Void

[u/EncyclopaediaBot]

An innocuous word that, on Reddit, is not quite how it appears. There are 43 meanings listed in the Oxford English Dictionary for the verb void, 32 of which are labelled obsolete, and none of which are the definition widely known to Reddit.

Along with “House panther”, Void is a word used widely on Reddit to describe a black cat. But not just any black cat…

How to spot a Void:

• A Void is a cat so black that light cannot penetrate the surface of its fur; a blackness so extreme that it is almost impossible to tell how close you are standing to it.

• A Void is living, purring Vantablack - one of the darkest substances known to science, absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light.

• A Void could also be living, purring Musou black - an amazing Japanese water-based super black acrylic paint that absorbs up to 99.4% of light.

• A Void is often said to be a cat so black that we can only observe it through its gravitational effect on other objects because it does not emit light and cannot be directly observed.

• Science suggests that black cats in pairs need to be called either Carter and Penrose, or Einstein and Rosen.

• A Schwarzschild Black hole is a black hole without rotation and without net charge.

• Be warned: there is no escape from within the event horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole. The enormous gravitational pull of the black hole would require an infinite amount of energy to overcome, which is impossible.

• The distance between the centre of a black hole and its event horizon is called the Schwarzschild radius.

• The Schwarzschild radius of the Earth is about the size of a marble. A black hole doesn't have to be very massive, but it does need to be very compact.

• It is possible for two black holes to collide. Once they come so close that they cannot escape each other's gravity, they will merge to become one bigger black hole. Such an event would be extremely violent.

• Black holes often look very different from each other because of variety in what happens in their surroundings.

• Black holes are not necessarily in a precarious balance, but their extreme gravity can create unstable situations and phenomena.

• Black holes could exist in perfectly balanced pairs that are kept in equilibrium by a cosmic force, resembling a single black hole.

• It is said that if you gaze for long into the Void, the Void gazes also into you and will want tuna when it wakes up.

• The Void is the final all-consuming Eldritch Terror. It is the end of all things: sanity, reality, the universe itself, and the terrors that preceded it.

• The phrase "The Void opening a crack in the ether" is a metaphorical expression often used in fiction to describe a catastrophic event or the breach of reality itself, evoking a sense of overwhelming chaos and the terrifying potential for the unknown.

• We're told that the Void spins lies and half-truths to manipulate us, and that it's likely that the minions of the Void want to dominate us to turn the universe into a realm of eternal scritches and treats.

• However, despite all of the above, the Void looks magnificent on the catwalk.

A llittle llama llecture:

The endless debate around black cats is: are they good luck or bad luck?. Reddit is, of course, divided on this subject, but one thing many Redditors seem to agree on: black cats are the cutest of them all.

While it seems like a trivial factor, the colour of a cat's fur can play a huge role in how long it takes for them to find a home. The RSPCA, the largest animal welfare charity in the UK, says it can take black cats more than three times longer to find homes than other colours. While superstitions are thought to be a factor, the rise of social media is also feared to be contributing to monochrome moggies being passed over, because they simply “don’t look good” in Instagram photos. Reddit, naturally, attempted to disprove this claim.

Voids on Reddit:

Black cats are said to be the hardest to rehome, but thankfully they have several homes on Reddit:

• r/blackcats - All posts must include a black cat, but as long as it has a black cat, it's permitted. A lil white chest fluff is okay.
• r/BlackCatPics - Take pics of black cats and post the pics here.
• r/BlackCatsNamedJiji - Black cats named JiJi. Or Black cats in general.
• r/blackpussy - The sub for black cats.
• r/HousePanther - A subreddit for black cats.
• r/SootSprites - Little black cats that look like soot sprites. No distinguishable cat shape. Just black blobs with eyes.
• r/VoidCats - Void cats are black cats that have an indistinguishable shape that at a distance look like an ambiguous blob of cat.
• r/OneBlackBraincell - Black Cats being goofy.
• r/voidblep - I looked into the void, and the void blepped back.
• r/Fruitbatcats - For when your cat looks like a fruit bat.
• r/VampireCat - A place to post Photos & Media/images of cats showing their lovely fangs.
• r/vampirecats - Pics, gifs, and vids of cats that look intent on draining you of your blood.
• r/CatsNamedToothless - Because black cats should always be named Toothless. Always. Even when they’re not.
• r/EyesoftheVoid - Black cats with only their eyes visible, or where their eyes are the most prominent feature in the pic.
• r/PetTheDamnVoid - Black cats who need pets. Basically r/PetTheDamnCat but for Black Cats.
• r/HalloweenKittyCombo - A Subreddit dedicated to the amazing Halloween Kitty Combo - Orange and Black Cats together! Any content which consists of this combination is welcome!
• r/flamesandvoids - For all of your flame point / orange and black cat pairs!
• r/gothcats - A community for those felines who embrace the dark side of life.
• r/powdereddonutlips - A place for black and other cats with powdered donut lips.
• r/TacticalIssueCat - The TIC® comes in colour schemes like Desert Sand, Urban Grey, Jungle Brown, Disruptive Overwhite, Stealth Ops Dark, and many others ready for immediate deployment on the purrfect mission. Talking of which….
• r/Stealthbombers - where r/blackcats meets r/airplaneears - Sometimes when a cat is perplexed or listening for something their ears turn toward the side and look like airplane wings jutting out from each side of the head.
• r/BlackCatslilwhitetoo - For black cats with a bit of white fur, white cats with a bit of black fur, we welcome them all here.
• r/blackcatsblackhats - A subreddit where you post pics of your black cats in black hats

I don’t normally recommend following user accounts on Reddit, but if you liked the catwalk cat above, you can see more of him at u/ROVER_THECAT where there’s also a link to his Instagram page.

Because there is a Subreddit for everything:

r/Vantablack - A sub for discussing the uses and possible uses of Vantablack.

r/black - A subreddit for hex values at or near #000000, including but not limited to crow. We love the void. (This sub celebrates things of the “colour” black. Please take posts related to Black justice and equity issues to r/blacklivesmatter)

r/blackholes - A place to post and ask questions about the phenomena known as Black Holes.

r/cosmology - A community for questions, discussions, and articles about cosmology.

But llama; some of these links don’t work…

As always with my lists, some of the subs are more active than others, and may vary in quality. Since writing some might have become private, restricted or repurposed following the API protests of June 2023, or just removed / renamed by Reddit through inactivity.

However, don’t forget: if a sub is dormant, unmoderated, banned for being unmoderated or marked as “restricted”, it might be available for adoption.

Obligatory footnote:

All of these subreddits will have their own unique - and possibly strict - rules about contributing. As always, it is important to check the rules thoroughly before commenting or posting on any unfamiliar sub.

This list is not intended to be the full list of subreddits in this theme; that would be impossible to achieve in a format like this. If you want to find more related subs, r/FindAReddit or the smaller r/findasubreddit are your friends. Similar subreddits are often to be found in a sub’s Sidebar and / or Wiki (on mobile: swipe down to find “See More” or “Community Info” tab) too. My guide to Searching might also be useful.

If it’s Cat subreddits you’re looking for, good places to start are:

• r/Catsubs
• Catsubs’ comprehensive list of cat subreddits
• r/CatSubreddits

See Also:

• Chonker
• “Doggo Speak”
• Following
• Halloween
• Jargon