Rummy

Author's note: In the following you will find the evolution of the series from what started out as a one-shot, but then quickly progresed to a typically long and psychopathic Roman de la Croix fanfiction.

To be read as anything I write; Like it was written by someone who thinks sideways.

Introducing: "Rummy"-
The Rum Tum Tugger has always captivated audiences. And nine out of eleven fanatics will confess to him being a favourite character (I know this because I asked eleven, and nine said so). 1)

However, I couldn't help but notice that similarly, most fanfictions either tend to cast him as some kind of weird valley-bimbo meets comic-releif sidekick to the main character, or as an emotionally two-dimensional Romeo who's entire purpose is to fall in love with Mistofelees/Jemima/Insert-Name-Here. (No offense, I actually like those stories--- my point is that it's the normal casting for our maned friend.) So I got to wondering... what if he wasn't two dimensional, or slightly below par with the intelligence levels?

'Rummy' started out as a bout of boredom. I started writing in the male first person (and for one who does not own a penis, we all know how frustrating writing from that perspective can be) intent on establishing a situation based entirely on emotions that would cause someone like the Tugger to abandon his 'fans' and 'friends' and leave the jellicles. It was from there that I got the characters and their immediate backgrounds.

The Following in a mini-exposition on the why of my unorthodox character portrayal during what came to be known as the 'prologue':

Tugger, from Chapter One/the prologue:
Tugger, as the hero, was meant to be a 'normal' kind of guy, slightly foul-mouthed, intelligent, and a closet romantic, but also sexually charged and frustrated at his inability to be happy with life as it is. The role of the supporting characters was to antagonise him to the point of near mental breakdown, which is why he might come off sounding like he's scarfed a bunch of catnip at some points in the story.

His base: I based this idea upon both my male friends (and Jeebus, many they are), and springboarded from all the other personalities I've seen portrayed of his character both through fanfiction, fanart, photos, and the actual musical. Sometimes you have to have a mind like mine that interprets things just a little differently, but in the end it's always there.
Prologue Munkustrap:
Munkustrap, as the main male supporting role, was meant to be your classic lech, outwardly respectable, responsibe, and the perfect nice guy, but inwardly thinking only of himself and his... well, dick. Now, before you go screaming bloody blue murder, please follow through reading this. Please.

You see, his purpose was to highlight Tugger's obvious sexual flaws, by showing them in himself. In the story that follows Rummy, we see Tugger begin to associate Munkustrap with his own perceived 'perversions', which was the silver tabby's intended purpose. I recognise that this has very little base in reality, though those of you most likely to object (bows to Mim respectfully), might be curious to note that in reality it's the textbook sadistic lech that never shows it outwardly in public. Just like the most abusive husband, father or lover can show a perfect face to the outside world, that was my temporary justification on using the silver tabby in such a way. For further reading, skip the next two paragraphs and go straight to "Why the hell did you make Munkustrap the bad guy".

Bombalurina:
Bombalurina, in the prologue (or "Rummy"), had a dual purpose; To allow the readers to see Tugger as a desirable object/person, and also to create a tension that would eventually force him to start thinking of himself as an object rather than adressing the problems of his sociality head-on.

By portraying her obvious sensuality with just a bit less morality (much like those girls everybody used to hate in highschool), it created the perfect backdrop for a more two dimensional 'bitchy' character. For how many of you/us could stand around being oogled and talked about for too long before pulling up a natural defense system around ourselves? After a while the 'bitchy' persona becomes so ingrained that it would be ourselves... just like it therefore was Bombalurina.

To be blunt: Jemima's purpose in the prologue was to show Tugger's softer side... er, and also his actual attitudes towards sex. Dueteronomy's purpose... well... to make the audience feel sorry for the main character. And Growltiger's purpose was simply to allow Tugger an opening by which to leave.

Sub-section: "Why the hell did you make Munkustrap a bad guy!?"
Hold your horses, I'm getting to it. Basically... he seemed like the perfect candidate to force you (the readers) into a different perspective. Once you'd gotten used to him being the good guy in everybody else's fics (and of course the musical itself), BAM! Suddenly he's a misogynistic perverted sadist. This immediately creates a sense of unbalance in the reader.

Imagine... (have you got a picture of the silver tabby on you?) there he is, smiling and looking generally nice, but what if on the inside he was measuring the size of your bust and mentally wondering whether you'd be offended if he 'accidentally' squeezed your arse. (Same goes for male fans who idolised the tabby, imagine him thinking dirty thoughts about your girlfriend/best friend/little sister.) Therefore the changing of Munkustrap's character was not because I'm some kind of silver-tabby hater [though the title is appealing... suddenly realises what she said Oh God! I didn't mean it like that!], but because I like a good reaction. And seriously... Skimbleshanks the Pervert Cat? I just don't see it. [Ok... on second thoughts... no, the idea is still laughable.]

Related Paragraph: the Evolution of Everyone's favourite Bastard.
Bizarre as it was to start off writing Munkustrap as the bad guy in the first place, as soon as I'd gotten my first (and only) reveiw asking me why I'd done that, naturally my mind started to try and come up with reasons to weave intot he plotline.

From Four onwards Munku's personality seems to gain a little more depth than normal; Coincidentally at the same time we introduce the ongoing 'what happened between Munku&Deme' plot device. Suddenly he seems to have motivation. What that motivation was is still unknown to me. However, the point is that he had some (motivation).

Now, with a motive in place, we really have to wonder whether he was always such the perverted nasty and horrible tom that we've come to know him as. Or perhaps he wasn't as bad in the prologue as you'd previously thought? Maybe, in fact, it was the catalyst of Demeter leaving him that caused him to become such an asshole, and not the other way around?

Re-read, if you would, chapter six, more specificly the paragraph in which he declares (quite vehemently) to have done absolutely nothing of ill-repute to Demeter, that he was the perfect gentleman, and that if he'd actually layed a paw on her wouldn't she be screaming it to the rooftops... Raises some questions, doesn't it?

A Very short analysation of "Rummy; The Story".
Introduction:
When you heard that I was making Tugger go back 'home' for three months, did any of you cringe? I did--- mainly at the thought of having to write that much on the same story, and in particular, from this particular point of veiw. After all, ONE reveiw after posting the prologue was not exactly inspiring [Thankyou DemiGold, love you, baby smooch... what? ]--- but nevertheless I -was- inspired, and a plotline soon started to develop in my head. It went something like this:

Tugger goes back. Tugger falls for Demeter. Complications arise. Naturally it gained a life of it's own and transmuted into the Rummy we know today. Because my fictions are mainly driven by dialogue, a lot of the plot went directly into the forming of charcaters and their relationships with each other.
Dialogue itself was also designed for maximum impact on the reader (unless I wanted to be sneaky), therefore the plot development itself was based entirely on how Tugger would react to other characters. Of course, by the time I figured out how I'd end the story (and the fact that I'd set it up perfectly without knowing what the hell I was doing for half of it) it was far too late to backtrack and redesign a plausible way to give him a 'happy' ending...

The Characters:
Of course, by now three years have passed, so the characters would have changed somewhat. I set aside my usual "Jellicles age as humans do" and opted for a simpler system that I decided not to mention, but will explain here. Also, the characters would be set by the scene, and the scene would be bleak as a rough foreshadowing of the emotional turmoil soon to be kicked up. And considering the plot that developed it was rather ironic that the first line should have a 'dual nature' of it's own. (Go on, reread it. ) Thus, the new 'internal monologue' style of writing was born.

I decided to keep the basics of Tugger's character pretty much the same except for the fact that he now carried a cutlass and looked like he'd been sitting out in the wind. He hadn't grown much in mind or spirit, despite ageing the equivalent of six or so years, and still carried a chip on his shoulder about previous failed relationships, alongside a little guilt at 'corrupting a kitten'.
He stays friends with Munkustrap out of loyalty and a desire to be able to 'confess' his problems without judgement which later crosses over to Demeter.

He beleives he isn't deceiving himself about his new relationship with Jemima (which wouldn't have happened without the residual guilt from his initial relations with her), and has grown to project his feelings of unhappiness onto Bombalurina... who could very well be the one queen that he genuinely cares about (reread it with this in mind, you'll be surprised).

Munkustrap evolved a little in himself, becoming more open about his opinions to do with queens, and his private life by apparently 'dumping' Demeter and taking Bombalurina as a lover.

He openly admits to being somewhat perverted, but can always seem to justify his actions. His motives for remaining friends with Tugger are uncertain to outsiders, but to him it's because Tugger is the only tom who knows him for what he is, and actually accepts it (to a degree) as he knows that generally any other tom would be mildly disgusted with him.

Also, their friendship gives him another facet to his personality, and a bizarre sense of compassion; the same compassion that leads him to force a mini-confession out of Tugger during chapter four. Munkustrap's age during the prologue is questionable, though his intended age during the rest of the story I worked out to be about thirty-five. If he acts too young for his age, it's probably because he seems too sexually orientated which was a purposeful device on my behalf.

Oh, and on another level entirely, you will notice that despite everything else, he takes his duties as protector of the Junkyard seriously. I'll let you figure out what that means.

Bombalurina's character was intended to remain essentially the same, but with a few subtle changes. Actually, I initially modeled her character on an actual friend of mine (and somewhat exaggerating the sexual side of her nature) I reminisced on past experiences, and concluded that she should remain a bitch with an unchanged agenda [=get Tugger], but have gained some kind of emotional instability... likely from her relationship with Munkustrap.

Bombalurina's age during the story is meant to be somewhere in her mid to late twenties. Her background is also designed to be sketchy at best, which was also semi-intentional. In some ways I wanted Bombalurina to be the one people best understood, even if they didn't like her. Of course, the ending changed that somewhat. [More information is included in the paragraph specificly about the story's ending.]

Jemima evolved somewhat in the fact that she now appears to dominate the relationship between herself and Tugger. While during the prologue her character takes on a very young, almost 'pleading' tone, during the rest of the story she is obviously an independant young queen with clearly defined goals. However, what those goals are even I haven't the foggiest.

Jemima exists to complicate matters, if that makes sense. If she wasn't involved in a sexual relationship with Tugger, things would be a great deal easier for him. During the prologue Jemima's age was estimated at fourteen to sixteen, throughout the rest of the story she was meant to be in her early twenties. [Therefore, from Tugger's statement that he's twice her age during the prologue, we can guess him to currently be thirty-three to thirty-seven. Which makes Munkustrap's comment about pedophilia in the second chapter both correct and obsolete at the same time.]

And to add a nasty footnote, somebody commented on her bitchiness during chapter five--- this was intentional. Also, to be honest, it's not exactly unfounded bitchiness when your lover had just spent the last however long ranting about another queen. Who wouldn't be feeling a little annoyed?

Demeter, not having appeared at all in the prologue excepting mentions of her name, had no character evolution except that which occured in the actual story. She is cautious, and almost unemotional at first. She speaks plainly and without coarse language, and jokes seem to be rarely spoken. However, despite being intended to make her seem straightforward, it instead creates an automaticly mysterious air about her past and intentions, especially those towards Tugger.

Her past relationship with Munkustrap was a plot device contrived to bring Tugger to the realisation that his 'best' friend is nothing more than a jerk who uses people to his own advantage... granted this changed a little and evolved into simply a means to heap stress on Tugger's shoulders. Her supposed 'relationship' with Alonzo added new dimensions to this stress, including jealousy, frustration, and just plain confusion. Oh, and not actually telling you what was going on...well... I just wanted to see how many people I could piss off. Her age is unknown. Guess.

The idea of the audience choosing who Tugger ends up with [which cropped up after the first actual chapter] :
At the point in time that I asked I really had no idea what would happen other than a vague inkling that I probably wouldn't like it. However, the votes (all ONE of them) gave me ideas. I decided to string the readers along by creating a 'false' relationship with all three of the main female characters. So essentially the 'voting' was a means to keep the ending under wraps until I knew exactly how I was going to warp our poor hero's mind before I decided to call it quits. Satisfied? [Sorry DemiGold, I'll write an alternate ending if you like.]

The reason other characters weren't included:
I find that while writing in a style that calls upon the use of dialogue more than description it's easier to move the plot forward on a one-to-one basis than it is to include various supporting characters who's role remains undecided. By completely cutting out the middle-cat I created an intimate setting that allowed my readers to feel more of a personal connection with the characters, Tugger in particular. Through this style it feels more like a voyeuristic journey into the hero's mind rather than just reading a story with a simply A to B plotline. This also disguised the slightly skewed chronology of the story, and helped me to understand the male psyche in a way that has mentally scarred both myself and several other unfortunate females. '

Bombalurina's Obsession/the Ending:
From the prologue it was obvious that Bomba had issues (or it should have been anyway), and that those issues were there to stay.

Bombalurina's main and obvious function was to create trouble, but secondarily she was also there to complement the warped personality I created for Munkustrap.

To serve a dual purpose her obsession with Tugger needed something a little more than the classic stalker's persona. [I could stop here and refer to some of the 'greats' of Cats fanfiction and their use of such characters, but I'd rather not gain the animosity of anyone we all know and loathe.]

Of course, the last chapter gives all of the above startling depths. Tugger seems to suffer rejection after rejection. From his own father (the prologue), his lover (Jemima), the queen he loves (Demeter), his closest friend (Munkustrap--- though this rejection was more subtle than the others), and finally the one cat with the means to throw him a lifeline that he could use to climb out of all this mess... Growltiger.

Depressed, slightly unbalanced, and seriously lacking in self esteem he stumbled into the arms of the only person he saw as being able to love him. Bombalurina.

End of story? Not at all. It turns out the whole entire caboodle was a plot by the red seductress to get back her greatest and best lover once and for all. We discover that she nudged Jemima in the 'right' direction--- telling her to sleep with Tugger; That she voiced concerns about him to Dueteronomy; That she paid Growltiger to first befriend him, and then leave him ashore; That she manipulated Munkustrap both for sex and for the added bonus of upsetting Tugger. But, of course, Demeter was simply a 'happy accident'...

"Hey Roman, why all the sex?"
I felt like it. [Notices the stares she's receiving] What! At least I'm honest!

Alright, you want an explanation with big words? Sex, in the story, is a means to move forward the plotline considerably, as without Tugger's sexual involvement with Jemima, and his past sexual involvement with Bombalurina, there would be a lot less reason for his mental anguish.

So basicly, if you took out all the sex scenes there would be little to no point to the story, which is quite an accomplishment if you think about it as generally it's the other way around. You'll also notice he has some of his most profound realisations during or after some kind of sexual activity--- a rather ironic and slightly satirical joke on my behalf.

But surely there must be a moral to it all?
Ok, well if you want to get complicated and search for meaning in my dastardly plots:
If you lead a life of duplicitous dealings and questionable relationships then the same is all that you will ever get returned to you.

And finally-
Roman Appologises Personally:

I'm sorry, I really am, if I offended you or anybody else (whom you might have complained to) with my disgusting portrayal of each and every character in this story.

I'm well aware that most of them are at least a little off the radar, and my only available defense is that a few of them don't show up enough to actually have a definable personality. What I did to Munkustrap is to some people probably unforgiveable... which is why I'm almost glad I don't have much of a readership... and I realise that not many of those people would have bothered to check back with this story looking for an explanation to my actions.

All I can really say is that freedom of expression, no matter how derogatory that expression may be, is part and parcel of the whole author dealy. To semi-quote a very intelligent person--- to take Character A out of their usual setting and to place him or her in a completely different setting is usually assuming that this character is going to play by the same rules.

The characters we are presented with in CATS are, whether we want to admit it or not, pretty two-dimensional. We only see them on stage for a few hours at most, and we see them at their best (or worst). I can't logicly call changing "Character A" into something different a true representation of that character--- which is why this is conatined to a minor publication, a fanfiction that very few people will ever read in their lifetimes.

If by changing 'Character A', and I think we all know who I'm talking about, I have touched anyones life in the wrong way (mental molestation, it's an imaginative person's nightmare, I'll admit), I will not refuse this person a chance to say what they have to say... but I do ask that they give me a chance to explain myself as I have here.
Should I still be found offensive... Hey, the crowd has spoken.


1) This is a fictional statistic and does not mean that the author is a liar, for we all well know that like statistics, authors are merely figments of our imagination.