Latest news with #Bastet
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
After Six Years, Overwatch 2 Finally Acknowledges Soldier: 76's Gay Ex-Boyfriend Again
Way back in 2019, Blizzard confirmed that Soldier: 76, Overwatch's grumpy grandpa, is a member of the queer community. The titular organization's ex-commander, whose real name is Jack Morrison, is gay and was involved with a man named Vincent many years before the events of the game. This was revealed in a short story called 'Bastet,' which focused on him and Ana, who were close comrades during the group's heyday. In the story, Morrison reflects on his old flame, and it sounds like the two split because Soldier was so dedicated to the group's cause that it put a strain on their relationship. But the game itself hasn't really acknowledged Soldier's long-lost love outside of a spray of the two giving each other the Christian Side Hug. That's finally changed in Overwatch 2's 16th season. Blizzard periodically adds new pre-match interactions between its heroes with the start of a new season and in the big mid-season patch, often spotlighting a handful of characters with each new wave, rather than adding something for all 40+ heroes at once. And with season 16, which started late last month, Soldier: 76 is one of the characters to benefit. The latest wave includes a conversation with Baptiste, who playfully asks if anyone has ever 'captured the heart' of the grizzled vigilante. Soldier doesn't mention Vincent by name, but does say there was someone, and laments that he hasn't seen him 'in a long time.' Baptiste apologizes for bringing up bad memories, but Soldier says that 'these days, that's all [he's] got.' Shot me right through the heart, Blizzard. Thanks for that. tiktok-7507005230454820138 It's been so long since we first learned that Vincent existed, some folks in the comments of videos featuring the conversation are assuming it's about Reaper, with whom fans have shipped Soldier: 76 for almost a decade. For several years, Overwatch 2's handling of queer themes existed in a weird place of plausible deniability. It came up in external media, but was rarely acknowledged in the game itself, to the point where you could push payloads without ever once having to consider that Tracer was a lesbian or Soldier was gay. In recent years, Blizzard has made a pretty concentrated effort to be more explicit about all the LGBTQ+ characters on its roster. 2023 was a real turning point for the game, starting with the release of Lifeweaver who was confirmed as a pansexual character at launch. In June, the game got its first Pride event, which confirmed a few more queer heroes, added Pride flag cosmetics, and updated the Midtown map to cover it in rainbows for a Pride parade. Venture, the shooter's first non-binary hero, was announced at Blizzcon that year and released in the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Cats in Bulgaria
'Why do cats meow, yowl, and cry so much at night?' I asked our Bulgarian driver. 'It's love season,' he replied in broken English with a smile. 'Don't the owners mind?' I continued. 'Not all cats are pets, sir. Many are street cats.' It was the end of January, my first month in Sofia, Bulgaria. As the snowfall diminished and the weather improved, I saw healthy cats of various sizes and colours roaming the streets freely. Whenever I opened the door of my residence, I would spot a cat or two heading to a nearby house or the open field. At night, they don't merely meow; they whine and wail, piercing the silence of a solitary European winter evening. They lament, complain, and grieve. I spoke with a few locals. Some mentioned that they wail when they feel lonely, while others said they do so to attract attention. A few reiterated that it was the season for romance. The history of cats living alongside humans remains unknown. However, they have been domesticated in Central Europe for 10,000 years. The Nubian cat from North Africa, is considered their ancestor. The Nubian cat travelled to this region through Anatolia, Cyprus, and Greece, eventually reaching ancient Rome. It cross-bred and reproduced in 19th-century Poland, leading to the gradual emergence of smaller domestic cats. Over the centuries, cats have secured a significant place in human settlements, myths, legends, and creative endeavours. Cats have played notable roles in films such as Puss in Boots, Tom and Jerry, Shrek, The Aristocats, Alice in Wonderland, and Bolt. However, their social presence has been ambivalent; they are admired and often associated with various biases across nearly every society, especially the black cats. In my birthplace in Odisha, seeing a cat at dawn is considered a bad omen, and it is also regarded as inauspicious if a cat crosses one's path. A similar stigma exists throughout much of Europe, where black cats are often viewed as harbingers of bad luck, particularly if they cross one's path. In Japan, the nekomata is a cat with two tails. It is part of the yokai (supernatural world). In some tales, the nekomata is a mischievous trickster. Some legends also describe it as devouring humans. Similarly, the bakeneko, which has one tail, is known for its shapeshifting abilities and the potential to possess its owner. Native American folklore speaks of the wampus cat, depicted as a mystical, green-eyed feline with supernatural abilities. It has been described in various ways: sometimes as a creature that is part-human and part-feline, at other times as a blend of dog and cat, and occasionally as having six legs. The wampus cat is known for its nocturnal hunting. Certain societies consider cats as good luck. In ancient Egypt, they were revered for controlling mice and rats. By the 9th century BCE, the worship of Bastet, the goddess of ancient Egypt, evolved from that of a lioness to a cat deity, regarded as a nurturing mother. Similarly, during the Industrial Revolution in England, a black cat on a ship was deemed a sign of good fortune. Women were encouraged to gift their sailing husbands a black cat for safety and prosperity. As many other societies, Bulgarian folklore and legends associate cats with both good and evil. Nevertheless, it is normal for Bulgarians to keep cats as pets. As a child, I was fascinated by how a mother cat moves her kittens from one place to another. She gently lifts a kitten by the scruff of its neck and carries it to a cosy spot. I have been told that kittens are born in Bulgaria in May and June, and I await the opportunity to witness the Bulgarian version of this phenomenon.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Science
- The Independent
The dark reasons humans keep cats as pets, according to the experts
New research suggests cats first became human companions in ancient Egypt, not Cyprus as previously thought. DNA analysis reveals that the feline remains found in a 9,500-year-old Cypriot grave belong to a European wildcat, not a domesticated cat. Scientists now believe cat domestication occurred around 3,000 years ago in Egypt, possibly linked to mass ritual sacrifices of wildcats for the goddess Bastet. Temples dedicated to Bastet were often located near agricultural lands, where wildcats would have preyed on rodents, potentially fostering closer relationships with humans. The cult of Bastet may have played a role in the spread of domesticated cats, similar to how other cults influenced the dispersal of certain animals.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Archaeologists discover secret behind why we keep cats as pets
Cats became human companions for the first time likely following mass cult ritual sacrifices of the furry felines in ancient Egypt, a pair of new studies suggest. Ancient Egypt is well known to have been the cradle of human civilisation where feline domestication and worship were prevalent. Several mummified cat remains and deities like the Egyptian goddess Bastet suggest that the furry felines and humans lived alongside each other in the region. However, the exact circumstances under which cats became human companions was unknown. Then, in 2001, scientists made a breakthrough discovery of a 9,500-year-old grave in Cyprus containing the remains of a human and a feline, hinting that cat domestication began in the Mediterranean island. Researchers theorised that cats in and around Cyprus may have followed early farmers and gradually got accustomed to living with humans over thousands of years. Now, two yet-to-be peer-reviewed DNA studies debunk this theory, finding that the Cyprus animal is actually a European wildcat, and not a domesticated cat. This brings the focus back to Egypt as the origin site of cat domestication possibly as recent as 3000 years ago, researchers say. 'We demonstrate that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers, as previously thought,' they write. Instead, scientists suspect that domesticated forms of wildcats were first sacrificed in mass cult rituals for Bastet before they were tamed to be pets. Archaeologists say the Egyptian goddess of protection, pleasure, and good health, was first depicted with a lion 's head, but around the first millennium BC she became to be represented with the head of a cat. 'This transformation was coincident with the rise of cat sacrifice, whereby millions of free-ranging and specifically-reared cats were mummified as offerings to the goddess,' researchers write in the new study. Excavations have also found that the temples and sanctuaries dedicated to Bastet are situated around vast ancient agricultural landscapes. Such arable land would have had large numbers of rodents as well as their natural predators – wildcats. 'This would have provided the context for the tighter relationship between people and cats that led to the wildcat's domestication, motivated by their newly acquired divine status,' scientists write. Eventually, some ancient Egyptians likely welcomed the cats home as adorable pet companions, they say. The domestication and spread of animals driven by cults is not uncommon. For instance, previous research has shown that the spread of the fallow deer is linked to the Greek goddess Artemis, and of chickens to the cult of Mithras. In the same way, the cult of Bastet could have facilitated the dispersal of cats, researchers say. 'Our results offer a new interpretative framework for the geographic origin of domestic cats, suggesting a broader and more complex process of domestication that may have involved multiple regions and cultures in North Africa,' scientists write.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The history of cat domestication
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The domestic cat is one of the smallest members of the family Felidae — the group that includes lions, tigers, jaguars and cougars. It is also the only member of that family that has been domesticated. Cats have lived among humans for thousands of years. They probably started hanging around human grain stores, attracted by mice and other vermin, and eventually spread around the world as sailors brought them aboard ships. Today, cats still help humans control pests, as well as provide companionship. In the past few centuries, humans have bred some cats to display certain traits, like hairlessness, thereby establishing dozens of cat breeds. With their charming mix of aloofness and goofiness, cats continue to amuse and fascinate us. Cats were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Today's domestic cats descend from Felis silvestris lybica, a wildcat subspecies found in Africa and the Middle East. Genes from cats found in archaeological sites in the Middle East, Europe and Africa reveal that about 10,000 years ago, in modern-day Turkey, cats started to associate with humans and split from their wild relatives. Despite having relatively small natural ranges, F. s. lybica showed up in eastern Europe by 4400 B.C., according to ancient cat DNA found at archaeological sites. This suggests that cats hitched rides aboard ships with traders, who probably appreciated that cats kept rats in check. Cats certainly traveled long distances: DNA from Egyptian cats has been found as far as a Viking site in northern Germany dating to between A.D. 700 and 1000. The oldest known burial of a domesticated cat comes from Cyprus, where a human and a cat were buried together 9,500 years ago. Cat bones also have been found buried in 5,300-year-old refuse pits in China. The ancient Egyptians revered cats. Here, we see statuettes and figurines depicting cats and Egyptian deities found in a cache dating to the Egyptian Late Period (around the fifth century B.C.). (Image credit: Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images) Cats took on a starring role in ancient Egypt. Scientists aren't yet sure whether the Egyptians domesticated cats separately from the Middle East lineage, or whether the cats spread from Turkey to Egypt. Either way, Egyptians treasured cats' protectiveness and independence and saw the traits of their gods in cats. Cats were sometimes even mummified lovingly next to their deceased owners, but they were also sacrificed in large numbers during religious rituals. Bastet, a feline-headed goddess, was worshipped as a protector and as a deity of pregnancy and childbirth. Related: Why were the ancient Egyptians obsessed with cats? You might hear that cats "domesticated themselves." This is because ancient wildcats likely chose to hang around human agricultural settlements, resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship between cats and humans. These settlements provided ample food and shelter for cats. Because the cats helped keep vermin at bay, the people who inhabited these settlements tolerated — and eventually welcomed — cats' presence. Whereas humans domesticated dogs through artificial selection by breeding for desirable traits, domestic cats evolved simply through natural selection, as friendlier and more docile cats thrived in close contact with humans. Cats are not as domesticated as dogs are. Whereas cats were domesticated about 10,000 years ago, genetic evidence suggests that dogs were domesticated between 14,000 and 30,000 years ago. It's still up for debate exactly how and why some wild wolves evolved into friendly house pets, but it is clear that humans have spent much more time and effort shaping the genetic makeup of domestic dogs. In fact, scientists say that even today, cats are "only just" domesticated. Many domestic cats are actually feral, meaning they live outside of human captivity and can fend for themselves. Feral cats and house cats also regularly interbreed, so house cats retain many of their "wild" instincts. People also bred domestic dogs for thousands of years based on their skills and personalities, whereas humans started breeding domestic cats only within the past few centuries. This means dogs' temperaments tend to be more predictable and aligned with human needs than cats'. Even now, modern-day cats are categorized primarily by appearance. Although appearance is also a factor in canine breeding, historically, abilities such as tracking game, herding sheep and guarding property were more important. —Did cats really disappear from North America for 7 million years? —Are cats and dogs smarter than babies? —Cat brains are shrinking, and it's all humans' fault
