Things To Keep In Mind

Workings of the World

Interpretation
Cats is very open to interpretation, and that leads to many different ideas of what is going on during the musical. Who’s related to whom, relationships, past stories, etc. I would just like to remind you that fan fiction is just that. Fictional ideas that the fans come up with. I ask you to please respect my interpretation even if you do not agree with it. I admit I follow some overused ‘fannon’ and whatever ‘cannon’ can be argued. I also have some new ideas and a lot of original characters. I will respect you views if you respect mine. If you don’t agree with my viewpoints then that probably means I don’t agree with yours. However that does not mean we can’t enjoy each other’s ideas and stories.

The Jellicle 'London'
You may notice that in this story the Jellicles live in London. Now, what’s most important to realize is that this is a fictional version of London. It is true that I have visited London on more than one occasion, but I live in the US and honestly do not know too much about London. So yes, there are real places mentioned in this story, some even quite accurately. But although I look on maps and research the places mentioned in the poems, there is a lot that I’ll write about that simply is not accurate. For instance: the distance between places being changed, or creating places that do not exist. I realize this and if you live in London you are sure to notice. However, this is a ‘fictional’ London, so as long as you keep that in mind you can enjoy the story with out nitpicking.

Meeting Once A Year
“Jellicle cats meet once a year on the night we make the Jellicle choice…” For the sake of this story, I am interrupting the whole “meeting once a year” thing to mean that the Jellicle ball happens only once every year, however the Jellicles themselves meet other times throughout the year for meeting, other celebrations, and other events. Some of the Jellicles in fact make their home in the junkyard itself, but not most.

What Time Does This All Occur?
Cats don’t know anything abut months and their names. (Well, they do but don’t care) They go by the seasons. So each year (each ‘book’) has four parts: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. The Ball happens at the end of the winter season, which is also the beginning of the spring season (Vernal Equinox). There are however three chapters per season because each season is about three months long. If you read into it too much however you’ll just get confused. Also, as far as what year do the stories take place, is not defined nor does it need to be. It probably is around the time Cats opened in London. So if you must imagine the story in an actual year you’re probably best to think around the 80s. I do not write it with a year in mind. The only constraints it that is it modern.

Kittens Can Mate?
As a Jellicle, you’re a kitten for about three months, the next 9 you’re like a tween or an adolescent. Jellicles, however, just call that first year being a kitten. A short-lived childhood, yes, but Jellicles are known to never really act like adults till they’re about five or six years old. Jellicles mature much faster than normal cats in general. That being said it is not uncommon for a Jellicle to mate when going from kitten to teen. (It’s not upsetting like in the human world when a 14-year-old gets pregnant!)

First 3 Months - Kitten [Human: age 0-13]
Next 9 Months – Adolescent (able to breed at this point) [Human - 14-15]
Years 2-5: - Teen [Human - 16-18]
Years 6-9 - Young Adult [Human – 26-49]
Years 10-16 - Adult [Human – 26-49]
Years 17-20 Elder [Human – 50-90]

If you think that Jellicles reach sexual maturity too fast, it is only a few months longer for real cats. (5-10 months for females and 5-7 months for males) Real kittens are weaned between 6 and 7 weeks. For Jellicles it’s about a month. So yes, real cats take longer to mature, but real cats do not produce kittens from hats or ascend to the Heavyside Layer either. Also, to address the lyric "Jellicle cats develope slowly" from the Jellicle Ball; Jellicle cats do develope slowly. From life to life that is, however that's talk for another time.

A Litter Of Kittens
In real life a cat will have around 1-8 cats in a litter. Jellicles, on the other hand, have usually one. Occasionally twins are a chance. This is done because Jellicles share traits with humans, also, because Jellicles posse magic, it is unwise to have to many Jellicles around. They are special and rare. Also, in real cats, a female can only breed when in heat (Roughly 4-7 days). This is not so with Jellicles, they can breed whenever they please.

Jellicle Birth
A normal cat’s gestation period is 60-67 days (approximately 2 months). Jellicles are only pregnant for about one month, or a third of a season, as they would say. Jellicles live to be about 15-to 20 years. Old D lived to be 25.

Pollicles and other non-Jellicles
Pollicle is the term used by Jellicle cats to describe a dog. Pollicles are simply common dogs with nothing really against the Jellicles other than they are cats and cats are fun to chase. The ‘Great War’ that takes place before Book 1 was strange because there is no logical reason dogs would hunt the Jellicles with such purpose. There has been speculation that there was some other force controlling them. There are cats who are not Jellicle and have no Jellicle powers or Heavyside connections. The can at time be called Pollicle cats but that is not an official tearm. Also, there are rumors of Jellicle dogs existing, dogs with the same powers that Jellicle cats have, but not have made themselves known.

Do you have any other questions for the way we interpret things?
Email us your questions! Jemima@moonlite-eyes.org