#pfurr clanmew

[troutfur]

Tonight is Writer's Choice night because I said so and because I binged the whole of the new book over the course of my day off and it gave me ideas.

Tomorrow we're back to taking prompts from the audience, in accordance with my guidelines, but as a clarification since I've got more than a handful: Mapleshade's Vengeance is in fact one of the books I haven't read. And I'm not sure it's a book I even want to read. After the whole "yeah it's totally a good idea to write an article telling kids that if they don't jump into a flooding river to save someone else they're going to Hell, just get social media to shut up" fiasco from last year it just has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Preamble out of the way, enjoy Sunbeam's ThunderClan polycule, feat. pfurr dynamic worldbuilding:

On the night Nightheart went missing, Sunbeam went into her new nest feeling dejected. The whole of ThunderClan had been buzzing with a celebratory atmosphere but hearing her mate had left had her double-guessing herself at her decisions so far. The cryptic reassurances from StarClan Squirrelstar conveyed to to her had for sure not had remotely close to the intended effect. With no clear reason why he was gone she was left wondering if Nightheart’s wenwi --his maternal grandmother-- was even telling the truth or just trying to save face for her awbyyo --her bloodline.

As she settled in to sleep, Sunbeam felt a paw prodding at her side. “Hey.” Sunbeam raised her face to see the tortoiseshell face of Nightheart’s sister.“I know you haven’t officially joined the pfurr, but... would you like to sleep with us? At least until my brother’s back.”

“I...” Sunbeam was a bit taken aback. She turned her face towards two other cats cuddled with each other, their faces expectantly towards her. Those must be her empf --her nestmates-- Sunbeam guessed. “I thought Nightheart slept alone. He did mention you but with how he spoke I thought he was a--”

“Oh no, no!” the molly was quick to interject. “StarClan no, he’s not nearly bad enough to be a hug’koo.” In their language that was a word meant ‘cuckoo’, but it could also mean a cat that had been expelled from a nest. “He just has fallen into the habit of sleeping on his own. Being made a warrior late and all.”

“But he left his Clan to court me,” Sunbeam protested. Having let that slip out she wanted to swallow back her tongue. Berryheart would certainly have thought that an offense grave enough and she hoped upon reconsidering Finchlight wouldn’t agree with that view.

“And he’s not going to lose his place in his birth pfurr from that,” Finchlight said with a shrug. “You just try again the other way ‘round. The elders may say it’s disrespectful but I’ve always thought it was jus the smart thing to do.”

“It’s not like I have a sibling to share a nest with who I care about offending,” Sunbeam mused, rising to her paws as she followed Finchlight back to her nest.

“Really?” she asked. “An ul-arramew? You don’t very much act like one.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Sunbeam said. “I have two brothers in fact. But one of them took a SkyClan mate and the other was not very pleased. And so...”

“Oh,” Finchlight said. “I’m sorry I pried.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sunbeam said. “What’s the courtship period for if not for meeting your soon-to-be mate?” The word she used there was empf for in their language there’s no distinction between one’s romantic partner and any other cat one share a nest with.

“Settle in,” Finchlight offered as she carved her space between alongside the other two cats, a golden tabby tom and a pale brown molly, who were already settled on their nest. “It should be enough for all four. We had it expanded for Nightheart forever ago but since he insists on being by his lonesome.”

“Hey,” Sunbeam greeted with a flick of her tail which the other cats responded to in kind. Though everyone in the nest was cozy and fit rather neatly the atmosphere didnt’ seem yet conducive for actually going to sleep. “So... Nightheart never mentioned any other empf other than her sister. When did you all start courting?”

Myrtlebloom and Bayshine went wide-eyed in surprise for a moment before clarity dawned on them and they gave an amused purr.

“We didn’t court,” Bayshine --the tom-- clarified. “We’ve just... kinda always shared a nest.”

“Pryyp?” Sunbeam piped up.

“Our wipfurrs” --that means mothers-- “were always close. And Sparkpelt had not been in the right mindset to nurse or take care of Finchy or Nighty towards their first moon or so. So they nursed with us and the habit of sharing a nest just kinda stuck.”

“Did he never tell you?” Finchlight asked.

“No, he didn’t,” Sunbeam said in surprise. “That’s lovely of her and lovely of you. When he spoke of ThunderClan he always stressed other things.”

“Typical,” Bayshine said with an eyeroll. “Such a complainer that Nightheart. There was once towards the beginning of our apprenticeship when he...”

The nest continued gossiping about their missing member until sleep overtook them. As she drifted off into sleep, with her head rested on the soft fur of her soon-to-be empf she began to give off a purr. There may be a piece of their nest missing but now she could work on loving and being loved by the rest of them.

[troutfur]

On Honoring Mothers and Grandmothers: Matrilineal triple naming in Pfurr Clanmew.

A Clan cat's name is as much a living thing as the cat that bears it. From birth to death it grows and changes, becoming a record of a cat's history. Life stages, accomplishments, shames, and in Pfurr Clanmew even a cat's very origins are recorded in it.

A typical Pfurr Clanmew name consists of three parts, a personal name, the name of one's wipfurr (roughly mother), and the name of one's awi (roughly maternal grandmother). Though typically only one's personal name is used conversationally, in more formal situations such as ceremonies, Clan meetings, and first introductions the use of the full form is much more common.

It also serves an eminently practical purpose in reminding cats of their common ancestors up to two generations back. That is essential information when one is seeking a mate.

As an example, let's look at the following case:

The ThunderClan warrior Hollytuft has the full-form name of Waskraofa-ye-Keyababun-en-Urramswash, Hollytuft from Cinderheart of Sorreltail. Her wipfurr in turn bore the name Keyababun-ye-Urramswash-en-Sawaborrl, Cinderheart from Sorreltail of Willowpelt. Thus while her name only encodes historical memory two generations back, with her mother around she's capable to track a generation further back.

Her Pipfurrs (fathers, roughly) bore the following full names; Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Pishkafsheef-en-Kafyarshai, Lionblaze from Squirrelflight of Firestar; Liafihess-ye-Urramswash-en-Sawaborrl, Poppyfrost from Sorreltail of Willowpelt; and Lepechoop-en-Bayysi, Berrynose from Daisy.

Immediately one may notice that the third pipfurr does not have all three names! That is because as a barn cat, Berrynose's wipfurr had no knowledge of her own wipfurr's name, thus no second name to pass down as her son's third name. She's known as plain old Bayysi, the transliteration of the English name Daisy which she was known by at the barn.

This is very similar to how Lionblaze's own awi was known only as Kafyarshai, Firestar. Thus the full name of his daughter, Lionblaze's wipfurr, was only Pishkafsheef-ye-Kafyarshai, Squirrelflight from Firestar. This naming custom marks outsiders joining one generation down, not uncoincidentally reinforcing an attitude within the Clans that full integration can only come over the span of two generations.

Hollytuft's siblings from her pipfurr Poppyfrost carry the names Bosgohussk-ye-Liafihess-en-Urramswash and Obeofe-ye-Liafihess-en-Urramswash, Molewhisker from Poppyfrost of Sorreltail and Cherryfall from Poppyfrost of Sorreltail. Had Poppyfrost and Cinderheart not remained part of the same pfurr, making them instead rabir (cousins) to Hollytuft, their second and third names would serve as a reminder of both their common origin and of the relation between their wipfurr.

It is pretty unusual to see a cat carrying a pipfurr-line name but it does ocassionally happen, more often than not as part of a dishonor title. A prime example would be Gaorkach-ye-Besbabun-en-Byochshai, Tigerclaw from Pineheart of Oakstar, who was renamed upon being exiled. His former name was Gaorckach-ye-Saorpwyyarr-en-Rruqaneep, Tigerclaw from Leopardfoot of Sweetbriar, a name which he refused to let go of and which he eventually carried into his self-given leader name of Gaorshai-ye-Saorpwyyarr-en-Rruqaneep, Tigerstar from Leopardfoot of Sweetbriar.

A cat may very well elect to wear a pipfurr-line name as a badge of pride however! An example from recent memory would be the RiverClan leader Gawgloonshai-ye-Ekshbabun-en-Lubroffaws, Crookedstar from Shellheart of Blackbee, after his pipfurr and his pipfurr's wipfurr. The name was adopted in recognition of the abdication of responsibility his wipfurr took in raising him after the accident that gave him his iconic twisted jaw and how his primary pipfurr stepped up to fill the role as best he could.

Another example, although only temporary and which has become a bit of a stain in the cats in question's history would be Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Rreenponma and Arkrbufr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Rreenponma, Lionblaze from Brambleclaw of Goldenflower and Jayfeather from Brambleclaw of Goldenflower. (Or to those affiliated with the Dark Forest: Raorgabrrlrr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Gaorshai and Arkrbufr-ye-Bayabkach-en-Gaorshai, Lionblaze from Brambleclaw of Tigerstar and Jayfeather from Brambleclaw of Tigerstar.) These names, self-adopted in defiance to calls for branding them with the name of their biological mother, symbolized their total rejection of their awi, the role in the Prophecy of the Three, and their push to associate more with their kin on their pipfurr's side.

[troutfur]

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!! 🎉

Go read my fic! This year for my self-birthday gift project I sadly could not manage what I had planned but I did end up posting something, now on both SquidgeWorld and AO3. This is just a cleaned up version of the Sunbeam drabble from last November but I'm also gonna be releasing some worldbuilding notes and some other things soon so stay tuned.

[troutfur]

On a Variation in Cat Language: Pfurr Clanmew, the dialect of the Sibling Bonds Rewrite.

Hi there! Many of y'all may know my work alongside my good friend @bonefall in our shared conlang, Clanmew. He does most of the vocabulary building and I devised the grammar and serve as linguistics consultant and main writer for the lesson posts.

Base Clanmew was devised with the world of the Better Bones AU in mind, however I too have my own rewrite project which emphasizes relations between siblings as the main engine behind every major conflict. It is very much completely divergent from Bone's work in plot, themes, and crucially worldbuilding.

Although I consider it a side project I fully intend its worldbuilding to bleed back into my default Clan worlbduilding for more canon-adjacent works once I get back to writing.

I of course wanted to use my creation as part of this but as stated before, given the divergences I can't just use Base Clanmew as written. This post is meant to be a masterpost of sorts so I can document all changes between Base Clanmew and Pfurr Clanmew. Think of it as a dialect springing up across the barrier of the multiverse.

So without further ado! Here are the main changes between Base Clanmew and Pfurr Clanmew:

Words relating to cooking and tool use have been almost entirely eliminated. For me personally it crosses a boundary in regards to the levels of anthropomorphism I want to portray. Some particular dishes with prep that is not as involved can of course sneak in, such as say dried minnows, but there's definitely no tunnelbuns, no soups, no stoves, nothing of the sort.

New words reflecting the system of social organization based around sleeping arrangements and polyamorous bisexual marriages, including words for nest, for types of parents, and for types of siblings.

A completely reworked system of pronouns based not on threat level but rather on closeness level, a measure of how related cats are to each other on the basis of the rules of their kinship system.

Words relating to life stages of a cat. The post I'm intending to write about that will also go on into expectations for each age bracket in regards to their place in the Clan and what they should be focusing their attention into.

A new naming system, incorporating names of matrilineal kin.

I'm sure I'll add more to the bucket list with time, but for now this covers the basics.

[troutfur]

And here are the promised worldbuilding notes, compiled for y'all's convenience!

These have been shared on this blog before, for the most part as one of the chapters has never-before seen information, but they have been cleaned up and put up somewhere much more convenient to look for.

[troutfur]

ok so i adore the pfurr dynamics and all that stuff soooo: i was wondering if you had ideas for how things are handled in each clan specifically?

I see pfurr dynamics to be part of the cultural substrata common to all Clans so cultural differences between them are not really a thing! There's WindClan's policy of enforced monogamy during the Onestar era but that was swiftly reversed for a return to status quo.

I imagine that compared to other feral cat colonies in-universe that it is a fairly unique arrangement while still conforming to a trend of cats favoring social structures that are non-monogamous and matrilineal. Therefore all other arrangements will involve some form of privileging maternal kin.

If anyone handles it differently it's probably SkyClan due to their lengthened isolation which led to both internal evolution and adoption of foreign practices/elements thereof. (Maybe a gender-segregated camp? To reflect more accurately the real dynamics of a feral cat colony? Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.)

The Sisters, The Tribe of Rushing Waters, and BloodClan, and all others would also have their own unique arrangements but they'd deemphasize the role of fathers/male role models a lot more. I feel like probably at least one of the latter two is exogamous, (prefers marriage to outsiders) and matrilocal (husband moves in with wife's matrilineal family).

To be honest with you, other than the Clans and the Sisters I don't really care much about other groups and their social arrangements. So if y'all have ideas feel free to talk about them with me more, but I'm very much not thinking about them much without outside prompting.

[troutfur]

On the Social Importance of the Cat Pile: The nest as social unit and default polyamory.

(Many thanks to my friend @bonefall​ for helping come up with the Clanmew words used here! These are not to be taken to be canon to his worldbuilding but as an important concept in mine I thought it’d be neat to have words for it in the conlang I helped make. Do feel free to take these alongside the worldbuilding concepts if they so catch your fancy!)

The pfurr (nest) is the most important social unit for a Clan cat. Whether it is delaying a much needed retirement or passing up on the opportunity to apprentice under the Clan's oracle, a Clan cat would do just about anything to avoid being separated from their empf (nestmates/close kin). They are much more than simply cats who sleep together, they are the core of a cat's social circle.

A cat's first empf are, naturally, their kikshpfurr (littermates). From the nursery to the elders' den, this grouping forms the most important part of a pfurr. When a cat leaves the pfurr of their kikshpfurr and joins another it is usually in pursuit of a romantic relationship. It is a common stereotype that ul-arramew (singletons) are affection starved due to their lack of kikshpfurr and desperate to get into a relationship to plug that hole.

In order to incorporate into a pfurr, a cat must be accepted by all its members. In the case of romantic partners seeking to move into the same pfurr, to try again with a rejected partner's original pfurr is seen as a grave insult to the pfurr originally attempted to obtain entrance into. In the event of a double rejection, establishing a brand new pfurr with one's partner is extremely scandalous.

A cat is presumed to be in a relationship with all members of their pfurr who they are not directly related to. This is not always the case, plenty of empf are merely friends to or even just cordially tolerate each other. But it is true often enough that it is a safe bet to make. This assumption is the reason why it's taboo for apprentices to share nests with non-kikshpfurr.

Clan culture recognizes two parental roles, the wipfurr (mother), which is the yaow (dam) that gives birth to a kitten, and the pipfurr (father), which are all the other members of the wipfurr's pfurr.

A yaow is free to confirm or to deny which member of her pfurr is the ssuf (sire), conferring exclusively or stripping away the claim to fatherhood, but she does so at the risk of gravely offending everyone snubbed. Many a pfurr has collapsed over such a slight. A confirmed ssuf is known derrogatorily as pipfurr-ul (lone father).

Clan culture recognizes two kinds of myem (siblings) other than kikshpfurr: eerpfurr (mother-siblings), and myempfurr (father-siblings). The former are cats born of the same wipfurr while the latter are cats born of a different yaow within their wipfurr's pfurr. Typically, a cat feels closer to the former than the latter, although both kinds are considered empf.

Cats recognize their nyams (distant kin) in an uneven manner. Although grandparents, auncles, and cousins are always recognized on a wipfurr's side of the family, for a pipfurr's family members to be afforded the same they have to be exceptionally close to their children. It happens most often with two-cat pfurr.

[troutfur]

Someone hold me to this. By September 11 this year (next waxing gibbous in my timezone) I want to finalize the rules, introductory one-shot, allegiances, and other pieces of lore for @ask-the-half-moon-meeting. While I want this to be a chill project so I can have something consistent and plot-lite to write I'm also wanting to incorporate worldbuilding and plot elements from Haneossia Po3/OotS I have talked about previously (pfurr dynamics, Pfurr Clanmew, divination expansions, Firestar being dead at the beginning of Po3, the reworks to the parentage reveal situation, etc).

[troutfur]

So I have been working on a Pfurr Clanmew thing for a while where I compare and contrast the Base Clanmew familial terminology with the one I came up with for the family structures of the lore reworks I use. The best way to show it off would be as a table but like, Tumblr isn't really suited for that. So I thought I may use that Neocities account I created a while back because I can use html tables there and while I'm at it why don't I set up that website as my personal worldbuilding rework repository?

[troutfur]

do you have a post anywhere about the beginning of the pfurr and culture stuff? I'm reading through the asks and loving the worldbuilding

Check out my Pfurr Clanmew masterpost! I think I've also tagged other things adjacent to it #pfurr clanmew. My worldbuilding is mostly in regards of culture and social structures because that's whay I'm most interested in and my background is in anthropology and not really any hard sciences. Have fun!

[troutfur]

DGMW, I really do love doing my own thing with the Pfurr Clanmew stuff instead of replicating the Mi/Ba and Queen's Rights stuff from the Bonefall Rewrite but sometimes I do miss the tricks I discarded from that bag.