Clouded Frost is an AU where Hawkfrost wasn't just an ambitious antagonist, but rather a morally-grey character who is pressured by the looming expectations of his clan, haunted by the death of his brother, and wounded by the abandonment of his mother. It covers his struggles with proving himself and his loyalty not only to his clanmates, but to his father that visits him in his dreams, manipulating his trauma for his own benefit.
The story also follows his relationship with Silvercloud, a cat who shares a similar background to him, and how she helps to steer him away from the bloody path his father so desperately wants him to follow.
art by @niftysenpai
Content Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Descriptions of Gore and Trauma, Character Death, Xenophobia, PTSD, Survivor's Guilt, Parental Abuse
Read Clouded Frost on Ao3; HERE!
art by @niftysenpai
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#clouded frost designs - designs used in clouded frost
#clouded frost art - art i made for clouded frost
#clouded frost fanart - art for clouded frost made by others
#fanfic update - chapter updates for the clouded frost fanfiction
Hello, happy birthday! Which absolute nobody background character do you love because of what you’ve written for them in Clouded Frost? What can you tell us about them?
Thank you so much!!!
AND HOOO BOY THATS HARD TO ANSWER CUZ THAT'S LIKE THE ENTIRETY OF RIVERCLAN
But if I had to pick a prominent few I'd say Swallowtail and Pikefang (Pikepaw) are the big ones! (Their stories are all related to each other, go figure.) There's gonna be a lot of rambling below the cut!
But, Swallowpaw and Pikepaw are interesting because they start as bullies who also treat Silverpaw, Hawkpaw, and Mothpaw as if they are lesser compared to them. Which makes sense, as Pikepaw's mentor and father is Blackclaw, and Swallowpaw's mentor is Blackclaw's sister, Skyheart. Both Blackclaw and Skyheart are pretty vocally conservative, so a lot of what they say is emulated through Swallowpaw and Pikepaw.
But they aren't just blind haters, a lot of their behavior is rooted within their own insecurities and need for validation. For example, Pikepaw is posturing to impress and achieve the approval of his father, who, after he found out his ex-mate was half-clan, disowned most of his kids in an attempt to save his own reputation (he's a pos). The only one he didn't entirely disown was Pikepaw, who parroted him and gained his favor by disavowing his mother.
As for Swallowpaw, she is similarly trying to fit in with the conservative crowd but for a slightly different reason. It's not yet touched upon in the fic at the time of writing this, but the reason behind her behavior is because she's insecure about her own heritage. She bullies outsiders and acts like she's above them, because in reality, she isn't a pure-bred RiverClan warrior herself. It's an open secret within RiverClan, that Sedgecreek (her mom) had an affair with an outsider (an outsider who is later revealed to be Flintfang of ShadowClan) and had Swallowkit as a result.
Normally this would've resulted in harrassment from the conservatives of RiverClan, but with Skyheart being her mentor, she manages to evade most of those comments. Skyheart is her aunt through Reedtail, her mother's brother, so she feels inclined to make exceptions for her (after all, Skyheart is perfect, so why would anything/anyone related to her be imperfect?). So, as a result, Swallowpaw tries to back up her mentor whenever the chance arises, feeling as if she needs to in order to justify Skyheart's acceptance of her.
She also has a really complicated relationship with Sedgecreek while she's an apprentice because of these views. She pretty much focuses her internalized self-hatred on her mother, blaming her for "ruining her life". Sedgecreek is obviously deeply saddened by this, but she still continues to make an effort on showing her daughter that she cares and loves her.
I know this was a lot of yapping already, but it needs to be said that once Swallowtail and Pikefang grow up a little, their behavior and opinions change when they do some self-discovery and actually open up to others who don't judge them for their origins, but rather make them question as to what kind of cat they themselves truly are. (Yes, I am talking about Hawk, Silver, and Moth here! The five of them do become friends after some growing pains!)
Dove and Ivy as Hawk's kits alongside Silvercloud being Scourge's grandaughter eh? 👀 Any lore eleboration behind these two perhapps?
The decision to make Silvercloud Scourge's grandaughter is mostly based on her father, Mercury! I was working on fleshing him out a bit more and decided him being Scourge's kit helped to explain why he believed that he should be the next leader of BloodClan.
Additionally this gave the added perk of 3/4 tiger kids dating cats related to Firestar. Rage-baiting Tigerstar is never not going to be funny to me. 😏
The decision to make Dove and Ivy hawksilver kits is something I'd been considering for months now and only recently decided to bite the bullet on after making Silvercloud related to Scourge.
I headcanon that RiverClan does a lot of legacy naming, moreso than the other clans, so having kits named Dovekit and Ivykit made a lot of sense for them. Dovekit would be named after Silvercloud's mother, Dove, and Ivykit is named after Hawkfrost's first apprentice, Ivyspark (Ivytail from RC but she's an apprentice instead of an elder) who dies fighting in the WindClan Civil War.
I also wanted to justify Ivypool still being trained by Hawkfrost, but rather than being manipulated like in canon, he's actually her father who's trying very hard to make better decisions this time around because he genuinely wants the best for her.
Also, obviously TigerDove isn't a pairing in this AU, so instead, Dovewing marries Briarlight. 🥰 #LoveWins
What can you tell us about Scourge and his mate/kits? and his possible relation to his grandkit, Silvercloud?
I can tell you that I'm thinking of writing a one-shot novella about that exact thing. 🤭
I basically had a brain-blast when rereading his graphic novel about the parallels between him and Tigerstar and this gray and white she-cat who's being harassed by the tabby rogue boss.
Which is mainly the building blocks of their relationship. They're also around the same age, so Scourge helps teach her how to become tougher in order to get her own revenge someday. They eventually fall in love, with her being one of his most loyal followers, and seasons later the two have Mercury, who becomes Scourge's heir to the BloodClan leadership.
I've named the gray and white she-cat Platinum, and her design is going to be a bit different (more of a gray and white tabby) so that she looks a bit more like Mercury.
Yay Happy birthday!! My question is:
What inspired you to make your Cloudedfrost AU? Were there any major changes made over time to the story from when you first started vs now? CLOUDEDFROST FOREVER!!!!
EEK TYSM MING!!! I APPRECIATE IT!!! YOU DA BEST!! <3
I'd say the thing that inspired me most to make Clouded Frost was the No Angels MAP! I really loved the idea of Hawkfrost having a redemption arc, especially when taking into account all of the stuff that happened to him while growing up. Plus, Hawkfrost has been one of my favorite characters since I first started reading the series. XD
Have I made any major changes? HM... Well, initially I wasn't planning on having a BloodClan arc in the story at all, that was a late addition to further flesh out Silvercloud as a character rather than an extension of other cats, if that makes sense? I wanted to give her a conflict that was more personal to her rather than Hawkfrost, who is more of a main focus.
And the story was supposed to have Hawk die the same way he does in canon, leaving his redemption arc to take place from the Dark Forest. The initial draft was kinda tragic in the way that Hawk would never get to be a father to his kits, basically repeating his father's mistakes. And he would have realized that everything he had done had been for nothing, as Tigerstar would've still favored Brambleclaw over him.
I still like this concept too! But now I see it as more of a "what if" or "bad ending" compared to the story I'm currently writing. The concept of Hawkfrost staying deputy and becoming leader instead of Mistyfoot is far more interesting to me, since Misty always seemed like she never really wanted to be leader in the first place. She's already lost so much in her life, let that girl rest!!!
I've been having some thoughts on how I want Bramble and Hawk's relationship to play out within the Clouded Frost universe, and since it'll be awhile until I get to write that stuff, I decided I'd go ahead and post my ideas.
Hawkfrost subconsciously starts projecting his relationship with Tadpole onto Brambleclaw as a coping mechanism. He latches on desperately to him, seeing as Brambleclaw is his blood-brother, so when he realizes that Brambleclaw is also Tigerstar's son he immediately makes an effort to form a relationship with him.
He trusts Brambleclaw implicitly, really without having to earn it. This is shown in his insistence that Brambleclaw call him by Hawk instead of his whole warrior name. His rogue name is very personal to him, and few cats are allowed to call him as such (Silvercloud and Mothwing being the only other cats who can do so.)
This relationship is juxtaposed later after Brambleclaw betrays his trust and this false illusion shatters. The rose tinted glasses are off and he finally realizes what he's been doing, and that he can never replace the bond he once shared with Tadpole.
Brambleclaw, in this AU, is a very, very flawed individual with his own problems, but also not the best company.
He goes along with his father's plans, but he justifies his actions by telling himself that he's better than his father and that he never had to kill anyone to be deputy. (The irony and hypocrisy is something he refuses to acknowledge.)
Brambleclaw is full of himself (despite everything he went through in TPB) to the point he is oblivious to others' problems that aren't his own. He's painfully insecure and easily volatile/aggressive. He believes he's a good person, using the fact that he was Firestar's apprentice as a shield for the bad things he does do.
The lake scene plays out differently than in canon, with Brambleclaw and Ashfur being the ones who initially set Firestar up in the fox trap. Bramble of course, is urged into it by Tigerstar, who manipulates him with his anger towards Squirrelflight and his wanting to be the hero in everyone else's eyes.
The plan was set. Ashfur would trick Firestar into the fox trap, while Brambleclaw would arrive in order to free him after a few of his lives were lost.
Hawkfrost arrives at the scene, and Brambleclaw assumes he is here to assist him. However, when Hawkfrost makes it clear he won't help/support him, he attacks him and a fight ensues.
Instead of Hawkfrost being killed, however, he obtains a deep wound to his neck. It's that moment when Hawkfrost really sees his tabby brother for the first time. And the world seems to shift.
Brambleclaw fervently tries to apologize upon realizing that he'd almost murdered his brother, that he took it too far, but Hawkfrost is done, and severs their previously close relationship in a few coldly spoken words.
