do you have a quick link to information about Brokenstar, Runningnose, and Skypelt? I'm curious about the story behind Runny's acorn necklace and I want to read about Brokenstar becoming SkyClan's guardian, and how he was able to follow Firestar/help him restore SkyClan. i've been having a hard time finding it
I need to finish (or at least *reasonably complete*) the SE where Fire and Broken go to resurrect SkyClan. That is called Firestar's Quietus. Brokenstar's origin, which completely replaces Yellowfang's Secret, is called Brokenstar's Cataclysm and that's another one I need to complete.
The exact story has undergone a lot of revision SO I'm gonna take a quick break to try and compile some Best Hits of BB!Runningnose's and BB!Brokenstar's dynamic to get you up to speed, and make a definitive list of what's currently canon to Better Bones
And, because this is DEFINITELY the change that raises the most eyebrows and it's a good opportunity to make an intro,
"Elder Bones, what's all this I hear about your Not-Totally-Evil Brokenstar?"
He's still evil lmao, but he's not BORN evil in BB. NO ONE is.
BB is a story about culture. It's about a lot of things, family, anti-authoritarianism, xenophobia... but at its core, Better Bones is about how people impact culture, and how it acts on people.
Something I realized early in this process is that Canon Brokenstar, who is a born-evil punishment for SkyClan's exile (this is CANON, go re-read Yellowfang's Secret if you don't remember!), only made worse by abuse and enabling, does not effectively tell a story about culture.
Depending on your reading, Canon!Brokenstar is either a cosmic horror story or one about abuse. Could Yellowfang have saved him (and ShadowClan) with love? The book implies no, it was his destiny, just the medcat den was hers.
But looking at Canon!Lizardfang who let him get bullied*, and Canon!Raggedpelt who enabled him every step of the way as Sagewhisker held Yellowfang back, you could also read it as someone who was treated so horribly that he did horrible things to others. That he wanted respect and this is how he got it
So, okay, you could read that it's the fault of this bad woman, bullying, and this overly permissive dad that he became a baby killer. Problem solved?
HOWEVER... the Erins also refuse to actually write about people who unironically love his philosophy, because they don't want Brokenstar to be systemic. Blackfoot, the posterboy for a Broken-supporter, gets to reckon with how sad his childhood was and how he was only ever a mislead kitty who Truly Loved His Clan, as opposed to Brokenstar, who was Born Evil And Did Not Truly Love His Clan.
Blackstar's greatest flaw wasn't xenophobia, or hatred. He wasn't groomed by a society that glorifies violence and pushes a might-makes-right mentality. He just followed The Bad Person. With the death of The Bad People, society is fine :)
This is a recurring dichotomy. Leopardstar was good all along, Tigerstar was bad all along, Needletail was good all along, Darktail was bad all along. The Erins are not telling a story about how Clan Culture produces villains, or how it makes good people do terrible things, they tell stories about treacherous Evil People who always had a seed of badness inside of them.
-Onestar's Confession, Page 704
This is their guiding philosophy, and it's what Better Bones sets out to reject.
So, Brokenstar.
I realized while drawing him this one time that I was making him look too much like Tigerstar. Charismatic and puffed up, ready to twist the code to fit his own ends. Then it hit me-- why am I telling the same story twice?
BB!Tigerstar is the inheritor of Thistle Law, apprentice of Thistleclaw, with a backstory where he was a lonely, abused child and seeks respect to fill that hole. He's getting all sorts of reduxes to explore him, and the way that violent ideologies recruit (and prey on) angry and lonely people. Why should I just... have two Tigerstars, but one of them is explored less?
AND, I would waste the fascinating idea that Brokenstar is a manifested curse. Why remove something so cool, when instead, I could lean into that...? Then I started to realize...
Why didn't they ever connect Brokenstar to the resurrection of SkyClan, if he is this manifested curse?
So, enough preamble. Come below the cut and I'll tell you about the story in Better Bones so far...
BB!Brokenstar is not born evil. He is born angry.
He was ALWAYS going to happen. His birth, his ambition, and his fury were inevitable.
This is a curse that was laid generations ago, at the end of Ripplestar's Rot.
The last-ditch attempt to save SkyClan was literally crushed by StarClan itself, blasting the base of the blighted 5th Tree of Fivetrees and sending it toppling down to smite Ripplestar.
That tree was the symbol of SkyClan and their place in the forest. All the love, comfort, and memories that they had ever put into that oak had a power of their own-- and they took form on that night.
Brokenstar is not the only "entity" of this type. Star Flower, eons ago, was another. BB contains many new types of entities beyond, and even adjacent to StarClan. Gods, curses, guardians, other religions of equal standing...
But he needed to be born to someone. In return for Dawnstar's kindness, taking in Cloudstar's young children (Re: Ripplestar's Rot), ShadowClan would be the eye of the storm.
And it would be a Cleric who bore him, just like Larkstripe, who had been cruelly separated from her only kitten.
Yellowfang, Shroompelt at the time, this was before her Dishonor Title, saw when he was born that he was furious. She'd never seen a newborn look so angry.
In Brokenstar's Cataclysm, she only gets the opening chapter. It's enough to establish how Sagewhisker pressured her into the role, the lengths she went to in order to keep this secret, the reason for his name despite it not matching his tail.
NOTE: Brokentail's name, Kanochswash, means Broken-in-half-tail. He has two breaks in his tail, making three segments. It matches the way the oak was broken, once at the base, again against the rock, but it is actually obvious in Clanmew that his name does not refer to his tail.
Or, it's obvious to Lizardstripe at least... who is VERY different in BB. Old followers will know, she is a very loyal friend of Bluestar herself, and a member of her inter-Clan friendgroup, the Forget-Me-Nots.
She really doesn't want to be in this situation, doesn't LIKE being a mother, and Mudfoot is unhelpful... but she's the most perceptive of the Forget-Me-Nots. She hears that name, sees Shroompelt's distant eyes, and it clicks. She sometimes looks for things to complain about so Shroompelt has an excuse to stay in the den for a while.
But Lizardstripe is not raising Brokenkit. Raggedstar is. Raggedstar is Brokenkit's Mi, and Raggedstar alone. He's pointedly adamant about that, and as soon as Brokenkit doesn't need round-the-clock suckling, he started sleeping in the Leader's Den with dad.
Unfortunately, being the golden child of the leader did not pair nicely with Brokenkit's short fuse.
And he made a little friend.
What first drew Runningkit to Brokenkit was that he was very large. Runningkit LOVED pissing off one of his siblings, and then hiding behind his bestie who was younger than them but already as big as a stump.
When Lizardstripe tried to do anything about this, Raggedstar would get pissed off at her, insisting that his son needed to be with his friends.
Together, the two of them learned they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they stuck together. With Runny's brain and Broken's brawn, they weren't even a year old and already unstoppable.
And their idea of "unstoppable" was... mostly getting seconds when they'd already eaten and pushing against the horrors of bedtime. Sneaking out and collecting acorns. Being allowed to practice with the warriors.
Even better, since being the leader's kitten meant everyone tended to be extra nice to Broken to butter up to Ragged.
If they got what they wanted, they were sweet to adults. But from watching her son, and from being friends with Lizardstripe, Shroompelt knew that they could be vicious when they wanted to be.
And from a young age, Brokenkit knew that he needed to become Brokenstar... and Runningkit promised he'd get him there.
You might be noticing something.
Brokenstar was always loved, very, very much.
Spoiled? Absolutely. A little bully? You bet.
Not yet more than the sort of things angry, spoiled kids get up to.
The point I'm meticulously building here is that BB!Brokenstar WAS LOVED, and he loved in turn.
It won't stop what is about to happen.
Brokenkit was only a few months old when his father became leader, after Cedarstar was killed in the war with WindClan. Heatherstar wanted the Mothermouth Moorland; a floodplain just beyond the Carrionplace, which grows flax and many other medicinal flowers.
It was something the two clans had fought over before, that IS the code's Right of Challenge, but Heatherstar wanted all of it. She'd even killed the practice of tunneling to dedicate all of her forces to take it.
If you are not strong enough to keep something, you do not deserve to have it. This is what the Code says.
And strength is what Brokenkit quickly learned.
Taking extra bowls of food means nothing in the fall when the prey grows fat, but ShadowClan's marsh freezes fast.
You can't whine up a second bowl when not everyone even got a first.
Do you defend your territory? Or focus on survival? When the challenges are frequent, you have to go without eating to defend them.
And yes, you're hungry, but it's for a reason.
Brokenkit wasn't out of kithood when he saw his first death, because people were already dying before he was born.
In skirmishes, in hunting accidents, to infection because they didn't have enough herbs. Starvation in winter.
From a very young age, he was taught this is the way of Clans, and this is because of WindClan.
And his ambition to become deputy only became stronger. Runningpaw hatched a plan to get into the Cleric den, against Shroompelt's will.
Brokenpaw got into fights at Gatherings over ShadowClan's honor, enthusiastically bowled into battle against WindClan raids, became Raggedstar's best little rat hunter.
And he saw clanmates he loved dying.
Over many years, through his warriorhood, into his deputyship.
Cloudpelt, Foxheart, Toadskip, Nutwhisker. Lizardstripe was killed during an event called Heatherstar's Last Stand, her neck snapped by the WindClan warrior Flytail.
Heatherstar died, and her much more reasonable and peaceful deputy, Tallstar... continued to keep the Moorland she won.
ShadowClan went through that last winter, again trying to win their land back, but beaten so hard they couldn't mount a resistance. More cats collapsed in the snow, Mudfoot was one of them.
WindClan won. The land was theirs now. Out of his magnanimity, Tallstar reached out to Raggedstar and made him an unprecedented offer. He would give him a tax of rabbits, for peace. ShadowClan would stop attacking, and formally acknowledge that WindClan was the victor of the war.
A peace deal, a surrender.
Tallstar didn't have to do that. If his Clan won, it was his land in the eyes of StarClan. He had no obligation to reach out in this way, and Raggedstar acknowledged that.
But it made Brokentail SICK.
He couldn't believe that Raggedstar was going to buy this, let WindClan keep THEIR LAND and just send them back some of their own rabbits. What happens next?? What if WindClan decides to come further south, what then? What will Tallstar ask for next? What price will his warriors pay for the blood they spilled?
And this is the moment that Brokentail kills his father. On his last life, frail and weak after an entire life of fighting, he decided that the last kindness he could give him was a quick death, preventing him from taking that deal.
Runningnose sprang into action as soon as he'd been told about it; helping him to cover up the murder.
And together, they turned to TOTAL war.
Once, as an apprentice, Brokenstar recalled the words of a warrior at a Gathering. A parable of thistles-- how they don't care what attacks them. They don't hold back. How they will choke out the whole field who they can thrive.
Is that not the conclusion of Might Makes Right? If you can, you must, before they do it to you.
An apprentice becomes a warrior-- stop that from happening.
Don't let your enemies escape to fight again-- kill them when you have the chance.
Their herb stores are just as limited as yours-- dwindle them with infection and poison.
WindClan Must Pay, every single one of them. All the Clans are tomorrow's rivals, they have to go too.
Everything is for ShadowClan, and he was LOVED for it.
well.... by many.
This is about Brokenstar and Runningnose, but I must mention that there's also a lot of people who oppose him. Who realize this as evil. Nightpelt, Cinderfur, Deerfoot, Dawncloud and Stumptail are some of them.
And, importantly, Shroompelt was one of them. Whenever she learned of some code-breaking thing they'd done, she would make waves about it.
The word of a Cleric has an immense amount of weight, and it prevented Brokenstar from ending this war once and for all.
So Runningnose, as always, constructed a plan. Brokenstar decided it was a sacrifice that must be made.
Marigoldkit and Mintkit (kits of Rowanberry and Clawface) were in the Cleric's den for an infection.
Marigoldkit was a blind girl, and very fussy about taking her medicine.
Shroompelt would serve it to her in a berry capsule, either knout or rasp, a naturally red berry one.
Runningnose simply swapped her medicine with yew, and made sure that Mintkit was able to witness his sister being fed red berries over many days.
When Marigoldkit died, Mintkit was a distraught child who could only communicate that Shroompelt fed her "Red Berries," like the ones he'd been taught to stay away from.
Shroompelt IMMEDIATELY turned on Runningnose, accusing him of killing a blind kitten.
And he turned it on her. She'd fallen right into his trap. "You did this! You've been wanting us to stop fighting WindClan, and now you've stooped so low that you're trying to get rid of StarClan's only other messenger! You've killed your own nespring!"
Many cats of ShadowClan had completely lost patience with her before this, and were now shocked to see that she'd do such a thing. While some suspected the truth, in the end, Brokenstar's word is law.
And his law was that he would show mercy on an ex-Clanmate. But from here on, her name was Yellowfang, so that the world may be forewarned that StarClan rotted her teeth from so many lies as she walked in exile.
Brokenstar's Cataclysm ends on the WindClan Massacre. A bloody event where well over a dozen cats are slaughtered, and Brokenstar resurrects an ancient practice at the bellowing request of his warriors-- Kitten Stealing.
(The only time BB!Brokenstar uses a child soldier is during this battle, apprenticing Badgerpaw early so that he can participate in the all-out assault.)
With WindClan gone, he turned his sight on the other two. The Clans were cursed to die as they lived-- overpowered by a stronger, more bloodthirsty tyrant, violently driven out just as SkyClan had once been.
From there, the rest is very close to canon. Brokenstar is deposed by a coup, one that NEVER would have succeeded if it wasn't for Bluestar and her apprentice, Firepaw. The Curse is thwarted by change. Cats of different Clans working together in the name of righteousness.
Bluestar could have gone, grabbed the kits, and come back, but she knew that WindClan would never be able to return if Brokenstar was still in power.
This time around, ShadowClan's plague was intentional. Runningnose infected Nightstar on purpose.
He wanted to eliminate a weak leader... and a treacherous rogue who had defied his own.
Collateral damage was acceptable, if it eliminated as many of Nightstar's supporters as possible.
And yet, his brother Deerfoot survived. Sentimentality? Just luck? Who knows.
If Runningnose has any regrets for anything he's done, it's only this. That he cleared out ShadowClan for Tigerstar's rule.
He approved of him at first, interpreted signs to benefit him, even killed for this old ally of Brokenstar...
but Tigerstar's goal was to abolish ShadowClan, and make a TigerClan of his own. Brokenstar never wanted this, and neither did Runningnose.
What Runny really wants, more than anything, is what Brokenstar wants. Destroying WindClan is a bonus, eliminating all of their enemies is anger that they were able to obstruct him. Runningnose thinks he loves power, but what he REALLY loves is his ability to get Brokenstar what he wants.
Everything he's ever done has been in pursuit of that goal. He doesn't care that he'll be going to the Dark Forest in the end, that's where Brokenstar is going to be. Hell is wherever he isn't.
In life, neither one of them knew anything about the curse, or destiny. Brokenstar reconnects with memories in his death.
And he started having dreams of SkyClan, which he communicated to Runningnose through channeling.
I'm working on the full outline of Firestar's Quietus right now so I'm going to be a bit more brief;
Runningnose got Firestar involved on this quest because he's a little goody two shoes. Of COURSE he would agree to help... that's who Firestar is.
He brings him to the moonstone, where a scene similar to canon plays out where StarClan tries to encourage him to go back to his Clan and ignore what he now knows.
And, of course, he tells them to shove it.
Firestar's Quietus is a book about righting wrongs. Brokenstar as a curse means that what he needs, in the end, is peace.
The peace he needs is the knowledge that SkyClan will be saved, and that it will survive.
Runningnose is willing to let him go, in order to get what he needs. He passes off an acorn necklace to Firestar, so that he can channel him with ease on his journey
In this gesture, it becomes real that he will go to an afterlife without him. After all he'd ever done and been through.
So, he hesitates before handing it off, but makes Firestar promise to take good care of it.
On this journey, Brokenstar and Firestar do a lot of bickering about how SkyClan should come back. The sort of values they should have, who should lead it...
But in the end, Brokenstar realizes, they will be something new. They'll choose their own path in life, because that's what it means to be alive.
And his final action is to face The Rats, now supernatural creatures of their own, finally dispelling the threat that faced SkyClan.
Having done his job as a Guardian, he can finally rest. His necklace is buried overlooking the Gorge, returning SkyClan's guardian to them.
Eventually he falls during AVoS, in Darktail's attack, killing several of the kin and their rebels and allowing Leafstar and co a chance to escape.
For more on Skypelt, see this little guide I made on the afterlife locations. Hopefully one day I can clean this up into its own entry.
More stuff to check out (that I found while searching for other posts but are cool and I'm re-sharing);
Jaggedtooth isn't a villain anymore
"What's your favorite ShadowClan-adjacent change?"
First post I made on Tigerstar's Paws
Brokenstar's two honor-kits, Littlecloud and Rowanclaw
On curses and anger
"What does Runningnose think of the other TPB Clerics?" Hates em!
A rundown on all ShadowClan leaders post-Ripplestar
Cedarstar sketch
First post on StarClan Technicality Brokenstar lmao
IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS ABOUT SKYPELT
Some specifics on the religion/entity/magic mechanics in BB
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Welcome weary intergalactic tumblr travelers to my humble blog amongst space.
I am Wander (or Magi). A simple alien who enjoys writing, learning, and is in general a very excitable dog in a trench coat.
Fun Facts about me can be found at the tag -
#wander facts
I apologize if you came here for my writing and found a lot of shit posts and yelling about food crimes. I use the following tags for;
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I have several feral cats (mutuals) that I interact with a lot that have their own tags. I did absolutely steal the alliteration thing from Cheeto. No regrets. :D
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There a probably a couple I’m missing but I’ll update this as we go.
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Please do not be afraid to send me something. I will be very enthusiastic about answering any questions*. 💛
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As I said before, I do write! I have an AO3 account under the same name -> wanderlustmagician
My current word count there is: 31,020
My goal word count for the end of Feb 2024: 45,000 (69% achieved)
Writing tags:
#wandering pen / #theres an au for that
I currently mostly write and post for Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda). Though I have written for HxH (some works still up under an old user), Tokyo Ghoul, D. Greyman, DC Comics/Batman/Young Justice, Voltron: Legendary Defender, and Akatsuki no Yona/Yona of the Dawn. Some are posted under a different user, some have been taken down due to personal reasons, and some will never see the light of day.
All tags will be listed in the tags on the post
Now that you’ve had a wandering glance me and who I am… Click the Read more to see my current posted works, ongoing writing projects, and future projects.
My Current Series:
Everything but Blood -> Linked Universe Modern AU
Posted Works Count: 2 // Status: Ongoing
Visions of a Calling (Complete)
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, Want to Stop (Complete)
[Stealing Clothes WIP]
[Adopting Imp WIP]
Tags: #lu modern au // #everything but blood
Cataclysmic -> Linked Universe Witch AU
Posted Works Count: 2 // Status: Ongoing
The Truth Begins (Ch 1/?)
Heretic (Complete)
Price of Ignorance (Complete)
Tags: #lu witch au // #cataclysmic
Skyloft Valley -> Linked Universe Stardew Valley AU
Posted Works Count: 1 // Status: Ongoing
Welcome to Korok Town (Complete)
Into the Valley (Year One) (Ch 2/3)
Tags: #lu stardew valley au // #skyloft valley
The Sages Journal -> Linked Universe Atlantis AU
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Lanaryu’s Blessing (Complete)
Path to Thriving (Complete)
Tags: #path to thriving // #lu atlantis au
My Other Posted Works:
Ongoing Works:
Lost & Found (Ch 5/?)
Also known as the big brother Time AU of my Modern AU setting.
Tags: #lost & found // #lu modern au
Potential Upcoming Projects:
A Links Meet series that I’m called Forged. It’s still in the planning stages and I’ve not decided the end of it yet.
All of these will be updated as I make and post content. I have over 300 notes of writing. So there is always something in the works! Drop me an ask or at @ if you’re ever curious.
Thanks for wandering through and sticking around for that bad joke!
Hope to see you wandering into my asks or comments soon! Gotta blast!
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