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Age: 19 Gender: Female Species: Tiger, with butterfly wings Occupation: Art student Nicknames: Julie (to close friends), Tigerfly Hobbies: Drawing and studying nature, listening to music, traveling |
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Innocence. That's the first word that might come to mind when you first glance at this shy, young tigress. July stands before you, always alert, cautious and curious at the same time. She could be described as pretty - she stands about five feet tall, with short, bright-orange fur, black stripes along her arms, legs, tail and back, white fur lining her cheeks, throat and down to her chest, and long, flowing white hair that extends to the middle of her back. She is of a light build, and her features complement her form nicely without any one thing calling excessive attention to itself.
One most unusual feature does stand out rather prominently, however: Her large butterfly wings. They sprout from her back, very much a part of her body, and extend to a total width of just over five feet, and a height of nearly six feet - the rounded tips coming down to within a foot of the ground when she's standing. July's wings are translucent white and bordered in a pale blue that darkens nearer to her body and further toward the ground. They're very delicate and do not appear strong enough to allow her to fly, and her movements show an elegant, yet carefully measured grace that can have only come from experience. July usually wears a simple white gown with blue straps over her shoulders. The dress has been modified for her wings, and it covers her chest nicely while leaving her shoulders and arms bare. She also prefers to walk barefoot.
July is the youngest of three children in an otherwise completely normal tiger family. Neither of her parents nor her two older brothers have any known abnormalities, but she grew large butterfly wings when she was just a kitten - the result of a genetic mutation. Her wings are quite striking in appearance, but they're very light, delicate and sensitive, and way too lightweight to allow her to fly. She was often teased by her peers because she was strange, different and unusual, but her family has always been very supportive of her despite the social stigma of having a "mutated child". When she was a teenager, one of her wings was broken in a car accident, and she went through a time where she wanted nothing more than to be rid of them. As it healed over time, though, so did her resolve, and soon she decided she liked being different - it was what made her who she was. She took up art as a hobby when she was 15, and has always had a passing interest in dance - though she's never considered herself one who could be successful at it.
July is naturally very shy, cautious and somewhat timid. She generally likes to sit on the sidelines and observe groups from a distance. When approached, she is friendly and polite, but she keeps to herself most of the time and is a tigress of few words. She has a fascination with nature and likes to draw and paint it when she has the opportunity and the inspiration. She is a very modest fur - she tries to avoid calling much attention to herself, and she blushes whenever anyone compliments her over anything. She is also quite protective of herself - while she tries not to be distrustful of others, it takes her a while to get used to the company of other furs. She backs down from unwanted advances, but if cornered she can defend herself handily. With the right fur, she might consider intimacy, but only after she's gotten to know them well and feels she can trust them.
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 The drawing that inspired July. Copyright 2001 Shannon Stuart. Posted with permission |
July grew up like any other tiger cub - she had no complications at birth, had no abnormalities up until the age of five, and for the most part led a normal childhood. She had always been the shy one in the family, and the only girl, but her parents were always supportive and tried to do as much as they could to ensure that she was happy growing up. They all lived in a suburban area, relatively close to a large city, but far enough away that life was quiet and peaceful, and the schools and streets weren't crowded.A few months before her sixth birthday, she began to experience a gradual increase in back pain - something very unusual for children her age. At first, her parents figured July had hurt herself on the playground, but eventually the pain became such a strong presence that she no longer wanted to do anything, was crying most of the time, and eventually needed to be taken to the hospital to have it checked out. Numerous X-rays, exams and tests showed nothing wrong with her body - the doctors were at a loss to say what it was that was ailing her. They gave her some pain medication, and she was fine for a while.About four months later, the pain returned despite continued medication. She was taken back to the doctor for a checkup, and this was when it was discovered she was growing wings. The doctor was most perplexed - he had never seen anything like this before! Just under her fur was the structure for a large set of insectoid wings. Some more expensive tests were done, and they revealed that somehow, July's DNA had been changed slightly. Nobody has been able to determine when or how this happened.It took only about a week after this discovery was made before her wings were ready to surface, but she required minor surgery for them to come out. She spent a few days in the hospital, but when it was all over, the delicate framework was visible - small and delicate, but definitely there. Her wings quickly grew to a size proportional to her body within about another six months, and her parents invested quite a bit of their time and money in finding (and eventually making) clothes that she could wear without interfering with them.Almost immediately, when she returned to school, she became the center of everyone's attention. Many of her classmates started teasing her in various ways - usually making fun of her by making buzzing noises, tugging on the edges of her wings or trying to use them as targets for various objects. Her teachers sometimes found it difficult to concentrate on their lesson plans when she'd catch their eye. All of this brought her down - she'd frequently come home crying and go straight to her room, not wanting to talk to anyone. Both of her parents spent a lot of time with her, consoling her and telling her how beautiful her wings were, but to a little child it's difficult to overcome being ostracized by your peers.Many girls in her predicament would have become tomboys, but July instead became quiet and socially withdrawn, turning to her books and papers. She was a voracious reader at an early age, and with the exception of P.E., she excelled in all of her classes. (She was eventually given a special program for P.E. as well in consideration of her limited movement.) Of course, she continued to get a lot of attention, both good and bad, but over time she learned to ignore it and make the most of it.As she approached adolescence, she became part of a couple of close circles of friends - the type that at one time or another made an oath to be friends forever and to always look out for one another. This gave July a much firmer sense of security and helped her gain more confidence - much to the delight of her parents.When she was 14, she was on her way home from school when she was suddenly hit by a car - the driver had run a stop sign and skidded into her. Although the collision was low-speed and she only suffered a bruise to her leg and where she fell on her arm, she also fell on one of her wings, breaking it. These wings had always been very sensitive, so this accident caused her much pain. Her parents rushed her to the hospital, and a special splint was designed on the spot to hold her wing straight, in the hopes that it would be able to heal. Nobody really knew if the wing would recover on its own, however.Between the accident itself, the damage it did to her wing, and being on pain killers again, July became very depressed. Even though the physical pain was gone fairly soon, the emotional and psychological pain was tremendous - the accident had devastated her. She thought that her beautiful wings had been destroyed, and she blamed everyone - even herself - for having them in the first place. At one point, she even contemplated trying to cut or break them off, but she had the good sense to talk to her ever-supportive parents before she did anything drastic. They had a good, long talk with her that evening, and helped her to feel well enough about herself that she soon dropped the thought - and they watched her closely and checked in with her often to make sure she was doing all right.This emotional turmoil lasted only about a month. The wing soon healed, and the splint came off two months after the accident. This was a very big day for the young tigress - her friends even held a surprise party for her to celebrate this event, and her parents gave her a blue ribbon and took a photo - for having made it through such a hard time. She felt so much better about herself and her friends, and she made a resolution to herself that she would never think about hurting those precious wings again.As she developed more, both physically and psychologically, she came to the realization that it was good to be different - she now wanted to be as different and unique as she could be. With that, she decided to pursue her life-long interest in nature - she initially took up as many different subjects as she could cram into her already-busy schedule. Things like bird-watching, botany, animal studies, geography... eventually, she settled on life drawing, discovering that she had a natural talent for capturing what she saw on paper. When she wasn't busy studying or hanging out with her friends, she could be found in windows, on tree limbs or in various places in the park, sketchpad and pencil in hand, busily sketching whatever she was facing.July dated a couple of males during her high school years, but was never really much for going out or social groups. The events that had happened to her as a child had left her with strong self-esteem, but with the desire to keep to herself most of the time.July's proudest moment was when she graduated from high school. For the first time, she felt universally accepted by her peers, who had long since stopped bothering her about her wings. She was accepted by numerous universities across the country, but she surprised her parents and friends alike by making the decision to wait to go to college. She wanted to spend more time developing her artistic skills and to attend a local art school.
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At Further Confusion 2001, I came across the image you see above. Drawn by the lovely and talented Shannon Stuart, this piece quickly made its way to the Art Auction, and I told myself I just had to have it. One of my more recent interests in art happens to be winged furries - specifically those with insect-like and bat-like wings. Shannon draws these very well.
Six months later, my mother surprised me with this commission she had Shannon do for me, as a belated birthday present. The picture is a beautiful rendition of another furred creature with insectoid wings - perhaps a fairy or what not. I really liked it, but even more, it inspired me to look more closely at the picture I'd picked up at FC2001, even though the two pictures weren't related. I was hit with inspiration, and after asking Shannon for permission, I wrote up the first draft of the complete character description you see above. The name came quickly, too: July... It just seemed to fit.
I'm currently putting together some story ideas for July. The backstory for her upbringing has already been written (and is seen above), but what will she do now that she's ready to take on life on her own?
July can currently be found only on SPR Muck, and doesn't appear there very often.
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