#BB!Sneezecloud

[bonefall]

So I recently learned that cats can have allergies and I wonder how clan cats would deal with that. My personal oc Skysniffle is based off of myself and therefore he inherited my god awful allergies lol.

I am actually writing Sneezecloud with a moss allergy! It's something that was said in an authorial statement that I'm running with. There is a specific type of moss he is allergic to (which I need to figure out at some point)

Treating allergies is a two-step process;

Identify and mitigate Sneeze was born with his allergies, and was a sickly kit. At this point, Beechfur and Graymist had already lost a singlet litter, and were terrified of losing another. So there was a scramble to diagnose the problem... and only by chance did they figure out it was the moss in the nest. So now, as an adult, Sneeze has to go through an extra hoop to make sure his nest has NO moss. It's reeds, grass, feathers, anything else. They identified the allergen and try to limit his contact with it.

Treatment The best antihistamine they have for treating allergies is Stinging Nettle. Collecting this is a bitch and a half. But there's a trick; nettle stings because the prickles break off in your skin. Those prickles point DOWN, towards the tip of the blade. Moving from stem-to-tip is how you don't get stung. Sneeze is a MASTER at doing this, as he was sometimes sent out to collect his own meds and Mothwing made sure to teach him how to not get hurt. From there, nettle needs to be dried or cooked to neutralize the sting. Mothwing likes to dry it, because then it lasts a long time and takes up less space in the den.

ALSO PROTIP for advanced Clans like the ones in BB; Nettle can be made into clothing and cordage. The entire plant is valuable. Don't let nettle go to waste, it's valuable as a medicine AND a material.

[bonefall]

So does Sneezecloud use reeds for bedding?

Mostly feathers! Though, he has a bit of a reputation in other clans because of his unique needs. He looks intimidating, but he's actually quite open and negotiable.

While he's partial to goose down, he'll happily discuss the price of flax or shives, linen or leather. Necessity is the mother of invention. There are many alternatives to moss, many of them much softer.

It's also not lost on me that Sneezecloud is Splashtail's dad. I'm doing a lot of set-up here with that in mind lmao; Splash has gone on lots of trading negotiations with him. He may be young, but he knows a thing or two about negotiating with cats of other Clans.

[bonefall]

What are some Clanmew words for moss?

The generic word for moss is simply Fum. Usually this is referring to the helpful sorts of moss they use by default.

And so it's helpful that the most useful type of moss is also the most common. That's;

Cypress-leaved Plait-Moss (Hypnum cupressiforme) = Pafum

The word is mostly broken out when an apprentice brings back a big, dirty clod of a different type of moss. Otherwise, everyone knows it means 'pafum.' Pafum is soft, useful, and good to lay on.

Sneezecloud is SUPER allergic to pafum. He has to collect his own bedding because if he doesn't, he gets really sick and can't get a good night's sleep. Apprentices cannot gather his moss for him, because they will inevitably bring back pafum and he will Suffer.

Though, because the alternative moss isn't nearly as good... usually he just finds other soft things.

Bank Haircap Moss (Polytrichum formosum) = Mwafum

Not quite as soft as Pafum, but it doesn't set off Sneezecloud's allergy so he'll collect it in a bind. Usually, he likes to scatter other, softer things on top of it, so the Mwafum acts as 'padding' but isn't that he's in contact with when he sleeps.

Grimmia (Grimmia pulvinata, and various) = Benum

Various small species which create clusters instead of big blankets, of which Grimmia is the most recognizable. Usually not fluffy enough to fill a nest, unless you take the extra time to collect LOTS of it.

[bonefall]

I know you don’t rewrite arcs until they’re done, but I love hearing about your early ideas while I brood over how badly this arc has let me down. Do you have any like super vague ideas about Splashtail’s motivations yet? He’s like a way worse Hawkfrost in my mind, because they’re both very young cats who Are Just Evil. But Hawkfrost had a genuinely interesting backstory that the Erin’s simply fumbled, meanwhile Splashtail is a cartoonishly evil atheist. I feel nothing towards him, he’s not intimidating or interesting or even funny. Save me Bonefall save me (if I got something wrong please ignore it, these books are so disappointing my brain is making me forget them to protect itself.)

If it helps at all, I'm staying sane with the observation that Hawkfrost is a high charisma character making critical failure rolls, while Splashtail is a cringefail loser with no stats rolling nat20s. He becomes 50% more sufferable when you imagine a long, pungent pause after anything he says, broken only by the sound of an offscreen player tossing some dice. When the silence is broken, it's whatever NPC has been charmed speaking in the beleaguered voice of the dungeon master.

SO my early thoughts are shaping up to be that I'd like to do a slightly more serious version of that.

BB!Splashtail is the Clan equivalent of a 19-year-old, desperate for more power and respect in his society. In terms of his stats, he's promising but not outstanding. A decent fighter, a competent leader. Even in terms of lineage; his father is Sneezecloud, a respected trader and negotiator, but his mother is Havenpelt. An ex-rogue who has sworn to live by the ways of RiverClan.

Curlfeather is the one with the plans. She's the one with vision. Daughter of Reedwhisker, grandchild of Mistystar, with grand leaders like Bluestar, Oakheart, and Crookedstar in her past, greatness runs in her blood. Scandal, too-- but for some reason it's acceptable that her great-grandparents were codebreaking traitors.

Splashtail hates Curlfeather, but he can't get anywhere unless he tries to be her. He steals HER plans. He acts like SHE does. Manages to snatch power from her paws, and then has no idea what to do with it.

I'm thinking that I want his reign to be going smoothly at first, actually, going from a bit of a bossy jerk, to trying to enact Curlfeather's ambitions by launching fights and doing it badly, to active tyranny as he tries to keep control over RiverClan. Depending on how Star goes, I might have Berryheart make some kind of move to seize power over him.

At the core of how I see him though, is that Splashtail has no plan. His ideology leans Thistle Law... in a sort of dumbass 4Channer kind of way. He talks a big game about the glory of battle, but folds fast when his enemy can punch back. The only person he could successfully manipulate was a traumatized child. He will bring back pureblooded glory to the Clan, except his personal family of course

As for the Evil Atheism stuff... lol. Lmao, even. Not needed. If I need to make him a more powerful and serious danger, it's not going to come from the fact he's godless. If being an atheist gave you super murder powers, Bill Nye would have used them to obliterate half of the US government by now.

Depending on how the last book of ASC goes,

The Harelight kill is probably going to get changed to Hallowflight. Harelight watches his dad die, and Splashstar is drenched in the blood of one of RiverClan's most famous heroes. No turning back after that.

On that note I'd also make the fight longer and bloodier. A butchery of an execution showcasing Splashtail fighting like a beast and Hallowflight like a trained warrior.

I REAALLY want to make Splashtail's death a drowning. Curlfeather, demon she is now, finishes him off by dragging him under. To protect her daughter. They will have to do something VERY satisfying for me to not do this.

[bonefall]

in BB, is it more likely to inherit an instrument or to commission one?

The vast majority of instruments are communally owned, I'm talking upwards of 95%.

All three of them require an intense amount of craftsmanship. Jingleshells require netting and a ton of shells. Owlfaces need wood and leatherwork. Breezebones need the limb-bone of a large bird. Having such valuable materials on-hand AND personally owned is extremely difficult.

Someone like Sneezecloud could probably pull it off, but usually, that kind of "wealth" is something only in the hands of a leader.

So when a cat acquires a personal instrument, it's HUGE. There was some special reason it was made for them, and the piece will be passed down for a few generations. They usually end up joining the "communal pile" after there ends up being a descendant who isn't musically inclined, though.

"Big" things like instruments, ovens, and spears are VERY rarely "private" items. A lot of collaborative work goes into them, they are made with materials the leader "technically owns," and Clan culture leans collectivist.

Fallenleaf's breezebone was a collective effort, in and of itself. After regaining her deputy status, Squirrelflight proposed the idea to the family. Lionblaze, with his sights on Hunting Patrol at the time, started chipping in too. Jayfeather and Leafpool, the Clerics, did their part.

The Firekin Family is freakishly strong and influential. They get accused of nepotism a lot, and it's not untrue.

But, that's how Fallenleaf got a personal breezebone.