@mcc Never held a rat but I've been around them & I've held guinea pigs & I'm guessing it'd be similarly pleasant - assuming a calm & friendly rat. (Knew a girl in college who carried hers around the dorm on her shoulder.)
I remember (in the dream) being very worried that I'd drop it, or it would slip out of my hands, and it would suddenly (in a social sense) transform from a pet rat into a regular rat, the kind that is considered a pest and wantonly killed and such, the moment it passed across the invisible boundaries of the performance that allowed it to exist within human society
@mcc seeing this through a fantasy lens, I could go 2 directiosn with that:
it makes our concerns irrelevant to them - they're invulnerable to our social constructions.
the social constructions are literally real, & the rat becomes in some sense literally a wild rat once it crosses the barrier.
obvs 3rd direction where neither of the 2 social constructions is 'real'; & interesting 4th where they're not real, but they do have real consequences for how the rat sees itself.
@mcc It's the most annoying thing in the world when your subconscious writes something that is just so good that you don't know if you could do better while awake.
@sellout I hear it actually is different. That there are behavioral differences.
I have some specific recommendations if you are considering getting a pet rat however, I am concerned about the possibility my input could lead to a 9 year old not getting what she want, in a case where I feel inclined to take her side
@mcc Don't worry – she's not getting a rat. We already have guinea pigs (which she adores), and every day is an argument for some new animal. Before the rat was a hamster, and during the rat advocacy, she made a point of saying why they're better than hamsters. If we wait long enough, I'm sure she'll reach the final ideal pet (which is hopefully guinea pigs).
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