Hey, so I'm re-reading Simpler Times and I just hit the spot where Bluestar finds out about Silverstream. I know it doesn't go this way, but I've got a brain worm over this. What if she was so angry with Tigerclaw that she demotes him over it, possibly even promoting Fireheart waaaayy earlier than he's supposed to be? How would the conflict play out with Fireheart as deputy and Tigerclaw disgraced, but still part of Thunderclan?
That's,,, a good question! Hmm.
To start, one thing that's important to clarify is that part of Fireheart's promotion to deputy in the OG series is that Bluestar p. much has a mental breakdown and decides that he, specifically, is the only person she trusts. (At least, that's how I read it xD). So my presumption would be that something similar is happening here. If you look at it logically, there's no reason for Fireheart to be made deputy over all the other older and more experienced cats in the clan (coughWHITESTORM?cough) so if it's happening, Bluestar's gotta be Going Through It.
With that established, how would the conflict play out with Fireheart as deputy and a disgraced Tigerclaw being part of ThunderClan? Hoo boy.
I think Tigerclaw would be absolutely, intolerably furious about Fireheart getting his job. Like, he'd personally hate that more than just being exiled. He's gotta take orders from this guy every day now!! Meanwhile Fireheart is p. much treading water and stressing over Tigerclaw, similarly to canon, only it's more anxiety-inducing because the rest of the Clan STILL doesn't really see Tigerclaw for the monster that he actually is; they just thing he's overzealous n got demoted because he made a whoopsie. It probably leads into some kind of thought question: do you prefer having your greatest enemy out of sight but away from you, or constantly in your living space all the time?
Saving grace here would deffo be Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw IMO. Brambleclaw would be able to keep being nervous but determined to deal with his father, and Squirrelpaw would 100% be mocking Tigerclaw to hell and back for losing the deputy-ship because of his own impulsive idiocy. Oh my god, she would see it as a golden piss-taking opportunity. I need to stop imagining how funny she'd find i before I start writing out her dialogue. :P
I think... hmm. My first reflex is that the conflict would go better for our heroes, because Tigerclaw has lost his power in ThunderClan but doesn't have the freedom to slink around and make alliances that comes with being an exile. That said, with Tigerclaw still in ThunderClan, he could probably talk to a lot of cats individually and bend their ears into supporting him and his attempt to return to the deputy-ship (and possibly more?) To that end it'd probably become a Fireheart vs. Tigerclaw PR battle for a while, and then eventually something would give and there'd be a physical fight and then things would play out a little bit more like canon.
I'm sure there's some details I've missed, but that's all I'm thinking of off the top of my head. :D Thank you so much for the ask!!!
