He/They || 21 || From Sweden || Formerly known as RottenRascal || I have strong opinions sometimes. I am also a system so opinions aren't always consistent || I block blogs dedicated to incest and underage/adult fetish and shipping stuff, radqueers, anti-recovery and pro-contact/pro-harm.
There's an argument i saw way back saying that non religious atheism is bad because it makes you depressed to not believe in a higher purpose or something like that. I'd like to give another perspective.
I don't believe in life after death. I don't believe there's some universal purpose to life or a path everyone needs to follow. That encourages me to live my life the best i can while i still have it, even if it hurts at times to do so. I believe you have to give your life purpose (and if that purpose is to follow a religion that's fine too), and so I do. I create things, I have fun, I indulge (healthily) in things that make me happy, because being happy and living life how I want to is the purpose I've made for myself. Not having a set path or higher expectations to fulfill before death is calming to me. If I fail one path, I can choose to either continue trying or try something else without feeling like I've failed at life as a whole.
And those are just my own beliefs and perspective of life, yours are probably gonna be different, and that's okay. Live your life like you want to.
do not forget the patron saint of these weeks that we celebrate ourselves proudly and openly in the streets
her name was Marsha P Johnson, and we have her to thank for so much.
remember, the first Pride was a riot, and she was one of the brave souls who endured it to help carve the path which so many of us walk today. she helped found several activist groups regarding LGBT safety and wellbeing. and she was absolutely radiant, too.
The misogyny of Lacenet discourse around Hornet being a mother figure or Lace being a child is a really interesting microcosm of the way audience’s ingrained perception of real women poisons the well of possible women we can write about.
There are a lot of intense systems impressed upon us by society with regard to what women should be: maternal, in control, not too pushy, subservient, calm, pleasant, doting, etc. When we women fail at these things, say in the way Lace does by being erratic, cruel, jealous, and controlled, society says that we should be viewed as a failed woman. Lace lacks all of the markers of being good (read: ready to serve the patriarchy). This strikes me as the core from where infantilizing comes from: if you don’t succeed at being a woman then you are a child. And, if you aren’t an actual child, then you are to be reviled. For audience members poisoned by this way of thinking, I reckon the Lace is a child, despite the in fiction insistence that she’s old, is actually trying to solve for this problem. We like Lace but she’s failing at being a woman so she has to be a child or else we have to hate her.
What’s funny is Hornet does also fail at all of these things, but she does not have the same infantilizing done to her, mostly because Hornet does female masculinity in one of the rare approved ways we have for that in our culture: she is masculine in a way that is maternal, I.e. she’s fixing everything and she’s not annoying.
This is the one way we, as dykes, can avoid being infantilized and, to make this a little personal, it’s a scar that runs down the whole of my life. How many decisions have I made about how I present and engage with world that center around not wanting to be a barefoot ass doting mother? How often do I take control of situations because that’s the expectation? It is a sort of motherhood thrust upon us, but I think it’s mechanically different because it’s a bargain the patriarchy gives women with the “charisma” to pay for it. I get to be a sort of accepted woman who isn’t a mother because I’m not annoying to men and I summon a sort of badass, I know how to fix this attitude. But in that way I sacrifice the whole of my identity, the ways I am deeply feminine, the ways I struggle, suffer, want, need, and wish, to not be thrown into the fail woman pit (which is not a consequence any of us can afford to ignore, believe me).
With that in mind, it would be deeply wrong to say I’m mature because I take that bargain. I am not, I’m just trying to survive. Hornet is not any more of a grown spider either: she is just trying to survive. It’s honestly a very fascinating depiction and I’m really enamored with it (even if it is a little bit of TC playing into this facet of misogyny) because it feels so real. It’s for this reason that I am so personally upset at the idea that Hornet should become a mother. It is implying her character growth requires her to switch her bargain from being a butch in a approved way to being a doting mother.
Lace, as the fail woman taking none of the bargains, is left nothing but being infantilized and marked for “needing fixing” and our society does not allow for broken women to find healing in a relationship, especially not with another woman.
Why does this happen? Well if you’re lost in the sauce of this system, struggling to fit into it and not aware of its full scope, then what you have is that innate, wordless discomfort about what is permitted and what is not. I feel like there’s a real insistence in online spaces to defend our beliefs, and so people often fall into the trap of: I feel this and I hope that I am good so the thing I feel must be good. If you feel discomfort at Lace being a failure in her womanhood and still deserving a romantic partner, it is perhaps easier to say “there’s something wrong with this ship” than “there’s something wrong with my entire life and everything about it, and it might be totally unfixable.”
I am sympathetic to the way that this is not anyone’s fault. It is a machine that grinds us up forever. However, it’s also something I am honor bound to lash out at, not only out of desire to carve a world kinder for me and my sisters, but also because mapping this restrictive, brutal, cruel system of good vs bad women leads to extremely boring fiction. The idea that Lace needs to do so much fixing to become good enough for Hornet is a boring and baseless claim. It is not steeped in writing critique or feminism laundered to justify the bad feeling in people’s bellies. It is sexism.
As a woman who dates and loves women on occasion, I can tell you with certainty that there’s a lot to love about flawed women. I’ve loved plenty of them without “needing to fix them” and I’ve been one and been loved and haven’t made much progress on my flaws. I know this is hard and that society doesn’t help us do that, but I do categorically expect everyone to confront this curse a bit and to really think when something makes you uncomfortable.
We owe seeing Lace as a life beyond her frail, wasting existence, a being capable of loving and being loved, because we owe it to ourselves and the women in our lives.
What do you think would happen in a hypothetical scenario of Lace meeting Hornet's siblings? (like, a proper meeting, not her being unconscious for the duration lol)
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO VELVETSTRINGS FOR ALLOWING ME TO USE THE DESIGNS HE MADE FOR THEM!!!
AS WELL AS FOR TALKING TO ME ABOUT THEM AND FIGURING OUT THEIR PERSONALITIES FOR THE AU...!!!
Months ago I saw this design she made for small mike and I asked if it was possible to use it for Defernull, because it was just so perfect. Velvet is a genius.
Once again a BIG thank you and Credit to Velvet Strings for the Mike Trio Designs and descriptions! His Tumblr and Twitter !
Also please check out her FAQ for the designs !
OKAY YAY THANK YOU FOR THE PATIENCE... I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL
HERE'S THE INFO ABOUT THEM BELOW !!!
GENERAL INFO ABOUT MIKE TRIO
All the Mikes act more-so as bodyguards with different roles to uplift Tenna.
SMALL MIKE/BATTAT
KEY POINTS:
-Elusive "Co-host" and spy for Mr.Tenna, does all of the surveillance around TV world as well as gathering intel on the Dreemurrs for Tenna's benefit.
-Dynamic with Mr. Tenna is somewhat flipped from the canon counterpart, Battat has a bit more leverage over him here. Though this dynamic wouldn't be outwardly admitted by Tenna, leaving it unspoken.
-Compared to his canon counterpart he is less concerned about only finding out who the real "Mike" is and is more concerned with uncovering Mr. Tenna's personal business. Which includes his past regarding Spamton. Becoming obsessed with finding out what had caused Mr.Tenna to change in the first place. Documenting everything.
-Helps to journal and create sensationalist headlines for Tenna.
GENERAL PERSONALITY:
-Smug, vain, overconfident, somewhat superficial. Deeply juxtaposed to canon Battat, he assumes he knows everything and knows it best, especially when it’s about Mr. Tenna.
-Due to being around and monitorting Mr. Tenna so much, Tenna's traits have somewhat naturally “rubbed off” on Battat. Especially in times of stress Battat tends to mimic his behaviors.
-He feels entitled about Tenna, wanting Tenna all to himself (like canon Battat) and is technically successful in doing so (unlike canon Battat) but at the cost of a skewed dynamic.
-Somewhat mirroring Mr. Tenna's loss of identity, he's lost himself in the entire Mike facade and has lost himself by being so absorbed with Tenna's past.
-Generally a bad influence on Tenna alongside Ramb (enabling the changes that caused Tenna to lose himself in the first place and spiral down into isolation as well as the tactics he uses to keep eyes on himself).
-No better than the fanatic Pippins, he's taken the concept to the extreme.
-Is still an emotional rock to Tenna here and heavily relied upon, deeply trusted by Tenna for better or for worse considering all of the past info he has kept on Tenna unbeknownst to him.
CAT MIKE/PLUEY
(Shadow Guy Design by Velvet)
KEY POINTS:
-Mike Trio's costume designer, Mr. Tenna's personal tailor, and stylist.
-Designed the Mike costumes and Tenna's "new" outfit (the current one he wears after giving into Ramb’s suggestions). Most trusted Mike he often goes to for (literally) keeping up appearances.
-Probably the most similar to his canon counterpart out of the three Mikes, mostly here for fun, enjoying the promotion from costume designer to Tenna’s personal stylist that he gets in this role.
GENERAL PERSONALITY:
-A bit more bold and "forward" in comparison to his canon counterpart's laid back and reserved attitude. Doesn't keep to himself as much and moreso nosy.
-He gets along incredibly well with Battat, unlike canon they're much more tightly knit due to their similar personalities. Especially since Pluey doesn't actually want to be personally involved with Tenna's feelings and emotional needs, allowing Battat to fully monopolize it.
(This in no way stops Tenna from still finding him cute, which Pluey is flattered by.)
-The Mike that Battat considers the most helpful in terms of gathering information and just knowing what others are saying about him.
COWBOY MIKE/JONGLER
(Zapper Design by Velvet)
KEY POINTS:
-The Mike who takes their role as bodyguard seriously.
-Although they're not versed at the whole gathering intel or reconnaissance like Battat is, they make sure to keep everything in physical order, ensuring Mr. Tenna's Safety and Privacy.
-Because of their clashing roles, intent, and personalities- Battat and Jongler do not get along well. Jongler was under the impression that the Mikes were here to aid Tenna, they weren’t really prepared for Battat spiraling into uncovering Tenna’s past and trying to co-host the whole show alongside him.
-Leaning more into an "Outlaw" Persona, they’re more imposing here and a little less “airheaded” than canon Jongler.
GENERAL PERSONALITY:
-More quiet and reserved compared to their canon counterpart.
Willingly refuses to listen to Battat's commands, sometimes going out of their way to do the complete opposite. (Thinking of the bit in the actual Mike battle)
-For this reason, they have the better sense of humor of the three.
-The only Mike who feels a bit guilty about the vice grip that Battat and the idea of "Mike" in general has over Mr.Tenna. Feeling especially bad about the whole ruse, including Battat knowing and digging though Mr.Tenna's past and secrets.
-For this reason, when they're the Mike-of-the-Day they keep any new revelations they find out about Mr.Tenna secret from Battat, which can lead to arguments and infighting.
-Ultimately they are willingly still a part of the Mike Trio. They can be amiable and silly with the other two.
notice how women never ever get the "what if they're neurodivergent" treatment ever. where were the "before you call that woman in distress a karen, consider she might be having an autistic meltdown!" posts.
blakekathryn
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