Oh, and about Pouncival calling Macavity the Tailed Godfather... That comes from the Swedish translation of the songs from CATS that I found the other day. Instead of our favourite Evil Dude being the Napoleon of Crime, he is now "Gudfadern med svans" or "The Godfather with tail." Whoever told you reading fanfiction wasn't educational?
Six: Groups and Jellice
Joanna was fortunately not the only one who had gotten detention the first day and been forced to skip Old Deuteronomy's essay. Mystitat, a black Jellicle with brown points, wasn't excused even though she had been technically dead by the time the homework had been given out, and was sentenced to detention with the Rumpus Cat.
They spent the lesson reading the chapters about Electra (the next guest-speaker for the 'Naming' course) while Old Deuteronomy read through the essays. At the end of the class they got them back, and Joanna could relax. She had managed a B, but there was a strange note at the bottom reading: "GrammarBootCamp required." She groaned. Whatever GrammarBootCamp meant, it didn't sound much fun.
Ah well. From the sounds of her classmates, she wouldn't be alone there anyway. So maybe she'd manage.
They had the second period free, giving them time for eventual student clubs. The school hadn't been in session for two days, and already the students had started forming small guilds. Miss Minnaloushe had apparently predicted this, and had, out of the goodness of her heart, obviously, given them some time every week to have meetings.
Of course, the clubs hadn't exactly had meetings as of yet, since they were still in the middle of recruiting new members. Which meant that they had gathered around the TSE 1 and tried to figure out who could scream the loudest to attract most people.
The two largest groups were without a doubt the DVD Fundamentalists and the Show Goers. However, the two had split into many different clubs, mostly focusing on one single character. Munkustrap, Mungojerrie, the Rum Tum Tugger and of course Mistoffelees had already gotten their respective fanclub.
The responses of the canon characters had been slightly different. Tugger had simply smirked and replied: "Yeah, what else is new?"
Mistoffelees had paled a whole lot and received a pat on the head by Mistoflees.
Mungojerrie had simply shrugged and gone off with Rumpleteazer to Everlasting Cat-knows-where.
Munkustrap had choked on a piece of rat and been unable to speak until Jennyanydots had performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on him. After that he had mumbled something about "having very important business to attend to" and left, Demeter in tow.
Joanna had eagerly joined the Mistoffelees fangirls (or as they had dubbed themselves: The Misto Squad) in the hope of thinking up a plan to steal the heart of the magical cat. So far though, not much had happened.
"Sure, Mungojerrie might be a nice enough guy, and the Rum Tum Tugger might be hot as the asphalt on a warm summer's day!" howled Loz from her place on top of a garbage can. "But if you need someone to keep you safe at night, then Munkustrap is the only tom for you! Join the Munks today!"
"We really have to think of a better name for us," muttered Chimalmaht. "Munks just doesn't... sound right."
Joanna shook her head as the two Munkustrap fangirls started to quarrel, and decided to listen to something else. The leader of the Misto Squad, Airmid Star, had made her way up and was now standing on top of the TSE 1.
"Friends, Jellicles, fellow fangirls!" she called out. "You know that there is only one tom that can truly set you on fire! Only one tom has the power to make you see stars! And that tom is..."
She didn't get the chance to finish her statement, for something grey had whined through the air. For a moment, shining metal gleamed in the early morning sun, and Airmid Star squeaked in pain and fell down from the car.
All motion stopped. The fangirls ceased screaming out the names of their respective Lust Objects as if they were selling cattle on a market, and all eyes turned to miss Minnaloushe, who was suddenly standing right in the middle of the open junkyard. She seemed eerily calm about everything, and she was holding more of the sharp, grey objects in her hand. Her wings cast unnaturally dark shadows on the ground.
"There will be no climbing on the TSE 1," she said slowly. "Is that all clear?"
There was silence.
"I said," continued the course coordinator, "is that CLEAR?"
"Yes'm," mumbled the fic-writers nervously.
"Good."
Miss Minnaloushe walked over to the fallen Airmid Star. The writer hadn't moved since the sharp thing had hit her. Miss Minnaloushe bent down. There was a scraping sound of metal against bones, and when the course coordinator stood up again, she was holding the thing that had earlier been protruding from poor Airmid Star's shoulder.
The shape of it was slightly familiar, thought Joanna, and she squinted. Her eyes widened when she suddenly saw what it was.
"A feather," mumbled Eponine, echoing Joanna's thoughts.
It was, indeed, a feather. It wasn't very soft or nice-looking, in fact, it seemed to be some sort of a weapon. Miss Minnaloushe calmly polished it free of blood with the sleeve of her shirt until it gleamed, again as grey as a stormclouded sky. Then she carefully looked over it, as if to make sure that it hadn't been dented in any way. When she was certain, she put it back into her left wing where she had clearly taken it, and where it also grew back, as if nothing had happened.
"No climbing on the TSE 1," she repeated, and then she turned away. "Take the girl to see Jennyanydots. I do believe she won't wake up for a little while yet. Alas, my feathers do seem to have that effect on you people." She sighed. "Ah well. Carry on."
She left, the fic-writers still staring at her in shock.
"Err..." said Kaylyn after a while. "Yes. Eh. Let's, let's take Airmid to the infirmary, shall we?"
"I must say, that was a very impressive throw," said Old Deuteronomy kindly as miss Minnaloushe returned to the faculty area, a small glade behind the official junkyard.
The Jellicles sitting in the area, talking and gossiping about the students, acknowledge her presence with polite nods before returning to their respective meals. Somehow, no one knew exactly how or why, the faculty area was always equipped with a large supply of food.
"Thank you," muttered miss Minnaloushe and made her way over to the coffee machine, which amazingly enough still made coffee, despite the fact that it was clearly discarded by humans. "I just had to let off some steam."
"Understandable." The old cat nodded, and then he cleared his throat. "Would I be out of line if I asked exactly what that was for?"
Miss Minnaloushe picked up her mug of coffee (she always drank it black) and gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"The student in question wasn't, ah, what's the word..?"
"Glomping?" she offered.
"Yes, exactly. She wasn't glomping any of the canons. Are you feeling alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be feeling alright?" Miss Minnaloushe gulped down her coffee, not caring that it was so hot that it burned her tongue. She really, really needed the caffeine.
"You're awfully... violent." Old Deuteronomy coughed a bit.
"For your information, sir, the TSE 1 is technically a canon character," said the course coordinator calmly. "She is on stage more than any of you. I'm... protecting my university, nothing else."
"And you're doing a nice job, I might add."
Miss Minnaloushe quirked a smile. "You're too kind. Can I get you anything? A cup of coffee, perhaps?"
Old Deuteronomy shook his head. "No thank you, dear. It's bad for my stomach. You don't happen to have any caviar, by any chance?"
"Actually, I think we have a can of it somewhere around here..."
The pair had sat down and were chatting about work in general when the Rumpus Cat came in. He was followed by a small group of mini-Pollicles that miss Minnaloushe hadn't seen before. The talking in the faculty area ceased as the Jellicles looked at the recently arrived.
"New arrivals?" the course coordinator asked and nodded towards them.
The Rumpus Cat nodded. He never spoke much, the good Rumpus Cat, and most often let Pouncival, his great admirer, take care of the talking for him. The young tom now showed up, grinning widely and waving at miss Minnaloushe and Old Deuteronomy.
"Hullo," he said cheerfully. "We have company!"
"We can see that," said Old Deuteronomy and smiled. "So, who are these little fellows?"
"Well," said Pouncival, turning to the whole faculty as he spoke. "This here is Mistofellees." He nodded his head at a black mini with a white chest. Blue sparks were shooting out of its paws, as if it was trying to make lightning but wasn't really sure of how to do it yet.
"Cool," said Mistoffelees and waved for Mistofellees to come over and join his other minis. "That means I have five now. More than anyone else, I might add."
"Show-off," muttered Macavity.
"No worries, oh Tailed Godfather," said Pouncival. "You've got one too! Meet Macvity."
This mini-Pollicle was ginger in colour. His eyes were sunken in, and his fur was longer than that of the rest of his kin. Macavity perked up.
"Macvity?" he repeated. "Splendid! Come over here, you little rascal you."
"Vaff," said Macvity and strutted over to sit by his namesake. He sank down by Macavity's feet and started glaring evilly at Dueteronomy and Mistoffelees' minis.
"Next we have... Jellyolourm," said Pouncival, rather pleased with being the centre of attention. "Lots of vowels there. Very hard to pronounce."
Jellyolourm didn't need Jellylorum to call on her. She gave a small yelp and walked over to the old queen, wagging her tail.
More minis were introduced, such as Etcetrca ("Yay, now I have two minis!") and Grisabella ("Now I don't have to be so lonely!"), but nothing very interesting happened until Pouncival dragged in what appeared to be a large cat statue made out of pink Jell-O.
Electra walked up to it and sniffed it curiously. She gave it a lick. "Hm. Strawberry," she said, wrinkling her nose. "What is it?"
"Jellice," said Pouncival proudly. "It showed up with the latest batch of minis. Maybe it could come in handy."
"And how, exactly, can a huge, pink, frozen dessert come in handy?" asked Munkustrap with a small sigh.
"We could... throw it at the students," suggested Victoria.
"And what would that accomplish?"
"I don't know, I'm just a kitten!"
"People, people," said the Rum Tum Tugger, suppressing a smirk as Etcetera (plus her minis) sighed adoringly at the sound of his voice. "Now, let's not start arguing about this... Jellice thing. I'm sure that we can figure something out." His eyes fell on Coricopat and Tantomile, who were not listening much as they were busy circling around the newly arrived Tantomille and deciding whether or not they should welcome her. "Twins!"
They looked up. "What?" they asked simultaneously.
"You can think of something to do with Jellice, can't you?" said Tugger.
"Certainly," nodded Coricopat.
"Our pleasure," agreed Tantomile.
"Rawr!" barked Tantomille.
Miss Minnaloushe sighed. Sometimes, when she really thought about her life, it made very little sense.
Enrollment Form for OFUC
Name (or preferred handle, whichever you please):
Age:
Gender:
Species: Human/Jellicle/Pollicle
Lust Object: Munkustrap/Macavity/The Rum Tum Tugger/ Mistoffelees/Other (please specify)
Favourite character:
Least favourite character:
Why?
Favourite song?
Favourite pairing: Munkustrap/Demeter, Rum Tum Tugger/Bombalurina, Macavity/Griddlebone, Mistoffelees/Victoria, Anyone/OC, Other (please specify)
I have written a CATS Mary Sue? Yes/No
I have written CATS slash? Yes/No
I have seen the show live: Yes/No
If yes, how many times? 1/2-5/more than five times
I have seen the video/DVD: Yes/No
If yes, how many times? 1/2-5/5-10/10-20/too many times to count
I own the soundtrack: Yes/No
I have a fear of (circle all that apply): Macavity/Miss Minnaloushe/The Twins/Cassandra/Mini-Pollicles/Other (please specify)
If I met Bustopher Jones on the street, I would: because:
Caviar, Strausburg Pie, potted grouse or salmon paste?
The Awful battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles or Growltiger's Last Stand?
Are you familiar with candle, book and/or bell?
I agree to everything (even the small print that I couldn't read) and admit that any strayings from the Rules are entirely my fault and a result of my own lack of judgement.
Signature:
Enrolling in a review will result in getting electrocuted by Mistoffelees. Your form SHALL be sent to josefin at ingenting dot se, or there WILL be consequences. Savvy?
Answers to Reviews:
NixNox: Oh no, you're not the only fanboy. I have two males enrolled at OFUC, actually. You are in a minority, I'm afraid, but you're not alone in it. :)
BlueRoseDragon: No, you don't have to have published fic to join. I don't really look at my students' written work anyway. Except for Roman's. But that's because she's special. .:nods:.
Ralli-Rah: Really? Me? A goddess? Well then, BOW TO ME, PUNY MORTALS!
Jemima-luvah: At the moment I have... 24 minis. Plus the Jellice. It is scary how they multiply. Oh, and it's spelled "Carbucketty." :)