#Misty DOTC

[bonebabbles]

I remember when I first read DoTC (unfortunately was not blessed with the media literacy or even the common sense to know how bad it was) but even in my naivety hearing milkweed go "so he can take my kits after he kills me" really fucking got me

A lot of people have those little parts where "something" felt wrong, even if they couldn't describe it, and that was Misty's death for me y'know?? In my little mind, it stuck out as so horrifically, needlessly vicious. Like of course every other death in this series belonging to a woman is needlessly cruel but I remember sobbing over this poor cat and feeling that it was malicious just for the sake of it?? It's hard to describe but that was what turned it from "malicious (character driven)" to "malicious (author-driven)" for my child self.

Sorry for the long ask but your read-through unlocked memories and feelings that I forgot about when I read this stupid fucking series for the first time

The amount of people I get passing through here echoing an exact sentiment just like this one is horrifying. It boggles my mind how the people who like this arc seem to have read some completely different book series, as I go through ask after ask after ask of people who had a moment like this where they, as kids, realized something was deeply fucked up about the ideas that DOTC endorses only to never see payoff

Clear Sky murdered Misty for her land, and stole her children. The only person who mourns her is pushed into his group so the narrative can pat its own back about a piece of shit redemption arc it never wrote.

[exocynraku]

back at it again with warrior cats family trees babeyyyy also i decided to add their names this time

[the-pantry-of-art]

Full character design- #3 & #4

Erin Hunter character- #3 & #4

WC character- #3 & #4

*[ design info ]: Misty Water- She's depressed after losing her husband Broken Feather to starvation. She's also nearly compleatly blind and have a poor hearing. Skin on her paws have been burned out by frostbite. Thou not like in most cases her ears have't been demaged by it. 'couse insted of being more skiny, they're more 'fleshy', thick, fairly small (or at least smaller then avreage) & coverd in protective layer of fluffy fur.

in my AU she's also Quiet Rain's mother !

So, she's kin to Clear Sky, Grey Wing, Fluttering Bird & Jagged Peak!

Snow Hare-Her paws are covered in thick fur and her paw pads are coarse & rough so, more resistent to cold and overall serve better protection in moutainous terrain. She have only stumps of her ears, originally they were quite big but later as a young lass she have been stuck for a long time on a stone shelf in the middle of winter unable to get out. As a result her ears had third stage of frostbite, and Stonteller (Half Moon) unfortunetly have to cut them of using a broken piece of flint.

She's Silver Frost's sister

[bowiestarzzz]

warriors designs in order of appearance 3/?: Misty Water

[image description: a digital drawing of a gray cat with dark gray stripes. She has milky blue eyes and smiles slightly. She sits with her tail wrapped around her paws. Text to the left reads "Misty Water." End ID.]

[pyrrhia]

He would have lived, if there had been enough prey for him to eat. Now I'm just waiting to join him.

[rosemist50]

Just a big heap of cats. Birch and his sister Alder, and their mother Misty. Misty died, so their adopted mother is Petal, and she's with her brother Fox. Pink Eyes and Blossom are from Thunderclan, Frost is Shadowclan, Spotted Fur, Owl Song, Reed Tail, and Swift Minnow are Windclan. Fircone and Nettle are Skyclan, Rainswept Flower, Mud Paws, and Mouse Ear are also Shadowclan. Shaded Moss didn't get to join a group, he's also Rainswept Flower's father. Swift and Branch are loners.

Originally posted on IG December 2021

[bonefall]

what's your opinion on moonkitti's video?

It's a good video and an excellent analysis for anyone who prefers to get their essays as videos over text.

Though I do have to mention, she did miss a couple of things. I don't blame her at ALL though, like she said, discussing Bumble is a rabbithole and you will find yourself tackling several chronic problems whenever you try to explain exactly how fucked up the entire situation is. Nevertheless, discussing Bumble is my specialty so I have to point out;

Moonkitti makes the mistake of accepting Clear Sky's premise that the territory he kills Bumble on is his. It is not.

Bumble was actually not trespassing-- Clear Sky slaughtered Misty because he is expanding his borders and wanted to steal her land.

The parcel Bumble was standing on is, in Clear Sky's own words, "This NEW part of MY territory."

As a result, I think Moon missed another chronic issue present in the DOTC narrative; Colonialism.

Also-- I know Moon is trying not to swing TOO hard at Gray Wing because his fans are downright bloodthirsty (and I'm sure she is reluctant to go through Bramblestan Harassment 2), but, as a result...

She kinda glosses over the fact that Gray Wing's turn on Bumble does make sense if you read it like he's doing it because he HATES the idea of his object of affection having friends who are not him.

In other words-- Gray Wing is controlling. Xenophobia against Bumble didn't "come from nowhere." It came up because he is toxic and it is a good self-justification for his feelings.

She also quickly summarizes a lot of the Tom the Wifebeater stuff... and ends up implying that Tom just found the kittens all on his own, when Gray Wing actually told him where to find the children.

This was technically an "accident" because Gray Wing is both cruel AND stupid.

I hate him so much Gray Wing SUCKSSSS

But again, I can't blame her for it because clearly she wasn't trying to get into the utterly shambolic mess that is the "Tom the Wifebeater Sleeper Genes" subplot.

yknow. The subplot where the kids decide the man who raised them isnt their real dad because the wifebeater boinked their mom before he started beating her and eventually got her killed.

dotc is a wonferful arc adn the best in the whole sries. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee

That all said! Moonkitti didn't miss. She thoroughly gutted Clear Sky's lie and covers most of what's especially rancid about Bumble's treatment. I especially love the sentiment she had in pointing out, "Bumble hated no one; and everyone hated her."

It's a great video, she's been working on it for weeks and it shows. This is yet another victory for the BUMBLE BATTALION. Soon we will invade England and take Harper Collins by force

[artaintfartwarriors]

Bumble from dotc/dawn of the clan. Yes that female kittypet cat who gets wronged by tom, graywing, turtletail, clearsky, almost everyone (except the innocent ones like misty, etc).

Ik who she is! Poor lady :(

[wc-confessions]

I’m half way through DoTC (been reading it in between the main series) and Petal is one of my favorite background characters. Her and her brother gets harassed by Misty when they’re kits, and then when Clear Sky kills Misty she has the sympathy to take in Misty’s kits as her own. I love how she put it too, I don’t remember the exact way she puts it but she says something along the lines of “I’m showing them the kindness that we were never shown.”

I love the background characters in DoTC so much

.

[the-owl-tree]

DotC is probably one of the hardest arcs to translate into a human au (anthro too but primarily a human au) because instantly the pro-colonialization themes of the arc becomes the most uncomfortable shit imaginable once you make them all people, especially in regards to Misty’s death, Bumble in general, the treatment of StarFlower, and the framing of One Eye and Slash (Both ruthless killing machines who are foreign so automatically they’re worse than ClearSky now), and all of the stuff about The Settlers setting up strict borders that outsiders -even if they were there far before the settlers- can never ever cross

Very obligatory I am white disclaimer lol

It's hard not to remove the uncomfortable undertones of a group of cats who come from another land and begin slaughtering the cats who live there, stealing their children to raise as their own, setting up territories, and causing mass destruction. I know in part it becomes more of a complicated reading when you remember they descend from the Tribe, who have also been rightfully criticized for their racist depiction.

It doesn't escape me that there are three core antagonists in DOTC and only one of them, a cat who belonged to the group who came to the forest, and the two others are the described as mangy, savage, and stinky cats who originated in the woods. Huh!

Big agree on the writing of Misty, Bumble, and Star Flower. I think Misty and Bumble are sort of fascinating in their own regard in that while all of the fridgings in DOTC are done for the sake of sadboy pov angst, Misty and Bumble don't have get a proper grieving moment (go read the aftermath of Bumble's death, Turtle Tail isn't allowed to be angry or even sad about her friend's loss before she has to turn to Gray Wing to comfort HIM about how oh so sad it makes him that his brother likes to slaughter innocent cats).

I think it was intentional that some of the Settlers writing had real life inspiration taken from it, but I don't think the authors really thought it through. Of course, I'd be always willing to hear other perspectives on this!

[stuartpitfall]

List of cats Clear Sky has killed or wronged in no order

1. Jagged Peak(Kicks him out for getting permanently inquired under his watch during training)

2. Thunder(Rejects him at birth. Gets him back because of him helping during the fire. Proceeds to torment him, put him through harsh training, and then tell him to lick a festering wound for defending a campmate from his bs)

3. Frost(Kicks him out to die due to a permanent inquiry that wasn’t treated. Wanted Thunder to leave him “Where the maggots could get him”)

4. Misty(Murders her for being on his territory and then wants to kill her kits)

5. Bumble(Murdered her for being on his territory and then blames it on a fox)

6. Jackdaw’s Cry(Keeps him prisoner and starves him)

7. Shadowstar(Throws her into a gathering of his cats basically as someone to murder)

8. Rainswept Flower(Murders her in a “fit of rage” during the Great battle)

9. Micah(Due to Clear Sky’s orders he fell from a tree to his death)

10. Moth Flight(Refuses to let her train Acorn Fur and takes her hostage later to “punish Windstar and make her admit her mistakes”)

11. Windstar’s first life(He slashed her throat and after he struck her paws she fell over and broke her leg leading to her death from the inquires)

12. Willow Tail(Blinds and then kills her)

And many more that I’m SURE I forgot(I excluded the other casualties of the Great Battle which was caused by him and his camp)

All of this and you’re telling me he went to Starclan for saving ONE CAT FROM A DOG?!?? It the Tom redemption death all over again.

And no I’m not counting the last three books of DOTC where he’s “so sowwy guys : (“ as a redemption. It’s mostly characters making excuses for his actions and then him committing the same if not worse actions AGAIN. He’s not sorry he did it. He’s sorry he got CALLED OUT FOR IT. We see the same behavior in Moth Flight’s vision and Riverstar’s home. Both of which take place after Path of Stars. He’s not sorry. He never was.

[bonebabbles]

I remember when I was reading DOTC when I was around 10, and ever since Misty died I had been waiting for the moment where Birch and Alder learned about her murder, how everyone in their lives has kept it a secret. And then it just didn't happen.

I also remember obsessively re-reading the part where Quiet Rain blows up at Clear Sky.

Birch and Alder are two characters that are just so...

I WANT to say they were forgotten about, but that word doesn't feel right for how they're constantly showing up on the screen. Clear Sky occasionally feels guilty about how he murdered their mother, but for the vast majority of the time, that's described in passive voice. So you're not reminded of just HOW cruel he was, and still very much is.

It's like they're not allowed to be characters.

Like, how does Alder feel about Clear Sky, who seemed to be acting as an adoptive father until he beat her as a child? How did Birch respond later, when Clear Sky was so busy thrashing his sister that he was threatened by a dog? How do they feel about the man who took their mother away from them?

They keep getting cited as "Good Examples Of Non-Campborn Cats," dodging around the fact they were stolen and raised by Petal. Like a lot of the other "adoptions" in the series, she quietly stops mattering to them. But even this fact... like, they're being OTHERED when they were functionally raised SkyClan.

How do they feel about THAT? That their earliest memory is SkyClan, and yet, they'll never be considered truly, fully "clanborn."

Their whole life taken from them, by Clear Sky's cruelty, their formative years spent in his violent shadow, and the narrative is just not interested in that.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

An Analysis of Bumble’s death scene

Ok so on my reread I have just read probably the most controversial scene in the entire dotc arc, Bumble’s death, and I just want to have a look at it an approach it from two angles

Trying to piece together what exactly happened to Bumble

Gray Wing’s reaction to the whole thing

I want to do this because, on tumblr especially, I see a lot of people swearing by clear sky murdering her, and how Gray Wing is awful for his defence of his brother in this scene. And I just want to explore, with full context, is what actually happened any different to what the fandom perceives?

What exactly happened to Bumble?

When the group first find Bumble there are wounds covering her entire body, Gray Wing believes that no particular wound is causing her to die, it’s a cumulation of blood loss from all of the various wounds on her body. These wounds are described as “slits down her belly and sides” as well as other injuries all over her body. When the group gets close to Bumble the “reek of fox was overwhelming and drowning all other scents”. Clear Sky’s scent is then detected on Bumble’s fur by Gray Wing, underneath the fox scent it is quite hard to detect but it is definitely there.

Before Clear Sky’s scent is detected , Gray Wing tries asking Bumble what happened but she cannot reply.

Wind Runner finds signs of a fight due to the trampled grass on the ground. Gorse Fur then presents the idea of Clear Sky being the culprit. Turtle Tail vocally agrees and says “Which cat has been determined to expand his territory, never mind who gets hurt? Clear Sky! And now he’s attacked poor Bumble”

At this point Bumble tries to speak again and succeeds she says

“This was my fault… I was so hungry… I couldn’t think straight. It was stupid. I never should have hunted here… The cat was only -“

At that point Clear Sky appears and interrupts and says “ I was only warning her”.

At that point Gray Wing and Wind Runner confront him, asking what happened to Bumble, and what happened to Misty’s kits (more on that in a second).

Clear Sky’s eyes show “mingling guilt and horror” as he looks at Bumble before answering. He then tells them that Petal is caring for Misty’s kits (which is the truth).

One argument between the cats present later (more of that soon) Clear Sky gives his side of what happened… the only account we ever get of what happened to Bumble. He claims that he found Bumble trespassing, cuffed her around the ear, she fainted from being so weak and he left her because he saw her paw twitching so knew she would come around. While he was walking away he heard a fox bark, came back and says he was “too late” and claims he was going for help when the group arrived. And that’s basically it, that is all the facts of the case. That is all the books ever really give us iirc about how Bumble died.

So what exactly happened?

Personally I am inclined to believe that Clear Sky’s account is mostly accurate, but I think he roughed her up much worse than he claims to have. I don’t believe she would just faint from an ear cuff, nor would Clear Sky do such a feeble move to drive off an intruder. I think what happened was Clear Sky injured her, saw her collapse and decide she learned her lesson, left, and then a fox smelt the blood and attacked Bumble where Clear Sky left her. I don’t know where the fox would have gone but it is undeniable one was there, and even though Clsar Sky is ruthless, I doubt he would injure Bumble to the extent she is. And even though there are signs of a scuffle, there is no injury noted on Clear Sky, surely if he spent that much time and effort slashing open Bumble all over her body then there would be at least signs of her fighting back? My best guess is that the fox fled when the group started to approach, or if Bumble fought back and and it just thought she wasn’t worth it’s time. I think the guilt and horror reflected in Clear Sky’s eyes is over causing the situation and not intending her to actually get that hurt. Bumble herself seems to start on at least some kind of defence against Clear Sky, we don’t know what that is but she says “The cat was only-“ I feel like if he just completely pummelled her to the point of near death she wouldn’t have said this.

So essentially yes, I believe Clear Sky is directly responsible for Bumble’s death based on the evidence, but he didn’t ruthlessly murder her like many make out. I do believe Clear Sky left her injured and defenceless and a fox then finished her off.

What about Gray Wing?

So Gray Wing’s reaction and defence of Clear Sky in this chapter is one of the things I see fairly often to explain why some believe Gray Wing is one of the most morally bankrupt characters in warrior cats.

I just want to add some full context here.

What Gray Wing knows so far about what Clear Sky has done is as follows

He kicked out Jagged Peak for breaking his leg (Gray Wing has physically fought Clear Sky over this already)

He rejected Thunder and then manipulated him into rejoining the group later on.

He left an injured Moon Shadow behind in the moor camp.

He kicked out Frost for having an injury that won’t heal.

Clear Sky and his cats will fight to maintain and expand boundaries. But so far, as far as Gray Wing knows, no death has resulted from this although there is an accusation (see below).

Wind Runner claims she found the bloodied body of Misty with Clear Sky’s and Thunder’s scent marks in the area, and now Misty’s kits are missing.

So far then, as far as it goes with Clear Sky, he has been a generally shitty person but that’s as far as it has gone. The situation with Misty’s death is currently just speculation by Wind Runner and Gorse Fur. We as the audience know, yes, Clear Sky did ruthlessly kill her, but no one beyond Clear Sky, Thunder, and Petal actually know that.

During Bumble’s death chapter, Gray Wing is “desperate to believe his brother could be innocent”. He brings up the fox scent but is dismissed by Turtle Tail.

At this point after Bumble says that it’s her fault and Clear Sky interrupts her. And here’s a point of contention I have seen. Where Gray Wing now thinks to himself

“Even with Bumble dying beside him, Gray Wing couldn’t help but admiring his brother’s bravery. What other cat would leap in the midst of a hostile group?”

And this is something I’ve seen to claim that Gray Wing is an awful person for admiring his brother while Bumble is dying but I just don’t agree with this at all? It is a flash of admiration of Clear Sky confronting a hostile group. Gray Wing thinks that he “couldn’t help” but admire Clear Sky’s courage. It is possible to admire an aspect of a person in this way without absolving them of the bad they’ve done. I can’t think of any examples but I swear things like this do happen in warrior cats where the hero will feel a glimmer of respect for a certain aspect of an antagonist. I just don’t think this is at all revealing of Gray Wing’s moral character. Immediately after this thought Gray Wing confronts Clear Sky and demands to know if he knows what happened and directly accuses Clear Sky of doing it in the process.

Gray Wing clearly doesn’t want this to be true but he isn’t hiding from the possibility.

After explaining that Misty’s kits are safe (in response to Wind Runner’s question immediately after Gray Wing’s before Clear Sky could answer), Clear Sky asks Gray Wing if he thinks he’s capable of doing this to Bumble and Gray Wing says no.

This is another thing I see people say is why Gray Wing is a massive POS but, at this point, Gray Wing has no reason to believe that Clear Sky is capable of this level of violence except the description of the scene of where Misty’s body was found. A scene which he hasn’t seen that Wind Runner also implies Thunder shares the guilt of. That is it. Of course he’s not going to want to believe his littermate committed this act, nor does he have any real reason to actually believe Clear Sky is capable of such a thing. As far as he knows Clear Sky is a major manipulative asshole who will push others around, but there is a huge step between that and just covering Bumble’s body in so many injuries she’s bleeding out and dying. And as mentioned, there is strong evidence a fox was involved in this incident anyway, it’s not like it’s just Clear Sky’s scent, the fox scent is by far the strongest scent at the scene.

After this point arguments ensue with Turtle Tail reiterating how she believes Clear Sky did this, ending with Wind Runner asking Gray Wing about what should be done next.

Gray Wing does have some doubts about Clear Sky but doesn’t want show it, and does ask Clear Sky directly who could have done this if he didn’t. He wants Clear Sky to be innocent but he isn’t shielding away from the potential truth, he is confronting Clear Sky about this. He isn’t trying to cover for Clear Sky, he obviously wants Clear Sky to present another option but isn’t helping him do it and he isn’t verbally trying to excuse Clear Sky at this point other than saying that he doesn’t believe Clear Sky is capable of such a thing, which again is reasonable for Gray Wing to believe in this scenario.

After Clear Sky gives his side of what happened, Gray Wing even refuses to speak in his defence.

Surely if he was such a Clear Sky bootlicker in this scene like is often made out, he would have said something right?

And that’s about all I’ve got to say. I haven’t moved onto the first battle yet so I’ll probably have something to say about Gray Wing in that. But I just think interpreting this scene to make Gray Wing out to be completely supporting and defensive of Clear Sky is just in bad faith imo. This is his brother he was raised with, I really don’t think he should be penalised for not immediately assuming his brother is the awful scumbag he is at this point in time. Like I mentioned, as far as Gray Wing knows now is that Clear Sky is an ableist manipulative ass, but that is a far cry from being a killer. I don’t think Gray Wing has given him enough shit for that, but I truly don’t think Gray Wing believing his brother is capable of such a thing at this point is that reasonable.

Rip Bumble, it is messed up the torment the Erins put you through.

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Graywing isn't a enabler.

I apologize to Bonefall @bonebabbles for knicking the screenshots and a bit of your analysis that i struggled to put into words for years, but my DOTC books are back in Canada and for some reason I can't find good pdfs of the books.

"He just needs reassurance" Gray Wing said to the dictator who is just so sad about his son not wanting to be around him after he emotionally abused him including a double bind and shoving his face into his friend's pussing wound.

"Wasn't it nice years ago before you went on a power trip and started murdering people left and right? Remember when we stopped freezing and starving and you immediately started laying claim to everything?"

Bonus: Gray Wing holds grudges because Turtle Tail is his property- I mean, wife, against a domestic abuse victim who is begging for safety away from her abuser.

This, which leads to,

"Even with Bumble dying from wounds inflicted by Clear Sky beside him, Gray Wing couldn't help but swoon over Clear Sky's need to throw his weight around and urge to slaughter any creature that steps foot on 'his' land. What other cat would leap into the midst of a group investigating the murders he absolutely committed when he has a history of extreme hostility towards anyone who isn't licking his heels?

There, fixed that sentence.

Clear Sky had no problem killing Misty and suggesting slaughtering her orphaned babies. He beat Bumble until she fell unconscious, something that had NEVER happened in the series up to that point. EVER. And Clear Sky is a liar. He absolutely killed Bumble.

BULL. SHIT. But Gray Wing eats this up. He hopes against Hope that His Heroic Brother can explain his Innocence! Even Clear Sky was shocked Gray Wing thought he was 'innocent'. But let's get one thing very Clear. (Lol)

If that story is true, that means he still beat Bumble unconscious. Which means this odd non biting fox (because she wasn't bitten) got its chance to attack her and finish her off. He would still be responsible. If I shove someone into the road and someone ELSE hits them with a car, I AM STILL AT FAULT. I WILL BE CHARGED WITH MURDER.

And Gray Wing doesn't care. Only that he doesn't have call his Big Brother the killer he IS.

Because...

Who gives a shit about the fat, abused, traumatized, starving native woman who bled to death, PEOPLE DON'T LIKE MY PERFECT COLONISER BROTHER ANYMORE WAHHH

And even after the bullshit 'apology' after The First Battle because Clear Sky was "just scared of seeing others starve" (despite nearly starving a long time friend to death) Gray Wing REFUSES to see reason. Refuses to call his beloved brother out for ripping open women like bags of potato chips.

This? This is enabling. Convincing yourself there is good in someone when they prove time and time again they will not change is being enabling. Refusing to put a stop to bad behavior until you suddenly land in its crosshairs 'kill me and live with the knowledge you killed someone who actually matters unlike the natives you slaughtered'

Also...

THUNDER DID. THUNDER. SAW. IT. HE SPENT TIME WITH CLEAR SKY. DID YOU NOT THINK TO MAYBE ASK HIM, GRAY WING THE

"WISE?"

[yuridovewing]

assuming we do get froststar (which would be really fun! but probably awful for her!) do you have any thoughts on how would you want it to go - both in execution in star and carried over into the next arc(s?)

hmmm in an ideal world... i think we could squeeze in onestar 2. i want her to be a young leader that's disillusioned with her position, who's confused about what to do because she's been set up as a medic, the clan's guide, only to be given the most power out of anyone. i want her to be a messy leader that makes bad choices stemmed from her trauma. id want her to eventually step down as leader when she realizes its just too much for her to handle afterwards. i want her to reflect on how she never even got to be an adult with a full name before she had this position. and then she leaves riverclan again bc fuck those guys and the system that broke her family.

as for how it happens, mmmmmmm i dont have a steady answer to that? i thiiink what would happen is that the dotc characters come down and theyre like "well being a leader was your original fate, but misty and reed zonked out too early, but splashtail didnt work out so we may as well give it a go now". or maybe frostpaw somehow does something very very drastic to dethrone splashtail and riverclan suddenly respects her so much that they accept her as leader now? which would be seen as like, their "redemption" for how they treated her in Wind. not that she appreciates it.

[dog-leg]

for the hypokits, gray wing x river ripple maybe?

i know nothing about dotc other than that River Ripple is a hippie from a commune so that's good for him ig

Misty Puddle:

Trans masc

Prime deputy material, he's cold and calloused but caring to those around them in their own way

Riverclan warrior, one of the best fighters despite their talents not being needed too often

bro's really just vibing, trying to get in a position of power through hardwork and not nepotism.

Raven's Patch

GNC Tom

BIG FELLA

bro's like a REAL wild cat, Norwegian Forest Cat type beat

Got a lot of his personality from River Ripple

Eventually left Riverclan and remade the Cats From the Park and became an honorary leader