kasienda reblogged
i can't think of a funny caption i have attached myself to this child like a cat foster mom
kasienda reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Ramble anon again!
Back with a smaller ramble about communication issues because the LadyNoir issue is actually really well put together in demonstrating that communication is less a two way street, and more a four way intersection, where the outcome isn’t determined solely by the words someone uses or doesn’t use, but also on the perception of those words or that silence by the person hearing them, with full avenues heading in each direction as various reasons why these things are being said or heard a certain way, and various side streets and alleys leading into those avenues that might not be visible from the intersection at all.
It’s been said that the greatest tragedies are those written where it’s there, on the page, that another decision would have likely had a better outcome, and any other character just might have made that other decision, but since we’re dealing with this character making the decision and within the context of this character it doesn’t make sense for them to react any other way but the one which leads to tragedy - there’s a really good post about it here somewhere that involves a comparison with Othello but for the life of me I cannot find it... but yes, this is something I think Miraculous has actually set up really well this season! It hurts, oh ow does it hurt, but it makes sense, for this to be happening, because it’s Marinette and Adrien at the center of the conflict, and the actions they’re taking are completely in character, like this couldn’t happen any other way with any other character - and we get that demonstration with the different reactions of the characters around them (namely Alya and Nino, who I think serve as a fast track parallel to the fact the resolution will be resolved but those are details I don’t have time to go into right now asdghdfggff), but because it makes sense for both of them it’s less an avoidable tragedy and more an inevitable tragedy, until they get the personal growth both of them need in order to recover from it and come back even stronger, of course.
Anyway this is a sleepy 7am ramble so I hope it makes sense.
actually i think the comparison with alya and nino is worth digging into more because while i think a lot has been said comparing marinette and alya’s handling of their respective situations, i haven’t seen anyone compare adrien’s reactions to nino’s reactions, and thinking about that really does illustrate what you’re talking about here with different roads and paths and choices! because yeah, alya eventually made the opposite choice that marinette would’ve and came clean, but part of her decision to do so was the way nino reacted to her keeping secrets in the first place.
nino, like adrien, is jumping to the worst conclusions, but unlike adrien, he’s active about it. he investigates. he tries to get the full story. he talks to his best friend. i have no idea what would’ve happened if chat noir had done any of that, but certainly a different outcome than we had! and also, crucially, nino was akumatized—something that the show established won’t happen for adrien unless gabriel finds out his identity. and while being akumatized is generally bad, it also tends to be an opportunity to work out unresolved issues and get carthasis, something that adrien and marinette don’t get while other characters do.
actually, even the very beginning of the episode shows us a crucial difference between adrien and nino: when ladybug asks carapace what’s wrong, he’s upfront with his concerns—unlike chat noir at the end of the episode. and ladybug immediately goes to talk with alya about it. so this whole thing could’ve played out differently with marinette and nino even if marinette made the same initial choices, because nino would respond differently than adrien and then marinette’s choices would adjust in response. and we can assume the same for alya and adrien i think. so yeah it really is a conflict that is a result of these two specific characters and their own hang ups and baggage.
however another big part of the reason for the conflict is just how important ladybug and chat noir are to each other. chat noir is so important to ladybug that she doesn’t even fathom that he might not feel that way except when he actually expresses doubt. and the reason chat noir reacts the way he does is because ladybug is so important to him and the idea of him not being important to her is devastating. if they didn’t care so much it wouldn’t hurt so bad
kasienda reblogged
You’re Safe With Me (AdriNo)
Small piece that I’ve been working on. I’ll be uploading it in parts to my tumblr (probably about 3 parts overall) and then to my AO3 when all parts are up. I love AdriNo but this is my first time properly writing it ❤️
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Nino hummed along to the music playing through his headphones as he made his way down the street. He adjusted the shopping bag in his hand so that he could check his watch, feeling satisfied that he was making good time. It was currently lunchtime on a weekday, so the street had various people going about as they made the most of their lunch break. If things went well, then it would be a lot quieter by the time Nino hoped his plan would happen.
He slowed his pace as he came to an apartment building, a nice but unassuming one that blended into the Parisian landscape of stone and mortar. With as much subtlety as possible, he glanced around the street to check if anyone was observing him or the building he was about to enter. His eyes carefully noted each person in view, but no one seemed to particularly care about him or where he was going. With one last visual sweep, he pushed open the entrance and went inside.
The entrance hall was thankfully empty, so Nino headed straight for the mailboxes that were positioned off to the side along a wall. Digging in his pocket, his hand closed around the item that was now so easily familiar to him now. The little cat keychain jingled as he took it out and checked which of the two attached keys he’d taken hold of. Certain he’d had the right one, he slotted it into one of the mailboxes and pulled it open.
He wasn’t surprised to see that morning’s mail still sitting there, absolutely untouched. Quickly sifting through the couple of envelopes, he confirmed the address printed on them before taking them in hand and locking the mailbox once more. With nothing else to check, Nino adjusted his hold of the envelope and shopping bag before making his way upstairs to his destination. Top floor apartment on the left. The one with a dark varnished door that neighbours would probably assume never opened if it weren’t for Nino’s comings and goings.
kasienda reblogged
There’s a way that certain childfree/feminist critics approach fiction that’s like…
How do I put this. Life is complicated. Representation is complicated. It is true that most of the ways fiction approaches things like fertility and motherhood is reductive or presumptive or dehumanizing.
But also I’ve always wanted kids. More than that, I think pregnancy is fascinating and neat and I love thinking about how my body can do that. I know for some people it’s a source of revulsion or horror. I respect that. But I’ve always thought it was, yeah, scary, but also impressive and compelling and neat.
And between my income, my relationship status, my disability, and my standards, plus the ticking of time, I’ll probably never get to have that. Barring some very quick miracles. And it makes me sad.
And I’m allowed to be sad, okay? I’m allowed to want that. I’m allowed to mourn that.
Parenting isn’t demeaning. Pregnancy isn’t demeaning. Yes, it’s bullshit that cis women are raised being told they’re supposed to want that, that women who don’t are demonized or called broken, and yes the way these issues are often portrayed is usually callous and gross.
No one should ever have a child that they don’t want to. Ever. Period. The social expectation should switch to assuming people aren’t going to want or have kids unless they tell you otherwise. Deciding to have kids should be a pro-active choice, not a presumed default. The world would be better for it.
But every time a story depicts a smart successful woman wanting kids and actively seeking to be a parent I see people criticizing that storyline as inherently sexist no matter how it is done. Because??? It demeans the rest of the character for her to want kids??? Apparently???
And every time I see someone who I otherwise respect sneering at the idea of a woman choosing to be a mother, whether in fiction or reality, I feel… I don’t even know. Not defensive. I know their aggressive stance comes from a place of persecution and pain. But I feel lonely. Isolated. Demeaned.
I may not have kids, and I may never have kids (probably will never have kids), but don’t assume I feel the way you do.
I love babies. I love toddlers. I love kids. I love preteens and teenagers. I’ve worked daycare and babysat and taught. I would consider it an honor and joy to make raising a kid how I spend my time.
If you handed me five million dollars I’d genuinely start considering hiring a carer to help me go about being a single mom, whether through fertility treatments or adoption.
I’m a nurturing person and I love to watch little persons learn and grow.
I am so happy for you if you figured out you don’t want kids before you had them. I am on your side. I will defend your right to abortion. I will tell your mom off for begging for grandkids. Kids aren’t an accessory. They aren’t a checkmark on a list of life accomplishments. They aren’t the default and they aren’t for everyone. And I am so so sorry if you had kids you didn’t want because you thought you were supposed to. Society shouldn’t have done that to you. You deserved to know you had a choice.
But kids are also not a burden or a disease or inferior, and you can want them without being brainwashed or stupid.
(And don’t you come talking to be about overpopulation I swear to god I will block you, you fucking eco-fascist).
Respecting reproductive freedom goes both ways.
I’m tired of first mourning the dream I’ll likely never have, the children I’ll never raise, and then being told that mourning is diminishing myself somehow or that I have no reason to because I haven’t really lost anything. I’m allowed to want this. I’m allowed to be sad about it. I’m not demeaning womankind because of it.
A woman isn’t immediately less the moment she becomes a parent. And a character isn’t inherently anti-feminist for wanting kids either. And depictions of longing or loss around parenthood and fertility aren’t inherently reductive.