#we're living out dreams this era what a revelation

[alvoskia]

I want to know why were the Infran powers that were chosen? (Life, Death, Water, the Moon, Fire, Knowledge, Time, and Blood) Also I think it’s cool that some contrast each other like life & death and fire & water. But some don’t like there’s moon but no sun? 🤔 Also why are there 8 Infran but only 7 protagonists?

There were a few different reasons that went into selecting the ones I wanted! I can't go into all of them because some would be spoilers for much later on in uh, the Series, but I'll tell you what I can and what I remember from when I was picking 'em (everything was like solidified by 2016 so it's been a while, as you can imagine)

I knew I didn't want something that was just elemental, hence moving away from more than just Water / Fire and like. I was also drawn to wanting to build concepts for unique power sets; I feel like so often 'nature' powers is just "person A can control plants and that's about it," so building the Infran of Life's powers off the idea of Connection was a lot more freeing to me, allowing for some cool stuff you maybe wouldn't necessarily expect to be on the table.

I also kind of developed stuff in the ideas of contrarian pairs to a degree (Life vs Death, Time erodes Knowledge, Moon vs Fire/Sun, Water vs Blood in terms of family dynamics, etc).

For example, I knew my main two characters -- Ally and Jamie, otherwise known as the twins -- were going to be Life and Death respectively, reflecting the way they're both very different and very similar simultaneously, but often have an argumentative and difficult time with each other in spite of how much they love each other.

Your question about Moon with no Sun is actually a long-ranging debate in-universe, as Infrans have had different names (I imagine there's been some Infrans of the Sun > Fire for example) in different periods in time / cultures / and languages. I'd imagine one of my northern peoples would call the Infran of Death the Infran of Mercy, for example, instead

And the Infran we're 'missing' from the main cast is the Infran of Blood. I won't say too much more (though his character tag is kicking around here for admittedly minimal perusal) but here's our first real mention of him from the story! (This is 14 pages in so it's not too spoilery, y'know?). He's currently a lot older than the rest of his Infran generation by close to 20 years, but we get into why later

“Since George and I just have dreams,” Rayan continued, scanning the next page. “That means—” “About four of us should have counsel for an even split?” Counsel was coveted, more sought after than dream memories because it was more direct. You could actually talk to your past lives rather than just deciphering cryptic clues from glimpses of eras gone by.  Rayan nodded. “Three of us,” he corrected. Because they were seven out of eight. Right.  Nobody knew what Glothic of Kilvoskia had; he’d left before the Order could Claim or train him. Maybe he was so twisted his past lives were ghosts, his dreams nightmares he revelled in. It was horrible, but she couldn’t quite tamp down the pang of envy that well—he had something. Anything.

[justanothersxf]

So... Spy x Family 98 right...

There's really not that much to say about this one. I keep seeing in other circles that it's supposed to be important for "lore" or "worldbuilding" but eh...I just don't agree with that when this flashback takes place before the majority of the adult cast was even alive, about a different war than the one they lived through. Things change, y'know? Power changes hands, policies and laws are updated, things that were true at one point may no longer be true in the future.

And knowing that Endo originally wanted Henry and Martha's past to be a single standalone side story chapter but he couldn't fucking help himself because he's such a war documentary nerd before he extended it just goes to show this is supposed to be more of a brief glimpse into Henry and Martha's past than substantially putting out exposition. In fact, he probably extended it to add extra details about irl military history like adjusted draft ages and deferment because he knows he can do that without it affecting the present story so much, since there is another war after that one which led to the cold war in the present.

I guess to connect that idea back to the main plot, the fact that this cycle of war between the two countries has existed long before Twilight was even born kind of makes his idealistic dream of fighting for world peace for kids seem even more futile and unrealistic, right? Even more reason for him to make peace with that once he starts unpacking his issues instead of throwing out the suitcases.

OH ALSO. Because it bugs me to see it around so much, why are people putting so much emphasis on this rumor that one of the (young!) kids is saying about human experimentation?

Like. This has been old news for over sixty chapters now.

And Anya existing already lets us know that there's some truth to it. Yes, human experimentation has been done in Ostania. It's not some big revelation nor some foreshadowing. And for the record, no, Anya's parents would likely not be involved in these hypothetical experiments either, as Henderson and Martha are in their sixties and Anya is five at most. At best, her mom would just be born at this time, so unless we're getting some Extra Dark™ material worthy of Tista, I think it's safe to say these might just be possible precursors to other experiments, if they truly were underway in Martha and Henry's time. So many people trying to connect the two is a bit odd to me...

...but if I had to guess why.

Those people are probably feeling a little blueballed by the fact that Endo has been teasing about learning more about Anya's backstory for a while now.

And yet...

So maybe people are trying to see a connection with that pointless line because, well. It kinda sucks when Endo just. Drops what he's been working on to expand on something completely different. Keyword "expand". Again, this was going to be a single chapter. But his military-history-loving-butt just could not contain that wartime era setting in a single chapter, he just has too much he loves to talk about.

And well, that's all whatever. I just feel this is just going to be one of those odd parts of the manga people will look back on without much thought or strong opinion because of it's strange timing, despite the weirdly adamant defense it's getting now. Maybe if it came before the dance and Anya's confession of her secret, it would have more impact? But I don't really see a lot of discussion around the flashback story for itself, probably because...there's not much new to learn unless it's about Henry or Martha themselves. It's always "crumbs of worldbuilding" or "the effects of war" both of which the manga was not short on before this. The most generous thing I can say about this flashback is that the one "new" concept it presents is the fact that Westalis and Ostania have a long-standing history of conflict, that is all.

If he reveals that one or both of them became a part of the underworld, then it could be an interesting twist because it actually gives us more information on the characters themselves that could be relevant to the present story, even though I can't see that reveal happening for Henderson. Or maybe he could reveal something new about Eden itself, which has some oddities even in its present incarnation that leaves me feeling kind of suspicious about it as an institution. (Also, what was up with that McMahon cameo in M97?)

But as of the past two chapters, this flashback is retreading too much old ground and it does feel like it's taking time away from seeing more insightful stories with the main characters. Especially when there's another vacation hiatus to push them back again... I just hope that the third part really delivers.