#Warrior cats rant

[burntpaws]

the bluestar/yellowfang crumbs in the new graphic novel preview feels kinda,, i don’t know, queerbaity feels too strong but given the publishers’ stance against adding gay/trans cats to warrior cats, i feel like getting hyped for this minimal “representation” is sorta useless.

like “OMG THEY R BLUSHING TO EACH OTHER” in cat books that have a firmly anti-gay/trans rep stance but the publishers certainly KNOW that the fandom is very lgbtq just feels like catering without substance.

“yes we let your favs blush to each other but dw they still aren’t canon bc we aren’t into adding any kind of official gay rep to these books w a massive lgbtq fandom! just buy the book to get these unsubstantial crumbs while we do nothing to push actual rep into the franchise!”

as always w my gripes w the graphic novel, this isn’t towards the artists. in fact, i love them for trying to put in some crumbs for the fandom while still passing the publisher’s preferences.

what i’m angry at is the publishers for letting them ONLY do crumbs.

[fymo-blogs]

Bro, why is it that the warriors community is so insistent on Mapleshade being an unreliable narrator, yet they believe everything Appledusk has ever said?

[spinnysocks]

i can 100% guarantee this has been said before but tigerclaw should have been kept alive, fuck the "death as the end of cruelty" trope that warriors adopts so frequently. it's why brokenstar's death was so impactful for example

doesn't matter where the story diverges, but the best time would be after stonefur's death. let riverclan repent, let shadowclan repent, let all 4 clans come together like it's The Darkest Hour. let tigerclaw be stripped of his power, let him be at the mercy of the clans and the cats he's caused so much anguish for. and let them just stare at him. doesn't even matter which clan he's forced to stay in, he's hurt cats from them all.

in the end, it's up to each person what they think would happen. would tigerclaw keep his canon morals despite being trapped? would he never repent? or would he? would he internally begin to question his ways, starting all the way back at his kithood? how none of the things that happened to him condoned the things he did to others? would he change outwardly? if he wanted to change his ways, be a clan member again, would he even be given the chance? he doesn't deserve it. but would he be given it?

[feralpurr]

((spoilers for the broken code))

even though tbc ended 3 years ago now, does anyone else constantly think about shadowsight and how he LITERALLY went to hell and back for the people he loves, even though everyone constantly blamed him for everything that happened. so determined to fix something he didn’t do. he never actually had a connection to starclan, it was just assfur gro*ming him the entire time. he almost fucking dies several times bc of him and even after everything, he still misses that connection when he’s gone.

it is unironically the best representation of an abusive relationship in warriors, and im glad it wasn’t romantic.

i love you shadowsight mwah

[kirwell]

It's been a minute since I've memorized myself with the og four arcs, but I still feel like the modern warrior clans don't show the things that make them unique as they used to in the older books. Actual culture in the clans has become such a background thing, and the clans' mostly acknowledge each other by overused stereotypes. "ThunderClan gets in everyone's business" "ShadowClan can never be trusted" yeah we know And then WindClan and RiverClan just kinda exist… they don't get involved enough to get slandered at gatherings.

It would be nice to see each clan acknowledged for their odd traditions and unique mannerisms too. And I would love to see the clans themselves DO MORE with their own clanmates that make their clan feel special. Especially now that we're getting more POVs not just from good ol' ThunderClan.

Have RiverClan show their skill for swimming more often. Have them swim to gatherings, unbothered by their slick, drenched coats. Imagine them leaving a gathering, dramatically submerging back into the dark water and disappearing into the night. "How unnatural..."

Have them incorporate water into their fighting technique, as we see in the opening of Into The Wild. Ambush rival cats from the water, or pull them into the water where they have the advantage. I want to see RiverClan excel in water and completely have the upper hand in some battles.

It says RiverClan decorates their nests, but it's rarely shown or appreciated. Let them have the most beautiful camp out of everyone, decorated in shells, pebbles, foliage and feathers. Let the other clans think "wow. why is it so pretty here?" or "ew, why do you decorate with fish scales?"

I want their ceremonies to involve dressing in elaborately made accessories that every cat learns to make. Have cats be given unique shells when they're born, and these shells are given to their chosen mates as a sign of true affection.

Show downtime, where cats just relax on the shoreline, kits playing in the sand, apprentices challenging each other in the water, and elders sunbathing on the rocks.

RiverClan was basically founded by a hippie. Let the clans see them as typically laidback and the type to stop and smell the roses. But when they step up, they have skills that no other clan can match.

Have ShadowClan be excellent at stealth and use the literal shadows to their advantage. Have other cats not notice a ShadowClan patrol until they suddenly burst from the dark.

Imagine they cover themselves in different smells, like mushrooms, moss and pine, to mask their natural scent. I like to think ShadowClan cats have the strongest tolerance for strong or icky smells.

I think it would be cool to have Shadowclan cats know how to mimic night critter noises, like owls, frogs and crickets, to trick prey, or to communicate with their own patrol without drawing away from the natural ambiance.

Show ShadowClan as being able to move in the dark better then any other clan, and let the clans think it's UNCANNY. During nighttime battles, have them lure rivals into the darkness where they can gain the upper hand. Have them work as a team to confuse and disorientate rivals in the darkness, before striking.

Show Shadowclan cats being more nocturnal and more active at night than other clans. They thrive in it, and do most of their training and chores when the sun sets.

I want ShadowClan to be known for more than their bad history and terrible taste in leaders. I want them to be seen as mysterious night dwellers, whose talents best shine in the dark. You will never see them coming until it's too late.

Windclan used to have a lot more goin on, in Tallstar's revenge, having a whole tunneling system with different ranks like Moor Runners and Tunnelers. We could have something similar to this again. Windclan navigating an elaborate abandoned warren underneath their moorland, for quick escapes, safety or even traps.

Have Windclan use the tunnels to outsmart invading clans or predators, or trap them in dead-ends. If their camp was ever overtaken, they could rely on the tunnels as a temporary home, a place no other clan knows how to navigate.

SHOW them as the fastest cats of all the clans. It's not shown all that much, except when WindClan shows up to mee a rival patrol. Show them being able to outrun rival cats, run circles around them, chasing off patrols with unmatchable swiftness.

Birds of prey used to be more of a thing in the books, but they seemed to have disappeared. Have dangerous predators around that only WindClan really knows how to evade or kill, taking down hawks and such, similar to how the Tripe of Rushing Water actively did.

Have Windclan be excellent at camouflage, since the moorlands are so open, they have to learn to blend in with shrubbery, or shroud themselves in plants and mud that blend in while patrolling. For battles, imagine they come dressed in full camouflage / warpaint.

I love the idea of cats singing and the winds just carry their voices away. It would be neat to see ceremonies directly involve the wind, singing different songs with special meanings, or releasing flower petals into the breeze when cats die. Let the other cats think that WindClan is strange, since no other clans have songs that pass through generations. Cat singing is weird.

WindClan once prided themselves for "being closer to Starclan" literally because they lived under the open sky. Imagine they're the only clan to recognize constellations, stargaze and create stories based off them.

WindClan gets wrecked more times than not, but they've got spirit, and I want the clans to see it.

SkyClan had a pretty rich culture prior to moving to the Lake, and lot of it tied into their environment, so understandably, they lost so much because of Darktail. I love Skyclan honestly, and I want to see them thrive again so much.

I wish we got to see them climb trees a bit more in public, using them during patrols, jumping from branch to branch. We saw them use this method in battle, jumping down from above and landing on their enemies, and I would love to see more of this!

Show SkyClan cats as excellent climbers who don't fear heights. Causally hanging out in trees and other precarious places for pure enjoyment. Let the other clans think that it's weird and dangerous, and they're stupid for doing it. But also it makes them uneasy, cause Skyclan could attack from ANYWHERE if there's trees.

I'd LOVE to see Skyclan continue to take in kittypets/strays/loners as Daytime-Warriors, and have this general acceptance of outsiders. The OG clans are very prejudice, as we know, even against each other, so it would be neat to showcase Skyclan's tolerance for non-clan-blooded cats. If Skyclan is ever in danger, imagine a legion of outsiders rushing in to aid their SkyClan friends, much to the other clans' shock.

Skyclan to me have always felt like they'd be storytellers, given how much they've been through and how their clan came to be. Would love to see them talk more about their experiences and history to the other clans, and encourage openness and change.

SkyClan is new to the Lake, but I want them to bring in what made them special and show it off. They've got so much heart, how can you not admire them for their strength?

And of course ThunderClan. The protagonist clan that's begun to feel so bland to me personally. We spent the most time with them, and I miss seeing what made them unique. (I'm very nostalgic for into the wild vibes)

ThunderClan has lived in their new home beside the Lake for years now, and I feel like it's barely talked about or used in any special way. I want to see them use their environment more.

Have it tradition for young cats to learn how to scale the rocky cliffs, in case of emergency. Have ThunderClan cats excel at scaling uneven surfaces, like little whiskered mountain goats. Oh, a Thunderclan cat was pushed off a cliff in battle? No matter. They manage to keep their cool and catch onto the surface, and scale back up or down with ease.

ThunderClan has lived through so much history, and have been at the center of it many times, so I would love to see them have more downtime together, sharing legendary stories and reliving old memoires of the past so it's never forgotten. Or fuzzy stories, just pleasant memories from a time in the past, where they learned valuable lessons or enjoyed time with loved ones.

Let everyone do fun activates and team building exercises, to strength their bonds, like hunting or cliff scaling competitions where they must work together. ThunderClan have their unsavory moments, but let's be honest, they're the heart of all the clans, holding them together more times than driving them apart. Anyway, that's the end of that. I just wanna see some inner clan chemistry, OK??? Is that too much to ask?

[nexiraptor]

Warrior cats used AI concepts and might make them bipedal and people aren't being angry enough about it.

I just saw a youtube video about it, and it made my blood boil, the concept art used AI and that's not a good thing and this is something that we need to immediately be angry about because if we are silent an complacent with AI art in concepts then they may use more AI in the movie, and that's something in a artist heavy community that has taken time to create their own animations, and the fandom was mainly founded on small time animation, this should be a slap in the face to the fandom, I do not give a flying shit that this is just concept art and that it was just for a presentation,

THIS IS A COMPANY WITH MILLIONS THEY SHOULD'NT BE USING AI ART TO BEGIN WITH!

I don't want to call out the youtuber even though... them slightly dismissing this is kind of a red flag... because I feel like this is a massive deal if they are using AI already... but then again them and another warrior cats youtuber have also kind of promoted hyper consumerism but I know that warrior cats probably sponsors these guys and are trying not to rock the boat...

but also the movie might be making the cats bipedal... and... no... why...? you've completely lost the plot...

Yeah I hate the direction the warrior cats company is going and I am sad that warrior cats have become pro consumerism, and I hate it... especially since the book's quality isn't getting better... Like all the problems I had with warriors is still there and it sucks.

anyway rant over might be making a bigger post about warrior cats in general soon.

[warriorsweaver]

Original Warriors covers vs new covers, a tangential word vomit analysis by me: ORIGINALS Into the Wild really pulls you in. Who are they? Why does the one on the right look vicious? What's up here?

Fire and Ice is like, "Shit's going DOWN." The little square with Fireheart and Graystripe sitting for their vigil is beautiful. Love the moon. Love the difference in colors between the square and the battle in the background.

Forest of Secrets is breathtaking. It's easily one of my favorite book covers ever. Fireheart's back is exposed, the story dives into betrayal, and the cats crossing the stepping stones is ... just perfect.

Rising Storm with the hunting sequence and itty bitty fluffy lil baby Cloudtail. I wanna scoop him up and snuggle him and give him churus. The background looks beautiful. I want to go there. It contrasts well with the tension of one cat stalking another.

A Dangerous Path with that LIGHNTNING IN THE BACKGROUND omg middle school me was obsessed. That's the one I remember seeing my friend read and then I finally asked her what those books were. I remember thinking, "I can't wait to get to that book," because it was clear some big stuff was going on in it.

The Darkest Hour is so calm and really gives eye of the storm vibes, and Firestar seeing his reflection as a lion is beautiful and an excellent payoff.

NEW COVERS The new covers are like, "This is a cat," and that's about it. Great. Yeah, that's a cat. A pretty kitty, one might say.

Into the Wild's is okay. Rusty looks a bit baby-faced, as to be expected, and his eye is well-done. I like the grass, but also it looks like he's just popping up from it even though I feel like the intent is that he's supposed to be stalking through the foliage? On Fire and Ice's cover, I can tell that's Tigerclaw. Looks like the still shot of a villain in an anime while they're plotting their Evildoings and you can hear their inner monologue. But he also looks like a very old bearded man, for some reason. The little embers against the wintry background is a nice touch. Why is Forest of Secrets golden? Why is the river piss? Why is it sparkly? This does not invoke long-buried secrets being unearthed and changing lives, reputations, and social statuses. It has more of a "summer vacations that last forever" bright and pretty vibe. Rising Storm is ... eh. Red. Fiery. Okay. But the overly airbrushed, sparkly-eyed kitty doesn't show me that tensions are building. It just looks like kitty is doing a photoshoot for their Insta. I think that's Yellowfang?? A Dangerous Path is, like, where is that light coming from and why? Nothing here looks dangerous. The cat looks like it's being blinded. I don't even know which cat that's supposed to be. The forest background is dark to remind us that this is a DANGEROUS path but forests are dark at night and not inherently dangerous because they're dark. Aaannd then we get to The Darkest Hour. All they had to do was include a fucking lion somewhere. It would've been cool even if it was sitting behind Firestar. It doesn't look like he's looking at his reflection. It looks ... I don't even know. The water effect would work much better if it looked like it was rippling outward from somewhere? Instead, they made it look like the water is moving in an outline around his head, which doesn't make any sense. It's sourceless. Where does the movement start? Where is it going? I don't know. I can't tell.

The close-up face shots with little to nothing intriguing going on around the cats doesn't make me wonder anything about the story. It doesn't pull me in. There is so little space around them. It feels like when you wake up and you feel your cat's breath against your nose and their paw is in your mouth and they're yowling at you because they're STARVING and you're like, "Dude, I love you, but get out of my face." ty for reading my rant. please return to your regularly scheduled day. Have a good one.

edit: just wanted to toss out there that the artist of the new covers has amazing work in his portfolio, and my issue isn't with him nor his art as a whole, just that the direction (which is probably on the publishers' end) lacks "oomph" and doesn't do the drama in the Warriors series justice. Also, with as many books as there are in the series, it's important that each book's cover is distinct, and the newer covers don't quite hit that mark.

[wyvernspirit]

Honestly seeing the Warrior cats graphic novel makes me think the english publishing team should just,,, lean into a less realistic art style for the covers

Like, I'm sorry the current covers are NOT appealing to either adults or kids so I don't even know who they're trying to target with them

They look cheap

Fuck those books feel incredibly cheap I very much noticed the difference when I got the arc two books with the newer covers and hated them

I feel like it will forever be impossible to live up to the Wayne McLoughlin covers but I know they want consistency across the books so I get why they choose a new artist

It's just,,, not an appealing choice

And hey everyone seems to like the graphic novel art and that in no way is trying to be realistic so like

Lean into a cartoony style with bright colours and good fun shape design is all I'm saying

Or you know they could just use the Polish Covers in the english editions like we all secretly want them too

That would be nice

Though to be fair I very much get why, the Polish covers are amazing but would definitely make kid me think the books were intended for a much older audience

((Which I mean THEY COULD BE IF THEY WERE WRITTEN THAT WAY!! I think most people buying the books are older fans and basically every other long running series has grown with its readers so idk why warriors refuses to, especially since its like waaaaay too convoluted for most new kid fans to pick up the latest series or super edition at this point but meh))

Mehhhh ignore me I'm grumbling in my corner

[grainsaucer]

So I want to talk about Badgers in Warrior Cats While there are way more qualified people in the community to speak about this, I've never personally seen anyone mention the horrible way badgers are treated in warriors, namely The New Prophecy.

At the start of The New Prophecy, we already start with chasing out a badger. As far as the readers are aware, badgers are to be regarded as every non-human and non-cat animal, driven by instinct alone. This is of course setup for the twist that Midnight is an intelligent and talking badger. As we find out the further we go, every Badger is presumably like Midnight. They have their own language, culture, and even badger meetings where they solve badger issues. The simple difference is that, unlike Midnight, they don't know how to communicate with cats.

As we progress in TNP the cat's move into the new territories, an environment where badgers have lived completely peacefully and for generations. At this point, the cats have no idea that this is their ancestral home beside a few exceptions that generally do not share this with others. The cats spend the next months chasing out every badger they can find out of their territories "just to make sure". Squirrelflight even expresses that she feels bad about chasing out the badgers when it comes to chasing out a badger mother with her kits.

Inevitably, this boils into the badgers fighting back and attacking Thunderclan. We are informed that this is an organized attack, that the badgers have had a meeting where they democratically decided to defend their ancestral home from these cat invaders. They are, however, framed as an unjustified angry mob that should have listened to Midnight's advice instead. That advice is "just move elsewhere".

To remind you all, this arc started with humans doing the exact same thing to the cats (And to defend my own species, unlike in the case of the badgers they didn't have someone who speaks cat) and it is framed as bad, evil, selfish, and traumatizing.

[rottentricks]

It’s crazy if you think about it, Brindleface who died from the clutches of tigerstar, goes to starclan and watching her children living their daily lives happily with their families. Next thing is the fire scene, the death of her son and watching him growing more bitterly even in starclan, and damn it even more crazy when he is the big bad of broken code.

I can’t imagine the horror she have to faced watching her kit becoming a psychopath :(

[burntpaws]

i have a feeling that this might be an unpopular opinion but i wanna give my two cents since it’s kinda been rattling around in my head for a bit.

essentially, i really don’t get the complaint of “crowfeather is a bad person and it always takes someone else to tell him that for him to realize that” that’s kinda widespread in the fandom at this point. essentially saying that most of the time, be it in aus or rewrites or just in canon, people complain that crowpaw/feather always needs someone else to tell him to get his head out of his ass instead of himself.

and like?? guys do you understand how self improvement begins?? usually by someone calling out your bullshit first.

now listen, the fandom can say that he’s terrible to women (in canon) all they want, i’m not gonna argue there bc it’s true lol

BUT i really don’t understand people who are saying “crowpaw/feather always has someone else (feathertail, leafpool, etc) initiate his self improvement, he never does it himself!” because the first step to self improvement is to listen to others so you know what to improve upon.

my best friend used to be a total ass but he eventually got told off by his friends and now he’s the most wonderful guy in my life. self improvement begins when other people tell you what you’re doing wrong, you internalize their advice, and act upon it.

usually when people envision crowpaw being told off to do better it’s probably from feathertail, meaning most envision a grown adult telling a teenager to knock it off w the asshole behavior. teenagers are allowed to be assholes then become better, guys 😭

again, this doesn’t apply to crowfeather canonically treats women poorly. and it’s not directed to anyone specifically.

it’s also not applicable to people who may argue “even if he gets told how to improve, he never acts upon it!” that’s your opinion and i’ll respect it yo! whether you feel like he actually improves or not is your perspective. but i say this doesn’t apply to that argument, regardless of if you think he does or doesn’t improve, because i’m only talking about step one, which is being told to knock it off w asshole behavior - how crowfeather proceeds w that confrontation is irrelevant to this rant bc the subject is my problem w people who think he, as an apprentice/teenager, should know better without anyone pointing it out to him.

tldr, i feel like people who think “crowpaw/feather should’ve known better than to be an asshole” without anyone directly talking to him about it are forgetting a crucial step in self improvement, which is to be told off in the first place to see what is being done wrong.

[thespeedywagon98]

This is something minor that’s bothered me in Warrior Cats for a long time lol. But I hate the fact that she-cats are rarely described as being broad-shouldered, large, or muscular in the books. I feel like the first arc had a little more body diversity when it came to she-cats but other than that, the other books rarely have descriptions of a she-cat being muscular or broad-shouldered. I’m sure some she-cats are described as muscular and or broad-shouldered in the books now, but I just wanna see more of them lol. And it’s probably why a lot of my she-cat characters are burly and scruffy, because the books barley have them.

This is probably petty but it’s just something that’s been bothering me for some time.

[spinnysocks]

dustpelt and ravenpaw are brothers right? imagine if spiderleg or shrewpaw looked like raven. i don't think dust and raven were ever close but imagine dust feeling a stab of pain in his chest looking at his newborn son, who looks just like his brother who he never got close to and now is essentially removed from his life. if shrewpaw looked like raven it would be quite a resemblance - dustpelt can no longer reach his son or his brother, losing both when they were just apprentices. if spiderleg looked like raven, dustpelt watches his son's misery grow just like ravenpaw's did in the clan

[sillypenguincats]

Ok i just really need to let it out...

You know how cats have.. eye colors?

Like.. green, blue, hazel, etc.

Well, the Warriors books have this little quirk that..

I guess when they forget a cat's eye color they just fcking, say it's amber??

I don't understand why?? Like there are so many times when they just say the eyes are amber, and we're talking about, idk, CROWFEATHER?

Speaking of, Crowfeather is actually weird to me bc I always imagined him with green eyes - because I'm pretty sure in Midnight, they referred to him with green eyes.

Then later in the series, they referred to it as blue.

Then even later, they started saying it's amber?

PLEASE SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHY EVER FCKING CAT HAS TO HAVE AMBER EYES??

[kirwell]

"LOVE" as seen in A Starless Clan

I wrote most of this while reading Shadow, but my feelings on the matter still haven’t changed, now having finished the book. 

I don’t like how Warriors handles most of their romantic relationships, and maybe it’s just my demiromantic brain taking the reigns here, but even still, Warriors has a problem. 

Read on! A semi-coherent ranting below. Spoilers for book 3 Shadow of A Starless Clan!

---

FROSTPAW is not in love with Splashtail 

She has a crush built on her own infatuation and inaccurate expectations of love, and that’s understandable as she’s young and literally has no parents left to teach and guide her. The last thing anyone should expect from their own trusted clanmates is manipulation. Before it was revealed that Splashtail had ulterior motives for getting involved with Frostpaw, I was really nervous that they would actually become mates. There is nothing of real substance between them. But now we know that Splashtail is in fact using her affections to manipulate her in his favor. With the amount of gaslighting that he uses on Frostpaw and how she’s so annoyed by him second-guessing her decisions, I’m surprised she still has a crush on him. It’s really sad to see someone inexperienced in life be manipulated by an older, trusted individual, especially when “love” is involved.  From our perspective as well as Frostpaw's, Splashtail is never supportive with what she wants, and he’s never once shown signs of what actual love looks like. Like...putting the other person first...considering their feelings...supporting their dreams...taking an interest in them as a person...and the list goes on. Very concerning and predatory, and I hope Mothwing gets to beat the living shit out of Splashtail when everything is revealed in the end. Or better yet, have Frostpaw do it now that she has warrior training. Imagine Frostpaw pummeling him, eyes flooded with tears, grey fur stained red, and her body quaking with pain and fury. “I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! YOU USED ME! MY…MY MOTHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!” 

If Frostpaw doesn't get her moment, ima be upset.

NIGHTHEART is not in love with Sunbeam 

He may find Sunbeam attractive and enjoys her company and attention, but that is the extent of his feelings, and he’s lying to himself when he says otherwise. 

Nightheart busting into ShadowClan and proclaiming to everyone that he and Sunbeam are IN LOVE was absolutely embarrassing. I’m surprised no one really questioned him up front, or asked Sunbeam directly if she wanted Nightheart in ShadowClan or not. He “loves” Sunbeam because she’s giving him the validation he’s never gotten from loved ones, and Sunbeam just so happens to be a she-cat he can be mates with. Let’s be honest: if Sunbeam was a tom, Nightheart would have been less inclined to leave ThunderClan for ShadowClan… (actually…that would’ve been cool to see! Can’t cats switch clans for friendships, too, as they do for mates?) 

Nightheart’s situation kind of feels like a patient falling for their therapist because they feel listened to and accepted and then blur the lines between "love" and "in love". I believe that he believes he loves Sunbeam, but they still have no foundation past, “Oh, you agree with me? Wow, I feel special. Let’s get together.” I also wanna mention that Nightheart JUST became a warrior. HE’S YOUNG. He’s barely been a warrior, and now he already wants to take a mate? Maybe it’s just cat hormones at work, but calm down man.

If we had gotten to see Nightheart realize that he actually didn’t romantically love Sunbeam and was just projecting, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING! Tragic but awesome for the plot and his character progression.  I thought that's what the plot was being set up for, because we see Nightheart ignore Sunbeam whenever it suits him, worry her, question her, and never ask what SHE FEELS about him. It’s all about Nightheart.

Nightheart should have faced consequences for the hurt he’s dealt. Show Sunbeam resenting him instead of going after him. And show Squirrelflight rejecting his request to rejoin ThunderClan instead of just accepting him back like he didn’t abandon and embarrass them. I actually think a rogue Nightheart arc would have been interesting! Make him learn about being an adult, that not everything revolves around him, and that other people have emotions too. Show that his initial problems weren’t as big as he thought they were and have things put into perspective. Imagine he befriends like this old rugged stray who's seen some shit, and they just put Nightheart in his place at some point and tell him to grow up and make amends with his family cause life’s too short, and cats die before we’re ready for them too. 

Have Nightheart return to the clans after experiencing some real-life shit somewhere, more mature and changed on a much deeper level.

SUNBEAM is not in love with Nightheart.

And it’s painful to read her inner dialogue about him, trying to manifest romantic feelings when they’re nonexistent. She wants to be in love with him, but she wasn't for most of the book. If anything, I’m given the impression that Sunbeam felt as though Nightheart was indebted to her love because he’s already made sacrifices for her in their relationship. And he did, which only puts Sunbeam in a worse situation.

Imagine you just met someone that you’re kinda into, but it’s new. Now imagine that person selling their house, all their possessions, basically disowning their own family, and then suddenly showing up at YOUR HOUSE, in front of YOUR FAMILY, and just being like, “I’m here now because I love you. And you love me too, right?”

That’s messed up.  Is that love in the air? No, it’s emotional manipulation.

Sunbeam likes his personality, his demeanor, finds him handsome, and the two can relate to each other on some level. But there’s no real love behavior between them, previous or current. Nightheart is self-serving and thoughtless. I’m pleased Sunbeam made the point to say that Nightheart needs to want to be in ShadowClan for himself and not just for Sunbeam because he’s not loyal to ShadowClan. He just wants Sunbeam. And if I were Tigerstar, I’d be very hesitant to let him come into my clan on his current pretenses. What happens if Sunbeam doesn’t love him back, or they break up? If Nightheart loses that support and validation from Sunbeam, will he whine and cry, and run away from ShadowClan because he’s “not understood?”

Sunbeam deserves better.

My thoughts after reading Shadow

I hate…I HATE how everything went down between Sunbeam and Nightheart. I was so excited when Nightheart realized he wanted to be in ThunderClan, and wanted to make amends with his kin and leave ShadowClan. 

And I love that Sunbeam felt deeply hurt and betrayed by him because she had every right to be. He used her to escape from his own problems, put so much pressure on her, and then when she finally grew romantic feelings for him, he dumped her. 

We could’ve seen Sunbeam have an arc of being bitter and angry, and aligning with her mother’s ambitions because of her resentment.  BUT INSTEAD. SHE FOLLOWS HIM TO THUNDERCLAN.

“There’s no other tom for me in ShadowClan.”

GIRL. There are toms who will treat you right. Maybe not in ShadowClan, but they exist. Don’t chase the boy that broke your heart! 

Idk man... This feels like a missed opportunity for some actual good drama between two main characters that could have gone somewhere tragic. I imagine some ObsessedSunbeam!AU could easily be made here, especially after her having that dream that another she-cat put the moves on her man and she was PISSED. I doubt we’ll see a love-crazed Sunbeam in canon, but it’s a fun concept. 

sigh. 

I guess Nightheart will just get off scot-free, messing with Sunbeam’s emotions and putting ThunderClan through so much unnecessary shit. 

I’m still curious to see where everything will go in the upcoming books. Maybe there’s still room for something real to happen between Sunbeam and Nightheart… 

But really, im much more invested in what's goin on with the frost baby,, ;-;

[alliumdykes]

I’m bored so I'm going to rant about how the Erin's completely destroyed anything Jayfeather could haven been and how he could of been such a great way to show a disabled character how just cant go above and beyond.

Jayfeather is really popular and I ain’t going to disagree with that claim, but a lot of people love him for being a grumpy doctor (which can be really funny and/or cute, if done well) , but there was so much narrative potential that they threw out about his disability.

Jayfeather has this whole thing about being special and really important with the pot prophecy and how it feels that he needs to go above and beyond because he’s so important (or that’s what I had gathered when I read it anyways). But with any disabled person (it being a person who is chronically ill, hard of hearing, or neurodiverse like myself) it is common feeling (due to ablism) that we need to go above and beyond with what we do.

Even with stuff I may do for fun like writing fanfiction I leave it for a bit so then I can get back to it when I feel like I can write it better then at the moment, having it go above and beyond (but still feel pretty shitty once I’ve posted it, feeling I could of done much better despite being a teen and not being the best at writing myself). Jayfeather could of had this whole thing of feeling that not only as a disabled doctor, but as a disabled prophecy cat, he needed to do better and out shine the rest of the three.

But they gave the arc of going above and beyond to Hollyleaf, which I’m not complaining about (I love Hollyleaf and her arc about needing to go above and beyond but finding out what she was striving to go above and beyond at something she could never barely do in the first place) but I feel like Jayfeather could have done the arc really well.

It’s not even the above and beyond major arc idea as well, the Erin’s could have done a mini arc about how Jayfeather feels like that if he doesn't want the cats in Thundeclan to see him as weak they have to be somewhat afraid of him, but sadly we didn’t get that arc and instead we get Jayfeather just being a capital ‘J’ Jerk.

Like I understand why the Erin’s didn’t do anything about how Jayfeather feels the need to go above and beyond because their not disabled, but did they really have to make him a complete capital ‘J’ Jerk?

But that’s just my two cents on Jayfeather and him being disabled, if any older disabled fans (preferably those who have some form of blindness) want to share their own opinions on him ill happily read it, especially considering I’m just an autistic teenager with chronic pain and wont have a well enough scope compared to adult disabled fans