Now I’m interested in your dad’s take. If it’s not invasive, please share?
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HI HELLO!!!!!! I’d happy to share, I love talking about these things!!!!! It might get a bit rant-y but I promise I’m just trying to cover all bases :]
Some context: my dad grew up with cats, specifically the 1983 broadway album, which means that while he’s never seen the 1998 movie, he has seen the show live 2-3 times, (my family is pretty musical-my grandma saw the og show with Betty Buckley, and I’ve never been more jealous of anybody in my entire life).
So: we were talking about stuff and nonsense and I explained the newsies vs cats poll. Obviously he knew a bit about both shows, as I’d recently been in newsies and made him watch the Broadway version.
He of course immediately started talking about how many criticisms you could do of each show. It quickly devolved into him bitching about Skimbleshanks and Santa Fe, because he hates both of them in equal measure, (although Santa Fe may take the cake. He despises the entire plot line).
I brought up the criticism that many musical fans seem to have about cats: “it’s not about anything” or “it doesn’t have a theme/plot.”
“That’s just blatantly not true, munkustrap, (I called him gray cat guy in the conversion), explains the plot in the third song. You know, jellicles go to the jellicle layer, blah blah blah.”
“Well, sure,” said he, “but what’s the show really about then?”
“Uhhhhh,” I said, it being like 11 o clock at night, “it’s mostly about second chances and forgiveness, right?”
To which he said, no. Cats is about pride. More specifically, ego death.
All of the cats are prideful. The Rum Tum Tugger, obviously, but also the Gumbie cat, the old theater cat was the best there’s ever been, as featherfore-whatever his name was. You know, even the stupid train cat. They’re all walking around talking about how great they are, or were, except Grizabella.
She just says “hey, I’m here, I’m done, I’m down and out, and I’ve got nothing and no one. I’m just here. Times were great, but without the memory, I have nothing”
And that’s why they’re like YES. You get to go the heavyside layer. You get it. You deserve your second life.
hi :] what's your favourite cats replica or non-replica? also any costumes you really like? 🕺🕺
hi hello!!!! Sorry I didn’t answer this for a week, I got sick and then got depressed. It seems to have left for a minute so here we go!!! :D
I’m not real knowledgeable when it comes to specific non-replicas, I haven’t seen Warsaw yet, I know that’s one of the main ones, and a lot of the cool looking ones don’t have boots or any sort of recordings 💔💔💔
But, one of the non-reps that’s never going to leave me alone is Thunerseespiele 2017. Not only is it a German production, using the Vienna translation which is my favorite, but the costumes are SO gorgeous. The wigs make them look like raggedy Ann dolls, and I’ll never get over it.
I refuse to believe that there’s NO recording of the show, because they have plenty of high quality clips for a trailer, and it just doesn’t seem right that someone would make something this cool and then just. Not record it.
Victoria is a standout costume. She looks so gorgeous, I’m so unbelievably jealous that I don’t look like this. Honorable mentions to Thunerseespiele Bombalurina, Grizabella, and Sillabub
As for favorite productions in general, I have a whole playlist of my favorites, and it’s really hard to choose a favorite, but just in terms of translation, German productions just hit really, really hard for some reason. Maybe it’s because I can kind of understand it, but mostly I just think the language fits really well. My best examples are Tecklenburg’s ‘Macavity,’ and ‘Auftritt Grizabella’ on Spotify.
Majestic. 10/10. Like if the galaxy was a whale. Shark.
2. Jackrabbits/Hares
They know everything I wish I knew. They know where the rivers run. They know when the stones fall. I also wrote a story about Jackrabbits that I’m really proud of :)
3. Cats. I tried to look up pictures but there were too many perfect ones. So og Bluebelle from Munich <3
4. Evil birds (crow, blue heron)
Crow because they’re smart, funny, and fun for drawing. Heron because it haunts me. Fell asleep during a practice test, and jumped awake because it appeared in a flash. I’m still afraid I’ll see it in my sleeps
babes i am SO sorry :{ i don’t check my asks very often and when i do they sometimes just. wont register. ahem anyhow !!! i’ve been thinking about bluebelle a lot lately so hooray! this is probably way past relevancy, but better late than never :)
2. What sort of music do they like? different genres or bands? favorite song?
Bluebelle likes comforting, nature-adjacent music, think Aurora Asknes, Yaelokre, maybe Liana Flores, rather than more personalized, experience based music. She would like weird ambient playlists on youtube with 1.5k views, with weird synth and the works.
for favorite song, i’m going to pivot in the other direction, and say Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy 🧚 🍭🩰, because i associate it so much with her, and it’s a classic <3
4. How crafty/resourceful are they?
very! it’s sort of in a DIY way, as there was no one really to teach her sewing techniques, or similar skills. Living mostly alone, (hopefully not for long (motivation PLEASE bless me this summer)), she has to fend for herself, and becomes a bit of a scavenger for the things that she needs, and makes do with what is available to her. she’s a tough gal, even if she doesn’t think so :)
15. How big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up?
This is actually very embarrassing on my part, i have not given much thought to her upbringing and family. i have small inklings that her mother was likely along longer than her father, and that she doesn’t have any siblings. i’ve floated around relations with other’s ocs, but never finalized anything lol.
Not having parents around isn’t some sort of traumatic abandonment or loss for her, (though i’m sure she wishes they hadn’t left), but simply the way things go to her. it’s not like her mother hated her, it was just the way that things ended up. Bluebelle floated around as a kit, in different families of cats and humans, before finally settling on being alone.
23. How would you describe her voice? Can they sing?
her voice is lower than you would think from someone with her shy demeanor, with a mix of different, strange vocal affectations from all the cats that she lived with when she was younger. accents waver in and out on certain words, but the most noticeable, especially on specific phrases, are casual english, irish, and welsh.
bluebelle can definitely sing, but not in a ‘singer’ way. no big vibrato or vocal technique, more of a ‘i love music and i am alive :)’
in my head, i’d say she sounds like a slightly lower, slightly nervous jemima. if i ever find a match, i will run screaming with joy to tumblr, i can promise that.
26. how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?
as a result of her tersichorium powers, bluebelle is quite graceful? but not in the sense that she is pirouetting around, more as if she is sort of walking on air. probably clumsy sometimes, who isn’t, but generally, she moves in a smooth, unremarkable way that leaves you very surprised that she is suddenly standing right next to you.
33. how would other characters describe them? those around them?
mostly kind. a good listener who asks a lot of questions so she can fully understand a situation or problem. hardworking? maybe a little lonely. on occasion frightened. hidden inside her shell probably. devoted.
I watched the first ep of fraggle rock, I am in awe. Brings me back to when I watched dvd and cassettes as a kid. I'm not sure I caught any of the names but I adore the red haired lil dude being utterly terrified of the dogs ball. the big purple puppet being so soft spoken is one of my favourite character tropes. Looking forwards to watching this in the evenings
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS MAKES ME!!!! MY PROPAGANDA IS SPREADING!!!
I’m SO glad you watched and had a good time!!! The fraggles are my favorite little guys in the whole wide universe they’re SO cute
The soft spoken one is Mokey!!!
She’s so cute and I adore how she moves and talks compared to the others.
THE RED HAIRED SCAREDY CAT IS BOOBER I LOVE HIM FOREVER AND EVER!!!!
I NEED TO BE HIM SO BAD, HES JUST LIKE ME FR!!!!!! (Credit to @icetobes for this adorable image (it’s my profile pic for so many things now))
The little green one is WEMBLY 💖💖💖💖
(They’re so so so so so so cute I’m literally gonna throw up the them forever <333333)
He’s just a green little guy!!! He’s very special to me!!! My anxious little dude!!!
Then there’s RED
CHAOS INCARNATE. JACK OF ALL TRADES! Truly just the best girl ever. I love you red
last but not least GOBO!!!!
He’s such a BITCH I love him so much. He’s so sassy his accent is so cute n funny. I love how in seasons 3 and 4 they just give him these silly ass hats. No explanation. He just wears them now
EEEEEEEEE I HOPE YOU HAVE THE BEST TIME EVER‼️‼️‼️ feel free to send me any of your thoughts and opinions I love listening to people talk about things!!!!!
Can you info dump about bluebelle, I’m very curious about her :3
SORRY THIS TOOK A HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS I WANTED IT TO BE PERFECT
Hi hello!!!!! I will very gladly talk about Bluebelle, she’s the love of my life forever :D 💙💙💙💙💙
Important note: I’m a very um dramatic person when it comes to creating oc backstories. I am nothing if not a little bit pretentious, and giving ocs weird and angsty backstories is my passion project, and that’s part of the reason it took so long to collect my thoughts, and come up with something concrete, (or as concrete as possible)
I’ll start with facts about her that I like and then backstory regarding the fabled music box :))
-her design/colors are based off of a stuffed animal I bought in Munich :)
-the songs I most associate with her, (I have a playlist because I wanted one), are probably A Dangerous Thing/Everything Matters by AURORA, The Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker, and I came to your party dressed as a shadow. Adore those songs
-the only jellicles that she has met, (by choice), are Victoria, Misto, Plato, and Demeter. Or rather, Demeter knows of her, but Bluebelle doesn’t know Demeter
-this is mostly bc she’s pretty paranoid about meeting new people, and prefers to stick to her people. It took her a while to warm up to Plato, but eventually she got used to him
-this is also despite Vicci’s best efforts to convince Bluebelle to at the very least meet Jemima
-SPEAKING OF JEMIMA, if you haven’t heard, here’s my little jellicle magic theory: The cat’s magic relates to their eyes, just vaguely. Jemima and Misto each have white eyes, and you may have noticed, Bluebelle has those eyes as well. Because she’s. Blue. And that’s not a typical cat color, I figured I should just run with it. I see Bluebelle’s magic as a combination of Jemima and Victoria! Yes, Victoria is magic to me and that’s not just because she’s lovely and beautiful, but because of the way she uses the music in the show, and the way some productions seem to use her as a metaphor for the Jellicle moon, relating it to her dancing. This is especially true for me when I hc Vicci as deaf, because it implies some sort of magic when her solo syncs with the music. Bluebelle has the same sort of music and dance magic as Victoria, and the same sort of eerie unearthly-ness of Jemima. Basically I combined all my favorite girlies into one and made her <33
Really incoherent n convoluted story under the cut lolllll
I’ve always imagined the music box has something Bluebelle has had since she was very young, as in some of her earliest memories are of the tune it plays. Her mother probably gave it to her before both of her parents disappeared like they were in a Disney movie. The point is that it’s one of her favorite things, and she loves dancing to it. Victoria loves the song as well, and they sometimes practice using the music box, and things continue as so until Misto appears, and starts practicing with them.
Because Misto insists that no music is coming out of the music box. He can’t hear a single note.
Neither can Plato, or any of the other jellicles, when Victoria borrows it, and plays the song for everyone else in the junkyard, (Bluebelle doesn’t go with her-she’d rather not meet the others, for fear they won’t like her, or will tell Victoria to stop visiting her).
No one else can hear the music. No one except, of course, for Jemima and the psychic twins.
Bluebelle starts to ask around town, playing it for different cats, until she finds an older tom, not far, though she doesn’t know it, from the Junkyard.
He can’t hear the music box of course, but he tells her that he’s bit of a collector of magical artifacts. Perhaps he’ll have something similar in his collection.
Would she like to take a look?
Bluebelle declines. Declines at least, to visit him on this night. She hands him the music box, and instructs him to take it back to his den, and look for himself. They will meet in the same place the next day, and if he cannot find anything, then she will go and see for herself.
The next morning, they meet again. He tells her that he’s sorry, he couldn’t find anything that matched the box, and that in his haste to meet her on time, he’d left the box behind. The tomcat invites her to his den, and again, she declines, saying she will visit on a later date, that she already has plans.
Bluebelle follows him home, and hides in wait. She watches as his friends gather to scheme, and doesn’t notice the staring of a golden queen hanging off the arm of a blood orange tom.
The acquaintances leave, and the old cat retires to his den. The fire is almost out, leaving her to sneak into the other tent.
…blood seeps from every item in the cramped space, leaving it to drip from the walls and stain the ground scarlet.
He is not only a collector of magical artifacts, but a collector of queens, as well. The music box is the only thing unmarred by the red, so she steals it back.
She swears she can hear him howling the whole trip.
Bluebelle doesn’t tell Victoria what happens. She tells her to steer clear of the cat who could very be Bluebelle’s father, with a coat as vibrant as the sea, and Victoria doesn’t ask any questions.
Bluebelle doesn’t want to meet any of the other jellicles after that. She barely wants to talk to anyone ever again, with the exception of the few cats she already knows.
She and Victoria still dance to the music box though. Misto tries to follow along.
