#mr green sxf

[micia-posts-stuff]

Some ramblings about chapter 113 of Spy x Family

I know I'm one week too late and all of this stuff has probably already been said by other people, but I have been too busy and tired to write down my thoughts earlier and I still wanted to do it, so here they are anyway :D

Spoilers under the cut

This will never not be funny part 1

This will never not be funny part 2

All jokes aside, I love how Endo uses manga as a medium for visual gags. Having Damian fight the sfx of his feelings and changing style for dramatic shoujo scenes, it seems like he's having a lot of fun coming up with these. Also Damian seems to be an expert when it comes to breaking the fourth wall ahah. Franky may be the one interacting with the readers outside of the story, but within the story itself, Damian's tsundere tendencies are too strong even for the fabric of their reality ahahah.

Also Becky being an absolute menace as usual, we love her for that. She's having way too much fun messing with Damian, who needs Berlint in Love when you can watch those two interact every day?

First of all "If you got problems, talk to us!" They are such good friends to him, I'm so glad! I'm so glad for every person Damian has on his side! He needs all the support system he can get. They are so precious!!!

Second, no it's not about language studies, if fact, that is a rare occasion for him to interact with Anya ahah.

Third, him clenching his heart in agony and literally fighting demons in his sleep, it's so cute, his crush is the cutest thing in the world I can't-

And lastly HE REALLY WENT FOR THE "IT'S NOT FOR ME, IT'S FOR A FRIEND OF MINE" EXCUSE. It's too funny T.T

AND OF COURSE THEY BELIEVED HIM T.T

These two I swear!

They know they are Damian's only friends, but no, he can't be lying! So instead of questioning him they assume there must be someone else! Comedy gold T.T

And it works because they are kids! I love how every miscommunication trope becomes more realistic and less annoying because they are kids and so it makes sense.

This whole chapter was a big win for Mr. Green, absolute MVP. Great advice for the characters and the readers. This chapter really resembled one of those kids cartoons ment to teach how to deal with different aspects of life, it was very nice.

I hope we get to see him more often, every time we see his mentoring skills they're an absolute treat!

Oh my heart!!! "You guys are my only true friends" T.T and their happy faces all sparky T.T

These three and their friendship are so precious to me!!! I really want to see a little chapter about how they met and how Ewen and Emile have come to respect Damian so much.

I really like how Damian tells them they're his friends here. Their dynamic was a bit stereotypical of the bully with his goons at the beginning, but I'm soooo happy that after that Endo has been constantly showing that no, actually, they really are friends. Tbh sometimes this friendship was a bit missing from Damian's side (Ewen and Emile jumping in the river for Damian and Emile not running away from the terrorist because Damian had "a bomb" on his neck, whereas Damian wanted to ask Ewen for his handkerchief to avoid getting a tonitrus < although this was also because of the panic about his father, but still) so for a long time I wanted to see him showing his affection for them somehow and in this chapter we finally got just that! For someone that has such a hard time dealing with his feelings, telling them "You guys are my only true friends" I'm sure means a lot. And you can see he's a bit embarrassed saying it, but he does it anyway because they're important to him!

First of all, very cool design for the Paradise Fist and Damian's dream sequences in general, but also veeery interesting lore drop about Donovan (dropping important lore like that in the middle of a silly chapter, classic Endo).

So Donovan was most likely in power when the war ended and that's probably where the idea that he stopped the war came from, at least from Damian's perspective. We know that Donovan is (likely) trying to start a new war, so it's very interesting that Damian considers him a man of peace. Is this his personal belief because he puts him on a pedestal or is it somewhat of a common idea amongst citizens? Did Donovan contribute to the birth of this image of himself or was it just a natural consequence? Does he want to be seen as a man of peace? Why did he even stop the war? A lot of interesting questions.

Regardless, I think this is also very important for Damian' character, that he admires his father because he thinks he stopped a war. First of all now it makes even more sense why he looks up to him so much. I mean it already made sense, but if we add the fact that, in Damian's pov, his father is responsible for the current peace, it's obvious that he'll keep admiring him, regardless of how cold he may be. Second it is very important to establish Damian's morals. Ever since he talked about his father during the war, in the bus hijacking arc, I wanted to know what he actually knew about his father's role in the previous conflict, if he aligned with his views and if he was indoctrinated somehow. But if he's convinced that his father stopped a war and he admires him for that, then it shows Damian is actually a pacifist, which will also make it all the more tragic when he'll eventually discover what Donovan is currently plotting.

Also it's interesting how Damian even ended up with these morals. Is Jeeves teaching him that? Does he do it following Donovan's orders or does he go against him? Or maybe it's just Damian's own personal values, it's not that weird that he naturally came to appreciate peace, I guess I just find it kinda weird that he wasn't taught the opposite. It's s very interesting.

Anyway, moving on

Yeah I think you really broke him Becky, he was fighting a Buzz demon in his sleep! The poor boy can't take any more! (The fiscal manifestation of the Paradise Fist is adorable!!!)

I love love loooove this part. The truth is that both Anya and Damian are geeky kids that have a lot of interests in common and they would have so much fun playing pretend together, if one of them wasn't so mean 👀

Anya likes the real Damian, the kid that likes action stories and has a big imagination. I really like that, because it shows she is not after him just because of Strix, it's obviously just his attitude that is throwing her off and that she actually appreciates his true self. I hope he'll start to realise that and embrace it. Like look at him! All the happy sparkles, he's so glad to have her attention. And the buzz going away. C'mon Damian don't you want to feel like this more often? Just a happy silly kid!

Also side note, he made the same face he made when he said Ewen and Emile were his only true friends! Adorable!

It seems like Damian has acknowledged and accepted his feelings of jealousy and that means that he has or he will acknowledge and accept the reason why they're there, the progression may be slow but it's definitely there and I really like how it's done.

Perfect way to end this chapter ahah, not only because it's funny, but also because it showcases yet another type of jealousy/envy. Showing that jealousy can come from different sources like friendships, crushes and parenting/mentoring and that both kids and adults are subject to it, once again helps with the message of the chapter about embracing these feelings and making peace with them.

All in all I loved this chapter. We finally explored Damian's feeling of jealousy, learned some interesting stuff and it had a very good moral message. Although I'm very biased because Eden chapters are always my favourites eheh. If Eden chapters have a million fans, then I am one of them. If Eden chapters have ten fans, then I am one of them. If Eden chapters have only one fan, that's me. If Eden chapters have no fans, then I'm dead.

(Btw I'm going to add 3 more pictures in a reblog of this post, because I reached the image limit. I don't have too much too say about them, but I really liked them and I wanted to highlight them. So you can't check them out in the notes of this post if you want.)

[crunchcrunchteacakes]

The Power of the Mind: Speculating Yor’s Super Strength

This is going to be long post on how I think Yor’s strength works after reading the events of Chapter 85.

In the fandom the topic of Yor’s strength is a common topic with with two main conclusions. Yor’s is a test subject of Ostania’s super-soldier experiment projects or her strength is exaggerated for the sake of comic relief or an Anime trope. I attribute Yor’s Skills to her assassin training that began at a young age which become ingrained in the form off Muscle memory. It is developed through repetitive practice of specific skills or movements over time. When a skill is practiced repeatedly, the brain creates neural pathways that strengthen the connections between the brain and the relevant muscle groups, making the movements more efficient and precise. But know I think it is more, efficiency and precision is one thing but elevated amount of strength and speed is another.  Yor’s powers seem far-fetched in reality, After Chapter 85 I wanted to explore a speculative concept that suggests a connection between mindfulness meditation and the potential manifestation of super strength.

The reason I never associated Yor’s with any human experimentation was because super-soldiers are not in style with Ostania’s Human experimentation which focus on creating higher-intelligence subjects. Project Apple and Anya’s secret organization both produced subjects that are associated with neurology resulting in psychic super powers of precognition and telepathy, Super speed, endurance and strength just don't fit in their. Besides Ostania can always employ Blackbell industries to make mechanical suits armors that would achieve the same results. (Chapter 25).  

Anya, Bond and Yor’s power which I earlier separated on the basis of mind-body are not so distinct after all, the below panel provides a unique connection between checks on mental inhibitors and the manifestation of super strength in individuals.

The technical term for Yor’s strength is Hysterical Strength : In real-world scenarios, cases of "hysterical strength" have been reported where individuals have displayed astonishing feats of physical strength during life-threatening situations. It is believed that adrenaline release and the "fight or flight" response may temporarily override mental inhibitors, enabling individuals to access greater strength. It is also reported to be present during situations of altered states of consciousness. (Source)

An altered state of consciousness (ASC) refers to any mental state that differs significantly from a person's usual waking awareness. In these states, the individual's thoughts, perceptions, emotions, and sense of self may be altered or modified, leading to a different experience of reality. Altered states of consciousness can be induced by various factors, including meditation, Yoga, spacing out (Source). The practice disengaging yourself convoluted emotions of mind by not denying or burring them but to simply step and and observe them from a different perspective in mindfulness to foster inner peace and self awareness. This concept was first introduced to us by Mr. Green in Chapter 39.

(Mr. Green is definitely a member of Garden, but that is an topic for another day)

Yor is spaced out all the time, it’s like her personality trait, what we call ditzy and brain empty no thoughts, forgetful is literally her way of channeling her super strength. She is disengaged from her conscious mind. In this speculative narrative, she might temporarily enter altered states of consciousness where mental inhibitors are temporarily suspended or tweaked to channel her strength in any way she wants.. 

This means that Yor is in autopilot most of the time and her brain is at wakeful rest. No wonder her character was inspired by Little Briar Rose, a.k.a the Sleeping Beauty. This autopilot mode also made her seem more robot like to her colleagues who often say terms like “come back to earth Yor”. The autopilot mode also is an result of her training that has developed her muscle memory mentioned before, thus she has excellent mind-body coordination. We see her in the state of deep contemplation mostly when she is alone or outside the Forger family, Anya and Loid bring out Yor from this trance back to reality as seen in the clip below.

Honestly Thorn Princesses blank glazed eye feature should be every bit as popular as Twilights Sharp focused one.

This kind of contemplative state can be achieved by Yoga, and I am talking about the philosophy of Yoga that is part of the Indian and Buddhist cultures, not the western version of exercise. In yoga philosophy, it is believed that energy, or prana, flows through the body. When this energy is blocked or stagnant, it can lead to physical and mental discomfort. Yoga practices, including asanas and breathwork, aim to unblock and balance the flow of prana, promoting vitality and clarity of mind. The existence of inner energy reserves (e.g., prana, chi) that, when harnessed through meditation, can lead to enhanced physical abilities. Yeah Yor wasn’t lying here when she said she learned it through Yoga.

Fiona trained her body not her mind, we see her break her mental barriers but she achieved this because of hysteria a state of great emotional distress and not something that she could just tap into, thus it cost her 3 out of 4 limbs. Yor does it through mindfulness, it encourages observing thoughts and emotions as they arise without attaching judgments or becoming entangled in them. So even though she is enraged and distressed when harm comes to Anya she does not become entangled in her emotions and maintains control over her strength by not overtly harming herself or others. Emotions come and go they are part of what makes us human. What's important is not to give into them but to channel them into positive actions. And at the end this is what Wheeler and Fiona are unable to do. He lacks any emotions this can never attain true strength and she doesn’t reign in her emotions thus making herself vulnerable.

I will follow up on the nature Garden it’s relationship with Ostania and government in another post, but for this is how I think Yor’s powers work.

TL;DR: Yor strength is connected to neuroscience of mindfulness, her extraordinary strength results from her extreme control of her consciousness which she can tap into to tweak the mental blocks.

[savvyprodigy2612]

spy x family season 2 episode 2: bond's strategy to stay alive / damian's field research trip

[the-chikyuu-times]

[spyxfamilysmol]

[yaoibriar]

Can you draw Mr. Green(the Eden staff member that took Damian and Friends camping)? He deserves some love.

(6/6) six fanarts is done now! :]

[yumeka-sxf]

While I don't have a lot to say about the new chapter, I did want to point out why Damian is using his left hand for his "paradise fist." In the Japanese version, when Mr. Green is giving advice to Emile and Ewen, he actually use the English word "paradigm shift" (written in katakana to indicate it's a foreign word).

But when Ewen and Emile convey the advice to Damian, they mispronounce it as "paradise left". Endo provides kanji for this word to indicate what it's supposed to mean, 楽園の左手 ("rakuen no hidari te"), which translates as "paradise left hand."

I believe it's common in shonen manga for characters with powerful, named attacks to have them written like this - with kanji and furigana, even though they're using foreign words. There's been examples in SxF as well, like the below panel of Anya using her "raising hope" attack to throw Yor's weapon 😅

In the case of this chapter, it indicates that the boys are interpreting "paradise left" as some sort of ultimate attack. Hence why Damian creates battle gear for his left arm.

Besides this, I loved the return of Damian's "Anya shojo" filter 😂 Becky and the new boys even got to be part of it!

And of course, Anya's total shift in mood, from being totally bored with all the attention to "waku waku" after seeing Damian's new weapon. It's so her.

I don't find Emile and Ewen all that interesting, so most of this chapter was kinda "meh" to me. But I did like the advice that Mr. Green gave them - I feel like it's something that will be relevant to other characters down the line! Oh, and this panel made me snicker a bit.

For this chapter's extra illustration, Endo drew "hero boy Damian" (sans his paradise fist...oh well 😆)

This chapter ended similarly to the last one, where it's hard to tell if this arc will continue or not. I'm hoping we'll move away from Eden for a while and focus on the other characters. I know the more drama/spy-focused chapters are harder for Endo to write, so I'm glad he takes his time with those, but it does feel like it's been a while 😅

[wondrousmay]

*SxF ch113 manga spoilers*

Not only did this chapter touched upon Ewen and Emile’s friendship with Damian, it also explored the feelings of jealousy. I love Mr. Green’s advice on how to deal with jealousy: don’t deny that it’s there but to acknowledge the feeling. It’s a very helpful advice that everyone can use.

[clariedaya]

Sxf chapter 113 spoilers: part 3

His explanation reminded me of an episode of the series Bluey where we have a character going through a bad mood and instead of fighting against the feeling, she embraces and accepts it.

Returning to the chapter, the boys explain what the teacher told them, Damian understands how he should act with that feeling and also breaks the doubt that hovered in the minds of the two boys, saying that they are his best and only friends.

Damian dreams again, but this time he's going to accept that feeling of jealousy instead of fighting it. Returning to school, Anya sees Damian with a replica of her (paradise left) and gets very excited about it.

In the last parts, Mr. Green tells Henry that the two boys in the class asked him about how to deal with those feelings. Henry is shocked and immediately becomes jealous.

The chapter brought a great insight into not ignoring or fighting the feelings we feel, we can learn, accept them and live with them, because these emotions, whether happy or sad, are part of all of us and shape who we really are.

[tare-anime]

SxF Mission 113

(Beware of spoilers)

Ooooh! I didn't expect to see Endo made a continuation of previous chapter's story.

The theme "Jealousy" is very strong here. Lol

Damian is an obvious choice.

But the E boys , and even Mr. Henderson??? 🤣🤣🤣

What's this? Could it be Endo is preparing for Jealous Loid arc???

And to make that happen, Yor has to be close to other man. Another Garden member/ mentor?

Will we finally got our Garden lore??? Is Mr. Green part of Garden????

Oh please Endo!!! 😭😭😭 I'm begging you!

Anyway, Mr. Green gives wonderful advice

Acknowleding the feeling is the first step in controling it. Something our blond spy needs to slowly re-learning. 🤭🤭🤭

One particular details

So Damian believes his father is the one who stopped the war.

Yes, children will always see their parents as hero, but, this??

Hmm.... we need to wait and see.

[catiandchocolate]

Thoughts on Spy X family Chapter 113

Finally read chapter 113 of sxf and excuse me?? IM DYING FROM WHOLESOMENESS.

First of all, let me yell this for all the haters to hear: EDEN CHAPTERS ARE THE BEST. They’re so wholesome, and come on how can your heart not melt for these adorable innocence little kids. And I love how Endo writes them SO realistically. For example Anya repeats what Loid told her about lies because that’s how kids are. They learn from their elders.

I love the friendships so much. At first, the friendship between Emile, Ewen, and Damian seemed so one sided to me. But as we spent more time with them, I came to realize just how much Damian truly cares for them, just like they care for him. And in the new chapter when Damian said they were his only two friends??

And for the people that say the plot is “dragging,” it’s a slice of life. And even then, these light chapters have meaning to them. Like how Mr Green gave advice to the boys. It was so genuine and nice like how could you NOT like that? Plus…CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Compare Anya and Damian’s relationship from the earliest chapters to the recent one. Sure Anya still seems oblivious, and Damian still seems to be shoving the feelings away but that’s like really normal for 6 year olds (and mind you, Anya is like 4 or 5.) Yet we see moments where Anya is genuine towards him or thinks nicely of him (like how she immediately ditched the two boys who were boring her out to check Damian’s paradise fist.)

And I love how this chapter focused on jealousy so well. It starts off with Damian being jealous, but as the chapter progresses, we see how normal jealousy is. Emile and Ewen find themselves feeling jealous of Damian’s mysterious “friend.” And of course the ending, where we find the headmaster feeling jealous of Mr Green is pure gold LOL.

Anyways I know I don’t post about spy X family here, but I just loved this chapter (and every other Eden academy chapters <3) so I had to share my thoughts. I might write more of these in the future <3

PS: it’s fine if you hate Eden chapters lol I respect opinions. BUT LOOK AT THESE CUTIES AND- sorry.

[sophiamarieispinkbunny-chan]

SXF Novelization Fave Parts and some Analysis because I love Analyzing (Overthinking) Mission 1

I finally got my Spy x Family Family Portrait Novel and immediately finished reading it in one day, so without further ado, here are my fave parts, lines, dialogues from the first mission which is centered around Anya and Damian and this chapter just gives me diabetes 😭 (I've been shipping Damianya, yes but all this time it was like an innocent ship and it's not like making me feel butterflies since of course they're just children, but here in the novel, I actually got butterflies in my stomach, they're just so cute and precious here ❤️)

MISSION 1- THE EDEN ACADEMY NATURE CAMPING

-Yor thinking she needs to teach Anya a lot of survival things about camping because she's worried if she can handle the woods (Yor is such a great mom, worrying for Anya's safety always and I think this just shows her experience regarding the wilderness revealing that her hometown might've been near the woods and she did experiencing hunting for food when she was young)

-Loid hoping that the trip could bring Anya and Damian closer (Be careful what you wish you for Loid 😂)

"Wonderful! That's my girl. You can do it, Anya," Loid said.

I just love it when Loid calls Anya his girl, for she will always and forever be his little girl.

-Loid and Yor sort of having a gentle argument on who should get Bond's milk 😂

Loid: I'll get you some milk Bond

Yor: No, let me do that for you.

Loid: No, I can do it, just sit there and relax

Yor: You're the one who should relax

They ended up getting the milk together. These two idiots. 😭❤️

They remind of that, you hang up first, no you hang up first couple exchanges when they're on the phone. These two are so good in this married couple thing without even trying.

And then stabbed me in angst in the next paragraph.

Ever since escaping from the facility, Anya had bounce between orphanages and foster homes. But now she'd finally found someplace worth treasuring, and if she could bring about world peace, then they'd all be able to keep happily living here together.

She clearly doesn't know about Twilight's plan to leave them after achieving his mission. I wonder how she would react to that. I've written a fanfic about it so if you can check it out if you're interested😊. Sorry for the shameless fic plug.

But I hope that after the success of Strix, Loid would stay with them. Could he really leave them? Can he really do that? He can't even let Anya go during the first week they've been together and he has the choice to just ditch her, choose another child and it was the practical and safe thing for a spy for him to do when Edgar knew about his location. But he saved her and took her in despite his reservations about endangering her and all. Now could he let this little girl go after all this time?

-Anya reading Damian's mind and seeing his thoughts about him drowning when he, Emile and Ewen went camping with Mr. Green, made fun of him and even acted out his lines when he thought that he was really drowning in that shallow lake (She loves trolling Damian that she forgot that doing that could give her off as a telepath😂)

"Lovey-dovey couples are nice, but there's something extra special about bickering, will-they-won't-they romances."

I gotta agree with Becky on this one. Bickering makes any romance stories a thousand times more investing and entertaining to read. That's why academic rivals to lovers is an s-tier trope for me.

-Becky partnering Anya with Damian to fetch some water. Becky is also a fan of forced proximity trope, I see.

-Anya's telepathy elicited a sensation on Damian and it said that it wasn't the first time. I really bet that Damian would be the first to know about Anya's mind ability.

-Anya being confused about her left and right hand 😂 (I mean kids her age really do get confused about that, I don't blame her)

-Damian being gentle in his way of speaking whenever he sees Anya distressed or in tears. I'll never get tired of Damian being soft to Anya, he's really a sweet kid.

"Hey, keep it together!" commanded Damian as Anya started to sob again. He grabbed her arm and squeezed it tightly, pulling her close to speak in her ear (because the rain is loud). "I saw a small cave a ways back. Let's head there."

I don't know why but this scene, because of the way it was written, gave me butterflies.

-Anya calling for her Papa to save her when she was so scared. Loid said that Yor was the one that makes Anya feels safe, but she wasn't the only one whom Anya considers to be her safe place. He was also his baby's safe place and she trusts that Papa will always be there to save her.

-My favorite moment: Damian holding her hand and comforting her so she won't be scared, even though he, himself, is terrified too. Ugh, if that wasn't love, I don't what is. And when Anya gripped his hand back to comfort him too, he stopped shaking and Anya thought that his hand was warm. Awww, so preciouss❤️😭

-Anya letting herself to get the blame and willing to be punished but Damian not letting Anya to get the blame for them being lost in the forest. These two are like mini Yor and Loid haha, just young, energetic and extroverted versions of the two 🤣

-Anya being ashamed to face her Papa, because she thought her Operation to get close to Damian failed (since after that incident Damian went back to his mean self again but of course she didn't know Damian's crush on her just get massively deeper after that) but Loid wasn't even worried about that at all, nor did her ask her about Damian when she came home. When he had noticed she was sad, he immediately asked if she didn't have fun at their camping event. And when Anya said that she did, he smiled and said that he was glad that she did, because it's his daughter's happiness that's important to him (Because if she's happy then it would be good for my mission, I can imagine Loid telling this to himself when he just genuinely wanted her to be happy and enjoy her time at school since he never had the chance to do that as a kid)

-Yor and Loid preparing food together for Anya's return. Loid telling Anya that the food was safe to consume when she saw her face that is prepared to face death because he helped Yor to prepare. It was peak father-daughter moment 😂 But he let Yor cooked her specialty dish Southern Stew all by herself since she's the one who can make it the best ❤️

I wonder if Anya told him about her and Damian getting lost in the forest and Damian held her hand to comfort her. I wanna see Loid's reaction to that 😂

So that's it for Mission 1. Up next would be the chapter that got me laughing the most, Mission 2, Yuri babysitting Anya

[delirious-donna]

Mr Green in sxf… 😳 uhm.

[wonderwoman6199]

This makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Spy x Family LN Translation: Anya's Nature Class (Part 4)

Last part of the camping trip! Translated from the Viet TL by Thanh & Yanbaka: Source Link + credit

<< Part 3

"This is so…annoying."

"I'm hungry. Anya wants to eat rice."

"Don't even say anything, you dolt. The more you talk, the hungrier you'll get."

"Becky's probably worried."

"Yeah. Your friend's probably crying her eyes out right now."

"The teacher's probably going to yell at us."

"Uh-huh… We'll probably get a Tonitrus bolt."

Sitting in the dimly lit cave, with the storm raging on, the two of them are talking to try and forget how scared they are. Even though both are soaked from the rain, strangely, they feel a sensation of warmth. The warmth from their handholding allowed for Anya's tears to dry up.

"Desmond!! Forger!!"

At last, the rain and storm subsided. The two of them stepped out of the cave as Mr. Green and Mr. Henderson ran over.

"Good heavens, are the both of you all right?"

While Mr. Green waved his arm and stepped closer with a smile, Mr. Henderson's expression was one similar to an angry lion.

"Desmond, Forger! How dare you children decide to wander about on your own? Do you understand that the rest of the housemasters are searching for you as we speak?"

He relentlessly continued:

"The storms that happen on these mountains are extremely dangerous. If it weren't for Mr. Green's searching capabilities, I dare not imagine what could have happened!"

With a smile, Mr. Green chimed in:

"I was a part of the Navy. When I was serving in the special forces, I gained some experience following people's trails. But finding you two today was down to a miracle - the rain had washed away your tracks. You kids have your luck to thank."

Mr. Henderson, agreeing with the astute words of his younger colleague, raised his voice:

"Indeed, the fault too lies with our carelessness. No matter how easy these paths seem to be explored, you must have a teacher supervise you. For that, I am gravely apologetic. For now, quickly turn back to the camp and dry yourselves. I will think of your punishments later."

"Teacher…"

Anya grasped onto her teacher's shirt.

"What is it, Miss Forger?"

"Sorry… Anya didn't bring along a map. Anya lead us the wrong way and that's why this happened…"

Anya said meekly, and lowered her head.

"Don't take all the blame, stubby legs."

Damian, who stood by Anya's side, blurted out.

"I'm the one who affirmed her directions, so I'll take full responsibility."

The boy lowered his head in front of Mr. Henderson and Mr. Green:

"I'm sincerely sorry for everything."

"Sy-on boy…"

As Anya looked at Damian doe-eyed, Damian abruptly turned away:

"Hmph! It's just that I don't want to tarnish the Desmond family honor."

Damian mumbled away as his whole face turned red once more.

"How will you punish them, Mr. Henderson?"

Mr. Henderson stood in silence for a moment, before his eyes beamed suddenly:

"The two children will be required to help us prepare for tonight's astrological activities. This will be their punishment. But firstly, let them head back to camp, take a bath, and warm up."

Although the professor delivered his words in a most elegant manner, his inner thoughts were loud, piercing through Anya's mind like needles.

"NOT ONLY DID THEY CAUSE TROUBLE FOR THEIR GROUPMATES, THEY CARELESSLY PLACED THEMSELVES IN THE FACE OF DANGER. THESE REASONS ALONE SHOULD GIVE WAY FOR A MORE SEVERE PUNISHMENT. BUT THE WAY IN WHICH THESE TWO CHILDREN PROTECTED EACH OTHER WAS MOST ELEGANT - DESMOND AND FORGER!"

Although being strict is important, there are times where sensitivity should be taken into consideration, for the children's sake.

Anya anxiously spoke:

"Umm… about… the Tonitrus bolt…"

"In assessing this situation, the earlier punishment is sufficient. It will not be necessary to hand out a Tonitrus bolt."

Yay. No Tonitrus bolts!

Anya sighed in relief, smiling brightly as she glanced at Damian. Damian looked back at her, relief inscribed on his face, but quickly reverted to his prior expression:

"Hey, what are you smiling at! It's all your fault I gotta do extra work tonight, you curse-bringer."

Things went back to normal in that moment, and Damian's insufferability quickly made any good impressions Anya had of him disappear.

"In the end, you're still the worst."

"Hey, what do you mean?"

"Anya's 'gratefulitude' for you is gone."

"Like I need that!! Stubby-legged loser!"

"Goodness grief."

"Now now, stop it. Will you two be quarreling until midnight?!"

Mr. Green cut in, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Everyone has been worried about you, and they haven't eaten at all. You must come back quickly so they can rest assured."

Seeing the remorseful looks of the two children, Mr. Green grinned, and looked up at the sky, saying:

"Look, you two. This is a gift from the storm that just passed."

"?"

"Woaaaaaah."

Anya and Damian looked up, their eyes sparkling from amazement.

The grey clouds had cleared up, giving way to the bluest skies ever. A big rainbow shined in the sky - it was the most beautiful they've ever seen.

-----

Anya stepped off the bus, pacing back and forth in front of her house, afraid to enter.

The "Best Friends" mission is done for.

While the girl walked in circles looking troubled,

"Woof!"

A familiar sound, and a massive, white round fluffy figure jumped to greet her.

"Whooa, Bond!"

"Woof!"

As Anya called the dog's name, Bond looked super happy, excitedly welcoming Anya back home by licking her all over.

"Anya, is that you? Will you not be coming in?"

Loid ran after Bond, then spotted his daughter. It turns out, upon sniffing Anya's scent, Bond ran away from his walk and followed her trail.

"Welcome home. The camping trip passed more quickly than I imagined."

"Anya is back..."

Anya responded, trying not to look Loid in the eye.

Loid raised an eyebrow:

"Are you all right? Are you not feeling well?"

"The world is doomed."

"The world?"

"When we were camping…"

Anya's shoulders slumped.

"Anya left traces. A squirrel ate them all. Anya mixed up her left from her right."

"?"

Loid couldn't understand what his daughter was mumbling about, responding with concern:

"Did you not have fun?"

When asked that question, the memories of the past two days passed through Anya's mind.

There were trees, flowers, birds, and insects she had never seen before.

And the biggest rainbow ever that appeared after the rain.

And getting to enjoy the delicious pot-a-feu with everyone.

And stargazing in the night sky with everyone.

And talking with Becky while eating sweets in their tent at night.

And lastly, the warmth of her left hand being grasped tightly by…

"! It was super fun!!"

Loid was confused from her quickly changing mood, and asked:

"Is that so?"

But when he examined how brightly her face glowed, he felt at ease.

"Then, that's wonderful."

Anya's heart was happy once more.

"Let's quickly go inside. Yor is waiting for you."

"Oui."

"She woke up early today to prepare lots of dishes for you. There are steaks and hamburgers…"

"O…..ui."

The little girl recalled all the "dishes" that Yor had conjured up, and replied reluctantly.

What do I do… Tonight might be the last night I'm alive.

But if Yor made food for Anya, there's no way she can refuse.

Examining Anya's face, which looked like she was preparing for her last supper, Loid reassured her:

"Don't worry. I helped out - in fact, I made most of it. The one thing Yor made was the southern stew you like so much."

"Yaaaay!"

This time, Anya was brimming with happiness from the bottom of her heart.

Inside, she felt a great sense of relief. Suddenly, she also felt hungry.

I gotta go quickly! Mama's stew and Papa's hamburgers are waiting. And then I get to watch Bondman on TV!

"Quick, Bond!"

"Woof!"

"Fast, Papa, Anya is super hungry!!"

"Be careful not to let Bond take any of your food."

Alongside the dog she loved so much, and a father standing behind her who watched her with a smile, the girl with an abundance of energy ran quickly into the house, where her mother was waiting…

[rlbbackup]

Baby Shoes || SxF Drabble

Another prompt by the great @somebodylost-chan! Who also challenged me to make this prompt Fluff even if the title doesn't sound like it. I PROMISE this is a fluff drabble!

Note: There are "blink and you'll miss it" spoilers for Oh Your Smile, Briar Rose, and Calling You Mine (the conclusion of the series I've been writing for a while) in this. Enjoy!

~~~~~🥜~~~~~

"...and I told Martha that…" Becky droned on, relaying some tale to their table about her weekend doings. In the interim between the start of third grade and middle school, Anya and Becky had amassed more friends, especially after Mrs. Forger joined the faculty as the part-time gym teacher and coach for the girl's volleyball team. The two girls who had been considered too odd by their peers now had more friends, though the two only considered the other their best friend.

And it was nice, Anya would find herself thinking often as she would walk to class with Grace or enjoy art class with Patty, to have more than just one friend to spend her time with. 

There was just one friend that seemed to hold more of the pink-haired girl's attention these days. One that at the merest thought of she found herself drowning in daydreams. 

She often thought it was funny listening to HaHa's thoughts about ChiChi. They were warm and soft, but also could spiral into a million different directions about her father's "beautiful blue eyes" or his "soft but calloused hands" or his knife skills in the kitchen, which is usually when Anya would stop listening. The only time that she hadn't the girl had once again found herself in one of her mother's murder fantasies. Though thankfully, ChiChi hadn't been her mother's mark, though it had still been…an experience. 

But now, as her green eyes gazed across the lunchroom, she found herself thinking about "golden eyes", "I wonder if he’ll grow out his hair this break" and "his leg must be feeling better today" about the object of her staring. 

"...made a sign saying Sale: Unused Baby Shoes."

The odd statement snapped Anya out of her daydreaming and she frowned at Becky, who was staring at her with a twinkle in her brown eyes. "What?"

"Oh! There you are, Anya!" Becky giggled. "Daydreaming about a certain Scion?"

It didn't take mind-reading powers to know which Scion her heiress friend was alluding to. 

Damian Desmond. 

Which was pretty disingenuous, both to Anya and Damian, who had both voiced that while they were not enemies they certainly aren't lovers. And never would be, if Anya had a true say in the matter. (Thank heavens ChiChi hadn't thought about setting up some kind of "bee trap" scheme or whatever it's called, especially after her grades and community service efforts earned her a few more Stellas.) 

No. Anya didn't think about the Target's Second Son that way. 

But… the boy was a Scion. 

Ken Kingston was sitting at one of the tables across the dining room with a few friends from his grade. On days when they didn't study together, lunch was usually a relaxing time with friends. Anya noted with warmth spreading in her chest that since he was smiling brightly that today was a good day for her friend. 

Crush, a voice that sounded distinctly like Becky whispered in the back of her head.

"Earth to Anya!" One of the girls called, some fingers waving before her eyes. 

The pink-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts for the second time and felt her ears warm in embarrassment. She was glad that her hair covered them, hoping that her friend wouldn’t call her out too harshly on her distracted state. 

But the girls around her looked more concerned than teasing and the whisper of their thoughts added to that. Thoughts were harder for her to focus on today.

“Are you alright, Anya-chan?” Becky asked, slipping back into the honorific for the moment, her brown eyes soft and warm with concern while her thoughts swarmed with regret. “I shouldn’t have mentioned Desmond at all. They are on better terms and mentioning him always makes Anya uncomfortable. Come on, Blackbell. You are better than this! Has Yor-Sensei taught you nothing!”

“Yeah. Sorry,” Anya replied, rubbing her temple slightly with a pair of fingers. “It’s just, the new moon starts tomorrow and I’m trying to remember everything that I need to take home tonight.” The half lie slips from her lips. In truth, she had already made a list of what she needed and had even bookmarked the material. The thing was that thinking about studying ultimately got her thinking about Ken and the spiral began from there. She was very glad that Ken had a sports meet today and thus wouldn’t be available to help her study.

New Moon study sessions with Ken were complicated, at least they had become that way very recently.

When she could utilize her telepathy, the soft thrum of Ken’s thoughts usually kept her focused on what they were doing. But the last New Moon study had been so hard with her own thoughts acting as the source of distraction. It had been a bizarre experience and she didn’t wish to relive it anytime soon.

Or at the very least, until she could get this… whatever this was under control. 

The girls, all of whom didn’t know why Anya would have these crazy study sessions around or during the new moon and yet had accepted the oddity as just part of Anya’s charm, blinked before nodding. Soft “oh”s and “that’s right”s echoed around the table as the conversation petered out. The silence hung among them for a moment before the green-eyed telepath spoke up again. “So, were you able to find that dress you were looking for, Becky?”

And just like a drowning man grabbing onto a life vest, her oldest friend latched onto the topic and conversation began anew.

Drowning… Anya thought, wishing that she hadn’t thought of that particular analogy, her gaze shifted over to Ken once more. He was looking her way this time and waved shyly. She returned the gesture, her thoughts lightening. He’s fine. Don’t worry.

[wisehq]

Mission Debrief: Chapter Forty-two

...It's all coming together.

I'm just going to come outright and say it; I had no idea what to write for this review- not because there wasn't anything to discuss, but rather this chapter gave us so much that I didn't know what to focus on first. Chapter forty-two has single-handedly thrown open the doors to a hundred different theories, and believe me when I say that after a whole night of redbull and theorizing I couldn't come up with any clear answers (the folks over at the Strix discord group can attest to that).

So here's what we're gonna do; I'm not going to focus on the chapter itself.

It was cute. Cardshark Anya is hilariously awesome. Damian is a little shit (whom I adore), and the chapters where the kids can just be kids are- in my opinion- the best.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. For the rest of this review, I want to go over all the facts we know so far about the story and setting. All of the things Endo has been slowly building up in the background and the pieces that we can stitch together from them, starting with this chapter. Two key things stuck out to me.

In the entirety of the story up till this point, this is the first time we have heard mention of a royal anything- and not only that, but this chef is a former royal chef. This of course implies that a) said chef was fired (not likely given that Eden wouldn't likely associate with someone who was disgraced like that) or retired, or b) that there is no royalty anymore. Ostania is a totalitarian state and the main power of the government- from what we've seen- lies with the ruling political party, i.e the National Unity Party, a.k.a Desmond's party. Such a political structure would have no room for royalty in a governing capacity, and therein begs the question; is there still a royal/noble class- albeit in a non-governing sense- or was it abolished sometime in the recent past?

Classical language is not proper speaking and diction like I had originally thought. Classical language is a specific term typically used to describe a dead language or dialect (think Latin, or Hebrew before it was revived). I find this particularly interesting because under no circumstance would a child as young as Anya know anything about a dead language unless- as Loid points out- she was exposed to it as a toddler. It would have had to have been when she was very young, as she herself doesn't realize she knows this information. This would mean she likely learned it from her birth family; Anya was old enough to remember the lab and scientists, meaning she became Subject 007 later on in life- otherwise she would have remembered knowing classical language.

These two concepts are incredibly important to keep in mind, both now and later on as the story progresses. We now know that a royal class plays a factor in the political game that Twilight and everyone else is playing, and we know that Anya knows information that she shouldn't know otherwise (even with her mind-reading powers). So where does that leave us?

Honestly, for the first time...I'm kind of stumped?

Let's look back at the story and see what else we can piece together- maybe there's something in there we can extrapolate for our purposes. Another clue to point us in the direction that Endo is seemingly funneling us towards.

From chapter forty-one

Franklin Perkins was a man who believed in making his country a better place to live. In his eyes and from what he saw, Ostania wasn't going in the right direction- but why? He blames his lack of money for his mother's death, and we see him hold resentment towards the government over socialistic policies. Wealth is something to be shared with others, not hoarded for ones self. That seems to be where Ostania's moral compass is pointing towards, but is that really the case?

From chapter 39

Mr. Green mentions that people have been fleeing to Westalis; from the way he says this it sounds like this is happening currently- not in the past- and people are going so far as to travel through a third country just to get to Westalis. Such a journey isn't without its perils, so anyone attempting to crossover from Ostania would likely be taking a huge risk in doing so. Not only that, but most of what we've seen in the story is Ostanians loathing Westalins...so what would compel people to do this in the first place?

From chapter three As Anya reads the minds of people gathered at a politcal rally near the start of the manga, we see their disgruntled thoughts behind her. There's multiple mentions of losing jobs and not having enough money- some people are even hungry. Most of these people blame Westalis for their troubles, though not the leader of the rally, ironically.

Also from chapter 3

We find out (and often forget) early on that there are multiple political parties in Ostania. Donovan leads the National Unity Party, whereas the political rally we see here is hosted by the Nationalist Party. The latter preaches peace with the west, but many of the people gathered reject this outright. This is important; the N.U.P is the most successful political party in Ostania, which means a majority of the country's citizens approve of their platform. If we're to assume the Nationalist Party's platform is to advocate for peace with Westalis, then we must also assume that the N.U.P stands for the opposite; direct aggression with the west.

From chapter 31 The Zacharis Dossier, though ultimately a bust, hinted at rumors that have permeated East and West since the start of the cold war. We know for a fact that human experiments did indeed take place in Ostania, so it also stands to reason that there is at least a kernel of truth to the claims of P.O.W (prisoner of war) massacres conducted by the west. It's a heinous crime, and also one that leads to another question; why would any country go through with it in the first place? In addition, piggy-backing off the former point;

From chapter 19 While Loid details Project Apple, he uses the word 'regime' to describe the former Ostanian government. The literal definition of a regime is a government, especially an authoritarian one (Oxfrod Dictionary). I won't highlight all the specifics of what is and isn't authoritarianism, but essentially the point I'm trying to make here is that the current Ostanian administration is still very much a regime. Donovan acts as the authoritarian ruler (or would-be ruler; we don't know if he's actively in charge or is looking to usurp power for himself) and continues on the legacy of the former government. We know for a fact that this is the case because Anya is only at most 6 years old, likely even younger. That would mean the experiments being run on her had to have been recent, which fits with the time frame that we established at the beginning of this rabbit hole- it also aligns with what we know about what Donovan has been doing on the back end of things. Those who have kept up with my reviews know what I'm talking about; gloom pharmaceuticals, the truth serum, OSO-R, etc. All of that, which then leads us to...

...right back where we started. So...what then? What can we conclude from all this? At least a few things;

Anya is tied to Desmond- either directly or indirectly.

Anya's past is also Ostania's past; she's familiar with a dead language that's no longer spoken, and there's definitely a reason why no one speaks it anymore.

Ostania is in a period of political and economic turmoil. This also comes on the heels of a (possible) former monarchy, and the struggle of a country willing to embrace authoritarianism so long as it means staying alive.

WISE and Westalis are not innocent in this game of chess with Ostania and the SSS, and more than likely have committed atrocities that may or may not be directly tied to Ostania and- possibly- Anya's past.

And...this is as far as I can go. I've hit a wall, as have other people I've talked to. We're still missing pieces to the puzzle. Endo will of course provide us with more clues and theory fodder as the weeks and months progress, but for now this is as far as I can go on my own. On the one hand I feel defeated because I can't come up with a meaningful explanation for everything and present it in a neat little bundle for you all to read, but on the other hand I'm thoroughly enjoying this. I'm more engaged with this manga and story than any other I've read before; I'm at the edge of my seat every week, and I'm sure most of you are, too. For now, I'll leave the review here. I find it fitting to leave it open ended, just as Endo did with Loid's self-imposed question. Hopefully, like him, we can find answers in the near future.

Also, BONUS...

...No fun panel with a snappy comment this time. Instead, I’m going to humbly ask for your help.

If you have any ideas about where you think the story is going, theories as to how everything fits together, or just really want to discuss the manga with other fans- please check out our forum and share with us. We’d love to hear what you all think; not only that, but a lot more heads makes theorizing both more productive and a whole lot more fun. Check it out if you have the time, or- if you don’t feel like clicking on any links- you can always leave a comment either on this post or send us an ask or message. Anytime, any reason, we’d love to talk SxF.

Again, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all next chapter!