#bb!blossomfall

[bonefall]

Dapple/Graykin drama with Dark as the most controversial center is actually everything to me. Darkstripe taking Graykit and running to save him during the plague. Growing more distant from his family and then leaving them. Helping participate in what Tigerclan did to Storm and Feather (his brothers kids!!!!) and also existing in the Dark Forest at the same time as Blossom (another Gray kid.

The Blossom thing actually really gets me because they were both kind of taken of advantage of for their insecurities. I'm not sure if Dark is self aware enough to connect the dots and see the way he was also kinda taken advantage of, especially since I kinda get the vibe he would avoid Blossom

I wonder if he was her Dark Forest mentor? Weird little dude

If Tigerstar even thought about assigning Darkstripe as Blossomfall's mentor it would make him miserable. Blossomfall is such a Mean Girl she would rip him to shreds lmao

That's before Dark feels like he has the freedom to act on his real talent as a chef, remember. He only begins to explore it once the alpha baboons have choked on the poison garbage (double died in their stupid BOTTE), so at this point he's just a middling lackey with a cringefail history

"You're my uncle?? Wow, that's embarassing."

"Dad talks about you. Yeah he says you were a loser. Said you attacked the wrong side in the battle against BloodClan-- OMG no way that was on purpose?! LMAOO" "did he mention how i saved him as a kit?" "Who cares?"

"Uhm what can he teach me exactly? He couldn't even kill a baby lol."

"You hate your halfsiblings Stormfur and Feathertail, well, I had orders to kill them!" "Mmmmm butcha didn't. Did you think this would make you look good."

"Isn't your name still like, technically Belladonnaheart?"

So while it would be VERY funny, it would definitely not last long. Blossomfall is a ruthless trainee. She wouldn't tolerate being the apprentice of someone so weak for that long.

I can see her starting with Darkstripe and then being given to Thistleclaw tbh.

[bonefall]

so, does blossomfall have 2 dishonor names? shredbloom & clearface?

Yup.

That second one definitely hits her ESPECIALLY hard because of the first. Shredbloom was Bramblestar-given.

Spiderleg and Mousewhisker, they needed to see some kind of punishment for their crimes. For Mousewhisker, 'Stupidhead' was an ATTEMPT to try and make him think about how he hadn't thought through his actions and ended up supporting the Dark Forest, in spite of having no malice (it was too funny that it backfired ofc). For Spiderleg, 'Spiderbite' did its job at making Spiderleg wear his mistake and pay for his crimes, considering he didn't kill anyone.

But for Blossomfall, her problem was feeling disconnected from the Clan. From her parents, siblings, clanmates. She wasn't a nice person and loneliness has a way of making people act worse. But she couldn't kill anyone, she talked a big game but couldn't bring herself to hurt her sister. She wasn't evil-- she was a delinquent lashing out and the DF took advantage of that.

Squilf realized this (possibly even because Ivypool herself recognized it, she was dating Blossom before they broke up pretty badly in ThunderClan's Tempest) and argued for Bramblestar to give Blossom a different punishment from the other two. Something that would help her get more integrated into the Clan, like... cat community service. Kitchen patrols and such.

But he couldn't be convinced, it was only fair to give all three the same punishment.

But the title 'Shredbloom' did NOT have the desired effect. It just made her worse because it was amplifying the underlying problem.

(Btw I'm still figuring out the way she joins the Kin, and more importantly, how she comes back. I'm thinking a large part of it is Briar and Bumble both declaring they will 'sponsor' her as well as the fact she has three children... and ThunderClan just learned a whole lesson about what separating children from their families does to a person)

"Clearface" was impostor-given. It was shockingly good for what ThunderClan expects from Bramble "bad namer" Star. She mouthed off at him, and without any patience, Bramblefake stormed up to his ledge and announced, "Blossomfall has forgotten her place once again, and believes that her words have value when her whole life is a patched-pelt of her malicious, selfish mistakes. The clan would be better off if she was invisible, out of sight and out of mind, and to prove this, she may live as Clearface for half a moon."

It was seen as BRUTAL... but not completely undeserved. And it did its job perfectly and destroyed her in one hit. She falls in line after that, knowing she's already gone waaay past her last chance here in ThunderClan.

[bonefall]

I think you’ve mentioned before that Graystripe goes to the mountains to live out the rest of his days with Stormfur and his grandkits there, how does that affect his remaining kits in Thunderclan? Is it the last straw for them, or is it a sort of bitter acceptance? I know Bumble goes on this journey as well, how does he feel finally meeting the brother he’s been compared to his whole life?

This happens in Ferncloud's Parting, which replaces Graystripe's Vow!

It's both. For Bumblestripe it's a kind of closure, for Blossomfall it's confirmation.

Blossom has just lost Briarlight and Stemleaf in a short period of time, her whole life she's felt unsupported, and in her darkest hour Graystripe chooses to spend the last of his days with his favorite, distant son. She says "Good riddance" but really she means, "I always knew it would end like this."

(for those curious, Briar's exact cause of death is still undecided but it's related to how she was an immediate, ferociously outspoken opponent of the impostor. Injuries, or as a complication of the unsanitary conditions of exile)

But... she has her kittens. She has Bumble when he returns. ThunderClan is wary of her based on how often she's been a problem, but this is still her home. She'd figured out Graystripe a long time ago, so it wasn't really a surprise.

For Bumblestripe it was kind of like finally coming to terms with it, realizing that he was never going to have what he desperately struggled for. It became real in that moment, in the mountain, seeing Graystripe fussing over The Infamous Stormfur's unkempt mane.

It was bitter, and painful... but in a sort of, "Wellp. What am I going to do about it? Nothing." kind of way.

Meeting Stormfur was underwhelming at first, but then it was enlightening. Stormfur is such a Guy. He's just some dude. He isn't prodigal, he's not a high-ranking Tribe member or whatever. He's a guy who has a wife and three kids. He couldn't be more normal if he tried.

It wasn't really about Stormfur as a person, the same way it wasn't really about Bumblestripe as a person. Nothing he did could have ever compared because it wasn't a fair comparison.

When he leaves his dad there, it felt like burying an old dream. He doesn't know how to feel about it. Bumble's not really a big-fancy-thinker type who can articulate big feelings like that, so he just lets it affect him as it will. All he can say for sure is that he left something behind in the mountain, and he hopes its absence will make him a better cat.