#it's the artificial insemination of livestock for me

[oca-rinn-a]

generally, breeding nonhuman animals for the enjoyment of humans should stop.

[fjordfolk]

Also had a chat this weekend about how iffy some dog breeders get when talking about artificial insemination, which is so odd to me. I understand that I'm probably coming at it from the wrong angle (because I'm used to livestock and grew up w fur farming, both of which will AI just about everything) but still. You'd think in a small country with a limited gene pool where importing is costly and time consuming and where absolutely everyone has the same problem (not enough decent quality unrelated males) ppl would lean on that more but ?? No sure meet someone at the Fennoswedish border under an elm tree on a thursday at 3am instead and hope it takes

[animentality]

I know it's a fact of life and all, but it does give me the heebie jeebies, knowing there's someone out there whose job is to masturbate male pigs so they can ship off semen to artificially inseminate sows.

Like I get it... it's just...like...business, circle of life, this is how the meat industry is efficient in how it breeds livestock, but...

I'm trying to imagine someone whose job it is to masturbate a caged pig, and it's like...

Hm.

I hope they pay them...something good.

Also I wonder if like...female pigs ever feel super weird about being artificially inseminated.

Like they know it's not natural.

I assume.

And then I think, well, what about the male pigs?

They probably know it's not natural either, being jerked off in a cage by some human.

What is going through their heads during all this...

[evita-shelby]

the math i have to make to make panem and its ridiculously small populations for places that need more people to function is giving me a headache. and this is just for a hunger games peaky blinders au only like 6 people will read lol

as someone from a cattle ranching family i wanna have a talk with suzanne collins to see how a place with less people than my county manage to feed a country when in 2023 the us had 1 million people working in the just the beef industry. and also the district that provides the livestock has like the remains of central and northern mexico, west central and half of north texas, east new mexico. by default it should be at least a million or two since meat plants are notorious for accidents and obviously you need to work in agriculture to provide feed for the animals, and have vets for them since they have artificial insemination for their cows and also the fact that it is also presumably surrounded by ocean they sustain themselves with fishing. by default d10 should be amongst the richest of the districts since it can literally sustain itself even if it holds the remains of the sonoran desert.

[reikunrei]

there is honestly sooo much evidence that Brenner used Henry to "breed" Eleven and all of the other kids at Hawkins Lab:

we never learn anything about who El’s biological father is. it's never even posed as a really tangible question. all we know about Terry's pregnancy was that it was a surprise, and they were all worried about it since she was in the middle of doing these supposed "drug experiments" at the lab, which was also used as a cover for taking away El, blaming a "miscarriage."

if Terry was under the influence, she likely would not have ever been aware that she had been artificially inseminated.

Henry is of the right age for Brenner to have collected sperm samples from him. quick math with some science thrown in: El was 8 in 1979 and Henry was 32 (per the fandom wiki). therefore, when El was conceived, Henry would have been 23/24. we don't know the ages of the other kids at the lab, but there don't seem to be many who are older than Eleven. some of the kids who assaulted her looked like they could have been 15-18 (though this also depends on how much we're aging down the actors like the main cast lol). regardless, even if we ballpark one of the older kids being 18, Henry would have been 13/14 at the time of conception. people who produce semen can start developing sperm as soon as puberty begins, which can start as early as 11 years old. as icky as it feels, i would not put it past Brenner to take samples from Henry the instant he was viable.

the fact that there are age gaps between all of the kids is evidence that Brenner didn't want to raise any red flags about the pregnancies in his test subjects. it seems like anywhere from 1-4 kids at the lab could be around the same age, so Brenner would have played it safe by inseminating just a few women at a time to not raise any alarms.

Brenner admitted that Henry was difficult to control, so that would lead him to try and get "fresh" minds that he could mold from infancy so the kids wouldn't try to fight against him and would do exactly what he asked. he needed to be sure they'd have powers to begin with, though, so of course he tried taking from the only source he had.

this is less evidence, but just something the scene after Henry helps El and he gets physically punished for it reminds me of. him being tasered reminds me of livestock being physically reprimanded into behaving a certain way (ie. taser = cattle prod). and, hey, if you want good cattle, you breed your best bull.

and now, less quantifiable stuff to point at, but more evidence by way of the storytelling of the series... i talked about it in depth in this post where i discussed my personal thoughts and hopes for how they elaborate on the relationship between El and Henry, but to sum it up:

throughout the entire show, but especially in s4, there's been the discussion of "good vs evil" or "monsters vs superheroes" and how things are not so black and white, as Brenner put it. even Henry says that, no, Brenner was not a monster, he was just a mediocre man who was searching for purpose vicariously through his experiments.

this, i feel, is obviously leading to an understanding on Eleven's end that she has both done monstrous things and is still a good person at heart. she strives to be good, she pushes against being the "monster," but she will have to admit that, sometimes, she behaves in monstrous ways. however, that does not make her a "monster."

this could very easily jump into her being blood-related to Henry, worrying that it makes her more of a monster, before realizing that evil is not genetic. like, it's not that far of a stretch to place this narrative over blood relations while the kids at Hawkins Lab already all view themselves as "siblings" due to their upbringing.

on the opposite side of the coin, this feeds into the discussion that Henry is not a pure-blooded monster. not only will Eleven have to realize that she is capable of being a monster, but Henry is capable of not being a monster. he is, just like Brenner, simply a man who happened to find himself in fantastic circumstances.

[qipsir]

Now for the reason everyone hates vegan activists

The morality argument

These are just sitting in my drafts so I'm just gonna post them. Is anyone going to read them? Probably not but it is what it is. I've already got my citations done.

My personal rule is that if you know where your food comes from, if you'd be willing to execute the farming yourself (no pun intended), then all power to you. I'm not going to stop you.

I'm not going to stop you from raising your own chickens for eggs. I'm not going to stop you from milking a cow so you can help her feed her baby and not let excess going to waste. And, as much as it breaks my heart, I'm not going to stop you from raising your own animals for slaughter. I have my opinions and your life is your life.

HOWEVER COMMA

Even if you raise livestock for anything yourself, if you've gotten this far, I can pretty much guarantee that you agree the conditions of the agricultural factories are absolutely HORRIBLE.

I'll let you subject yourself to videos and images of your own volition, but let me briefly explain what it looks like.

Most of the time, animals are lucky if they have the space to even turn around.

Chickens are in crates with just enough space to turn around, and end up defacating on each other because there's nowhere for them to go.

Cows (and I suspect goats as well as other animals) are artificially inseminated by someone donning a shoulder-length glove and shoving a large syringe of bull semen into their vagina and injecting it.

Calves are then taken from the mother at or shortly after birth so all milk can be harvested and sold.

A decent number of calves are then immediately sent to slaughter. Others are raised to continue the cycle.

I'm going to be honest, I'm really burnt out on emotional energy right now, and I can't find the site I used to use as a resource, but Vegan Calculator shows a real-time count of animals that have been killed since clicking on the page and Animal Kill Clock shows how many animals have been killed this year, since visiting the page, how much water's been used, and so much more. (Resources are listed below)

[jenniferrpovey]

So, here we go,

If you live in Colorado and care about animals you need to be aware of Proposition 16, which is being misnamed the Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation act. It's not an act, and it...well, let's take a look at it.

First of all, it would remove the "typical animal husbandry" exception from "sexual acts with an animal" and replace it with "For the welfare of the animal." The definition is any penetration of the vagina or anus with a body part or object.

This outlaws:

1. Artificial insemination. This would make it nearly impossible for small ranchers to breed, as many can't afford what it takes to keep a bull or boar. Rams and billies are a BIT easier.

2. Pregnancy tests on livestock. Large animals have to be pregnancy tested by using a transrectal ultrasound. You can't just put one on the belly because they're too big. This would make it impossible to give pregnant animals the care they need and impossible to detect twins in horses (of which the best outcome is at least one very stunted foal). The "welfare of the animal" exemption COULD keep you safe. Or it could not.

3. Taking an animal's temperature. No kidding. This would classify the use of a rectal thermometer as bestiality. Because whoever put this together doesn't have a clue about animals. Even by animal rights activist levels, this is ridiculous. You could get away with it if the animal was sick. But there would go the safest way to determine of a mare or cow was ovulating before you introduce them to the male. Btw, a non-receptive mare will do her best to kill a stallion and with hand or corral breeding, it's common for stallions to get hurt. We used to use cheap disposable stallions for this. We don't want to go back to that process.

4. Surgical castration. Yes, this animal rights sponsored initiative would ban the most humane form of castration of large animals. Do you want your next gelding to have been castrated using the much more traumatic banding method? That's the one where they tie a band around the testicles and wait for them to drop off. Smaller animals are castrated using a different method, but the method for surgical castration in livestock, because of their size, involves a small amount of penetration of the anus.

5. One method of spaying mares. When a mare is spayed, which is not a routine operation and is generally done either for medical or behavioral reason, an ovariectomy is done through either an incision or through the vagina. The last is the most common and safest way. It would be legal to spay a mare if she had a tumor or the like. It would not be legal to spay her if she was unridable when in heat.

So, that's all pretty...bad. And given a vet could be convicted of a sex offense, many vets will leave Colorado. Large animal vets would become almost impossible to find and small animal vets might also flee the state. There's also no exemption to any of these for teaching people how to do the procedure. Under this, I'd be some kind of horrible sex offender for having taught a prepubescent child how to take a horse's temperature. (The look on their faces when they find out where it goes...)

Then there's the second part. Clearly, what they intended to do with this was outlaw veal. Which I have mixed feelings about.

But what they actually have in there is a definition of the "natural lifespan" of livestock and a rule that they have to reach a quarter of that.

For cows, they have the natural lifespan defined at 20 years. I'm not a stockman, so I don't know if that's accurate, but it feels right.

Which means that ranchers in Colorado would have to raise cows until 5 years old.

The typical market age of a steer is 24 months.

Economically, unless they can drive cattle out of the state to be slaughtered (and btw, I am opposed to transporting live animals for slaughter any further than necessary), that puts ranchers out of business. They would no longer be able to export to Japan, which is a big market, because the Japanese won't take meat from cattle older than 30 months.

And believe me? You don't want a steak from a 5 year old cow. You even more don't want to pay more for a steak from a 5 year old cow. So, this thing is this entire mess of even more clueless than animal rights fanatics already are.

If you live in Colorado and somebody asks you to sign this thing, don't. If it ends up on the ballot next year, don't vote yes on it.

It would not protect animals.

It would destroy livelihoods and result in more cruelty. It would destroy not just the ranching industry in Colorado but the horse breeding industry as well. Even if you're a vegetarian, supporting something which would actually increase animal cruelty...

And people are dumb. They may fall for it.

But most people aren't as dumb as the animal rights activists who don't know where the thermometer goes.

[creampuffqueen]

ah...

cw: me dunking on vegans lmao

where do i even start right now??

let me give a bit of backstory: scrolling mindlessly through instagram reels eventually will pull up some vegan influencer or another. they're everywhere, and SUPER popular. i often stop my mindless scrolling to see what new bullshit they're spouting now. because of the way the instagram algorithim works, this means that i get many, many, many more videos than i want. which just leads to me having to watch them because they're just that dumb, which leads to MORE videos. it's a cycle.

anyway

most recent awful take i saw was a vegan influencer posing with their dog, while simultaneously saying "animals are not ours to use"

sweetheart. no

ALL DOMESTICATED ANIMALS HAVE A PURPOSE FOR HUMANS. ALL OF THEM.

dogs? they're companions. that is a PURPOSE. that is a USE. they are also hunters. herders. support. guardians. they have a purpose. so owning a dog is, by your definition, "exploiting animals".

same with cats. they're companions nowadays, but they were originally domesticated to hunt rodents. that's a purpose.

it isn't any different than animals used for consumption. it's really not. cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc, all were domesticated by humans for a purpose. that main purpose is food. but they also provide clothing, fertilizer, and work. and that's just the basics! look up how many products are made from a cow. things you wouldn't BELIEVE have cattle products in them somewhere. and many of those things are necessary for our survival.

dogs and cats are pets, but they were also domesticated for our survival! humans get lonely. dogs give them companionship, and a hunting partner. cats hunt rodents that destroy feed stores, giving people food security. every animal we domesticate has a purpose.

now, let's talk a little about the future. let's imagine some scenarios, okay?

alright. we do it your way. we stop using animals altogether. we never use another animal again.

this means no more pets, remember? that's exploiting them, using them for their intended purpose.

we set all the livestock and pets free! no more humans controlling you!

what do you think is going to happen? the freed cattle are just going to... stop being domesticated? stop depending on humans for survival? they're not going to eat literally all vegetation in the whole world because they're loose? (remember, that vegetation is our food source now!)

yep. that's absolutely going to work. it's not like all the sheep are going to get flystrike from not being sheared. it's not like all the cattle are going to be massacred by other wildlife, but not before they eat everyone out of house and home and destroy the ecosystem. it's not like the dogs and cats and ALL the animals are going to breed and breed and breed. no, that definitely won't happen!

okay. so that's not going to work. i mean, what are you going to do with ONE BILLION head of cattle? they're not just going to disappear. they'll still exist, but free and in the wild :P

alright, let's try something else! let's say we get everyone in the world to go vegan! let's do that! and instead of farming the livestock, we keep them in sanctuaries! which is like... the same thing as a farm, but no killing! instead we keep accumulating livestock and doing NOTHING with them. literally nothing. would you pay to go see an animal sanctuary of just cattle? wait wait wait we can't do that either, that's exploiting them :)

so we've got billions of livestock chilling, doing nothing. every person in the world is vegan now, so we don't eat them or use them for anything at all! but... what about... our pets?

i truly think you're more likely to make everyone in the world go vegan than everyone in the world give up there pets. so in this scenario, we've still got them. (despite the hypocrisy)

what on earth are our pets going to eat??? dogs and cats can't be vegan, you know. they CANNOT. humans can survive, even thrive, on a vegan diet. dogs will survive. cats will not. they WILL die on a vegan diet.

so our pets still have to eat meat. but where do we get it?? do we kill billions of native animals like birds and deer and wildlife to get it? or do we use the livestock for their INTENDED PURPOSE of giving food? huh??

and, what about animals in captivity? huh? what about them? try to feed a tiger a vegan diet. go on. try it. how does it work? tell me!

now, it's another conversation for another day, but zoos are a good thing and we absolutely need them. tigers are endangered. cattle are not.

sure, we could hunt the meat needed for captive animals ourselves. leave the poor, exploited livestock to do their thing. or... here's an idea... we use the livestock for, say it with me now, their INTENDED PURPOSE!

quality control is very important in a zoo setting. what better way to ensure quality and adequate health than when you've raised an animal since birth?

so, in this scenario, all humans stop eating animal products. but guess what. we still need livestock. not for us, but for other animals. it just doesn't make sense.

i was going to segment this into a conversation about artificial insemination and how it's actually a VERY GOOD thing and not 'rape' or 'forced pregnancy at all', but i'm tired so i'll do that another time.

whether you agree or not, or if you just have questions, please feel free to talk to me! i know this comes off as a bit aggressive but i am genuinely open to other points of view. i think it's very important to see other perspectives! have a great night friends <3

[eastgaysian]

remembered. basically the point of comparison is the setting being a society where a subset of people are regarded as non-human so their deaths for the purpose of institutionalized meat farming/organ harvesting can be justified. VERY different books tonally due to being focused on very different aspects of their worlds (tender is the flesh is from the perspective of marcos who is uncomfortable w/ the industry but is an active part of it, reflecting on the language surrounding the "head" that sanitizes killing and eating people, never let me go is from the perspective of a clone raised to have her organs harvested and views the process as a fact of life, primarily interested in psychological exploration/introspection and more philosophical ideas) but their premises are i would argue pretty similar which is interesting to me.

some other disorganized thoughts:

nlmg's disposable people being clones kind of obscures the horror/legitimacy of their 'humanity' both in and out-of-fiction, but there's also a deliberately manufactured distance between them and the people they were cloned from, who they express interest in finding to somehow legitimize themselves. one of the most interesting absences in titf is where the first generation of 'head' came from. people 'with first and last names' are sent to slaughterhouses as punishment but it's pretty deliberate not to state which people began being bred as livestock (right after stating that it was immigrants and the marginalized who were targeted to be killed and eaten). creating and maintaining that missing link (head are only bred through artificial insemination + criminalization of having sex with head - it's fine to eat what you have sex with but it's not fine to have sex/reproduce with what you eat) is crucial to maintaining the veneer of acceptable cannibalism

nlmg's philosophical exploration focuses on whether the clones can exhibit an innate 'humanity' that would prove it's unethical to kill them for their organs, through artistic expression or through proving they're in love. in the end both avenues fail/were never options in the first place. ofc the head deliberately have their vocal cords taken and are not allowed any opportunity for self-expression precisely to avoid confronting the idea that they have that capacity/potential. even when marcos gives jasmine comparatively more 'caring' treatment (from his perspective) he is uninterested in anything she has to express - she draws with crayons but we don't know what she draws because he isn't interested, he doesn't see the point in teaching her to read which would give her the ability to communicate with him.

while it's pretty tangential in comparison to being the central focus of titf, the use of euphemisms and language that avoids the reality of the clones' situation in nlmg is also pretty clearly a deliberate way to sanitize/justify their organ harvesting and eventual deaths

committing to trying to go to sleep despite the horrors (being too hot and just not being sleepy for some reason) but when i wake up remind me that tender is the flesh actually made me think about never let me go by kazuo ishiguro. If that thought remains intact in my unconscious mind

[iarafoschino]

It is crucial for me as an ethical vegan to also share a few facts on the destruction that animal farming causes to our environment, habitat and climate that leads to be the third leading cause of #climatechange ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨As the human appetite for meat,dairy and eggs increased over the years, so did our dependence on animal farming system that has livestock as its core commodity ✨To feed billions of humans leads to livestock not become a short-term commitment, as for farmers requires animals to be raised over months or years before they are ready to be slaughtered for meat and raised for to produce milk or eggs that require them to be alive for longer ✨These animals were brought here artificially and their products are all artificially inseminated, which is horrific pain for them and requires a tremendous amount of livestock feed, resulting over 40% arable land on the planet✨Our forests and biodiversity are paying a high price for this✨In 2012 there was nearly 800 million acres of forest in the U.S. ✨✨Currently, 260 million acres of US forests have been clear-cut to create land used to produce livestock feed, and 92% of the #amazon rainforest deforestation is attributed to animal meat and crops to feed livestock ✨The same amount of land to produce 1.000 quarter -pound hamburgers patties per acre we can produce with the same size of land 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, over 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots or 20,000 pounds of apples .✨ The evidences on the whole from this illogical system destruction to our ecosystems and climate is undeniable ✨Going #vegan is the biggest single way we can do to diminish our carbon foot print ✨. A vegan lifestyle occupy much less land saving trees, water, soil, avoid desertification, extinction of spicies, biodiversity, emitting much less greenhouses methane and No2 .✨#whyvegan #eatfortheplanet #veganfortheanimals #veganfortheplanet #vegansofig #govegan #climatecrisis #sustainability #vegansofnj #vegansofnewjersey #vegansofnewyork #animalfarming (at Hackensack, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/B75Y4MDh7Ki/?igshid=1jcwsh7iugg3h

[woluf]

I was going to add this to the reblog of that lat post about veganism but I think I’d rather not because I’m always paranoid that as soon a you ay you’re not against farming people are going to come for you but I’m going to just make a separate post here probably not really going anywhere cause I just want to mouth off about it. FYI this is not be saying I dislike vegans, or veganism, just a certain part of it pointed out in the last reblog. Neither do I support large farming corporations.

I want to just like openly agree with the post, having once lived on a (very small) dairy farm once, and I get hugely frustrated with a lot of the discourse I see surrounding it and total lack of critical thinking that goes on. I’ve spoken to basically militant vegans who openly alway assume when I say I lived in a farm it was a) cows, and b) we partook in the meat industry. Neither were true; we were a very small goat dairy farm on like an acre of land. But that subsect of vegans choose always to ignore this and put all farms into the same Big Bad Pot. Farming and agriculture is and always has been a huge part of the UK and I’m never going to claim to know a massive amount about it, but I do have a very solid lived experience from raising animals (specifically goats) from their birth, death, and everything in between. I had a friend in uni who was like this, who just made assumptions and became incredibly defensive when I tried to have friendly discussions about farming, and whom eventually blocked me on facebook when I politely challenged something she spoke about - more to do with metaphors of the meat/dairy industries than anything. How are we ever going to reach solutions if you just out-right block people telling yo hey! your language is problematic and by the way do you actually care about the people?? but okay.

 Anyway. During the financial crisis we experienced after the foot & mouth outbreak in 2001 (our animals were fine, but we couldn’t very easily sell our produce) my parents used credit cards to feed our animals because  they are the most important part of your farm. Yes, they’re your livelihood, but you love your animals - you name them, you nurture them, you do you absolute bet to provide care for their well being. My parents are still in debt because of this and losing the farm - we were collateral damage in the eyes of the government - and this we sold up & moved in 2003. I don’t think many people are aware of the impact that losing farms has on the farmers - both financial and psychological. My point here isn’t to bring a lot of that up, but I will say that I remember the day we sold our goats and had to move them onto the livestock lorry in the pissing rain, some goats in kid, and just how miserable it was for everyone and everything involved. I’ve seen clips on tv shows (Countryfile) about people in similar circumstances who lost virtually everything from diseases like foot & mouth and it’s truly, utterly heartbreaking to see. 

So my frustration with some types of vegans again is this lack of critical thinking and research they do into farming. Sheep really are stupid, shearing them does not harm them and wool is a by-product that farmers get (from what I recall my mum telling me) less than £1 per fleece. That’s literally nothing - even if you have huge herds, that’s a pittance. Leather is too, although I can’t speak about the cost having never owned cows, and it concerns me about the environmental impact of creating products that are “vegan alternatives”. 

Another side of farming is rare breeds - bigger corporations aside, I mean family run and owned business here that are either newer or have been family-run for decades - and how farming can support the continuation of particular rare breeds which extends from cows, pigs to horses. Without farms, these breeds can often be entirely lost. I’ve seen vegans talk about artificial insemination - another part of keeping up rare breeds - like animals are getting raped (!?!?!?!?!). It...just astounds me how people make these comparisons without ever thinking or considering the impact their own choices have (e.g. vegan alternatives) as well as the exploitation of people, predominantly people of colour and the poor. Artificial insemination ha been a part of farming from the 1950′s.

Again, like, I don’t know what the point of me saying this is because I’m always really careful to avoid talking about my opinions on farming as it always seems like a very unpopular opinion to have and I genuinely worry about backlash sometimes, but I just do not believe the farming - big corporate farms aside clearly - is inherently bad. If people want to be vegan I wholly support that, I just resent certain types of vegan folks for their attitudes, because much like the attitudes of some people who eat a lot of meat (for real some people are nasty and I very much do not support those people yikes), it’s not doing anyone or the environment any good.

Please do not rb this. I’ll block you if you do. I just want to talk about my frustrations and experiences but you’re welcome to openly disagree with me and that’s totally cool! I’m just not here for Drama and Discourse.

[livestocklens3-blog]

Live stock lens

Live stock lens

The Most significant thing that anyone ought to know about anything concerning cows farming is that no ranch or farm is precisely the exact same. Nobody farm follows the creation practices of a different, and no 1 manufacturer manages her or his cows the exact same manner as the following one will. If you would like to learn about everything connected with cattle farming, then get to understand the fundamentals first, what makes each plantation click and everything in between anything else. Dairy farming or beef farming, it does not matter what, there are particular things within those ventures which make them operate, from the feed to the cattle and the financing necessary to conduct the farm into the cows themselves.

Live stock lens

It is a Great Deal of Hard Work...

Anyone  Are a fool if they stated raising cows was simple.  You've got machines, buildings, buildings, and managing facilities to preserve, fix --replace if it is absolutely crucial --cattle waterers to mend if they freeze in the dead of winter or should they stop working on you all of a sudden, hay to haul, financing to maintain at the top of (loans, utility bills and penalties to cover ), fences to keep and fix, the list keeps moving. You may experience periods of exhaustion during times once the farm requires you the most--be it physical or psychological exhaustion.

When  It's really easy to get caught when you are least expecting it, and from the time you realize you are caught it is often too late.  The best thing to ensure your success and also to keep all of your limbs intact would be to always know about your surroundings, understand if and when you are feeling exhausted, never wear loose clothes around running machines, and show the utmost respect for each of bulls and fresh momma cows with their calves. There's an entire collection of all farm-safety items I could lay out in the following guide, however I fear that it is only going to take up more space than that I intend and induce me to seriously slough off course.

No matter bulls and cows Needs to be respected and frequently not trustworthy either, whether or not you are working or handling a beef or poultry farm. Dairy bulls are particularly dangerous and you never to turn your back .  This is an issue when you have not established dominance together and if they don't honor you and your distance.  In case a bull sees you as contest because of his harem, he'll come after you. Otherwise, and sees you as only a two-legged individual rather than a two-legged bovine, then you need to be secure, but do not take my word for this as who knows what goes through a bull's head during breeding period!

Hormones Are also a huge element in aggressiveness in cattle. A cow's first instincts when that calf strikes the floor will be for her to nurture, suckle and shield it with her entire life.    Bulls have their method of communication they're not conducive of your existence also: revealing their sides, arching their throat revealing their dimensions, head shaking, not recognizing your existence at all (in other words, even ignoring you) if you are in the pen together, etc.. These are warning signals to get out, or be ready to stand your ground and make it understood that you don't tolerate their behavior . Then be ready to undergo with your escape plan, in case you've got one.

It Requires Knowing a little Bovine Psychology

When Raising cows, you need to know a reasonable bit about what cows are telling you so as to tell if they are just being favorable, a nuisance, a hazard, or an expected cull. Cattle that admit your existence, and come around you but maintain their individual space from you (except in the event that you invite them) are favorable. A number of the favorable ones may also be those which don't discount you but return into what they were doing until you disrupted them may also be considered favorable. Even the ones that come running towards you whenever they visit you--might be considered favorable, particularly in the event that you understand them well enough to understand when they come hurrying just like that it is to have fed, and less to make a stampede! Cattle that make high-strung, high-headed and make a rush for it each time you're about are ones which needs to be culled--cows should keep their individual space from you, but not go so far as to attempt jumping over the fence to escape from you! Sometimes these kinds of animals can be trained to be calmer about individuals, but there are occasions when this could be much more vain than simply rewarding. Some cows simply can not be tamed and stay"crazy"

Even though     Calves on cows could be weaned when they are about 6 to 10 weeks old. Dairy calves are removed from their dams each day or 2 (sometimes less) after arrival, but are not weaned off the jar till they're about 3 to 4 weeks old.  Vast majority of heifers are ready to be consumed by the time they're around 15 weeks old. A bull is about to breed from the time he is 12 months old. Age of adulthood for the majority of cows is about 3 to 4 decades old.

Calving and breeding periods will match, and the best   There's loads of debate exactly what time of year it's ideal to calve out cows, nevertheless a cow could be bred--and consequently calve--in any given time of the year. A cow could be bred either obviously --through a bull--or --known as artificial insemination through AI semen and gun .

When the calf stems, the milk works. The very first milk a cow creates because of her calf is known as colostrum. Following 48 hours she begins making"normal" milk. Her greatest nutritional necessities occur from late pregnancy into the next month of lactation.  Calves, once weaned, however, have different nutrient requirements--because they become older, protein demands reduction.

Know What to Take Them

Perhaps not   This is most likely where the best variations in how cattle are raised starts, and something that I am only able to cover temporarily here. Basically there are five kinds of feedstuffs which are fed to cows: hay, silage, grain, other feeds, and pasture. The latter is not just fed to cows, but instead cows are put to nourish themselves.

All dairy farms Will Need to feed their cows cows a  Nearly all hay fed to dairy cows is constituted of alfalfa or clover and fishes such as orchard grass and timothy. Silage--that can be chopped and fermented feed--is frequently of corn, because it's greater nutritional quality than wheat or barley. The grain part of the TMR ration could be corn, wheat or barley, based on what is more appropriately grown in the region where the milk farm is situated.

Varies considerably more significantly than in your typical dairy farms.  The lowest-quality rations are awarded to cow-calf surgeries, and also the highest-quality to feedlots. Cows on cow-calf surgeries frequently don't have any issue subsisting from grass and hay, even though some manufacturers like to feed them grain or silage during the winter season. Backgrounding/stocker surgeries will need to nourish their calves so they develop, therefore pasture, silage and high quality hay is frequently fed. Feedlots finish cows for slaughter, therefore an 85 percent grain-based"sexy" ration is necessary. Another 15 percent is included of roughage such as silage.

All cows Have to Be fed sterile water and also have access to Mineral in any way times. Beef producers feed their nutrient to their cows free-choice, occasionally mixed in with all the feed. Dairy manufacturers have a tendency to possess these minerals blended in with all the feed.

Which Are You Getting Your Favorite From?

That is  A significant question to ask yourself whether you plan on starting your cows farm. Basically you've got two options: Create your own, or buy it. If you create your own, you'll need your own equipment and also the opportunity to produce the feed. You might require the excess labour if it is required, based on which sort of feed you are making. Producing your own feed will bite into your gains since it means more money spent on gasoline and maintenance/repair expenses. Purchasing feed has its dangers too. Although you do not close half the machines needed for producing your own feed, you still need to have somewhere to keep it and risk the feed you are getting to be less good excellent feed as you would like it to be. There might be health risks related to the feed you buy --that the hay you buy may have pieces of garbage or metal inside, or even the feed you bought from the feed shop could possibly be infected with something which will kill your critters.

You Can have as small as merely a few parts of machines to as numerous as to create any agricultural machines retailer company proud. I have known a few cattle producers that just have a couple pieces of gear: a hay-hauler truck, a livestock trailer, and also a four-wheeler ATV.   What kind and how many machines you believe you want to own (try to not consider it as"need") in your cows farm will have an effect on your bottom line and the way you increase your critters.

Believe  Of it this way: If you would like to repaint your cows on pasture throughout the year, there'll be a point in time at which you will understand that the machines you desire is not always the very same parts of machines you may need!!

Each   From that point you are able to do the test to find out whether you're losing money, simply breaking even or really making a little cash from the farm. In addition, it can let you know in which you're weakest or most powerful, and what options you should think about if you would like to boost income amounts to your enterprise. Creating and keeping a business strategy can help a lot too.

Sheltering Your Own Cattle

Shelter Is not too large an significance, though a easy lean-to drop or even a stand of trees will probably suffice for many. Dairy cows will need to be kept restricted to a barn during the winter season. This might not be so in locations where they do not encounter as intense, freezing or freezing winters as a lot of North America has. When they don't have a lot of shelter, then they will need to compensate for the absence of heat by ingesting more feed so they can remain warm.

Most Herds will need to stay current with their vaccinations each year, based upon the age and sex of the animals in addition to in which you're farming them.    Some regions need vaccinations against Anthrax too. Check with your neighborhood large-animal vet for what kinds of diseases that you want to vaccinate your creatures.

Assess your herd Regularly for signs of disease or illness. The clearest symptoms I have discovered using the cows we had were listlessness or lethargic action --calves that normally ought to be considering food aren't, they're slow to get up or attempting to put down and rest rather than get up and consume. Other indications include lameness, dull eyes, loss of body condition, bald spots, kicking at the stomach, coughing, snotty nose, or a lot of abortions on your herd to be considered ordinary, or anything else unusual regarding the creature's behavior or elements of its body, which range from the udder or scrotum into the eyes. Be constantly aware that one symptom you visit could be a indication of a far larger issue.

Where You Buy Livestock, You'll Acquire Deadstock

As The Circle of Life goes round and about, you can't expect any of your critters, old and young alike, to live eternally. You'll receive cows which will expire on you, otherwise or unexpectedly. That's only something to anticipate on each livestock farm or ranch. It's challenging for every single manufacturer to have an animal die on these, but that is only part of life. A lot of men and women that are generations removed from farm lifestyle don't understand this, however as somebody who wishes to enter cows or any sort of livestock industry this is a tough fact you have to understand or else you are not likely to survive long inside.

Everything you do with these dead Creatures is dependent upon local laws.  It is no issue to drag a carcass from the middle of a pasture and allow  The scavengers treat it. Other regions need such carcasses to Be instantly buried or burnt or possess a livestock-rendering truck encounter  To take away them for you.  Special bull or cow, prized or maybe not, opt to bury that creature just Like somebody would spoil a pet cat or dog which was part of the household  For many years.

[doctorstarlock]

This video evoked strong “I don’t have time to tell you how wrong you are…no it’ll bug me if I don’t” feelings. Don’t even watch it if you can’t stomach serious emotional manipulative because the guilt and fear she is trying to evoke in this video is real. But here are some highlights:

she equates artificial insemination to bestiality. Which is just. A freshly insane take I’ve never come across before. Girly, I can promise you that absolutely no one is getting their rocks off sticking their arm shoulder deep into a cow’s anus. And collecting bull semen is straight up dangerous. But like headspace said above, it’s cheaper and safer and results in healthier calves. Plus AI is healthier for cows and bulls because servicing can lead to injuries or venereal disease.

The “rape rack”, oml. Yes, that does exist. Yes, it’s a terrible name for obvious reasons. But artificial insemination of animals is not rape. It’s no more rape than if you were to let a bull physically service a cow in estrus. Animals do not attach morality to sexual activity. Animals do not have the concept of “consent” that humans do when it comes to sexual activity. If a male animal wants to hump, he does not think about what the female is doing, and the closest thing to consent he’ll get is, idk, her *not biting him or kicking him away. Again, for that reason, AI is just a safer way of getting the cow pregnant.

Calves are indeed usually separated from their mother within 24 hours. It keeps them safe from being injured by the dam, prevents infection from bacteria passed between mother and calf, and allows the farmer to inspect the calf and make sure it’s healthy. But this one is, admittedly, something that the dairy industry might slowly be changing.

Yeah, some calves are slaughtered for veal!! Sorry that people eat meat!! But that’s what cows are for! Can you imagine the cost of lots of male calves running around, more than are needed to breed, and they produce nothing so you’re just wasting money feeding them until they grow old and die naturally? I know fanatical vegans will fundamentally disagree here, but animal agriculture is not taking care of livestock for fun. It’s for food.

In that vein, she didn’t mention them in the video but you might notice clips of calf hutches. Those look bad but they’re to protect the calves from catching disease from one another.

This video used a lot of graphic video footage meant to upset and alarm, especially in regard to “downer” cows. A downer cow is a cow that collapses for any number of reasons and can’t get back up even after the reason they fell has been addressed. It can happen to any cow, not just old ones. Here’s why a cow goes down and what can be done to treat it. Emphasis on treatment, ie, slaughter is the last resort if a downer does not recover

“The natural lifespan of a cow that hasn’t been exploited is 20-25 years” what the ever-loving heck is the point of keeping cows that long. Again, agriculture is in the business of food. These animals are livestock, not pets. Continuing to feed cows that don’t produce is costly and wasteful. Dairy cows have been bred for domestication so turning them loose to live in the wild would be more cruel because they won’t survive. You do not understand how animal husbandry works.

She does make a fair point about the nutritional value of cow’s milk being trumped up Big Dairy propaganda, I won’t touch that

For the last time. To every animal rights activist out there who insists on coming after livestock agriculture. Animals who are well cared for make better food. Whether it be milk, meat, eggs, whatever. Yes, there are some big big problems with the meat and dairy industry. I can almost guarantee you that some of the most upsetting footage from this video is probably from big industrial dairy operations. Y’know, the ones that work on such a huge scale that their margin isn’t affected by bad quality meat or milk, as long as they make a profit. The ones that are unsustainably large and produce massive pollution. The ones that are run by corporations that lobby for kickbacks and less industry regulation and therefore are not usually affected by people jumping on their soapbox about their bad practices. But you know who is affected? Small, local farms that do care about their product, do take good care of their animals, do have incentive to farm sustainably, and also suffer the most when people try to give their profession a bad reputation. Small local farmers that are getting pushed out by industry consolidation and giant dairy operations. Psych, you read this far just to be told that the real issue with dairy farming is not animal abuse, it’s capitalism. Buy local, boys and girls.

[thesorrowfulknight-blog]

Okaayyyy, so! Apparently tumblr was being a shitforbrains again and didn't post my answers from a few days ago, so I'm gonna combine both get-to-know-me q&a's in one post! Sorry for the wait you guys.

1st set of q's was tagged by @legendarybitch 😘

Relationship status: Single AF

Favourite colours: Blue and green, hands down. I'm partial to he more vibrant blues and more earthy greens; especially hunter green with gold accenting. But it has to be a nice gold, not that yucky orangey-yellow some folks use

Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstiiiick! Anything else I get annoyed and scrape it off with my teeth

3 favourite foods: Oh god, I have to choose? I guess... Any pizza really though I have a weakness for deepdish (especially double cheese smothered in sriracha 😍), suicide hot wings (I want to choke on the fumes and feel like my face is melting), aannnnd a nice tender rare steak. You can't see it but I'm drooling now thx guys

Song stuck in my head: The Next Episode by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg

Last song I listened to: Zombies by The Cranberries (the cover done by Bad Wolves is fucking bomb too)

Last movie I watched: Galaxy Quest (1999) Worth every goddamn penny

Top 3 tv shows: Tough call, but I think the closest would have to be Hannibal, Final Space, and Voltron: Legendary Defender

Books I'm currently reading: The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Last thing I googled: Biomedical Technology

Time: 11:04pm

How many blankets do you sleep in: Primarily just my one big galaxy comforter

Dream trip: Phew, that one's a pretty tall order! About 9/10ths of my clan/extended familar are still in europe (mostly Germany and the Netherlands), so I'd like to be able to visit everyone! I haven't met most of them because of distance but we're all still very tightly knit accross continents. So a dream trip would somehow entail being able to get to visit everyone and possibly even go with my Oma before she can't fly anymore (she hasn't seen her sisters in many years). If somehow this all timed itself right so that I could also attend the Trakehner Verband approvals at Neumünster, I would legitimately weep with joy. My opa and I had always planned to go together as he hadn't been since immigrating to Canada, but now that he's passed I want to go for the both of us. It's a family legacy thing, I suppose. My second choice would be to visit either Spain or Portugal for a riding vacation 😍

Anything you really want: To have a prosperous and fulfilling life brimming with true friendship, laughter, and love.

2nd set of q's tagged by @vecchiasignoras 😙

Name: Kate, though I consider it to be quite intimate so only my immediate family calls me by this name. Everyone else refers to me as Kat

Height: 5'9"

Middle name(s): I have two! Their initials are E.M.

Put your music on shuffle. What are the first four songs that come on?

September by Earth, Wind & Fire

In the Middle by Jimmy Eat World

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Something Like This by The Chainsmokers

Bonus: Become the Beast by Karliene

Grab the book nearest you and turn to page 23. What is on line 17? (I counted them as the beginning/end of dialogue and whole sentences)

"She'll... she'll die! You know as well as I do," and Siglen's words crowded each other out of her mouth, "what happens to the truly Talented in space... I mean, look at how ill David became. Remember how devastated Capella was. To subject an infant... of unknown potential... to such mind-destroying trauma! Why you must be mad, Interior. You cannot! I will not permit it!"

Ever had a song or poem written about you? Not to my knowledge! Though the only thing they might draw inspiration from is how big my feet are lmao

When was the last time you played air guitar? Mmm, a few weeks I think? That Mötley Crüe riff was impossible to resist. As for a real guitar, I think it's going on almost 4 or 5 years now? Jesus time flies.

Who is your celebrity crush? They would have to be Tom Holland and Chris Hemsworth. I definitely have a thing for their personality type 😘

What's a sound you hate + a sound you love?

A sound I hate would 12/10 have to be my mother's voice, even just saying my name. It always sounds accusatory and condescending in the kind of way that's like nails on a chalkboard but under your skin. Also the sound of unexpected people WALKING UP ONTO MY PORCH AND KNOCKING ON THE DOOR INVADING MY SANCTUARY. (I loathe unannounced visitors. Hate hate hate them).

A sound that I love would hands down have to be the ambient noises my horse makes when he's just doing... whatever. When he's doing him-stuff. Slurping up electrolyte water like a messy kid, heaving these great big sighs because life amiright? I especially find his annoyed growling to be hilarious, because he is VERY loud and dramatic about it, but only does it when you ask him to do something relatively low effort that he finds tedious. Like flat work, or walking to and from the barn and paddock. Completely droll and lackluster. But going for a friendly gallop in the back field? You'd think we'd just gotten rallied by fucking Théoden to ride to our deaths at the Pelennor Fields. He makes this hard little growly-grunt when he shifts up into the next gear and then boom, you're gone. Just fucking gone. Then he's a happy springy boi. It isn't like his annoyed growling though; it's different. When he's annoyed it's more like verbal complaining; all in the throat. But when he revs it it's much shorter and takes on a hard edge. Comes up deep from the core. I can't really explain it any better than that. I just fucking love sprinting a 1700lbs war machine in general, now that I've re-learned how the hell to ride it 😂 I'm babbling now

Do you believe in ghosts? I believe in spirits and other things, yes.

How about aliens? We've only discovered and understand, what, 0.4% of the known universe? To not be widely open to and fully accepting of the notion that we are not alone would be pure folly. Even from a mathematical standpoint it would be wildly ridiculous not to. That doesn't mean I have any specific theories or "truths" about it, though. It would just be very stupid of me to be closed-minded.

Besides, if it does turn out to be true it would explain a lot of things. I think my favourite wild theory out there is that Mary, mother of Jesus, was artificially inseminated. Like we do with livestock. If nothing else it's fascinating to ponder the implications.

Do you drive? Yes. Pretty gutsy too, if I say so myself. My mum used to drag race so I guess it's both a hereditary as well as a learned thing.

If so, have you ever crashed? Only once, and that was an actual accident. The conditions were super icy so we were already going 20km below the limit, and I was hanging back, but what happened was the car infront of me hit the car infront of them, and when I slammed on the brakes I just slid about 15-20 feet right into their rear end anyways. Nobody got hurt except for my car; she took the worst of it. The car I hit basically just had to pop the dent back out and it was like I hadn't made contact. Lucky badstards. There were a ton of similar accidents that day so everything got wrapped up pretty quick.

What was the last book you read?

It's been so long since I've completed one, mostly because everything these days sucks ass, so I don't remember what it was. The ones I'm currently reading however are The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Do you like the smell of gasoline? Clean, quality gasoline? Yes. Dirty low quality gasoline? No.

What was the last movie you saw?

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Do you have any obsessions right now? Not really, no. I mean, technically all things Bioware and my pony, but those are more of a glowering embers kind of love. Not the raging wildfire kind that overtakes the mind and turns you into a fanatic

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Eeeehhhhhh, yes and no. Like I won't actively hate you cause why tf would I waste the energy, so it's whatever, but I will also always keep you at arm's length so idk

Are you in a relationship? No, nor do I want to be. I'm enjoying just being on my own and allowing myself to grow as a person. I don't do relationships just for the sake of being in one, or because of this ridiculous notion people seem to have that you aren't complete/a whole person without a significant other. I'm only interested in end-game, and I'm not ready to be open for that right now ✌

Bonus: What's an annoying/bad habit that you have? Talking the shit out of everything. And I swear. A lot. More in my head than out loud, though.

[arra-tech]

Decided to give y:the last man a shot.

For those who haven't heard about it, the premise is that basically all male mammals (not specified but heavily implied, y chromosome is specified though) suddenly died in the span of 24 hours.

Assuming it didn't affect fish, birds, or reptiles, only mammals: that's still one of the weirdest mass extinction events someone could come up with. That's a massive ecological impact!

Makes me question what would actually happen if such a thing happened... obviously many species would go extinct, there'd be no way to save many of them... invitro fertilization might be able to save a generation or two? I strongly doubt society would collapse without cis men though.

Yes, it'd be a great tragedy, but it wouldn't keep the surviving members of society from continuing their roles or picking up new roles! Grieving process blah blah it's a crisis so pick up a shovel and help us all shovel the shit!

Spoiler warning:

The power plants shut down across the country without coal? Why can't they get the coal there? It's been like 60 days, 2 months, and the track haven't been cleared? 2 months and nothings been done? Just "surviving"? More like cowering and waiting to be saved...

Also I'm supposed to belive the line of succession of the presidency matters so much as that the acting president of 2 months can be deposed by someone coming out of a coma on another continent? When CLEARLY transportation aside from helicopter is impossible?! How are you fueling these whirlibirds but can't get coal from a storage facility to a power plant?

Also, how brittle do the writers think the American power grids are? Not everywhere is texas... also many places use power plants that don't use coal... like the solar collectors in the Mojave, hydro electric plants, the various wind farms, and 56 different nuclear power plants... the only continuous state that's not connected to one of the two national grids is Texas... so power... not really a crisis...

Food? Between what people (with the ability to) keep in their pantry, what would be in the grocery stores, the various distribution centers, and the fact that most livestock are females with some males kept for breeding or artificial insemination/ fertilization practices, plants aren't affected, birds (including chickens, ducks, etc that are commonly eaten) also unaffected, likewise fish... people would have to adjust their diets a little, but not really a problem either.

It all just boils down to keeping species (including humans) from going extinct due to lack of viable males...

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Becoming The Mask

Chapter 1: Discovery

I gave in and started a Trollhunters fic, in large part because nobody else I could find was writing a “Jim is a Changeling and knows about it instead of getting caught off-guard in the fic’s premise” story, (other than, arguably, the “Jim is a Changeling-human hybrid with amnesia that blocks out his early human life” series, which I do recommend but which is very different from what this is).

Changeling Jim enjoyed his cover. Human food was far better than troll food. Dr Barbara Lake was an affectionate mother, but absent often enough that his duties to the Janus Order went unnoticed. The neighbour Toby was acceptable company and kept Jim from looking suspicious for having no friends his apparent age. Once in high school, he could slip reports directly to Stricklander along with mundane homework.

And then, of course, Merlin’s Amulet just had to choose Jim as the next Trollhunter.

Also on AO3 and FFnet.

Human food was, in Jim’s opinion, exponentially better than troll food.

That didn’t stop him from eating empty cans or burnt-out lightbulbs, but it did inspire him to experiment. Today he was making French toast for his mother’s breakfast and meatloaf sandwiches for her, his, and his friend Toby’s lunches. He had some regular toast while checking the recipe, and ate the eggshells while mixing the eggs with milk and just a touch of cinnamon.

Barbara was sound asleep, glasses still on and pushed to an awkward angle by the pillow. At least she’d kicked off her shoes. He put her breakfast on the dresser and slid her glasses off, polished the lenses, and placed them by her meal. Jim tucked his mother’s blanket around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

“I love you, Mom,” he whispered.

No, it wasn’t sentimental or weird. It was good cover. If Jim kept up the act even when there were no witnesses, he was less likely to slip up when there were witnesses.

He checked on his Familiar, Jay-Jay, while brushing his teeth. The original James Junior, unaging in his cradle, sucked his thumb and slept peacefully.

Jim had been Jim for over fifteen years and his Familiar had only been Jim for three months, and the Lake parents hadn’t even stuck with just one nickname until after Jim was planted. ‘Jay-Jay’ and ‘Jim’ and ‘Jamie’ and ‘Junior’ were all used interchangeably in the first year before gradually settling on ‘Jim’. The human might have had it first, but Jim was the Changeling’s name now.

He hadn’t had a name before this assignment.

Jim took care of the various household needs, packed up his backpack, and left for school. The trash bin was overturned. Raccoons or goblins? He huffed in annoyance.

Toby was there, worrying about being late for school. Jim tried distracting him with food. If all went as planned, Killahead Bridge should be rebuilt within a few years, maybe even this year. Jim wanted the humans he knew to enjoy life while they had the chance.

“I can’t eat this. I’m on a diet.”

“It’s healthy. Protein, fiber, vegetables, and it’s actually got flavour.” Jim waggled the bag temptingly.

“I shouldn’t …”

“Come on, you’ve been on a diet for fourteen years. You’re fifteen!”

“Long-term goals.” Toby tucked the lunch into his backpack and got back onto his bike. “My body’s still changing.”

They rode for the first few blocks in panting silence.

Jim liked Toby. He wished he could think of some excuse why they ought to keep Toby alive when Gunmar returned to devour humanity. The boy had an interest and extensive knowledge of geology for one of his species, but nothing compared to a troll. None of Toby’s other interests or skills would be relevant in Gunmar’s world.

The closest thing to a solution Jim had come up with so far was that, if Gunmar wanted to keep eating humans long-term, then they would need to be farmed. Toby’s propensity to put on weight might make him desirable breeding stock.

But humans tended to view the ‘breeding stock’ concept as horrific and degrading and traumatizing when applied to sentients, and besides, with artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization being a thing now, that might only keep Toby alive for a few years while his sperm was harvested and preserved.

At least Jim had a reason Barbara Lake should be spared. She was a doctor. Barbara would be more useful alive, keeping the livestock humans healthy, than killed as food herself.

Stricklander said Jim had developed a sentimental attachment to his Familiar’s family. It was common for Changelings fresh out of the Darklands. Jim’s retort was that he would have no qualms at all about James Lake Senior being eaten.

“It’s eight o’clock!” cried Toby. “Late, late, late, we are so late!”

“Let’s take the canals.” Jim veered off the road into a wooded area. “It’ll save us five minutes.”

“Not the canals!”

“Live a little!”

“It’s living that I’m worried about!”

There was a pile of gravel under the bridge. Jim wouldn’t have paid attention to it if it hadn’t called his name.

“Jim … Lake …”

He slowed and circled back around.

“What up, Jimbo?” asked Toby. “Wasn’t the shortcut to save time, not waste it?”

“You go on ahead, Tobes, I’ll catch up.”

“Jim … Lake …”

“Wait, what was that?” Toby looked around the sun-drenched, empty canal and called out in challenge, “Who’s there? Who said that?”

Jim spotted a blue flash in the rubble.

Was that …? No, it couldn’t be … He got off his bike and dug it out.

“Whatcha got there?” Toby leaned over his shoulder.

“Pocket watch, maybe,” Jim invented. “Or, some kind of high-tech walkie-talkie.”

There was a loud ring.

“Final bell!” Toby gasped. “We’re so late our kids are gonna have detention!” He climbed back onto his bike and raced away. Jim followed, the Amulet of Daylight tucked in the pocket of his sweatshirt.

Thank everything holy and unholy that he had History first period.

“Jim, you seemed distracted in class today.”

“Yes! I – actually, I was hoping I could talk to you about that, at lunch, or, after school. About some,” he lit his eyes for a moment, “extra-credit work.”

Mr Strickler’s eyes shone gold and red in return. “Of course, Jim. You know my office door is always open to my students.”

Jim went to Mr Strickler’s office at lunch. He plucked the amulet from his pocket and placed it on his teacher’s desk without preamble.

“I found this on my way to school this morning.”

Stricklander went pale, then stern. “Did anyone else see you take it?”

“Tobias Domzalski, but he doesn’t know what it is. We were cutting through the canals. There were no other humans around. I didn’t see any living trolls, but if they found a dark enough shadow then I couldn’t have spotted them in this form. It was pretty sunny.”

“Mm,” said Stricklander noncommittally. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jim. I’ll take care of it.”

A more ambitious Changeling would have argued, wanting credit for their part in any undertaking. Jim took the chance to exit, wanting nothing to do with anything that had to do with the dreaded Trollhunter.

At least, that was the plan.

With a puff of light, the amulet vanished off of Stricklander’s desk and reappeared in Jim’s hand as he reached for the door. He dropped it, startled. Both Changelings stared at the unassuming little silver trinket on the floor.

Stricklander spoke slowly and precisely.

“Is there anything else you ought to tell me about your discovery of this amulet?”

“It said my name,” he admitted. “When I was biking past – that was why I stopped and went to look and picked it up.”

Stricklander sat down and pointed to the piano stool. Jim gave the office door a dirty look for not having a lock, and left the amulet on the floor. It teleported onto his lap when he sat down.

“This suggests you have been chosen as the next Trollhunter.”

“That’s impossible.”

“So I too would have thought. And yet, here we are.”

“You really think the amulet can just pick the next Trollhunter on its own? I mean, I get that it’s magic, but still. It’s an inanimate object.” He looked at it thoughtfully. “Semi-animate at most. Some of this looks like clockwork.”

“What tomes I’ve acquired of troll lore claim that the amulet chooses the Trollhunter. There should be an incantation inscribed. Try to summon the armour and we’ll know for certain.”

“Or, if it’s really sentient like you said, it’ll kill me for being a presumptuous Impure.”

“Don’t call yourself that.”

“What, presumptuous?” Jim asked cheekily.

Jim turned the pocket watch-like device in a slow circle. The runes around the edge were trollish, of course, which he could read but not well. Literacy had not been prized as a skillset or hobby in the Darklands. There wasn’t much available to read unless one wanted to risk Dictatious’ wrath for touching his precious collection. On the second revolution, the words on the amulet helpfully translated themselves into English.

He made a face at what he would have to say. May the Pale Lady forgive him.

“For the glory of Merlin … Daylight is mine to command.”

He really should have stayed standing.

Jim floated into the air, his stool knocked back, blue light surrounding him and pushing its way into his body. Frightened, he switched forms – he wasn’t much bigger trollish than he was humanoid, but he had tougher skin that way. He crashed to the ground in oversized armor. It shrank to fit him.

“Jim! Are you alright?” Stricklander demanded.

“… Wow.” Jim examined the gauntlets; felt the breastplate; turned to examine how the armor accommodated his short tail; checked the helmet that still left his horns exposed. “I mean, I always figured Bular would kill me someday, but I thought it would be in a fit of misdirected rage, not for an actual reason.”

He tried switching back to his human form. Again, the armour adjusted itself. There were metal horns on the helmet now. They felt longer than his; maybe they were the shape his horns would be once they grew out.

“This could actually prove useful.” Stricklander twirled his pen. “If the trolls accept you as the new Trollhunter, that means we have a spy in Trollmarket and need no longer fear the Trollhunter will interfere with our plans.” He put the pen down decisively. “You leave Bular to me. I’ll find a way to make that brute cede to logic.”

“If he doesn’t just come snap me in half tonight for the bragging rights of killing two Trollhunters in twenty-four hours.”

Stricklander stood and put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “Leave Bular to me.”

Changelings were taught to spy and lie and manipulate. Stricklander was an especially good actor when he played the role of a caring mentor. Jim knew Stricklander was a Changeling, just like him, and yet part of him still insisted that the reason Stricklander played the role so well was because it wasn’t just an act.

The armour dissipated. Jim caught the amulet as it fell from his heart.

Stricklander let go of him and spoke briskly.

“Our best option, I think, is to assume that you were seen finding the amulet and allow the trolls to believe it chose a human. The unprecedented nature of this should cover for any inconsistencies in the magic’s behaviour and your own ignorance of troll culture.”

Jim scowled at being called ignorant, glared for it being true, and felt an unpleasant twist in his stomach for how badly he wanted to change that.

Troll culture had been his culture, once upon a time, before he’d been taken and altered and become what he was.

He didn’t remember anything from before. He was too young when it happened. Every Changeling was. He certainly didn’t have enough memory scraps to truly say he missed it. But part of him still wanted it back.

Which was foolish and treasonous and beside the point in any case.

“That’ll be easier than trying to craft a troll persona and explain why they’ve never seen me around Trollmarket before, especially if I still look too young to be out on my own. Might still get me killed, but this thing’s a death sentence on its own, isn’t it?” holding up the amulet.

No, Jim didn’t know much of troll culture, but he suspected their reaction to a human Trollhunter would be only slightly better than their reaction to a Changeling Trollhunter – namely, a quick death to pass the mantle down to a real troll rather than pausing to torture him for information first.

And he also knew that Trollhunters, particularly Trollhunters living in the same city as Bular, had notoriously short lifespans compared to the average troll.

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