#Bonefall TBC

[bonefall]

Hopping off the gathering ask, are cross-clan relationships themselves not forbidden, if a second 'illegal' gathering is able to take place? How does honor-siring work if the father isn't of the same clan? Have there ever been incidents where a particularly law-loving leader turned around and started condemning everyone in gathering 2: electric boogaloo? Is this a "I saw X at the second gathering with Y!" "So what were YOU doing at the second gathering bestie???" situation, where majority of lawbreakers know who else is in kahoots but just constantly keep their mouth shut? Did Mapleshade stay at these gatherings and thats how she got caught? SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS IM VERY CURIOUS

The answer is; the Aftergathering wasn't so bold back at the Forest territories!

In fact that's why I specified that the one Shellfur went to was an average Lake gathering!

It has always been your right to wander and have friends in other Clans. Unlike canon where a warrior's life is strictly controlled, cats are rarely questioned for hanging out in places they're allowed to be. So long as you do your responsibilities, you're a CLAN cat. Not a kittypet with a twoleg.

But being caught so brazenly meeting with a mate in another Clan, that would be a huge problem. So the Aftergathering existed, but quietly. The cats gave each other privacy.

No one would EVER ask why you were staying. A lot of coded language. If you got cuddly in public, someone would gently tell you to be more discreet.

And of course there was no soup.

The Aftergathering is also not that old! It started forming about a generation after Darkstar's Commandment, when kit-stealing was banned, during the mid-Crusade Era.

It was a genetic necessity, and Clan animosity had a different flavor when Chelford raids were the Clan's main targets. Pinestar was born before there was an Aftergathering.

The Campaign Era wittled the Aftergathering significantly. If the cats hadn't responded by becoming much less conspicuous, there very much could have been a Salem-esque "what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament" movement. In fact, if Fire Alone didn't happen when it did, it could have been something that a leader with the newly-minted Thistle Law would have done.

It only didn't because it didn't. The soil was ripe for it. History is full of near-misses.

After the TNP journey, cats have become careless about the Aftergathering. The destruction of the forest changed something about them, the divisions were never quite the same again. Paw Soup itself was a cuisine MADE by apprentices who worked together.

As long as you are loyal and fiery for the rest of the month, defending your Clan with your life, the Aftergathering is not made into an issue...

Well, besides during TBC, when the Impostor ruled the lake.

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Hi! I’m a big fan of reading your background character lists, and I look forward to seeing more things you write! I just decided to start posting about my warrior cats rewrite, but I have positively no clue how to really start. Would you have any tips? I look up to a lot of rewriters, but I also don’t want to seem like I’m copying people. ^^’ Thank you and have a nice day/evening/night!

Thank you! I've been enjoying doing them.

I have many tips! In no particular order:

Tackle the big issues head on. Don't be afraid to work on the biggest issues. Recreating the Tribe or dismantling the series' xenophobia can be hard, but once you start working on them you'll find that they're easier than you think.

Don't be afraid to take criticism on your ideas for these issues. Listen to people, and don't be afraid to ask others to use an idea or one similar to it. I asked Bonefall about fire/cooking (even though they put a blanket yes on everything). As for me? My ideas are also open source. Just tag me, because I wanna see what you do!

TAKE. NOTES. I said no particular order but this might be the most important thing. Do not be the Erins. Do not rely purely on the wiki, or your brain. You will forget things.

The family trees are a nightmare, do not be ashamed to create a visual, or apply "x generations after no longer counts" rules onto it to prevent bloat if you dislike a large clan to make other cats mates. I have a 3 generation rule.

If you find yourself getting frustrated with a detail, put it down for a bit.

Don't be scared of not being 'realistic' enough. The series is already quite unrealistic (Cats not being able to see in the dark, knowing what sweet things are, the medicines and plants that would be toxic irl, monogamy in cats, the sizes of other animals, etc). Be weird.

Another extremely important rule. Build up your side characters. For all its faults, Arc 1 had amazing side characters. No one in later arcs has personality beyond a handful of Shadowclan cats, and some Thunderclan cats that were unceremoniously killed off during TBC or between The Last Hope and The Apprentice's Quest, while Brackenfur rots away in the elder's den.

If you ever need help, don't be afraid to reach out. This Fandom is quite passionate about these books, I guarantee someone will have something.

If you need a starting point for where to write? I'd recommend 3 different points.

Into The Wild (Easy Mode)

Dawn of the Clans (Medium)

Mapleshade's Vengeance (Hard Mode)

[mumblemoths]

Behold, a man:

A finished redux tree! Now 100% incest free! I am not going before the first series, as i am not Insane.

A few notes on what i couldn't fit on, some fun details, and my thought process:

● Sandstorms father is no longer Redtail. This because Redtail and Spottedleaf are Rosetail's kits, and this would create incest further down the line. I might have her father be just Runningwind? Eh.

● Sorreltails mother is still Willowpelt, and her father is still Whitestorm. Meanwhile Greystripe's parent is now. Just Patchepelt. This was to avoid incest via Spotfur and Stemleaf.

● Larksong's mother is still Lilyheart! And his siblings Leafshade and Honeyfur still exist. However his father is now Stormcloud. Lilyheart and Seedpaw's origin is different. They're no longer Sorreltails, to avoif incest via Larksong and Sparkpelt. Now they're lost kits that were taken in. This is also to free up Leafshade and Honeyfur for Genetic Diversity™️

● Dovewing's kits are fatherless! This is to both prevent incest, as they're now related via goldenflower and lionheart, as well as my dislike of tigerdove as a romantic pairing, and how strongly it parellels real word grooming. However, her kits still do end up in Shadowclan, and view Tigerheart as a father.

● Speaking of Dovewing: she and Ivy and are now LionCinder kits. This is to corner off Firefam into just his direct line, make some plot beats more interesting, and also avoid some incest. Fernsong is now a former kittypet to prevent his situation from being Worse.

● A few kits go shuffled round. CloudBright's second litter is now Birch and White's only one. Iceloud and Foxleap are now their second litter.

● Blossomfall kits are now fatherless. Thornclaw was a vaguely weird choice in the first place. We also don't need anymore Frostfur descendants in the clan.

● Hollytuft and Sorrelstripe got combined into one guy. Same as Flywhisker and Snaptooth.

● Dustfern got changed. Might split Ash and Fern into two litters, one older and one younger, ala Bonefall's Better Bones AU. But no matter what, Dust doesn't interact with Fern until she's an adult, and he's no longer her brothers mentor. I elected to fix this, rather than split them, due to it not causing any excess incest [Raven and Dust are now loner kits], as well as it not requiring major rewrites/retoolings, unlike TigerDove IMO.

● Bristlfrost's mate may be Needleclaw instead of Rootspring, and i may make her a TBC protag instead of Root. Also Bristle, root/needle [depending on who gets protag rights], and Shadow will probably die together destroying ashfur.

● I may pepper in some background gay relationships. As this is an edit to the canon warriors tree, which is excusivley hetrosexual, it was very difficult to insert gay relationships, as i'm already struggling to remove incest, without adding more relationships in. I'm maybe thinking of DoveBriar as a cute background thing. BlossomIvy toxic yuri. Might hit Fernsong with The Woman Beam.

● Minnowtail and Mousewhisker had a thing too.

● This family tree was overal focused on Eliminating Incest, making Interesting Changes, and Preserving Genetic Diversity

[booksofstars]

🕰️ 🩸 📖 📚 📝

🕰️: When did you first read the books?

i started reading the books in 2014! i was 8.

🩸: Most interesting conflict?

hm. probably the kin in the first half of the arc, the entirety of tbc, or the first battle. i think tigerclan was really interesting too.

📖: Favorite Guide Book?

enter the clans!

📚: Favorite Main Series book?

lost stars, the silent thaw, veil of shadows, a light in the mist, shattered sky, all of the first arc, and the first battle!

📝: If you could make one AU canon, what would it be?

either the bonefall rewrite, or an au in which tnp revolves around reviving skyclan.

[bonefall]

I think you might be talking about me--i sent in the post thanking you for giving Sorreltail epilepsy and I told you about my daughter. We missed the post about Shadowsight now having full epilepsy, but I want to thank you again. Shadowsight is her favorite cat, and she's so happy.

Glad to see you around!! Yep, I fixed Shadowsight too, in a way I hope you'll both like.

[ID: Better Bones Shadowsight. He is a large gray tabby with a black mohawk and red eyes. He has a jagged, red scar down his eye, splitting his ear in half, down his neck, and continuing down the arm.]

Since Sorreltail has absence seizures and her epilepsy is on the mild side, I went and gave Shadowsight a more severe type to get a better range of rep.

He has clonic-tonic seizures, which he was born with.

The seizures are NOT related to visions anymore! That's just a thing he has.

Tawnypelt's Clan is going to get reduxed into something less about needing to save the tribe again (which I have issues with as the narrative keeps taking away the tribe's competence and agency), to Tawnypelt seeking treatment for him.

Since his type is more severe than Sorrel's, his treatment plan includes chamomile.

Chamomile is poisonous to cats in high amounts, so its dose is carefully controlled.

I plan to show him growing more skilled as a medic with preparing his own medications, as measuring the dose is quite delicate.

It'll be served in broth form because the idea of him lapping up tea out of a little painted bowl is irresistible

And when he's possessed...

[ID: Better Bones Shadowsight. He is a large gray tabby with a black mohawk and pink eyes. He has a jagged, blue scar down his eye, splitting his ear in half, down his neck, and continuing down the arm]

The split ear is made to look like radio antennae. Like he's picking up signals.

The lightning bolt is what gives him that connection to StarClan and its warriors. Ashfur had intelligently blocked off the rest of silverpelt, so Shadow was only hearing HIM.

It glows blue because the electric is running in it, also Ashfur Symbolism.

The final battle with Ashfur is MUCH different. It takes place in the land between StarClan and the Dark Forest-- The Meadow of Young Stars.

Ashfur absorbs several cats and becomes something so large and strong that it can't be killed by regular claws

And it's in this moment that Shadowsight confronts the man who used and controlled him.

"You're nothing without me, Shadowsight! What are you doing?! Stop!"

He blasts the lightning bolt right back at him, giving up the connection to StarClan that Ashfur had given him, using it like an electric tether to hold him in place

He can't hold him! Rootspring, Strikestone, and everyone else he'd lost in the Impostor's Tyranny leap into action to hold him as he holds down Ashfur

It's that moment where Bristlefrost realizes what she must do

Instead of falling into water, Briss lines up, charges, and body checks the eldrich horror out of the sky like a shooting star

They burn up in orbit, crashing down to Earth as a pair of meteorites. There is going to be a crater on the map from this point on.

After this, he starts to look like the first image. His blue scar fades to light red, and his eyes go back to scarlet.

[bonefall]

On Poppyfrosr, how do Ivypool and Dovewing feel about their birth mother when they find out? What’s their relationship with her look like? Does Poppy ever try to connect with her first litter, or does she just keep her distance as their aunt?

Poppy keeps her distance as their aunt, trying to forget it ever happened. It was codebreaking, it was painful to have reality crash in on itself, and she doesn't want to think about how Jayfeather chose clergyhood over her.

She has no way of confronting this in a way that's healthy. So she tries to pretend it didn't happen.

It's IVYPOOL who's pissed about it when it comes out, which the Imposter uses to exploit her even more. It's blackmail AND it's ragebait. She's a pawn of the impostor for the rising action of BB!TBC, until her baby Bristlefrost is publicly executed.

Dovewing, meanwhile, is peeking through the shutters from ShadowClan like, "how does my family keep getting worse"

Heartstar: "With great effort, I'm sure."

[bonefall]

What are Breezepelt's thoughts during Bristlefrost's trial/first death? He doesn't feel guilty does he? Like, he doesn't feel responsible for Bramblestar, does he? (I kinda would, in his paws.)

Breezepelt is deeply distressed during the whole ordeal. The Kin's tyranny is fresh in his mind, he's still on thin ice with WindClan after defecting twice, he's got his first litter of kits on the way, and he's JUST starting to patch up his relationship with his dad

And now there's a NEW tyrant doing public executions, and everyone's so scared of losing StarClan they're willing to make blood sacrifices now??? That's what he sees that execution as. A blood sacrifice.

Ohhh godddddd and Firestar might still be here if he hadn't done what he did years ago, it's like his mistakes just keep biting him like fleas, no matter how much he grooms he can never crack them all!

He's definitely going to get exiled at some point. He makes a lot more sense than Crowfeather. Breeze wanted to stay quiet, not rock the boat to get separated from his mate(s), but eventually he just can't stay quiet anymore, and becomes a target of the Impostor.

[bonefall]

Does Bramblestar die in your redux of the Broken Code? Or is he ousted? If not, what is your reasoning for having him to remain in power (beyond any wishes to stay semi-canon compliant)

The reasoning that Bramblestar isn't ousted after TBC is only because it technically wasn't him committing the acts of the Impostor... but he is on thin ice.

(context for newcomers: Bramblestar has been leader since the end of Po3 because Breezepelt killed Firestar. Girlboss moment)

After the events of Squirrelflight's Horror and the death of Leafpool as a result of his botched raid, not to mention his behavior at the end of Po3 where he disowned his adopted children, and caused controversy by publicly demoting (and mistreating) his very popular deputy and ex-mate, not to mention a second mate and a genius engineer leaving the Clan, Bramblestar is a very unpopular leader.

They didn't believe Bramblestar was possessed at the beginning of TBC. They just think he's throwing his weight around, the way always does.

They don't finally stand against him because Graystripe recognizes he's an imposter like in canon, either, they stand against him because he is doing bad things.

But... because it wasn't him, and because Squirrelflight saves him from the Dark Forest because she's the kind of person who would never leave a clanmate behind, he is still leader in the beginning of ASC.

I don't rewrite arcs until they're fully completed... but I do know that by the end of Bonefall TBC, ThunderClan is not happy with his leadership. VERY not happy.

[bonefall]

shadowsight illegally channels ashfur, forcing him to stay in one place. then bristle gets his ass

Ashfur: "YOU CANT DO THAT THATS ILLEGAL STOP STOP STOP"

Hmmm... I want Shadowsight's scar to be blue when he first gets it from Ashfur's lightning and stay that way until Ashfur's control is gone, maybe it turns red with his death?

Like it was Ashfur who was giving him that connection to StarClan at all, through the blue lightning scar. The channeling item was Shadowsight himself, and that was how he kept him in place for Bristlefrost to KO

[bonefall]

Give Shadow full epilepsy, please!

WHOLE HOG EPILEPSY you got it! I got several asks at once jumping on the idea so consider it added.

Specifically, this is general-onset seizures that are clonic-tonic. The "classic" convulsive type that would severely impede warrior duties. These ones can be dangerous if not controlled, so I'll out him on the heavy-duty herb in my Epilepsy Guide-- Chamomile.

Chamomile is an herb that, when not carefully diluted, will kill a cat. So I may make it a point for Alderheart to come and spend some time in ShadowClan making sure Puddleshine knows how to brew it properly. I'll treat it like heavy metal.

So eventually Shadowsight can brew his own teas when he comes into his skills after TBC. Easy way to show the progression of his abilities as a medic.

[bonefall]

Does Bristlefrost still die?

Twice! Once in the mortal plane to the impostor, and the second drowning Ashfur just like canon.

Ivypool is taking many of her roles, Bonefall TBC is going to be an arc with her as a POV. Bramblefake exploits Ivypool's issues with abandonment and the way she holds grudges to turn her against her daughter, who's having a secret half-clan relationship much like Dovewing once had. On that note, Bristlefrost and Rootspring's love is mostly offscreen.

This culminates in Bramblefake bringing Bristlefrost to a gathering, pointing out that the Clans have not been strictly enforcing the code, demanding Leafstar punish Rootspring. Leafstar, of course, says that this is madness and refuses.

So Bramblefake lifts his paw, slices Bristlefrost's neck, and lets her plummet off the tree. She's dead before she hits the ground. The gathering erupts into chaos

But Bramblefake points at the moon with his bloody paw, bright, full, and unclouded, and says, "This is the will of StarClan! Punish the codebreakers, or they will never speak to us again!"

And THAT is what kicks off Bonefall TBC in earnest.

[bonefall]

I wanted to ask. you what your plans are for the later ShadowClan medicine cats (Puddleshine and Shadowsight). I haven't seen you mention Puddleshine at all, I'm wondering if Littlecloud is still going to die when he does in canon and have Puddleshine randomly picked to be a med? Since you already had the "surprise medcat" plot with Kestrelflight being apprenticed after Barkface dies, there might be a reason not to keep this, not to mention if Littlecloud is still alive by the end of TBC you could have him playing a part in the switch to leaders being able to be deposed/resign, because he would remember clearly how Nightstar and his brother Rowanstar died due to leaders not being able to resign or be overthrown while still alive. Maybe Puddleshine can still be Littlecloud's apprentice, but is out of the way by TBC because he joins the Kin and stays there, with Shadowsight being Littlecloud's apprentice. The "Puddleshine joining the kin" plot point would also make more sense if Littlecloud is alive because I definitely think you should change how in canon, Rowanstar is inexplicably so horrible and all of ShadowClan so politically united in being fine with outsiders that they ALL prefer Darktail to him except his immediate family, and Puddleshine wouldn't have motivation to join the kin to heal them if he was the only med and there were still lots of ShadowClan cats to take care of, but it would make sense if Littlecloud is still alive. Or you could even have him genuinely join the apprentice rebellion, I think it would be interesting to have a cleric/med apprentice who actually fully sides with Darktail.

And now Shadowsight... I haven't actually read TBC, just the plot summaries, but I've seen people be of two minds with regards to his arc's conclusion. One is that it was really good for how he feels he has to throw himself into danger and death to make up for letting Ashfur rise to power which everyone is telling him he's horrible for, and Bristlefrost's death lets him realize he doesn't really want it (though this is already what you are doing with Breezepelt in AVOS, so you might want to not go in this direction). The other is that it's anticlimactic to have him spend a whole arc being the victim who gets beaten up and needing to be rescued, and in the end he just continues to be the victim and have someone else die to save him, having accomplished nothing. So how are you planning to end his arc? Also, since you tend to, for good reason, lean towards different cats having different clearly defined politics rather than everyone having an opinion that the plot/drama says so, which cats are going to be distrustful of Shadowsight and want him punished and which ones will be sympathetic towards him?

On Littlecloud

The reason I haven't mentioned him and Puddleshine too much is because Bonefall AVoS is still very loose. I get wrapped up in how I'm going to try and keep in Twig and Alder even just a little bit and hit a wall, when the rest of my changes, like the POV shift, are soooo much more interesting.

So Littlecloud...

I want to keep the fact that Flametail's death destroyed him. Flametail was to him what he once was to Runningnose. He loved him like a son.

Thinking about it, this feels too juicy to just... never have him pick up another. Puddleshine should be a cat who's practically forced onto him, and he resents that. They both end up not liking each other as a result. Or...

Maybe I'll bring back the suggestion I offered up a while ago, where a medicine cat has a sort of dementia or alzheimers onset. Make it so Rowanstar made him take an apprentice because his mind is fading. Puddlepaw knows that Littlecloud's not all there and dreads the fact he will soon have to treat his own mentor like an elder, when he isn't even fully trained.

(and as a side note, if he gets a progressive disease of the mind, I would like him to live significantly longer than canon. He'll pass away peacefully as an elder between AVoS and TBC.)

(Tawny should also be past the age of retirement at this point and move to the elder's den after the Tawnypelt's Clan redux)

Shadowsight

I think TBC was the best arc in a looooong time, but if I have any bones to pick with it, it's how it thinks that Shadowsight needs a "redemption arc"

He didn't fucking doooo anythiiiing

They want to hold him to some kind of ridiculous narrative punishment, but he didn't DO ANYTHING. He was manipulated by a member of StarClan, that thing that medicine cats are SUPPOSED TO LISTEN TO. The "seeing into the shadows" thing doesn't even make sense, he was speaking to a StarClan cat.

So, I could have gone back and made Ashfur a Dark Forest cat and then actually have the narrative give some weight to how he should have known the difference via his training... but I like StarClan Ashfur. I like StarClan making a mistake.

So I would rather fix in a way as to point out that Shadowsight Did Nothing Wrong, and is the victim of horrible circumstances worthy of sympathy.

I don't think rage at him is justified, but, I think that cats who are angry or looking for someone to blame will target him. I also really want to preserve Lionblaze's anger in particular, he's furious, he's irrational, and he's so blinded by rage that he will blame his own grandson.

On the "Seeing The Shadows" thing, I think I would actually like it more if somehow, he was able to sacrifice his connection to StarClan in the final fight. Like...

Maybe he actually does a Reverse Uno on Angelic Abomination Ashfur to hold him in place, unable to dodge or look away, so Bristlefrost can do a comet-tackle and knock him out of Heaven. Forever severing his connection to StarClan cats, but defeating him in the process.

Because then he can still have his guilt over cousin Bristlefrost dying instead of him, AND confront his manipulator without having a miserable "dies to kill him" ending. Plus just imagine Ashfur getting more and more desperate like

"You can't hold me down, stop being an idiot. You're just a weak little apprentice at heart. Cease this-- you can't exploit your connection like this, what if it breaks? You'll be a medicine cat who can't talk to anyone in StarClan! You'll be useless! I MEAN IT, YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT ME, SHADOWSIGHT, I CANT MOVE, SHADOWSI-"

And then he dies

[bonefall]

Got any thoughts on Bumblestripe? Is there anything changing about him for the redux?

I try to approach all the characters with some amount of depth, even if it's a character who is going to be a very solid antagonist. Bumblestripe is going to be in a villainous role for Bonefall TBC, and before that point he's an extremely draining person, emotionally.

[ID: Bumblestripe from warrior cats. He is silver-pale with thick black stripes and yellow eyes. Several little 'stinger' shapes dot his design, a pair on the chin, chest, back, and tail tip.]

Graystripe's neglect affected a lot more than just Blossomfall. Bumble is a forgotten middle child type, always lost in the shuffle. I'm not sure if he was as smart as Blossomfall who had a realization that Graystripe cared more about his son in the mountains than the litter in front of him, but Bumble did always know that he's his loved ones' lowest priority.

It REALLY messed him up. When he was young he was quite clingy and demanding, feeling out of place, like he never belonged anywhere. Those experiences taught him how to make a person feel extremely wanted and needed.

Problem is, it's not really FOR them. It's because he himself needs to feel loved, so if you aren't returning his enthusiasm in exactly the right way, it feels like rejection.

Bumblestripe is the sort of person who declares, "Everyone leaves me eventually and you will too!" and makes you have to reassure him constantly. He did have a legitimately sad childhood and his pain is very real-- but you can't set yourself on fire to keep people like him warm. That's what he asks Dovewing to do.

Dovewing finds herself pregnant by accident. She wanted the kittens, but she wasn't in love with Bumblestripe, and she knew he would NEVER respect the Queen's Rights or even believe her lie that they weren't his. So she fled; and Bumblestripe has never forgiven her.

Eventually pain turned into rage, he externalized it, and he becomes the hardened code-enforcer that will be following Bonefall Bramblefake and carrying out his dirtywork.

[bonefall]

every morning i open ur blog and read the new posts like its a newspaper. anyhow, do you plan to keep the scene where shadowsight gets hit by lightning?? its Amazing and afaik canon never even justified it lmao

I will never cut something so ridiculously cool without substituting it for something even more ridiculous and cooler.

(Like Bristlefrost 's death in the shadow muck becoming TWO deaths and the last one is her body checking Ashfur out of heaven like a shooting star and burning up in orbit)

So yes Shadowsight gets hit by lightning at some point, though I may shuffle it to be earlier and set up that it's when Ashfur starts communicating with him.

If you check out the doodle I made of him, you'll see the strike splits his ear in half like radio antennae. I want to make it glow on the tips when he's getting 'signals' from Ashfur.

[bonefall]

please tell me more about bristlefrost in this au i love the idea of her shooting ashfur out of heaven like a comet!!! it’s so so cool and her execution… AAA!!!

What I love about Bris and want to preserve is how intelligent she is. Hawkfrost famously has redemption in this rewrite-- I imagine she reminds Ivypool a lot of her Dark Forest mentor who lost his life taking a stand against Tigerstar.

Bris is an excellent strategist, a great fighter, and an upcoming prodigy. Ivypool is extremely proud of her. The Firekin family has high expectations, and Bris and Thrift are meeting all of them.

(Which is good because Flippaw... he's... he's a special boy. No honey we don't want to see how far you can fit an ant up your nose.)

But Bristlepaw is still a child. When Bramblefake targets her for his tyranny games, she's susceptible because she wants to impress her leader. When Ivypool realizes what's happening, she steps in immediately, offering herself as Bramblestar's lackey instead to spare her daughter from what she had to go through in her youth.

And as Bramblefake stokes Ivypool's unaddressed resentment for codebreakers, including Dovewing and Heartstar, Bristlepaw starts seeing Rootpaw.

And I've told that story before. She is caught. She begs her mother to help her, knowing Bramblefake will do something horrible, Ivypool does not listen.

Bristlefrost's public execution is the real start of the arc, and the bloody reckoning Ivypool has with her mindset. Her daughter is dead in a flash.

Bristlefrost doesn't stop there though. She's a ghost who interacts with Rootspring all arc long, attempting to rally the others and do what they can as earthbound spirits. Ashfur commands her later as a mind controlled ghost, but in the final fight, she lands the final blow to knock him out of StarClan.

I have a budding idea that Ashfur unlocks some kind of massive Seraphim form after eating some of the ghosts he controls, or even a StarClan Warrior. He absorbs them somehow, and becomes a being so massive that he couldn't be killed with normal claws.

Bristlefrost knocking into him destroys the Meadow of Young Stars. Shatters it, breaks the entire thing into a million pieces and makes it so that only a single bridge remains between the Dark Forest and StarClan. One less magical and impenetrable than the old Meadow, which has to be physically defended.

[bonefall]

One thing I LOVE but that is entirely in the background is Shellfur’s… hypocrisy? Growth?

Because this guy. Son of Thornclaw and Blossomfall. Apprentice of Bumblestripe. Is shown to be on the imposter’s side, pins down Spotfur after his brother dies. Is basically the xenophobic mouthpiece of his generation. Against the rebels.

THEN TAKES A WINDCLAN MATE AND MOVES HER TO THUNDERCLAN??

Like how did he and Fernstripe happen?? She seems extremely bubbly in her prior appearances and he is a little rat. Did he have a Windclan gf all this time?? Or did he have offscreen character growth??

Very curious to see how you might manage this

I too am FASCINATED by Shellfur. Like... what is this guy's deal.

Quick note on a Family Tree fix: Blossomfall's kittens are sireless; Thornclaw dies in the Great Battle and thus is not their father. Also Eaglewing has been axxed; it's only Shellfur, Plumstone, and Stemleaf.

Logically, I can see him sort of 'overcompensating' for the fact he was in a Half-Clan relationship, but that's one of my least favorite tropes honestly. The idea that, like, the bigot is so bigoted because secretly He's The Thing He Dislikes.

I feel like that's what canon is going to do; but I'd prefer to avoid it.

Personally I like the idea that his tune really changed after Stemleaf's death, and the birth of his nespring. I would approach him as really looking up to his uncle Bumble and being a little bit of a mama's boy, believing that being mean is funny and idolizing Bumblestripe's quick fury, but then that mindset kills Stemleaf in front of him

And now Spotfur, a cat he was a bully towards, is the one who decides if he gets to see his nespring or not. Suddenly he has to learn how to be nice.

In fact maybe it would be cute if that's how him and Fernstripe bonded... Fernstripe is the sweetest, nicest person he knows, even though she's in WindClan. Plus, if he's stupid or embarrassing no one will ever know.

"So you want me to give you... niceness lessons?"

"Well when you say it like that it sounds stupid. Think of it more like... prevent-me-from-never-seeing-my-family lessons."

"You seem like a very sad little man :("

"Well that's not very niceness lesson of you."

Though I'm not sure how that would work out in the timeline. I'll have to look into it; maybe have her join well into ASC, maybe they'll meet up as a result of Harestar fighting alongside the impostor and end up on a couple of patrols together, where they found they hit it off very well.

There's also always the tunnels, or just meeting up in the Maple Patch beyond the reworked gorge. Maybe ThunderClan and WindClan got friendly enough to collaborate on collecting syrup for a while after AVoS.