#bonefall rewrite

[bonefall]

I was never able to really get a feel for Leafpool's personality in the books, especially since she's always contrasted with Squirrelflight who has a pretty consistent personality (at least for Warriors standards). She's kind of like Hollyleaf where they change her personality depending on what they want to happen in the plot I think. How do you approach writing her? I'm really fond of your Spottedleaf, so I was wonder if Leafpool has any fun quirks like her.

[ID: Leafpool from Warrior Cats. She is chunky, has a mane, and green eyes. Her stripes are horizontal.]

I approach Leafpool as being VERY tired. Her life is characterized as never really being in control of her own fate, being punished for any simple pleasures she takes tenfold, so I write her as becoming very defeatist. Poor girl.

Because Leafpool is never in REAL control, somehow, it gives her this air that she's in total control. You can't scare her. StarClan can tell her that her kids are cursed, Hollyleaf can tell her to kill herself, Bramblestar can jump in front of her and snarl, she's never more than briefly phased. "Yeah sure this may as well happen."

In a way, she's almost the total opposite of Jayfeather, who never met a rule he wasn't willing to punch. It is interesting that each one of the Three has a unique relationship to the fate that chains up Leafpool.

Allows herself to love Mothpaw... war breaks out and Moth has to return to RiverClan.

Tries to warn Squilf about Brambleclaw in spite of StarClan wanting them to be together, first fight with her sister ever.

Runs off with Crowfeather, returns home to find out her mentor died before she could say goodbye.

Gives birth, allows Squilf to take them, eventually gets threatened by Hollyleaf.

(side note: i am considering leafpool's name being an honor title, with her old name being Leafstripe, and Squirrelpaw failing two assessments just like Nightheart)

But a big change in my rewrite is that the dramatic scenes that aren't consistent with that resigned sorrow go to Crowfeather. He's a complete and utter ham. Leafpool isn't out here trying to name Hollykit 'Crowkit' or confessing her unwavering love for him in front of his wife and child, THAT is Crowfeather making an ass of HIMSELF in front of that wife and child lmao.

Leaf's feelings are more complicated and repressed. Hard life.

On the bright side though, there ARE changes from canon so that the Clan has more nuanced feelings about her instead of her whole life being a nonstop beatdown.

Most of ThunderClan, which heavily leans Fire Alone, agrees that Leafpool did the right thing by giving her kits to Squilf to invoke the Queen's Rights. Sure she lapsed, but Fire Alone cats are softer on the Cleric's Vow in general.

Bramblestar demoting her in Cruel Season has a VERY mixed reception. It's Leafpool!! Leafpool Moonpool!!!

Her death many years later in the Sister Raid actually tanks Bramblestar's reputation. It was seen as cruel, pointless, and avoidable, and they lost a very popular and experienced Cleric.

(side note again: still considering how the 'unclear sign' plot beat is going to go in my rewrite, because i cannot imagine jayfeather not just lying about that. "yeah yeah yeah they said yes bramblestar, im supposed to heal this cat obviously. move.")

Misc Design Stuff:

She's got a mane that you can see on Dovewing too, since Dove is Leaf's grandchild now.

Like Sandstorm, uncle Longtail, and grandpaw Runningwind, Leafpool's stripes are horizontal.

I'm still doing research into what she has specifically, but Bonefall Leafpool is intersex. Those are stud jowls.

Considering the cat version of PCOS because it explains a lot; weight gain, a receding hairline that could be shared with Lionblaze, the jowls as a facial hair parallel, difficult pregnancy, etc.

Still doing my research though.

And lastly, Mothpool is endgame in this Rewrite. They can never be together officially, but it's about the yearning. It's about finding freedom with your escapist fantasy partner or being in shackles with your true love. She chose the CHAINS.

[storm-of-silver]

Tell me, where do I go?

Tell me, where do I take us?

Your heart is starting to slow

May the water be safer

As I dive in

@bonefall Anytime you mentioned this death scene, I keep associating it with this song since the lyrics are LITERALLY this entire scene. "Bloodstains washing underneath the waves"??? "I can't hold on much longer, we're drifting down to the other side"?????? It was fucking PLAGUING me and I had to just get this out.

Anyways ur AU fucks and since this is ur favorite death scene hopefully I did it justice :)

[everlywindex]

absolutely LOVE the wc better bones au and since the creator @bonefall has said that he encourages redesigns/reimagining of characters i thought i'd toss in my take on tawnypelt!!! inspired by the official design!!!!!

tawny's my favorite wc character so seeing an au that actually lets her have her deserved character growth has been SO awesome. we love to see a girlboss winning!!!!!!

[idontwannabehereffs]

[yuridovewing]

oh god another reason yellowfangs secret is inaccurate and shouldnt count: boulder is just a regular allycat and joins shadowclan when yellowfangs a baby on a whim when in tpb its a massive plotpoint that hes ex bloodclan and scourge knows him personally and theres no way in hell that that works with the timeline

[the-owl-tree]

the way leopardstar and blackstar are allowed to be leaders RULING OVER A CLAN after the shit w tigerstar is so crazy. blackstar even moreso bc they had to actively let him become leader even AFTER the whole being tigerstars executioner thing. shadowclan should have staged a coup

i wish soooo so badly that rc's involvement in the execution was better reflected instead of "oh well ACKSHUALLY it was all tigerstar 1's fault teehee" (stares at asc). would it really be so bad if leoparstar and blackstar were willing followers and not "i thought what we were doing was right :("

[glazeliights]

better bones au is too good. every time I look at a post its like I fall down a hole and next thing I know Ive got 50 tabs open because they all link to each other and theres so much-

[blimbo-buddy]

If you could, how would you write a Willowpelt novella?

honestly no clue at all how I’d approach a book about her I’d just want to write scenes of little DarkKit bouncing around TigerPaw and playing with him and implications that he tried strangling RunningKit to death

[wc-confessions]

Ngl I hate warrior cats with a burning firey passion but the bonefall rewrite and russetfoxfur's Cursed Flames on AO3 has sucked me into making a warrior cats fanfic and im quivering with rage.

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

y'know as shitty and horrible as warrior cats is, 'my blood is on fire!' goes hard as fuck

[thetrailofflames]

If you want to get really dark with Ashfoot, maybe leaders of wind have a 'bloodline trait', like certain markings or a type of ears, and at a young age, she tried to make himself have that trait

Certain markings? Berry juice, stained onto their pelt.

Certain type of ears? Have her try to mimic it through adding cattail fluff to them.

Oh they do. I just had a time trying to decide what it was. I had to make sure it was something that didn’t have to do with African or indigenous culture .

They have a marking on their legs and even more rarer the circle facial marking.

Lemme show you an example with Magpietail

If you have an ounce of founder blood, ya’ll have these markings.

Ashfoot did try to make herself a true descendent when she was young, with help from her friend, Lizardpaw

It wasn’t well received to say the least. On side, they mocked her, thinking she could ever measure up to a founder blood and on the other, insulted her for thinking she’s better than them.

[bonefall]

Could you explain parents and honor siring a bit? I'm working on how parent relationships work in my fanclans but yours just seems rlly interesting

Parenting is straightforward! The cats are agreeing to both be caretakers for the kittens. In Clanmew, there is a word for the "Primary" (mi) and "Secondary" (ba) parents.

For example, Fernsong is the Mi of his children, and Ivypool was the Ba.

Sandstorm was the Mi, Firestar was the Ba.

Weedwhisker and Stonepelt were Mi at first, until Frostfur was a bit older and Weedwhisker decided to take Ba for clarity.

Allonursing is extremely common, especially for parents who cannot provide milk. These are not considered parents.

Auncles are also very involved in the lives of the kits, and so are grandparents. Bumblestripe for example is a father figure to Blossomfall's litter.

HONOR-SIRING (and damming) is not inherently a parenting role. It's more like a donor or surrogate!

An honor sire does not have to be revealed. They can stay anonymous

There is no obligation for an honor sire to be involved with the kits.

But an honor sire COULD be a parent, if they so chose. This is called an "honor-siring with coparenting." This does not suggest romantic involvement.

This happens if the honor-sire and the birthing parent wanted to raise the kittens together. Leopardfoot and Pinestar are an example of this. Leopard wanted his grand legacy for her children, and Pine wanted to be a dad.

Firestar and Sandstorm are another example of this. They're great friends, but Firestar is aromantic. Sandstorm wanted kids, and she offered that Firestar could parent too if he wanted. He agreed.

So, TL;DR, a parent is a parent. An honor sire is a donor. These are not mutually exclusive.

[bonefall]

Song: "As We Fall" -League of Legends

[ID: Bonefall Rewrite Rowanstar's death scene from the redux Heartstar's Rise. He is diving into the Moonpool with the body of Tigerheart, his lives stripping away from him and manifesting as spirits beside him. He's turning starry, with his tail and back paws almost completely white.]

Tell me, where do I go?

Tell me, where do I take us?

Your heart is starting to slow

May the water be safer

As I dive in

@bonefall Anytime you mentioned this death scene, I keep associating it with this song since the lyrics are LITERALLY this entire scene. "Bloodstains washing underneath the waves"??? "I can't hold on much longer, we're drifting down to the other side"?????? It was fucking PLAGUING me and I had to just get this out.

Anyways ur AU fucks and since this is ur favorite death scene hopefully I did it justice :)

[troutfur]

in the polyam au does cinderpelt stay a warrior since her injury was in between selecting meddies? or would she be given the opportunity to train due to spottedleaf dying? also you could always make littlecloud a little younger to slot in for shadowclan and have runningnose be the shadowclan candidate for spottedleaf's polycule otherwise the only candidates would be very minor characters

I do think Cinderpelt would have to stay a warior, yeah. I don't think slotting her for Spottedleaf would work. Part of the job here is the whole forbidden cross-Clan relationship theater angle and that feels a little uncomfortable if she's with people Spottedleaf's age. Spotty and Runny being part of the same apprentice batch would be neat yeah. Since Cinder got into her accident so young I can see her being selected in the same batch as Littlecloud though. I have had some Smokepaw and Talonpaw suggestions for ShadowClan I still have to fully consider so we'll see...

[oldfacesnewdawnoffical]

The moorlanders have sheep?! Do they use wool for things like accessories or building supplies? Do they use them for food? Now imagining apprentices learning to herd the sheep like border collies and that’s really cute

Yes!! They’re the only faction to herd, however they’re not the only faction who keep mindless animals ^^

Moorsweepers herd sheep and goats (though on a much smaller scale), and they keep chickens! They also keep a close eye on the numbers of a band of mustangs, deer, and wild boar that will commonly cross through their territory, and if times are tough, will band together to pick off a few. Alongside this, they also grow various things, especially food (root vegetables, mostly) and fiber crops (things like flax, cotton, etc); they’re the most well-rounded in terms of things to trade and living off their lands.

And the border collie imagery isn’t too far off!! It’s actually part of the keeper’s job to tend to the various animals… poor Pounceflight is the only one, currently, but he’s got the aid of the supporters and couriers (+ Smoketongue) to help out!

They use the sheep in a variety of different ways, and they’re definitely a point of pride for the Moorsweepers for just how versatile and useful they are, and make their faction in turn. Sheep are notably easy to care for, and they make a perfect fit for the Moorswept’s rockier, grassy territory. They provide wool and milk, and once the sheep ages past its prime, they are killed for mutton and for their skin, which is used to make parchment.

While not quite as strong as some select vegetable fibers, wool is still incredibly resilient and distinctively good at taking dyes, and due to its nature as a natural hair fiber, it’s also perfect for felting! Different breeds offer different wool; the multi-layered coat of a sheep is one of their only defenses for protection, especially against predators alongside the elements, easily repelling water and blocking out wind (which is highly tempting for a society that lives exclusively in the outdoors).

They use spoils of their sheep for all sorts of things! Most commonly, it’s for trade, as wool is a highly sought-after item within the fealty and outside of it, but they commonly use it for aesthetic reasons, protection, and for warmth; their nests are renowned for being so comfortable that the stars glitter in envy for them from a combination of chicken down and sheep’s wool from the inner layers. They’re also skilled at dying wool, and will oftentimes take custom orders to receive the means necessary (the dyes in question, since they have access to very few colors) and trade them out for hefty sum + commission. (Fun fact: Sors Spottedleaf sports Moorswept fabrics, sourced from their fields and dyed by their own paws!)

[yuridovewing]

*shakes my head while doing this btw so that my audience can see i am not just blindly conforming my opinions to what One Popular Person is saying and we should all actually engage with the source material and form our own thoughts and conclusions, i am merely just interested in what said Popular Person has to say*

atp my reaction to new wc content is typically “well ok. wonder what bonefall’s take on all this is gonna be”