Oh hey, and I finished Chandelure:
So I was going to write a little bit about the idea of social structures playing a role in science-fiction and fantasy stories, and how not everything needs to be a literal law or something extreme in order to have a significant role in the way a culture behaves.
I'll write more on it later, but my hope with this story (in pages like the ones with Xander and his cousin Sun), when you start to think about the way a world works, every change you make to the greater structures that regulate commerce, media, religion, government... all effect the way those within the society view themselves, their roles and obligations within that society, and those that fall outside the norm. That norm, however, won't necessarily be the norm as we know it.
This is why world-building can be such a long and crazy process. Not only do you have to ask yourself "how would this person react to this situation/other person?" but you also have to ask yourself "in the context of this person's status within this society with these specific cultural attitudes, how would they think and react?".
BUT MORE ON THAT LATER...
... because today has been cat rescue day. (and yesterday I didn't sleep for over 24 hours 'cause of a surprise bout of insomnia)
Started out taking my old grey cat to the vet to find out he has a cavity. Poor Merlin, we will take care of you. Come home to a phone call from a neighbor saying they saw a cat trapped inside the hoarders house.
A little bit about the hoarder house situation: across the street neighbor in his 90s has been ill for awhile and unable to really take care of himself. His situation with his family hasn't been great. He's been hoarding newspapers, furniture, garbage, you name it for years. The city/health department has done nothing about it. He's been surviving on Meals on Wheels, but won't even let them inside.
There are mice.
Eventually, an ambulance was called and they had to break the lock on the door to get him out. He's now been taken to an assisted living center.
The police supposedly walked through the house to make sure nothing was trapped in there and bolted the door shut with a screw. I was skeptical.
Why was I skeptical?
Because Arthur, as I've been calling him, had been coming by our house on a regular basis begging for food and attention. He's probably the sweetest cat I've ever met, and damn handsome to boot.
He stopped showing up and we thought, hey, maybe his owners are actually starting to take care of him. It'd been raining lately so maybe they're keeping him inside.
Well, no, because apparently he'd been seen in the window of our hoarder neighbor's house. So, well, we ran over, got the door open (and re-sealed) and with just about no effort (thankfully) an extremely grateful Arthur was in our arms and in a carrier and off to the vet with zero scratching and few complaints.
He was definitely hungry, most likely dehydrated, and his eye that I'd been concerned about before he'd been trapped for what was at least a week was starting to look pretty irritated. However, no matter what, he'll be taken care one way or another.
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