Little Dark Dreams [personal/family plot]

... Unfortunately, not every she-cat - no matter how kind they are - is meant to bear kits. As Dacedream's pregnancy progresses, something seems wrong. Not with the kits, who are growing healthy and more ready for the world each day, but with Dacedream. The happy-go-lucky queen becomes more subdued and withdrawn. Most cats brush it off, as queens have been known to be moody and to behave strangely. Those close to her, however, quickly begin to realize something is really wrong.

Dacedream's joy seems to have vanished overnight. She is a perfectly healthy queen with what, from the outside, appear to be perfectly healthy kits. However, she is constantly breaking down in tears, claiming she is unfit to be a mother; that she is afraid she'll hate her kits and that they'll hate her; that Houndheart deserves better; that Duskpaw is too strong to be stuck with her; that she's not good enough for ThunderClan.

The last hope is that giving birth and seeing her kits for the first time will bring back Dacedream to the way she was, giving her the joy of the new life she made. When the beautiful queen gives birth to equally beautiful kits, however, her loved ones are devastated by her heartbroken reaction. All they can do is hope she will return to normal.

Fortunately, she will. It takes time to heal the wounds no one can understand, but by the time her kits have reached six moons, Dacedream will break the dark cloud and soar again. She will begin playing and trying to warm up to her loved ones again. Nothing can take back the darkness she carried around, even as she herself seems to quickly leave it behind; will her Clan ever see her the same way again?

Necessary Plot Threads: (these are the minimum guaranteed topics; more are encouraged if desired)

[x] Am I Okay? [Dace, Mossbloom] - speaking to a Clanmate or close friend who's had experience with birth in some way, a nearly-due Dacedream discusses feeling wrong but is gently soothed and assured her feelings are normal
[x] "Joyous" Occasion [Dace, Moss, Hound, Kits, OPEN] - after getting through an initial panic, the birth goes smoothly; however, Dacedream feels nothing for the kits and breaks down, unable to feed them at first; eventually she's calmed down enough to sleep beside the kits
[x] No, I'm Not [Dace, SOLO] - shortly after giving birth and being alone in the nursery, Dacedream struggles to connect to her newborn kits
Struggles [Dace, Kits] - now slightly older, the kits are able to realize that their mother is distant and, after hearing how kind she is from their Clanmates, try to see that side of her (may be more than one thread if desired)
But I Will Be [Dace, Kits, OPEN] - Dacedream's depression seems to hit a breakthrough as her queen hormones clear and her loved ones' words finally reach her; she approaches her kits (who are either about to become apprentices or have been recently named apprentices) and awkwardly apologizes

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If you want to be involved in some way, feel free to comment! Ideally, I want this all to be resolved within two real life months at most - I want my sunshine child to go back to her happy self so she can enjoy her children~

Thanks to everyone who participated! Due to OOC stuff I resolved the plot early and skipped the final two segments, but feel free to react to it IC as you would!

Count me in!

Sounds great! Once the cloud has passed, Dacedream will do just about everything in her power to try to make up for the lost kit/queenhood relationship; we can see how your character reacts when we get to that point. ^^

Ooh. Storm could be the cat in the "Am I Okay?" stage. as they were friends, at least Storm considers her one :3

I'd be happy to have Storm talk to Dace about what she's going through! For "Am I Okay" specifically I hope to have a slightly older cat who has been around a birth or two and can have that sort of experience, but Dace and Storm are absolutely friends and I'd love for them to interact during this plot! She could be in the thread comforting Dace as well or they could have their own thread. :D

I can offer Mossbloom for "Am I Okay?"! She's seen and been around several births, and Dace and her have talked and gotten a bit closer, she'd be happy to listen to and try to soothe a first-time queen :)

Okay, Moss! That works just fine for me; hopefully your work load will be a little smaller by then. If needed I can find someone so Moss is only needed for the birth. ^^

Aaah, yes suma!! I'd be absolutely happy to count Vixen in like we discussed! <33

That's great! I can't wait to roleplay with you. <3 I'll make sure to always update here and also ping you whenever anything happens!

Am I Okay? has been put up and should be done soon since I hope it'll be a short thread. ^^ Once that's done, the kits can be born!

"Joyous" Occasion (the birth thread) has been put up! It's not quite time for the kits to post, but as soon as it is you'll be pinged.

Any of you involved in this directly should've gotten a PM with a little more information. <3

No, I'm Not (the post birth thread) was put up January 21st

However, as most participants know by this point I had some OOC stuff and wound up resolving the plot early. The final two parts of the plot (Struggles and But I Will Be) were kind of skipped. Thanks to everyone who participated and was understanding. :)