#quaxo and misto are separate cats

[eye-may]

idk if you even read fanfiction lol but do you have any recs from the cats fandom, i love your headcanons so i trust your judgement lol

originally I had two paragraphs ranting about how mad I was at my past self for not bookmarking some of the fics I wanted to recommend, and how categorically worse than useless google is in times of crises, but I'm happy to report that I did manage to trundle through enough digital ether to eventually find the elusive yarns. I did it for you, anon.

so yes btw needless to say I do occasionally partake.

anyway, I have extremely unregulateable, tunnel-visioned interests, so these are all at least somewhat mistoffelees or tuggoffelees centric.

after deliberation I have decided to confine this list to longform bc I am too indecisive to cherrypick which oneshots/shortforms to include and tumblr simply does not have the character capacity for me to log them all. might just have to make a whole separate ass post for that.

this list is incomprehensive and in no particular order. fuck it we ball?

I think all my ducks are in a row but if one of the links turns out to be wrong or smth pls lmk, I will fix it and then call the police on myself

I Call Out Your Name, But You Don't Call Back by Anonymous - COMPLETE / 43.8k words

Misto wakes up thinking he was kidnapped by Macavity. Luckily Tugger is there to assure him it was just a nightmare.

a good long look at some quite literal psychic damage wrought by Macavity. really delves into how his sith mid tricks fuck with Mistoffelees, who struggles to discern what's real and what's not. I love how this fic focuses on the depths of Macavity's ostensible hypnotic powers and how well it grapples with psychological fuckery via the pov in a literary sense. and also it has tugger being devoted and comforting. I could hardly ask for more. (also it includes cool art).

Curiosity Killed the Cat by StarFar - INCOMPLETE / 222k words

Munkustrap and Tugger's relationship had never run smooth, mostly thanks to their very different personalities, but when Tugger takes an interest in the newly arrived nephew of the esteemed Bustopher Jones things get complicated. Quaxo himself has little interest in making friends. All he wants to do is to look after his twin sister and keep his magic hidden, he didn't think that was too much to ask. But things get even more complicated when even more new arrivals show up, this time with links to the long banished Macavity. Despite this the Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat who just can't help but get involved, and it turns out Munkustrap isn't so different to him after all. And we all know what they say about cats and curiosity.

first of all, yes it's incomplete, BUT I honestly think it leaves off in a satisfying place. as you can see by the word count it is VERY! long, so it's hard to describe it succinctly, but I will try lol. it's dark, it's dynamic, and it expands extensively on two relationships that I hold dear: tugger+mistoffelees, and macavity+mistoffelees. and it also runs a wider gamut of varying, fully-realized relationships(i.e., Mistoffelees and Bombalurina having an intriguing, and sometimes funny, friendship). this fic deals a lot with an abusive false imprisonment and shows a lot of self-sacrificiality on Mistoffelees's part, as well as his attempts to both endure, and outsmart, Macavity. and in that vein, it explores moral ambiguity and the Batman/Joker trappings of the infinitely juicy Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain web of drama. amidst which is a lot of focus on the specificity of Mistoffelees's powers, his limitations, and shows how he evolves with (mostly coerced) practice and training. also it contains some of the most extensive and unapologetic whump and angst I have seen in any CATS fanfiction, and a luxuriously long recovery section. the fic is not without levity however (the BEEF between bustopher and skimble is so fucking funny to me)...suffice to say it contains multitudes lol. starfar...you have done the lords work.

A Different Kind by TheGirlWithBrightEyes - COMPLETE / 52.2k words

Quaxo is a cat with powers - and a lot of problems. When he escapes from his new owner's house in an act of desperation, he finds himself brought into a tribe of mostly stray cats and has to come to terms with his new life and the loss of his family. At the same time, Quaxo's powers that were not under his control from the start are quickly spiralling out of control making him a danger to the others. He needs to gain control fast before anyone gets hurt - including himself.

A really heartwarming "origin story" with an ADORABLE explanation for how Quaxo came to adopt the name "Mr. Mistoffelees." including a wide variety of soft, fluffy friendships and an intriguing interpretation of the difficult journey Mistoffelees had to take in order to ingratiate into the junkyard and get his powers under control. incidentally contains really cute friendship moments between Mistoffelees and Alonzo, which is a pairing I wish to see more often. and the most hilarious and believable depiction of Tugger I think I've ever read lmao

Kidnapped by the Fire by Anubis44 / INCOMPLETE / 39.6k words

"They all stood there. Dead silent. Nobody was moving a muscle. Only thing heard was a faint growl. The unconscious body of Mister Mistoffelees was hovering just above the ground right next to The Hidden Paw himself." Macavity desides to torment the Jellicle Tribe (and his brothers) as revenge for the Jellicle Ball and leaves everyone hurt in one way or another.

evidently never going to be finished, but what's left to us is marvelous. unambiguously Evil Macavity and lots of whump to go around if you're into that lmao. pretty much everybody amply suffers, as promised in the author's summary.

Gold Rush by millenari / COMPLETE / 174.7k words

In the aftermath of his bout of heroics at the Jellicle Ball, Misto finds himself with a newfound -and unwanted- popularity brought on by his and Tugger's performance. After one too many incidents from which Misto escapes his new fans by the skin of his teeth, Tugger informs him that he needs to change things up. The plan they end up hatching in order to do so is unconventional to say the least. But brought to the end of his rope by his new admirers, dreading the approach of the yearly heat season, and busy tending to his sister in the aftermath of her own abrupt transition into adulthood, Misto figures that pretending to be mates with his best friend since kittenhood couldn't possibly make his life any more harrowing. And it's not like such a small lie is going to actually hurt anyone. Right?

my fav. slice of life! expansive glimpses into the banalities of Jellicle culture! angst! levity! contains some of my favorite descriptions of Mistoffelees struggling to understand and wield his own magic. and what if I told you that the most relatable, accurate, meticulous, sensitive, and believable depiction in writing of neurodivergence and social anxiety I've ever encountered can be found in a longform tuggoffelees fanfiction? what then??

Catalyst by FlyingFritz / COMPLETE / 47k words

There's a shift in the air. Quaxo can feel it. A strange, alluring presence taunts him in his dreams despite his attempts to ignore it. The more he tries to push it down, the more insistent it becomes, leading to explosive, dangerous results. Meanwhile, Tugger tries to puzzle out the enigma that is Quaxo and learns that there is more to this cat than meets the eye. Misto/Tugger

first of all this took me HOURS to find. ig it's not on ao3 or if it is I can't find it on there. but anyway! this was one of the first CATS ffs I read and it has a really neat take on the quaxo-eventually-embodies-and/or-becomes-Mistoffelees pipeline. ik there's a handful of fics out there that grapple with the concept, but I particularly enjoy how this one interprets the separation (or lack thereof) between the two personas. I want to get it into it further but am gallantly restraining myself to avoid spoilers. also: tugger kind of bumbling through the entire convoluted series of events is funny and cute. AND you get a lot of good pounce and tumble.

He's Always Wide Awake! by Maliex / COMPLETE / 14.7k words

The Jellicle Cats are settling down again after the intense Ball where Grizabella went to the Heaviside Layer. Important conversations are had, and Mistoffelees adjusts to his new power levels and position in the Clan. But he knows - a storm is brewing on the horizon, one that he will have to be in the middle of.

again!! I searched for HOURS!!! I was so mad at my past self for not having bookmarked this fic for whatever god foresaken reason. hopefully my devotion to hunting it down is a sufficient indication of the impression it left upon me lmao. before I continue, it's worth noting that this is a part of a series, but this is the only installment of the series that I've read. so I can't speak to its predecessors or how worthwhile it is to read the entire trilogy in succession. idk do w that information what you will.

anyway, this fic has one of my fav interpretations of magic and the ways in which Mistoffelees and Macavity differ regarding their relationships with it. the author also has an infinitely interesting and juicy take on Macavity's backstory and why he is the way he is...and the ways the characters and their interpersonal dynamics evolve are riveting. also this version of Mistoffelees is really curt and just like...Done With All Bullshit Ever and I think it's funny lmao. btw if you're into Deut Family Dynamics (tm)...plenty here!

okay that's enough *for now* ig. shout out to fanfiction authors...yall are really out here providing hours of entertainment for FREE?!! all of you are amazing.

[naturepointstheway]

2008 Wellington Non-Replica Cats here we go

Gather around, everyone, while I pull out my souvenir programme from 2008 Cats I still have from this production way back yonks ago. Feel free to partake in some snacks! There will be plenty of photos from the brochure, hence putting them under a "read more".

Okay, so looking through this production's cast list, I see that there were pretty much the whole cast you'd expect (we had a Plato rather than Admetus, for example), plus some OCs sprinkled in there as well, which I like! The Growltiger sequence was clearly still in there, as there's a Griddlebone for example. One thing I really love is that they cast a very old (I think retired, or close to) actor as Old Deuteronomy which makes sense to me, because he is supposed to be an old cat (I think the actor was in his mid-sixties at least). Ditto for Gus as well, also of a similar age to the actor who played Old Deut, which I love for this cast, and also it makes sense for them to be played by older people, considering they are supposed to be on the older side of life.

There was a separate Quaxo character from Mistoffelees as well, and also kept the Exotica character from the 1998 movie as well.

OCs created (names only, sadly) include Victor, Johnny, Isis, Savannah, Rocket, Anoushka, and Garbo.

Okay enough rambles, on to the photos I took on my phone from the brochure!

Yes, that is Munkustrap, and honestly love his wig--very wild, very maine coon ears in there. Interesting they gave him leopard spots--maybe Jenny gave him those for him to wear for the night? I actually don't mind they gave him some leopard spots here, as it makes him look a lot more like Tugger as well, selling that whole Munk and Tugger are brothers thing even more.

Speaking of our favourite rock star cat...

That leather costume. Umph. My poor bisexual heart. I love the extra floof at his ankles (I think those are leg warmers). This Tugger, from what I remember, gave me very John Partridge's Tugger vibes, which I wholly approve of. Victoria has called shotgun for the space between his legs, and an OC (I think) cat is clawing her way up his thigh which, mood. Yes. Electra is the one that did the screaming at the end of his song (the one stretching up to him, wearing that white-ish unitard.

Griddlebone and Growltiger (I think)!

This Macavity fucks, and I remember his costumed was sparkly as fuck. Practically was in a sparkle-off competition with Mistoffelees in terms of sparkly costumes. I can absolutely see why Bomba wanted this Macavity inside her NOW.

Here's the one and only Grizabella; my favourite costume out of this non-replica Cats, I have to say.

Found a Teazer lurking at the beginning of the brochure, and I love her makeup, which is definitely very much based on the 1998 film Teazer's makeup. I love it!

I think this is supposed to be Misto, and they're adorable, especially with the makeup (which is why I'm pegging them as likely to be our favourite magical sparkly boy, as that looks very similar to Jacob's makeup in the 1998 movie.)

A Mungo has been spotted, looking cute as all get out. He absolutely uses his cute face to fool people into thinking he would never, ever steal or cause a ruckus no way he absolutely knows nothing about that Ming vase or the winter vest he stole from the humans' drawers. That was definitely another cat that looked just like him and just happened (impossible as it seems) to have a name very similar to his.

Old Deut looks very cuddly I want to snuggle him.

Munkustrap would like to have the spotlight for a bit in the middle of Bustopher's song. For some reason I keep thinking the cat next to him over his right shoulder is wearing a superhero outfit, and now all I can think of is either Teazer or Jerrie (looks like one of them) trying to convince Munkustrap they cause ruckus because they're superheroes dammit! Munk is having the fucking time of his life and I'm here for it! Let the stressed out junkyard dad have some fun and this song absolutely Brings Joy for him. Bless this Munk.

First page of a two-page spread from what seems to be The Naming of Cats. One of my favourite things is how some of the wigs are very based on the original Broadway wigs and I'm a thousand percent HERE for this. I LOVE wild wigs that you sometimes see in other productions too, especially in bootlegs from earlier productions from the eighties/early nineties. I see one of the psychic twins (Tanto I believe) with their unmistakeable wig, and a sparkly Misto behind whom I THINK is Jemima (1980s style wig), and Victoria is also very easy to recognise here too with her white wig and unitard.

Second page of the two-page spread from what is likely Naming of Cats. I can very easily spot Tugger right at the back at top left corner, and there's a Jenny over near the right top corner too (very bright orange stripes. We're talking neon here!)

First page of a two-page spread from the Jellicle Ball, everyone looking fab there; I believe I spotted a Tugger again (yep there he is at the far left), a Victoria, and what might be Quaxo right at the back there in the tuxedo costume.

Second page of a two-page spread from the Jellicle Ball, and oh hi Misto there you are looking all cryptid and mysterious way up on your lonesome in the back. I think I finally spotted Alonzo at the bottom right corner (his patterns suggest he could be Alonzo) too.

Aaand that's all! Hope you enjoyed this little journey through my very old souvenir programme from a non-replica Cats performance in Wellington, NZ in 2008. May your conjuring turns never falter and may you always meditate on your secret third name.

Name...

name...

name...

[pinksilvace]

If cats the musical ever have an animated tv show and or movie what do u think it will be like ? specially on how they write the characters, setting etc.

YAY HOORAY YIPPEE I LOVE THIS QUESTION

In an animated context, I'm very much a fan of aristocats-esque anthro designs; @/etchif and @/oggysonart have both made really fantastic ones in the past. I highly recommend checking their stuff out if you haven't already.

Anyway, this ask strikes me as two separate questions, so I'll answer it in two parts.

Movie

I'd picture this being more or less what Disney wanted to do with the original poems: it would be more or less a 1:1 run-through of the show and serve as an introduction to the music, story, etc. for a younger generation.

The stage format inherently presents a challenge when it comes to a central focus, especially in a production with so many characters, while films tend to highlight character moments very effectively; because of this, I think an animated adaptation of Cats could be quite a bit plottier than the stage show, even without changing any details. (This would also address the common concern that an adaptation would cut down on the appeal of live dance.) I imagine it primarily following Munkustrap, Demeter, and Victoria, as they each more or less represent different plot threads: the Ball/Choice, Grizabella/Macavity, and Community, respectively.

At the same time, there are small moments with other throughout the show that could benefit from the range of sceneries available.

I'll say this for Cats 2019: seeing Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer in their element is a must. I've actually thought about this specific scene a lot with regard to this prompt. When the junkyard scatters before this number, the camera follows Quaxo/Misto down a few alleys and to M&R's nice house, where he watches them through the windows and narrates their actions a la original production. Maybe he messes with them; either way, it'd give viewers a reason to keep his character in mind for later. Maybe the song ends when they show up tardy to the Ball.

Another scene that would benefit greatly from an adaptation is Gus', obviously. I'd love to see flashes of his life or, optimistically, a dreamlike sequence of GLS, which I have too many Thoughts about to include on this post.

The big one, though - the killer - is how Macavity could be adapted. If Demeter's segment of the song had some abstract recollections as visuals... Good Lord

It'd be nice to see the characters be visually distinct (at least, more so than that are onstage). I love the idea of the camera cutting over to Pounce and Tumble (who'd Very Obviously be kittens) fooling around and getting into trouble every now and again. All of the character dynamics would be more obvious, for that matter, because in film, every shot and camera angle is a choice. When Alonzo sticks around at the Macavity scare, the audience would get it. When Plato changes his attitude from how he is around the kittens to how he is with Victoria, the audience would notice. When Munkustrap waves his arms and tries desperately to get everyone into place for PP, the audience wouldn't have to work to spot him doing so amidst all of the everything else happening at the same time. Like, I adore Cats as a stage production, but an animated adaptation would 100% be able to add visual clarity.

TV Show

Stylistically, I imagine this the same as everything described above, but I wouldn't want it to cover the course of the show. Instead, I think this universe would be really charming as a series of animated shorts that focus on just a handful of characters apiece, slife-of-life style. Episode ideas include:

Gus attempts to teach the kittens a performance so they can impress Munkustrap later; they don't do well, but it still makes Munkustrap happy

Plato tries really really hard to be romantic and impress Victoria for Some Special Event coming up, ft. Pounce and Tumble as wingmen

Munkustrap is busy/sick and Alonzo has to take over for a day; he learns about the power of asking for help

Origin story of how Tugger and Misto met

Electra, Etcetera, and Rumpleteaser do their darndest to figure out how the Jellicle Choice is actually chosen

This would give some leeway in regard to the musical aspects of the IP, which I imagine are difficult to replicate. These shorts would also be enjoyable for a very broad audience in a way that the stage production and its usual adaptations are not.

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Heard you got some non replica headcanons 👀👀

YEAHHHHHHHH

okay so these are hcs for all different non-reps, if you want me to elaborate on any of them lmk!!!!

Opera Populaire Tugger, Grizabella, and Munkustrap being siblings is my favorite thing ever, Munkus being a baby brother and Tugger being a big brother is very important to me

Melbourne!Munkustrap and Tugger are absolute little shit twins, and Macavity is their long-suffering big brother.

Kilworth Munk and Tugger are also twins

Luisenburg Tugger is a street cat related to no one in the tribe. Grizabella and he adopted each other as mother and son after she left the tribe, but that's his only connection to the Jellicles

Kilworth Jenny and Jelly are wives

Speaking of Kilworth, Munk, Alonzo, and Demeter are mates, and Electra and Carbucketty are their kids

Stockholm Tumblebrutus and Exotica are twins

Stockholm Quaxo and Mistoffelees are separate cats, but they're brothers. Mistoffelees is older

Opera Populaire Macavity is more of a mad scientist, but he's possibly even more dangerous than other versions of Macavity, because he kidnaps and experiments on magical cats

Opera Populaire Electra is Bombalurina and Macavity's daughter

Kilworth Tugger has tattoos for each of the important people in his life on his arms, but he has a special one over his heart for Mistoffelees in the shape of a cluster of sparkles dancing around a milk bottle (since Misto is a milkman in the show!)

[la-felinosphere]

shiny new* CATS random pairings gen, for all your shipping needs and otherwise!  

(fic ideas?  time for a new ship?  just want two characters to draw together?  for a meme?  how might x & y even get to be in the same place at the same time challenge? tada!)  

*it’s really not shiny and new at all, but I hope it is functional; let me know of any issues you run into.  I already know there’s no proof against character/same character so you’ll just have to manage with that!  have fun!

--

ETA: so, uh, silly me I forgot that Tumblr hates links and I can’t even link to a page within this blog without the post disappearing from search, so:

link is in my sidebar or here: la-felinosphere.tumblr.com/pairingsgen

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Cats 101: WTF Is Going On: The Naming of Cats

Just like in the previous number, we’re outside of linear time. After seeing the stupid humans being confused, the cats from a sort of “pyramid” and do this sort of chant about cats having a normal name and a silly name, which raises more questions than it answers. I don’t have that much story stuff to explain here, so a lot of this is gonna be screenshots I drew a bunch of circles on and some trivia.

When the cats form their pyramid, it’s the best time to “take attendance” and make sure you know who everyone is. A few cats were missing from the tire choir, and that’s not uncommon in stage productions, but this pyramid usually has everyone there.

As a quick recap of who everyone is:

From Left to Right

Top Row: Plato, Alonzo, Munkustrap (a bit hidden), Old Deuteronomy, Coricopat, Tugger, George

Second Row: Tumblebrutus, Cassandra, Bombalurina, Asparagus, Skimbleshanks, Exotica

Third Row: Jellylorum, Mistoffelees, Jennyanydots, Grizabella, Tantomile, Mungojerrie

Bottom Row: Electra, Rumpleteazer, Demeter, Pouncival, Jemima, Etcetera, Victoria

The Naming of Cats lists the names of several characters, but because those characters are never directly addressed by name, you wouldn’t know it. Out of every name listed in the number, James is the only one that has never been used for a character in a production of cats.

You’ll notice that Asparagus has been circled. That’s because newer American (2016-) productions have a character with this costume only in the opening, played by whoever plays Bustopher/Gus, who is credited as Peter.

One South Korean production named an extra Augustus. I haven’t been able to find a picture of him.

And Alonzo is circled, because Alonzo is Alonzo.

Okay, more circles, more trivia.

Once again with American productions after 2016, they gave separate names and characterizations to the costumes the actors playing Old Deuteronomy and Tugger wear in the opening. Old Deuteronomy is called Victor and Tugger is called Bill Bailey.

Out of these opening characters, the only one I know anything about is Bill Bailey, because the most recent American tour cast has filled in some of the gaps. Zach Bravo, currently touring America as Tugger, decided that Bill Bailey was a previous Jellicle Choice who was reborn as Tugger. We can see both because of the whole “linear time” thing I’ve already explained.

Victor is also the name of a character in the original London production, the only character from said production not to be included in the VHS.

A South African production that eventually became a world tour had an extra named Jonathan, who looked pretty much the same as George.

George is circled because George.

Bill Bailey is the London version of Tumblebrutus, so I circled Tumblebrutus as well.

Plato, Electra, and Demeter are all characters in this production. George has also been circled because he’s sometimes credited as Admetus.

Munkustrap and Coricopat are circled because that’s who they are. Mistoffelees is circled because London productions credit him as Quaxo outside of his number. The credits of the VHS don’t do this, so I don’t think 1998 Misto counts as Quaxo, but I circled him anyway.

In productions that use the name, Quaxo and Mistoffelees are usually alter egos of sorts. They’re still the same character, in the same way Clark Kent and Superman are the same character. However, Clark Kent Quaxo can use magic and doesn’t really try to hide it, so the alter ego thing might be a little bit pointless. This is really confusing, which is why this naming convention just doesn’t happen outside the UK.

Two more names, two more circles. Nothing complicated here.

Bonus Fun Fact: TS Eliot’s cat was named Jellylorum, which he included in the poem that became this number. I have no idea where he got the name from, but he was something of an expert in Weird Cat Names.

Other Cats That Appear in Some Productions That TS Eliot Named (but not in any official poem, so you otherwise wouldn’t know): Tantomile, Carbucketty, Pouncival, Sillabub, Noilly Prat, Murad, and probably a few others. Only two of those names are relevant to this production though. Apparently, Tantomile is a name for a witch’s cat and Pouncival is a combination of “pounce” and the name Percival, which is just cute.

Now we get to the part that really only fully works when there’s an audience to interact with. In the video, the cats crawl around the stage a bit and form groups. In a stage production, they crawl around the audience. It’s like the yellow/green eyes during the Overture.

Well, wherever most of the cats go, Victoria wanders off in her own direction. You might notice that as this scene goes on, Victoria starts acting a bit strange.

The Strangeness inspires her to do this:

After that, everyone but Victoria leaves. Technically, Misto doesn’t leave, he just hides while waiting for his cue, but just pretend everyone leaves.

[junkyard-gifs]

With the redesigns for Mistoffelees and Bill Bailey in the 2022 international tour, I... might actually start calling this Bill by the name Tumblebrutus again. 👀 Because that basically is where most of this design comes from. Remains to be seen whether they change his personality at all to make him Less Baby, as he was in the Broadway tradition? Probably not unless there's going to be substantial changes to blocking and track distribution.

Anyway this means that, in his Cats career, Aaron Hunt has played a) a cat named Tumblebrutus who looks like Bill Bailey (Oasis), b) a cat named Bill Bailey who looks like Bill Bailey (previous international tour and Vienna), and a cat named Bill Bailey who looks like Tumblebrutus (new int tour). 🤭

For today's extra challenge, let's see if I end up thinking of Misto's chorus and solo costumes as two separate characters... the return of the Quaxo??

[jelliclesideblog]

Trying to come up with a family tree for my headcanons and boy does this get complicated ajsj

I don’t know how to insert a read more on mobile so be warned: long fucking headcanon post incoming

I hc the Jellicles as viewing sex and romance somewhat separately, so while there are several in committed romantic relationships, of which some are sexual relationships and some aren’t, there are also a lot of pairings that were purely sexual.

I’m only mentioning committed relationships and ones that resulted in children for the purposes of this post, because otherwise this would get Even Longer

Old Deut and Grizzabella had both types of relationship, for a while at least. Macavity and Tugger are their children.

Old Deut also had a sexual relationship with an unnamed white cat, which resulted in Munkustrap (making him and Tugger and Macavity half-siblings).

This white cat also had a sexual relationship with Bustopher at one point, resulting in Victoria and Alonzo (who are also half siblings with Munk, but not related at all to Tugger or Macavity).

Bustopher and Jenny had a sexual relationship (she would have liked it to be romantic, but it isn’t yet) which resulted in Demeter.

Jenny also had a relationship with Skimble (sexual and briefly romantic, but they’ve both since moved on) which resulted in Mungo and Teazer, Plato, and Etcetera.

Jenny and Jelly love each other romantically but not sexually.

Asparagus and Jelly have a committed, long-term sexual and romantic relationship, which has resulted in George, Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, and Electra.

Jelly is Gus’s daughter-in-law, Asparagus is Gus’s son.

Misto and Quaxo are brothers, who come from a line of show cats from another area. They aren’t related to any Jellicles.

Bomba isn’t related to anyone in the Jellicles, and has a committed sexual and romantic relationship with Demeter

Demeter had a sexual fling with Tugger, which resulted in Jemima (probably the least popular of my relationship headcanons—but I really like this idea. Demeter is a loving mother while Tugger is fairly absent, but since cats raise their children communally, this isn’t really a problem. Tugger was quite young when it happened and wasn’t really ready to be a father. There aren’t any hard feelings about this. Yes we have to ignore Jemima’s fawning in Tugger’s song for this to make sense and not be weird)

Coricopat and Tantomile are twins, of course, but not related to any other cat present.

Cassandra is not related to any other cat present.

Tugger and Misto have a very committed sexual and romantic relationship, but it’s not exclusive. Misto doesn’t have relationships with other cats, but Tugger does. There’s not much in the way of jealousy, though.

Teazer and Tanto have a committed sexual and romantic relationship (although they’re still in the flirting stage)

Mungo and Alonzo have a committed relationship which is sexual and close, but not romantic.

[theimpossiblescheme]

Out of the blue ask, but I was curious - you've laid out a couple of familial headcanons for the cats, and I really like them, and I was wondering if you could share some more with us!

I would be happy to!  Some of these I’ve had since I first watched the 1998 movie when I was eight years old, and some of them have evolved over time, but here’s what I have...

Getting the controversial out of the way--Demeter and Bombalurina are half-sisters.  This is my oldest headcanon, and it’s actually one of the only things my sister and I can agree on regarding the show.  Both of them had relationships in the past with Macavity that resulted in daughters.  For Demeter, it was Jemima and Zyleta and Fraszka from the 2004 Warsaw production.  For Bombalurina, it was Electra.  All four of them have been adopted by Munkustrap, and while Demeter still has a motherly role in her children’s lives, Bomba was a bit nervous about her own maternal instincts since she never really bonded with Electra when she was small and took on a cool aunt/big sister role instead.

Munkustrap also adopted Sillabub after she was orphaned.

Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy are the parents of Macavity and Rum Tum Tugger.  Munkustrap is still the middle child between the two, but he was born to Deuteronomy and a different queen named Iphegenia, who was once a part of Gus’s theater troupe with Grizabella.

Speaking of Gus, his children are Asparagus, Jellylorum, and Mirza (my name for the Tabbygirl swing queen).

Jellylorum and Jenyanydots’ children are Mungojerrie and Etcetera.  They also took in Plato and Socrates from the 2019 movie.

Asparagus and Skimbleshanks’ children are Rumpleteazer and Tumblebrutus.

Mistoffelees and Alonzo are both Bustopher Jones’s nephews--his eldest sister, Alonzo’s mother, was killed in a car accident, but the younger sister,  Misto’s mother, is still very much alive.  Alonzo has also adopted Carbucketty.

Victor is also one of Misto’s uncles.

Pouncival (separate from Carbucketty) and George are brothers who are more or less communally raised by all the adults in the Junkyard.

Coricopat and Tantomile are Hathor’s children--they get their psychic abilities from her, except theirs are much stronger.

Olivia the swing queen and the golden-brown version of Quaxo from the Vienna/Australasian productions are brother and sister.

Gilbert is the son of the Rumpus Cat, whom I always imagine as looking like the white and grey tom from the Shiki production.

Grumbuskin and Jonathan from the Chinese production are brothers.

The ones who don’t have family in the Junkyard are Cassandra, Admetus, Bill Bailey (separate from Tumblebrutus), Noilly Prat, Murad, AJ, Greycat, NBQ, Spike, Caramel, Victoria, Caligola from the Italian Tour production, and Fantazia and Sierściuch from the Warsaw production.  The kittens are also raised communally by the other adults in the Tribe.

And there you have it--my personal Jellicle family headcanons! 

[gregrulzok]

Cats (1998) Family Tree.

Why? Because I am obsessed with Cats. 

Some other notes:

Tantomile was selected as Munkustrap’s mate purely because I thought Jemima and Victoria should both be related to Grizabelle, but they were too special to be another of Tugger’s litter.

Tantomile & Coricopat and Cassandra & Exotica all joined the tribe from the outside. 

Macavity is NOT part of the tribe, he is only listed here to serve as Demeter’s mate, and father to Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, and Plato. (If you didn’t know, Plato is played by the same actor as Macavity, hence the relation. 

Similarly, The Great Rumpus Cat isn’t part of the tribe, hence not pictured. 

George, Asparagus, Bombalurina and Demeter are all littermates, it was just hard to capture here.

On the other hand, Plato is from a separate litter than Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. 

Quaxo is Mister Mistofelees. Misto isn’t actually credited in the 1998 version, Quaxo is. Here, it’s assumed that Misto is a stage name for the cat Quaxo. 

Alonzo is projected to be the tribe’s next leader after Munkustrap, respected due to his relation to Bustopher Jones. 

It’s not very clear, but the elders are ONLY Old D, Grizabella and Gus, while Jellyorum, Jennyanydots, Skimble and Bustopher are all Mature. 

THIS IS ALL FAN-MADE AND FAN-SPECULATED. The only real canon relation we’re aware of is that Tantomile and Coricopat are (probably) siblings, that Demeter (probably) got with Macavity at some point, and that Rum Tum Tugger and Munkustrap are brothers. The rest was made up by me. Takt it with a pinch of salt. 

[amethyst-labyrinth]

And speaking of Macskák musical in it Quaxo and Misto are separate characters, but I really love Quaxo’s design and couldn't help thinking that’s how Cat Morgan would look if he had been in the musical and since I HC him as Misto’s dad and they had him paired up the black and white queen...I give you Cat Morgan! Or not! LOL

[mortimers-cross]

Cats the Musical Headcanons

Every character with different names in different productions (but with the same costume) is in fact a twin. Twins. Set of twins. Who happen not to appear in the room at the same time and you never know which one you’re seeing.

-Plato and Admetus

-Jemima and Sillabub

-Carbuckety and Pouncival

-Quaxo and Mistoffelees

...Etc., any others I’m forgetting.

This of course does not apply when Quaxo/Misto’s name is “Quaxo, Otherwise Known as Magical Mr Mistoffelees.”

It also does not apply in productions that happen to use both names for separate characters in their casts. 

[bamfwizard]

back to my Cats HCs because I'm prepping my Cats OCs for Artfight and have insane brainrot

-Mistoffelees is a stage name, and his Jellicle Name is Quaxo

-Misto was raised or mentored by Macavity, hence their personas having lots of roots in magic and deception

-Misto (yes, I have a lot of Misto hcs) doesn't always have the coloring that he does during the show. (The only reason, factually, that Cats Misto isn't all-black like in the poem is bc it didn't work with stage lighting.) Misto has white patches during the Ball that fade during the day, it's a part of his magic and a bit of his own showbiz.

-Sillabub/Jemima is Demeter and Macavity's kitten, but she doesn't know (which is probably for the better, and explains her commonly theorized magical abilities)

-Deut is a Maine Coon, Tugger is a Maine Coon/Ocicat, and Munk is a Maine Coon/American Longhair. Tugger lives with the same owners as his mother and Munk lives separately.

-Skimble absolutely HATES Jerrie but loves Teazer dearly, like his own child. They've been found stealing from trains more times than he can count.

-Bomba and Demeter both had tricky relationships with Macavity, Bomba's more physical and Demeter's both mental (based on their lyrics in his song). Judging by their behavior, Bomba broke off first and later was able to help Demeter leave as well.

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Why Misto Didn’t Sing Gumbie Cat on Broadway, And Some Other History of His Role in This Number

It wasn’t a character thing. It was the beetles.

The Beetles Tattoo has thirteen cats as beetles: Pouncival (usually) and twelve who behave themselves. Broadway reduced the size of its cast compared to London, but they didn’t want to reduce the size of the Beetles Tattoo.

In 1981 London, there were lots of options for beetles. If you don’t count the characters who are doing something else in the number, aren’t present during the number, and the non-dancers, you still have more than thirteen characters left. 1998 used Alonzo, Cassandra, Coricopat, Electra, Etcetera, George, Mungojerrie, Plato, Pouncival, Rumpleteazer, Tantomile, Tumblebrutus, and Victoria. You’ve got thirteen characters and still have a few to spare. With a smaller cast, Skimble and Jemima could easily be included, but they weren’t in this version.

Now, the 1982 Broadway cast was a bit smaller. If Misto was singing Gumbie Cat, your options for beetles would be Alonzo, Carbucketty, Cassandra, Coricopat, Etcetera (standing in for Rumpleteazer), Plato, Pouncival (standing in for Mungojerrie), Sillabub, Skimbleshanks, Tantomile, Tumblebrutus, and Victoria. That’s only twelve.

Now, they could’ve had Munkustrap be a beetle, but he’s not as much of a dance character as the others and he’s so prominent as a leader that he’d stand out too much as one of a larger group. Demeter and Bomba are dancers, but they’re in the Gumbie Trio. Tugger doesn’t show up until his own number and he’s not always a dancer. Mistoffelees was the only remaining dance cat.

It made sense to have Munkustrap sing lead in the narrator role and it made sense for Misto to be a dancer, because that’s like 90% of what he does.

So, on Broadway and in most Broadway-based productions, Misto was a beetle. However, he never was in London. Even when he was no longer singing Gumbie Cat, Misto wasn’t a beetle. The switch to having Munkustrap sing Gumbie Cat happened very late in the show’s run and they already had plenty of other characters to be beetles, so Misto just opened the car and left.

And then we have the tap-off. When Misto sang Gumbie Cat, he interrupted the Beetles Tattoo to challenge Jenny to a tap-off, because he’s a competitive show-off like that. It wasn’t in-character for Munkustrap to do this and Broadway wanted to shorten some of the numbers, so the tap-off was just cut from that version and most based on it.

According to the Cats Wiki, the last London Misto to do the tap-off was Louie Spence, who played Misto from late 1998 to mid-1999. Munkustrap started singing Gumbie Cat in London in 1996.

If I’ve got the timeline right, that means that there was a period of time when London used something like the Vienna version of the tap-off. Only most Broadway-based productions cut the tap-off. Vienna-based productions used a different version of it. Munkustrap sang Gumbie Cat, but one of the beetles would challenge Jenny to a tap-off later on. In Vienna, a character called Quaxo (separate from Misto) was basically created for that purpose. In Amsterdam, Paris, and Zurich, the cat who did the tap-off was just whoever happened to be the best tap dancer in the cast at any given time. This character who be credited as both themselves and as Quaxo, similar to the Rumpus Cat.

I’m guessing that London between 1996 and 1999, since there wasn’t any room for Misto to be a beetle, but they still wanted him in the number, might’ve had Misto crash the party in the middle of the Beetles Tattoo to challenge Jenny to a tap off, even though he otherwise had nothing to do in the number. Outside of him not being a beetle, this would work like the Vienna production.

1998 probably didn’t do the tap-off for a combination of three reasons:

1. They were trying to phase the tap-off out onstage anyway. They just hadn’t found something else for Misto to do yet and they wanted him in the number, because it’d been his number for so long.

2. Being a Broadway Misto, Jacob Brent didn’t know the tap-off choreography and it was easier to cut the tap-off than have him learn it on a tight schedule.

3. Time. They cut quite a bit of the Beetles Tattoo for time.

After London got rid of the tap-off, they changed Misto’s role in the number. He assists Munkustrap throughout the number and at the end of the Beetles Tattoo, he joins the beetles alongside the Gumbie Trio, something Munk had done before. In clips of London in 2001, that’s what they were doing and most London-based productions after London closed did the same.

As far Misto keeping his assistant role in productions with smaller casts, without Electra, Etcetera, or George around, they were down three. Two of them could be replaced with Jemima and Skimble. Productions from this era started adding Electra back into their casts, so that would make thirteen. I’m guessing that anyone who didn’t do that was just cool with having fewer beetles than normal. The US Tours that cut Coricopat and Tantomile certainly would’ve had to, so it’s not like it’s impossible.

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

What Happens In Budapest Gumbie Cat

1. Misto 1 Sings lead.

NOTE: I’d call Misto 1 Quaxo to keep them separate, but there’s an ensemble cat named Quaxo, so I can’t. We’d just have two Quaxos instead of have two Mistos.

2. Because two Gumbie Trio members have been merged into one character, Misto 1 joins the Gumbie Duo to make it a trio.

3. Jenny’s tap outfit looks more like you’d expect Bombalurina to, for some reason.

4. The longer, original London version of the Beetles Tattoo is used. Misto 1 has a tap solo with Jenny playing a drum as her part of the “tap-off”.

[amethyst-labyrinth]

So this is supposed to be Quaxo, a separate character from Misto in this production, but this is how I picture Cat Morgan to look. So I’m going to pretend that, that’s him.  He defently seems like an older cat in this producion as well and notice he don’t do the leg petting thing with Victoria.