#sigmund sxf

[lastnightisatum-blur]

[loosescrewslefty]

Spy x Family Name Etymology

Talked about this before with friends, but with linguistics being spoken of more in the manga lately, I really want to talk about the Name Etymology of the characters and patterns that emerge when looking up the meanings of their names.

To start with, we have Loid, Yor, Donovand, and Melinda. The four main examples of parents that this family-based story gives us, all of which have names that reference colors.

Loid is a clear play on the name Lloyd, a name of Welsh origin that means "Grey."

The Spy x Family art book revealed that Yor is actually a nickname for Yolanda, a name of Spanish origin which means "Violet Flower" (resisting the temptation to make a joke about "Viole(n)t Flowers" here, please respect that) Obviously Violets are a color as well, but interestingly enough in terms of floriography Violets are some of my personal favorite flowers in regards to expressions of love, and can specifically represent "impulsive acts of love."

Donovan is an Irish name, meaning "Dark Brown"

and Melinda is a Greek name that has a few different meanings, and is complex as the character herself. It can mean Sweet as Honey, combining the words Meli (Honey) and Lind (Beautiful). Or it could come from the word Melanie with Lind, meaning "Black and Beautiful" which fits with the color theme established by the other names present. There is a bit of debate with this one though, which leaves it a little more ambiguous.

Moving away from the parents we have the children, starting with the two Desmond boys. Interestingly, Demetrius and Damian are both Greek in origin, just like Melinda's name, which makes me suspect a little that she chose the names without her husband's input. (Or more likely, that he didn't care enough to contribute it).

Demetrius translates to "Follower of Demeter," the Greek Goddess of the earth.

Meanwhile, Damian means "To tame or subdue," coming from the Greek word 'Damianos' which means to master, conquer, or overcome. The name is ALSO linked to Demeter, as Damia is one of the Goddess' epithets.

Then we have Anya/Ania, which means "Gracious and Merciful"

and now we have Sigmund and Barbara.

Barbara is a Greek name, meaning "Foreign or Strange."

And Sigmund is German, meaning "Victorious Protector"

[loidbriarforger]

Beanstalk husband, smol bean wife 🫘🌿

[ellsey]

hold on y'all i think endo is cooking

[youuuimeanmee]

Am I the only one who's tripping? Could it be this new character, Sigmund, really used to be a spy, a militaire, or some kind of secret agent in his prime?

I lost it when Sigmund bought flowers without Yor even noticing. Is he skilled enough to sneak behind Yor who's an elite assassin?? Just like how Yor sneaked behind Twillight, an elite spy?

When I look back, the places he brought Yor and Anya are also strange. Like,

a mafia branch office, of all places??

The waffle stall and flower shop are sus too, because we've seen WISE agents shared their intels using similar methods.

It's like his feet reflexively brought him to the places he often visited when he was young.

Or maybe it's not Sigmund who used to be an agent, but Barbara?? Like, he nonchalantly walked into dangerous places and he always blame his wife, isn't it sus??

Seeing that Sigmund always mentioned his wife when he walked into the "trap" -- like it's an everyday thing -- and when he entered the mafia office and the flower shop, it got me thinking, maybe Barbara used to be a Garden member? Or maybe I'm stretching it too far.

Now this is just my delulu talking but wouldn't it be crazy if Sigmund and Barbara represented Twillight and Yor's married life in the future? Has Anya acquired another badass family members??

Nah, maybe I'm stretching. It's not impossible he went into those places by pure accidents. I mean, maybe he remembered the places from 40 years ago or smth, which have completely changed since then.

Wow Twillight's skeptic nature is rubbed off on me.

Regardless if they might be badasses or not, I'm happy to see Twillight & Yor got new parent figures, and Anya got new grandparents!

[midnight-in-town]

Anya's getting grandparents, the family plot thickens.

Just kidding, but actually, it's interesting that the Forgers are now living very close to someone who half remembers bombings in Ostania from a long time ago.

Could it be we'll finally learn some historical facts? Because we know Westalis was bombed during Loid's childhood, just like we know Yor was an orphan, probably for a similar war-related reason (even though we never had a flashback on her side), but we still don't really understand what this very long war is all about, nor how it was triggered.

So, while Sigmund seems unrelated to the whole spy or Garden business (according to Anya's mind reading), he might still offer some interesting lore for Anya and her parents to know about, especially since he used to be a teacher.

Interesting chapter and new characters!

[fijiwater33]

I’m obsessed with the idea that the good ending of Spy x Family is the Forgers having a cookout, and the people close to them are invited. You got Yuri, Damian, Franky, Chloe the Authens, Sylvia, Melinda, Demetrius, and even Fiona after becoming Yor’s friend and moving on from Loid there. Plenty of laughter, hijinks, and good times there.

And dare I say they all become part of the Spy Xtended Family!

I’ll see myself out

[cat-anime345678]

Spy x family chapter 96 illustration

[crucipuzzled]

About Loid Forger's therapy in SxF manga chapter 77 (Spoilers ahead)

There's a Freudian text for everything. Today's all about The Question of Lay Analysis (1926), also known as Wild Analysis.

Endo did what I have been planning to do for a comic of my own: depict Loid actually working as a Psychiatrist. While I'm glad he took this path, sadly I can't say he did a good job on it.

As some of you know, I'm a therapist grounded in Psychoanalitic Theory. Yes, I like Freud and Lacan, and no, Oedipus Complex is not what you heard it is. I did a brief analysis of Psychiatry stuff in SxF in the past, and today I feel compelled to repeat that exercise.

Let's go in order.

1. The importance of being a third party

What's the reason for which people ask a therapist for help, and not their families or friends? What do we have that they don't?

The answer is pretty simple: neutrality. We don't have a side other than rationality and ethics. A good therapist should be able to listen to his patient without losing objectivity.

When you and your patient have a shared, unique shared experience, it's preferable, even ethical, to refer him to another therapist, in order to preserve the higher interest of the patient. The more neutrality you can muster, the better for the curing process. Otherwise, it's really hard to listen to someone else without being constantly reminded of yourself. It turns into a blind spot.

Now, there are exceptions to this rule, but you must handle them carefully, and always putting the patient at the center. Loid openly talking here about how close he is to the hijacking incident doesn't help much.

In short, you have to ensure that your position in the therapeutic process remains an impartial, neutral Other, and avoid becoming a fellow. It's good to create trust, but not too much, just enough to work.

2. Chronic condition (?)

The biggest difference between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist is that the first went to Med School. Hence, chronicity is a term that applies mostly for organic conditions, but it's rare in the field of subjectivity.

In my short experience, I've met cases labeled as "chronic depression" being cured. I, myself, cured a case of "compulsive suicide attempts since 15 years old, chronic depression, started hearing evil voices 2 weeks ago". You might think that I'm a great therapist, but it's not the case; it's just that, in order to tackle subjective problems, you ought to go to the root of the symptoms and deal with the subjectivity you find there. Psychoanalitic therapy has proven to be wonderful to treat many conditions that didn't get a cure in other types of psychotherapy.

Of course, it's not a panacea. There are things that we can't figure out yet. But bear in mind that chronicity, in the field of the mind, is more complex than just the passage of time and only a bunch of mental conditions truly admit it.

Jacques Lacan, the most important psychoanalist after Freud, said that the unconscious's track of time is not chronological, but logical. You don't just jump out of adolescence because you turned 18; other things need to happen for you to finally feel like an adult. It's a logical progression. The same can be said about some "chronic" conditions.

3. Explicit Reason of Consultation vs Latent Reason of Consultation

A.K.A Everybody lies.

Psychotherapy is a really weird thing to learn and master. In Psychology School they teach you that you must trust what your patient tells you, but at the same time, distrust him enough. How to conceal both things?

Well, everything is easier when you take Dr. House's words to heart.

Everyone states a reason for consultation, but that first reason is never the real reason, no matter how reasonable it might sound. The trick to discern what the latent, real reason for consultation is, is to determine what the subjective conflict hiding in plain sight is. Sometimes there isn't any and therefore, a full psychotherapy is not necessary (maybe just assisting someone with some things, being there just in case, etc), but most cases are built upon a conflict.

I'm glad that Loid here decided to act like a good Psychiatrist and took a mental note on the oddities.

WELL SAID MY BOY, I'M PROUD OF YOU

I want to remark this, because it's discouraging how many therapists oversee this to simplify their job to an extreme. Believe it or not, there are therapists out there that act upon what their patients tell them first. "Hi doc. I came here today because I got an accident and I think I have PTSD". "Ok, I'll have you practice these mindfulness excercises and you should be ok within a month, see ya". DUDE.

4. The place of truth in the context of Psychotherapy

Ah, the classic temptation of knowing the 'real' truth. Is this patient in front of me bullshitting his way out? Is he in a delirium? Is she telling the truth, or just embellishing her story to make it more believable?

You don't have this struggle once you are certain of your role as a psychotherapist. And your role is to help your patients to deal with their subjective struggles.

In short: Psychoterapy deals with the patient's truth, not with the 'real' truth.

You know who deals with 'real' truth in the field of Mental Health? Social Workers.

We psychotherapists don't need to ascertain our patient's claims. Confronting them with reality usually proves to be fruitless, just like Loid did here ("But you're a respected educator!"). It's way more useful to open the topic by asking more questions such as "How did you reach that conclussion?" "What made you think that way?", or giving a specular answer ("You speak like someone else said that about you", "You're too hard with yourself. Where does that come from?", "It sounds like you're belittling your fear for what your wife could say", etc etc etc).

Whenever you're with a neurotic patient, their own personal truth is the only truth you need to work with. Leave the 'real' truth for people who actually needs it, like Social Workers, Doctors or Judges. Your role with a patient is to make sure that his personal truth can turn into something less painful. No need to talk with their friends and family for info, unless your patient is a child or a teenager; just ask him and stick to what he says word by word.

There's a huge topic about the place of reality in therapy, specially in the field of Psychoanalysis, but if I start this train of thought I'm afraid I'll go down to Hell. If you're interested, I've reblogged some Lacanian pills on this Tumblr, check them out by searching the tag #lacan.

PS: NO LOID, DON'T DO THAT. DON'T BREAK THE TRUST YOU ACHIEVED WITH MR AUSTIN! CONFIDENTIALITY IS A MUST!!

5. Counceling = Psychotherapy?

Loid is a (fake) Psychiatrist, not a psychotherapist, so I can't be too hard on him. Also I stan this man. I'm painfully well aware that councelling and coaching is an alternative to psychotherapy in other parts of the world, mostly in the US. But let's not forget one thing:

Psychotherapists DON'T GIVE ADVICES.

At least, not the ones that take this job seriously.

Everyone can give advices. Do you want an advice? Ask your family or friends, or post something in social media, or ask a complete stranger in the street what to do. You'll get plenty of answers and advices. Maybe a bunch of them will be really useful. Good!

The thing with advices is that: -They act like a universal recipe for a problem -There's no universal recipe to sort a problem -They don't tackle the subjective root of a problem -They assume that the problem can be solved by something you can do upon your surroundings, when the real struggle stems from subjective problems Some advices do help with real struggles, but when you have a subjective conflict, they barely help; hell, sometimes they make everything worse.

Like Loid here.

Remember when I mentioned that the unconscious mind's track of time is not chronological, but logical? This is a great example. Mr Austin won't be able to properly talk with his wife just because Loid adviced him to; he must solve other issues before that.

I'm glad we're on the same page on this one

6. Your therapist is not your friend

Sad but true.

If your therapist is good enough, you won't know many things about his private life. You won't know about his lover, his hobbies, where does he live, what does he fear.

Why the secretism? Because it's useless for the patient. Also because disclosing personal information has the effect of becoming a model for the patient, who would start to imitate you. And finally, because you need to mantain a semblance of neutrality and not getting emotionally close with the patient more than necessary.

PS: It's kinda cute how aware Loid is about Yor's every movement. Kinda. KISS HER ALREADY, GODDAMNIT

7. Talking cure and (how not to use) the divan

I talked a bit about divans here.

There, I mentioned that you should NEVER PUT A PSYCHOTIC PATIENT IN A DIVAN. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE. Well, we can amplify this rule a bit and say that you should avoid the divan with any patient that has a risk of getting seriously upset, like in severe trauma.

The divan is not the only thing that could play against you if badly used. There are cases in Psychiatric Hospitals of patients getting upset because their therapists used the same clothes and hairstyle every single day for months. The point here is that, with psychotic patients and fragile psychic structures (like what happens in traumatized people), you can't use methods that require too much projection.

Also, Lottie here is not performing a Talking Cure.

The divan has been used since Freud to facilitate transference through the Free Association Method. You lay down on it and your therapist ask for whatever crosses your mind first. You don't put a content there beforehand.

(On the same line, if you're a therapist, please refrain from decorating your consultation room with motivational phrases. You're putting words in your patient's mouth before he even starts to speak)

So, it's useless to make Mr Austin lay down on a divan, only to ask him to remember a specific memory. I'd advice (Ha! The irony!) against using the divan here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To finish my Two Cents, I'd like to point some positive aspects of this chapter. It's nice that a troubled person decides to seek for help. There's still a huge stigma about men requiring mental health help, and it's a nice example to settle to portray one actually going to a Psychiatrist. Men usually struggle with their problems alone and they have it rough.

It's also nice that, in the end, Loid could help his patient. I wonder how (How?!), but it probably means that, at some point of the process, he changed his methods for the better.

And yes. Sometimes, helping one single person can change many lives. I'm honored to be able to attest to that :D

As everyone, I'd expect the logical sucession of events that could follow this chapter: Loid realizing he's got a heck of a wife compared to other marriages, appreciating Yor more, and giving us heavy smut cute TwiYor moments. But Endo has proven to be an author that doesn't like to follow logic. So, let's brace for whatever will come in two weeks.

Thank you for reading!

[cresneta]

92 | I don't know what Mr. Authen got up to in the past, but it seems like he was at least on team peace. He also seems to be a genuinely caring person.

His teaching style also seems to be gentle and effective. I can't imagine him trying to force anyone to study while they're in tears.

Everyone is allowed their own theories, but I just don't think he's a bad guy.

As an aside, I'm a bit annoyed at the cliffhanger. I just hope Anya didn't fail every test besides the one on classical language.

[cdlikesstories]

(slight manga spoilers ahead)

I spy...

...some cool references in the manga lately!

suppose someones been to the cinemas for a spy movie before ch105, maybe?

if the new elderly neighbour in ch90 is a reference to Sigmund Freud, who is considered the father of psychology, then this is a pretty cool moment

[lastnightisatum-blur]

I love this old man, I want to see more of him so badly

[tare-anime]

A.k.a Kids, please do enjoy your times as kids, cause adulthood sucks, but of course adults can always give rewards to themselves 🤣🤣

Oh grandpa Sigmund, so relateable 🤣🤣🤣 👏👏👏

[connoisseursdecomfort]

I see what you did there, Endo (manga spoiler alert)

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Authen(tic) with Einstein's hair

The first thought (and I saw several people saying that) he'll help Anya with her homework. But what if he helps Loid with his job? Heh.

[genia-caliber]

So Sigmund Authen was in neurology, huh? Someone who deals with the brain and how it works. Which is probably necessary to have extensive knowledge about, if you were to ever manage to produce genuine telepathic abilities.

And he just so happens to be interested in the field of classical language, something Anya is inexplicably good at.

And he just so happens to have Spy Wars comic books on hand, something Anya has been a fan of, presumably, for quite some time, especially since her telepathy was (probably) meant to be used for espionage.

And then he ceases to seem like he has dementia as he's tutoring Anya. How convenient!

Nation's greatest treasure.

Looks like Albert Einstein.

Was introduced right around we got this special illustration

Twilight didn't catch anything suspicious, but then again, he doesn't always manage to, lol.

[littleholmes]

I really, really hope she does well on this final