#I've mentioned this a few times before--Macavity styles himself as Mephistopheles but in reality he's Faust.

[theimpossiblescheme]

In regard to Macavity’s own magic... my headcanon has been that he doesn’t have any.  All of his magic has been “gifted” to him by (read: effectively stolen from) an outside patron, and that patron is extremely fickle.  Just the way Macavity treats the cats around him like pawns, that’s the way he’s treated by the source of his magic.  He could lose it at any time, and even when he does have access to it, it’s extremely unreliable.  He was only able to pass on what he deemed a “meaningful” amount to one of his kittens, for example.  And in the world of the Jellicles, where you either have magic abilities or you don’t, and the cats we see who don’t are perfectly content with their lot and show no prejudice or fear towards the ones who do... what does it mean to steal magic that isn’t yours, to basically leech off of someone else?  I like to think that Macavity isn’t a special case--this is what happens every time.

#I've mentioned this a few times before--Macavity styles himself as Mephistopheles but in reality he's Faust. #And one day he's going to meet the same outcome as Faust... #cats the musical #macavity #my headcanons #I defnitely also think Macavity believes that magic makes a cat superior to their non-powered brethren-- #just look at the way he treats his children. #He values power above all else so in his mind just *having* that power is all that matters. #But with the Jellicles they don't care whether you have magic or not--they don't think magical or nonmagical cats are 'better'. #They value everyone in their Tribe equally and the magic itself isn't as important as how it's used. #It's not Misto's powers that make him so highly regarded--it's his willingness to use them for the good of his family. #It's Macavity's self-serving might-makes-right 'Law of the Jungle' philosophy not only butting up against the Jellicles' focus on community #but also the way *magic itself* works. #Because how can you truly learn how to use a power you don't have? #Especially when you only ever use it for your own gain?