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after everything she's been through, cat's anxiety has boiled over. in this verse, she always had the disorder to a degree, but each and every situation she endured made it worse rather than allowing her to work with it. keep in mind that cat can actually still speak, and she can sometimes force words out when she wants or is in situations where she feels a sense of comfort but, for the most part, it feels painful and embarrassing to her. She prefers to use hand motions or asl if her companion knows it at all.
information
NICKNAME ;; mouse ( sometimes addressed as such to be teasing and ironic due to her quiet nature against her general name )
LOCATION ;; new york city
AGE ;; 17 - 18 years
STATUS ;; homeless thief
summary
cat's backstory is actually generally the same in this verse. as a child, she suffered anxiety that caused selective mutism, but it wasn't overly noticeable. quiet in school, quiet with her family, and a bit quiet with strangers, she just seemed shy. with scott, she was actually fairly talkative and so that alleviated a lot of concerns his aunt and uncle might have had. it's grown worse and more and more adults and places have made her feel run over, unheard, and unwanted.
juvie was harder in this verse due to struggles with communicating during her trials and dealing with the bullies. working with margaret was trickier, but the therapist was able to do enough and understand the situation.
but in the end, this is just her mainverse with a twist.
trivia
this au is the only one where cat actually holds major conflict within herself regarding her lonely nature. for her in other aus and verses, being able to talk is her main way of feeling less alone in the world. it allows her to interact with others without necessarily having to touch or interact beyond speech. now, however, she can't resort to that tactic and is forced to be more intimate in order to fulfill her basic need for attention even as an introvert
dance, music, and touch is incredibly important to her in this verse, though the touch aspect only applies to those she is truly fond of
she's much less patient in this verse and tends to snap easier if only because there's no way for her to just release her anger in a few curse words said aloud
about selective mutism
selective mutism is when a child ( or teenager in cat’s case ) is not incapable of speaking, but they find themselves put into situations where they literally cannot get themselves to speak. for cat, situations she normally could talk in suddenly cause her to freeze up, and she is left in silence. since her form stems from her ptsd and having experienced physical abuse and trauma, hers is considered a reactive mutism. she did have it in childhood, but it was not as severe as it has become.
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