#one or both of them may have thought themself bad luck incarnate - for all the dysfunction and loss they'd already suffered by like age 17

[twothpaste]

a long-looming intermission au question in the back of my head is "what the absolute hell was going on with flint and hinawa back in tennessee." the details remain erratic and fuzzy, but if/when i ever hash it out it's so fucking over.

[crazywolf828]

In honor of Friday the 13th, I think we deserve some black cat facts!

(it also gives me a chance to show off my kit😅)

We've all heard the myths and ledgends of how black cats are bad luck, but how did that come to be? To understand that, we need to see how it all started.

Of course, one of the earliest connections between cats and humans is ancient Egypt, cats often being seen as divine symbols. There was even an Egyptian goddess, Bastet, who had the head of a cat and a slender female body. She was the goddess of protection, pleasure, and the bringer of good health.

But how did they fall from divinity to being bad luck?

Well, they appear in Greek mythology, specifically related to Hecate, who is the goddess of magic, sorcery, the moon and witchcraft. Hecate was described as having a cat as both a pet and a familiar. (Y'know, the thing witches have in European folklore)

You can probably guess where it's going from here, but why did Europe end up hating them so much?

Well, it was the church (Shocking I know). The church insisted black cats were the incarnation of Satan.

It's also heavily linked to paganism which, as the church grew in power, pagans were considered direct threats to the church and thus accused of being witches.

My personal favorite quote is "Cats, like the women accused of witchcraft, tend to exhibit a healthy disrespect of authority" "They don't fawn, like dogs, upon even the unworthy. In the church, neither independent women, nor independent animals, were to be tolerated."

Of course we know Europe did more than that, but what else was there?

Well for one, they blamed the cats for the bubonic plague and started killing them on sight. Unfortunately we now know it wasn't the cats but the fleas on the rats and with very few cats to kill the rats, the plague spread like wild fire.

That superstition of a black cat crossing your path? Yeah that was also the church. It was supposed that if a black cat crossed your path it could have been a witch sending it's familiar to harm you. Similarly they believed it could have been the devil themself. So these peasants would run to the nearest church to ask for blessings. Naturally the church used this, encouraged it, and endorsed these 'bad omens'

These beliefs were of course brought over to America causing the Salem witch trials and countless more deaths of both people and black cats.

But wait! Not everyone thought they were bad!

In fact, they're helpful to your love life! In Japan it's believed single women who own black cats will attract more suitors. And, in Great Britain’s English Midlands, a black cat is the ideal wedding gift. They’re believed to bring good luck and happiness to the bride. (I'd be so happy to get a cat for a wedding gift??)

Not only can it help your love life, but historically sailor's have been known to bring cats, but specifically black cats on ships for mousing (and probably companionship). But why black cats? Well, they're thought to bring safe passage. Plus they've been noted to have a higher catch rate. It makes sense for the black cat to be a better night hunter, blending in and all.

Pirates also had ties with them, though it's a bit tricky. If a black cat was walking towards them it was bad luck, walking away was good luck, and if they jumped on and then off the ship it was thought the ship would sink.

However, black cat arriving at your doorstep signals prosperity, a common belief in Scotland. And a black cat crossing your path signals good luck in England and Ireland!

Okay enough superstitions, what about facts for the actual cat itself?

I'm going to ruin some hearts, but I'm counting this as a black cat fact. There's no such thing as a black panther, there's only melanistic jaguars and leopards. If you look closely they all have spots.

Their black coats may offer them some protection from diseases!

In fact, the mutations causing the black coat affect the same genes that offer HIV resistance to humans.

And since cats can experience some health issues we do (cancer, HIV, Alzheimer's ect.) they make perfect models for studying human disease. By figuring out how cats have evolved to resist diseases, researchers can learn how to prevent disease in humans!

Black cats can change color!If your black cat has a tabby stripe gene and loves to lay in the sun, its fur can turn a brownish color. Why? The sun’s rays break down the pigment in their fur to reveal the underlying tabby stripes.

Here's an example from my black cat! You can see how the half in the sun is far more of a brown color than the side away from it.

This got very long but I hope y'all enjoyed these black cat facts! :)

(and also the pictures of my cat)