#in some ways she was treated worse than the other henchcats because she was a walking reminder about macavity's failure

[godnattakatta]

so i went looking through the wiki for AJ pictures since i wanted to make a design for her. and i noticed something slightly interesting:

in the design for her, she has neither shoulder fluff or a warmer on her right arm.

and in a later picture, from 1997, she clearly has both fluff and warmer

but in 1990 she doesn’t have the warmer but possibly the shoulder fluff.

im not sure why they changed it and that's not what i want to talk about - i'm going with the original design and my own headcanons and i'm saying that when she lived with macavity her arm got burnt badly so that no fur can grow there anymore (probably by Macavity himself) and that's why she has no fluff there.

#aj #also her jellicle/unique name is Żyleta #so maybe i should start tagging her as that hmhm #and at what point does a swing count as an oc? because i feel like i have made her by now #żyleta #main #my oc #don't you just love a man who can happily hurt his own children #i do believe mac loved jemima and was happy for her birth - but aj who had no magic? useless #so she was little more than a henchcat #in some ways she was treated worse than the other henchcats because she was a walking reminder about macavity's failure #*him* getting a child without magic? cant have that happen #also aj has killed someone and hurt multiple cats - she had no other choice #i wanna write something about that now oh dear #also - im throwing in a bit of munk in her design because her uncle should be there too #aj also grew up to hate deme and jem - she has vague memories but were told she was abandoned because of her worthlessness #not the truth at all but you know.... #headcanon

[0zzysaurus]

SPOILERS FOR THAT FIC THAT DOESNT EXIST YET!!

Notes were written in March:

OKAY so, very VERY quick summary:

- Mac and Munk are supposed to work as a coalition, but Macavity wants more power over the tribe and Munk won't give it to him

- Mac has been establishing a clan without Munk knowing about it on the side: This is where he picks up Bombalurina and Alonzo from the streets

- Jerrie is found trespassing on Macavity's territory after losing all his siblings, and he kind of has nowhere else to go - so he falls in with that group. Macavity spends a lot of time manipulating him.

- Demeter and Rumpleteazer (who I HC as Etcetera's older sister) are somewhat sympathetic to Macavity, making them more vulnerable to his persuasions

- Grizabella is mother to all three of the brothers, but is more sympathetic to Macavity because she thinks hes a stronger leader than Munkustrap. She works in the shadows with Macavity to establish his clan.

- A confrontation happens at the ball (the first ball Tugger takes part in and has his coming-of-age dance at), which leads to a divisive split occurring between some of the tribe members; Tugger subsequently feels guilty over the divide believing it was his fault

- Eventually, the coalition completely breaks down, and Macavity leaves - convincing Rumpleteazer and Demeter to come with him

- Once they're at Mac's clan, Demeter is quickly introduced to the rest of his harem and is expected to play along. Bombalurina defends her when she denies Macavity's advances and is swiftly punished for it, but eventually Demeter falls in line and accepts the treatment as something she just has to endure.

- Rumpleteazer is too feisty and utterly refuses to be part of Macavity's harem, and so he gives her to the henchcats, expecting them to sort of just have their way with her and dispose of her - turns out, Teazer is very headstrong and quickly adapts into a really valuable asset

- When she joins the henchcats, she meets Jerrie and the two kind of hit it off as friends, Teazer is actually quite protective of Jerrie, because she sees how often he's thrown about by Macavity - she's the one who ultimately convinces him to stand up for himself and helps to build his confidence. She’s ultimately the only true friend he’s ever had until this point who has never wanted to get anything out of him.

- Grizabella kind of acts as a sort of… I dunno like a “mothering” figure to Macavity’s harem? She has a complex relationship with Demeter and Bombalurina. both of them remind her of herself. She resents Bomba for her boldness and independent nature, but kind of empathises with Demeter. She cant really explain it herself but that's just how she feels

- Alonzo and Bomba look out for each other a lot, and do a lot of behind the scenes reconnaissance for Macavity. Alonzo discovers that Mac has plans to torch the junkyard, and Bomba tells Rumpleteazer about it because she knows Teazer’s younger sister still lives there. This spurs on Teazer’s desire to escape even more.

- Demeter also finds out that she's pregnant, and it's the last straw for all of them that they have to get out of there, or else Dem's kid isn't gonna stand a chance at living a normal life. They no longer care what happens to them, their only goal now is to get Demeter and her child OUT of this hell.

- Grizabella is constantly talking down to them and treating them like shit, but when she and Demeter have a private conversation and she discovers demeter is pregnant, she tells her about a secret passage way in the underground that she can use to escape. Griz might be haughty and stubborn, but she doesn’t want to see Demeter’s child be subjected to the same abuse they go through every day.

Pre-Climax

- Griz doesn't expect the entire group to desert them though, and when she finds out that Dem, Bomba, Lonz, Jerrie, and Teazer ALL plan on escaping, she rats them out and almost gets them killed

- They do all escape tho, and go back to the Junkyard, whilst also letting Munk know what's going to happen so they can prepare for an attack

Climax

- When Munk and Mac finally fight - the ex-Macavity group prove themselves to the Junkyard by fighting him off alongside the other Jellicles.

Epilogue segment

- Obviously Munk adopts the role of being Jemima's father figure, and although he and Demeter don't become mates they still end up very close and he’s an important part of Jemima’s life

- When Jemima finally gets older, she’s able to see how badly the entire experience left her family. Sometimes she’s afraid that she’s just a lingering, painful reminder of the horrible time her mother had there.

- Jerrie has the hardest time integrating out of everyone, because he's never lived in this sort of safe community before - but Teazer is a big support for him - he also gets on really well with Cettie as a sort of brother-in-law figure.

- Lonz obviously falls in love with Munkustrap because he has authority figure issues and Munk helps him understand what love is supposed to look like

- And Bomba and Tugger become proper besties

also, this for me is my set up on why Grizabella is hated and not accepted back. Yes, Demeter and Rumpleteazer left too, but they were young, hell, Teazer was barely an adult, they were manipulated and when they *did* come back, they'd brought back vital information with them and saved the tribe.

Grizabella ratted them out, tried to get them killed. She left, and only returned after Mac himself threw her out of the tribe for telling them about the escape tunnel in the first place.

Everyone rejects her, hates her. Except for Demeter.

Demeter is one of the only cats to EVER show a hesitant acceptence of Griz at the beginning. She clearly WANTS to touch Griz, to look her in the eye, to THANK her for telling her where they could escape, but remembering what she did... she just cant do it. (Bomba seems to sympathise with Demeter’s conflicted emotions - and never forces her away from Grizabella. She knows that Demeter is capable of making her own decision here, but she doesn’t want her to be in danger.)

Without Grizabella’s initial help, they could all still be at the compound - Jemima could have been born into it. Their lives could be entirely different and much worse. Ultimately, regardless of if Griz changed her mind, without her help they'd all probably be dead. That’s how Demeter sees it, and while the others struggle to come to terms with that - it’s her thought process.

(Last part is a screenshot for convenience)

#fanfiction #cats #cats musical #tw #abuse mentions #work in progress #0zzysaurus #notes #spoilers