#Chaplain angels wc

[mineashthetrash]

Baby pile!

Big au I've been cooking up, but basically all of these guys are littermates now (poor whitewing). Since theyre all born around OOTS, a lot of stuff changes. But for now, babies.

The name is because the medicine cats are now direct messangers for starclan, and have some special powers of their own (no more starclan prophecies; now medcats make em)

[mineashthetrash]

LONG ASS POST ABOUT CHAPLAIN ANGELS AU

Been a long time since i posted any physical/traditional art, and that's for a reason- my cameras suck! But i was doing some sketches and planning for chpa and don't have it digitally rendered, so.

I use metallic pens when i sketch, as its both pretty and helps the eyes and details to stand out, helps me remember where they are and recognize them. This sometimes fucks with the camera though, so im sorry but a lot of the colors are either muted or fucked up in other ways. These sketches are about chpa, so i kinda have to fully explain it now. Sorry.

my chpa au shuffles the events of po3 back into OOTS, due to the three all being born in the same litter (or the five, i guess?) It also revamps Starclan into a more, spooky cosmic afterlife inspired by the 'biblically accurate' trend a while back. chpa stands for Chaplain Angels, since the medicine cats still act as a 'chaplain' spiritual guide and connection to 'god' (Starclan), but also take on the appearance of Angels and are direct connections, as opposed to indirect. That is, they take on part of the powers of Starclan, instead of just ferrying vague messages.

This shuffle is actually caused by this, as medicine cats cannot have kits once they're full medicine cats (as in, biologically impossible. there is nothing there). Their body mutates slightly due to the influence of starclan and the direct unfiltered connection to their powers, and its less of a 'vow of celebacy' and more of a 'your body's change makes it impossible'. Lots of medicine cats have kits, but leafpool is the hardest to get around because she wasn't a warrior, or it was before she got her full name, or it wasn't a thing yet (like mothflight). So she cannot give birth to the Three, hence the shuffle.

ALL THIS TO SAY. a lot of shit gets shuffled and changed. Sol actually goes to Windclan, since the three weren't there in thunderclan to influence, and he had no reason to be walking on the Shadowclan border in that moment. Instead, he finds a grieving windclan lead by an irrational leader, and takes advantage of that. Why are they grieving?? FINALLY time for what this piece is actually about!! THISTLEKIT!!! WOO. Dark river happens before the three are born, but they don't really do much in the first few books, so most of its the same. Graystripe and Millie come back, Heatherpaw finds the tunnels still, Thistlekit and their siblings still go into the tunnels and get lost. Except this time, there's no Jaypaw to be guided by Fallenleaves, no five cats to carry them safely through the lake. It takes Heather and Breeze a lot longer to find them, and by that time, Thistlekit is already half dead. Jaypaw isn't there to warm them up and keep them alive until they get home. And even though Rock briefly shows up to make sure they don't die (spirit to spirit connection to Thistlekit, they find the strength to say a few words to Heatherpaw due to her body heat warming them up just enough), the cold of the river quickly kills them for good. Even if they did survive the cold, Breeze and Heather can only grab two of the three by their scruff. Heather tries to keep Thistlekit with her, but they get swept away, washing up to shore later.

All this to say, i killed Beechfur without really looking, considering he shows up for 2 seconds, and made him the spirit guide to Thistlekit. Starclan cats have a spectrum of forms, from the cat form they take to interact with the living, to the incomprehensible form that makes no sense. Their cat form, or 'comprehensible' form, is still a bit weird, but its mostly a cat. Beechfur is weird, because his fur doesn't really look like the grayish bark of a beech. So i gave him eyes the color of beech leaves in LeafFall, which is a beautiful reddish orange. It doesn't show up well in the photos, but i used a pale vermillion mixed with sunny yellow. Then his spirit form was pretty simple, i gave him textured fur (like a rug with patterns shaved into it) like a tree, and some leave accents on his tail and ears, plus a few scattered around his fur.

I also jotted down a few notes about how the afterlife works. Kits in chpa's starclan take the idea of the kits not ageing and uh. changes it. They still age mentally, but instead of always being baby for no reason, they just dont shift forms a lot. They almost always look the same as when they were alive. As much as kits being forever kittens unsettles me, the idea of aging in heaven ALSO unsettles me, so instead the spirits are ageless beings and kittens just. Prefer being a baby. They do mimic the adults by collecting cute and shiny things they like that reflect them, and using them to change their appearance. Thistlekit has a necklace of thistles, which never die or dry out. Intentionally similar to the dried thistle necklace i gave to Heathertail, who lives with the guilt of them dying.

Text: Beechfur observable form - Textured fur, like a shaved rug. Tail & ears are beech leaflets? (the bunches of leaves on a tree; i dont know the term for them)

Text: (arrow pointing from thistlekit (bottom left) to gorsetail (top left)), "same, but paler." Note next to beechfur (top right), "eyes the color of fall beech". (Arrow pointing from sedgewhisker (bottom right) to beechfur), "more muted"