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super-paper · 4 months

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I feel like Toga and All for One have many similarities, but I am unable to articulate as to why I feel this way.

I think it's safe to say that AFO is an intentional foil to Himiko, Tenko, and Touya at this point! I've discussed how he shares body motifs with all three of them before, but his backstory more or less cemented that he's supposed to be read as "the worst possible extreme and the worst possible conclusion" to each of the trio's respective origins and overall stories.

As for how Himiko and AFO foil each other, specifically:

Cannibalism as a metaphor for Not cannibalism

Let's get the obvious point outta the way first, lol.

AFO and Himiko are both established as children that society wasn't prepared or willing to care for-- AFO was born during the advent of quirks where "paranormal" children like him were treated as diseased and shunned (or worse) by the rest of society, while Himiko was born during an "era of peace" where civilians are expected to maintain said peace through endlessly conformity and complacency-- outside of pro-heroism, civilians are essentially expected to role-play as though they've returned to "normalcy" (i.e. pre-quirk society) and the fear of being labeled as "abnormal" (despite living in a post-paranormal society) drives them to shun those who can't easily conform.

Both AFO and Himiko's "first sin" involves the "consumption of their fellow humans," which they both commit when they are too young to fully understand what they're doing-- and both acts of consumption were initially tied to their attempts to fulfill a basic human "need" that wasn't being provided for. Himiko drank the blood of a friend whose smile she envied after years of having her own smile called "creepy," AFO was a starving newborn whose mother couldn't provide him milk or protection and whose cries were ultimately ignored by everyone else. When Himiko takes someone's blood and "becomes someone else", she finally feels good "about herself". When AFO takes his mom's quirk and uses it to drink her blood, he no longer feels hungry and no longer has any reason to cry out for help/attention. Thus, AFO & Himiko ultimately learn and internalize that in order to fulfill their own neglected needs, they need to take from others.

Something something re: "the catharsis that comes with finally """"embracing your true nature'"""" so you can finally become what your family always feared you'd be (POV: you are 14 years old and utterly doomed by the narrative) (and so is the main object of your ""affection"") (puberty is a bitch ain't it!)" something something

To Himiko, the consumption of others becomes a way to "become somebody else"-- someone the world will treat more kindly than they treat "Toga Himiko." She feels the urge to completely drain the blood of anyone who has the life and relationships that she desperately wants for herself. Before that, drinking blood was simply her way of expressing admiration/affection and fell under the banner of MHA's definition of "pure love" (i.e. love as imitation). Himiko showed no inclination towards completely draining the blood of those she loves until her psychotic break with Saito, and she is notably able to restrain her supposed "urges" around the LOV despite loving them deeply. The "urge to drain those she loves completely" isn't actually tied to her quirk, but to her desire to "become someone else."

To AFO, the consumption of others became yet another way to rob them of their autonomy-- by taking away "a part of them" and forcibly turning it into a part himself in the most base, unsettling, and crude way possible. Before that, his consumption of others was simply driven by his instinct to survive. AFO's "urge to take" is tied to the preconception that no one will provide for him or look at him UNLESS he is taking something from them-- like Himiko, his quirk merely makes it easier for him to act on urges that don't actually stem from the quirk itself. AFO's warped perception of other people balloons wildly out of control by the time he reaches his teens, and finally cumulates in him ""eating"" the glowing baby out of jealousy:

*Kills someone over their follower count* Man, AFO is nvr gonna beat the "was a tiktok e-girl in his previous life" allegations

AFO and Himiko both "consume" other people out of jealousy and a desire to make up for what they feel they lack as individuals-- but an important distinction between the two of them, I feel, is that Himiko's consumption of others is ultimately driven by her desire to connect with other people while AFO's consumption is instead based on fear + mistrust of others. It's the difference between "Consumption as wanting to become a part of someone and become a part of the world they live in (+ consumption as a way to become a part of the world by living vicariously through someone else)" and "consumption as forcibly making someone a part of you and forcibly taking away their connection to the world."

Speaking of "consuming someone who has traits you envy in an attempt to make those traits your own" *pointedly looks at AFO's dynamic with Tomura* ...........yearp.

It's only after Himiko's human needs are finally addressed by Ochako, that Himiko learns the desire to "give" rather than take. I feel that this is probably one of the core take aways of the series while more or less being the "end goal" of the OFAFO plot-- "endless giving without ever taking" (All Might becoming the number one hero at the steep price of himself and Izuku almost destroying himself in the process of trying to emulate All Might) and "endless taking without ever giving" (AFO full stop, as well as society itself towards both the heroes and villains) are both extremes that only cause more people to get hurt. There has to be reciprocity. It has to be "One for All -AND- All for One." Give -AND- Take.

Side note: Himiko's favorite food being pomegranates also strikes me as ironic when you remember that Hori is gigantic mythology nerd-- In both art and mythology, it's not uncommon for pomegranates to be used as a visual for "flesh" and for their consumption to be used as a stand in for cannibalism. In greek mythology, pomegranates are known as the "fruit of the dead", and are believed to have originated from the blood of Adonis. There is also the legend of Persephone, who was cursed to remain within the underworld for six months each year as the price for consuming six pomegranate seeds while in hell.

The Buddhist legend of Hairiti/Kishimojin also stands out for framing pomegranates as a "cure" for cannibalism, by offering them to man-eating demons in lieu of flesh:

As for AFO-- it's been pointed out by several different people that he shares several parallels with the greek titan, Cronus, who is most famous for having devoured his own children whole.

With that in mind, I feel like the act of consuming blood has an almost mythological edge to it for these two (outside the obvious reality-based social stigma of it lol)-- the act of "eating" others, regardless of intent, is what condemned both AFO and Himiko to hell. But Himiko is offered a way out of that hell and ultimately finds salvation in allowing herself to be "consumed" in turn, while AFO just doubles down on eating every rando beefcake he can get his hands on while giggling like a school girl (and yet, when the chance to eat Toshi finally presents itself, he totally fails to capitalize on it. mfer can't even "cannibalism as a metaphor freaky gay sex with your dramaturgical foil" right smh 😤).

As an aside, when I say "people generally read into MHA too literally and expect entirely too literal conclusions for what is largely a fantastical story about abuse/trauma/coping mechanisms," how MHA depicts ""cannibalism"" through Himiko is actually one of the examples that comes to mind lol. So many people think that death or jail is the only appropriate conclusion for Himiko's character because it's the "only realistic conclusion" like they aren't reading a story where people have tape dispensers for arms lmfao.

OMNOMNOM-- (On Mouths)

Not much to elaborate on here, mouths (and smiles) are AFO and Himiko's shared body motif in MHA's narrative. AFO's mouth is his only distinguishable facial feature during Parts 1 & 2, Himiko's smile/mouth is her defining feature and how others perceive it is a source of trauma for her. Her villain outfit is notable in how it covers her mouth/hides her smile while also resembling AFO's act 1 mask:

*squish*

During the final war, Himiko puts her mask on and hides her mouth immediately after being rejected by Izuku. This is symbolic of a lot of different things, but mostly, it drives home how she is no longer interested in talking things out and has "fully embraced being a villain." Ochako understands what's at stake and spends the rest of the fight trying to "take the mask back off"-- she understands there is something behind Himiko's villain mask that she needs to save.

Meanwhile, Toshi smashes past AFO's mask during Kamino and finds there is simply nothing underneath it-- reinforcing the idea that AFO has made "being a villain" his entire identity and that there is nothing worth saving behind his mask. However, Toshi was also the one who "smashed" AFO's facial features away in the first place. AFO definitely deserved getting his head popped, but in the context of MHA as a whole, I feel like AFO and Toshi's dynamic only highlights the overall tragedy of the hero/villain system and why it's a good thing that the new generation is starting to challenge it.

It is worth mentioning that mouths are frequently used to mask and dehumanize within the context of MHA's narrative, but this isn't something exclusive to AFO and Himiko ('sup Toshi) (''sup Tomura).

(I don't actually have anything else to add here lol)

Demon Child, Demon Lord

AFO and Himiko also stand out in how they're both framed as having been "born bad"-- Himiko by her parents, AFO by himself and the narration. Discerning readers already know that this is a crock of shit.

Child for One sees the Demon Lord being surrounded by people who provide for him out of fear while he's stuck living in isolation and squalor with Yoichi, and decides the only appropriate reaction to this is to make a children's comic book his entire personality (he's just like me fr)-- He embraces the idea of becoming a demon and shedding off his humanity, and immediately starts self-styling himself off a generic biz-caz corporate shmuck (lmfao).

Unlike AFO, Himiko resists the label of "demon" as much as she can-- she styles herself as "a cute high school girl" despite being a middle school drop out because she realizes the world will treat her a little more kindly this way (but only a little). Himiko longs to be seen as human, but is made to feel like a monster instead.

What I find interesting is that AFO himself outright admits that he lacked the ego/awareness necessary to "consciously" take Yoichi's quirk when they were children-- yet, both he and the narration continuously frame the siphoning of his mother's life, quirk, and Yoichi's nutrients as though they were intentional, malicious acts. AFO leans into this framing and builds his whole identity around it until that framing is finally pulled away from him literal seconds before his death.

Being "human" to Himiko means going back to a time where she was loved and accepted unconditionally. Being "human" to AFO means going back to being that screaming infant who no one would look at.

Like it or not, everyone is human in the end little dude.

Other Miscellaneous Similarities:

This one doesn't require much explanation-- through prioritizing their own needs above all else, AFO and Himiko both dehumanize other people the same way other people dehumanize them. Himiko is still a child, however-- and she is ultimately saved by her desire to be accepted and form genuine connections with others. Her final fight with Ochako is as much about getting Himiko to see Ochako as "human" as it is Ochako acknowledging Himiko's humanity. Once again, it's all about reciprocity/give-and-take.

""join our family and let me raise you! :D *hard cut to a burning orphanage*" AFO being genuinely puzzled that ppl aren't jumping at the chance to raised by him is my favorite running gag in mha.

Both AFO and Himiko also have a habit of being.... inappropriately intimate with other people, often to the point where whatever "relationship" they have with others exists almost entirely in their own head. Himiko calls Tsuyu by her first name and gets told to cut it out because this is a privilege Tsuyu reserves for her friends, and Himiko immediately interprets this as Tsuyu offering to be friends. AFO calls his worshippers his "friends" and his cult "his family" and asks that his young victims call him "uncle" like he's a kindly family friend and not the dude who is blackmailing them into betraying all their friends.

Also, neva 4get.....

To think AFO could have also had fun yuri times if he had just stopped being a dickhead for five seconds. Tragic. 😔

(/j)

#sophie.txt #mha.txt #all for one #toga himiko #thank you for the ask!#threw in some stealth ochako-toshi parallels for good measure bc tbh it makes AFOmight as a ship even funnier #just two guys who fumbled each other so hard it changed the trajectory of the whole story lmfao 😭

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ash-and-starlight · 2 years

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OOPS I MEANT ZUKKA SCENE 😳

oh! my favorite zukka scene is this one <3

#id in alt text #i thought it was the one in the firebending masters where sokka said something along the lines of ‘zuko why don’t u jump into a volcano :)’#but i remembered it wrong and he was just telling a joke 😔😔#but anyway you come hERE IN ZUKKA CENTRAL ASKING FOR A FAVE SCENE??#zukka never had a bad track honey #the parallels in the first ep as they’re putting on their armors? BANGER #the mutual concussions also in ep 1? KILLER #how stupid do you think i am? pretty stupid- ICONIC #do you you mind if i watch you jerks do your jerbending… GO AWAY!! AMAZING #pretty clouds…. yeah fluffy? INCREDIBLE #the entirety of the boiling rock like every single second of those two episodes??? FANTASTIC #THE TENT SCENE? UNPARALLELED #and don’T GET ME STARTED on how they were the only ones physically injured in the finale idk #but yeah aforementioned scene is such a zukka hit bc if it wasn’t for the rules of the land (-> a kid’s show)#sokka would have fuckin murdered zuko no biggie #and what is an enemies to lovers ship without some mutual killing maiming hatred? nothing #ash replies

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cairafea · 4 months

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"How would we go about defeating a demon?"

"Any flesh that has been eaten and digested by other living things loses any of its individual identity. In this dungeon, where the line between life and death has been blurred... that seems to me to be the only clear and obvious rule."

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #laios #laios touden #my art #fanart #art #sketch #laios if he was 3% more insane #aka the au where laios eats the winged lion by devouring the entire dungeon. starting with kensuke.#this was how i thought the climax was gonna go while i was reading #i was like around the mithrus backstory chapter and Everything Started Clicking #'become a demon to kill a demon' ynno. eat or be eaten #maybe it's the houseki no kuni brainrot but i fully expected some sort of Theseus Ship with laios's humanity vs the demon he's consuming #as in like 'wow eating a demon has consequences. such as turning into a demon.'#tying right back into the falin-chimera parallel and his whole thing with wanting to be a monster #btw laios gets hungrier the more he eats parts of the demon until he reaches that 40% capacity in canon. do with that what you will.#anyways i just saw the JRPG tropes (adventurer party/chosen one/dungeon crawler) and assumed it'd end like a JRPG as well (killing god)#i just have a lot of thoughts. can you tell i finished the manga in less than 24 hours.#rip kensuke i was suspicious of you til the very end #dont repost or senshi will use your kneecaps for a broth #dungeon meshi fanart #dungeon meshi spoilers #his pose is based on the ch91 'desire eater' pose btw that panel (specifically the coloured version) fundamentally changed something in me.

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chungledown-bimothy · 5 months

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if adaine is multiclassing into something martial, there's a strong argument to be made for it being barbarian.

the emphasis on gorgug "going into a worry" in the trailer has me hopeful they'll be addressing his longstanding but largely understated anxiety issues.

just, you know, some speculative dots to connect how you will.

#dimension 20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #gorgug thistlespring #adaine abernant #to be clear this is not a shipping thing just some potential parallels i find interesting

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greenerteacups · 5 months

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favorite relationship (non romantic or otherwise) in the hp canon? one thing I love about lionheart is Harry and hermione’s friendship - criminally overlooked in the books imo pidgeonholing hermione into only the “nagging mum” role for so much of it ! these two are siblings!

interesting parameters! my favorite non-romantic relationship in canon is ron and harry, actually. i think that hermione has great friendships with both of them, but the sheer intensity of the bond between ron and harry is unmatched anywhere outside romantic pairings in the books. harry latches onto him basically at first sight and imprints like a baby goose, and goes, "excellent, at last, a Friend; i will now spend all of my time and attention on you Forever." what's that? hungry you say? sad you say? i will buy you All The Food. then draco "definitely homeschooled" malfoy rocks up with his hilariously incompetent friend overtures and harry says right that's cool, but you threw shade at ron, so you can fuck right off forever. i've had this weird little ginger in my life for less than a day and if anything happens to him i'd kill myself. bye.

and ron drinks! it! up! because he's never had it! he's never been First for someone before, and he LOVES it! and he responds by becoming an instant ride-or-die for harry. that's not a reading, either, that's straight up text: in book 3, ron says, verbatim, "if you want to kill harry, you'll have to kill me." and he's thirteen!! takes him about five minutes to get there, too — in the ten weeks they've known each other before christmas break, eleven-year-old ron weasley tells his MOM about his new cool friend, and whatever he writes is so glowingly effusive that molly knits harry a goddamn family sweater (if you knit, you Know) without having stone cold met the kid! not to mention — ron (at eleven! eleven years old, ron weasley!) decides to pass up his only chance to see his parents until june, not to mention missing his family christmas, so he can stay at hogwarts and keep harry company! because harry potter will never be lonely if ron weasley can help it!!

basically. ron and harry are the original platonic soulmates. they ARE the catherine-heathcliff "he's more myself than i am" dig-up-his-grave-so-you-can-lie-in-it type of love. they are each other's destiny and each other's choice.

#i have always been surprised that harry/ron isn't a bigger ship #not so much in Classic fandom but nowadays #because their chemistry is so great #ron is the only person who consistently makes harry laugh #harry can get ron to do basically anything just by asking #they are deeply and utterly married #there are MULTIPLE instances in the books where ron's importance to harry is paralleled to others' romantic relationships #not just in the second task #but at the yule ball — harry wants to take *ron* before mcgonagall tells him he needs to take a girl #which is okay whatever these books were written in the nineties sure. but bi!harry has been a popular headcanon for years now #and for some reason that moment never comes up in the evidentiary showings #like... yes we all know harry thinks about sirius being handsome Way Too Much... but he also thinks about ron being tall a LOT #is it my ship? not personally. but do i think it's valid as hell? hell yes.

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traitorsinsalem · 6 months

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the bg3 fanbase is funny as fuck in a bad way for primarily shipping gale, who is the most garrulous man you can imagine, with astarion, whom gale goes "uh 😐 not really looking to talk with you man" at when prompted for conversation, and not with wyll, whose party admission gets a "gale approves" and then they proceed to compliment each other 24/7.

update: i think ship wars are stupid as fuck + this is about something very different. a very notable problem not just among the general bg3 and d&d fan circles but among certain fans of this sort of fantasy genre as a whole.

#succ speaks #gale also gets approval for demanding more than apologies from astarion when meeting him. and for saying bringing him was a mistake #also disapproval for accepting astarion's apologies. and for saying you trust him. like he HATES this cunt.#whereas wyll just BEING there gets gale a 'hehe <3 yay let's help the tieflings for him'#you also get gale approval for recruiting lae'zel and karlach! literally for just doing that!! astarion is the only one who DOESN'T #the baldur's gate 3 fanbase has such the fandom first-two-whiteboys shipping brain rot spell on them plus an ignore wyll at all costs curse #get well soon like honestly this is so sad and hasn't let up since ea #which is obvious in the way the writers treated astarion with notable favor and ignored will in story development since ea #anyways. gale is super funny about being annoying so i love him for it. he's like me in that way i think. his dumbass resurrection ritual.#idk the way wyll has clear story parallels with EVERY origin character (+ halsin!) and isn't even on the ship podium is a bit hashtag irkin #i've gone into depth about that with some real life besties but that'd be like. another post or a long addition to this one.#ugh.#balding gay tree

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hydesjackiespuddinpop · 3 months

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Ramble On (5x05) || Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin') (7x18)

#that 70s show #that '70s show #parallels #otp: anything for you doll #zenmasters #burkhyde #jackie x hyde #hyde x jackie #my gifs #my stuff #het ship #jackie's happiness here does it for me #i think i'm ready to stop being mad at them (Jackie and Hyde)#i just need to ignore some of their stans

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revvethasmythh · 2 years

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Thinking about masks, specifically Laudna's, and how determined she is to maintain hers around Imogen. With Imogen, Laudna's mask is necessary because Imogen is someone she wants to protect and support, someone Laudna wants to give the life she never had, and she can't do that if she's feeling doubtful and uncertain about herself. So Laudna has to put on that protective, supportive front without voicing many of her darker, more serious thoughts, made evident by her conversation with Ashton in tonight's episode. And, as interesting as it is to draw parallels between Imogen and Laudna and early Caleb and Nott, I think primary difference of their dynamics is because of that mask (or its lack thereof).

Nott and Caleb didn't really have something like that separating them. I think, arguably, Caleb required more babying from Nott in the early days because he was a complete mess in a way that Imogen isn't, which is represented in how Nott treats him and protects him (coddles him, even, sometimes). But they didn't really put up false fronts between each other. They kept secrets, sure. Nott and Caleb excelled at keeping secrets. But they were very emotionally honest with each other despite their secret-keeping. And I can't help but wonder if Imogen and Laudna are actually the direct opposite of that--they don't have any secrets, sure. But have they been or are they capable of being completely emotionally honest with each other? Can Laudna actually let her guard down around Imogen and drop her lightheartedness or is it too difficult for her to face the truth of those serious feelings with Imogen?

#just thoughts really #I feel like there are a lot of imogen/laudna and caleb/nott parallels but those relationships do NOT feel the same to me #maybe this is some of why #cr spoilers #critical role #bells hells #cr3e32 #imogen temult #laudna #caleb widogast #nott the brave #veth brenatto #the mighty nein #this might be absolutely nothing (because it's 4:30am and what am I even writing) but it might be something? idk?#this is also the reason I think I don't ship imogen and laudna #I prefer that complete emotional honesty that I'm just not sure they have

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abyssalshriek · 15 days

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Drop some more parallel cannon agnst please🙏

How they found out Parallel Canon was a copy of Agent 4 (warning long and open-ended):

(Note, this is slightly more specific to my version of the agents. Namely, that a couple of them use sign language instead of talking at least some of the time.)

For context, with all the palettes safely reconfigured, Marina, the Octarian engineers, and even their new ally Smollusk were working together to undo the damage Order did to the spire.

Smollusk was the first to realize what Parallel Canon was. It knew that, as Order, it used Agent 4's palette as a base for Parallel Canon, copying the data over directly (imperfectly, but surely it was close enough to be the Order Defense Force). Parallel Canon itself was then copied into further soldiers.

After disabling the aggression algorithms in all the Jelletons, it noticed the Parallel Canons didn't become inactive like the others. Instead, the Parallel Canons became... panicked? They were acting in ways that seemed irrational to Smollusk.

It was digging through their code that made Smollusk realize what was up. The file size of each Parallel Canon was massive, comparable only to the other sentient AIs like Smollusk and Cipher.

While Smollusk didn't understand the full ramifications of what it had done, it did know it was probably bad. It had the mind of a child, and it knew Marina was still upset about some of the other stuff it did as Order, so it did what seemed most logical to it:

It locked the Parallel Canons to the Intensifying Harmony floor and tried to hide that floor away.

Marina noticed what seemed to be a coding bloat in the Intensifying Harmony floor. The data seemed to be concentrated in the boss Order had kept there. Was a basic turfling enemy really so hard for it to make? Smollusk insisted it would take care of it, and that she and the other engineers should focus on restoring the other floors instead.

But weeks went by, and there were no changes to Intensifying Harmony. Eventually, she went to check it out herself. (I imagine, for the sake of narrative, it is easier to program an area in the Memverse by "physically" being there. Like how she had to be on the top floor to reconfigure palettes.)

Marina arrived to find the Parallel Canons "zoning out" for lack of a better term. Some lied on the floor. Some sat around. Oddly, a couple seemed to be interacting with each other, as though they were conversing.

When she went to get a closer look, she suddenly had all of their attention. They all started running towards her. She got out of there before they got close.

Now, she was worried. Smollusk insisted it would handle it when she brought it up. She started to think Smollusk might still be trying to create its world of order.

When she went back, she brought some help to protect her. Most notable being Eight. She still hadn't gotten around to offering Agent 4 the head of security role, and if this was in anyway an attempt for Smollusk to regain power, it was safer to have Eight leading the charge.

When the group arrived, they once again got the attention of the Parallel Canons. Pearl was ready to start blasting them, but Eight was the one to point out they weren't attacking. They didn't even have their weapons. They mostly emitted distorted noises and made... hand motions?

Eight started to recognize it as Inkling Sign Language. She didn't use it much herself, but she learned some of it because her roommate, Agent 4, would use it a lot. The Captain used it, too, sometimes. She wasn't fluent, but she knew enough of the basics.

She was concerned when she picked out things like "Please," and "Help me," and even "I want to go home."

Her first thought was, if this really had to do with Smollusk recreating Order, were these people Smollusk trapped in the Memverse? But that couldn't be. It couldn't bring anyone into the Memverse anymore after its first defeat. The Parallel Canons had been in the Memverse since Eight first climbed the tower, and everyone Order initially pulled in was freed, too.

"Yo, Eight," Pearl started to ask as she noticed Eight's facial expression, "what's up?"

Eight ignored Pearl's question, and asked one of her own. "Who are you?"

She was answered by the Parallel Canon with a mask rather than a helmet. One with a tentacle style that, while familiar, she hadn't questioned before because lots of squids styled their hair that way.

"Eight," the masked Parallel Canon signed, "it's me, [Agent 4]."

A couple notes: I tried to draw Parallel Canon signing the word "me" in American Sign Language, but since I don't know sign language, I used a picture from the internet as reference. Apologies if it came out wrong.

Also, where "Agent 4" is said in brackets, Agent 4 would say her actual name, but since I (currently) try not to use headcanon names in my works, I just put her universal name.

Also, this started as a sort of summary of more angst, but evolved into a short ficlet at the end, haha.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I don't normally receive asks, so this was fun!

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