⭕️Hey Bones! Is it ok if you explain and/or elaborate how Crowfeather is abusive to Breezepelt if please?⭕️
I do KNOW that crowfeather is indeed, abusive to Breezepelt, due to the fact that he emotionally and/or physically neglected him - with child neglect being known to BE a form of child abuse - and I also heard that he slashed and/or hit him within one of the books, which I believe is in the book Outcast, in chapter 16.
But I also wish people would talk and be informed about it more within the fandom, because in the parts of the fandom I’ve known portrayed Crowfeather’s neglect on Breezepelt as negative and bad, but not in a way that made me think and/or feel: “Wow, that’s pretty bad. That’s…actually abusive.” I suppose? So I hope more people will talk about it more in that type of way.
Also, please be aware that I have NOT read PoT, OoTS, etc. or barely any warrior cats books, since the majority of the information I got from the series is from the wiki and the fandom, so that probably explains why I didn’t know this part of Crowfeather’s character is as bad as it actually is until now. Also, feel free to talk about Crowfeather’s abuse on Breezepelt I haven’t mentioned and/or don’t know right now as well if you want.
I’m SO sorry that if this ask is unintentionally quite long, and feel free to make sure to take all the time you need to answer it. Thank you!
OH LET'S GOOOO
Breezepelt is both physically and emotionally abused by Crowfeather. I'm not talking about only child neglect; he is screamed at, belittled, and even once hit on-screen.
The fact that Crowfeather both neglected and abused him is very important to the canonical story of Breezepaw. There's actually a lot more to this character than people remember! Even from his first appearances he displays good qualities, a strained relationship with his father and adult clanmates, and is clearly shown to be troubled before we understand why.
As many problems as I have with the direction of Breezepelt's arc (especially Crowfeather's Trial), his setup is legitimately a praiseworthy bit of writing from Po3 which carries over into OotS. To say that Breezepelt was not abused is to completely miss two arcs worth of books SCREAMING it.
BIG POST. Glossary;
INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River
ABUSE: Outcast, Social Alienation, the Tribe Journey.
DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.
For "brevity," I'm not getting into anything post-OotS. I'm just showing that Breezepelt was abused, the narrative wants you to know that he was abused, and that his status as a victim of child abuse is CENTRAL to understanding why he is training in the Dark Forest.
INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River
Our very first introduction to Breeze is when Jaypaw walks off a cliff in the first book of Po3 and is rescued by a WindClan patrol. He's making snarky remarks, and Whitetail and Crowfeather are not happy about it. Whitetail snaps for Crow to teach his son some manners, and Crow growls for Breezepaw to be quiet.
But our proper introduction to him is at his announcement gathering, when Heatherpaw playfully introduces him as a friend,
From the offset something's not entirely right here between Breezepaw and his father. He's cut off by Heatherpaw here, but he's touchy whenever his father is involved, and we're not entirely sure why.
Throughout Book 1, he's just rude, with a notable xenophobic streak. He's a bit of a mean rival character for Lionpaw, as they're both interested in the affections of Heatherpaw and make bids to get her attention, but nothing particularly violent yet.
He participates in the beloved Kitty Olympics and gets buried in liquid dirt with Lionpaw, basically a rite of passage for any arc.
(And Nightcloud has a cute moment where she watches over them until they fall asleep)
As the books progress, the relationship between Crow and Breeze visibly deteriorates. They start from being simply tense with each other in The Sight, to the open shouting and hitting we see in Outcast.
In the very first chapter of Dark River, we learn where his behavioral issues are really coming from;
Crowfeather.
Breezepelt is getting xenophobia from his father. Occasionally he says something bigoted and his dad will agree and chime in, and those are the only positive moments they have together.
(Note: In contrast, Nightcloud explicitly pushes back against xenophobia, chiding Breezepelt for his rudeness to Lionpaw in back in The Sight, Chapter 21. The Sight is the book where a lot of "evidence" that the Evil Overbearing Woman is actually responsible for the rift between father and son but. No. She's not. Though she can be overprotective; Crow and Breeze have a bad relationship when she's not even around in Breeze's first appearance and even his Crowfeather's Trial Epiphany refutes it. Anyway this post isn't about Nightcloud.)
So he starts acting on his bigotry, accusing cats in other Clans of stealing, running really close to the border. What's interesting though, is that this is not entirely his doing. The first time we get physical trouble from Breezepaw, DUSTPELT aggressed it. Breezepaw and Harepaw were just chasing a squirrel and hadn't yet gone over the border at all.
We learn that WindClan is teaching its apprentices how to hunt in woodland, and tensions between the two Clans is starting to escalate as ThunderClan isn't entirely trusting of their intentions.
The second time, fighting breaks out over him and Harepaw actually crossing the border and catching a squirrel. WindClan is adamant that because it came from their land, it's their squirrel. So it's as if Breezepaw is modelling the aggression around him, learning how to behave from the older warriors and his father.
When he joins Heatherpaw and The Three to go find Gorsetail's kits in the tunnels, he's grouchy towards the ThunderClan cats, but very gentle with the kittens. Notably so. When Thistlekit is dangerously cold, he cuddles up next to her, and even assures Swallowkit when she's scared,
Through this entire excursion, he's the one in the comforting roles for the kittens. Breezepaw is the one who is taking time to tell the kits they'll be okay, that he'll protect them, and physically supporting them when they're weak, even when he's terrified.
And it's always contrasted to Heatherpaw who's way more 'disciplined,' as a side note. It's a detail I'm just fond of.
All this to point out,
Breezepelt displays his best qualities when he's away from the older warriors of WindClan, and he's at his worst whenever he's near Crowfeather. Even while he's essentially just a bully character for The Three to deal with. He's gruff but cooperative when it's just him and Heatherpaw interacting with The Three, but mean when there is an adult to please.
We're getting to the on-screen abuse now, but Po3 actually sets up Breezepaw's troubles and dynamics well before it's finally confirmed that he is a victim of child abuse.
ABUSE: Outcast, the Tribe Journey.
In Outcast, Breezepaw's problems have escalated into open aggression towards cats of other Clans, and is now a legitimate concern for his own safety. Yet, he's spoken over by older warriors, and reprimanded at nearly every opportunity, right in front of the warrior of another Clan.
Squilf just asked the poor kid how his training was going, and then Whitetail JUMPS to talk over him so she can complain, RIGHT in front of his face.
They can't even wait until they're alone to grumble something rude about Breezepaw, who is still just a teenager here;
They taught him already that a bit of prey that runs off their own territory still belongs to WindClan, encourage him to blow past borders in pursuit, and started a battle with ThunderClan over this. And then they're pissed off at him for being aggressive, thinking it's deserved to scold him in public.
When Onestar announces that he wants Breezepaw to go on the Tribe Journey, he's devastated by it...
Because he thinks WindClan doesn't like him, and he's right. He's gossiped about, torn into in front of a ThunderClan warrior, and even his own dad doesn't want to be around him. It's clear that Breezepaw's impulsive "codebreaking" behaviors are a desire to prove himself, and once you realize that, the way that he's being alienated is heartbreaking.
But Wait!! Hold on a minute! Where did he get a "patrol of apprentices" from to confront the dogs with, exactly?
Simple. Breezepaw CAN make friends! He actually values them a lot! So much that it's the first thing Crowfeather snaps at him over, out of frustration that his son is also being forced on this journey with him. It's an angry response to his child having emotional and physical needs, resentment that will continue all journey long.
Note that it's plural, friends. Breezepelt has multiple friends, at least one who is not Heatherpaw, and she promises to say goodbye to them.
Up next, they state over and over, Crowfeather and Breezepaw do not like each other. Crowfeather resents being around him and dealing with his rudeness, embarrassed and angry, and Breezepaw is absolutely miserable being sent on a journey to the mountains with a man who hates his guts.
The whole while, Crowfeather is brooding longingly about Feathertail, already thinking about her as soon as he kitty-kisses Nightcloud goodbye, his eyes looking somewhere distant. He makes a jab about loyalty when Breezepaw doesn't understand why they're helping the Tribe.
Breezepaw gets smacked after he's "shoved" at Purdy and acts rude to him, while the other three manage to be polite (while still having internal dialogue about how stinky he is).
Without so much as a, "cut that out," Crowfeather raises his paw and hits him. Breeze is quiet after that.
I don't give a shit how rude your teenager is being. Do not hit kids. Being throttled on the head is not okay.
In spite of the Three not liking Breezepaw, or even Crowfeather, they're constantly noting that their arguments are not normal, and that Crow is a cold, unsupportive father who digs into his kid constantly, and the only time he ever DOES "discipline" his child it's through immediately smacking him.
At one point, the apprentices get hungry, and decide to foolishly hunt in a barn that they know has dogs in it against Purdy's warnings. Once again, JUST like the first two books, Breezepaw is more friendly when Crowfeather is not around.
EVERY time he is alone with cats his own age, he's grumpy but cooperative. Even enthusiastic at times! The minute Crowfeather is in the picture, he's nasty.
Naturally, the dogs show up, but Purdy rescues them. Though Brambleclaw also chews his kids out (and i have strong opinions about bramble's parenting style for another time), Hollypaw is taken aback by the contrast of what a scolding from Brambleclaw looks like vs how Crowfeather reacts.
The narrative is desperately trying to tell you that the way Crowfeather treats his son is not normal.
And then Crowfeather is pissed off that Breezepaw is exhausted from running for his life from hungry dogs,
And he's constantly losing his shit whenever Breezepaw says something as innocuous as "dad im hungry"
Then, Breezepaw is made to watch his dad pine over the grave of a woman who died long before Crowfeather was even considering his mother for a mate. What he feels is jealousy, because he knows his own father doesn't love him anywhere near as much as he loves the memory of Feathertail.
This really goes on and on and on. The ENTIRE trip is like this, with Crowfeather treating Breezepelt poorly, giving him a smack before even verbally warning him, pushing him past his limits and blowing up on him when he asks simple questions about eating or resting.
It all comes to a head in this one exchange, towards the end. Hollypaw ends up snapping at Breezepaw for his rudeness, before having an epiphany.
It's explicit. Crowfeather's emotional abuse, his "scorn" for Breezepelt, is what is driving a wedge between him and all of his older Clanmates. Between EVERYONE in Breezepelt's life who wasn't already his friend. This awful treatment is only making him worse and worse.
Realizing this, she has more sympathy for him, but it's too late. He continues to be rude to her because he feels insulted, and her patience completely runs out. She's just a kid. They're both just kids. She's not responsible for fixing him when he's pushing everyone away at this point.
That's the end of Breezepelt in Outcast. It can't be helped anymore. Any spark of friendship they had together in the barn, or in the tunnels, is gone.
As the series progresses, Crowfeather continues to refuse any personal responsibility for the mistreatment of his son, even pinning all of Breezepelt's behavioral problems on Nightcloud. He is a cold, selfish father who only ever thinks about his own pain and reputation.
DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.
Everyone talks about the Attack on Poppyfrost, which happens in the first book of OotS, in oversimplified terms. YES he is going after a nun and a pregnant woman. I've never said that's not Bad.
But no one talks about "WHY", and that reason is NOT just that he desires power like so many other WC villains. Breezepelt makes his motivation very clear on the page.
Escalating to violence was about making Jayfeather feel the way that he does.
When Breezepelt says that he wants Jay to be surrounded by "lies, hatred, and things that should never have happened," he's talking about the way HE grew up, knowing his father never wanted him, and that his Clan HATES him as a result. Killing Poppyfrost is about trying to frame Jayfeather for her murder, so ThunderClan won't trust him anymore.
When Jayfeather points out the simple truth that what Breezepelt is saying doesn't make any goddamn sense, his hatred "falters." He's blaming his half-clan half-brother for his own treatment because of the reveal, but totally failed to consider that JAYFEATHER'S ALREADY GOING THROUGH IT... so his response is just this pitiful, "s-shut up, man."
Then the ghost of Brokenstar and Breezepelt bounce him back and forth between them like a beach ball for a bit until Honeyfern's spirit shows up.
Breezepelt's childhood abuse and social alienation was a hook that the Dark Forest latched onto, to reel him in. His anger at his half-brother is so obviously misplaced that its absurdity was something Jayfeather pointed out.
We soon learn that it's the Dark Forest who's planting that ridiculous idea in his head;
The narration is SCREAMING, "The Dark Forest is validating the anger he feels towards his father, and redirecting it towards The Three." He's described as 'kitlike,' Tigerstar's eyes are compared to a hypnotizing snake.
This prose could not make it more obvious if it drove to your house, beat you with it, and then spoon fed you the point while you were hospitalized.
At the end of this scene, Tigerstar sends Hawkfrost to recruit Ivypaw. This scene where Breezepelt is being lovebombed, and the command to start grooming Ivypaw, ARE LINKED. That was a choice.
A VERY GOOD choice! Again, as many issues as I have with OotS, its handling of indoctrination is unironically fantastic, and it owes a good amount of that to the outstanding setup of Breezepelt that was done back in Po3. And that setup doesn't work if Crowfeather was merely distant.
Breezepelt was abused by his father, both verbally and physically. It drove him to be more aggressive to prove himself, modeling the battle culture around him. The adults of WindClan judged him based off Crowfeather's responses, shunning and belittling the 'problem' teenager, which eventually drove Breezepelt to the only group that he felt "understood" him.
In a book series that is RIFE with abuse apologia, this is one of the few times that there's any behavioral consequences for abuse and the narrative holds the perpetrator accountable for it.
But people hear Crowfeather's deflective excuse in The Last Hope where he says he never hated him, blames Nightcloud for everything, and just lick it up uncritically.
Gee whiz, I wonder why the guy who never blames himself for any of his problems would suddenly say it was his ex-wife's fault. Real headscratcher!
(Crowfeather's Trial then goes onto, for all my own problems with it, also hold Crow accountable as the reason why Breezepelt turned out like he did. But that's a topic for another day.)
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Nimona trio house headcanons
So I said in a post that I cant find because I've made like 30 headcanon posts that the trio’s house is a perfect combination of them
But I feel like I’ve been purposefully vague about where they would live because I didn’t really have an idea before now but now I do
Imagine literally any Disney cottage and you have it
It’s a small three bedroom two bath single floor unassuming little thing
There’s enough room for all of them and an office but if they hadn't been through Hell and back together it would feel stupid cramped
They live in a heavily forested area that has a decent amount of houses around it with enough space between them to give the comfort of privacy
When they bought the cottage they were really looking for qualities that they would all enjoy
The cottage being surrounded by trees was actually really beneficial for Nimona
It actually kept her from leaving for a very long time because she spent a solid 6 months mapping out the forest and discovering new things almost every day
It was far enough from the city that Ambrosius felt like he could breathe
This was the first time when paparazzi weren’t within arms reach and when he realized that he cried tears of joy
And the house was enough of a fixer upper to give Bal something to do for at least 2 years
The house was very old by their standards so he spent months figuring out how he was going to renovate it before they even signed the papers
Their neighbors are also saints who know no one as high profile as those three move all the way out there for fun
They came over to offer housewarming gifts like food and other things but they mostly keep to themselves unless they need something or are explicitly invited
This was a breath of fresh air because for some reason the people in the city were unusually nosy
You’d think it would be the opposite but no their apartment neighbors wouldn’t leave them the hell alone
You’d also think that they would hate the trek to and from work and that it would be harder to lose paparazzi but again no
The three of them love long car rides and the heavily forested area makes it easy for them to lose them in the trees
Their new neighbors also noticed that they did things like keeping the outside of their house as unassuming as possible
Like Ambrosius planted flowers outside and they have some knickknacks that are too big for the living room
But the house is painted a similar color to the rest of the area
They also park their vehicles behind the house and make sure their names aren’t visible on the outside of the house
And the curtains are drawn most of the time
So the neighbors do little things like park their cars behind their houses so this habit doesn’t seem weird or text the boys when they see an unfamiliar vehicle driving down the street
Or let them know to stay in the city for a little longer cause someone has driven back and forth down the road at least 10 times
Every time they do this Ambrosius and Nimona bake them something or Bal offers to help them around their house
Literally anything to show how undeniably grateful they are for all their help
And most of the time the neighbors turn down the help and share the food the trio made with them
Because they’ve done more than enough already
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I've got many many thoughts on resurrected Terzo :)))
More sketches and LOTS of headcanons below the cut
(Click for better quality btw)
So to start my explanation of how he could've even been brought back in the first place is because- yknow that hammer they hit head popes with to make sure they're dead? Yeah well the people embalming him didn't do that because he was decapitated and they figured that was probably a good indication that he was actually dead.
Well later on, The Clergy is starting to get a bit nervous with all of the power Copia seems to be growing into and they're looking for a plan B despite being out of heirs. Commence resurrection.
Upon first being revived, Terzo immediately lashes out, catching Sister Imperator with his claws. He's literally been in hell for five years and it shows in the fear on his face.
His skin is paler, greener. He smells of formaldehyde, his head is hastily stitched on his neck. Being in hell has also embedded slight demonic energy into him, it seems like the world warps around him, like his power leeches into the ground he walks on. He has flashes of his memories of hell but he generally tries not to think about it.
Now I also want you to imagine this:
Imagine you're a guy in a very high position of power that never really feels like he's good enough, then eventually you're forcibly retired and killed for not being good enough by people that should technically be below you and your asshole dad. Then suddenly you're dragged out of your glorious afterlife in hell because those same bozos want you to replace your absolute sweetheart younger brother (he's actually your brother now too???) because they also maybe want to kill him. And to top it all off your favorite ghoul was tossed back into the Pit like he was nothing right after you died.
You'd be pissed off right? Yeah well that's where Terzo is at.
All of his usual charm and whimsy takes a backseat for a low burning rage. He doesn't bother giving any of the siblings of sin the time of day anymore. The Clergy quickly recognizes that this was a terrible idea because this guy hates them even more than he did before and is one more situation away from snapping and taking someone back to hell with him. Maybe Copia, even as the antichrist, wasn't actually that bad.
Regardless, Terzo reluctantly becomes Papa again through some loopholes regarding living papas and what not. His new album takes a significantly darker, angrier tone than any other. Imagine the darker sounds of Cirice through most of the album. I'd argue that kinda darkness was very much present in Meliora but even that had some zest for life within it. Now, like, this music is made by a guy that literally died horribly and went to hell. This album is haunting.
During rituals he tries to kinda act like his old self because he does love his fans but you can kinda tell it's not the same ("heeyyy guyyyys I'm back :))" *barely contained rage*). You can also tell all of the ghouls are quite a bit more on edge than they were with Copia, you can cut the tension with a knife.
(The ghouls are not really concerned about Terzo himself, but rather what it means for Copia and themselves. They're concerned that the clergy's trying really hard to throw them all out. Which they are. Also none of these ghouls have really been around the other Papas, and they know Copia has been unusually friendly with them, so they're a bit weary about acting wildly as they usually would)
Really there are only two people Terzo isn't mad at. First, probably the only benefit of all of this in his mind is getting to see Copia again and getting to witness how much his awkward little brother (they actually were brothers too! He jokes he that he always knew it) has really grown into his skin as Papa. They catch up for hours, Terzo meets Copia's ghouls, they talk about his music, they talk shit about Nihil, reminisce, etc. It's been the one good thing about all of this. Terzo is heartbroken that he was taking Copia out of the spotlight because it seemed like he had grown into it so well.
And the other of course is Omega. Apparently, all of Terzo's ghouls had been thrown back into the pit almost the same day he'd died, but it was believed that Omega himself had killed a sibling of sin beforehand and left their body as an omen, greatly straining the relationship between the ministry and ghouls as a whole. Despite this, Terzo doesn't once stop asking for him. If they're going to bring him back they could've at least had the foresight to give him any kind of motivation to stay. He'll summon him himself if he needs to dammit.
In all honesty he misses him and the rest of his ghouls dearly. You'd think they'd be able to be together in hell but the reality is the different layers of hell aren't actually something most are meant to pass through unless you're a 13th century italian poet. So Terzo really hasn't seen any of them since he was alive and it weighs heavily on him. He knows wanting to summon Omega again is probably selfish and that his time back on earth is likely to be very limited, but he finds it difficult to think of anything else. (Omega would be thrilled, but the ache of being left again would still linger. He should've stopped to think about all of this before falling in love with a mortal but it's too late for that now isn't it?)
Of course, nothing lasts forever and Terzo's revived body gives out after a good handful of months. It's a wonder he didn't take anyone with him on his way out or that the Clergy didn't take him out themselves. That whole situation was a bit of a disaster so the Clergy decides that maybe Copia isn't that bad for now. Until they come up with something better at least.
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