#also i have my own problems and thoughts about veganism and how harmful it is to the environment

[horsesarecreatures]

Hey, uhm, about that „horse riding is harmful – but they need exercise!“ thread: what is never talked about in these discussions (this is my impression) is how priviliged it is that we can even abstain from using horses for transportation and farming.

And while our lifes have become much more comfortable since machines have replaced horses in these fields, I would argue that this shift has been very bad for nature as a whole. Even if someone does not believe in climate change, they could still see how it was bad that we built (and are building) asphalt streets and railroad tracks through wildlife habitats. And big machinery driving over soil compresses the earth unnecessarily, which makes it more difficult for plants to regrow. This would not be a problem if we still used horses.

I’m also wondering what people who are against horse owning would say to people who live in circumstances where they are still dependent on their animals. People who maybe live somewhere were the infrastructure needed in order to be able to use fossil fueled vehicles is not yet present. Or people who are just poor. Should they also stop riding and driving horses?

All of that being said, let’s imagine the consequences of gradually stopping all horse ownership. All horses currently living with humans as pets will stay with their owners and be cared for until they die, procreation will be prevented. (The alternative would of course be to release them into the wild, but deciding on WHERE to do so is very difficult and let’s just not do that in this scenario, as to not disturb already established ecosystems). Horse breeds which have been living with humans for the past thousands of years will go extinct. All the knowledge about how to feed horses, about horse behaviour and how to interact with them and about how to safely train them to be driven and ridden in a sustainable way will only exist in books within a hundred years. We are talking about skills that, at the end of the day, are more efficiently learned if there are teachers whom actually are practicing the craft. Humanity as a whole lives a bit more removed from nature – although, that is just how I see it.

I hope it’s okay for me to unload my thoughts on this onto you – I’m too shy to write under the post directly, but I really want to get this out of my head.

I live in germany by the way and I own a little pony mare. I don’t actually know her breed, it must have not been documented when she was born. She probably is a german riding pony with a healthy dose of arabian blood in her. I’ve riden and worked with horses for 14 years now and owned my mare for 5. I bought her when she was 11 years old and noone had really cared for her for two years. She spend that time on a pasture with other horses and was slightly malnourished and apathetic then. These days her fur is sparkling and her muscles have developed nicely and she expresses more happiness overall.

Hey, I don't know about the original poster as I don't follow them, but @acti-veg actually addresses your first point quite frequently. There are many people who cannot afford to not eat meat, abstain from medications that have been tested on animals, use horses for farming or transportation, etc. But the definition of veganism is, "a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” If a person cannot avoid some form of animal exploitation because of their health or inability to make an alternative living, this does not preclude them from being a vegan as long as they do their best to limit their reliance on animals in other areas.

I agree that industrialization has led to many advancements in society at the detriment of nature and biodiversity. But I would also point out that if people switched back to horses today, at our current population, that would also not be sustainable. There is not enough land to keep them properly without adding more to deforestation, and plowing with horses is less precise and worse for the soil than some up and coming alternatives, like laser weeding and using robotic seed planting, which can eliminate the need to plowing entirely.

You are right that if people stopped breeding horses many breeds would go extinct and knowledge in how to care for them would be lost. This is a downside that has to be balanced against the upsides, like no more halter horse monstrosities, no more horses being dumped & shipped to slaughter, and the potential for farmland to be re-wilded which would increase biodiversity.

It's totally ok to share your thoughts here, and your pony sounds super cute!

[acti-veg]

I feel like going vegan can be easy for some people but I also think a lot of people already have so much else to worry about, so they just don’t feel able to have the time or energy into researching veganism, learning new recipes, etc? It’s not that going vegan in itself is hard but if you have 100 other problems in your life sometimes small things can seem like too much?

also I feel like for some people, food may be the main source of pleasure in their life. So giving up their favourite foods can feel like a major sacrifice. I’m vegan myself, and I’m not saying this is a good enough reason not to be vegan, I don’t think it is, but I can see how it can be difficult for people - ofc I realise the animals’ suffering is far greater than the person giving up their favourite food, but to them, it might feel like a lot - and being completely honest, as a vegan, I don’t think many vegan alternatives to products taste as good as ‘the real thing’.

Idk I just think of my grandma when she was very old with dementia and not able to do much really - but she loved her food. I’d have found it really difficult to deny her non vegan food that she liked? what are your thoughts?

What you’re describing here is valid, but it’s also essentially just a description of the challenges of living an ethical life. There are always barriers to doing the right thing, and doing the wrong thing is usually quite a lot easier - that isn’t at all unique to veganism. Yes there are challenges and other things to worry about, but everyone should be doing their best to live well and to not cause harm when you can avoid it.

There are for sure people who experience real barriers to eating plant-based, some moreso than most, from health issues to food deserts, but there is really nothing unique about food when it comes to ethical decision making. We can advocate that people should do the right thing while acknowledging that doing so can be difficult.

I don’t think we need to be able to argue that vegan food tastes just as good (even though I think it does), or that it’s super easy for anyone to be vegan, we just need to be able to say that not exploiting animals and destroying our planet in the process is the right thing to do. It’s up to all of us as individuals to figure out our situation and how much we’re able to do the right thing in any context, but even if we’re not able to do it, it doesn’t change the fact that it is the right thing.

All veganism asks of us is to do our best, precisely because it is a moral principle and not a diet. Making ethical decisions will very often be more difficult - its easier to not think about companies you support, to not reflect on your own prejudices and to never challenge anyone else on theirs. You may have valid reasons for doing the wrong thing, hurting others to benefit yourself, for making other lives more difficult to make yours easier, but it being understandable and there being valid reasons behind it doesn’t make it any less wrong.

#ask #vegan #ethics

[but-is-it-vegan]

hey! I should preface this with i’m vegan myself, but I’m just wondering if you would be willing to chat about your stance on pet ownership?

everyone’s reasons for going vegan are all a little bit different, but at the end of the day we all agree Exploiting Animals Bad. I’ve found pet ownership to be a bit divisive amongst vegans as the ‘exploitation’ status is a little muddy, I’m interested to see what others have to say as there’s certainly things I’ve failed to consider. where I live in Aus, a lot of people are against pets in general regardless of being vegan, as cats specifically pose a threat to native wildlife.

my personal opinion at the moment is that pet stores & backyard breeders are the worst & pet ownership in general I think is something we should move away from. if i were to own a pet myself, it would be through rescuing from a pound/shelter or taking in a stray. <— most people I’ve seen in my circles get pets have done this one

I admit this opinion does not include working animals for instance, medical alert dogs or emotional support animals.

would love to hear your thoughts!

Hello anon, I'm sorry for the late reply, it's been busy lately. This is an interesting question that vegans indeed may have different views about, although I agree with your opinion mostly.

I can't decide whether pet-ownership should or shouldn't be a thing at all, it would be hypocritical of me to be completely against pets while knowing how great it is to have a pet through my family's cat. I believe that people will never stop wanting pets, having some form of closeness with non-human animals is such an integral part of being human and some animals, like cats, seek human company by themself.

I'm for sure strictly against exotic pets and any kind of exploitation, like horse riding. People generally should only get a companion if they're capable of caring for them - enough space, entertainment, proper food, medication, attention etc. I also think most animals currently avaiable as pets shouldn't be kept as pets at all.

As far as I can tell from my country, basically no one here objects pet-ownership itself (besides perhaps some vegans). I agree with you that backyard breeders and pet stores are awful, they treat them like products and cause such an oversupply of homeless animals in shelters and on the streets that I definitely don't consider it wrong to take care of those who're already here (which is what every want-to-be pet-owner should do). Assistance and service animals are tricky since these pets are "used" but their humans really do need them. At the very least, those who train and offer them should do their best to not add to the already existing problems, vegans with service or assistance animals could probably give a better insight on this than me as I admittedly don't know enough about this topic.

Letting cats roam outside uncontrolled is what enables them to harm native wildlife, especially with them procreating in exponential growth. It's still considered normal and necessary in most places to give cats free access to outdoors while keeping every other pet inside or allow only controlled run, nearly every cat-owner I talked to in person reacted very allergic to the idea of not letting their cat out uncontrolled. Of course different animals have different needs, but what exactly justifies cats to get more freedom than other pets? It seems like a lazy excuse for the lack of enrichment at home. I would even argue it's socially accepted neglect of the cat's safety. Cats can have a satisfying life indoors, it just takes more effort to ensure that than to open the door and hope that they return alive and at best without parasites or wounds.

#anon #ask

[veganfairie]

Heyo I am vegan 7 years and interested in aninmal right theory.

Any thoughts on The prey and predator debate? As a rule I never discuss this with carnists lol It relates to the question whether we should intervene in nature to save prey from the predators as it would stop suffering and death as we would want somebody to do if we where the victims (we would not want to die to feed a lion even even for the lions survival)

This debate is extremely interesting and at first feels radical I haven't made up my mind on it, I feel we can interfere on some level (wild life aid , breaking up crow fights etc ) I am not worried about violating natural law that is an appeal to nature fallacy but I would worry about militant policing of nature how this might effect wild life sovereignty (the book Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights takes this route) (I would also consider comparing it to how we do not police uncontacted tribes in some cases ) ,and the big one the environment which needs some balance for everyone and lastly there is the debate on when it is appropriate to impose our own moral code on animals outside our care , being vegan is about our actions but obviously we do need to consider other things that hurt animals just like we do with people.

I think ideally that we do have the obligation to try and find other solutions to this conundrum as there is much suffering in nature that can be solved I remember discussing with a scientist who refused to help chicks that got smashed by their parents and did not support others doing so as if nature was sacred to me that is just to far, obliviously we have enough problems dealing with how we effect animals more than they effect each other, but I think it is an interesting part of aninmal rights theory. .

Hello, thank you for sending me this, it is very fun/interesting to read and answer :)

I do have a bit of thoughts on this. Unfortunately I can't translate everything into english as well as I'd like but let's try~

It is a very complex i

I think preventing prey from dying a painful death sounds wonderful. I would love if we could do so, without causing other harm. But when I think about how this would go in practice, (or rather how I think it would go) I'm against it. The gazelle and lion are both equally worthy of happiness and life.

It would feel very wrong to interfere since I was never included here. It's not my right to police every other being. They shouldn't be punished just for being them. Every animal has their place and I don't want to take any away.

I also have a fear that inserting ourselves into a situation like this on a grand scale could be dangerous, when remembering every other way humankind has managed to damage the earth and it's creatures... 🥀

I really agree with you on what you have said! We can help the most by simply taking care of the earth, not littering, saving water, being plant based etc. We should also treat wounded animals and support and/or be part of good wildlife conservation projects and nice stuff like that! We can't change everything but changing what we can is everything 💗

#we just got a letter

[mieczyhale]

"I think a lot of settler vegans view meat as murder is because they cannot get past their colonial-" A lot of vegans view meat as murder because it involves killing a living being.

That's it. That's literally it.

If you listen to a large amount of vegans or vegetarians THAT is going to be their biggest point. Its that an animal is being killed, and then added to that is: in too many cases the animal is mistreated before being killed. Its more often than not from a place of love for animals and not wanting them to be harmed, and a mistrust of the systems that get food and product out to people. That's why it isn't just not eating meat - its also not consuming any products from an animal / that were tested on an animal

Not to say that mindset doesnt exist here, i’m not gonna pretend to know shit i dont know, but i can speak for what i do know and that includes the thoughts of the anti-meat people i’ve known in my life / seen posting about their beliefs online

I was a vegetarian with vegan friends for 2 years. That's no longer my thing, i ended up in too bad a place to maintain it, but my love for animals is why I started in the first place. I don’t want people to die for any reason, i don’t want animals to die for any reason. I know all things in creation help each other, there’s hella mutually beneficial shit going on all the time in nature, but that doesn't make the idea of killing or causing suffering less shitty. (NOT that all the animals killed for meat suffer, there are of course good farms with humane practices, but when bad ones exist - and there are people who do shit like hurting animals for fun and lies & corruption exist in every system - it’s hard to not generalize the whole deal)

Maybe some people don’t want to eat an animal that was killed specifically to be eaten because they view it all differently than you do, or they have their own emotions or values tied to the concept. Maybe for some people it would be like eating their pet. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with viewing meat as murder, or with not wanting to eat meat. I don’t think it becomes a problem until A. you try to force it on other people B. your views are actively harmful. Like being against taking bees honey or not sheering sheep.

Idk man i don’t see why there’s posts that crop up about vegan attitudes but no one ever talks about how shitty some anti-vegan attitudes are. This isnt a one-way dumpster yknow?? Have you ever seen someone who is eating meat talk horribly about the animal it came from?? Take pride in their death or make jokes about it to intentionally upset those who might be sensitive to when it comes to the topic of animals?? Because I have. More than once. Maybe we can talk about why people who eat meat feel the need to tear down and hurt those who, for whatever reason, choose not to. What mentality from the olden days are they stuck on, babes?? (besides ‘the toxic masculine one’)

#just rambling/venting #might delete later. #bc my brain is everywhere and nowhere right now #sometimes you are right. yes. #but sometimes things are not that deep #idk the op just rubbed me the wrong way. and ive been sitting with my unorganized thoughts trying to explain it / why #i dont think i did a great job of it but at least its out of me and now i can chill lmao #going to watch reaction vids on youtube for awhile #maison speaks

[slavichorror]

every single person in the last week who has watched the netflix seaspiracy doc and told me theyre not eating fish anymore so i also should stop eating fish because it’s unethical needs to never eat beef ever again. or pork. or chicken. also these kinds of ppl preaching to me like shut up i was vegan for over 5 years!!!! i’ve done my part!!!!! let me enjoy my fish my god

#sorry but it’s not my fault the oceans are polluted #like fuck off #that’s the kind of guilt tripping my coworker did to me last week #it’s lunacy #also i have my own problems and thoughts about veganism and how harmful it is to the environment #but that’s for another day

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH. 8

TW

Mentions of SELF HARM. Please be aware before reading.

“Yeah, in the end Jenna Rosencali decided that she didn't want to invite Meghhan Levei to her birthday party. And that's what started the water balloon war at eight in the morning.” Little Jo said as she scrunched her curls trying to get them to dry somewhat uniformly.

The poor eleven year old had walked into the shop soaked down to the bone. Her cousin had rushed her straight into the break room to have her get dry and change clothes. Even running across the street to Dunkin' and get her favorite breakfast sandwich and donut. Then Jo had come out not even a minute after he left and proceeded to tell you what happened, knowing her cousin probably thought she'd been bullied.

But you were different, you didn't see her as a target at all. She likes to think you see her as a little sister, one who enjoys hanging out with you. As much as she likes to think that she understands you probably just see her as the boss' kid that you have to be nice to. You don't immediately jump to her aid when things look a certain way, like just right now. You waited to hear what she had to say rather than assuming someone was mean to her because she was different. Jo knows her family just wants to protect her but sometimes she just wants them to listen to her like you do.

“It's always Megans. Lemme guess name spelt weird.” like right now, you heard her.

“Yea she's got two 'h's in the middle. Meghhan.” she laughs as you roll your eyes. She tics and yanks on her hair as she's scrunching.

“Ouch” stupid tics.

“I've got some shea moisture in my locker in the break room, want me to grab it for you? It'd help with frizz.” another reason she likes you, it took a few days before you stopped checking on her tics, so long as she didn't have scissors.

Even her family haven't mastered that and they've been dealing with her Tourettes for six years.

“Please.”

She follows you to the back for the hair masque. Letting her take what she needed you place the jar back in your locker. Letting her know she's free to it in emergencies like this or rainy days. It's not like your locker was ever locked with just you and Nate being here. And you're pretty sure Nate dipped into this emergency hair saver as well. You didn't have an extreme need for it here it was just a habit you've kept from living in muggy humidity most your life.

“How's your week been?” Jo asked as she finally settled her hair how she liked it, with help from the masque.

She startles at the frustrated noise you make as you both leave the break room.

“Bad?” she questions.

“Sort of...there's...this..it's...”

Shit, you hadn't thought about your response. With all the stress this week you just reacted naturally to the question. Who can blame you, what with your stalker being on your mind all week, minimal amount of sleep, plus the weird interaction you'd had with Brian at the start of it. Then yesterday you topped off your stress with a healthy portion of more frustration driving up to the lodge after work to see if Barclay would like some help with cooking or even shopping for the picnic. Stubborn man sent you off with a hearty laugh after getting you opinion on the vegetarian/vegan main course, eggplant teriyaki or tofu and pineapple chipotle skewers.

“Oooooooh a boy.~” she might not be your actual sister...but you're starting to understand the Cain Instinct.

“Half right I guess.” Jo starts bouncing waiting to hear more, she's probably expecting some juicy relationship drama. Sucks for her that you are probably the world's most boring twenty-four year old, and you're content with that.

“Barclay's just frustrating sometimes.”

“Wait! You and Barcl-”

“Nope.” you interrupt, “I asked him if he needed help with any cooking for the picnic and he brushed me off.” You know he didn't mean anything by it and from what everyone said he could more than handle cooking for the amount of people just fine on his own. You'd just thought it'd be a nice gesture to offer, though you did hope he'd accept. He'd been pretty quick to turn you down, had you been any one else you may have even been insulted by the speed of the rejection.

“That's what's bothering you?” Jo's face held a very confused expression on it. It was understandable since not a lot actually bothered you, especially something as small as this. However, it's not like you could tell an eleven year old 'Yea I'm kinda being stalked right now and this week has me looking at every shadow and movement differently but fortunately or...unfortunately no one seems to notice and just brush it off as my hallucinations.'

Yup, totally not the thing you confide to an eleven year old about. Especially now that you have your plan all figured out. You've planned to let the stalker continue stalking you, picking up clues where ever they may leave them. They're bound to slip up at least once after a month of following you through your routines. Should be able to find evidence to have Big Jo help you in no time.

“Well no...I've just had a lot on my mind...”

“We can talk about it.” kid's got a kind heart, but this isn't her problem and you won't put it on her.

“Nah, it's fine.”

There's a pause as silence settles over the shop front. Jeez how long does it take to get an order from Dunkin'? Jo is staring at you as if she can see every part of your being. Breaking open your soul so all your secrets are laid out on display for her. You really don't like it, it feels like being under the microscope and it's making your skin get that familiar itch under it.

“Stop staring.” thankfully she does as you ask.

“...you said it's fine...are you going to be ok though?” Damn Montessori schools, actually allowing children to pick up on emotions and meanings behind linguistics.

You have to pause when you go to respond with the polite 'Yea I'll be good'...because you hadn't given it any real thought. You've made up this best case scenario plan. A plan that requires time and a lot of it. But you never gave thought to the fact that you might not have much time at all. What if the situation was more dire than you thought...what if this wasn't simply a stalker but a serial killer and you happen to fit his MO. A cult who was looking for the perfect sacrifice for their god. And while those thoughts could also be far fetched so is the scenario that you've built up for this past week.

Even if this was a simple stalking case, who's to say it wouldn't escalate? You have an old steel baseball bat in the hall closet and you could use it in case things got dicey. But that would require it being on your person a lot more than it actually is. Maybe you could make it look like you took up going to batting cages...are there even any batting cages in Kepler?

'Fucking focus...stop the rambling. Am I going to be ok?' you think to yourself despite the roaring chaos of your mind. Even with all the possibilities being thrown around you don't have an answer. Maybe that's really the answer after all if you can't get even one 'yes' from any of the possibilities...maybe you wouldn't be ok after all. Maybe you weren't ok.

“I don't want to talk anymore.” It's said so plainly, in such a dull monotone that it throws Jo off.

Jo's not quite used to this but she understands from the two times she's seen it that sometimes you just shut down under pressure like this. This topic, whatever it is, must really bother you. She wishes there was something she could do to make you feel better, but you can be really volatile in this state. Easily going from shutdown mode to meltdown at the simplest action.

With a jolt joined by a 'yip-yup' she remembers something that might put you in a better mood. And if it doesn't she still needs to give it to you so you have it. Rushing off to the back as fast as her legs will take her, having the agility only years of dance can provide.

Nate comes back into the shop as she disappears to the back.

“Did you know the Dunkin' across the street does parties?” What? To the man's credit he had no reaction to your blank stare and lack of response. He clocked the eye contact aversion right away.

You've gone into shutdown mode. Sometimes you just go quiet and that's fine, you're like a robot in this state and if he sets you up with a task that should take all day you have it finished in a few hours.

Once when he asked you just said you needed to not talk at time and that the tasks were good ways to process thoughts. Nate was reasonably creeped out by this but you aren't hurting anyone so c'est la vie.

“Nate?” Jo's calls out from down the hall.

“Yea, I'm back. Brought food.” he set the bag on the counter and handed you the shitty hash rounds you like for some reason.

'It's only cuz they're bad, if they were good they wouldn't be worth eating.' you think as you pop one into your mouth.

Jo comes twirling back into the room. In a broad sweep of motion kicks her foot off the floor to do one final dramatic twirl that ends in a bow with the same leg pointed toward the ceiling. All to present to you and Nate two tickets. Tickets to what?

“Another dance rehearsal?”

“Nope actual thing this time.” she supplies passing you each a ticket.

It's such a formal looking ticket for a recital that only goes up to age twelve max. Most dancers will still be in elementary school. But they want you to treat this like the Russian Ballet. Oh it even says it's a black tie event, completely different from the rehearsals you've been too.

You aren't sure if you have anything black tie status. You'll have to make a trip further out of your normal bounds and go thrifting for an outfit. Luckily it won't be happening for another month, that gives you plenty of time to try finding something in your size that you also like. It also gets you out of Kepler and away from your stalker for a few hours. Hopefully. But there's a chance your stalker will follow you on your outings away from Kepler so you'd need to keep an eye out for familiar faces on the trip.

“YN...will you come?” Jo's looking up at you with her big puppy eyes. Unfair, even if you wanted to decline she pulled puppy eyes. What heartless monster would refuse puppy eyes.

You give a slow nod along with a smile that doesn't reach your cheeks let alone your eyes. And while Jo's a little disappointed with the lack of enthusiasm she's still excited for you to come to her recital. Nate nudges her into her personal reading nook making up a lie that you hadn't finished your task sheet today so he'd watch over her while you finished working. You'd only had vacuuming and organizing the shelves that got mussed up the previous day, needless to say you were done nearly as soon as you started. When he came back to you he had a whole stack of papers for books that would need to be input into the system. You got to spend the rest of the day on the dinosaur computer in the backroom.

The quiet was nice.

After you'd gotten off work you still weren't out of your funk. Frustrated with the idea of going home and not actually being alone with a stalker prowling around. You decided to go to the one place that can calm even your worst of moods. The stream.

There's a reason why you've never been able to do longer than a thirty minute hike through the Monongahela and that's the stream. Every time you've said you'd go further into the forest you're always drawn back into that spot along the bank right under the red spruce. It has the best smell of all the trees, you think.

Just thinking about it has you having a better outlook on the day. You hardly spare the RV a glance as you go along your usual route.

You've said it once you'll say it again for emphasis. You could walk the same path every time you came through and always find something different. Like that cool rock right there. Picking it up to inspect it closer you note the color is a deep dark brown that it almost looks black even obsidian, it reminds you of something but you can't quite place it. It's very smooth and oddly enough fits perfectly in your hand given it's larger size.

You think you'll keep it, this is a good rock. Idly rubbing the smooth surface of the stone as you trek through your trail, you can feel the tension start to ease off of you. You found a very nice worry stone, it works amazingly well. Hopefully no one lost it and it is just a naturally occurring stone that you happened on by chance. As much as you like it you'd hate to think of the chance of someone loosing something they need.

All thoughts cease once you hear the babble of the stream. As if on auto pilot you move with a fluidity through the brush and low hanging tree branches to your spot. Right under the spruce. Just as you did the last week and every other trip before you remove your shoes and socks placing them further behind you, so you can dip your feet into the cool stream. It's very refreshing on this hot summer's day.

Lying down with your feet still in the stream you close your eyes and just loose yourself to nature. All your cares and worries getting washed away by the steady moving stream. It's strange to be here without the buzzing in the back of your head. Oh great speak of the devil and he shall appear. It's fine, after all you're used to this, it's easy to ignore.

However, what isn't easy to ignore is the snapping of a branch, from in front of you just across the stream, how cliche. Cliches aside the sound rockets you back into a sitting position as you look for the source. And you find it...find him standing just on the other side of the stream emerging from the brush on that side. Toby. And he's mask less, not a weird choice considering he probably wouldn't have run into anyone had you not decided to come out for a hike.

Great you can feel your chances at friendship slipping through your grasp just like the water slips down the bend. He's gonna think you're weird when you don't respond to him verbally. Or worse he'll think you were rude for not wanting to talk to him and then never want to talk to you again in retaliation. Whatever relaxation had once been over you quickly dissipates and you are left anxious and with a tickle at the base of your skull.

Toby hasn't said anything yet. Not even a raised hand in a half wave. You also don't see Connor anywhere. Is Toby okay right now? Fuck even with that kind of thought you can't manage to move your lips let alone actually utter a sound, even ones that wouldn't ever be counted as words by anyone who was currently living. So you take the first move, literally.

Raising the hand without the stone in a mock form of a greeting. Toby doesn't seem to quite register it or you but he copies the movement. Oh he must be dissociating either that or in a catatonic state similar to the one you'd been in last weekend. That's probably how he knew he just needed to sit you down and keep and eye on you. You could do that for him...if that's what he needed.

You wave your hand beckoning Toby to come over to your side of the stream. Toby tilts his head to the side before his arms jolt up, going across his body. You assume it was a tic because he didn't keep the pose long. Tilting your head back at him, as if to say 'You coming over?', you pat the spot next to you.

Seems he registered that because he backed up a few steps before taking a running leap to cross the stream. He lands with more grace than you'd given the lanky guy credit for, normally someone with such long limbs would be a lot more clumsy. Not to mention that was a pretty wide jump, and Toby only has a few inches on you, you could probably barely cover the width of the stream. But he not only cleared it but he gave himself a good six inches of coverage away from the edge. You just hope he didn't roll or over exert anything by doing that. With his insensitivity to pain he wouldn't feel it and if he wasn't here mentally right now it's likely he wouldn't even remember he made a jump like that in the first place.

When he just stands in place staring at you, you get a bit uneasy. What's up with everyone staring at you today? You get really uncomfortable with people's stares normally, and now you're overstimulated and stressed it's not a great combination. But you can rationalize Toby is having a moment of his own. And since he helped you the best that he could you'll do the same for him, pushing aside your own issues for the moment. After all what are friends for.

He's standing within arms reach. You don't even have to get up as you gently grab his hand and give a few light tugs. Trying your best to get across that he should sit down with you. This would probably be a lot easier if you could speak right now. Did he speak to you when you were like this?

Toby thankfully gets the message and drops into a criss-cross position next to you. You start to retract your hand, now that the need for contact is over, when Toby's rough hand closes around it suddenly. Looking to Toby he's just staring straight ahead and not at you. His eyes aren't frantic or moving in any way, like yours sometimes do when you're following a hallucination. Physical closeness must help him through this kind of thing.

As gross as the feeling normally would be for you it isn't so bad right now. It seems Toby's CIPA also affects his body's temperature and his ability to sweat. Where there's usually the feeling of burning and clammy moisture coming off of another person, Toby is just tepid and dry. If anything it feels as if you're being held by a leather baseball glove.

Toby's hands are very rough, especially his palms, maybe you should let him burrow some of the goat milk lotion Dia gave you a few weeks ago. It smells pretty good and it only takes a little bit to soften your skin back up. But as you look closer at his hands you can see the spots roughest are around his nail beds. Someone has a biting problem, maybe he needs an oral stim toy. That would keep his flesh out of his mouth, and stop him from injuring himself...hopefully. There's still a chance he'd bite through his tongue without realizing, honestly you're a little surprised that hasn't happened yet.

You had completely forgotten about the stone in your hand until you went to grab at Toby's hand that still held yours in a firm grip. Seeing the dark brown rock again you remembered what it reminded you of, Toby's eyes. They were the same shade as the rock, that's funny...anecdotally at least. This rock helped you maybe it would help calm him down some. Worth a shot.

Since your hand closest to him is preoccupied you have to reach across his body to nudge the rock to his hand. He spares it a single glance before covering it with his other hand. Mission partially accomplished you guess. Now you're just sitting here, with Toby catatonic, by the edge of the water bank. Pulling your feet from the stream you mirror Toby's pose, you'll likely be here a while.

While normally you'd love to just loose your self to the sounds surrounding the stream, in the presence of another person you're too jittery to enjoy that. If only you had something to fidget with... You wonder what Toby's reaction would be if you just... Toby turns his head to watch you when he feels a gentle smaller hand on his own. Dark eyes watching intensely as you pull his hand into your lap. Turning it over so his palm is facing up, before you start tracing patterns into his palm lines and flexing his fingers individually. He watches for a moment before turning back to his original point.

Playing with his hand you noticed a few more things about Toby. From his chipped black nail polish, a look you personally think not enough guys go for even though it makes them look more attractive and approachable. To the single string paracord medical bracelet he's wearing, metal tag simply stating 'TOURETTE'S SYNDROME'. And a little further down you see scars, a few are crescent shapes easily identified as Toby's own nails. But most are straight lines, even a few jagged cuts, that run up and along his forearm.

'Tobais...what on Earth happened to you?' just as the thought rings through your mind you feel a sudden weight on your shoulder.

Toby is resting on your shoulder with his eyes close. You can tell he's just resting them by the lack of movement behind the eyelids.  With his head being on your shoulder you can smell him, not in a creepy way but he's just so close that his scent waifs your way. He smells like fresh dirt...it isn't a bad smell. It reminds you of gardening but on an overcast day. It hadn't rained today so how does he smell like it?

Moving your attention back to his hands, and away from how nice Toby smells, you catch sight of the scars again and bite your lip. Not wanting to dwell on the scars and their implications any longer. You curl and uncurl his fingers and start a rhythmic motion of curling them individually.

'You poor sweet boy.' is the only thought you can focus on. Even though the scars may be old and those wounds long healed. Toby at one point made them and it's very apparent that he is still not in the best way mentally. Once the two of you are friends, you'll do your best to be there for him. Like you are right now...you really hope it helps.

Toby didn't make even the slightest movement until the sky had begun to bleed its deep oranges across the horizon. He pulls his hand out of your grasp. And when you try to retrieve it to keep up you activity he softly pushes your hands back to you. Guess he's done for now.

With as late as it is, you'd like to go home. And Toby seems more aware of the things going on. But it isn't until you hear a call for him behind you two and he reacts looking in the direction of the call, that you decide he's safe enough for you to leave here.

Without much hesitancy you push off of the ground and stand. Toby isn't looking at you. Taking that as a cue you head back towards the entrance of the forest. Before you leave the clearing however, you look back to Toby and notice a dark colored stone resting nicely in his palm as he idly brushes a finger across it's surface.

Yea he's going to be fine.

#ticci tobyx reader #ticcitoby #ticci toby #timothy wright #timothy wright x brian thomas #timothy wright x reader #masky x reader #masky #hoodie #brian thomas #brian thomas x reader #creepypasta fanfic #self harm mentioned

[everythingpuddle]

I think the biggest issue with a lot of mainstream veganism is the lack of understanding towards other cultures? A lot of indigenous people hunt still but that’s far more sustainable than what we (at least for me as an American) practice with the meat industry. Same with poorer countries where food may be limited or where meat is considered more luxury than an everyday commodity. The same can be said of animal byproducts. A farmer in India milking his one solitary cow to provide sustenance for his family is worlds away from the dairy industry here in the US. I think it’s important to consider that the ways that we in the developed world/the west view and practice meat and animal byproduct consumption is very different from what the rest of the world does and the ways where our consumption of common vegan alternatives (ex agave instead of honey) harm other countries. Even within the US, veganism isn’t achievable for many due to poverty, health restrictions, or even people who have histories of restrictive eating disorders. I’m vegan and I think it’s the best choice for me given the privilege I have within my community, but I don’t think it’s fair when I see other vegans push that onto other communities.

Most vegans aren’t asking indigenous people to go vegan. (I don’t think I’ve encountered anyone but trolls doing that).

Seriously, the problem is factory farming. Not hunting, whatever my personal feelings about that is.

Factory farming produces the vast majority of meat for the world We can go into the ‘what abouts’ but honestly that’s just a way to deflect from the actual point. Whenever people bring up ‘what about people who live in the Arctic circle??’ it’s never from someone who actually cares about life there - they just don’t want to talk about their own situation.

I really hate this argument because it’s almost never made in good faith. It always comes from someone in the same economic situation as me who absolutely could go vegan with minimal effort but are making excuses.

I also don’t think that people realise the conditions that animals are raised and slaughtered in. There’s a lot of misunderstandings over how animals are treated during their lives and how they are killed. Seriously, most people have never thought about what happens to male chicks or that cows have to be repeatedly impregnated to keep producing milk.

It’s not fair to push veganism onto other communities? Maybe. But it sure as shit isn’t fair to gas pigs to death or dump chicks into a blender as soon as they’re born.

So no, I’m not asking indigenous people to go vegan (although the Native American vegans I know on twitter who ask you not to use their culture as a pawn in arguments please), and I’m not asking your hypothetical Indian man with his hypothetical single cow to go vegan. I can’t speak for them, and neither can you.

What I am asking, however, is why aren’t you vegan? Because that’s the only worthwhile discussion the two of us can have about this.

#asks #anon #vegan #veganism #I hate this particular argument #I am assuming anon isn’t trying to troll me #but this is what trolls say when they want to be cunts #also #it isn’t only vegans who use agave #and being vegan doesn’t mean that you eat it either #most I know just use maple or golden syrup

[angstbullshit-a]

HEADCANON  --  EATING DISORDERS. heavy trigger warnings for bulima, binge eating, restrictive food intake and fad diets. finished with a happy ending. 

as you can guess,  heidi struggled with her relationship with food  --  with cartman and after the break up,  i have a lot to say about this so i’m going to break it into two parts in this one post --  once again,  this will go into heavy details regarding relationships with food,  this is going to be complicated and i may struggle to explain some parts because heidi does yo-yo between diets and disorders,  so if you're sensitive to food topics please don’t read this for your own mental health !    THIS DOES GET DETAILED.  

during her relationship with cartman :    

BINGE EATING.     as you all know,  one of the many traits picked up from cartman is his food problems.  even when not in his presence she found herself gorging on food and over eating until she felt sick,  including developing food aggression which lead to her hiding food in her room and under the bed away from her parents.  at this time,  she truly thought that she was still vegan,  so cartman was the one to bring the meat while she was the one to bring the sugary junk.  that was their system,  it kept heidi in the dark so cartman still had that upper hand and she remained ever clueless about the whole ordeal.  with the change of diets, it caused her to bloat much quicker and the rapid weight gain just kinda... happened for her,  she never realised it until it was far too late.  however with the love bombing that cartman did,  at the time she just didn’t care and let herself go and stopped caring about her health, because cartman still loved her ...  he did  !   

during this time period, the eating slowly developed into self harm and a coping mechanism with all that was going on.  at the time she developed the feelings that food was a friend -  it didn’t hurt her,  didn’t twist words and manipulate -  it became the most consistent thing in her life in a world where her mind was just absolute chaos. 

subconsciously,  food also became a symbol of good times. where the food dates her and cartman and went on were the only moments she could truly look at and say ‘yeah. we love each other,’  where food became the heart eyes and the giggling and the childish whispers in the corridor when they were all loved up...  it became the replacement for the love that was slowly dwindling out. 

after her relationship with cartman :  

a couple days after the permanent break up,  she learned that the vegan meat cartman introduced her to was in fact,  not.   which as you can imagine it really...  well,  it fucked her up enough that she ended up in a corner rocking back and forth from a breakdown which lasted for hours.  once it dawned on her what happened and what cartman did, she didn't hesitate and waste any time running to the bathroom and vomiting until the back of her throat hurt and she could no longer spew anything out. this was also caused her to not eat for a couple of weeks and survive on only water,  THIS was the exact moment that caused the very unhealthy patterns of eating.  

it’s here were the binge eating develops into BULIMA. not being able to completely give up the food but not wanting to actually have it, either.  she also doesn’t bother with veganism at this point, which makes the guilt even worse - but with the guilt,  it also makes it easier to force herself to throw it all back up which encourages her own mind to keep doing it. she also places herself in an extremely dangerous box of ‘well it’s not staying in my stomach, so i’m still vegan!’  the manipulation tactics learned from cartman is completely turned around and done to herself. 

in public and around her parents she’ll show signs of RESTRICTIVE FOOD INTAKE, the main two symptoms shown with this is ‘refusing to eat in public / lack of appetite ‘ and if being forced to eat around other people ( at the family table, given that at this time she tries to avoid everyone at school ) she’ll eat so slowly and have very small bites. 

during this time she DOES LOSE THE WEIGHT, its not healthy and because of her relationship with food she ends up stunting her own growth and other body developments. 

while going through all this she finds the goth kids and their way of thinking and outlook on life  -  despite her relationship with food still being complicated and her other self destructive tendencies ( this will get written about on another post )  -  they help,  their way of expression and how they handle the world really was a breath of fresh air and its something she ends up clinging to and taking everything as literal.  it doesn’t completely cure her, but it’s because of them she ends up being able to cope better.  smoking,  drinking coffee,  being nihilistic instead of cynical.  it’s because of this where she actually accepts the help her parents have been trying to throw her in ( she does get 5150′d,  but doesn’t fight the doctors or her parents and is very cooperative )   it’s important to note that she’s still closed off, quite and takes a long time to open up to therapists  -  but does end up going to a rehabilitation clinic,   its here where she realises she’s a very good poet and yes,  the goths always reply with  ‘ ... wow, that’s pretty dark / goth ‘ 

even after the help it doesn’t just, change where everything goes back to normal. during high school she’ll still go through fad diets and go a week or two without food, but its rare and few in between - the purging stops, but her relationship with food is something she’ll always struggle with. 

#this is like what happened w cora........ #accidentally get invested in a muse .... hm... #this is why they're in love #my fucked up babies *presses their faces together like lil dolls* #yes im adding this tag to be light hearted becauseHHH OW #honestly i think. were it not for the goth kids #/heidi would've fucking died. dude/ #im going to fucking curb stomp cartman #its 3am if there are any errors future me can deal with it im just too excited and i wanna post RIGHT NOW #tw eating disorders

[mickibloo]

Human Rights and Veganism

I speak frequently about my passion for human rights and how this is often dismissed by nonvegans on the basis of me being vegan, and seeing how many other vegans have related to my struggles, I thought it would be useful to compile a list of the human rights issues animal agriculture is responsible for and/or perpetuates. This will not be a list that 100% encapsulates the extent to which human rights are violated by these industries, but I think it is still a really great introduction, if nothing else, to how ubiquitous the oppressive nature of animal agriculture is. This post will be mostly guided by links to sources and some key quotes and phrases from those sources. 

1. Slaughterhouse Workers

Slaughterhouse workers are one of, if not the most, abused, mistreated, and neglected groups of workers to exist within western countries. The traumatization they face as a result of their job is often ignored by almost everyone who is not vegan or who does not research the topic. 

“A Call to Action: Psychological Harm in Slaughterhouse Workers“

“These workers perform a job that, by its very nature, puts them at risk of psychological disorder and pathological sadism. This risk emerges from a combination of many factors of slaughterhouse work, one of which is the stressful environment that slaughtering creates. A large portion of this stress comes from the exceptionally high rates of injury among the workers.

“However, slaughterhouse work is unique among major industries due to its innate violence...one of the most prominent studies investigated the impact of having a slaughterhouse in a community on crime rates within that community, using this as a metric for psychological health... Though the industries they used for comparison were nearly identical in other predictors of changes in crime (namely worker demographics, potential to create social disorganization, and effect on unemployment in the surrounding areas), slaughterhouses outstripped all others in the effect they had on crime. They led not only to a larger increase in overall crime, but, disturbingly, disproportionate increases in violent crime and sexual crime.

“Creating and sustaining oneself with “good” moral character and having another self that can mechanically end lives for hours each day not only serves as another source of psychological stress for workers, but exposes workers to the risk that their pathologically un-empathetic work selves will slip into their community lives. This is another explanation for the “spillover” that affects slaughterhouse workers’ minds and communities.

“Living with the knowledge of their actions causes symptoms similar to those of individuals who are recipients of trauma: substance abuse, anxiety issues, depression, and dissociation from reality.

(Testimonies from slaughterhouse workers): “And then it gets to a point where you’re at a daydream stage. Where you can think about everything else and still do your job. You become emotionally dead.”

“So a lot of guys at Morrell [a major slaughterhouse] just drink and drug their problems away. Some of them end up abusing their spouses because they can’t get rid of the feelings. They leave work with this attitude and they go down to the bar to forget.”

Confessions of a slaughterhouse worker

There are things, though, that have the power to shatter the numbness. For me, it was the heads.

At the end of the slaughter line there was a huge skip, and it was filled with hundreds of cows' heads. Each one of them had been flayed, with all of the saleable flesh removed. But one thing was still attached - their eyeballs.

Whenever I walked past that skip, I couldn't help but feel like I had hundreds of pairs of eyes watching me. Some of them were accusing, knowing that I'd participated in their deaths. Others seemed to be pleading, as if there were some way I could go back in time and save them. It was disgusting, terrifying and heart-breaking, all at the same time. It made me feel guilty."

I know things like this bothered the other workers, too. I'll never forget the day, after I'd been at the abattoir for a few months, when one of the lads cut into a freshly killed cow to gut her - and out fell the foetus of a calf. She was pregnant. He immediately started shouting and throwing his arms about.

I took him into a meeting room to calm him down - and all he could say was, "It's just not right, it's not right," over and over again. These were hard men, and they rarely showed any emotion. But I could see tears prickling his eyes." I remember one day in particular, when I'd been there for about a year or so, when we had to slaughter five calves at the same time.

We tried to keep them within the rails of the pens, but they were so small and bony that they could easily skip out and trot around, slightly wobbly on their newly born legs. They sniffed us, like puppies, because they were young and curious. Some of the boys and I stroked them, and they suckled our fingers.

When the time came to kill them, it was tough, both emotionally and physically. Slaughterhouses are designed for slaughtering really large animals, so the stun boxes are normally just about the right size to hold a cow that weighs about a tonne. When we put the first calf in, it only came about a quarter of a way up the box, if that. We put all five calves in at once. Then we killed them.

America’s Slaughterhouses Aren’t Just Killing Animals

“I’ve seen bleeders, and they’re gushing because they got hit [by a knife] right in the vein, and I mean, they’re almost passing out,” she said, “and here comes the supply guy again, with the bleach, to clean the blood off the floor, but the chain never stops. It never stops.”

In Texas, where private employers are not required to carry workers’-compensation insurance, Tyson has opted out of the state system completely. When a worker gets injured at the Tyson beef slaughterhouse in Amarillo, Texas, in order to get medical care from the company, that person must first sign a document saying:

I hereby voluntarily release, waive, and forever give up all my rights, claims, and causes of action, whether now existing or arising in the future, that I may have against the company, Tyson Foods, Inc., and their parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies and all of their officers, directors, owners, employees, and agents that arise out of or are in any way related to injuries (including a subsequent or resulting death) sustained in the course of my employment with the company.

The pressure to sign was enormous. When a worker named Duane Mullin had both of his hands crushed in a hammer mill at the Amarillo slaughterhouse now owned by Tyson, a manager employed by its previous owner persuaded him to sign the waiver with a pen held in his teeth.

'We're modern slaves': How meat plant workers became the new frontline in Covid-19 war

The company is now measuring workers’ temperatures as they report for work, and began supplying surgical facemasks, but, according to Fields and workers interviewed by the Guardian, Tyson continues to suppress information on employees who have tested positive for Covid-19.”

One worker, a central American migrant who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her job, told the Guardian that the company was not enforcing social distancing. 'We are all given bathroom breaks at the same time and there are hundreds of us waiting to use them. There are only seven bathrooms,' she said. 'They [Tyson] don’t care about the worker. They don’t care if we get sick.' A spokesman for Tyson said the company was taking 'several measures' to allow social distancing but did not address the bathroom break allegations."

One African American worker at a Koch facility that had been targeted by Ice, spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity. He alleged that while Koch had recently begun taking workers’ temperatures before shifts, they had also withheld details of any workers who contracted the virus. 'They ain’t offering nobody no disability, no unemployment, no time off,' the worker said. 'I just keep my hands washed up, my face covered up, my whole body covered, and I pray to myself and hope I don’t catch it. The truth is there’s a chance that everybody in [here] will catch it.'

The sociologist Lourdes Gouveia has studied the meatpacking industry for three decades and said the Covid-19 outbreak is simply highlighting again the dangerous conditions in processing plants. Gouveia said the industry has perfected a formula which allows it to maximize profit while producing relatively safe meat by resisting regulations and utilizing low cost, mostly immigrant, labor in unsafe conditions. 'All of these elements are of a highly perfected formula or maximizing profits that is unlikely to change fundamentally,' Gouveia said."

2. Environmental Racism and Classism

Animal agriculture, and factory farms specifically, tend to locate their facilities near poor communities (often black or Hispanic) who do not have the financial means to take them to court over the ways in which these farms affect their health and wellbeing. 

How Swine in North Carolina Affects real People | René Miller Excerpt

“When you go back and you look at where these hog facilities are located, there’s a disproportionate number of them that are located near communities of color, low income communities. It is definitely a human rights issue.”

“Now see, if you lived here, and saw the way they do, you wouldn’t eat no pork. I don’t eat bacon, because I know where it comes from. When they die, they go into a box, and they decompose because they swell in the heat. A truck come and pick them up, take them to the processing plant in Roseo, ground them up into feed, and feed them back to the hogs.

“It hits you right in the face. Smell like something that you had never smell before. Smell worse than a dead body.”

“When we go to the funeral, he used the spray. If we wanna have a cookout on Sunday, he’ll spray. He always sprays Sunday.

“Do you think it’s also a civil rights issue?”

“Yes, I do.”

When We’re Dead and Buried, Our Bones Will Keep Hurting

Like many other hazardous and exhausting low-wage industries in the United States, this work depends on the labor of America’s most marginalized communities. Most workers in the industry are people of color, many are women, and nearly one-third are immigrants.

In 1983, wages for workers in the meat and poultry industry fell, for the first time, below the national average for manufacturing work; in 1985, they were 15 percent lower; in 2002, they were 24 percent lower; today, they are 44 percent lower. Workers earn, on average, less than $15 an hour.

Jobs in the meat and poultry industry have long been a starting point for many groups of new immigrants to the United States as many positions require little formal education, experience, or English-language skills. In 2015, nearly 30 percent of meat and poultry workers were foreign-born non-citizens—about three times more than the percentage of manufacturing workers nationally.

Even immigrants with work authorization can remain vulnerable to coercion from employers, as many are not aware of their workplace rights, may not be familiar with technical terms in English, or are otherwise hesitant to navigate the complex, and potentially costly, procedures to vindicate their rights. The result is a significant part of the low-wage workforce who are less likely to report workplace abuses or even injuries, and are therefore more easily exploitable than US citizens, for fear of their employers’ power to fundamentally disrupt their lives and the lives of their families. “Us workers are afraid to lose our job,” said Rebecca G., an immigrant worker at a poultry plant in Arkansas. “[P]eople don't speak up or say what's wrong about the chemicals, or the speed of the line, or the discrimination.”

3. The displacement and murder of indigenous peoples

The Companies Behind the Burning of the Amazon

The burning of the Amazon and the darkening of skies from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, have captured the world’s conscience. Much of the blame for the fires has rightly fallen on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for directly encouraging the burning of forests and the seizure of Indigenous Peoples’ lands.

But the incentive for the destruction comes from large-scale international meat and soy animal feed companies like JBS and Cargill, and the global brands like Stop & Shop, Costco, McDonald’s, Walmart/Asda, and Sysco that buy from them and sell to the public. It is these companies that are creating the international demand that finances the fires and deforestation.

The transnational nature of their impact can be seen in the current crisis. Their destruction is not confined to Brazil. Just over the border, in the Bolivian Amazon, 2.5 million acres have burned, largely to clear land for new cattle and soy animal feed plantations, in just a few weeks. Paraguay is experiencing similar devastation.

After years of remarkably successful conservation initiatives that cut Brazil’s deforestation rate by two-thirds, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has reopened the doors to rampant destruction as a favor to the agribusiness lobby that backs him. That industry is accountable for the atmosphere of lawlessness, deforestation, fires, and the murder of Indigenous peoples that followed. According to data released by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in July 2019 increased 278 percent over the previous July. Bolsonaro responded to this news by firing the head of the INPE. 

I would like to close this post by saying that I understand this may leave nonvegans with some questions; What can consumers do about this? Should consumers be expected to do anything, or would that simply be misplacing the blame for these things? Aren’t all industries awful in similar ways since there is no ethical consumption under capitalism? If you have these questions, I am more than happy to engage in a good-faith conversation about them. The purpose of this post, however, is not to answer such inquiries. I made this purely to raise awareness about these issues because the only people I ever see discuss them are vegans, and these are extremely important topics that I think deserve far more attention than they receive. 

#vegan #veganism

[acti-veg]

hey! i hope you are doing well! so, i’m from latin américa and vegan. here’s a few indigenous groups who hunt animals for their meals, and every time i say im vegan some liberal be like: but this indigenous person i know eats meat and they respect the land etc etc!!!! or if i’m talking to an actual indigenous person they get so defensive all the time when i only mention i’m vegan and i’m like okay??? i condone the meat industry and i know that a lot of indigenous ppl buy meat at the supermarket as same as y’all so it depends a lot on the context for me. i don’t agree with hunting, but i know it’s a cultural thing and if i say this ppl are gonna think i’m prejudiced. the same goes here with some african religions that have animal sacrifice. you can’t criticize it bc it’s an african descended religion and black ppl suffer a lot of racism, and people look with disgust or make prejudice comments or are even violent when ppl say they practice african descended religions. it’s religious racism in fact. i’m black myself and i get it, but i don’t agree at all with the sacrifice thing. and i once said this and ppl looked at me like i was a racist monster. i know i’m ranting but one last thing about the indigenous ppl: where i live a lot of them are being murdered and hunted also bc of agribusiness so i always say that the meat industry is ALSO killing them bc plenty of their land ends up being land for cattle, owned by the white rich men who owns everything. i wanted to share all of this with you and know what’s your thoughts on this topic! how to respond to religious people who make sacrifices and all of this cultural speciesism? i’m sorry for the lengthy message. i hope it’s coherent

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences on this, it is valuable perspective.

Personally, I think that part of the problem in conversations surrounding indigenous issues and veganism is how much indigenous suffering is being tokenised and to some extent weaponised against vegans and in defence of eating animals. The fact that animal agriculture is one of the key threats to indigenous sovereignty and the most significant driver of deforestation is almost always conveniently overlooked, whereas the harm caused by plant products never is.

Many indigenous communities have a complex relationship with the meat industry, both knowing how much harm industrialised animal agriculture has caused them and simultaneously being dependent on it, or, just like everyone else, not knowing or not caring. Many indigenous people exist in consumer cultures, so of course are subject to the same propaganda that everyone else is. Similarly with practices like religious sacrifice and slaughter, you can recognise that it is a significant practice for the groups concerned and be sensitive about that, while also holding a personal moral objection to it. This is very different to subsistenance hunting communities, where killing animals is a necessity, but where cultural practices are concerned they are as open to critique as any other freely chosen behaviour. The key consideration is whose place it is to do critique, and who is best placed to be having these conversations.

My view has always been that indigenous cultural practices which cause harm to animals should be discussed and challenged by indigenous activists themselves, not outsiders. That work is already being done in many places, and there are indigenous people promoting veganism in their own spaces, which is wonderful to see. I just hope that outside of those spaces, the conversation surrounding indigenous issues and veganism just... grows up a bit, because right now, 99% of the time these issues are raised as little more than ammunition in poorly considered anti-vegan arguments.

#ask #vegan #anti-vegans #indigenous issues

[wolferals]

🌙TROUBLE🌙

arón piper imagine

🌼@bbaronpiper and I wanted to try something and got some basic keywords for a story and both of us wrote our own interpretation! A so seen little project🌼 hope you like it🌸

and check out her story as well TROUBLE

also check out her writings, shes amazing! @bbaronpiper

*

*

friday july 12th 2019

„Have you ever considered becoming a vegan officer?" you asked the tall handsome cop who sitting in front of you.

He looked at you in disbelief before speaking up:"Y/n, its one thing being a proud vegan but its another thing to carry out violet actions against Mr. Rodriguez. You overreacted and you have to deal with the consequences."

You scoffed and leaned back against your chair.

„And how long is that going to take here?"

He slowly lifted himself up from the wooden chair and turned to you once again, saying:"Apologize to him and maybe he wont sue you."

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms in front of your chest.

He was the one who had provoked you by pushing you out of the way, making you fall. You had just asked him what that had been for and he had responded:"Get out of the way little girl. Maybe go to school instead of protesting against something you cant stop. Maybe eating some meat wouldnt harm you."

And yes maybe you had overreacted by kicking him in his left leg. But how were you supposed to know he had just had surgery?

When you had heard about the protest against animal cruelty in the middle of Madrid you had immediately called your best friend to tell her to make some signs.

And that said friend was now hiding somewhere, just as the cops had arrived she left you alone and ran.

In that very moment you could've screamed but you were too busy trying to hide. But they caught you eventually, thats why you were here.

„Alright Ms. Y/l/n, we only need your personal details and then you can go. You will receive a letter from us in the next week."

You looked up and listened to the police man talking to you. Then you grabbed your bag that's been sitting on the floor throughout this time and walked outside.

„Alright, sit down." An older woman ordered you.

You unwillingly sat down on another chair in the main area of the police station.

There were two other people you noticed. A young girl, maybe around the age of 11 who had probably lost her parents in the city. And a rather damaged boy your age, perhaps a little bit older, who had scars in his face.

Your gaze fell to his hand that had bleeding knuckles.

He noticed your stare and looked at you.

He didnt look very charming you figured. He looked pretty serious and was probably one of those guys that got into fights on the regular or maybe even did drugs.

„Full name." the unpleasant female cop yelled at you.

You looked at her and then took a deep breath. Your parents would kill you, but you had no choice, you were already in deep shit.

„Y/n (y/m/n) y/l/n)" you spoke and looked to the ground.

The lady mustered you and eventually wrote down the information.

„Birthday", „Place of birth" , „family status (parents names and birthdays)"  and other personal information followed. You unwillingly answered each time.

Great, now you were officially fucked.

„Wait here." She said after she slammed the „questionnaire" on the front desk where a young woman took it and started typing something on her computer.

So you just sat there for what felt like an eternity until another police officer entered the room and grabbed a chair to sit in front of the guy with the bruises.

„Alright. So, beating up teenagers is now cool or why did you do it?" he asked him while leaning back.

The guy just laughed and then replied:"First of all, they are not teenagers, they are over 18. And second, this fucker wanted to rob me. I just defended myself."

You listened interested until they both looked at you, making you look away rapidly.

„So you're saying that this boy who is about 5'6 wanted to rob a man who already has a criminal record?"

The guy nodded and added:"I know how this sounds but look what he did to me! The guy can do karate. I just hit back to run away."

The officer took a long breath in before answering:"Well too bad you got caught and are already very well known here Arón."

The guy suddenly looked very mad again and leaned towards the old police man.

„I didnt fucking start this!"

The man got up, put the chair back to its original position and said:"I'll get the report ready Mr Piper."

The guy cursed and then leaned back against the wall.

You were looking at his face. The bruises you had noticed before looked very fresh, there was still some liquid blood in them. But in general he was quite handsome. He had a sharp jaw, a very chiseled face structure and a shaved head. He looked like a criminal, judging from how the criminals on tv look like.

„Qué??" he then asked, making you snap out of your thoughts.

„Uh nothing." you replied and coughed.

You turned your face away from him.

„First time in trouble huh?" he asked and you could hear the grin in his tone.

You looked back at him, looked him up and down and replied sassy:"Duh."

He chuckled at you.

Then he spoke:"Welcome to the real world."

You had to laugh at his word choice. Next he sat up right.

„Did you beat him up?" you then asked out of curiosity.

„Arón" stared right into your eyes and eventually stated:"Did you kick the man out of nowhere?"

You responded with a small laugh. „Yeah." he just claimed and looked around.

„I'm fucked." you mumbled after a couple of seconds.

You could feel him looking at you. „Nah the first time isnt as bad. Plus, you just kicked someone, you didnt kill anyone."

Your head shot around. „Ah someone knows his way around huh?"

Arón chuckled again. „Nah. Not yet." he smiled.

You noticed a little gap between his front teeth. He didnt look as dangerous when he smiled.

„You know I'm good at assuming things about people. And you dont seem like a killer girl." he suddenly said.

You smiled and scanned his face secretly.

„What do I seem like then?"

He grinned and the next thing he did was stare you up and down for a bit. Until he finally spoke:"Rich girl, who lives with her parents. She likes to say what she thinks and sometimes gets into fights because of that. But she's never been arrested before so mommy and daddy are going to ground you for that."

You scoffed at him.

But he wasn't completely wrong.

„Well. Okay." was all you could say. He was pretty right about his statement.

After sitting in the hall for a little, the old officer finally came back and handed you your ID.

„You can go."

You got up and grabbed your bag with your left hand.

„Hey princess, tell mommy and daddy I'm sorry for their criminal daughter." you heard Aróns voice as you wanted to leave the police station.

„Ha ha very funny." you replied and faked a smile that turned into a frown.

„Hey girly, can I crash at your mansion some time?" he yelled after you.

„Sure. But I wont tell you where I live." you grinned and looked at his expression.

He looked chill despite the fact that he was in trouble like you had been.

„Dont worry, I'll find you."

You nodded unbelieving and then finally kept walking.

Now you had to explain to your parents why you were late, and why you were expecting a letter from the police. Fuck.

•

•

You somehow managed to tell your parents exactly how it happened without being yelled at. They believed that it wasn't completely only your fault yet they werent happy about the fact that you ended up at the police. But on the other hand you had never had any problems with the law before and you were usually a good girl, so they werent worried as much as expected. You hadnt told them about the lawsuit yet though. That was a future problem.

As it was now the next day you were just at home, finishing some assignments for your second year of college that would start next week.

You had taken a shower after dinner and then went to your room to watch a show before heading to bed.

To be honest, you had almost forgotten about the whole lawsuit thing when you went to bed that night. It got late, you got stuck with the newest season of your favorite show and actually fell asleep at around 1:30.

A loud noise woke you from your sleep and you sat up right, looking around all confused.

Your room was completely dark besides the streetlights from outside your window.

You heard the knock again and a shockwave went right through your body. Where did it come from? The house was all silent since your parents' bedroom was downstairs and your sister was sleeping at her boyfriends' almost every night.

Slowly you made your way threw the hallway checking where the noise came from. Your first thought was that it was probably the neighbors cat in the backyard or something but then you realized the bangs came from the bathroom.

You grabbed the first thing near you which was a vase that had been standing on a little table in the hallway.

Eventually you walked to the bathroom and turned on the light.

You got scared immediately as you saw a face in front of the window.

After looking at the person you realized it was the guy from the police station. You closed the bathroom door and unlocked the window.

„What the fuck are you doing here?" you whisper yelled.

The guy climbed into the room. He was wearing a black hoodie with some dark grey sweatpants and a black beanie. „You said i could sleep here if I found you. And i did."

You were actually creeped out. So you just stared at him until your confidence came back. „How did you fucking find my house?" you asked and pushed him back a little bit. He grinned and leaned against the sink. „I stole the paper with your information."

Your eyes widened. „You what??" you asked him in disbelief. „You're welcome. Now they got nothing against you. For the police you dont exist."

You didnt know if you should thank him for it or hit him in the face for doing such a stupid thing. What if the police thought you stole it? „So where can i sleep then?" he asked you and took a look around. His bruises were still visible but now looked a lot more clean and healed.

„Uh." you stuttered and thought about his question.

„My parents are right downstairs. You cant just sneak in here and expect me to offer you my bed. I dont know you, you could be a psycho!" He laughed at you and stepped closer to you. You were intimidated because you couldnt step back any farther. Your back was already touching the wall next to the bathtub.

„I wont hurt you, I just need a place to sleep." You looked right into his eyes that were only inches away from yours.

He was so close he could probably hear your heart pound. It was about to jump out of your chest. You then offered him to sleep on the small couch in your room, if he promised to disappear before your parents found out.

So you passed him a blanket and two pillows and finally turned off the light the second time this night.

„Goodnight." you automatically whispered. You heard a little chuckle from the other side of the room before he whispered back a quiet:"Gracias."

•

When you woke up a couple of hours later your room was lightened by the sun. You rubbed your eyes and sat up. You almost had a little heart attack when you saw someone laying on your couch. But then you remember what happened only 4 hours before. The guy who's name you werent sure about -was it Arón?- was sleeping peacefully, his closed eyes facing you. You noticed he had taken off his shirt. You didnt see his stomach but you could see his naked, muscular arms over the blanket. And you saw some tattoos on them. And a small tattoo on his chest.

He looked quite cute when he was sleeping.

You then checked your phone and thought about what you'd do today until you heard footsteps coming upstairs.

Your mom! She always says goodbye before work. Its like a mother-daughter tradition because once when you were a kid and she didnt say bye you had a panic attack because you thought something happened to her. You jumped up from the bed towards the couch.

„Wake up! Wake up! You gotta hide, my mom's coming!" you shook him to wake him up. He replied with a raspy groan and eventually opened his eyes.

„Huh?" he asked confused looking at you. -„Hide! My mom!" You whispered and waited for him to get in the closet.

But since he took so long realizing what was going on, it happened what had to happen.

Your mom was standing in your room, staring at both of you. You in your oversized shirt and no pants and this strange boy shirtless. You were fucked.

„Uhh y/n?" she asked and looked at you in confusion.

You were all staring each other down until Arón spoke up:"Mrs. Y/l/n, im so sorry. My name is Arón, I'm your daughters boyfriend." He shook her hand smiling. Your mother on the other hand looked confused as hell. Just as you. Did he just call himself your boyfriend?

„Oh. I didnt know she had a boyfriend." Your mom replied and then actually chuckled. She laughed! She wasnt mad?

„I have to go to work now but nice to meet you Arón. See you later honey, i think we have to talk."

She said after none of you said anything.

„Likewise" Arón spoke before your mom left your room and closed the door.

„What the hell?" you yelled at him and lightly punched him in the chest.

„I had no choice. What do you want me to do? Say that I broke in here because we met at the police station?"

You ran your hand through your hair and then said:"Please go. I'm in enough trouble already. Please leave."

He nodded, then grabbed his sweater and put it back on.

„Can i sleep here tonight too? I dont really know where to go." he asked while picking up his things.

You rolled your eyes but nodded softly.

„Thank you!" He smiled and came up to you.

„Sure." you replied and crossed your arms.

He opened the door to your room and whispered a „see you tonight" before finally leaving your house.

You didnt really trust this guy. Something about him was off but you didnt know quite yet what it was.

•

•

Arón's been crashing at your place for a week now and a lot of weird things happened inbetween. You only saw him at night when he climbed through your bedroom or the bathroom window. Then you usually went to bed and in the morning he left. You never knew where he went and you also didnt know why he couldnt sleep at his parents'.

Your mom and dad had both talked to him before and actually believed he was your boyfriend. Around them he acted like an angel but you knew he wasnt. I mean, he's never insulted you or been rude but he certainly wasnt an example of a good guy.

One night as you were sleeping, him laying on your couch, you were woken by someones voice talking in your room.

Arón was walking around your carpet, speaking into his phone loudly.

„Whats up?" you whispered and looked at him all sleepy.

He showed you he needed a second and kept discussion in spanish.

He was pretty loud and you were worried your parents might wake up from his voice. And he seemed mad, almost aggressive.

He then hung up and before you knew, he slammed his phone on the wall. It broke immediately, shocking you intensely.

„Jeez what the fuck!" you spoke and got up from the bed.

Arón in the meantime put on his jacked and wanted to walk out of the room but you chased him, trying not to make too much noise walking downstairs.

„Where are you going?" you asked.

„I need to see someone before this certain person wakes your parents." he boldly spoke and opened the front door.

You were only wearing shorts and a top and it was chilly outside. But you were far too concerned to grab a jacket.

You closed the door behind you and ran after him.

„Y/n go to bed." he then ordered as he kept walking.

„No i need to know whats happening."

He scoffed at you and finally stopped as you both reached a person standing around the corner.

Aron was just standing there staring at the dark dressed man.

You were right behind him, carefully taking a look.

„Arón." the guy finally spoke and came up to you both, grabbing aron by the jacket.

„What do you want?" arón asked the man, sounding as if he was about to rip his head off.

„Needed to see you little brother." the guy replied and then noticed you hiding behind Aróns back.

„Oh got yourself a girlfriend huh?" he grinned and walked around him to get closer to you.

„Hey you." he smiled and reached out to touch you but you backed off and mustered him.

„She's hot." the guy then said and turned around to arón again.

„What the fuck are you doing here Juan?" Arón finally spoke up. „Taking you home. Mom is worried about you."

Aron laughed fake before claiming:"Oh really?"

Juan stepped right in front of Aron and looked at him.

„I like your new haircut brother. You look like a prisoner."

Arón didnt reply, he clenched his fist as if he was about to hit.

„If you keep going like that, you will be soon." Juan added and smiled at him.

„Fuck off im not coming home." arón mumbled and wanted to step back but Juan grabbed his arm and answered:"You. Are coming with me. Because I say so."

Aron freed his arm and yelled:"Get out of my life."

You just watched as they were yelling at each other. The reason for Aróns stubbornness wasnt quite clear for you until he said one specific thing:"Mom and Dad dont want me back! All they want was you. You're the only son they ever wanted."

He was jealous of his big brother.

What you figured out from their conversation, Juan was a troublemaker himself but then started studying and was now about to be a lawyer. Apparently their parents had always supported him, even though he used to be in deep shit often times. Arón kept claiming that he was „nothing to their parents".

At some point the situation escalated and Juan grabbed Aron rather harshly and Aron pushed him back. Which made Juan fall to the ground, hitting his head on the concrete.

Juan looked even more furious than Aron then.

He got up again and basically jumped arón.

You felt useless, watching those brothers fight in the middle of the streets.

But suddenly you decided to do something.

You went up to them and jumped on Arons back to make him stop.

„Stop this shit before someone calls the cops!" you tried to calm them down.

But Aron was so furious he threw you right off.

You landed on your back rather harshly, moaning out in pain. It had been really fucking painful.

He didnt even notice that he had hurt you, they kept yelling at each other until you heard police sirens getting closer.

Juan seemed to notice as well and let go of Aron.

„You know what, fuck you! You're useless to this family. Come back after achieving something!" Juan yelled and just disappeared between the streetlights and the bushes.

„Fuck." Aron cursed and finally turned around to you.

„Run!" he then said as the police car turned around the corner.

You got up in pain and grabbed his reached out hand.

„Faster!" he told you and pulled you with him as he was running super fast. You almost stumbled over your own feet.

„Where?" you just asked and concentrated on running as fast as you could.

Usually you hated running but right now it felt good. Free kind of. You had never run from the cops, especially not with a known criminal who wasnt as bad as you thought.

„Fuck, run faster." he yelled but you couldnt go any faster.

Eventually he let go of you to make you jump into a bush.

The cops were right behind you but didnt seem to notice you hiding, they ran past you after Aron.

And aron on the other hand did something you hasnt expected. He stopped running.

He turned around and put his hands up in the air.

What the fuck was he doing?

The police reached him and put him in a secure grip in a fast motion. He couldve gotten away easily if he hadnt stopped!

They grabbed him by the arm and pulled him through the alley of trees towards the police car.

You looked him straight in the eyes as they walked past you. He inconspicuously smiled at you.

What was he doing?

As they sat him in the police car you slowly got out of the bush.

So you just stood there. They couldve seen you but you didnt care, you just wanted to see what was happening.

Some of your neighbors were outside looking as well.

Before the car took off you felt your phone vibrate in your back pocket.

Who would text you at 3am?

You took it and opened the message.

You started to smile and looked up to see him smiling at you from the police car.

Arón:"Can I crash again when I get out?"

⭐️

#elite #cute #preference #aronpiper #omander #aronxreader #ander #preferences #imagine #police

[liw-the-melancholic-apple]

The First One - Bonus scenes in traditional written word

This is a smau and a zukoXreader, although i haven't decided how this ends yet.

Y/n has recently transferred to Ba Sing Se from Omashu university and meets the gaang through a schoolproject they do with sokka and suki.

Bonus 2: Nerves

Ooooookay. It wasn't all this exciting. You'd been to parties before. You'd met new people before. Why did choosing a pair of jeans feel like you were deciding your fate? You usually only noticed people's jeans when they didn't fit, were neon colours or torn to shreds.

Your jeans all fit you, they were all in the neutral colour scheme and those that were distressed were still more fabric than hole.

So, by your own logic you could choose any pair and be fine. Yet still five pairs were laying on your bed. 2 grey, 2 black, one midnight blue. You didn't seem to be able to pick one.

The pile of t-shirts and jumpers on the ground hadn't gotten any of your attention but promised to be a similar drama...

You sighed in annoyance and texted both, Jin and Fai. The latter had a lot of encouragement and suggestions while the former mostly mocked you. He did however offer some really good advise: treat it like a gig with the band. In a pub. Wear those clothes.

"And stop being such a nervous wreck! It doesn't suit you. You're great. You're fun. They'll like you."

He didn't let you thank him, though. "Next time you're here, you're buying at least two rounds. I'm not your fucking therapist."

Classic Jin. But his idea worked. To a gig you'd wear the ripped black jeans, white t-shirt and the vintage leather jacket.

Those where the clothes you wore when you left your appartment. Those were the clothes you wore when Suki texted that she was held up at Aang's place. She would be late. Sokka was gonna join later anyways. Ty Lee wasn't coming at all.

Yeah, meeting new people who were presumably forced to be nice to you!! On your own. Without the safety blanket that were Suki and Sokka. Great...

You stood in front of the Jasmin Dragon, studying the green and gold of the big logo on the window and the small one on the door.

You could just wait here for Suki. No, you weren't a child and Suki wasn't your mum. Besides, she would show up with Aang -why did that name seem so familiar? - and you already told her that you would be about 15 minutes earlier than her. Waiting was no option.

You shifted your weight from your left leg to the right and texted the group chat:" So, I'm here."

Katara answered, telling you to come inside to the counter. The scent of oriental spices and caramel syrup filled the air in the shop. The perfect mix of old-timey, traditional tea house and modern way too sweet coffeshop combined into one smell. The essence of the Jasmin Dragon.

You had discovered it during your first week in Ba Sing Se and instantly fell in love with it. Was it that smell? Maybe. Was it the excellent sencha-ginger-tea? Partially. Was it the supercharging, black as your soul giant mugs of coffee? Partially. Was it the delicious muffins in every flavour imagineable? Yes. Was it the breakfast items that all looked mouthwatering? Absolutely.

But mainly it was the general atmosphere here. The furniture was a collection of armchairs, benches, sofas  and tables that all looked like they came from a 50's or 60's living room. All colours of the Rainbow, nothing actually fit together. It was so cosy and inviting.

And then there was the old man who usually was behind the black marble counter. You'd found that he would start around 11 am, as he was never there when you got your coffee before early lectures and classes. But he would take orders, prepare drinks, clean tables and give his thoughts on students' problems when you popped in for a midmorning pick-me-up.

And also now, close to closing time, the rotonde older man with the long grey hair stood behind the counter checking on a couple of teapots that gently bubbled behind him. While doing so, he talked to a short black-haired girl that giggled a lot.  She held on to an annoyed looking tall guy, that you thought might work here, and stood next to a girl that warmly smiled at you and waved you over.

"Y/n?"

"Yes, that would be me. You're Katara?" She nodded.

"And that's Toph and Zuko", she answered while indicating the girl and the guy. Suki had warned you about both of them. Toph was blind and often subjected to people wanting to help her, which she hated. "Don't offer her help. She'll let you know  when she needs you", Suki had said.

The girl extended a hand into your general direction. "Pleasure meeting you."

"All mine", you answered taking her hand. Zuko also shook your hand, mumbleing "Hi."

He had a rather large scar on the left side of his face. His hair covered it some. According to Suki you shouldn't stare and shouldn't mention it. She had known Zuko for years and still didn't know how he got it. You quickly averted your eyes.

"Okay, so I'm sure Suki already told you but she only just left Aang's. His roommate is a bit mad because he can't go to the party and delayed them."

You were about to answer when the man behind the counter cleared his throat. "Sencha-ginger", he handed you cup. Surprised but greateful you took it and looked for your wallet.

"Oh, no need. You've been a valued customer. And i finally learned your name. You know, you're one of the most quiet People ever to come into the shop." He gave you another smile.

"Not really quiet", you answer laughing. " But i usually come in alone and i don't like talking to myself in public. People stare." The man crinkled his forehead but Toph punched your shoulder and laughed. "Sokka said you were funny!"

"Well, why do you always come in on your own?", counterman inquired, his forehead smoother.

"Uhm...", should you tell the sad truth?

"You don't have to answer that", Zuko intervened. "Since he opened the dragon he's become quite enamored with gossip, haven't you uncle? No need to satisfy his curiosity."

"My nephew thinks me impolite. But I reckon there is a reason for your solitude. If it is your choice to enjoy our tea alone you can tell me that and no harm is done. But if unfortunate circumstances force you to drink your tea by yourself i would like to give you the oppertunity to speak about it. Let go of dark thoughts."

Wow. Some teamaker he was. And Zuko's uncle? Interesting.

"Thank you...Mr..."

"Iroh. Just Iroh will be fine."

"Well then, thank you Iroh. It's not too much of a story, though. I moved to Ba Sing Se six weeks ago and haven't yet found a group of people who'd put up with me for extended periods of time", you chuckled, hoping you didn't seem too desparate.

Katara seemed like she wanted to say something really nice but Iroh spoke quicker:" Oh, i don't think that's true. You don't give me the impression that anybody would have to put up with you. But if you want company while drinking your beverage i can always chat.

We could talk about your love for green tea and ginger. You know we also have black tea varieties that feature ginger and i think you might enjoy the herbal infusions.

The fruitier teas go great with the muffins! And if you're into croissants and pudding pretzels you should try the vanilla chai latte.

But if you don't want to talk about tea we could also gossip and play pai sho. You know how to play pai show, right?"

You absolutely didn't.

"I'm familiar with the most basic of basic rules." Wrong answer. The sweet little man grabbed a pai sho board out of nowhere and started explaining the game. Zuko offered an apologetic gesture, while Katara and Toph intently listened. You sipped your tea, nodded your head and enjoyed just being part of something. It had been a minute. But you would never play pai show of your own volition. The game was complicated and boring at the same time.

"Maybe you would like to learn about the ancient art of teamaking?", Iroh continued his suggestions of things to talk about when at the dragon.

Was there an art to it? Hot water and a teabag, no? You tried a vague expression and he kept talking.

"I always wanted to found a club or class, you know. Likeminded tea enthusiasts who want to deepen their knowledge and appreciation. Would you be interested?"

No, you weren't. But he was so endearing. So caring. So genuinely into this idea.

"I... have yet to find out how much time and effort my classes will demand. I wouldn't wanna make promises i can't keep."

That was fair, right? And not even an actual lie.

"We're here!!!!!"

Suki burst through the door, followed by a gangly guy with a shaved head. Aang!! That's why the name sounded familiar! He was Instagram verified. Half the campus followed him for his inspirational quotes and vegan recipes.

Suki hugged you hello, introduced you to the insta-famous and then Katara ushered you out and to the metrostation.

You waved at Iroh as you left. He had only talked about things that hardly interested you but he'd managed to make you feel like a member of the group that was now discussing pai sho rules, teamaking and being on time.

MASTERLIST

Part 1

@fanficflaneuse @eddiesemoass

#atla fanfic #atla zuko #smau #avatar: tla #zuko x y/n #zuko x reader

[stargazing-enby]

Hey! I recently found your blog and you seem very nice. I've had a very tough time with the pandemic situation and I was wondering how are you and your girlfriend doing? (Idk if you live together). Do you have any advice for anxiety?

Hi! Thank you 🙈❤️ We're doing okay! We don't live together, but we do live in the same town, so we hang out together most of the time hahah. I haven't seen her in a few days because she's out of town rn, but skyping with her yesterday made me smile like a fool. And we're going to cook some homemade meals tomorrow when she's back :3 can't wait for that!

The pandemic hit both of our mental health very hard too, though. 2020 in general is doing a number on my anxiety. I’m going to share some tips and thoughts that have been on my mind and that have helped me lately, but first I wanted to link you to this post that @april-thelightfury115 wrote just now, also inspired by your ask. 

One of the things that my therapist told me when the pandemic started, and that helped with my anxiety, was to try to focus on the things you can control, and not on the things you can't. Maybe you can't see some of your loved ones right now because it's not safe, or you can't go to the gym to work on being more physically active like you were trying to do before the pandemic started. Maybe the things you do yearly can't happen this year, so life feels like an uncertain void floating ahead of you. Uncertainty is a biiig enemy of anxiety, so it helps to try to focus on: what are things you could be doing right now? What are the plans you can make for next week, or even next month, to give that void a bit of shape and colour? Maybe you can read some books/fics in your to-read list, watch some shows, look for some ways to exercise at home, learn new recipes, make plans to Skype with some people once every week...

And even though my therapist and I didn't talk about this topic in relation to social media, I did want to bring it up here too, because social media (in general, but especially right now) can be a draining, dangerous place if you have anxiety.

(Warning: this next bit doesn’t have that much to do with your ask 😅 but it’s something that’s been affecting me lately, so I felt the need to talk about it)

I already shared some advice that worked for me regarding all the ways you can control your fandom/social media experience so that you can avoid things that affect your mental health negatively, but I wanted to touch on another aspect of social media: what to do with the content you DO see. Because, if we're realistic, no matter how much you do to turn your online experience into a safe space for yourself, chances are you're going to see untagged posts about current events sooner or later, or that you’re going to click through properly tagged ones and find triggering information. And if there's something that we as individuals have little to no control over, it's current events.

So, here are some things that I always try to keep in mind for when this happens: 

1) Guilt-tripping is not activism.

If a post says that you have to reblog it or you're a bad person; if it says you should have known about the issues it's discussing already; if it makes you feel guilty for not being able to engage with its sort of content at all times or for wanting to avoid it; if it implies in any way that you putting your mental health above anything else is an act of selfishness/violence/privilege; if it is telling you that in order to help others who are less privileged than you, you have to stop helping yourself: that is guilt-tripping. Whether intentionally or not, it is trying to make you care about their issue out of guilt. It is exactly the same as when you're walking down the street and someone from an NGO approaches you and tries to make you donate money to them by describing to you how other people are suffering and dying because you, personally, are not sparing 10€ a month for them.

And you now have a free pass to roll your eyes at that post, say "yeah, sure", and move on.

2) No fight is more important than every other fight. 

This quote comes directly from my therapist, so jot that down. If you want to make the world a better place by engaging with activism, that's great! But there's only so much we as individuals can do, and activism is something that we should always do on our own terms. So if someone else comes to you with "if you don't care about MY fight as much as I do, you're a part of the problem I'm trying to fix!" you should kindly remind them, or at least yourself for your own peace of mind, that THEY also aren't fighting every single fight at once. They might be super invested in a few issues because they hit them very close, like saving some animal species or fighting against a political party in their country, but I assure you they are not as invested in every single fight happening in the world right now. That doesn't mean those other fights are less important! It just means that no one should be turning their fights into a sign of moral superiority on their part. That's not how you convince others to join you. In fact, that's a very quick way of making people want to avoid you so they're not feeling like they're personally guilty of the world going to shit for 3 seconds.

I feel like what a lot of people without anxiety don’t know is that anxiety can make you feel like any blame that’s thrown around the place without a specific target is directed specifically at you. At least mine does: it often feels like all of those posts about how “people” are indirectly harming others by not fighting the system 24/7 are talking about me, specifically. It feels like if I dare log off, or if I dare have my own problems to deal with, I am guilty of something terrible.

But if that’s the case for you (or anyone reading this) too, I promise the world is not going to shit because you're not reblogging Tumblr posts about current events. It's not going to shit because you're not going vegan right now. It's not going to shit because you're taking care of yourself and doing things at your own pace. And you're not “just as bad” as the people in power who are keeping in place the systems that are hurting the planet and everyone else who lives in it. 

It's okay if the only person you can look after is yourself.

#rockmarina answers #Ask #Lovely ask #Pandemic tw #Anxiety tw #Anxiety advice #Current events

[realmadridfamily]

Sara Salamo : “It offends me that they call me "woman of ...”. It’s unfair and a liar.”

As a child, she left the family to fulfill her dream of being an actress. For this reason, it seems unfair to her when she is referred to as "woman of ... ". Sara Sálamo is something more, and she also shows it as an author. She lives her motherhood with passion and starts the project with his life partner Isco Alarcón, a Real Madrid footballer who makes his debut as an actor. Many were surprised about your writing, but it works in your family. Yes, my father is a criminal writer, a genre that I love as a reader. In my novel “El ocaso del mono que arañaba la pared”, you will find a funny and sour novel with which you can have a good time. What do you have in common with the protagonist, Pilar Nieto? We have a lot in common when it comes to personality traits. There are many, many personal thoughts in the novel, such as a lie. It's something I can't tolerate. Fortunately, my life is less chaotic and more stable than Pilar's. If not, I would be very stressed. Do you feel, like Pilar, that your partner gave you the best gift? What do you fall in love with? Of course. I don't think there could be a better present for both of us than our little one. For me, to fall in love, someone must be noble, that I could enjoy a conversation and a glass of wine with him, have aspirations and goals and make me proud. And above all, he must have a great sense of humor. You wanted to denounce the idealized image of motherhood. Motherhood is a very intense journey, the most exciting I have ever experienced. But, like everything in life, it has light and dark sides. Your life turns around and you discover, that you are doing everything, you have said, that you will not do otherwise. Of course, even on the worst day, if your child makes you smile, all diseases are cured. You look like a confident woman. Did you also have clarity about your calling as an actress? I suspect that, like everyone, I have comfort and other zones in which I am more lost. And yes, I am lucky to receive family support. As a child, I had a wall in my room where I could draw and paint everything I wanted to vent my imagination. When I decided to become an actress, I had some scruples, but I also had unconditional support. What values did you learn from your parents? I have only good words about them. I would like my children to trust me as I trust them. When it comes to values, I have the phrase "salt of the earth" tattooed with my father as a synonym of what we want to be in society: people who add up, respect, don't throw documents out of the car window and who, if they see someone on the floor, give him a hand. Soon the premiere of the series 'Relatos con-fin-a-dos' where Isco debuts as an actor. It was a very interesting project and I learned a lot from it. For the first time I have to do a job that 40 people usually do. All technical parts were launched from our account. As for my life partner, it was very easy to work with him. You will be pleasantly surprised. Working in our own home and doing it together, we helped him break free. You are very discreet, but you had no problem joking about sex in the program 'La resistencia'. It's a program with its own tone and fun. I think you need to know how to adapt to the places we go to. I was nervous, although I really wanted to have fun and not think about the headlines that will be decontextualized the next day. Respond to unfortunate comments on social media. Are you brave or unconscious? Some have tried to call you ‘woman vase’. I have no idea. I'm surprised that under the photo there are people who speak badly about you. It's like inviting someone home for dinner and spending the evening criticizing the decorations, the cooking method and the children. You would ask them to leave, right? It's frustrating because you leave your family and friends as a teenager girl, you move more than two thousand kilometers to make place for yourself as a professional, and it all comes down to being "something or someone's". It's unfair, lying and harmful. You have been a vegan for years ... Yes, many years ago I stopped eating animals. One of the best decisions of my life. Lidl wanted to propose me to be an ambassador for Skin Foodies because it reflects my lifestyle. The fact of not using animals for our benefit, whether in the form of food or to be handsome, is a current that grows more and more every day. And I am very proud to belong to it. What else do you watch out for? I never go out at night, I don't sunbathe too much, I try to hydrate and not overuse foods that I know are not good for me. There are no tricks except being moderate and careful. What is success to you? I'm lucky. I'm surrounded by wonderful people, health is around me and I work in what I like the most in the world. I wouldn't change anything at all. For me, success is constantly achieving small goals every day.

#Sara Salamo #Isco #Real Madrid #Interview

[jyndor]

so I was talking to my friend @timelordthirteen about some shit and I decided to just share with you all about the importance of actually explaining shit instead of just saying it. the Left, I am looking at you bitch (ily bitch but)

lol would put a read more but tumblr's being a petty little bitch today ❤

shitposting is fun. dunking on asshat right wingers is fun. you know what is not fun? seeing people not understand the basic terminology that we use in the ~discourse*

but. if we are going to use terminology, if we are going to inject regular old laypeople conversations with (imo) unneccessary amounts of academic terms, then we should try to use them correctly** because in many cases misusing them means we as leftists do not have a full understanding of what the fuck we're on about. this dilutes both the meanings of these terms and their purposes. I know I am wordy as fuck and can be hard to understand sometimes (thanks adhd) so what I am about to say is a little ironic, but clarity is fucking important when it comes to strategy and organizing.

so I am going to examine some commonly misused concepts and terms today. yay.

1. THEORY, PRAXIS AND FRAMEWORKS FOR ANALYSIS weeee yes I am fun at parties tyvm

what is a framework? a structure, in this case, for analyzing some bullshit we deal with irl. that's it lol but I use it a lot so I figured I'd define it here. examples of frameworks are: intersectionality, marxism, queer theory. seriously, if you can think it, it has already been analyzed through the queer lens.

what is theory? ideas, knowledge in the abstract based on looking at shit happen and analyzing that shit. it is useful because it can help us articulate what we are going through in our shitty lives. this is why I often recommend people learn about chomsky's manufacturing consent (theory of why we get the info we get from the media tl;dr), not because I think chomsky is the ultimate leftist grandpa but because this site needs some media literacy lmao. and btw, this clip narrated by amy goodman is a great, trippy little 4:30 min long video that explains the basics of manufacturing consent so you don't have to open a book or use drugs!

theory can help serve as a framework to understand what the fuck is happening to us irl, but imo is kind of an incomplete understanding of shit without lived experience (aka - theory v praxis). this is one reason why we should listen to marginalized groups on their own shit and not talk over them - because all of the research and theory in the world does not make me a Black woman living in Flint (aka - ground up organizing v technocracy). it is not about being nice, or politically correct, although we should be nice and we should care about people just because they're people. if you understand the why of listening to marginalized groups, you understand that it is mainly about communities knowing their own problems best and therefore having the best solutions for those problems.

2. MARXISM, CAPITALISM AND OTHER BUZZWORDS (and leftists need hobbies)

so marxism is a framework for socioeconomic analysis observed by mr kpop himself, karl marx (and his sugar daddy friedrich engels). because leftists love to argue, there are so many kinds of marxism, and if you ever feel like you are shouting into the void too much, just look up some arguments between stalinists and trotskyists. it's just... magical. no, I am not defining tankie here.

as many people smarter than I am have said (read: kwame ture seriously watch this video it's iconic), karl marx did not discover socialism or invent it or whatever, he observed capitalism and saw how shitty it is, like any other sane person would do. the point of marxism is not karl marx (which he would say) or tankies or fuckin guillotines***

things that marxism is:

- an analytical tool for looking at the world

- a theory which was used to develop the basis of different kinds of post-capitalist economic systems like communism and socialism

things that marxism is not:

- a system of economics or government lmao marx did not govern dick

- scary

marx looked at capitalism and said "this is definitely gonna fail someday because it's clearly unsustainable, I mean the proletariat is bigger than the bourgeoisie who owns everything uh yeah so I can do basic fucking math. if I have one capitalist and fifteen hundred workers, eventually that capitalist is gonna lose his damn head because he is gonna hoard all that wealth and his workers are gonna get pissed that they don't have their basic fucking needs met. lmao now put on some kpop, freddy" or something. idk that might not be a direct quote.

what is capitalism? (besides horseshit) a system of economics where industry is privately owned. and yes, this includes publically traded corporations because they are still owned by individuals (shareholders) even if they aren't privately owned by one person or a group of partners. truly a nightmare to live in, and we hate to see it.

what is the proletariat? well, the working class. and the bourgeoisie is the owner class, the capitalist class. the rich.

and this is something else that we need to discuss, tumblr. if you are going to say "eat the rich" please understand who you are talking about. we're not talking about random actors or musicians, or doctors or lawyers, even if they make better than a liveable wage. even if they often have zero class consciousness, meaning they don't ~see class, like colorblind racism for classism.

anyone who has to sell their labor for wages and is not part of the owner class is working class. this includes people who cannot work for any multitude of reasons (disability, can't find work, caretaker, etc) and also white collar workers who might be well off in relatively high paying jobs because they don't own the means of production, or capital that is used to produce shit. so yes, that rich actor who is a part of a union is actually part of the working class in marxist theory. when we say eat the rich, we mean jeff bezos, not john boyega. jeff bezos owns the means of production. john boyega is a working actor who is in a union.

this is important not because we shouldn't get pissed off when actors and celebrities do tone deaf shit like singing about imagining no possessions in their mansions while people starve during a pandemic. they need to put their money to good use, have some class consciousness, instead of asking fans to donate to causes that they could fund. but they are not the bourgeoisie until they start owning the means of production. and there is no doubt that many of them do, which is why we might eat gwyneth paltrow but we won't eat john boyega.

and by the way, eating the rich is metaphorical, a reference to french revolution-era philosopher jean-jacques rousseau's quote: "when the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich." obviously I don't even need to explain it but I will anyway. basically, the people will forcibly redistribute the wealth of the rich if they have nothing else. this is why there are some very smart capitalists who are in favor of reforms and raising taxes, because they recognize the danger to their necks in not providing for basic needs of the working class. no, "eat the rich" does not mean be pro-cannibalism. but there are many capitalists who would prefer to die than lose their hoard so

oh, and one last thing. "no ethical consumption in capitalism" is tossed around a lot and it's a million percent true, but I need all of us to understand that it is not an excuse to support harmful practices but it is also not meant to shame consumers. it is rather an understanding that we as consumers are not responsible for the monstrous impact of capitalism. we live in it, we have no choice but to consume, and sometimes (most of the time) that means we have to buy shit that was produced in unethical ways. unfortunately supply chains being what they are, all consumption causes harm in some way.

it is a reminder that individual actions are not going to have the impact of collection actions. this is why plastic bag bans, though well-meaning, are not going to have the same impact on climate catastrophe as, say, banning fossil fuels would.

I am a vegetarian and I can recognize that I am doing a whole lot of nothing by not supporting factory farms, and when I was a vegan I wasn't doing much either. boycotts without mass support don't have much evidence of working. this is why bds exists - boycott divestment and sanctions. boycott, meaning don't support goods from various conpanies connected to something, divestment, meaning get companies/countries/institutions to remove their money from something, and sanctions, meaning getting countries to penalize a country for their bad behavior until they comply.

this is what the anti-apartheid south africa movement did and what palestinian rights organizers support for israeli apartheid.

do not allow legislators to put the burden of fixing the ills of society that capitalism created on consumers' shoulders.

3. INTERSECTIONALITY (because it deserves its own section)

I don't have as much to say on this as I did the last bit because holy shit capitalism, man.

intersectionality, a term that was coined by law professor kimberlé crenshaw in the late 80s to serve as a framework for people to critically assess how legal structures impact Black women differently due to class, race and gender. it is not incompatible with marxism (in fact marxism has been argued to be a form of intersectionality).

intersectionality can and should be used to examine why the Black queer experience is unique, for example. I also want to acknowledge that professor crenshaw isn't the only person to come up with intersectionality; sojourner truth spoke about it even if she didn't coin the term, for example. patricia hill collins, another influential af Black feminist academic****, created frameworks for viewing intersectionality. also you can read her book black feminist thought here for free.

intersectionality has been used - improperly - by liberal feminists***** to excuse bad behavior from leaders who pretend to care about women while creating and enforcing legislation that harms women. anyone who stans politicians at all needs help. it has also been misrepresented as essentialism, which it is also not (essentialism is the idea that everything has some assets that are necessary to its identity) because intersectionality isn't saying that every Black queer woman has the same experience, just that Black queer women might experience similar issues because of a system that negatively views them as Black and queer and women.

intersectionality does not excuse kamala harris for prosecuting poor moms of truant kids.

okay if you guys have things to add please do because I want us to educate each other instead of always talking shit. both is good.

* I am not calling out people for not being academic enough or not speaking english or not reading enough theory because LOL I am a 2x neurodivergent college dropout who radicalized by working retail and not by hearing karl marx talk dirty to me. also, not everyone speaks english like, I am truly not shitting on people.

** I recognize that language is fluid and ever changing, and that is a good thing. But diluting terms that serve specific purposes is not ever going to be good.

*** and I don't want to dismiss intra-leftist theory discourse (🤢) because I know how annoying it is to hear bernie sanders lumped in with liz warren, or bernie sanders lumping himself in with post-capitalists lmao of course I get it. but twitter discourse is not dismantling capitalism so ANYWAY

**** actually crenshaw built on collins' work (black feminist thought) and the collins built on crenshaw' work we love to see it.

***** I should go ahead and define liberal feminism as well as rad fem and terf and shit because people use them all very very loosely, especially terf (not every transphobe is a terf but every terf is a transphobe, it's like the rectangle/square thing). but I am exhausted with this so next time.

#marxism #word vom #intersectionality #kpop idol karl #truly apologize for my mess