#BB!Brambleclaw

[bonefall]

Have you thought about in-universe explanations for why Crowfeather (infected king!) was the only member of the Sundrown patrol to receive an Honor Title? Especially Tawnypelt, because I recall you mentioning she was leading the patrol at one point! In a perfect world I imagine they'd probably all get one, but I figure you can't just go around changing major character's names willy nilly like that.

In a perfect world the names would all become Honor Titles but yeah I try to avoid renames. I COULD be convinced to giving Tawnypelt an Honor Title though.

If I gave her an honor title it would be something like Tawnytreader, Sunsetchaser, or Sunsetter. It's in reference to how she eventually leads the Great Journey west through the mountain, towards the setting sun INSTEAD of directly North to the Lake, so that the Clans could meet with and get supplies from the Tribe of Rushing Water. Her leadership of the Sundrown Patrol and leading the Clans during the Great Journey makes her an immediate hero.

Brambleclaw probably gave up his Honor Title purposefully. He hesitated when Firestar was in the snare, and Mothwing leapt out of a bush to free the dying leader. He's ashamed of his inaction, so I think it's actually very poignant of him to say;

"I understand why you're taking away my deputyship... may I also ask for you to take this title from me?"

"But why, Northheart? You want to become Brambleclaw again?"

"...I was happy to have broken from his legacy, at first. But now I don't think I ever will. I think I need to be reminded of where I came from, or else I'll put it too far behind me."

Like, really drive home that what I'm doing here with Bramble is a tragedy. Everyone WANTS him to get better, to be good at self-reflecting and make good choices. They want so badly for him to break free of his father's association and be a positive representation of his powerful bloodline. Be he never does.

It doesn't bring him joy to be the way he is. And there's times he's so, so close to realizing that he should stay away from power. But time and time again, GIVING him that power is a mistake, and on his end, he always takes it.

"Northheart" isn't as punchy as it could be though. I have to think about it...

(Especially since I like how in canon, the "bramble claws protect the camp" prophecy could have applied to Thornclaw just as well. Maybe I'll change it so it could have applied to Brackenfur somehow)

Small recap: after their deaths, every member of the patrol is exalted and will become Directional Patrons. The two tagalongs also get associations.

Tawnypelt: West, towards the Ocean

Crowfeather: East, towards the Wilderness

Brambleclaw: North, towards the Lake

Feathertail: South, towards the Tribe

Stormfur: Patron of those who Leave (he is not joining StarClan though, these prayers go, symbolically, unanswered.)

Squirrelflight: Patron of Missions, most often invoked for Salt Patrols.

Stormfur didn't get a title because the leader at the time was Leopardstar. She wasn't very reverant of the mission to begin with, and Stormfur never returns to RiverClan after she let him be exiled by the False Sign.

Squilf actually does have an Honor Title-esque name in Clanmew! It's Pishkafsheek; "Red Squirrel Soars (like a bird of prey)." "Sheek" isn't regularly used to describe prey movements.

[bootlegwarriorsquotes]

Squirrelflight: You look nice, I want to kiss you

Brambleclaw: what?

Squirrelflight: I SAID IF YOU DIED I WOULDN'T MISS YOU

— a bbs quote tumblr post

[mallowstep]

"MOOOM, HAWKPAW'S IN THAT STINKY FOREST WITH THAT CAT THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT THUNDERCLAN CAT BRAMBLECLAW! AND HE'S IN THERE TOO, AND THEY'RE BOTH ATTACKING HAWKPAW WITH CLAWS OUT BUT THEY'RE CALLING IT TRAINING!!" Reedpaw's yowl cuts through the warriors den, and Stonefur blinks awake, before his paw hits his sister in the shoulder.

"Misty," he meows, "Reed had another dream. About that stinky forest." He hears Blackclaw in the background, bitching at Skyheart to control her apprentice and how his kits never had nightmares and he rolls his eyes.

"MOOOM, MOOOM, HAWKPAW'S BEING FORCED TO TRAIN IN THE STINKY FOREST BY A MEAN CAT AND BRAMBLECLAW AND OAKHEART SAYS WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING AND IT'S NOT FAIR, TELL OAKHEART TO DOO SOMETHING!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU PATHETIC KITTEN!" Blackclaw yowled, and Stonefur hissed lowly as Reedpaw raced away from the warriors den, and he heard more then saw Skyheart claw Blackclaw as Feathertail raced out of the den after the apprentice.

okay i legitimately hate to do this but. let me rework the context of this a bit bc i can't. look some things are so deep to me i don't know what else to do. in this case it's dens.

so uh, hand waving, reedpaw starts in mistyfoot, stonefur, feathertail, and stormheart's den, but it's Right when camp is waking up. there we go.

[that's not a criticism to be Clear i just have trouble reconciling certain things.]

(Mistyfoot blinked, Feathertail's head still tucked at her side, as Reedpaw's shouts began to sound like words.

"--and Oakheart said we can't do anything!" he concludes, blinking at her.

"I'm going to need you to start again, love," she said. "Outside. Quieter."

Reedpaw dipped his head, and Mistyfoot licked Feathertail's shoulder. Her breathing had sped up, but her eyes were still closed, and when Mistyfoot stood, she shifted into the warm spot left behind. Mistyfoot flicked Stormheart with his tail, and Stonefur yawned, following them out.

Reedpaw was waiting impatiently, his tail twitching. "I had -- Hawkpaw -- in the dark place, and that cat--"

"Deep breath," Mistyfoot said. "I'm not following."

Warriors were starting to filter out, and Mistyfoot wondered if she could listen to Reedpaw explain his dream and plan patrols at the same time. Probably not.

"I had another dream. Hawkpaw was there, and we were in the dark place, and a cat attacked Hawkpaw, and Oakheart pulled me back, but he said we couldn't do anything about Hawkpaw but that's not fair because Oakheart pulled me out so he could pull Hawkpaw out if he wanted to."

Mistyfoot blinked. "That is -- a lot." She closed her eyes. "Okay, okay -- I need to assign patrols, and then we can talk about it."

"Of course he had a nightmare," Blackclaw grumbled, and Skyheart cuffed his ear.)

yeah. good stuff.

("Hawkpaw, can I talk to you?"

"Leopardstar wanted to take me out."

"I know. She said I could steal you for a moment first."

Hawkpaw shifted, but he either decided he didn't have an excuse, or accepted it'd be better if he just said yes.

"Okay."

Mistyfoot brought him to a secluded part of camp. "Reedpaw had another dream about you," she started. Last time they talked about this, it had ended explosively, and she didn't want to start anything again.

"Wonderful," Hawkpaw said. "I suppose this time I was planning to destroy the Clans with Tigerstar and Brokenstar, then?"

"Hawkpaw," she chided. "No. But -- I wanted to ask if you were dreaming about Tigerstar."

He licked his shoulder. "Sometimes."

Mistyfoot sighed. "Have you told Feathertail?"

"I don't want her to worry."

"She's worried enough." Mistyfoot licked her shoulder, looking away. "I don't know why Reedpaw is dreaming about you, Hawkpaw. But -- if you're having nightmares, sometimes it helps to talk about them."

Hawkpaw's ears swiveled. "Sure," he said. "Is that all?"

Mistyfoot nodded, and he sprinted towards Leopardstar.)

awkward convos for the win bbs

<3

[warriors-official-art]

Title: Midnight

Arc: The New Prophecy

Type: illustration

Country: Russia

Artist: Leonid Nasyrov

Characters: Brambleclaw / Bramblestar, Squirrelpaw / Squirrelflight, Tawnypelt, Stormfur, Crowpaw / Crowfeather, Feathertail, Midnight (badger)

Source: https://warriors-cats.fandom.com/ru/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F:%D0%98%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F

[who-killed-the-snails]

brambleclaw is such a bb man wtf, the erins really did fuck him up :(

[thornquillthefiendish]

A little thing (actually very big thing woah) on the three even though I haven’t really gotten anywhere near their designs yet.

Though I’m not fully caught up on the series due to being a bit lazy and also getting into the actual books really late since no bookstores near me sold them, I’ve seen enough amvs and read enough of the books to know the basic gist of things, especially since I got into warriors around the same time of omen of the stars coming out and weirdly enough one of the only books (and the first warriors book I ever got) I physically own is night whispers which was weird to get into because it wasn’t even the beginning of that arc damn it, but that’s not the point. The point is that from what I’ve read, seen, and heard of (still reading through the series damn it, do not even care for spoilers at this point) I kinda wish things had gone differently.

First off, in this AU I want ashfur to instead have fallen in love with Brambleclaw, who in this AU gets a slight name change to Bramblepelt, mostly so he has a connection to his sister, Tawnypelt, no matter how far apart they are. Ashfur is originally good friends with squirrelflight (renamed Redflight after Redtail) and this friendship is severed when her and Bramblepelt begin seeing each other. Redflight never really gets into relationships with other toms in this, it’s just an off and on relationship, with her going to her friends and family for comfort, this including Ash for awhile until he distances himself completely from her. The plot against firestar, or in this AU, Ravenstar, is actually so he can gain Bramblepelt’s favor in some way, as he believed when Bramblepelt became leader after his death, he’d be able to admit he helped Hawkfrost and that Bramblepelt would be pleased with him. It didn’t work though, and Ashfur slowly began to blame the object of his affections.

Meanwhile, Leafpool still has her thing with Crowfeather, who is developed a bit differently in this AU and not as much as an Asshole as he is in canon. I think their relationship spurred after Redflight introduced her to him at a gathering, as ofc one of the toms who went on the journey with her since I think they’d be close buds here. The relationship spirals out of control and ofc leafpool decides she can no longer continue this relationship and the two amicably decide to end it. Then leafpool finds out she’s pregnant.

Now we can get into the main bbs, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather. These three will have parts of them swapped, though overall their personalities are unchanged, except for Lionblaze. Lionblaze grows up to be a softy, he originally wants to become Medicine cat, but the stars instead have him become a warrior. His suffix doesn’t match his personality at all, and most are very confused as to why he isn’t in the medicine den, almost just as confused as to why he’s so damn strong. He’s not amazing at tactics, but has amazing brute strength, which he hates. He’s really close with Leafpool, and loves his parents dearly. He also sees himself as close with Ashfur, who constantly wants to distance himself from him. He instead loses his powers due to the following.

Jayfeather remains the same, but instead of lionblaze being the one to train in the df, it’s him. After he is eventually judged rather forcefully into becoming a Medicine cat, Jaypaw awakes in the dark forest, where the cats there train him to hone his fighting skills beneath everyone’s noses. Eventually, he realizes the dark pull the dark forest has on him and abandons it completely, though most cats are very suspicious as to why he has noticeable muscles and scars on him. He’s mostly unchanged besides that, and secretly being a great fighter despite his blindness. He got a lot closer to Redflight than he did to Bramblepelt, though he ofc still loves him. Redflight also consistently tried to get him to become a warrior no matter what, and was heart broken for him when he eventually had to become a led cat.

Hollyleaf barely changes, but her better qualities are more exaggerated. She’s a deligent warrior who knows the code word by word and has amazing battle tactics and a good head on her shoulders. She’s the glue that holds her siblings together and the mediator, very calm and logical. She’s a daddy’s gal, Bramblepelt would always cheer his kits on, no matter what they chose to do, and he could tell Holly wanted to become something greater as a kit, so he always incouraged her. She gains her own power in this, which is basically very similar to a Sherlock Holmes thing, she can observe small, insignificant details to anyone else and eventually piece together the entire image rather quickly, she may also have the ability to see into the past in brief flashes, but only of the place she currently stands in.

This is where the even bigger changes happen.

So the fire scene happens, Ashfur gleefully ready to let the kits of his beloved and their mate die in a fire so that he can further torture Redflight. Redflight forces herself to act as if she doesn’t care, because the kits aren’t hers. Ashfur, shocked, and equally pleased, let’s them live, planning to eventually tell Bramblepelt and turn him against his own family.

Instead of Hollyleaf being greatly distraught, it’s Lionblaze. Lionblaze, who trained for moons with Ashfur, who loved and trusted his parents, and had known nothing, but being kind and gentle, felt an immense hatred build up inside him. This is what leads him to kill Ashfur. Hollyleaf stumbles onto the scene, and though horrified, helps her brother cover the murder up so that he would not be blamed. Lionblaze becomes a wreck, unable to quite forgive himself for what he’s done, and inevitably regretting it, as if Ashfur haunts his every step.

Hollyleaf grows weary as she watches her family fall apart, and her poor brother grow sicker and sicker with the stress of what he’s done, but she also grows angrier. She eventually is able to piece together everything she currently knows about her family, and is able to get information from cats outside of her family, piecing together that her parents are actually Leafpool and Crowfeather with what some would call very little information. She is disgusted by this, and begins to blame Leafpool and Crowfeather for her family’s pain.

Jayfeather attempts to move on, he attempts to live the life he’s been given the best he can, only distancing himself from his family. The glue that was Hollyleaf is running dry as she becomes more and more obsessed with justice, with finding someone to blame, anyone. Jayfeather falls into a silent depression, he hides his feelings on the topic and focuses on the prophecy.

Eventually Hollyleaf reveals that Lionblaze killed Ashfur and that her and her siblings parents are Leafpool and Crowfeather. Chaos ensues, and Hollyleaf quickly comes to realize that everything has been made worse. She blames herself, but still not as greatly as her biological parents. She still tells Leafpool to eat the death berries, but her reasoning is instead due to the pain and grief her family, her real family has gone through all leading back to her. Leafpool expresses that she had no other choice, she couldn’t be a mother and she knew it, and she couldn’t leave her duties, and now that everything was said and done, she’d rather be dead than have put all of them through this. Hollyleaf has a brief moment of clarity, of sympathy for Leafpool, not quite sure how to feel at all about this, and when Jayfeather walks in on them, she panics. She runs off, towards the tunnels, the self hatred in her building up as she comes to the conclusion that there wouldn’t be this much hurt if she hadn’t opened her mouth.

She runs into the tunnels, and it of course caves in, Lionblaze and Jayfeather watching as their sister dies (but not really), and instantly turning against each other, Jayfeather blames Lionblaze, arguing the only reason she did any of this was to defend him, and that he did not once attempt to lift the weight off her shoulders, Lionblaze, enraged, attacks Jayfeather, and is interrupted by Bramblepelt and Redflight breaking up the fight. Redflight begs for them to apologize to each other, that they’re all that they have now, and Lionblaze, still heated and angry snaps back that Redflight isn’t their mother, that they aren’t family. He marches off, Leaving his adoptive parents with a slightly scratched, but alright Jayfeather, who attempts to comfort his mother as he breaks to her the terrible news.

After the fact, the entire family is mostly split, Leafpool and Redflight comfort each other, Bramblepelt has no real clue on how to feel and what to think, and Jayfeather and Lionblaze completely distance themselves from each other and their families. Eventually, very slowly, the two brothers become close again, just as Bramblepelt and Redflight forgive each other. They start to heal. Lionblaze figures out he’s lost his power, and Jayfeather and him become very confused. Though lionblaze is glad, but this means he’s no longer apart of the prophecy, which begs the question.

Who’s the third and second cat?

In their minds, Hollyleaf is dead, meaning the second cat is dead as well, and Jayfeather takes this to mean the prophecy might be dead too. That is until Dovepaw comes around, and adds even more questions to the entire thing. If the prophecy isn’t dead, there’s another cat out there who’s going to join them. Even though Lionblaze no longer is apart of the prophecy, he helps Jayfeather since he was for so long.

Meanwhile, Hollyleaf is spending time finding herself with Fallen Leaves, and basically mothering a Fox kit. This gives her time to think about herself and what she’s done, and eventually, forgive herself. She thinks she’s no longer apart of the prophecy, but is proven wrong when she is able to see into Fallen’s past while in the tunnels. She then realizes she needs to go back home to help her clan.

I think everything basically is very similar to the books up until the battle, where Hollyleaf lives because fuCK YOU. Instead of dying, she gets lots of heavy wounds before Bramblepelt swoops on to try to save her, but gets overwhelmed quickly. Surprise though, Ashfur (who joins the df instead since before he died in this au he might’ve been involved with them via Hawk) turns against Hawkfrost, dies during battle, and before things can escalate any further, Tigerstar is killed and everyone retreats.

After the fact, the three lose their powers, and StarClan makes it known to Bramble and Leaf that Jayfeather and Lionblaze can now follow their wanted paths in life. A ceremony is held where Jayfeather becomes a warrior and is named Jayfire after his grandpa, and Lionblaze becomes a Medcat and is named Lionflower, after his grandmother Goldenflower (also technically Lionheart). Redflight still becomes dep, but I plan to make holly her dep for when she becomes leader. Also CinderHolly or Hollycinder is real here and Lionflower is the surrogate father which is allowed since he won’t be raising the kits. Jayfire becomes a great fighter, and becomes really popular thtoughout the clans to his own dismay. He’s still a grumpy lil shit, just the way I love him.

Spark and Alder are still born, ofc, they have a more sibling esc relationship with the three since bramble and red don’t just drop their adoptive kits out of their family because they’re not theirs and that’s how family works. Alder becomes med not due to being a bit behind, but go geniunely getting into Medicine cat duties by being really close with Lionflower. Bramblestar encourages his sons choice because he’s gonna act like an actual fucking father and not an idiot please.

Holy shit this post is long. I’m not even done with the first and second arc what am I doing.

[bonefall]

Cat? Gray. Eyes? Blue. Hotel? Trevago.

Design babble stuff below

BLUESTAR

Good god it's been over a year since I last drew her. I can do so much better now

I give her a wolf motif for BB, because in my mind it's about the myth of the lone wolf. Lone wolves aren't normal, they're pack animals. At first, Firestar sees her as this ideal, strong leader who stands independently of everything... but he's wrong!

She's NEVER acted fully alone! She's always been devoted to her family, even as it dwindled. Her ruling style is to protect other Clans, unlike any leader who's come before her. In BB, she even had a mixed-Clan friendgroup called the Forget-Me-Nots.

She helped to depose ShadowClan's tyrant. She sent Firestar to fetch WindClan, even against the wishes of the other two. She even fought Nightstar and Crookedstar when they tried to drive them out again.

She even takes the code SO seriously that she refused to kill Brokentail, extending a mercy that ended up backfiring.

And Firestar learns everything about leadership from her. Grace, diplomacy, fairness... and she was fair to a fault.

Both her and her apprentice would eventually face down Tigerkin, Bluestar during the coup and Firestar even lost a life after defending Hawkfrost for several books.

The only time Bluestar ever became a "lone wolf" was in her cruelty arc, when she was dragging everything she ever stood for down with her.

Her wolf motif shows up in her entire family, to connect them. It's in her nephew Whitestorm, her uncle Goosefeather, her daughter Mistystar, even all the way down into Curlfeather and Frostpaw who are descended from Reedwhisker in BB.

The scar comes from her fighting a badger to rescue Darkstripe and his sister, Cricketclaw, when they wandered off as kittens.

CROWFEATHER

He's a mix of spiky and swirly, as a cross between his dad Deadfoot and his mother Ashfoot.

He's older in BB to change that he was an apprentice on the Great Journey, and also to fix an inconsistency where his dad would be dead when he was conceived.

I think it was a huge missed opportunity that Crowfeather's bond to his mentor, Mudclaw, is barely mentioned in-canon. In BB they were VERY close and Mudclaw was incredibly influential to his personality.

Deadfoot is dead-- Mudclaw was like a father to him.

Crowfeather is torn between the influence of his mother, who was a Forget-Me-Not in her youth, and the hard ideology of his mentor. All the while, the ego boost he got from being selected to go on the Great Journey massively affected him, in a bad way.

He ended up taking Mudclaw's side in the rebellion-- not because he believed that ThunderClan had told a lie (in fact he defends his friend's honor) but because he believed Mudclaw would be a better leader.

But eventually, he found himself surrounded by cats he didn't want anywhere near WindClan. Good intentions or not, Mudclaw was willing to work with cats like Blackclaw and Hawkfrost-- people who want a second TigerClan.

Crowfeather betrayed the rebellion, running to fetch Brambleclaw and ThunderClan reinforcements. In the fight, his nose was scratched in a chevron, the shape of Mudclaw's stripes.

I like the idea that he carries it with him, but always tries to put it off his mind. He mistreats and misuses other people, ignoring the reminder that he is a fallible person that's carved onto his nose.

died of infection. Sad!

All of his kits resemble him in some way. Lionblaze inherited his tail, Hollyleaf has the spikes, Breezepelt has the build, Jayfeather is a miserable git has the ear swirls

He was head of Kitchen Patrol until BB!OotS, but I'm actually planning for him to NOT be deputy in BB. His character growth feels a lot more satisfying in realizing he really doesn't handle power very well, and should stay away from it.

He has old relationships and burned bridges to mend, and staying part of Kitchen Patrol seems like the way he should plan to do that.

I talked about him a lot in Nightcloud's summary and he's going to be coming up in the outline of Nightcloud's Pannage a lot. Much as I love taking potshots at him, he's got a very kind arc laid out.

CINDERPELT

She is the daughter of LIONHEART whY don't you people give her A MANEEEE

let her be THICK

In BB, the Frostfour are actually from two different litters. Cinderpelt and Brackenfur were in the older one.

Frostfur was head of Kitchen Patrol at the time, and very overworked lmao

So Cinder and Bracken both have an "older sibling" energy. Their mom was usually involving them in every little activity to get some help. Brackenfur is over-responsible, and Cinderpelt was always trying to help out other people and prove herself.

Of course, it also lead to her running right into Tigerclaw's trap which was set for Bluestar-- she wanted to be helpful.

The injury didn't heal right and she has chronic pain. She has severe mobility issues in the hip, and usually keeps the leg bound to her body so it doesn't drag or hurt.

She could have still been a warrior if she wanted to, but discovered while healing that she loved working with Yellowfang. I also interpret it this way in canon, to be fair, but TNP decided to remember it completely differently.

After saving Littlecloud's life they became absolute best friends. They worked on a mobility device for Wildfur together.

They style their manes in a similar way, pushing it up into that "spike" on their heads and out of their faces.

ASHFUR

Moonkitti's blonde Ashfur remains iconic, I fear

I draw him like a cheetah so he has the funky cheetah cub hair

I'm a HUGE fan of what the Erins did with the direction of Ashfur's story, with him being an obsessive spurned lover, but that's not really the sort of story I tell in BB!

So I approach his obsession on Squirrelflight as being very... Judge Frollo-esque.

Frollo's ultimate goal isn't to possess Esmerelda. He wants her, but it's a wrench in his plans to commit ethnic cleansing using his religious justifications. Hellfire is about how he finds a way to shift the blame for his own lust onto her, and offers an ultimatum; "She will be mine or she will burn (along with everyone else I plan to slaughter)"

In Frollo's mind, he "forgives" her for what she's "done to him." For what she is. He sees what he's doing as giving her an "escape."

It's not for her benefit. It's for HIS. By giving her this "escape," if she takes it, he gets to think of her as redeeming herself (and thus being worthy of him).

If she does not... then it's no skin off his back. He's Done His Part. Everything was always her fault. He is blameless.

Either way he gets to walk away feeling justified.

All that to say-- that's how I approach BB!Ashfur.

He wants to punish codebreakers. He wants the Clans to suffer for how far they've fallen from where they should be. They've become vulgar, ungrateful, unworthy of StarClan's grace.

He tried to kill The Three because he'd learned of the Fire and Tiger prophecy, and was only trying to protect the Clan. If Squirrelflight had CHOSEN HIM, then none of this would have happened.

He was righting a wrong, you see, and StarClan understood, in his eyes.

When Hollyleaf slaughtered him, violating the Code, it only confirmed he had been right all along.

And again and again and again, he offers Squirrelflight what she needs to redeem herself. He wants her. He wants her to "be better."

When she lets him down... then it's not his fault. She's forced his paw.

SO the blonde hair isn't totally just a fun reference, I also find it fitting because aside from the cheetah motif, he sees himself as angelic.

It's also why I don't portray him as "grubby" like some folks do, BB!Ashfur is much more vain than Canon!Ashfur, caring immensely about his appearance. Thinking about it, he probably won't even let his Bramblefake vessel fall into disrepair, he'd feel more grossed out than usual.

He also gets a very cool boss fight form at the end of BB!TBC which I still need to design lmao.

[bonefall]

Did Brambleclaw actually disown the Three when the secret is revealed? I don't remember this happening (then again, it's been a while) but it does bug me how all three go "Poor brambleclaw :(( He was such a good dad to us and he has to learn we're not even his biokits :(((( poor guy" while simultaneously shitting on Leafpool and Squirrelflight despite them showing them more care and affection before AND after the reveal. If he does disown them, then.... WOW is the double standard real here.

In-canon? It's something you have to approximate. They don't seem to have a concept of ""disowning"" because blood relation is taken as such an insurmountable, FUNDAMENTAL fact of life. He doesn't write them out of his little kitty will and testament, but his actions ARE disowning.

It's as if the fact he is not their biological father is an automatic disowning. From the reveal onwards, he is immediately cold, distant, and the "betrayal" is mentioned often. The Three also explicitly don't blame him for his behavior, like it's just to be expected that he's Not Their Dad anymore.

Lionblaze in particular stares longingly at him several times, really missing him. And like... that's kinda what gets my goat so much

I do believe Brambleclaw is entitled to his feelings of betrayal. I believe Squilf was ultimately in the right to lie, actually, but he's still allowed to be upset and angry that she didn't trust him enough to tell him something so important. THAT SAID, YOU ARE NEVER ENTITLED TO TREAT OTHERS POORLY.

And that's what GETS me. He isn't upset that it was all revealed in such a painful and embarassing way when this could have been avoided, or that his lover struggled with this lie for so long without him, or that he feels he's lost his children. Squilf points it out in The Last Hope-- He's so ANGRY at Squilf that he will THROW HIS FAMILY AWAY

Lionblaze seems desperate to be his son again. Hollyleaf is gone for months, and Brambleclaw is still huffing about the secret when she comes back from the dead. Squilf is fawning in the hopes it makes him talk to her again. Doesn't matter. Brambleclaw Is Upsetti Spaghetti so the narrative will never examine his role in hurting this family he apparently loved so much.

(Narrative seems to understand full well that when Squilf lies for a good reason, that doesn't invalidate the hurt Brambleclaw felt... but when Brambleclaw is upset for a good reason, it actually DOES validate what he put her and his kids through)

In BB it is explicitly a disowning. He cuts them off as his children, and they reciprocate. BB!Lionblaze does so in a ball of fury, vowing that he has ONLY a mother.

[bonefall]

It's certainly a writing choice to make a book about a mother's grief while ignoring her relationship with her remaining daughter. Alas, Occam's razor strikes again. Do you think they're going to suddenly give Thriftear more relevance in Star? I'm looking forward to seeing how you flesh her out, I've always loved how much care you put into family dynamics no matter how small they are in the grander scheme of things.

I'm honestly quite cynical on this front. We probably won't get a lot of Thrifty in Star. I think what's going to happen to Canon!Thriftear from this point out is that she is going to lose any personality traits that really make her unique as she transitions into becoming Moonpaw's mother.

She will be a mild-mannered, kind woman who is neither too harsh or too permissive. Any personality flaws she retains will just be related to what the plot requires Moonpaw to feel negative about. If we're all right and Moonie is a weirdgirl, then Thriftear will be a Mom Who Just Doesn't Understand.

I hope I'm proven wrong, but call it a hunch based on the detail we DID get from Ivypool's Heart; "Compared to her interesting siblings who are too neat and too messy, Thriftear cleans her den in the most normal way." Goldilocks middle child.

In any case,

I find family dynamics to be one of the most important aspects of BB, so anything I adapt that involves Ivypool is gonna involve Thriftear too and that is a PROMISE.

In BB, Ivypool is the adopted child of Lionblaze and Cinderheart. It was only revealed in BB!ASC that she is the forbidden child of Jayfeather and Poppyfrost.

This means she is fiercely Firekin. Squilf has always been her grandmother-- BB!Lionblaze was adamant about that, when Brambleclaw disowned him.

Fernsong is an ex-kittypet, and the primary parent of the kittens. Their "Mi."

This fixed Moonpaw's parentage problems pre-emptively. Bayshine and Thriftear are NOT cousins in BB

HOWEVER I STILL SAID NO.

It's still a little up in the air, but I'm leaning HEAVILY towards Bayshine and FLIPCLAW being the parents of Moonpaw. Two very silly dads and their weird child.

If the dynamic between Moonpaw and her parents ends up being more distant or unhealthy though-- it'll probably be Thriftear and Plumstone.

BB!Thriftear has a VERY strong personality in my mind. She's Firekin and proud. Bristlefrost is gone and she is dedicated to carrying on her strength and ambition in her place.

Since they were young, they both planned on doing big things in the Clan. Thriftear is serious and a bit sarcastic, intense personality.

Plumstone has just as much raw ambition, but in a sort of laid-back, authoritative way.

As a couple, they're fantastic at "Good Cop/Bad Cop" plays. It doesn't matter how hard it looks like the two of them are fighting-- it's a trap!

They will ALWAYS end up turning a united front on you. They are terrifyingly good at working as a team.

So, bottom line is, I'm not giving this up to accommodate canon unless they end up giving me something REAL interesting. I'm very fond of the BB!Ivykin family!

[bonefall]

instead of asking what parts of wind you’ll be getting rid of, i’ll instead ask what parts you’re keeping. the list is shorter then haha

FROSTPAW AND WHISTLEPAW.

Best part of Wind is the bond between these two, in fact, the entire plot about WindClan felt like it dropped out of the alternate universe where the books are good. The sudden dream of catastrophe, the way StarClan gave Frostpaw this sign on purpose to make them know she's legitimate, Whistlepaw injuring herself to try and save her little sister... Even the little details, like Nightcloud and Hootwhisker trying to drag the tree by the trunk, were neat to see.

I Dont Rewrite Arcs Until They Are Done BUT I do know that I'm going to elevate and expand what's going on with Frost and Whistle. They're fantastic.

Another small thing I'm actually planning on keeping is this exchange between Squilf and Jayfeather, which you'll probably find surprising since I'm so open about how much I dislike the way they've made Squilfstar less proactive;

In a better book, I think this could have been a GREAT moment.

What I dislike about this exchange is that Squilf is able to rebuke it, because the writers DO feel that Bramblestar was a good leader. They're trying to show that Squilfstar is going to act more "mature" (read: boring) with her role now, probably to make a point about how Bramblestar wasn't being "indecisive" for the 10 years we were stuck with him but "responsible." Basically, she gets the power and finds out it isn't so easy-- I'll even bet at some point in the next arc or two she'll become frustrated by someone acting the way she used to.

I've seen some people praising this, and like, it's not illegal to have bad taste. But I think this is an AWFUL thing to do with a character who could have finally caused interesting things to happen, on top of just feeling like contempt of criticism on behalf of the writers.

"Ohhhh they thought she would be more decisive than our beloved baby boy, WELL, WE'LL SHOW THEM. You will sit through 10 paragraphs of debate no matter WHO is in charge!!!"

But like I said....... in a better book, this could have been great. If this was a wake-up call for her.

Suddenly experiencing the full weight of responsibility upon herself, she stops making bold decisions. The complicated political situation in front of her, individual opinions of her Clan around her, and the wounded glares of the furious Brambleclaw below her are all acting like briar vines, pulling her down.

Even StarClan itself seems to have placed a weight on her, cats who she's followed faithfully and been punished by.

So Jayfeather, with all of the changes he has in BB, brawling with angels, speaking defiance to the stars, and pulling spirits down from the heavens, is the perfect cat to be honest with her.

I'm still trying to find a good way to describe the electricity between them in this moment. BB!Jayfeather once reached up his paw through the veil between life and death to grab her ankle and fetch her from her own trial, knowing that she wanted to keep living. He's part of whatever motion she took to remove Bramblestar from power. Her son, her cleric, her ally. How do I put these emotions into words?

"Did you come this far just to become someone else?"

Just... what a moment it could be. For this to be the second that Squilfstar realizes in spite of everything, Bramblestar's thorns still jab at her. That she has to move forward, DAMN the uncertainty, by being herself.

[bonefall]

God I am so tired of Bramble fans who refuse to use critical thinking and believe that brambleclaw and squilf are equally bad. Many also hate on moonkitti's video which they most likely haven't even watched or misconstrued points in it. You can like a character without defending all their actions please I'm begging you

And people will sometimes jump to their defense, saying that people just dogpiled them for liking a character the fandom doesn't like, and while that can happen, sometimes people are actually dogpiling them for ignoring abuse and insulting creators with different opinions

(Some discourse happened on Twitter recently about this but it's something I've seen happen before, I'm not specifically talking about anyone)

I'm going to be honest and drop my feelings.

Never have I ever actually SEEN a Bramblefan "get dogpiled" for liking Bramble.

I come out here on my massive soapbox every couple of weeks and drop whole essays on this guy, I chat casually about how important he is to me as a character, both as someone who was abused in a way similar to Squirrelflight AND as someone who can relate to Bramblestar's situation, and before BB got so large and my attention was easier to divide I even ran an AU called Sweet Nothings which had a "big brother" Bramble take in it.

There is no shortage of Bramblestar-related posts around here, yet, I have never, NEVER gotten shit for when I talk positively about Bramble.

In fact, he's commonly cited as one of the favorite cats to see on this blog from my audience. I get praise for addressing him with nuance, explaining how his actions are abuse while also keeping him human, talking about how his life is a painful cycle of self-doubt that makes him double down on his worst decisions. Every time I post about him, I get an influx of comments centered around how my takes on him are appreciated.

What I DO see is people who make art where they try to bothsides him and Squirrelflight, or say something completely false about his behavior, or straightup post DARVO tactics to defend their fav's honor. When someone makes a comment that goes "uhmm? Bit strange innit?" they call it "harassment." Or when people block them, they call that "receiving hate."

OR when someone makes a vaguepost like "Heyyy, DARVO is an abuse denial tactic where the abuser or their apologists Deny the abuse took place, Attack the accuser, and then Reverse Victim and Offender to claim they were actually the person harmed. Bramblestans are playing this out, step for step, and that's bad!" they call THAT dogpiling.

Meanwhile Moonkitti got death threats and was actually harassed for posting Bramblestar Is Worse. To the point where she is hesitant to ever make another video on the topic.

So y'know what? Hot take? The stans don't actually like Bramblestar. They like the vague idea of a sadboy character who broke free from his dad's legacy so they slurp up the framing of the notorious abuse apologist writers, and they get mad when people who have critically engaged with the books don't see what they desperately crave.

How can you really LIKE a character if you can't engage with their actions? If you need to surround yourself in an unpoppable bubble and can't accept anything he's done in the 20+ years he's been active? How can you truly love a man without all his mistakes?

It's sooo hard to be me, Tumblr User Bonefall, the ONLY one who likes Bramblestar correctly. It's rough out here.

[bonefall]

tawnypelt honor title pleeeease she deserves it tigerstars daughter with the burden of a million expectations on her but who who has always adamantly gone her own way. maybe tawnysun or tawnydusk. also, whats her relationship with mothwing like? in the books their heritage as tigerkin was super neglected (misogyny) but it ended up creating two very indepentent characters who defined themselves outside of their fathers, unluke hawk and bramble who never could

I wish I could justify a four-tiger pileup at the Snare Scene, but it would change the events waaay too much to stay in the spirit of BB. Like, have it somehow be Tawnypelt who was targeted for ultimately rejecting her father so she's in the trap, somehow this would give Brambleclaw power or expose him so he hesitates, Mothwing jumps in to save Tawnypelt, Hawk and Bramble fight, and then Hawkfrost impales himself on the stake Mothwing is holding.

Especially since BB!TNP is now from the perspective of the Tigerkin-only. It would be really cool for it to be the ultimate confrontation between the four tiger cubs.

But, it is what it is.

I wish there was more space to explore a Tawnypelt/Mothwing dynamic, but I think there's a reason beyond just misogyny tbf (tho it is also present). When you have two half-siblings who reject their shared dad, what really connects you?

Nothing. I've seen it irl too. People don't like to hear this, but family IS a choice. The associations and expectations put on you because of your family aren't, and WHO you are born TO isn't a choice. But whenever your family comes to support you, every instance where you stand with them through hardship, the monumental task of being there for each other, time after time, IS A CHOICE.

It always has been.

When Brambleclaw learned that Hawkfrost was only connected to him through his bloodline, even after (canonically) being told Hawk never faced the same discrimination he did, he was CHOOSING to act as his brother. He was CHOOSING to accept that Tigerstar is something to unite over.

Tawnypelt and Mothwing don't. Nothing makes them sisters besides a man that one of them never even met.

Now dgmw. I don't think the Erins believe this, they're obsessed with magical, innate blood emotions. I think they didn't explore Tawny and Moth because they care less about girls, bottom line.

But I think this is why it wouldn't really make sense if they tried. And it's something I'd say on purpose if I had the chance.

[bonefall]

one of the most frustrating things to me with the mapleshade/birchfall situation is its like. the only time since into the wild where the books acknowledge queens don't have to reveal the fathers of their litters. when mapleshade tells beetail (? the deputy whats-his-face) shell be raising the kittens alone, he accepts it without question. this implies her lying about birchface being the father was unnecessary, but in Bluestar’s prophecy everybody immediately assumes thrushpelt is the father the minute bluefur is known to be pregnant, and bluefur not correcting this is treated as a reasonable decision despite it being the SAME situation! it's just the authors want mapleshade to be unreasonable so this time it's bad actually.

The in-universe Queen's Rights are so poorly defined and utilized that the BB!Queen's Rights are essentially an entirely original framework. They sometimes exist in the books and sometimes don't, depending on if the writer remembers them or not.

They actually seem to not be a thing in Bluestar's Prophecy, from what I remember. Thrushpelt offers to be the pretend-father as a result.

It seems to have protected Fallowtail though, until Reedfeather decided to kidnap his kids.

Featherstorm's first litter, Raggedpelt and Scorchwind, are bullied for being fatherless and face constant speculation.

Same with Flintfang, Blackstar, and Fernshade. They're not even actually halfclan, Blackpaw holds his tongue and refuses to reveal the truth to stop bullies.

Brokenstar faces open bullying from his adopted siblings for not knowing who his mother is (but also he stops Yellowfang from telling Lizardstripe about it because he overheard a conversation where she told her friend she feels like the baby is stealing milk)

StarClan pushed for Squilf to lie to Brambleclaw for this reason, because they assumed (correctly) that having HalfClan suspicion would make it harder for The Three to be accepted into ThunderClan

So if a queen has "a right" to not reveal parents, it's not very protective. Your kids are going to face bullying and discrimination regardless of how loyal you actually are, or who the dad is.

But yeah suuuure Mapleshade was evil and horrible for not correcting Frecklewish. I can totally accept that in this completely arbitrary situation that somehow it would have turned out better if she told her No and left the whole Clan speculating.

[bonefall]

considering spiderleg is like *that* and squirelflight being diehard fire alone i cant imagine them being friends in BB like they were sort of in the canon books. were they or did it disolve after time passed and spiderleg got more into traditional/thistle law. also who were her other friends? i saw daisy was in another ask but who else (really eager to know who booed at mousefur and thronclaw lol)

So to begin with, Squirrelflight is in an odd place, generation-wise. She is born while Firestar is on his quest with Brokenstar, and grows up in a period of peace and prosperity.

Unfortunately she keeps failing her goddamn assessments

So while Leafstripe is a fully trained Cleric, Sorreltail recovered from being hit by a car and graduated, and Ashfur tried to hold out for her for a while before moving up, Squirrelpaw is here absolutely eating leaf litter with her wrecklessness

Goldenflower, her mentor, even tries to tell Firestar that she's not being vindictive, just in case he got the wrong idea. He assures her that, no. No he understands <:/

So Spider, Shrew, and Squirrel end up as apprentices together. There was a time where they were really close, getting in trouble in spite of their three strict mentors. Bad influence trio, all of them coming from respected parents and doing their best to embarass them.

That only started to change when Squirrelpaw went on the Great Journey, but then returned just in time to see Shrewpaw die. A lot of things were different, now. Squirrelpaw came back exalted for being on a holy quest. Spiderpaw had watched a lot of his clanmates die. She was spending more time with Brambleclaw; he had become very protective of his little brother, Birchkit.

They had both grown in a flash. Hard times will do that to you.

During the Great Journey, Spiderpaw was really close to the other Clan apprentices while Squirrelpaw hung out with the Sundrown Patrol. Spider looks back at this time in his life with a lurch in his stomach that he can't put into words.

He was there when Paw Soup was made. Talonclaw and Smokefall were friends of his even more than they were friends of little Birchkit. Spiderleg just left it behind when they got to the Lake, where his little brother never could. Clan loyalty, strength, honor... all that. He felt like he had to make a choice.

As a person, Spiderleg is torn in many directions by all of the things that happened to him. His head-of-construction father, his educator mother, his friend who won status by breaking the rules, three dead siblings before his warriorhood, the destruction of his ancestral home, the journey that challenged everything, his mentor Thornclaw, the backfired meeting, ardor for Daisy, crashing down with unwanted kits...

His consistent trait is that he's easily swept up in whatever fills him with the most passion, tossing himself into things until a bubbling sense of disgust makes him break it off. Regardless of if it was the good thing to do or not.

Religious euphoria and self-flagellation just seems to stabilize that impulse, for him.

The last time he was friends with Squilf was during their vigil upon reaching the Lake. They did it together, because they were both long overdue. He thought about Shrewpaw, and wondered if she did too.

But neither one of them broke the silence between them. They still haven't.

[bonefall]

I just wanna say that I LOVE all the detail you’re giving side/background characters. My favorite part of wc is getting to read about generations passing by, watching the young scrappy main character turn into the next main character’s funny grandparent or something. Canon is really bad about acknowledging this but god, you’ve done such a good job with BB. Reading about Jaypaw and Owlpaw’s rivalry knowing the life Owlpaw is going to go on to live in the background later is so cool. Imagine an alternate universe where BB was the real warrior cats and 14 year old you reads a scene where some background character is casually mentioned and realizing it’s that guy Jaypaw beat the shit out of. Shit like that doesn’t happen in canon, they would forget who Owlpaw is and he would never do anything else in his life.

The one thing that WC has over any other xenofiction brand, and most other book series period, is the fact that you are able to watch several GENERATIONS of characters pass by in basically in real-time. So it's a shame that they kinda neglect it in the main series!

I LOVE when WC does do neat things with its cast, like how Harepaw gets trounced by Brambleclaw in Po3 and becomes Leader later. Or how Firestar's recurring background buddy, Onewhisker, became a major character in TNP and beyond. It's honestly a major reason I still follow the books, and why I've never found something that quite scratches the itch like WC does.

Unfortunately, it's ridiculously rare outside of WindClan LMAO. Owlpaw DID get forgotten. He was one of Jaypaw's bullies in his canon training, but then the writers lost track of his age and made him an apprentice on a patrol Tigerheart was giving a lesson to in a field guide; problem is, Tigerheart is younger than him!

Which is not too big a deal, dgmw, but my point is that they forgot. ShadowClan in particular is really lacking in-canon, especially considering they're the neighbor of ProtagonistClan. Ivytail and Owlclaw were part of the Po3 apprentice generation and should have been at least a little relevant going foward, y'know?

I desperately crave the Clans feeling like communities. With petty drama, watching characters gain skill and shuffle around the ranks, every family struggling with how they define their legacy under the emblem of the Clan, that sort of stuff. So that's how I approach it.

[bonefall]

This is kinda a funny comment but @ Brambleclaw telling Hollypaw how smart she is, i remember reading an article about how corporate spies (YES THIS IS RELATED) got information. The article was mostly one person's retelling about how it was entirely though phone calls where they just ask for information, and whenever the person on the other side started questioning them for why they needed the information, they were told to switch to praising the person on the other side for sticking to the rules and 'authenticating/checking' everything. That they'd 'put in a good word for how dedicated they were', basically buttering them up and making them feel good about catching what they were doing specifically to nudge them away from actually catching on.

I find it WILDLY interesting how the Erins just ACCIDENTALLY put actual manipulation tactics in their books when trying to make a male figure seem like a good person, almost like they're writing from experience in some kind of elaborate essay to themselves about how that behavior is okay and justifiable. They write in another character, Crowfeather, who abuses in a different, more noticable way just to compare and go "At least it's not this bad!" (the scene where Crowfeather chews out Breezepaw and one of them goes 'id rather Brambleclaw any day of the week!'), and then have Ashfur butter up Brambleclaw so that him excusing Ashfur's abuse can be claimed as Ashfur manipulating him.

ANYWAYS a question so you can properly add to the ask: How DOES the Ashfur buttering up Brambleclaw thing go down? Does Ashfur even NEED to butter him up? I think it'd be a little interesting if Hollypaw telling Brambleclaw was the first time he's actually heard of it happening, but he either confronts Ashfur and THEN gets buttered up, or he heards, thinks about it, and goes "nah its good actually I'd do the same".

There's actually a name for the tactic Ashfur uses that you saw in that spy article. It's called Ingratiation.

It's the act of making someone have a higher opinion of you, therefore putting more trust in you, by simply getting them to like you. Flattery, posing yourself as an in-group, and even using humor can all be part of ingratiation.

Now-- Ingratiation isn't ALWAYS nefarious. It's normal to try and make a good impression, or want to be liked by a possible friend or coworker. We try to influence other people all the time, we're social animals. It's just good to know that it CAN be used maliciously.

So I'm not too surprised to see a manipulation tactic in the book. I was using "buttering up" exactly because most people know WHAT it is, and that it IS a way to get people to do stuff, but don't connect that to its academic name. Like you said though what's so BIZARRE about it is how they really DO sometimes seem to be writing this looooong essay to themselves about how that was all Fine, Actually.

ESPECIALLY the way Bramble and Crow were contrasted in the Dog Scolding Scene. I left most of Bramble out because I was trying to focus on proving that Breeze was abused, but Nonny... the way the Three get chewed the fuck out by Bramble, as he insults them, assures Crow he won't be stopping for their exhausted sakes, and doesn't indicate that his anger is coming from concern...

It massively reminded me of when one neglected kid sees another kid get abused too. "Oh, well, what I'm going through isn't so bad, because it's not like THAT."

THEYRE SO CLOSE. ALL THE TIME. Like an INCH away from the point and it's AGONIZING.

Anyway... in BB, Bramble's enabling of Lionpaw's abuse is a WATERSHED moment for a bunch of the character arcs, especially Hollypaw.

I plan to keep it very similar to canon actually, I think it's stainless steel the way it is.

Ashfur KNOWS what he is doing.

He wasn't rolling for a save. It was calculated. Brambleclaw is someone who could have stopped his abuse, so he sought him out.

Can you see how inescapable that makes it, for Holly and Lion?

Holly finally worked up the courage to say something and stand up for her brother, only for her father to coo like she's a kitten who doesn't understand the world.

Even Lionpaw's father believes it's good and right to BLEED for your Clan. That this is normal... that this is even what love can look like.

BB!Lionblaze is the adopted father of his bio-nespring, Ivypool and Dovewing. What he internalizes here as a child is going to hurt BOTH of his daughters down the road, as he shoves them into the Dark Forest and a Prophecy, respectively.

Even after Brambleclaw disowns him and Lionblaze rejects him in response, adamantly saying he has ONLY a mother, he won't reject this lesson until it's TOO LATE.

And Hollypaw is so damaged by this scene that it's going to be the first domino towards her murderous break in Cruel Season.

"I need you to keep your brothers in line, Hollypaw" is soup stock, and then add obsession with the Code, constant betrayal from the relationships she forges in other Clans, her near-murder at the claws of Ashfur when he finds out the Power of Three + Fire and Tiger prophecies, and the murder of her mentor and grandfather.

And then she finds out her HalfClan brother, a Cleric, angel-punching blasphemous wretch he is, has gotten Poppyfrost pregnant. Just like Leafpool before him.

What else IS "keeping them in line" supposed to be, when he's gone this far? He's had enough chances. She will do what she's meant for. Jayfeather must DIE.

Bramblestar himself is notorious in BB for being incredibly controversial as a leader, taking power in Cruel Season just after Firestar is killed by the Dark Forest assassins.

This is part of his personality. He is easily blinded by his own feelings, and it makes him a good target for manipulation.

His first deputy, Thornclaw, exploits many of the same weaknesses Ashfur did. All part of the Dark Forest's plan.

And even Ashfur. Up in StarClan, he continues to plot, eventually leading to the events of TBC and his time as the Impostor.