#I'm also thinking about renaming some of the siblings because while I thought ending all their names with “dar” was cool at first I'm-

[val-the-protoss-simp]

I ONCE AGAIN FORGOT ABOUT THIS DAMN BLOG

CURSE MY ADHD AAAAAA

ANYWAY

Part three of this ask, the Nerazim

Part 1/3 the Tal'darim

Part 2/3 the Khalai Part 3/3 the Nerazim <- you're here

Anar. The oldest of N&N babies. Nothing much to say about them aside from that they're a reclusive phase smith (or the Nerazim equivalent to one) They’re good at what they do and they know it, which can lead to them coming off as rather arrogant and full of themselves. They also have your average "oldest child syndrome" and tend to parent their siblings, who are adults and literally hundreds of years old in most cases, which once again is something that often makes them look patronising.

Elyon. A very underdeveloped character for now. I keep putting their writing off because I don't feel like I can portray their story adequately just yet. Yet. They're half Khalani, half Nerazim, the oopsie baby of Zhakul and Tali and because of this mixed heritage, they struggle to “decide” who they want to be in a world where the Nerazim and Khalai society haven't really integrated yet. In a world where not many mixed protoss exist just yet, they fel like they don't really belong in either society and grow up shy and reclusive because of this.

Their end game was to become an Alyssar. Because this little bean is, like, so hungry for knowledge. You know how humans are inherently hungry for money? Elyon’s like that, only with information. Anything is fair game, from knowledge about botany, philosophy, terran theater plays, the way plasma based engines work, molecular structure of a sandwich, etc. They don't necessarily want to do anything with it, like become a doctor or a politician or even a scholar, they just want to have it, to know, to understand. Eventually a few centuries down the line, they move their ass to Ehlna and join the other Alyssar. 

You could also argue it's a coping mechanism. Elyon will live for centuries, like all protoss, but their terran family won't. The grief that strikes them when Jake passes away (and Zhakul's visceral reaction to it) as well as the horror of seeing Harper get older and older in front of their eyes while they stay young, frightens them. So they occupy their brain with other things just so they don't have to think about this, and learning about crop rotation and quantum entanglement seems to be the thing!! 

Elyon also keeps their cords uncut despite frequently feeling the societal presure to do otherwise. This is mostly because it's the only way they get to feel close to one of their fathers, Talizun, who is a previously mangled zealot currently enlosed in the shell of a dragoon. They especially begin to rely on this bond after Jake's passing.

Nanzak. A very tall, very lanky middle-aged protoss lady. (middle-aged for THEIR standard. So she's like 600 years old) Very quiet, reserved, may come off as cold, unfriendly or even mean to others, but really she just likes her peace and personal space.

She's a performer and a dancer originating from a nomadic tribe deep within the midnight deserts of Shakuras. I really like the idea that a sense of family and tribes is very strong within certain Nerazim communities and Nanzak comes from one. The desert tribes have a different outlook on life, which then takes shape in their customs and culture. She'd be considered sort of an outsider in the more urban areas, mostly because she sticks to her tribe's customs and doesn't want to mitigate it whatsoever. She's proud of who she is, very secure in her place in life and society and if someone doesn't like it, that sounds like a them problem. 

She's absolutely and irrevocably in love with her short husband, who she has like seven kids with (something very usual with the the protoss, since most have like two to three offsprings in life IN TOTAL) Speaking of-

Narzul. As mentioned previously, he's Nanzak’s short husband and a complete opposite of her when it comes to personality. He's social, loud, kind of a joker, open and curious. Also quite clumsy compared to her (everyone is clumsy compared to her)

He's a very skilled medic who was travelling all over Shakuras in his youth to quench his thirst of curiosity and that's how they met. They've been together for like four centuries now, have seven kids and are absolutely that couple in public that is way too comfortable with PDA. You know the one. He also absolutely will start talking about his wife and how much he loves her and how cool and perfect she is every chance he gets and won't shut up for hours. Your fault for asking.

After Haven and Shakuras boot up their diplomacy programme, he eagerly joins as the protoss's designated medic. Mostly because he's very very curious about terran medical science and wanted an excuse to to eagerly study it. Now he can do that while there's also so many terrans running around that he can talk to about their whacky boddies?? It's like a dream come true! (he WILL ask about your bowel movements nearly every morning buckaroo you better get used to it) which eventually leads to him being curious about different aspects of terran culture as well.

He also has a role as a sort of an emotional anchor (???) during the time Zhakul is expecting Elyon. This is an unplanned baby that neither Zhakul or Jake feel like they're ready for and are lowkey (highkey) panicking about it, especially Jake, who doesn't feel like he could ever be an adequate father figure to anyone ever. Narzul helps midigate that in a way only a wise old man that's seen it all can do.

Ulzea. The one thing I can say about her is that she’s very pink in my head. And that’s about it fjdvikjbvf

Funny how she’s existed for about *checks watch* fourteen years and there’s barely anything to say about her (even her name, Ulzea, was recycled from a different character that I renamed last year) This is because she was never really a person to begin with. I make it no secret that this entire AU is based off of my frequent daydreaming from when I was a teenager trying to cope with an unfavourable family situation. The thing with daydreams is that they make for an excellent distraction and are a good tool for coming up with ideas, but they make terrible stories when they’re put on paper, namely because of their overly long, complex and often nonsensical narratives that are more aimed to the be self-gratifying to the daydreamer rather than be fully realised, balanced stories.

But I digress. Ulzea is a victim of this. I think the best way to describe her would be that she’s to Zhakul what Vorazun is to Artanis during the events of LotV, that being that she acts as an exposition dump whenever he needs to listen to some Nerazim lore. Ulzea is worse than Vorazun, given that Vorazun is still, you know, a character of her own with her own personality and growth and so on. Ulzea never had this.

The reason why I never talked about her is because she’s essentially been written out of Zhakul’s story because of this. She was more of a narrative device for me to arrange my headcons about the Nerazim rather than anything else, which I achieved by having her dumping this information onto Zhakul, who only just got to Shakuras after living with terrans for some sixteen years and had no idea how to be a protoss. She’s just no longer needed as a character because Zhakul learns of his heritage in a more organic way, but recently I’m thinking about bringing her back if not for any other reason that she’s pretty (also because Zhakul just. Needs more protoss friends who are close to his age)

Uszadar. One of Narzul and Nanzak’s several babies. He lives in the more rural parts of Shakuras, specifically around the crater where the Xel’laga Temple is situated, but due to his lifestyle tends to be mostly nomadic. 

I have a terrible habit of fixating on small features and details in media that regular people don't tend to give a shit about, which is also a case here. I love the kakarus. I have loved them since I first played Brood Wars at the ripe age of six. They were my favourite critter in the entire game and stayed as such to this day as well. I always envisioned them as, like, flying mounts for the protoss because kiddie me was obsessed with dragons, dragon riders and the 2002 Dinotopia miniseries that featured the skybax. So big flying lizard-thing mean alien ride too, yes? 

Anyway, the joys of having my own AU means I can do whatever I want, so I say the protoss ride kakarus. It's mostly something done in the more rural parts of Shakuras because the more urban areas just use modern technology for the transport of cargo, people and messages. At this point it's the equivalent to how us humans keep horses. Something that used to be widespread and important for the function of society is nowadays mostly a hobby. Uszadar is mostly on the practical side of things, still utilising kakarus for transport and to reach the more rural parts of Shakuras, as well as doing conservationist work for the species, preserving their natural environment as well as studying them both in the wild and in captivity. 

Meaning that, yes, he's a horse girl. 

Zeredar. Once again, this is one of Nanzak and Narzul’s babies. She was originally gonna die during the second invasion of Shakuras but then my friends convinced me to let her live (boo) so she continues to unleash herself on the rest of the world. I see her as someone with a very dry sense of humour, which often makes her come off as rude or mean. She’s also the kind of person who can keep an absolute deadpan expression while telling the most hilarious joke you have ever heard. She’s also very dramatic and sassy, something she gets from her mother.

Funnily enough, however, I also see her as a fairly cheerful person, similar to how her father is, despite what her sense of humour may suggest. It’s a bit harder to see this side of her, you have to get to know her better first, but under all that sass and sarcasm, she has a generally positive outlook on life and people, doing what she can to see the best in everyone and everything. She’s very proud of her work and is confident in it's quality, similar to her oldest sibling, and is also a very confident person overall.

The injury she suffered during the invasion doesn’t slow her down one bit and she continues to find beauty and happiness in her life regardless of it.

Zhakul’s mothers

Yeahhhhhhh…they don’t have names ifgvidhvvd

I’m pretty sure you can see a trend by now aaaaaaaaaa

They’re just as old as him, turning 14 years this year, but unlike him, they're are barely concepts. Which is fine in the case of this particular story, given that it’s not about them and they more or less exist so Zhakul can have certain aspects of his backstory set in place, like that he’s related to Vorazun through one of them, or that he eventually decides to walk in their footsteps as an elite member of the Matriarch’s personal Shadow Guard.

They were fully dedicated to their duties and very happy as only a couple, never intentionally trying for a baby. Which is partially the reason for why Zhakul is born when they’re fairly old, being in their early 700s. They both loved him very very much and would happily claim that the few years they got to spend with him before their untimely deaths were the happiest years in their long lives.

Both of them die a few months before the events of WoL. With the zerg invasion beginning anew, many protoss colonies were evacuated as a safety measure, including the one they were escorting. This was during the time the Dominion was kicking its Hybrid Program into overdrive and needed, um, material, to be able to build these guys from. I see you know where this is going. The ship on which the protoss were being evacuated on got seized by Dominion secret forces, resulting in a great loss of life, which included both of Zhakul’s mother. 

AND SPEAKING OF-

Zhakul!! My baby, my little innocent bean, precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. Oh, how good it feels to torture him-

Um. Anyway.

This is the oldest OC I have. Period. He was conceptualised in summer 2010 when Wings of Liberty first came out and I played through the campaign for the first time. I fell in love with this game all over again, and came up with Zhakul as a way to organise my thoughts on it because I just could not stop thinking about it. Many things in the AU changed, he mostly remained the same. From the day I first imagined him up until now, he underwent very minor design changes and very small changes to his overall story. This is because he is perfect and has no flaw-

The only other character I can think of that I am more attached to other than him is Jake (who is also nearly as old as Zhakul) who he is essentially attached to the hip to and an integral part of his story, just like he is in Jake’s. They meet shortly after Zhakul is rescued by the Raiders from Castanar, where he was held captive and experimented on. The story of how the Raiders dumped him on Haven is a bit long and I think I already spoke of this on this blog anyway (???) He then integrates into terran society and becomes a part of Jake’s family, almost being like his adoptive brother but not really because he’s an alien being raised by humans. Still, he’s loved just as much by them.

He continues to suffer from terrible anxiety and rather intense ptsd episodes from when he was held captive and experimented on, which was something his terran family did their best to help him with, but there’s only so much therapy made for humans, by humans, can do to help an alien, not to mention when said alien struggles with trauma as heavily as Zhakul does. This eventually results in him severely hurting Jake in one of his episodes by slashing his chest open, after which he panics and runs away from Haven to Shakuras.

(How does he get to Shakuras? No idea. Its been a plothole for the past fourteen years.)

There he gets a bit of a culture shock because he’s been living with terrans for the past sixteen years or so and has no idea what it means to be protoss. Essentially, he’s a terran in protoss skin and I remember that one of my favourite things to think about was how confusing his learnt mannerisms would be to everyone else (like how protoss tilt their head instead of chuckling meanwhile us humans do it when we’re confused. I imagine this lead to quite a few SituationsTM)

A lot of stuff happens here. Zhakul originally only ran away for the sake of running away but eventually figured out the protoss will surely be able to offer better help than terrans? So he gets it into his head that he will go to whatever equivalent of therapy the Nerazim have and then come back to Haven, because more than anything he yearns to be with his family and with Jake. A lot of things happen here, namely events that include Dal and Tali, showing that him that he cannot deal with his issues by burying them deep inside him and pretending they’re not real, but rather by admitting to himself that they happened and learning to accept it and let go. 

A lot of Zhakul’s story is about trauma, coping with it and about healing from it. About learning that your past does not define you as a person and that it’s on you to decide who you are, not other people. The past cannot be erased, so why continuously dwell on it? Mistakes are made, relationships are broken and lost, but being forever attached to all of this and pondering how it could have been different is pointless. What you can do is learn from it, change your future, put effort into being the best version of yourself that you can be, for the sake of yourself and those around you.

He does eventually come back to Haven to make amends, but what happens is once again long and convoluted and more focused on Jake rather than him, because the gremlin human also needs his own character arc. They end up leading a pretty interesting life together, full of adventure and other various shenanigans, but writing about that would end in a much longer essay than this is already. Anyway, Zhakul is my baby and a personal favourite, the One That Started It All and my favourite punching bag.

[grilledcheezy92]

also pls tell us abt ur ocs!!!!

Aah I'm actually attempting to draw my listener oc's so I'll wait to actually talk about them physically BUT

Aubrey "Angel" Samson Shaw (she/they) Operations/Logistics Manager at Vesta, basically their dream job. Moved to Dahlia on a mandatory transfer for the promotion. Pack Karaoke Champion

Baylee "Baaabe" Graham Talbot (they/she) App Designer and Social Media Manager for the Dahlia branch of Vesta. Has had top surgery, plays guitar

Rogue "Sweetheart" Roberts (she/they) doesn't have a great relationship with their parents, they think they're incredibly lucky that Milo's parents approve. Their other ride is a motorcycle

Bellatrix "Darlin" Lovett-Hunt (they/she/he) has a full sibling 16 years younger, their first shift broke covert in a big way (towards the end of last year of middle school) which is why their family moved to Dahlia in the first place. Also Pack Karaoke Champion

Lena "Lovely" Sebert (she/they) was an independent/freelance journalist with a community college degree prior to meeting Vincent. Was raised by a single father

Elijah "Freelancer/Deviant" Samson (he/they transmasc) parents are still paying for their T shots, he's still on their insurance but gets no allowance or funds from them. They tried to ship him off to live with his and Angel's grandparents because they couldn't deal with the accidental magic anymore. They're exploring their femininity again thanks to Dear.

Nova "Starlight" Rice (she/they) Full-Cert, Professor at DAMN idk what they teach yet

Rigel Aspidiske "Warden" Stellar-formed, Congruent of Rak'Xit, born in his Madrigal. (they/them) named for a star in the Orion constellation, their horns form a circlet across their brow, with the release of the D(a)emon quiz, they have been renamed for one of the brightest stars in the Carina constellation as a nod to kinship with Avior

Nell "Cutie" Hanson (they/them, sometimes she/her) was a cheerleader at DAMN. Parents are both telepaths so while their powers didn't manifest until puberty, they did not grow up with the privacy of their own mind at home. Coupled with a string of both empowered and unempowered relationships that left them with trust issues, Geordi was so open and honest with his thoughts it was such a comfort just being able to hear him, he's the best thing that's ever happened to them.

Brook "Dear" Yasuda (she/they transfemme) Sailor Mercury vibes. (I was also maybe inspired by this one specific fanart of a masc!Dear in a yukata that I first saw on twitter) Loves the beach. Has, in fact, learned all the waterbending moves from ATLA and TLOK.

Sunshine (Luci, she/they) and Honey (Beam, they/any) I'm still working on quite a bit with them.

Shaw Pack next gens below the cut (take 'em or leave 'em)

All shifters, age order

Benjamin "Benji" Talbot (he/him) eldest by a year. has his dad's smile and eyes but Baaabe's nose

Hallow Greer (he/they) is the best at non-shifting magic

Lilith "Lily" Shaw (she/her) future Alpha, has been a menace since the day she was born. Frank says she looks a lot like David's mom.

Joy Talbot (she/her) has vitiligo like her dad, hotly debated among pack elders whether she or her brother will be future Beta but she and Lilith were born just two months apart

Gabriel Shaw (he/him) basically Fooliverse!David, youngest by two years

Lily knows Benji is her mate, he hasn't quite figured it out yet but he's loved her forever. (Mary's Song is their love story)

Everyone thought Angel and David would be the first to have a kid.

It took some time on Sweetheart's part to convince Milo he'd be a good dad but it wasn't until he held Benji the first time that he believed it.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Been playing around with the idea of Finchkit living lately, and genetics be damned I'm making her a colorpoint cat. Also a long legged cat, almost if not just as tall as her brother.

Some more ideas:

- when Sandgorse shows them tunnelling for the first time she was behind Tallkit and managed to move away just in time to avoid the cave in. She's shaken up, but not as much as Tallkit and does become a tunneler.

- Finchpaw wanted Tallpaw to become a tunneler apprentice with her so they can be tunneling buddies, but his fear held him back, and once she realized it she stopped, reassuring him that he would always have her support, and that one day Sandgorse would understand too. (Spoiler: he doesn't)

- She thought that having at least one kit follow in his pawsteps would be enough to satisfy Sandgorse, but then he started ending his praises with "-unlike your brother" and saying things like "why can't you be like your sister" to Tallpaw. Although the siblings never hate each other, it does create a distance between them and she doesn't know what to do.

- She is offered the position of deputy, but after all she's been through, she's satisfied with taking the backseat.

I imagine that she really tried to keep her family together, but then it all just fell apart. In her free time she would often coax Palebird out of the nursery and shared meals with her, spent time with Tallpaw to make sure he knew he wasn't alone, and once in a while try to reason with Sandgorse.

But then tunneling was removed, and Sandgorse disowned Tallpaw after calling him a coward. How could she fix that? They couldn't even look at each other. And then Palebird, who looked so much happier than before announced that she was pregnant with Woollytail's kits. Finchpaw was never told that they were mates, and the more she thought about it the more she realized how obvious it should have been.

Woollytail had taken to visiting the nursery, sometimes with prey, and Palebird looked more at ease with him, so Finchpaw felt alright about putting her visits on hold while she spent more time with Tallpaw. She begins to wonder if she was actually making Palebird feel worse with her visits, but then tries to reassure herself that Palebird wanted to tell them about her pregnancy and was happy about it, so she hasn't forgotten about them.

Tallpaw disagrees, and wonders if they were ever a family. Finchpaw didn't want an answer.

One day at outlook rock, Talltail asks what she thinks is beyond the border, and then admits that he wants to leave the clan. He still appreciates her, he just doesn't feel like he can heal properly while feeling trapped in his own clan. She's upset by this since it feels like Palebird was beginning to drift away, and now she's about to lose Talltail too. He asks if she can look after their younger siblings, and she agrees with a heavy heart.

Barkface is the one that tells her of his departure, and it's like the last straw that breaks the camels back because she breaks down crying. Barkface tells her that it isn't her fault, and it takes a moment for her to realize that he's right.

It wasn't her that bullied or shunned him, she had always loved and supported him. Sandgorse was the one who put that distance between them, it was him who always put Tallpaw down for not following his wishes.

Man, if Sandgorse lives in this au Finch would chew him out for this. She would hiss that it was his fault she didn't have a brother anymore.

On another topic, what do you think her name would be? Putting the obvious 'wing', 'feather' and 'flight' aside, my first thought was Finchlight. The idea was that it means hope, like the light at the end of a dark tunnel. Although there's always Finchtail to match with her brother. Finchflight would make her match with Wrenflight though, like Talltail with Flytail... man, names are hard.

Actually, maybe after an important battle where she loses an eye she requests to be renamed to Finch-eye to remember it. I like Finch-eye.

I really like this! Fincheye would be good in that scenario because Heatherstar would definitely do that. Surprised Heatherstar didn’t rename Lilywhisker after her accident tbh.

But I was thinking Finchflight and Finchlight is a good one for her. Maybe something like Finchclaw if you want to match her brother in being named for a physical aspect of her, and that would tie into tunnelling as well.

[joelywoely]

EHAT SPECIES IS GRIAN. IS HE A FUCKING RAINWING/RAIN HYBRID I;M GOIJNG OT K?ILY LO U

sorry i got excited i'm very excited. i'm very excited at this i loooove wings of fire so much what the fuck do you mean someone else out there has thought abt making a life series wof au.

i have a million thoughts about what species and hybrids they'd be but i don't think this is the place to share that..... Sigh........ grian is so Insanely sandwing coded. though. need to say this. need to spread and share my truth GOOD DAY! I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABSOLUTELY EVERY DROP OF INFORMATION YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THIS AU!

HI!

okay so grians species is actually kinda complicated

he was born as game watcher, an animus nightwing working under his mentor, secret keeper. he helps to organize tournaments between tribes on the mainland, tournaments that frequently end up going to death, a bit like scarlet's battle arena. though, one day, he got too attached to a participant in the game, which is a big no no and secret keeper cursed him to become a "lazy, bumbling rainwing for the rest of his days"

he moves permanently to the mainland and into the rainforest, plotting his vengeance and trying to find out how to cure himself.

since he looks like a very. weird rainwing though jimmy and joel end up finding him and trying to recruit him to their little hybrid clique.

jimmy is a rainsea hybrid named canary and joel is a rainmud hybrid named leaf. they're kinda the weirdos of the rainwings and, because grian is 1. generally bad at "acting like a rainwing" and 2. looks like a weird sort of hybrid of some kind, they take him under their wings for a while.

while out one night, trying to find that portal to the nightwing island, grian is ambushed.

when he wakes up hes in the scorpion den, ran by cleo, a skysand hybrid named cobra. she gets to be nicknamed king cobra cause I think its it's fun. turns out theres a small bounty on his head, but cleo will spare him (for now) out of good faith, them both being hybrids and all.

scar is the one who kidnapped him. formerly named sahara, scar was renamed after gaining all his battle wounds. hes like the quibli to cleos thorn. scar doesnt exactly appreciate cleos generosity, but he doesnt do anything further. hes just tasked with showing grian around, hes essentially his assigned best friend. neither of them care to much for it.

one day the skywings raid the scorpion den, lead by martyn, who is named general mars. grians wing gets injured in his and scars escape, cleo is captured.

scar wasnt able to fly anyway, but he refuses to leave grian, carrying him away on his back.

they are left stranded in the desert and become closer, grian still trying to find a cure for his curse. jimmy and joel are still looking for him.

some extra things:

tango is an overcooked skywing with too much fire, though he isnt with the skywing kingdom, hes actually imprisoned there. his name is blaze. also gay rancher love

lizzie is the seawing queen who's name is axolotl. she and jimmy are half siblings and shes been searching for him since his egg was stolen from the hatchery. his egg was yellow, btw, so shes looking for a yellowy seawing. his name was going to be cod. she and joel meet and fall in love at first fight.

scott is one of her ambassadors and friends, helping her try to find jimmy. his name is seafoam.

pearl is grians sister, her name is, of course, pearlescentmoon, named that mostly just because she was born on a bright bright night. she can see into the future and she desperately wants to return her brother to a normal life.

cub is an icewing named polar (last name bear lol. cuz. cub.) and he and scar met when they were both taken as prisoners. they're besties but dont talk often. etho is also an icewing, his name is icicle.

ren is the skywing king, his name is just red. they call him the red king.

this is fairly new so I haven't done much work on it this is kinda all I got rn

also take some doodles

that jimmy is before I decided hed be a searain hybrid.

I'll totally take alternate hybrid ideas btw!! names too, lol

[mallowstep]

Oh shit it just dawned on me. Rainflower must've been Echomist's keeper apprentice of sorts, right? How does the renaming of Stormkit affect their relationship? I'm guessing at the very least she shoulders some of the anger at the cruelty of it all. Also, since Rainflower and Shellheart got practically divorced after that, who'd be keeper if Shellheart was made leader? Is Rainflower still going to be it, and is that why she had enough political clout to maneuver for Oakpaw to be apprenticed to his father?

so...hailstar had a good number of lives when shellheart was deputy. probably most of them, for most of the time. and like. you know it's not that you expect the deputy to die so much as you don't expect a deputy (one life) to outwork a leader (five+ lives). cases of leaders losing a lot of lives in rapid succession are very rare (tigerstar, i think canon-leopardstar?, possibly crookedstar, cedarstar IIRC?, etc), so like.

while rainflower is in a position of being a future keeper, it's not a guarantee. even when crookedjaw becomes deputy, willowbreeze is much closer and that's still not certain.

with that all in mind, echomist is pretty concerned about rainflower's pride and her desire to rename crookedkit. prior to now, she was overlooking rainflower's pride and so forth because well -- it was forgiveable. echomist will go on to mentor willowbreeze who is uh. has a lot of Enthusiasm but not a lot of conflict resolution skills. so you know.

but then rainflower wants to rename stormkit and echomist tells her no first. rainflower then goes over echomist's head to speak to hailstar. disrespect.

so they're...not on good terms. it happens, admittedly. uh. this isn't Exactly the same deal but. under leopardstar there's a similar problem re. keeper + deputy's mate.

as for the divorce issue...it's uncertain. if shellheart and rainflower publicly end things, then there won't be one. it's rare, but it does happen. if they don't, then it would be rainflower, and everyone is just going to have to deal. brambleberry and mudfur (when does brambleberry die? i do not remember xd) are going to put a lot of pressure on her to like. be Better.

anyway, hailstar agrees for shellheart to mentor oakpaw because of mysterious reasons that will not be known. like unironically there has to be some kind of history between him and rainflower for him to agree to all of her crazy plans. maybe they're siblings or something. hm. things to consider.

but the like. verbal given reason has to do with the awkward state of things between shellheart and rainflower and it's all bs. echomist doesn't really care because that's beyond her sphere of control. i mean don't get me wrong she thinks it's a bad idea, however, it's not going to do any more harm to the family than has already been done, and mentors are not something she's got any influence over.

and because this is about...two leaders after hailstar, i haven't put a Tonne of thought into it. some, obviously, and i like thinking things through, i just don't have a Good and Prepared answer. rainflower wouldn't have significant influence by her mate until hailstar was on his last few lives. she kind of thrives on attention.

so, yeah. uh. tl/dr: shellheart is deputy during the early portion of hailstar's reign, so while echomist certainly has her eye on rainflower, she's not going to consider her a successor until hailstar is on his fourth to last life or so.

shellheart and rainflower getting divorced sets up one of the rare situations where you can have a leader take control of riverclan without a keeper.

and rainflower doesn't have a lot of political influence (although that's not to say she has none), and it's more likely she used some personal reasons to get hailstar to apprentice oakpaw to shellheart.

<3