Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy

- He’s red like an alder tree. I’m assuming that’s why they gave him his prefix in canon, but for now I’m using it as an excuse as to why I didn’t make him look like his name all that much.

- He mostly looks like his dad, who he inherits his build, stripes, ear pattern, nose pattern, and eye color from. Meanwhile he has his mom’s hair, freckles, muzzle pattern, ear fluff/tufts, pelt color and the hearts on his nose and chest.

- The hearts he had on his chest are the same as Tigerheart/star, who’s his cousin. For whatever reason I just find that fact to be very interesting.

- Although I don’t usually draw cats with accessories, I like to imagine he’s have some alder leaves and thyme in his pelt. To help him calm down.

Headcannons: Spoilers for TBC & ASC arcs below. Tried avoiding the newest arc tho, might do a separate post for that. A bit long but not Birchfall long ykwim?

• Alderheart is friends with Stormcloud (Kittypet turned warrior from Bramblestar’s SE), because they have similar personalities and Storm’s mentor was Squirrelflight. Alder thought that Storm could be a bit much sometimes, and he didn’t hang with him often because he just wanted to do his job. But after everything the Imposter has done to the both of them, and the role Storm had in Sparkpelt’s grief, they became much closer. Storm would bring Alder his fav prey and accompany him on his herb patrols, and Alder would do out of his was to check on him and spend time with him.

• On that last note, when Alderheart gets curious about Velvet, he gets Stormcloud to go down to Twolegplace to check up on her. He doesn’t like her anymore cuz it was just a crush, but he did wonder about her at times.

• His true parental figures are Jayfeather and Leafpool (back when she was alive). Positions as mentors aside, Leafpool was his aunt, and was naturally motherly to him because Squirrel took care of her kids in the past. On the other side, Jayfeather understood his Alder’s feelings about their parents, and gave him the support and advice he needed when he just couldn’t handle things.

• The reason why we haven’t been seeing much of Alderheart’s opinions on things is because he’s dissociating. Hear me out. In Squirrelflights SE, we see her and Bramble fighting multiple times to the point that even Sparkpelt calls them out. Who’s to say they don’t seek mediation from their only biological son, especially considering that Jay has been having a mean streak these past few arcs? Maybe he gives them the advice they ask for, but for whatever reason they don’t really follow it, or only for a short time

Maybe it all comes to a head when Bramble gets possessed, and he witnesses his dad send Alder littermate to her mauled by dogs. Then Alder himself gets exiled and forced to wander around who knows where for a few days. And maybe those times with Jayfeather and Stormcloud and all the other exiles was the most peaceful times her ever had in his life. Of course, he couldn’t leave his family and friends behind and he does like being a medicine cat, so he comes back.

• In the same vein as the last hc, he’s not as close to his family, but he still supportive of them. He’s happy that his mother became leader, and that his father is in the elders den where he could rest up, but also have no influence on his mom. He checks up on his mom every little while, he personally made sure Sparkpelt healed properly, and he tends to his father with anything he might need.

• Sometimes talks to his sister about the horrors they went through, but she’s in a bit too much grief over her mate and just everything that happened to really be talking to anyone. On that note, he’s not really as close to Nightheart due to Night being himself and Alder being a bit too distracted with everything. Finchlight (Nights sister) stops by to say hi and have small talk sometimes however, so that’s nice.