. But Sarge has a break atthe same time which she usually takes in the faculty lounge, to takeadvantage of the tea kettle while she grades or lesson-plans or readsbooks that have nothing to do with historical military campaigns.

The thing about“Sergeant Snowpeak” Zelda Harkinian, with her no-nonsensedress suits, and her stern librarian bun, and her sensible militaryboots, and her severe black-rimmed (actually fake, she admitted toLink, the lenses are plastic but, well, the frames looked the partand she’s always admired the image of a woman in uniform) spectacles,and her baton that’s ideal for pointing to the blackboard or rappingon a desk, and her old-fashioned bathroom and hall passes…the thingis, she’s quick to make a joke. She has a very small laugh, so youhave to watch for it. She’s thoughtful, she thinks about thingsbehind that serious face, and she’ll come up to you with a deadpanand witty response to a joke you made a week ago.

Zelda takes off herboots sometimes in the faculty lounge; there was a big run in thefoot of her nylons once, and she laughed about her toe poking out.She washes the dishes left in the faculty sink, but she hums whileshe does it because she likes things tidy. She walks just a littleheavier than she needs to, so her boots will ring out in EastCastleton Prep’s halls.

(She has it on goodauthority that the sound of her boot heels approaching can send moresensitive students into tizzies of anxiety. So her first term, on theday of final exams, Miss Harkinian thoughtfully removed her bootsbefore striding to the classroom. The sight of her suddenlymaterializing in the doorway, test papers in hand, somehow didnothing to calm her students’ nerves.)

She can hold herliquor, but she can’t carry a tune. She never learned to cook forone, because that would be a waste of good leftovers. She thinks thatHylian Military History is a crucial subject that teaches teenagersabout strategy and critical reasoning and logical thought, aboutpracticality and consequences, about wilderness survival skills, andwill help them become somewhat-sensible young adults.

Sarge worked withathletics teacher Ashei one year to host an archery tournament forthe Feast of Din, and she shot an apple off Link’s head withouttelling him first that this was why she’d ushered him up to thepodium.

The thing is, inshort, Link has a huge crush on Zelda Harkinian. He likes her.He is, in fact, completely smitten, although he hasn’t realized he’squite so far gone despite the fact that he regularly tells the catsat Impaz’ shelter What Sarge Did Today complete with little sighs.

So it’s a bit of ashame she doesn’t feel quite the same way.

Link did ask Zeldaonce if she’d like to “embrace diversity,” but she didn’tseem interested.

***

Zelda quite likesShad, don’t get her wrong. But, she admits to Telma, if only he’dgotten a grant that let him spend the whole year onsabbatical…

This is surely ablessing from the goddesses. Not that Zelda would wish undue stresson Link but, for all his enthusiasm about taking on Shad’s OldHylian, he seems to be finding the subject very hard going. And ofcourse Zelda has a bit of expertise to share–after all, the seminaltext in her field, Sword in Hand, is originally in OldHylian–so he can come to her with any small questions…

…And he does.

Almost every dayLink catches her in the faculty lounge for a few minutes ofconjugation here, or pops into her empty classroom for a bit ofdeclension there, or accompanies her on her walk home for adiscussion of the merits of this translation over that.

It’s not as thoughshe needs an excuse to get to know Link better. She already knows himquite well. But a little bit of extra time is…nice, since they’realready good enough friends that Zelda knows he’s in a committedrelationship with Old Cat Lady Lifestyle.

The cats, thedrinking, the napping all the time, the surprisingly full socialcalendar that Zelda can’t quite squeeze into…in other words, allthe hallmarks of spinster-dom.

It’s just a bit of ashame, seeing as he’s the only slightly-rumpled and generally-mussything she actually doesn’t mind looking at.

In any case, she’stried gauging his interest, and it’s just not there. Anytime shetries to feel him out with a pick-up line, he deflects with acorrection on her grammar or a compliment about how her signing iscoming along. Clearly, Link’s completely satisfied with theirrelationship exactly as it is.

So Zelda will be,too.

***

This is the one,Midna had said, grinning wickedly. This is absolutely stupid enoughto work on that dumbass, Midna had said, with evil glee.

All sorts ofoptimistic hope flowered in Zelda’s chest at the sight of thatparticular expression on her ex-girlfriendcurrent-long-distance-BFF’s face. This had to be good.

So Zelda caught Linkin between classes and asked him, “Am I so beautiful you’respeechless?”

Link repeated itback to her, tweaking the body language a bit to make beautifula little sassier, waited for her to sign it again, and then gave hera thumb’s up and walked off.

***

(Link wished hewere the one she was saying that to, but oh well. He supports herhappiness! Zelda’s his friend, after all.)

***

One of the girlsstays after class, all the way from Hylian Sign Language nearly up toOld Hylian round 2, getting Mr. Link to teach her, painstakingly overand over, how to ask the girl she likes if she’ll go to the Nayru’sDay Dance with her. It’s going to take 5 minutes at the start ofclass tomorrow, she informs Mr. Link, and also a lot of glitter.

In Link’s day–ohgoddesses, he’s old now–they just slipped notes or asked withoutthe performance art. Actually, Ilia usually just informed Link thatthey would be going together to share on the ticket cost. But kidsthese days seem to believe a gift is customary.

Link is old, though,so he just slips Zelda a note.

“I can’t readyour handwriting,” she tells him. “Oh! By the way, I signedup to run the concessions stand at the dance. Perhaps you’d like tojoin me?”

***

Heads bent overcandies and little bags of popcorn and assortments of soda, with thecash box between them, Link asks Zelda to help him brainstorm somereally evil ideas for his Old Hylian final exam. Link isn’t much intodifficult tests, as a rule, because they involve more work to grade.But he doesn’t want Shad to think he’s been slacking.

Link asks Zelda ifshe’d come over to his place for dinner one evening, you know, tokeep working on the exam. Since he needs so much help with it. And tothank her. For helping.

***

She says yes.

#kixboxer #sobdasha fic adjacent #sobdasha fic #legend of zelda #twilight princess #east castleton prep au #i did a decent amount of tweaking when i typed this up for tumblr #so only supes has the special limited original handwritten edition #even i only have a photocopy lol #only because i thought i might not actually type it up in a reasonable amount of time

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