#Pet Lessons

[noisyexpertobject]

A Curious Case for Cats

Are you a dog person or a cat person? No need to choose. Join me as I lay out the virtues of pet caregiving, topped off by a video dedicated to my former cat, Emily Dickinson, who inspired some precious life lessons that I still nurture today.

During my mid-30s, I shared seven years of my life taking care of, and all-around adoring, a jet black cat called Emily Dickinson. My smart, funny, and ravishingly beautiful fur companion taught me how to navigate the divide between mind and heart, past and present, helping me reconcile the knots of thoughts and emotions that arise when discovering oneself reflected anew through the eyes of…

[camellcat]

in tears why did giles never just. talk. to buffy. or any of the scoobies. I feel like buffy would've responded a lot better if he'd just tried to warn her about older men rather than oh vampire bad. who CARES if he's a vampire angel treats giles like an equal and considers all of buffy's friends "children" INCLUDING HER when he decides he needs to make a point about how he's smarter/more mature than her. it actually makes me feel crazy why did THAT not seem to bother giles !!!!

[inhuman-obey-me]

Diavolo & The Loyalty Thing

Alrighty everyone, we're going to be blunt here -- if there is one character misunderstanding in this fandom that has always pissed us off (jk there are many actually), it is how people interpret Diavolo's deal with Lucifer after the war.

We know a lot of y'all don't like him because of that agreement. We know a lot of you think that Lucifer is magically bound to Diavolo's will because of it, as with a pact, and is unable to defy him. We know that many of you dislike Diavolo because you think he was taking advantage of Lucifer in that scene.

Well, the devs have made it plain time and time again and even more so in Nightbringer: that is not the case.

You are wrong, and here's why. (Or, to put it more nicely, please let us convince you otherwise.)

(spoilers including Nightbringer Lesson 17 below the cut)

Let's start by reviewing the situation from Lucifer's side:

Lucifer, a guest to the Devildom many times before in a diplomatic coordination context, has just led, and subsequently lost, a civil war in the Celestial Realm. The catalyst that pushed him to start this war was the impending punishment declared against his sister, Lilith. Seeing that sister get fatally wounded in said war, he flies down after her falling body, where both of them land in the Devildom.

Diavolo then shows up with Barbatos, presumably because they, you know, saw two war-wounded angels falling from the sky into his domain. Lucifer turns to Diavolo and starts shouting that he knows the prince has the power to save his sister -- and pleads with him to do exactly that.

Diavolo makes a point of telling Lucifer that it may not be in the way he expects or wants, but he agrees to do it on the condition that Lucifer swears loyalty to him. Barbatos attempts to interject against the idea, to which Diavolo responds that he's aware already that this is a big risk for him. Lucifer, upon realizing that he is becoming a demon himself as a consequence of the war, agrees to Diavolo's terms.

(OG Scene on left, Nightbringer scene on right)

Diavolo then takes Lilith before she dies and reincarnates her as a human. This then remains a secret between the three of them from that moment all the way until the events of OG Lesson 15, when Lucifer finally confesses the whole thing to his brothers in the first timeline, and then OG Lesson 16, when MC reveals it (in the second timeline).

So to recap: Lucifer started a war with Lilith's punishment as the catalyst, lost, showed up in the Devildom, and then demanded the prince of that realm save his sister from essentially the same punishment he was fighting against in the first place.

To be clear about Diavolo and Lucifer's relationship at this point, they had been communicating about diplomatic affairs, as a governmental head and a top representative respectively. They are friendly, but not close friends yet. They are not allies in this war. Diavolo is not involved at all in the Great Celestial War or the situation with Lilith. And with this rebellion, Lucifer no longer holds that diplomatic status -- in fact, as mentioned in Nightbringer Lesson 8, the brothers were essentially war criminals in the eyes of the Celestial Realm, with Lucifer as the leader.

Moreover, Diavolo's goal as prince is that he wants to establish peace and cooperation between the Devildom and the Celestial Realm. These two realms were enemies for the vast majority of history, and although there is a nonaggression agreement between them currently, it's a tense sort of truce, not true peace.

Helping Lucifer defy the Celestial Realm is in direct opposition to that goal. Taking in the brothers at all is pretty risky in terms of that goal, as Barbatos makes clear above, but there's at least a sort of implication that it is the Demon Prince's business what to do with new demons. Interfering in the Celestial Realm's punishment of one of its angels though? Well, Asmodeus and Leviathan understand right away when they learned the truth from Lucifer back in OG Lesson 15.

There was a very real risk of pissing off the Celestial Realm that he had to calculate against here, and it's a risk that threatens not only him but everything that matters to him most -- his realm, which is a responsibility he takes very seriously, and his goals, for peace between the realms.

And then there's Diavolo's own precarious political situation.

Though Nightbringer retcons this a bit with Diavolo's father falling into a slumber and leaving the realm to Diavolo more suddenly, the original OM actually established that Diavolo was in charge before the fall, with the Demon King going off to sleep shortly after giving the brothers' their titles. And Nightbringer has shown that his position as the de facto leader of the realm is very much in question.

The nobles of the House of Lords are very blatantly unhappy about Diavolo and his goals, especially in regards to the now-fallen angels. Really, the whole realm doesn't really approve of angels -- they've made a clear point of it in NB, and even well into OG's main story, approval ratings for the exchange program are mentioned as being better but still pretty low, with various references to demons threatening to eat the angels.

But more to the point, the House of Lords has power over Diavolo. Though he is the rightful heir to the throne in terms of birth, they are able to challenge that right, and they even choose when he will be allowed to ascend to the throne -- something which, even in the distant future of OG, they still have apparently never allowed him to do, seeing as he's still not the king even after all this time. And just between his goals for peace and his taking in the fallen angels, they already maneuvered to punish him with suddenly demanding he go through the Kingsblood Crucible to potentially prevent him from ever becoming king. And as Diavolo says, even if he passes, they could still decide against appointing him king.

Now imagine if they found out that he risked the safety of the entire realm to help save a dying angel. If they knew that, they probably wouldn't stop at just challenging his fitness to rule.

So, to be clear, when Lucifer showed up with Lilith, yelling at Diavolo to save her? Diavolo was NOT free to just do whatever he pleases. When he said he's taking a big risk by helping Lilith, he really was. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't, and no real reason why he should -- but Lucifer was begging him to do it anyway. So, he needed something in return. Some kind of reassurance, some kind of protection in the potential consequences.

And there certainly are consequences for helping Lucifer. Even with the Lilith deal being a secret, there are consequences. We saw that already with the House of Lords' increased animosity -- as said above, he was nearly removed from power over it. And as for the Celestial Realm?

Well, that brings us to the end of Nightbringer Lesson 17, where Raphael comes bearing a message from the Celestial Realm -- or, more aptly, a threat.

(We could go into a whole thing about why the Celestial Realm is threatening this but that's for another time)

So, here we are, at the very dangerous crossroads that Diavolo finds himself at now in Nightbringer -- the Celestial Realm coming into his domain with blatant threats of war, while the nobles of his own realm just tried to remove him from power. Threats that are being made against him over helping Lucifer and the brothers. And that's without any of them knowing about Lilith, which would only make all sides even angrier.

You know what he could really use, amidst all those threats? An ally. Someone he could depend on to have his back. Someone he could rely on to be unequivocally on his side, in that very precarious balance of powers.

So that's what he asked for -- loyalty. For all that he was putting on the line for Lucifer's request, he asked for Lucifer to stand by him in turn. What he asked was simply this: "Don't stab me in the back. Don't leave me to deal with the consequences alone. If I'm going to help you, promise me you will be there for me too."

P.S. Lucifer himself has said he agrees with Diavolo's goals. Talking with Diavolo about the peace and cooperation plan was a huge part of why he started having doubts about the Celestial Realm! He was not being asked to do anything he disagreed with; Diavolo knew Lucifer feels the same about his goals as he does. Lucifer takes the loyalty thing too far in OG Season 1, but it was never the only reason for him supporting Diavolo!

[wahroh]

Doesn't excise either.

[peaches2217]

I may not be super active today. Lucy got into some flowers and got extremely sick last night. By the time I woke up this morning, she was drooling and stumbling and just in horrible shape.

I rushed her into the vet still in my pajamas and they recommended hooking her up to an IV and getting her rehydrated. As of last update, she’s doing okay: calm and resting but alert. I’m expecting a call with more details here shortly after the doctor comes back from lunch.

Please keep us in your thoughts, or pray for her if you pray. Her middle name is Athena because she’s my brave little warrior. I’m praying she pulls through now as well.

[mwesrik]

Best type of game is one where I have a horse and its little hooves go clipper-clopper on the different types of ground.

[youmagnificentbeast]

Rhys Darby petting a shelduck, for reasons (✿◡‿◡)

[sambartika]

UNLIKELY FASCINATION

PART III: "Forever and Ever"

It was Sunday—the laziest day of the week. Waking up at 9, I strolled past my front balcony, heading straight to the kitchen for breakfast. Then, I opened my computer to work on my project.

The clock struck twelve. As I prepared for a bath, I felt something queer. Did I forget to do something? I wondered while opening the door to the balcony.

"Oops! How could I forget this?" I mumbled.

I placed the bananas on the cupboard behind which the civet stayed.

Yes, it has been quite a few years. It grew older, and I grew up.

I really grew up. Actually, that’s misleading. Nothing much changed about me—I just became mature enough to realize what reality is. I grew from a child eager to make friends, to a teenager traumatized by friendship, to a mature person afraid to make friends.

Have any of you ever experienced living in an environment, studying in a school with your agemates, and realizing that no one—absolutely no one—thinks like you? No one understands your sense of "friendship." No one understands your definition of "loyalty." No one understands your idea of "happiness." At that point, you may feel you are innocent. And yes, I admit I was innocent, and I want to remain unchanged for my entire life.

Sometimes you will be framed. And then you may call yourself a fool, but you are not. You are just not experienced enough to understand who deserves your friendship. Friendship requires trust. Trust demands loyalty, and—

LOYALTY is an EXPENSIVE thing that you cannot expect from CHEAP people.

Hence, now I’m afraid—maybe I won’t be able to distinguish the rich from the cheap. It requires skill to distinguish a diamond from moissanite. It requires even more skill to identify a rich heart from rich apparel.

Hence, now, I am truly petrified—of friendship... with narcissists.

But don’t think I’m devoid of friendship. I do have friends, and I’m genuinely happy with them.

I’m proud to say that I’m an animal lover. I love all animals. To me, they are my best friends. Whenever I see them, I feel an eternal, inseparable bond existing between us—something rare, beyond profit, beyond ulterior motives, beyond any conditions—so natural, so resolute.

As I was placing the civet’s food, it came out, only to stare at me for a few obsessed moments. Earlier, it was introverted—it restrained itself from appearing in front of me, yet secretly watched me. That’s hypocrisy, though. But I loved how it changed. Seeing its change, I asked:

"It has been so many years, and still you haven’t answered me."

It looked at me cluelessly.

"What? Did you ever answer me whether you want to be my friend or not?"

It picked up its food and took a bite.

I smirked and walked away.

At this point, both of us knew the answer to the question. I reminisced about our sweet memories—the time when our eyes first met, that dining table incident which still gives me goosebumps, and how I developed an unlikely fascination for a civet cat, a wild, supposedly nasty species, even though I hated cats.

Oh, there’s something I must tell you all. Civet cats are not cats. Yes, the scientific name of the house cat is Felis catus. Thus, all cats are generally part of the Felis genus, although their species may differ, like Felis chaus (Jungle cat) or Felis bieti (Chinese Mountain cat). But civets are not one of them. Civets belong to the family Viverridae, and they don’t form a monophyletic group.

In West Bengal, we generally find Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Common Palm Civet) or Viverricula indica (Small Indian Civet). And believe me, I found this out on the last day of my Class 10 board exams—coincidentally, the day I studied biology for the final time for exam—since I pursued Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science as my main subjects in Class 11.

So my fascination wasn’t that unlikely, as it’s really not a cat. I know it may sound melodramatic and cheesy; it may even resemble a mistaken identity plot. It might seem like an attempt to romanticize the idea—love is all perfect and ideal���even though the shape of Earth isn’t—but for God’s sake, believe me, I didn’t make it up for the story. It’s damn true.

Anyway, aren’t you eager to know the answer to the question from earlier? Well, it was—

“Forever and Ever.”

[shadowpusen]

While I play piano, Shadow comes into the livingroom from where ever she is and lies down and relax the whole time I play. She is so precious 🐈‍⬛🩷

[fairycosmos]

love my dog to death but one thing she's taught me is that i sincerely could not handle having kids

[kerajinanlogam]

"Dog or Goat? 🤯 Binggo the Black Dog Loves Eating Grass! Real Proof!"

[frameconfessions]

Rebecca and Steve finally remembered bird companions.

No, but literally we've been waiting for it since devstream 96 https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxJxbM765-ynwcEfI8k7_VNieMW-lkke3-?si=ThmcZqZynVH9Fgip

Then in devshorts 44 some people brought it up somehow. https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxc1RiTzRS36WNfNN3MnQ5h7un_ISa0a47?si=-uSd5Bq2voXINWO6

Then each dev shorts I would wait until like right after stream was over so I could be one of the first comments because first comments are more likely get more likes and interactions | Devshorts 45

Devshorts 46

Other people were saying CAW CAW and other bird pet ideas in the comments and I even saw forum threads about it over the past few weeks.

Then finally Devshorts 47 arrived and I was up early enough to feel like an absolute menace, spamming twitch & youtube chat in various ways and wordings to avoid the spam detection filters about BIRD COMPANIONS. At last, we got our answer. https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxM56QsIINxPdSDlbGmuV32F0uKFfN9h_w?si=HyX5PpVmNGFNfrwS

The lesson of the day is be annoying and persistent, but in ways that can dodge the spam detection filters on chat if you want the devs to answer you about something in particular. /lighthearted tone

Bird Companion Saga is over for now.

[schizononagesimus]

so my bank account decided to charge me a fee which overdrew my account, i happened to have 3€ lying around so now im not negative anymore but i have 2 USD in my bank account which isnt enough money for me to get the train to work for the week! 🥲 i get paid on the 24th but in the meantime my commissions are open and my ko-fi is here if you're able to help out at all ❤️❤️

[handledwithgloves]

what do you think of harry×tom riddle ship

soz for the late reply but i'm pretty indifferent about tomarrymort all i know is that the art always eats, the actual ship tho eh i dont really see it cos i just cant get over the hurdle that harry would get with someone who had killed/is going to kill his parents amongst others lol but i see the parallels that could draw people to that ship (including harry finding tom physically attractive) so yeah to each their own and if you ship tomarrymort kudos to you! it's an interesting ship for sure!!

[prettycatboy]

Dairy heaven and intolerant hell, a very effective system

indeed.... 😔😮‍💨