#bonefall tbc

The answer is; the Aftergathering wasn't so bold back at the Forest territories!

In fact that's why I specified that the one Shellfur went to was an average Lake gathering!

It has always been your right to wander and have friends in other Clans. Unlike canon where a warrior's life is strictly controlled, cats are rarely questioned for hanging out in places they're allowed to be. So long as you do your responsibilities, you're a CLAN cat. Not a kittypet with a twoleg.

But being caught so brazenly meeting with a mate in another Clan, that would be a huge problem. So the Aftergathering existed, but quietly. The cats gave each other privacy.

No one would EVER ask why you were staying. A lot of coded language. If you got cuddly in public, someone would gently tell you to be more discreet.

And of course there was no soup.

The Aftergathering is also not that old! It started forming about a generation after Darkstar's Commandment, when kit-stealing was banned, during the mid-Crusade Era.

It was a genetic necessity, and Clan animosity had a different flavor when Chelford raids were the Clan's main targets. Pinestar was born before there was an Aftergathering.

The Campaign Era wittled the Aftergathering significantly. If the cats hadn't responded by becoming much less conspicuous, there very much could have been a Salem-esque "what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament" movement. In fact, if Fire Alone didn't happen when it did, it could have been something that a leader with the newly-minted Thistle Law would have done.

It only didn't because it didn't. The soil was ripe for it. History is full of near-misses.

After the TNP journey, cats have become careless about the Aftergathering. The destruction of the forest changed something about them, the divisions were never quite the same again. Paw Soup itself was a cuisine MADE by apprentices who worked together.

As long as you are loyal and fiery for the rest of the month, defending your Clan with your life, the Aftergathering is not made into an issue...

Glad to see you around!! Yep, I fixed Shadowsight too, in a way I hope you'll both like.

[ID: Better Bones Shadowsight. He is a large gray tabby with a black mohawk and red eyes. He has a jagged, red scar down his eye, splitting his ear in half, down his neck, and continuing down the arm.]

Since Sorreltail has absence seizures and her epilepsy is on the mild side, I went and gave Shadowsight a more severe type to get a better range of rep.

He has clonic-tonic seizures, which he was born with.

The seizures are NOT related to visions anymore! That's just a thing he has.

Tawnypelt's Clan is going to get reduxed into something less about needing to save the tribe again (which I have issues with as the narrative keeps taking away the tribe's competence and agency), to Tawnypelt seeking treatment for him.

Since his type is more severe than Sorrel's, his treatment plan includes chamomile.

Chamomile is poisonous to cats in high amounts, so its dose is carefully controlled.

I plan to show him growing more skilled as a medic with preparing his own medications, as measuring the dose is quite delicate.

It'll be served in broth form because the idea of him lapping up tea out of a little painted bowl is irresistible

And when he's possessed...

[ID: Better Bones Shadowsight. He is a large gray tabby with a black mohawk and pink eyes. He has a jagged, blue scar down his eye, splitting his ear in half, down his neck, and continuing down the arm]

The split ear is made to look like radio antennae. Like he's picking up signals.

The lightning bolt is what gives him that connection to StarClan and its warriors. Ashfur had intelligently blocked off the rest of silverpelt, so Shadow was only hearing HIM.

It glows blue because the electric is running in it, also Ashfur Symbolism.

The final battle with Ashfur is MUCH different. It takes place in the land between StarClan and the Dark Forest-- The Meadow of Young Stars.

Ashfur absorbs several cats and becomes something so large and strong that it can't be killed by regular claws

And it's in this moment that Shadowsight confronts the man who used and controlled him.

"You're nothing without me, Shadowsight! What are you doing?! Stop!"

He blasts the lightning bolt right back at him, giving up the connection to StarClan that Ashfur had given him, using it like an electric tether to hold him in place

He can't hold him! Rootspring, Strikestone, and everyone else he'd lost in the Impostor's Tyranny leap into action to hold him as he holds down Ashfur

It's that moment where Bristlefrost realizes what she must do

Instead of falling into water, Briss lines up, charges, and body checks the eldrich horror out of the sky like a shooting star

They burn up in orbit, crashing down to Earth as a pair of meteorites. There is going to be a crater on the map from this point on.

Poppy keeps her distance as their aunt, trying to forget it ever happened. It was codebreaking, it was painful to have reality crash in on itself, and she doesn't want to think about how Jayfeather chose clergyhood over her.

She has no way of confronting this in a way that's healthy. So she tries to pretend it didn't happen.

It's IVYPOOL who's pissed about it when it comes out, which the Imposter uses to exploit her even more. It's blackmail AND it's ragebait. She's a pawn of the impostor for the rising action of BB!TBC, until her baby Bristlefrost is publicly executed.

Dovewing, meanwhile, is peeking through the shutters from ShadowClan like, "how does my family keep getting worse"

The reasoning that Bramblestar isn't ousted after TBC is only because it technically wasn't him committing the acts of the Impostor... but he is on thin ice.

(context for newcomers: Bramblestar has been leader since the end of Po3 because Breezepelt killed Firestar. Girlboss moment)

After the events of Squirrelflight's Horror and the death of Leafpool as a result of his botched raid, not to mention his behavior at the end of Po3 where he disowned his adopted children, and caused controversy by publicly demoting (and mistreating) his very popular deputy and ex-mate, not to mention a second mate and a genius engineer leaving the Clan, Bramblestar is a very unpopular leader.

They didn't believe Bramblestar was possessed at the beginning of TBC. They just think he's throwing his weight around, the way always does.

They don't finally stand against him because Graystripe recognizes he's an imposter like in canon, either, they stand against him because he is doing bad things.

But... because it wasn't him, and because Squirrelflight saves him from the Dark Forest because she's the kind of person who would never leave a clanmate behind, he is still leader in the beginning of ASC.

Breezepelt is deeply distressed during the whole ordeal. The Kin's tyranny is fresh in his mind, he's still on thin ice with WindClan after defecting twice, he's got his first litter of kits on the way, and he's JUST starting to patch up his relationship with his dad

And now there's a NEW tyrant doing public executions, and everyone's so scared of losing StarClan they're willing to make blood sacrifices now??? That's what he sees that execution as. A blood sacrifice.

Ohhh godddddd and Firestar might still be here if he hadn't done what he did years ago, it's like his mistakes just keep biting him like fleas, no matter how much he grooms he can never crack them all!

WHOLE HOG EPILEPSY you got it! I got several asks at once jumping on the idea so consider it added.

Specifically, this is general-onset seizures that are clonic-tonic. The "classic" convulsive type that would severely impede warrior duties. These ones can be dangerous if not controlled, so I'll out him on the heavy-duty herb in my Epilepsy Guide-- Chamomile.

Chamomile is an herb that, when not carefully diluted, will kill a cat. So I may make it a point for Alderheart to come and spend some time in ShadowClan making sure Puddleshine knows how to brew it properly. I'll treat it like heavy metal.

Ashfur: "YOU CANT DO THAT THATS ILLEGAL STOP STOP STOP"

Hmmm... I want Shadowsight's scar to be blue when he first gets it from Ashfur's lightning and stay that way until Ashfur's control is gone, maybe it turns red with his death?

Twice! Once in the mortal plane to the impostor, and the second drowning Ashfur just like canon.

Ivypool is taking many of her roles, Bonefall TBC is going to be an arc with her as a POV. Bramblefake exploits Ivypool's issues with abandonment and the way she holds grudges to turn her against her daughter, who's having a secret half-clan relationship much like Dovewing once had. On that note, Bristlefrost and Rootspring's love is mostly offscreen.

This culminates in Bramblefake bringing Bristlefrost to a gathering, pointing out that the Clans have not been strictly enforcing the code, demanding Leafstar punish Rootspring. Leafstar, of course, says that this is madness and refuses.

So Bramblefake lifts his paw, slices Bristlefrost's neck, and lets her plummet off the tree. She's dead before she hits the ground. The gathering erupts into chaos

But Bramblefake points at the moon with his bloody paw, bright, full, and unclouded, and says, "This is the will of StarClan! Punish the codebreakers, or they will never speak to us again!"