Introduction
Tammy, aka Ithaca (Kitty), codename chosen from her favorite toy as a child, a 32-year-old from an as yet undecided part of the US, or even Canada, with the ability to change into my absolute favourite animal on the planet... anything from a domestic cat to a Tiger to a Lion and any other feline in-between. Her preferred choices will be the tuxedo and tabby moggies plus the bigger house cats, like the Ragdoll and Forest Cat. Siberian tigers are her fave so naturally, that will be chosen out of all the big cat species as a whole.
Aside from having all the abilities of a cat - flexibility, agility, speed, strength, silent walk, stalk, sneak, etc, in her human form she'd also be able to camouflage herself as an extension of the fact she is already very good at using the shadows for stealth. I think it makes sense she may have furthered this ability to be able to use it during the day as well... bend light to blend in or something? Might need a bit of help with this.
My Favorite TV show at the moment is SYFY's 12 Monkeys, which I'm only up to Season 3 of on DVD. So, I've chosen Emily Hampshire as Ithaca's play-by because she has done such an excellent job of Jennifer Goines on that and well, she has the look I'm going for. Plus the real-life personality I can see meshing well with a cat shifter.
Family
Normal family life, loving parents, younger brother. Lost their Mum when she was about 11, which triggered the first shift while she was crying in her bedroom one night. Soon took off because she thought her father and brother might disown her. Little did she know her Dad was the reason she had big cat DNA, him able to become a tiger of his choosing.
Using this form to track her down he explained they would've revealed this to her if and when it was revealed she was a mutant too. Turns out her mother was able to turn into the black or panther versions of any of the cat species and she died because someone had mistaken her for an escaped exotic pet. Grew very close to her father after this, with her brother soon informed as well but still to this day as yet to manifest any mutation himself.
Personality
Tammy is a bubbly and very friendly woman, just like her Mum. She uses the night to allow the cat out and the day to enjoy a normal, working life. I'm leaning towards her being into retail and fashion where her infectious persona can really shine.
QUOTE (Mark)
"I do have a possible idea regarding her stealth/incognito, perhaps she could have something like a low-level telepathic ability that she possesses in all forms where she say, subconsciously broadcasts telepathically a suggestion of 'I'm just an ordinary cat' and achieving stealth by the fact that while people see her there minds don't register the fact and she's overlooked, or forgotten as soon as she's out of sight. It could also work for aiding her in blending in in any of her cat forms perhaps?"
(End Quote)
Absolutely love this idea! Will make this a subconscious ability that formed soon after her mutation manifested because of what happened to her mother. She would’ve been out at night and thought she’d been blatantly spotted only to realize although they were looking straight at her there wasn’t actually any recognition of her really being there. Of course, she has since learned some type of control over this otherwise she'd never have been able to make herself known to anyone while still in her cat form.
Ithaca’s Main Story Introduction Will Be As Follows:
My idea for her opening thread would be having her currently incarcerated (by choice) at the Central Park Zoo after being caught out roaming in her tiger form and being mistaken for someone's escaped exotic pet. She's the type to put up with this for a while just for the fun of it, then when she grows bored she'll change back to human and use her incognito ability to slip out when the keepers suddenly notice the tiger is missing again. After this, I was going to have her change back into an alley cat to blend in and make her way stealthily and completely out of the zoo.
One of the X-Men teachers could be taking a group of students to the zoo on a class trip, someone notices her and manages to pick her up thinking she's a lost kitty (this could also be on the way out of the zoo too, in the car park) and ends up taking her back to the Xavier mansion while they go about searching for a possible owner. Tora stays in her kitty form so as not to give away what she really is and, as with most cats, is curious enough not to make for the nearest escape at the first opportunity but, instead, takes a good look around.
Soon realizing where she is, Ithaca will then reveal herself to one of the adults first, which we can decide upon exactly who, as she sees if she too could stay at the mansion.
Michelle, I am more than happy for Crystal to be the one who actually picks her up and takes her home. Shaali loves cats herself so she’d definitely let her keep.
Current For-Fun Threads
- That Aroma! That Smell!
Family:
- Pending… need to create them for her.
Friends:
- Again, pending… she’d have a few from school, possibly college, and definitely colleagues in her workplace. Does anyone want to be one of these at all? We can work out exact details as we go.
This is just going to be a quick post, but thinking in terms of Ithaca's personality and the overall nature of her power, a couple of characters, in particular, I could see with potential for interesting interaction, so I'll cover these two in this post.
Leucrotta- Lawrence is basically a hyena feral, not a feline as such but they are cat relatives, though I'm not sure what Ithaca might think of him at a first impression. Personality-wise though I think they'd probably get along quite well and like her, he's an easy-going feral type mutant and if she does stay at the mansion maybe they might be friends over time.
Puma- Obviously I'm reworking him as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and he's younger with a different history but pretty much the same powerset and personality. Pretty much disciplined, warmer side he keeps hidden, dangerous when he needs to be, probably pretty poles apart personality-wise. He's a feline shapeshifter like her albeit a werecat, so not sure what Ithaca would think of him but if they ever encountered each other might be fun interaction.
For Leucrotta, we can see what happens with friendship there later on when we start the main story. With Puma, did you want there to be a past encounter or shall we keep that as a new thing for later on too?
I'd be happy to incorporate him into Ithaca's history. I'm assuming Puma goes out and about at night too. Would be very easy for them to have come across each other and considering he'd be able to smell through her subconscious ability to conceal herself, maybe there was a bit of initial caution in her tiger form but perhaps then some play too. I can so see her sniffing at him in his werecat form very curiously, and the fact he is very obviously a mutant would help Ithaca decide whether to reveal her human form to him or not.
This is why I love writing as much as I do, so very many possibilities to explore!
I remember we've talked about a connection between Jean and Ithaca somewhere or am I mistaken?
Well, the idea I had, which I'm not sure would work due to Ithaca's age as I don't know when she discovered she could shift as well, is that during the events of Dark Phoenix, which I'll add a sort of dream version of mine to Jean's bio as I get to it, which happens during 1992 or 1993, they could have met. How old would Ithaca be then? Would she already be able to shift?
I was thinking of that scene in the trailer where Jean is at an alley alone sort of in pain because of something she did during a moment of mental clarity. Maybe Ithaca approached her as a kitty, she'd be really young I guess, and help Jean pass through that moment, even regain her control to fight what is going on. You know, sometimes it's the very little things that solve the hugest problems.
Let me know your thoughts.
Would love to have Rogue and Amp as part of her introductory zoo thread. Rogue is a teacher, and could be one of the chaperones. Amp, wouldn't normally be allowed on a field trip somewhere so public, but luckily the school is full of kids who are more then willing to smuggle her out.
I remember the discussion about Ithaca having a connection to Jean. Tammy would've been able to shift from a very early age. In fact, I have just come up with the idea she may have been born shifted and changed back to human after being placed in her mother's arms. If I go with that, then she'll have been born at home.
Anyways, I can age her three years to suit the new RP timeline, which would make her 35. Thus, in 1993 she would've been 5 and probably using her abilities to explore far and wide even against the caution of her parents.
In other words, I can make this scene work because I would seriously love to write something like this!
Absolutely! I'm looking very forward to that opening thread ^^