#valuable asset of operation strix

[noxribles]

a little cruise adventure hc <3 (left to right)

from this little panel

[youuuimeanmee]

ENDOO SHUT THE FUCK UPP

SO U MEAN TO TELL ME

THAT OUR FAN THEORIES

ARE CORRECT.

(endo-san, if you've planned this from the beginning, then a thousand applauds for you for sticking to this plot & foreshadowings for so long. If u were just throwing shit up & rely on fans' theories to see where you're going next, then great job for making it seem so seamless. wtf.)

I still don't buy the "Donovan is an alien" narrative completely; I still think he changed after he secretly volunteered to be a lobotomy experiment subject, to get the superpower he wants to reach a greater understanding in humanity.

Although, if Endo really wish to introduce a terrestial being into this series, then, does that mean Anya's telepathic ability is really born from the lab's experiment? Is she born from the sperm of an alien?? Alien DNA recombination?? Lolol. *edit: this is just me hoping that Anya's telepathic ability was developed in vitro, bc the idea of those mad scientists opening up Anya's skull & cutting up her brain whe she was a baby is just sick beyond belief & i cant accept that.*

I am so so glad to see Fiona in this chapter, trying to extract extra info from Desmond's staff! It really hammers down how incredible this valuable opportunity is for Westalis. Great job Endo-san, for not forgetting to include this 👍

Wait.

Wait a damn minute.

If what Melinda say is true, Donovan can read minds,

Then Donovan must've read Twillight's mind on their first meeting; his fake persona & and Operation Strix have already been busted.

Maybe this is not just a mere illustration inside Twillight's head, maybe this really IS Donovan's reaction when he find out about Operation Strix?? LMAO

Or maybe Donovan can only read minds to a certain extent –not fully like Anya, so maybe he can only get the gist of what people are thinking; so he doesn't know Operation Strix yet, but he knows that Twilight wants to extract some information from him.

(though I wanna add, even if Twillight is from the opposing country, I hope Twillight's sincerity to meet in the middle could reach Donovan too.)

I've known these theories for awhile, but could these be true afterall?? (We're already at this stage, but I still don't wanna assume fanons as canons.)

Then.

IF Damian —at the family dinner— was remembering Anya's confession that she can read minds, and he wished he could read what's on his father's mind too,

Does it mean Anya's telepathic ability is already busted by Donovan?

Is my theory from ch 106 correct afterall???

Oh wAIT.

FUCK I forgot if Donovan read Melinda's mind too, then he must've learned that Melinda has befriended Yor Forger. The mother of Anya Forger. The daughter of Loid Forger.

Combine that information from Melinda and information from Damian that Anya can read minds....

... does it mean Donovan has assumed that Twillight from Westalis is using his telepathic "daughter" as a spy in Eden Academy?

Funny thing is, Twilight himself has no idea about all this implication. He's a million steps away from Donovan.

HAHAHAHHAA

(lol how could I not read this from miles away)

Argh fuck, I'm really worried for Anya now.

This could very well escalate into the "war" of obtaining Anya as an asset. Maybe it'll still be light-hearted, like manipulating Damian's romantic feelings for Anya by inviting her to have dinner together, but still. At first, I thought Donovan might get Anya expelled from school because she's dangerous, but I figure she's just too valuable to be tossed away; it's better to keep her close while extracting info from her as much as he can. Or use her ability to the fullest.

At least Anya is now aware that Donovan has the same ability as her, so at least she can proceed with more caution now.

I hate seeing Anya being the only one aware of the whole situation & she struggles alone to keep it all together — like what she has done all this time. That's why I really want Anya to come clean with Twilight so he can at least get a picture of the whole situation he's facing right now, and protect her properly, but I know it'll massively shift the Forger dynamic we're used to. I have no idea how will Endo handle this development from now on.

Well, that's enough anxiety for tonight.

Stay safe Anya! 🙏🥺🥺🥺

[xautunno]

Rant about Spy x Family & Covert Affairs (found on Amazon Prime):

**I am watching the anime and have not read the manga yet

***This is long and you might want to skip my rambling but I felt the need to get it out

Okay, I have a little rant about Spy Family cause I keep seeing posts and it's aggravating me just a little but people keep pointing out that while Loid is getting more and more comfortable with Yor and Anya, his ability as a spy is diminishing. But I recently just rewatched Covert Affairs S1 and honestly, he's not becoming less of a spy but rather more of one.

Allowing truth to bleed into your lies makes your lies stronger and his family is not necessarily a lie with all the (forged) paperwork. His emotions being genuine bleeds through not only his act as a family man but Anya's and Yor's acts as well. Anya is a kid that obviously cannot lie well and his treatment, his relationship with her is how best he's going to influence her when she is out on her own representing them.

He also makes a point to always remind Yor she is part of the family because 1) she is and 2) in order for her to play her part, she has to believe in her role, that's going to allow others to believe their family tho it's also fair to assume her role will be more stepmom rather than mom.

This is a spy's life, managing assets in the field and expanding connections, all things Loid has given Twilight access to. A respected job, a daughter that goes to a prestigious school, and a wife that works in public service. He now has access to communities he might not have had before and more importantly, he has access long-term. No one can possibly question why he's hanging around this area for so long or perhaps not trying to move up the ladder because he's a family man devoted to his wife and his child's care. His child is in a very well respected school and his wife is a local (per the Handler).

In comparison, Annie Walker works at the Smithsonian and is a linguist which allows her to travel and she is comfortable traveling from previous experience. It gives her a way in with people but she also shares with others (typically other agents but sometimes assets) that she has a family waiting back at home, she's human too, with loved ones and that's what Twilight is finally becoming in my eyes is indeed the perfect spy.

I also feel like from some of the clips we do see before he gets to Operation Strix, he operated on almost an assassin basis rather than a spy. At least, from watching Covert Affairs, I see spies as managers in the field and collectors of intel. These spies in Spy x family might take on more of a dual role, I'm not sure.

I'd also like to point out that this is probably Twilight's first long-term mission. Long-term as in over a year. He could stay as Loid Forger indefinitely so long as he remains within valuable communities that allow him opportunities for WISE. And, while others call him the greatest spy of the West, we have no idea how he handled missions before Strix, and from what I can see of the missions he does alongside Strix, he probably messes up a lot more than we credit him. BUT, his success rate is high because he knows how to catch himself (and charm his way out), and once more, he probably never did a mission this long before so I doubt he knows how to handle himself when things he said last year come back to him because typically, his mission would already be over with.

And to address the Handler, we see her express emotion about the mission. She admitted to once having a daughter. That's probably why she joined WISE. All spies there seem to despise war and want only to bring peace. This is personal in their own way and that's why they must remind themselves to keep emotions out of their decision-making. That doesn't mean to suppress themselves or their compassion but do not let the heart rule on decisions that could be the key to a peaceful tomorrow and a war. I have yet to see her rule on the thought of emotions being bad (have not seen the manga yet) and Twilight also seems to have some qualms about his emotions during missions but Nightfall is the only one that I've seen take it so far and the others around her make note that is too far. That's not expected or required of them. In fact, her suppression of emotion can probably make some of her missions more difficult for her and other agents. And, it also means her inability to properly handle her emotions leads her to nearly compromise Twilight's mission.

Back to Annie Walker, we see her struggle with her emotions (she is a rookie after all) in the field. That's why she has Auggie (her handler) and Joan (her boss). Their job is to keep Annie focused and Annie's job is to keep her assets safe and focused so intel goes back to the CIA. But, Joan knows that the life of a spy is difficult especially with family and friends not knowing the truth. That's why Joan demands Annie takes a vacation, why she's watching closely, because the minute an operative snaps, they're gone. They either leave or they go rogue (seen in S1 with other agents). A handler has to know their operative better than anyone else so that when operatives reach the end of their rope, the handle can pull them back into safety.

I think The Handler knows Twilight all too well and that's honestly a good thing. and I think one reason for that is she will bear herself to him like she did speaking of her daughter and he bears a little of himself back. There's mutual respect and trust. If nothing else, an alliance that makes this possible. And, ensures Twilight doesn't go off the deep end. With his family around him now, I think this might make it easier to keep him focused, centered, and motivated.

[httplovecraft1890]

I don't think I've seen analysis of the origin of Operation Strix's name much in the fandom. Please keep in mind that what I'm saying is highly speculative, of course, and it's impossible to tell at the moment why Endo chose it, but I think it's worth mentioning. The word strix is derived from ancient Greek - later adopted by the Romans - and while it came to refer to owls the monsters it was initially associated with don't quite match up. Strix, in general, don't have many concrete descriptions in mythology other than they're birds of some kind that are ill omens (who can make an unearthly wail)... and are vampiric, given that they supposedly feed off of the dead's corpses and drink their blood. Being turned into animals for crimes against humanity is a recurring thing you see in a lot of stories from that culture. Indeed, the first story associated with them mentions that the first were a woman named Polyphonte and her sons for having committed cannibalism. It dovetails with the theme of violence being inherently barbaric and cruel that Endo is running with; its scars last long after the event fades away. Numerous characters are haunted either by the fighting itself or what they did during the war. In a metaphorical sense they're quite like that legendary beast because they, or Donovan at least, aim to profit off of the conflict in some manner like its namesake. Also worth pointing out, perhaps, that Polyphonte had two sons as well. If Melinda is secretly a villain then it could very well be that this is what it's alluding to on a meta narrative level. It's a bait and switch. Frankly, if WISE was focusing on the wrong person the entire time, it would certainly ratchet up the stakes. Donovan's design can be thought of as owl-like with his large, staring eyes but perhaps the real person who aims to reignite a war between east and west, or at least has a connection to in some manner to those that are trying to push things over the cliff again, is her. That said, it's entirely possible that Melinda's attempt at befriending Yor could be genuine even if my speculation is right because while she's definitely a valuable potential asset to her, she may come to care for her on a personal level to parallel Twilight/Loid. I think the eye imagery in her jewelry is certainly enough to raise eyebrows given its similarity to the SSS' logo, at least. Most interesting possibility, to me, would be that the Forgers turn the Desmonds towards peace without having to shed any more blood by ultimately winning them over. It'd subvert reader expectations while at the same time not letting them off the hook for the things they've done, such as Donovan's and potentially Melinda's emotional neglect/abuse towards Damian (possibly even Demetrius too). Your analyses are wonderful. Just adding some food for thought, I hope. :)

SxF · 65 ··· Desmond's mother

Warning: This contains spoilers for the manga.

Last time I talked about this chapter from Yoru's perspective, regarding her adventure in the mall, where she met a possible friend, ending up in a volleyball game. That nice woman ended up being, nothing more and nothing less than Melinda Desmond. Damian's mother and Donova's wifen

It is here where the fans burst with emotion at the range of possibilities that history showed us.

However, I really feel that there is nothing conclusive to analyze the Desmonds in depth. Except for Damiand, the Desmond parents have had very brief appearances (so far) with no information regarding their "intentions". Everything around them is a mystery.

Although, I have read a lot of other fans' impressions on the internet and they all seem interesting to me. At this point, I think any plot twist is possible. Endo can surprise us at any moment with a new character or event, and we are all stunned.

So, like everyone else, I'm going to fall into the speculations and theories:

Who is behind the war?

I couldn't tell if Melinda is or isn't a spy from Ostania, let alone that she is the "final boss", since this statement seems too hasty to me.

Personally, I believe that behind the war there is not "one person", but rather this is a vast network of individuals whose ambitions can be achieved through war. And whether these are direct allies or not, there are a lot of loose ends that we don't know have a connection to the Desmonds.

To begin with, I doubt that Desmond is just a "puppet", his life as a "strange" and "inscrutable" man, added to the distrustful look he gave Loid Forger as he walked away (Just as Twilight looked at him too) , implies that he is someone difficult to go through.

I am more inclined to the theory that Melinda may be an ally of her husband, fulfilling other roles and functions within the "possible" organization to which they belong.

We are all curious that Melinda looks like such a sweet and kind woman, but she did not appear the day Damiand entered Eden. Which, implies that she is not exactly "a selfless mother"

There's something strange about this whole thing and it's...

Since his first appearances, Damiand has made it clear that the education he received from his family is the greatness of the Desmonds, and that they should not get involved with people who are not on the same social and economic level. Interestingly, Desmond showed no problem talking to Loid Forger. Surely, he tries to maintain a civilized and "apparently" friendly posture due to his political role and treating another father of a family badly would affect his campaign.

But, curiously, Melinda did not show contempt for Yor at any time and none of her friends "contempt" her, on the contrary, they were all very kind and wanted Yor to join their "social group"

Perhaps, this is due to the contrasting personalities of Donovan and Melinda, as husband and wife. But also, it can be a "strategic" role, for both, as cover, and as they exercise control with their closest allies/friends.

This would make sense, since WISE is not directly looking to kill Desmond. Since, he is not behind the war, but he may be the main connection to all this web of events that are happening: terrorist attacks, assassinations, the division of the secret government into a radical sector and the other not, the Apple experiments. .. etc

Although, I'm surprised that WISE has never sought out relationships with Desmond's wife or eldest son, or because they don't come close to the Desmonds' existing friendships. Everything revolves around Donovan in a direct way… and the strategy of approaching Damiand does not seem very feasible (He is just a boy)

I don't know if in reality every Desmond has a social circle so closed that in reality, they are just as impenetrable. So, Yor having entered the club is something that no one could do unless they have the support of an insider… which seems to be the case with the chapter.

Could Melinda Desmond be the intellectual equivalent of Twilight?

When I say "equivalent" I mean it could be a person who is on the same level as Twilight when it comes to socially integrating with other people and manipulating. Although, she may not be a "real spy"… or maybe she was in the past. The only role you have to play now is that of mother and wife

Now, I can't help but notice a bunch of similarities in Twilight and Yor's meeting (Chapter 2) - Melinda and Yor (Chapter 65). Although both chapters have different developments, there are certain similarities

1. Yor's dilemma:

In both chapters, Yor questions "normality" and her own eccentricity. Although Yoru has been growing up according to the plot, she still can't get rid of the idea of ​​"not being a normal person", feeling left out. And although Loid and Anya have declared that they love her as she is and her role is perfect. Yor seems to need someone who is "in her shoes" - Yor longs to experience so many things that her constant fears make her fear failure and she doesn't allow herself to relax and enjoy herself freely.

2. Casual encounter (But very convenient)

In contrast to Twilight, Yor's encounters seem to happen on a casual basis. And well, it's consistent with her, since Yor doesn't plan anything as he doesn't have a reason to. Of course, these coincidences occur few and are momentous events.

While going to a tailor shop Yor ended up in a deal with Loid Forger, her fake future husband. Here Yor ended up meeting a friend and they ended up in a volleyball match.

I think this event was coincidental, mainly because of Melinda's surprised reactions at the end of the chapter and how Endo focuses her eyes

This always happens with Twilight when his gaze is a visual resource for the viewer to understand when he is "lying or not"

The radical difference is that we can always see Twilight's POV. But we can't know what goes through Melinda's mind (at least for now)

3. Their reaction to Yor's force.

Twilight and Melinda seem to be the first people (other than Yuri) to get to see Yor in action. Far from feeling scared and fearful, they see this as something incredible!

Here I wonder if Melinda could see Yor's strength, and like Twilight think "this woman is perfect for my plans". Although, Melinda does not necessarily want to hurt Yor. He is more likely to want to "have her around" as a possible friend or ally. Since not only is he interested in using her to win a friendly game, but she seems insistent that he join "Lady patriots society"

And it's funny, because, if you remember… Before all the events of Camila's party, Twilight's intentions were to join Yor as two people who do each other a favor, while he weighed a seduction plan.

What if Melinda, in that short time, has the same idea? Integrate Yor enough until it is easy to convince her in the future of something

4. Symbols

This was one of the most relevant details for most readers. Symbols often subtly represent that the character belongs to "something." Some are more obvious than others, like the Twilight pin that represents WISE

Interestingly, they are both "eyes".

I don't know if these are surveillance "cameras" or not, as you think. Or are they just, jewelry with some connotation of belonging to "some organization" Although it would be interesting if Melinda turns out to be/was a spy. Now working with her husband.

These skills to socialize, belonging to a club with the women of the highest spheres of power (an invaluable source of information), the innocent interest she shows for Yor make her suspicious.

Melinda's role as mother, wife and friend may be totally real.

But he uses his real facade for his true intentions A lie covered by truths. Which is totally strategic.

I don't know why these two panels give me the same feeling

Regarding the Strix mission

At this point we all have a collective idea: How is Twilight going to react? This was the most convenient move and he didn't even have to watch (I'm sure it will be a funny face)

This may be your ticket to Desmond's plans. But it is something you may have to do carefully. For if Melinda becomes as smart as we think she may be, she can tell if Mr. Forger is a man to watch out for. Added to that, I don't know what plans Melinda has, and if they could put Yor at risk

(We know that Yor is invulnerable) to almost everything. But I'm sure Twilight won't want to risk her danger anyway… but… It's worth the mission, isn't it?

I'm curious how Melinda plays. If your interest is to become close friends with Yor, and try to make Damiand get closer to Anya (Although I would be surprised since she doesn't seem interested in her son) (Damiand only seems close to his brother and it seems that the relationship is not very good )

I also wonder if Melinda could have an impact on the Forgers' relationship as a couple, if she tried to absorb more of Yor's time by squeezing her a bit from her family?

What do you think?

[httplovecraft1890]

I'm glad you could speak to Nightfall in the narrative since I'm an anime-only pleb and I've only managed to glean broad strokes about future plot points/characterization from Tumblr, but I'm glad you mentioned her speculation. She's definitely not wrong that the only winning move will be not to play either Westalis' or Ostania's games. I have to say the thing that I'm most interested in right now will be how they're going to try to prevent the Forgers from fleeing or what will be the decisive moment that pushes the three of them to get the hell out of Dodge. One of the more perplexing questions is why Anya hasn't been tracked down by Ostania's SSS yet given that she fled from the scientists who were effectively raising her for their experiments. Even in an era before mass communication, you'd think that losing an asset that valuable would be cause for alarm, and they'd try everything in their power to return her. Anya's test subject number confirms she wasn't their first attempt, so there are presumably others, however... Desmond himself is someone who I expect will ultimately be something of an anti-climax but I think it will be because that's part of Endo's overall plan. Like you mentioned, he's not important in the grand scheme of things; there are countless people throughout history who wanted to avenge their countries through war. If he wasn't around then Operation Strix would be about stopping someone else. That's the point, though, isn't it? So long as the world functions like it does then there will always be those that can't let go and the solution is to search for a better world. Anya being the key to everything is also definitely true. Regardless of how Yor and Loid discover each other's identities, the safety of their daughter is going to be paramount, and even if there's a lot of drama surrounding the two of them lying to each other up to that point. Love is a key theme as well and the series also touches on pretty much every form of it in some way or another.

Violence as a Theme in Spy x Family

There was a great post in the Spy x Family tags that said that their personal conspiracy theory was that Tatsuya Endo used the rom-com premise of the series as a Trojan horse and that he really wanted to write a story about the horrors of war. I think it's difficult to ascertain if the series will change dramatically over time (I don't think it really has to, as I'll explain below), but it's impossible not to notice that this is at least in some way true since it illustrates one of the story's core themes: violence is one of the worst things people can do to one another.

The repetition of this is endless. The Westalis-Ostania war serves as the entire basis for why WISE is wanting to infiltrate their neighbor in the first place, violating international borders and the sovereignty of another nation to do what they believe is best. The fighting irrevocably changed Yor's, Yuri's, Franky's, and Loid's lives forever. The experiments Anya and Bond went through are probably the result of Ostania's military wanting to find new, exciting ways to visit further horrors on their neighbor by getting a leg up on them (MKULTRA-type shit). The far right, embodied in the National Unity Party and seen more recently in the student group wanting to commit terrorism, seethe with resentment and want revenge for whatever perceived humiliation they're suffering from. It's even perverted the thinking of our protagonists; as much as we might laugh at Loid over-analyzing his clear feelings for his 'fake' family as simply part of his mission or Yor casually wanting to murder people who're inconvenient, it isn't condemning them for it. They're byproducts of a system that's fundamentally broken and has tossed them aside. Nearly every character is a perpetrator but they're also a victim. Even the code name for the whole thing driving the plot, Operation Strix, is named after a Roman mythological figure who quite literally fed on corpses and blood. More to the point, I think it is rather obvious that Loid's dream of living in a world where children don't cry is impossible, as is Yor's increasing desire to become a real wife and mother to the Forgers, if they don't walk away from the paths they're on. They cannot beat the world into submission to impose peace on it and, even if they could, it'd fundamentally be a false one. Both of them, along with their adopted daughter, absolutely crave positive human connection. War and subterfuge can't give them this; such things beget themselves and will only lead to further cycles of suffering. Ultimately, I think it will be a story of knowing when to change course, not to abandon one's principles, but to find new ways of achieving your goals. The fact that Endo has managed to wrap this all up in a spy story with weird as hell plot beats, memorable art, and wonderful characters is a testament to his humanist work thus far.

[peanutstudying]

I want to see this happen ☺️

a little cruise adventure hc <3 (left to right)

from this little panel

[tare-anime]

Yeesss!!!

a little cruise adventure hc <3 (left to right)

from this little panel