#bb!owlnose

[bonefall]

if u put owlnose’s deputy position certificate in the shredder (rightfully) can u at least give him like.. ‘real’ closure. a nice little bow on his arc. him being happy and ok with himself

Oh yeah entirely, no question. My ideal arc for BB!Owlnose is that, as Icestar, Frostdawn, and her little DND Party come together to start to consider where RiverClan goes from here, Owlnose does something... steady in the background. Like a sign that things are going to be okay.

There's always going to be some people who blame him for the direction RiverClan went in. They project fantasies of how he could have "saved" the Clan they knew if he stepped up, or blame him in some way for how it fell apart... but his wisdom is that it was exactly that sort of power worship that broke the old RiverClan.

"This is silly," he purrs, paw brushing the brand new, tanned leather surface of his owlface drum, "but I think a Clan's like a song."

He gives a little pause to let Frostdawn chuckle. She deserves it, after everything.

Owlnose continues while batting the drum in soft tempo to his words, "one-two, three-four, ul-arra. It's only a beat until it is complete, then it's a rhythm."

Frostdawn's smile is lopsided, loving but tired. "Uncle, only you could play an owlface like a lullaby and make philosophy as heavy as stones."

"You know it!" He hummed, changing his tune to a proper lullaby. An old one he'd been playing for her since Jayclaw left for StarClan. Her tongue got sharper every day and every minute she sounded more like her mother, but this wasn't the time for that.

He was just a beat for her rhythm right now, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

[bonefall]

The Owlnose poll seems to be leaning towards changing the choice, so I'm curious. If you had to try and justify his deputyship, how? Because. It's Owlnose.

I would sob and wail the entire way because I have SUCH a clear image in my head of who Owlnose is, but I would be able to alter him to fit the role. Mostly in three ways;

Establishing sooner that he CAN lead when he isn't so stressed out, but this situation is so high stakes that he's making mistakes he doesn't usually make.

Removing the onus from him by showing that it's really not his fault he can't unite the different "factions" forming in RiverClan's power vacuum-- each group is supporting THEIR OWN candidate, and none of them respect him as a compromise.

Making him into Frostpaw's mentor instead of Harelight, as well as generally expand upon their relationship so that I have more opportunity to show off his good traits.

It's not the hardest fix I've ever had to make, but it would be quite unrewarding. It's not JUST a massive shame that the Erins totally tossed Owlnose's little character arc about admitting he can't handle such massive responsibility, it really undermines FROSTPAW deciding that she wants it.

If responsibility is an obligation that you HAVE to take, even if you're utterly unqualified for it, then Frostpaw doesn't really have a choice about coming back. She's not making an assessment about what she wants to do, she's just doing what she "has" to. I really hate that message and strongly disagree with it.

Owlnose admitting he can't lead was one of the most mature choices I think we've ever actually seen in WC. He was not holding the Clan together, it was falling apart no matter how hard he tried, and if he took those lives, you KNOW his deputy Splashtail would have just killed him for it.

All that to say; I could do it. In fact, I could even make it work, I think. But I think we'd lose something very special.

[bonefall]

Do you have any ideas for Owlnose, the least qualified dude to be leader and the first one to immediately say "Fuck it, I can't do this." And refuse the lives?

For one, I want the dude to be consistently kind of a silly loser. I don't rewrite arcs until they're done, but it's always a good time to start doing setup for the future!

Him and his brother Jayclaw had a bit of a clique with Podlight. The three of them were a little group of party boys.

Owlnose developed an interest in drums (Owlfaces) from a young age, partially because of his name.

And, partially, because Jayclaw was a FANTASTIC dancer. Jay became proficient in playing Jingleshells (a full body instrument made of netting and clicking shells) but he loved practicing with a drumbeat behind him.

Podlight is pretty good at improv and singing. Cat band.

Jayclaw fell hard for Curlfeather and Owlnose was a great wingman, but Owl's not interested in romance himself.

He just wants to drum

I need to wait for ASC to wrap up before deciding on if he was in cahoots with Curlfeather's plot, but I'm leaning towards no.

I CANNOT stress enough. He just wants to drum.

Lazy boy who does his jobs and catches enough fish. But you know what's better than fishing? Sleeping

Fish have no reason to fear me. Women are generally ambivalent towards me.

His name in Clanmew is Weearchoop. Barn Owl Button.

"Choop" is the fleshy part of the snout. Clanmew has a lot more words for various parts of the muzzle, but Owlnose's name translates to what a human usually thinks of when you hear the word "nose."

It's a pretty cutesy name, which is fitting for him. He likes the name a lot, actually.

You could translate it as "Hootboop" and you'd get a good idea of how it sounds to a Clanmew speaker.

That's him so far. Guy who Frostpaw is fond of, as her goofy uncle, but absolutely wanted no part of power. Boy on the bongo.