Every Time I See The Word Chuffed It Makes Me Think Of Happy, Little Chickadees. Those Rotund Fellas

Every time I see the word chuffed it makes me think of happy, little chickadees. Those rotund fellas just fit the word.

My brain is a colander and my psyche is on fire.

Fae King Dio, that is the thought.

I have been bothering my dear sister for such a long time to post stuff, so I am obligated to reblog this. I have never read any of these books nor do they particularly interest me, but my sister has loved them since we were children. As adults she still treasures this book series and has dedicated her spare time to fixing inconsistencies within the cannon of the book universe. This is not the first cat family wreath story I have had to listen to, but to be fair she listens to me incessantly talk about Jojo of which she would probably prefer I shut up about.

ThunderClan Family Tree - Or the Family Wreath

Was pondering Mapleshade’s Vengeance and how it seems that she was completely forgotten within a generation or two and one thing led to another. Below is a very messy, cannon family tree for ThunderClan as best as I was able to draw out the relationships. I still don’t understand how she was forgotten so quickly unless Oakstar decided to bury the whole affair as one buries their dirt.

Few things that are interesting to me:

How is it that the Erins chose from two of the more inbred family lines to make the most inbred protagonist that the series has seen??? Poor Moonpaw, no wonder she’s a little odd.

8 generations of cats isn’t a very long time - or so it seems (as defined by who the leader is). The events of Mapleshade’s Vengeance take place nineteen years before Firestar and the current series is 13 years after Firestar arrives in the forest. So 8 generations covers 32 years. In other words, a single generation spans four years. Considering how quickly as cats reproduce and how harsh life is for feral cats, the total number of cats in ThunderClan doesn’t seem realistic.

The Erins killed off very few cats during “major catastrophes” such as the battle with BloodClan, the destruction of the forest and the journey to the lake, and the final battle. In the most recent arcs, the clans feel very bloated. I think this is attributable to the fact that the Erins kill no one off!

Correcting the Family Wreath

This correction is mostly for my AUs and my rewrite of the warrior series. I could not proceed and stick to the family wreath. I wanted a proper family tree with minimal inbreeding that spans the 8 generations of ThunderClan. Correction of the family wreath necessitated addition of several OCs. I also modified existing relationships and changed names that I did not particularly care for, did not feel very ThunderClan-like, repeated names, etc. Furthermore, cats were limited to two litters and Queens did not have to disclose the father of their kits. When a litter’s father is unknown, they are presumed to be outside of the clan. Certain branches of the family tree have been excluded for simplicity’s sake and because their lineages continue in Clans outside of ThunderClan.

Honestly, this family tree is more confusing and challenging to navigate (for me), but certain lineages do not cross until the 7th and 8th generations (see, Erins? How hard is it?).

This took me far too long.

Divergences from canon (my headcanons and AUs):

Frecklewing had a litter of kits that Mapleshade was unaware of when she murdered the she-cat. Because Thornclaw is related to Frecklewing, Mapleshade recruits him to the dark forest.

Speckleflight and Tawnyspots are littermates. Tawnyclaw is named after him.

Robinchest did not plan on having another litter of kits after her first died during the Great Hunger, but Fuzzypelt eventually persuaded her that they were unlikely to ever see a leaf-bare like that one again. Hollowflight and Hickorynose are named for the Great Hunger - for hollow bellies and gnawing on bark to survive. Robinchest wanted to name Hickorykit Barkkit, but Fuzzypelt wanted the littermates to have similar sounds in their names.

Longtail is made deputy and is blinded during the destruction of the ThunderClan camp. He does not step down as deputy until he falls over the cliff of the hollow and resigns, feeling unsure about his position in the clan.

Lynxpaw and Swiftpaw survived a bout of greencough that swept through ThunderClan, killing Berrykit and Leopardfoot. Goldenflower lost both of her kits to the dog pack, in a foolish attempt to confront the dogs directly and drive them out. Lynxpaw and Swiftpaw gave their lives to allow the rest of the patrol to escape, but in Bluestar’s madness, she refuses to give them a warrior name to carry to StarClan.

Brightpaw and Thornpaw are well past of the age of becoming warriors when they volunteer to lead the dogs to the gorge. Brightpaw is caught and savaged by the dogs, but Tulip-paw comes to her rescue, distracting the dogs and allowing Sandstorm to take over the relay. Tulip-paw was severely wounded and found dead next to his best friend, Brightpaw, who is barely breathing. Fireheart, not yet Firestar, names her Brightheart before traveling to the Moonstone to receive his nine lives. He is afraid that she is going to be there to give him a life.

Cinderpaw takes the name Cinderstep, as a reminder that she needs to just keep on taking one pawstep after the other. She chose her name - not Yellowfang.

Seedpaw swallows too much water when trying to rescue Dandelionkit during the storm and the flooding. Dandelionkit and Seedpaw die together, from dry-drowning, hours after the clan believes that they’re okay.

Dustpelt was never Ferncloud’s mentor.

Cloudtail and Brightheart have a large litter of kits, but only make the journey across the mountains with Whitepaw. Rustpaw was captured by the twolegs and does not join the clans until seasons later - after Graystripe and Millie return. She arrives without a clan name, and three young kits: Snow, Dew, and Amber. She is welcomed back into the clan and is made a warrior without sitting vigil.

Tawnyclaw is named after her father and her fierce fighting skills. Brambleflower is named for his mother and his gentle disposition. Both young cats miss their father - Tigerstar had always been loving towards them, until the end.

A branch does not kill Rainwhisker.

I have more, but I should save them for another post.

Gotta take a moment to acknowledge how goofy my work setup is.

10/10 doing great 😂

The anatomy coloring book is an old school thing, I just need it for musculature. What I really wish I could find is my costume design book from when I did theatrical design. It had so many historical clothing references and recommendations from all different eras. I have been wanting to do a Dio and Jonathan piece with historically accurate clothing for a while now.