#BB!Fenneldust

[bonefall]

BB!DF Textposts

Because I get pinged in funny meme posts

[ID: BB!Shredtail holding a spear and asking, "legit question for rural Americans: How do I kill the 30 - 50 feral hods that run into my yard within 3 - 5 mins while my small kids play"]

[ID: BB!Fenneldust and BB!Houndleap. Fenneldust says, "I'm not like other girls. I don't die when I'm killed." Houndleap says "How is '''pretty boy''" supposed to be an insult i'm the prettiest goddamn boy in town]

[bonefall]

who’s palefoot? i looked him up on your blog but i only got your patron post you just made

Weird, idk why Tumblr is hiding the information :/

Palefoot was Batear's victim! Batear and Fenneldust were besties of different Clans in life, constantly breaking rules to hang out. One day Palefoot caught Fenneldust on the territory and told her if he saw her again, he'd kill her.

Batear then told PALEFOOT, "If you so much as look at Fenneldust I'll smash you to death with my hooves"

And then, during a ThunderClan raid on ShadowClan, Palefoot did just that. Killed Fenneldust. So OF COURSE, Batear made good on his threat.

Batear wasn't allowed to sit vigil for his best friend since she was a dead warrior of a different clan, so like, why the hell should he let Palefoot's family have that? Lol. Lmao even. He shoved the body in a bog, cleaned up, and said nothing.

There was never any evidence he killed Palefoot. His mother Houndstar DID exile him over the suspicion, since he had motive, but he kept his mouth shut til the day he died alone.

So Palefoot is now a patron of bodies who can't be recovered, and closure for the families of missing cats. Batear was banished to the Dark Forest for murder and 1st degree pettiness, and Fenneldust went with him because she'd NEVER let her bestie walk alone.

[bonefall]

what cats are still prayed to and revered by the clans besides firestar or skystar? i fuckin LOVE the patron spirits thing you have going on in this rewrite, it’s so cool to see what cats are worshipped and why

There's a lot of them! I don't think there could ever be a "comprehensive list" without just listing most of StarClan. See, most cats will typically value their own family over others, leading to the patrons "waxing and waning" in popularity over the generations.

But here's some of the ones who are pretty consistently popular!

Thunderstar = Justice Comeuppance, fair judgement, and mercy are also things he can be invoked for. Remember that a Patron gains its power from belief. Much like how Saint Michael was once a patron of healing as well as war, associations for BB!StarClan cats can shift over time.

Bumblemumble = Speech, Diplomacy She became less popular in the Chivalric Period, but was a favored patron for Pinestar to invoke. She never totally went away, even though her name has become "Bombolmlemlaan," 'Sentence-Tonguetwister,' over time. (Her name is also used in reference to "being tongue-tied." Fitting that she's a bit hard to translate into English!)

Acorn Swoop = Prra A Clan culture-specific value. Perfect timing, promptness, coincidences of good planning. Arriving in the nick of time. Acorn Swoop is a good example of how cats can wax and wane as well; when Hallowflight dies (he is alive to the current arc in BB), RiverClan will probably prefer invoking him over Acorn for a while.

Sparrow Heart = Loyalty and Fidelity. This BURNS her a new one, btw. Many of the other spirits as old as her have begun to lost touch with their mortal lives, but she didn't join Clear Sky because she loves him. She didn't serve him for his own ends. She wanted his power, and in death she's been reduced to his eternal stooge. She craves his throne. (And I have to leave it there until we find out what the next few arcs have in store :3)

Speckletail = Protection Against Natural Disaster Storms, deforestation, pollution, whatever. Speckletail is invoked to defend Clans against oncoming doom, because girlie took out a bulldozer and the battle culture is obsessed with that

Stonefur = Winning the War/Losing the Battle An important god for lost causes. When you aren't able to win, he is invoked to make your death mean something. Needletail, for the first time in a long time, requested for StarClan to call down his strength.

Blackstar = Redemption And change in a better direction. Said to be reflected in frogs in particular, how they go from tadpoles to full creatures, associated with wetland health thanks to his ambitious Bog Project.

Sundrown Patrol = Directions Most of them are not dead yet. Feathertail is currently the only one in the role and protects travelers generally, but eventually her and her Cohorts will comfortably divide up the cardinal directions. Feathertail is South (Towards the Mountain), Tawny is West (Towards the Ocean), Bramble is North (Towards the Lake) and Crowfeather is East (Into the Wilderness).

Leafpool = Clarity Leafpool Moonpool is one of the most popular young spirits. In difficult situations, she is invoked for StarClan to see your sins and understand that you are trying to find the holiest way through them. The Firekin family is going to be a very strong pantheon eventually.

Palefoot = Bodies that Can't Be Recovered/Closure Anon suggestion that is canon now. Palefoot was murdered by Batear for killing Fenneldust and shoved into a bog where his family would never find him, because Batear was not allowed to go to ThunderClan to sit vigil for his best friend. When someone is lost and can't be buried, Palefoot is often invoked for comfort. He is actually sort of displacing Turtle Heart, who used to function in a similar way. She is being pushed into a more specific role for Lost Parents, not bodies or closure in general.

In addition, Dark Forest Spirits are also powerful... and thanks to the fact you have to use a direct line to get to them, quite capable of granting strength without holding back. They have no StarClan to answer to if they blessed the plans of the wrong cat.

So they can do curses for you, if THAT is what you're seeking. A whole lot of these cats tend to provide various types of revenge lmao... "We serve Vengeance here, sir."

Batear and Fenneldust = Retribution Evolved from a mix of how Batear's target went BEYOND his victim to deny closure to the family, and also the Fepfr which he was named for, Long-Eared Bat, which in Clan culture is said to have a modest song of mourning for every bat wrongfully killed. Fenneldust actually LOVED that he was willing to be so spiteful for her, and followed him to the Dark Forest. So if you want, you can call for them to cause pain to people who wronged you. If your case is bad though, they'll fuck with you instead. They aren't MALICIOUS spirits though... just mischievous.

Mapleshade = Revenge If you want your target to DIE, you give her a call. She is ACTIVELY malicious. She will stop at nothing to kill someone she agrees should go, even going as far as to fight a Fetcher to drag the target down with her. If you're just miffed at someone and want them to get karma, you talk to Batsy and Fenfen. If you want BLOOD, you talk to Mapleshade. But be prepared, because she is just as dangerous as that implies.

Cloudberry and Ryewhisker = Secrecy An obvious one, but one of the gentler requests of the Dark Forest. They will help you hide forbidden love from your Clan, and can be prayed to when you're having a close call and may be discovered.

[bonefall]

Assorted thoughts on BB!Batear and BB!Fenneldust

Fennel is from ThunderClan, Bat is from ShadowClan.

They're from the Ripple Era, the time just after the death of the 5th Oak when there was relative peace. Clans were becoming more isolated at the time, but there was no ongoing war or anything yet.

They just click. They aren't romantic, they just loved being together, hanging out, secretly hunting.

If love is wanting to be together all the time, then they were in love.

No matter what you call it, it was being traitorously close. One day, Fenneldust was caught, a ShadowClan cat (and an old bully of Bat's) exercised their Right of the Challenge, and told her outright;

"The next time you're in my claws, I'll KILL you."

Fennel told Bat about this at their next meeting, at a gathering. Bat then told his Clanmate outright;

"I don't care who you think you are, if you kill Fenneldust, I'll kill YOU."

Bat WAS reprimanded for being so close to Fennel and threatening his clanmate, but action wasn't taken. Bat (lied) and agreed it was in everyone's best interest to not meet up with her anymore.

They got smarter about meeting up, and Bat spent more time sneaking around in ThunderClan to avoid the Clanmate.

Raids in those days weren't uncommon, Finchstar lead his Clan into battle against Houndstar. Tragically, Fenneldust ended up in the claws of that Clanmate again. He followed up on his promise.

And Batear made good on his own. It was premeditated. He waited until they were alone, reminded him of their old vows, everything he'd ever done to him, and did exactly what he told him he'd do.

It wasn't enough he was dead though. Batear pushed the corpse down into the peat, where the muck wouldn't even look disturbed. If he wasn't allowed to attend his best friend's vigil because she was from another Clan, then THIS family wouldn't have a body to bury either.

Batear wasn't caught for a few weeks. They never did find the body, but his death threat was known. The disappearence was too convenient. He was the prime suspect.

There wasn't much evidence, but leaders don't NEED proof when the majority of the Clan believes it. Batear was exiled, and told he could only come back if the Clanmate was found.

Pfff. Like Batear was going to tell them where he stashed the body! Fat chance!

He lived the rest of his days as a rogue. The worst was the creeping knowledge that because of what he did... in death, he'd never get to run with Fennel ever again. He tried to appeal to the other Clans with varying degrees of success

Eventually, Bat died to an accident, passing away alone. StarClan wouldn't take him, knowing his crimes, and how he had been SO petty he didn't even give them a body to bury.

He resigned himself to an eternity alone. He had gotten used to it. But in his darkest moment, he felt a familiar headbump against his side. Fenneldust waited for him for yeaaars! She wasn't just gonna let him walk away like that!

There's several cats in the Dark Forest because they refused to let their friends and family go alone. Fenneldust is one of them.

[bonefall]

Hey, your post about Gorseclaw and his reasoning for doing what he did made me think: would it be ok if I submitted BB AU stuff to @aita-blorbos ? I think it would be fun to submit both Gorseclaw and Ripplestar's perspectives to that, as well as Thunder Storm during the One-eye revival incident (and maybe the Moth Flight kits incident) and the Batear/Fenneldust situation.

Sure lmao! Sounds fun!! You have my permission.

[bonefall]

Forgive me if you've already done this or don't even want to, but have you ever posted a full list of all named cats that go to the df in bb?

I had one but it's outdated!! I added more cats. I've been meaning to fluff out a big delicious Dark Forest 101 post which will include an allegiance of some kind.

For you anon here let me try to remember all of my beloved demons;

Hawkfrost

Tigerstar

Pinestar (rejected by StarClan!)

Thistleclaw (left in protest of Bluestar's ascension)

Leopardfoot (followed Thistleclaw)

Adderfang (follow)

Swiftbreeze (follow)

Finchflight (follow)

(STILL ADDING MORE TO THIS CATEGORY)

Ripplestar

Spottedpelt (sis of Ripple)

Marshscar (Ripple stan)

Oakstar

Frecklewish (clouded judgement ruling)

Ravenwing (same)

Appledusk (same)

Mapleshade (murder)

Brokenstar (however, left. Currently a SkyClan ancestor)

Runningnose

Clawface

Cloudberry (conscientious objector)

Ryewhisker (mate of Cloudberry)

Morningstar (pacifist)

Shredtail (used a cat as boar bait)

Maggottail

Snowtuft (kit killing)

Silverhawk (attempted murder)

Sparrowfeather

Redwillow (died fighting for DF in Great Battle)

Applefur (same)

Thornclaw (same)

Whiskernose (same. Also arson.)

Antpelt

Ratscar (could not make up for his crimes)

Rushtooth (Blasphemy)

Houndleap (whore)

Batear (slaughtered the guy who killed his bestie)

Fenneldust (the bestie)

Vixenleap (Rebellion)

Cedarheart (Rebellion)

Nightwing (Rebellion)

Mudclaw (Rebellion)

STILL ADDING TO THIS CATEGORY. Most non-Wind rebels are DF'd

Leopardstar (Poisoned Crookedstar, did not punish surviving RiverClan rebels, Thistle Law supporter)

Sharpclaw (aided Darktail's attack on SkyClan)

Rockshade (same)

STILL ADDING TO THIS CATEGORY

Darktail

The more the merrier because I want the Dark Forest to actually stand a fighting chance against 4 entire Clans in the Great Battle. Note that many of these cats are DF'd after that fight, so the older the better.

And Featherwhisker is being considered.

[bonefall]

Which of your reduxed characters would you wanna use as a stressball the most?

Do you mean like, beat to death?

I mean, Tom's going to get eaten by a mountain lion pretty brutally, and that's the impetus for BB!Clear Sky to work with the other tribes to defeat One Eye so, probably Tom!

But I have a running joke about Fenneldust dying in horrible ways to demonstrate the DF's new resurrection system, and I also have a soft spot for using Reedwhisker as my favorite butt monkey, so, for less serious examples I'd say them