#in universes where macavity isn't terrible

[sybright]

Macavity I guess

So this started out as me describing my alternate universe Macavity’s, but it kinda turned into me discussing like, almost all of my hc’s related to Macavity. So I guess that’s what this is now? Anyway, this is very disorganized. Everything started out simple but then I just kept adding things and getting ideas, and everything went off the rails from there. So, read this as if I’m setting up to explain my alternate universe Mac’s, but then spend too much time setting up asadjnfdshbfdhfds

(Also, I finally figured out how undercuts work and this is really long, sooooo, if you actually want to read this for some reason, you can click keep reading I guess?):

Some headcanon stuff/things to keep in mind: I don’t usually hc Macavity as having been part of the tribe in the past, such as him being brothers with Munk and Tugger, although I do really enjoy those hcs. For the alternate universes I’m going to describe here, I see Macavity as a cat who grew up on the street, who didn’t really have any friends or family. Because he grew up all alone, with no one to help him with his magic like how Misto did, he did whatever he needed to in order to survive. This resulted in him taking up a life of crime, and eventually leading to the events in the musical. 

Some Demeter Headcanon stuff (note that not all of this applies to all three alternate universe Mac’s): I hc Demeter as having also grown up on the street alone, and not having any connection with the Jellicles, (this goes for all three alternate universe Mac’s). She gets tangled up with Macavity out of a mixture of necessity, Mac has easy access to food with his whole criminal thing going on, and a bit of curiosity for the mysterious cat who she knows is bad news. Curiosity develops into love but then quickly sours when she figures out his true nature. She runs away to seek refuge with the Jellicles who she heard were welcoming to strangers, and eventually decides to stay with them for good. 

Universe 1 Macavity (aka main universe sort of): This is your typical, standard Macavity. He’s genuinely evil, and a huge asshole. Jerrie and Teazer did a few jobs for him in the past, mostly for fun, but they realized that he really wasn’t a good guy and stopped working for him. He had a past relationship with Demeter (this applies to all Mac’s) but it fell apart at some point. In this universe, his relationship with Dem was very toxic and abusive, hence why Dem is so nervous and terrified during the show whenever he appears or seems like he’s going to appear. Basically, Mac’s just plain bad. 

Universe 2 Macavity (aka Mac redemption universe): I got really interested in the idea of a universe where Mac gets redeemed, so that was the inspiration for this. Here, Mac is evil but not super evil, and his past relationship with Dem wasn’t toxic or abusive, just unhealthy, or maybe a bit toxic, just not as bad as the main universe. Here, maybe Mac had a lot of personal shit to work through and started pouring it onto Dem instead of dealing with it himself, or maybe Dem realized that she just wasn’t okay with his criminal lifestyle. Either way, or both ways, Dem was tired of it and left. Jerrie and Teazer never worked for Mac in this universe, they ran into him a few times while committing their own crimes, but they didn’t interact with him much, well, that is until he starts to get better but you can read my extra notes at the very bottom of this post for more info on that. After a while, maybe after some big, emotional event, Mac starts to see the error of his ways, it’s a slow process but he strives to become a better person. Eventually he’s welcomed into the tribe once he gets better. He doesn’t get back together with Dem, but he does start up a friendly relationship with her and even grows close with Jemima (who I hc as his and Dem’s daughter).

Universe 3 Macavity (aka idiot universe): Macavity isn’t actually evil, just a massive dumbass, and he likes messing with the Jellicles for fun. When he kidnaps Old Deut, Old Deut isn’t actually in any danger, he’s just hanging out with the hench rats in a dumpster somewhere playing tic-tac-toe. Jerrie and Teazer hang out with Mac all the time in this universe, and have committed several crimes together. The reason why Mac’s past relationship with Dem fell apart wasn’t because it was unhealthy or toxic, it was just because Dem could NOT put up with his stupidity anymore. She gets all nervous and flighty during the show because she cannot imagine having to hold another conversation with that idiot oh my god he’s here? For fuck’s sake! Like she can’t stand being around him, in her eyes, Tugger is easier to put up with than that buffoon. 

Note: To be clear here, the idiot universe as well as the redemption universe are not meant to excuse or undermine some of the more serious implications in the show, such as the idea of Dem and Mac having a toxic past together. It’s just that sometimes I enjoy entertaining the idea of Mac being really silly and not actually evil, or him possibly being less evil and maybe even redeemable. I might not do this sort of thing for a villain in a different piece of media, such as a piece of media that has a very solid plot with a grounded story for its villain. But in the case of Cats where pretty much everything is whatever you want it to be, and with there being no solid canon and all, I like playing around with alternative ideas for certain characters such as Macavity, I think it’s a lot of fun. 

Oh, and Macavity and Mungojerrie are kinda dating in the idiot universe, the tribe’s just okay with it. 

They’re also sort of dating in the redemption universe. I’m thinking that once Mac starts trying to become a better person, Jerrie and Teazer find out about it because they run into him during heists. Jerrie wants to help him but Teazer’s a bit hesitant. Jerrie decides he’s going to help Mac anyway despite what Teazer thinks, so he helps Mac secretly and they start a forbidden lovers type thing, although it’s not forbidden once the tribe accepts Mac.