#bb!tigerstar

That's it. BB!Tigerstar doesn't even have a prophecy that he will become a tyrant, Goosefeather lied. He told Pinestar a half-truth to give him enough anxiety that he'd have nightmares.

The only thing inevitable about Tigerstar was the slowly grinding gears of ideology. If it wasn't him, it would have been another cat with a charming smile and quick words. And that's what's so unsettling about him.

He was Spottedleaf's childhood best friend. He was a sweet little boy who wanted to please his mom and his mentor. He hummed his daughter Lynxkit's favorite lullaby as she passed away in his paws. His mate loved him. He raised a fine apprentice. The whole Clan respected him.

And he filled up unmarked graves with his murder victims, controlled his outsider mate with threat of death if she tried to escape, fed a nursing queen to dogs, because he stopped seeing them as people.

The Dark Forest gave him opportunity. A second chance to acquire everything he ever wanted; Godhood, his ideas in practice, a glorious future. But in truth, there was nothing inherent about his evil. He wasn't born with darkness inside of him.

Firestar sorts through his memories to find the root of his evil, and finds nothing. Unwilling to take blame and full of anger... but not unseen in other cats. That's all there is. A miserable pile of circumstance, taped together by a hardening cycle that started long before his mentor's mentor.

That's what I'm getting at with BB. Tyrants, abusers, and ideologues are people. Evil isn't special and unique, it's ugly and common. Horrible, villainous people can be family, friends, and coworkers. No one is immune to propaganda, and there is no magic way to preemptively catch a bad person.

Hmm... honestly? I think it fits other characters much better!

Man Who Sold The World always reads to me as like... a dangerous character, could be a demon, could be an evil parent, could be a more literal villain in some kind of story, who has unambiguously gotten its ass kicked and banished. In its defeat, it realizes that it can turn it around; by trying to convince one of their Victims to join them.

And succeeding.

(and it's why Nirvana's version is my favorite, Cobain's voice is just the right amount of hoarse that makes me feel like the Victim Character has lost a lot of sleep over it. Vulnerable and open to the offer of the Villain, possibly on the brink of desperation in their own life. It has that sort of angsty-young-adult madness that makes choosing bad decisions sooo much easier. Bowie's and Ure's versions are also fantastic, but imo they're a lot more dreamlike, like the victim is being more entranced than convinced!)

The song isn't about breaking out of that cycle. It's about "laughing and shaking his hand," returning home almost unaware of any change. But over many years, in tiny little ways that add up into even bigger ones, slowly the Victim becomes another man who sold the world.

They doesn't even realize when they died alone along their quest, just that it must have been long, long ago.

Some of that fits Fallenleaf, but it's not quite the same vibe. She killed Ashfur in revenge. She sought out Sol and took his deal for power, and tried to kill her own brother. She subjugated an entire Ancient Lake society-- and the only thing she can really blame Sol for is how it got bored of her and kicked her out of her own body.

Those were things she did. And they're things she lives with. Trickery was less a part of it than she might have wanted to believe at some point in her long, guilty life.

NATURALLY I'm inspired by Cheecat's really great animation they made with Brambleclaw and Tigerstar, and I think it fits Tigerstar to a T, but who I always think of is Hawkfrost.

Especially in BB, where RiverClan raised him to lean into his legacy. Not Clanborn, from a young age he had to work twice as hard, prove that he and his sister were "worth" keeping around, told that they were only protected by that diluted Tigerkin blood that trickles through their veins and that Tigerstar was an ideal to live up to...

Only the thinnest veneers of, "Be what he was, without his flaws" to hold him back from fully adopting everything his father ever stood for. A father he never met, who hurt his mother, who killed and traumatized countless clanmates.

And then Hawkfrost sees him. The song kicks in. "I thought you died alone, a long long time ago."

"Not me. I never lost control." It means that those "flaws," they weren't so bad. "You're face to face with the man who sold the world" and I can teach you the value of that.

He leaves that exchange feeling warm. "I laughed and shook his hand." He goes through the destruction of the forest (looking for form), the great journey (and land), and eventually finds himself in all the conflicts of TNP. No one knows at what point he stopped being the noble young warrior who stood up for Reedpaw against his tormenters, or when wanting to protect his sister became abuse and belittling.

But at some point, he died alone, long before his heart stopped beating on that stake.

I think StarClan has an argument over it. The vast majority of cats in StarClan are furious with him; his murder attempts, his killings of innocent cats, his betrayal of ThunderClan when he was an ally of Brokenstar. He's everything they don't want.

But on the other hand... a little bit has changed about the dynamics of Bonefall TPB StarClan since I decided he would get Dark Forest Lives.

This is before Bluestar's death and Thistleclaw is still part of StarClan. So are his supporters. There are a few of them who want to give a life.

So I'm thinking, first, StarClan rejects him. Says they flatly refuse to give him his lives for what he has done. Runningnose leads him away, knowing there are other allies in the skies, but a few of his StarClan supporters follow quietly. Not very many-- less than 3.

It may make a cool setting for him to receive his lives at the border between StarClan and the Dark Forest. It's a strange, dusty nebula-like place where it's hard to see what's in front of you, impossible to find StarClan unless you're blessed by a star. Some of the glowing eyes in the fog are blue; most are red.

Thistleclaw (StarClan) For purity. To always stick to his principles, even when it makes life harder.

Brokenstar (Dark Forest) For ShadowClan. To always keep it in his heart, and protect it at all costs. It is the strongest and most noble Clan, and without it he would not be leader today; be worthy of it.

Skystar (StarClan) For conquest. Long ago, he watched his namesake Clan wither from the inside due to weakness. When the time came that they had no more territory to miserably cling to, they drowned like ants without a leaf. Never roll over and show your belly to your opponent; take what others don't deserve to have!

Leopardfoot (StarClan) For legacy. She conceived Tigerstar and his siblings because she wanted to mother strong, honorable kits. Pinestar and his bloodline were known for being Crusaders, respected and powerful. He left them and destroyed his reputation; but she's here to remind him that he is her son, more than he is his son. She finishes by telling him how proud she is.

Mapleshade (Dark Forest) For revenge. Oakstar put her children in that river, and Darkstar refused to allow her to bury them. She killed 3 more and StarClan became so furious they called both leaders to a trial and damned her victims in their blind rage. She couldn't win; but she could hurt them. THAT is a victory.

Oakstar (Dark Forest) For glory. After StarClan unfairly put him on that trial, he dedicated his life to trying to please them as they allowed a ridiculous rule to be implemented. His Crusades did not please StarClan, but they were wrong. They were a high point in history, never before nor since have warriors been so strong as when they brawled constantly, just for honor! Remember that warriors were made to fight, it is life's purpose.

Clawface (Dark Forest) For humility. All the strength in the world won't get an idiot very far, and it's easy to get caught off guard when you think you're at your most powerful. Never underestimate an opponent-- especially one you think will be easy to beat. (because he got killed by Graystripe lmao)

Shredtail (Dark Forest) For dedication. Always have a goal in mind, make every action a means to an end. Know what you want and cut a path towards it-- even through your allies, if it comes down to it.

And he looks around... is there no 9th cat to give him a life? Someone assures him that sometimes leaders don't get 9, when there aren't enough cats who wish for their long rule.

Angry, he's about to pack it up and move on, when a voice asks, "have I missed the party?"

It's Spottedleaf, his old friend... and a cat who was caught in the crossfire of his scheme to replace Lionheart. She plays with him a bit. "I'll give you a life... but I won't tell you what it is! Do you trust me?" knowing Spotty, and knowing he got her killed, and knowing she knows now that he killed her brother, he thinks about this... but his ambition wins out. He wants to win as long as possible.

The life she gives him is for death. For his first to be his last. She lays a curse on him that day as revenge for what he did and what he became; that his reign will be short and his ending bloody.

Later, when Tigerstar is striking the Impossible Deal with Scourge that he does not plan to honor, the leader of BloodClan pauses to consider the alliance... Clan cats are a dishonorable bunch, and BloodClan formed in the first place to oppose their violent crusades. Scourge is no fool, there's no way this broad-shouldered scoundrel is planning to make good on his side of the bargain.

But against his better judgement, as if the wind whispers in his ear... he agrees.

He is. Swiftpaw is his oldest child. His sister, Lynxkit, died very young. She passed away in her father's paws, and burying her was the most painful thing Tigerclaw had ever experienced.

When Swiftpaw is killed by the dogs, Tigerstar accuses ThunderClan of not protecting him and letting him die to spite him, then demands for Tawnykit and Bramblekit to be given to him. There's no evidence that he'd set up the pack at that point, and Tigerstar doesn't see Swiftpaw as "collateral."

THEY must sent him out scouting. Tigerstar doesn't take any responsibility for this.