#also obviously the meat and leather industry needs to be more humane

[marzipanandminutiae]

What Is Vegan Leather Made Of? Many Plant Leathers Are Being Used (greenmatters.com)

Yes, plant leather is a great idea (not better than animal leather, in my personal opinion, but that's down to each individual's thoughts on the matter). But unfortunately much of it just can't replicate many of real leather's beneficial properties- and a lot of plant leathers heavily involve plastic in their production. (source)

Look, ALL clothing production needs to be more sustainable at this point. The chemicals involved in tanning actual leather, unless it's organic leather, aren't good for the environment either. And I will never rag on someone for their choice to avoid real leather- we're all just trying, I hope, to make the best choices according to our values and within the confines of a broken system (as long as we're not hurting anyone else). For me, the massive habitat loss and environmental destruction caused by plastics production and waste is a greater evil than the deaths of individual animals in the production of meat and/or leather. So I choose real leather and try to make each piece last as long as I can, aware that any choice I make will have environmental impacts and is not perfect. Someone else might see it differently, and I really am not in a position to judge their choices.

However.

The term "vegan leather" is blatant greenwashing, and 99% of the time it applies to plastic. If people prefer to wear plastic to avoid real leather, that's fine, but they- and moreover companies -need to be honest about that. Just like synthetic fabrics should be called plastic, so should synthetic leather. Even some of the allegedly "plant-based" stuff, it turns out.

I'm honest that my real leather is animal hide. Time for the faux-green fashion industry to display some honesty of its own.

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

but you do know evan eats meat/dairy, right? he is not a vegan, which is about the only way to truly be cruel free to our animal friends. as cruel as hunting is (and i am anti-hunting unless you are hunting to eat) it's nowhere near as cruel as the life afforded to animals who are going to slaughter.

You are right about that of course. I didn't want to bring it up because i'm vegan myself and didn't want to start a whole vegan - non vegan debate on your blog, which I know can get pretty heated. I guess the difference here is the intention. Obviously animals don't care why they are dead, the fact that they are is cruel in itself, but unnecessary dying and killing is what's even more cruel to me. And I thought that's maybe more of like the general consensus in our society, in terms of how we treat animals. Most people when they consume meat or dairy products don't even actively face the fact that these are dead animals they are consuming because meat has become this product which you can buy in the supermarket, not any different from rice or bananas. Most of us grew up eating meat and our families never told us what the process behind that was and so most people go into adult life being ignorant or even clueless about the whole industry. And a lot of people have trouble eating meat after knowing about the industry. taxidermy on the other hand is a little more... facing the truth? Idk, like you see the moose head for what it is. A dead moose head. There is also no second layer to that like diet, culture or convenience which are one of the primary motivation for meat and dairy consumption imo. Putting up a moose head is just for your entertainment, furr is just for fashion. No one needs to be wearing a furr coat in america or in most european countries, it's unnecessary animal suffering. That's what I'm getting at. I don't judge people that are intrigued by the macabre as you say, I just hope that when people make these choices that they go for already dead and sick animals and not kill new ones. Nothing makes me more sad and angry than when innocent animals (that are already dying for us in the dairy and meat industry).. end up also only dying for basically nothing but reasons of "it's so pretty". I hope we can at least agree on that.

i totally understand what you mean and i agree that animals should not be trophy hunted/killed for sport. or killed for fashion, when we have so many alternatives and it's just not necessary that we wear leather or fur when there's so many economical alternatives.

i think it's very reasonable to say you hope a celebrity you look up to doesn't approve of trophy hunting/killing an animal to be stuffed. to be honest, i don't really think most people give that much thought to how a taxidermied animal got that way, much like many meat-eaters subconsciously block out the fact that the bacon they're eating was once a very cute little pig they would coo over and never personally want to harm. personally, i would want to know any taxidermy i bought was ''ethically sourced'' aka roadkill or an animal that died naturally and was preserved, not killed so i could have it in my living room. i also enjoy going to death museums, seeing human skeletal remains, and post-mortem practices. i've held a real human skull but it doesn't mean.. i like people being killed or take joy in their death even if it was completely natural. it's just a curiosity. hopefully that makes sense lol

[doinsomethingdaily]

Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful ways to reduce your resource demand and emissions. I saw a post from you recently which said "we cannot consume ourselves to a greener world", but I have since seen posts from you advocating for one form of consumption over another for ecological reasons, including more expensive materials. Would you ever consider advocating for people to stop eating cows and dairy due to their outsized climate impact?

Hi, I am going to answer you ask in two parts because I feel we are addressing many different topics already right now.

First and foremost I want to say that I think that the agricultural system needs a drastic change in general. But yes mostly the animal agricultural chain right now is devastating. However I think advising a plant based diet is very complicated, there are many factors and to be honest I personally do not know enough about all the nutrition and economic and cultural factors. From a environmental standpoint I say if you can reduce you meat and diary intake as much as possible that would be great.

I think your ask originally comes from the post where I argued in the tags that I really do not like vegan leather and I do like wool? Because microplastics are everywhere & we have no idea what the impact is going to be but that it has impact on biodiversity and system health is almost certain. (if you would like some paper on this let me know! I am currently writing something on microplastics in surface water)

I also know that the traditional leather industry is very polluting. I just don't think that we should therefore make more plastics. The garment industry in general is terrible and should also be reformed. (We are not even touching on the human right problems in all these sectors mentioned before)

"we cannot consume ourselves to a greener world" this quote or how I interpreted the sentiment is that a truly "green utopian future" or any sustainable future is not possible in the current capitalistic system since it demands constant growth. It is not going to be solved by just making green consumer choices. It does not mean that you can not make choices for yourself which could be more environmentally friendly then others. Me buying a wool sweater instead of acrylic sweater is not the big systematic change that is going to save the planet but the acrylic sweater is still bad for the environment if that makes sense.

(Obviously this addresses mostly the global north and people who are not in poverty when we are talking about consumption and choices. I think all people have a right to have access to high quality foods & clothes but I realise that is not the reality that we are in right now)

I hope I explained myself well and touched on all your points

[jeanjauthor]

The ‘dreaded swimsuit season’ is coming up, and that means people are going to be obsessing about food and exercise and losing calories.  First of all, I’m not a medical professional nor a nutritionist nor a physical therapist etc, so definitely consult with the appropriate personnel...but I cannot stress strongly enough, you must consult with non-fatphobic medical personnel.

Fatphobia kills people of all bodyweights, and this blog does not support fatphobia, especially medical fatphobia.

Now, with that said...if you want to be healthy, there are plenty of non-fatphobic things you can do about it.  And the biggest things you need to know about how to go about it are: understanding your metabolism, understanding how muscles can affect your metabolism, and understanding how diet (foods, not fatphobia industry) can affect your metabolism.

Given all the fat-shaming bullshit thrown about in the so-called “Health Industry,” it sounds counterintuitive, but you actually need to eat more in order to lose weight.  You need to teach your body that it’s not in starvation mode anymore, that it has plenty of calories and nutrients...and just start moving more.  Not necessarily exercising more, but moving more.

2,000-2,500 calories a day is the range for a “normal” body-weight-and-size person.  However, the more exercise you do, the more muscles you have, or simply the bigger a person you are (the more cells you have), the more calories you need.  Unless you’re seriously short & skinny, a 1,500 calorie meal is a starvation meal, and that will put your body into “OMFG SAVE ALL THE CALORIES AS FAT!!” mode.

Literally, a toddler’s caloric needs are 1,100, and they range from 20-35 pounds.  You’re several times that much.  This doesn’t mean that if you weigh 175 pounds that  you need to eat at least 5 times as many calories, however!  In truth, you only need about double that, because a toddler’s metabolism is geared toward growing, whereas an adult’s metabolism is geared toward maintaining.

The best way to understand this is to realize your metabolism can be divided into 4 categories.

Your Resting Metabolic Rate is simply the amount of calories needed to keep you breathing, your blood pumping, your organs functioning.  That’s 60%-75% of your caloric intake. You have your Thermic Effect of Food, which is another 10%, literally the energy it takes to chew and swallow and digest food & drinks, and then to excrete the leftover bathroom waste. The remaining two types of calorie burning are Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis, and Activity Thermogenesis.  Of those lattermost two, your body actually burns more of the Non-Exercise calories than the Active Exercise calories...and it is designed to burn more when simply moving.

Literally, just moving a bit more than you usually do in a typical day will burn calories effectively.  Move around the house on every commercial break, stand up and sit down more often, change your position more frequently, raise and lower your arms, gently swing or kick your legs...just move more.  When they say 30 minutes of (gentle) exercise a day, this is exactly what they are talking about.  You don’t need weights, you don’t need machinery, you don’t need a gym membership.  Just move.  It’ll be a gradual process, but so long as you’re eating foods with plenty of fiber as well as other food types, you’ll feel full and won’t feel starved.

Now, if you want to burn calories even faster through vigorous exercise, you can do that, too...but again you need to use your metabolism.  Make sure you’re not starving, because your body will go into a panic attack thinking you’re not only starving but are being chased by bears and will need plenty of fat to survive while you’re unable to gather food, etc because zomg you’re being chased by bears!!1!  (Truly, the metabolism is a primitive/primal minded thing based upon hundreds of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and does not comprehend modern life at all.)

And then, what do you do to burn more calories?  You build muscles.  Muscles burn a lot of calories.  Not just through using said muscles in excercise, but muscles will burn through calories even while simply resting.  The more muscles you have, the more calories your body will burn.

How do you build muscles?  Well, there are two types of muscles, which while it sounds cannibalistic, we’ll call white meat and dark meat, because it’s the easiest mnemonic to remember.  White meat (think breast meat on a chicken) is designed for strong but brief actions...and men have more white meat muscles than females, though obviously they have both kinds.  That brief sprint towards a prey animal, the thrust of a spear into its body, aaaand done.

Dark meat muscles are meant for lower-strength repetitive actions.  Walking around reaching up or stooping down or digging while gathering plants, with no need to rush and plenty of opportunities to rest.  Chasing after young children.  Weaving baskets, scraping and tanning hides into furs and leathers, cooking...these are tasks that require little to moderate amounts of strength, but most important, repeated movements.  Women tend to have more dark meat muscles than men, though obviously they have both kinds.

(The reasons why wild ducks, partridges, grouse, etc, all have dark meat breast muscles is because they use those muscles to fly long distances. Chickens evolved from jungle-floor hunt-and-peck birds that mostly flew only short distances to get away from predators by flying up to the nearest tree branches, so they literally just needed a burst of strong energy over a short period of time, hence white meat muscles.)

Which type is better?  Both, ideally, because they are useful in a variety of different ways.  Which is better for burning calories?  Ideally both, but it doesn’t really matter.  All you need to do is build muscles.

As for how to do that...you know how you feel when you exercise until you are sore?  That’s what you need to do.  This is where weights and machines and treadmills do come in handy, but still aren’t necessary, since you can lift and lower objects around your home, and get exercise bands or surgical tubing for resistance training, and go for longer walks, etc.

The object is to (gently!) push your body to the point where your muscles are sore.  You can do this by lifting weights for a few repetitions near your limit (use a spotter & practice safe lifting skills!!), which is a white meat muscle activity, or you can use lesser weights or resistance machinery (surgical tubing counts), but just do it more, which is dark meat muscle activity.

You can also do the “step down” method of weight training or resistance training, by starting near your limit, going until your muscles burn, then resting a few minutes while gently shaking out, massaging, or relaxing the muscles in question to help move the lactic acid out of your muscle tissues, along with hydrating. Then you “step down” the amount of weight (say by 20%-30%) and doing another set of reps (repetition movements) until again it’s a struggle, then another few minutes of rest, hydration, etc, before stepping down again, doing some reps...and then again when it’s at the lightest you can for as long as you can, then rest that muscle group.

Regardless of which way you weight/resistance train, take a full 48 hours off.  Or as close to 48 as you manage--weight train 3 times a week, and then take up to 72 hours (three days) off so your body can fully recover.  You can still exercise, but do not use weights or resistance machinery/rubber bands, etc.

Let your muscles use that 48 hours to heal, and eat more protein sources to help your body build more muscle strength, along with a variety of nutrients to get the right kinds of micronutrients.  Again, I must emphasize: Do not starve your body.  It will go into fat-storage mode and will only barely repair your muscles, nevermind build them bigger.

The goal is to build more muscle tissue.  if you are hungrier than usual, eat more.  Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen, and there are plenty of charts out there with “if you are craving X,Y, or Z, then try eating healthier foods A,B,C, D, E, or F!” and they’re actually not inaccurate...but it is okay to have the “less healthy” foods in moderation, same as in everything you eat.

But seriously, up your protein intake, which is what your body needs to build bigger muscles.  The average (again, your needs may be more) person needs about 4 ounces (115 grams) of protein per meal, so you can shoot for more than that.  And get your proteins from a variety of sources.  Humans can manufacture a good number of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), but we cannot synthesize 9 of them, the “9 essential amino acids.”

These 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.   Foods that contain all nine essential acids are called complete proteins. These include eggs, fish, beef, pork, poultry, and whole sources of soy (tofu, edamame, tempeh, and miso).

While plant proteins have lower essential amino acid contents when compared to animal proteins, they will also have different ratios of the various amio acids compared to most animal-based proteins.  This is something that vegetarians and vegans need to keep in mind.

Some plant-based foods can be combined together to complement and/or supplement.  “Rice & beans” is one such combination.  Basically, you combine a grain (in this case rice) with a pulse (legumes, like beans, or peas, etc).  Here in America, in Mexican restaurants, a serving of refried beans and Spanish rice (seasoned with tomatoes & spices) is often automatically included as a side for most dishes.  This provides a great deal of carbohydrates, but it also provides a more or less “complete protein” set of those essential amino acids.

Corn, beans, and squash plants do the same thing, providing a complete protein when combined together, as well as plenty of carbs.  These three plant types are the “Three Sisters” of indigenous North Americans.  They are best when planted together, the corn providing a trellis for the beans to grow upon, the squashes spreading out across the field to smother competing weeds, and together they feed people reasonably well.

However, they are still more carb-heavy than protein-heavy, which means vegetarians need to rely upon other sources such as nuts, plus eggs, dairy, and/or fish (if pisco-lacto-ovarian vegetarians).  Vegans in particular need to be extra careful.  Yes, peanuts have a lot of proteins compared to their carbs, same with almonds, etc, so definitely add nuts to your diets!  But just be aware that you’re going to need to be a lot more conscious of your protein types & sources--and make sure to get a variety of sources--if you’re trying to build muscles while on a vegetarian or especially on a vegan diet.  A purely plant-based diet will not have nearly as balanced a set of amino acids as what animal-inclusive diets can contain.

If you’re lacto-ovarian, this is made easier because milk, cheese, and eggs are wonderful foods with a lot of nutritional value.  If you eat fish as well, even better, full proteins in fish as well as in egg whites, etc...but that brings me to another caveat, because you should probably eat the egg yolks as well as the egg whites.

Do not skip out on fats.  Unless you have a genuine doctor-ordered medical reason, do not cut all fats out of your diet.  Your brain needs fats in order to function.  And just as with amino acids in various protein sources, there are different types of fats as well that our bodies need in different amounts for different reasons.  This isn’t to say you should chow down on the equivalent of a full stick of butter (1/2 cup, 65 grams) with each meal (unless you’re camping outdoors in winter in the far north or a mountain, because then you need fat in your diet for your body to literally burn to help keep you warm).

It’s just that you don’t want to go completely fat free...because if you do, your metabolism will go into panic mode in its primitive/primal-minded way, “ZOMG IT’S LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING AND NOTHING HAS ANY FATS IN IT WE’RE ALL GONNA STAAAAAARRRVEEE!!” Your metabolism will start turning carbs and even proteins into fats in an effort to ensure your brain (along with other vital organs) will have enough fats to keep functioning.  So go ahead and put some butter on your toast.  Even better, put some nutbutter on your toast, since sunflower butter, peanut butter, almond butter, all those things have proteins and fats as well as carbs.

Also, your body actually does need cholesterol to function, but only in smaller amounts than you’d think.  HOWEVER, if it doesn’t get enough of the right types of cholesterol through diet, your body will make its own cholesterol, and will make more than you need, out of carbohydrates.  (Yeah, this one was a shocker to me when I learned about it, and the answer blew my mind.  Seriously, our body will make up to 10x as much cholesterol as we need if we don’t eat it, so it’s best if we do eat it.)

So how much does an average person need to consume of these critical cholesterols that it absolutely needs?  ...About 1-2 egg yolks a day (or comparable alternative sources; vegans, do some research on alternatives, or just accept that your body may try to overproduce certain cholesterols if it’s feeling nutrition-starved).  Seriously.  Just that much is enough. (Again, your needs may vary based on your body size, metabolic rate, and/or environment.)

So.  Put it all together, and you have:  1. Eat a variety of foods in sufficient quantities and qualities (fats and proteins included) to ensure your body stays healthy; 2. exercise just enough to push your muscles into feeling sore; 3. Rest 48 hours while eating a bit more protein to help your body repair and build bigger muscles; 4. Lather-rinse-repeat... and you’ll eventually get bigger muscles that burn more calories simply by existing, as well as whenever you use them to move just a bit more than you normally would.

Dark meat muscles burn more calories when at rest because they’re designed that way, because they’re small effort but frequent use with multiple short rests, lots of blood flowing through them, and thus are more metabolically “charged” than white meat muscles.  However, white meat muscles tend to be the largest muscles, and thus while not designed to burn calories as efficiently while at rest compared to dark meat muscles...they actually end up burning about the same through sheer volume.

Work on improving your muscles, move a bit more every day, eat more conscientously but not through the heavily warped fearmongering lens of the Diet Industry’s blather and/or tactics, and you will be healthy enough to go to the beach and enjoy it.  Not because you’ll have lost weight, but because you will be healthier.  (Fun fact: muscles are denser and heavier than fat, so you could literally lose inches while gaining pounds from your body burning the fat with its now increased muscle mass.)

And yes, you can weigh 260 pounds and still be healthier than someone who weighs 160.

In other words, if you have a body, and you go to the beach with it, you now have a beach body.

You’ll just be less likely to get out of breath while swimming or building sand castles or playing volleyball or whatever if you’ve upped your exercise levels between now and then.

Also:  CONTINUE TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC.

Get one that matches your swimwear, or makes you feel silly & fun.  Even if everyone started wearing their masks (not going to happen, but one can dream), it will to take us all of 2021 to quell the pandemic...and because people won’t be wearing their masks, keep wearing that mask.  Yes, even if you have had all your shots.  Because people aren’t wearing masks, the virus is able to spread, and when it spreads, there’s always a chance it will mutate, and cause new strains of infections...which it already has.  So wear your damn mask.

[teaboot]

Veganism isn’t necessarily about sustainability, it’s and ethical stance about an animals right not to be killed unnecessarily for the use of humanity. There’s obviously crossover between veganism and environmental activism, but your sustainability argument (which is really questionable - large livestock that get made into leather are an incredible drain on the planet) isn’t going to sway any actual vegans.

Hey, I'm not looking to make vegans stop being vegans. The meat industry is one of the biggest existing threats to our environment alongside being a horrific carnival of animal and human suffering, and I totally support the decision to avoid contributing to it's survival wherever possible.

On the other hand, though, we do need to be able to take a good hard look at all our options and be frank about the practicality of what we have going.

Do I want cows to live healthy, happy lives? Yes. Do I want children on the other side of the world to be able to grow up safe and protected without having to work in sweatshops to survive? Also yes. Can I always have both? No. So when it comes down to the wire, I will always choose people.

And 'veganism isn't about sustainability'? It should be. Because no matter how much you love an animal, it will still die suffering if you force it out of it's natural habitat in favor of a hemp or soy farm.

Industrialized leather comes from the death of an animal, is processed with chemicals and dyes that pollute the water, and is assembled by factory workers.

Plastic comes from oils that are pumped and processed by workers whose health support is cut to the minimum, it releases harmful gasses into the atmosphere, and shreds apart and filters into waterways and animal's digestive tracts.

Cotton and other plant fabrics are genetically modified to be as agriculturally competitive as possible, which forces generations-old farms into the dirt to be bought up by foreign investors (us) who buy it up and use pesticides that are so dangerous to human, animal, and insect health that they're illegal in our own backyards.

We burn down the Amazon to make way for cattle so we can eat meat more than we strictly need to.

We poison entire villages and skyrocket stillbirths and cancers so we can buy clothes faster than we wear them out.

And then we turn around and cut the sustainable hunting rights of aboriginal nations because the idea of them killing things makes us sad.

The sad fact is, there are no morally pure options anymore. We've grown beyond that. There is no path you can take that doesn't cause some amount of pain.

But the way I see it, the pain of buying a second hand leather coat from a thrift store, knowing a living thing died for it, and the pain of buying an acrylic/cotton plastic-coated rainjacket from, for argument's sake, that same thrift store... That's a splinter to a broken finger. And right now, that's the best I personally can do.

[angrylizardjacket]

And All The Queen’s Men {Roger Taylor}

A/N: 5486 words. Okay wow. Please bare with me, this is a long one and also a bit of a different one. Written in the style of a Rolling Stone article. Finished it at 7am. Prompt & support from the lovely @ginghampearlsnsweettea

[And All The Queen’s Men ‘verse masterpost]

Warning: Minor character death, in both senses, it’s a baby, it’s not graphic it’s just mentioned, but just thought I should let you know.

And All The Queen’s Men: how the lines blurred between Queen and and the Queen of Jazz Rock.

An article almost two years in the making, after their last tour, which I was invited along to in order to write the initial article, the rock sensation Queen split, a decision, I am lead to be believe, was instigated by front man Freddie Mercury, and though Giselle Jones had continued to make music, even before her very public, on-stage breakdown, her lawyers had me keep the article to myself. Now, with the band’s reunion, and Live Aid having been a massive success with both powerhouse musical names coming back into the public eye, I’ve invited them back to my office for one last interview, but mostly to beg them to let me publish this article.

Which, obviously, they allowed.

It’s 1985, and with them all sitting in front of me, I feel a sense of deja vu. There are some changes, of course, Roger Taylor’s hair is shorter, Giselle Jones is wearing jeans and a sweater rather than her well-known cocktail dress, but John Deacon’s still smiling at me, Brian’s looking about the room, perhaps seeing if anything’s changed, and Freddie Mercury’s draped casually on the left of the only non-Queen member of the bunch. 

But before I get into the past two years, maybe I should take you back a bit, to when Giselle and Queen began collaborating.

Giselle Jones began in the late sixties as the front-woman of a swing band in a thirties theme pub known as Modern Glamour. Tall, elegant, with a voice like honey, she had a small following of regulars that frequented the pub, but had kept her passion from music from her family, claiming she was merely a waitress at the establishment, since her father was an executive at EMI, and she didn’t want to seem like the subject of nepotism.

However, one fateful day, her father brings music industry giant to the pub for lunch, hoping to catch Giselle at work and introduce her, but as you know, they both got a lot more than they bargained for. Foster sees potential in her, and offers her a contract if she’s willing to modernise her act, and as we all know, she does.

When Giselle releases her first album in 1970, Velvet Roses, which would be the first and only “Jazz” record to hit the Top 40 charts for that year, Queen are still playing pub gigs around London, though they’re looking at recording their first album, which would eventually get EMI’s attention, but that’s still not for a while. At this point, they’re the biggest fish in a very small uni-pub pond, and they need the means to grow. So out goes the band’s van, for one night in a recording studio.

“Like, in retrospect, of course it was the right decision.” Taylor leans against the back of the sofa he’s sitting on in my office in 1982, voice contemplative and fingers locked together as he looks into the past. “But I was twenty-two at the time, selling my van was a big deal.”

“A big enough deal that you wrote a song about it.” Giselle adds, sitting beside him in the middle of the sofa. Deacon hides a smile though May doesn’t hide his snort of laughter. 

The smirked remark is at odds with her look. While the boys are all in various states of brightly patterned shirts and jeans, looking casual and comfortable; Giselle wears white, sequinned, off-the-shoulder gown that hugs her figure and hits the floor, a slit in the thigh where her leg crosses, dark skin a stunning contrast to both the white fabric of her dress, and the leather of my sofa. Hands folded in over her knee, there’s not a singular hair out of place where she’s got it slicked back; I can’t look at her directly, she’s so focused and well put-together that it’s like staring at the sun.

The contrast has always been apparent in their various works, though Mercury has, in the past, cited her as an early inspiration for his desire to add a certain classical gravitas to rock and roll, and though she hasn’t publicly stated anything, the amount of covers Giselle has performed lived could fill an album. And now, here they are, about leave for a double-billed tour of the US, which I have been asked to join.

But their connection goes back much further than this, all the way back to 1975, to the release of the smash-hit single Bohemian Rhapsody That very same year, Giselle releases her fifth single, Dinner and a Show, a lyrically dissonant, heart pumping anthem that’s a metaphor for the way any type of review fuelled her, since it meant people were talking about her work. 

You serve yourself on a platter; your putrid delights, / yet how can I refrain? / You don’t come to flatter, you don’t want to go / so come on baby, / don’t you know? / You’re treating me to dinner and a show.

Giselle’s usually silky performance is turned into a masterclass of vocal gymnastics as she slides easily from the rough intensity of rock and roll, to the smooth purr of jazz as she sings about eating critics for breakfast.

They say a free mind makes the meat so tender / now you’re on the menu and I’m a big spender

The song itself comes as a response to her former manager about how her “aggressive” move to music that more stylistically rock and roll was alienating older audiences, though Foster, still her producer at the time, was pushing for her to skew to a younger audience, and it seemed as though he had gotten his way.

The real change, however, was the B-Side of the record. After speaking to Jim “Miami” Beach, Queen’s lawyer, regarding potentially covering one of the band’s songs, Giselle reveals that she was eventually told to just ask them directly.

“I gave Miami a letter that basically explained that I’d like to cover one of their songs for my new album,” Giselle gives me a thin smile, and I feel like I’ve done something wrong, even though I’m assured by Brian that her public persona “is just like that sometimes”. 

“- and I thought it was a joke! I said ‘yeah, sure, what’s the worst that could happen’.” Mercury laughs, leaning forward elbows on his knees and eyes shinning with amusement. “I did not believe for one second that Giselle, Giselle-” repeating her name for emphasis, his hand comes to quickly rest on hers where she still has them perfectly still on her knee, a moment of solidarity, “wanted anything to do with us. Hand Held Heart had been at the top of the US charts for almost three whole weeks the year before.” Letting out a long, wistful sigh, Mercury sits back, still grinning, though he’s got this far away look on his face now. 

“So we’d been stuck on a farm, recording A Night At The Opera for weeks with no outside communications, ” May fills in where Mercury’s faded into his own memories, and Taylor slings arm around Giselle where she’s actually relaxed somewhat, hands now in her lap. Curiously, she doesn’t shrug him off. “And when we get back, it turns out that she’s put a jazz cover of Jesus, yeah, that song from our first album, on the B-Side of her newest single.”

“Freddie practically had a heart attack.” Deacon adds, patting Mercury’s shoulder fondly.

In her own way, she was continuing the trend that Dinner and a Show had started, and that seven-inch single would bestow upon Giselle the title of Queen of Jazz Rock. It hadn’t been the first time she had acknowledged the band publicly, by the time she had released the single, her public persona had gained enough traction that, a few months prior to her recording of the cover, a reporter had asked if Killer Queen, Queen’s biggest hit at the time, had been written about her. The question had been caught on camera by the reporter after one of her tour stops in the Midwest of America; the footage is a favourite of fans, including myself, of the way she doesn’t even turn, simply calls over her shoulder, ‘they should be so lucky’, and she gets into her waiting car.

“I never took offence,” Mercury tells me, both in 1982, and 1985, as I bring it up both times to consolidate the origins of their musical partnership.

“You wouldn’t, you were all starry-eyed for her back then.” Taylor leans back to address Mercury behind Giselle’s head, but only when he says it the first time, in 1982. 

“It was a bit of a dig at us,” Deacon agrees with the drummer, nodding before shrugging. “A lot of good came out of it, though.” The others seem to agree, but Giselle herself has stayed quiet. For the first time since the interview started, she looks away from me, gaze dipping as she seems inclined to speak, though she takes her time to weigh up her words before she says them, wondering exactly what will and will not be printed.

“It was a bit of s**t thing to say. I was twenty-four and I panicked, I had to keep up my... this persona.” She gestures now to herself, breaking the entire physicality as she lets herself lean back, and I feel like I can breathe, seeing her act so human. Adjusting, she lets herself rest of the slightest of diagonals, shoulder to shoulder with Taylor’s arm still around her, now with Mercury petting her knee in solidarity.

Once in the tour bus, the difference between Giselle Jones, the woman, and Giselle, the singer and personality, becomes almost jarring to see. As soon as we get into the bus, she strips off the gown she was wearing, I turn away, though the others don’t seem to be bothered by it, May takes the dress to a waiting assistant by the door, and when I turn back, she’s in a pair of sweat pants and Taylor is tossing her shirt several sizes too big for her. For the first time since I’ve learned about her, Giselle looks comfortable, looks approachable and, for lack of a better word, non-robotic, taking a hairbrush from a drawer and flopping onto one of the beds as she brushes out the gel, apparently not bothering with a shower just yet.

“I showered this morning.” She seems to have caught my confused look, and explains herself. With her guard lowered in the familiar situation, her natural voice shines through, a rich, yet feminine alto, reminiscent of her singing voice. It adds to the list of things that add character to her beyond what her “persona” could ever convey. Or perhaps that’s the point.

The bus itself is almost too small for the five performers, and I’m certain it won’t fit me, but Giselle and I watch as they cram a blow up bed onto the kitchen table. It looks stable, and for the opportunity to experience living in such close quarters with such big names, I’d take anything.

“Sorry, darling, Paul takes the only spare bed.” Mercury informs me as I shimmy up onto the bed to test if it would hold. I had thought that the vehicle was at capacity, though it does make sense that the band’s day-to-day manager, Paul Prenter, would be travelling with them. That being said, I hadn’t realised there was even a spare bed, there was only five, perhaps none of them had wanted to be subjected to the blow up bed and decided to share instead.

When we finally get on the road, I get to finally see their true dynamics emerge. We all know the Queen dynamics by now, brotherly yet volatile, at times. I had worried for Giselle at times, the concept of living with four men (five if you count Prenter, who Giselle does not seem to, when I ask her about it, though I don’t think that’s a subject I should pry about, judging by the look on Taylor’s face where I can see him lounging at the back of the bus). However, I should have not have been worried; first of all, despite the youthfulness of their appearances, performances, and spirit, these are all men in their 30s, Giselle herself being 31 at the time of writing (1982), and they all have experience living with women, and with each other.

“First tour was a nightmare.” Deacon’s joined me on the blowup bed, is sipping tea as we travel along. “We learned real quick how disgusting close quarters can be.” He’s a quiet soul, but observant, and honestly I really enjoy his company. Anyone who can weather over a decade of rock and roll and come out as calm as him deserves some sort of recognition. “It’s much better now. Mostly.” He smiles like it’s an inside joke, but won’t elaborate. Giselle and Taylor refuse to clarify what he means by that, May just laughs when I ask him, directing me back to ask Taylor and Giselle, and Mercury calls them all gossips.

It’s something about the tour lifestyle that must bring out the childishness in them all, which comes out strongly during dinner. They shove my blowup bed into the sleeping quarters when dinner is served, and the five of us manage to cram into the tiny booth the bus allows. May, Deacon and Giselle are in charge of cooking dinner, sausages, potatoes, and peas, since apparently Prenter and Mercury have taken lunch duties, and Roger has put himself in charge of getting coffee and tea for everyone in the morning.

“We should really eat breakfast.” Giselle muses through half a mouthful of food.

“I do!” Deacon, next to me, comes back with, pouring some more peas onto his plate.

“You just eat cereal from the box, Deaky, that’s not breakfast.” Taylor counters him, which just causes the rest of the table to devolve into an argument about what counts as breakfast. Prenter, who has joined us for the meal, looks like he’d rather be napping or still driving, and makes quiet work of his meal.

Roger Taylor goes to sleep after me, and wakes up before I do, and I’m not sure how he does it. Or where he sleeps, the other beds seem taken. He wakes me up on the first morning by shoving my bed, which slides a few centimeters, but isn’t about to fall off it’s perch.

“You want coffee?” I’m barely functioning at this point, and his question baffles me. “Tea? Coffee? Deaky’s cereal? We got some left over sausages.” He lists off, probably due to my clear confusion, he seems exasperated, even though he’s definitely wearing pyjamas too. He’s still scowling a little when I tell him how I like my coffee, but he doesn’t complain, and it tastes exactly like I like it when he hands it over. The bus is stationary, so he can put the cups by the bedsides of those they are for, but interestingly enough he joins me on the table/bed. 

I know the origin story of Queen, I think everyone does at this point, so I ask him instead about the subject of my article; how Queen got involved with Giselle.

“You wanna know how I met Giselle?” It’s not exactly what I asked, but he’s already thinking about it, looking past me to the sleeping quarters with a frown. He plays absent-mindedly with the chain around his neck, and with the ring attached to it. “I thought everyone knew about that, the whole thing where we hated each other from the start?” When I ask if it was true, he actually laughs, though it’s more a snort of derision, if I’m being honest. “Of course not. Mostly.” They all seem to like that word, I hadn’t taken them all to be vague.

“I told him to take a long walk off a short pier.” Giselle will clarify for me later that day, joining me as I take a smoke break at one of our bathroom stops, not that there isn’t a toilet on the bus, they just try to avoid using it as much as possible. She doesn’t smoke, claims she never has, but enjoys the company, while the boys are buying snacks at the gas station. I ask when it was, she gives me another thin smile, but not like it had been in the office. Here it’s the punctuation to an earlier joke rather than a judgement.

She tells me about how she actually met them all, recording her second album, after her 1972 performance on Top of the Pops, you know the one. It had cemented Giselle’s now iconic aesthetic of an off the shoulder, floor length sequinned gown, silk gloves, and bold red lipstick, dark hair falling victory curls, the whole look reminiscent of an old Hollywood star, though there was red glitter trailing from her lips, and on her gloves in a theatrical fabrication of blood. It had been a look inspired by her musical roots, and the theatricality of the then-popular glam rock, a movement which would inspire many of Mercury’s tour looks also.

She was twenty-one at the time, still “developing her persona”, when she found that the in-house recording equipment at EMI was being used by the then-still quite unknown Queen. Or rather, according to Giselle, just Taylor.

“He was packing up the last of his equipment, and he makes a pass at me, thinks I’m an intern.” We can see the boys leaving the gas station, Taylor himself heading the pack. “So yeah, told him to take a long walk off a short pier.” She laughs, seems to hold the memory quite dear. “That b******d has the gall to look me in the eyes and ask who I am.”

“Did he know who you were?” When I look at her, she’s still smiling, tipping her head to the side as the boys draw close. She seems to be paying attention to me, but not a lot.

“Yeah, told me later he was just pissed I didn’t throw myself at him. That’s why I said that, ‘they should be so lucky’ thing, actually, that motherf****r right there.” The way she says it, raising her finger to point at him, makes me think it’s a story she’s told before, one that he knows about.

“You talking about me?” Taylor yells, and Giselle is quick to answer that she is. “Don’t spill all my secrets.” It sounds like an order, but his smile says it’s not, it’s weirdly playful, a dynamic I didn’t expect from them, especially considering their history. I raise the point. She laughs at me.

“You’re kidding, right?” 

Prenter calls for everyone on the bus, and Giselle doesn’t think to clarify once we’re back on board. 

The tour, I should have mentioned earlier, is a double feature; Queen is promoting their album Hot Space, while Giselle is promoting her own, The Bend Before the Break. When I ask her about the album itself, she talks happily about a few of the songs, however when I bring up my personal favourites, Ache and Heaven Sent, she turns very quiet.

I will end up watching most of her performances, and to this day, I have never seen something as raw and spiritual as Giselle performing Ache.

The lights dim as the joyful Meant to Be finishes. On the studio recording, a double bass starts the song, long, grieving and angry notes that pick up in tempo as it’s joined by drums and a piano, and finally, her voice, low, bitter and seductive in equal measure. Here, there’s silence, as she gently croons the open lines, face illuminated by only a single gold light, as swirling red and purple lights move about the stage. 

While saying you were sorry, / you burned me from the outside, in. / Now I’m calloused all over, / And too tired to feel the sting. / But I feel the ache, / feel the ache / feel the ache. / I’ll still let you back in.

She plays the piano herself for this song, a skill, I later learn Mercury had taught her many years ago. It’s a song that tugs at your gut, gets you thinking about how you keep people in your life who aren’t the best for you. She ends the last chorus with a long, mournful wail that you feel in your bones. 

I’ve never heard a crowd so quiet as when she finishes Ache, the penultimate song of her set list, unless you count encores.

The final song of the night is always Heaven Sent, a bright, headbanging anthem with the musical gravitas of a full jazz band. It was her single from the album, it topped most charts. You know the one. The radio won’t stop playing it.

Divinity with a neon glow / it hung above his head, / promoting his next show. / Didn’t even try to find my light, / just the darkness he’d bestow. / Heaven sent me the Morningstar.

“I was cheated on.” Was all she will say about the songs.

The others steer clear of those songs as well, when talking about the album, as well as the titular song, The Bend Before the Break, though Giselle claims she has moved on from the feelings associated in all three songs.

“I wrote them first on the album, I’ve moved on.”

Each of the boys seems very protective of Giselle at times, though Taylor is by far the worst. If I’m being honest, was weird to me, they’d been at each other’s throats publicly and professionally for almost a full decade after Giselle’s initial comment, however the vitriol had died down in the past few years, so I enquire about that about halfway through the six week tour. 

“We set them up.” May is the first to answer, sipping tea with myself, Deacon and Mercury. Since both Giselle and Taylor adjourned to the sleeping quarters. I ask him what he means.

“They tell it better.” Mercury interjects, but May argues that they’re asleep anyways so it’s not like it matters. Deacon agrees with Mercury, but quiet enough that May ignores him.

“So by ‘79, we’ve collaborated together, us and ‘Zelle, I mean,” the nickname is mostly used by May and Taylor, though Deacon uses it on occasion, “a couple of times, and we love her, right boys? We love her-” looking around, both Mercury and Deacon are nodding along, responding to a story they’d both heard before, though it was interesting for my first time hearing it, “but Rog is about ready to stab her with his drumsticks, but that’s just how he is.”

“Threatened to stab me once.” Deacon adds the unnerving information with complete serenity, focused on his cup.

“Me a couple of times.” Mercury shakes his head, as if it were some schoolboy prank rather than a stabbing threat.

“Like I said, just how he is. So we decide to send them to a place where they can bond over complaining about everything else, apart from each other.” I asked how it worked out for them and I watch as their faces fall. This terrible blind date idea must have gone horribly. “They hate the restaurant, which is good, but he goes to leave and bumps the table, spilling beer all over her dress, which is bad,” well, obviously. He pays me no mind, “and she elbows him in the face when she’s putting her jacket on - still don’t know how that one happened - but he still says he’ll take her home because it’s late, except-”

“To preface,” Deacon jumps in here, adding a little more milk to his tea, “she hates I’m In Love With My Car.” The song? Deacon nods. “Rog wrote it.” I can connect the dots, but I’m still confused as to how that lead to them being friends.

“Friends.” Mercury actually laughs into his cup.

“He takes her home anyways, she tells him the song’s s**t bu the sentiment wasn’t far off.” May finishes, shrugging.

“It was a real nice car.” Deacon shrugged, before looking straight at me. “And she still hates the song to this day.” There’s an air of finality to his words that is entirely unwarranted. That isn’t the point of the story; how are they friends now? Did they hook up in his car? Is that what they’re implying, I feel like such a gossip asking these questions.

“Did they ho- ? Yeah, of course.” May laughs, and though it clears some things up, I’m still rather confused. It’s probably reading on my face, because it looks like something else is dawning on him. “You know they’re married, right?”

No. No I did not know. Now I feel like an idiot.

I wonder if The Bend Before the Break is about Taylor? I can sense I’ve touched a nerve when I ask, and Mercury abruptly changes the subject, though the air still doesn’t feel right. When I head back through the sleeping area to get a new pen from my luggage, I catch a glimpse of Giselle napping in her bunk, Taylor too, asleep with his arm around her. She’s even wearing a wedding ring. I’m kicking myself for not noticing sooner. The chain with the ring around Taylor’s neck makes sense now. A lot of things make sense now.

For the next four days I feel like I’m being shunned, I’m the last to be told about dinner and have to eat the leftovers, Giselle barely says two words to me, Taylor just keeps glowering, and someone let the air out of my bed on the second night. It’s childish, but it’s in line with what I expect from them, regarding this sort of issue, I’m just glad Taylor hasn’t poured my coffee on me in my sleep, or spat in it. He just didn’t make it, which I suppose is probably the safest option for me.

The only apology I can think of is to offer to buy them all drinks, but it works well enough, and the next morning I wake to a fresh cup of coffee, and a very hungover Taylor. At least he’s dedicated to his job.

The rest of the tour passes without further incident. I still stand by Ache as one of my favourite musical performances of the decade, though I don’t mention it to Giselle, and now that I know the dynamic between her and Taylor, I can’t stop seeing it. Honestly, readers, they’re all over each other, which is expected from a man of Taylor’s reputation, but it’s still a little jarring to see the two of them so cozy. I must have been blind not to see it before.

When we part ways, Giselle is a little stiff with me.

“You brought up some feelings that I just... hadn’t actually dealt with at the time, which f******d me up.” She tells me in retrospect, sitting in my office with the rest of the boys in 1985. Live Aid was a few weeks ago, and since they all returned to the spotlight, I asked if they wanted to come and reflect on the past few years. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that Giselle still swears like a sailor.

“A lot’s happened in the past few years.” Taylor’s still very protective of her, and after everything that’s conspired, at least from what I know, it’s warranted. We talk about the band splitting, how it had hurt the band as a whole, and even Giselle, who was at the time seeing a counsellor with Taylor. I’m hesitant to broach the topic of their relationship, though they seem like a solid until now, sitting before me, holding hands and leaning against one another.

I ask if Giselle’s breakdown was due to the band splitting, though I’m hesitant if I’ll get a response. Her smile is sad, which is mirrored by the rest of the band. I can guess her response before she says it.

“No.”

You all know the moment I’m talking about, the last concert for her last album, as of this publication, Finally, Sunlight where she had receive pleas from the audience for an encore. When she came back out, part of her makeup had been smudged around her eyes, and you can hear her sniffle over the microphone. (”I’m so sorry, I lost someone close to me, I thought I could keep it together for one night.” Dabbing at her eyes, she sits at the piano and laughs, but there’s no heart in it. “But I’ve got five more minutes left in me, let’s go, Atlanta.”) The song she plays is Somebody to Love, a slow, soulful cover, and the audience is almost unanimous in their raised lighters and slow swaying. As she goes on, she just starts crying harder, missing notes, hands shaking; the extended ‘Looooord’ before the chanting becomes a desperate wail, a plea to the heavens, and she collapses onto the piano, sobbing audibly as the instruments all come to uncertain halt and lighters go down in confusion.

From the crowd, a single voice begins to chant ‘Find me somebody to love. / Find me somebody to love.’ and a single voice turns to a theatre, full to the brim, as they sing when she can’t, still crying against the piano. Lighters go up, and together the audience and the band finishes the song where words have failed her. It was televised locally on the night, and still brings me to tears when I watch it now.

“We lost our daughter.” 

For those of you reading this who are shocked, I am too. Sitting there like a fool, not saying anything. 

“I was on tour, and Rog was at home with her,” even now, Giselle is getting a little teary-eyed, not that I blame her. Both Taylor and Mercury have an arm around her, and May has a hand on her shoulder, Deacon sitting on the back of the sofa right behind her. A unit. A family. “I wanted to go home, she was getting really sick, and I know he was doing everything he could, but I just- I wanted to be there... but my label threatened to sue me for... millions.” It sounds like it’s hard to say, and she’s wiping a tear from her eyes. I offer her the tissues on my desk. “But I should have gone home. I should have been there by her side, I should have done more.” Taylor whispers something to her and she leans against him, taking comfort in him.

“I had to call her, tell her that... that she’d passed. The day of the show. She’d been so upset for week, ‘Zelle that is, and everything just-” Taylor manages to get a great handle on his emotions, despite his misty eyes and shaking hands. “We’re alright now though, see? Nothing can tear us apart.” Though his voice does drop, so I think he’s saying it more for Giselle’s benefit. I give them all time to collect themselves, stop to get hot drinks for everyone, and everyone finally seems happy enough to answer when I ask what’s next for them.

“Music, of course.” Mercury says, now holding what was Giselle’s free hand. The rest of the gathered musicians agree. I ask if we’ll be hearing any sort of collaboration between Queen and the Queen of Jazz Rock. Taylor snickers, pulling Giselle close.

“Yeah, but not in the way you mean.” He ignores the rest of the men’s shouts of disgust, as well as his wife’s own gagging noise, which I can see on her face she regrets as she covers her mouth with caution, before giving the okay. 

“No, we’re okay, we’re good.” She assures everyone, before looking at me. “What he meant to say is that I’m pregnant.” She clarifies. Taylor is still grinning. 

“Don’t be gross, Rog.” May calls from the other side of the sofa, and Taylor has the gall to look accosted.

“What’s next for me, after everything that’s happened, is family.” Giselle says over the sounds of her husband’s indignant huffs, though his expression turns soft at her words, and they ignore the ‘boo’s of everyone else as they kiss.

“Could you be less gross around company?” Deacon asks, still mild-mannered as ever. This seems to be the cue for the interview to end, as Taylor of Giselle-

“It’s Giselle Taylor, by the way, I’m sorry I hadn’t corrected you earlier.” She corrects me now, as [Roger] Taylor leads her out of the door. The rest of the band seem mildly exasperated at their antics, but still ready to answer my questions. After everything that’s happened, I’m a little overwhelmed, I’m not sure where to go from here.

Perhaps my next article will be on Live Aid.

[blow-up-reactions]

How Would NCT 127 + Jeno React To Their S/O Being Vegan

Annomynus said: nct127 + jeno reaction to s / o being a vegan thanks ♡

Taeil: 

You were sitting at the restaurant, poking at the salad that was covered in feta. You were at a birthday party for one of Taeil’s friends, and it was being thrown in a restaurant with pre-made food. Which meant that you had gotten this salad as an appetizer, and a steak was coming for the main course, which was topped off with a cake. Which meant that you were only gonna be eating rice and some salad for dinner. You didn’t want to call attention to it, as you didn’t want to bother Taeil’s friend with your diet. Taeil had, of course, noticed the menu wasn’t vegan-friendly, and he knows that you didn’t like to call attention to yourself, especially when there was a lot of people you didn’t know. Taeil didn’t really know what to do, so he just gave you his salad and rice that he knew you could eat. Just as Taeil finished the main course, he told his friend that you weren’t feeling well. Which was true. It was horrible to sit without eating anything while everyone else talked about how amazing the food was. Taeil then took you to your favorite restaurant, and you couldn’t be happier. It was exactly what you needed after two hours of torture.

“There we go! I’m sorry they didn’t have any vegan food. You always look the happiest when you’re eating”

Johnny:

You and Johnny were sitting at a newly-opened restaurant, scanning the menu. The restaurant just opened but no one had said something bad about the place yet, so you decided to try it. A frown grew on your face as you read the menu, there were no vegan options. All the salads had meat in them, and if not they were served with either cheese or eggs. Johnny looked at your soft frown and called over the waiter. “Excuse me, but do you have any vegan options?” You asked the waiter, who already looked annoyed. “No” he simply said, without even looking up from notepad. “oh,” you said surprised by his rude answer. “Then can I have the chicken salad without the chicken?” you asked. “No, sorry but we only serve what’s on the menu.” He said and looked at you with a forced smile. “Just ask the chef to not cook the chicken,” Johnny said, with an annoyed tone. “I’m sorry-” The waiter tried but Johnny cut him off, “you’re obviously not,” he said. “Can you please ask the chef?” Johnny said, and the waiter slowly walked away. He came back a few moments after, with a plate in his hand “Unfortunately-” he begun but Johnny cut him off again when he saw the chicken pieces in the salad. “I can’t believe it! It’s 2017 and you don’t have any vegan options,” the waiter stared at him in anger, and you tried hard to hold in a laugh. Johnny took a piece of chicken and looked at it in disgust. “This isn’t even good chicken,” he said. “Well, if people could just stop thinking that just because you start acting picky you have special rights,” he said with a sour smile. Johnny swung the chicken and it hit the water right on his forehead, before falling down on the floor. “This isn’t worth it,” he said and grabbed you by your hand and dragged you out of there.

“How can it be so hard not to put chicken in a salad?? Let’s not go there anymore.”

Taeyong: 

The moment you told Taeyong that you were vegan he’d be cooking. He’d be trying new recipes, and they never fail to impress you. He was an amazing cook, and he saw it as a fun challenge to cook vegan food. There was nothing better than to come home from a stressful day at work and smell the Peanutty Edamame and Noodle Salad that your boyfriend was making while happily dancing around in the kitchen. Taeyong would also like to eat vegan once in a while but it didn’t really matter to him. He cooked a new vegan dish, of course, he was gonna eat it. He was at a meeting at a restaurant and they were served meat, of course, he was gonna eat it. He always supported you though. He’d research places where you could eat dinner while he was on tour, and sometimes he even made some just to freeze it down for later. You loved the way he actually cared about your diet. The guys you had been in relationships with before just kinda would expect you to cook your own stuff and then a hamburger for them. Taeyong also made sure that the other members would be open about it. After only a few vegan jokes when you were not around was enough to make them stop. You were Taeyong’s soft spot and they didn’t want to mess with him. He may be a cutie, but don’t mess with him.

“Babe, I found a new recipe! You don’t mind me cooking tonight, right?”

Yuta: 

You and Yuta were standing in the bookstore, and you had found a cooking book filled with vegan recipes. You were flicking through it, excited. You had already decided to buy it and honestly, right now you were just decided which one to make for dinner tonight. Yuta smiled as you talked about how much you liked each dish. Yuta couldn’t help but notice when he heard someone talk Japanese. It was rarely he heard it and it always made him kinda happy when he heard someone speak it. What they said made his smile stiff though. They were talking about how stupid it was to eat vegan food, and how you were probably just doing it to either lose weight or to impress Yuta. Yuta walked over to the men, and you looked up in confusion. You saw how Yuta took confident steps to the two men and started saying things in Japanese. You weren’t even from Korea, and you were still learning Korean and you really didn’t know any Japanese so you just stood there, not really knowing what to do or why Yuta seemed to pissed off. After him discussing with the guys for a few minutes, Yuta turned around and place a hand on your hip before dragging you to the cashier to pay for the book. When you asked why you were arguing he simply answered that you didn’t have to worry.

“Don’t worry babe, I totally won the argument anyways”

Doyoung:

“Doyoung-ah...” You said as you plumped down on the couch next to him, after coming out of the shower. “Hmmm,” he answered eyes still glued to the TV. “I wanna be vegan” you blurted out. His eyes shot to you, as they widen slightly from the surprise. “Okay...” He said slowly. He looked like he was processing the surprising information. “Why?” He asked after a few seconds. “Because I don’t think it’s right for us humans to abuse animals in order to get luxury products. We don’t need milk, cheese, and leather. We just take these things from animals, and I don’t want to be a part of that anymore.” You answered. Doyoung looked uncertain, “No, I don’t expect you to become vegan.” you said with a small smile on your lips, and Doyoung let out a small breath that he didn’t know he was holding. “Well, if you just take care of the diet, then I support your decision. I’m proud of you,” he said with a genuine smile. You were taken aback for a moment. “I’m shook,” You said, “Why?” “I was prepared for you coming with some savage comment.” You answered.

“Well, if it was a savage comment you were looking for, don’t complain when it get’s too savage for you...”

Jaehyun:

You were sitting at a restaurant poking to the meet laying on your plate, while Jaehyun happily stuffed his mouth. You sighed heavily and took some more salad onto your plate. He noticed you didn’t touch your meat and stopped in the middle of a sentence. “Are you okay?” He asked he had been noticing that you had been kinda off the entire day. “Well... Yeah, just thinking” You admitted while still playing with the pieces of meat on your plate. “About what?” You sighed, “it’s just... I saw a documentary about the meat industry the other day, and some of those animals really suffer. And the worst part is that animals don't only suffer to get us food but also to give us fur, and leather. Things we don’t need, just things we want just because we can.” Jaehyun was a bit taken aback by your little rant. “so you want to become a vegetarian?” Jaehyun asked, “no... If I were to become something then I’d become a vegan.” You admitted the real reason you hadn’t become a vegan yet was that you didn’t want to bother Jaehyun with it. “Then why don’t you just do it? If its something you really want.” You were surprised. You didn’t expect him to be so relaxed about it. You couldn’t help but smile, “okay, then I’m a vegan now.”

“I know this market, where there was a lot of vegan options...”

WinWin:

You had invited WinWin to your place for your 4th date. The last date the two of you had been on, you had been talking a lot about the fact that you were vegan, and he said that he’d never really known anyone that was vegan so you had invited him to your place where you’d plan a vegan dinner. He had asked you a bunch of stereotypical questions, which you had happily answered. You knew he wasn’t trying to be mean, he was just trying to understand it better. Just as you took the food out of the oven WinWin rang the doorbell, and you happily danced out to your front door to open it. You greeted each other and invited him inside. You showed him a quick tour of your small apartment and then told him to sit down at the dinner table, that you had decorated with candles and a red tablecloth. You put the food on the table and sat down to eat. WinWin was rather impressed with the food. He had thought it would taste boring, or a lot like vegetables. He admitted that he wouldn’t go all vegan but wouldn’t mind eating vegan once in a while. It made you smile, as you were planning on spending a lot of time with him in the future.

“This is so much better than expected!”

Mark: 

Mark woke up in the middle of the night, to the brightness of your phone screen. “What are you doing?” He said in his groggy morning voice. “Sorry,” you said, and turned down the brightness of your phone. Mark kept looking at you, you looked worried. He sat up on the bed and looked over your shoulder to see what you were doing. The video showed a video of chickens in cramped space and plucked feathers. He sighed, it had been like this all week. “Y/N-” He tried but you cut him off, “Yeah, I know I just can’t sleep.” He gently took the phone from your hands and turned it off. It was recent that you had found the first video of how they produce fur. Ever since then you’ve had the feeling that you should do something for these poor animals. You just had no idea what. “ I just have to do something, Mark.” You tell him and bury your face in the pillow out of frustration. “Well, if you don't agree with the way they do these things, then maybe you should go vegan?” He said, which made your head shoot up from the bed, A smile formed on your lips, “Omg, that’s such a good idea! How come I didn’t think about that?” Mark smiled, “Can we please go to sleep now?” He said with a half smile. You nodded happily and got comfortable in your boyfriend's arms.

*In his mind* “I’m such a great boyfriend, and now I can finally get some sleep”

Haechan: 

You were going to meet the rest of NCT and you were really nervous. You had been at the dorm a couple of times, but that was only when the rest of them were out and you and Haechan were alone. NCT Dream was going to be back at the dorm early and you were going to meet them first. You arrived at noun and just hung out with the NCT Dream members, you were nervous but you quickly got comfortable with the maknae line. You decided that you wanted to cook for the members so you made a field trip to the grocery store. You bought stuff for Haechan’s favorite vegan dish. So when you got back to the dorm you started cooking. Donghyuck was being an adorable boyfriend and helped you cook for a bit while talking about how it had been going so far. You put the dish in the oven just as the other members walked into the dorm. You meet them and even though you still felt more comfortable with the younger members, you really liked the other members. You set the table, and then you brought in the dish. People ate it, and not once did anyone mentions the lack of meat in the dish. That was until Taeyong asked what kinda meat that was in it. You explained to him that you were vegan so there was none. The other members were surprised, as they all thought that it had meat in it. Haechan was happily stuffing his face. He really loved a majority of your vegan dishes, so much he even considered going vegan himself.

“THIS IS DELICIOUS”

Jeno:

You were sitting on the couch, eating the popcorn that Jeno always thought had a funny taste. You were watching a movie, and just relaxing when you felt Jeno’s stomach growl, “are you hungry?” You asked him, and he blushed slightly and nodded. “Wanna have some fruit?” You asked. Your parents were out of town and you were enjoying alone time with your new boyfriend. “Can’t we go get some street food?” He asked with puppy eyes. Your hands started to get sweaty. You didn’t want Jeno to know that you were vegan, he was too kind. You were afraid that he’d be too nice about it. Maybe even try to become vegan himself without really wanting to, but you nodded anyway. Jeno pulled you around the streets, and soon enough you found a place where they sold some meat on a stick. Jeno walked over to the lady and bought two sticks. “Here!” He said happily buy you shock your head, “no, I’m fine” you said. He looked surprised for a moment before eating both of them himself. That repeated so many times. You’d go get street food, and he’d end up eating by himself. One day you had been complaining for so long about being hungry, so you went to go street food again. Jeno bought some meat, but you didn’t want to eat it. He asked you what was wrong, and you got hesitant with answering him, you decided to tell the truth, “I’m vegan” you blurted out. He was shocked and embarrassed. He felt like he should’ve seen the signs. “Why didn’t you just tell me? Omg, I’m so embarrassed, I should’ve seen that you weren’t eating meat!” You laughed a bit, “No, I’m sorry, I should’ve told you sooner, you’re just too... Nice. I was scared you’d only eat vegan food for me, and I don’t want that. Something like that should be an individual choice and I was scared you were just gonna be vegan because of me.” You admitted. Jeno smiled and ate the meat he had bought while buying some grilled vegetables for you. You felt relieved and didn’t know why you had been worrying so much.

“What are you talking about? I can be a happy meat eater while you’re a happy vegan :))”

Okay, so the last one got a bit long... Ups :))

It’s probably going to be a bit hard for Admin Jibooty to upload tomorrow, we’re both pretty caught up writing the scenarios for our 100 followers celebration <3

-Admin Satansoo

[glopratchet]

economy

everything prices, production and distribution of goods with an iron fist While it's not officially called fascism the people riot, rebel and kick their oppressors out as soon as they get the chance Many thought this would never occur When you next wake up, you hear shouts going through the streets You walk outside to listen It seems now that the time to rebel has truly come You quickly make your way to the lower dock areas where you think you can sneak aboard a ship bound for the republic "The Eternals are fall'!" " toppled the council!" You've only heard about the Eternal council, there were always whispers that they were still alive due to prophecies and would be enemies of a future rebellion The nation of Galilee consists of several islands, which are separated by underwater ridges making travel between them in early developmental periods very dangerous Due to the abundance of wetland and marine environments early fishing communities thrived Once tool making skills advanced, early humans began to venture onto the surrounding islands These early people were very dependent on fish, seafood, plants and wild game for food sources; thus they had to be sure their own population numbers did not outstrip those resources private individuals who have licenses allowing them to catch a certain amount per year, as long as they do not exceed it they may do whatever they wish with their alligators Selling the meat is lucrative business and many of the units of measurement are colloquialisms still in existence today, such as; "Two fat ladies laying side by side" which equals approximately 1 foot "Scalp Dances" in honor of the Native Americans scalping English intruders "Penny newspapers" and traveling rat catching "Mechanic Companies" eventually lead to a revolutionary mindset amongst the working class people and the foremost Labour leaders meeting to discuss how best to bring about meaningful change Most notable of these groups is the "Knights of Labor", an organization demanding health and safety regulations, a limitation on the work day, a minimum wage as well as profit sharing policies this day, as do many others Demanding women's suffrage, an end to child labor practices Many other changes are demanded such as ending monopolies and protecting the environment obtaining more than one skill are able to gain employ as undercover detectives They are charged with ferreting out union organizers, safety committees, sympathizers and other agitators often posing as workers themselves, they are commonly called "The Unions' Varied Devilance" or "Devilants " obtaining more than one skill are able to gain employ as undercover detectives They are charged with ferreting out union organizers, safety committees, sympathizers and other agitators often posing as workers themselves, they are commonly called "The Unions' Varied Devilance" or "Devilants " is evolving with the times Whilst the use of gaff hooks, butchering soon after death and mechanical livestock lift are still used; Knifes, pistols designed for ranch usage, Rope and other tool are becoming more common tools for the Hunting guide Also a new innovation by some companies is starting to gain favor, hooks connected to air hoses which making hiding difficult as you can shoot them out of hiding places sometimes multiple with 1 blast due to industrial accidents in the past To join the guild of hunting guides one faces stiff entrance exams involving a written test, field test and an interview with a guild official While the government licenses hunters, hunting guides must be guild members and the guild is strict about maintaining its quality In some locations, firearms are banned to the general public, making hunting trips more dangerous than their quests for glory, survival or vengeance the states, with regulations usually depending on habitat and season They are legal to harvest year round everywhere, although limits apply and licenses are restricted in some areas, with rules differing from state to state a union called the "Steely-J" They are charged with keeping up employment in areas where alligator hunting is used to soak up unemployment and underpaid, undervalued work depends on skill Mastering field chopping is a job in and of itself, for instance types often take months to become skilled enough to employ themselves at the barbaric trade Play the numbers game and get stinking rich it doesn't matter what era your in, it's still all about having a refined skill that is both rare and valuable that you can turn a coin with in your region To all other forms of hunting coin is standard, however as the Guild assesses what to value what type of hunting certain areas and types based on rarity, difficulty, danger of animal ,zeal required, equipment used skill level required etc Given that even in a bustling city setting game is still far from extinct in certain areas, contrary to popular opinion not all lands were tamed by men The wilderness always encroaches no matter how much we build your lands but is decided upon by the guild as stated Types of hunting areas There are generally recognized areas for hunting employed guides The standard types are based on terrain, animal preferences and multiple other factors, although your region has a few unique types at work This in no way negates that a smart alligator harvester can track and hunt their prey in hostile zones providing its not Lost Ground (in which case they wouldn't last If someone is desperate or insane enough they can try and hunt without a guide in Lost Ground, but its likely they'll be found dead if not by maddened wildlife then by Lost Ground Trap death of the standard payment for a alligator hunt just to make sure they can always afford their way home regardless of how successful they are on their hunt, although a few in dire necessity will opt to hunt with less in the hopes of made up loss in treasure if they find it skutes, named after an old trade currency from the lost civilization of Atalon adapted by the guild to help with easy calculation of vales in a quick fashion The various Guild Associations charge for their memberships each year, these range from basic dues to equipment loans Some types of quest exceptions to Guild Policies exist as well as legally allowed unsanctioned hunting it too, without the alligator hunting industry in your lands there would far too many of the beasts because they're the main large preditor in those areas otherwise Thankfully advances in technology to accelerate the growth of crops means meat hungry bipeds no longer have to be killed in mass for food and leather 1: Equipment guides Most items can be hired from the guild using coin at a reasonable price, some rare and more specialized items may require actual coin instead and are more expensive, also there rare items that are guild only The guides on offer at the local guild hall give a list of equipment recommendations to allow for alligator hunting in your area This equipment guide also exists in digital form online Alligators are susceptible to alot of ailments that would normally kill humans but they seem to shrug off It takes a human with similar weight to drop the average alligator with a single gunshot to the forehead When chopping at an alligator with an axe you need to split their armour first, going for scales just dull your weapon Its possible to shoot them in the eyes as well for an instant kill, but somewhat difficult this They need to be between 16-20, healthy and of a reasonable height and weight Nocriminal records They also need to work around the harvest camps for 1-3 years usually offering help without prompting and proving their reliability along the way During this time they cannot easily leave as their absence would arouse suspicion of slacking off, or worse, imitation of dangerous work routines that they had access to write a letter or go in person to the nearest alligator hunting guild hall and request a guide mission Guild halls situated are in lakeside settlements usually, and not in every single one but enough exist that reaching one isn't a issue assuming one is close enough Most guides will just hand you one of the guides, they can be found with the rest of the paperwork though a few are kept under the counter and you'll need to describe your situation to them handing over your guide to a guild employee who will then take it from there, you'll need to wait around a bit before being brought into a smaller side room In the side room you will find yourself facing your future employer which depending on the number of guides supplied will be one of the following types Your guider, and two militia in casual clothing obviously there to keep everything friendly and avoid accusations of thuggery The reason why these groups appear is simple your future employer to hand you a contract which will then give you two weeks to read and learn it by heart, and then another week of grace in which to get your affairs in order After that week you'll find a message on where and when to be for you The location will always the same small house on the edge of town which serves as ones of it's many drop offs and pick ups you enter the house and find a man in a semi-formal suit inside, it's too dark to make out any details but he will turn on the light and demand you sit down before speaking "Welcome " The man says "Who are you?" You ask He chuckles and responds "I think that can wait until after you've read this " At this point the man slides forward a small piece of card toward you which you pick up after reading the card word for word you are hooked and need to say the word "Stargazers" outloud at which point the man smiles and opens up the sliding door behind him He repeats "Stargazers " then leads you through as the sliding door closes behind you things such as map reading and navigation, camp management and drovery, establishing temporary camps and fibre lashings Things which you should have learned at your schools vocational classes in order to qualify you for employment in the field So here you all are in a class run by a man who holds no certification or formal education out and you all oblige, needing around two hours of education the man has you practice securing a bundle of wood to three large fallen trees and moving it with hooks and lines You all manage to take it in turns to do this under his watchful eye until he is content you all understand the basic skill of moving impermanent camps around with great items harvested from land laid out for you your duration than anything else, being diagnosed early with GSW (Green Sickness Warning) and pulled out of the camps for testing and quarantine can avoid many an issue later in life The standards are high for those who get to continue on in the profession as they age ages they recruit from each year You never knew that, but no doubt you'll find out when your test results come in in it's waters can all be found within a folder that can be downloaded from the link below with your profile information New Folder! Are you ready to find out what the future holds for you? Oh and now there are two doors before you Get back into the elevator and choose a Category for this "Room" to change, or explore the Maze of identical rooms until you find another story Get Back to the House of Rooms! in it's waters can all be found within a folder that can be downloaded from the link below with your profile information New Folder! Are you ready to find out what the future holds for you? Oh and now there are two doors before you Get back into the elevator and choose a Category for this "Room" to change, or explore the Maze of identical rooms until you find another story Get Back to the House of Rooms! Some laws on the books related to alligator harvesting are What type of hook is also different depending on body of water regulations in which part of the water you are operating under what rules, for example with Fresh Water alligators the belly line marking applies from when the kayak or boat enters the freshwater to when it leaves education rules, these more militaristic rules applying to open water apply here: water crafts on waterways and are codified in documents that all ship workers must be familiar with They also affect the ability to protect ones self with firearms while on a watercraft so because rules here are different , in which category does it fit? in freshwater result in some changes in laws that seem timely given that These developing technologies and the push for expansion makes someone realize that Categories: Alligator Snapping Turtle , Black Bear, Coyote, Gar, Goliath Tiger Prawn, King Brown, Leopard, Orca, Pythons Saltwater Crocodile, Sharks! air boating for the title of most dangerous line of work, this has lead to laws putting certain types of beams onto air boats to decrease speed to prevent water craft collisions as well as target clearing qualification tests so that accidents along these lines don't happen At the age of 18 with parental permission it is legal to operate any water craft in a harvesting capacity alone or with a group Laws also protect one from repercussions when harvesting in the traditional public waterways as supposed to claimed private waterways without permission the need set up traps and snares, freeing up more time to harvest rather than preparing the environment On private property one has full permission to hunt these creatures at any time even if the proper licenses aren't acquired, although this can obviously backfire since authorities will be quick to note whether you have fulfilled your annual harvest requirements and the amount of alligators in an area can multiply quickly if left unchecked and destroy a native population that relies on that habitat snares lead to official stipulations that limited only this particular trap in shall only be used on private property, top of the food chain predators quickly become scarce when harvest quotas need to come first Besides, it creates miserable living conditions for those indirectly involved in trading business with those using these traps as they often times are prone to get their fingers stuck or even lose entire limbs to an opportunistic alligator waiting underwater co comes to rise as an all-inclusive term for the business of gator trapping by anyone new to the industry, abbreviated as AGH One must start somewhere in this business so most start out employed by a warehouse or otherwise as hired hands like yourself for example, proceeds from work go to these upper management types who pay out what they must and keep the rest, a bit more involved than picking fruit but well worth it if one can last long enough as a whole better than working on farms underground or in factories so theirs less Likely for any labor strikes in the not so distant future just because there aren't large enough communities of them hitting the streets to push for any demands While it's uncommon for them to do it some AGH can resort to hiring themselves out as a mercenary force for land development for sums that would make your eyes water several medium-sized corprations for harvesting purposes only and sent in to primary alligator breeding rivers, peniches, and wetlands to in the quarantee that one will be shipped and delivered supplies no matter where they are as long as the medium sized corperation from which one aquires their harvesting license still supports them You've heard stories of lone alligator hunters stranded out on a island who through making a good deal wound up with an entire armada of ships waiting for their return To this day the only time an official execution is actually executed is in your business where lone hunters must prove their harvest amount before noon or face extinction by declaration of on on-site and very present witnesses mutual destruction all the time and there's rarely anything authorities need concern themselves with when it happens, same goes for vigilante action, most of the time someone wrecks justice on a accused traitor themselves before anywone can even form a mob and governments, and are quite capable of pulling out of any region or place that no longer proves profitable for their own business, such as a entire country if they must In the scheme of things most regions are considered safe for trade operation Others where either unknown hostile forces rule with an iron fist or no government at all, others where warring factions slaughter eachother on a regular basis, these tend to be riskier could constitute a naval threat were they ever to unite in a common cause and aim for sovereignty, thankfully this has yet to happen thus far Still you shake off these thoughts for now and leave them to worry about these things at a higher pay grade than yourself After acquiring all the relevant information from your pilot trainer its time to look into possible cargo drops runs almost entirely on a barter system, pre-fabricated cheap guns mostly imported from industrious chop-shop operations in sinks for those who want them are apparently one of the only exceptions But how to whose flights you not necessarily going ot be reputable enough to get onto with a landing zone about your size, and enough commercial traffic that your town should be able to send up at least one load before the trader moves on Apollo-Negros: Your previous trading partner from last year, they specialize in cash crops of all kinds and usually have a good amount of disposable capital to throw around on the less reputable goods either selling entire catch or selling prime cuts to large agencies who then process and distribute cheaper cuts down to local towns in need of food the big problem with this set up however is finding a distributor, In addition to being a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the trading organizations their distributors are ruthlessly exclusive, none of your townspeople will have ever have recieved prime cutless from them before so you don't even know if you'll be able to reach them , although they'd never say so in public, and it is in your interest to keep a good trading relationship with them Time to visit Zuri and see what that camp has to say about the situation now , and it is in your best interest to stay on good terms with the nation in addition to building airships they also produce high-end weapons and vehicles for military and police use you're convinced with your newfound leverage you should be able to at least get a small discount for gaskets and such screws, gaskets, wiring, and other parts necessary for airships of its nature if you can get a good deal the steel itself is cheap considering large purchases can be paid for in meat shipments alone --deal with alligator harvesters-- You trek off to the usual place, this time by yourself without one of the pilots as guide You do remember how to find it however (thank goodness for maps), and make it there by lunchtime for whatever reason, some times it just doesn't hurt to have extra meat in the back Today though is whatever reason, you've got a prime spot under one of their canopies despite it only being 10 in the morning Perhaps the harvesters that were suppose to do it got slaugthered or something, either way you're making good progress when "AAAAHHHH WHAT THE HELL MAN WAHHH GET OFF!" and testing ways to make it more efficient apparently just arrived it is now 12pm, you've got a dozen pallets to go through and you are finishing the last one --Author: Dilan to play-- "Let's hear it for our newest harvester, folks!" Hurrahs erupt from the workers as you enter the cafeteria, flinging the door open with panache have lately been in a slump, with the council itself even getting involved on the heavy side New ideas are always accepted, and often bring interesting results Having gotten through most of the stacks, you scroll through your contacts thinking who to tell about the new discovery One name in particular leaps out, so you call him up Today, at last, Zuzu has given the whole company a break by single-handedly deciding to reorganize the effort almost always an underground process, in fact that is how Zuzu was introduced to it himself Whacko Jacko's is a small time operation, but within the Republic it has almost complete dominance A lot of the workers are already from outside the Republic too, so organized crime as a whole seized on it easily actually banned by the nation of Galilee, however you prefer not to cross them in regards to shadow groups The Whitecrowns are obviously out for whatever reason, ignoring them is generally a good policy You could also try one of the bigger ones the raaigs gang is currently the largest skutepiracy outfit in the galaxy, having absorbed or wiped out most of the others with the complacency of the USSRC, who technically owns and operates all transportation ships It mainly happens because Councilor Stark wants a big standing navy so pirates are human bait The raaigs often act as coastal pirates themselves in fact whenever they feel like irritating Stark The other major player is the Black Hooks, an underworld organization with much greater resources than you might guess from their name

[envirowarming]

The System of Factory Farming

Human treatment of other animals has been very poor in the past century. The movie Earthlings: Make the Connection, depicts the despicable treatment of animals that are part of the system of factory farming. Some examples the movie used was puppy mills, beef, pigs, poultry, seafood, animals used for clothes, animals used for disease prevention, and entertainment. Puppy mills are often over crowded with poor living conditions for the puppies. Many end up in pounds and are often executed via euthanasia or gas chambers. Cows are also mistreated for the beef industry. They are often branded, their horns are cut off, milking cows are chained up and milked by machines, and veal is also tied up for the few months that they live for. Pigs are another factory farmed animal who get their tails cut off, their ears cut off, their teeth cut, and castration all without anesthesia. They are kept in tight pens and often resort to cannibalism, and are killed by throat slitting or electrocution. Poultry are debeaked, and kept in tight pens where they often still try to peck at each other. Hens are kept in battery cages where they cannot even spread their wings, and they often loose feathers and have sores. The method of killing is usually throat slitting, but they sometimes are beaten to death. Seafood is another industry that has been molded to fit our demands. Overfishing is a continuous issue in our time because the nets are big enough to catch whole schools of fish. Fish also face many diseases due to illegal dumping of feces and chemicals into the water. Whaling is another industry where animals are mistreated because whales are usually harpooned, shot at with guns, or purposely beached. Dolphins are another animal that are mass killed, and usually harming a family member causes more dolphins to come to the aid of the hurt family member, which dolphin hunters take advantage of. Dolphin meat is often sold as whale meat too. The leather industry is another issue because cows are transported from vast distances and forced to keep trekking with little food and water, and are often provoked when they try to stop. Tanneries also use chemicals that are not environmentally friendly or worker friendly, in order to preserve the skins. Fur animals like foxes and raccoons are also caged up, and these animals are usually free roaming so they end up going crazy in their cages which can take the forms of pacing, spinning in circles, and scratching the cages. These animals are often gassed though anal electrocution is a common method which usually does not kill the animal right away. Vivisection is also a common practice, which involves making animals sick or testing products on animals to see if they have a negative reaction to products, or practicing methods of disease prevention. Lastly, animals in entertainment are also abused in order to get a reaction out of them, like in the form of bull fighting, or they face a lot of negative reinforcement in order to perform tricks, like in circuses.

Poultry located in a factory farm.

           One of the more interesting points that was brought up in the beginning of the movie was the idea that animal abuse is similar to how the Nazis treated zoos. I had never thought nor heard of this comparison, but after watching the film and having learned background information on the topic, it is very plausible. Jews were locked up and transported in tight spaces. They were also gassed and exploited for their labor. It is interesting to see how racist theories can be seen in the treatment of animals.

           I feel that a lot of the issue with factory farming comes from people’s ideas about animals. Many people justify factory farming because animals are not as rational as humans, and even some people go farther saying animals do not feel pain. People also often try to avoid the topic of animal cruelty and factory farming because they do not want to learn about how their food got to their plate since they know it is bad. I think that people definitely need to be more informed about how their consumption patterns directly influence the factory farming system. Even by showing people pictures or videos of animal cruelty can help changed their consumption patterns. People also need to learn that animals are sentient beings too, meaning that they are able to feel and perceive things even with a lower intelligence level. It is so ingrained in our society that animals are lesser than us and should be treated as such. People are also very comfortable in the lifestyles that they live that they do not want to have to change their consumption patterns because they enjoy eating meat. I think that people should be more educated and learn about a proper land ethic and adopt a deep ecology approach in order to understand how important animals are in the world. They should also be taught about biocentrism which includes all animals, plants, and microorganisms as entire communities of life. One of the better approaches to animal rights would be holism because it is about a connection that every being has to one another and the cosmos in general. Having more respect for animals can go a long way. It is unfortunate that people do not realize that animals can feel and respond to pain. This should not be ignored and factory farming needs to be addressed.

Pigs in a factory farm.

           Factory farming is obviously a horrible reality that needs to be addressed politically and by individuals like ourselves. The choices we make can influence the market for meat. I personally feel like I have a middle to high animal suffering footprint because I feel like I consume a lot of meat. However, I do avoid fast food, and I try to purchase my meat from butchers that supposedly receive their meat from more ethical places. Even small choices like these can help lessen one’s animal suffering footprint. Individuals should try to go to local farmers markets and get meat from places they know the animals were able to be free roaming, or at least were not locked up in cages or pens for most of their life. Also, consuming more non-meat products can also help reduce ones animal suffering footprint. While going full vegetarian can be difficult, making smarter choices about what you eat can make a huge difference because it will lessen the demand for factory farmed meat.

Free ranging chicken.

Question: What policies can be made to end factory farming?

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