Undead

He was not just “Picked on by his siblings and it made him edgy”, he was being relentlessly mocked by them, to the point where it isn’t even average sibling bickering/fighting but now something that traumatized him and actively fed into why he never went back home after being attacked (“Unwanted kittens get thrown into the river”)

He was not just “An edgy teenager who rallied a bunch of emos”, he was a hurting child who had nobody to help him and managed to secure small glimmers of help from other cats who he was lucky to have met during his circumstances at the time (The old stray giving this hungry kitten food, the strays seeing the dog tooth in his collar Right After he gets it, etc).

Naming is a very important tradition in a clan. While in canon these are simply known as a prefix and suffix I will expand upon them in this AU.

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Prefix = Hereditary name

Suffix = Titular name

Hereditary Names

Names that are given from parent to kit (also known as familial names). These names are highly personal. Kits are often recieve their hereditary named after their apperance (Bluekit, Spottedkit, Ashkit, Squirrelkit etc) or a certain association or memory in their parents lives (Oakkit after the tree in the storm, Mistykit after the river). There are other meanings behind certain hereditary names such as ThunderClan naming their kits after deceased relatives and ShadowClan after virtues they want their kits to have.

Titular Names

These are the second part of a name presented to a cat by their leader. Cats may recieve their titular name after an achievement, attribute or personality trait that a leader believes has defined the apprentice. Cats may be honoured for their kindness, skill, bravery, beauty, etc that they have provided to the clan

In conclusion hereditary names are personal, family given names aknowledging the parents' past and feelings. A titular name demonstrates what a cat can provide to their clan.

Example:

Tiger - (Hereditary: to manifest stregnth as a sick kit)

Claw - (Titular: fighting skill, won many battles)

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NAME CHANGES

There are certain cases of a cat willing to change their name. This is commonly accepted as names are a title used to recognise their achievements in a clan or physical apperance.

Case 1: An Outsider joining a clan

When an outsider joins a clan they may partially keep their name as a hereditary name if preferred as it is honouring an outsider's family but some choose to change it anyway due to stigma and to better assimilate into clan life. A young cat or kit would have their name changed regardless as they are nursed by queens therefore have a familial bond to the clan. Titular names must be changed however or it is seen as a sign of disrespect to the clan (Daisy's name changed to Daisyfoot, Firestar is a bit more leanient so allows Purdy and Mille to keep their names)

Case 2: Clan swaps or changed by choice

When a warrior switches clan, their new leader has the right to change the warrior's titular name to assimilate them to their new clan. Additionally up until the kit becomes an apprentice, one of the Queen's rights is to change their kit's hereditary name (Rainflower changing Stormkit to Crookedkit, explaining why Hailstar accepted this decision)

Case 3: Names after Injuries (Unofficial & Unofficial)

Unofficial: Some names are simply nicknames used more and more over time until their usage is more common than the warrior's actual name. For example Halftail and Oneeye are Sparrowtail and Whiteye however most of the clan calls them Halftail and Oneeye anyway. This is often the case with elders whose family have gone to StarClan

Official: May be changed after a warriors achievement and is seen as a higher honour than simply recieving a titular name such as Clawface of ShadowClan and Tornear of WindClan being renamed for being formidable in combat. Vice-versa it may be used to punish a cat as an alternative punishment to demoting them to apprentice duties, (Note: Bluestar abused this power when naming Brightpaw Lostface as she delubrately went against StarClan's will)

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BREAKING TRADITION

Like many traditions there are exceptions to these rules. One generally accepted one in ThunderClan is that a family member can request a titular name for their kit. Squirrelflight requested to Firestar to name Hollyleaf after Leafpool (to supposedly "honour her past medicine cat training and relationship with her mentor the role" as a cover).

A cat choosing their own titular name is seen as taboo and an insult to their leader. Tallstar consented to Crowfeather choosing his titular name mostly out of sheer suprise.

A cat changing their hereditary name is seen as completely taboo. I likly won't cover Nightheart in this AU but his decision to change only his hereditary name was a way to reject the legacy of Firestar he felt forced to carry

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Designation Names

___kit: To aknowledge that a young cat is too young to take part in the gruelling training, hunting and fighting of everyday life. Their role is to eat and grow up well so they are prepared for being named apprentices.

___paw: To call on StarClan to guide the young cat through their training. Also as a reminder to the clan and the young cat that they need help and support to become a full warrior. The apprentice is still defining their identity.

___star: To aknowledge a leader has been accepted by StarClan and that their multiple lives makes them different to their clanmates. The warrior ancestors have given the leader nine lives, in return must follow StarClan's will and be a beacon for their clan

Houndoom? Don't be silly, that's just a

Also known as a

Firstly, she was so confused with her friend Sunfish’s relationship, and the fact that they started a family right out of apprenticeship.

Then she finally made a friend…. Frogleap, and since she’d never felt romantic attraction before she went “wait?? I have a positive feeling towards a tom?? Is this romantic attraction??” Like no bestie that’s called friendship.

Then she was firm in her goals of not wanting a family or kits, and she was going to do the best for herself. And Frogleap was being a little bitch about it because “wah you can’t be leader! You need to settle down and have my babies!” (I fucking hate Frogleap)

Then she was a little jealous of Mosspelt at first, but they eventually became friends.

And her relationship with Whiteclaw, basically the closest thing she had to an actual family besides from her father. We stan Ace/aro adoptive mother and her bisexual disaster adoptive son.

I saw an “OC Red Flag Bingo” floating around but it was not toxic enough for my needs so I decided to make my own LMFAO Feel free to use, but please credit me and link back to the original! :D (And @ me if you’d like—I’d love to see how bad your OCs can be!)

Answers for my main six below:

(also, I did pull over on my commute home to send this ask before I forgot lol)

You had me double checking that Goldenflower was canonically Lionheart's sister and that was not just an ubiquitous headcanon I picked up, hahahah. But yeah, they are.

The more I tinker with this the more I find that I have a bit of a formula. Core sibling pair plus one to two extras. Lion/Snow/Tiger/Golden. Poppy/Berry/Lion/Cinder. Bright/Cloud/Thorn. The main exception would be things like Blossom/Ivy/Fern which had to make do after Dove left, as well as the occasional monogamous pairs whether by choice like Bramble/Squirrel or by tragedy like Thistle/Blue.

I want to play more in the margins of the system but as a standard I do think it makes sense most nests would follow that formula.

With regards to siblings of different litters in the same nest, I would think that's more likely to happen with siblings who were born really close together! A good example would probably be Squirrelpaw & Shrewpaw & Spiderpaw. All of them born to the Ferncloud/Dustpelt/Sandstorm/Firestar nest unit (look a pfurr without siblings). They definitely have the same sire, Dustpelt, as he is the only one capable of it in this AU.

It goes thusly:

Every year, during the South Asian monsoon season, Buddhist monks do an intensive three month silent meditation retreat. At the conclusion, when the monks once again mingle with the laity, there is a huge party with lots of food being offered to the monastic community. This is a form of creating lots of good karma, which in turn is dedicated through prayers for the welfare of one's ancestors, and in particular those reborn as pretas (often translated to English as "hungry ghosts", incorporeal beings with bloated stomachs but needle-like mouths, incapable of eating anything but the most disgusting bodily fluids except when someone dedicates their good karma for their benefit).

The idea of the DF being a place with no prey, as opposed to StarClan's easy hunting, is already present in canon. So presenting them as perpetually starving like hungry ghosts would be a natural extension of that. Further, adopting the idea of the Hungry Ghost Festival gives cats with notorious evil relatives an outlet to memorialize their family in a socially acceptable way. You are not honoring them the way you would a StarClan cat, you are demonstrating pity for their post-mortem condition.

It also gives the meddies a festival where they can be appreciated and honored for their efforts. Perhaps in place of a three month meditation retreat there is some other form of sacred duty. For example, it could be all-night prayer vigil, performed at a time thought of as particularly liminal and during which the veil between worlds is thinner, like an equinox or solstice. Or it could be a period of fasting during which they train their bodies to be more resilient. Or it could be during a particular period during which they study the stars and draw up charts with predictions of the future in the coming season.