Have you thought about in-universe explanations for why Crowfeather (infected king!) was the only member of the Sundrown patrol to receive an Honor Title? Especially Tawnypelt, because I recall you mentioning she was leading the patrol at one point! In a perfect world I imagine they'd probably all get one, but I figure you can't just go around changing major character's names willy nilly like that.
In a perfect world the names would all become Honor Titles but yeah I try to avoid renames. I COULD be convinced to giving Tawnypelt an Honor Title though.
If I gave her an honor title it would be something like Tawnytreader, Sunsetchaser, or Sunsetter. It's in reference to how she eventually leads the Great Journey west through the mountain, towards the setting sun INSTEAD of directly North to the Lake, so that the Clans could meet with and get supplies from the Tribe of Rushing Water. Her leadership of the Sundrown Patrol and leading the Clans during the Great Journey makes her an immediate hero.
Brambleclaw probably gave up his Honor Title purposefully. He hesitated when Firestar was in the snare, and Mothwing leapt out of a bush to free the dying leader. He's ashamed of his inaction, so I think it's actually very poignant of him to say;
"I understand why you're taking away my deputyship... may I also ask for you to take this title from me?"
"But why, Northheart? You want to become Brambleclaw again?"
"...I was happy to have broken from his legacy, at first. But now I don't think I ever will. I think I need to be reminded of where I came from, or else I'll put it too far behind me."
Like, really drive home that what I'm doing here with Bramble is a tragedy. Everyone WANTS him to get better, to be good at self-reflecting and make good choices. They want so badly for him to break free of his father's association and be a positive representation of his powerful bloodline. Be he never does.
It doesn't bring him joy to be the way he is. And there's times he's so, so close to realizing that he should stay away from power. But time and time again, GIVING him that power is a mistake, and on his end, he always takes it.
"Northheart" isn't as punchy as it could be though. I have to think about it...
(Especially since I like how in canon, the "bramble claws protect the camp" prophecy could have applied to Thornclaw just as well. Maybe I'll change it so it could have applied to Brackenfur somehow)
Small recap: after their deaths, every member of the patrol is exalted and will become Directional Patrons. The two tagalongs also get associations.
Tawnypelt: West, towards the Ocean
Crowfeather: East, towards the Wilderness
Brambleclaw: North, towards the Lake
Feathertail: South, towards the Tribe
Stormfur: Patron of those who Leave (he is not joining StarClan though, these prayers go, symbolically, unanswered.)
Squirrelflight: Patron of Missions, most often invoked for Salt Patrols.
Stormfur didn't get a title because the leader at the time was Leopardstar. She wasn't very reverant of the mission to begin with, and Stormfur never returns to RiverClan after she let him be exiled by the False Sign.
Squilf actually does have an Honor Title-esque name in Clanmew! It's Pishkafsheek; "Red Squirrel Soars (like a bird of prey)." "Sheek" isn't regularly used to describe prey movements.
absolutely LOVE the wc better bones au and since the creator @bonefall has said that he encourages redesigns/reimagining of characters i thought i'd toss in my take on tawnypelt!!! inspired by the official design!!!!!
tawny's my favorite wc character so seeing an au that actually lets her have her deserved character growth has been SO awesome. we love to see a girlboss winning!!!!!!
[ID: A version of Tawnypelt for the Better Bones AU. She is a golden torbie with green eyes, a brown mask, and long raptor claws shared by her family. She has a tiger-shaped neck, tail, and broad shoulders, with one arm featuring inverted colors.]
New leader of the Sundrown Patrol, cynical, savvy, focused on the mission above all else. Though power dances just out of the reach of her claws, the theme of her life is family, loss, and connection.
I noticed a theme in canon that the tabbies in the Tiger line lose their golden sisters. Birchface watches Frecklewish damned to the Dark Forest, Hawkfrost is cut off by Mothwing for his toxicity, Tigerheart sees Dawnpelt march into the claws of the Kin, Strikestone never sees Sleekwhisker again. For Better Bones, I made that an OFFICIAL curse.
Gorseclaw struck down his sister, Spottedpelt, in the climax of Ripplestar's Rot and since then, Tigerkin tabbies have been tragically losing their golden siblings. Bramblepaw watching Tawnypaw joining TigerClan is the true beginning of their character arcs, as both siblings grapple with their insecurities and loneliness.
Below the cut:
TNP; the Sundrown Patrol and Tigerstar blowing up the voicemail
Po3 and OotS, her reaction to Hollyleaf's Reveal and early Bramblestar
AVoS and Tawnypelt's Mountain, her reduxed novella
Beyond and Bonus Trivia
BETTER BONES TNP
The new POVs of TNP are the four Tigerkin, Tawnypelt serves as a contrast to Brambleclaw to establish that he is an unreliable narrator.
Tawny is objective when it comes to bonds between other people, but underestimates how much others like her back.
This is a problem for her in ShadowClan, where their dark and dry sense of humor is hard for her, as a very genuine ThunderClan cat, to accurately parse.
She takes a lot of Rowanclaw's behavior as open aggression, only realizing very late into TNP that he is the son of Brokenstar and was trying to break the ice the entire time.
She takes the death of Feathertail hard. They all do, but Tawny feels angry that she can't be the faithful, gentle, soothing presence that Feather was.
Tigerstar is trying to contact her long before he sets his sights on Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost. Though she considers it, she makes a final rejection of him on reaching the lake.
She decrees that the journey has changed all the cats, especially herself, and that the sun is rising on a new time for all four Clans.
Though expanded into a POV, Tawny's journey is quite simple, unlike Bramble who grows into an unfortunate antagonist in upcoming arcs.
IN PO3 AND OOTS BEYOND
There is a truce between Shadow and Thunder for Po3, only coming to a bloody crash later when Bramblestar takes power in OotS
But for one arc, Tawny is the Three's beloved aunt. In several 'episodes' of this slice-of-life breather redux, she is a supporting character. She's close friends with Squirrelflight, as well.
Her FIRST litter is Flametail and Dawnpelt! They're around the same age as the Three.
When the secret is revealed, Tawnypelt is beside herself with frustration at Bramblestar.
It's understandable to be upset, but demotion of his deputy? Disowning his children??
And then, Bramblestar starts pushing the border. She is convinced something crawled into his head and died there
In OotS, she has her second litter. Its only survivor is a little gold-and-brown tabby, which she renames Tigerkit as a ferocious dare to StarClan to take this one back as well.
Tigerpaw and Dovepaw are around the same age on the journey, during which Tigerpaw makes an offhanded comment about, "No one actually likes being a tom" and Dovepaw brutally cracks her egg with a very well aimed, "yea they do"
The death of Russetfur is brought to THIS arc, in one of Bramble's battles, and is the reason Blackstar is open to Sol's influence.
Ratscar, Redwillow, and Applefur take over and Tawnypelt tries to lead opposition against them, but their training has made them freakishly strong and they have allies.
Rowanclaw rallies the rest of the Clan to confront Blackstar, and convince him to come back by reminding him of how loved he is
And it's for that reason that Rowanclaw is eventually made deputy. He saw the solution that no one else did. No tricks. No brute force. Just honesty.
AVOS AND TAWNYPELT'S MOUNTAIN
In AVoS, Tawnypelt watches her Clan get destroyed from the inside-out as Darktail exploits the anger of its warriors and apprentices, turning it into a cult.
Having already lost Flametail, losing Dawnpelt here, Tigerheart returning with two kittens only to die horribly was unbearable.
Rowanstar took the body of his daughter and dove into the Moonpool, drowning his lives away so that she could live and revive as Heartstar.
After that... Tawnypelt felt like she'd lost it all again. We return to her POV for the first time since TNP, to explore that.
How home no longer feels like home, how Heartstar returned as a leader and it's as though everyone she loves has changed.
But little Shadowkit is not as healthy as his sister, suffering seizures much stronger than Sorreltail of ThunderClan, no Cleric having a good prognosis for his life.
Heartstar and Dovewing do not want to expose him to more stress, and as his parents, agree that they will simply try to give him as comfortable of a life as possible.
Tawnypelt's Mountain is not a story about needing to save the Tribe again; it's about Tawnypelt kidnapping her grandson because he needs a stronger treatment and she's convinced the Tribe can offer it.
No she does not get permission.
Go Grandma
It's about all the times she had to let go, it's about how she never truly got to know Sleekwhisker and Juniperclaw, it's about how she couldn't save the old ShadowClan.
And it's about Shadowkit, and how comfortable he is at a young age with the concept of death. Spiresight, Rowanstar, Heartstar, Juniperclaw.
Up until the moment a Tribe Medic is able to look at him, Shadow had fully believed his illness was terminal. It's as if his future had suddenly changed.
(In the original book Dovewing was also on this trip, but I'm actually considering it JUST be Shadow and Tawny because I think it's a really interesting idea to have a grandma/grandkit story where the kit has wisdom beyond their years... but is still a child. And Tawny realizes that she was using this as a way to both help him, yes, but also to get a win for herself. Dovewing has plenty of her own content.)
The Tribe teaches them to use Chamomile to treat his epilepsy, showing Tawny exactly how to measure it, how to steep it, and how to heat it into a tea.
As TBC progresses, Shadowsight's growing skill as a Cleric is shown through his competence at preparing his own treatments.
Tawnypelt and Stormfur are able to catch up together too, and talk about their lives, drama, and how destiny brings you to strange places.
When she comes back, the Clan is expecting Heartstar to punish Tawny for stealing a kitten... but Heartstar is not going to do that to her mom, citing it's because Tawny was right and her son has a treatment better than the last.
In reality it's because Heartstar is Biased and will never punish her family lmao
BEYOND AND BONUSES
She's part of the rebellion in TBC and one of Shadowsight's beloved family members, but overall is a background element.
She decides to retire after that arc, feeling her age.
Tawny is a specialist of taking down large game, and great at coordinating and commanding hunts.
Hogs, small deer, so on.
Also one of ShadowClan's stronger fighters, but outclassed by Dark Forest trainees.
Her favorite food is frogspawn and gravy, likes everything about the taste of amphibians.
Design-wise she looks a lot like Tigerstar, but more lithe and with more of her mother's colors.
Close to breaking some kind of apprentice-training record, Oakfur is SO proud of her!
Whichever cats become the directional patrons should have a habit of throwing branches at annoying cats
Crowfeather's going to do that, absolutely. No waaaaay he doesn't. He's a dramatic little hedgehog lmao.
Btw the patrons of the directions will eventually be;
Bramblestar: Patron of the North
The direction towards the Lake during the Journey. For his strength in bringing them here. History is a lot kinder to him than his actual life might deserve, with his leadership role being seen as great, unwanted pressure.
Note: In BB, he did not make the lake run red with blood. Blood spilling blood was Mothwing to Hawkfrost, and the lake running red with blood was Mistyfoot bludgeoning Leopardstar at the southern, inlet river.
Feathertail: Patron of the South
The direction towards the mountain. Currently occupying a role for ALL travelers while the other soon-to-be Directional Patrons are still alive, but will eventually settle into a role for detours. Making sure to appreciate every stop on a trip.
Crowfeather: Patron of the East
The direction towards the wilds, and towards the Guardians if you go far enough. Also worshiped as a god of preparations, because he baked tunnelbuns for the entire group before going out and was the cook for the group the entire way.
Also associated with corn, specifically! A human crop that they passed on their trip, which he named with Squirrelpaw and discovered could be ground up into a flour. Seen broadly as the patron of new experiences while on a journey.
Tawnypelt: Patron of the West
The direction towards the ocean. ABSOLUTELY the most popular of the Directional Patrons, because of the tradition of doing Salt Patrols. The leader who united the whole group again after they were scrambled by a storm, at the place where the sun drowns.
How does Tawnypelt feel about her brother? Actually, whats going on with Tawny in general in BB? Still the same as canon?
Oh I'm sitting on a full drawing of BB!Tawny I plan to write out a summary for when I next get the chance
(Also an antpelt. Unrelated funny guy.)
In a nutshell, Tawny got a buff. She's the new head honcho of the Sundrown Patrol, and TNP is written exclusively from the perspective of the Four Tigerkin. You heard that right-- Mothwing, Hawkfrost, Tawnypelt, and Brambleclaw are the new POVs.
Tawnypelt's purpose in the story is to be the most objective and unbiased of the four POVs. She's the best at following and understanding the politics of the four Clans, the dynamics of the group, and most importantly, offering a counter example to Brambleclaw's unreliable narrative.
BB!Brambleclaw is an UNRELIABLE narrator and Tawnypelt is there to give the reader the truth to contrast him.
She is serious, competent, and still trying to find her place in ShadowClan. By the end of TNP, she's able to reject her father fully after finding connection with Rowanclaw.
From afar, she is very disappointed with Brambleclaw. She can't believe him when he disowns his children publically, to the point where me and @troutfur are planning to use her as an example of Clanmew pronoun correction.
She goes to Squirrelflight and, in a very personal move hard to translate into English, corrects her pronouns from "rarrs" to "nyams" using the excuse that she belonged to family. Comforting her ex-in-law by assuring her that THEIR relationship has not changed.
BB!Tawnypelt's got a lot going for her. Very fond of the golden girl.
Since my old drawing tablet gave up on life i've been struggling using a tiny no display tablet. Decided to draw more battle cats to practice using it.
Please enjoy Tawnypelt having a bonding moment with her ailing Victorian grandchild while she debates kidnapping him for a field trip to the doctor.
I am enjoying it greatly, thank you, that captures them perfectly
