We Need to Talk About Blossomfall by Pondfrost

Pondfrost shares their opinion on Blossomfall.

or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the IvyBlossom

Hi there. Do you have a minute to think about Blossomfall?

My goal here:

Analyse Blossomfall’s behaviour in OOTS and Dovewing’s Silence. Clear up misconceptions and aim to change people’s minds regarding the relationship between Millie, Briar, n Blossom, debunk ThornBlossom, as well as making a case for IvyBlossom not in fact being A Toxic Evil Ship Propagated by Abuse Apologists.

1: The Text

let’s go over everything single thing Blossomfall has done in OOTS/DS so that there’s no way for us to be in disagreement over what she’s done. It’s gonna take a while. This will be everything vaguely important to Blossomfall’s character, but not including things like characters noticing Blossompaw sitting with her mentor or whatever. If you don’t care about context you can skip on ahead to part 2, but I’ll continually refer back to passages so I suggest you at least skim through so you can get a reminder of Blossomfall’s role in OOTS.

Fourth Apprentice:

Nothing of note. Just filling in random background bits.

Fading Echoes:

“Hey!” Blossompaw’s petulant mew sounded through the trees and the tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat bounded out from the undergrowth. “I thought you were going to wait for me! Now everyone will think you caught the rabbit without me.”
“We waited for ages,” Bumblepaw objected. “We thought you’d gone back to camp without us.”
Blossompaw sat down. “Why would I do that?”
“So you can moon over Toadstep some more?” Briarpaw teased.
“I do not moon over Toadstep!” Blossompaw snapped. “Why are you being mean?”
“Why are you being grumpy?” Bumblepaw didn’t wait for an answer. “Let’s take this rabbit to the camp.” […] Blossompaw stomped after them, complaining, “You’re leaving me behind again!”

P.68 This is pretty much our first look at Blossomfall. She squabbles with her littermates and maybe has a crush on Toadstep.

“What’s so special about you?” Ivypaw muttered. […] “I guess they’re just making sure we’re following the rules,” Dovepaw soothed, hoping Ivypaw would believe her.
“And the rule is that you get to lie in a warm den while I’m out trudging through the rain?” Ivypaw snapped.
Blossompaw was washing the drips from her pelt. “We all have to do dawn patrols sometimes,” she pointed out.
“Some of us more often than others,” Ivypaw growled.

P.128 next is our first interaction between Ivypaw and Blossompaw. Ivypaw thinks Dovepaw is getting special treatment, and Blossompaw disagrees.

Millie jumped out of the ferns, her eyes darting from Squirrelflight to Blossompaw.
Blossompaw was limping slightly. The gray warrior darted to her daughter’s side. “Are you okay?” She sniffed Blossompaw’s leg.
“It’s fine,” Blossompaw assured her. “I just landed awkwardly.”
“What were you doing?”
Blossompaw hung her head. “I wanted to know what it was like to sit in the Great Oak. Squirrelflight made me jump by shouting at me and I fell out.”
Millie shot an angry glance at Squirrelflight. “There was no need to frighten her! She could have hurt herself badly!”

P.149 And a first interaction between Millie and Blossompaw. Blossompaw jumps onto the Great Oak and hurts herself, then Millie fusses over her. This is a pretty good set-up for showing Millie to be a bit of an overbearing mother and no spoilers, but if Millie’s attention suddenly vanished, you could imagine that would leave Blossompaw off-kilter.

“The assessment will be carried out in pairs this time,” Cinderheart told Ivypaw. “We need you to pair up with Blossompaw.”
“No way!” Blossompaw’s horrified mew took Ivypaw by surprise. “She’s not properly trained! Can’t I have Dovepaw? At least she can hunt.”
Ivypaw glared at the tortoiseshell-and-white cat. “I know how to hunt!” Hawkfrost had just taught her two new moves!
“You’ve hardly caught more than a mouse!” Blossompaw complained. “Dovepaw’s brilliant! She can hear prey anywhere!”
Self-conscious and disappointed, Ivypaw felt her shoulders begin to sink.

P.174 Now we have an antagonistic interaction between Ivypaw and Blossompaw; Blossompaw is rude and thoughtless and it plays directly to Ivypaw’s deepest insecurities. Throughout the assessment, Blossompaw treats her like she’s useless.

“I name you Briarlight.”
Bumblestripe and Blossomfall, already named, were the first to start the cheering for ThunderClan’s newest warrior.
“Briarlight, Briarlight!”

P.235 A quick acknowledgement of Briarlight’s siblings cheering for her

She headed toward the fresh-kill pile, where Blossomfall and Bumblestripe were arriving with their catches. Their eyes lit up as they spotted her.
“Briarlight!” Blossomfall hurried to greet her sister, a mouse dangling in her jaws. She dropped it at Briarlight’s paws. “Want to share this?”

P.248 another moment of sisterly affection between them

Blossomfall rolled her eyes. “Let me guess,” she grumbled. “A new idea about training.”
Ivypaw could hear Thornclaw’s irritated sigh echoing in her mew. Blossomfall was obviously quoting her denmate.

P.258 The first mention of Thornclaw in relation to Blossomfall. I’ve heard it cited as evidence of Thorn/Blossom set-up, which… seems like a stretch, but maybe.

Blossomfall appeared. “Want some help?”
“Yes, please,” Ivypaw grunted. She began swiping with her forepaws and, as Blossomfall joined in, ducked and scooted behind Ratscar and crouched beneath his legs. Blossomfall drove him backward and, as he tripped, Ivypaw pushed herself up in a surging jump that sent him spinning away, shocked and unbalanced. […] “Get underneath him!” she snapped at Blossomfall.
The young warrior obeyed and slid beneath the raging ShadowClan tom, unbalancing him again. Ivypaw let go before Ratscar tumbled onto his back then plunged her forepaws down hard onto his belly. […] “Wow!” Blossomfall breathed. “Cinderheart must be an awesome mentor!”

P.361 And to round out Fading Echoes we get Ivypaw and Blossomfall working together in battle, and Blossomfall being appreciative of Ivypaw’s abilities.

Night Whispers:

Her sister was helping Blossomfall limp toward the forest.
“Come on, Blossomfall,” Ivypaw was murmuring to her Clanmate. “Jayfeather’ll fix you up.” There was no hint of their past quarrels in her mew.

P.33 The very first moment of Blossomfall in Night Whispers is an in-text, explicit acknowledgement that Blossomfall and Ivypaw have put their previous quarrels to rest. After that, (P.111) we get a quick moment of Ivypaw and Blossomfall talking like chill Clanmates, which might further support that their previous animosity is gone.

“You’ve got nimble paws.” Blossomfall settled beside her and began to help. “Here.” She poked a long whip of willow through a hole in the branches. “You guide it, and I”ll pull.”
Ivypaw poked another twig into a gap in the wall. “Why isn’t any cat talking about the battle? It’s like they don’t remember it happened.”

P.114 We get another instance of Blossomfall complimenting Ivypaw, then an exchange which leads Ivypaw to think ‘No wonder Hawkfrost doesn’t visit [Blossomfall’s] dreams.’

Millie backed away. “I don’t know what to think,” she rasped. “I only see my kit, broken and helpless, struggling through each day, with death stalking her like a fox…” Her mew trailed into silence.
“But she’s alive.” Graystripe blinked. “She’s here with us.”
Millie drew a deep breath. “She has to watch her littermates living the lives of warriors, while she just yowls and coughs and drags herself to and from the fresh-kill pile!”

P.143 After that, we hear Millie bemoaning how her daughter’s life is meaningless now, followed by

“Thank StarClan Bumblestripe and Blossomfall weren’t around to hear that.” Dovepaw jumped as Poppyfrost’s mew

P.143 Which would imply that Bumblestripe and Blossomfall would take issue with how Millie talks about Briarlight and her life.

Dovepaw waited for Rosepetal and Blossomfall to catch up, then matched their pace. Blossomfall was fretting. “I hope they’ll be okay.”
“Briarlight will be happy being left in charge of the medicine den,” Rosepetal pointed out.
“But Bumblestripe’s been coughing all day,” Blossomfall sighed. “What if he takes a turn for the worse?”

P.327 another moment of Blossomfall showing concern for her littermates, and that rounds off book 3 of OOTS.

Sign of the Moon:

“I have a new apprentice for you to meet.” [Brokenstar] paced forward into the center of the clearing, and the cat behind him followed. As the brown tabby emerged into the light, Ivypool drew in a horrified breath.
“This is Blossomfall of ThunderClan,” Brokenstar went on. “Some of you know her already. Blossomfall, these are your new Clanmates.”

P.178 Blossomfall is now training in the Dark Forest and Ivypool is very upset by it, later thinking ThunderClan cats are loyal.

[Blossomfall] struck out blindly at Ratscar’s head and shoulders, but Ivypool could tell that her blows were growing weaker.
Ivypool couldn’t watch her Clanmate being torn to pieces by the bigger, more experienced ShadowClan cat. She darted forward, thrusting her shoulders against Ratscar and rolling him off Blossomfall, raking his ears with her claws as she did so. Ratscar turned on her with a disbelieving snarl as Blossomfall stumbled to her paws.
“Stop!” Brokenstar’s voice rang out across the clearing before Ratscar could strike another blow.
[…] [Brokenstar] loomed over Ivypool and fixed her with a baleful amber gaze. “Just what do you think you were doing?”

P.179-180 In Blossomfall’s first training exercise in the Dark Forest, Ivypool interferes and risks punishment to save Blossomfall from injury.

“You didn’t have to do that,” the tortoiseshell warrior hissed, smoothing her ripped fur. “I could have beaten Ratscar in the end.”
And hedgehogs can fly, Ivypool thought.

P.181 Blossomfall is ungrateful, but Ivypool doesn’t really react to her remark.
Next, Ivypool wants to speak with Blossomfall about her training in the Dark Forest. Before she has the chance, however, Blossomfall’s old mentor Hazeltail notices that Blossomfall is injured and tries to draw Millie’s attention to it.

“I think Blossomfall is sick.”
“What?” Millie glanced at Blossomfall. “Oh, she’s fine. I have to go check on Briarlight.”
Ivypool spotted a flash of anger in Blossomfall’s eyes as her mother spoke, but Millie was clearly unaware of it as she bounded away and disappeared behind the bramble screen.

P.273 This is our first hint that Millie has something to do with Blossomfall’s training in the Dark Forest. I’d like to point out that it’s Millie ignoring her and not Briarlight that provokes the anger from Blossomfall.

“What are you two waiting for?” Thornclaw flicked Blossomfall and Ivypool away with his tail. “Or is this an apprentice training session?”
“He’s so bossy!” Ivypool muttered as she headed up the steep slope. Blossomfall let out a puff of agreement. […] “Do you want to rest for a bit? I know what hunting at night can be like,” she added warily.
Blossomfall met her gaze. “I don’t think we’re supposed to talk about it.”

P.276 Twofold – First, Blossomfall doesn’t jump to Thornclaw’s defence when Ivypool calls him bossy, rather she agrees. Blossomfall also rebuffs Ivypool’s efforts to check on her.

There was a glimmer of anger in Blossomfall’s eyes, and an edge in her voice as she replied. “I was invited, okay? By Hawkfrost. He said it was a chance to be a better warrior than I could be just training with my Clanmates, and he was right. I bet he told you exactly the same thing.” she turned away and headed up the slope again, glancing over her shoulder to add, “Now, can we just get on with hunting?”
Ivypool’s mind whirled as she hurried after her. Does Blossomfall really not know the purpose of the Dark Forest? To wage war against all the living Clans? She wanted to tell Blossomfall the truth. […] If I’m going to save the Clans, will I have to let Blossomfall continue, and maybe die there?

P.277 Next, we have Ivypool pushing further, and Blossomfall seems edgy. Ivypool expresses more concern in her head and is scared for Blossomfall.
Now we have the big scene. Ivypool and Blossomfall go exploring in the tunnels and Blossomfall’s character finally gets her moment.

Blossomfall eyes were gleaming in the half-light. “Now we have to keep going,” she mewed delightedly.
“But it’s dangerous!” Ivypool protested.
Blossomfall snorted. “What’s the worst that can happen? We might lose the use of our legs?”

P.279 Blossomfall makes a remark about losing the use of her legs, which could be interpreted multiple ways, a dark joke about what happened to Briarlight, jealousy over the attention that her sister’s condition has resulted in, etc

“Everything’s whirling,” she complain, her eyes wide and scared. “Oh, Ivypool, do you think we’re going to die down here?”
“Of course we’re not,” Ivypool told her.
“But what if we do? Do you think Millie will miss me?”
Pity rushed through Ivypool from ears to tail-tip. “Of course!” she assured Blossomfall. “Millie loves you just as much as Briarlight.”

P.312-313 Now we cut to the heart of the matter. Blossomfall doesn’t even know if Millie loves her anymore.

Blossomfall hesitated, then shrugged. “Maybe Millie loves me, when she remembers that she has more than one kit.” Stretching out one forepaw, she scraped it against the hard stone of the tunnel floor, so violently that Ivypool was surprised she didn’t wrench her claws out. “I hate myself for feeling jealous of Briarlight,” Blossomfall confessed, not looking at Ivypool. “I can’t bear seeing her suffer and I know Briarlight would give anything to be better and whole again. It’s all so unfair!” Scoring her claws across the rock again, she added, “But I can’t help what I feel, and that proves I’m not a good cat.”
“Of course you are!” Ivypool exclaimed, shocked.
“No. A good cat wouldn’t be jealous of an injured littermate. So that’s why I’ve ended up in the Dark Forest.”

P.313 “I hate myself for feeling jealous of Briarlight. I can’t help what I feel, and that proves I’m not a good cat.” Because of jealousy and attention-seeking urges, Blossomfall has decided that she’s a bad person and deserves to go to the Dark Forest.

“It’s where cats go if they’re not allowed into StarClan. But I guess I won’t get into StarClan either, because I hate my sister for being injured. So the Dark Forest is where I fit in.”

P.313-314

Wow, Ivypool thought, feeling a pang of guilt that Whitewing had been so kind and sympathetic to her. MIllie really does think she’s got only one kit now.
“Where have you been?” Millie snapped. “You’ve wasted a whole morning when you could have been hunting!” Glancing back at Briarlight, who was struggling to join the group at the fresh-kill pile, she added, “Your sister would give anything to be able to help feed the Clan! It’s time you grew up, Blossomfall, and started to behave like a proper warrior.”

P.323 Then they get back to camp after having been missing for several hours and after Blossomfall has been injured, and Millie lectures her.

“There’s no harm done,” Brackenfur meowed, blinking at Blossomfall in concern. “Both cats are home safe, and that’s the main thing, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Millie drew her lips back in a snarl. Her eyes were full of bitterness as she went back to Briarlight.
Feeling awkward, Ivypool padded over to Blossomfall. “Your mother doesn’t mean it…” she began.
Blossomfall dismissed her words with a swish of her tail. “Whatever,” she muttered, her gaze following Millie as she helped Briarlight pick out a plump vole from the fresh-kill pile. “This is just the way it is now. I’d better get used to it. At least I get noticed in the Dark Forest.”

P.323 and then there’s the nail in the coffin. I’d also like to draw attention to the fact that Blossomfall doesn’t lash out. She just accepts Millie’s lack of concern for her and her lecturing, while relying on the Dark Forest for validation. She especially is never shown to lash out at Briarlight. That’s the end of Sign of the Moon.

The Forgotten Warrior:

When it was her turn to demonstrate with Bumblestripe, Dovewing felt that they had both done pretty well. She was surprised to see Blossomfall looking at her with a disdainful expression.
“Bumblestripe was fine, but Dovewing, you need to do a lot more work,” she meowed. “Your paws were all over the place. And you seem to have forgotten that you even have a tail. It’s there for balance, you know.”
Dovewing muttered something noncommittal, embarrassment flooding over her until every hair on her pelt burned. “Blossomfall wouldn’t have said that if you hadn’t chosen me as your partner,” she whispered to Bumblestripe.

P.247 In book 5, Blossomfall is shown to be again antagonistic, though this time toward Dovewing, and very protective of her littermates, in a negative light this time. This is pretty much the only moment of note for Blossomfall in the whole book.

The Last Hope:

Blossomfall writhed on the ground, her foreleg tangled in a bramble and her face twisted with pain. Thornclaw crouched beside her, holding the bramble between his jaws as he gingerly unwrapped it from around her paw. “Hold still,” he whispered. “Tugging will make last night’s battle wound worse.”
“Shhh!” Blossomfall hushed Thornclaw, her gaze glittering with guilt as it caught Lionblaze’s.
Lionblaze froze. These cats weren’t mates! They’d been training together in their dreams.

P.67 Now we get the magnum opus of Blossomfall and Thornclaw being chummy and Lionblaze misinterpreting this as meaning they’re going to end up as mates, then realizing it’s actually because they’re training in the Dark Forest together. This is the third time Blossomfall and Thornclaw have been mentioned in the same sentence, and the first time they’ve ever interacted with each other. It’s the first time where they’ve been explicitly friendly; the first BlossomThorn moment was a mention of Thornclaw’s mannerisms rubbing off on Blossomfall and the second was Blossomfall indirectly calling Thornclaw bossy. This is why I say with relative confidence, BlossomThorn in AVoS was not planned in OOTS. Our ‘evidence’ is
Blossomfall thinks he’s bossy
Blossomfall imitated him once
They’re friends because they trained in the Dark Forest together
She has a similar number of moments with Mousewhisker and Toadstep, but I haven’t included them other than the very first moment with Blossomfall because those aren’t the ships that end up canonized. Even with Toadstep, Bumblepaw explicitly says that she’s mooning over him, which is far more indication of future romance than BlossomThorn gets.
ADDITIONALLY in the reprinted version of The Last Hope he’s replaced with Mousewhisker! Which knocks BlossomThorn mentions in canon down to just two, only one of which is at least neutral, and they never even interact before she’s nursing his kits!

Applefur and Blossomfall fought back to back, blood dripping from their whiskers, fending off blows from four Dark Forest toms.

P.372 And finally, once Blossomfall and the other trainees learn the Dark Forest’s plans, they turn on their DF ‘Clanmates’ and fight for the Clans.

Dovewing’s Silence

Blossomfall is again grouped with Thornclaw, Mousewhisker, and Birchfall as being excoriated by ThunderClan for their part in the Great Battle.

Bumblestripe started to unravel the ivy knot once more. “We can’t forget what happened, Dovewing. Perhaps they need some sort of punishment just to make sure they understand that what they did was wrong.”
“Blossomfall is your sister,” Dovewing mewed softly. “Do you really think she’d do anything to betray her Clan?”

P.94

Dovewing nodded. “Ivypool is my littermate, just as Blossomfall is yours. I would trust my sister with my life. Don’t you feel the same way?”
There was a pause, then Bumblestripe nodded. “Thanks.”

P.95 Bumblestripe is conflicted over whether he can trust Blossomfall and how much she should be punished, while Dovewing points out that she trusts her sister and asks if Bumblestripe feels the same. He says he does.

Dovewing glared at Berrynose and Toadstep, then followed the deputy. Blossomfall was waiting for her, looking troubled. “I saw what happened,” the tortoiseshell-and-white warrior mewed. “Don’t try to fight this battle for us. It will take time to prove our loyalty, that’s all.”

P.166 Dovewing has just snapped at Toadstep and Berrynose for essentially saying that they should kill the Dark Forest trainees (“The other Clans managed to kill most of their traitors,” [Toadstep] hissed back. “Maybe we should have done the same!”) and Dovewing told them that “[their] Clanmates did nothing wrong”. Blossomfall then tells her not to fight the battle for the Dark Forest trainees and shows that she understands they’re going to have to earn the trust back that they lost when they trained in the Dark Forest. She does not believe she is owed their trust and respect.

“Thanks, Dovewing!” purred Briarlight. “Can I go see my new nest now?” When Dovewing nodded, Briarlight hauled herself to the warriors’ den and disappeared inside, leaving a scuffed trail on the earth.

P.189

She reappeared a moment later looking serious. “It’s the right size for me, but it needs some fresh bedding,” she commented. “Please can I have some pigeon feathers?”
Lionblaze dipped his head. “Why yes, leader. Anything else I can bring you? The finest fresh-kill perhaps? Soaked moss?” His tone was good-humored and teasing.
Blossomfall bristled. “Briarlight has to have the softest nest,” she insisted. “She can’t feel thorns sticking into her, remember? If she gets a wound, it could get infected before she noticed.”
Lionblaze rested his tail-tip on Blossomfall’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”

P.190 Briarlight asks for feathers for her nest and Lionblaze teases her, in an explicitly good-humoured way. Blossomfall can’t tell that he’s joking and gets very upset over Briarlight’s safety. She retains her characterization of extremely protective of her siblings. (and I’m sure the Dark Forest trainees know the danger of thorns in the nest… hahaha)

A flash of movement caught Dovewing’s eye. Blossomfall was slipping through the barrier, not using the usual gap but forcing a new way at one side of the entrance. The fur pricked along Dovewing’s spine. Was Blossomfall trying not to be seen?

P.199 Blossomfall’s subplot in Dovewing’s Silence; she leaves camp to get catmint for the cats sick with green-cough. I see this as particularly meaningful since Briarlight getting sick would be dangerous for her, and Hazeltail (Blossomfall’s old mentor and a cat that showed concern for her when she was visibly injured from training in the Dark Forest) is one of the most sick cats.

“I’m looking for catmint,” [Blossomfall] hissed through gritted teeth. “Satisfied? I know Jayfeather and Leafpool grew some here, and I wanted to see if there was any left. Our Clanmates are getting sick, and we have to find a way to make them better before we have to dig any more burial holes!” Her voice rose in despair and Dovewing felt a surge of sympathy, and guilt for doubting her.

P.204

“I’m sorry,” Dovewing meowed around her mouthful. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
Blossomfall stopped and put down her little burden. “I’d probably have done the same,” she admitted. “Joining the Dark Forest was the biggest mistake I could have made. I… I’m not sure I can forgive myself.”

P.205 We again see Blossomfall’s tendencies toward self-loathing and punishing herself for real and imagined failures.

“You have to,” [Dovewing] murmured. “For all our sakes. We have to move on from what happened, and find new ways to be strong.”

P.206

“I still don’t know exactly what’s gone on, but whatever you’ve done, thank you,” Bumblestripe murmured. “This means so much to me.” He gazed warmly at his sister, who was surrounded by warriors asking if she was okay after the fight with the fox.

P.243 (If it’s been a while since you read Dovewing’s Silence; Cherrypaw and Molepaw trick a patrol full of Dark Forest trainees into fighting a fox that is caught in a trap with the intention of scaring them. The trainees kill the fox and Bramblestar publicly thanks them and rebukes Cherrypaw and Molepaw) This is the closest we get to a finale to Blossomfall’s arc; she never gets a confrontation with Millie or a conversation with Briarlight (on-page), but it’s shown that her Clanmates now care deeply about whether she’s well or not and we can presume that the entire Clan filled the gap in ‘feeling cared for’ that Millie’s disregard of Blossomfall left.

In later books (AVoS), Blossomfall is depicted as very close with her family again.

Alright let’s analyse some data.

2: The relationship between Ivy/Blossom

It’s toxic and unneeded- just because it’s not heterosexual it doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Blossomfall bullied Ivypool for almost the entire first half of OotS, and just because she supported Ivy once it doesn’t mean that they’re friends. It means they’ve moved on and forgiven each other.
Forum post on January 14th, 2019

Alright, I’ve heard some crazy things about BlossomIvy and I’m here to tell you, forget it. You don’t have to ship them, but if you’re gonna call them toxic, I’m gonna call you full of it.
Ivypaw and Blossompaw’s first big conflict is during Blossompaw’s assessment, at which point she calls Ivypaw a bad hunter and Ivypaw gets upset. Now pay close attention, folks! This is the only time Blossompaw and Ivypaw argue before Blossomfall starts training in the Dark Forest. After this, once Ivypaw has been training in the Dark Forest, Blossomfall compliments her on her skills and the text explicitly suggests that now Ivypaw and Blossomfall have ‘put their quarrels behind them.’ After that, once Blossomfall begins training in the Dark Forest, Ivypool intervenes on her behalf to save her from injury and is called out by Brokenstar. Blossomfall is ungrateful, but Ivypool shows no regret for helping her.
Then we get the big moment between them in the tunnels. Blossomfall, after being injured, asks Ivypool if she thinks Millie will miss her. Ivypool realizes why Blossomfall is training in the Dark Forest, and Blossomfall confesses that she knows that the Dark Forest is bad news but feels that she deserves to go there because she’s a bad person (cat?).
Something I want to pay special mention to is the fact that Blossomfall is confessing all of this to Ivypool rather than any other main character, because they understand each other. Whether or not you like the ship, it is an undeniable fact that Blossomfall and Ivypool have a great deal of common ground.
They were both taken advantage of by the Dark Forest because of their jealousy over their sisters, they both know that the Dark Forest is up to no good but don’t leave it, and they both acknowledge in no uncertain terms that they’re jealous of cats that would also want something that they themselves have–in Blossomfall’s case, her able body, and in Ivypool’s, her lack of super-powers and involvement in the prophecy. Blossomfall and Ivypool can relate to and understand each other on a level that they cannot their other Clanmates.
Blossompaw and Ivypaw have a moment of animosity in Night Whispers, when Blossompaw says Ivypaw is a bad hunter and that she’d prefer Dovepaw, and Ivypaw is very upset. Then later, again, we get an in-text acknowledgement from another character that Blossomfall and Ivypaw have put their quarrels behind them. After Blossomfall’s assessment, she and Ivypaw only have friendly or neutral interactions. The next time they argue is when Blossomfall joins the Dark Forest, is out of her depth, and Ivypool intervenes to save her. Blossomfall argues that she can take care of herself and Ivypool thinks she’s full of it, but doesn’t push the point.
Then later, they have a bit of an antagonistic interaction where Ivypool is scared that Blossomfall is making the wrong choice by training in the Dark Forest and wants to help her, while Blossomfall rejects her help.
And then of course, the big scene. Blossomfall admits her deepest fear, that Millie no longer loves her, to Ivypool, and Ivypool immediately understands, thinking of her own jealousy of Dovewing.
Arguing that Blossomfall and Ivypool don’t move from antagonistic to emotionally vulnerable with each other would be a hard stance to take given the sharp difference between the argument during the assessment and the conversation in the tunnels. Even when Blossomfall is telling Ivypool that she can take care of herself after Ivypool saves her from Ratscar, it doesn’t necessitate an interpretation of them as hostile–it can be read as either “I don’t want your help” OR “I can take care of myself” the latter of which invites a lot of classic romance tropes.
If you don’t read their relationship as potentially romantic, they still go from not understanding each other to understanding each other the best out of any other cat in their Clan. That’s a pretty significant development so even if you still think Blossomfall is a brat or spoiled or emotionally stunted because of her jealousy of Briarlight, the text shows that Ivypool and Blossomfall at least have the potential to be extremely close friends and confidantes.
And if you DO read their relationship as potentially romantic, first of all welcome to the club, here’s your club-sanctioned hat and monogrammed handkerchief, and second of all, it’s really not a stretch. Again, they have a great deal of common ground. Blossomfall tells Ivypool her deepest insecurity and Ivypool understands. She doesn’t lecture Blossomfall and disagrees when Blossomfall says that she’s a bad cat. Despite not having a whole lot to go on, what we do have 100% shows them trusting and understanding each other.
Overall, what I want to argue is that THE BlossomIvy argument in Night Whispers is absolutely not enough to write them off as toxic; in fact, it later shows how much their relationship has developed. Additionally, it’s not just some random ship where we picked two she-cats out of a hat and then made a bunch of fan art; they have a legit connection, whether or not you think they have chemistry or are a better ship than say, FernIvy. They are in similar enough situations that they’re able to sympathize with each other more than Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Bumblestripe, Toadstep (?) or any other important cat in their lives can. That’s a heck of a lot more to go off of than just “they trained in the Dark Forest together” or “they’re friendly sometimes” like we have for other major ships for the two of them. (Let me also explictly say that I’m not trying to argue that BlossomIvy is more canon than BlossomThorn and FernIvy, because of course—the latter two have kits and are canonically mates. I’m just arguing over what makes most sense and who would work best as a pair)

3: Blossomfall’s family

Here’s the other major point of Blossomfall’s character; her relationship with her sister and her mother. Let’s answer a few questions. Is Millie actually ignoring Blossomfall or is Blossomfall being unreasonable? Does it matter if Millie is neglecting Blossomfall and should Blossomfall be self-sufficient as an adult? How does Blossomfall’s jealousy of Briarlight affect Briarlight herself, and what is Blossomfall’s relationship with her littermates? How does Blossomfall react to Millie’s perceived neglect?
And we’ll knock em off one by one:

Q: Is Millie actually neglecting Blossomfall or is Blossomfall being unreasonable?

A: This isn’t an easy question to answer. There are arguments to be made on both sides; Blossomfall is a young adult by the time Briarlight is injured (around 18 if you use my AU lol) and therefore shouldn’t require her mother’s constant attention. On the other hand, Millie is shown to be very attentive to her children and very concerned when they’re hurt or potentially going to be hurt (149, Fading Echoes). After Briarlight becomes disabled, Millie’s concern for Blossomfall vanishes. Blossomfall is injured training in the Dark Forest (and let me point out that Blossomfall is not the one who seeks out her mother’s attention; Hazeltail does it on her behalf) and Millie doesn’t care. (273, Sign of the Moon) Later in Sign of the Moon and on the same day, Blossomfall has hit her head pretty hard and turns up after hours of being missing and Millie’s reaction is to chastise her for not hunting on Briarlight’s behalf. It’s sharply contrasted in-text with how Whitewing reacts to Ivypool, who hasn’t even been hurt. (323, Sign of the Moon) This is a pretty definitive display of how Millie does not care about her other daughter’s well-being anymore. If you’re thinking, “Well, Blossomfall was being irresponsible by running off into the tunnels, so she’s not innocent here,” I agree, however let me employ my good friend Extremely Detailed Metaphor to explain why Millie isn’t either.
Let’s put this in terms of a human situation; a high school AU, if you will. I’ll paint a picture; it’s mid-winter, Sunday night. Blossomfall, her mother, and her sister Briarlight, live on a block where everyone is expected to shovel the snow in front of their house. Briarlight and Blossomfall get to school by walking to the bus stop at the end of the street. Millie tells Blossomfall to shovel the snow outside of their house that night so that Briarlight will be able to get to school on Monday in her wheelchair.
Instead, Blossomfall goes to a party, gets drunk, tries to drive herself home, gets into a car accident, and gets a concussion. Millie arrives at the hospital and, without making sure Blossomfall is okay, goes off at Blossomfall, telling her that she should have shovelled the entire block instead of going out to party.
Now, we’re once again in a situation where Blossomfall has been irresponsible, Millie is putting unreasonable expectations on her other daughter out of pity for Briarlight, and Millie is unconcerned about Blossomfall’s well-being. Unquestionably, Blossomfall did the wrong thing by going to a party/exploring the tunnels. BUT. That does not excuse Millie’s reaction. Millie is justified in being upset that Blossomfall is shirking her responsibilities, but not even bothering to find out how seriously she’s been injured is appalling behaviour, especially from a previously-attentive mother.
Blossomfall is described that day as looking ruffled, exhausted, bearing injuries from training in the Dark Forest, with one eye swollen shut from being hit by a rock, covered in dirt, and ‘looking like she was dragged through a thorn bush backwards.’ Millie sees her daughter looking like that and lectures her about how Briarlight feels rather than asking Blossomfall if she’s hurt or doing alright.
And you don’t need to take my word for it; from Whitewing and Brackenfur’s reactions, it’s obvious that no one thinks Millie is behaving in an acceptable fashion. She blatantly disregards Blossomfall’s well-being.
Seriously, I know it’s a pretty dire accusation, but with both examples of Blossomfall being injured post-Briarlight-injury and Millie either ignoring her or lecturing her, I don’t really know what other conclusion can be drawn. And let’s not villanize Millie utterly; Graystripe gets absolutely no mention in any instance despite being their father, so ??? what’s up with him. Overall, though, Blossomfall is not making things up. There is literally no example post-Briarlight-injury of Millie showing concern for Blossomfall, only ever ignoring or admonishing her.
A small tangent: You might think I hate Millie, but I don’t. I think the way she talks about Briarlight is hurtful, but I understand her. I think the way she treats Blossomfall is also terrible, but again, I understand. She’s flawed, upset, inconsiderate, and grieving. She simply doesn’t know what to do and doesn’t perform perfectly in an extremely difficult situation. As I’ll say later about Blossomfall, I don’t think that makes her abusive or evil, just mortal and struggling.

Q: Does it matter if Millie is neglecting Blossomfall and should Blossomfall be self-sufficient as an adult?

A: Again, not an easy question to answer. This is highly subjective, but if an adult’s mother suddenly lost all concern for their well-being, I’d argue that would be destructive to that adult’s self-esteem. When you turn 18 or become a warrior, you don’t magically become self-sufficient and independent from your family. Those relationships are still very important, particularly for Blossomfall since as I’ll argue later, one of the most consistent points of her character is that she is extremely family-oriented. To go from her mother fussing over her and always being concerned for her health to her mother giving less than a mouse-tail about her when she gets lost and injured… I don’t care if she’s technically an adult. It’s not about her being attention-seeking or childish, it’s about her being completely cut off from one of the main relationships in her support system for no fault of her own. It does matter if Millie no longer cares about her daughter, whether or not the daughter in question is 16 or 18, an apprentice or a warrior. Blossomfall has lost an important relationship in her life, and it does a big hit to her self-esteem.

Q: How does Blossomfall’s jealousy of Briarlight affect Briarlight herself, and what is Blossomfall’s relationship with her littermates?

A: Oh good, an easy one at last. First, Blossomfall doesn’t blame Briarlight. She blames Millie. Second, Blossomfall is only ever shown to be loving and caring toward her sister. Third, (again) the most consistent thing about Blossomfall is that she puts her family first. The first two points can be supported in tandem; if Blossomfall truly blamed Briarlight for Millie’s disregard of Blossom, then why are all her interactions with her sister warm and loving? Very unfortunately, we don’t have many interactions between Briar and Blossom of any kind post-Briar-injury, but Blossomfall and her brother are the first to cheer for her at Briarlight’s ceremony (235, Fading Echoes) and Blossomfall eagerly brings fresh-kill to share with Briarlight (248, Fading Echoes). Later, Dovewing and Poppyfrost overhear one of Millie’s little monologues about how Briarlight’s life is ruined and Poppyfrost remarks that it’s a good thing Bumblestripe and Blossomfall didn’t overhear her. Draw your own conclusions, but to my understanding, this is a pretty plain demonstration that “Millie thinks Briarlight’s life is ruined and Bumblestripe and Blossomfall vehemently disagree, to the point at which they would start a big argument with their mother over that point” is common knowledge in ThunderClan. (143, Night Whispers)
Time and time again, Blossomfall loves and supports her sister. There’s no instance of Blossomfall putting the blame of Millie’s behaviour on Briarlight, only on Millie herself. In the big moment in the tunnel, Blossomfall doesn’t say “Do you think Briarlight would happy if I died and she got all Millie’s attention to herself?” she says “Do you think Millie would miss me?” followed by “I can’t bear seeing [Briarlight] suffer.” (312-313, Sign of the Moon) It’s not about Briarlight. She loves her sister and at the same time, cannot help being jealous of her, because it’s about Millie’s attention.
Finally, Blossomfall’s family is incredibly important to her. She and her littermates are continuously used for Dovepaw to angst about how she and Ivypaw are no longer close. For example, we get Blossomfall fretting over both of her siblings (327, Night Whispers), then Blossomfall being petty and upset because Bumblestripe chose to train with Dovewing instead of her and Bumblestripe dismissed her as being ridiculous (247, Forgotten Warrior). I’m not saying Blossomfall was in the right, there, but it does show Blossomfall’s devotion to her family and her expectation that her littermates do the same. There are also all of the above examples of them cheering at Briarlight’s ceremony, Blossomfall bringing fresh-kill to share with Briarlight, and the implication that Blossomfall and Bumblestripe would object to the way that Millie talks about Briarlight. Additionally, Dovewing’s Silence supports this; she can’t accept Lionblaze’s teasing when she’s considering Briarlight’s safety (190, Dovewing’s Silence) and she’s the one to go herb-collecting of her own volition to stave off the green-cough infections, an affliction that would harm Briarlight the most (204, Dovewing’s Silence).

Q: How does Blossomfall react to Millie’s perceived neglect?

A: Another fairly easy one. Blossomfall puts on a front of not caring. When Millie admonishes her for daring to get lost and hurt, Blossomfall doesn’t lash out at her mother, much less Briarlight. She never fights back, she doesn’t tell her mother that she’s being callous and neglectful, she accepts it silently and then tells Ivypool, verbatim, “Whatever. This is just the way that it is now.” She rolls over and accepts it, as much as it hurts her, and the Dark Forest takes advantage of that unresolved pain. (323, Sign of the Moon)
Even earlier in Sign of the Moon, when Blossomfall has just begun training in the Dark Forest (suggesting she has been ignored by Millie long enough that the Dark Forest has been able to draw her in) she wakes up injured and Hazeltail notices. Blossomfall brushes it off, which I would infer is because she’s adjusted to her pain and injury being ignored but you can read as an isolated incident if you really want to, but Hazeltail insists on bringing Millie’s attention to it. Millie dismisses it and Blossomfall is angry, but silent, which again, I would infer is because that’s what Blossomfall expected from Millie and is hurt to have her expectation confirmed (273, Sign of the Moon). This can’t be read as an isolated incident, because Blossomfall is already training in the Dark Forest, therefore Millie has been ignoring her for a while now.

4: Is Blossomfall a bad person?

In conclusion, no.
Blossomfall is upset when her mother stops caring about her well-being and believes that she deserves to go to the Dark Forest because of her jealousy over her sister (313, Sign of the Moon). I’m not saying that her self-hatred means she’s a good person, but it’s obvious that she wouldn’t choose jealousy if she had the option to not feel this way.
Critically, what I want people to take away from this, is that Blossomfall, like all of us, doesn’t have complete control over how she feels. She cannot choose to wake up and simply not be jealous of her sister and be fine with her mother’s indifference to her well-being. She believes that feeling this way makes her a bad person and would, of course, change if she could. The only thing that is within Blossomfall’s control is how she reacts to her jealousy and hurt. And the way that she reacts is by taking it out on herself, by training in the Dark Forest, and by mentally beating herself up for feelings outside of her control. There is not a single example of her lashing out at Millie, or god forbid her sister Briarlight. She is silent in the face of Millie’s bad treatment of her and supportive and loving of Briarlight. Self-hatred is of course, not a virtue, but our society prefers it to harming others.
The other accusation most levelled against her that I’ve seen is that she’s spoiled, which is baffling to me. There are certain things associated with being ‘spoiled’ that make sense; being inconsiderate, attention-seeking, and given much care and attention from their parents early on are all true of Blossomfall. However, being ‘spoiled’ implies entitlement; a person who believes they deserve more than they do, who believes they have been cheated, and who is utterly self-centred. These aren’t true of Blossomfall. She does not believe she is entitled to Millie constantly fussing over her, only that she’s entitled to her mother loving and caring about her, which is true of every child. Blossomfall does not plant herself in the medicine den and insist that her mother look after her when she is well and able-bodied and Briarlight is the one who needs care; she silently punishes herself for feeling jealous of Briarlight and gets more and more upset as Millie continues to ignore her, now visible, injuries.
It’s a cycle. Blossomfall feels jealousy, a natural emotion that she cannot control. Blossomfall believes this makes her evil and uses the Dark Forest to punish herself. Blossomfall becomes worse injured and Millie ignores it. Blossomfall feels more jealous of Briarlight as Millie cares for her and not for Blossomfall, continues to punish herself, becomes worse hurt, and so on. Blossomfall’s over-dependence on her mother is what dooms her, but she isn’t self-centred. Even after she becomes obsessed with punishing herself, she still cares deeply about her family.
Particularly in Dovewing’s Silence, Blossomfall’s lack of entitlement is obvious. When her Clanmates literally say they want her dead, she tells Dovewing that she knows they’re going to have to prove their loyalty over again. She does not believe she is entitled to the trust of her Clanmates (166, Dovewing’s Silence) and acknowledges that she made a mistake by joining the Dark Forest that will now have to work to be forgiven by her Clan. (205, Dovewing’s Silence).
I also want to directly address one thing about Blossomfall; she knows that the Dark Forest is evil, and doesn’t leave. She doesn’t know what their plan is, however. She simply believes that she belongs there; she is not planning on killing her Clanmates on the behalf of the Dark Forest. When the Great Battle begins and Blossomfall realizes that the Dark Forest isn’t merely full of bad cats, they’re actively trying to wipe out the Clans, she fights for the Clans (372, The Last Hope). One thing I find useful in analysing characters is asking myself “What would happen if they accomplished their goals?” In Blossomfall’s case, her goal was never to hurt Millie, Briarlight, or any of the Clans; it was to punish herself. She stayed in the Dark Forest not because she wanted to fight for them and kill her family, but because she believed she deserved to be there and because it filled a hole in her life (314, Sign of the Moon). I could probably write an entire other article about how we should read the Dark Forest not as a choice cats made, but as a cult that was actively recruiting, but that’s for another day.
For all these reasons, I can say with confidence: Blossomfall is a good person, if prone to self-hatred, pettiness, and thoughtlessness. Those are not flaws that make someone evil, just normal and struggling. She is not perfect and completely loveable, but she is not toxic, or spoiled, or unreasonable. She’s just a person who has been hurt by others’ behaviour, makes mistakes, and punishes herself for things outside of her control. She loves her family, tries to take care of herself, and doesn’t always perform perfectly.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’re at least thinking a little more about previously formed opinions on Blossomfall and that we all continue to read critically in the future.