#Matilda spy classroom

[your-fave-jewish-magical-girl]

I promised that I would become a Spy Classroom blog so here I am! And I will be ranking every single villain in Spy Classroom from worst to best.

Keep in mind that unlike a lot of series, I don’t actually hate any of these characters. Even though some of them aren’t very deep, I think they all fulfill their purposes.

Spoiler warning for Light novel season 1 (Volumes 1-4) and Anime season 1-2 (first 24 episodes) under text

David

Yeah, so this one goes without saying. I’m betting most of you don’t remember him. (I’m probably one of like 5 people who remember his name, Takemachi included.) but just for a refresher, he was the antagonist in Grete’s short story in SSC 1 : Bridal Royale and the finale of season 1. He is the president of Mannheim inc. and started a harassment campaign against a local meat pie owner to gain his recipe without paying. He attempted to take advantage of Lily (under the alias Lillian) under the assumption she was desperate and poor and turn her into his “lover”, which is really gross. He is just a violent, borderline pedophiliac scumbag and I hope he never shows up again. Overall there is not much to talk about since he’s just a guy who adds tension to the plot and exists so Grete and Lily can defeat him in the end.

Frisé

Ok, in his defense, having Orphan Gang Leader in your resume is really funny. You also may have forgotten him, but like with David from before, Frisé is a character from Bridal Royale/episode 6. He was in charge of a gang of child orphans which he picked up from the street and forced to commit crimes for him in exchange for food and shelter. If they (the orphan children) didn’t meet their quota, he would respond by physically abusing them under the guise of his expression of “love.”

Really fucked up guy, arguably worse than David from before, but unlike David, his fight with Klaus and Sybilla was cool and his philosophy of being someone taking in these kids with nowhere to go and giving them a home and food on the table while the government of Din all but abandoned them is pretty interesting, and goes back to Sybilla’s past in a natural way. (Also in the light novel, he is referred to as a golem looking guy before he is given a name which is funny.)

Eve

Yeah, so am I the only person who did not imagine Ever would end up looking like that? Thought she would look younger and a bit more disheveled.

Anyways, bad villains end here folks, While Eve doesn’t actually get to do much (especially since the anime cut out all the cool shit she did). She makes every moment count with her light novel screen time. Her wire ability is really cool and I hadn’t seen anything similar at the time of reading it. Her philosophy of extreme brains over brawn, while it doesn’t go anywhere (since she gets offed by Klaus like 3 pages later) adds context for the world of spy classroom. She treats soldiers as beneath her because she is a young adult in a world where that kind of combat is growing more and more obsolete.

Where Eve really shines is in Bridal Royale with her fight with Monika. She is the best out of all three of the antagonists in that volume. The way she used her wires to surround the living room and how Monika had to use her calculation skills to get out was awesome. Props to Takemachi for giving her a cameo in that volume because she was someone I wanted to learn more about (even though I forgot about her until I reread volume 1.)

Rip Eve, Takemachi cannot stand to see a girlboss win.

Matilda

So rip any anime-onlys I guess (though you should have heeded the warning.)

Yeah, I’d you’re wondering why Matilda is so low, she is kind of my least favorite main villain in season one of the light novels. She is the antagonist of Volume 3 of the light novel and will show up in season 2 as an antagonist for the former half of the series. With Guido and Olivia, the other twist villains, you don’t really see it coming. With Guido, because you are under the assumption that he is dead and that Klaus’s arc will consist of moving past his abuse. And with Olivia, she had previously been a mob with not much presence. You really had to not be paying attention or understand the formula to not think she’s gonna do evil shit.

Even so, she’s the “bad” kind of bad villain. Yeah you don’t sympathize with her because she’s a piece of shit who abused Annette, made her blind in one eye and literally gave her amnesia. But she doesn’t have any guiding philosophies that make her worldview understandable like most of the villains and she doesn’t get any cool fight scenes either. You’re really just wondering when they’re gonna reveal that she’s a baddie.

Her role as a character, despite how predictable she is is still good in terms of her role in the story. The actual conflict she creates between Lamplight (specially Monika and Thea) has created one of the best fights in the series revealing a lot of character between them that has stuck with both of them ever since. I love seeing Monika and Thea as rivals and Volume 3 convinced me of that. The impact she leaves with Thea as the end actually lasts too, creating legitimate questions Thea had to ask herself moving into volume 4. She is like the anti-Hearth in that way. The fact she actually unnerves White Spider speaks volumes about how deranged she is. The scene where she holds up her blue toolbox with White Spider in the room saying that she used that toolbox to beat Annette’s memories out of her gave me straight chills. Like holy shit, this woman should not have been anywhere near a child.

Her impact on Annette though…Christ. Rereading scenes with her and Annette in volume 3 with context make everything so much worse. She’s the only villain so far that Lamplight has outright killed. (Lamplight being Annette). I can’t say she didn’t deserve it.

And maybe that is the point of her, Takemachi didn’t her her reasons for acting like a live of shot or an ideology that justified it simply because. She is an awful person who did awful things to Annette because she’s a coward. Even so, that does not make it any less awful to read about her.

Corpse/Roland

Ok, before you scream and cry at me for putting Roland so low, let me explain: I think Roland is a good character, I don’t think he’s a good villain. This is because his actual character development happens in Volume 4 where he has been defeated is not acting like a villain

Roland’s role in Volume 2 was basically to be a decoy to distract you from Olivia, hyping you up for a showdown between him and Klaus when he couldn’t actually measure up, that was it, it was funny, but “Corpse the evil imperial assassin” ended there.

Now Roland has a different role in Volume 4. He is withholding information from the Foreign Intelligence Office and when he is giving information, he is warning Lamplight of Purple Ant. In the latter half of Volume 4, we learn a lot about him, how Purple Ant stole his life away and turned him into an assassin, abandoning everything, how he eventually got bored of being an assassin and wanted something new and exciting (a callback to when he became Olivia’s boyfriend.) Thea helped him defy his Master and fight for his freedom. While he did die, he died on his feet as opposed to living the rest of his life on his knees. And that’s pretty damn honorable.

But yeah, we see an ok fight between him and monika and him betraying Thea in Volume 4 was cool which does put him above Matilda. But his great aspect’s don’t really come from him being a good villain specifically.

Guido

Oh hey, on the subject of pieces of shit, we have Guido! Yeah, you can argue that we know less about Guido than Matilda, and I’ve heard people argue that he is the worst villain. I doubt that, as of now, the information we know about him is scarce. We know he was a member of inferno and was basically like Klaus’s Dad, he treated him harshly and insulted him. For some reason, he left Inferno to join serpent and let the rest of his team minus Hearth and Klaus get killed on the Abyss Doll mission. We don’t know why he acted that way to Klaus, and we don’t know why he defected.

One reason I am putting Guido above Matilda is that he actually gets one of the most badass fights in the series. Takemachi did NOT pull his punches with Guido. The actually build up to Guido was great and well foreshadowed. The flashbacks with Klaus and him could easily have been interpreted as an arc for Klaus to overcome Guido’s death and accept Lamplight as his new family, and we got that…just not in the way we were expecting. Guido is my favorite kind of twist, a twist that is completely inevitable in the context of the story and makes you goes “How did I not see that coming?” Even though all the evidence was right there. His fight with Lamplight is on par with later fights in the series like Purple Ant or the one in Volume 5.

Second reason, I don’t think we’re finished with Guido just yet. We know next to nothing about Serpent (and I doubt It’s the standard run of the mill imperialist type stuff the empire does either.) and discovering serpent is going to give us clues to Guido and why he did what he did.

So yeah, while we don’t get much of him, we will soon. His role as an antagonist is extremely well fulfilled given his lack of time and his impact on Klaus sticks with the rest of the series, overall, great villain.

White Spider

No image yet! Anyways, White Spider is great. He isn’t the most memorable, but he breaks the formula for a Spy Classroom villain. White Spider is a serpent member, and so far the only villain Lamplight has not defeated. He stands out from the rest by being a guy who is pretty reasonable-ish. He doesn’t make messes when he fights and he knows his own limits. Also in the fight with Klaus in Volume 3 he was really funny. He has a concept of morality (thinking Purple Ant and Matilda are monsters) and really is just here to get the job done. From what we’ve seen with him so far, his mushroom appearance is great full exaggerated (which is sad, rip mushroom boy) but he makes for a good straight man when communicating with the rest of the villains. Not that much to talk about, but I do hope to see him more!

Olivia

Talk about a controversial pick. Yeah Olivia is a really underrated villain and I am fully planning on writing and analysis on her and how she acts as a foil to Grete one one these days. (The anime completely nerfed her design from the manga lmaoooo)

Anyways, I really love Olivia. She is a bitch, she is selfish, she is insecure, superficial and jaded and I love her. The buildup to Olivia was fantastic, you wouldn’t be blamed if you thought she was just going to be some random mob while the girls hunter for Corpse. But like with most spy classroom twists, the villain was right in front of us.

It was less predictable than last time, but the way Olivia was revealed to be a villain in the light novel was no short of awesome. She is so awful and I love her to bits. Her relationship with Corpse makes for a wonderful contrast to Grete, their dynamic is inspired and brings out the best and worse in both of their characters. Her time in the underground brothel thinking that was all she would ever add up to before meeting Corpse really stuck with me, and knowing what we know now about how Corpse actually thought about her, she wasn’t really deceived. Olivia was an opportunist. She saw Corpse as a way out and she took it, same with Roland. You hate her for making the choices she did but you can never fully blame her. It’s could she have even escaped her soul sucking existence if she hadn’t taken his hand.

I really want to write about Olivia in the near future because she is my favorite villain to think and write about, and she does not get the appreciation from the fandom she deserves

Also, I hate how they cut out the final scene with her and Grete disguised and Uwe. It was the perfect ending for her character before getting captured by the republic.

Purple Ant

Yeah, this should surprise nobody. But hey, guess who has an official design now. (Pleasedontfuckuphisdesignintheanime)

Purple Ant is the best villain in Season 1 by a long shot. He is cunning, sadistic, manipulative, charming and so much more. He is the king of Mitario, the greatest villain Lamplight has faced so far. With the manpower of 400 Ants worldwide. He challenges all of Lmaplihht at their own games. All without lifting a finger. He holds an iron clutch on the lives of hundreds of people he believes are lower than him. Miranda, Barron, The bartender, Corpse, the accounts of their torture burned into the brain of anyone who read volume 4.

Purple Ant breaks people, targets in no way excluding, pushing even Klaus to the absolute brink in a way we have not seen in this entire series. Being an Ant is a fate worse than death, your body and mind in control of someone else, being forced to murder, torture, capture, your family members held hostage and being punished if you do not do everything to a T—or just because he feels like it. When you become an Ant, you are stripped of you. You lose what makes you an individual and turn into another one of Purple Ants pawns.

That isn’t even breaking into the neat of him, his relationship with Hearth, Thea, Klaus, Corpse, holy crisp do I need to do a mega post on him. I feel like his ideology towards Mouzaians (the people he turned into Ants exclusively because he believed they were entitled and privileged after Galgad lost the Great War to them) has clues on serpents actual ideology. He offers a piece the puzzle that has been brewing throughout the entire series.

Props to Takemachi for keeping him alive…so far, I hope he gets in one or two extra moments before Takemachi offs him for good. I can’t imagine this bastard ever getting redeemed lmaoooo

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

HERE IS A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF PROBABLY MOST OF THE STUFF I LIKE! Feel free to ask me about any of it

PERSONALITY TYPING: INFP 4w3 (471)

BOOKS: Grishaverse, Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Song of Achilles, The Prince of Tides, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Harry Potter (unfortunately), Gone With the Wind, His Dark Materials, A Far Wilder Magic, The Hate U Give, The Outsiders, The Devil and the Dark Water, They Both Die At The End, Riordanverse, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Warriors

MOVIES: Titanic, Dead Poets Society, It’s A Wonderful Life, Little Women 2019, NOPE, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Sixth Sense, Terminator (especially 2), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Addams Family (1991) The Shawshank Redemption, Parasite, Knives Out/Glass Onion, Tar, Harriet, Romeo and Juliet (1968), Interstellar, Forrest Gump, Schindler’s List, The Princess Bride, Get Out, Lady Bird, Silence of the Lambs, The Truman Show, The Wall, 12 Angry Men, Recovery, so so many animated movies (especially WALL-E, The Prince of Egypt, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Howl’s Moving Castle!), SOME Marvel movies (mostly guardians and spidey)

TV SHOWS (live action): LOST, Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, Person of Interest, Good Omens, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Downton Abbey, Ted Lasso, My So Called Life, Stranger Things, Broadchurch, Alias, Sherlock, Maid, The Last of Us, Dark, Happy Valley, Takin’ Over The Asylum, The Sandman, Heartstopper, Jessica Jones, Andi Mack, The Queen’s Gambit, Derry Girls, The Office, A Series of Unfortunate Events, 1899, Mare of Easttown, Around the World in 80 Days, Time

ANIME AND CARTOONS: Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), Avatar, Steven Universe, Phineas and Ferb, Death Note, Assassination Classroom, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Monster, Bluey, Spy X Family, Ouran High School Host Club, My Hero Academia, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Toradora, Gravity Falls, Bluey, The Owl House, Cowboy Bebop, Erased, Mob Psycho 100, Kotaro Lives Alone, Ducktales

MUSIC: Queen, Taylor Swift, My Chemical Romance, Adele, Jeff Buckley, Will Wood, Olivia Rodrigo, The Beatles, Billy Joel, Hozier, The Proclaimers, Mitski, Fiona Apple, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe, Alanis Morrissette, Sinead O'Connor, Nina Simone, Florence + The Machine, Chappell Roan, David Bowie, BTS, Stray Kids, Day-6, Kelly Clarkson, Muse, Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, Pink Floyd, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Pulp, Heart, Radiohead, Gang of Youths…

MUSICALS: Les Miserables, Great Comet, Ragtime, Phantom of the Opera, Hadestown, Hamilton, Wicked, Come From Away, Matilda, Falsettos, Jesus Christ Superstar, Anastasia, Evita, The Last Five Years, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Ride the Cyclone, Sweeney Todd, Parade, Little Shop of Horrors, Cats, In The Heights, Into the Woods, She Loves Me, Sunday in the Park with George, Lizzie, Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde, The Secret Garden, The Wild Party, Cabaret, Putnam County Spelling Bee…(I also love Shakespeare!)

VIDEO GAMES: basically just Super Mario Bros and Undertale but boy do I love Super Mario Bros and Undertale

YOUTUBERS: Schaffrillas Productions, Cinema Therapy, The Authentic Observer, Matt Rose, PMSeymour, Katherine Steele, The Swiftologist, FilmCooper, Sideways, Anthony Fantano and too many others to mention

FAVE ROLES I’VE PLAYED: Elsa in Frozen, Morticia in The Addams Family, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Iolanthe in Iolanthe, Juror #8 in 12 Angry Jurors

[imheretocryandiwill]

So, it has been some time, we've got like 2 events after green lake one. But I still think that this one specific part was one of the best event mechanics ever.

I had played some visual novels in the past, and the hook was always the same - varaiety. I adore the idea of multiple endigs and permanent buffs.

And, really, reverse is a perfect game for events like this - its potential for time loops is still untouched.

So, our dear Jessica now lives in foundation and she needs to go through some tests to ensure the HQ that she is a good, educated and well-behaved girl. And, like in a typical VN we have choices to make: study in the classroom, get a meeting with a friend, explore some locations.

By learning or talking Jessica improves her stats and eventually graduates.

I really enjoyed dialogs between Jessica and her new-found-friends.

Sonetto is sweet as always, she helps Jessica study, she is supportive, such a good friend. And we write a poem for her cause she likes them. So cute.

Matilda is... well, Matilda. She helps too, and gets trolled by Jessica in the best way possible.

An embodyment of gay panic. i feel you, girl. Also, Jessica's abilities would be great for spying.

And yes, Matilda did grow on me. She is more adorable than annoying.

Vertin is also visiting and it is so nice to have a main character with their own story and thoughts. Also, we are given Sonettos notebook, which she has given Vertin in hospital (chapter 3).

Tooth Fairy and Jessica are interacting as well. They both are weird so they get along easily. And we have an option to gift Tooth Fary our teeth. What a life

And last but not least. Blonney. They are still in love.

And Jessica is the lead actress in Jennifers movie. How cute

[loloslaystheday]

About Me I Guess

Aliases: Diva(Just the display name yknow), Rose, Strawberry, Jae

Gender:Female, she/her pronouns

Sexuality: Pansexual

Fav color: Purple, Black and Green

Fav Food: Mac n Cheese

Birthday: 1/26

My Favorite Entertainment

Anime

KnY, BNHA, AOT, Banana Fish, TPN, Naruto, Kakegurui(occasionally), High Rise Invasion, Amane Ga Kill, Assassination Classroom, Bungou Stray Dogs, Death Note, HxH, Spy x Family

Games

FNAF, Undertale, ACNH, CRK, Cuphead, Mario, Hackets Quarry

Shows/Movies

Princess and the Frog, Courage the Cowardly Dog, James and the Giant Peach, Nightmare Before Christmas, Wednesday, The Addams Family, Stranger Things, Matilda, Spirit Riding Free(don’t say nothing), Spirit, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella(basically every Disney movie except a few new ones), Monsters Inc, Toy Story movies, more Pixar movies, more Disney and Nickelodeon shows, yknow? It’s a lot lol.

My favorite characters

Inosuke Hashibira

Dazai Osamu

Yumeko Jabami

Katsuki Bakugou

Armin Arlert/Sasha Braus

Ash Lynx/Eiji

Emma/Gilda

Naruto Uzumaki

Sniper Mask

Leone

Karma/Koro-sensei

Ryuk

Killua Zoldyck

Bonnie the Bunny

Frisk/Toriel

Cyd/Rodeo/Ankha

Cherry Blossom Cookie

Pork Rind

Peach/Bowser/Yoshi

Dylan

Tianna

Courage

Mrs Ladybug

Jack/Zero/Oogie Boogie/Sally

Wednesday/Enid/Thing/Tyler

Wednesday/Uncle Fester/Pugsley

Eleven/Mr Hopper

Matilda/Ms Honey

Abigail/All the horses/Snips

Spirit

Jasmine/Genie

Flounder/Ariel

Gus Gus

Boo/Sully/Mike Wazowski

Rex

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 159: Drarry

Harry still enjoyed walking around under his invisibility cloak as a professor. Not because he wanted to spy on anyone or get away with anything sneaky (most of the time) but because it allowed him to get from point a to point b with fewer obstacles.

Normally, he only casually listened to the students he was wandering past. His ears were tuned for 'red flags' but everything else was just sort of background noise.

Not so today.

He was almost back to his classroom, munching on an apple to tide him over until lunch, when he heard his name mentioned.

And Harry was good at ignoring a lot of things, but he was decidedly not good at ignoring things that were said about him by his students. He stepped to the side and listened.

"Right," Matilda said, "But come on. You have to admit that they make sense together."

"Sure," Reid replied, rolling his eyes, "In the way that matches and kerosine make sense together."

"Explosively hot," Gwen chimed in. "Yeah."

Reid rolled his eyes at her.

"What would their name even be?" Jack wondered aloud and Harry wondered if he'd misheard and they hadn't mentioned his name at all. "Potfoy?"

"Malter?" Ruby giggled.

"Maybe try their first names," Matilda postulated.

"Harco," Reid offered.

"Doesn't the order imply positions," Ruby asked.

Jack nodded, "So which do you think-"

"Drarry," Reid said. "Or-"

And quite suddenly Harry realized exactly what they were talking about and thought that he might be having a heart attack. His palms immediately started sweating, heart beating loudly in his ears.

He did the only thing that he could think to do. He took off at a sprint toward the dungeons, doing his best to avoid students as he raced away.

(Read more below the cut)

When he was just outside of the potions classroom, he looked about and then whipped off his cloak (Draco hated it when he came in wearing the cloak) before bursting into the room. "Dra-" he started before realizing the other man was in the middle of a lesson with the third years. "Malfoy," he corrected, clearing his throat. "Err. Professor Malfoy."

"Eloquent as ever, Professor Potter," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry," he said, nodding to the third years, "terribly sorry to interrupt your lesson. Could I speak to you for a moment? In the hallway?"

Draco looked at him like he'd lost his mind, "Continue working on your Confusing Concoction. I'll be right back." Harry turned and Draco followed, "And Miss. Merryweather if I hear so much as a peep from you to Mr. Coriander I'll be docking house points."

"Yes, professor," Alice mumbled.

Once they were outside, Harry closed the door and looked around the hallway. "They're shipping us!" he hissed.

"Pardon?"

"The kids!" he exclaimed. "I overheard them. They're smashing our names together!"

"Okay?" Draco said. "Sorry, I'm not seeing why you felt the need to interrupt my class to tell me that."

"Because they think we're seeing each other!"

"And?" he asked, frustration rising in his voice.

"And," he hissed, "We are seeing each other!"

Draco shook his head, "Potter, I fail to see what the problem here is."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, "We are seeing each other and people think that we're seeing each other."

"Merlin. I am sleeping with a complete idiot. It's like you're saying the earth revolves around the sun and people are saying that the earth revolves around the sun."

"Right," Harry said, "But we can't deny it without lying."

Draco blinked, "Right," he said, taking a step back from Harry. He shook his head and the cold, detached mask that Harry loathed fell into place over his face. "Well, I think it's safe to say that we can tell them they're wrong now."

"What?"

"This is me, dumping your arse."

"What?" he repeated incredulously. "Draco-"

"No, fuck you," he hissed. "I'm not your dirty little secret."

"I wasn't-" Harry tried to protest but Draco was already stalking away.

"Fuck off," he spat before throwing the door to his classroom open and slamming it behind him.

Harry stood in the hallway for a long moment in stunned silence. He'd definitely just made a mess.

------------------

In retrospect, he could understand why what he'd said to Draco could have been hurtful. He could see how Draco could have interpreted Harry's words the way he had, even if Harry hadn't meant them that way.

He just wanted to be able to control the narrative. Too much of his life had been spent with someone else reporting all of the details and filling in the gaps. He was sick of it.

Harry tried everything to get Draco to talk to him in the next few days but Draco had always been a stubborn git and there was no getting him away from people long enough to have a conversation. He'd even attempted sending letters to him but Draco took one look at the writing and incendio'd them without actually reading them.

Finally one morning, six days later, when Draco was over talking to Oliver about quidditch at breakfast, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He stormed over across the Great Hall to the end of the table the other man was sitting at, reached across, and grabbed him by the front of his robes.

Harry pulled him into a short (but passionate) kiss and when he pulled back he said, "I am in love with you, you miserable wanker. And I don't give a flying fuck who knows."

The silence that followed was completely deafening for a heartbeat before the entire Great Hall erupted into a flurry of noise and movement.

Draco stared at him, completely speechless, before he pulled him across the table for another kiss. "You are such a drama queen," he laughed against Harry's lips.

"I am?!" he protested, leaning back only far enough to be able to make eye contact. "You set my letters on fire! You've slammed your door in my face more times that I can count! You-"

"Shut up," Draco said, kissing him again.

A throat cleared behind them, "Gentlemen," Minerva said and they jumped apart like children caught doing something naughty. "Do you really think the Great Hall is the most appropriate venue?"

"No," they chorused.

"Apologies, Headmistress," Draco said.

"Forgiven," she said. "But don't make a habit of it."

And while they didn't make a habit of snogging in front of students, from then on they were never afraid to show affection for the other in front of students. They would often be found bickering but holding hands, leaning against one another as they graded papers, leaving little notes and treats in the other's classroom, and all other manner of small gestures. The things that showed just how proud and in love they were with each other.

------------------

Day 158: Sunshine Take 1 and Take 2 | Day 160: Deja Vú (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

[recentanimenews]

Spy Classroom: To Forget Is Annette

By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

Given that the last book focused on four of our spies, this one is here to focus on the others. Mostly it’s about Thea, who is the designated leader this time around, and the most normal of the group… for good and ill. Her “power” also ties in with her personality, and makes it so that she has the moral dilemma in the book. Monika continues to be the “I don’t work well with others” one, but here we see that she too is not as stoic and uncaring as she appears, and she also gets to do the most badass stuff. Erna… well, look, Erna is probably the weak link of the book, but we got a large chunk of her deal in Book 1, so that’s to be expected. And then there is Annette. The cliche of “lovable but airheaded gadgeteer genius” is not new to Spy Classroom – leaving aside Mei from My Hero Academia, it’s been around for years. I’m not sure they had quite the same impact as Annette, who feels empty to Thea.

As was revealed in the last book, Lily’s quartet is actually a decoy mission – our heroines introduced above will be helping Klaus take out the assassin. We don’t actually see too much of that, and only in flashback. Instead, we get the aftermath, where the girls are relaxing after the mission at a luxury hotel. They then run into a woman who says she’s Annette’s mother… and certainly there’s a resemblance. It’s a bit difficult to ask Annette, as she has amnesia of the time before she became a spy. But Thea, who is perhaps projecting just a little after seeing that Annette’s heart’s desire was “I want to get taller”, wants the two of them to reunite. Which may be harder than it seems, as it becomes apparent that Annette’s mother is an enemy spy.

I feel less guilty giving things away than I did the previous two volumes, probably as there’s no big “a ha!” moment where the narrative is totally flipped like their was in the first two books. The story of Matilda and Annette is not that hard to at least figure out, and I’d argue the real mystery was trying to see when it would be revealed and how. It’s very good for Thea and Monika, who are at odds over what to do here. Both are soft in different ways, and I have a feeling that may come back to bite them in later books, but here it doesn’t, mostly as Annette is anything but soft. Its worth remembering that the other cliche about Japanese gadgeteer geniuses is that they have a tendency to forget about ethics and morals unless it’s brought up to them. Annette fits this to a T… and that’s probably very good given she’s a spy.

But just because the mystery is not as mysterious does not mean this isn’t excellent. Spy Classroom runs on its characters, and this book’s heart is not the titular Annette (who is on the cover – again) but Thea, and I’m interested to see what she does next.

By: Sean Gaffney

[dimensionslip]

A White Future First Episode: Jade Balfour Translation (Part 3)

The next part covers some of Gelda’s ruminations during and after class, followed by a talk between her and Jade.

Note: Parts marked in () are thoughts, as formatted in the light novel.

( I didn't realize that... How could I have missed it until now, I wonder.)

She had given the boys some simple mathematical questions to do, and the girls were taking down notes. In the meantime, that one thought ran through Nebilim's mind countless times.

(I've heard the rumors while I was still with the Oracle Knights, but could it be that it's--)

She looked over at Jade. He finished his work quite some time ago, and was presently resting his cheek on his books, stacked to form a makeshift pillow. She'd gotten used to this sight since the past year.

The lessons were over before midday. Just as Nebilim was thinking of gathering the children's notebooks, a guest arrived.

"Professor, thank you for taking care of Mondo all this time."

The one opening the door and peeking in was the Arnold's family's servant.

"We had a fine catch this morning--please, have some."

A middle-aged fisherman lugged in a huge bucket and placed it on the floor with a thud. He was said to have taken up working with the family as a side job. It appears that Mondo's father, feeling sorry about his son's living arrangements, had called people to help out around the house.

"Well, these are some lively fishes."

Nebilim thanked the visitors as she looked down at the dark-colored fishes.

"Is the class over?"

"Eh? Ah, yes, I was just thinking of wrapping things up. Mondo--"

She beckoned to the boy and collected his notebook, still half-empty. The servant helped him get into a thick mantle on at the door, and, with the kind of treatment usually reserved for handling valuable objects, led him out of the classroom.

"Mondo's so lucky--he's always got someone coming over to pick him up."

"That kid, he's always spacing out--isn't it worrying?"

Kerry and Matilda giggled lightly amongst themselves.

"He's from a noble family, after all. When they grow up, they go to live at the capital, right?"

Nephry, though not very well-versed in the issue either, joined the conversation.

"By the way, Professor."

Vymlos called out to Nebilim as though he suddenly recalled something.

"Is it true that the Emperor's son lives in that huge mansion in the west side?"

"The Emperor's son? Hmm, I wonder."

Nebilim vaguely replied. Back when she was just setting up the school, she'd heard the story of how one of the Emperor's sons, having lost in the scuffle regarding succesion, was now under house arrest in the town.

"Do you guys think it might be Mondo?"

"Huh? No way--that can't be!"

The children began to argue about the topic. Excited, Saphir turned back to Jade, who was sitting behind him.

“What do you think, Jade?!”

"I'm not interested."

"Oh... Okay."

Saphir disappointedly closed his notebook and, aligning it so that it formed a neat stack with Jade's, handed them both over to their teacher.

"Sorry for keeping you."

"No, it's okay."

Nebilim returned to the classroom, which had now turned quiet.

"If it's okay with you, won't you eat your lunch over here?"

Jade, who'd been sitting at his seat, quietly stood up and made his way through the hallway with the mirror in it. As he entered Nebilim's private study, he stopped, surprised.

"Wow..."

It was the first time he'd been allowed to enter the room.

It's not a room that could be called wide. One wall was covered wholly with a bookshelf. The work desk by the window is covered with books and simple experimental apparatus that he'd never seen before. In the part of the room separated by a curtain, there seems to be a bed.

On the table placed in the center of the room, there were some simple sandwiches and drinks.

"Have a seat, Jade."

Nebilim offered a chair, but the boy seemed to be absorbed in checking out the covers of the books.

"If you find anything interesting, I'll lend them to you later."

"Really?"

Jade's cheeks turned a little red, which rarely happens. He sat down opposite Nebillim. He moved to pick up one of the sandwiches but, spying a bit of salted meat sticking out of the bread, stopped.

"What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Ah... There's something I wanted to ask."

As she poured out some milk, Nebilim glanced at her student's glasses.

"I was wondering why you enrolled here. I suppose you already know, but in this class, there's not much that's being taught aside from reading and writing. For someone of your level, there's nothing you can gain from--"

"It's because you're a Seventh Fonist, Professor."

There was no sign of faltering in his voice.

"You worked at Daath, didn't you, Professor? What were you researching?"

"...No, I was just a healer there."

"Did you get to meet Fon Master Evenos?"

"When I was in Daath, I've seen him around, at the very least."

Nebilim smiled as she answered, leaving not a single hint that she'd been researching the Planet Score under Evenos' lead.

"Are you interested in Master Evenos?"

"No. However, I do have some interest in special fonic artes--"

Right then, Jade stopped speaking.

"Sorry. That doesn't quite answer your question, does it, Professor?"

"It's all right. By the way, about your eyes..."

"Yes".

"While I was in Daath, I heard about something called fonic sight. If I'm not mistaken, there seems to be some fonic inscriptions written on your eyes."

"Yeah. What of it?"

Jade's expression didn't change even in the slightest.

"It was two years ago when I heard the story about the invention of fonic sight. You were still..."

Eight years old, Jade's nod seemed to say.

"I thought it up and did it myself. Fonons are most concentrated in the eyes, so it should be best to inscribe the fonic inscriptions there. Like this--"

He took off his glasses, and brushed a finger before his eyes to illustrate.

"With fonic sight, the amount of power I can wield is multiplied several times."

"Didn't you...think it was dangerous? You could have blinded yourself if you failed."

"There was no other way."

Jade looked up at Nebilim.

"You wouldn't understand, Professor. After all, you were born with the ability to use the Seventh Fonon."

"......"

"Looking back at it now, I did think that I was too young. With my current ability, I could have suppressed the pain more effectively. And also, maybe prevented my eye color from changing."

Jade calmly said that, before he'd applied fonic sight to his eyes, they weren't red like they're now.

"You're... able to control it, though, right?"

Nebilim felt it was necessary to ask about it since the inventor of the arte turned out to be this boy, but she didn't voice that part of her worries.

"It's OK. There are a lot of unstable factors since I'm still growing, though, so it's necessary to make adjustments from time to time."

Jade brought up his glasses, and laughed a little as he remembered the talk about growing molars at 12 that they had this morning.

"Is that so..."

Nebilim looked around the dreary room, and said:

"I've said it earlier, but you can read any book you want in here. If there's any other thing in this room that you need, feel free to use those too."

"Really!?"

Jade's face lit up.

"Yes. My home has a lot of material on fonic techniques. But most of them just end up lying around gathering dust, so..."

Nebilim nudged the plate of sandwiches towards Jade.

“Sorry. I... this meat…”

Jade excused himself, and gave the bucket left in the corner of the room a sidelong glance. The fishes were just as they were when they were delivered.

"Professor. You can separate the salt and impurities from that seawater, right?"

"...Yes."

As she spoke, Nebilim took a fresh cup and scooped up some of the seawater. She placed it on the table and waved a hand over it. The seawater in the cup then separated into a dull crystal and transparent fresh water.

Jade let out a happy smile.

"What is it?"

Without answering Nebiliim, he scooped up the transparent liquid with a spoon and let it dribble into the soy milk she'd poured for him earlier.

"I see."

"Right--let's separate this one now."

Nebilim chuckled. As Jade turned to look at the glass, he saw steam rise up from it.

She thought that what they're doing could be called childish, but Jade seemed to regard it with attention worthy of the most important of rituals. It appeared that Jade's finally acknowledged her somehow.

"Here."

With dextrous hands, Jade divided the tofu they'd created from the soy milk into halves and offered one to Nebilim.

"Thank you. I wonder what kind of adult you'll grow up to be."

"For now, I was thinking that it'd be great to be a medical examiner."

"A medical examiner?"

As she chewed down on the steaming tofu, Nebilim asked.

"Yeah. Cause and effect... Studying the relation between the killing method and the damage that the corpse would sustain as a result. And what kind of fonic arte would result in what kind of dead body."

"Corpses, you say..."

"Yes. Even in natural deaths, that causal aspect can follow countless paths. Organic matter in which all living activities had stopped are very eloquent--it's impossible to grow bored of them."

"...Quite so, aren't they. By the way, Nephry said before that you'd catch small monsters and cut them up or kill them..."

"I can't use humans, after all."

Jade said the line with a very serious expression, but somewhere in his tone there was a very clear that he thought it was quite regrettable.

"Professor, can I go pick the books I want to borrow?"

"Go ahead."

Jade put down his spoon with a clink and stood up. Nebilim looked at the boy's back as he enthusiastically looked through the bookshelves and thought secretively to herself.

(In a few years... No, maybe even sooner than that, this boy will be beyond my capacity to handle.)

(I'll need to somehow make him more open to advice. But I suppose that's my job, after all.)

Even if she were to do nothing, her fate would probably end up getting tied up with this boy's. Whether or not it would result in getting closer to the truth would be up to Yulia's will.

"Looks like it's something only grown-ups who try everything they can will be able to manage. I'm looking forward to it." she muttered to herself. Glancing out of the window, she noticed the snow that had started to fall.

[theclaravoyant]

ok but bus kds passing notes in class (or 'class' as in a meeting whichever way you wanna swing it) because something is going on with one of them and the others don't know what.

AN ~ so apparently my bus kids feels know no bounds and fitz isn’t allowed to be happy ever :/ at least he’s got his girls lookin out

Read on AO3 (~1000wd)

-

“Hey.”

Jemma Simmons is busy staring at the back of her best friend’s head when she hears the voice. She ignores it at first; there are more important things to do, like half-listen to biology she’s already done, just in case, and try to figure out why Fitz hasn’t said a word all day. Concentrating on these things as intently as she is, it takes her a foolishly long second to recognise the speaker.

She looks, but Daisy is already acting – dropping a pen and then leaning over to pick it up, and in doing so, pushing a slip of paper in Jemma’s direction. Jemma reaches out with a foot and pulls it in close enough that she can duck down while the teacher’s not looking, bring it up, and unfurl it.

What’s wrong with Fitz?  

Jemma frowns. Daisy’s noticed too? He must have been acting similarly in Computing too, then. There goes her theory that his mood was about their upcoming dissection.

Don’t know, she adds to Daisy’s note and lobs it back over her shoulder, where it rolls back onto Daisy’s desk. Daisy scowls down at it and rips another piece from her page.

ASK HIM, the paper demands, when it plops back in front of Jemma.

Jemma shoots Daisy a glare over her shoulder. As if she hadn’t already tried that? Daisy nods her head, gesturing at Fitz insistently. Jemma sighs and plucks a sticky-note from her stack, and writes out a note.

What’s up?  

She’s unsure how to throw it over his hunched shoulders, especially without the teacher noticing. Gritting her teeth uncertainly, she puts the note on the end of her ruler and reaches it out for him. A few of the other people in the class glance and spy and wonder, but it feels much longer than it is before the ruler reaches his back and transfers the sticky note to his jumper. Glancing back at the teacher to see that her back is still turned, Jemma jabs Fitz with the ruler for good measure before she retreats. He reaches over and pulls the note away, but she can’t tell if he reads it or not. Either way, he neither answers, nor returns the note.

Another piece of paper bounces off Jemma’s head and almost flies off the desk. She catches it in time. It’s Daisy.

Tell him I say “Matilda.”  

Jemma raises her eyebrow. She glances back at Daisy, but Daisy’s head is down – apparently, taking notes for once. (Apparently). Curious, Jemma writes another sticky note saying Daisy says Matilda and sticks it to Fitz’ back with the ruler. This time, when Fitz collects it, he sighs visibly. He sits up a little straighter. Writing? Jemma straightens her own back, hopeful, and in a few minutes he’s extending his own ruler back to her, with a folded sheet of paper haphazardly balancing along its length. She waits for the ruler to get within arms length and then takes both it and the paper. Then she takes a deep breath and opens it.

It’s about Dad, he says.

“What about him?” she’s about to consider asking, but he’s foreseen that and added.

He showed up this morning. Has a key somehow. Woke up to find him eating breakfast in the kitchen & he took the car.  

Then underneath that:

Locksmith can’t come out today. He can still get inside.

Jemma crinkles her nose in disgust. The arrogance, the violation of it. She could only imagine how Fitz must feel knowing that his father could still get into his living space, his sleeping space, could touch all his things...

Worried about Mum is the last thing on the page.

“What?” Daisy hisses, leaning over her desk at the same time as she’s attempting to kick Jemma’s from behind. “What’d he say?”

Jemma twists to pass it to her, as quickly as possible, but not quickly enough.

“Excuse me, girls,” Miss Weaver scolds. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

Jemma freezes. Her brain barely functions at all for a second and then it’s Yes. Say something. Share something. Biology words. Go.

Nothing comes out.

Fortunately, Daisy is already on the move, standing up out of her seat as Weaver moves over to them.

“It’s my fault Miss Weaver,” she says. “These two were telling me to shut up, I swear.”

“Really? Because it seems like quite the conversation you were having.”

Daisy looks down at the large sheet of paper before her. Jemma winces. They’ve been inextricably caught out – and with something Fitz hadn’t wanted to share in the first place.

“Daisy was – trying to set us up, Ma’am,” Jemma explains. “Me and Fitz.”

Some of the glass sniggers, and Daisy grins. She shrugs at Miss Weaver.

“What can I say, I love love?”

Weaver’s eyes narrow. She makes a sweeping move for the papers on Daisy’s desk and – thinking quickly, or perhaps not thinking at all – Daisy rips away the part Fitz has written on and shoves it into her mouth. A fist clenches around the other scraps, as if she’s contemplating eating them next if Weaver gets any ideas. Weaver’s sharp eyes turn back to Jemma instead.

“And were you party to this date arrangement, Miss Simmons?”

“Well, I – “ she hesitates, torn between confessing something disappointing, and lying to a teacher she loves. In the end she has to tell the truth, even if it’s not the whole truth. “Yes Ma’am I was.”

“And do you think my classroom is the appropriate place for such games, Miss Simmons?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“And do you think Mr Fitz’ already tenuous grades would be assisted by your pestering him about his weekend plans, Miss Simmons? Miss Johnson?”

“No, Ma’am,” Jemma manages, and hears the belated response from Daisy behind her. Weaver seems satisfied by their humiliation at that point, and retreats.

“I hope you didn’t set any plans for this afternoon, then, girls, because both of you will be staying after school. And Mr Fitz, if he has any brains at all, will be doing his homework assignment.”

With that, Weaver returns to the front of the class. Fitz sighs heavily. Jemma risks a glance over her shoulder one more time, and finds the same confusion on Daisy’s face. It’s not like they’re intimately familiar with his transcript, but they’ve never heard Fitz’ grades described as remotely “tenuous” in their entire academic careers.

On her palm, Daisy writes one last note and holds it up for Jemma to read. Jemma nods.

Intervention time.