#Idk I'm w h i s t f u l about Brambs

[bonefall]

Honestly, the two most interesting parts of Bramblestar's character to me in cannon are his heritage to tigerstar and the effects of Ashfur's takeover of his body on his mental state. Does BB!ashfur basically just stick Bramblestar's spirit in a cage in the dark forest like in cannon? Because you could still do interesting things with that.

Bramblestar just being stuck in the dark forest, the place that both his father and brother were put in, and just being forced to do nothing but THINK about his life up until now. It could be the moment of reckoning for Bramblestar, were every delusion and lie he built for himself is unraveled by him as the possiblity that no one comes to save him gnaws at his mind.

And then he comes back to life and finds out that his body got put through a wood chipper and the imposter personally killed several of his clanmates with said body.

That's so interesting to think about, how does this affect him? How does he cope with all of this? Does he still try and be leader or is it basically a formality until he figures out how to make squirrelflight the new leader?

I don't rewrite arcs until they're done, but honestly, I simply don't want a "moment of reckoning" for Bramblestar. I include them for plenty of cats, like Spiderleg, Bumblestripe, Hawkfrost, but I absolutely don't want most characters to get one.

I don't really like it when every (or most) abusers realize and apologize for their actions and have a big turnaround. It kind of rubs me the wrong way that every crappy person has to "see the light" when so often, you don't get that. They live their whole lives acting this way, always insisting they never hurt you, and if they did, you deserved it.

You NEED to learn that they will INSIST it was your fault, when no, it wasn't. And they will never be sorry for what they did. That's it. You were hurt, and there's nothing deep or beautiful about your suffering.

And a person like that can really, truly be in pain (and they usually are, because being a crappy person sucks) and they can still not deserve your extended hand to pull them out.

Bramblestar already worries constantly about the possibility that no one will save him. It's why he plays games with his power. It's why he drives people away to watch them yoyo back. The fact that his family always comes back to him no matter what he does is a comfort. The Dark Forest Cage that Ashfur tosses him in didn't put new thoughts or feelings into his head.

So, we're going to see how ASC pans out, but I'm currently leaning towards Bramblestar clinging to power until the end. He even set up one last "fuck you" to Squirrelflight on the way out with his petty Nightheart Spy Plan, a textbook abusive set-up.