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bonefall · 4 months

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BB!Nightcloud

Nightcloud Woobification Army ASSEMBLE.

There's actually very little canon information on Nightcloud outside of how her ex-mate deflects blame onto her, which she is notoriously demonized for. So for Better Bones, I've cooked up a backstory from scratch! I feel this character deserves to exist outside of her romantic relationship, y'know?

Make sure to check the BB!WindClan Family Tree if you recognize any of the repurposed Missing Kits!

Clanmew Name: Oogarhai (The period of time where the sun has set + fat cloud) Official nickname: Nico (NIghtClOud), Oogi (OOGarhaI)

Alignment: WindClan

Relationships: Ex-mate - Crowfeather Child - Breezepelt Family (all deceased) - Hillrunner (Mi), Downwind (aunt, bio-mother), Tawnyfur (sister), Crowfur (grandparent) Mentor - Addersong

Nightcloud is a controversial warrior of WindClan, and also among its largest, strongest cats. She continuously finds herself tangled up in nearly every massive conflict since the day they arrived at the lake, with only some of these events being things she ever had a choice to be involved in.

Though she yearns for a more peaceful life, her violent, stressful childhood following the WindClan Massacre carved deep distrust of outsiders into her bones. It lead her to the lowest point in her life, fighting for Mudclaw during the WindClan Civil War. The following years of distrust, Crowfeather's mistreatment, and the abuse towards her son, Breezepelt, made much of Nightcloud's life lonely and stressful.

In spite of that, she absolutely adores her son and stands by his side no matter what. After the secret that Crowfeather sired kits with a ThunderClan Cleric is revealed and he is banished for a few moons for dramatic, codebreaking behavior at the reveal, a "spell" that he cast over WindClan begins to lift. In his absence, Nightcloud is able to truly begin fixing her reputation.

Though Breezepelt still has a way to fall as a new POV in BB!AVoS, where his treatment as a Dark Forest trainee drives him to join Darktail's cult, Nightcloud's life begins to turn around after her mateship with Crowfeather crumbles. After participating in a secret plan to rescue her boy and several Kin members under the command of her future leader and son-in-law, Harespring, she is solidified as one of the most powerful fighters in the entire Clan and occupies a lofty position as one of its most reliable brawlers.

She's also developing a friendship with Willowclaw about it, which is neat.

Glossary

Upbringing

WindClan Civil War

Mateship & Abuse

Breezepelt and BB!AVoS

Trivia and Misc

Upbringing

The Mothermouth Moorland War came to a cruel and bloody quietus at the claws of Brokenstar's ShadowClan, ending a three-generation long conflict with an event called the WindClan Massacre. Along with the rest of their Clan, a pair of twins was forced into exile; Downwind and Hillrunner.

They looked out for each other, and ferociously protected the tattered Clan while living in the Tangle of Thunderpaths. It was hard, but they had each other and that was enough.

After Bluestar's champion, Fireheart, fetched WindClan to bring them home, Downwind soon gave birth to her first litter. A pair of sisters; one of them practically a little copy of her mother... and the other one who looked hilariously nothing like anyone in their family. The twin girls were named Nightkit, and Tawnykit.

They'd barely settled in before Nightstar and Crookedstar turned on them, attacking to try and drive them out AGAIN. If it wasn't for Bluestar and her reinforcements, ThunderClan's charity, they might have succeeded.

But this time, Downwind refused to run. Hillrunner saw her twin, limp, red, and ragged outside the nursery. The kits were too young to remember her, or to understand the significance of their new Mi's anguished cries that night. They came so far together, only for Hillrunner to lose her other half in the place where things were supposed to get better.

NOTE: On adopting the kits, Hillrunner is then considered their "Mi," a primary parent in Clan culture. Her biological relation as the aunt is superseded.

Nightkit and Tawnykit only knew Hillrunner as their Mi. They only know that Downwind was identical to her-- except for a scar across Hiller's nose.

Hillrunner was notoriously short tempered, paranoid, and easily offended. She shouldn't have been raising kits alone, but what choice did she have?

She was CONVINCED that she'd failed Downwind that day, and that something could have been done to avoid the WindClan Massacre. So she was dedicated to making sure her own kits were better prepared.

They knew the whole territory by heart by their 6th moon, and even major abandoned tunnels below the moor

Most apprentices don't learn how to differentiate individual warriors out of scent marks until a moon or two into training. Night and Tawny knew it before they became 'paws.

Ever trying to ask a question, or tell Hillrunner that they didn't want to do something, was "backtalk;" argue too much and she would hit them with a punishment.

Punishments, "lessons," were usually strenuous physical tasks, like doing laps, moving large objects, or being made to carry a stone in the mouth for hours.

The sort of thing, in hindsight, was probably meant to be a sort of "cover"... the Clan thought the 'Lessons' were harsh but 'understandable'. No one would step in.

If Hillrunner was angry though, she would also just straightup smack them. She was less creative when she was in a mood.

As an adult, Nightcloud will tell you how messed up it used to be... but sometimes she preferred when Hillrunner was moody. If she got hit, the creative "lesson" wouldn't be applied to Tawnykit too.

Because Nightkit got in trouble more often than Tawnykit, there was a sort of sour resentment between them, mixed in with the unbreakable sense of solidarity.

Tawnykit: "You got US in trouble. But no one else in the world knows what we're going through. I love you. I'm going to take this out on you when we're alone. I can't believe you did this to me, I can't believe our Mi did this to us. Can't you try harder?? We did nothing wrong. Why am I paying for YOUR mistakes?"

Hillrunner says she, "Just wants you to be safe. ShadowClan won't hit you with their claws sheathed! This is what real life is like! If you'd just LISTEN to me you'd know this is for your own good!"

The little family was "close," in the way that mice tied together at the tail are close, even as they desperately pull at the knot and gnaw at each other's flesh.

Hillrunner convinced them the world was terrifying, that they couldn't entirely rely on their clanmates, and the most important thing in life is Gan, blood-family.

"The ONLY ones who will turn out for you, who you can rely on, who will be there until the end, is your family. The only way you'll lose us is if you're not strong enough, and I'll make you strong. I promised. You'll see!"

When she finally became Nightpaw, Hillrunner continued to try and have control over her... but the new mentor, Addersong, would not be bullied. And he would not let his apprentice get pushed around either.

He taught Nightpaw that now that she was an apprentice, she was free to make her own choices.

If she needed him around when she confronted Hillrunner, he would be there.

And if she needed to be the one to do that alone, he would support that too.

But on one condition; he would never tolerate someone speaking down to his apprentice in front of him. THAT is a matter of his pride. Capiche?

That was a term she could handle.

She had always known that she didn't want to be like Hillrunner, and that one day she'd be free of all the torment she was put through, but Addersong was the one who showed her the way out. Protected her when others didn't.

It gave her a sense of newfound confidence, and freedom. Like maybe the world WASN'T so terrible after all. And maybe... there's people out here who are kinder and more loving than she was ever allowed to believe.

And then, Hillrunner died in a TigerClan attack

And she began to wonder if it was HER fault when Tawnyfur fell to BloodClan

And suddenly Addersong's lessons felt far away. And maybe that was a good thing.

Hillrunner tried to teach her that family, KIN, was the most important thing in the world, and Nightcloud began to reject that. And now they are all dead.

She didn't appreciate them enough while they were alive. And now they are gone.

So... she pushed Addersong away. He figured she needed space to mourn.

WindClan Civil War

While Addersong was composing Tiger's In A Heap with his buddies and others were baking Tiger-shaped tunnelbuddies to welcome relations with BloodClan, Nightcloud was joining the group that was critical of the decision.

Especially when Snapper and Leo-- sorry. They call themselves Snappaw and Brushpaw. When those two joined the Clan. Ex-BloodClan traders. Not to mention Pigeonflight's... charge, also acquired from BloodClan

Nightcloud felt like she was the only one who remembered that they fought BloodClan. That Clan cats died in that battle.

Until she found others, echoing the same feelings she did, and more.

Mudclaw was the most legitimate member of the group, organizing this group of cats with "concerns."

Those "concerns" started having weight when things began to sour in the Moor. The poisoning, the Mothermouth's collapse and the death of Barkface and his apprentice, Blackfur... eventually a warrior, Runningbrook, was SHOT by a human as if she was a grouse.

Someone called the two apprentices "jinxes," pointing out the bad luck they'd brought to them, and it stuck.

But Tallstar did nothing. Didn't listen to the concerns, and insisted that Snapper and L-- Snappaw and Brushpaw, that they were part of the Clan now.

Eventually they were all forced out of their home, and sent on a journey following Crowfoot and the other Chosen cats to a new land. Tallstar just continued to look weaker and weaker.

All around Nightcloud (and the cats who would eventually become the Rebels), the Journey was uniting the Clans in a way that was never seen before. Apprentices were trying out ancient recipes that had been untouched for generations. Warriors from WindClan were helping to carry kits from ShadowClan.

It was terrifying. It felt WRONG. It filled her with a sense of deep dread and unease. No one was enforcing the boundaries that made the four groups into Clans.

When they arrived at the lake, what would HAPPEN there? Would there even BE a WindClan? Or would they just get lured into forming the new TigerClan?

Through all of this... Mudclaw seemed strong, and sure of what needed to happen next. He was certainly more of a leader than the feeble Tallstar, who had allowed the jinxes to follow along on the Great Journey.

So when Tallstar was allegedly on his deathbed, and mysteriously swapped his deputy to Onewhisker, Nightcloud was one of the very first to call foul play.

It felt like an awful betrayal, to know that Firestar, one of the FEW cats outside of WindClan that Hillrunner spoke fondly of, could be trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

But just LOOK at the other witness-- Brambleclaw. Son of Tigerstar. This was a PLOT, and Onewhisker should be ashamed of himself!

Mudclaw jumped at the opportunity Nightcloud presented.

But... the newly honored Crowfeather came forth too, to calm the tension.

"Brambleclaw is a LOT of things and untrustworthy isn't one of them," Yet, he put up a smokey-black paw when his friend's eyes lit up, "But a change in deputy? To Onewhisker, of all cats?"

Onewhisker: "no offense, right? ...right?"

"So if no one here is lying, then Tallstar's brain fell out on the way here and I'm not going on ANOTHER journey to look for it. Mudclaw is the rightful leader of WindClan."

His endorsement of Mudclaw sent the Clan reeling. His own mother, Ashfoot, came forth to argue against her son, and his aunt Morningflower pointed out that Mudclaw was his mentor.

OF COURSE the two jinxes also argued in favor of Onewhisker. Leo had even joined in the first place because he wanted to be with him.

The compromise that the Clans reached, at ThunderClan's treacherous suggestion, was that they would wait until StarClan could sort the matter out and confirm the rightful leader.

But of COURSE ThunderClan felt like they could wait for StarClan. THEY had two Clerics, Leafstripe and Cinderpelt.

In the meanwhile, the Clan started to split in two. Those who were backing the feeble Onewhisker, and those who were supporting the powerful, charismatic Mudclaw.

Nightcloud refused to allow her Clan to fall into the claws of ThunderClan's ambition. WindClan could not be allowed to be seen as WEAK. Weakness invites invasions. Invasion invites death.

Not everyone that joined Mudclaw's side of the rebellion believed that ThunderClan was lying. Crowfeather believed it was the truth. Mudclaw himself did as well, though he didn't discourage beliefs that benefited him.

Nightcloud absolutely did believe that ThunderClan lied. And that cats outside of the Clan can't be trusted.

...and then.

Mudclaw started working with non-WindClan cats, namely Hawkfrost. The rebels were joined by reinforcements, given quiet support and aid, handed the knowledge that they would have extra backup if things got violent.

At first, Nightcloud was one of the most vehemently opposed to them.

At first.

But... Hawkfrost has some good points about all of the Clans needing to be strong and independent.

And he's right, that; "ThunderClan's plotting won't stop with one Clan. Tigerstar came from ThunderClan, after all."

And, if things go wrong... they will need the extra claws. They couldn't fight against the remainers alone.

"Hold on, who says we'll be fighting anything?"

Wide, innocent blue eyes, "You can't believe that ThunderClan will just let the word of StarClan shine through, can you?"

He's... reasonable. He's right.

So, in the BLINK of an eye, she and Crowfeather were surrounded by Thistle Law supporters. OPEN ones.

And Mudclaw himself didn't seem to mind all that much.

For Nightcloud, it was too late to have doubts, especially when Hawkfrost's lie made such perfect sense. When the Moonpool was discovered by that THUNDERCLAN Cleric, Leafstripe, Honored by the new name Leafpool, that was the last push she needed to ride into battle with Mudclaw.

ThunderClan had to be stopped at ALL COSTS before they installed a fake, sniveling little mouse to do all of their bidding. If Onewhisker had to die to prevent it?

Then... so be it.

They created a plan. Onewhisker was organizing WindClan to carry out a Muirburn, a carefully controlled fire to return the territory to heathland.

They would sabotage it, and throw him into the same fire meant to cleanse their new home. It would be symbolic, practically religious in its righteousness.

But CROWFEATHER betrayed them. Bolted to his friends in ThunderClan, that daughter-of-Firestar and the Tigerkin liar.

During the battle, Nightcloud leapt on Leo and went for a ferocious bite to the back of the neck. She was ripped off by another warrior just in time, taking a chunk of his scruff with her.

It gave him a permanent, gnarly scar. A reminder to Nightcloud of how close she came to killing him, and how much she hated such a kindhearted tom.

The tide of battle turned as the ThunderClan reinforcements came behind Crowfeather. In that instant, it was as if StarClan had torn open the sky, and the heavens were bleeding rain upon the burning moor.

Nightcloud fled along with the other rebels, and bore witness to StarClan's smiting of the false idol.

With a clap of lightning, a tree from the Gathering Island toppled down, crushing Mudclaw beneath it.

She stopped running, staring in breathless awe. The rain washed away the mud and the ash that clung to her pelt, and for the first time in moons, she felt like her mind was clear.

It was like, for a brief moment, the song of fear and anger behind her eyes forgot the lyrics, leaving her with cold reality.

"What have I DONE?"

That sabotaged Muirburn was one of the most short-sighted, cruel, evil things she can imagine any cat taking part in... but at first, her regret was just in the amount of destruction it had caused, not in the ideology she'd fought to defend.

The heinous act had caused the peat below the moor to catch on fire, and WindClan was playing Whack-A-Mole with the various little blazes that kept popping up in the area; and THAT was what initially made her regret her role in the Civil War.

But... she had to work next to Snapstorm and Brushblaze, just like any other Clanmates. Pigeonflight's daughter had also come into her own, Cranberrysplash. And ThunderClan continued to send aid to help with the reckless disaster she'd been part of.

She still grappled with a strong, immediate distrust of strangers... but it was tempered by the sobering realization she had while watching Mudclaw die.

And the shame, knowing that she'd been taking out her grief of losing Tawnyfur and Hillrunner on all these innocent cats.

Onewhisker's lenience... was mercy. All along.

She tried to punish herself for ever criticizing her new leader for "weakness." WindClan needed all the paws it could get to fight the fires and continue to feed the Clan, and Onestar was the cat who understood that.

He showed unfathomable kindness and wisdom by giving her and the other rebels no punishment.

She vowed to atone for it. She would not waste her second chance.

Nightcloud had been so busy trying to make up for what she'd done, fighting fires, building dens, and carefully rotating hunts to manage the prey populations that she barely registered that she didn't see much of Crowfeather after the night of the Muirburn.

While WindClan was gossiping, she was largely left out of the loop for being distrusted at the time.

When he came back, they started spending a lot of time together.

Mateship & Abuse

She liked Crowfeather. They'd been in each other's orbit since the Civil War, and she admired his judgement at nearly every turn. Mudclaw seemed like a good choice for a lot of people, but Crowfeather had seen when his true colors started to show. He made a truly heroic choice at the end. So when he expressed interest in her, it felt like she was going to be his next good call.

Nightcloud had so, so much to prove.

In spite of his absence, Crowfeather was a hero to the Clan. The warrior blessed by StarClan to bring them to their new home, a land of a thousand more stars, he who betrayed the traitors.

And in spite of that. He had a loneliness. He requested a name to honor the cat of another Clan, a lover he had lost on his mission

He is loud, passionate, and yet there seemed to be a niche in his heart he wanted to fill.

So... she wanted to be his missing piece, in service of the great love that binds a Clan together. To help him.

To prove she could mean something to someone, and be trusted in turn by a Clan that, rightfully, looked at her with suspicion.

but she didn't LOVE him so much as she RESPECTED him.

and he never saw her as much more than an in-Clan replacement for Leafpool, especially while he was secretly reeling from her dumping him and cancelling their elopement plans.

It didn't really strike her that they were mutually using each other; Crowfeather to affirm his loyalty to the Clan, and Nightcloud to prove she could love and be loved.

And neither of them were even accomplishing that. But, there's a difference between them.

While Nightcloud was trying, GOD she was trying... Crowfeather quickly grew frustrated that she was a person, and not just the perfect image of the "true love" that Feathertail and Leafpool would have given to him

So he started FINDING things to criticize about her. Reasons that he could use to justify why it's not HIS fault he's not happy, but hers.

She's clingy. She's too cold. She's less attractive when she's carrying their child. She's too demanding when she tells him to help out with the kit.

NOTHING she did was right, and meanwhile, even when Breezekit was young, Crowfeather was an awful Ba.

Depending on his mood, he was either too rough or too distant, a dichotomy he used to describe as Nightcloud being unable to make up her mind. Does she want him to help, or does she want space??

Problem is, you can't be fair with unfair people. When Crowfeather would say ANY of this, she would try to take his words in good faith

And Breezekit's formative moons were spent watching his mother twist herself in knots, trying to avoid whatever his father was complaining about that week.

But it NEVER satisfied him. It never COULD.

and worst of all...

Whenever she DID fight back, dragged down into explosive arguments after biting her tongue again and again, Crowfeather would ALWAYS bring up Feathertail. She's dead, and so Nightcloud could never defeat this ideal, NONEXISTENT image of this nearly perfect hypothetical lover that he could have had.

Crow: "And YOU don't even care. You CUT me, Nightcloud! I am being flayed and left to DIE from infection, and you don't even care."

Night: "Of course i care, I'm here aren't i?? Feathertail loved you, but I do too! And I'M in YOUR Clan, in case you haven't NOTICED."

Crow: "Oh you love me do you? I don't think you do. There's a reason I loved Feathertail enough to be so tempted away from my Clan, but YOU'RE such an awful person that YOU happily did ARSON."

Night: "I... I wasn't-"

Crow: "Wasn't trying to betray your Clan? Wasn't trying to make me feel like some kind of animal?? What WERE you trying to do, then?"

Night: "I've ALWAYS tried to make up for what I did, I was trying to-"

Crow: "To WHAT? To hurt me? Like you always do? All I wanted was you to see that I'm-"

Night: "Can you cut it out?! I wanted-"

Crow: "STOP Interrupting me, this is exactly what I mean! Feathertail NEVER made me feel this way, she would let me finish and listen to everything I have to say before trying to jump in. WHAT have I done wrong exactly? What IS it this time?? Hm???"

Night: "I-- Crowfeather I'm trying! I didn't mean to make you feel that way, and I'm not trying to fight. I just don't know what you want from me, I'm-"

Crow: "I say it over and over and over!! Are you stupid? I should have been with a rabbit, at LEAST it would have given me faster children!"

Night: "Can you stop being a CHILD for a minute and TELL me what you want me to do? In simple terms? Or is that just too much?"

Crow: "Fine. But im not going to repeat myself again. I don't deserve this, you're lucky I'm gracious."

When Breezekit became Breezepaw, Nightcloud had lost patience with this treatment. She still tried to be gentle with Crowfeather, but he was starting to force her into making a choice; Was she going to protect her son? Or was she going to keep endlessly trying to appease her husband?

In her head... SHE might "deserve" it. She knows she's "difficult." And that a lot of the things Crowfeather says about her are "true"

And if she's lonely, she "brought it on herself" by doing awful things. That's why she tries so hard to atone for them.

But Breezepaw is her BABY, and Crowfeather makes him feel like a little brat. Yells at him, finds reasons to pick on him, gives him the cold shoulder when he's done wrong...

At first, it looked like overprotectiveness, because she was often shoving herself between Breezepaw and his father, never backing up Crowfeather when he was punishing their son, and "downplaying" her son's rude behavior.

In reality, those were the actions of someone who was trying to prevent arguments from turning into abuse.

Those were things HILLRUNNER used to do with her, though at the time, she didn't realize that Crowfeather was in the same positions that her Mi had once been in

In fact, she continued to grapple with the deep feelings of shame, that she might be like Hillrunner when she was trying so hard to be different.

But the truth remained, that she recognized the same patterns that she was forced to be hyperaware of, and was trying to stop them before they escalated.

It took MANY years, well into Breezepelt's adulthood, AND well into her divorce, before she realized that.

Protecting her son was as reflexive as a hunting crouch. It was just something she did.

Unfortunately, Crowfeather was the one with power in this situation. And his immense sway was palpable. If he vented to a Clanmate about how hard it was to have a mate who undermines him and a son who defied him, they'd believe him.

So, Breezepelt started getting written off as "a problem kid" by the adults.

What changed... was Hollyleaf's reveal at that fateful Gathering.

She had been desperately trying to "atone" for what she'd done for years, guilty and shameful that she'd been complicit in an attack that had gotten cats killed and set the peat on fire. She kept proving herself, over and over, as Crowfeather held his love for an outsider up over her head.

And then she finds out he was HIDING this from her, ALL THIS TIME. There'd been ANOTHER MOLLY from another Clan she was being compared to.

Unlike canon; Crowfeather knew. He didn't need to be told. Hollyleaf looks just like his father Deadfoot. Lionblaze has his tail tip. Jayfeather is a miserable git.

They were born 2 months after Leafpool left him, choosing her Clan and her CLERIC FRIEND over HIM. He isn't stupid.

Emotions ran high and, right in front of his wife, at a PUBLIC GATHERING, he made another love confession to Leafpool. That she never should have abided her vow because she belonged with HIM.

Leafpool was fucking mortified. On top of her life crumbling as the secret was revealed, she was undergoing the cat equivalent of being cornered in a public space as an unwanted ex begs you to acknowledge your LOVE.

Leafpool is completely and utterly out of love for Crowfeather, not a SINGLE flicker of it left in her heart, but NIGHTCLOUD felt like Leafpool's tears were because she missed Crowfeather soooo much.

And after YEARS of being compared to FEATHERTAIL, only to find out she was being contrasted to LEAFPOOL all along??

And that Crowfeather really WOULD just break the code for any OTHER lover? Even "a treacherous, vow-breaking, abominable little [cat meow censor] FROM ANOTHER CLAN?"

AND A CLERIC?????

YEARS of trying to unlearn bigotry, keeping lessons about unity kept close in spite of the growing tensions between the Clans, having an open mind towards the people she'd unfairly judged, trying to atone for following Mudclaw... What's the point??

She was humiliated, embarrassed, scandalized. For moons she'd tried to appease him, and then he goes after HER SON, and then DOES THIS.

But something was different.

Onestar had enough of Crowfeather and his shenanigans.

By making a fool of himself at that Gathering, he made a fool of the WHOLE Clan.

Not only did he sire kittens with a Cleric, in a half-clan relationship, vanishing for a week to go on a holiday as the Clan was fighting peat fires, but he didn't even have the decency to NOT TELL AN ENTIRE GATHERING THAT HE DOESN'T REGRET IT.

Onestar snapped.

CrowFEATHER is an Honor Title. CrowFOOT was in respect to his deceased father, Deadfoot.

These names are both too honorable.

And even a DISHONOR Title is too good for this sort of behavior.

If he cannot behave like a Clan cat, then he WILL NOT BE ONE.

For one moon, Crow, no suffix, just Crow, would live on his own in total exile.

It was such a scandal that Nightcloud was horrified. The whole Clan had turned to look to her, see what she would do, desperate to know how she was reacting and what she would do next.

But... their tune changed.

They weren't looking at her like Crowfeather's ungrateful mate. They were curious about her judgement.

CrowFEATHER had convinced so many people that Nightcloud had been the problem, with his immense sway and influence.

But what he did was shocking and abhorrent to WindClan. Now he is just Crow, a rogue on the border.

And Nightcloud is as reliable as she always has been.

What really causes Crowfeather to begin to change here in BB, is that when he comes back... nearly everyone has been better off without him.

After a moon, Crow came back thinking that Nightcloud would snarl at him, or they'd fight, or she'd weep, or... something negative.

But instead, she greeted him. Cordially. Casually. With the tiniest little lilt to her tone that you only hear when you're forced to welcome someone you dislike.

For the rest of BB!OotS, they were together but... distantly. If it wasn't totally over, it was visibly dying.

They had a few more fights, public spats, but now that the Clan didn't seem to have Crowfeather's back...

He started to lose his nerve, and she stopped feeling terrible for things that happened long ago.

Now WindClan was following Nightcloud's lead on Crowfeather. When she was gracious, so were they. When she was pushed to snapping, they saw him like the unreasonable one.

But, honestly? That attention made Nightcloud uncomfortable.

She disliked the sway she now seemed to have over her ex-mate's reputation. She hated him and everything he did, especially in the few times that he would STILL try to deflect blame onto her, but... wielding that kind of social sway, after being an outsider for so long, it felt heavy and toxic in her belly.

Between OotS and AVoS, she realized that she's not like him. He reveled in the spotlight and influence he had over the Clan as a result of his power, adored attention and drama and being able to command it. Crowfeather would complain that life was so unfair, but he ENJOYED how the rules were applied so loosely to him, and how well he was treated because of the pain he'd gone through.

She doesn't.

In fact, she even resents the finicky opinions of her Clanmates. That earning their respect, in the end, was something she had absolutely no control over. She'd gone through so much for so long and so very few cats had ever had her back, and to be vindicated now of all times?

It was sour. Not comforting.

If she made any mistakes during OoTS, it was enabling Breezepelt's growing xenophobia in the midst of her own pain and frustration. She didn't KNOW that he was being recruited by the Dark Forest. If she did, she would have done something to try and stop him.

Breezepelt and AVoS

The worst part of it all was that none of this newfound reputation carried over to her opinions about her son. Breezepelt continued to be hated and distrusted because of his role in the Battle of the True Eclipse (BOTTE), where the Dark Forest killed so many warriors. He'd fought until the end of the night.

Of course she was disappointed in him. Of course she knew he'd done something awful. But she had too, so many years ago.

The fact he had also been a victim of Crowfeather's slander was disregarded in the eyes of WindClan, and for his role in the fight, Onestar gave him and his complicit friends Dishonor Titles.

Breezepelt became Dodderheart-- a reference to a parasitic type of bush, native to heathland, which strangle and kill the flowers. Harespring didn't get off without one. Darkseeker had sought his biological father in the Dark Forest, Mudclaw, and then the BOTTE had killed his Mi and biological uncle, Torear.

Nightcloud tried to encourage her son to follow Darkseeker's lead in seeking atonement, but he had decided that this meant; "My own mother had taken HIS side, that damn traitor who threw me under the boar so that he could save his own reputation, distancing himself from THE REST OF US so that he can climb the ranks! WELL!"

When The Kin arrived at the lake, lead by the mysterious Darktail, Nightcloud was powerless as the pied piper called forth cats of many Clans.

He appealed to everyone who felt alienated. Every HalfClan cat still dealing with stigma, every young warrior frustrated by the dogged separation of the Clans... and, especially, to all of the Dark Forest trainees who still lived.

It was a trap, and Breezepelt was drawn to it.

As the situation got worse and worse, Nightcloud could only watch from afar as Onestar responded with furious embargoes, aggression, and fury towards any type of contact with Darktail's cats.

Along with Brushblaze and Harespring, now deputy and having shed his Dishonor Title, she plotted ways to undermine Onestar's strict orders and try to reach her son.

And.... Crowfeather, too.

To her surprise, he wanted to help.

The irony was overwhelming. Yes Breezepelt, or Dodderheart, damn Onestar's pernicious name, YES he had been making his own choices for a long time, but Crowfeather knew full well who had set him on this path.

In spite of how he'd try to deflect the blame for seasons on seasons.

Hedgehogs took flight that day, because his response was, "You think I don't know that? ...that's why I'm here."

Someone else might have wanted to shove that back in his face, drink in every drop of smugness they'd earned, tell Harespring to kick him from the help efforts for causing so much pain in the first place..

...But Nightcloud isn't like that someone else.

Breezepelt was what mattered to her. Anyone who was going to help was another alibi, another mouth to carry herbs, another set of claws to fight by their side.

...is that what working with others really means, at its core?

Maybe it's not love that truly binds us, but a sense of duty. The commitments we make to each other, and the honor to keep them.

She loves her son. And by extension, she loves Heathertail and Harespring who love him.

But her Clanmates... she doesn't love them. Or Crowfeather.

And Crowfeather wasn't here out of love for her. Maybe not even love for Breezepelt as a person. He was here for honor. Repentence. To right a wrong.

Whatever reason he was here; it still meant he was HERE. To help.

In that moment, she thinks back to the words of Hillrunner. That only blood-family would ever turn out for you, and strength was what allowed you to keep them.

Looking over to Brushblaze, thinking to her Clanmates, she finally had the wisdom to see the words for what they were

It was the scared, broken philosophy of a molly who had lost everything a hundred times over, clinging to something that made sense, trying to scare her kits into never leaving her side.

Nightcloud was truly unlike her. Surrounded by allies of all kinds, united in their goal to rescue her son and other Kin captives and victims.

She was entitled to her reasonable distrust, but not held back by it. She never would forgive Crowfeather, but they could work together. For Breezepelt.

Hillrunner wasn't completely wrong about strength. It was an asset.

But so is faith.

After they'd brought Breezepelt home along with many others, bedraggled and shaken by their experiences, Nightcloud was absolutely shocked by how graciously Onestar seemed to be towards them.

She didn't question it at the time, but when Onestar spent his final life stealing a plan Breezepelt admitted was his own, to sacrifice himself drowning Darktail, it suddenly made sense.

After Harestar took power, she had cemented herself as one of his favorite warriors. A powerful, loyal brawler, who was willing to do anything under his command. Breezepelt had accepted at this point that he was never going to have a position of power due to his past; and that was okay.

She spent a lot of time with the grandkits Breezepelt eventually had with his mates, Harestar and Heathertail. For the first time in a long time, she's finally at peace with the family she's acquired.

Trivia and Misc

I'm tempted to swap Crowfeather and Nightcloud as deputy. I feel like Nightcloud makes a very interesting one.

At the same time though, I do like the drama of Crowstar and Squirrelstar as opposing leaders, so I'm still unsure.

For some reason whenever I think of Nightcloud, I think of ABBA songs lmao. Thank You For The Music, or maybe Knowing Me Knowing You.

As you can see, I split up Crowfeather's Trial and shuffled it around. I feel like for most of OotS, Nightcloud and Crowfeather are doing nothing but arguing and the development feels incredibly rushed because it's all in an SE, so I've pushed a major event back.

They also never actually describe their verbal arguments; so I'm using them to make my take on Crowfeather more clear. He's emotionally abusive.

Something that I often feel isn't done enough is abusers who are popular, and also funny. How devastating it feels for someone you love to mock you in public, and then a bunch of people laugh because "you deserve it."

Or just see you as the aggressor by default

Knowing you can't do shit about it because they're just more loved than you. Their word vs yours.

(especially when paired with trauma that makes you forget major details so you can't even recall any examples in the moment, so you just get painted as clingy and whiny)

All that said, there's a ton of abusive cats in BB, most of them never improve or get better, but Crowfeather will.

And from Nightcloud's perspective, that's a good thing. And I want to capture that deeply bittersweet feeling.

She's happy he's not so terrible anymore... but god, it doesn't undo any of the AWFUL things he did and said to her.

Anyway, I really want to fit Nightcloud's buddy Pickle in somehow, but I'm still working it out. Pickle was such a cute character

Hillrunner and Downwind are repurposed Missing Kits! WindClan is ridiculously tiny so I had to stretch it pretty thin.

I don't see a ton of Nightcloud origin stories, so the one I figured made the most sense was picking up on the observation others have made about her "coddling" behavior

In-canon, because Crowfeather is abusive to his kid, it suddenly implies that a major reason why Nightcloud is so protective of Breezepaw in arguments is because she's trying to prevent it from escalating into abuse.

Eventually I'd like to build out some more friends, and expand on her budding friendship with Brushblaze. Not to mention Willowclaw.

Maybe I should repurpose Crowfeather's Trial into an SE about Nightcloud... Nightcloud's Thaw, maybe. Something about a change that's a long time coming, so I can show her new backstory and how she reacts to all the changes in WindClan towards her reputation.

And that's Nightcloud! I think she deserves an AU where she gets to be a more fleshed out supporting character, as a treat <3

#Tw abuse #Tw child abuse #BB!Nightcloud #Better Bones AU #Character Summary #Tw abusive relationship

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makerofmadness · 9 months

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What's with Balloon Boy and the Daycare Attendant?

The Balloon World arcade machine exists, it's in the DA's room and both characters are involved in it. It's probably one of the most cryptic minigames in the FNAF series as a whole, but while we could ponder what exactly it's supposed to mean (maybe I'll do that for all the security breach minigames eventually), the main question I have is this:

WHY Balloon Boy specifically? Why is the minigame about HIM?

Is there a connection between the two characters? Or was it a completely random decision?

Out of nowhere, thinking about Balloon World, I came to a realization:

The Lights.

Balloon Boy's entire gimmick in FNAF 2 was that if he got into your office, he would disable your flashlight and vent lights (...somehow. I know we all make the jokes about him taking the batteries [and then that FNAF 57: Freddy In Space thing in FNAF World said he just straight-up steals your entire flashlight], but you never see the battery icon disappear or appear empty in FNAF 2 itself when he gets into your office. And the vent lights also stop working, so unless they also operate on batteries, then... does he actually take them from you?).

What's the one rule in the daycare?

Keep the lights on.

His mechanic is the antithesis to what Sun wants and exactly what Moon would want. Balloon Boy doesn't keep the lights on. He prevents you from turning them on at all.

(which also makes me kinda sad there wasn't a Glamrock version of BB. Then again, I don't know how exactly he would've uniquely affected like anything. Regardless I am hoping for the day someone in the fandom makes a glamrock bb who is arch-enemies with sun and gets along well with moon skseijdndndnd-)

It feels kinda obvious and I'm guessing I'm not the only person to think about this, but I have never seen anyone else bring this up. Not on YouTube, not on tumblr, nowhere. Maybe if I go looking for it I'll see, but i'm surprised I haven't bumped into anyone else saying this just naturally. I go into the BB tags a LOT, surely SOMEONE would've said something, right? I don't even see it noted in the trivia on the page for the arcade game on the fnaf wiki.

...but is this supposed to mean anything? Or is it just a cute little reference or callback? it's hard to say, especially with how ambiguous the minigame is.

Though I DID think of ONE thing... (possible minor spoilers for Ruin under the cut):

Saw this pointed out in a youtube video that the BB World screen (with Eclipse, who makes their proper debut in Ruin after effectively being foreshadowed by the minigame in SB's base game) can be seen on the ceiling in the DA's room. Which makes sense, obviously, but also take note of the pirate-themed windows in the hallway leading to it.

...now, which character do most of us tend to associate with Balloon Boy? His "tag-team partner," of sorts?

Foxy. The Pirate.

With this, I found that there's more Foxy-related stuff associated with the daycare area than I had previously realized because I had never made any connections before. I mean, Kids' Cove is directly linked to it for god's sake.

Like. I hope i haven't forgotten to mention anything (I've been writing this post over the course of hours 'Cus I had stuff to do in the middle of it all). My brain's kinda starting to fry. But basically: Was Foxy originally meant to be the Daycare Attendant, in-universe? Was there gonna be a Glamrock Balloon Boy with him, like as his first mate or something??? Were they gonna be connected to Fazbear Theater????? (Uh basically Sun/Moon to my knowledge from confirmation in the books and a lot of more subtle implications in-game mainly involving environmental pieces were originally meant to be in the Fazbear Theater as a stage animatronic but got moved to daycare duty instead and being reprogrammed. Which actually explains a lot about them when you think about it-)

Like. Ok I'm forgetting where I was going with this, I'm sorry, but I guess it's food for thought/adds to the weird connections between DA and BB, I guess. Idk. I can't focus that well right now to keep making new ideas.

felt like sharing my interpretation of the Balloon World minigame itself at least since earlier I did kinda finally get it down concretely:

I kinda developed a theory that Eclipse is Sun/Moon's "safe mode" and that rebooting DA reactivated Eclipse as a result. Like, they're their own AI that was at one point implemented. but then Vanny happened and locked them out thanks to the whole Glitchtrap virus thing (albeit it only seemed to reach Moon, while Sun remains seemingly unaffected. Guessing it's because they're different AIs [finally implied/basically confirmed by their Ruin dialogue). Eclipse has seemingly not been active for some time, or at least never post-pizzaplex closure, given how they're seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that this place is closed with no signs of opening.

So the minigame was foreshadowing Eclipse's existence and implying their "trapped" nature, which also could be seen as paralleling Vanessa's whole "Vanny" situation, especially given how iirc one of the messages related to princess quest can be found near the arcade machine.

#This post kinda crumbled toward the end but I hope it's still interesting enough :'3 #fnaf #fnaf sb #fnaf ruin #fnaf eclipse #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #daycare attendant #balloon boy

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nikethestatue · 14 days

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Somehow i missed the first article from Time magazine about SJM that describes acotar and literally says "fans gush over its strong female leads, steamy romances, and trio of Fae-warrior love interests (affectionately known as the “Bat Boys”)". And omg? It seems like even a bigger deal that the "fans suspect.." about Elriel. Because Az is straight up called an LI, it's not even framed as a speculation. Can Time magazine really afford to look stupid and do false advertising? Not even in just one article that everyone talks about, but two in a row. At this point I wonder if Bloomsbury sent them trivia to mention.

That's why they are hating that article.

And keep saying that it's spreading false info and that that it 'wasn't approved by BB' and similar BS. Time was pretty firm about the LIs and the FMCs.

But hey, none of it matters. No information is valid because it doesnt align with their ship.

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ladyxskywalker · 3 months

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sky lady late night rambles 🌙🥰

stayed up too late working on a crochet order for my small business

(Yes, I finally did it ! just starting out)

& at the same time, I was also on the phone with my boyfriend (he was telling me gossip from trivia night & funny stories about friends)

so we both got off the phone quickly because I didn't realize what time it was & I think he said real fast "go, go to sleeps, night night, love you, goodnight" so I said it back "ok, talk to you tomorrow, love you goodnight"

then the phone call cut off, so I wasn't sure if he heard me 😬 I was so scared !

but he did ! he heard me & texted me right after "love you too" 🥰

It made me so giggly & happy right before bed.

I'm so glad we finally feel comfortable saying it to each other & now he's been saying it more often without being afraid to express his feelings. 💐❤️

over the weekend, we were talking & he was holding me after I was confiding in him about struggling a bit & he just said "I love you, everything is ok, I'm sorry I didn't say it when I should have."

It meant so much because I was so worried he didn't feel the same. That was my biggest wish for him to love me back.

Sat will be our 1 year anniversary. 💌

I can't believe we've seen 4 seasons together, shared so many special moments & made a lot of loving memories.

June 2022, he was just "baseball guy ⚾️" here on the blog ! I saw him for the first time & didn't even know his name.

Dec 2022, he was "grumpy bb", & at first I thought that he couldn't stand me at all !

Jan 20th 2023, with a funny nudge from my best friend AR, we talked for the first time & hit it off immediately.

Jan 21st 2023, my phone broke & I had no way of contacting him. we were supposed to hang out on this day, so I went to the bar in person to wait for him. our best friend, "JJ"wrote his number down on my receipt for me, which I still have & carry with me in my purse wherever I go. The entire thing is faded except for his number & the date on the bottom.

Jan 29th 2023, we went for a walk in the cold winter & bonded over loving the movie "March of the Wooden Soldiers". We shared our first kiss, & my silly friends witnessed the whole thing. It was hysterical & wonderful at the same time.

Feb 2023, I gave him a special keychain of a plane that has meaning for us. Months later, he gave me a little blue pin with a plane on it, too.

Fast Forward >>> to Now 💫

We're pretty much inseparable. Sure, we've had our ups & downs, stupid fights & misunderstandings. No one said this would be easy or perfect. But I feel like we are it for each other & I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jan 2024, he's my best friend, the love of my life. I feel like the universe led us to one another when we needed each other more than ever.

❄️💙

#falling for b 💌#pxk late night things #sky lady talks #personal #feel free to ignore #probably will delete this

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coralsgrimes · 2 months

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Well a studio has picked up The Critic for British distribution, but they’re reworking it first. Changing the end, and reshooting a lot of Ian McKellen’s part, and possibly some of Gemma Arterton and Benny’s. Honestly the guy who owns this thing sounds like an asshat; his whole thing is getting indie films and stripping them to make them more commercially mainstream. He even specifically mentioned enjoying Aftersun, but he would never want to work with something like that because you can’t sell it. At least The Critic sounded bad in the first place.

But hey, BB will actually act for the first time in two years. And we can mock the return of the even uglier 2022 haircut. Dude even wants a small movie premiere around November, so probably more Benny European gigs for the album release

Wasn't he having the pornstache for this one too?

ANYWAYS this is the only piece covering it and it says that yeah the film is a piece of shite and we wanna salvage it for some reasons but no one gives a fuck. It says potentially Benny might do reshoots but based on the reviews, they were never mentioning him so I assumed he had like 10 min screen time tops lol

The Critic is the one he done over like three weeks in the summer right after doing Shadow and Bone Me Daddy (FINAL!!!! season!!!).

Remember the twin flame style puckered lips gym selfie he blessed us with? Yeah it was at the time he was doing The Critic I believe x.x

If ye don't remember this one. The film trivia says it's Benny's first film role in a decade x.x and the reviews are bad. Including one that said Benny was the weakest ass in the bad ass shitshow lol

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mizukagami-takamagahara · 1 month

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Unomaru expression sheets, courtesy of the Librarium Wiki.

#bb official #xblaze #xblaze code embryo #souichiro unomaru #bb trivia

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finniestoncrane · 2 years

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📸with the rogues?

💚 yup yup yup i got you bb 📷 - favourite picture of you/them together

request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi

minors DNI!! 🔞 cw for nsfw stuff because i couldn’t help myself

two face

it's a candid shot from some party you were at together

it's dark but you're both illuminated by the flash

there's crowds of people around you, none of them noticing

harvey happened to be catching the eye of the photographer, doing a goofy pose to show off his suit

you're only looking at harvey, completely enamoured by him

you only have eyes for him

scarecrow

he keeps it hidden because please don't tell anyone he's soft

but it's from the day out you had one halloween

you went out to a pumpkin patch to pick some for carving

there was a scarecrow right at the back of the field

you're standing between both of them, holding their hands

jonathan is pretending to be jealous with the other scarecrow

catwoman

it's a selfie from the top of a bridge

you had managed to keep your cool the whole time getting up

and you maintained it as selina brought the camera out

but the moment she let go with both hands, one doing a peace sign and the other stretching to get a good angle you panicked

so it's her looking cool and fun

and you in the background, terrified and clinging on to her

riddler

you're both seated on stools at a table in a bar

there are several tables with 4+ people at each around you, looking pretty annoyed

because somehow a team of two won the trivia night by a landslide

you're both holding either side of the tiny plastic trophy

so smug, so unaware of of irritated everyone is

ed loves the photo because it makes it easy for him to remember the congratulatory kiss that came after it

harley quinn

slumber party vibes™

you've done each other's hair and makeup, really heavy on the cutesie aesthetic from when you were kids

you've got on matching pjs

and you're posing with your favourite stuffies

because you're both sickeningly adorable

candid laughter shot, where you both look so happy and peaceful

penguin

it's a commissioned painting for his office, more than a photo

very classy

you're posed, seated on a chaise in all your finery

oz is stood behind you, hands on your shoulders, a huge smile on his face

one of your hands is gently on top of his

definite statement piece and a conversation starter

poison ivy

it's so artsy and intricately staged

you made a joke about feeling like an anne geddes baby

but you're both surrounded by flowers petals and leaves

nude, because art

you're holding hands, and between them is a bouquet of flowers

there's petals over your closed eyes

but both of your smiles are very visible

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chipthekeeper · 27 days

Note

I desperately want to know more about why you have a Star Wars characters spreadsheet and also uh. 52? Has 52 been done yet?

thank you, i have been waiting for someone to ask!!!

so, it started out as most of my overly-detailed projects do: i had an hour of work left and not enough to do. so i was like "i wonder how many different star wars characters i can name off the top of my head in an hour?" and it turned out to be more than 200

i kept the list of just names and ended up adding more columns to it when i was bored (homeworld, first and last appearance, place of death, affiliations, etc). it helped me "study" for trivia and not be bored all the time so i just kept adding characters

so yeah. the quick answer is that i am a bit crazy

anyway 52. BB-9E

BB-9E was a First Order astromech droid that served aboard the Supremacy

#this sounds so insane when i just. say it all #asks #jedi-valjean #number game

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allfoolsinluv · 1 year

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15 questions, 15* mutuals

*actually 14 lol

tagged by @pedrito-friskito & @iamskyereads thx bbs 💖

1. are you named after anyone?

Not my first name, but my middle name is my Nani's name 🥰

2. when was the last time you cried?

Last week, on the 2 year anniversary of my dad's passing

3. do you have kids?

No, but I'd like to have some one day :)

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yeah, I wouldn't survive being related to my sisters + my mother if I didn't lol

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their faces

6. what’s your eye colour?

Simple answer: blue lol

7. scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings babey. Keep scary shit away from me I'll have nightmares 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♀️🙅‍♀️

8. any special talents?

Ummmmm I'm a pretty good cook... I know a lot of random + useless pop culture trivia lol

9. where were you born?

Arizona

10: what are your hobbies?

reading, writing, listening to music, rewatching shows & movies i've seen a million times, going out w my friends, shopping

11. have you any pets?

I have a dog who is my baby :')

12: what sports do you play/have you played?

played volleyball in middle school. my hs didn't have any sports teams

13: how tall are you?

5'3

14. favourite subject in school?

English bc I was good at it. I liked history/government + science bc my teachers were really cool

15. dream job?

novelist + creative writing professor

np tags:

@joels6string @multi-luvr @boliv-jenta @mandosmistress @againstacecilia @seasonschange-butpeopledont @theliferuiner @the-ginger-hedge-witch @mandobi @luvpedro @loverhymeswith @propertyofkingvalkyrie @mishasminion360 @fishingforpike

#tag games #this one was fun hehe

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bonefall · 9 months

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Better Bones Profile: Sedgecreek

RiverClan's first Lake deputy, and world famous cutie pie!

[ID: The BB version of Sedgecreek from Warrior Cats. She is a wood-brown tabby with short, comma-shaped stripes of a darker brown. She is short and her body is long, with a chunky tail.]

Clanmew Name: Kyyrakoshu, nickname Kyyko. (Kyyra = Sedge, a type of lido grass + Koshu = Creek, a small, shady river)

Alignment: RiverClan

Relations: Ex-Mate - Greenflower Children - Swallowtail, Beechfur Nyams - Loudbelly (littermate), Duckfur (Sib-in-law) Education - Crookedstar (mentor), Grasswhisker (apprentice)

See Also: The Dragonkin Family, and the RiverClan Family Tree

Mistyfoot realized at the end of BB!TNP that Hawkfrost was not the tiger that lurked within RiverClan. He didn't choose himself as deputy while she was captured, breaking the code in the process. It wasn't his call to defy StarClan's will to delay the Great Journey. It was up to Leopardstar to punish the surviving RiverClan mercenaries who served Mudclaw's insurrection, and overrule the false sign that exiled three cats from her Clan... and she didn't.

Seated atop the stump with the sun setting behind her, Leopardstar's black silhouette invoked Mistyfoot's memory of a powerful cat lording over a pile of bones. Her eyes flashed-- Tigerstar amber, dark forest red. His ideas were an infectious sort of immortal; they will not die unless they are killed.

So with Leopardstar's sudden, 'mysterious' death to a "rogue", Mistystar realized she would need to make a strong, tactical choice of a new deputy. Someone who would be able to help her navigate the tense situation she was in, to balance out the harsh choices she was about to make, to be the honey to her sting.

The choice was obvious. Now, she would have to prepare for the hard work ahead...

[ID: BB!Mistystar and BB!Sedgecreek leaning back to back. Mistystar grimly explains, "someone will die." Sedgecreek interjects, "of fun!!!"]

(Lots more below the cut!)

Personality and Trivia:

She is CHEERFUL! It takes a lot to make Sedgecreek upset!

Always smiling, never loses hope, always tries to see the bright side of every situation.

"A mistake is just a chance to learn what NOT to do!!"

People like her. She's just a super likeable person, the sort of cat who gets along with people you'd never expect.

She has learned that you should listen twice as much as you talk. She's always there to comfort her friends, family, and clanmates. Very approachable personality.

I imagine a lot of RiverClan warriors are "stocky," longer than they are tall, Sedgecreek especially.

She's also got a very thick tail, making her an excellent and sturdy swimmer.

Her favorite food is pike meat, which Greenflower once wooed her with. Not very many RiverClan warriors are bold enough to tangle with pikes.

Imo, Sedge is a super underrated background character. Her apprenticeship under Crookedjaw is super cute and no one ever talks about it!

and BOY OH BOY has her role been expanded in BB!!

Long before the Great Journey was even a consideration, back during TPB…

Sedgecreek was mates with Greenflower. They welcomed their kits, Swallowkit and Beechkit, to the world just before RiverClan and ShadowClan moved to form TigerClan.

Greenflower's sibling, Duckfur, was the honor sire for the couple. Under the Queen's Rights, you don't have to explain where your kittens came from. Sedgecreek gave birth and that's that.

But supporters of Thistle Law do not respect the Queen's Rights.

When Greenflower announced openly that their kittens had been sired by Duckfur, Sedgecreek was uncomfortable, but believed she was keeping their family safe.

But... it turned out to be worse than that.

Greenflower was a true believer. She had been holding a lot of her 'worst' ideas back, but felt emboldened to speak openly with the alliance between Tigerstar and Leopardstar.

Sedgecreek knew Greenflower went to the execution of Stonefur... but she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to.

She couldn't watch an old friend die like that, or stomach the thought of Greenflower reacting to it.

They stayed together for the children, as Sedgecreek staved off the dawning realization that her mate wasn't the cat she thought she was.

It was easy to put it off a little longer, when their next common enemy was BloodClan and RiverClan "returned to normal."

Though they nearly had a blow-out argument over RiverClan refusing to join in with the trading that WindClan and ThunderClan were doing with BloodClan... Sedgecreek apologized, and held her tongue. Suddenly, their roles had been reversed, with Sedgecreek staying quiet to "keep the peace".

Normally very cheerful and outspoken, with friends in other Clans and open-mindedness to cooperation, Sedgecreek spent almost two years of her life just trying to save her mateship. She thought that maybe Greenflower would return to the bold, loyal cat she used to adore, if she just loved her enough and made her feel heard...

But then, during the Great Journey...

Their baby Swallowtail fell in love with a ThunderClan warrior, Rainwhisker.

Greenflower "warned her" about loving cats from other Clans, "Don't make me do something I don't want to, Swallowtail."

Sedgecreek knew how powerful love can be. Rainwhisker was big, handsome, and sweet. She saw a lot of herself in him, and would have approved of him as her son-in-law in a heartbeat

Even though Swallowtail was trying to hide it after that confrontation, Sedgecreek KNEW that Rainwhisker was perfect for her. She knows her daughter better than anyone-- Swallow would never be able to fight it.

But all journey long, Greenflower was growing more and more critical of Swallowtail. Comparing her to her brother Beechfur, constantly questioning her whereabouts, making up stupid tasks to keep her busy.

Sedge and Green were fighting over it, again, but this time Sedge was starting to care less about making up afterwards.

Then, the worst possible thing happened... during the WindClan Civil War, Rainwhisker was killed in battle.

Swallowtail was inconsolable. That brought them all together, for just a little while longer.

But then, Swallowtail discovered she was pregnant. She didn't say anything about the father, and yet Greenflower LOST it. She flew into a frenzy, shouting their daughter down and threatening to disown her. The line that finally broke their mateship was simply,

"Just when it seemed like the problem was solved--"

Sedgecreek didn't even let her finish. How DARE she?? To treat their baby's painful loss, their coming grandchildren, and Swallowtail's right as a Queen, like the continuation of a problem???

So she told her to get out. Quietly at first. Greenflower refused, so she said it louder. Then she shouted it. And then she SCREAMED it, and when THAT didn't work, she THREW her out of the Cleric's den. For SEASONS she had sacrificed for the sake of her children, only for it to end in a choice between her wife and daughter.

But even then, Sedgecreek felt hot with shame that she'd caused such a scene! The whole camp saw her toss Greenflower like a rotten fish!! Sweet, cheerful Sedgecreek!!! It was mortifying, she'd never lost her temper like that, the entire Clan was surprised!

Mistyfoot saw this just like everyone else in RiverClan... and it stood out in her mind, as she shuffled home considering who her deputy would be.

It had to be someone as uncontroversial as possible... Mistyfoot's reputation had been dragged through the mud by Hawkfrost's constant challenges. A sizable portion of RiverClan did not respect her anymore.

So Swansong, her brother and greatest ally, was out of the question. He didn't have a diplomatic bone in his body.

Mosspelt was her sister-in-law, and she needed a deputy who could ward off accusations of nepotism.

Reedwhisker had Skyheart as his mentor, who kept him in an apprenticeship nightmare for over a year. He was too young on top of being ineligible.

But, she needed someone who would understand the threat they faced, and take it seriously. It, hopefully obviously, couldn't be one of her enemies.

And THAT was when she remembered Sedgecreek standing up to Greenflower. How she's everyone's friend, patient and enthusiastic, and yet how she still snapped at her long-time mate.

While no one knows EXACTLY why she snapped except the little family itself, Mistyfoot had a good hunch it was related to Swallowtail claiming Queen's Rights for her litter.

And that is exactly the sort of principled cat she needs by her side.

So... Sedgecreek was perfect. She was diplomatic, friendly, and yet, able to stand up for herself, ready to fight for the Clan they deserved. Her upbeat personality would be a perfect compliment to Mistystar's dour, serious one. This was the best possible choice.

During BB!OotS, Sedgecreek was targeted for replacement by the Dark Forest demons. While they managed to kill several of their targets and even cause ShadowClan to fall, Sedgecreek managed to escape an attempt on her life. But, before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, she took it as a sign to step down so that someone younger could take over. By this point, she had become a great-grandmother and was beginning to feel her age.

Reedwhisker takes her place as deputy, and she's able to live out the last of her days in the Elder's Den. She peacefully passes away at some point in AVoS, surrounded by the family she chose to stand beside.

#better bones au #BB!Sedgecreek #character summary #BB!TNP

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bluerosesburnblue · 2 years

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Hi, so I was reading your tags on Phoenix-downer’s post about the Mark of Mastery exam, and in it you said you didn’t think Sora, Riku or Aqua had the makings of a Keyblade master, and I was wondering what you would consider that to look like? Obviously, Eraqus and Yen Sid were going off of different criteria (Eraqus very much appreciated Aqua’s strict adherence to the light dogma) so I do agree that, if we’re going on knowledge we are aware of now, Aqua at the beginning of BBS didn’t really deserve the mark. But I think Riku especially earned it after all he went through with both light AND dark in DDD? So I’m curious to know why you don’t think any of them were worthy of being master.

Really, I think the biggest issue that I have with the whole thing is that there is no standardized criteria for what constitutes a Master in canon. What does being a Keyblade Master even mean? Combat ability? That's essentially all we've seen it being judged by, anyway, barring Eraqus's "use darkness and fail instantly" metrics, but the title of Keyblade Master is treated with more gravitas than just “can hit Heartless good.” They become community leaders, teachers, and are expected to be the best of the best of what Keyblade Wielders have to offer, and yet none of this is reflected in the tests we see

Take another series, like Pokemon, as an example. Usually the goal is to become the Pokemon Champion. This has very specific criteria! You have to prove yourself to the eight Gym Leaders (or local equivalent, like the Alolan Island Trial Captains/Kahunas), local masters of their chosen elemental type, then you're challenged to defeat the four strongest battlers in the region and any current holder of the Champion title all in a row, with no breaks. Even the Gyms all have specific criteria to pass and claim your mastery over them, and care is (usually) taken to ensure that the task you’re given challenges your knowledge of that specific Gym's featured elemental type. Thus, you could say that a Pokemon Champion is one who has displayed mastery over all of the Pokemon types, who has excellent tactical and leadership skills, who has good endurance, and who has knowledge of the region’s local fauna and their abilities in order to put together a competent team

But "Keyblade Master" has nothing backing it as a title. Therefore, I have to come to my own conclusions about what should constitute "mastery." What criteria shows an all-encompassing knowledge of the art of Keyblade wielding and the skill at executing it, as well as demonstrating qualities that befit the societal role that a Keyblade Master must uphold?

What I've come up with, based on what we've seen a Keyblade Master's duties to include in canon, are these:

Combat Ability: As in canon, I do agree that this is important to test, but I don't feel that either test goes as far with this as they need to. Obviously they have to be proficient with high-level magic and sword techniques, but the Keyblade isn't just a sword. It has unique properties that set it apart. Being able to transform it should be a mandatory technique to learn and test - it's so useful! As is knowing how to utilize its ability to return to the wielder's hand. Honestly, they should all at least be able to perform some sort of Strike Raid. How can you call yourself a Master if you don't know how to use even the most basic skills that come packaged in?

Keyblade Knowledge: Unironically, I think there should be a portion of the exam dedicated to just... Keyblade trivia? Things like "how do you perform a bequeathing?" and "how are Keychains created/utilized?" You should know the basic functioning of it. Now that they've added things like upgrading Keyblades to the series, I would also argue that Keyblade Masters should be tested on that, as well, though I'd hardly judge our canonical candidates for not showing this during their tests since it was only introduced as a concept in KHx/KHUx and KH3. I'd also be open to removing it as a piece of criteria if they introduced some split between "Keyblade Combat Masters" and "Keyblade Forging Masters" the way there's a difference between master swordfighters and master swordsmiths, but until then, I think that a Keyblade Master should have master-level knowledge of all things Keyblade

Community Interaction: This is where I might start getting contentious, but it's actually based on Yen Sid's exam. What are we always shown Keyblade wielders doing? Going out into communities to defend them from Heartless/Unversed/Nobodies. As far as we can tell, this is their primary function. Therefore, all Keyblade wielders should be able to interact amicably with locals of any flavor, adapt to any environment, and manage combat without negatively impacting the locale and civilians. Keyblade Masters should be able to uphold this to a high degree

Leadership Skill: Also a possibly contentious one, but Keyblade Masters are usually expected to take on apprentices and are looked up to as authority figures, so a prospective Keyblade Master should be able to take charge, make good decisions (sometimes in the moment), and command a team to an effective outcome

The above four points should together demonstrate an all-encompassing knowledge of the Keyblade, both its combat techniques and non-combat uses, as well as the skill necessary to accomplish the shown role that Keyblade Masters occupy in the worldbuilding. So how do our three Masters and prospective Master stand up?

Aqua is barely tested on her combat abilities. While she probably does reach Master-level abilities by the end of the game (or 0.2 at the latest), she absolutely does not have them when she’s tested. I believe the only transformation we see her use is the Glider, which I’ll give her is a start, but I don’t think it shows Master-level use of the skill. It’s hard to test her on knowledge because we’re never really shown the extent of what she knows. Community Interaction-wise, she vacillates wildly. You can see excellent diplomacy skills at play with the Grand Councilwoman, but she also planned to fight a non-magical civilian family because she sensed darkness in them without properly vetting their threat level because of her strict adherence to Eraqus’s “darkness is evil” teachings. And her leadership skills are also hard to judge given that we almost exclusively see her work alone, and I’m again mixed on them. Her diplomacy with the Grand Councilwoman would suggest good leadership skills, but the way that she deals with Ven and Terra and can’t get either of them to follow her lead (and in places actively puts Terra off by acting accusatory) says otherwise

Final Verdict: Failure on combat until 0.2, inconclusive on knowledge, community interaction, and leadership skills

Terra, too, is barely tested on his combat ability, and I think we all agree that failing him for using darkness is unfair. Like Aqua, he shows the ability to transform his blade and if we include Lingering Will, passes her in skill with this by the end of BBS. This is especially true by KH2/KH3 with the various transformations the Lingering Will utilizes. While it’s also hard to judge Terra on Keyblade knowledge, I’d say that his usage of a proper bequeathing puts him ahead of Aqua (at least for our judging). His ability to interact with people and adapt to a new world is actually one of the aspects I think is most overlooked about Terra; he doesn’t make snap judgements about residents and has the good judgement to observe and play things by ear. You can see the way that he handles the Evil Queen and Captain Hook for proof. He’s able to get on decently well with heroes and villains alike. The one strike against this is Maleficent manipulating him, displaying a lack of wariness early on that he grows out of by the end of the game. As for leadership skill, that’s hard to say as he’s never really in a situation to display it that I can recall

Final Verdict: Failure on combat until the end of BBS, inconclusive but veering towards passable knowledge, above average community interaction skills, inconclusive leadership skills. Better than Aqua in most regards, but still not passing on all fronts and especially not when tested

Sora is, I would say, the one most advanced in his combat abilities at the time of testing. He shows a high level of skill in a variety of techniques, and the one thing he really lacks is knowledge of Keyblade transformation uses, which is quickly remedied in KH3, where he demonstrates the greatest variety of any character to date save possibly the Lingering Will. He probably rates low on knowledge, though (and can you really blame him? He’s self-taught and Yen Sid sure as hell won’t help him). I’d like to give him points for knowing how to upgrade Keyblades or Keychain creation with Ultima Weapon, but these are presented as services offered by the Moogles and not something Sora knows. Community interaction is one of his most demonstrated skills, and the one thing I think you can fault him on is being a little loose-lipped in regards to other worlds (though I didn’t acknowledge secrecy as one of my criteria, so I’ll let it pass). Sora can befriend nearly anyone, gather information on his surroundings through them, and generally adapts once he has local information at hand. Leadership skills can also be seen in the way that he handles Donald, Goofy, and any additional party members, though he does sometimes fold when at odds with someone who outranks him in the Keyblade hierarchy

Final verdict: High marks on combat (if not during DDD then at least by KH3), potential failure on knowledge, high marks on community interaction (potentially brought down by a lack of wariness, much like Terra, if DDD’s interaction with Young Xehanort and Xigbar are an indication), and passable-to-high marks on leadership. An excellent showing, but he still fails one of my categories, though not through any fault of his own

Riku is the big one that I think people might fight me on, but hopefully my explanation will make sense. He does have high combat skill, that’s true, and even has an edge due to his unique usage of darkness skills, but he lacks knowledge of certain Keyblade-exclusive abilities, like transformation. His level of knowledge is inconclusive as he’s also self-taught, though I may give him some credit for knowing how a bequeathing works assuming he can remember the specific details of how it was done to him. Community interaction can be pretty clearly demonstrated in DDD. He’s very much passable and doesn’t give away as much as Sora, but is hardly incredible at it. He’s not as outwardly personable, but is fairly observant of his surroundings. It’s a different type of information-gathering than Sora, though no less effective. His real problem is a level of social unawareness that can make it hard to gather allies in a pinch. Which leads to the next point: Leadership. This is where I give Riku a big failure. I don’t feel that he shows any notable leadership qualities. He lacks any charisma to get others to follow his orders, nor does he seem to particularly care to place himself into a leadership position. What has he ever ordered around, Dream Eaters? They’re not exactly known for being particularly hard to work with. What does he do in KH3 now that he’s a Master? ...whatever Mickey and Yen Sid tell him to. The one time I think he’s taken a leader-like role was telling Kairi she can’t come to Quadratum, but then he immediately leaves on his own with no backup or foreknowledge, which is stupid. He doesn’t make leader-like decisions, he will choose to work solo or with a single partner wherever he can, and I can’t even say that he shows any diplomacy like Aqua does

Final verdict: I’ll let him pass on combat skills, as while not knowing transformations deducts points, inventing his own darkness-wielding techniques earns them back in my eyes. Potentially passable on knowledge and if not it’s not really his fault, passable on community interaction (although he could step it up a bit), but a failure on leadership

Also, this is just me, but I personally would have rescinded his Master title the second he broke his Keyblade in KH3 and then just ditched it in the Realm of Darkness and replaced it without a second thought. The level of disrespect for that which has allowed you to become what you are is incredible. Aqua somehow managed to survive in there for a decade while keeping the Master Defender from harm, but Riku breaks his in ten minutes? Additionally, if he had the Keyblade knowledge that I listed as one of my criteria, then he would probably know how to fix it

So the way I see it, none of them should really be Masters. Eraqus’s test is completely worthless and I feel like his “youngest prospects in years” thing says less about their skill and more about his exceptionally low standards. Yen Sid’s exam full of simulated worlds is actually a very good starting point that tests combat ability, community interaction skills, and leadership all at once. I could easily see future Mark of Mastery exams utilizing the Datascape in much the same way that Yen Sid used the Sleeping Worlds. He just needs to have a much better monitoring system in place and maybe supplement it with a written exam

It’ll be interesting to see how all of this holds up in a couple of weeks if Dark Road decides to show the exam that Xehanort and Eraqus took. Maybe I’m on the mark with how I judge things, maybe I’m very off the mark. I do think that it’s very important that we establish strict criteria, though, and know that I do consider Riku close to what I would qualify as a Master, the same as Sora. But both of them are very lacking in at least one key area at the time of their tests, and Riku in particular shows no improvement in that area upon being made a Master. Is he adaptable and determined? Yes, absolutely. Can he act authoritatively among others and rally them towards a common cause while respecting their individual skills? Not particularly. Can he teach? He’s never demonstrated the ability to

Riku’s an excellent fighter who’s good at navigating around various worlds and is one of the best Keyblade wielders that they have at this point in time. He’s just not a good fit for the role of a Master and, while I think he can grow into it (maybe by learning some respect for his weapon), he’s not there yet at the time of his testing and still isn’t there by KH3. Well, to me, anyway. Though I do think that my criteria are fair for such a prestigious title and are, ultimately, derived from the roles we see Masters occupy in-game

#kingdom hearts #analysis post #long post #kaweebo #liz answers #i am SO glad that you asked i was hoping someone would #i have been sitting on these thoughts for a long time #big opinions incoming #i'd appraise mickey but we have no idea what he was tested on or how #and i don't think we see enough of him for me to say anything other than 'he probably would pass my exam?'#HAVE SOME STANDARDS ERAQUS GOOD LORD #tldr riku shows a distinct lack of leadership skills and no desire to take a leadership role #that's the biggest thing keeping him from being a master in my eyes

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