#animal rights advocate

[higherentity]

[althedasworld]

The living conditions of egg-layers are horrific. I get that she won't eat them.

Y'all want chicken friendly eggs? Buy them from a backyard chicken place that you've vetted yourself.

A place with free ranging garden chickens is optimal, but any place with a clean coop and run, where they have enough space and look plump and healthy is good.

The eggs will be a LOT better too!

Live in the city? Do your due diligence on the free range eggs you can buy in the stores. Most will just be a ton of stressed out, penicillin dosed chickens stepping on each other in a barn lit 24/7 to optimize egg-laying.

A few may have actual free range hens with enough space and access to nesting boxes, roosting perches and the outside. Those are the ones you need to support with your money.

And those are the ones I personally believe don't exploit the animals.

anti-egg vegans are always a hoot. like, she’s not using it. it’s not fertilized. it’s going to rot and attract predators. you want me to just throw it in the trash??

[the-infamous-cowardlion]

I love when people from first world countries decide to share on tumblr for the bilionth time that they're using animals products since they're "sooo enviromentally friendly and use the WHOLE animal uwu"

Meanwhile, 80% of the deforested area of the amazon rainforest is used for cattle ranching. But sure, feel free to tell me how eco-friendly your leather is as the tanning poisons our rivers or how important meat is for european culture while latin america burns for your double cheeseburger.

Don't worry, I totally understand it's too much to ask for you to stop eating meat in the name of the planet, animals, and us third-worlders who will be affected the most by global warming.

[genericpuff]

And with that, 2000 years of history and 10+ years of an animated adaption later, Attack on Titan is over.

I wasn't planning on making an essay post about this but like all of my essay posts, it got crazy out of hand, so here we are. I have a lot to say on it and the more I wrote, the more I realized exactly what the Attack on Titan finale was about. It's cathartic. It's also kind of a big shitpost but not for the reasons you might think.

Spoilers for the Attack on Titan finale ahead! CW: DISCUSSION OF WAR AND GENOCIDE AHEAD!

Now for anyone who knows what I'm about to talk about (and anyone who follows my stuff here), I'm sure you're wondering , what side do I fall on in regards to Attack on Titan's ending? Am I about to talk shit about it? It's very divisive and somewhat inconclusive. It followed the exact ending in the manga which, while expected, was still disappointing to many who had hoped the anime would take some other path.

But I have to ask, could there have been any other way?

Eren committed mass genocide, bordering on extinction of the entire human race. There was no way that he was gonna come out of it redeemed or as a hero, and he knew it. He went straight up Walter White core here and like Walter White, he is not a hero.

The fact that the Marlayans have been constantly going to war with other countries using Eldians as their personal soldiers goes to show that for countries that seek out conquest, there's no target too small or insignificant that can't be marked as an "enemy", and we see that reflected in Eren as well, in his pursuing of "freedom", an ever-moving goalpost that can never truly be satisfied.

The Jaegerists were hellbent on creating a new empire on the bloodshed of Marley - 'an eye for an eye', so to speak.

Nothing was ever going to truly satisfy either 'side' in the conflict of humanity vs. Eldians because such conflicts' origins have been obfuscated in hundreds of years of history, propaganda, and generational trauma that has repeated itself for so long that many don't even know what they're fighting for anymore, aside from one thing - that they don't want to suffer, that they shouldn't have to suffer for the actions of their ancestors, that they want peace and happiness but don't know where to start with taking the first step.

I think people are disappointed in this ending because, let's face it, it's anime, and it's an anime adaption that took years to finish. We always want to see some kind of vindication from stories like these, but I think in having vindication, it ultimately removes the point altogether of what's being said.

As much as we may try to fight it, try to deny it, the course of human history travels in a circle. Conflict will always arise. History is written by the victors, and those victors will be seen as heroes by whichever side they're fighting for regardless of what heinous acts they may have committed to justify their salvation. And after all of that conflict, regardless of the result - time goes on, and new conflicts arise.

But I don't think that means we have to succumb to grief and suffering and that's a point that I'm seeing missed in a lot of the discussion around the finale. There's a very powerful scene between Armin and Zeke, in which Armin talks about how he was born to run up the hill with Mikasa and Eren. He recognizes fully that if his life isn't meant to be long, he can still cherish those small moments that he thinks back on fondly, the moments that defined his life with the people he cared about.

And that's really all life is. Small moments and experiences that stick with us until the end. The very act of being born in and of itself is a cosmic miracle that gives us the chance to experience things that bring us joy and stay with us forever - however short or long that 'forever' may be. We take these small moments for granted when we're comfortable, but we look for them the most when we're suffering.

If I can relate all this to another piece of media that says the same thing - albeit with a much brighter ending - FF XIV: Endwalker also asks a similar question to Attack on Titan - is the only meaning in life to suffer and die? Of course, by its end, we learn that while death and suffering is an inevitable part of life - not something that should be avoided - it shouldn't persuade us to give in to fear and despair as a constant state of being. And I think Attack on Titan goes for a very similar approach, albeit slightly more as a cautionary tale - a nihilistic reminder that ultimately, the losses and victories we find in our current point of history are still just that, a single point, a blip that will be forgotten until it's ultimately repeated, and there's no escaping that.

It cautions us that freedom cannot exist without constant vigilance for war and conflict. It cautions us that our values and core beliefs for attaining freedom, love and happiness can be twisted into a weapon to cause harm, vindication gained at the cost of another. It cautions us that when left in the wrong hands, power can and will be abused by the ignorant while propagandizing itself as "the greater good".

So why not just find the joy that we can? The friendships, the little moments, the things that bring us happiness even if only temporary. Conflict is inevitable, suffering is inevitable, but that doesn't mean life isn't worth living. "Happiness" is not a tangible end point - it's the side effect of living a meaningful life that's true to yourself.

Attack on Titan is over. Some will argue the ending was the only way, others will argue that there could have been another way and that the anime adaption had the chance to change it but still didn't for reasons beyond their comprehension.

But isn't that the whole point? We'll argue. We'll bargain. Many of the arguments made will reinforce our own beliefs further rather than sway us. Many of us will insist there had to be another way, just as Armin insisted that this couldn't have been the only way, that humanity must have had another option. Meanwhile, many of us will acknowledge that at the end of the day, this is the story Isayama wanted to tell, and regardless of whether or not it makes him an idiot toying with his audience and admitting defeat by lampshading it in the penultimate scene of Eren admitting to his own idiocy, this was the power given to him and he used it in the best way he knew how.

Much like in any conflict, there's one thing that unites both sides - the human need for joy, connection, and freedom.

We might not agree on how Attack on Titan ended, but we can agree that it was a hell of a ride, and I hope we can all agree that it was worth riding, even if it wasn't satisfying for everyone in the end. It brought many people together regardless of their backgrounds, experiences, and differences, and connected them through something they all loved for over ten years. And despite how big a part of our lives it was, life will still go on, and we'll move on to other things to watch, enjoy, and argue over. Isayama will move on to whatever awaits him next, knowing fully well that his choice was his own, that he created the series he wanted to create regardless of how people feel about it. We'll all look for our own forms of joy and happiness as life moves on around us, as conflicts come and go.

Isn't that really what freedom is at the end of the day?

[orlesianhennin]

Just to round out my complaints I think that the factions have disappointed me the MOST out of this game, more so than any flaws with the character writing and dialogue. They are just each such a microcosm of the failures of the world building or respect for past writing… I know this term is used to death and has a bad reputation in this space specifically but there is no moral grey area with them at all, they are all perfectly noble heroic Paragon groups and it is unbelievably boring, there is so much lost potential with all of them… especially with the groups that ARE historically portrayed as borderline evil like the Crows and often the Wardens… they’re all just plucky freedom fighters or guardians of the innocent and it just is a missed opportunity in the worst way, and glaringly deliberate. There is no nuance to any of them, any flaws that are presented are smoothed away and justified or hand waved as “history” it’s genuinely terrible.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Wildshape had come naturally to Majexatli. A prodigy, some had called them when they first shifted. They were only 14, they had only been living among the druids for a little over a year. A part of Majexatli glowed with the praise, beamed at the accomplishment, at the praise that was so new to them. 

Maybe it was their skill that first caught Althyran’s attention. 

He asked them about it once, while they sat at the edge of a creek, taking a break from studying. While he showed them how to skip stones across the water, he asked them what it felt like to wildshape. Majexatli had giggled and told him it was a cat stretching out in the sun, warmth washing over them as their body molded like soft clay. 

Majexatli could still remember clearly the way the cool water felt lapping at their bare feet, the way the sunlight filtered through the trees and dappled the ground. 

It felt like a lifetime ago, the people in the memory strangers. 

They washed the blood of their hands in the river, staring at their own reflection. The scrapes, the bruises, the dark circles under their eyes, the tangled hair. It wasn’t a druid that stared back at them. Malar’s guttural voice still rang in their ears.

Something had changed in them.

They didn’t have time to think about that, though, they had to keep moving. It wouldn’t be long before someone came looking for the men and found their bodies.

Taking a deep breath, they centered themselves, honing in on the sound of their own heartbeat. They didn’t have a form in mind, they often didn’t, they would simply let the wildshape take over. So they just let go.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. 

There was warmth, but not like sunlight, but like every nerve in their body was set aflame. They doubled over as they heard their bones snap, the pain so excruciating that they didn’t have the breath to scream. Through tears, they watched as their skin split and peeled only to be replaced by fur. They could feel their bones and muscles shifting unnaturally, violently, changing shape into something more animal. Their own skull cracked open, the sound thundering loud in their ears as their head elongated. Teeth fell out of their head only to be replaced with fangs, bloody fingernails forced out of their flesh and replaced with claws.

As the transformation ended, they were trembling in their new form, panting and barely able to keep themselves upright. Majexatli stumbled back to the water's edge to look at themselves. 

Staring back at them was a familiar wolf, a common form they had taken so many times before. But never this violently, never this visceral, never this hungry.

Their ears twitched as they heard a branch snap in the near distance, whether animal or person it didn’t matter. Hunger gnawed at them, teeth aching to bury themselves in flesh.

As a druid, Majexatli was always told the importance of wildshape. How it represented becoming one with nature, embracing the way of animals, using nature’s gifts to protect nature. It wasn’t until now that they realized how shallow an understanding they had, that their circle had. The version of nature the druids tapped into was a pale imitation, a docile domesticated thing, a cat without claws, a bird without wings. They loved the idea of nature, of animals, but denied themselves the true fullness of what it meant to be an animal, what it meant to be a person. 

But now Majexatli knew, and there was no going back.

[soullessjack]

so you mean to tell me one of the most prominent villains of the X-men is an anti-mutant movement that parades itself as merely being pro-human and fighting against the objective evil of mutants, would gladly harm humans who sympathize with mutants, the spokesperson of which is a secret self-hating mutant himself who fear mongers against other mutants out of both shame and self-preservation because the ‘Friends of Humanity’ are essentially blood purists who would easily throw him into the wood chipper with all the other mutants for being merely related to their enemy if he wasn’t useful to their cause… and there’s still X-men fans who think it has absolutely nothing to do with civil rights or oppression???? There’s nothing allegorical about it whatsoever??? okay. Whatever you say

[recurring-polynya]

I know we had that one shot of Rikichi wrangling Hell Butterflies that time, but up until now, I had spent exactly 0 seconds considering how a shinigami might send a Hell Butterfly when, say, they're out in the field, rather than at home, where the butterfly corral is.

But I guess Kira's out here, keepin' 'em in his binder, what the heck???

[harrowscore]

people being surprised that the acolyte was cancelled and the sw dudebros won... i'm sorry, i really am, but what else did you expect? disney will always cater to this part of the audience. i'm not saying this because i feel superior or whatever, on the contrary, it's because i've been there too. i mean, remember what kelly marie tran went through after tlj was released, and how it resembles the treatment of the acolyte poc actors (especially, from what i've heard and quite unsurprisingly, of amanda stenberg)? it's nothing new. imo there has been a horrific regressive movement these last few years - conservatives, antiwokecels, straight up racists etc. have become even louder, more aggressive, and their numbers have increased. what once felt ''reasonably'' progressive would become, were it released today, the object of an unholy amount of unfounded criticism, with dudebros whinging like little babies because a person of color/queer/a woman dares to get an important role in a beloved franchise or *gasp* even get cast as a protagonist, which is dumbfounding to them because wow, you mean women and minorities actually exist and their stories are important too??? *surprisedpikachu.jpg* like guys, mulan was out in 1998. if disney had the audacity of making such a classic in this day and age, hordes of manbabies would cry about ~the evil feminazis~ and their nasty ~gender propaganda (whatever that means), and also ~communism!!!! because the movie is about a chinese woman. i'm sure mulan (as the hunchback of notre dame, to make another example, that with all its flaws as an adaptation is still explicitly against racism, specifically towards the always demonized romani people) had this kind of criticism back then too, but it was almost 25 years ago. the world should have and is changed since then, but in some ways we're going backwards. my theory is that since women and minorities actually got some rights and representation during the last couple of decades (and oh boy, was it a harsh battle to even get that) these people feel somehow threatened. they're not ~inherently superior or at the top of the game anymore, or at least many people realized they shouldn't be. and they're afraid, and as such they need to cast themselves as the victims. but other, way more clever people than me have divulged into the causes and spread of fascism and right-wing ideologies, so. i'll leave it at that

[toadlyturtle]

https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/97A72CMx6G

3 DAYS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR HOTEL & PHONE

@sabilewsounds

[elithemiar-blog]

I want a new weighted blanket that's a little cooler, and my very specific sensory stipulations would rather have a feel before buying ANYTHING.

We were shopping the other day and my own mother needed to feel blankets/pillows to understand what I meant by Too Much Texture.

My niece (who we believe is also on the spectrum), had no problems understanding Texture differences. Then she found this hypersoft blanket and it was the only one left. [Koolaburra Ellowyn by Ugg].

Anyway...I want to touch all the available weighted blankets before choosing and that's not possible.

[queenofkittycats]

[aloeverawrites]

They mentioned that a lot of this crisis is because unhoused people have to surrender their beloved animals. We have people who are loving responsible parents to their animals who can't take care of them because while our society is willing to put a roof over a dog's head they won't do the same for another human. Where's the logic in that?

These people and their animals are going through unnecessary trauma and separation when we could just have shelters for homeless people that are actually safe and allow pets. Or even better, interim housing and permanent housing.

By doing things in half measures we're just creating more pain and more work and expense down the line. It's actually cheaper in the long run to provide cash or housing to homeless people.

People who say we can't afford to house people are not telling the truth, we can't afford not to.

[mayashesfly]

What if Zilch's fur scarf was a gift from his parents

What if Zilch's fur scarf is the only thing he has left of his parents

What if the sentimental value of Zilch's fur scarf is too much that even if he absolutely beloaths animal products like this, he can't help but still keep himself attach to it despite it being the literal antithesis to the thing he believes in?

[forbiddnsky]

bro stop letting ur ugly ass kids hurt animals and carry them inappropriately when they are clearly hurting the animals and stressing them out. it's not cute filming them doing that shit, teach them how to properly pet or take care of animals. its common fucking sense why do so many parents have shit for brains

[uwuinator]

toontown needs more animal based cogs i think considering how much animals are referenced in the business world

we have a lot in clash but imma be real with how cartoony the world is (theres literally the cfo) i just want more robot animals. thatd be cool. robot business animals.