Origins of Vegan Sidekick
Hi, thanks for taking the time to visit my page, and I'm humbled you want to read more. Vegan Sidekick began as a way for me to do something more than just be vegan. I had been vegan for about 12 years before beginning Vegan Sidekick, and during that time I had become more and more of a "quiet vegan", avoiding confrontation in day to day life and choosing not to talk about veganism at all. And while that makes my life easier, I couldn't stop thinking of the animals that are killed constantly in slaughterhouses etc. I have the opportunity to speak for them so I decided to make a page. That was back in 2014 I think.
I was raised eating meat, but chose to become vegetarian at a young age when I first was told what meat is. It was always very obvious to me even as a child that animals were conscious, and so when I learned that meat was a dead animal, it didn't make sense to me that I would eat them. It was many years later that I became vegan, as I thought more and more beyond slaughter itself. The idea of breeding an indiviual into captivity as your property seemed wrong. And again, it was even later once I was vegan that I learned more about how the dairy and egg industries worked, which include slaughter anyway...
Vegan Sidekick is not my job, I work an unrelated 9-5 job. For the first few years I very very active, and was making comics consistently, posting most days. Now after ten years, I post less frequently for a number of reasons. Firstly, I feel like I've said everything a million times, and I sort of feel weird about repeating myself, but perhaps that is necessary, and I should post more. Beyond that, the internet and social media in general has become more and more hateful and a stressful place to interact with people. Even among people you can agree with on most things, it's so easy for people to view you as an enemy and it is draining, with so much feedback from so many people.
About the author
In my spare time, my primary passion is video games, which I've played since I was able. I have too many favourites to list but some are Tekken, Street Fighter, Hitman, God Hand, Dead Cells, DMC, Void Bastards, They Are Billions, Zelda, Mario, Vampire Survivors, Balatro, Doom, Resident Evil 4, Dead Space, Elden Ring...
I have also been learning to code and have been making my own video game for the last few years alone which has been a wonderful experience.
I mainly like heavy metal music including Rage Against The Machine, Arch Enemy, Lacuna Coil, Pantera, Biohazard... I also like Prodigy.
I find it awkward to speak about myself, because it's really not the point of the page, it's about the animals. But I am also aware that following an individual online can sometimes feel like a "gamble" of sorts, if you don't know what else they stand for, and you may not want to be affiliated with people based on other opinions they have... So to give a bit of a picture:
Most people would consider me to be left politcally. I am from the UK, and do not affiliate with any particular political party, unfortunately there is a lot to be disappointed by all round. I vote in such a way to give the best chance to opposition to conservative/right wing parties, even though it means holding my nose with whoever it means I vote for (i am open to an alternative method of casting my vote, it's just the most logical way I can think of so far). In addition, it's hard to say that ANY politician represents me and my values, just as it's very unlikely that any individual politician (or indeed party) accurately represents everything anyone believes in. With that said, in the broad strokes, I respect a lot of what Jeremy Corbyn stands for, even if I don't agree with every word of course.
I dislike the idea of a political spectrum graph, or "horse shoe politics". The implication of those ideas seems to be that you can "go too far" in ANY direction. That to me is absurd. It also gives too much credit to the idea of centrism as though being "a centrist" means you're enlightened to everything and aren't an "extremist"... However, apply that to the subject of murdering people. How does that fit into this idea? Can you be a centrist on murder? How does that even work, what does it mean in practice? So I find conversations about politics to be frustrating because of the framework in which people even view it all and discuss it to begin with, and it is extremely tribal / combative / defensive so much of the time. Some things that go on in this world have objectively negative consequences, and to be against them is not extreme.
I would say that I am egalitarian, and as part of that I am an ally of LGBT rights, same sex marriage, and am against racism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, sexism... It seems sad to have to say this at all honestly, but yeah.
I do not have a religion, and in general I am what most people would call a sceptic.
I do not believe in the supernatural, zodiac, and am not supersitious.
Also to conclude, I want to say that I know that I come across in a certain way as "Vegan Sidekick", and it is generally learned behaviour because I have spent many years debating with people. I tend to use the Socratic Method (asking questions of people to understand a position and its pros/cons), and although I see a lot of merit in that, it also can result in me seeming like an "interrogator" or even "robotic". Part of that is also likely down to me being autistic, and I focus very much on the literal things that people say and do. This can result in me coming across as cold sometimes especially when disagreeing with people, and that is sometimes good, sometimes bad. It is good in times which require a lot of patience, because I can focus for a long time on the subject at hand without snapping. But it's bad in times when people want more of a kind of friendly conversation. I find it hard to get a balance of that sometimes, and even with followers and allies, I know I sometimes put my foot in it and cause offense. I apologise for that, and appreciate people sticking with me all these years despite my awkwardness sometimes x |
