#project apple scientists

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

Project Apple Scientist: We created Subject 007 for world peace!

Yor, pulling out her stilettoes: You fucked up a perfectly good child, that's what you did! Look at her, she's got trauma!

[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!

[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.

[beanjang-draws]

Plague Ponies - At the Barn

CONTENT WARNING: blood, gore

Previous | Next

Summary:

Twilight has decided to check on Apple Bloom’s new project! The innovative young filly has combined her lessons from Twilight and Zecora to make something new: a potion of duplication.

While they discuss Apple Bloom’s ingenuity, they’re interrupted by a strange sound and the sudden appearance of Big Macintosh. Big Mac should be in bed, but it looks like he has something urgent to discuss in private with Twilight. How out of character….

Transcript below:

Twilight: I’ll come along for a quick peek.

Apple Bloom: You won’t regret it! It��ll be super amazing!~

Apple Bloom: You know that potion of fruitfulness you showed me last time? I thought it was awfully similar to something Zecora taught me, so…

Twilight Sparkle: …You’ve been experimenting with pony and zebra magic! This is so exciting, Apple Bloom! This could be brand new magic!

Twilight Sparkle and Apple Bloom enter the Apple family barn, where Apple Bloom presents Twilight with a jam jar full of a strange liquid sitting on a stool, along with an apple.

Apple Bloom: Ta-da! I call it the Super-Duper Duplication Potion! It’s a bit of a mouthful, so SDDP works too.

Twilight Sparkle, smiling: I think that initialism will definitely be helpful.

Twilight Sparkle: How does it work?

Apple Bloom: If you just sprinkle a little bit on…

Apple Bloom tips the jar until a single drop of potion lands on the apple, which then begins to glow with a bright light.

Apple Bloom: Oh please work please work please work please work please—

The Apple begins to smoke, becoming obscured in white. With a sizzle and a pop, the smoke clears to reveal the duplicated apples. Twilight turns to look at Apple Bloom with awe in her eyes.

Twilight Sparkle: Two perfectly identical apples….Apple Bloom…

Apple Bloom: What? What is it?—

Apple Bloom lets out an excited gasp.

Apple Bloom: Oh oh oh is it my cutie mark?

Twilight Sparkle: I’m sorry, sweetie.

Apple Bloom: If…if even creating new potions ain’t enough, what if I never—

Twilight Sparkle stops Apple Bloom, raising her chin with her wing.

Twilight Sparkle: Apple Bloom, even if your cutie mark isn’t in potions, you are an incredible scientist. I hope you’ll continue your studies. I certainly look forward to what you’ll develop next.

Apple Bloom: Thanks, Twilight. I really do like studying with you and Zecora even if it ain’t my special talent.

Apple Bloom: I’m just glad I haven’t disappointed you, Twilight.

Twilight: Of course not!—

A strange groan suddenly interrupts their conversation, startling Twilight and Apple Bloom. Twilight, particularly jumpy ever since the Changeling attack at the royal wedding, screams and instinctively readies an offensive spell. Apple Bloom screams because Twilight is screaming. Big Macintosh reveals himself, looking awful.

Apple Bloom: Big Mac! What happened? You should be in bed! Is everything alright?

Big Mac: Nope.

Big Mac: Apple Bloom, leave out the side door and head straight to the house.

Apple Bloom: Wha—

Big Mac: Straight. To. The. House.

Apple Bloom: …Alright…

Big Mac: Good. And Twilight, a word? P-please.

Twilight Sparkle: Of course. See you later, Apple Bloom!

Apple Bloom: See ya, Twilight!

Out of sight for Twilight and Apple Bloom, beyond the barn door lies the crumpled body of a strange pony. Their face is disfigured. The skin of the face is torn and bleeding, and their jaw is broken. Their tongue lolls out limp, broken teeth and saliva mixed blood. Big Mac’s hind legs are bloody, and he stands favoring one leg, which appears to be wounded.

End of transcript.

[cresneta]

「103」

Our poor hobbyless spy really doesn't know how to relax. Here's hoping that he continues letting Yor teach him how to relax.

Also, it's going to be interesting to see how Anya reacts if Twilight decides to turn investigating Project Apple into his "hobby." Given that at least one, possibly two now that I'm looking at these older panels again, of the scientists that experimented on Bond was also involved in the lab that experimented on Anya, and thus investigating them could lead to Twilight learning about Anya being able to read minds. Perhaps she'll get Yor to unwittingly help her keep Loid from investigating Project Apple, which would net us some more Twiyor moments. I'm allowed to dream, right?

I'll also say that I find it peculiar that Twilight isn't very busy at the moment, given that Nightfall is almost certainly still out of commission and thus WISE should be extra short staffed at the moment. I can't help but wonder if there's something big going on that WISE is just unaware of, and perhaps the government is using news of the seal to distract everyone from what's really going on? I do wonder if we're about to get a Yor-centric arc where she and Garden have to deal with the issue that WISE etc seem to be missing...

[nohoperadio]

Imagine a far-future society, we don't know what's happened but the Earth is dead, I'm vaguely picturing them all living on space stations or something, there are only precious few species of plants and animals being kept alive, very few indeed, you couldn't quite count the remaining species on your fingertips but you could certainly check out all of their Wikipedia pages within the space of an hour. Future Wikipedia I guess, I mean whatever it is they have. No edible fruit or vegetables have survived at all, I'm not sure what they do for food, something futuristic presumably. Some kind of... future powder?

But there's this project that's been in the works for decades, they've figured out they can synthesize an apple. I don't know how that works, but the scientists have figured out a way. They're going to make an apple and this is like landing on the moon for them, everyone's insanely hyped about it, nobody's seen an apple for millennia... well see part of what's going on here is that the historiography of the time back when Earth still existed is irreparably bad now, it's super impressionistic because so little survived. And I guess partly because the Genesis story has been all blown out of proportion (there's more to it but that's a big part of it) these guys have a really exaggerated idea of the importance of apples to Earth humans, they basically imagine us eating apples all day long and worshiping apple gods and making apple art and all stuff like that. It's pretty silly but remember they have NO fruit or veg, they eat powder or whatever it was I said, they don't even have a rough concept of what "eating an apple" might be, like does it get you high for example? I bet they think it does, like a really spiritual special kind of high! They must have embellished it so much right? Gotten real carried away.

So like I say it's really hype, they're going to finally make an apple! A real one I mean, not like an approximation of what some scientists theorize an apple might be like, they've figured out how to definitely do it accurately (somehow, idk, just trust the omniscient narrator that they're doing it for real). But: they can only make one. Too much resources required or some shit, like I said this is their equivalent to the first moon landing except maybe more so, it's not a sustainable plan to reintroduce apple trees or something, they can only make one apple ever and that'll be it.

So as you can imagine, quite apart from all the scientific resource that's gone into this project, there's been a ton of resource invested into (not to mention endless public fascination and debate over) the question: who gets to eat the apple? It's a big deal! Everybody envies whoever's gonna eat it; most people also don't envy them. Since time immemorial, the essence of the apple has been defined by centuries and millennia of myth and speculation and storytelling holding together scattered fragments of a mysterious glorious past. Very soon, the essence of the apple will be defined by whatever this guy says it is, whatever the apple eater manages to communicate of the ineffable experience that will always be theirs alone. Humanity will demand a report, and the apple eater will have to be a poet of rarest genius at the very minimum to be trusted to deliver it, they hold the most privileged position maybe anyone will ever hold by being allowed to do this, and all that will remain of that briefest experience for all eternity will be their words. They're an instant prophet, no questions asked. I don't know about you, but if that was me I would definitely shit myself.

Well anyway forget about all that stuff. I was only thinking of this because it occurs to me, you're kind of like the apple eater of your own life, right? I mean nobody's making a big song and dance of it like those crazy apple space freaks, but it's true no?, you *pokes you in the face quite hard* with your highly specific soul positioned in your highly specific situation, that's only going to happen once, you're the only one who's ever going to know what that's like, assuming you aren't going to give some sort of big testimony, somehow. Only difference is like I say, no one really cares in your case, although actually I do sometimes, I hope that doesn't weird you out. I'm just saying imagine being asked the question! As if the answer really did matter! In theory anybody could just walk up to you and do that! I promise I won't ask you, if you promise you won't ask me.

[spyxfamilyanalysis]

Do you think donovan has something to do w project apple? The one that makes Anya can read minds, and if he does do you think he experimented w his children? Or Demetrius is born that weird

Well, I think there might be misunderstanding about the name of the Project. Project Apple is experimented on animals like Bond Forger, to make them useful with special abilities, for Bond's case is predicting the near future. But of course, there are still some limitations: the future can be altered, it is not fixed, as can be seen in Spy x Family episode 13-16, when Anya reading Bond's future predictions and changed it before Twilight was in danger.

And if you are asking what project Anya is experimented, is actually "nameless". Throughout the series and manga, the name of the project is currently unknown, and I, myself, am not sure if the Tatsuya-san will reveal it... Yet somehow, the Internet "said?" that there are the same name? That confused me???

Anyway, this hypothesis about Anya and Donovan has gone wild ever since, so let me explain.

We haven't known much about Demetrius, the only time he appeared was when Damian called him to meet their Father, which can be found in this scene (Chapter 37)

To know more about chapter 37 -> link (it's not that I'm lazy, this post already analyze full so idk what to add...)

About the scars, here are my predictions:

Maybe he really is related to the Project, since the mark of the stiches are pretty close to Anya's. And some are suspected that the ornaments on Anya's head could be a way to hide her scars from the experiments, or I think they are literally just accessories for her hair, like when she was small.

About the scientists, some said that after Anya escaped, the only "laboratory rat" managed to survive, they may be working on animals, like Bond, after that, as "hope" for science to save "world peace". And Donovan could be either an experiment like Anya, testing some sort of weird stuff on himself, or someone like the scientists who just got injured from, like idk, being attacked by his "laboratory animals". And I think that the chances of him being injured from war is very low, because he is the one to start war between Ostania and Westalis.

Are there any chances of Demetrius inherit the intelligence from Donovan? I think no. It's definitely not from the crazy ideas of his own father thinking of war, Ostania and Westalis are currently in the period of the Cold war, where there are no need for weapons, yet politicians are in a tense period, with the risk of war breaking out. True that his intelligence might be genetically inherited, but I can assure that both Damian and Demetrius may know nothing about what he was planning. So, uh, yeah, Demetrius is just that weird, and he is an introvert. You can tell how short his lines are when he was on the phone.

Off-and-bonus topic: I am very suspicious about their mother, Melinda. She first appeared officially in chapter 65, and the bus hijack incident of the Red Circus Arc. When Damian spoke about Donovan, her expression changed completely, as if she hated him deeply and want him gone from her sight. This could mean that she might know about what he was hiding, and probably she has an obsession to Damian, her sweet son~(?)

Look, she is so sus for hell sure. >:( But I'm not sure whether or not she is evil? Even Loid is aware of her now...

Also, take a very close look at the dialogue after the hijack (Chap 75):

She truly loves Damian, yet what we didn't realize that, his brother, Demetrius was not even mentioned in her interior monologue(?)/ mind. We also know that she calls Damian as a curse...: "I never should have come here... If only he'd died in the hijacking...", "If only I weren't burdened with this child...", "How he disgusts me...". At first when this chapter was out, I read this part and thought "he" that she mentioned was Donovan, and now, re-reading this, she was mentioning Damian. And I have no idea if she cares Demetrius more than Damian, or is it the opposite?

And finally, I bet she is hiding something from Damian... I mean, when Anya was mind-reading her, she was a bit scared. A scary obsession to Damian terrifyingly... maybe something about Donovan and the war between the 2 nations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Message from the author (me): This is a very interesting topic! After I received your question, it took me several days to give you my answer which I think is most suitable and accurate, I do hope it is the answer you are looking for. Truly sorry for the long-time response, I was working with my final exams, so I can't answer you immediately.

Anyway, thank you for waiting and taking your time reading!🥰🥰🥰

[brujahinaskirt]

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out a pattern behind the strangers Arthur is drawn to -- the ones he likes, approves of, and generally enjoys. He seems to gravitate to wildly different types of people: dandy city boys and rugged mountaineers, perky showgirls and abrasive weirdos, gentle souls and circus "freaks," friendly socialites and social outcasts. At first glance, it appears he's simply drawn to people who are unlike him, perhaps out of a sense of curiosity. But I think it's a little more complex than that...

I think Arthur is drawn to people who flamboyantly and courageously defy the expectations placed upon them by their communities, parents, and social circles, whatever those circles may be.

[meta essay, mild side-quest spoilers below...]

While Arthur (being naturally artistic himself) definitely appreciates artists of every field, and while he definitely has a soft spot for young lovers (projection much…), that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Just look at the shortlist! Albert Mason, the hapless urbane gentleman who decided to strike out and chase his passion for wildlife even if it cost him his life and career. Penelope Braithwaite, the young suffragette who loathed tradition and the bumbling pretty-boy son of her wealthy family's arch-nemesis. Charles Châtenay, a gender-bending social troll of an artist who gleefully infuriates prudes and puritans everywhere he goes. Sally Nash, the perky aspiring "second-best woman lion-tamer" in the world. Acrisius and Proetus, the feuding academician brothers who eagerly partake in increasingly ridiculous tests of idiot daring. Charlotte Balfour, a rich big-city widow who eschews her former high-life to live simply with nothing but a rifle she doesn't know how to use. Algernon Wasp, the hapless dandy obsessed with eccentricities and craftswork few people appreciate (but who apparently makes excellent tea). Jaime Gillis, the aimless kid who knows nothing about himself except that he likes apples and can't bear to live the life his father wants for him. Hamish Sinclair, the one-legged veteran who rides, hunts, and remains self-sufficient despite the difficulty of rough-living with his amputation. Marko Dragic, the frankly unpleasant epitome of shunned mad scientist. Miss Marjorie and her "sons," who fight tooth and nail but somehow find a way to love each other in the face of civilization's rejection, a mirror image of Arthur's own outcast family.

Arthur doesn't just begrudgingly help these particular strangers; for the most part, he really likes these people, writes about and draws them favorably in his journal. Admires them, in a way, as foolish and imperiled as they often are.

While it seems the people he likes have little in common with each other, and often little in common with Arthur, they've all boldly done something Arthur himself is trying to find the courage to one day do...

They don't behave. As big and bad as Arthur is in the world at large, within the confines of his own community, he's extremely well-behaved. He does what's asked of him and plays the role of the big baddie gang lieutenant, which is what his elders tell him to be, even when it's in direct conflict with his wishes and (if honorable) his morals and perhaps even his "natural" personality.

tl;dr: Arthur likes defiers of all kinds, because they prove that defiance can be done. Not just simple defiance of laws, but a deeper, more complete defiance. Defiance of the expectations of family, of the roles dictated to you by those close to you, of responsibility heaped upon you without consent -- and yes, even of Dutch.

[guess-that-ship]

S11 Round 1

Shades of Purple

[This description has been modified to remove author commentary and for formatting reasons.]

cw: spoilers, betrayal

Violet and Lilac used to know each other a couple of decades ago, and worked on an important project together with some others. Violet was the head scientist on the project, and Lilac ended up as a very important participant. But Lilac grew disillusioned with the project, whereas Violet kept going with it, and eventually it led to a split.

Present day, Lilac still works with Violet, but Lilac sees it in a sort of 'keep your enemies close' kind of way. And Violet needs Lilac for her unique skills - skills that Violet gave to her. Almost all of how Lilac's life has ended up is due to Violet and the project they worked on. Lilac wouldn't be how she is without Violet.

The first time Violet mentions Lilac is saying "I really like her". A short amount of time later, Lilac is calling Violet insane, but not to her face. Lilac's been hiding her resentment all these years, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike out against Violet, and Violet didn't have a clue. Very shortly later, Lilac's treachery is revealed and they are facing each other as enemies. But even after all these years, Violet still knows Lilac well.

They spend most of the story as necessary enemies, due to conflicting ideals, but in the end they end up mostly on the same side.

Happy Apple

The Apple was corroded over the years by her Tree, losing her luster. She continues to fake a shiny skin to avoid anyone seeing her true core, but the Happiest is the one person who sees through this facade. Initially terrified, the Happiest then decides to try and make the Apple glow for real, trying and failing over and over again. During one of their interactions, the Happiest realizes that despite the fear she sometimes feels around the Apple, she truly enjoys speaking with her.

The Happiest is part of a group whose goal it is to make everyone smile, but the Apple is singled out in the Happiest's eyes. During one performance, the Apple happened to be in the audience. This caused a spark of motivation in the Happiest's performance that even caught the rest of her group-mates off guard. Later, the Happiest meets the Apple's friends and learns the truth about the Apple, which only motivates her more to somehow help.

Meanwhile, the Apple has been mostly oblivious to the Happiest's antics, but isn't unappreciative of the failed efforts to make her glow for real. At one point, she is even able to speak genuinely with the Apple, asking to forgo formalities between them. While it is unlikely that the Happiest will be the one to return the Apple's luster, that hasn't stopped them from meeting with each other and getting closer to each other more and more.

[spencer-is-dead]

WHO WANTS A FIC REC LIST

ALL OF THESE FICS ARE MDSPENCER APPROVED, 100% PURE UNADULTERATED ANGST

(+ SOME FLUFF FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT)

FIRST OFF: THE FANFICS THAT REDUCED ME TO EITHER TEARS OR SCREAMING

ANYTHING FROM EITHER THE STANFORD TORUS OR BLUE VAPOR SERIES BY FANDOM MENACE NEEJMORP (FORMERLY KNOWN AS MEEJUNORP) THESE FANFICS CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE WORSE AND I AM A BETTER PERSON BECAUSE OF IT

MACABRE THEMES AND VARIATIONS BY PIRACYTHEORIST, SPECIFICALLY CHAPTER FIVE. IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT AND I DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE ANYONE UP SO I SCREAMED INTO MY PILLOW AND PROMPTLY WENT TO BED. AND THEN THE NEXT DAY CHAPTER 7 HAPPENED AND THE SONG HAPPY FROM DESPICABLE ME 2 WAS PLAYING ON THE RADIO. IT WAS AN EXPERIENCE FOR SURE

ORPHEUS BY CANTARE. WHEN I SAY THIS FIC IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE FANDOM I’M NOT LYING. ITS INSANELY GOOD. BEST YOR CHARACTERIZATION, BEST USE OF CHARACTER ARCS, SOMEHOW MANAGES TO HANDLE NOT JUST WISE, NOT JUST THE SSS, BUT ALSO GARDEN AND PROJECT APPLE. ITS INSANE YOU HAVE TO READ IT

Alright im going to stop screaming now that i have your attention

Up next are some fics that I quite enjoyed

Desiderium by ahenix. Really nice character study on Twilight.

Reflected in your eyes by Princessgaurd. A very relaxing post reveal pre relationship twiyor fic. 11k words of pining

Count by Luinel. Twilight having ptsd is one of my favorite headcanons, because it just makes so much sense. This was such a good fic and i heartily recommend it for the father daughter moments.

In the aftermath by OrcPaladinArthur. As always, this author never fails to deliver. This fic is so good you guys, you have no idea. It actually inspired one of my own fics lol

Also here’s two fics that would get me put on the weird person list but pop off I guess

What follows by piracytheorist. I do have a love for this fic for inspiring what became the loid eye club, i genuinely would not be the same person if not for this fic. Do mind the trigger warnings tho lol

After summers of fasting (i feel hunger at last) by BuzzCat. I shit you not you will forget that this is omegaverse mpreg with how well it’s written. It mostly focuses on twilight and Sylvia’s platonic relationship. It’s really wholesome(?) but I just find the juxtaposition between mpreg and familial-esque bonds really amusing???

Some fics of mine that I recommend

I’ll stay by your side , my most popular fic to date (thankfully surpassing my first ever fic that sucks ass)

Clementine, your bog standard “anya gets kidnapped by the scientists” fanfic with some Loid introspection. Unfortunately not finished but I WILL GET TO IT

Face me, in which Twilight literally loses his very identity. Very proud of this one lol

Tastes like blood, in which Yor seeks revenge after someone does a revenge on Loid. Fun oc stuff. Maya you could do no wrong in my eyes. Fun fact, the reason it’s called tastes like blood comes from the term “the sweet taste of revenge” and in this case revenge tastes like blood. I know, it’s a weird title.

A way out, started out as a very average whump fic but somehow turned into a study on Twilight’s mental health? Do mind the trigger warnings, this one gets very dark

And thats it. Those are all the fics I recommend. Hope you find something good

[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?

[whateversawesome]

Spy x Family Chapter 98: An Explosion

Let's start with the most important thing and we'll go from there. Ready? This panel:

Blink and you'll miss that insignificant comment from someone we don't even know their name. Nevertheless, given the implications of Project Apple, this panel is huge! Because, even if back then it was just a rumor, there's a chance it could also be true. Project Apple could have started during the first conflict. This leads me to the following theory:

Anya's biological parents were prisoners of war.

The story about Twilight as a soldier, Martha and Henry, as well as Millie, Franky, and even the Lady Patriots Society tell us about the dehumanization of the enemy. So yeah, it's very possible that it was acceptable for either side to do anything they wanted with captured enemies, that includes experimentation.

And by prisoners of war, I'm not only referring to soldiers and medical personnel, but also spies. Wouldn't it be funny if Anya's birth parents were also spies? It's too soon to tell, but it's so much fun to speculate 😆

At the beginning, it's stated that Anya was created by accident:

Maybe she was "an accident" between two prisoners of war or between a prisoner of war being experimented on and a scientist 🤔

So here's another crazy idea: Everyone thinks that Anya learned Classical Language because it was used in the lab by scientists, but what if it was her biological parents the ones who taught her that language in order to be able to communicate with each other?

At some point, I thought that even if we learned about Anya's past there was a possibility we would never know about her parents, now I think we will.

About the Chapter

Clearly, SXF is an anti-war story that wants to show us how terrible war is for EVERYONE. That's why big and small characters, side or main, have been affected greatly by war.

I'm sure plenty of people will talk about Martha and Henry's love story. After this chapter, I think it's clear that they probably were separated by war and that Henry had to marry to save himself, leaving Martha up in the air. (I know I am a fool, but I keep hoping she's the one he married, but I don't think so 😭)

Anyways, leaving the cautionary semi-tragic love story aside (Ahem, watch out Twilight and Yor)...I see what the author is trying to do: The story shows us very clearly what happens to every person when pushed to their limits, when they and their families are in danger. It's a story about loss, loss, and more loss.

The story is trying to make the readers root for peace and be very adamant against war. This is a masterclass on "Show, don't tell." So even if a lot of these stories seem insignificant because it's about side characters, they are meant to influence the readers' point of view about war, so when it reaches the main characters, we all know what could happen to them. These stories are meant to raise the stakes for the main characters.

Now, I've said it before: It's very possible that close to the climax of the story, Ostania and Westalis will be at the verge of a third conflict. By then, we'll know much more about the main characters' background as well as many other stories of side characters affected by war (don't be surprised if The Garden was created as a consequence of it). So when we're close to the end, when war is about to happen, we'll know exactly what could happen to the Forgers, because it has already happened to so many people: loss.

Something to Keep in Mind

The more the story moves forward, the more curious I am about the Desmonds. Since all of the characters were affected by war, I'm wondering how were the Desmond affected? Melinda certainly has issues (did this happen during and because of the war?) and Donovan Desmond is still a BIG question mark. It easy to relate to what normal characters feel. If any of us were going through something similar, we would be terrified too. However, how is it for someone in charge? How did Desmond see and suffer war? I really want to know.

One Last Thing

If in two chapters focusing on two side characters Endo has managed to create such a beautiful love story, can you image what he plans to do with Twiyor, which is the main couple of the story??

I know I say this a lot, but after seeing this my expectations are high and I am convinced it'll be worth the wait.

Food for thought.

[sophiamarieispinkbunny-chan]

THEORY: Sigmund Authen, Anya Forger, Yor Briar and Yuri Briar are all connected to Project Apple.

How is Sigmund connected? He was one of the scientists that worked on Project Apple way before or when it just started

First of all, his appearance is giving Albert Einstein to me, a famous scientist and as well his expression of Eureka-an expression popularized by a mathematician/scientist. He also used to teach in universities.

There are a lot of other abilities being developed in project Apple. We have seen someone who has an unusual sense of smell in the cruise arc (I really think he was a product of some experiment). But I think Sigmund is a scientist that focuses on the mind's abilities. Why?

His name was probably derived from the famous neurologist Sigmund Freud. What does a neurologist do?  A neurologist is a medical doctor who's an expert in diagnosing and treating diseases and conditions of your brain, spinal cord and nerves. Sigmund is also the founder of psychoanalysis-which also studies the mind. Always connected to the brain. So he must be also the one who first conducted experiments in mind manipulation and mind reading.

Does this mean that Sigmund knows that Anya is a subject of that experiment? No, because he had probably already quit project Apple before Anya was brought in as subject 007 or before she even existed. It won’t fit the timeline if he was one of the scientists that experimented on Anya. (I also think that Anya’s number does not indicate the number of people that have been experimented on but the number of subjects that became successful, still just a speculation)

However, it seems like he doesn’t remember much about the experiment, (he doesn’t even remember the right way home). When he quit, maybe he cut all ties he had with the project, realizing how mean and cruel it was. He forgot about it like he was never part of it in the first place.

And then right after this chapter, Endo gave us that jaw dropping and mind-boggling four page short chapter that started to plague our minds since, indicating we were about to tackle Anya’s past. So I may have to agree that Sigmund could be Anya’s trigger to remember the past.

But how did Yor and Yuri got involved in Project Apple?

Yor and Yuri were once subjects of project Apple, the first successful ones. Where do we think Yor’s incredible strength came from? How about Yuri’s intelligence and resilience even though hit by a car or lost a lot of blood? I know, as the major genre is comedy, some of the scenes are exaggerated. But when it comes to Yor and Yuri, the difference they possess regarding their abilities was always highlighted.

Like also, let’s think about it. The name of the experiment is Project Apple. What is Yor’s favorite flavor or food? Apple. What was the name of the assassin team she belongs to? Garden (Which is tied to Eden and of the forbidden Apple fruit but Eden’s connection with Garden and Project Apple will be dealt in another time)

How about Yuri? Well, the SS is the one monitoring him. He was the youngest among the SS. The reason they hired him, Oh he was cute right? Said the man who recruited him. Yeah cute alright. They just knew how invincible he was physically because of the experiment.

Ostania, through Garden and SS  is making sure that the Briar siblings remain at their fingertips, doing their purpose, using the skills the project had given them for Ostania’s advantage.

Maybe that’s the reason why their parents got killed. They died in an attempt to protect and hide them. I noticed that their house seems to be far from modern civilization, more like a small province not like a city that is crowded, compared to Loid’s town in Luwen.

In addition, maybe that is why Endo made Yor and Anya to be the one who met Sigmund in Chapter 90. Because the three of them are bound by the same thing-Project Apple.

[loosescrewslefty]

A small thing that's been bothering me a lot lately is the Spy x Family fandom assuming that Anya's an escaped test subject of Project Apple. It's true that the Scientists that experimented on Bond are the same ones that ran the lab Anya stayed in before meeting Twilight, but we were told that Project Apple was shut down shortly after the War ended, and one of the more recent chapters even says that some of the Scientists who worked on Project Apple together went off to conduct separate research after that Project ended.

I genuinely don't think that the Experiment Anya's powers came from is Project Apple itself, but rather it's likely the result of a spin-off project. After all, Anya is SUPER paranoid about anyone learning about her powers:

But has no reaction to Twilight and Handler discussing and thinking about Project Apple literally right in front of her.

I don't believe for a second that Anya can understand the concept of the Lunar Cycle and remembers the specific name that the scientists use to refer to its affect on her powers, but somehow doesn't know the name of the experiment she is a test subject of, or that she wouldn’t have a VERY visible reaction to those close to her becoming aware of that Experiment even on a surface level, whether or not they realize yet that she is the product of that Experiment.

(WILD that this girl can't read a damn analog clock, but knows that there are two weeks between a full moon and a new moon...)

And there is also the Test Subject numbering to consider as well. Bond was Subject 008, and Anya was Subject 007. Bond was described as being a bit older for a dog (he was described as being 'long in the tooth' at his introduction, implying that he is a senior dog. Likely around 7 or 8 for a dog his size) and Anya is younger than she claims to be (4 or 5) so it doesn't make sense to think that they are test subjects for the same experiment and Bond is the subject that directly followed Anya. Perhaps the scientists reset the numbering when they moved from animal test subjects to humans, but if the animal test subjects showed no real signs of a reaction to the experiment, that jump seems unlikely and would probably be viewed as a waste of time, money, and resources, which was the entire reason the plug got pulled on Project Apple in the first place.

It's likely some of the things learned during Project Apple were refined and applied to the Experiment that gave Anya her powers, but looking at the facts I really don’t think it's still referred to as Project Apple by the time Anya gained her abilities.

[professoruber]

Who is Leonardo Hapoon? (Spy X Family Analysis and Theory)

During the Cruise Ship Arc of Spy X Family, Yor is tasked with protecting the last surviving members of the Gretcher crime family from the new boss of the Ostanian underworld; Leonardo Hapoon.

While it is not explicitly stated, it does ppear that the man in the white suit shown in this image is Hapoon, as Shopkeeper is talking about Hapoon’s actions and the white-suited man does not appear as one of the hitmen mentioned.

What makes Hapoon stand out is that he appears identical to a previously shown important character... one of the scientists who experimented on Anya.

Both Hapoon and this scientist are shown with dark hair with a single bent strain of it covering their foreheads. Along with round glasses and similar facial structures. It seems very likely these are suppose to be the same person. Given Anya’s young age, this scientist is confirmed to have be active only a few years ago so its very plausible for him to sitll be active and involved with the underworld.

This same scientist was also later shown to have been involved with the experimentation of Bond. 

According to Handler, there are rumours that the subjects of ‘Project Apple’ were sold off on the black market after the new Ostanian government shut it down. This would fit in with Hapoon, who appears to have been a lead scientist on this project, being heavily involved in organised crime to such an extent that he is able to seize control of the largest criminal organisation in Ostania. 

Perhaps when the ‘new administration’ axed his work, he turned to the black market to continue it. Or perhaps he was already involved with the underworld. It is difficult to make any assumption since we no little of his motivations. 

The scientist who is likely Hapoon states Anya needs to learn to use her powers for ‘world peace’, 

By contrast, it is mentioned a few times that Hapoon is apparently seeking a war between the east and the west. This would go against the scientist’s stated desire for ‘world peace’. Of course, it's quite possible Hapoon was lying to Anya or his underlings. While he may be believed to want war, the only attempt by those hired by him to start one was done without his instructions. 

While this scienists/crime lord appearing multiple times is certainly mysterious, what makes him even more so is this:

This is Corporal, a friend of Twilight from his childhood in eastern Westalis. 

Notice his dark hair, the cresent strain of which is covering his forehead, and his round glasses. Or what about those large round ears also shared with the scientist?

If this kid is unrelated to Hapoon then this is a major concidence considering he shares such distinctive features with the man. Hapoon also does not look much older than Twilight himself, and it is completly plausible for them to be about the same age.

It is shown later on that ‘Corporal’, along with Twilights other friends, ended up enlisting in the Westalis army during the Westalis-Ostania war. At this stage his face does not entirely resemable that of Hapoon, but is is worth noting he is only a private. It was established earlier when Twilight lied about his age that you need to be at least 18 to enlist, meaning he is still a teenager and likely not fully developed.

His friends, including ‘Corporal’, end up dying due to the operation they were assigned to being reckless and poorly planned. Only their dog tags returned though, with bodies not being mentioned. We know desertion existed during this war, Frankie himself deserted from the Ostanian army.

If Hapoon witnessed the horrors of war firsthand could that motivated him to take morally dubious actions in the name of world peace? If his friends died due to poor planning could that have motivated him to experiment on mind-reading children and future-seeing dogs so that a lack of information is never a threat again? If incompetent Westalis military officers are responsible for his hardship could he have turned against Westalis in revenge?

We can’t be certain, but I do feel at the very least that the character design similarities between the scientist, Leonardo Hapoon and Twilight’s childhood friend are all too similar to be coincidences. 

And what will Twilight do when he meets up with his assumed dead friend who now rules the Ostania underworld?

EDIT:

So I’ve been told that Hapoon’s design was changed in the release of Volume 7 (thank you @hhellenn), which admittedly does weaken this theory by making them not as similar and adding some more credence to the possibility that the initial similarities were a coincidence…

But even still, I do think it appears likely Hapoon and the scientist are the same person. As per this image, the change she’s mostly in the form of his hair now being brushed to the side instead of dangling over his forehead. He still has the round glasses and oval ears, as well as the same hair colour and similar general facial shape.

Plus there is also the connection with Corporal as well having an uncanny resemblance to the scientist, indicating there is meant to be some kind of connection between all tjis.

However it’s difficult to say for complete certain until we get a better look at Hapoon (instead of just a brief shot in the background).

[finallyfantasy7]

In defense of Angeal and Banora apples

I often see criticism of Angeal in Crisis Core Reunion for stealing from poor farmers while leaving the richest family's dumbapples alone just because Genesis was his friend.

I understand the immediate instinctive reaction to take from the richest, however, if you follow the story closely you will see that there were no poor farmers in Banora. Which Angeal explicitly says anyway.

But I want to dig a bit deeper:

The whole Banora village was fake and was staffed with Shinra's employees, as well as served to keep employees from Project G under house arrest.

The only reason why Angeal's family was poor was because Angeal's mother, Gillian Hewley, refused Shinra's compensation since she suffered from guilty conscience for participating as a scientist in Shinra's Jenova experiments, and even doing the experiment on her own child. That she unsuccessfully tried to escape Shinra's house arrest with her baby certainly didn't improve her living conditions.

So, we know Gillian was offered large sums of money, and from "The Kids are Alright: A Turks Side Story" novel we know that fake villagers, who populated Nibelheim after the Sephiroth incident, were also Shinra's employees, and received enormous sums of money to live there and keep their mouths shut. So it's obviously Shinra's modus operandi in such situations.

So again, there were no poor farmers in Banora because people there, in addition to having farms, were handsomely paid by Shinra.

Also, one child eating apples can't do any significant damage to a farm.

Ok, so if we accept Angeal eating apples was no big deal, then why didn't he just eat the tastiest apples from the biggest landowner who, even if everyone was rich, would feel it the least? Why not ask Genesis, like Zack suggested?

Why would honor stop him from asking, but not from stealing in general?

It wouldn't, it's mistranslation, it's supposed to say pride *sigh*

Angeal says in Japanese:

アンジール：しかし　そんな俺にも誇りはあった

Angeal: But I had my pride.

.....

アンジール：誇りというのは厄介なものだ

Angeal: Pride is burdensome/a tricky thing/troublesome.

I don't know why they translated it in a way that makes it possible to confuse it with one of Angeal's lectures on SOLDIER honor, and to make it seem like he's saying it's dishonorable to ask his friend but not steal from others. But this part has nothing to do with his code of honor as a grown man, he's just saying that as a kid, it would have hurt his pride to ask his best friend for food.

He stole because he was poor and it wasn't hurting anyone, he didn't ask Genesis because of his pride, and he didn't take from a friend because of honor - honoring their friendship.