#coev: honeysuckle

[cats-of-eden-valley]

name: Miram, Honeysuckle

roles/skills: Teller

age: Middle-aged

sex: Molly

traits: Clever, Friendly, Passionate,

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1stlitter: Asphodel, Larkspur

grandkits: Iris, Lavatera

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Relationships

mate(s): Ursinia

Cypress(trusted friend)

Locust(friend)

Calendula(daughterinlaw)(positive)

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- Born an outsider named Miram, raised by her father alone on stories about the world. Her mother was a Teller, and her father lamented that he couldn't pass on that knowledge in the way her mother could have.

- They moved from place to place, and along the way Miram began to fill some of the gaps that her father could not. The more cats she met, the more intrigued she became about Eden Valley's insular culture.

- She would first meet her first pridemates at a Trading, where she and Cypress eventually strike up a friendship.

- When her father grew sick and passed away, she came to Goldspring and asked to join. With Cypress's support, she was welcomed into the pride. A coolheaded, polite personality lets her meld seamlessly with the pride, along with her desire to commit to her study.

- And the cat she studied under, Ursinia, was just about the first to fully match her. She rocketed through the Teller's training, and seept Ursinia off his paws along the way.

- The two were given permission to have a litter, resulting in Asphodel and Larkspur

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Just married!

[cats-of-eden-valley]

A very colourful family

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Honeysuckle

(formerly Miram)

Faction: Outsider (former), Goldspring (current)

Sex: Molly, she/her

Role(s): Teller

Status: Alive and Well

Family: Ursinia (mate)(deceased), Asphodel (son), Larkspur (daughter), Iris (granddaughter), Lavatera (granddaughter)

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Honeysuckle is among few outsiders that have been able to join the prides, and not without hard work on her behalf. She spent so much time on the Goldspring border that the pride had already become acquainted with her by the time she was formally invited. She earned her worth by helping a lost kitten, telling her stories while waiting for help to arrive.

She took to the teller's role like a bird to the air, and Ursinia more than welcomed the outsider stories that she had to share. During her training, the pair fell for each other and had a single litter together: Asphodel and Larkspur.

Though having just lost her mate, Honeysuckle has thrown herself into mentoring Aspen, coaxing him from the fears holding him back and finally urging him to begin training.

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Love blooms in the painting caves uwu

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Do your cats make jam? If so, with what fruits? Man, I can’t help but picture Amaranth making jam for the kittens! Also, I’m confused. If a tom is staying without going to the coalition, he is forbidden from mating. But what about Ursinia and Larkspur? I’m confused.😐

Hmm a quick jaunt over to wikipedia suggests that they wouldn't quite have the resources to preserve fruits in the form of jams. More likely, Amaranth is teaching the kittens how to dry meats to keep over the Sleeping Year <3

Ursinia and *Honeysuckle got permission to have kittens from the Matrons because Honeysuckle was an outsider .o. theirs was an uncommon pairing, it doesn't happen too often

[cats-of-eden-valley]

also my girl hollyhock (p. speckle) is starting to come together... she's my beloved toxic middle aged mom.

like. wow, she loves and supports her daughters!

ooo but she hates toms and is outright cold to them... :/

oh but she's protective and driven and a very good fighter!

er but she also hit a teenager once while grieving her second favourite child...

[cats-of-eden-valley]

i know the prides have no place for non-binary cats, but what about binary trans cats? would a trans molly be able to have kittens with a molly mate within her pride and potentially one day become a matron or would she be expected to go with the coalitions? would a trans tom be able to himself go off with the coalitions? what would happen if he ended up having kittens with one of the other coalition toms?

This gets explored in COEV! I'll give you some deets, but binary transness doesn't really have a precedent, so each cat sort of ends up with a different deal depending. The fact that highlights this the most is the disparity in how Teasel (p. Robinwing), who is a trans molly, and Asphodel, who is a trans tom, are treated in Goldspring

Teasel originally wanted to join the prides because of her identity. As an outsider, she was under the impression that the matriarchal society of the prides would love the idea of a "tom who wants to be a molly"

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, including her own misconceptions, Teasel doesn't get the treatment she wants. In some ways, she's treated like a molly. She's allowed to stay, most cats will refer to her as a molly, but the pride won't let her forget some glaring facts: that she's an outsider (ie "doesn't understand our culture/is making a mockery of it"), she can't have kittens like the other mollies, and as a whole isn't an easy cat to get along with

Asphodel, on the other hand, was raised by a mother and a father (Honeysuckle and Ursinia) and was very much imparted with an ideal of tomhood which Ursinia represented to him, but which isn't the typical ideal of tomhood among the prides, which proves challenging.

He's spent a lot of time exploring and proving his identity. He did go off with the coalitions for a year (your first year with the coalitions is basically the coming of age, you're not a full grown tom until you've done it) but it wasn't what he wanted! He wanted to be like Ursinia, but how would he get that within the laws and lifestyle of the pride?

The interesting part is when Asphodel came back (earlier than the rest of the coalitions) pregnant with his daughters. He was ushered into the nursery where Honeysuckle and his friend at the time, Calendula (p. goldenflower) helped him through the birth

Without getting into the emotional details, the three of them conspired to solidify Asphodel's identity and position in the pride by announcing that Calendula has had her first litter with Asphodel as her mate, a situationship meant to reflect Honeysuckle and Ursinia's relationship

It was a confusing time for Goldspring, but Honeysuckle and Calendula didn't leave room for questioning or protest, and when Cypress and the other matrons made the decision to go along with it, Asphodel's identity was silently accepted by the rest of the pride in a sort of "don't ask, don't tell" deal. Goldspring have their own thoughts on Asphodel, but enough of the most respected cats in the pride accepted it without question that the ordeal doesn't get discussed in public

So Asphodel gets to be a father, and sort of a tom, but the confusion from the rest of the pride make this a clumsy situation at best

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Honeysuckle's (p. Rosetail) family! This family is one of the changes to the family trees from the rewrite: instead of being Asphodel's (P. Redtail) daughters, Iris (p. Sandpaw) and Lavatera (p. Amberpaw) are Honeysuckle and Ursinia's (p. Thrushpelt) second litter, while Willow (p. Willowpelt) got moved to a different family.

[cats-of-eden-valley]

Speaking of matrons, I've drawn Sunspring's leaders!

Cypress (p. Bluestar) is the speaker of the bunch. She got named speaker fairly young, but she's excelled at the position and she's well respected. She's a little prejudiced, though, and once she's made up her mind about someone it's impossible to change it.

Asphodel (p. Redtail) is the youngest, and his appointment was a little controversial, especially because his mother, Honeysuckle, is still a matron. He's a little torn over his position--he wanted to become a matron, but not because of a political play.

Hollyhock (p. Speckletail) is the second oldest, and was previously the lead hunter. She was originally shooting to become speaker, but got passed over for Cypress because she'd been taking care of her newborn cubs at the time.

Amaranth (p. One-eye) is the oldest cat not just in Sunspring, but in the entire Valley. She's starting to look at retiring, though, especially because she's recently found out that she DOES have granddaughters who could take her place.

Honeysuckle (p. Rosetail) is the pride's Teller AND occasional Matriarch, so needless to say she's a pretty busy woman. She's also looking at retiring soon, but she's hesitant because there's not any mollies who could take her place.

[cats-of-eden-valley]

comparison between sheep guards and the sheep they protect!

some notable differences:

a sheep's spots are only on the red back

cats have striped tails, sheep do not

cats sometimes have white, whereas the sheep merely have shorter, paler grey fur

cats have longer bodies and shorter ears

cats have patchier reds, and due to genetic restrictions only the females or intersex cats can have grey and red