#project apple

[stellas-and-tonitruses]

Everything we know about Project Apple (and, by extension, Anya's past) thus far

thought i'd compile all of that now while endo's on break Just In Case the next chapter happens to start anya's backstory (i don't Think it will but endo likes surprising us LSDFKLFS)

important disclaimer that project apple and the organization in charge of anya's experiments have not been confirmed to be related! there's evidence that they have things in common, in particular employees, but that's our only real connection between the two thus far. still! worth looking into

more under the cut!

so, starting very strongly with the very first mention of anything related to the project: anya's introduction in chapter 1

despite her being a main character, we know very little about her past at the moment, and this little blurb at the beginning makes up a very big portion of what we know.

things to note here:

as an experiment, her name was "Test Subject 007". important to note that the notation differs between her and bond: she was Test Subject 007, bond was Subject 8, no zeroes in there;

she had been made thus by accident, the phrasing itself implying quite heavily that she was just a normal child before said accident (but this is the translation! i don't know japanese so i can't cross-reference with the raws to clarify if the phrasing changes anything, but the fanbook uses the word "gained" to describe her powers too);

because her mind-reading is an unintended consequence, that means the scientists were presumably not, at least initially, trying to achieve cognitive enhancements in humans, and were instead trying to achieve something else, whatever that might've been;

she escaped from the facility and then moved from institution to institution, looking for a family.

so, crucially, through this little introduction we learn that there is an organization, government-funded or otherwise, that is or was conducting human experiments for unknown purposes. we also learn that whatever family anya had prior to being involved in the experiments is more than likely unreachable, at least as far as she knows, and so she has settled for finding a new family to take care of her instead.

in terms of the facility itself, here we see they clearly drilled it into her that she can't ever reveal her secret (and the darn plush is there too -- in the anime it's even more emphasized, as you can see in the gif i made)

through her reminiscing though, we get our very first look at the scientists that were in charge of her! they're in the gif above but here they are in the manga too. it's so interesting that the anime actually shows their eyes behind the glasses though, fascinating choice.

the insistence on world peace is important, as it explains her own personal obsession with it and shows that it's not just because of twilight's own focus on preserving the peace. i also don't think twilight ever really talks about "world peace," only about "preserving the current peace between westalis and ostania" -- anya seems to be the only one talking about WORLD peace (even in the very first scene where either of them mention it in proximity to each other in ch 1, loid says "understanding the other party is the first step towards peace" and anya's interpretation is "understanding me makes world peace?") but take this with a grain of salt because i might be wrong! going through every single mention of peace in the story just to fact check this one little trivia fact is a bit much i think so i'm not doing it JSDFKLSD

but yes

remember mr hair strand and baldy, we'll see them again. not her though, ig she wasn't in charge of bond

now, fast-forwarding to chapter 19, we finally get a name and a premise for the experiments:

"but oana," you might say, "this is talking about animals only! how do we know it's the same project as anya's, which involved human experimentation?"

i don't think it is, is the thing! i think it's related to the experiments anya was a part of, which is evidenced by the same scientists being featured in project apple too, but there's more going on that we don't know about. there wouldn't be such adamancy on keeping the two separate in every official mention of them if they were just the same thing, imo!

back to the evidence, we learn that the project, conducted and funded by the previous ostanian regime (meaning donovan's related to it one way or another, since he was prime minister), was marked by franticness and desperation -- a prime place for accidents like anya's telepathy and bond's future vision.

we also learn that the project was sacked by the new administration and that the former test subjects ended up on the black market.

(this makes it very important, imo, to learn when anya escaped the facility vs. when the project was sacked. it's clearly no longer in function, but while we've heard nothing from them thus far, i'm willing to bet the shady dealings around the desmond group are NOT related to the war, as W.I.S.E. has been led to believe, but rather to reignite project apple. that is speculation however so i'm going to refrain from theorising much on why the desmond group is focused on acquiring pharmaceutical companies!!)

ok speculation tangent over, back on track

so, that's already a decent amount of info! but moving to chapter 22, when bond is finally home, and we finally see some familiar faces

behold! baldy and mr hair strand!

and 2 other guys we don't know but will see again in another bond flashback!

that's 2 out of the 3 scientists we've seen thus far from anya's own time as subject 007, confirming that there IS a connection between anya and bond's experiments, regardless of whatever the project anya was a part of might've been named.

this is also the chapter in which we learn that bond himself was subject 8 (or, if we take it from the fanbook, subject #8. still, diff notation from anya!)

in chapter 31, we learn an interesting tiny piece of trivia. we don't get any further info on it, but it IS mentioned as something that is known by W.I.S.E.:

ostania is rumoured to have done human experimentation! and W.I.S.E., and by extension loid, are aware of that.

do i know how them knowing may be important later? not really!

the next droplet of info we get is in chapter 40. we see that project apple had collaborators that are still functioning unhindered.

of course, born industries is only rumoured to have been involved with project apple, but regardless of whether or not they actually were, the rumour itself implies that the project likely pulled scientists from various other companies' R&D departments.

(this makes the desmond group's acquisition of glooman pharmaceuticals shadier, but anyway)

as a side note, twilight is emoting so much at just his wrong assumption that bond is seeking revenge against the scientists. imagine how he's going to react when he finds out about anya JKSDFKLFSD

and now aaaaall the way in chapter 58, we see the bald guy who anya also knows, the two scientists from bond's previous flashback, and one whole new guy!

and thus ends our current knowledge of it all!

the only other thing worth discussing is anya's knowledge of classical language

but plenty people have already discussed these scenes, especially recently, so here are some links: 1 | 2 | 3

the only thing i can add is that i'm fairly certain that classical language is a lot more likely to be latin than old english, because it's a very common language to learn in school (in europe at least, and ostania is based on east germany so it makes sense to me. i learned mandatory latin in school for a few good years too, even if i wasn't that good at it lol) and because one of the most common modern usages of latin are in medicine and science, it would make sense that she'd be better at it due to exposure.

a possibility is also that the scientists would think in latin to conceal their thoughts from her, and that's how she ended up learning so much. she's not fluent in latin, she's just well acquainted and that cicumstance would explain the how.

BUT THAT'S SPECULATIONNN

also i don't think "ANIA" is an acronym, nor do i think anya's been misspelling her own name out of lack of knowledge. "ania" is a polish diminutive of anna and an alternate transcription of Аня, so i think it's far more likely that anya isn't ostanian or westalian than it is that her name comes from an acronym.

now,

TL;DR!

what we know about project apple (and the "mysterious organization"):

project apple was funded and conducted by what appears to have been donovan's regime and, from what W.I.S.E. knows, aimed to create highly intelligent animals for military purposes;

W.I.S.E. is aware that ostania is at the very least rumoured to have dabbled in human experimentation;

the project is presumably no longer on-going, though it is likely there are efforts behind the scenes to revive it;

it is rumoured but not confirmed that project apple had collaborating companies that are still functioning perfectly fine;

the same scientists who were in charge of bond were also in charge of anya, signalling that there is a very significant connection between project apple and the "mysterious organization;"

based on what they were telling anya, they were/are very focused on "world peace";

their experimentation methods include but likely aren't limited to electrocution.

and what we (vaguely) know about anya that relates to this:

she is at the youngest, 4 years old, and at the oldest, 5 nearing 6. we don't know her real age, all we know is she definitely lied about being 6;

she is very fixated on specifically world peace while twilight is focused on peace between ostania and westalis. the scientists are the very first we see talking about this, so it's likely their fault;

she is unreasonably well acquainted with classical language;

she has escaped the facility at LEAST 1 year ago;

and, one tidbit from the fanbook (page 29): "Anya has been reading minds for as long as she can remember," implying that her memory of a life before the lab is muddy at best and absent at worst.

that's all we know that i know of!!

if you got this far, thank you for reading :D hope any of this was interesting or sparked any theories >:] have a good day!

[marionettedupaincheng]

I’d think it’d be so cool (and heartbreaking) to have young Anya, before she met Loid and Yor, be on a chair for one of the manga covers. Just like Endo did with young Loid

Anya’s backstory has always been the thing that intrigued me the most of Spy x Family. Loid and Yor’s past have been looked at, but we have yet to see Anya’s! We only get one flashback.

[fandomsandkittens]

I hope Twilight finds the people involved in Project Apple and slaughters every last one of them. They do not deserve mercy for harming all these poor dogs like this. I don’t even want to know what they did to Anya.

[gojifan97]

Well Project Apple's definitely coming back.

[lady-charinette]

Breached containment out of discord but-

I HAVE TO SCREAM ABOUT IT NOW: what if Eden isn't as innocent a school as it tries to present itself? What if, by becoming the top imperial scholars in Eden with the most stellas, instead of going to other schools and colleges and furthering their education, Eden Academy sends those students to a facility far removed from civilization.

It's a facility where Project Apple breaks in their new test subjects. It's for the older kids. For the imperial scholars who showed most promise and potential.

Other theory tied into this:

What if, since Donovan used to be an imperial scholar, he got involved with Project Apple at some point in his past? Hence the surgical scars around his head? What if they experimented on him more extensively due to his high achievements in Eden?

If Melinda was somehow connected to Project Apple, either her father being a benefactor or even a scientist, she could've met Donovan there. Or their marriage was not only a political marriage but one of convenience for Melinda: as a woman in that time period, she possessed immense diplomatic and political skills to impact Ostania and Westalis on a greater scale, but not the same opportunities as a man.

So they use Donovan, their number 1 test subject. They combine both of their abilities and in their marriage to control the political climate in the country.

What if the reason why we don't see Demetrius is because he's currently being experimented on by Project Apple after he became an imperial scholar? What if the reason why a couple stuck in a loveless marriage like Melinda and Donovan had two children to see if their talents would naturally merge in them, as a social experiment for Project Apple? To create a "Übermensch"?

Ostania and Westalis remind of communist Germany during the cold war era. The SS is obviously the Stasi, the Stasi and the Gestapo of Nazi Germany often used much of the same intimidation tactics as the other, who's to say they also didn't adopt the Nazi ideology of creating a "super human" aka "Übermensch"?

In Spy x Family, wouldn't a possible goal of Project Apple be creating super humans? Or at least humans with supernatural powers that could turn the tides of the war in either country's favor?

Am I tripping?

[forgertv]

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

I was re-watching Episode 1 of Spy x Family, and in Anya's flashback with her "caretakers", they said the words, "your power will bring world peace"

now, this obviously put some type of stress on anya (if you theorize that she's around 4-5 in the anime, then she must have been 3-4 in the flashback)

imagine telling a three-year-old that their powers will bring world peace. they'd obviously feel very scared, but progressing in the anime, while anya reads twilight's thoughts, her motto becomes, "i need to do _____ for world peace!" (like apologizing to damian, and studying hard).

helping a spy out would be very cool for her, and that's what's implied in the anime, but i think it goes deeper than that.

anya felt some responsibility to ensure world peace, because that was why she was created. And she knows that.

This little girl is trying to take full responsibility to ensure world peace because she was told that was the reason she was created.

all of the forgers got some kind of benefit with the creation of their family.

twilight got a non-suspicious backstory to enroll into eden, and to live as loid forger.

yor got the benefit that the police's eye would be off her, since she was married, and could continue her killing.

bond got adopted, and escaped a toxic environment, and anya got love and stable parents.

in her (anya's) mind, she also got a reason to fulfil the reason she was created.

in her mind, this is not just twilight's mission. it's her mission too.

[funyiipp]

Had a dream where Welcome Home wasn't a horror project, but a therapy clinic, and Wally was their (main) mascot. It was apparently so prevalent that this ominous ass poster was literally everywhere. At one point I went down an alley with both walls lined with nothing BUT this. It was terrifying.

[damianito]

Chuuya will not remember. Dazai will.

[lavendergalactic]

☆ 　assorted shiny buttons !

self indulgent + requested, made them myself credit 4 putting on resource rentrys / blogs / etc f2u, feel free to resize / recolour!

"touhou fan" and the bad apple button for @llocket

"doll" & "darling" for @ethereabun

"kazubedo" for @toothfaeriie

"i <3 sandy" for @sanxelie

"chief" & "detective" for @lenqkeju

everything else is self indulgent

[signanothername]

Misplaced hatred

I always thought that if Nightmare got to see the younger version of Dream he wouldn’t be able to contain his hatred regardless, only to realize how misplaced his hatred is and that he fucked up later down the line

I had a part 1 sketched that had smol Night but my chronic pain said fuck you and i haven’t cleaned it up much so no part one just this shhshshsh

Edit: finally made part 1

[mochiwei]

Princess Zelda and Queen Sonia picking apples in Tears of the Kingdom for Homemade in Hyrule Vol. II!

[heartorbit]

my copy of love bullet looks a bit strange

[gfitzwillsebastianz3rd]

Little [REDACTED] finding out his mother died and crying his head off calling for her, mirrors Anya's crying in the Eden interview when she's asked which mother she prefers.

There are so many parallels between Anya and Loid I'm wondering if there are more.

Because we never know for certain that Loid's father is dead, just that he never returned (In Animes, at least that doesn't guarantee someone is dead.

Whether, her father is wondering where she is, and she was unintentionally made into Subject 007 because of a big event that changed her life forever.

She looks like she's around two in the flashbacks, from her memories... but she can't be more than four when she's in the orphanage, and had several families before that.

I don't suppose we'll know unless the Anime mentions when the Government changed leaders, which was the catalyst for Project Apple shutting down.

I'm thinking Anya may have been in that project a while, based on the offhand comment of Bond or Dog 008 being 'long in the tooth' or in animal terms, no longer a young puppy.

[fishyizm]

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