#technically this is supposed to be when cloudtail is an apprentice

[afalconfromalcyoneus]

[bonefall]

You’ve said that cloudtail considers himself like firestars son but does firestar feel the same way? Does he look at this fluffy makeup kitty and go “ah yes my sonboy”

He was his mentor! Mentors and apprentices have a relationship similar to being a third parent. They're supposed to be very close.

So, mostly yes. Enough that the technical details don't matter. For all intents and purposes, their relationship is father/son except when the social question of being Firekin pops up. Cloudkin cats don't have quite the same kinship to the other descendants of that group.

(Meaning that Duststripe, her kits Myrtle and Bay, and Spotfur don't feel like they're "firekin")

But anyway getting into the weird, unique specifics of what defines Firekin would take forever. Just know that BB is doing a lot of setup for how Firekin cats are an aberration from Clan familial structures because they are seen as special.

The deets on Cloudtail and Firestar though, is that... Firestar is all the family Cloudtail had. He was supposed to be the one to understand him, but Firestar projected a lot of his anxieties onto the poor kid. They didn't get along well when Cloud was young, and didn't do the proper work to make Cloud feel like a son.

Fireheart was practically a child too. He was losing friends, he almost saw Cinderpaw die because of a trap Tigerclaw laid, there was no more Spottedleaf to share her wisdom. He felt alone. He felt scared. He wasn't ready to raise a child, but he couldn't control Princess' pregnancy

He should have been a dad, but he was adamant he was his uncle. The message it sent Cloudkit was deep and painful.

I want BB to have a better reckoning with the fact that Fire was a pretty awful family member to him, unlike canon where Cloud is kidnapped and comes back saying "you were so right uncle!! Everything mean you ever said was right!!!" Y'know?

In a way that CAN be fixed, but acknowledging that Firestar isn't always perfect.