#that hindered Anya's mission a lot

[nomaejie]

Master Damian x Maid (spy) Anya 

 Anya tried horseback riding for the first time. Later they return to the mansion

Anya: It was fun. Next time we should bring 2 horses.

Damian: ...

Anya: (He doesn't look happy at all! Damn I accidentally asked too much for a servant! He'll hate me. This is not good for the mission!)

Damian: (She doesn't like riding with me..? Pffft, it's not that I like it or anything! It's just out of habit that I only brought one horse!)

Here is the plot. I bullshiting their clothes so I’m not sure what year its set:

The sudden death of the King forced the young prince to ascend the throne, which caused turmoil in the court. The nobility did not submit to the New King because he was too young. The New King, while taking on a new role, opened an investigation into his father's sudden death. He appealed to the Imperial Knights' underground knight squad - WISE. The best spies are sent into the houses of the nobles one after another to investigate the clues about the assassin of the Old King, and at the same time to spy on their loyalty to the New King. Loid, one of the knights of WISE, he is normally pretending to be a writer, with his wife Yor - a gardener, and his adopted daughter Anya. By order of the king, he was tasked with infiltrating the Desmond family. Speaking of the Desmonds, they are a family that has served the royal family faithfully for two centuries. That also means about the level of power of the Desmond family. Which side they sided with would have enormous influence over the fledgling dynasty. However, Desmond's family is known to be extremely reserved, with a limited number of servants, rarely changing. Getting in is extremely difficult. Coincidentally, the Desmonds were in need of a new maid. Loid's daughter, Anya, feels this is a golden opportunity to help her father, so she volunteered to accept the mission. Although very dissatisfied, he agreed to let his daughter perform the task. Instead, Loid will be on an outside investigation mission. Damian, the second son of the Desmonds, 17 years old. He seems to like Anya at first sight and likes to bully her. In an impulsive moment, Anya succumbed and gave Damian a punch. It was thought that the mission would end from here, but Damian did not fire Anya but also concealed the incident for her with the excuse that "it would be embarrassing if this story got out". He "punishes" Anya by making her his personal maid. He likes to command the girl constantly and make her follow him whenever he can (this greatly hinders Anya's mission). However, he was no longer acting as exaggerated as before. Their friendship gradually blossomed.

[jamethinks]

One thing I find very ironic about Spyxfamily is the way the Desmonds are portrayed. I understand that according to the narrative, they (namely Donovan) are the antagonists of the story, but I do find it quite tepid that so many character analysis is bonded by this very dichotomy style approach to understanding the characters (if that makes any sense).

I'm having a hard time approaching my point so bare with me if it starts to get confusing or disjointed.

I always see people talking about how the Forgers (aka the fake family) are able to have a happy relationship and a genuine bond while the Desmonds (aka the real family) are distant and uncaring of one another. There's a lot of emphasis on the parallels between Damian and Anya and how the presence of their fathers impact their lives. Most of the discussion is centered around shaming Donovan for not being more involved in Damian's life but not a lot of people are acknowledging why.

The whole reason for the fake family as part of Twilight's mission is because Donovan is a closed off skeptic who avoids unnecessary social interaction. This mission is supposedly the easiest way to get to him. As the story goes on, we gain a better understanding of just how shut off Donovan is and how much he actually isolated himself, even from his own family.

But the thing is, his actions are justified. The mere existence of Operation Strix validates his fears and anxieties. The fact that Twilight a spy is trying to expoilt the relationship he has with his children in order to get closer to him is the very reason he avoids them so much. It's people like Twilight that make him such a skeptical person.

Again, people praise Twilight for being a good dad, except he isn't really a good dad. It's all a facade. He's so dedicated to his goal as a spy for the West that he's willing to fake an entire family just to find out what Donovan is planning. Everything Donovan hates and resents is embodied in Twilight.

In the end, Twilight is just as harmful to Anya as Donovan is to Damian. He grabbed a random child from an orphanage and is using her for his own personal gain with limited regard for her well-being. We are not even sure what he plans on doing with her when the mission is over. Anya is obviously able to manipulate the situation to her own advantage, but that's only because she's a telepath. Any other kid would just be playing along, assume they just got themselves a new family overnight. We do see him grow and deepen his bond with Anya, in some cases threatening the mission for her benefit, but that was never a guarantee.

In a very frustrating way, Twilight is also contributing to Damian's strained relationship with his father and family. While Donovan obviously doesn't know what Twilight is doing, he's still aware that there are people out there who might. So, he continues to be guarded and make unreasonable demands of his children. He makes Damian feel he has to earn his place in his father's life because people like Twilight push Donovan to limit the number of people that are allowed in his life. I'm not saying it's Twilight specifically who's at fault, but people like him who are very much trying to force their way into his circle.

And I'm not saying of this yo defend Donovan or put down Twilight but I would like for less black and white thinking when talking about a Manga that hinges itself on nuance and the complexity of post war society. I find it a bit tired to keep categorizing characters as good or bad because it really hinders any conversation about them.

Idk I just feel there's a lot of moral ambiguity in sxf that really is intended to make us question our own moral code so it's weird seeing people ignore the actual harm Twilight and Yor cause just to reinforce their own limited moral values.

I don't think this makes much sense honestly.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 3

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

There's a lot to unpack in the Eden interview episode. It goes smoothly at first, with Twilight and Yor being able to provide rehearsed answers to the questions. But things start to fall apart when Yor is questioned about her cooking skills, a question she obviously wasn't prepared for. And here we get another instance of Twilight choosing human decency over bettering the mission by sticking up for Yor when Swan starts criticizing her. He could have easily kowtowed by saying something that would make them look better, like agreeing with Swan's remarks and saying that Yor is taking cooking lessons or something. Doing that would have increased their chances of passing the interview, which was the most important thing for the mission at the time. But instead, he drops the fake smile and looks visibly annoyed at Swan while emphasizing Yor's good qualities.

He then catches himself at his sudden emotional instability, internally asking himself why he got so upset when she's not even his real wife. But of course, this was not the last time during the interview where he'd lose his cool.

Things get back on track for a bit when they move on to questioning Anya, and she muddles through with her humorous responses. But when asked what she thinks of her parents, Anya responds with the most competent and articulate answer she'd given yet – saying that she'd score them at 100 percent and wants to be with them forever. Clearly this was not an answer they had rehearsed, as Twilight and Yor look surprised at her response. The three of them had probably not been together very long by that point, and yet Anya already thinks so highly of them. Unlike her (fake) parents who have ulterior motives behind their roles in the family, all Anya wants is to live happily with a family she loves. While she has to hide the fact that she can read minds, she has no reason to hide anything else, like the fact that she loves her parents. She wouldn't want to be with parents she didn't like, so there'd be no reason for her to lie at the interview if she didn't really love them that much…an early sign of what naturally good parents Twilight and Yor are.

When Swan decides to cross the line by asking Anya whether she loves her biological mother or her new mother more, Twilight doesn't hesitate to show disapproval and request another question. Even though he just had to correct himself when he lost his composure during Yor's questioning, once again his compassionate side pushes his "for the mission" reasoning aside.

When Anya starts crying, Yor immediately jumps in to comfort her. Unlike Twilight, she isn't hindered by having to go through all the internal reasoning with herself about whether this would harm her facade. Nor does she seem to care that Anya might actually prefer her real mother, or even give any thought that her actions might ruin the interview, and ultimately her chance at staying Loid's wife – all she cared about at that moment was that this child she was becoming fond of was hurting and she had to do something. This is also the first time we see Yor's scary "mama bear" mode, a rare side of her usually sweet and polite personality…a side that only comes out when someone is threatening Anya or other people she loves.

On the other hand, after slipping up twice, Twilight manages to keep calm for a while, going over and over in his mind how this is all for the mission, and Swan's insults don't matter since they're a fake family. But just as Yor is ready to go full assassin on Swan, Twilight snaps first and launches a punch right at Swan's face, internally yelling at himself to hold back. In the end, he diverts his punch to the table, as well as a deus ex machina mosquito, that allows him to provide an excuse for his unexpected behavior (though I'm still curious what Yor would have done to Swan had Twilight not acted first. Most likely the table would not be the only thing broken).

At this point, Twilight must have known that their chances of passing the interview were shot. His excuse about the mosquito was flimsy, and Swan was obviously angry at them as they started to leave the room. And yet, instead of making an attempt to salvage any chance they might have left of leaving a good impression, Twilight decides to bluntly tell the Eden interviewers exactly what he thought – that they wouldn't want to attend a school that belittles the feelings of children.

I don't think I even need to mention that this is a prime example of how, as much as Twilight insists that everything he does is "for the mission," we as the audience know that this is not the case. Even though, as I mentioned before, sometimes it's ambiguous as to whether he's speaking his true feelings or not, this is one of the times where it's obvious that he is. Even this early in the series, it's clear that his philosophy isn't "for the mission" but more like "for the mission, as long as my morals aren't too compromised." He was willing to toss aside all the work he had done at that point – adopting Anya, marrying Yor, practicing for the interview, keeping up a perfect happy-family facade – because he values his morals more than his mission, even if he himself won't realize it.

When the Forgers dejectedly return home, Twilight shows what a non-judgmental guy he is (something I'll discuss more later) by scolding himself for letting his emotions get the better of him instead of putting any blame on Anya (despite the fact that earlier he said he was nervous because he had to depend on others for the success of the interview). And, when Anya apologizes, he comforts her rather than show any trace of resentment.

Meanwhile, Yor has a bit of a "Twilight moment" where she starts to realize that if they don't pass the interview, the life that they had begun to build would be in jeopardy...but quickly tells herself that she doesn't actually care, only that it could interfere with her work. But as expected, it won't be long before she'll be unable to continue divorcing her own well being from that of Loid and Anya.

On that note, when the Forgers find out that Anya could still get accepted to Eden if another student drops out, Yor fantasizes about killing the father of one of the students so he'd have to relinquish the spot. She of course quickly rejects the idea of killing innocent people, but it's interesting that, as the series goes on, she stops thinking only of her cover up and assassinating as a means to solve her problems. As I mentioned before about her losing her fascination with weapons, as she embraces her mother/wife role, her connection to her Thorn Princess identity slowly starts to fade.

Continue to Part 4 ->

<- Return to Part 2

[tare-anime]

I love the development of Yor's character that can be seen from her interaction with Loid and Anya when she got injured.

Yor's job already makes her more prone to injury, but she also has a tendency to abuse her own body to endure the hardest hit as long as she achieve her goals.

Still, she will cover her injuries as best as she can, because she doesn't want to worry or doesn't want to tell her family anything.

Back at extra mission 2, when her guard was still high:

She completely shot down further inquiries from Loid, and run to her room, and tried her best to act that everything's fine at the following day. Completely avoiding the subject by any means necessary.

At chp 56, she did cover her injuries well, but when Loid noticed her swolen face, she just relay excuses, and didn't try to run away from the subject.

And finally, at chp 68, aside than she obviously cannot hide the injuries on her wrists that hinders her from doing any home chores, Yor did openly whine when relaying excuses for her injured state.

This subtle development can means a lot for Yor's character development.

She's so used to do everything by herself, not depend on others, and always force herself to smile and look happy, because she has always think of Yuri's well being.

But as of late, she can starts to think about her own well being, including getting help from her family when the circumstances arrived.

Yor still needs time to actively asking for help. But for her to be able to openly whine for her injury (or seen as vulnerable) at the latest chapter, means she's getting more and more comfortable with her family. And that's a great development, IMO 🥰

[itsmaferart]

@sweet-holic

In my opinion, that the plot at some point becomes dark should not be synonymous with "being unpopular" or "turning bad." But I guess that's subject to every viewer's expectation.

Which I really think is important, and I hope is Endo's focal point (although this is only in the author's hands). It is to see that love and good feelings manage to prevail until the end, because this is the decision of the character

Briefly analyzing the dark past of Twilight -pass that was briefly mentioned from chapter 1. We could see a different arc, it was a sad past, full of resentment, hatred and sadness. Explaining the enormous trauma Twilight has in relation to the family, the conflicts between the relationship with her own father and the feeling of loss. But it's not quite like that. Operation Strix suffered serious damage, Anya got another "tonitrus," one more obstacle on his way to being an imperial. Still, Twilight/Loid, decided to ignore that, and give importance to something bigger - "friends."Despite all that sadness and darkness to which the post-war world is plunged. Twilight is not alone now, he has a family. And peace between your family and friends is the most valuable thing. Even though he is not yet able to recognize, the feelings of this spy are real and genuine, to the degree of questioning the results of his own mission, and putting Ania's well-being above.

Honestly, my favorite character is Yor.

The form as "Garden" and her life as a murderer became his salvation but it is also his own condemnation. Yor is basically a perfect weapon. Her clueless and naive, but protective and loving personality, far from hindering her work, makes her much more lethal. And this seems to be an element they use to their advantage. Yor thinks he murders evil, but evil for whom, for what purpose? How the world of secret government, murderers is still a mystery intrigues me.

Garden affected Yor so much in her upbringing that she can only see the world through the eyes of a murderer, and nothing else. Making her a "socially clumsy," naive, and totally dependent on her own work. Yor feels that nothing is good, despite always giving herself everything.

However, the best thing about the cruise bow is that Yor advanced a lot as a character. She was able for the first time, to really think for himself and question what is it? And what do you really want?

I feel her self-confidence increases.

Although in an instant she thought about surrendering, and dying, as she did not really find sense in her own life. The fact that he believes that Yuri will no longer need it as a grown man.

I think at the moment of the revelations, after the emotional and devastating shock that Twilight and Thron Princess will have. Both characters can think for themselves, and not under the bandage of "spy" and "murderers." And decide to fight for the peace of the world, but also, your own.

And where being a family "is a choice" and not an imposition to protect your jobs.

Personally, I want to have a leap of faith in Endo's work, given that what he has given us so far has been "excellent" (in my opinion). And to think it's not a comedy story that goes dark.

Otherwise, quite the opposite. A tragic story that becomes beautiful, and ends up giving us a family that manages to overcome its own pasts.

But I guess time will tell…

Every comedy stems from fear. Part 1

After the last chapter of the Spy x Family manga, a rare stir started the fandom. Where it is suggested that Eno strategically uses the comedy and love of a false family as a kind of convenient illusion to attract the audience, as a deceiver attracts a naive to fall into his trap.

Are we really so blind not to see everything that history throws at us? Or is comedy so hilarious that it makes us forget the tragedy that happens in the context of history?

From the beginning of the story we are given a brief introduction to the universe where we meet: After a war between two neighboring countries, the "apparent" peace came, however there are agents of evil working from the shadow with the desire that the war continue for their personal benefits.

This is the engine that leads Twilight, our protagonist to be assigned by WISE (the agency) to have a family.

From then on, we can see that each person is a byproduct of war in one way or another. They are the result of side effects:

Twilight lost his family, his friends, he became filled with hatred for anyone who came from the other side. Then, he understood by evil, he suffered a second loss to understand that "war and ignorance" are sins that drag many people. Twilight has had a lot of "life experience." But this has only been lived under the "I'm a spy" filter. The trauma that carries on his shoulders, added to a job whose success is achieved "not involving his emotions" have made all his bonds a farce. Twilight doesn't really know it's "family love," or "being genuinely in love." He only understands these emotions as an easy vehicle to manipulate others. (Since that's what a spy does) And they've made him unable to recognize his (obvious) feelings to his family. Therefore, in unknown situations he feels so confused and trapped. Since in such circumstances, being a spy is not "the solution." And that's when his real "me" usually comes momentarily. It's too late to notice, though.

Yor, for his part, lost his parents (In causes we still do not know, but we assume it is because of the war). The only thing left with her was her younger brother, maybe she ran with more luck in this regard. But he had to sacrifice himself completely in order to give him a happy future in the midst of a world full of dirt. We don't know how it happened yet, but Yor makes it clear to us the vulnerable situation she was in. The reason I took that job was to "keep her brother," to see that he rewarded her with enough money to meet their needs and to give little gifts of happiness to Yuri in her childhood (such as books or sweets). That is why the real reason for being a murderer was to "protect the peaceful life of your brother." Yor clearly received indoctrination from "garden" and his philosophy of work. "Cleansing the world," though, we do not yet know how true this is and what its true ends are. The way his first instinct is to "murder," and his social ineptitude are clear signs that Yor could never experience a normal life of a girl or teenager, be able to have fun and think about developing in other aspects of life. Clearly, she is very corrupted despite her noble and sweet nature.

Anya is the product of an experiment. Surely caused by war, perhaps in order to create weapons (Background history of which we do not know much yet). A child in search of love from a family. Therefore, she is so affected by the mere possibility that her parents will distance themselves or that the mission will end and Twilight will end up abandoning them. And she must experience abandonment again.

Despite having three such tragic pasts, the product of unfortunate circumstances. The series shows us that these three characters can have salvation. The love of a family "is not perfect," often you cannot premeditate, or control the actions around you, your family may be strange and peculiar. But love can accept us, with our flaws and encourage us to be better.

The union of Twilight, Yor and Anya is so perfect because the three of them accept each other (hiding their identities, of course). But at the same time they can see their virtues and their flaws, they can be themselves.

Ania knows her parents' profession: She knows how cold, calculating and hard her father can be with his high expectations in his missions. Thus, as Yor's crude mind can see with horrendous fantasies. But she loves them and accepts them like that. Because she knows that apart from that, her two parents are amazing, they are people full of love, willing to protect her and guide her along the way always.

In the same way as Yor and Twilight are an incredible couple. Both support, encourage, appreciate, recognize their strengths and understand their weaknesses. It doesn't matter if they are the best in their areas, they always manifest their insecurities in one way or another, and the other is always to listen to it and to say "you make it unbelievable, in your own way."

Unknowingly both have the same purpose, and the same desires. A world where others do not have to suffer what they suffered. And they are willing to fight for it

[tare-anime]

Angsty- Hurt / Comfort TwiYor drabble (AO3)

An idea of the reason Yor avoid settling down all this time.

-----------------------------

The night was clear and the crescent moon was shining its brightest. A complete opposite with what currently happened inside Yor's mind.

She had helped her "husband" with his mission, and the mission came to an end.

Loid asked her to meet him at this park, obviously to disband this “family” in a gentlemanly way.

Part of Yor didn't want that, but her other part knew it was inevitable.

She sighed, closed her eyes, and leaned back at the park bench.

"Hey."

Yor opened her eyes and looked at the man that took a seat at her side. She had always loved that sky blue eyes of his, and tonight might be her last time to see it, thus she made sure to use all the little time she had.

She forced herself to smile, "Hey. Complete all the reports?"

Loid nodded, "Mhmm…. There's still a lot of paperworks though. But, I'll leave them for some other time."

"Miss Handler okay with that?"

He chuckled, "Of course not. But I'm fast enough to escape her wrath."

Yor giggled at his antics. However, she also noticed how he fidgeted on his seat. Most probably he was currently trying to find a way to break up with her, in the best way to spare her feelings.

Which was impossible, to be honest.

But both of them know, when the mission was over, so was the Forgers.

Yor took a deep breath and chose to speak up first, "Well then, good luck to you. I hope you found a way so that Anya could stay. She really loves you so much." She forced down the lump in her throat, and truly tried her best so that her voice didn't shake," Thank you for all this time. Farewell…."

She moved to leave, but Loid's hand grabbed her wrist, "Wait! You're leaving?"

Yor looked at him, confused.

The man opened and closed his mouth for several seconds, and finally asked, "Do you hate me?"

Yor blinked, "No."

"Do you mind living in a smaller apartment at the side of the city?"

"No."

"Do you mind the ordinary daily lives of the working class?"

"Of course not."

"Then…. Will you marry me?"

Yor stammered, “Wh-... what??”

Loud face flushed as he fidgeted even more, “I mean, be my real wife. Get married for real. Not… not for any mission or whatsoever.”

Yor’s mind went blank.

Of all things, she didn’t expect this turn of event.

Her heart was ecstatic, but the more logical parts of her thought things that were more complicated. Things that made her avoid any relationships and pushed away the idea of settling down all this time.

Her silence made the man blabbered even more, “I mean, if you want to, I would abandon my current job. I’ll become a true Ostanian. I’ll get ordinary jobs. I could….”

Yor bit her lower lips and touched his hands, getting his full attention, “As much as I want to…. I can’t….”

Loid shut his mouth and gulped. He then spoke carefully, “I see. I understand. Obviously you can’t trust me. Especially after this time, right?”

“Loid, no! Not that… It’s…. I….”

“You don’t love me?” He whispered.

“No! No!!” She started to grip his hands,”I love you…. So very much….”

“Then….??”

She took a long shaky breath, tears started to brim her eyes,”I…. I love you so much. Which is why I want you to have a happy, healthy, growing family. Things I can’t give you….”

Loid looked at her, and Yor elaborated, “When I choose to enter this world, they made sure my job won’t be hindered by things like pregnancy,” She took a deep breath, and caressed her lower abdomen, “That’s why they….”

Yor then glanced at Loid, and through her tears she said, “Which is why I can’t marry you…”

Loid pulled her into a tight hug and whispered, “Yor, I want to marry you, because I want you to be by my side until the end of my life. We have Anya. And Bond. We are already a complete family. Besides…..” He pulled back and looked at her eyes, “I’m a spy, Yor. I bear the same faith…..”

Yor gasped and her tears spilled.

Loid then placed his hand on her cheek. And as she leaned to its warmth he wiped away those tears with his thumb, “Which made us so perfect for each other, don’t you think?”

He continued, “My job sometimes made me do those activities…. AH! But I got my shots…. It’s not like I have STDs or something… And I only do that if I have no other choice… Wait… you don’t need to know this. Ah, I mean… not that I will lie to you, but...”

Yor laughed through her sobs at his blabbering, and it was enough to calm the man.

Loid then smiled and asked her once again, “So, will you marry me, Yor?”

Finally Yor smiled and answered, “Yes.”

--------------

I want them to have a happy family life by the end of this series. But, this angsty idea that both of them couldn’t have children on their own, just wouldn’t leave my head. And apparently, several of my friends also had the same idea. Because… well… their jobs. Still, I do hope this only happens in fanfiction. ^^