#square columns with crown moulding | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

exhibit-of-the-century · 6 months

Text

Lecture Notes MON 23RD OCT

Masterlist

BUY ME A COFFEE

Doing Art History: Architecture

Looking at this building, without prior knowledge of its purpose or background, what are the defining features and what do they tell us? What do you see and how do you interpret thus building? What gives you that impression?

Aspects of this house that give it an air of grandeur, or rich quality, can be associated with the colour of it. White render is a difficult colour to upkeep on a house, and truthfully any colour is. This white render highlights how expensive this building is, as more effort in building highlights a performance of wealth.

Hendrick Danckerts, View of the Queen's House and Greenwich Palace from One Tree Hill 1670s National Trust, Dyrham Park

Inigo Jones, Queens House, Greenwich,1616-1618, 1629-1635

Here, the historic image of the house (an archival image) helps us understand it’s birth and change through time. Blueprints and plans are especially helpful in dissecting a building, it’s like seeing the arteries, muscles, bone structure of the building. Stripped to its core, and revealing things we may not have known about it from the outside, or even inside the space we may have trouble mapping the areas that surround us. This also reveals degrees of privacy that are afforded inside the space, certain intimate, and hidden rooms.

The Axial symmetry, and the balustrade, suggest and define the grouping as classical.

Axial symmetry is symmetry around an axis; an object is axially symmetric if its appearance is unchanged if rotated around an axis.

Render and Tudor Brick Red have a long history, of one replacing the other and then the opposite begin more favourable. We will explore this further in the post, specifically around William Morris’ home. This transition through time and space, changes due to the address of person and society. We learn to read buildings by the buildings we’re exposed to.

KEY WORDS: (find more art key words here)

Architrave: In classic architecture, an architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The 6term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, of a frame with mouldings around a door or window. Cornice – A cornice (from the Italian cornice meaning “ledge”) is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element – for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a pedestal, or along the top of an interior wall.

Colonnade: row of columns generally supporting an entablature (row of horizontal moldings), used either as an independent feature (e.g., a covered walkway) or as part of a building (e.g., a porch or portico).

Loggia: (from the Italian word for 'lodge') is an outdoor corridor or gallery with a fully covered roof and an outer wall that is open to the elements. Traditionally, loggias either ran along the facade of a building or could exist as a stand-alone feature.

Balustrade: a railing supported by balusters, especially one forming an ornamental parapet to a balcony, bridge, or terrace.

Rustication: is a range of masonry techniques used in classical architecture giving visible surfaces a finish texture that contrasts with smooth, squared-block masonry called ashlar. The visible face of each individual block is cut back around the edges to make its size and placing very clear.

String Course: a horizontal band or course, as of stone, projecting beyond or flush with the face of a building, often molded and sometimes richly carved.

Note: Classic buildings used rustication to mimic Italian/Roman architecture and to make the building seem heavier and in turn sturdier, especially with the use of horizontal weight and ground weight.

These qualities, of weight, and grounding, can lead to a certain building types like banks being associated classical building styles.

Double Height Hall

The inside of the building, although harder to gauge through photos of the space, is a perfect 40 by 40 feet. Perfectly symmetrical. This space, with the balcony overlooking the space, is the welcome mingling area, as seen and deduced by the large window doors that lead and make the space brighter. This symmetry adds to the demonstration of wealth, as it demonstrates knowledge, power, and influence. Especially a knowledge of geometry. This perfect symmetry and flooring design out of marble echoes the Roman and Classical style.

Cultural Capital: wealthy enough to spend money on it all, and to demonstrate knowledge and new forms of understanding, creation, and interpretation. When it’s less accessible to people. Especially in denial of the everyday building and its meaning.

USE OF BUILDING:

How does architecture hint at behaviour? The way we should conduct ourselves and interact with the building and its space? With the Queens House, the door positions and stairs are leading us to the foyer, or socialising space that was just discussed.

This socialising space, has a balcony leading around the middle, suggesting voyeurism. To spectate and be spectated. This gallery, hints at being behaved, dressed up for the viewing pleasure of others.

Jones, the architect, was known for creating masks. Masks were a performance by aristocrats for other aristocrats, various people of court preforming for each other, with elaborate costumes and stories. Usually retelling or preforming some mythos or other.

Jones was not an architect as we know it. Keep in mind that architects were not trained due to it not being a profession, therefore no training was needed. He underwent travel to Italy and drew while being there in person, but also has background understanding of the people, and their buildings use. He is known to give buildings a dramatic flair.

Tulip Staricase

A hint of his dramatic flair can be taken from this: Tulip Staircase. The first unsupported staircase in England, which was seen as a great feat of engineering. Contributing to the wealth and well of knowledge, the culture capital on display.

Palladio, Palazzo Chiericati, begun 1547

This building, from the 16th century, was the direct inspiration for the Queens House. England was greatly drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean and signified the pre-birth of the classical antiquity. Of course, this villa palace design was adapted for England’s weather and climate.

Philip Webb, The Red House, Bexleyheath, 1859-1860.

Philip Webb, The Red House, Bexleyheath, 1859-1860, east elevation.

William Morris: The Red House

The Red House, where William Morris lived and had designed for him by a young architect, displays a change in ideals and beliefs that is reflected from society in their architecture. Especially when an artist has a clear set of beliefs and wishes to embody them. Moreover, as the Arts and Crafts movement founder, he wished to separate himself from previous ideas, and this clearly comes through with the architecture.

The aforementioned Tudor Red Brick comes back, and the white render is all but abandoned in this building. Symmetry goes out the window, elements of gothic come into play, windows are miss matched and experimental, the steep roof gives this house a medieval quality. Morris was a great fan of the tales of King Arthur, round table, and his knights. (He even roleplayed as them with his art friends at his house).

Façade: a single elevation.

The Red House all but attempts to abandon this with its various elevations, recessions, and projections.

Fenestration: putting windows in certain places.

Architects guide us by manipulating light in indoor spaces, they guide our eyes and in turn lets our brain subconsciously know which way to go. The legibility of the windows helps us understand the interior address, design responds to function but also to aesthetic choice.

The Red House adopts a vernacular architecture style too, incorporating it into the gothic. Vernacular Architecture: a type of local or regional construction, using traditional materials and resources from the area where the building is located. For the people/belonging to the people. Return to nature. Eg. Barns and Farmhouses.

Philip Webb and William Morris, The Red House, Bexleyheath, 1859-1860, Drawing Room

Morris aspired to have a community of Art Houses, even encouraged other artists to build their own houses in the area, people such as Rossetti. All that ended up happening was Rossetti had an affair with Morris’s wife. So….

Morris actually learned to weave himself and experimented with dyes to better understand and create his art.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hill House, Helensburgh, 1902-4

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hill House, Helensburgh, 1902-4 Detail: hallway (left), drawing room (right)

Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Hill House: Art Nouveau

A house building upon Morris’ ideas. Historically the architect also did the interior design, if you observe the photo of the hallway, managing the volume and light, the architect controls where you should go/stay.

1902-04 Japan becomes more influential and inspires a large aspect of Art Nouveau. Mackintosh uses graphic pattern carpets/rugs to give direction on where moveable furniture should go.

Taking note of the previous buildings observed and presented in this post, look at the Hill House and consider how similar/different it is to the previous two.

0 notes

bielbraganca · 2 years

Photo

#𝐇𝐒𝐇𝐐𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊𝟎𝟒𝟎 (𝟏/?) ––– 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨, 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞.

OOC: It’s no secret Biel loves Monaco and for years, he has resided primarily in the principality, splitting his time between Lisbon and Monaco. So now, he sold his old pad and bought a summer home and he and Mimi can conquer Europe.

Just over two and a half years after his passing, the Monte Carlo, Monaco, summer home of legendary former Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld is now out of the market. The property, Mansion Global reports, was available to rent and used to cost at least €15,000 ($17,388 USD) a night, with the cost reaching €45,000 ($52,165 USD) in the busiest season. And after a six months negotiation has now a new owner: Prince Gabriel de Bragança de Portugal.

In French, “La Vigie” means “the lookout” or “the watchman”, an appropriate name for a villa overlooking the sea. With high alabaster ceilings and an overflow of Corinthian columns, the Villa La Vigie stands just a few hundred meters away from the French-Monégasque border.

“It’s the safest place in the world,” Lagerfeld reportedly told W Magazine in 1988. “It’s impossible to get near the place. No public road passes by and you have to go through two gates to get inside. It doesn’t even have an address, so no one can write to me here.” Lagerfeld would keep the house until the late 90s.

Lagerfeld bought the home in 1988, just five years after he began his decades-long tenure at Chanel, and subsequently renovated it. Built in 1902, the Belle Epoque style of the property makes for particularly impressive environs, with gorgeous wall panelling, columns, and crown moulding throughout the estate. With six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two dressing rooms, and a billiards room, there’s certainly plenty of space to go around. Outside, a 2,500 square foot terrace offers a place to soak up the sun and the views of the Mediterranean Sea. A stay at the property includes a private lounge tent at the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel’s private beach, along with access to their pool and restaurants, and an electric car so that the hotel’s many amenities can be easily reached.

#hshqtask040 #gonna start this #PICTURES AT THE SOURCE #cat made me do it

6 notes · View notes

classicalmonuments · 4 years

Photo

Mausoleum of Ataman

Ataman (عتمان), Hauran, Syria

2nd/3rd century CE (?)

The best preserved monument is a large mausoleum, to the north of which are remains of walls of highly finished stonework, with large windows, and doorways flanked by pilasters. There are also column-drums of various sizes. In ancient times there was probably not a town here, but rather a group of fine residences, or villas, with a common monumental tomb.

This building which was in many respects the most remarkable and interesting tomb structure in southern Syria. It is a square building in two storeys, built upon a steep incline, the lower storey being plain and solid, and the upper higher level. It is ornamented with pilasters decorated niches in the north façade (Ills. 278, solid, though it may contain a chamber that upper storey is inhabited, as may be seen in the photographs.) The plan of the interior of this storey (Ill. 280), which was not shown by Dr. Schumacher, is a chamber 5.70 m. X 6.50 m. square, spanned by a high transverse arch.

The front half of the chamber, just within the doorway, is an open chapel with niches in the wall on either hand, the other half is occupied by loculi in four storeys, six in each row, open at one end. These loculi are made of slabs of basalt only 15 cm. thick and very highly finished. They were closed by thin plates which were probably inscribed with the names of the dead. The exterior design of each side is composed of four pilasters which rest upon a projecting moulding that crowns the lower storey. The caps which are of the Corinthian order, with the wall, carry a triple-banded architrave.

The façade is distinguished by a fine portal, and niches in the panels between the pilasters on either side of it. The portal has rich frame mouldings, a pulvinated frieze of bay leaves, and had a projecting cornice the minor details of which are still to be seen, though the projecting part has been broken off. Over the uppermost lintel stone, i. e. the cornice, is a flatly arcuated lintel to relieve the weight above the middle of the opening. At the ends of the cornice are the stumps of broken consoles.

The niches, which are of semi-circular plan, are flanked by colonettes of Corinthian style, and the simple mouldings on the archivolt of the conchas are brought directly down to the capitals of the colonnettes without the usual intermediate section of entablature. As may be seen from the photograph, the architrave of the main entablature was arched above the middle space over the portal, and among the miserable hovels built in front of the Mausoleum are ample fragments to prove that there were two more members above the architrave; first a frieze (Ill. 280) which is a flat cyma recta in section, deeply fluted, the flutings half filled with a convex member and having leaves at the four angles, and then a cornice banded with a maeander, and crowned with an egg-and-dart below a richly carved cymatium. This complete entablature was carried in an arch over the middle space.

The roof was double-pitched, its stone slabs resting upon the gable ends and a gable wall built above the transverse arch within. The character of the carving, especially of the caps of the pilasters and of the finely wrought patterns of the cornice, is of the finest quality, and the finish of the stonework is perfect. There are many masons’ marks upon the ashlar of the walls; Greek letters near the edges showing how the stones were to be set in place, and it is plainly evident, from bits of plaster still clinging at several points, that the entire outer surface, both plain and carved, was covered with a thin stucco. In fact this is one of the best examples in the Hauran to prove that architecture in basalt, even when richly carved and highly finished, was not left in its black state, but was covered over with a high grade of stucco.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

#art #Architecture #travel #history #hauran #syria #arabia #2 ce #3 ce #corinthian #mausoleum #niche #syrian pediment #roman #roman art #roman architecture #funerary monument #meander #conch

79 notes · View notes

anne-lister-adventures · 4 years

Text

Sunday, 16 February 1840

7 40/’’

12 35/’’

i.e. 7 40/’’ by the clocks here by which time we must now go – Trying to read the Russian Affiche over my door – The price of wines, &c. Donskoi at 4/- the bottle – Very fine sunny morning – Breakfast at 9 50/’’ George said when I called him at 9 to see about a Traineau that it was Reaumur -25º out of doors – Breakfast in an hour –

Out at 11 1/2 – The Traineau not quite ready but came to us at the Kremlin at 11 3/4 – Went into the 1st church – Could not see much – Full of poor people came away – Got into our Traineau and drove to the Convent des Femmes where is the famous Vierge de Kazan – The superior not at home ∴[therefore] could not see the summer church of large, handsome exterior but went into the winter church where the richly coiffed Vierge sojourns during this season –

The Bogoroditsky Monastery where Anne and Ann saw the Mother of God of Kazan. Lithograph by Professor Edward Turnerelli.

Her every day coiffure = 60,000/- but her dress one = ten times that sum one diamond in it is worth 60,000/- - All this in the Trésor which we may see on application to the supérieure – The church not very lofty but well proportioned and handsome – The vaulted ceiling of the nave painted (dark blue outline) in square panels with a patera in the centre of each –

Copy of the Mother of God of Kazan. The original was allegedly stolen and destroyed.

One arcade parted off for the vestibule – 4 arcades over which a balustraded gallery for the nuns in the nave; and then the handsome dome springing from 4 large arches and close beyond this dome the iconostase and apparently the same length as the nave and vestibule, i.e. 5 arcades length, taken up by the préstole (altar) and its appurtenances – the space left all in one – Not divided as in general into 3, the middle for the altar, and the 2 rooms, one on each side, for the priests, - A sort of vestry –

Gave the nun who civilly shewed us the Virgin a ten S.[Silver] Kopek piece which seemed to be enough for the little she had done – The exterior of the wall that encloses this convent is strikingly tartar and picturesque

the curtain between each pair of broad pilasters has a pointed Equilateral Triangular battlement with a double round topped loop-hole recess under each apex i.e.

there is one recess within another – Each of about 6 in.[inches] deep – Brick work white washed – The effect of these Tartar walls and buildings depends much up these brick work recesses and mouldings, and plasterwork, and paint –

There seems to be not much left that was here in Tartar Times except an old Tower and some other building near to it that George said was a Tartar Mosque and Fort – The tower is brick – In decay – In 5 or 6 retiring grades crowned with a pyramid, very picturesque –

The Söyembikä Tower is likely the building Anne described, which is presented here in a lithograph by Professor Edward Turnerelli.

We then drove to a Mosque – Open – Service – Went in for a minute or 2 – Only the people – The priest not arrived – Plain and carpeted – Much the same as at Moscow, but the exterior arabesque i.e. ornamented à la Tatar – A square on arches, and mouldings about the windows and a picturesque looking building but rather cracking and seeming to want some repairs –

The Apanaeev Mosque, here seen in a lithograph by Professor Turnerelli, was one of the mosques in Kazan at the time Anne and Ann visited the city. The style is similar to what Anne describes, though it’s possible that this wasn’t the mosque they visited.

Then drove along the Tartar Town along the Kasanka river, and pursued its bed and drove all round that side of the Town in the bed of river for some distance – Drove under the modern square Tower built on the spot where the breach was made when the Russians took the town from the Tartars in 1552 – Interesting –

Came back to the Town up one of the deep clefts in the high sand-rock on which the Town and fort-walls are here built – Then when on the hill, turned left a little way and passed under the curves gateway to the Great Road to Perm and Siberia – Nearly opposite this gateway at a little distance is the handsome large pile of building, the military hospital, and not far off on the same side as the Siberia Gate is a church and the large cemetery of the Town – Drove a little way on this great road – But on this high ground the wind so piercing that we turned back – Nothing to be seen forwards towards Siberia but one wide plain with hardly any wood upon it –

On our return drove to the Raskolmick church a small rather Russian Greek like church of no great appearance situated in a court, and not far from the Boutanka Canal – Passed the back, the observatory part, and the long line of handsome front of the university in returning – It is a long line with a 12 columned pediment in the middle and terminated by a 6 columned pediment at each end – The street in which is the University seems long and handsome (the handsomest in the Town?) and the other good streets seem to run parallel with it –

The Kazan University in 1832.

The General Governor’s House is in the University Street – But it seems Professor Eversmann’s house is somewhere near the Siberia Gate – And Madame Lapteff’s somewhere near the Convent des Femmes?

Home at 2 55/’’ – A little benumbed with the cold, against which my head not being sufficiently guaranteed, I had to hold tight the satin wadded bonnet every now and then which benumbed my hands –

Amused? With the style of countess A[Alexandrine] Panin’s letter to her cousin and copied it see the other end this book her manner of mentioning us is not the nicest? She calls A[Ann] my companion but she deserves this ssince she would not be pleased to be thought my niece the fact is she has sso little that is taking about her that they know not what to make of her especially as she is no relation princess RRadziwil once asked why I had such a person so unsuited but I passed it over and she had too much tact ever to repeat the observation I said I could not do without her she kept house for me not everyone would travel about with me and I must have someone –

At 4 1/2 sent by George Mr. Boutourline’s letter

M.[Monsieur] B-[Boutourline] À Son Excellence, Monsieur le Général, Strekeleff Aide de Camp General de S.[Sa] M.[Majesté] L’Empereur, Gouverneur Militaire de Kazan &c. &c. à Kazan.

Mr. Fischer. À Momnsieur le Professeur, d’Eversmann, à Casan. De la part, de G. Fischer.

Countess A.[Alexandrine] Panin Madame, Madame de Lapteff, à Kazan.

This letter being unsealed put it under sealed cover with A-‘s[Ann’s] card and my own – And sent A-‘s[Ann’s] and my own also chez le General Gouverneur – But merely the letter to the Professor –

Then changed my dress and had my hair done – Dinner at 5 1/4 – A diner complet Russe, pour une personne just enough for us two = 2/50 and had a bottle of Donskoi wine 4/- to drink the happy returns of the 10th inst. –

The véritable sixth anniversary we dined chez le General Gouverneur of and at Nijeni – Drank health to A-‘s[Ann’s] sister and her family and her Aunt, and Marian – And all our friends round the Wrekin – Our friends at Nijney and Prince George of Georgia – Our friends at Moscow and La Charmante Princess R-[Radziwil] our own Queen, and the Emperor and Empress and Imperial Family –The wine good – The champagne? They have given us at every dinner?

Then till now 10 1/2 (tea at 8 in about 1/2 hour) wrote the whole of today – Sat up looking at Map of Russia and the few notes I have brought – Unluckily I have left behind at Moscow all my notes from Lord Royston cum multis aliis!!! It is useless to give myself the trouble of making notes for a journey if I thus leave them –

[in the margin of the page:] Picturesque wall

Page References: SH:7/ML/E/24/0016 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0017

#anne lister code breaker #anne lister #ann walker #moscow to baku 1840

4 notes · View notes

loitersquadtv · 7 months

Photo

Seated Bar Home Bar in Chicago Seated home bar - mid-sized transitional galley carpeted seated home bar idea with a drop-in sink, glass-front cabinets, black cabinets and granite countertops

#glass-front cabinets #square columns with crown moulding #recessed panel columns #black cabinets bar #arched opening #black leather bar stool #home bar

0 notes

rocketwerks · 5 years

Text

Bolling Haxall House

AKA, The Woman’s Club

211 East Franklin Street

Built 1858

VDHR 127-0033

October 2019

Mary Wingfield Scott brings it!

(VDHR) — 1971 nomination photo

The Haxall house is a three-story, Italian Villa style structure of sandstone colored stucco, scored to imitate ashlar. There is a projection for the full height of the building in the center of the entrance facade.

October 2019 — showing raised portico

On the first floor level is a raised portico with arched openings, supported by four fluted columns with capitals composed of a simple necking, an egg-and-dart patterned echinus, and a flat abacus. The portico has a panelled entablature with a dentiled cornice. Two large pilasters flank a recess which leads to the front door. The recess is framed by an elliptical arch, sidelights, and pilasters. The front door frame repeats this design in walnut. The door itself is a double one with cutglass and walnut panels.

October 2019 — showing basement windows, semi-circular balcony, & eyebrow windows

The fenestration of the entrance facade is symmetrical. The basement windows are half-sized with elliptical arches and are devoid of ornament. The windows on the first floor arc double-arched units with cast iron hood mouldings, decorated with coats-of-arms in the centers and pendantls at each end. There are semi-circular balconies with iron railings at,.the bases of the windows. The second floor windows are single-arched with the same hood mouldings, but without the coats-of-arms. They have simple trim and stone sills. The two windows in the projection correspond to the height and treatment of the first and second floors respectively.

October 2019 — showing dentiled cornice

The house is crowned by an elaborate, double-bracketed, dentiled cornice. The fenestration is continued into the cornice by "eyebrow" windows framed by single brackets. At the top of the central projection, the cornice arches to form a semi-circular pediment. The right wall of the house is blank except for two narrow, semicircular arched windows on the first and second floor levels which are flush with a wing which projects at this point from the house. The windows in both the main body of the house and the .wing are semi-circular arched with hood mouldings, simple trim, and· stone sills. The cornice continues around the main part of the house, but not into the wing. The end wall of the wing is stuccoed "ashlar" and is blank.

October 2019

The left facade is fenestrated in the same manner as the front of the house with a half basement window, single-arched windows on the first and second floors, and an "eyebrow" window in the cornice. The windows are spaced in the center of the facade so as to form pairs. On the first floor level, there is one long semi-circular balcony for both windows. All the windows have simple hood mouldings and stone sills. The cornice continues. The auditorium entrance joins 'the house at the end of this side.

October 2019 — showing evil hexagonal bricks & horse hitching posts

The sidewalk in front of the Bolling Haxall house was originally paved in hexagonal bricks. These unusual paving blocks were regarded as evil by some members of the Richmond populace, and nurses would lead their charges into the gutter rather than have them traverse the bricks of ill omen.

Today, there are two cast-iron, horse-head hitching posts in front of the house. These once stood on Capitol Street where they were used for the horses of the state legislators. There is a fine cast-iron fence set in granite around the fronof the house. This iron-work is believed to have been cast by George Lownes, who did a similar, signed fence in Hollywood Cemetery.

(Richmond Weddings)

The first floor of the interior of the Haxall house consists of a long entrance hall running the length of the house from the front door to the back porch. To the right of the entrance is an octagonal-shaped library, and to the left is a double parlour, separated by sliding doors. Beyond the library on the right-hand side is the semi-circular stair hall with sculptural niches and the walnut stairway added during Dr. Willis' residence. At the top of the stairwell is a stained-glass dome. At the rear of the house is a second hall with a fireplace, as well as three, large double doors which originally opened onto the porch and now lead to the auditorium.

(Richmond Weddings)

The plan of the second floor is similar to that of the first, except that the partition has been removed between the double parlour in order to form a larger room for parties and meetings.

In addition to the double-spiral, walnut staircase and the dome preserved from Dr. Willis' day, the panelled walnut wainscoting which he added to the walls of the entrance and stair halls also remains. The doors and door frames that face into the entrance area are panelled and carved in walnut.

October 2019

The octagonal library on the first floor has been restored to its nineteenth century appearance. The original, carved, pink marble mantel is complemented by a patterned ceiling painted in subtle browns, beiges, pinks, and greens. The walls are painted in shades of brown, beige, and white to imitate panelling. There are walnut, glass-front bookcases in four of the corners of the room.

(Richmond Weddings)

The double parlours have elaborately carved, white marble mantels. The doors and windows have white trim with small colonettes at the sides leading up to a cartouche in the center of an elliptical arch. This same design is used with slight variation for all of the door and window frames on the first floor.

There is a cove moulding around the top of all the first floor ceilings and plaster work around the bases of the crystal chandeliers. The second floor is much simpler in its decorative treatment. The three fireplaces are all of white marble in a simple design. The frames of the doors and windows are squared-off, not arched as on the first floor, and have only a plain moulding.

October 2019

When repairs and redecorating of the club were undertaken in 1961 and 1962, the walls of the octagonal-shaped library were discovered to have been painted to simulate paneling in the nineteenth century. The ceiling also yielded evidence of painting in an elaborate design. The walls were repapered at first, but in 1965-1966, Miss Mary Wingfield Scott made it possible for the library to be returned to its original decor.

October 2019

In 1965-1966, the House Committee of the club supervised major structural and redecorating repairs to the house. The cupola was strengthened and repainted, deteriorated cornice mouldings and dentils were replaced, and the exterior of the building was restored to its original sandstone color (obtained from iron filings) with the stucco finish scored to imitate ashlar. Curved iron details over the windows were discovered, and the cast iron balconies around the windows were made visible by the removal of box bushes.

(Pinterest) — Old Dominion Nail Works, February 1948

Bolling W. Haxall was the fifth son of a prosperous mill owner, Philip Haxall. The former Haxall began his career as a clerk in the Haxal Mills and became a partner in 1842. He had a wide range of business talents 'for he was also the president of the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Works and had an interest in the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. His obituary in the Dispatch of June, 1885, referred to him as “a most energetic successful man of business, whose advice was often sought and highly valued. His house is a testimony to his material success and to the taste of the time.

(Richmond Weddings) — showing walnut stairway

Haxall sold his house to Dr. Francis T. Willis in 1869 and I moved to the block west, across from Linden Row. Dr. Willis made several changes in the house. He added a beautiful walnut stairway and frescoed walls with hardwood wainscoting on the main floor. His eye for beauty led to tragedy, however, for his daughter, Emily, a sleepwalker, was killed in a fall down the curving staircase. In despair, Dr. Willis sold the house in i900 to the Woman's Club, which had: been formed by Mrs. L. L. Lewis in 1894 for the literary culture of its members; for their intellectual, social, and moral development, and to strengthen their individual efforts for humanity.

To pay off their mortgage, the ladies of the club rented the second and third floors of the house and the outbuildings as apartments In 1916, the burgeoning enrollment of the club required the addition of an auditorium to the back of the house. This partially destroyed. the rear porches on two floors.

(Richmond Weddings) — auditorium

The auditorium was enlarged in 1924. 1928 saw some major changes on the interior of the Bolling Haxall house. A partition was removed from.between the double parlour on the second floor in order to make a large assembly room- The third floor was converted into studios with a separate entry and stairway, and a balcony was added to the auditorium. (VDHR)

October 2019 — trees giving us the finger

Yet as wonderful as the Women’s Club truly is, it has clearly been targeted by the Insidious Tree-Architecture Conspiracy, that dread cabal that has conifers everywhere laughing at the human species. What can you do but shake your fist in silent rage?

(Bolling Haxall House is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)

#mustseerva #rva #rvahistory #franklinstreet #atlasrva #cityatomic

5 notes · View notes

anniversary-magazine · 2 years

Text

Dernier Occupant: École de Pensée in Residence at Maison Linton

On view from April 15 to April 17, 2022. 12h - 17h

Maison Linton 3424 Simpson St, Montreal,

Qc H3G 2J3, Canada.

Despite its size and grandeur, Maison Linton in Downtown Montreal has gone unseen. Built in the 19th Century, the house has lived many lives, existing as a place of immense luxury and total abandonment. Yet, its elegant spaces and refined details remain, withstanding the passing of time.

Sitting within half an acre in the Golden Square Mile, Maison Linton is an elegantly appointed and beautifully-detailed piece of architecture conceived by architect Cyrus P. Thomas. With soaring ceilings and an abundance of original features, each of the four floors is generous and well-proportioned, accented with columns and pilasters, moulded-plaster ornaments and crown mouldings.

Having fallen into disrepair, Maison Linton was thoughtfully and sensitively restored by the Sweibel family, whose work ensured the building's continued survival, highlighting its timeless appeal. After many years of closure to the public, due initially to the building's abandonment and more recently serving as a corporate head office for a public fashion company, the Sweibel family is inviting Montreal's creative community into the building with a series of collaborations and events. Conceived with the hope that Maison Linton might become an integral part of the city's cultural landscape, the house will be experienced by a new audience and occupied by a new generation of tenants.

Dernier Occupant marks the debut of a new era for the property. Led by architectural designer Mitchell Sweibel, the collaboration will see Maison Linton host the Montreal menswear brand, École De Pensée, with whom he has found somewhat of a kindred spirit.

A coming together of contemporary design and historic architecture, the collaboration is not rooted in the juxtaposition of old and new but rather in their similarities, exploring what connects designs that span different times and forms. Instead of providing a white canvas, Maison Linton offers an entirely new context - one that is infused with history, complexity and character.

Hosting École De Pensée, the event will present pieces from their own collection alongside furniture from the Danish design studio Frama to create open-ended narratives and textural assemblages. Blurring the lines between different forms and periods of design, the ephemeral installation is a meditation on permanence and timelessness.

Thoughtful and considered, both École De Pensée and Frama focus on creating pieces that are meaningful and enduring. The three founders of École De Pensée - Marc-André Garand, William Lessard and Julien Gauthier - create clothing with a rich history, using heritage materials and traditional techniques, and borrowing shapes and silhouettes from bygone eras. Describing their approach to design as "an inclination towards simplicity, without falling into minimalism," École De Pensée strikes a balance between the classic and the contemporary, resulting in clothing that is, in its own way, timeless.

Frama elevates its practical and pared-back aesthetic by designing objects with a strong utilitarian appeal through quality materials and craftsmanship. Finding the simplest form - the purest expression - Frama has developed a decidedly modern language while also being informed by classical forms. Much like École De Pensée, theirs are designs made to be used, worn and loved - acquiring meaning, built up in layers over time, to create an inimitable patina.

Dernier Occupant brings together several elements in a state of flux, shifting between past and present, history and modernity, looking back while moving forward. An exploration of the effects of entropy - its inevitability and its beauty - the collaboration is a celebration of Montreal's design heritage, past and present.

All images by Gabriel DeRossi

#École de Pensée #Installation #Mitchell Sweibel #Maison Linton #Montreal #Gabriel DeRossi #Frama #Featured

0 notes

ladrienintensifies · 7 years

Text

day 25: weakness

(cover art commissioned by me from @caprette; fic continuation originally requested by @ferisae; initial beta by @mirthalia; final beta by @crispypata; shout out to my discord chums who put up with my pestering - thank you all so much for helping this ridiculously self-indulgent thing happen ♥♥♥ now on ao3!!)

In which Ladybug’s weaknesses are exploited.

---

Ladybug leapt from rooftop to grass, kicking up chunks of sod and dirt as she sprinted into the sprawling park. So focused on following Chat Noir, she completely missed the cold sweat dripping down her face.

Nearly an hour passed since Gabriel Agreste went on live television to demand the safe return of his son. In that time, Ladybug ran solely on a combination of desperate worry and anger—one that had her searching every stray nook and cranny in the city until Chat Noir arrived to help.

“We’re almost there,” he called out, slowing his pace to match hers. “It should be just up ahead.”

Ladybug jumped over a dog, startling the girl playing fetch with it. “What do they even want with Adrien?!”

“He rejected someone? Or pissed them off?” Chat suggested. Ladybug grit her teeth, her worry spiking again as their destination loomed in front of them.

Nestled behind a cluster of trees and shrubs was a mansion three times the size of the Agrestes’, its rotting exterior standing in stark contrast to the manicured lawn of the park. Peeling paint exposed solid brick, and graffiti decorated any surface a spray can could reasonably and unreasonably reach. As they passed the mansion’s property line, the weeds outnumbered the grass, and bits of loose tile and stone littered the ground.

The thought of Adrien being in this oversized death trap, cold and alone save for the akuma who took him here—

“This is it? Are you sure?” she asked, forcing herself to concentrate.

“Pawsitive,” Chat replied. “I definitely saw the akuma slip in here with the Agreste kid.”

“Then we haven’t got time to waste,” said Ladybug. “We’ll split up to cover more ground.”

Chat gestured to the front door with an exaggerated flourish. “Ladies first.”

Swallowing back her anxiety, Ladybug walked up the stairs to the front door.

It was boarded up like most of the doors and windows. But, looking closely, she could see someone had pried away a large slab of decaying wood and rested it on the doorframe to make it look like it was still sealed. Ladybug shoved it to the side and stepped into the mansion.

Inside, the neglect and disrepair was even worse, like a creaking skeleton of past grandeur. Empty cords hung from high, dark ceilings. Large graffiti murals covered the walls, neon colours and stark blacks vivid against the bleached wood and bare stone. The ground was a safety hazard, the floor boards ripped up and tossed in every direction while broken concrete, cement blocks, and bricks littered the spaces in between. The only light came from the sun spilling in through the crack behind her, the long entrance hallway stretching into darkness on her left and right.

Chat joined her, letting out a long whistle. “This place is a mess, huh?”

“No kidding,” muttered Ladybug. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed through the second set of doors in front of her. “Let’s find Adrien quickly, and get out of here.”

Behind the doors was what might have been the entrance room, with a grand staircase winding up to the second floor and more doorways leading to the rest of the mansion. Sunlight streamed in from the windows situated above the staircase, brightening floating dust motes.

Ladybug wrinkled her nose, the destructive chaos of the mansion somehow worse under full light.

“You take the left wing, and I’ll take the right?” Chat Noir suggested.

She nodded. “Give me a call if you find him.”

“Of course,” Chat said, grinning, and took off to the right and up the staircase.

Following his example, Ladybug headed to the left through a pair of doors barely on its hinges.

She tried to stay silent as she searched, hoping not to alert the akuma before they could find Adrien, but her footsteps echoed oddly in the desolate mansion. Mould grew in the corners and under damp baseboards, forcing Ladybug to be cautious about breathing too deeply.

This place—so wildly different from the sunny, busy bakery she called home—left her profoundly uncomfortable.

The feeling grew worse as she ventured deeper, evolving into a simmering dread.

Eight rooms examined, each just as ruined as any other in the mansion, with no sign of Adrien or the akuma in them.

Fear lodged firmly in her throat, Ladybug opened the doors to the ninth.

The room was a large one, wooden pillars extending upwards to hold the weight of the remarkably intact ceiling. In the centre, a concave semicircle of blue stone framed where a chandelier might have once been, and panels attached above the crown moulding depicted faded family crests. Cold fireplaces and broken bookshelves along the wall hinted that this may have been a library in its prime. Tellingly, freshly broken boards lay under the upper floor windows, letting natural light fill the room.

All those little details fell to the wayside the moment Ladybug caught sight of—“Adrien!”

His head snapped up at her shout, eyes wide with shock before drooping in relief.

Adrien sat on the dusty floor, gagged and chained to a wooden column near the entrance. His usually immaculate looks were in disarray, his hair ruffled out of place and his clothes wrinkled and smudged with dirt. There was no blood or bruises staining his skin, no limbs pushed out of place.

He was shaken, but uninjured.

(thank god.)

Ladybug willed her trembling hand to steady as she reached for her yoyo, sliding the cover open and dialing even as she jogged forward.

“Chat, I found Adrien!” she said as soon as he picked up. “I need you to watch my back while I free him, the akuma shouldn’t be far off!”

“I always do, Ladybug,” he replied with a cheeky wink. “See you soon~”

As she rolled her eyes at Chat being Chat and closed her yoyo, Ladybug could feel tension uncoiling in her gut. They still had to rescue Adrien and beat the akuma, but things were finally looking up.

Adrien was already standing when she reached him, his chains loose enough to let him move along the length of the pillar, but not away from it. This close, she could see his reddened wrists under the manacles and hear his voice, his words muffled by the gag. He strained against the chains, only stilling when Ladybug grasped his shoulders.

“Are you hurt, Adrien?” she asked, trying to keep her voice gentle.

Adrien shook his head. Ladybug let out a shuddering breath and squeezed his shoulders.

“Good. That’s good!” Gathering herself, Ladybug gave him her most reassuring smile. “Chat Noir and I will get you of here soon, and I promise we’ll keep you safe until then, okay?”

He didn’t move as Ladybug let go to test his chains. A quick tug with her fists let her know they were too tough for her enhanced strength to break. There was a keyhole in each manacle, but it’d probably be faster to have Chat use Cataclysm on it than to find the key. Or maybe she could—

Adrien rattled his chains violently, shouting suddenly into his gag. It startled Ladybug before she realized her mistake.

“S-Sorry,” said Ladybug, reaching for his gag. She ripped apart the strip of linen tied against his mouth, frowning at how ashen he looked. “I should have—”

“BEHIND YOU!” yelled Adrien.

Ladybug kicked out as she turned, hand flying to her yoyo to spin her weapon into a shield—

Pain blossomed from her right earlobe. It radiated through her head just as her foot landed on something solid and black, forcing it away from her and Adrien. Ladybug hissed, clapping a hand over her ear, and twirled her yoyo until there was a magic shield between her and—

“Chat?!” she yelped.

Her partner smirked, one hand rolling something between his fingers as he tucked his hair behind his human ear with the other.

“It’s not him!” said Adrien, raising his voice over the noise of clattering metal links as he struggled to free himself.

Then—impossibly—a beep rang out.

Jolting, Ladybug’s arms dropped in shock, her shield petering out. She hadn’t used Lucky Charm, so why was—was that—was that blood on the heel of her palm?

Chat Noir laughed as his hands moved to his exposed ear. The sound was high, mocking, and nothing at all like her kitty’s usual snickers.

“You really are lucky,” he said. “Any other Miraculous, and it would have been game over.”

His fingers fell away, turning Ladybug’s veins into rivers of ice.

On Chat Noir’s right ear was a black stud earring.

Her earring.

“But it looks like we get to play for a little longer,” he said, smirk widening to show a hint of teeth. “Tell me, Ladybug, what is it about blond, green-eyed boys that makes you so weak?”

“Ladybug, don’t listen to him!” Adrien pleaded, his voice piercing through the panic threatening to strangle her. “Run, I—I’ll be fine, I’m only bait! Just save yourself!”

Run? And leave Adrien in the hands of this…malicious shadow of Chat Noir?

Ladybug’s armour creaked as she clenched her fists.

Never.

“I won’t abandon you, Adrien,” said Ladybug, resolving hardening as she spoke. Her glare burrowed into Chat Noir. “And I’ll be taking my Miraculous back now.”

Whoever wore Chat Noir’s face took his baton out from behind him, twirling it in his hands as his smirk turned into a manic grin.

“You’re welcome to try, has-been.”

Another beep sounded.

Three minutes left before Ladybug detransformed.

Her yoyo snapped out. Chat Noir extended his baton, batting her weapon away like a baseball. Keeping it raised, he rushed her with a war cry. Ladybug quickly rewound her yoyo, the disk landing in her hand in time to parry Chat Noir’s strike.

Sparks flew as the two magical weapons scraped against each other, and Chat Noir’s acid green eyes flashed with annoyance. He released one hand, throwing a punch at her face.

Ladybug clenched her jaw as she ducked her head to the left. The punch landed on the column behind her, splitting it cleanly in two, but she ignored it. Instead, she used her free hand to make a grab for her stolen Miraculous.

Chat Noir was ready. He disengaged, falling backwards into a handstand. His boots pushed off her chest to give him the momentum needed to flip back onto his feet. Ladybug fell against the column with a grunt, her weight shifting the two halves further apart.

“Ladybug!” Adrien cried out. She could feel him kneeling behind her legs.

“Stay down!” said Ladybug.

She straightened up, flinging her yoyo out before Chat Noir fully recovered. It wrapped around his ankles, and Ladybug heaved, spinning on her heels to toss him to the side.

He flew into a wall, losing hold of his baton on the way. The bricks cracked underneath his back, dust floating up as Chat Noir groaned and fell face-down on the ground.

Ladybug recovered her yoyo and ran for the dropped baton, sliding across the floor to grab it before Chat Noir could.

Except it wasn’t Chat’s weapon anymore. Instead of a silver baton, it was an orange and white striped flute.

Realization dawned on her.

Ladybug snapped the flute over her knee, a wave of fury and terror washing over her, drowning the last shred of mercy she possessed.

“Lila,” she hissed. “Where. Is. Chat Noir?!”

“It’s Volpina, you wretch!” Lila—no, Volpina—snapped as she raised herself into a crouch. The harsh scowl twisting Chat Noir’s face was alien and wrong. “You’re too slow if you haven’t learned it by now!”

Ladybug threw away the halves of Volpina’s weapon, heart thrumming in her chest as she remembered the feeling of Chat disappearing in her arms from Timebreaker's attack. She stepped forward, and Volpina bounced to her feet, belt tail standing straight up behind her.

All Ladybug could see was red. “Where is he? What did you do to him?”

“That second-string hero?” Volpina scoffed. “I didn’t do anything. Hawk Moth ha—aaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!”

Volpina fell to one knee, Hawk Moth’s butterfly mask now bright in front of her eyes while she spasmed and clutched her chest, and Ladybug could only watch in horror.

(It was bad enough knowing that Hawk Moth tortured his less malleable victims, but seeing the facsimile of Chat’s face in so much pain—)

“I’M SORRY,” Volpina gasped. “I’ll get it, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”

The symbol disappeared. Volpina slumped, shuddering with aftershocks.

Ladybug’s earring beeped another warning, growing alarmingly warmer with each passing moment.

But there wasn’t time to worry. If she didn’t get her earring back in less than two minutes, she wouldn’t be able to save Adrien or find Chat, let alone protect herself or her city.

Or Lila, Ladybug realized, the insight helping her get a firmer grip on her emotions. She needed to focus on the threats: cleansing Volpina’s akuma and stopping Hawk Moth’s plans.

Volpina drew herself up, swaying on her feet and glaring. She curled Chat’s claws and charged again.

Prepared, Ladybug jumped, dodging by somersaulting into the air. Volpina overextended, and Ladybug took advantage, landing her feet on her opponent’s head.

Her legs brushed something invisible and solid above Volpina’s cat ears. It confirmed Ladybug’s suspicions.

Volpina’s greatest strength and weakness were her illusions. Whatever this ability to mimic someone was, it had to be a new ability, one that didn’t need a magic flute to function.

The deduction occurred in the time it took to kick off Volpina’s head, flip in the air, and land behind her. Ladybug whirled around to face Volpina, her thoughts still racing for a plan.

Neither of them saw Adrien coming.

He attacked Volpina from behind, wrapping his chains around her waist and trapping her arms at her sides.

“What?!” cried Volpina.

She lifted her leg, moving to stomp on Adrien’s foot, when a flicker of purple flashed across her face again. Volpina snarled, and she tried to twist away from Adrien instead.

“Ladybug—!” yelled Adrien, clearly struggling, but Ladybug was already moving towards them.

Growling, Volpina hunched like a cornered fox and pressed her ear against her shoulder, keeping the Miraculous out of reach.

Ladybug ignored it. With a swipe of her hand across Volpina’s chest, Ladybug’s fingers snagged on a thin, invisible chain. She gave it a hard tug, ripping away the fox necklace hidden underneath the illusion of Chat Noir’s armour.

“No!” Volpina screamed.

Snapping the pendant in her hands, Ladybug dropped it to grab her yoyo, catching and cleansing the freed akuma before it could do more harm.

Volpina immediately slumped in Adrien’s arms, the image of Chat Noir disappearing under a bubbling, roiling miasma of dark magic. It dissipated as quickly as it formed, leaving only Lila behind.

Ladybug choked on a sigh, the throbbing pain of her earlobe demanding her attention again. She joined her classmates, trembling hands brushing away Lila’s long hair to grasp her Miraculous. Gently, Ladybug removed the earring and attempted to slip it back on.

It didn’t work. When Volpina ripped off her Miraculous, she’d torn through Ladybug’s piercing, leaving behind tattered flesh and a steady trickle of blood.

Looking grimly at her blood-slick fingers, Ladybug knew what she had to do. But she needed dry hands—

“M-My shirt.”

Ladybug glanced up at Adrien’s voice. Paler than she’d ever seen him, he took off his overshirt as swiftly as he could without dropping Lila. He offered it to her, glancing at her ear before keeping his gaze firmly on her face.

With a hard swallow, he said, “Use it. To stop the blood.”

That…would work.

“Thanks,” she said hoarsely.

Sharp relief, exhaustion, gratitude so intense it bordered on painful—this mixture of feelings flooded through her as she took the shirt, smearing the white fabric with red. She wiped her hands and her Miraculous before tossing the shirt over her right shoulder, catching the bottom hem between her teeth.

“What are you—?!” Adrien began, alarmed, but Ladybug moved before he could finish.

Positioning her Miraculous above her ruined piercing, Ladybug forced the pointed end of the post through her earlobe, grunting into her makeshift gag.

“Ladybug!”

Blinking away her tears, Ladybug shakily slid on the clutch, wincing as it jostled the new piercing. The scorching heat building in her left earring slowly cooled. Pulling out the gag, Ladybug let out a shuddering breath, shoulders slumping.

“Ladybug, are you okay?!” Adrien asked. Ladybug met his concerned gaze with a wry smile.

He’d been kidnapped, he fought an akuma with his hands chained, and he was holding up Lila by himself. Still, he was more worried about others (about her) than himself.

“I will be,” she said, pushing the ache to the back of her mind to ignore. Helping him support Lila, Ladybug gestured to her right ear with her free hand. “How does it look?”

“Bad,” he told her. “It looks really bad, you need to go to a hospital!” His brows furrowed, mouth tilting into an uncertain slant. “Or—or at least have someone look at it,” he finished quietly.

“It’s nothing I can’t fix.” She hoped, anyway. “I meant, how many spots are left?”

Adrien sighed through his nose and leaned in, squinting at her ears.

“Five on each,” he declared.

Ladybug let her smile grow wider, her relief making her almost giddy. They did it! “Good, we can—”

A groan interrupted her. Lila stirred and rubbed a hand across her face, leaning against Ladybug as she tried to stand.

“Wh-what…,” Lila mumbled. Her bleary eyes fell first on Adrien, and then…

Ladybug knew Lila finally registered who was helping her when she tensed and shoved hard. She stumbled away, miraculously staying on her feet and glaring as she scooped up the pieces of her necklace from the floor.

“Don’t touch me,” Lila spat as she slipped the chain on, putting the broken half of the pendant in her purse. Pulling out her phone, she worked it one-handed while she adjusted her clothes and smoothed her hair.

Adrien and Ladybug shared a baffled look. Lila continued ignoring them, putting her phone away and grabbing a compact from her handbag to check her reflection.

Irritated by Lila’s attitude and the constant thrum of pain, Ladybug huffed and crossed her arms. “A thank you would be nice.”

Lila paused in the middle of touching up her make-up. Then, she scoffed and finished applying concealer over the dark circles under her eyes. Only when she looked as polished as usual did she snap her compact shut, deigning to pay attention to them.

“I don’t thank people for their incompetence,” she said, tucking the compact away. She checked her phone again. “Augh, come on already.”

Ladybug didn’t realize she stepped forward until Adrien put a hand on her uncovered shoulder, holding her back. Silently, he shook his head. Ladybug grit her teeth, fists clenched as she tried to keep a leash on her anger.

“Lila, what’s wrong?” asked Adrien. “This isn’t like you.”

“Oh, you’re suddenly an expert on what I’m like?” Lila snapped back. She pointed to his chains, then Ladybug’s torn ear with a grimace. “Why don’t you worry about you and your girlfriend first before you start poking your nose in my business, Agreste.”

Ladybug had had enough. “You can’t talk to him like—”

“SHUT. UP,” Lila shouted, suddenly furious. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault?!” Ladybug repeated, incredulous at Lila’s nerve.

“Yes, your fault! Acting like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to this horrible place, but you can’t even do your job right!” Lila sneered, her eyes burning. “Eight, eight times I’ve been turned into…into that, and you keep letting Hawk Moth do it! You’re playing right into his hands, and it’s pathetic!”

As Lila screamed at her, Ladybug grew cold, goosebumps forming under her armour.

Adrien was right. Something was very, very wrong, and Lila…Lila was right in the middle of it.

“What are you talking about?” Ladybug asked.

Lila laughed at the question. The sound was short and hoarse, more like a sob than anything else.

“You don’t even see what he’s planning, do you?” said Lila. “God, if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me either, huh?” She shook with the force of her anger, looking like she wanted to tear into something, anything. “I’m stuck here with someone as useless and stupid as you, and I hate it! I hate this city! And you, Ladybug, I hate you the most! I’d be a better superhero than you’d ever be! Maybe then, people would actually be…saved…”

Lila trailed off, turning white as a funeral shroud as her eyes tracked something behind ladybug. She took one step back, then another, then tripped backwards into the broken column, her legs as shaky as her breath.

“Oh no,” Adrien breathed. Lila moaned as an akuma flitted past, making a beeline for her fox necklace. “Ladybug!”

“On…on it!” said Ladybug, fumbling for her yoyo. She flung it forward, trapping the akuma inside the compact.

There wasn’t any satisfaction this time in watching the purified akuma flutter off. Ladybug was too busy feeling sick as Lila pulled herself up, still shivering and pale.

A beep from a phone rang out. Lila checked hers, then wiped away any trace of wetness in her eyes and fixed her clothes, her face settling once again into cool indifference.

“My ride’s almost here,” she said shortly, the crack in her voice the only evidence that she’d been upset. Lila cleared her throat, and then tucked away her phone, striding forward.

As she brushed past them, Adrien turned towards her. “Lila—!”

“I’m tired, Agreste,” said Lila, interrupting him. She kept walking towards the exit, not even bothering to turn back or slow down as she spoke. “No one, not you or your precious Ladybug can help me, so just…go away.”

She left, not even bothering to close the doors behind her.

Ladybug stared at where Lila had disappeared into the dark hallway, feeling like she’d failed. There really wasn’t anything she could do for Lila, not as long as Hawk Moth kept targeting her while they couldn’t find him.

A chill swept through Ladybug. Hawk Moth…would never have gone after Lila in the first place if Ladybug hadn’t lost her temper.

“Hey.” Adrien’s voice cut cleanly through her darkening thoughts, his hand squeezing her shoulder like a warm anchor to the present. “It’s not your fault.”

Ladybug didn’t answer. Instead, she stared at him, then glanced down at the manacles still wrapped around his wrists.

Adrien was too nice for his own good, and Hawk Moth was her responsibility (and Chat’s, she needed to find him, needed him to be safe), and…and none of this was helping.

Her yoyo was in her hand, still there after catching the second akuma. Ladybug threw it up in the air for a Lucky Charm, wishing for something to free Adrien.

Expecting a key, Ladybug blinked when a small, thin, polka-dotted case fell into her hands instead. She opened the flap to find—

“Lockpicks? Really?” She sighed loudly, blowing up her own bangs in irritation as her ear throbbed. “I don’t even know how to use these!”

“Um…” Adrien smiled sheepishly and reached for the case, pulling out one of the metal picks with an L-shaped head. “I do.”

Ladybug’s earrings let out its first warning beep. “Oh.”

She watched Adrien lift his wrist and insert the pick into the keyhole of his manacle. His eyebrows furrowed as he fiddled with the lock, so focused that he didn’t notice that his tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

Ladybug gulped as despair welled in her. Even injured, she couldn’t deny that Adrien was really, really cute.

“Can you hold this in place?” asked Adrien, lifting up three of his fingers to reveal the handle of the pick. “It’s hard to do it one-handed.”

“O-of course,” she said. Ladybug felt clumsy as she grabbed the handle and tried to keep as still as possible.

Adrien took another pick from the case she was still holding, one with a thin hook on top. Then he paused, catching her eye. He held her gaze long enough for her to want to squirm, uncomfortably aware of how close they had to stand in order for her to help Adrien with the lock.

“…You’re still bleeding,” he finally said.

Ladybug glanced at her right shoulder where Adrien’s shirt was catching the blood dripping from her ear.

“I’m fine,” she said, embarrassed at her state. “I’ll fix it up as soon as you’re free! Uh. Sorry about your shirt.”

Adrien frowned. “The shirt is not what I’m worried about.”

“O-oh, um…”

Was it weird to be a little happy about that?

“How…,” Ladybug started to say, trying to distract them both. But then a lock of frazzled hair fell in Adrien’s face, and she had to resist the urge to push it back, watching instead as he swept it aside. She cleared her throat and concentrated on keeping herself still. “How did you learn to do this?”

Adrien jolted. He raised his hand, possibly to rub his neck. Instead, he ended up almost poking himself in the eye with a lockpick.

A snort burst out of Ladybug, leaving her mortified enough to slap a hand over her mouth. But she forgot she was still holding the lockpick case and smacked herself in the face with it. The rest of the lockpicks fell out of the open flap, scattering around their feet. The second beep of her Miraculous punctuated her humiliation.

Adrien’s snickers-turned-guffaws should have made the situation worse. Instead, seeing his face brighten after everything he’d been through today made it worth it.

“I’m sorry for laughing,” he said, still grinning. “I really needed that.”

“I-I don’t mind,” she replied.

If Ladybug was braver, she could say that the world could stand to have more of his laughter in it.

Smiling, Adrien hunched back over his manacle and picked it loose. He switched lockpicks with her, their fingers brushing together, and Ladybug felt Adrien’s twitch before they retreated.

“When my mom went…when she went missing, Father didn’t want me to go outside without supervision,” he began, starting his work on the second lock. “For a while, I was okay with that. And then I…wasn’t. But Father wouldn’t change his mind, no matter what I said. So, I got…angry, I guess. Can you—?”

Ladybug moved to hold the L-shaped lockpick steady again, silently handing Adrien the other one. His lips quirked higher, and she dug her fingers into the lockpick case, trying to calm her speeding pulse.

“Anyway,” he continued, slowly twisting the pick inside the lock. “I had to think of ways to sneak out, and this was one of them. Not that I’ve had much use for it after I started school.”

A click sent the second shackle falling with a clatter. Adrien rubbed his reddened wrists, grinning with triumph even as he winced.

You’re incredible, Ladybug thought, caught up in the bright gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. She didn’t notice she’d said it out loud until he froze, cheeks turning a fascinating pink.

“Ah?” was his response.

“I-I MEAN.” Ladybug twisted the case in her hands, trying to think of something to say that didn’t give away how much she adored Adrien. “YOU HELPED—w-with Volpina, and you know all kinds of stuff, and you care about people anmmph.”

Pressing the lockpick kit against her mouth, Ladybug found that it was a very effective way to shut herself up.

“O-oh,” said Adrien. The shade of his face almost matched the reddened marks on his wrist. “Um, well, I-I wouldn’t have been able to help at all if you hadn’t broken the column in the first place.”

Ladybug blinked, then glanced at the mangled column. She remembered it breaking in two during the fight—Adrien must have slipped the loop of his chain through the splintered gap to escape.

“So, really, it was thanks you,” Adrien continued, flashing her a helpless smile. “I’m just…me. You’re the one who’s incredible.”

As much as Adrien’s words had Ladybug floating, they reminded her of something that kept her firmly grounded.

The memory of Adrien leaning back in her computer chair, that same smile slowly falling off his face.

‘I’m not worth anything compared to you’, he’d said.

Ladybug didn’t have a lucky charm she could give Adrien this time. So, she used hers instead, throwing it in the air to cast a Miraculous Cure. As Tikki’s swarm of magic ladybugs swept over them, taking away her pain and restoring everything they touched, Ladybug stepped forward to pull Adrien into a hug.

He was warm and solid in her arms. Holding him tightly, she buried her face in his shoulder, unable to stop herself from sinking into his scent.

(it was the scent of sweat and fresh laundry and the one person that she wanted to make happy more than anyone else)

A third beep rang out from her Miraculous. Her worry for Chat tugged at her mind, but she let herself relish in this moment with her beloved Adrien, hoping this would help him even a little.

Volpina was right about her weaknesses, but she wouldn’t trade them for anything.

“You saved me, Adrien,” said Ladybug, trying to find the words she couldn’t before. “That was an amazing and ridiculously brave thing to do. That’s what you are too. So…thank you.”

She felt Adrien hesitate, hands brushing her biceps before he wrapped his arms around them, squeezing her with a trembling grip.

“You saved me too,” said Adrien. His voice sounded thick and hoarse.

“That’s my job,” she replied. “You didn’t have to.”

“I did. I wanted to.”

Ladybug opened her eyes, not realizing she’d closed them until then. When she pulled her head back to look at Adrien, he greeted her with the soft smile that first stole her heart and left her breathless.

Her fingers slowly gripped his shirt, a dopey, relieved grin tugging at her lips.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” they said together.

Ladybug and Adrien blinked. And then, in unison, they burst into laughter.

Her Miraculous beeping again wasn’t quite a cold bucket of water on her joy. But it did remind her of Chat Noir and of her responsibilities. No matter how good Adrien made her feel, she needed to make sure Chat was okay too and that Tikki was fed properly.

“Are you alright with me leaving you here for a few minutes?” Ladybug asked quickly. “I need to check on—things. But I can take you home when I get back.”

“Of course, thank you,” he answered, nodding. His hand lifted up, hovering close to her right ear before dropping to his side. He pulled away from their hug, his smile turning awkward. “Uh, it looks like your ear is fixed too.”

“That’s great,” she said, tossing him his now clean overshirt and turning to the doors. She needed to find a safe place to detransform fast. “See you soon!”

---

After hiding in what was once the mansion’s kitchen, the hushed conversation Marinette had with Tikki was as enlightening as it was disturbing.

The reason she didn’t immediately detransform when Volpina stole her earring was because Tikki had shifted all her power into the other earring, keeping the transformation going. But because the Ladybug Miraculous was split, one earring wasn’t designed to hold that much power at once.

“If I didn’t release my magic after five minutes, the earring would explode,” Tikki told her after gulping down Marinette’s smuggled cookies.

“Explode?!” Marinette yelled, grabbing at her hair.

“Don’t worry, I’d drop the transformation before that happened,” said Tikki. It was not as reassuring as her kwami might have thought. Neither was the solemn look Tikki wore. “You need to be more careful in the future, Marinette.”

“I will, Tikki,” promised Marinette.

Another transformation later, Ladybug was calling Chat Noir even as she picked her way over the broken hallway floors back to where Adrien was.

“Come on,” she muttered, then sighed as she got his voicemail again.

Since she’d already left messages with her last three calls, she hung up and shot Adrien a distracted smile. Not even the warm glow of Adrien’s answering smile could quell the growing unease inside her.

(was her partner safe?)

“Ready to go?” she asked instead.

“More than ready,” he said, stepping closer. “I always wanted to see the Rothschild Mansion, but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“Then let’s get you out of here.”

Ladybug took his hand, leading Adrien out of the rotting mansion.

Time passed quickly as Ladybug safely escorted Adrien back home. She’d almost be proud of marginally keeping her cool while swinging him across the city, but she knew it was due to the sense of disquiet gnawing at her.

After a quick goodbye, she was flying again, aiming for the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Her landing on a tower balcony was silent, and Ladybug reeled her yoyo in, sliding its case open to call.

“It’s me again,” she said to Chat’s voicemail. “I need you to meet me as soon as you can. I’ll be at the Notre-Dame until sunset.”

Ladybug paused, wondering if she should mention the anxiety burrowing into her, ripping up the professional calm she tried to instill in herself.

“Just…call me,” she finished quietly. Closing her yoyo, Ladybug leant against the weathered stone bricks and tried not to obsess over every mistake she had made.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Chat Noir ran to her like a streak of black lightning, vaulting over the railing into a smooth bow.

“Sorry I’m late, my lady,” he said as he stood up. “I meant to help you find the Agreste kid, but I got a bit tied up.”

Chat didn’t look hurt or injured, just tired. He was smiling. He was fine.

Something eased in Ladybug before growing rigid again. Just because Chat looked like he always did, it didn’t mean he was safe.

“How did we first meet?” she asked, keeping her distance.

Chat tilted his head, nose scrunching in confusion. “What?”

“Volpina kidnapped Adrien. Again,” she said, the words tasting like ash. Like failure. “She used a new ability to trick me into thinking she was you. It even hacked into our communication line.” Ladybug lifted a hand to her right ear before dropping it and squeezing it into a fist. “She stole one of my earrings. I had to fight to get it back. And Hawk Moth has no qualms about akumatizing her as many times as he needs to for his plans.”

Ladybug missed that detail too. She’d barely questioned why Hawk Moth kept using the same akuma, barely questioned Lila, and she couldn’t allow herself to make any more mistakes.

“I need to know you’re you,” Ladybug continued. “So tell me: how did we first meet?”

Chat looked at her like he could see past the firm clench of her jaws and the tense set of her shoulders. Then he shot her a smile, soft with exhaustion.

“You fell from the sky like an angel, right into my arms,” he said.

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she began to relax. “You’re Chat, alright.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he teased, sidling up next to her and taking her hand. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “And I know you must be my lady because no one else would be silly enough take the blame for Hawk Moth’s actions.”

She ripped her hand out his, suddenly angry. “I’m not blaming myself!”

“Aren’t you?” Chat asked. “I know you. You’re probably angry at yourself for losing your Miraculous and for that boy getting dragged into Volpina’s games. The problem is that that’s all Hawk Moth’s doing.”

“But I didn’t—!” Ladybug turned away, hugging herself. “I didn’t realize Volpina wasn’t you. I didn’t investigate why she keeps appearing. Lila says Hawk Moth is using her for some plan of his, and she doesn’t trust me enough to tell us what she knows. That’s on me.”

“That’s on us,” said Chat, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Investigating Volpina, I mean. I should have noticed too. We both screwed up, I’ll admit.” He twisted her gently so that she faced him. “We’re a team, Ladybug. Win or lose, we do it together.”

There was nothing but honesty in Chat’s eyes, nothing but kindness in his smile. Ladybug found herself smiling back, affection radiating through her words.

“Thanks, kitty,” she said. “You’re right, we’ll do better in the future. Together.”

“But of course,” he replied, winking.

Then his smile faded into concern. He reached up to trace the shell of her right ear, and Ladybug shivered. Chat frowned as he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? It must have been tough fighting Volpina on your own.”

“I-I’m fine!” Ladybug insisted, breaking away with too-hot cheeks. “Adrien helped. And Miraculous Cure fixed everything.”

Ladybug remembered Lila screaming hate at her and winced. Well, almost everything.

“What about you? Are you okay?” she asked him.

“Um. Physically, yes,” said Chat. “That’s…actually kind of what I want to talk to you about. There's a thing that's been bothering me.”

Dread started to pool in Ladybug’s stomach. “What is it?”

“It would have been really easy to mess up Volpina’s plans today,” he began. “All it would take is me showing up. But I didn’t because something happened in my civilian life. Something that kept me busy until now. And that’s awfully convenient timing, don’t you think?”

“What are you saying, Chat?” Ladybug asked, voice shaking.

(she could guess, oh god could she guess)

“I think that something was arranged by Volpina,” he said, crossing his arms as his ears drooped. “There’s other things I’ve noticed. Clues. Stuff that doesn’t fit.”

The dread turned into solid stone. It clogged Ladybug’s insides while Chat looked at her with badly hidden fear.

“Ladybug, I think…I think Hawk Moth knows who I am.”

Terror crushed the dread, pulverizing it in the wake of Chat’s revelation as her mind raced for answers.

“If he knows, Chat…” She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. “You’re in danger. Everyone around you is in danger.”

“I know. I know. I just—don’t understand why he keeps making these complicated plans when he could corner me and take my ring!” he said, frustrated.

“We don’t know who Hawk Moth is,” said Ladybug, slowly putting the pieces together. “We barely know what he looks like. As much as he wants our Miraculous, he’s been very careful to keep his secrets.”

She opened her eyes and caught Chat by his forearm, rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. “If he’s not targeting you directly, that means doing so might expose him somehow.”

“Or he wants to get yours first,” Chat muttered darkly. “If he knows who I am, he can get my Miraculous at any time. But if he doesn’t know who you are, the only way he can get your Miraculous is through his akuma.”

That…was worryingly plausible. Volpina’s plan hinged entirely on getting Ladybug’s Miraculous, not bothering with Chat’s at all.

“I hope not,” she finally said. “I hope this really is a coincidence.”

“But you don’t think so,” Chat replied.

Ladybug bit her lip and shook her head.

“Okay,” he said, voice cracking. “Okay.”

She could feel him trembling. Ladybug reached up and cupped his face with both hands, forcing him to look at her.

“Chat Noir, you just said that we’re a team, that’s we’re going win or lose this together. Is that right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, holding on to her wrists. “But—”

“No ‘but’s. Hawk Moth is going to have to get through me to get to you, and that’s never going to happen. We’ll think of a plan and watch each other’s backs. We’re going to beat him and stop him from hurting anyone else. Right?”

Chat stayed silent.

She pressed her hands together, squeezing his cheeks between them. “Right?”

He let out a startled laugh as he pushed her hands away. “Alright! Okay, you win.”

“We win,” said Ladybug, and she was rewarded with Chat’s brilliant smile in return.

136 notes · View notes