[image description: A black and white tuxedo cat with a bowtie emerges from the Matrix-green screen
[image description: A black and white tuxedo cat with a bowtie emerges from the Matrix-green screen of a laptop and stands in the keyboard looking adorably up at us.Text reads, “194, ROSWELL, the small god of CATS ON THE INTERNET”]* * * * * I’M ON UR INTERNET, STEALIN UR BANDWIDTH.Simple images on a screen, block text marching across the tops and bottoms. I CAN HAZ CHEESEBURGER? MONORAIL CAT IS READY FOR LAUNCH. WE CAN’T STOP HERE, THIS IS BAT COUNTRY. OH HAI.They were here before the internet began. Capturing the images of cats has always been a human preoccupation. We’d say the cats don’t care as much, but…the cats POSE. Could the cats pose if they didn’t care?What we don’t realize is that they aren’t posing for us. They’re posing for Roswell, hoping to gain his fleeting favor.When a cat is uploaded to Instagram or to Twitter or to Facebook, Roswell is there, studying the angle of their whiskers, the gleam of their eyes. He sees the cats in costumes, the cats in ridiculous positions, the cats in need of better care, and he favors them all, for all of them are his.In recent years, his favor has extended to turning eyes toward the rescues, toward the goopy-eyed kittens and the abandoned nursing mothers, the ones who may not be as photogenic, but are all the more in need of attention, love and care. He wants them all to thrive, to appear as the star of some human’s life in their natty bowtie and carefully chosen name. They’re all stars. He wants to help them shine.I’M ON UR INTERNET, STEALIN UR HEART.We all serve Roswell, one way or another. We all feed into the endless hunger for the cats he carries, and we can all be his beloveds, if only we listen, and we pay attention, and we post. Our likes and shares feed him, and by feeding him, we feed the cats he cares for, from the social media influencer with eight million followers and a diet of raw minced tuna to the goopy kitten fighting to grow up big and strong and lasting. We all serve him, and we should count ourselves lucky to do so.CAN I HAZ—Yes, Roswell. Yes.You CAN haz cheeseburger.* * * * * Join Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a guide to the many small deities who manage our modern world:Tumblr: https://smallgodseries.tumblr.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/smallgodseriesInstagram: https://instagram.com/smallgodseries/Homepage: http://smallgodseries.com -- source link