A thread of every stanxeno moment:

Absolute banger start with some cheeky banter then sincere moment

Stanley’s so excited to show xeno what he found

Look at themmmm LOOK AT THEMMMM their dynamic!! THEIR DYNAMIC !!!!!!

Oh to strategise stuff together

He do be flexing his bf’s and his own op abilities

“I CAN.” “HE CAN.”

It’s all about that teamwork and collaboration guys

Yessssss preach your lover’s op skill

Oh to sit at the same dinner table just the two of you while at a top secret meeting

Oh to stay with your lover petrified for 3700 years

single soul...... two bodies......

Stanley asking xeno if he’s sure always gets me

Oh to have solo double page spreads that comes right after the other

Microorganism stanxenos

LOOK AT THEM GO LOOK AT THEM GOOOOOO

Xeno’s got the strongest and tightest trust and faith in his mans

And thus the quest to get back together with your bf begins

Bow down to the national anthem of stanxeno

Also will be overanalysing why the page on the right is the most powerful stanxeno moment we have thus far in the thread below!

Thread explaining why this page from ch 170 is the most powerful stanxeno moment:

This shittily written essay will consist of three parts:

1. Symbolism of the fringe
2. Meaning of the composition
3. Motif of Stanley’s one sided look

All of this analysis will be purely reliant on interpreting stuff up to ch 170, so this might change later on

1. Symbolism of the fringe

On this page, we see Stanley from his right side, and it is extremely clear that his fringe is missing. Everything is slicked back with his forehead fully in view. What is weird however, is how inconsistent this is to the rest of the chapter

Before this page, the last time we saw Stanley he had his usual fringe over face. Seeing him again with his fringe gone could be just him pushing it back offscreen. However, immediately after, we see him with his fringe again and this continues to the very end of the chapter

So what does this ch 170 page mean? Before we answer that, we must understand the preexisting context behind the fringe being slicked back. And this had only happened once, when we were first introduced to dr xeno

Throughout this wheel scene, we see Stanley consistently without his fringe. And the reason why we haven’t seen this happen again up till now is because of xeno. Stanley’s fringe (forehead) is the symbol of his vulnerability and when he’s emotionally open

With it just being stanxeno and an outsider who poses no threat, Stanley is comfortable bantering/messing around a bit with xeno. The fringe represents his image/role as military authority, so with it gone stanley reveals his authentic self. And that authentic self is for xeno

The whole notion of hiding oneself’s real self away extends outside of the fringe. When senku was shot, we see Stanley come down with his mask on to give out orders. In this state his mind is purely on the mission’s completion. He does not show mercy/care to anybody else

Knowing how ruthless he is, Stanley fully exposing his forehead is him being vulnerable. He is relaxed around xeno because they’ve known each other since childhood and xeno is the only one he knows in the stone world

Every scene where stanxeno is together after that, we never see Stanley with his fringe up because the two of them are in the public eye. Being authoritative figures too, Stanley can not afford to chill. And this business only mindset carries over to their interactions as well

Now knowing this interpretation of Stanley’s fringe, we come back to the ch 170 page. I would like to propose that the Stanley we see here is not his physical form. Instead it’s his inner self image. A visual representation of his current state of mind.

And it is about xeno.

2. Meaning of the composition

The idea of this page being purely symbolic stands just from how jarring its placement is. Xeno’s appearance makes no sense to the present event. The only relevance it has alludes to the national anthem right before. But...

Visually speaking, by convention the xeno portrayed here is suggestive of a scene transition because he has his own panel. Therefore it is unlikely that this xeno is Stanley’s thoughts. But this page doesn’t fit with the actual transition to xeno’s side either.

Xeno’s panel is most likely showing him in the actual physical space, and seeing how this and 169 panel are pretty much the same, we are being shown a delayed moment of xeno’s reaction to senku’s remark. Therefore xeno’s image here is unlikely Stanley’s thought of him.

Taking all of that into account, we will approach this page as a purely symbolic one. Stanley’s sole purpose rn is to get xeno back. The page presents the strong connection they have, no matter the distance. This links back to the quote and it is visually represented as well

In the composition of both panels, the faces are p much the same size, along with equal eye level. This literally means that they are equals and have equal influence on one another. We can draw this to Aristotle’s quote “friendship as an equality of reciprocal goodwill.”

Directly applying the iconic quote “a single soul dwelling in two bodies,” we can see this in the panel composition. Along with the quote by Plato, with both of them only showing a half of their face and also the page symmetrically split into two alludes to these philosophies

From these analyses, we understand that this page’s sole purpose is to show us that stanxeno are soulmates. It also suggests that the rest these arcs will continue to revolve around this relationship, which is why it is important to point out that currently,

It’s one sided.

3. Motif of Stanley’s one sided look

In their current relationship, it is extremely one sided with Stanley being overly devoted to xeno. This is visually presented consistently, however I would like to point out that so far, only this panel has the two directly facing each other

Outside of conventional storytelling with placement in setting space, every other panel involving the two have consistently shown Stanley’s yearning. An example of this is their petrification pose. Stanley is shown looking at/towards xeno in every panel, solidifying his role

Even when xeno rolls away, he still has his back at Stanley, while Stanley seems to be extending his arm out for xeno. From what we know about him so far, Stanley’s whole character is him smoking, being sexy, op military and only cares about xeno. It’s great but it’s not mutual

In what I would call the most iconic stanxeno scene, xeno is shown looking up giving an exposition about his role in the series. Stanley looks directly at him, both in the physical space and by panel composition. The current issue in stanxeno is that xeno is blind

His only thought and motivation right now is being dictator, which is why he is always looking at a subject to dominate. As analysed by others before, xeno is shrouded in darkness by these extreme ideologies, and I would say it’s for him to gain a sense of security in his life

In this page xeno’s face is harshly shaded with black shadow, while Stanley is illuminated by the light which is xeno. At the core of their relationship, the one soul they share is currently separated. In order for them to become the magnum opus of soulmates, xeno must change

I would like to conclude by thanking everybody who has reached this far because holy shit

Ch 170 gave us one of the best establishing moments of stanxeno and I am excited to see their relationship develop. I can’t wait for the day to see xeno finally looking back at Stanley