#Bonefall Bramble is not very different from the way I perceive Canon Bramble

[bonefall]

how is bramblepaw’s characterization since it is shown that bramblestar is an actively bad person instead of “oh he’s a good guy uwu” while he is 100% fine with letting kits die for some land

Something I want to say with my rewrite, but I'm not sure how, is that power is an amplifying sort of force. Someone who's a pretty... normal sort of bad can do a LOT more harm without even meaning to, when power is added to the mix.

But I'm not sure how to show that, in the story itself.

Bramblepaw

Anyway, Bramblepaw is just a kid. He's a kid and Darkstripe sneaks him out to meet his dad, only to find out his dad's a horrible murderer. He sees violent death at a young age; Runningwind, then his older brother Swiftpaw.

Firestar takes him as an apprentice, only for Bramble to find out he did it because he's always been suspicious of him. That nice man he met, Leader of ShadowClan, the one who smiled and looked at you with such love, he's the reason why you don't see Mr. Runningwind anymore. That's why Cousin Cinderpelt's leg hurts in bad weather. That's why the whole Clan looks at you like that.

All the while, Tigerstar is demanding his children, since ThunderClan couldn't protect his oldest. Bramblepaw has only ever known fear and distrust from a very young age.

I imagine that the real turning point of his life was watching Tawnypaw leave. He had his cousins, he had his mom, but something about watching her vanish into the night... he felt so alone. He felt like he lost something that he will never get back.

Suffering doesn't make you a better person, it just hurts. Every horrible thing that Bramble does is in some desperate attempt to prevent people from leaving him, or to not "lose" something. Respect, Clanmates, Lovers...

Bramblestar

So, power. He never should have had it.

As a regular warrior the sort of damage he can do is limited. Think to the time in TNP when Squirrelflight broke up with him and he acted like a dick to her for several chapters. It was shitty, but AT MOST he could just embarrass her in front of her mom and yell at her a lot.

Tweak the writing a bit so that the Clan isn't completely oblivious to this being an abusive dynamic, and Squilf could have found a lot of support here.

But add power to the mix, and Bramble's mind games suddenly encompass the entire Clan. In Canon Squirrelflight's Hope, you can SEE the cycle of abuse taking place, the same way you see it in TNP. But this time, Squilf disobeying her husband also means disobeying the Clan Leader. Every political action she takes is also an action that affects her romantic life.

So it's not necessarily that Bramblestar is best described as, 'ok with letting the kits die for some land.' It's not about the land. It's about controlling Squirrelflight. It's about proving to himself that she won't make him lose face, that she won't make him lose control of his clan, and also, that no matter WHAT he does or decides, that he won't lose her as well.

EVERYTHING gets lost in pursuit of that goal. Everything. The personhood of the sisters, the kits, the well being of the Clan at large.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" He shouts, when Squirrelflight is trying to save the life of a dying cat by preventing him from intimidating a medic. He's only thinking about himself.

That's it. That's the motivation. He's not a Machiavellian psychopath who thinks baby-eating is cool. It's carelessness. It's selfishness. It's control.

Everything gets lost in the pursuit of what he wants. He's just a mediocre manchild who failed upwards, and an incompetent leader looks an awful lot like a malicious one.

Rewrite

He actually doesn't become deputy in Bonefall TNP. It's a sudden choice that Firestar makes after Brackenfur shows up dead, and shortly after that Bramblestar is thrust into power.

I think his best moment in my rewrite is right after he fights Hawkfrost to save Firestar, when he agrees that he needs to step down, and serves as a faithful warrior for a while.

That's the moment in his life when he does the most introspection, and is probably the healthiest and happiest version of Bramble that he will ever be. It's short-lived, as it all comes crashing down by the end of Po3... but for a few years, he was just Brambleclaw, Normal Guy.

Idk. I think about him a lot. They should invent cat therapy and study his fucked up little kitty brain.

#Brambleclaw #Warrior Cats Analysis #Bonefall Rewrite #Bonefall Bramble is not very different from the way I perceive Canon Bramble #Abuse #Abusive Relationship #Bonefall TNP #Bonefall Po3 #Squirrelflight's Horror #Bramble is one of those anti-blorbo types to me. I think about him a lot (derogatory) #Scrinkly I guess