#bustier sugar

[western-magical-girl-confessions]

“Unlike some salters tend to believe, I don’t think Miss Bustier is a bad teacher. See, her teachings/views like the ones in Zombizou aren't necessarily BAD, it's just she comes off as hypocritical in episodes like Ladybug. I just think she’s just a victim of inconsistent writing.”

[galahadwilder]

Caline Bustier is a Good Teacher and Here’s Why

Okay, so I’m not going to argue that Bustier’s actions are ALL good. One of the major strengths of this show is that everyone has very human flaws, even the side characters. Caline Bustier is, in particular, terrible at conflict resolution… but that doesn’t make her a bad teacher. In fact, she has one particular skill that sets her far and above most teachers—real or fictional—that I can name.

Hear me out.

Okay, so we know her conflict resolution toolbox is extremely limited—her tendency toward cooperation and compromise is great in some instances, not so great in others. Chloé in particular is a big sign of this not working so well…

Though, one thing we do have to keep in mind is that Kim was a bully before joining Bustier’s class and now he isn’t.

That’s a huge accomplishment on her part, and we need to acknowledge that!

But anyway.

Bustier’s main conflict response seems to be “fawn.” I wouldn’t be surprised if she was abused as a child, resulting in a conflict-avoidance strategy. However, I’m not hear to talk about her approach to conflict, but rather her approach to something else.

Caline Bustier is the most encouraging teacher I have ever seen.

This is huge. See, Bustier’s class is a tight-knit group of overachievers who show up for all of each other’s accomplishments. Alix’s and Kim’s race? Not only do they all show up, they make banners. Myléne’s protest? Yep, they’re there too. Anything that’s important to one of them, the rest of the class is there at the sidelines, cheering them on.

That doesn’t just happen.

And, importantly, looking at Origins? They weren’t like that at the start.

In Origins, the class was a bunch of separate cliques/friend groups that barely interacted. They were all uncomfortable around each other and fairly isolated. But by the next chronological episode, Bubbler, they’ve gotten much closer, and that only increases throughout the course of the show. That’s not a thing children can do on their own—that’s top-down. A lot of viewers think that’s Marinette at work, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense—it starts happening long before Marinette has become a major social force. Bustier is bringing her class together. How does she do it?

Well, her entire class is made up of overachievers to an almost comical degree. Each of them has skills and talents that would be out of place among high schoolers. But—and this is extremely important—a lot of the episodes show these talents as being the first time someone has displayed/demonstrated it.

Caline Bustier is identifying her students’ talents and passions and finding ways to encourage them to pursue them.

Think about it. How many grade schools get a fashion competition judged by a major fashion CEO? How many grade schoolers get on a citywide TV competition, alongside adults, for their DJing? The Ladyblog, Kitty Section, the horror movie contest, the list goes on. Never once has any member of her class shown that they felt like they couldn’t or shouldn’t pursue a particular interest, except for instances of internalized anxiety.

Caline may be terrible in a conflict situation, but she absolutely shines when it comes to encouraging and supporting her students’ skills and passions, as well as having them support and encourage each other. She is a fantastic teacher on a scale I don’t think any of us understand, and we need to acknowledge that more often.

[ghanjrho]

Some sugar for College Francois Dupont

So this idea bit me earlier, and wouldn’t let go. Might sit down and turn it into a fic later. 

We start off just post-Ladybug. Marinette has been expelled, then unexpelled, and Damocles et al have been told in no uncertain terms that the only reason Tom and Sabine are not suing is because Mari just wants to put all this behind her. 

Bustier, Mendeleiev and Damocles have a meeting, discussing what to do about Lila and Marinette. Mendeleiev points out that Lila’s “lying disease” apparently also induces her to plant stolen answer keys in backpacks, as well as break into other people’s lockers and leave precious family heirlooms. which is... unlikely.

Bustier wonders aloud if Lila’s recanting is due to her being blackmailed, then dismisses it as being more likely that Lila panicked when Marinette was expelled, knowing that the Dupain-Changs would insist on a full investigation, which would clearly point out that, regardless of the answer key and necklace, Lila lied about being pushed down the stairs; something that could have actual legal consequences outside of school. 

Damocles muses that they certainly can’t trust anything Lila says now. New order of the day: question everything that Lila says. Everything. And then goes one step further; the continued radio silence from Sig.ra. Rossi is no longer acceptable. The staff will continue to reach out for a parent-teacher conference, and if Sig.ra Rossi hasn’t shown in two weeks, the case will be forwarded to ASE (French child protection) as parental abandonment. After all, even Gabriel Agreste has managed to send someone to parent-teacher conferences. 

And so it begins. Lila says she missed the homework because of an important charity conference call? Mendeleiev demands to know which charity, along with the name, title and contact information of her direct report there, along with an essay (due later) explaining, in detail, what she does that is so irreplaceable for each organization that apparently has a 14-year old in a position of importance. Can’t come up with it? Well, she still expects the essays. 

 When Lila says her arthritis is acting up, and maybe Marinette could take notes for her? Bustier first asks the class for volunteers (no luck), then draws Alya’s name out of the compliments bowl and assigns her to take Lila’s notes. When Lila tries to protest, Bustier asks her point-blank if her problem is that she thinks that Alya won’t take good notes? Because if that’s her concern, then Mme. Bustier will review Alya’s notes at the end of class to ensure their completeness. And for tomorrow, if Lila will fill out this paperwork, she can ensure that Lila has a teacher’s assistant assigned to her to help her take her notes. 

Even D’Argencourt gets in on it. When Lila doesn’t feel well enough to participate in PE, she get’s escorted down to the nurse’s office to stay there for the class. 

When Lila goes to Damocles to complain about this unfair and discriminatory treatment, he very calmly explains that the last time the school took her at her word, they very narrowly dodged a serious lawsuit, and after all she does have a condition that makes her lie, so the school unfortunately must check everything now. And of course, if accommodation is the question, he would be more than happy to clear his schedule for a parent-teacher conference, and speaking of accommodation, her medical file is apparently woefully incomplete, so would she mind having her doctor’s office send them an up-to-date copy of her medical records?

As for the class? They’ve been inspired to start fact-checking everything she’s ever said. Rose asks Prince Ali, Max goes Google-diving, and Alya manages to track down Ladybug to ask her if she is actually friends with Lila (the disappointed “took you long enough” is all the answer she needs). They don’t erupt on Lila; she has a condition after all, and the class is getting reminders twice and three times a day about how far it went. 

Alya, kicking herself for not only not checking her sources on Lila, but demanding that Marinette prove that Lila was lying, uses her position as Class Vice President to talk Mme. Bustier into giving her Sig.ra Rossi’s contact information, and runs it down to discover that it’s all falsified. The address? doesn’t exist. That street ends 23 numbers earlier, is in a different arrondissement, and is misspelled to boot. Her cell phone number is actually Lila’s personal number. And while her email looks legit, the domain is for a free email site, not an Italian government domain, or even an ISP domain. Frankly, Alya could do a better job setting up an email to look official, and has on the Ladyblog. When she reports this to Bustier and Damocles the next morning, he skips the countdown and pulls the trigger. The ASE agent is waiting for Lila by lunchtime.

Not sure if it needs a better ending. Need to think on it. 

[suakkomarigamichibitarulumity]

You really seem to like miss bustier

This may be my LWA fandom days talking, because that was where I taken a bit too much of a liking to the whole "reasonable attractive teacher" character type no thanks to Ursula Callistis/Chariot du Nord. So the main reason is Bustier kinda being a "guilty fave" of mine.

Plus, while there are certainly deserved criticisms of her (all of them being part of a bigger problem, which is best summed as "plot device syndrome", and, contrary to popular belief, was at it's most egregious during Season 1, not the latter ones. Then again, Season 1 suffered from "first installment syndrome" in the ungodliest ways possible, so...), a lot of the time salters just really, REALLY twist her character into something the fuck else, to the point where seeing some of their takes regarding her (the word "gaslighting" gets thrown around way too much in any discussions regarding her, and that's all I can say without going into details) makes me go all "Okay, who hurt you?"

[bibliophileforevs]

Fic Prompt: Chloe finds herself in a situation where both her Mother and Miss Bustier are in trouble but she can only save one. She saves Miss Bustier, not her Mother(maybe because her Mother was wearing slippery gloves). Her Father disowns her for this, but Miss Bustier takes her in even though Chloe blames her for her Mother's death.

This has been in my ask box for so long. I was super busy when it came in and I still am, but it’s a really good prompt. I’m going to post it here in case others are inspired by it and I’ll reblog when I get to the blurb.

<3 much love