Yeah, Hot Unless It Could Have Saved A Lot Of People Thus Rendering Your Original Intention Meaningless

Anya looks so cute 🥺❤️

Spy x Family miscellaneous collab scans - part 11

I got the remaining sets of Jump Festa SxF cards I had preordered, one of which I scanned here and the other will be posted soon 🙂 This set features the Forgers in "French casual" outfits, with each of them having a main design and two chibi designs~

<- Return to Part 10

I don't think the two necessarily conflict one another. It's one thing to view media expecting something unpleasant or a jumpscare. It's another to not only not expect it, but also to be constantly on edge due to the atmosphere, lack of knowledge of what's ahead, and so on. Not to mention our instincts of course. So it's only natural for our body to be frightened, so to speak. Of course, this could be my overthinking brain bothering me at midnight yet again about something very small in the grand scheme of things.

I may also have a penchant for dramatism.

Great analysis as always! I was so excited to see that there was a new chapter, and even more so that the plot is progressing more! Then not too long after, I thought, “I wonder what Yumeka thinks about this” lol. Also that point about the scars makes a lot of sense. Especially because while they could be handwaved away as war scars, he wasn’t a soldier. Plus the specific placement of those scars suggests precision. I think it is highly possible he did undergo some kind of experiment. As for the relational ramifications of this, kids notice the distress and changes their parents go through. Demetrius was constantly around his father and witnessed this change over time, possibly leading to his more aloof state. Meanwhile, Damian (when he’s able to), is around his anxious mother whose capricious feelings toward him are based on her husband, a person he himself doesn’t really have a connection with. Pair that with a wife who feels more and more distant from her husband, and it really is no wonder then that their family is so divided. While I usually find myself thinking that I want to hug Damian for all the sadness he has gone through, now I want to hug Melinda too. Can’t wait to see what comes next, both from Endo and from you. Until next time!

Well, seems like something that was just a theory before has come very close to truth...

Because of this major revelation, I wanted to take a deep dive into what we know about Donovan so far and how hints throughout past chapters could indeed indicate that he can read minds. While we still don't have concrete proof for this other than Melinda's word, I don't believe there's anything that discredits this idea, either. In fact, many things throughout the series support it.

First we have Loid's encounter with Donovan way back in chapter 38. I always found it strange that we never got insight into Donovan's thoughts throughout that whole exchange. We always get to know what characters are thinking, even without Anya's mind-reading support. It's not an uncommon storytelling mechanic in general after all, especially for manga. Yet, Endo chose not to give us any insight into what Donovan was thinking. I figured this was simply to avoid spoiling anything about what his exact plans and motives are for future stories (also why Anya was absent for this). But now it seems like this could have also been to hide the fact that he can read minds. If he can read minds, certain things he said during that exchange take on a more ominous meaning. For example, what he said below about how people can never truly understand each other.

It's been a headcanon of mine that the reason why Anya, and perhaps Donovan, were given mind-reading powers, stemmed from the desire for world peace...the idea being that if people could read each other's minds - in other words, always know what others are thinking and feeling, sympathy and understanding would abound.

We learn later on that Donovan had ideas like this even as a kid when he made a similar comment during his debate competition speech. He said that it's impossible to know the true intentions of others so people will forever doubt each other, thus war is inevitable.

We also have the little detail in today's chapter that Donovan did not have the scars on his head during Melinda's flashback (of course, he didn't have them as a kid in chapter 99 either).

Now this is totally my theory, but if we take Melinda's words as the truth, without any misunderstanding, then sometime in Donovan's adult life after he married and had a child, he was experimented on and was given mind-reading powers, perhaps by force but most likely by choice. Now that he has these powers, his laments about people not being able to understand each other are no longer true, at least not for him. Perhaps the experiments done on Anya were preliminary tests that he put together to perfect the mind-reading implementation science before actually doing it to himself. Again, totally just speculation, but not out of the question.

Then we have Demetrius...we learned in chapter 93 that Anya has trouble reading his mind.

If we put that together with Melinda's comment in today's new chapter, that Demetris also took note of Donovan being able to read minds...

...then perhaps Demetrius conditioned himself to think in ways that would make it difficult for his mind to be read, specifically to thwart the "alien" that's impersonating his father. I mentioned last time that I don't think Donovan is actually an alien, and that this description is the only explanation Melinda could come up with to explain his mind-reading powers. If this is true though, it really does make the Desmond dinner scene all the more telling...that throughout all those panels without dialogue, Donovan was absorbing the deepest inner thoughts of his family members (and again, no insight into his own thoughts, just like in chapter 38).

But if the "Donovan can read minds" theory holds true, then the most disturbing idea of all is that Donovan knows that Twilight is a spy. He knows that he's the target of Twilight's mission, and that Twilight seeks to thwart him. Not only that, but depending on what he's read of Damian and Melinda's minds, he knows that they're fond of Anya and Yor, respectively - people who are close to Twilight. Mind-reading powers in the hands of a child are one thing, but in the hands of a shrewd and power political figure...I'm both excited and anxious to find out what Donovan's next move will be!

WAIT WAIT WAIT. That last addition could be a genuinely cool concept for a story. Like, it probably wouldn’t be called “hacking,” but once a seed is planted, maybe magic or some biotech could be used to grow it really fast, and then the roots could travel to gather/deliver information. Idk, I just think that would be really cool

As someone who has multiple Calvin and Hobbes books, this just makes me love them even more. You done good, Bill. You done good.

I thinks folks expressing incredulity at the quality of the writing and composition in Calvin and Hobbes are often missing the context that Bill Watterson is arguably the most influential sequential artist of his generation. Like, this is a guy who once told the editors of nationally syndicated newspapers to go fuck themselves when they wanted to mess with his panel layouts, and not only did he keep his job, he got his way. He could have had literally any gig he wanted, and he chose to be the Sunday funnies guy because that's what made him happy. He's basically the Weird Al of sequential art.

reblogging for bort

Okay, someone was posting about the newest chapter recently and how it was a cute Damianya moment (which it is), but then I realized something…

guys…

This girl leaves him so surprised constantly that he just stares at her like this 😭