[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

Yesterday was the Love Your Pet Day! Here in Legion, we talked about pets already a few times. In particular, we talked about cats in video games and discussed our irl pets. Speaking of, @DracoTarot, it's been a while since I asked, how is your owl doing? Did you end up building that house for her?

And it is symbolic of how this day came almost a month after the release of Palworld. I have not tried it yet, has anyone?

Even if not, this time I thought I'd ask if you have a favourite pet in any game. Personally, I do not, for me, it is more that I notice them as I play but rarely remember them afterwards unless they play some important part in the story. So the most recent pet that I remember is Daffodil from Spiritfarer:



It is an interesting and almost painfully melancholic game, and I think that having a cat there actually helps a lot when you play it, emotionally. This is one pet that came to mind. What about you?

And @Saka, did you manage to check out 808 in Hi-Fi Rush yet?

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch Miss Owly parted ways with me a while back. I think it was around December. She moved on to greener pastures I guess!? Lately I'm seeing more Ravens around. Maybe I'll make friends with them.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Maybe it was a migrating owl after all. If so, she may come back again. Did you manage to build her a house or did she leave before that?

Or, maybe, unbeknown to us, Miss Owly turned into Mrs Owly and, following the call of her heart, left to live in her mate's family nest somewhere, and is busy being a mom.

Ravens could be good friends to have, they are very smart. Odin had two of them. So if you can't be like Athena, at least you can try to be like him. Besides, it would add an extra layer to your Tarot if you are friends with them as Odin too had a gift of clairvoyance. Well, not really a gift, he had to give one of his eyes in exchange, but he could see the future.



Unless your ravens make it a point to disturb your farming activities, as they are considered pests in some places. Are your ravens the white-necked variety? And are they loud?

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I think she had enough of the area and decided to move on. I haven't had any time to build a nest for her or any other Owl as yet.

The thing is our area is falling apart. Too many homeless people around and I think she was a bit scared to nest and stay longer. People have become so desperate for survival and hunting anything they can find. She may have noticed the danger. Even pets are stolen which never happened.

I packed away all my decks and do not do readings anymore. Lost my opportunity to do so. Like you know the loadshedding is a big contributor and also our government decided to tax anyone who works for international companies up to 60% of their earnings. Too much of my time will be wasted for so little income.

I also stopped with my farming activities. We have hectic weather and storms destroying everything. Noting survives the hail and strong winds. Everything around me is just so depressing right now.

We have both varieties of Ravens. Personally I prefer black ravens. Yes they are loud.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot If you have storms, then the owl might have moved because of that. It is not that great in my neck of the woods either, we're having a flood:



And all we can do is wait for this to end.

Black Ravens remind me of Allan Poe:

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

At one of the houses I used to live in before, there were lots of seagulls, and they were always squeaking and asking for food because some crazy seagull lady two houses away was feeding them. It was horrible, it started at 5 am each day. Hopefully, your ravens are more mannered than that.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch It seems everywhere the weather is causing some chaos. I guess it's Global warming which is the main cause.

We do not have a whole lot of flooding. The problem is, that most electrical storms win huge winds visit us regularly. No plant or vegetable survives.

Ah yes. The Raven by Allen Poe. Such a dark and beautiful poem.

It's a problem sometimes feeding animals, especially birds. They will in the end return in numbers and it can become noisy. Hadidas are one example. They are worse than crows and seagulls. We do have a crazy Cat lady living next door but at least she knows how to keep all the cats in tune.

I must say the ravens here are subtle and they do not make too much noise. The Indian Miner on the other hand can be a bit loud.

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot Sadly seems that way... My hope is that we're in a leap year, they have a reputation for being harder than the rest. Wishful thinking, I know, but helps me sleep at night...

Maybe there are plants that can be grown and harvested between storms? Like lettuce is vulnerable but grows quite fast and maybe if planted just after a storm it can be harvested before the next one. Though I am by no means a farmer, I can only repeat what I read online.

Allen Poe probably knows most rhymes to "nevermore" 😅 I recently watched a series called "The Fall of The House of Usher". Beware of flashing and graphic images:

It is sort of an anthology of the most famous Allen Poe stories (and easter eggs and hints to many others) in a modern setting, I liked it. That's why I remember it when you mentioned ravens.

Feeding wild animals is usually not a good idea. Not only, as you said, they will be back, but also it is bad for their development, I remember we touched on it when talking about your Owl, that they have the developmental need to hunt and just giving them food is bad for them. I'd say the same goes for every wild animal. Even in zoos, one of the most common health problems of wild cats (lions, jaguars and so forth) is obesity.

I listened to some Indian Miners on YT and they really are annoying. Do they make sounds all the time or only when in mating season?

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch This year has been hard for me. I'm not sure if it's because it's a leap year. It seems Mother Nature is making it clear the human race needs to be more protective over her and I do not blame her when she is showing some retaliation.

I can grow a few things like lettuce, tomatoes and herbs. They are all grown indoors. The rest like pumpkins, potatoes and so forth don't want to grow. Either there's too much water or other factors stopping the process.

The Fall of The House of Usher was good and I enjoyed it. I hope there will be more seasons in the future.

I agree with you. Wild animals are not meant to be fed and kept in isolation. It's ok to help out once in a while if they may be in danger or need sustenance, but it must be limited. Domestic animals on the other hand is a whole different story.

Indian Miners are annoying most of the time when they are in a group. If they are alone they seem to be more subtle. The mating season is the worst.

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by DracoTarot

@DoctorEldritch This year has been hard for me.

I've been looking for words of encouragement, but for some reason, what kept popping into my mind is this:

But at least you can grow some things still. Have you tried courgettes? They can supposedly be grown in bags, and you should be able to get quite a bit of them, and they are rather filling, there is a lot you can do with them. Not pumpkins or potatoes, but still.

I don't think there will be another season of The Fall of The House of Usher, it was an anthology. But Mike Flanagan has done plenty of similar horror works in the past, like The Haunting of Hill House or Midnight Mass, and even uses some of the actors across the shows. I think his next two projects will be films, though. But one of them is based on King's story The Life of Chuck and will star Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill (Loki & Luke 😉). I do not "get" King, but if you like those actors it may be worth waiting for.

Even help should be given carefully so as not to from dependence of wild animals on humans. That not being done properly is why some wild animals prefer the outskirts of the cities where it is easier to get food. Racoons are especially known for that.

I guess that applies to most calling birds. For me, even pleasant-sounding birds like nightingales become annoying if they chirp at 5 am...