Curlybaconcheesefries - The Orange Grove

QUEEEEEN

I had to erase Loid's imaginary hand 😍😍

I'm tired of seeing wonderful Spy x family art but then I get closer and see that it's AI dkdndjd So pick up your pencil 🔥🔥 (or in my case finger)

Don’t know if anyone’s made a comic about this or anything, but I can’t help but smile thinking of what Loid’s thought process would be like watching Spy Wars. He’d watch it, and in his mind he would pick apart every single detail. Like, he’d get stupidly focused because of all the inaccuracies. He’d think stuff like, “That’s not the kind of weapon you would use.” “This is ridiculous, a line like that would’ve easily gotten me caught.” “That’s a terrible tactic, back in that mission a couple years ago, I…” He’d be comparing the adventures to past missions and get so annoyed. Because of how much it’d make his brain hurt though, I don’t think he’d watch much more. That, and somewhere in the midst of the analyzation, he’d realize, “Wait… this is just a kid’s show.” Then he’d probably get slightly embarrassed because he just spend a good twenty minutes critiquing a program for children. (Glad it works for Saberspark though…)

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!

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.

Thank you, blue frog <3

Please take good care of them!

You can only reblog this today.

guys… I’m actually getting booped this time. Last time I didn’t get any at all… ;—; literally even just one made my day

reblogging for bort

I'm at a :.|:; for words.

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.