#urban society

[cnu-newurbanism]

The Block, The Street, and The Building Charter Principle 27

[vergeltvng]

THE BOYS 4x07 | The Insider

[neon-wonderlands]

DMC 12

Delorean

Back to the Future

[skinkmi]

In "Taxi Driver," Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran, symbolizes alienation and loneliness in a decaying city. His spiral of violence reflects his frustration and a distorted view of justice. The film criticizes the corruption and inequality of urban life, while exploring the protagonist's descent into madness. In the end, it proposes a deep reflection on society and the human psyche.

[maelancoli]

i'm kind of late to this but i just finished reading the scholomance trilogy by naomi novik and i feel like it is such an underrated urban fantasy?? taking the chosen one trope and turning it on its head with a fmc who has been prophesied to bring death and destruction, who is imbued with terrible power, but cannot even properly use said power to solve any of her obstacles because it would obliterate them and her soul. it takes a tired trope and the idea of an 'overpowered mary sue' and throws it back in your face by showing how all the power and destiny in the world is useless against a system filled with corruption that has burdened you with an easy way out (evil/destructive magic) that you can't take so now you have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to do simple, constructive spells instead of flicking your wrist and being done with it.

[hellsgate-roadhouse]

[skadario]

decay in front of the sea

[laurasimonsdaughter]

How do you feel about the idea of vampires using blood bags and donor blood to sate their bloodthirst rather than drinking directly from living people? Cause its seen in a lot of more recent vampire stories as a “ethical/safer” alternative to feeding on people directly to make the vampire characters seem more sympathetic cause their “not hurting someone directly”. Personally i see it as horrid idea, a “road to hell pathed in good intentions” kinda thing. Bringing up awhole lotta ethical dilemmas around how this blood is acquired and used. Cheifly in that this blood could be used to save human lives rather then sate vampires hunger. Among several other ethical and logistical issues which could probably make interesting stories of their own.

I think that depends completely on the kind of world the vampire operates in.

Is this a world in which it is possible for the vampire to explain to an open-minded human what the situation is and obtain their informed consent to be bitten and fed on? And is it possible to do so safely and without (permanently) harming them? In that case doing that would probably be the most ethical solution to the need for blood.

But if its a world in which a vampire’s two options are “steal blood that has been collected from humans” or “attack and overpower a human to feed on them (even non-fatally)” then I honestly cannot fathom how the latter would ever be seen as the more ethical choice. How could taking (even stealing) something freely donated to be given to those in need of blood ever be worse than the violent assault of another person?

Of course, the traditional idea of a vampire is that they are monsters, parasites, their entire existence and need for blood is meant to be unnatural and, I guess, unethical. But stories that introduce the “drink bottled blood” solution are usually showing vampires trying not to harm people. The logistics and ethics of that solution are usually also a subject of debate. From the questionable: in Only Lovers Left Alive the vampires bribe a blood bank employee who is clearly making a lot of money off of them. To the horrific: in Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines the blood bank is run by the ghoul of a powerful vampire and it turns out he tops up the supply by kidnapping people off the street.

But if we think of a normal blood bank ran by normal medical professionals, who have dedicated their time and effort to helping people. Why would they not want to help someone with a permanent dependence on blood? I do not think for a moment they wouldn't notice if blood suddenly went missing without explanation. Of course they’d notice. And they probably wouldn’t be pleased. But I also think they would infinitely prefer their blood supply being stolen, to having to use it in emergency transfusions on a slew of traumatised, terrified people bleeding profusely from the neck after being dragged into a dark alley by an unseen assailant.

Now, if you ask me what would be the most ethical thing to do? Strike a deal with a blood bank or hospital to get the blood they are going to have to dispose of. In general the medical world is always eager for more blood donors, not because there is never enough, but because blood does not store well. Sadly, a lot of it goes off before it can be used. So why not make sure it fulfills its intended purpose to help and heal anyway?

But even if none of that was possible, if vampires had to remain in the shadows, and the blood bags had to be stolen. I would personally prefer to donate my blood and have it stolen, than be dragged into the dark.

[nicolasfolch]

ruinas estacionadas, Cartagena, Chile.

[archiveofaffinities]

Times Square, New York, New York, 1923, Photo Credit: The New York Historical Society

[clonerightsagenda]

I am once again thinking about an Arcane alt ending where the hextech damage topside is bad enough that Piltover residents are forced to flee from toxic industrial magical waste to the undercity and they have to beg for scraps from Zaunite leadership instead of the other way around. And we finally check back in on Ekko's fucking tree.

[jonkwasnyczka]

Subway, Gdańsk, Poland

[vergeltvng]

THE BOYS 4x07 | The Insider

[dailyanarchistposts]

I

“Today we are still preoccupied with creating gardens.Why? To not suffer from hunger. Because having rice, beans, fava beans, maize, peanut — then one can survive.” — Renato, of the Canela community[1]

“The development of what we know as agriculture was not an overnight phenomenon, but rather a several thousand year-long project. In some places in the world, the earliest stages of cultivation were never surpassed, and remain sustainable today. In many more places, the pressures of the global economy have corrupted these practices just in this last century. But in most of the world today, we are witnessing the full-blown colonization of native foodways, and a nearly complete dependence on western industrial practices. To trace this “biodevestation” directly back to cultivation itself, is to ignore the history of conquest and land displacement that pushed the food systems of subsistence cultures to the brink, where they now teeter on the edge of extinction.” — Witch Hazel, Against agriculture & in defense of cultivation

Situated in dense forests and savanna of the Brazilian state of Maranhão lives the indigenous Canela people. In the past they lived from hunting, gathering and gardening but starting from 200 years ago as they were pushed from their traditional territory as settler farmers occupied the land bit by bit. The lush forests are being replaced by industrial eucalyptus and soy plantations, and cattle ranches. They now inhabit an area 5 to 10 percent of their original territory. Traditionally the Canela travelled from place to place as the seasons changed but now adopt a more sedentary lifestyle living in bigger permanent villages. Although the Canela still depend on hunting and foraging they don’t have access to a big enough land base to cover all their needs so they increasingly depend on gardening to meet their needs.

For the Canela gardening is not just to meet their subsistence needs but also a means of resistance against being assimilated into the structures, networks, dependency and the institutional inequality of the Brazilian state, religious institutions, and multinational corporations who are constantly trying to infringe and occupy the Canela’s home.

Other threats to the Canelas way of life are from the environmental effects from the industrialized agriculture of soy and eucalyptus production that causes water depletion which exacerbates drought and soil erosion. The overuse of fertilizers and agrochemicals annihilates plant biodiversity and pollutes the local rivers and waterways with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus which in turn causes algal blooms which can produce toxins that are harmful to animals and cause dead zones from the reduction of oxygen in the water starving fish and plants. So any flora or fauna living near a eucalyptus or soy plantation is at risk.

The Canela’s subsistence gardening approach is totally different from monocrop agriculture. They work with nature using a conscious ecological and more biodiverse method.Typically in agriculture only a small variety of cash crops are grown in large fields covering acres upon acres of land where in the Amazon large sections of jungle are destroyed. For the Canela gardners instead of being dependent on a small variety of cash crops they cultivate over 300 varieties of plants to meet their subsistence needs. Instead of using destructive hellish machines like bulldozers, ploughs, and combine harvesters they use a slash and burn method to clear small patches just enough for them to use and their tools consist of a digging stick and woven baskets. They only use the same garden for two years and then not use the same area for at least eight years to allow the forest to regrow and return fertility to the soil.

The Canela’s vast knowledge of plants helps them determine which ones make good companions that will help each other grow, which ones are natural repellents to predatory insects that will attack the plants, and which plants to grow which will attract beneficial insects such as pollinizers. And likewise their vast knowledge of soil helps them to consciously plant to suit the 10 different soil groups in their area which will help prevent soil erosion, nutrients depletion, and combat against other harmful effects that are typical of agriculture. Their focus is for caring for the well-being of local biodiversity and the nonhuman inhabitants.

The Canel don’t see themselves as farmers but parents looking after their plant kin viewing their saved seeds and cuttings as their babies and their growing crops as their infants, genuinely loving them in the same way as if they were their human children caring for the plants as the plants care for them. They view the environment as consisting of human and nonhuman “selves”, and gardening as caretaking for themselves and their plant and human families.

[jacobhubertusart]

December 22, 2024. By Jacob Hubertus.

[reddragoon2691]

Check out this exciting new Earth-919 tale starring none other than...The Amazing Araña!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61911631

Synopsis:

Aña Corazón is seemingly your average Latina high schooler navigating the hardships and joys of teenage life in Brooklyn. She may not have it all, but she's thankful for the few friends and family in her humble life. Valuing those around her reminds her of what she is protecting, and those she lost push her to ensure that something terrible will never happen to her loved ones again.

This was the daily life of Aña Sofia Corazón. By night, however, those who seek to harm Aña's loved ones and neighborhood keep their eyes peeled for a mysterious new hero in town. The being who springs out of the misty shadows to strike fear into any evil-doer is none other than Aña's greatest secret, one she believes was destined to have: The Amazing Araña!