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| I used a bunch of assets from Google Images to put this together - credit to all original artists! |
Alright, before you start cringing, hear me out...
Earlier today, I was digging through some of the old artwork I made (specifically when I was no more than eleven years old) and discovered a common theme:
I drew a whole bunch of cat people!!!
These were mostly forgettable early attempts at OCs (Original Characters) before I even knew what an "OC" was, and quite a bit were based around some of the earliest fandoms I was part of back in the day ("Tom and Jerry" being a prominent one)!
I guarantee quite a bit were Mary Sues/Gary Stus, and even though I indeed was cringing so hard at their designs and everything, I still thought they were cute in some kind of nostalgic way.
That's why I've decided to kind of "revisit" them in this little "series", Neko Academy!
Contrary to the name, not all these characters are nekos (cat people). I do know for a fact there is at least one usagi (rabbit person) and a few nezus (mouse people). Yes, they still attend Neko Academy because frick you, I make the rules and I do what I want. Cringe culture is dead.
I'm still slogging through my huge collection of old childhood art, so there's a chance I may have missed characters I hadn't discovered yet.
Till then, here's a sneak preview of who you might see!
Ginger, Jessie, and Shelby, the Catettes (a "Chipettes" knockoff - I don't know Shelby's last name, but the other two were "Ginger Prio" and "Jessie Laplace". Despite the different last names, they're apparently sisters. Oh, and they also lived with their "Aunt Carla" because their mother died. Why their father didn't take custody of them, I don't know).The Catettes also went by the names Jackie, Miranda, and Scarlett. Their male counterparts/boyfriends (and "Alvin and the Chipmunks" knockoffs) were William, Alex, and Zachary.
They even had their own evil counterparts (knockoffs of the "Powerpunk Girls"): Georgia, Janice, and Sarah/Sally.
"Tom and Jerry" fan characters: Mandy (Tom's girlfriend/wife), Bella (either the sister or girlfriend/wife of Jerry, which yields some SWEET HOME ALABAMA implications), Alice (I think she was the daughter of Tom and Mandy), Junior (probably the son of Tom and Mandy), and Rosie (either the baby sister of Jerry or his and Bella's daughter. Again, SWEET HOME ALABAMA). Alice was creative and liked to paint.
Tom worked at this restaurant called the "Krusty Kat", an obvious Krusty Krab knockoff. His boss was Katie, a rich woman who loved money, and his only co-worker was a disgruntled Molly.
There's also this character named Elise who worked at a baby store, and judging by her similar appearance to Katie, they're probably related in some way (probably sisters because that was a running theme of my characters).
Hannah and Amelie, who were apparently associated with a cartoonized version of my childhood pet cat, Muppett. Hannah likes gymnastics and showing off her style, and Amelie likes to do Hannah's makeup and dance the Caramelldansen. I'm almost convinced that Amelie was meant to be shipped with Muppett.
Charlotte and Vendetta, named after the "Making Fiends" characters... honestly, I'll probably just nuke them.
Allie, Nevi, Paveria, and Lucia, apparently called the "Feminine Kitties".
Some characters named after ancient Egyptian royalty: Nefertiti, Cleopatra (uh oh, I already have a character named that!), Ramses II, Tutankhamun, Asrue, Hatshepsut, Maiherpri, and Kiya.
Amelie makes another appearance as the apparent girlfriend of Cal (ugh, I'm going to need to change his name because I have a jerk of a character who already has that name). This was later retconned in a "diary" written by Cal's older sister, Anneliese. He was noticeably younger in this incarnation, being five years old while his sister was ten. His full name was "Calinus", which is apparently Greek but I don't believe anything my younger self says. He always wears a DIY outfit when he goes shopping with his sister and likes bossing her around like a spoiled brat. They had a two-year-old sister named Mirage. Anneliese had a friend named Lola while Cal had a friend named Zackary (not to be confused with the Alvin knockoff), who was Lola's little brother and had buck teeth and glasses. There was also Liberty (Cal's wannabe girlfriend who was almost a carbon copy of Zackary), Lizzie (who was a huge braggart) and her sister, Cleopatra (another Cleopatra??). Oh, and she apparently had tons of "secret" friends named after Greek goddesses and Egyptian queens/princesses. Cal kind of had a puppy love for Cleopatra even though she already has a boyfriend named Zeus.
You know, maybe this was supposed to be the Cleopatra mentioned in my previous bullet...
Jasleane Domenica and Jammie Higgins, two dancers who competed with the "Cats Don't Dance" character Sawyer for Danny's affection. Jasleane really wanted Danny to love her or else she'd "break with his house", while Jammie promised to be Danny's "best friend forever" if he let her join his "gathering".
Four unnamed characters who were part of something called the "Charm Cats Club".
Delilah, either a "Cats Don't Dance" fan character or a complete rewrite/replacement for Sawyer.
Tina, whose idea to "doodle" with spray paint later got her grounded for vandalism.
Myra, the little sister of an unnamed character who apparently has coulrophobia because she got pranked by her cousin who pretended to be a clown.
Some characters who were part of a series called "Chester the Cat": the eponymous Chester (who was formerly known as Wilbur), Daffodil - later Anneliese ( yeah, maybe should've kept her old name, yeah? She was Chester's older sister), Julius (Chester's best bro who was a Scottish Fold)), Lizzi (Chester's nemesis), Cleopatra (come on, another Cleopatra?? Oh, and she's Chester's girlfriend), Viventy (Chester's annoying wannabe girlfriend), and Felix (Chester's brother). Chester apparently sold tacos and Lizzi tricked Chester at one point into eating burgers and fries and wearing her pajamas.
Flora and Fauna Payne, sisters who were proclaimed the "artists of the town". Flora doesn't like that people think she's funny, but her and Fauna's mother is proud of them, and honestly, that's all that matters.
Unnamed angel and devil characters who will probably just be nuked.
Misty JasLene, an eight-year-old who was nervous about starting at a new school.
I think this was a spinoff to "Chester the Cat", but it mainly focused on his younger brother, Felix. Chester's friend, Julius, and Chester himself made appearances, alongside two new characters, Trilby and Razzles (whose names were stolen from this one TV show I used to watch, "Raggs"). In this spinoff, we actually see their ages and birthdays: Razzles was six (born May 13), Felix was seven (born August 20), Chester was eight (born February 10), Trilby was nine (born December 15), and Julius was eleven (born June 6). For some reason, Chester was physically disabled in this series (even though he wasn't in his own series), being confined to a wheelchair and having a broken arm. Actually, now that I think about it, I think this was a Raggs knockoff.
Cutie Cat, who was apparently an "official" Girl Scout even though she didn't earn enough medals. She also needs money.
Tiffany Robinson, a girl who was starting at a new school (but didn't want to) and had a stuffed mouse toy named Rebecca. She lived with her parents (though oddly, only her mom was seen, not her dad) and an unnamed little sister.
Caitlyn, a nine-year-old who had a fifteen-year-old punky sister named Clover and a five-year-old sister named Cassie. She had a bully at school named Lucille Roberts and a best friend named Gracie. Lucille makes another appearance where she teases a girl named Jennie who has thick glasses.
Characters who were part of a series called "Catscratch", even though that was literally just the name of a TV show I watched at the time: Gordon (apparently a German), Thomas (who was English), Celia (who was French), and Lilly (who was Russian).
MiLana Atwood, who had an annoying little sister named Marmalayd (what kind of names are these??). She was bullied by the most popular girl in school, Matilda, who liked to call her a "sissy". Another kid at her school, Melanie, once spread rumors about an illness called "sprongitis", which MiLana didn't seem to believe until she ended up actually catching it.
Characters who part of the "Meow Mix House", who were actually supposed to be the anthropomorphized versions of actual cats from the 2006 reality show of the same name: Ellis, Cisco, Belle, Sam, Romeo, Molly, Jo, Opry, Bambi, and Zen. Only Jo really had a background that was expanded upon, having a mother named Suzy, a father named Tomie, brothers named Jerry, Sho, and Ira, and sisters named Nose Marie, Bright Eyes, and Cara.
Ellis was apparently the resident "smarty cat" who liked to greet people like he owned a hotel or something.
Mia and Sally, who were part of something called "M.I.A.: Most Impressive Animal". It also looks like the Catettes made an appearance here!
Brittany and Jade, twin bunny sisters. They appear alongside Jack, a dog (who I'll probably nuke honestly, he shares the same name as one of my friend's characters), Georgina, another rabbit, Miriana, a cat, Brownie, a mouse, Lupe, another mouse (who was ironically male despite having a female name - this name already belongs to a much more fleshed out character of mine so he'll probably be nuked too), Natalie, a species I don't even know (whom I'll probably nuke as well), Molly, another rabbit (for the first time, a character is explicitly described to be different from the ones previously mentioned!), Hansten, another dog, and Violet, another cat.
Aimee and Lila, two random characters who for whatever reason picked "Two Girlz of the Day", those being Ryna Taübernack (a sixteen-year-old from Germany) and Shawna Pyshinalaya (a nine-year-old from Russia). Oh boy, word salad names galore.
Zinnia, a character who was so seemingly evil that she committed each of the seven deadly sins. In contrast, her sister, Marie Ann, was a perfect girl who probably exhibited the seven heavenly virtues.
Mellinda, whose mother was named Ms. Cappucine and had a little sister named Lucy Jane whom she didn't want to steal a balloon she won from some person named Charlie at their party.
The "Cat City Girls": Emily, Petunia (whom I'll probably nuke because she shares the same name as a character you might have already seen on this blog), Carmen, Deborah, and Siye. Unfortunately, only Carmen made an actual appearance as a "classical cat". I don't know what the other four looked like.
Chloe, Vivi, and Maria, who I think were supposed to be rabbits. Strangely, only two characters were actually drawn, and I don't know who was supposed to be who.
Coraline, named after the eponymous character in that one creepy movie I was obsessed with back in the day. Another character shares her name, so it seems like she grew up to marry a guy named Victor (because Corpse Bride was a thing I was obsessed with as well). Their flower girls were Molly and Belle, Victor apparently already had a son named Jaqùes (you mean "Jacques"???), and their sponsor was a Russian named Rechenka.
Katie (haha, the Krusty Kat manager??) and Marie, yet another pair of sisters.
Amber and Willow, twin sisters who were apparently jealous of their new baby sister, Lesley. Funnily enough, their mother (who was unnamed) resembles a grown-up version of Katie from my previous point. The twins also had black hair, which happens to be a trait shared by Katie's sister, Marie! So screw everything, this is a new headcanon and you can't convince me otherwise.
Pho and Mia Siam, siblings who I believe were named after two notable Siamese cats of the same name. Alongside them were Daisie Miyi, Dorothy Welch (whose signature color was ruby red probably only because she was a reference to the character from "The Wizard of Oz"), Jana Tentacles (why a cat has a last name better fitted for a cephalopod - cough cough, Squidward - I will never know), and Vicky, who was probably just made to reference the character from "Fairly Odd Parents".
"The Cat Fairies", who I think are a knockoff of the Neopets faeries: Eva the earth fairy, Fyla the fire fairy, Areila the air fairy, and I think an unnamed dark fairy.
Two "Angelina Ballerina" fan characters (if you know this show, you'll know they were mice, but for some reason, I made them cats), Danube and Blossom.
Pansy, Alexandra, and Flora Swith
Matthew and Ula with their children, Ragnar and Krystal, their weird cousins, Ely and Frank, and the awful racist Chinese... friends? Neighbors? Random characters that have nothing to do with this family? Oh, their names are Monk and Ching, but don't worry, I'm just going to nuke them for obvious reasons.
Jenny Hannah Foster, who was actually based off a "How to Train Your Dragon" toy from McDonald's (in I think 2010)! Yeah, it sounds unreal, but it's true.
Caramia, who had an annoying little sister named Rosalie. Her mother was named Triska.
Alex, who was born with no tail but was proud of her quirk. Yet she cried every time she was picked on by the meanest girl in school, Melinda (is this the same character mentioned a couple points ago??), and her clique, Miranda (oh no, that one Catette??), Mirrisa, and Melanie (again, wasn't she mentioned already??).
Lulu with her little siblings Sheila and Charlie. She tries to teach them things, but Sheila doesn't understand anything and Charlie just sits there ignoring everyone. Yeah, Charlie's a real mood.
I drew a whole bunch of cat people!!! 
Ginger, Jessie, and Shelby, the Catettes (a "Chipettes" knockoff - I don't know Shelby's last name, but the other two were "Ginger Prio" and "Jessie Laplace". Despite the different last names, they're apparently sisters. Oh, and they also lived with their "Aunt Carla" because their mother died. Why their father didn't take custody of them, I don't know).
