About Yor: she isn’t dense, but most likely indoctrinated by Garden

So I wanted to address this for a long while now, because I’ve seen one too many posts talking about Yor like she’s just an aloof assassin who doesn’t care about things outside her direct environment, which is why sometimes she says dense things. 

I’m well aware that she’s a fan favorite so people don’t mean her harm, yet I think the whole story actually hints at way more than her being dense, especially considering her background and who she still works for. 

In other words, since Yor was trained but also half raised by Garden’s leader, the Shopkeeper, it’s likely that, considering how they operate and what they’re about, they instilled in her a conditioned dependency since childhood or teenage years that would make her unable to learn things on her own without asking for their opinion, making it very hard for her to turn against them ever. 

Want a striking example? Her encounter with Melinda Desmond. 

Not only did she not know who Melinda was (but I mean, that at least could be understandable)…

…but she also didn’t know what a First Lady is. 

Sure, it’s funny on first glance, but after thinking about it, what does it betray? That Garden probably made sure over years Yor would never get the slightest basic info and understanding on what politics of this country are all about. Because if their strong soldiers start to get opinions of their own, then they could start disagreeing with Garden and turning on them. So, “let’s prohibit people having free thinking, so that they can remain good little pawns” as we “fight for peace in our country”.

In fact, for Yor, until a short time ago (when she met Loid and Anya), all she did was thought and decided for her by Garden and, to this day, she still voluntarily asks them for their agreement when she opens up her close circle little by little: she asked them if it was okay to marry Loid and then she asked them if it was okay to befriend Melinda. 

To be honest, that’s a scary ass thought process to envision, when Yor’s an independent working lady well into her 20s, but this shows how deep Garden’s indoctrination runs in Yor, since they got hold of her as a child/young teen. 

Another striking example is the way she always describes her job, in an almost childish way. Her nickname “thorn princess” aside, I always found it interesting that Yor’s aware she’s an assassin but she isn’t morally anguished at all about killing people and never mentions or distinguishes any grey area in her missions. In fact…

… it’s all in black and white and she clearly thinks that the people she kills are all evildoers (which as we saw in the recent arc with the Red Circus isn’t always the case and begs the rhetorical question “why does Garden get to decide who’s evil?”), therefore “she’s not doing anything wrong”, which also pretty much betrays how she was pushed into it. 

Long ago, Garden probably baited Yor with Yuri’s protection and told her that, since they’re “about peace”, Yor’s work would just help them to “fight against evil”. As a child, she wasn’t mentally fit to understand the deeper implications and then she was mentally conditioned to always do and think like Garden tells her to, which promotes this systematic childish description of her assassin’s job. 

Finally, please take notice of the Shopkeeper’s reaction the first time she tries to argue about her work, in the ship arc: 

Enough said, Garden’s awful. I’m sure there are more examples throughout the story, but I now want to talk about future character development. 

After all, since the story obviously calls for Yor to ditch Garden, to protect what’s actually important to her (Yuri, Loid and Anya), we actually do see her changing little by little so far, thanks to her living with Loid and Anya. Her coworkers quickly mentioned that she’s more lively ever since she got married and the ship arc overall emphasizes that her family is starting to become more important to her than her job, so there is high hope for Yor. :D

Additionally, while she’s still far away from noticing that Garden mentally drove her into a corner, she now openly voices her concerns that “she’s not normal” but that she wants to understand why in order to learn how to change. 

To be fair, fighting against indoctrination is tough and takes time so I’m very proud of her for slowly realizing that she ought to decide for herself from now on. :D 

TL;DR Yor is not dense. She was indoctrinated as a child by Garden and can only (for now) see the world through the filters they taught her. 

Ironically enough, the only character who knows about her real job and could, thus, notice that Yor isn’t being critical about Garden…… actually can’t because she’s a four year old who is too young to understand that Mama’s job is wrong. Well done, Endo-sensei!

One thing I love about the SxF manga volumes is how the inside covers have extra illustrations that reveal a "hidden" side of the characters. My favorite so far is from volume 10, which shows young Twilight surrounded by war paraphernalia. But on the inside cover, he's instead surrounded by fun & family ❤

In addition, the inside covers are also full of humor and 4th-wall breaking jokes. In this case for volume 10, the back inner cover shows Franky complaining that he wasn't featured with everyone else, despite being Twilight's friend and being "cute" as a child 😆 Sylvia and Henderson concur with their own childhood photos, lol.

Volume 5 and 6 feature Yuri and Nightfall, again, with the inner covers showing their "real" thoughts. For Yuri, torturing Loid into signing a divorce certificate, and for Nightfall, getting a marriage certificate from him!

The back inner covers of these volumes even feature their unhinged dialogue! On the left is Yuri's endless thoughts about Yor, and on the right is a big "す"/"su," which is basically the "lo" in "love" that Nightfall always has for Twilight!

Volume 7 features Damian, with the inner cover showing Anya doing a hilarious impression of him!

Lots of 4th-wall breaking with volume 9! Becky is featured, and on the inner cover, Martha is chiding her for not wearing her school uniform, since Anya and Damian both wore theirs on their featured covers. Becky replies that she doesn't want to wear black after finally getting to be in color! 😂

The back inner cover is even funnier! It shows the staff list that's usually featured at the end of each volume, but it's not typically on the back cover. So Becky is mad about it being there, saying that the space should be used to feature more things about her, and who the heck are these Kimura and Rin people!? 🤣 (two of the staff members). Franky replies that unfortunately the pages were condensed this time, but she should be grateful to those people, since she wouldn't be in the book if it wasn't for them!

Even the inner cover of the manga fanbook has the same 4th-wall breaking humor! Yor asks why they're doing "air chairs" instead of having real chairs, and Loid replies that there was no budget for the usual designer chairs (he also asks if Anya got a new power since she's floating! 😅)

To conclude, Endo's wonderful sense of humor is showcased even outside the story itself! I look forward to seeing what characters and jokes are featured in upcoming manga volumes 😁

some haters wants to kill off Yuri's character thinking it won't hurt Yor and she will just move on like nothing happened if Yuri dies, but we have Twilight here who literally hesitated to physically hurt him even though his own life was on the line because he knows how important Yuri is to Yor and that she would be devastated if her only "REAL" family is gone

he might be annoying but it's still the same baby brother who Yor sacrificed her whole childhood just to give him a bright and better future. It's the same brother who she was willing to dirtied her hands just to give him everything and to protect his carefree life. Loid knows all of that (except for the assassin part of course) and he also knows how hard it is to lose a family.

This is probably a hot (?) take - but also, related to my other hot take that’s SxF is often too clever for its own good:

Yes, we are allowed to, and supposed to, judge the parents of all the Eden kids. Just because they love their children (well, most of them love their children anyway) and their children love them doesn’t wash their hands clean. The Blackbells, Gloomans and Watkins’s are all either in bed with the Desmonds and/or are part of the Ostanian war machine; they may love their sons and daughters, but they are more than willing for the children of others to die. Contrast this with the likes of Twilight, Yor, Handler, Martha, Henderson etc who want to protect all children and not just their own charges.

The Red Circus arc makes all of this very clear? We all go ‘awww’ at Becky and the other kids reuniting with their parents when they were released - and her, don’t get me wrong, Becky deserves all her family’s hugs - we’re also supposed to contrast this with what happened to Biddy…

SxF gently pushes against the trope of folks being ‘redeemed by love’ or whatever. Partly because none of the people who have done terrible things in the past (so, basically all the adults in the series) aren't necessarily looking for redemption - they are all more than willing to do unforgivable things so that the next generation won't have to. But also because loving your own child and being loved by them is not entirely enough.

Caring about children’s well-being since the start of the series has been a shorthand for wanting to create a better future… but increasingly we’re being asked for whom that better future is created and who are allowed to live that better future. In the series, Eden is a place for the rich and privileged. And we are supposed to remember that. And we are supposed to judge that.

— Margaret Atwood, “The Blind Assassin”

— William Styron, Conversations with William Styron

If after read the cruise arc you are wondering what happened with Olka and the baby,the people Yor made sure were safe in the cruise,they are safe and sound.

In the physical copy in the end of the arc you can see a illustration of them.

i’m shocked to see the disappointment surrounding twilight’s decision to stay in disguise rather than run to anya. like how are you not floored by how far he has come as not only a character but a father?

twilight abandoned his mission the second that he heard anya was in trouble. we know this because sylvia said in the beginning that he wouldn’t make it in time to help, so there was no point in sending him back (and, just to clarify, she was right!) but instead of agreeing with her call and carrying out the remainder of his task he ran to help his daughter AND brought backup. not because he wanted to save a group of kids, but because he wanted to save ANYA.

twilight rushed home only to find out he wasn’t needed. TWILIGHT, the top spy in WISE, was not integral to saving the day. can you imagine what that feels like for him? don’t you think he recognizes how that might make him look to wise? and then to see anya immediately jump into yor’s arms… well, he likely assumed he wasn’t needed there either. so he decided to make her favorite meal for dinner, because he grew up with no promise of food or shelter to make his emotional trauma a little easier. and, for the record, when anya heard his plan she immediately lit up! she wasn’t expecting a grand show of physical affection, she understood how much it meant for twilight to be there to look out for her in the first place!

a spy should never get attached, and here he is. caring so openly for his daughter that he did something he NEVER would have done prior to meeting anya. and btw, we didn’t get any insight into twilight’s emotions surrounding anya’s kidnapping. there’s no reason to believe that he wasnt as emotionally affected as yor just because he didn’t hug her the same way. yeah, i get that it might be a little disappointing to be 75 chapters into the manga and not have that one moment where everything clicks into place for him and he finally understands her role in his life. but it’s just not realistic to the progression of his character. twilight is a lonely, emotionally stunted man whose life has centered around violence since his childhood. you can’t expect him to outgrow that in the span of like six months with anya and yor.

the spy x family stage musical cast looks so good!!!

*MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD*

Both of Anya's Stellas so far have been about using her powers to read other's minds to save people. Both of Anya's Bolts so have have been about listening to her own heart when it comes to Damian - in ways good and bad.

Probably more good than bad. Ironically, all the Bolts have only made her become besties(?) friends with Damian, something that even an exasperated/wistful Twilight acknowledges. Friends are important after all - cherish them.

None of Anya's Stellas or Bolts have had anything to do with her academics, even if the original WISE plan was to train her into a scholar to get Stellas. And later when it was clear the probability of success for Plan A was .... low, it became all about avoiding Bolts by not having Anya flunk her tests. All the honors bestowed on the little girl had to do with her just being a good person.

And all of Anya's Stellas and Bolts are in fact badges of merit. She's learning to use her powers for good, and she's learning about the meaning of friendship. And just as I've noted how the Forgers keep saving their family from bombs and terrorists and assassins without realizing how they're all actually saving each other from sadness and loneliness... even Anya's Bolts represent saving others, in a way.

Damian too, is hiding his sadness and loneliness from the world. Anya's bolts of lightning might just have sparked a fire brighter and warmer than stars for the little boy.