#That's totally a tigerclaw thing

[cinnamonbloom]

more of them

oh yeah the oberjarl is like the king

According to the BbC wiki

[blimbo-buddy]

hey. Thoughts on darkstripe and longtails’s relationship as mentor and apprentice? I think it TOTALLY should have been explored more, esp bc Longtails’ first apprentice dies so Badly…

I think it's pretty overlooked when it comes to art/animations/stories about it. I like to attribute one of the many problems in their dynamic towards the fact that the two were way too young for their rank

I like to think that DarkStripe was made a warrior a little earlier than normal, while LongTail was made an apprentice (and then warrior) as early as well. They were both gullible children who listened to their previous mentors about the law of the Clans and to uphold the most amount of loyalty and pride towards your home, even if it means talking down to those who don't share the same lifestyle as you.

The entire line of mentors and apprentices was one plagued by jingoism, blind loyalty, awarded violence and total acceptance of your community and of Starclan, no matter how bad it gets. From ThistleClaw, to TigerClaw, to DarkStripe, to LongTail. It was a neverending cycle of early societal development when they weren't ready yet.

And the things that LongTail learnt from DarkStripe carried over to SwiftPaw, blind loyalty, eagerness, pride, impulsivity to resort to hands-on action. It's what got SwiftPaw mauled to the point of being unrecognizable as a cat. Bits of him on the tree, covering the ground, a little bit over there in the bushes. I think when it all clicked to LongTail, his entire world just. Shattered.

He slowly bettered himself, he tried as best as he could, y'know. Watching DarkStripe - His mentor, his best friend- be exiled after feeding SorrelKit deathberries, it made his heart sink and his head ache, he mentally grasped out to DarkStripe like a kitten reaching out for a string. But the only time he was able to finally, after all of this time, reach out and finally get a grip on DarkStripe, he felt only cold flesh and blood-dampened fur, a gash over his throat from GreyStripe's killing blow. The roar of battle around him deafening any thought he had in that moment.

[bonefall]

Golfy is literally one of my favorite cats of all time and I adore the way you’ve characterized her!! Any fun tidbits to share? I want to know more about the woman

There's a sketch of her floating around if you want to go on a treasure hunt! I don't have time to look for it right now (I am currently in the trunk of a clown car), but I've actually drawn a beta of her design and her big mane

Also note: BB!Goldenflower is part of the Doekin line. Speckletail's perception of herself and her family is tied strongly to being Doestar's niece. This association dies out with Thornclaw in BB!OotS as he's the last one to strongly value this legacy.

Golfy's mane is so poofy, unmanageabley poofy. She keeps it braided

Lionheart just surrendered to entrophy on that one lmao. "Dirt happens."

It's my little way of trying to show the difference between the siblings.

They're both proud and honorable, but Lionheart is more calm and patient. He's a Que Sera Sera kind of guy.

Goldenflower is more fond of the expression, "Fortune favors the prepared."

Note to self: Clanmewnize these expressions. Que Sera Sera is notably quite RiverClannish... Golfy's phrase is definitely from early ThunderClan

Not to get too distracted but I recently got this FANTASTIC idea for how to close out Book 3 of BB!DOTC on a bittersweet note, involving The First Boarhunt and Clear Sky being delightfully devious as always. Maybe it would be cool to put that phrase there... anyway.

She had three siblings total, Lionheart, Mistleclaw, and Snowkit. It's really difficult being the last one; family was extremely important to her.

Mistleclaw wasn't even a year out of apprenticeship; you're really considered an ADULT adult after being on your own for a year. Losing her was like losing a sibling who's college-aged. That was to the plague, before Firestar's arrival.

Smallear was openly the father of all four of them, but Goldenflower hesitates to call him Ba. Him and Speckletail had a really toxic on-again off-again thing.

Smallear was closest to Mistleclaw, who coincidentally looked the most like him. Goldenflower is like... "yeah thats what i expected of him, that fish-eared loser"

She's biased in favor of her mother though. Lionheart was more chill with Smallear; not CLOSE but, neutral-positive.

It wasn't entirely Smallear's fault that the relationship kept falling apart though, to be clear. I use toxic in this use very much on purpose, it wasn't abuse, they really cannot get along.

So when Goldenflower eventually picked a mate, she REALLY just wanted a stable lifepartner that would not be like that.

I would describe her relationship with Tigerclaw more in the terms of an "arrangement." Fishing for romantic information from her is VERY funny because she just like. Doesn't "get" romance.

Brambleclaw: "Mom... what did you... like about dad?"

"He was large, we were both very large. And he was a responsible warrior, respected and ambitious. Well... at the time we believed that. And he spoke with great confidence. He had a way of making you feel like you were both safe and powerful by his side."

It will not even click for her that most people don't open the answer to "why did you love x" with "he was tall like me"

(VINE BOOM AROACE FLAG)

She wanted kits and a partner. She doesn't regret the relationship, she regrets what he made her believe.

On Tigerclaw's end, it was mutual. They both liked each other as trusted Clanmates. He was attracted to her and reciprocated when she proposed a mateship, but I don't think he ever really got over Spottedleaf romantically.

Plus, getting into this family was a smart political move. Having Speckletail's approval was VERY useful.

I might stick Goldenflower as Head of Hunting through TNP to early Po3, until she trains a successor, since there's no rush. I have an allegiance list floating around but I can't remember off the top of my head if she's where she should be

She's actually super disappointed in Tawnypelt for her choice. I don't think they ever reconcile this, they're both too proud

So she's kinda iffy on that alliance with ShadowClan. Not to the point of spite, but she does easily believe stereotypes about them.

"A bunch of holdouts of TigerClan and duplicitous fiends over there."

Both Golfy and Tawnp miss each other a lot, but again. Neither one is going to apologize to the other or say the other was even slightly correct.

And Golfy wouldn't accept it if Tawnp even did. She made her choice. They're in different Clans now. She chose her father, who killed Swiftpaw and Lionheart.

And for that, Golfy will not forgive her.

If they ended up in a battle, neither would hold back. They both know this.

I'm really fond of her. She really is Speckletail's daughter and the whole family has a special flavor of pain and pride.

[redux-iterum]

Did Brokenstar have any reservations about killing his father? Did he disagree with Raggedstar’s leadership style (like Tigerclaw did with Bluestar), or was it simply a desire for power? Did the two of them have a good relationship?

Well, Raggedstar certainly thought their relationship was great. He was so very proud of his little boy and gave him everything he wanted, because he deserved it and he was trying so hard and oh, look at him, he's perfection in a cat, how can I not give him the world? Even with Yellowfang (Murkpelt at the time) making warning comments and trying to offer advice, Raggedstar was convinced everything was fine between him and his son. He thought he knew all about Brokentail and what he wanted in life, and he thought he was going to get to grow old and retire to watch his precious treasure rule ShadowClan as a wonderful, just, and faithful leader.

Raggedstar was a fucking idiot.

We've said before that Brokenstar, from kithood to death, was a massively self-absorbed prick that was obsessed with having total control over his life and the life of others. He was never satisfied with ANYTHING - no amount of control was enough. A wayward joke, a simple suggestion to do something he didn't order, outright questioning, all of it was unacceptable. He had to own his Clanmates like they were pieces of prey he had caught himself and was keeping from rogues. Not in a protective way, you understand. In the way of a dragon hoarding ill-gotten treasures.

To better gain that control - and it came naturally to him - he was quite a manipulator and liar, with a silver tongue and a good read on his Clanmates and their culture. He could cause trouble and pin it on someone else, or create a false sign for his Clanmates to interpret (not that it fooled Murkpelt, but it fooled everyone else, including the other seer), and he was very good at pitting ShadowClanners against each other (part of the reason Murkpelt couldn't get the Clan to side with her before she left). Had he been a little wiser, he could've probably succeeded in his goal of owning all of the territories. The only thing stopping him was his ego telling him he was a lot smarter than he really was.

Though, really, it didn't matter if he was stupid or smart when it came to his father. Raggedstar was completely blind to his son's bad behavior, even when he did get caught. Brokenstar had his dad wrapped around his finger, so to speak – he could do anything he wanted and get everything he wanted with a simple command thinly veiled as a sweetly-worded request. As Brokentail, he only had to mention once or twice that he sure would like to be leader just like his dad one day, and as soon as the previous deputy died under “mysterious circumstances”, Raggedstar made him second-in-command.

You would think this would be enough for Brokentail. He’s going to become leader eventually, and he can order anything he wants and his dad will agree to it. But the thing with control freaks like him is that it’s never enough control, and any small thing that they don’t yet have power over must be destroyed or taken by force. Brokentail didn’t want to put Raggedstar out of the way so much as he needed to. It never mattered to him that this was his father, who loved him dearly and probably would have retired early if he had just been asked nicely. He was an obstacle to cross over, nothing more.

To answer the question about reservations: no. He was very ready to hurt anyone he thought he had to in order to get what he wanted. Why would his idiotic, doddering father be different? He only hesitated for as long as it took to form a murder plot that wouldn’t be traced back to him.

I don’t think Brokenstar ever truly loved anyone in his life. Not a Clanmate, not his foster mother, not his father, no one. I think he only loved himself, insomuch as he was capable of love. Maybe it was just ego. Narcissism, perhaps. Whatever the case was, no one mattered but him. That sadly included the cat who would have died a thousand deaths before allowing anyone to even lay a paw on his son.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Something that doesn't make sense to me is why Mapleshade helped Tigerclaw to become leader in Tigerclaw's Fury.

If we're under the assumption that Mapleshade specifically picked Crookedstar to mess with because his great-grandparents are Appledusk and Reedshine, she should also be aware that Tigerclawstar is Oakstar's grandson. And I mean cmon look at the lineage now it's spread across three different clans and two of Tigers lookalikes were both leader at the same time at one point.

OH AND THAT REMINDS ME OF ANOTHER THING but I'll do a separate ask for that.

Victoria Holmes loves Mapleshade and that’s great until Mapleshade just starts showing up in places she has no reason to be in.

I guess from Mapleshade’s side you could say she wanted to use Oakstar’s lineage to destroy ThunderClan at least. Get a bit of revenge and irony all in one. But the main reason I do not like her being in Tigerclaw’s Fury is that it totally undermines Tigerstar’s character because the novella seems to imply his evil thoughts are just her whispering to him.

[alix-in-july]

Crowfeather and Jayfeather

These characters are both "prickly" but they have totally different sortings.

Crowfeather is a Snake Lion. No one better tell him what to do and he's constantly getting in fights. Instead of sneaking around or trying to work things out, his only solution to forbidden love is "We must run away without telling anyone and never come back." And I swear this cat is addicted to forbidden love. He falls in love with Feathertail and she dies before it's an issue. He names himself after her. Then he falls in love with Leafpool who is even more forbidden. After that falls apart he rebounds immediately. Now in Outcast he's just miserable and doesn't even seem to like his own son so maybe he's a Burned Snake at the moment. We haven't gotten much insight so far this series.

Jayfeather is a Lion primary in a series that is very Badger-oriented. He wants to be a warrior but he's blind. He hates being a medicine cat until he hears a prophecy about how powerful he'll be. He wants to use his powers to make his clan more powerful than the others. When he tries to convince the other cats to do this, they're appalled and he doesn't understand why. Honestly Tigerclaw has more of a kindred spirit in him than in Brambleclaw or Lionblaze. But he thinks Jayfeather is useless since he's blind and not a warrior. For his secondary...I want to say he's a Bird. He relies on his knowledge of medicine and herbs. He uses his powers to get information and then tries to use that information to his and his clan's advantage. He isn't honest and forthright like a Lion. But he doesn't really lie or charm like a Snake. He just withholds information he's not ready to share. He only accepts help reluctantly and mostly from his siblings.

[hatsbattlecats]

Their first gathering happens, but Mosspaw leaves Fire/Grey/Raven to go talk to the other medicine cats with Spottedleaf. Either Spottedleaf or Mudfur mentions it’s strange that Barkface didn’t show up to the last med cat meeting at the half moon, and how strange it is that he isn’t here now since Tallstar is usually very punctual

Fire and Grey still overhear Ravenpaw telling the tale of sunningrocks, and Tigerclaw still overhears. Brokenstar still demands hunting rights and reveals that he drove out Windclan, however, in this version, Bluestar already had suspicions that he’d done this as informed by a patrol of her own sent to give a message to Tallstar, and also from Spottedleaf, who brought news of Barkface’s absence from the meeting and the smell of Shadowclan in Windclan’s territory

When the clan starts rallying to go back and get rid of Yellowfang, Firepaw runs ahead, and Mosspaw stays back with the others to explain what he knows to Spottedleaf since he’s been spending a good deal of time helping Firepaw care for Yellowfang, and has heard plenty of stories from her. He’s certain Brokenstar is lying, and says as much to his mentor.

When everyone returns from the gathering, and many of them call for Yellowfang to be killed or thrown out, Mosspaw is right there with Firepaw ready to leap to her defense before Bluestar tells everyone to knock it off and stop being paranoid.

When Bluestar announces that she’s going to the moonstone, Firepaw already knows what it is (courtesy of Mosspaw) and is instead intrigued about why Bluestar is going now. She’s not a medicine cat, and she’s already been granted her nine lives.

During the Shadowclan attack while bluestar and the others were gone is when Mosspaw experiences his first real encounter with death in the forest, to actually SEE it happen. Redtail was already dead when he had first joined the clan, but the battle with Shadowclan? Rosetail, and Lionheart, both of them perished. He’d tried to save Rosetail, she was on the edge of the battle and Yellowfang had stepped in when the tortoiseshell had fallen to protect the kits, but she’d already lost too much blood. 

After the battle, he’d helped Spottedleaf care for everyone else, but he was stuck in a mixture of shock and grief, going through the movements and barely speaking beyond asking his clanmates where they were hurt.

Spottedleaf sits him down afterwards and they have a talk. She tells him that this is the hardest lesson he will learn as a medicine cat, that he can’t save everyone. When starclan calls, not even the most gifted of medicine cats can keep a cat among the living.

Things become progressively worse for Ravenpaw after the battle, and he starts hiding out in the medicine cat den with Mosspaw when Tigerclaw isn’t sending him on dangerous missions or fetch quests.The two apprentices grow close in this time, and Mosspaw starts having Ravenpaw assist him with herb gathering to get the other apprentice out of Tigerclaw’s grasp as much as possible. During one such herb gathering, Ravenpaw actually confides his secret to Mosspaw before he ever tells Firepaw and Greypaw, though Mosspaw encourages him to tell them too

Spottedleaf is killed by Tigerclaw after she confronts him about killing her brother both to help the apprentice gang gather proof, and for her own closure on the matter. Spottedleaf may be weaker, but she’s faster and more agile, as well as clever. The two of them are distracted from their fight by Clawface and his accomplice running away with Frostfur’s kits. Tigerclaw takes advantage of her distraction and finishes her off.

He comes back into camp just after Frostfur sounds the alarm about her missing kits. He claims to everyone that Clawface and Yellowfang (who slipped out when the alarm went up) stole the kits, and that he totally saw them. He had been out with spottedleaf and tried to fight them back for the kits, but poor Spottedleaf was killed by Clawface while he was trying to chase down the other thief.

Bluestar asks him if he’s sure he was Yellowfang, and (just in case he were to be caught in the lie) says that he isn’t sure, that they “ran past him so fast all he saw was a blur of grey before he turned back to help spottedleaf, but it was too late”

Mosspaw helps Willowpelt prepare Spottedleaf for burial. It’s at this point that Mosspaw notices TIGERCLAW’S fur in Spottedleaf’s claws. He goes to tell Firepaw, but the orange apprentice is already vowing revenge on Clawface, and Mosspaw realizes that not even Firepaw would imagine that Tigerclaw would harm a medicine cat. Not yet at least. Mosspaw wants to go with Fire/Grey/Raven to find Yellowfang and prove her innocence. He’s heard her stories about her past (not all of them of course) and he knows she’d never harm a kit, but Bluestar keeps him behind, telling him that Thunderclan just lost a medicine cat, they cannot risk loosing another

He manages a goodbye to Ravenpaw before the trio leaves, and remains in camp while Firepaw and Greypaw proceed as canon in liberating Shadowclan with Yellowfang’s help. Yellowfang returns with them to clear her name and also to become Mosspaw’s new mentor to finish his training.

After Spottedleaf is buried, Mosspaw finally removes his ribbon collar, leaving it on her grave as a thank-you for everything she taught him. As well as a promise to her that he will always stay with and protect the clan in her stead, for as long as he lives, and theneven longer from beyond when he someday joins her in starclan’s ranks.

[bandtrees]

for the warriors ask game :D

🗺 : first map you ever watched?

🖼 : first amv/pmv you ever watched?

(I used to watch MAPs religiously those are my jam)

yay thank you! warriors ask game except the questions are all weird and niche as hell!

know: my memory is bad. i've been into wc for... well over a decade now, so these are probably not accurate xP my first warriors video was i believe a spoof video about ashfur and squirrelflight, but my first map and amv? uhhh unsure!

🗺 : first map you ever watched? - i didn't actively watch maps as a small kid, or at least i don't think i did? the first map that i entirely remember watching was during my second major warriors phase by the time i was closer to... 15 maybe?? as opposed to my earliest memories of wc which are from when i was 10 or younger lol. little fang, which is making me genuinely super misty eyed to rewatch, it's just so so good, from the style to the designs to how well it gets into jayfeather and his family with only animation and music, the composition of every part is so good, the designs, all of it. the sole reason little fang is one of my favorite songs to this day it might, miiight, have also been evelyn evelyn? that one was certainly one of the first maps i ever watched that stuck with me. the dovewing kinnie has entered chat

🖼 : first amv/pmv you ever watched? - i cannot remember. i watched sooo many amvs as a kid. not my FIRST amv, probably, but one of the earliest i recall is ashfur's revenge, which is delighting me so much to rewatch. this one was formative for me, i miss the style of flash-animated warriors amvs that (obviously:() aren't around anymore. i also have such a soft spot for tigerclaw is not one of thunderclan, one i was thinking about the Entire Time i was writing the exile scene in spottedfur's pride lol. i still love it so much, this is my first time rewatching it in like... a decade, im sure. its so good. im kind of blown away as i rewatch these that they ARE as good as they are, cuz i feel like it's common in the warriors fandom to treat old amvs as some cringeworthy lost art (in general i have strong opinions on how (unintentionally)cruel the internet starts being to things as soon as they enter "nostalgia" territory) - but there's still, like, genuine talent in these. there's a reason these amvs were as popular as they were, and not because we were all cringe 10 year olds who didn't know better, lol. also reminds me of tigerstar and the dog pack(be prepared) - which is one i have the most vivid memory of watching on my family computer, hehe. in general i love corvus katana's stuff, past and current oh my god i will never get this ask posted because i keep remembering ones that helped, like, form a lobe of my brain growing up. HOW TO SAVE BLUESTAR'S LIFE YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!!!! I AM TOTALLY NOT CRYING REWATCHING IT. YOU ARE. YOU ARE. cant believe i had a phase where i hated bluestar - i think everyone did because they spontaneously realized she was imperfect, immoral even at times, and made mistakes but hadn't developed the media comprehension to realize she was... actually meant to be complex and troubled and not just a perfect leader. god. bluestar. god. god. g (im also gonna use this question as a chance to gush about old amvs that i remember that are unfortunately lost to time: a hollyleaf one to hurricane by thirty seconds to mars (!!!! THIS ONE WAS SO FORMATIVE BUT IM LIKE 80% SURE ITS LOST MEDIA), bluestar heart heart head (PLEASE tell me im not the only one who remembers this one!!! i was devastated to learn it wasn't iconic or reuploaded anywhere (as much as i also think, again, in the nostalgia-sense, people act entitled to things like old amvs or people's art or whatever else)), NIGHTCLOUD GIRL WITH ONE EYE CHANGED MY LIFE?and... probably more of course that aren't coming to me now xP

i. didnt expect to ramble as much as i did with this? i just can't put into enough words how formative warriors amvs and the like were for me growing up :'DD they were my major start for digital art and animation (something i did a lot when i was younger but fell out of over time, but god i'd love to animate again, maybe do a classic wc amv to spottedfur's pride or something lol)

thank you for the question! I am so incredibly normal about warrior cats.

[sophswritingthings]

WILLOWWHITE FAM (LONGSTAR AU)

I have indeed changed a few things around! let’s go through them one by one, shall we?

graystripe: gray, instead of becoming a basically self absorbed asshole, he stays the goofy loving sweet boy that he was in the first book! i think gray/fire/sand is totally poly, like fire/gray is good, sand/fire is good.. but mix them together and you get a little loving circle that will protect each other til they die. in this au they all become a little poly couple, and fire/sand has squirrelkit and leafkit. and I think that featherkit and stormkit are sand/grays kits. they raise them all together in ThunderClan, and when feather/storm is older they do actually feel better being in RiverClan so they do join RiverClan and be the RiverClan new prophecy cats.

willowpelt: I’m making willows mate for the ENTIRE series Whitestorm, instead of it just being said in forest of secrets. so he is the father of gray, dark as well as sorrel, rain, and soot. dark was litter 1 (his other sibling dying before becoming an app), gray was litter two which was a litter of 1, and sorrel/rain/soot are litter 3. instead of willow dying in between books to protect sootpaw sootpaw still actually died and willow becomes elder grandma.

whitestorm: white is a loving, loyal boy and just seriously loves his kiddos. when dark leaves thunder to go to shadow, he ends up meeting with him in secret. white had always been really close with dark, never supported him hanging with tiger because he knew what the warrior was really like, growing up with him (and thistleclaw being his dad, and tigers mentor he especially didn’t trust him). white tries to convince dark but he wouldn’t listen. eventually, when dark comes back bloodied and battered (his ear practically torn to bits) he comes to his senses. of course no one trusts him right away, but white was always there for him. eventually they do trust him and they go back to being a happy family.

darkears(stripe): I changed his name cuz idk darkstripe.. graystripe.. I know they're siblings but I don’t like how similar it sounds. so I gave him dark ears cuz he was born with a floppy ear and that he was always super attentive. dark was the first litter, being the elder brother to all the other kits. his mentor stays the same, being tigerclaw which is why he’s so close to him. (also he has a crush on him for a while before actually becoming mates later. dark is gay in this cuz.. that’s how I see him idk) super duper loyal to tiger even before the pair became mates. and tiger was not a good mate. at all. dark really did love him, he did. but tiger didn’t. he would ridicule him constantly, even going as far to hit/scratch him leaving him with some of the scars he has today. dark does still follow him to shadow cuz he’s practically forced too, and refuses to come back for a while even at whites calls. but eventually he comes to his senses and comes home and gains the clans trust again and becomes a good big brother to his siblings, as well as gaining a mate in a tom named Blacksight (whom I’ve added as a rouge who joined the clan I’ll explain him later) and they are much much better together. If you couldn’t tell I happen to really like the dark I’ve created lol.

sorrelspirit(tail): idk I changed her name cuz I always found it boring, especially considering her bright personality and determination! she suffered an injury and waited moons to actually get her warrior ceremony, and was still as happy as ever. so sorrelspirit it is. she had a rough childhood (im taking out the poisoning.. we don’t need that here. In this AU, it seriously ain’t Important) especially growing up when bloodclan had come into the forest, her father dying before she was even an apprentice. it wasn’t fun. but she kept her spirits up, she couldn’t be so down all the time like other cats she knew. after her injury, she earned her name. she'd never been attracted to any of the tom’s in the clan, settling on the label of lesbian for herself. she never gets a mate, though not finding a connection with anybody—as for the kits, I think that the three of them were found just outside tc territory. i would say that they are rouge kits that were abandoned, and not wanting to leave them, she takes them and claims them as their own. ferncloud nurses them for as long as they need, and they see fern/sorrel as their moms. eventually, sorrel gets a mate in a rc she-cat!

rainwhisker: rain gets a personality. he’s very protective of his siblings, and instead of sorrel being mates with bracken, he is! they are very happy little gay beings together. anyway, rain is kinda sassy and snappy with others- even with firestar and longtail lmao. there’s not really much to say on him.. he’s still a background character, but just know he and bracken r very happy being gay together.

sootpaw(fur): in this au.. soot dies. instead of willow saving him from the badger, she doesn’t get there in time, and he is killed in the process. his siblings and and mother go into a depression for at least three moons, but eventually move past it and know he’s resting softly in starclan.

that’s it for the willowwhite fam! next up is frostlion fam, one of my favs hehehe

[mothdapple]

Fixing the Bramblepaw to Brambleclaw Character Arc

A common cause of complaint about The New Prophecy is how much Brambleclaw does not feel like Bramblepaw in the first arc. I do think the evolution of TPB Bramblepaw morphing into TNP Brambleclaw is possible, but it just was not at all executed well by the writing team, which is why the shift in the books seems so jarring.

Ever since I begun my TNP rewrite Shaken Roots, I have been looking for ways for this character arc to make more sense. And, I think I can see how the serious, quiet Bramblepaw who is 100% determined to prove himself to ThunderClan by putting his head down and working hard, no matter what, could become the very burnt out Brambleclaw, who is worn down by time as the moons pass and some of his clan-mates continue to look disfavorably on his connection to Tigerstar. This eventually even leads him to do the thing he swore never to do (“joining” Tigerstar) because he’s so desperate for connections.

There are a few things in TNP that Brambleclaw does/thinks which are still probably unrealistic or too extreme, (like having a moment of seriously considering killing Firestar.) But, overall I feel like this could be a way to smooth the transition of Bramblepaw to Brambleclaw, and this is how I’d do it:

Very few cats seem to care at all that Brambleclaw is Tigerstar’s son by canon TNP, but since Brambleclaw feeling emotional burn out by their judgement is what I’m using as the jumping-off point for him falling under Hawkfrost and Tigerstar’s influence, I plan on making some changes there. However, canon does give us some little things which I can expand on in my rewrite: First there is Firestar going out of his way to name Brambleclaw after Tigerclaw. Maybe Firestar was genuinely well-meaning there, but Brambleclaw could have some major insecurity around that since Firestar permanently branded him with his father’s name when Firestar knows so well that Brambleclaw struggles so much to escape Tigerstar’s shadow. Also, maybe Brambleclaw has little, innocuous mannerisms like the way he flicks his tail when he’s annoyed that makes him look just like Tigerstar. Maybe his clan-mates don’t comment on it, but Brambleclaw notices the way the older warriors will pause and become unsettled by him, which makes him feel self-conscious and paranoid of seeming too much like Tigerstar, totally on accident or unconsciously. Maybe also while on the journey to the sundown-place, Feathertail or Stormfur has a strong negative reaction to Brambleclaw when he accidentally triggers their trauma from TigerClan because of something innocent he does.

Mixing this all together for moons, I could see Brambleclaw reaching an absolute low of emotional exhaustion and being just tired of trying so hard all the time and feeling like he’s going nowhere. Especially after the journey to the sundrown-place and bringing the Clans to the Lake. Brambleclaw could feel like he is literally ThunderClan’s savior, but some of his clan-mates are still treating him like a snake in the grass, as if they are never sure if he’s going to strike or not. (Although some of this could just be in Brambleclaw's head from his negative/pessimistic perception.)

As the Clans settle into the lake and the close friend group Brambleclaw had made with the other journeying cats starts to drift apart, in steps Hawkfrost who can emphasize with Brambleclaw’s poor treatment (or at least, he acts like he can.) Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw become friends, but Hawkfrost also manipulates Brambleclaw, feeding into his feelings of isolation from his clan-mates so that Brambleclaw is more dependent on Hawkfrost for all his emotional needs. (Hawkfrost is doing this mainly because he has abandonment issues, due to various reasons including Tadpole, Sasha and Feathertail, and wants Brambleclaw to be entirely dependent on him so he never leaves him. But, I’ll leave that there because my thoughts on Hawkfrost’s psyche is an entirely separate essay lol.) Hawkfrost will essentially come to play the role of the devil on Brambleclaw’s shoulder, but Brambleclaw cannot see it because he’s just so grateful to have someone who “understands” him.

Brambleclaw also has some feelings about self-loathing about his seemingly inescapable tether to Tigerstar, and this in combo with Hawkfrost’s manipulations encourages Brambleclaw down a self-destructive path which even leads him back to Tigerstar when he appears in his dream. Brambleclaw of course knows that Tigerstar is the source of all his problems, but I would have him stay to train with Tigerstar anyway because (in order of importance)

1) Hawkfrost is there, and he wants to make sure he’s okay and not left alone with their father.

2) Hawkfrost tries to convince him that before Tigerstar was a monster, he was a great warrior and they should be able to learn from his good parts without following in the paw-steps of his bad parts. And Brambleclaw thinks he will be able to resist any manipulation tactics Tigerstar tries against him. (Tigerstar is also on his best behavior in the dreams, adding to this illusion.)

3) Brambleclaw feels isolated enough that he stays just to be around Hawkfrost and Tigerstar, two cats who give him positive attention.

4) There is a part of Brambleclaw that is very ambitious and enjoys feeling powerful, which training with Tigerstar gives him despite that it also makes his feelings of self-loathing worse.

Of course, Brambleclaw cannot resist Tigerstar as much as he thinks he can, so together Tigerstar and Hawkfrost feed into his darker impulses. When Tawnypelt gets her Tigerstar dream and sees Brambleclaw there, she tries to smack some sense into him by explaining that Brambleclaw doesn’t know what Tigerstar is capable of, but she does, since she had once similarly fallen under his spell to join him in ShadowClan, and that Brambleclaw is a fool if he thinks he can grow stronger by drinking from a pool of poisoned water.

The difference between Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw here is that Tawnypelt got more first-hand exposure to Tigerstar, so she has more nuanced take on Tigerstar. She understands better who their father really is (both the "good" and the terrible parts.) But, Brambleclaw has only heard horror stories about Tigerstar from his clan-mates. Tigerstar is basically a story-book villain to him. He clearly believes the horrible things his clan-mates say about him to some degree, but maybe he also thinks they are a bit exaggerated. Overall though, Brambleclaw just does not truly understand Tigerstar’s personality or abilities. Also, although Tawnypelt is the one who switched Clans, she is ironically in a more supportive environment in ShadowClan, since no one there cares about her relationship to Tigerstar. This lets her be more confident in herself in general, so Tigerstar and Hawkfrost cannot exploit her insecurities in that way as they can Brambleclaw's.

The conclusion of Brambleclaw's arc would be basically catching up to his sister by accepting these parts of himself he can’t change, like his appearance, his name, his blood connection to Tigerstar, and his ambitious personalty, and either being able to see the good parts of them, or if he can’t see the good, then at least acknowledging that they don’t automatically make him a bad person. He is able to do this thanks to his connection to the supportive friends he made on the journey who care about him because who he is as a person, nothing more or less.

This is in contrast to Hawkfrost, who acts as both a parallel and foil to Brambleclaw. He is also desperate for approval, but he is too afraid of getting hurt or being abandoned to form genuine friendship and so is totally isolated. He cannot escape his self destruction, and it ultimately results in his death. This also ties into the overall theme of the arc about bonds/connections— Of course what starts everything is the prophecy cats having to go on this journey to form a deep bond. Then there are the Clans having to come together to survive the forest destruction and sucessfully travel to the lake. And, the connections formed by the forbidden romances, and the ties between Tigerstar and his kids, and so on.

[blorboclaw]

Re-reading the prophecy begins while knowing that Whitestorm is Bluestar’s nephew (and adoptive son in a way) makes things way funnier.

*

Sandkit: *is unsufferable*

Bluestar: “hey Whitestorm you know how I said I would get revenge for the neettles you but on my nest once?”

*

Bluestar: “Hey Whitestorm what do you thing of going out in a storm to attack Shadowclan? Also you cannot say it to Tigerclaw and you might meet unexpected help there... haha cryptic message”

Whitestorm, not even questionning it: “Rad.”

*

Bluestar: “Alas, Lionheart is dead. I’m going to name a warrior that is SO loyal and beloved by everybody... Tigerclaw!”

Whitestorm: “not that I wanted to become deputy but that kinda stings”

*

Fireheart: “oh no Bluestar is paranoid. Whitestar, I need your help.”

Whitestar: “oh yeah I’m totally up to betray Bluestar it’s gonna be fun”

*

Bluestar: “I can make your apprentice a warrior, Fireheart, but not the others. They’ve been trained by traitors.”

Whitestorm, mentor of Brightpaw: “ExCuSe mE!”

*

Everyone: “Tst this kittypet will never learn to hunt, his fur is way too white, prey will see him coming.”

Bluestar: *looks at Whitestorm, best hunter of the clan or something*

Bluestar: *looks at Cloudkit*

Bluestar: *looks at Fireheart who’s like ‘hey here’s my nephew he’s got white fur’*

Bluestar: “I’m gonna give it a try”

*

Also I always thought Whitestorm was like, a senior warrior on the edge of retirement by the Darkest Hour, and all the others were younger, but... like... Lionheart and Goldenflower were basically the age of Bluestar? Tigerclaw was older than Whitestorm? Goldenflower is at least a year older than Tigerclaw?

[bearsnore]

*eyes Snowbound and Cowsnap* these guys are so fluffy i love them!

What’s their story?

HEHHHEHHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEH

ok so, theyre of shadowclan

cowsnap is the third leader after ripplemoon got smited, and as a kit, he escaped out of camp and found a large, fluffy puppy. he brought the thing home, and since he had no collar, snowkit was gained

it was very apparent it was a dog and not a cat, but mistleshroom, cowkits mother, still loved him like one of her own and taught him all she could. because of this, snowbound knows to speak some clanspeak and understands a lot of it, but doesnt have the same ... total understanding the others, the cats, do.

he's not allowed to fight in clan skuffles because its unhonorable, but cowsnap loves his brother anyway.

snowbound is a cuddly, kind, and hard working warrior who was in shadowclan from 79 to 83, when he was taken from shadowclan by a dog only illness the druids and clerics couldnt treat

Star Cowsnap insisted his brother be buried like a respected warrior, and all of the clans were sad to see the happy and caring pup go

Snowbound left an impact on the clan cats so great, that dogs in this rewrite are to be respected and worked around, not against, and tigerclaw loses many of his supporters when his dog plot is revealed by fireheart [or firelight in this au]

[blimbo-buddy]

I remember even before I joined Tumblr, I was kind of self conscious about how I drew the characters and how I designed these cats. I remember seeing a lot of these warrior cats designs with plenty of quote on quote "clean" designs I suppose. Markings perfectly symmetrical with the exception of characters like IvyPool for example. Not much ""imperfections"" other than the occasional eyebag or subtle wrinkle. And don't get me wrong at all, it is completely find if you draw like this, the last thing I want is for people (especially young artists) to feel just as how I felt back then towards my art and character designs. Like total shit. I used to compare my designs to these seemingly perfect designs and try to make the characters look as perfect as possible and I would feel like shit every single time I completed a design because I felt like I wasn't being true to myself or whatever. But nowadays, I'm really glad I decided to step out of my comfort zone and go all out as much as I can with my designs. And everybody liking and reblogging and making kind comments about my art really helps me realize that, yeah, people like how weird my art and how weird my characters designs can get, they like it when I add odd features to a character like TigerClaw and LightLeap's human-like paws, they like seeing my designs with fur folds or wrinkles or asymmetry in their designs that I make for them, how every single character I design seems to always have very subtle eye bags/lines or how their colors are almost dirty or washed out in a way, but in the best way possible. At this point, I'm just rambling nonsense and getting personal, but I really want everybody to know how thankful I truly am to have so much support from the community.

[notwarriorswiki]

If you’re gonna rewrite the other arcs. Will you bring different cultures to the clans? Like a more unique answer to Firepaw’s question of why they can’t work together

Considering the absolutely nothing answer they give him, I feel like really the culture should just be called out more. The clans don’t work together and it’s dumb, and Firepaw should be the one to bring change, therefore reflecting as such in the symbolism of the BloodClan finale. All the clans work together.

Seriously, this is the response they give Firepaw.

And then Tigerclaw follows up with “It is our Clan loyalty that makes us strong. If you weaken that loyalty, you weaken our chances of survival.”

Like that is such a flawed answer and yet it’s the continued answer we are given to not working together. I’m not saying the clans can’t be separate. I think it’s great they have different cultures, preferences, and ways of life - and inevitably with limited resources there will be arguments. I totally understand not taking a mate in another clan, or having to join someone else’s clan for things to work - but we’re talking about cooperation and just trying to get along. That is STILL seen as a sign of weakness to this day and I think Firestar at least should be the symbol of that potential, before the 12 and The Great Battle being the true turn around of cooperating clans.

[bonefall]

Redtail: Spot don’t you touch that pool. You can’t just give all our prophecies to Fireheart-

Spottedleaf: Aw bro I won’t that’d be going against the judiciary system we have in place in this completely not corrupt paradise with definitely no double standards especially against outsiders or women

Redtail: …alright you can

Spottedleaf: Heck yeah!!

=======

She then dives into the pool and does spooky ghost stuff to tell Fire all of the secrets with a big ole grin. Redtail is sitting by the pool making sure when she comes back up no one sees, a big ole pout on his face as he questions the whole society he’s so bound.

She just seems like a cat who’d goofily bring up their societies flaws with a happy smile as she describes how they directly believe and defend the toms especially those in power while belittling or keeping mollies as just mothers. And she’d definitely point out the hypocrisy behind their half clan, outsider, or healer born kits and blaming them for their parentage when their parentage shouldn’t even matter in the first place. I love Spottedleaf in the rewrite I am totally not drawing anything haha

I LOVE her and Redtail so much, I have a perfect image in my head of how Spotty leads people in conversations. She asks a lot of questions, leading them to the conclusion she wants, and when that fails she finds a way to distract them

For Redtail, he's honorable, committed to the will of StarClan... but he's also got a rigid sense of justice. He cares for the right thing. She probably appeals to it a lot.

"Spottedleaf. The boy shouldn't be told of today's death."

"No?"

"Don't start with me!"

"Ohh, but... didn't you say that you wish you'd known? Just so you could have appreciated your family-"

"Don't use my words against me, witch! He can't know that he might perish, else..."

"...else he may act differently."

"Yes. Yes exactly."

"...and you would have, as well."

"..." and then Redtail shakes his head for a moment, like he's shaking drops of shame from his fur, chasing the images of his wayward son Longtail growing closer and closer to Tigerclaw, "I would have... been a better father, is all."

And she hums, "This prophecy doesn't call for his death. It's only a warning that someone will die... you do see the value in his knowing, don't you?"

"...one night, Spottedleaf. And this is the LAST TIME."

And fellas. It was not the last time.

[thedawningofthehour]

You know, I scoffed at the idea that Tigerclaw's gold thing could be gold nail polish, but I actually think that this Tigerclaw would totally endure Cass painting his nails. He is entirely whipped by now.