#I literally pointed at Sabin and declared they had to meet! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

adragonhoardingstories · 5 years

Text

Of Blood and Bonds- Chapter 5

@mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @thesunanditsangel

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @zalladane

@heaven428 @unmaskedagain

@dawnwave16 @kris-pines04 @emeraldpuffguide @hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@weird-pale-blonde-person

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@persephonebutkore

@be-happy-every-day-please @blue-peach14 @annabellabrookes

@jaynintodd @st0rmy-w1th1n @bluerosette23 @ladysblackcat @18-fandoms-unite-08

@vixen-uchiha @novicevoice @jessigurl-design @tinyterror333

@rebecarojas07 @sparkle9510 @magicalfirebird @mewwitch @shamefullove

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@sassydepression @caffeinetheory

@reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

@krispydefendorpolice @mermaidofthelost @drarryismylife101 @ladybug-182 @northernbluetongue @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @iloontjeboontje @mjisntme

Tag list for this is closed!

On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Happy New Year

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

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents.

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again.

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice.

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience.

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her.

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her.

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served.

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist.

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day.

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once.

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself.

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed…

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in.

"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face.

It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe.

"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious.

"About that, I needed to talk to you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good.

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?"

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink.

"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge.

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "Also true, but I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."

Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.

"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "I'm not sure I follow?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it.

"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?"

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce.

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed.

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded.

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree.

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door.

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted.

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking.

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent.

"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support.

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug.

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms.

And a father's heart broke all over again.

#MLB X DC #maribat #platonic daminette #mentions of rape #torture #lila salt #adrien salt

538 notes · View notes

2manyfandoms2count · 4 years

Text

#LadynoirJuly Day 31

The final entry of @ladynoirjuly2020! And I made it before the end of August, yay! Massive thanks to everyone who’s read, liked, commented and/or reblogged any of the chapters, you have no idea how much it means to me ❤❤❤

I hope you enjoy this last chapter, I told you it’d all be angst with a happy ending! xxx

Previous | First

---

Day 31: Home

Ladybug smiled widely as she opened the envelope on her desk. She’d spotted it as soon as she’d slid down her mezzanine railing, and had decided to skip her detransformation upon seeing it. It wasn’t everyday Marinette received mail. Especially envelopes with a familiar magazine logo on them.

She squealed excitedly as she pulled out the cheque, her name neatly written on the recipient line. She was finally going to be able to carry out her plan.

She was about to open a new tab on her computer when her mother’s voice sounded from downstairs. “Marinette? Are you home?” It approached as Sabine climbed the stairs. “Someone’s here to see you!”

“Don’t worry Mrs Dupain Cheng, I’ll just wait in the living room.” Ladybug recognised Adrien’s voice and rolled her eyes.

They’d only just left each other after patrol, what was he doing here? She shook her head and detransformed, stashing the letter away before she opened her bedroom’s trap door to tell him to come up.

Her surprise would have to wait.

---

“I’m here!” Chat Noir landed loudly on the rooftop, doubling over to catch his breath. “We literally just saw each other at school, what was so important that you waited until I got back to Nino’s to call me?” He panted.

Ever since Hawkmoth’s arrest, Adrien had been staying at Nino’s, his parents taking him in with open arms. Between them and the constant dinner invitations from the Miracuclass, all coordinated by the brilliant Marinette, Adrien had never been better fed or supported. It made him feel emotional if he thought about it too hard.

“Well see, I saw Adrien at school, but I need Chat Noir right now.” Ladybug twirled a strand of her hair on her finger as she walked towards him, before standing on her tiptoes to kiss her boyfriend’s cheek.

“Oh?” Chat’s eyebrows shot up, his interest piqued by Ladybug’s mischievous smile.

“Wasn’t it you who helped me finish my crosswords puzzle?”

“You won?” He gasped.

She grinned and nodded slowly.

“That’s amazing Bugaboo!” Chat picked her up and spun her around, kissing her forehead. He frowned slightly as he put her down. “You know you could have just told me over text, right?”

“But that would have ruined the surprise.” Ladybug winked, whipping out a scarf from her yoyo. “Speaking of which, we still have a little travelling to do, so better get cracking!”

“I’m not sure I like where this is going.” Chat Noir replied as she approached him.

With a laugh, Ladybug blindfolded him and took his hand, leading him towards the edge of the building. He followed diligently, entwining his fingers between hers.

“I’m not sure I completely thought this through.” She mumbled as she looked down. It was a long drop, although she’d never let him fall.

“You know I trust you with my life, Bugaboo.” Chat smiled and brought her hand to his lips. He would have tried to actually kiss her had it not been for the blindfold.

“Alright, here we go, then.” She took a deep breath and slid a hand around his waist to bring him closer. She was grateful to feel his strong arms around her, consolidating their link. She knew she could take both of their weight, having done it at least half a dozen times before, but with Chat blindfolded, she was missing the last resort solution of his baton.

She yoyoed smoothly across the gap, and let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

“We’re alive!” Chat joked, feeling her relax.

“Don’t say that too quickly, that wasn’t the only street we need to cross.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just meet claw-ser to wherever we’re headed?”

“You’ll understand why when we get there.” Taking his hand in hers again, she carefully led him across the rooftops. Chat Noir tried visualising where they were by tracking their turns and crossings, but quickly gave up after yet another leap, made wobbly by Ladybug’s slight fatigue.

Finally, she let go of his hand and he heard her open what sounded like a trapdoor. She carefully guided him down a ladder, into a darker space. They walked along a corridor, he supposed from the alignment of doors he felt as he scraped his hands across the walls. Probably an apartment building.

She stopped before they reached the end of it, and he heard the jiggle of keys and the little rattle of a lock being opened. Light dappled his blindfolded vision as the door swung open.

“Okay, don’t get your hopes up too high because it’s really not that great compared to your place, but I know that as much as you like being surrounded by people, you also really like your privacy and I thought this would be a nice place and…” Ladybug rambled, playing with the keys in her hands, he could tell from the sound.

He reached out blindly and took them in his. “My Lady? Breathe.” He could perfectly picture how she’d stop talking and look up at him, a little startled. “And maybe let me see before you start overthinking everything?”

“Oh, right, of course!”

He felt her hands gently go through his hair as she untied the blindfold for him.

It fell to reveal a small, but cosy room. A bed, which looked a lot like his bed, occupied most of the space on the right. He could definitely recognise some of his posters and pictures hanging above it, with a bunch of shots of him and his friends he’d never seen but had apparently been taken over the previous weeks.

The left side of the room had been organised as a living space, with a kitchenette in a corner and a sofa in the other, next to which stood a pile of cushions to provide extra sitting options. Chat had a half a mind to go and sprawl himself on them. The other half could already picture all the nights he’d be able to spend around the coffee table with his friends.

Straight across from the door was a big window which caught his attention by the amount of light it let through. He squinted as he strode towards it, and, recognising the view, gasped and opened it wide. As he leaned across the small balcony, Ladybug instinctively grabbed his tail before he could fall down from jumping in excitement.

Chat turned around with the biggest smile she’d ever seen him sport. “We’re next door neighbours!!”

He pointed to the right, where the Seine was visible, as well as a part of Marinette’s balcony.

“I thought you’d like the prospect of being able to communicate through the wall.” She smiled. She’d been extremely lucky to spot the renting announcement. Then again, she was Ladybug. Didn’t luck come with the costume?

Chat Noir looked out the window again, then came back inside and picked Ladybug up, twirling her in his arms as he kissed her passionately. Her arms flew around his neck. She could feel him smiling against her lips, which made her feel giddy.

“It’s perfect, thank you.” He said in a pant, after they broke off, staring into her eyes as his forehead leaned against hers.

“I wanted you to finally have a Home, Chaton.” Her cheeks were flushed, bringing out her bluebell eyes in the prettiest way.

He smiled fondly and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Bugaboo, never doubt that I have a Home when I’m with you.” He looked around them, still in awe of the space. “But I agree that this will do nicely as a second one.”

“Cool.” She said lamely, unable to formulate a coherent response to his declaration.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

#and they lived happily ever after #the end #ladynoirjuly2020 #ladynoirjuly #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #miraculous ladybug #the miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #mlb #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous fanfic #home #elle writes

46 notes · View notes

king-cotton-candy · 5 years

Text

Chapter 3: Her Choice

(A/N: Hey y’all. I feel like today’s gonna be a long day, so I’m probably going to post more than one chapter today? I’m very broken right now and can’t draw because my arm is sunburnt to a crisp and it’s hurting me a lot. Anywhoozle, please enjoy, umm, feel free to cry, cuz like this is kind of an emotional chapter. Lol like the other two weren’t haha good joke. There’s major DJWifi in this chapter haha so like I guess enjoy that too)

I know those who are reading this are probably a little confused as to what’s happening, so I’ll do my best to explain it, even though I wasn’t there. The doctor had filled everyone in that Marinette was going to be able to walk in a couple of months, which was quite literally miraculous, if you get what I’m saying. The surgery, in lamemens terms, was mainly just the surgeons screwing and gluing everything back together so that everything would heal properly. All of Marinette’s ribs were broken, and even though she should’ve broken her spine as well, she just broke her left femur and both of her arms. She would have bruised organs, but nothing worse than that internally. She would definitely be in a whole lot of pain the next two or three months, but it amazed the doctors that she even made it to the hospital alive.

Now, Alya and Nino were dozing in the chairs that were by Marinette’s bedside. Sabine and Tom were still speaking with a doctor about the injuries their daughter had sustained, and what physical therapy she would need to take to get her back to walking. The worst of the morning was over, now they all just had to get through the rest of the day. The Dupain-Chengs closed the bakery for the day. It was a given that they were taking the day off from people so that they could be with their daughter. Alya and Nino had already called their parents to let them know what went down and where they were.

It looked like things could only get better from there. A wise man once said, “the nice thing about hitting rock bottom is that the only place left to go is up.” I honestly couldn’t agree more. Although, it could’ve been so much worse for Marinette, and we’re all thankful that it wasn’t. None of us could even imagine what it would be like without her. Marinette, the confident, creative, and very, very intelligent girl that practically every guy in the school fell for at some point. Marinette, the absolutely brave and bold girl who would stand up to the typical school bullies, even if the bully was a snotty rich girl(not saying any names). Marinette… she was going to make it, and she was going to come back stronger than ever!

Alya woke up with a start, her heart racing. “Marinette-!”

With a quick glance around the white room, her memories came flooding back. Alya sighed with what could be called relief, but she didn’t actually feel relieved. Her best friend had tried to end her life four hours earlier and she was still super shaken up. The only thing that could’ve made it worse would be if she’d seen Marinette jump. Scratch that. If Marinette had died, that would be worst. Alya knew that. She was so scared and she wished she could’ve been better for her friend. Alya felt like a failure. Marinette called her and asked her to talk her out of jumping, and Alya just couldn’t seem to do it.

“Babe..?” Nino grumbled, sitting up and straightening his glasses. “Are… are you okay?”

“Ye… yeah, Nino… I’m okay.” Alya forced a smile as she lied.

His eyes narrowed with concern. “Alya.”

“What, Nino?” She turned her head to look him in the eye, not realizing that she was crying.

“Are you okay?” He repeated, reaching his hand over to her face and wiping a tear from her cheek.

“I-I-” Alya stuttered, her vision blurring from her tears. “I-I almost l-l-lost my best friend, N-N-Nino!”

He winced, understanding written all over his face as he got down on his knees in front of her. “Alya, baby…”

“Wh-wh-what’s worse is that she-she wanted to die, Nino! I can’t imagine wh-what made her feel like she had to die!” Alya sobbed, biting down hard on her lip and trying to quiet herself.

“I know, babe, I know…” Nino wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s neck, trying his best to comfort her.

“Is it my fault..?” Alya whispered, trying to see through the tears. “Did she jump because… because I couldn’t talk her down..?”

Nino pulled away and glared into her eyes. “First of all, don’t you dare.”

“Wh… what?” She was taken aback by his angry tone.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself for this. Ever. She made the decision to jump, Alya, you didn’t tell her to.” He declared, brushing some of her hair from her face. “And second, you are her best friend! I can’t imagine how much of an awesome best friend you are if she called you to talk her down! She trusts you!”

Alya scowled at the ground. “Trusted!”

“Stop. She trusts you enough to tell you that she wanted to jump. It doesn’t make all this your fault just because she jumped.” Nino gently pressed his forehead to hers, immediately calming her down.

“N-N-Nino…” Alya gripped tightly to his shirt, shaking violently with tears.

“Babe, look.” He lifted her chin so that they could meet eyes. “It’s not your fault, okay? You did an amazing job trying to talk her down.” She shook her head. “Trying, Nino! I tried, and I failed!”

“You also have never done that before! But look at how brave you were! How calm you stayed even though you knew she was in danger! If that were Adrien, and he called me, I know I’d probably freeze up like a coward! You held out for her even though you were scared.” Nino told her.

Alya sniffed, and with a weak laugh, she said, “... In no way was it a perfect first attempt to talk someone down from suicide.”

“Yeah, but it was a pretty dang good try.” Nino smiled softly, lifting his head to give her a quick peck on the lips.

The two laughed sadly to themselves, both trying to get a grip on the grim situation. It was rough, neither of them were going to deny that. But just because it was rough didn’t mean they weren’t going to get out of it. In fact, Nino’s positive thinking had Alya feeling better, even if it was only a little bit. Just the fact that he was there, sharing the burden with her, was more comforting than almost anything else in the world. They were going to get through this and it was going to get better. It felt like a guarantee.

First: https://king-cotton-candy.tumblr.com/post/186355804383/chapter-1-unexpected-jump

Previous: https://king-cotton-candy.tumblr.com/post/186390433493/chapter-2-luckier-than-ladybug

Next: https://king-cotton-candy.tumblr.com/post/186408092113/chapter-4-my-entrance

10 notes · View notes

imthepunchlord · 7 years

Text

Me Rewatching ML: Jackady

NINOOOOOOO. I am really curious why they don’t reveal his last name here. I guess he just wants to go by Nino?

BABY BLUE SO NERVOUS. Adrien’s such a good supportive friend.

Sabine definitely is the quiet one between her and Tom, thus far I see him talk a lot more than her. I want to see more of Tom being a social butterfly.

One of the classes they do have at school is PE.

LB is able to make a web with her yo-yo.

Tom and Sabine are both very sad to ground Marinette. It seems Tom needs more reassurance doing it than Sabine.

Marinette was invited to be there for Nino’s show, but she isn’t there yet, he’s about to go on, and she’s only seeing him on tv atm. I’m guessing she wound up forgetting, remembered, about to rush away to support him but then the parentals stopped her.

I notice, Chloe’s eyes are a much brighter blue than the mayor’s.

The mayor evidently hates dancing. And Chloe hates soup.

If Nino wins, he gets to continue competing. It seems Adrien will be too busy or has something scheduled next week so he won’t be able to make it to the next round. This is most likely Nino trying to help match make them (finally).

No one is even upset at the tv station but HM already has eyes on it. I wonder if he’s capable of looking in on potential locations where he suspects someone could end up upset.

Alya can get where Tom is coming from, actually looks kinda sad to back that yeah, Marinette is never where she should be, suggesting to me that sometimes Marinette had to go when they were hanging out.

Alya suspects a possible double life that Marinette may have. Actually makes me think back to a concept I saw that Alya did know Marinette was LB, and was asking about LB’s powers. Maybe this right here could be a slight reference to that earlier concept. Or maybe this could be a hint to the reveal in s2, with possibly Alya learning Marinette is LB.

Adrien is eager to say hi to new people. This friendly bean.

Gorilla is protective, to a point of no chill.

A lot like Chloe, the mayor can be a little dramatic when arguing against the truth.

A happy Nino does a bow.

Gabriel is known as the King of Fashion.

Gabriel was misinformed and thought he was going to be sitting in for an interview.

If you like or think Gabe is HM, skip over the cursive, I’ll be making notes on anything that suggest or argues the idea of Gabe being HM. Cursive I’ll have as arguments.

It’s shown earlier that HM already has eyes on this place for potential negativity, and is aware of the event that’s going on. Gabriel is unaware of what this show is and didn’t know it was going on. I see no reason for Gabe to pretend he doesn’t know the show.

Nino was pumped to see Gabriel there, most likely for Adrien, aware that Adrien doesn’t see him often. Adrien is equally happy, though not as much as Nino. I feel Nino is aware that Adrien does want to spend time with his father more, so any possible chance for them to see each other is great, though Adrien himself seems aware that not much can be done at this point. Nino is such a good bro.

“Hilarious, your show is pathetic.” Savage Gabriel.

Gabriel scoffs at the idea of him ever being controlled and just leaves. Adrien isn’t surprised. I kinda want to see Gabriel at PTA meetings.

In this show, having a contestant refuse a challenge is an automatic game over. That does feel unfair. Poor Simon! At least get him a new contestant Alec you ass! This guy is such an ass. Rubs a teenager’s loss in her face, is more than fine to kick out a contestant for something that isn’t in his control. You should have plenty of other celebrities that you can contact! Even the mayor had enough time to spare to pop in!

...I don’t like Alec.

...I’m kind of curious on what would happen if Jackady threw his possessed card at someone. How would you get the akuma if it disappears into the person?

DUCKS ARE MEAN ONE BIT ME AS A KID DON’T MAKE HIM A DUCK THAT’S WORSE.

Gorilla’s ready to fight. Actually the first civilian to charge at an akuma, ready to get physical.

Alya is babysitting, and that’s why she isn’t there supporting Nino (assuming they’re dating atm, or are on the way to dating).

Despite this possibly getting Marinette into more trouble, Tikki deems LB duties are far more important. This is an issue she has come across before and has a fair idea on what to do so Marinette can sneak out. Cliche pillow under the bed. It has worked enough for Tikki to deem it a good idea.

Marinette has really grown to love zipping around on her yo-yo. She has the biggest smile on her face.

Chat is scared for his father.

HM states that it’s risky, but also gives him an idea. He looks very smug and amused about the idea of going after Gabriel. For sure he knows Gabriel, though how personally I can’t say. And he isn’t turned off at the idea of attacking Gabriel at all, if this was Gabriel, I’d think he’d be a lot more unsure about this. HM also tells his akuma good luck, suggesting he is aware that Gabriel isn’t an easy target, possibly aware that Gabriel has the peacock miraculous and may use it.

Actually it makes me think back to an idea I had of Gabriel working with HM, only the two have a very shaky partnership. Him being a partner of HM with a desire to get his wife back could offer an answer on Gabe’s strange behavior (aside from he’s HM), and HM being up to have his akuma go after Gabe could be his way of showing that he’s more dangerous than Gabriel, a display of power.

Chat sneak attack! Successful.

Gorilla just punched through a wall. Is his hand ok? Does magic protect him?

Barrel roll.

“I could use an army,” he says in a very happy tone.

Move like zombies, oh hey Justin Extra!

Adrien has a sensei. I’m going to assume it’s D’Argencourt since Adrien bases a lot of his fighting style off fencing. I want to see Adrien call D’Argencourt sensei sometime and his teacher is more than fine with rolling with it.

Nino refers to his best friend as “my boy Adrien”.

Adrien took karate, and quit.

There goes cat son, fighting off his bodyguard and handling on his own. And there goes the Gorilla. Do we ever see him again? I’m assuming ML will make sure he’s fine but... I’m concerned.

LB looks proud of her partner.

With his father in danger, Chat is serious, no puns or jokes and is quick to inform LB of what’s going on.

LB is inclined to find Adrien instead of go after the akuma (Tikki would disapprove).

Chat feels bad about lying to LB and his friend. Nino is very concerned, touched Chat is up to let Adrien appear.

Nino is always so eager to give Adrien a hug when seeing him again. I bet he’s trying to make up for the lack of hugs in the last year of Adrien’s life.

And there he goes, pushing Nino out of the way for LB. Adrien is shy being himself before LB. I can literally see him thinking “Oh no she’s cute when she’s shy” and that soft smile. My gosh. These two are going to give me a cavity.

Adrien though is quick to get to the point, his father being in danger overcomes the wonder of meeting LB as himself. If someone Adrien cares about is in danger, they’re going to be the top of Adrien’s priorities.

Nino is just kinda staring into the void during this whole Ladrien scene.

Gabriel does already know he’s in danger, if he is HM, this can provide why. Otherwise, he most likely learned about it from Nathalie or the news.

Adrien is quick for his father to flee and get to safety.

Gabriel is put off to the idea of fleeing and “being dictated”. This I find to point to the possibility of peacock!Gabriel, peacocks are known for standing their grown.

Gabriel deems Adrien’s room is safe, and that he has had enough excitement for today.

On not being HM, I find this suggests Gabriel doesn’t want to risk Adrien becoming and akuma. Gabriel looking through the book, he is likely aware that HM can make more than one akuma (as we see in Origins with Nooroo’s explanation, it’s a possibility, plus LB is getting a new power that helps her cleanse the akumatized meaning either more akumas or they become stronger and she needs a boost in cleansing power).

Gabriel says they, extending protection to Nino as well. Nathalie puts an arm around Adrien’s shoulders, SHE DOES CARE.

Adrien takes after his mother, who Gabriel declares to be very overly dramatic. He sounds kind of a little exaggerated when revealing this suggesting to me that she’s quite reactive and dramatic a lot.

Gabriel has full confidence in LB’s protection, by the smile on his face, the firmness in his voice, and setting a hand on her shoulder, it almost seems encouraging, to me anyway.

It seems to me that he admires LB, or at least sees her potential as a hero. If he’s a miraculous veteran or his wife was a miraculous veteran, this could be why and he is compelled to encourage her. If he was HM, with how Gabriel isn’t afraid to speak his thoughts and how much HM hates LB to the point of dramatics, I don’t know if Gabe could contain himself, at least not this much with a big smile and sureness. Maybe it’s me, but it seems contradicting.

Nino wonders if Gabriel’s a robot, Adrien reveals that he isn’t sure. Since last year, for sure Gabriel has really cut away from Adrien.

Adrien’s room is for sure on the 2nd floor, possibly close to the stairwell.

This is Nino’s first time being in Adrien’s room.

Gabriel has a huge picture frame of Adrien’s pictures in his... office? He deems his son to be perfect, even after his annoyance with Adrien being “dramatic”.

For sure, Gabriel likes having a lot of portraits of the people he loves, which for sure is a point to him being HM, having a portrait of Mama in the brooch. I think him having all these pictures of Adrien is his way of coping with grief and being close to Adrien. He can see his son while he’s working and not needing to step away and actually see his son (he should though). For sure he does love his son, I do believe that. He’s pretty emotionally distant with Adrien through grief.

Will we ever see Adrien play basket ball? I see him posing with a ball, and he has a basket ball court in his room.

Gabriel has the softest smile I’ve ever seen on him when talking about Adrien.

...Ok you can skip this whole paragraph cause I’m going to ramble, but Gabriel’s color scheme really intrigues me. So Chinese color symbolism seems to factor into ML, red a color of good luck and happiness, black represents protection, power, trust; purple spiritual awakening and physical/mental healing, pink is love, blue healing, conserving and trust, and white represents mourning. His color scheme is pinkish-white, white, grey, and red. If Chinese color symbolism does factor into the show, his color scheme means he’s mourning the loss of a loved one, grey meaning indefinite, and red suggesting that he’ll have happiness in his future, or he believes that happier times are coming.

Gabriel bringing up the earrings and reaching for them is a point to HM. For sure LB is uncomfortable having Gabriel reach for her earrings.

But he just looks on with a soft frown afterwards. He doesn’t appear passionate about taking the earrings. If anything, body language wise, he seems kind of reluctant and hesitant.

Adrien knows about the security system. Gabriel wonders how Chat knows about it. For a split second, I can see Gabriel think “bullshit” to Chat’s fib but let’s go. Gabriel is confident in his security system, declaring his home to be a fortress.

Aw poor Gorilla, Jackady uses him to stand above his army.

Gabriel is genuinely surprised and concerned.

Gabriel trusts Nathalie to go with LB to check on his son.

Gabriel refuses to listen to Chat. He has some real issues about being told what to do, he really is someone that likes to be in control and have things done his way.

To me, this makes me think that him being HM would be very frustrating to him cause HM never has any control with his akumas, and majority of the time they just do what they wanted. I actually see him just eventually snapping and reactivating the peacock to do it himself if he’s HM.

A tense Adrien will snap back and lay down orders. Both Gabe and Chat are surprised. ANOTHER SOFT SMILE FROM GABRIEL. This is so nostalgic for him, fondly noting the temper. This suggest that Mama also had quite a fuse too and would snap at him when tense.

Chat looks sad.

Gabriel turns and stares fondly at Mama’s painting. He loves her so much. This is probably his favorite painting of her.

HM withdraws from this plan, stating that this is a bad idea to attack Gabriel’s home, and starts pushing for the deal, getting the miraculouses. A point towards Gabriel being HM.

If not and HM and Gabriel have a partnership, HM is now wary that his pushing his limits on said partnership and doesn’t want to break it.

HM is able to sense LB and Chat close by, he can sense their presence through his akumas.

Adrien’s background is his mother.

LB is surprised to hear that Adrien’s taking a shower now.

Nino kinda smirks here, probably well aware of Adrien’s crush on LB and is amused by the possibilities here.

LADRIEN SHOWER SCENE.

SHE FUMBLES. SO FLUSTERED.

“If you must.” Lmao.

Gabriel narrows his eyes to hear that LB is with his son.

Adrien seems to have really accepted Mama’s loss, he is clearly sad that she’s gone, but over all I think he has moved on and seeks to live on with his life, move forward.

It looks like Adrien’s room is right next to the stairwell in the foyer. And I also see another set of stairs across from Adrien’s room that likely go up to a third floor.

Plagg truly does enjoy romance, Animan he was amused by Adrien and Nino fumbling around with Marinette, and here teases Adrien about the romantic moment he had with LB. Adrien isn’t bothered at all by Plagg’s teasing, if anything he’s delighted. Also Adrien isn’t bothered at all at the idea of LB liking Adrien, showing that he doesn’t see himself or Chat as two seperate people and that LB should like Chat instead. He’s just happy that LB seems to like him.

Plagg is done with all of these transformations.

Gabriel has pink buttons on hi sleeve.

Gabriel is utterly furious. He looks ready to fight.

Jackady’s minions can still talk.

Gabriel’s office is in the foyer, close to the front door.

Either Jackady really wanted to drive Gabriel up the wall, with Adrien’s pictures are all scattered across the floor. Or Gabriel actually fought them off, showing that he does know how to fight and probably held off a good many of the minions on his own before he was overwhelmed. Either Peacock, Butterfly, or/and husband to a previous miraculous user, Gabriel is tough (if he did fight Jackady’s minions off).

Ok, Gorilla is perfectly fine. He’s alive. He’s ok. Still mind controlled, but he’s ok. And they have only Gorilla restraining Gabriel. With Gorilla strong enough to punch through walls, this suggest that yes, Gabriel fought off a lot of the minions and Jackady needed the strongest to restrain Gabriel.

Gabriel doesn’t look scared, I’m seeing hints of shade.

“You’re now a butterfly.” I wonder if we’re being teased or if this is actual foreshadowing.

There he goes, frolicking. Frolic away Gabriel!

Chat is horrified to see Gabriel’s hypnotized.

LB’s yo-yo actually broke. It is possible to break a miraculous weapon/tool.

This is probably one of the best Chat has been as a hero, taking this situation seriously and not goofing around. I find that’s why there is an imbalance in LB and Chat, it’s because Adrien isn’t taking heroing as seriously as LB and does goof around a bit. It’s something he needs to learn, and maybe two newbees may push him to step up. But for sure, Jackady, Animan, and Darkblade do cover how capable Chat can be as a hero, especially when he isn’t being silly.

Adrien sings “NAHNAHANHANAH” (or something like that) to drown out Jackady. I wonder if Adrien did that as a kid when he and his parents were having a disagreement, he didn’t want to hear them telling him what to do and just wanted to sing over them.

I find it kinda cute that airplane!Gabriel echoes the sound of an engine as he goes.

Adrien’s first instinct is to go after his father, not help LB. He does accept her logic and stays.

LB can’t use the Lucky Charm yo-yo to cleanse the akuma, and this is one of the two cases so far where she has to use ML before cleansing the akuma (the other being Pixelator).

LB adores her yo-yo.

Gabriel doesn’t seem too impressed with Chat, mostly likely because most of the time, Chat does goof off. Chat is aware of it and the fact that Gabriel seems to prefer LB. He isn’t bothered. Probably thinking “yes, dad approves” XD

For a split second, Gabriel has his eyes narrowed and is staring off into space, suggesting that he’s not really listening to Chat and is thinking.

If partners with HM this could be him rethinking the events of this episode and HM possibly pushed too far. Or he could just be thinking of his close fatal encounter.

Gabriel does look at the ring, Chat notices and withdraws from him with a guarded look.

Gabriel looks away with narrowed eyes again, a slight frown on his face. This could be him being frustrated that he failed to get both miraculouses.

Though he is left alone with LB right now, her guard is down and watching Chat go, Chat, who is about to detransform. Gabriel doesn’t make a move here though, which seemed like a perfect chance if he was HM, and LB is his biggest threat.

Another shot with the Eiffel Tower close to the Agreste manor, the other being in Antibug. HM’s lair is far from the Eiffel Tower, we see it every episode. It’s very likely that Gabe and HM were in two very different locations and it does strongly suggest to me they are two different people, unless the butterfly miraculous can teleport but I feel that’s something he would exploit a long time ago, join the fight, teleport away when it’s too dangerous.

Mama was very physically affectionate. A lot of the shots have her embracing Adrien. Through Mama, Adrien is pretty comfortable with physical touch and affection, especially from people he’s comfortable with. Through Gabriel, Adrien isn’t too comfortable with certain touches (like Chloe and Lila grabbing him and invading his space for example), and Adrien and shoulder touch, that habit may come from Gabriel since we do see he is more than fine touching people’s shoulders, especially if he (evidently) likes them.

Gabriel doesn’t knock, he just enters.

Adrien stands to Gabriel’s chest, just below his collar bone. Barely touching it. With the expression he has coming into the room and how he comes into the room, Gabriel really isn’t a character that shows what he’s feeling, acts like nothing is wrong, he has control, and moves with a purpose.

This is probably the biggest issue I have on Gabe being HM, they’re so opposite. Where Gabriel is still, poised, and quiet; HM is expressive, dramatic, and loud. And we do see Gabriel doesn’t care if he upsets someone or they aren’t impressed with him, so it’s really odd for me for him to be HM behavior wise. With who he is, I can’t see him hiding away a more dramatic side in a dark room full of butterflies. He’d let it show, express himself, he has no trouble doing that. So if he is HM, it’s really strange to me that he would save the more expressive and dramatic side when he’s alone. It’s not impossible but... it’s odd to me.

Huuuuuuugs, with Gabriel having to bend down to hug his son. I feel this is the first hug ever between Gabriel and Adrien in a year, especially by Adrien’s reaction.

Gabriel is pretty unnerved to see his son with the ring. Adrien is bothered and defensive. Plagg is very concerned for Adrien, doesn’t know what to say. Though by how he looks at the ring first, I wonder if he fears that Gabriel may suspect Adrien is Chat.

If Gbae was HM, this would’ve been another good chance to take the ring, especially if he thinks that is the miraculous. If not now, he can take while Adrien’s sleeping, reassure himself it would be worth it in the end. Plus, no Chat, it would leave LB alone. While she is capable on her own, she would struggle without Chat, with him usually taking the heat of battle and giving her time to plan. And I don’t recall her getting out of a trap by herself, relying on Chat to get her out.

But he doesn’t, he’s just unsettled, goes stiff, and leaves the matter alone (for now). To the point of Volpina, Adrien doesn’t feel guarded about Gabriel possibly suspecting he’s Chat. At least it doesn’t seem he is, I’ll have to see when I get there.

Marinette is able to get on top of everything in a week and is relieved of being grounded. She’s inclined to spend time with her family instead of physically going up there. I wonder if she’s even aware that Adrien was able to make it.

Nino chooses LB and Chat to be his challenge, he is comfortable enough with them to pick them. Even refers to them as “buds” .

Marinette’s like oh shit.

I think this is the most I’ve seen Sabine talk.

Tom and Sabine seem unaware that Marinette is LB.

Personal thoughts on the Gabriel/HM matter, for some people this ep confirmed it; me I’m a bit baffled. There are details that don’t click or add up. Of the cast we have so far, I can agree that Gabriel is the most likely candidate for HM, and if he is HM, I hope they are able to do the story with him well. But so far, I’m inclined to believe they’re two separate characters. I’m actually really leaning to the idea that Gabriel is working with HM but isn’t 100% on board and he and HM don’t entirely get along.

But we’ll see s2, nothing is set in stone yet. HM may be Gabriel, he may not. For sure, either way, I hope the story is done well.

#miraculous ladybug #Punch Rewatches ML #Jackady #Simon Says #Hawkmoth #Gabriel #speculation

39 notes · View notes

suzannemcappsca · 7 years

Text

All Mediators are Liars – Part 1

Martin Svatoš

Shortly after the neighbourhood mediation started, one of the parties turned to me her eyes flashed with anger: “Everything that he is telling is false, do not listen to him…” The other party got het up: “Indeed, Mr. mediator, everything I have ever said was a lie…Do not listen to me…” Without even knowing this, the second neighbour just used something that is in theory described as liars’ or Epimenides’ paradox: His statement just could not have been true.

Liar’s Paradox

Epimenides, a Cretan semi-mythical philosopher, is known as an original author of the liar’s paradox, ie. a sentence that cannot be true for logical reasons. In one of his unpreserved works, he wrote that “all the Cretans are liars“. For Epimenides himself was a Cretan, his declaration would have applied to him as well.

So either, he was telling the truth, but this would mean that at least one Cretan (ie. Epimenides himself) was not lying and thus, his statement was false. Or, he was lying, then his sentence would need to be read as all the Cretans are true-tellers which would be negated by his original lie.

As all logical exercises, also this one can be bit messy, so I recommend you to use more up-to-date versions of liar’s paradox, such as: “This statement is false”, “I am now lying” or “all mediators are always liars” providing that you consider yourself as a mediator.

What is also paradoxical, Epimenides intended his statement rather as a criticism of his fellow citizens and not as a logical wordplay. Anyway, his famous proverb started to live its own life as it was later adapted by Paul the Apostle and Bertrand Russell and even ultimately picked up by popular culture. For instance, in the original series of the Sci-Fi Star Trek Captain Kirk and Harry Mudd used the liar paradox to confuse and ultimately disable an android holding them captive (you can see the classical scene here).

Black and White World

Though of rather theoretical nature, the liar paradox shows us that common beliefs about truth and falsity actually might lead to a contradiction and complications. In other words, nothing is black and white. That goes especially for mediation.

A lie is an inseparable part of dispute resolution milieu. As such, it may be a reason for which the conflict has arisen or it might be a weapon used by parties when arguing. Although from its definition, its appearance is more common in adjudicative dispute resolution such as arbitration or litigation, there are a few of mediators who could declare that they had not met with deception in their practice. No matter, whether a party lied to the other party, to the mediator or to both of them.

When dealing with lies in mediation, the thin line between it and other deception has to be drawn in the first place. A lie might be defined as a statement used intentionally for the purpose of deception. Paul Ekman, however, suggests two main conditions to distinguish between a lie and other deceptions: The intent and unconsciousness of the target.

The first condition incorporates the deliberate choice to lie as it is a conscious and considered decision. This would exclude all pathological liars as they are forced to lie by irresistible temptation. The second condition is excluding all magicians, fortune-tellers and even actors in theatre. When Hamlets is killing Claudius on stage, no one in the theatre believes actual homicide is happening and yet, none is calling the actors liars…

Quite surprisingly, the truthfulness of information that is being passed on is not one of those criterions. In the end of the day, a liar may be saying the truth, yet his intent was different.

Desirable Lie and Undesirable Truth

From a cultural point of view, there is a certain set of lies that are not considered as negative and against ethical rules of most world’s communities. One of them being a so-called polite lie which is the situation when talking the truth is actually crossing the cultural rules more than lying. Such is the situation when an ill person is asking about her appearance. Though looking awful, the majority of us would tempt to say she looked fine in order to lift up her spirit. To the similar box, the butler lie belongs which might be described as a small lie usually sent electronically, which is used to terminate conversations or to save face: “I need to go, the meeting is about to start.” Acceptability of this lie is, however, heavily dependent on culture.

An interesting survey was run at one of the Czech universities when approximately one hundred respondents were asked whether they would consider the following sentence told by a mother to a child as a lie: “On Christmas, the gifts are brought by Christ-child.” Christ-child (in German Christkind in Czech Ježíšek, literally little Jesus) is a Christmas gift-bringer in Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, in the parts of Germany, Slovenia, Croatia… In other words, this is a sentence that is regularly repeated in the vast majority of families in Central Europe as it is regularly repeated that Santa Clause is bringing gifts in Northern America.

According to the above-described criteria, this sentence is a lie. A mother has an intention not to tell truth and she has a choice not to do it. The child does not know that she is not telling the truth. However, for the absolute majority of people coming from this part of the world, it is very difficult to say that mother is a liar. Many of the respondents tried to provide an excuse for their choice, some of them tried to relativise the lie (soft lie, necessary lie, even a good lie) and some of them would not consider it as a lie at all.

The majority of mediations are, however, not about Christmas and gift-bringing. Consequently, the reception of lies within it is of rather harsher and less accommodative nature. As a mediator, the first issue that strikes me when it comes to deception in dispute resolution is the trust. There are little things that harm it more than lying. As also aptly pointed out by John Stuart Mill: “Dishonesty limits the parties’ capacity to resolve their dispute for it helps the sense of unfairness to preserve.”

It is mainly this, what makes me feel that a good mediator should be good in lie detection and even better in responding correctly to those situations.

[To be continued]