#razorverse

[yuridovewing]

btw i want there to be a running bit in shadowclan when tawnypelt comes home with feathertail's kits, everyone assumes rowanclaw is the biological father because he's tawnypelt's best friend and was very attentive to her during her pregnancy. this is strengthened when flamekit pops out looking somewhat similar to him.

this is all despite the fact that rowanclaw is a trans man.

like, at first he tries to be honest, "um no I think you're forgetting some things, I can't be the father-" and his clanmates are like "aw don't be shy man :) tawnypelt's a good lady you're very lucky". and since the kits are really halfclan, tawny and rowan decide to run with it (in the process they become an actual couple and rowanclaw is the kits' adopted father)

it culminates when blackstar comes over to address tawnypelt's kits and sees rowanclaw. and his eyes squint a bit at him. rowanclaw shrinks into himself a bit. blackstar looms over him, glowering.

"rowanclaw. i heard you fathered tawnypelt's kittens... despite supposedly not being able to sire kittens at all."

rowan and tawny both look at each other in panic, realizing it was a stupid move to bank on this. rowan goes over escape plans and attacks that could potentially stun blackstar for a moment...

when blackstar pats him on the shoulder, and goes "good for you. a true shadowclan warrior always finds a way to get what he wants."

and he fucking leaves.

[batsight]

Star Flower, loner, Medic of SkyClan

She/Her, cis bisexual

Mother: Turnip

Father: One Eye

Adoptive Father: Skystar

Siblings: Unnamed, all deceased.

Design notes:

-She is styled after the Pokemon, Ogerpon

-The plants are a physical part of her body. They grow out of her.

-She is the physical embodiment of The Blazing Star.

Story notes: [Abuse CW]

-She was born as a normal kitten to a traveling band of rogues who loved to trade and spread their music. Unfortunately, this band died out to a plague, one that nearly took her own life. Desperate to save his family, her father Carrot traveled to a set of tunnels in Sanctuary Lake rumored to house a reality-bending god. He asked the god for a cure, and the god asked for his eye in return. They made the exchange, and he retrieved a glowing, golden, five pointed flower. However, he was too late to save most of his family, so the entire cure went to his surviving kit. He wasn't expecting her to survive the night given her fragile state and the dubiousness of the exchange...

-But the next morning, she was perfectly fine- great, even. If a little... odd... were those buds growing on her paws...?

-It only got stranger from there. When Carrot ended up finding more cats suffering from the plague, just a few calming purrs from his kit seemed to have them ripe and ready to go the next morning. Carrot understood then what had happened- his kit had become the cure herself. And cats were starting to look towards them more, started begging for her healing, for anything. And Carrot had lost everything... wasn't it time to start winning stuff back?

-And so, the pair became One Eye and Star Flower, for recognition's sake. The two formed their own small group, filled with cats Star Flower had healed. Star Flower loved to spread her magic where she went, to save cats from the brink of death and be showered with their love and appreciation. They felt like they owed a great debt to her, and she enjoyed that.

-She was very close with her father, even if their relationship could be strained. One Eye loved her, but to an extent, he also used her. He grew arrogant in his success, believing he had become the accomplice to a god, and began to hold that over cats who fell sick. He grew desperate for control and Star Flower was his key to that.

-One day, however, her father's group encountered the early clans. They were just beginning to settle down, work out their new rules, and declare borders. But what caught the group's attention was the near murder of a young kittypet, almost mauled to death by proto-SkyClan's leader, Skystar. Unable to heal wounds with her magic, Star Flower managed to bring the cat to a twoleg, who took her away.

-Appalled by the cruelty, Star Flower took a great interest in Skystar's group, and witnessed several of his other crimes against his cats and the other groups. As did One Eye, who, seeing the early signs of a plague, had an idea to put this cat and the other leaders in their place.

-One Eye and Star Flower joined the group, with One Eye acting as a curious loner, flattering Skystar with praise. Skystar enjoyed his company, and so One Eye grew in the rank rather quickly. He also took a great interest in Star Flower and her abilities. After murdering Tom, who insulted the cats and attempted to attack them, One Eye took the chance to take control over the group, overpowering Skystar and using Star Flower's power to keep the remaining cats in line- everything is going to be okay, you'll get your cure... if you stay in line and do as One Eye says.

-This went on for a moon, of Star Flower holding her magic over the heads of her clients to keep their loyalty towards One Eye. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel pride at it all at helping her father.

-Ultimately, One Eye was overthrown and killed when Skystar came back with reinforcements from the other clans. The rest of the rogues they'd accumulated ran off, and suddenly, Star Flower was alone. She'd never been without her father, and running would mean abandoning his grave, which she didn't want. But... this place had been a home to her for some time now, and she needed a place to stay. SkyClan had taken all of the available territory in the area, anyways, and she was in no shape to brave the other territories or twolegplace. So she offered her power to SkyClan as a peace offering and asked for shelter in return.

-Skystar was still sore from the event, but he couldn't deny that having Star Flower as an asset would be beneficial to him in the long run. And around this point, his son Thunderstar had disowned him and split off ThunderClan from SkyClan. He felt that he was losing allies, losing family, and he latched on to desperate Star Flower very quickly- as a cat who would never disobey him.

-Skystar takes Star Flower under his wing as his new child, her new ward, instating her as a medic. And because she is loyal to a fault, she won't disobey a new leader so similar to her father. And so, he pushes her to do humiliating things in front of the camp, ranging from general chores like tick baths, to forcing her to run laps around camp with an injury if she took too long to work her magic. He would take out his frustration from gatherings on her and berate her over the most menial things. He would make her withhold her power to help anyone in the clan who had displeased him. And if Star Flower ever tried to stick up for herself, all he had to do was remind her of what she did, how she helped torment his cats by holding a cure over their heads to help out her father.

-This went on for years, Star Flower becoming more and more despondent. One night, there was a particularly stressful gathering, in which Skystar got into a territorial dispute with Thunderstar over a pack of dogs ravaging the territories. He lost the dispute, came home, and immediately took it out on Star Flower, shouting at and attacking the molly for "taking too much food she didn't deserve". And something in Star Flower finally snapped, and for the first time, she didn't save a life- she took one. And another. And another. As many as what remained in Skystar's soul. She was discovered taking his very last life in his nest, while she was wondering if she could pin it on the dogs. She escaped the camp, and wandered the territory for the rest of her life.

-Unfortunately, while she finally won against Skystar in the moment, it was history who decided the victor. Sparrowstar declared that they couldn't let a tragedy like this happen ever again, and doubled down on banishing rogues. Every rogue-born cat was looked at with suspicion from then on, and as the decades began to pass, Star Flower's story became twisted and bent. As the story is told, a rogue had infiltrated SkyClan's camp asking for help, but had manipulated and charmed the leader with her prowess and rose in the ranks just high enough to take him out and attempt to claim his spot. Her story was used as a cautionary tale against rogues, warning cats against those who would infiltrate the camp and rot it from the inside. Eventually, even her true name was lost to time...

Rotten Flower, Warrior of The Dark Forest

Skystar didn't hesitate to throw her in the depth of the Dark Forest when she died. She wears her mask constantly, trying to keep away from the sickness of the muck. She's embraced the false myth made about her, claiming to have killed a founder for power and prestige. But in reality, it's been so long that she's forgotten her family, her power, her name. She barely even remembers Skystar himself. Though she's admired in the Dark Forest for her achievements, she doesn't hang around anyone, and acts hostile to those who approach her.

Perhaps someone can help her remember who she truly is...?

[yuridovewing]

*realizes my rewrite is really just an au at the end of the day and i can do what i want especially since im not actually committing to writing it aside from maybe doodles here and there* what if the lake tunnels were actually full of spiritual monsters and they can craft cats with their magic and send them out into the world and that's where cats like Brokenstar and the Three come from

[yuridovewing]

Twig and Violet concept doodles...

[yuridovewing]

thinking about my old post where I said tigerstar was kind of a family man before he was exiled and how he knew exactly how the agony of losing a child young felt with Lynxkit and Swiftpaw, how he mourned for them and raged at their deaths in grief... and yet he still slaughters gorsepaw in front of his mother, and attempts to have stormpaw and featherpaw publically excused, purely out of spite.

[yuridovewing]

Was gonna make Hollycinder endgame to my hyporewrite but now that Hollyleaf is gonna be a medic all the way through po3, I kiiinda want to put her with Willowshine instead. For the drama. Oh the misery of swearing yourself to your restrictive code to an unhealthy degree being challenged when you fall for another medic from another clan, indulging in the romance when you're children but breaking it off because you refuse to put your selfish sinful desires over the goodwill of StarClan and tradition, spending a few years in yearning and guilt and ruminating going "I had to, I can't love her, I would be less than scum if I did" and throwing herself into her work. Only to learn that she herself is a product of a forbidden relationship, the same as the one she indulged in. And her mother had "no" consequences for so long. Her mentor who she looked up to more than anything, who she previously honored for her faith in StarClan and the code and saw her as a standard worth following, had faltered in her faith. Why? Why would she inflict that on her clan? Why would she inflict that on Hollyleaf? What was it for? . .. Could Hollyleaf have done the same? Would she? But why? Was she cursed with her mother's name because she was destined to be like her? Were they both destined to be sinners? No, no. No. This can be fixed. It has to be. She can repent. They can both repent. And she will make her mother repent if its the last thing she does. She has to. She has to get back in StarClan's good will. She has to. She has to.

[yuridovewing]

I would like to know about homuculous flesh puppet nightheart

okay so homunculus flesh puppet nightheart refers to a tentative wip plotline in razorverse where nightheart is actually another reincarnation of cinderpelt- to recap, the reincarnation has nothing to do with disability or whatever- cinderpelt in my verse meddles with the tunnels’ magic with rock’s help, and in the process she gets cursed the same way he did: perpetually reincarnating each time she dies, locked out of starclan and being denied an afterlife. and throughout her reincarnations, each iteration of herself is stuck in a new body. the idea is for her to become another ward of the tunnels, acting as their vessel throughout all of eternity. rock helped this curse happen so that he could be released from his own, and he dies in oots (WIP- this is undecided)

the details between that and nightheart are rather fuzzy right now. i bounce back and forth between what the family tree with them looks like, what cinderheart’s fate is, and whether larksong is another vessel or it goes from cinderheart -> nightheart (hence the “father’s homunculus flesh puppet” comment). or if it works the way reincarnation does in canon or if i take the pokemon rejuvenation approach where the character reverts back into a kitten when they die. (which im leaning into bc nightheart spawning from larksong’s violent death while sparkstorm is in labor and then has to nurse him…. and the subsequent feelings afterwards oughhhh jesus christ its so fucked up and i love it)

im wondering if i should redo it based on the DID talk going around though. i dont think the cinders + lark are talking and participating in nighthearts head, but they are locked to his mind and its keeping them from getting into the afterlife, and their conflicting memories do harm nightheart in the present. i dont want to demonize systems though, if it comes across as that. i think if the parallel can be drawn, that the cinders + lark are all kind and benevolent, just in a tragic situation.

he’s the one who breaks the curse somehow. i still have to read asc for myself to be sure how that happens.

[yuridovewing]

Family Tree Base Used

Razorverse!Sandstorm family tree ! I made Tallstar's family sadder. Info/Changes under the cut

Sandgorse:

-Largely the same as he is in canon, except he's held accountable for being a bad father. He does not reconcile with Tallstar, not even in StarClan. Like Rainstar(flower), he doubles down on his actions and refuses to apologize. Tallstar's arc is about realizing he’s never going to win his father’s approval and focusing on the cats who care about him.

-Did make him kinda worse though. He's transphobic to Tallstar. Sorry for putting transphobia in the warriors universe but uhhh. I mean my take on this world is allll about how restrictive and harmful the clans can be and how they need to acknowledge that and change so. Bigotry naturally kinda comes with that.

-Pressures both of his children to be tunnelers and puts their dying legacy on their shoulders. Tallpaw develops claustrophobia, only made worse by Sandgorse. Finchpaw does much better at it and becomes his golden child for a bit, but gives her a perfectionist complex.

-Might have his prefix changed to separate him from Sandstorm more

Palebird:

-Largely the same as in canon, except she doesn't have a litter with Woolytail. She does not want more children.

-She still has ppd and trouble connecting to her children. This is made worse by Sandgorse not being a very good mate to her and dismissing her mental health.

-Taking a page out of For Roads Untraveled's book here, her arc is about how the characters around her, including her mate, dismiss her declining mental health and how that affects her relationship with her kids. She loves them, but she struggles to care for them and be around them. Her only real supports are Brackenwing and Woolytail. Sandgorse holds every favor he does for the family over her head, and to get back at him, asks Heatherstar to make her kits moor runners. This causes a lot of strife for everyone involved, especially when Sandgorse dies on bad terms with them all. Palebird spends years being estranged from her kits, but they finally talk it out and reconcile later in life. She dies peacefully in her sleep.

-Dates Woolytail soon after Sandgorse's death cause she realized that they had more chemistry and respect for one another than she ever had with Sandgorse, who pressured her to give up moor running to be a tunneler with him "if she cared about him".

Tallstar:

-Trans male and gay. Sandgorse is not a fan. Too bad for him. Very briefly T4T with Jake but it doesn't last long- Jake is a kittypet at heart.

-Has claustrophobia and PTSD from the cave in that killed his father.

-More... politically neutral than anything throughout his leadership. He's leery of "outsiders" but doesn't inherently dislike them. He genuinely didn't have much of an issue with Mudclaw's more conservative thinking when he appointed him deputy.

-However, he is more friendly to ThunderClan because of their history. He trusted them enough to allow his niece to be nursed there, and later let his nephew join. He was deeply grateful for their help when they rescued WindClan from exile.

-He had a big change of heart in old age, realizing he has more kin outside of his clan at this point than inside, and the journey especially opens his eyes that the clans bonding together would be more beneficial than not. But by then, it was too late- he ended up hurting more cats than saving by making Onewhisker deputy against the latter's true wishes.

-Has a strained relationship with Onestar in StarClan. Onestar is very bitter over what Tallstar did, and Tallstar wishes he went about his decision differently every day and wants to reconcile with him.

-Misses his ThunderClan kin a lot. His sister's death hit him quite hard as she was his last remaining family.

Finchsong:

-Rescued dead kit... only to die later whoops.

-Very stubborn molly, both a good and bad thing depending on the time. She was always taking risks to do what she thought was right- for example, running into a blocked off tunnel to try and convince Heatherstar to bring back tunneling. Or running away with her brother to find their father's murderer.

-As a kit and apprentice, she was much more insecure. She was briefly Sandgorse's golden child, because she was less "cowardly" than her brother and "more willing to embrace her future". AKA, do what Sandgorse wanted, give up her apprenticeship with no lip, and not complain cause she was afraid of his reaction. She actually did like to tunnel, but Sandgorse took all the joy out of it for her. She just stressed and stressed and stressed over whether she was digging the way Sandgorse wanted her to (even if it didn't suit her) or if Sandgorse was in a bad mood or not. Her relationship with Tallpaw is fractured over this briefly, as she sides with her father and starts begging Tallpaw to "just go with it" so he could be accepted too.

-She doesn't say it, but Sandgorse's death was a relief. She was devastated, she was angry that it happened... but she felt like she could breathe. This made her feel horribly guilty- how could she feel better with her father buried in the earth rather than besides her? It's a big motivator for her joining Talltail on his quest, and when she finally speaks about these feelings to Talltail, it pushes the two of them to process their feelings about their father and helps them reconcile in the long run.

-However, she is still left as a massive perfectionist, to the detriment of herself.

-Bisexual. Sandgorse was not a fan of this either.

-Bonded with Smokemask later in life, and felt very comfortable around him. She felt she could mess up in front of him and not beat herself up over it. She originally wasn't going to have kittens, in fear of restarting the cycle she experienced with her family, but felt confident about having them with Smokemask.

-Unfortunately, Smokemask was slain in a border skirmish with ShadowClan before their second litter was born. The stress of this, as well as the cold season and sickness, left Finchsong weakened, and she didn't survive her kitting, along with two of her kittens.

Smokemask:

-OC character, his parents are filler characters intended to help the gene pool a bit. Born shortly after Tall and Finch, he was mostly just casual friends with them before growing very close to Finchsong later in life.

-He didn't have a lot going on. Go boy give us nothing

-Also bi probably

-Was a more calm and chilled out character than anything to contrast with Finchsong's stressed and stubborn character.

-Was close to his son Longtail.

-Unfortunately died before meeting his second litter in a border skirmish.

Longtail:

-Finch and Smoke's firstborn, he was a single-kit litter. He's only about seven moons older than Sandstorm.

-Might have been in the skirmish that killed his dad. Whoops!

-More trans swag, also aro ace.

-Was devastated when his mother died, as he was very close to her. He was a worrywart over his baby sister, to the point where he was allowed to visit her in ThunderClan and build a relationship with her. He spent a lot of time in the nursery because of this and ended up becoming very good with children. (Minus Firepaw oops)

-When Sandkit wanted to stay in ThunderClan, he was torn. Deciding that he wanted his sister to be happy, but not wanting to be apart from her, he left WindClan so that she'd have some kin over there.

-This does become a point of insecurity for him, however. ThunderClan doubts his loyalty and the older warriors constantly question him when they're at conflict with WindClan. This makes it very easy for him to get sucked up into Tigerclaw's friend group, where he adapts their harmful mindset. He decides that to be a true ThunderClan warrior, he and Sandkit have to renounce their WindClan relation and prove himself by protecting ThunderClan from treacherous outsiders.

-This is part of why he's so antagonistic to Firepaw. He lashes out because this is his chance to prove that he's not like those outsiders. Plus, he feels pretty humiliated being on equal standing with a kittypet. At least HE'S clanborn.

-This gets worse when Sandstorm gets close to Fireheart, he doubles down, but after Tigerclaw's exile, he's thrown head first into what his life will be like if he keeps up his xenophobic beliefs. Slowly, but surely, he tries to patch things up with Fireheart and really empathize with him, realizing they're not so different and opening up to him. Xenophobia loss.

-He gets put through the wringer hard. It's canon compliant from here on out til Swiftpaw's death, which he takes extremely hard. Fireheart, despite their terrible past, is a shoulder for him to lean on during this time. At this point, Sandstorm is pregnant, and Longtail decides to put his faith in Fireheart and follow him.

-After Whitestorm's death, Fireheart makes Longtail deputy. He makes for a good deputy for most of the year, but steps down when he's blinded in the first book of TNP (there's a smaller time gap between TPB and TNP)

-Dotes on Sandstorm's descendants pretty hard

Sandstorm:

-Was the only surviving kit in Finchsong's second litter.

-There were no other queens in the nursery when Sandkit was born, so no one could feed her. Thinking fast, Barkface remembered that one of ThunderClan's mollies had had a litter very recently, and said that Sandkit should be taken there to be fed.

-Her foster siblings were Dustkit and Ravenkit. She grew very close to Dustkit in particular. Dust and Raven's mother was Nightdapple (AKA: Nightkit, Tigerclaw’s sister!) and their father is a currently undecided cat… he’s not important.

-Bluestar had agreed to give her back to WindClan when she was weaned, but Sandkit cried and cried and clung to her foster mother when the time came. She didn't want to leave the forest, not her mother or Dustkit. Tallstar tried to make her come back... but quickly realized that he would just be making her miserable, thinking back to his brief romance with Jake, where the latter was clearly miserable living as a wild cat full time. Knowing that ThunderClan's numbers had been cut down harshly after their recent plague and that Bluestar was worried about their population, Tallstar agreed to allow Sandkit to be a ThunderClan cat.

-Growing up, however, she definitely felt her clanmates' judgement for not being born in ThunderClan. Even her best friend Dustpaw seemed to agree that while she was a good friend, it made sense that not everyone trusted her for not being born there. Similar to Longtail, her hostility to other clan cats and Firepaw stemmed from this insecurity.

-Loved her older brother a lot and admired him. She was very offended that he lost to Firepaw, which made her resent him even more as an apprentice.

-She was horrified when WindClan was driven out, however.

-When Fireheart, Graystripe, Whitestorm, and Tigerclaw were sent to find WindClan, Sandpaw followed them, outraged that the kittypet was sent to find them instead of her. Fireheart and Graystripe bickered with her, asking why she was bothering with the journey. At first, she refused to tell them the real reason, embarrassed at what Fireheart may say about her heritage. But when Sandpaw nearly got hit by a monster on the thunderpath, Fireheart saved her, hurting himself in the process.

-As he's nursed back to health, Sandpaw stiffly thanked him for saving her. The two of them nearly bicker again, but it actually ended up being a nice enough conversation. Sandpaw finally tells Fireheart about her WindClan family, and how she felt out of place in ThunderClan sometimes because of it. And Fireheart... actually found a bit of comfort in that, knowing that someone else felt the same pressure he did to prove themself. The two of them realize they have far more in common and Sandpaw gave him a thorough apology for how she treated him when he was an apprentice.

-When they find WindClan, she felt very awkward, but Uncle Tallstar was exceedingly happy to see her. He immediately trusted the ThunderClan patrol because of her presence. The two of them bonded throughout the journey back home, Sandpaw feeling encouraged by Fireheart to reach out to her uncle and not renounce a relationship with him entirely.

-Despite running away, Whitestorm encouraged Bluestar to make Sandpaw a warrior after the journey.

-There's a pretty big shift in the original five apprentice group dynamic after this. Graystripe pulled away due to his relationship with Silverstream, and Fireheart ended up leaning more on Sandstorm. Sandstorm ended up feeling more comfortable around Fireheart than around Dustpelt, who spent more time parroting Tigerstar these days and making her feel like there were strings attached to their friendship. Fireheart never made her feel like she had to pretend to be someone she wasn't, and she ended up loving his thoughtful and determined nature. Her friendship with Dustpelt imploded when she snaps at him for making a cruel joke about WindClan, and though they reconcile later when Dustpelt gets better, they were never that close ever again.

-She and Fireheart get together in Rising Storm, and their first litter (Squirrelkit/Leafkit) was born in A Dangerous Path.

[batsight]

Bluestar, Leader of ThunderClan.

[yuridovewing]

Uncle Scourge not really caring one way or another about Firestar and at the absolute best he's only on neutral terms with him (even after they realize who one another is) but he IS somehow the bestest uncle ever. Leafkit and Squirrelkit idealize the man they think hes SO cool. Squirrelkit goes up to him and she's like "can you teach me how to use my deathpaw" and he's like "???? what" and she waves her white paw at him like "the deathpaw!!! the magic one you drained tigerstar's juice with!!!! i wanna kill tigerstar too!!!" and she mimics him a bit and Firestar walks up and Scourge is teaching her and Leafkit how to brew poison drinks and he looks at him straight in the eye as he tells Leafkit to stir the yew in dark liquid so its hard to notice

[yuridovewing]

*head snaps up with the speed of arrows*

CLOUDTAIL AND BRIGHTHEART GO TO REBUILD SKYCLAN

[yuridovewing]

ive got to get into rv darktail and violetshine some more…. im thinking that rather than being removed from shadowclan by needlepaw while joining the kin, darktail strolls into camp and declares that he wants to take his daughter home. (this is where violetkit learns hes her dad, though other shadowclan cats like needle figure it out first- tbh im considering needlepaw specifically tips him off so shes still got some responsibility here but in a “shes clearly being groomed” way)

theres some conflict because the cats want to keep violetkit as a pawn in the prophecy, or use her ghost powers which have begun to bud. but the leader (who is either russetstar or tawnystar, not rowanclaw. theres gonna be a shift there but i havent decided which one), exhausted of the rogues, just lets darktail take her, saying she should be with her family, away from the clans. thunderclan strictly refuses to give up twigkit. this fucks violetkit up even more, because suddenly, NOW keeping her from her family is bad? when this family is not the familiar warmth of her sister, but a manipulative tom with a history of violence, who’s been villainized constantly by her clan? NOW theyre okay with letting her go?

darktail uses this to manipulate her, tell her that the clans discarded him just like they discarded her, how they ruined their family and how they only have each other- he saved her in time, but they cant save twigkit because she’s been corrupted by now.

[yuridovewing]

rv!lionblaze improving after the events of oots and adopting a litter of kittens and being better to them, being hyper vigilant towards their mentors and making sure nothing fishy is going on, being more goofy and understanding with his future apprentices because the prophecy has been fulfilled and he can be happy now. but dovewing doesnt get that. he feels awkward being around her after everything so he just. never interacts with her unless he has to. he’s too proud to apologize. when she runs away, its easy for him to dismiss her as a fluke, dismiss all the good she did for thunderclan, go “it wasnt me, she was just disloyal at heart. i couldnt have fixed that.” she inherited the worst parts of her mother. she took her mother away from him at the very start too, so of course she’d end up this way. he’s a flawed warrior, but. surely he wasn’t THAT flawed. he didnt do anything wrong, he cant have. she watches him console his kit after a failed apprentice’s fighting test, the same one he and jayfeather put her down over. he willingly ignores the irony

[yuridovewing]

How did you make Rainflower worse? I'm really interested.

Rubs my hands together. I made that woman RANCID (Putting this under the cut because I predict it’ll get long and I wanna throw up a CW for abuse of power, child abuse, victim blaming, humiliation, and ableist abuse. Also disclaimer: haven’t reread Crookedstar’s Promise in a minute, and I want to, so this is subject to change)

Razorverse Rainflower… or as she’s properly called… Rainstar.

Just gonna plagiarize @/bonefall’s structure and stuff here lmaooo. Gonna list what I don’t care for about the canon version, what I’d like to do but am not sure how to go about it exactly, and what I know I want to do.

Canon:

-So, Rainflower. We all know her, she’s The Bad Mom. The one who renamed her son something ableist for the purpose of humiliating and disowning him. The one who never apologized, barely made any attempts to support him further, and fucked up Crookedstar’s self esteem and drove him into Mapleshade’s claws.

-I don’t have an issue with her being portrayed like this at all. Rainflower herself, as she’s presented in the book in a vacuum, is fine. I’m very anti “oh lets never talk about serious topics in kids content” because that’s an easy slippery slope into book banning to me. Her actions are portrayed as horrific, and if I remember correctly, Crookedstar doesn’t forgive her. No reconciliation. With several kids properties (and WC itself if we’re being honest) making plotlines about how you have to forgive your abuser or you suck, that’s honestly sort of refreshing. You’re not obligated to forgive your mother because she’s your mother. Fuck that. The ableism adds a whole extra layer to this as well because while I don’t remember specific caretaker abuse in the book, plenty of victims have spoken up about relating to Crookedstar. She really is the recipe for an intentionally awful character.

-That being said… man, it’s kinda weird how this random ass queen apparently has the power to rename her child something derogatory in the eyes of their god and the leader who is in charge of all this is like “yeah sure okay”, and everyone else is like “oughhh that bites! ah well though what can ya do? sorry infant, we’re cool with calling you a slur forever” and that is never addressed or seen as weird and we’re supposed to love all these other characters and see them as role models for Crookedkit.

-It makes RiverClan look Pretty Bad, Dude. Which would be cool if it was intentional-there’s actually a line in Cats of the Clans that implies Crookedstar struggled because of societal expectations, not just his mom’s disowning. I kinda wanna reincorporate that. Like, Rainflower isn’t just One Bad Mom, she’s a product of her environment, she has a clique of cats that think just like her.

-Also… while I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing in a kids book, yeah, Rainflower is pretty flat. Not completely- my best friend read the book recently and he actually made a great point that Rainflower’s kind of a bad mom even before the accident because she brags and brags about her kids, but doesn’t really look out for them, which makes them get hurt. She thinks her kids fart rainbows until one of them makes her look bad, after which she disowns and treats him poorly. But aside from that… there’s not much to her. She gives birth in a storm and has sentimental names because of that, she is a doting mama until she isn’t, and you could also say she’s vain.

-Again- all that is perfectly fine.

-But… and this may read as a little controversial to the fandom crowd… I like to add a bit more meat to abusive characters.

-Not necessarily by making them sympathetic, although that’s one way to do it if done properly and with the tact and attention it deserves.

-But I want to make them read more like people. People who have families and friends, who have hobbies and favorite foods and silly weekly routines. Who have fears and anxieties, who care deeply for the ones they love. Who are charming and well liked.

-Because abusers are not identifiable at a distance. They’re not always obvious. They’re not ugly, or constantly acting like douchebags.

-A lot of abuse falls under the rug because of the abuser’s status in reality. A man that beats his wife could have his family rally behind him because… well, they grew up with him. That’s not who he TRULY is. What did the wife do to provoke him? No no, this man also has an important job, he has a lot of connections and people willing to stick up for him. “I’ve talked to him before and he was just the nicest man! He would never do anything like that. Maybe he was just having a hard day. His job is so hard, you know!”

-A mom who stalks and beats her kids? Well, she’s so sweet in public! She tutors the neighbors kids, you can’t possibly expect us to believe she’s hurting her own! They must be problem children anyways if she has to keep her eye on them.

-That aunt who emotionally abuses her nespring? Well, she’s got such an important job higher up and she has connections (and eyes) everywhere! There’s no escape no way you could expect us to believe that such a helpful person could be so cruel!

-(And in cases of romantic relationships there is typically victim blaming in this line of thinking. “How did you not know they were abusive? Surely you noticed SOME of the signs? You’re not innocent here. You chose this. You can’t expect me to be sympathetic.” This doesn’t apply to Rainflower, but since I’m talking about fandom abuse, I think it’s worth a mention.)

-These people can’t be abusers. Because they’re human. They’re loved. And if that’s true… doesn’t that mean you and I are also capable of abuse? That people we know and trust in real life could be abusive? People we look up to? No, no. Of course not. Abusers aren’t human. And as long as we slot them as inhuman entities, as Other, that means we could never become like that. Ever. Anyways, I just got done rewatching all the silly pirate movies, he’s so funny and charming! How could that evil inhuman bitch EVER think he abused her? She is a demon who should rot in hell for making me feel bad about my best celebrity friend. She should’ve just put up and shut up.

-(Really hope it’s obvious, but I know what fandom I’m talking to, so I’m gonna slap an /S here for that whole paragraph)

-And I can’t help but see parallels of that when I look at fandom and you have people going “you’re an abuse apologist if you think this abusive character had a backstory or motive!” or “This comic is bad because it portrays an abuser as having a pleasant relationship with their sibling!”

-The reality is that no one is born evil. No one crawls out the womb ready to commit war crimes or whatever, no matter what Warrior Cats tries to tell you.

-A big thing that allows abuse to fester is power. Familial abuse is so common because the children are under the care of the adults around them that have every right over their autonomy. Becoming a parent is to have power over a small, vulnerable person… and so of course, that creates an environment where the adults are practically welcome to take advantage of that.

-Of course someone might not notice their friend is a child abuser. Their friend probably doesnt have intoxicating power over them, so they don’t see that behavior. And if that friend somehow does hold power over them… well, all the more reason not to rock the boat, right?

-Okay I’m rambling at this point so let’s bring it back to Rainflower. I’ve seen a couple people try to flat out woobify her, which is something I don’t particularly care for personally, but it’s led people to be kinda volatile to those who do try to add… More, to Rainflower. “Oh, you must do that because you don’t think her abuse is that bad!” Even when that’s not at all what people are saying.

-Rainflower isn’t real. The way she’s handled resonates with people, and that IS real, and should be respected. (Again- I’m not saying it’s bad to portray her as pure evil. I’m sure that’s liberating for some people who grew up with a parent like her! Different strokes for different folks)

-But that doesn’t mean we’re not talking about fiction at the end of the day, and no, we are not toning down abuse by daring to ask why Rainflower is the way she is.

-And that’s what I’m gonna ask.

What I’d Like to Do:

-So, Rainstar is leader now. That’s my answer to the awkward way the original renaming is handled.

-I like readings where she’s thoroughly punished, or that Hailstar was biased in her favor and had to be humbled for it later. But I felt particularly spiteful about the “Listen to your leader no matter what or you’re a heathen!” law they’ve only recently let up on (only to mock the change if I’m reading it right) and I was like. Actually let’s play around with that.

-The idea here is that Rainstar is someone who uses her power to abuse those around her. She doesn’t really need to be leader to abuse Stormkit, she has structural power over him as his mother and a warrior, but I wanted her to be leader because… jesus christ can you imagine having your abusive parent be your leader as well? The one who decides what route you take in the clan? Who has autonomy over you for battle patrols? Who can humiliate and punish you with no repercussions? Where your clanmates sticking up for you could be systematically punished for doing do?

-I still need to figure out the timeline here. If she dies at the same time as in canon, how long this goes on for, all the cats that are Team Crookedjaw or Team Rainstar, etc. I’d like him to still have good moments to breathe in between all this, like Brambleberry is still important and advocates for him a lot, his friendship with Willowbreeze and his brotherhood with Oakheart, the barn cats are still helpful to him after he returns. I do think she dies relatively early though. Crookedstar becomes a leader very young.

-Basically though, the idea is that Rainstar is a perfectionist that’s intoxicated on power. Growing up, she seemed to be a perfectly kind warrior. She and Shellheart were a great couple and she was excellent friends with Hailstep and Echomist, even if she could have a competitive streak.

-But… her grandfather was Appledusk. Who died at the serial killer Mapleshade’s claws before he met his kits. Who was also a codebreaker, and implied to have not been the best mate to Reedshine.

-Though the clan forgave him, there was a pressure on his lineage to not repeat his mistakes. After all, if he never had an affair with Mapleshade (broke our wonderful code!) this may not have happened.

-Applefrost and Duskwater made it as top standard warriors, with Duskwater having been deputy before she retired. There wasn’t a single blemish on their records.

-Rainflower felt this pressure throughout her life. She felt confined to clan life, doing whatever she was told. If she was told to jump, she asked how high. She was perfect. A model warrior for the apprentices to look up to. Always smiling and happy to join patrols, attend festivals, taste test meals, etc. She was just what she needed to be… with no room to breathe. No room to fail.

-And of course, because she’s just a cat, she did fail. Like taking too much food at mealtime. Or falling asleep during her vigil. And when she did, it was scandalous. She was berated by her former mentor and parents, cats whispered about how clumsy she was, how she probably couldn’t be leader after all.

-Rainflower would recover, as would her reputation. She climbed the ranks with a raised head and tail. Never faltering if she could help it. Gathering several loyal supporters.

-When she finally became leader though, it was like some of the pressure gave way. She still followed the code, still did her part, she was still exceedingly popular and was responsible for very smart negotiations with the other clans, even managing to work through a sturdy alliance with Heatherstar.

-But… she had more agency atop her clan. Sure, she still couldn’t fail, not ever. But if she had to, say, give a warrior humilating tasks for speaking to her in a tone she didnt like, she could. If her mate and deputy, Shellheart, did something she didn’t like, she could leverage her power over him, with the clan’s support even.

-It was only a matter of time before things got worse… When Oakkit and Stormkit were born. Duskwater died in the storm around the same time they took their first breath. Applefrost had died years prior. Rainstar took pride in her kittens, but the pressure was on once again- never fail. Don’t make us look bad. Don’t make me look bad. If you fail, then I have failed.

-And when Stormkit cracks his jaw that fateful day, he failed. She failed.

-She saw him as a humiliation. Something to be ashamed of. Perfect Rainstar’s son, disfigured.

-When Brambleberry informed her that he would be permanently disabled from now on, resentment began to brew. Even though Stormkit was still healing, she became colder and harsher to him. Propping up Oakkit as her golden child, her winnings. And putting down Stormkit as her failure, something to be ashamed of.

-She essentially dehumanizes Stormkit (and Oakkit to an extent). They are extensions of her. They are something to be idolized. They are something to throw around when you need to release stress. And that’s just what she does when she renames him Crookedkit and decides to keep him a kit forever.

-He doesn’t even get the privilege of being an elder. Elders gave something to their clan and are honored and supported since they’re frail now. Crookedkit didn’t do anything worthy, he acted like a child, and ruined himself, so he gets to stay a child. Forever.

-Crookedkit was unfortunately subject to a lot of public humiliation and pressure during this time. (I’m wondering if Shellheart still dumps Rainstar here. Their mateship is dead either way, but he also probably still tries to suck up to her to keep his deputyship. Kinda torn on whether he flipflops between supporting Crookedjaw or Rainstar because of it… Leaning towards him being just on Crooked’s side, but I also like him having to be a tiebreaker between Brambleberry and Rainstar)

-When Crookedkit is denied his apprentice ceremony for several moons, he runs away to the barn, where he gets properly trained. This is a wip, I wanna reread the book and see how they handle this in canon, but these cats stick around for the rest of his life. Bonefall even had one go back with him in Better Bones, so I think I may take a page out of his book and do that too. (Maybe with a different cat though lol) They remain a support system for him.

-Oakpaw also deals with similar pressure, as well as his mom worshipping him (and knowing he’ll be humiliated like his brother if he “fails”). As a form of escapism, once Crookedkit runs away, he repeats history and starts a secret friendship with Bluepaw, the troublemaker ThunderClan apprentice.

-There is that divide in the clan still. Several cats were indeed outraged at Crookedkit’s treatment… but what can they do? Rainstar will punish them if they help. And she has more supporters than not, for one reason or another, whether it’s her former mentor (undecided, he’s an elder I think) or her friend Hailstep. All of which vouch for her, claiming she has the right to handle her son and clanmate the way they want. And besides… he can’t even eat right, how will he be uuuuusefullllllllll

-Oh yeah there’s also the whole “this society is pretty ableist and is unaccommodating to disabled people” thing. Crookedkit struggles to eat! He deals with pain in his jaw all the time, he slurs his words and cant pronounce certain things. Like in canon, he finds support for this in the barn, not in the clan.

-After he comes back for some reason or another (WIP), he’s nearly full grown and imposing, and now that hes uuuuusefullllllllll (so now he’s ok) Rainstar does relent and let him be an apprentice. But his apprenticeship is long and grueling. She refuses to let him go to gatherings, she constantly attacks him over his training and hunting, she gets pissed if a border patrol sees him, she has him perform tasks that upset his jaw (like helping with construction).

-Crookedpaw is freed, however, when dogs are found in the territory. The two major losses? Shellheart and Rainstar. The deputy and leader.

-And a squirrel with a crooked jaw was found on the freshkill pile.

-(with a note that say “Shadey says hi!!! xoxo kys”)

-To say this caused outrage would be an understatement. Crookedpaw would be going from apprentice to leader! He’s underqualified! Forget not having an apprentice- he’s been one for years!

-But. StarClan’s will can’t be denied, Brambleberry says. (Unsure how much she Knows.)

-So Crookedpaw becomes Crookedstar. A false prophet leader.

-From there I think he’s like a proto Onestar? No civil war but he does deal with a ton of pressure and the psychological weight of having to lead the cats who enabled his mom to hurt him. Still figuring out how he was a leader… but he is kinder to his family. He vows to never leverage his power over Silverkit, ever.

Other Stuff I’d Like to Change But I Dunno How:

-God I hate the ableist names so tbh I’d like to nix that here. Make Crookedstar an honor title like in BB (I really like honor titles so I wanna try them out myself) But I don’t quiiite know how to make it work in this context.

-I think I’ve said this before but I want Mapleshade to have haunted Rainstar too. Maybe put some ideas in her head and made her insecurities worse. My only thing is that I dunno how much influence Mapleshade has at that point. I think Crookedstar was where she upped her game and got more power.

Okay if you read all of this, bless you, thank you <3 this took me a minute so I appreciate it. Also if anyone has any tips or criticism I’d welcome them! Especially on all the abuse talk, some of it came from my own feelings and experiences but I would hate if I funked up the wording or misunderstood something. We’re all capable of harm after all and I am not exempt from that. Also if any of the talk was upsetting, I’ll go reblog some kitten pics as a detox.

[yuridovewing]

what if i replaced sharptooth with a man holding a rifle

[yuridovewing]

everyone else rewriting nightheart like normal people: ok so we’re gonna make him trans, or we’re gonna make it so his plot isn’t exactly about feeling mad about firestar’s legacy, or we’ll play him up as an unreliable narrator who just cant see how his family does love him until his development

me: what if he was his dad’s homunculus flesh puppet