#anya forger theory

[youuuimeanmee]

Get ready with me to be surprised with

✨️Anya's Origin✨️

Hint: Romania

I had some free time, so I reread the latest chapter of Spy x Family, chapter 92.

Barbara said she and Sigmund were in Covenia for awhile. We know Westalis and Ostania are a reference for the West Germany and Eastern Germany, so I wondered if Covenia is based on a real place too. I was bored, y'see.

I quick-searched a country name that ended with -nia, but no luck.

I remembered a theory that Anya is more superior in Classical languange because she might've come from a place that uses that languange. A wild idea popped up to me that Covenia still uses (or references) that language. Since Sigmund has many classical books, it's not a stretch to assume he learned that language because he used to live in Covenia. Based on that assumption, I searched what country is still using Latin languange, what languange that references Latin.

... bingo.

Covenia and Romania. Who would've thought.

I searched where is Romania located because my geography sucks.

Oh it's in Europe, great! And it's close with Ukraine too, Russia...

Wait. I thought the story is based in the '60s, so, could they be related at that time?

Wow, so they ARE related.

And the timeline matched with SxF's world too.

When I clicked the "Romania" word, I stumbled on this.

.....

Could it be,

Anya originally comes from Covenia, which is a reference to Romanian People's Republic?

Does it mean the organization that experiment on Anya is based in Soviet?

And to think that Sigmund, a well-known neurology professor, used to rehabilitate wounded soldiers in Covenia... Is it really a rehabilitation though?

*cold sweat*

Anyways.

If Anya really comes from Covenia/Romania, the initial spelling of her name would make sense then, but I have zero idea about Romanian alphabet to confirm it.

Of course I searched it.

The Romanian alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Romanian language. It is a modification of the classical Latin alphabet and consists of 31 letters, five of which (Ă, Â, Î, Ș, and Ț) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements of the language

Oh shoot it's getting warmer.

Double check to make sure, I tried to look if [î] is really the replacement alphabet for [y].

OH SHIT.

K, Q, W and Y, not part of the native alphabet, were officially introduced in the Romanian alphabet in 1982.

Now it makes sense. No wonder Anya spelled her name like that.

It's because in the place where she came from, the alphabet Y wasn't used yet. And it's not supposed to be Ania either; it's Anîa. But I doubt a small child like her would understand the difference between i and î.

Summary:

Anya might've come from Covenia/Romania. It explains her initial name and her excellence in Classical language.

The organization that experimented on Anya might've come from the Soviet.

Sigmund might have some connections with Anya more than we thought; the theories were right on track. Because he studies neurology and lived in Covenia for some time, he is fluid in Classical languange and he knows how to make learning more fun.

I wanted to try searching what kind of brain-related research did Soviet do at that time, but then I might come up with lobotomy or some dark shit and I'm not prepared for that, so I'm gonna let the sleeping dogs lie until we get more informations from Endo.

Annd that's it. I'm very surprised with this finding. My quick 5-minutes search turned into 2-hours brainrot. And my hands are still cold. I'm not sure if it's intentional from Endo or it's just some happy coincidence, but at least I'm more aware with Covenia now.

Thank you for following me in this short journey! Byee 👋

[abdy-18]

I think the last vol of the manga will have [redacted], Anya, Yor and Bond sharing a chair/sofa on the cover

[whateversawesome]

Some Theories about Anya's Name

Who would have thought a short chapter would bring so much information and discussion? But then again, we're talking about Anya, agent of chaos (according to her papa).

After that chapter, there's plenty of theories flying around, so I decided to make this post to compile, explain and expand these theories 😉

Ready?

Anya is an acronym: This one is pretty clear has been a popular general theory. It means that the letters of her name stand for something else. What exactly? We don't know yet, but it probably has to do with Project Apple and the infamous lab Anya was created.

Anya...Ania...OstANIA: If you live near small children, you probably know that when they are learning how to talk, they do it by picking up words adults say and many times they say those words wrong. While discussing with some friends, I imagined those scientists constantly saying the word Ostania in front of that little girl. Maybe baby Anya thought that was her name because she heard the word OstANIA all the time, but she couldn't say it right.

Anya, the foreign princess: This one is very simple. It means that her name was spelled differently in her country of origin. This theory is vague, but I do believe a third country could be involved in all this mess. Also, it would make sense for Anya to be hiding in Ostania, if she was born and kept captive in a different country.

Anya...A N/A: This one is one of the most interesting theories! A N/A would mean something like "Non-applicable". You probably think this doesn't say much, but it really does. In the first few chapters of the story we learned that Anya was adopted and returned 4 times. Instead of a child, she was returned as if she was a piece of clothing. Even though it's been barely mentioned, we've also learned that people that participated in Project Apple didn't treat the subjects nicely (see how they treated Bond). Those people called Anya "subject 007". They didn't even give her a name. If we think about it, Anya is very "non-applicable". She was created in a lab, she has a strange power, so she's not like the other kids, she's been adopted and returned 4 times...

The A N/A and Anya being treated like an object instead of a human being fits the Spy x Family premise of the story, which is: Humans like Twilight, Yor, and Anya are used as weapons instead of being treated like humans. The story is about them regaining their humanity through love and family.

So even if A N/A says nothing about Anya, it says a lot about the story.

Look at this little girl. This illustration was heartbreaking. Do you know when it takes place? It's right before he meets Twilight. We see that it's the same filthy orphanage Twilight visited on chapter 1 and this is not Anya's first orphanage, so that means this illustration happened after she was returned again. The way she's facing the door, her body language, the way she holds Mr. Chimera by the hand is so sad. Here she is, once again, in a place she doesn't want to be, where nobody will take care of her...alone 😭

Enough of that or we'll end up crying...🤧

Some other things to take into consideration about her name:

Mr. Chimera: Since this is a visual story, that panel of Mr. Chimera tells us that this plushie is involved in Anya's name. If you've read certain fic, you know where I stand on that. In this case, I think that yes, the person who helped Anya escape gave Mr. Chimera to her. However, I don't think it was exactly that character (you know who). It probably was someone else, maybe even a new character we don't know yet. It could also be a scientist who took pity on Anya or disagreed with the use of children as lab rats, and helped her escape. We don't know yet.

Twilight: One of the most beautiful panels on that short chapter was seeing Anya's eyes lit up when her papa told her the correct spelling of her name. Did you see it? Those were the eyes of someone who had just learned something new about herself and by doing this, Twilight made her even more human.

One more thing...I've seen speculations about the next arc of the manga being about Anya's past because of this short mission. In my opinion...I don't think it'll happen yet. Why? If it was the case, this would have been a longer chapter and the actual beginning of the arc.

I believe Anya's past will be one of the last things we learn, because there's plenty of things to resolve and a lot of information we don't have. Stories are like puzzles; this chapter was an important piece, but we're not working on that part yet.

[midnight-in-town]

Was Donovan trying to read the mind of his family members ?

Like some fans, I believe Donovan's scars on both sides of his forehead (which he didn't have as a kid, as we know thanks to Henderson's flashback) are proof that he had some sort of neurosurgery.

Some fans say it was to suppress unecessary emotions : he indeed only ever reacts neutrally, positively or negatively, using a few basic emotions like judgement, acknowledgement and disappointment (both in ch106 and ch38).

However, I'm also of the opinion that Donovan has a big link to the organization that experimented on Anya and maybe that neurosurgery was meant to give him "mind-reading" powers, similar to Anya's.

After all, he did say two things of the utmost importance to his characterization :

So basically “you can’t trust anyone but yourself”.

As such, thematically it makes sense that he's Twilight's entire mission, but also, as a man with so much distrust, he would definitely be interested in a project that would allow a peak into other people's thoughts.

Demetrius is also a good hint as to what could be up with Donovan :

The son Donovan used to be so invested in seems very similar to his father (my God, his eyes), but when Anya tried to hear his thoughts ?

What she rather got was that "pondering [about not understanding people] is a waste of time" for him. So maybe, when they used to spend time together, Donovan showed a lot of distrust towards his own son and taught him to trust no one, so much that Demetrius started to believe all people are an enigma to him.

And that makes sense : children learn from their parents' example, in most cases (take Anya with Twilight and Yor). So if your father is a man who hardcore believes everyone else lies, how would his son understand all the moratively complex dynamics that exist between many people ? Avoiding to think altogether would be less of a headache, for sure.

Lastly, Donovan's reaction about the family dinner is another good hint he maybe has mind reading powers : Melinda tried once to chat but quickly gave up, while Damian spent the entire meal mustering the courage to speak up, so what could decidedly be interesting since nothing was said ?

However if things were thought during dinner... well, it sure would give a different reading to this scene.

Bonus #1 : since Twilight's entire life is based on a lie (his name, his work, his family, maybe even his father, who knows), it makes absolute sense that the entire plot is about deciphering what Donovan and his plans are about.

The fact he keeps on getting emotionally trapped by four year old Anya, who can read his mind, makes it instantly ten times more intense if Donovan now also has mind reading powers.

Bonus #2 : the only other important character in the narrative, besides Anya, who is aware that mind reading is real is Damian.

He doesn't believe in it yet, but once he does, it's likely that his friendship with Anya will eventually make Damian realize a lot about what his father has been up to (in the meantime, Yor please, give Miranda the desire to fight for her sons' safety).

TL;DR maybe Donovan has (recent ?) mind reading powers (I'd even add Sigmund Authen's past as an esteemed neurology professor is related to the whole shenanigan).

The family dinner was just a way to make extra sure that no one in his family is plotting against him, hence the bodyguards at home, because how more dysfunctional can it get ?

[nomaejie]

"reveal scene" but less dramatic

[sophiamarieispinkbunny-chan]

My Analysis and Theories about Demetrius, Melinda, Donovan and Imperial Scholars

I hope you like reading because this is going to be a long one, I'm sorry. But I'm hoping to hear your ideas about these.

The Desmonds, aside Damian, are definitely weird, but I think there’s a high chance that Demetrius, alongside Melinda, was brainwashed and their minds are manipulated.

Demetrius seems to have empty thoughts aside from his constant belief that he doesn’t understand anyone, not even his brother and his father, despite spending a lot of time with him, as Damian stated. I think these thoughts have been instilled in him through brainwashing and mind manipulation.

That's likely the reason why Donovan spent a lot of time watching Demetrius when he was a child, forcing these ideas upon him since childhood.

This is the same idea he shared with Loid when they first met, that humans will never truly be sympathetic to each other because, at the end of the day, we are strangers, even to those who are our blood and flesh.

Melinda is the same too. Based on what we’ve seen of her so far, she seems to have conflicted feelings about Damian.

However, I think she was genuinely concerned for her son, but her husband is trying to instill those dreadful ideas onto her. (It might not be Donovan who was doing the mind manipulation, but based on the stitches on his head, there’s a possibility that he had been experimented on and had gained a mind ability somehow.)

I think that’s why she’s scared of Donovan knowing that she came for Damian at that school bus incident. Donovan doesn’t want her to care for anyone, not even their own sons (These poor kids).

But I believe she truly wants to be a good mother, and she wants Damian to break the cycle going on in their family. (If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t race through Eden just to check on Damian’s safety at the bus arc.) And I think that’s the reason why she wanted Damian and Anya to be close, for Damian to have someone that would make him break out of the expectations he had set for himself and be finally free to be a child since it’s what her son deserved. (But still, this theory of mine still doesn’t make her not suspicious to me; right now, all I’m giving these newly introduced characters is the benefit of the doubt)

Why does Donovan want to instill these ideas that humans can’t truly understand each other, not even those who are family? Because that’s the reason wars happen—people not trying to understand one another. It occurs when they don’t strive to meet in the middle. Assuming he does indeed plan to wage war against Westalis, then instilling that idea would benefit him.

Of course, it’s hard to instill the same idea in every citizen in Ostania, especially when the current government is trying to establish a diplomatic relationship with Westalis. So, how could he encourage these ideas? Where are ideas usually taught? What establishment is so respected that these ideas would be very much welcomed and widely taught in a subtle manner, making individuals unaware that they are being influenced? Oh, right—educational establishments, schools, and universities. And which is the most prestigious school in Ostania that could assist in achieving this and influence the children of Ostania to acquire nationalistic ideas so that, in the future, they would carry these ideas for the sake of Ostania? Eden Academy.

This is where the hidden agenda of the Imperial Scholars, I think, plays out. Kids like Demetrius, I believe, are being brainwashed to adopt the same thoughts and ideas as Donovan. Children are the most vulnerable to manipulation, absorbing ideas like a sponge. That's my guess about what’s going on with these Imperial Scholars in Eden.

Why do you think they choose the cream of the crop among these students? The geniuses—won’t they be useful in terms of war? The other talented and athletic students could boost Ostania’s economy, and when they become famous celebrities, they could be influencers, shaping public opinion in line with the ideas they hold. The heroic and helpful ones could also be valuable in times of war, willingly risking their lives for Ostania.

When I was a Humanities student in my senior year of high school, I remembered studying a case in my country where athletes and geniuses were brainwashed by rebel groups into supporting their ideals regarding the government. In the end, these students did join those rebel groups, believing they were doing the right thing. They left their families, not even caring about their feelings, because they firmly believed that what they were doing needed to be done. They were first introduced into these societies or clubs, usually inviting geniuses and, take note, scholars. As they associated more with these clubs or organizations, they became more and more exposed and influenced. I can’t help but think that this could also be true in Eden Academy. I think this could be confirmed or debunked once we meet more Imperial Scholars or former Imperial Scholars and have their minds read by Anya. So for now, this is purely my speculation. But I'd like to know your ideas about it.

Operation Strix, I'd say, challenges Desmond’s ideas about people not understanding one another. Remember, Twilight’s goal was not to assassinate him; it was for him to determine if Desmond was engaged in any suspicious activities that might lead to war between East and West and to prevent it from happening. I think, in a way, Operation Strix could really achieve that because at its very core, it disproves Donovan’s ideas about people. These three individuals bound by Operation Strix, who barely knew each other and hadn't even spent a year together, have a lot of secrets and differences in terms of nationality, behavior, upbringing, and ideals. Yet, they managed to live peacefully as a family. They may not understand each other completely, but that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Twilight, despite Anya being a stranger to him, strives to always humor her no matter how weird her statements are. Even though he couldn’t fully understand her, he wanted to and he always tries to, because he’s not just a spy; he’s a parent, her father. That’s what parents and families do—they always try to understand one another. This connects back to the inside cover theory I talked about before, regarding the Forger family understanding one another.

It was fascinating to see how the Desmonds and the Forgers are alike in terms of being not a normal family but very different, especially in how they treat each other. I would love it if Donovan, as a character, symbolizes the idea of war, while Twilight and the family he built for his mission are a symbol of peace, proving it to be possible despite all differences.

What do you think about this?

[lassify]

Behind Test Subject 007: The Science of Anya’s Telepathy

Okay guys… I’m gonna come clean. I’ve had some scientific hypotheses brewing for a while now (not least to use in my fanfic, lol), but since we might be getting close to getting an Anya arc in the SxF manga, I figured that now was as good a time as any to actually try to arrange those theories in something resembling coherent and share them with you all. 

Disclaimer: I am not trying to position myself as an expert. I have studied Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at university level, so just for fun I ended up doing a ton of research on this, and I’ve got a lot to cover, so… wish me luck 😅 References will be embedded in the text!

Heads up that this is on the long side and complex as hell and my head physically hurts, so I’ll tackle it in sections:

Part 1: Psychology

My actual subject, but I’ll only skim over a couple of theories…

Part 2: Cognitive Neuroscience (Structural basis)

In which I will look at the individual brain areas which could be relevant to telepathy

Part 3: Cognitive Neuroscience (Functional basis)

In which I talk about how those brain areas communicate to each other

Part 4: Physics

I’ll admit, not my strongest subject, but I’ll mention a couple of theories which could be relevant

If you're ready for your brain to melt, feel free to keep reading...

Part 1: Psychology

There are 2 main theories in Psychology which could offer some explanation for Anya’s psychic abilities. 

Theory 1: Theory of Mind

In short, this describes a person’s capacity to understand other people. It is similar to sympathy or empathy, but actually it is the ability to understand that another person is different to ourselves, that they have their own desires, motivations, and thoughts, and that this is reflected in their behaviour. Even more importantly, it’s about being able to decode other’s mental states, whilst still being able to differentiate it from our own.

Any parent will know that it is a real effort to teach children about trying to understand other people’s perspectives: this is because children typically have an undeveloped Theory of Mind, and it is something that continues to develop even into adulthood. In adults, having a developed Theory of Mind helps us to understand other people’s perspectives, predict other people’s behaviour, and use both empathy and deception. 

Anya has a really strong Theory of Mind, which is actually so impressive for her young age. She understands the complex web of all the secrets: that Twilight is a spy, Yor is an assassin, Yuri is in the Secret Service, and Bond is precognisant. She also understands who knows what about each other, and how she can use all of this information to her advantage - those are some crazy cognitive skills!!

In terms of how this is related to telepathy, you could argue that someone with a strong Theory of Mind (like Anya) may be more likely to:

Understand that people have hidden feelings that they don’t show 

Demonstrate empathy for emotions 

Collate information about their likes and dislikes and past behaviour to predict future behaviour. 

If she is highly sensitive to these things, then it could look like telepathy (even if it isn’t). 

Theory 2: Hyperesthesia.

Many people will have heard of synesthesia, which is a synthesis of the senses to the extent that the sensory information overlaps, but hyperesthesia is about being highly sensitive to external stimuli of the senses such as sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. 

I can imagine an overlap with Anya’s hyperesthesia and her Theory of Mind to pick up on the nuances of other people’s behaviour, to the extent that reading behaviour could inform the sensation of “reading minds”. 

In a science-fictional world like SxF we could imagine that hyperesthesia could stretch into the sense of extra-sensory perception, by being sensitive to the electromagnetic signals in other people’s brains (or even geomagnetic - more on that in Part 4). From this, it is possible that Anya could “read” people’s minds through deciphering the electromagnetic waveforms that people’s brains might project (more on deciphering brainwaves in Part 3…). 

Part 2: Cognitive Neuroscience - Structural Basis

I think we can all agree that Anya’s telepathic powers would largely be supported by the specific structures of her brain, especially given that Endo has already dropped hints of neuroscience in the manga, and we know that he’s very much interested in accurately depicting psychology and neuropsychology in his story. 

The best way to encourage certain brain areas to develop is by doing exercises and tasks which would use that part of the brain repeatedly: for example, consistent gymnastics practice would enhance the cerebellum, the centre of balance and motor coordination. But, I can picture the experimenters in SxF trying something a lot less… humane.

Like, experimental neurosurgery. 

For example, theoretically, they could artificially enhance certain brain areas by using a neural growth factor serum (this doesn’t exist in real life, but let’s indulge the science fiction elements for a second), and, theoretically, if the experimenters used glycoproteins as the serum’s main content (like laminins and netrins), they could control the pace and direction of neurons growing in a brain, choosing to focus on cellular growth in certain areas. Then, they would be able to view the activity of the targeted areas using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and measure it with electroencephalography (EEG, see Part 3 for more on this).

If Anya ever had experimental neurosurgeries during her childhood, they would have likely focused on the following areas: 

Corpus Callosum: The corpus callosum is the thick structure of white matter that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, allowing each hemisphere to send signals to the other. With an enlarged corpus callosum, Anya would be able to process neural signals at a much faster rate, and at an increased volume, helping her to process the additional load required for telepathy.

Wernicke’s Area: Named after German neurologist Carl Wernicke, this part of the superior temporal gyrus (usually of the left hemisphere) is a major part of being able to understand language. With an enhanced Wernicke’s area, Anya would be more sensitive to decoding the neural signals associated with linguistic thoughts, effectively enabling telepathic communication through language. (As an aside, this would also give Anya an advantage in understanding other languages… which could explain her natural talent with Classical Language!)

Superior Temporal Sulcus: This is another area that is important for processing human speech, and is critical for processing social cues, such as understanding others’ intentions (including Theory of Mind!). With experimentation in the STS, Anya would be better able to decode the subtle cues in others’ brains relating to thoughts and emotions.

Inferior parietal lobule: As well as assisting in the interpretation of language and sensory information, the IPL is also involved in tasks like perspective-taking and understanding others' mental states. By increasing connectivity in this area, Anya can "tune into" the thought processes of others. It’s also well-known for its’ role in visuospatial processing, which can help Anya see visual thoughts as well.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex: This system is composed of a number of different parts of the brain, all working together to be able to process things like attention, decision making, inhibition and emotions. Most interestingly, it is associated with detecting conflicts and errors. Increased sensitivity to the ACC would likely help Anya to detect cognitive dissonance and conflicting thoughts in others (the perfect formula to eventually understand tsundere tendencies…).

Amygdala: The amygdala is often known as the centre of fear, but actually it is hugely important in threat detection, emotional processing and emotional memory. If Anya’s amygdala was enhanced, this would aid her ability to detect threats quickly, as well as her empathy skills and help her to intuit others’ emotions and thoughts. (A negative side effect of an enlarged amygdala would be that Anya may be more vulnerable to the effects of toxic stress, possibly making her less resistant to the effects of psychological trauma.)

Mirror neurons: Mirror neurons specialise in helping us to carry out and understand other people’s actions and behaviours, playing a key role in empathy and Theory of Mind. These hold internal representations of thoughts or actions, and could potentially be the key for Anya to be able to translate another person’s thoughts or intentions, assuming that she has a particularly active mirror neuron system.

Precuneus: The precuneus is really difficult to research and is super complex, so I’ll do my best to keep this simple: Located in the medial parietal cortex, this part of the brain is essential for visuospatial imagining and processing, as well as episodic memory, self-reflection, and some aspects of consciousness. I suppose the main thing is that it has a big role in mental imagery, including being able to model other people’s views, therefore helping Anya to process the mental images in other people’s thoughts.

Broca’s area: This is very much non-canon, but I imagine that if Anya ever developed the ability to project her thoughts, the Broca’s area would be key for this. While Wernicke’s area helps with speech understanding, Broca’s area is key for speech production. In my fanfic (SSS), Anya’s Broca’s area probably functioned normally for most of her life, but in the recent experiments imposed on her, the ability to project her thoughts was ‘unlocked’ through the increased activation of the Broca’s area.

Part 3: Cognitive Neuroscience - Functional basis

The thing is, it’s not enough to just know which parts of the brain work for what - there is also the question of how they connect and work together to be able to fulfil their functions. 

Think of it as the wiring which connects the parts of a computer: a motherboard, mouse, keyboard, and graphics card (as examples) are built to fulfil their specific functions, but the real magic is in how they connect and send signals between each other so that everything works smoothly.

That’s where neural oscillations come in - otherwise known as brainwaves. These are generated by the action potentials of nerve cells, and their different speeds can be measured using electroencephalography, or EEG machines, which can measure the patterns of activity across a brain.

Let’s bear in mind that I’m really skimming the surface of this subject, so I won’t go into all the types of brainwaves in too much detail, but I will focus on the ones that I think could be more relevant to Anya’s telepathy:

Gamma waves

This is the pattern of neural oscillations which are correlated with large-scale brain network activity, and are largely predominant in learning, working memory, and processing new information. In other words: gamma waves help Anya to connect all the different parts of her brain which are relevant to her telepathy, so that all the areas can communicate to each other.

(Just as an aside: I found this hilarious study that looked at the effects of different types of nuts on brainwaves, which saw gamma wave responses being improved through pistachios, while peanuts aided in generating more delta waves. I wonder if the lab scientists of SxF caught on…) 

Theta waves

Theta waves are especially prominent in childhood (during sleep). I imagine that the lab may have recruited children partially for this reason (the other reason would be that brains have more plasticity at a younger age, and so can be altered easier than an adult’s brain). In adults, theta waves are also prominent in hypnotic or meditative states, mind wandering, and the early stages of sleep.

I think it is really interesting that theta waves occur during deep relaxation, as well as the early stages of sleep, making it the only brainwave that can activate both during sleep and during wakefulness. (From what I can tell, anyway.) This could make theta waves an important component of Anya’s telepathy - for example, if her telepathy was important to her survival, then it is critical for her to be able to detect thoughts during sleep, and her amygdala could alert her if the thoughts were at all threatening.

During wakefulness, I can imagine that Anya’s theta waves serve as the precursor for the activation of psi waves…

Psi waves

Just to confirm, Psi waves are definitely fictional, but my rationale is that historically, ‘Psi’ (ψ) has been used to denote the unknown factor which is linked with parapsychology and psychic phenomena. 

My theory is that psi waves would be the frequency required for telepathy, which would allow Anya to detect and interpret other people’s thoughts through their pattern of neural activation. In other words: she can probably read brainwaves. 

Modern science is already trying out methods to interpret people’s brainwaves (which is honestly both supremely cool and extremely terrifying), so it’s not too far out of the realm of possibility that Anya would be able to do the same thing just by unconsciously using her psi waves. The psi-waves would essentially mimic a brain-computer interface in being able to process and interpret neural activity (aka thoughts).

If you require a bit more concrete evidence to believe me, I’ve made a list below.

Right now, we can analyse brainwaves using EEG to:

Decode whether someone answers “yes” or “no” to conversational questions 

Control the movement of simple robots, including wheelchairs, which can be locked/unlocked using EEG (and EMG) as a biometric security system

Detect and interpret what emotion someone is feeling, as well as learn how strong that emotion is (at an accuracy rate of 80-94%)

Deconstruct the cognitive processes underlying social interaction in people who struggle to verbally express themselves

And this study analysed brain activation using fMRI to interpret and reconstruct visual images

Neuroscience is really crazy, guys.

Part 4: Physics

So… this is the part I am the least confident about. Please be patient with me and forgive me for any mistakes 🙏.  Also, this is the perfect time to remind you guys that I am really engaging with science fiction here. Emphasis on the fiction 😂. 

Basically, there are 2 main theories from Physics that I think could explain Anya’s telepathy, as well as her weakness(es):

Theory 1: Geomagnetic Field Sensitivity:

All brain waves are generated by electrical activity in the brain, and they also generate electrical activity of their own, which creates an electromagnetic field around the brain.

Anya’s abilities could be tied to the geomagnetic field of the earth, especially during the New Moon: when the moon is positioned between the earth and the sun, this could affect the field’s strength. The subtle alteration in the geomagnetic field could disrupt the electromagnetic field generated by Anya’s brain, thus disrupting the neural processing. 

In other words: the New Moon could interfere with Anya’s own electromagnetic field around her brain, via sensitivity to changes in the geomagnetic field, which could be why she can’t read minds during the New Moon. 

Theory 2: Resonance:

Resonance can be observed in physics, acoustics, musical, electrical, and mechanical systems - but now scientists are even looking at resonance in consciousness, and resonance in brain waves on a quantum level. 

Without going into too much detail (I am not qualified), I think Anya would generate a resonance frequency of her own that helps her to facilitate telepathic communication: through resonance, Anya could synchronise her Psi waves with the brain waves of another person, and it is this synchronicity that helps her to interpret the other person’s brainwaves. 

If Anya ever encountered another telepath (as she does in SSS), I imagine that they wouldn’t be able to read each other’s minds because their resonance frequencies would cancel each other out. 

In SSS, I also introduced the idea of a sub-auditory sound wave which would stop Anya from being able to use her telepathy. The idea behind this was to introduce another weakness for Anya: when this sound wave is emitted or detected, it interferes with the brain's natural telepathic frequency. This is because the sound wave oscillates at a frequency that masks the neural signals required for telepathy, and means that Anya can’t interpret those signals as easily. 

Thanks for reading!

I told you this was long. Sorry 😅

The above is really just a collective mishmash of stuff I’ve been slowly putting together for about the last 6 months, and I fully accept there will be parts that are more plausible than others. 😂 But it was fun, and more than anything I am really excited to see what we get to find out in Anya’s backstory arc (when it gets here…), and if I see any mentions of brains or neuroscience in SxF I will literally die of joy

[despairingdivas]

I was reading the new Spy X Family chapter and was looking at Donovans scar and realized its about the same place as Anyas little hair thingeys. So THEORY TIME what if Donovan Desmond is also a telepath and he had his head thingeys removed and now hes just unsuspectedly reading other peoples thoughts on what's happening between east and west because why does he have scars on his head right where Anyas little head thingeys are. They COULD have gave him that just to make him look like a scary bad guy but I don't know what do you guys think!!

[whateversawesome]

Anya knows her parents are in love with each other.

Or at the very least that they liked or felt attracted to each other right from the beginning. Why?

Well, if Anya liked dramas like Becky, we would know she's all about romance, but Anya doesn't like dramas and is not interested in romance at the moment. She likes cartoons!

So, where did she get this idea?

And this one?

I'd like to think that back then, she said those things because she saw something in both her mama and papa's mind that look a lot like flirting to her.

Clearly, she wants her parents to be together for real, but she only mentions it when the occasion arises.

At this point in the manga, it's pretty obvious that Yor has feelings for Loid and she's slowly discovering that (see that theory here). What's curious to me is that, when Anya mentions her parents "flirting", she doesn't talk exclusively about Yor, she also says that about Twilight. Yes, yes, one could argue she does this because she wants her family to stay together, but I'd like to think it goes beyond that.

It's rare to see Twilight's thoughts about his feelings and his family through Anya's powers; this is probably on purpose, so Anya doesn't give too give too much away. However, at some point in the story, I would love precisely for Anya to completely give her papa's feelings away. Can you imagine it? Twilight denying he has feelings for Yor, only for Anya to tell us that he fell in love with her practically from the beginning 😂 Extra points if we see a collection of moments from Twilight's perspective where it's obvious that he is head over heels in love with his wife.

Like here...

Or here...

Or here...

Or here...

Well, you get the idea 😉

[midnight-in-town]

About Yor: she isn’t dense, but most likely indoctrinated by Garden

So I wanted to address this for a long while now, because I’ve seen one too many posts talking about Yor like she’s just an aloof assassin who doesn’t care about things outside her direct environment, which is why sometimes she says dense things. 

I’m well aware that she’s a fan favorite so people don’t mean her harm, yet I think the whole story actually hints at way more than her being dense, especially considering her background and who she still works for. 

In other words, since Yor was trained but also half raised by Garden’s leader, the Shopkeeper, it’s likely that, considering how they operate and what they’re about, they instilled in her a conditioned dependency since childhood or teenage years that would make her unable to learn things on her own without asking for their opinion, making it very hard for her to turn against them ever. 

Want a striking example? Her encounter with Melinda Desmond. 

Not only did she not know who Melinda was (but I mean, that at least could be understandable)...

...but she also didn’t know what a First Lady is. 

Sure, it’s funny on first glance, but after thinking about it, what does it betray? That Garden probably made sure over years Yor would never get the slightest basic info and understanding on what politics of this country are all about. Because if their strong soldiers start to get opinions of their own, then they could start disagreeing with Garden and turning on them. So, “let’s prohibit people having free thinking, so that they can remain good little pawns” as we “fight for peace in our country”.

In fact, for Yor, until a short time ago (when she met Loid and Anya), all she did was thought and decided for her by Garden and, to this day, she still voluntarily asks them for their agreement when she opens up her close circle little by little: she asked them if it was okay to marry Loid and then she asked them if it was okay to befriend Melinda. 

To be honest, that’s a scary ass thought process to envision, when Yor’s an independent working lady well into her 20s, but this shows how deep Garden’s indoctrination runs in Yor, since they got hold of her as a child/young teen. 

Another striking example is the way she always describes her job, in an almost childish way. Her nickname “thorn princess” aside, I always found it interesting that Yor’s aware she’s an assassin but she isn’t morally anguished at all about killing people and never mentions or distinguishes any grey area in her missions. In fact...

... it’s all in black and white and she clearly thinks that the people she kills are all evildoers (which as we saw in the recent arc with the Red Circus isn’t always the case and begs the rhetorical question “why does Garden get to decide who’s evil?”), therefore “she’s not doing anything wrong”, which also pretty much betrays how she was pushed into it. 

Long ago, Garden probably baited Yor with Yuri’s protection and told her that, since they’re “about peace”, Yor’s work would just help them to “fight against evil”. As a child, she wasn’t mentally fit to understand the deeper implications and then she was mentally conditioned to always do and think like Garden tells her to, which promotes this systematic childish description of her assassin’s job. 

Finally, please take notice of the Shopkeeper’s reaction the first time she tries to argue about her work, in the ship arc: 

Enough said, Garden’s awful. I’m sure there are more examples throughout the story, but I now want to talk about future character development. 

After all, since the story obviously calls for Yor to ditch Garden, to protect what’s actually important to her (Yuri, Loid and Anya), we actually do see her changing little by little so far, thanks to her living with Loid and Anya. Her coworkers quickly mentioned that she’s more lively ever since she got married and the ship arc overall emphasizes that her family is starting to become more important to her than her job, so there is high hope for Yor. :D

Additionally, while she’s still far away from noticing that Garden mentally drove her into a corner, she now openly voices her concerns that “she’s not normal” but that she wants to understand why in order to learn how to change. 

To be fair, fighting against indoctrination is tough and takes time so I’m very proud of her for slowly realizing that she ought to decide for herself from now on. :D 

TL;DR Yor is not dense. She was indoctrinated as a child by Garden and can only (for now) see the world through the filters they taught her. 

Ironically enough, the only character who knows about her real job and could, thus, notice that Yor isn’t being critical about Garden...... actually can’t because she’s a four year old who is too young to understand that Mama’s job is wrong. Well done, Endo-sensei!

[briefhottubcoffee]

This is yet another time Project Apple has been brought up in some capacity. The fact that Twilight is thinking about it with that expression, and Handler has mentioned it as well, leads me to believe Twilight may start investigating soon. Maybe it will be the next major arc? People seem to think so!

This is surprising to me, because there are also hints that Anya’s powers are involved in Project Apple. There’s the fact that Bond comes from their experiments and also has psychic powers. And the neighbor Sigmund being a neurologist and researcher as well as an expert in Classical Language, which Anya excels at. It’s not hard to believe that if Project Apple did animal experimentation, there may be a top secret branch that tested on humans as well. If Twilight does indeed look into their animal experiments, he may come across this.

It’s so surprising because what if he discovers Anya’s powers? I for one, want Anya’s secret to be discovered sooner rather than later. But I assumed, her mind reading powers would be the last to be revealed. If Anya tells her family she can read minds, that means she knows about her parents secret identities (as well as Yuri’s) and boom- the whole family implodes.

Specifically, if Twilight learns Anya can read minds, his entire relationship with her changes, as well as his whole identity. He’s the expert in keeping secrets and working things out in his mind- she can read it all. His job is literally top secret and his missions dangerous and classified- she knows it all. He will probably question himself and the consequences of involving Anya in his mission, absolutely every interaction with her will change. He will really have to confront his feelings for her, which he’s not ready to do. While we are certain Twilight loves his daughter, that discovery will be difficult for him because he’s only been able to justify his feelings as “for the mission.”

So it would seem that if Anya’s secrets are revealed- then everyone else’s is- that would implode the Forger family dynamic as we know it. But what if Twilight decides the best thing to do is to keep her secret? This would be a way for Twilight to continue to avoid his feelings and frame it as “for the mission.” If he loves Anya and is unable to let her go, he might want to stay in the land of make-believe and delusion, he might not want her secret to come out, because that’s the only way he can keep her. Would he lie to Wise and his Handler for her? That could lead to some serious consequences. But if he tells them, he might be forced to give her up. Or they might want to involve Anya more (kind of like a secret weapon for Wise) which would put her in danger. I don’t think he could handle either possibility. What about Yor, would he and Anya continue to leave her in the dark? That would be devastating, because when she does find out, she will learn her husband and daughter kept everything from her, including the identity of her own brother. She will literally be the last to know it all. But if they involve her, her identity as Thorn Princess would come out as well. Either option regarding Anya’s secret, telling everyone or keeping it hidden, will have major repercussions in the story.

I dunno. It seems we’re not done with Project Apple and their experiments. I’ve been pondering the idea of Anya’s powers coming out, I mean she’s already told Damian of all people. I’ve been harping for months now on the Forger family heading towards an inner conflict and change, and this could possibly be the biggest conflict of them all. Things would indeed change between the Forgers, and I imagine it will be painful before it gets easier.

[professoruber]

Spy x Family Mission 74 Spoilers

Sharon’s (Yor’s co-worker) had a mini storyline going on in the background throughout the manga.

First in Mission 2 where she revealed her eldest is applying to Eden:

Then in Mission 4 where she shows up in the background amongst the various people coming to Eden for interviews:

Mission 24 shows she and her husband are well-off enough to hire a maid for cooking, and so would be presumably able to manage sending their kid to Eden:

And now in the latest chapter, Mission 74, it has been confirmed her kid did indeed make it into Eden:

It’s a fairly minor detail and one which has been build up mostly in the background until now. I do find it kind of interesting that the fact Yor’s co-worker has a kid who also goes to same school as Anya hasn’t been brought up before but I guess it does make some sense. Yor is not exactly close to any of her co-workers and so Sharon would have no reason to encourage her kid to seek out Anya. And since this also shows they’re in different class they likely just never crossed paths.

I still do find it kind of an interesting detail to throw in though. Especially since so far the only consequence of it is that Yor called Sharon about the field trip. Although it might also just be for flavour and also to further show Eden Academy is such a large and well-sought after school.

Still, could also definitely be interesting if this connection was explored. Yor did get a chapter binding with Camilla with learning to cook so could be nice if she got a bit of bonding in with another.

Also, since the hijacking is getting reported on the news Sharon will likely hear about it. And probably be pretty concerned herself since even if her kid wasn’t taken hostage, the fact others from the same school were would be alarming. And she would likely also be aware Yor’s step-daughter was among those taken hostage, so I do it’d of wonder if she’ll be shown bringing that up. Especially since she has specifically already appeared in this arc.

just some thoughts. I do think it’s neat to see these little details from early on get brought back up again.

[loosescrewslefty]

Been endlessly fascinated for a while now with a few scenes in Spy x Family which seem to hint at the fact that along with her Telepathy, Anya shows signs of having Empathy powers too. They don't happen often, but there are a number of times when Anya is shown to have a reaction to someone else experiencing intense emotions near her, which usually confuses, overwhelms, and frightens Anya.

One of the earliest examples of this we see is the apology between Damian and Anya, where Anya is shown reacting when Damian is struggling to bottle up his emerging emotions towards her;

It's not Damian's thoughts that Anya's responding to here. It's his emotional state. It's pretty clear Anya has no idea what the hell is going on or what these emotions are since she is FIVE YEARS OLD and spent four of those five years isolated and studied in a lab and thus not interacting with other people beyond being a test subject, but she seems to sense Damian's feelings. This is a pretty big deal because while they are somewhat connected, thoughts and feelings are NOT the same. Thus Telepathy- the power to read minds- is not technically the same as Empathy- the power to sense another person's emotional state.

I don't think Anya's Empathy power is quite as strong or as clear cut as her Telepathy, though. Near as I can tell, she only seems to really get echos of especially intense emotions instead being able to get a read on people's emotional states any time she wants to like she does with their thoughts. I also don't think that she is fully aware that she has this ability, since she always seems confused when it does happen. We actually see this more clearly in the scene where she saved Ken from drowning in the hospital pool.

When Ken falls in the water, he isn't thinking anything at the time. He's in a state of fear and shock too overwhelming TO think, and Anya picks up on that from quite a distance away and freezes on the spot to look around to see where it is coming from, once again sensing the intense emotional state rather than hearing the thoughts formed in his head.

When Ken DOES finally start thinking, that's what gives Anya the information she needs to help him, but this only comes after his shock wears off and he begins to realize he is completely helpless.

Being a child, Anya probably doesn't realize that thought and emotion are two different beasts, and that the fact that she is capable of sensing emotional states like this. The lab she grew up in seems like a cold, impassive environment where the scientists were all extremely detached from her, so this part of Anya's power was likely never known to them, and thus never explained to her the way her telepathy was. And I personally find this incredibly exciting, since it means there is potential for growth with Anya's powers.

Anya is extremely young. Her brain isn't anywhere near fully developed yet. It's entirely possible that as she gets older, her powers will continue to grow and develop as her brain does and she will be able to do more things she hadn't previously been able to before, and I find that possibility incredibly exciting.

[whateversawesome]

Theory about Yor Leaving the Forgers

Yor says that, as long as she's there, Anya doesn't need to be afraid because she will always protect her.

Since this has been mentioned several times by Yor, Anya, and even Twilight, this makes me think that at some point Yor won't be there to protect Anya and that's probably how the people from Project Apple may get her.

We all know Yor loves Anya (she's her baby!) and that she would never abandon her unless there was a big reason to do it. So what are some possible reasons for Yor to leave the Forgers?

She discovers Loid is a spy from the West and in order not to turn him in, she decides to disappear.

Shopkeeper orders her to kill Twilight, Yor discovers who Twilight is and cannot kill him. (Wait a second, this sounds a lot like Love Is... 😆)

Yor could leave because she doesn't know how to deal about her feelings for Loid (this theory is by @gijipaw)

Twilight discovers she's an assassin and asks her to leave so she doesn't risk Operation Strix.

Yor gets seriously hurt while "tending" a client and is forced to leave the Forgers by the Garden, to preserve her cover.

That last one seems the most logical since it was mentioned by McMahon during the cruise arc. Extra angst if she gets hurt during a confrontation with Twilight! Extra, extra angst if they are already aware of their feelings and that's the reason why she gets hurt.

I know there's also the possibility of faking her death due to an injury, but I don't think it'll go that way.

The question is: What will Twilight do if/when Yor leaves?

My guess is that he would probably try to pretend Operation Strix has priority, but inside he would be going crazy. Think about it; it's been about 4-6 months since they married and he already relies on her a lot not only for Anya's care and protection, but also for his own comfort and peace of mind. What would happen if that suddenly was taken away?

Sure, Agent Twilight likes to play it cool and pretends he doesn't care about his family but let's see what happens when he finds himself without his wife and daughter 🧐It probably won't go well for him.

[midnight-in-town]

About Melinda’s ambivalence

Gotta say that SxF ch75 was quite a ride. Personally, I expected Damian not to have any parent coming to check on him after the hijacking but what we got instead was...

...actually so much worse. :/

Thanks to Anya’s abilities, we found out that Melinda does care about her son’s safety... but from the moment Damian mentioned not wanting to disappoint worry his father, her behavior and thoughts completely changed and she became cold, torn between being relieved and thoroughly despising her 6 year old son, to the point of wishing he had died during the hijacking (seriously, poor Damian). 

I remember, back when we met her, that some fans proposed the idea that she hates her life and her children, because she was forced into a wedding with Donovan. I think this chapter partially answers to that, but maybe more in the way that she’s torn about Damian because she most definitely hates her husband.

I wonder, considering that the Ostanian society is rather patriarchal, if Melinda, as Donovan’s wife who doesn’t get along with him, was forbidden from raising her sons the way she wanted, because Donovan wanted them raised differently and she could only comply, which is why she immediately switches from loving thoughts to wishing Damian was dead once he mentions “not wanting to worry his father”. 

It definitely seems there is some sort of power play full of hatred between Donovan and Melinda, so if Melinda was mostly deprived of her motherly role because her husband chose to raise their boys according to his own conformist vision to patriarchy, then that explains the morbid ambivalence that she showed about Damian. Interestingly, if she and Yor really become friends, then they could mutually learn from each other (for Yor, to realize that she’s her own person and for Melinda that she can love her kids independently from whatever asshole their father is and still try to educate them).

Somehow, this makes the newly expressed friendship between Damian and Anya a much sweeter moment in the chapter, especially since Anya heard Melinda’s horrible thoughts.

It’s really sad though that a few kids are the only people Damian can count on for true comfort...

TL;DR Melinda’s half hateful thoughts about Damian probably come from hating her husband. The reason why is still unclear (is she mentally or physically abused? was she just pushed away from raising her sons because she’s a woman?) and since she most likely can’t get divorced or get therapy, this is how it gets expressed... 

Can’t wait to see Anya hearing Donovan’s thoughts now.

EDIT: discussing with @linkspooky​, she pointed out that Melinda is probably battered by Donovan, which is why she’s inwardly conflicted about her feelings for her child and also why she and Damian basically made the promise not to tell Donovan about crying (Damian) and coming to see if her son was okay (Melinda), despite both being incredibly normal things. Either way, this chapter is bad news for Donovan.

[tare-anime]

When I saw these two panels the first time, I nearly got heart attack. Because I seriously thought that Demitrius can sense if someone (Anya) is trying to read his mind.

I've seen several theories roaming around, and it looks like several fans also has the same idea.

Especially since I've just read the sxf Light Novel: Family Portrait

Idk how far can we include info from other sxf media (such as anime original or this novel) as canon, but this information really intrigued me.

We've seen several people starts questioning whether Anya can read minds. But Anya always managed to steer the thoughts away (she's so smart!)

But these people aren't Loid who always suspects anything.

But if Anya's power does make her target feel anything, this could be dangerous.

And if it does true that Donovan developed a counter technique, in form of his way of thinking that being taught to Demitrius, then people in sxf world believe that it is possible to read minds.

Also, it means Ostania has tried to create people who can read minds, which means Anya's secret organization could be Ostanian origin.

Or. Ostania has heard about such research which means other country has tried to do such research. Westalis? Or another third country?

Just my 2cents.