Let’s do things differently this time. So differently. His name is Miles Morales. He was bitten by a radioactive spider, and he’s not the only one. He hasn’t always had it easy, and he’s not the only one. Now he’s on his own, and he’s not the only one. You think you know the rest. You don’t. And I knew the rest, but I didn’t. I didn’t wanna hurt him, but I did. And... he’s not the only one.
im like if spiderman didnt have spider powers
ANTHEIA | Ἀνθεία ☰ one of the three graces, goddess of swamps, flowers, flowery wreaths, vegetation, gardens, blossoms, and human love. the name antheia derives from ἄνθος the ancient greek word for flower or blossom.
if you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden. — from ‘the secret garden’ by frances hodgson burnett
BARBIE (2023)
dir. greta gerwig
bell hooks mentioned going through a time in her life where she was severely depressed and suicidal and how the only way she got through it was through changing her environment: She surrounded her home with buddhas of all colors, Audre Lorde’s A Litany for Survival facing her as she wakes up, and filling the space she saw everyday with reinforcing objects and meaningful books. She asks herself each day, “What are you going to do today to resist domination?” I also really liked it when she said that in order to move from pain to power, it is crucial to engage in “an active rewriting of our lives.”
I have come to think of the suicidal impulse as the brain waving a flag to say three things:
death is the ultimate metaphor for drastic change. it’s a general specific. whatever your problems are, it is very likely that dead people don’t have to deal with them. a real solution to your problems may demand a very narrow range of action that’s likely to be out of reach at this moment, but death is sold on every street corner, so it feels like a more realistic fantasy than happiness.
you don’t really want to die per se but it’s also not completely random chemicals swamping your brain for no reason. you want the pain to stop, you want to be somewhere else, you want to be someone else. it’s urgent. you don’t know how to do it. the end is not the end but a means that feels within your reach right now.
this is the wisdom of bell hooks: daily rituals of meaning and resistance and solidarity are part of slowly building a future where you can make the change you really need. and only alive people can do that. every step you take towards change and power is another step away from death.
A very similar approach is also the main focus of Kate Bernstein’s Hello, Cruel World. Besides the free “lite” version she put out (linked there), the whole book is available to borrow on archive.org.
you may think it’s no big deal but every sweet interaction is actually the most important thing in the world. sooo. take that
Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse (2023) //The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
i’m gatekeeping myself. nobody can know who i am
