#also i use both the traditional and lyrical naming system so all their warrior names have a certain meaning to it

[itsnotmourn]

i drew the ladies as warrior cats!

[sorrelstream]

entering “proper grammar” mode because I’m writing this on a google docs first and I don’t want to deal with all those ugly squiggles ahdfsdfds…

But!! Here’s the fully answered Ailuornymy question list, as requested by anon :D! More below the cut!

Favourite canon warrior name?

Hmm… let’s see… Honestly? Probably Silverstream! I don’t think we get many -stream suffixes anymore and there’s something soooo pretty about her name and the way it flows !!

Least favourite canon warrior name?

Snowbush. There’s something so clunky about the way this dude’s name reads in my head and I don’t know why!!! Also Harrybrook >:(

Warrior you’d most like to rename?

Harrybrook. I just!! It doesn’t sound nice at all please give him a better name :( Best name-change name? One-eye! I’m not sure if she asked for her name change or not, but I’ll admit “One-eye” is a pretty baller sounding name and I love that. Also Deadfoot has a cool name too (though I wish he had asked for that name change rather than saddled with it :/)!

Favourite canon character overall?

 Mousewhisker and Hazeltail! They’re two unimportant side characters that don’t really do anything ever but man do I love them with my whole heart <3!

Least favourite canon character overall? 

Thistleclaw and Crowfeather. I’ve talked about why I don’t like either of them a lot before so to keep it short they both make me incredibly uncomfortable nor do I enjoy reading about them at all.

Favourite Warriors book? 

The Darkest Hour! It was my first Warriors book that I read from the main series (Sasha's manga was the first Warriors book in general and how I got into Warriors), and MAN does it still stick with me! So many scenes from that book are just iconic. 

Least favourite Warriors book? 

Anything from Dawn Of The Clans honestly :'). I tried so many times to get into reading that arc and I never could get into it -- it just bored me any time I tried. Same for AVoS, eh.

Favourite canon scene or dialogue of all time? 

Such a random scene but there’s a scene I think about all the time from Power Of Three where Lionpaw has a nightmare about Hollypaw, and she just playfully (? ominously?) says “I’m going to get you” while hidden in the shadows before turning into a fox and attacking him. I think about it SO much…...

Favourite canon leader of all time? 

Crookedstar, followed closely by Tallstar! I love them…. 

Character you think deserved better? 

SO, SO MANY. IT’S UNREAL. Hollyleaf didn’t deserve to get killed off the VERY NEXT BOOK after she came back to ThunderClan, Snowkit didn’t deserve to get killed off just to push Speckletail into the nursery, Nightcloud didn’t deserve… literally anything she got both in canon and how the authors and fandom demonized her, Honeyfern…. Silverstream… the list goes on really :’/

Character you’d like to see “morally” flipped (made “bad” or made “good”)?

Leopardstar, kinda?? But not like. Morally flipped? I guess? I just mean I wish they had gone more into her redemption arc and why she allied herself with Tigerstar besides just “oh she was in love with him”. So it’s not that I wish she was morally flipped, but I wish they went more into her morality because she’s soo vague as it is (and, frankly, maybe I’m biased because I like her but I would’ve loved to see her overcome her initial prejudice or perhaps work for forgiveness for her Clan - perhaps her alliance with Tigerstar was out of worry for the entirety of her Clan since she saw him as the strongest cat and not just… because she “loved” him). Same for Breezepelt, honestly! They kept dancing between “he’s a troubled son of a negligent/abusive father” and “he’s evil :)” and personally? As a child of a negligent father who also abandoned me, it would’ve been way more … I’m not sure WHAT the word I’m looking for is but I think Breezepelt’s story would’ve been better if they focused on making him a troubled teen of a negligent, bad father and actually embraced Crowfeather being an antagonist in PO3 instead of not wanting to make him look bad. It’s just weird the erins flip flop between “this character is evil” and “this character is ok” so much it’s FRUSTRATING :/

Favourite AU (alternate universe) concept? 

Answered here! 

Warrior code rule you think is best?

Always help a kitten in need, no matter their heritage! I know that’s not the exact wording but anyways. Perhaps I’m biased because I, in general, don’t like reading about child death (I know it happens and I can handle it in some plots but sometimes it’s just so excessive), but in general I think it’s one of the best and genuinely helpful code laws, especially because kittens always deserve a chance at life. I think the second best rule would be the one that states a warrior does not need to kill to win a battle, because I think that adds a lot more depth (potentially) to how warriors value the lives of others and creates a bigger scene? scandal? when someone is killed in battle versus dying of wounds later on. It also, again, keeps the youngsters like apprentices safe!

Warrior code rule you think shouldn’t exist/should be changed?

If you know me, you won’t be surprised because it’s the same answer as always: the leader’s word is law. I’ve spoken a lot about that code before and even have a comic about its flaws, so I won’t go into it too much here, but I just think it’s a recipe for disaster.

Describe your ideal vision of Starclan/clan afterlife.

Hmmm let’s see… my ideal vision of StarClan/clan afterlife would be a little bit like what it’s like in canon at the moment but with a few twists. I think the borders would dissolve in StarClan so there’d be less in-fighting (though I imagine, after growing up your whole life hating your neighbors, a lot of cats have a hard time getting used to the no-boundary life-style of StarClan, and a lot of young/new spirits tend to stick within their own Clan cliques before venturing out and meeting former members of other Clans. Older spirits would be the ones most used to interacting with former members of other Clans). I think there’d be sections that mimic the corporeal Clan’s territories in theme, but with different landmarks and such so that new spirits have a new world to explore. I’d also take away the fading aspect because I don’t really think that’s… fair? I guess? It’s weird to me but I’d prefer not to go into it. I’d also make it so that there’s no great wisdom to these cats - or, at least, the wiser StarClan spirits are the ones that have been around for as long as anyone can remember. They wouldn’t be able to interfere with the living as much in canon and can only really visit medicine cats, or possibly leaders, in dreams; anyone else has to go to the sacred area to commune with the dead. Not sure what else though! This is just kind of a general idea.

Traditional or non-traditional naming. Thoughts?

I think both have their merits! While I prefer traditional naming systems because I enjoy seeing the way people develop suffix meanings and assign well-known meanings to them (and even connotations!), plus it helps me personally assign even the smallest trait to a side character so they feel just a little more real, I see why people would enjoy non-traditional naming systems as it does give more breathing room for individual name creation. Also, I’m not gonna lie, there’s some gorgeous lyrical names out there that flow beautifully. My heart will always belong to traditional naming, though, I think. 

If traditional: What non-traditional suffix would you include in your system? If non-traditional: What’s your favourite canon suffix?

Traditional! I actually have included some non-traditional suffixes in my system, just for variety! But those are: -throat, -pool, -belly, -fern, -bee, -berry, -chirp, and -tooth, for example. There’s actually quite a few more but I don’t wanna list every single addition shfbd!

Best thing about the clan system as a concept in your opinion?

Hard to pick, honestly! But I do think the best thing about clans as a system is their unity; they’re a little society that has each other’s backs, and the care for young and elderly a lot is touching!

Favourite Warriors fanfiction (or fanfiction writer)?

HA this might be an obvious answer, but 100% solacefruit on ao3 (also: @/ailuronymy and @/burnt-sycamore on tumblr!). His worldbuilding is to die for and there’s something so charming and attention grabbing about his writing style that always has me waiting for the next update. Seriously, probably one of my biggest writer inspirations. 

Favourite Warriors fanartist (includes animators)?

Answered here!

Most interesting villain?

Mapleshade and Sol, honestly. I’ve rambled about Mapleshade before, I think, but I think her story could have had a lot of potential to call out the misogyny and bias of StarClan and the code, and how mollies are often punished harsher than the toms for their code-breaking. Her story also features how weird the warriors are with the warrior code - it’s like they cherry pick what they want to believe? Oakstar sends three innocent kittens out of the Clan, presumably to die (which they do), despite the code speaking to never endanger a kitten’s life no matter their heritage, and no one ever questions him, or the rest of ThunderClan, for standing by to watch kittens die? Even Frecklewish outright stated she watched the kittens die and did nothing about it. Why? Why was everyone okay with punishing Mapleshade for breaking a rule of the code but no one questioned Oakstar or anyone else in ThunderClan for kicking out the kits alongside Mapleshade, when it was Mapleshade’s crime and not the kits? And why doesn’t Appledusk get punished or ostracized by his clanmates as severely as Mapleshade did? It had a lot of potential but it’s just a mess. Anyways - onto Sol. Another interesting concept kinda messed up by the Erins. In general, I really love villains that are just nuisances at best and no real threat - kind of like Heinz Doofenshmirtz - and with Sol’s backstory being the way it was, he was the perfect opportunity to have him be this little antagonistic shithead who, while annoying and causing problems, wasn’t actually a serious threat, and he of all villains would have had the best shot at redemption I think.

Favourite canon clan?

RiverClan! I love their aesthetic, their territory, and their general vibes. In love with water-based places <3!!

What would you ask Erin Hunter, if you could?

“Would you hand the series off to a new team of writers?” All good series must come to an end, but with Warriors being as broad as it is, I think this is a series where spin offs can be made and still thrive - just not with the current author staff we have at the moment. There’s lots of people with amazing, creative ideas for Warriors, and I know this is just a fantasy at best, but I would love to see a new writing team take over and weave brand new stories and worldbuilding with it in spin-offs. Hell, even I’d love to take a crack at publishing a Warriors spin off, but, again, it’s a fantasy at best.

Top five prefixes (canon or otherwise)?

Sorrel-, Chub-, Mink-, Rose-, and Vervain- (you can tell I like these prefixes considering these are all prefixes of characters featured in my webcomic besides Sorrel-, which is used for my wcsona’s name ha!) Honorable mentions to: Black- (or any color based prefix like Yellow-, Red-, Ginger-, Blue-, Gray-, White-, etc. I don’t know why but I’m fond of them), Beetle-, and Fidget- (which isn’t a traditional prefix, but I think it’s cute hehe.)

Top five suffixes (canon or otherwise)?

Just narrowing down for traditional because I need a smaller pool to pick from habdfsd but! -face, -flower, -stripe, -storm and -nose! 

If you were on Drunk Warriors Rants, what would you talk about?

I have no idea what Drunk Warriors Rants is actually but I’m assuming it’s something where you get drunk and rant about warrior cats so… I would absolutely rant about Hollyleaf and mainly the wild mischaracterization the fandom has made of her break down and the murder of Ashfur. It irks me to no end how so many people have pushed this weird concept that Hollyleaf was aware her parents were Crowfeather and Leafpool when she murdered Ashfur to the point that most people I talk to genuinely don’t realize this, because not only does it just make so sense narratively but I feel like it really does take away from the depth that is her character. I think Hollyleaf is one of the few characters we get, like, an actual depth to, who is developed beyond “typical protagonist with love interest”, and has an interesting arc, downfall, and redemption. When she killed Ashfur, she was totally unaware that Leafpool and Crowfeather were her parents - in fact, the entirety of Sunrise is about Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze trying to figure out who their parents are, so I honestly don’t know where this whole “Hollyleaf knew about her heritage when she killed Ashfur” thing came from. It really ruins her arc by making her out to be some nonsense cat who killed to keep a secret she spilled anyways, and not a cat who killed to keep a secret she didn’t fully understand yet, who then completely unraveled once she discovered the origins and how her existence completely went against everything she was raised to believe in.

What would your warrior name be?

Pretty obvious answer but my warrior name would be Sorrelstream! Or possibly Sorrelstripe, but I lean towards Sorrelstream. I love to swim a lot actually but I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly strong or skilled swimmer but hey… It’s my warriors sona and I get to give him one (1) skill.

Bonus questions:

Describe your favourite original Warriors characters! 

HONESTLY this question is a little tough because I have such a huuuge cast of original warrior characters it’s hard to narrow down! I’d say if you’re interested in hearing more about my ocs or seeing them in action to check out my @/roseface blog, which is dedicated to my wc comic, or check out my ao3 account (kiittenteeth) because I’ll probably be posting warriors-centric original character stories there soon!

Describe your original Warriors clans! 

Heyyy fun fact! I’m actually working on a small novel fanfic (only about ten chapters long) featuring my fanclans! They’re a group of four Clans set in an abandoned gated neighborhood/area - FernClan (located in the local abandoned mall), PondClan (located in the abandoned golf course), GleamClan (located in the local abandoned restaurant/diner), and FieldClan (located in the abandoned K-12 academy school). I won’t go too much into them here since I want to explore their worldbuilding in my fic, but keep an eye out for them when I drop the first chapter of Ribs! 

Talk about your feelings about the Warriors series! 

Oh man. A lot. The series itself is… disappointing, at best, but I’m awfully attached to it no matter how many times I try to break away from it. It was my biggest media interest growing up (keyword: media), so it’s a pretty big part of me and the way I grew up. Plus I met a good chunk of my friends through warrior cats related areas, so :’)!!! It’s a series that despite all its flaws is incredibly close to me but I’m mainly here to read everyone’s fan content because MAN does the fan content go above and beyond!

(Asked by @/whocares-idont) What’s your opinion on fan made Clan pantheons? 

I LOOVE fan made Clan pantheons actually! Mythology was always something I loved learning about as a kid, and I’m particularly fond of the worldbuilding people make for the Warriors setting. I feel like creating a pantheon and mythos tied to it adds to the depth of the world and makes it all the more interesting and realistic, especially since mythology is such a huge part of so many cultures, both ancient and modern one. I think creating pantheons really adds to the setting people make with warriors, and, honestly, they’re always really fun to read about!!

[ailuronymy]

Hey, I follow a WC YouTuber called Moonkitti and she'd uploaded a video called "Warrior Names". She kinda slams traditionalism and also demonstrates she has no idea what exactly it is. Like she shows some prefixes as examples which has Tree and Dirt as acceptable and Jay isn't, despite the inverse being true. I know she mentions she's not against it in concept, but that it was being enforced to limit others' creativity, but I have really mixed feelings about it and wanted to know your opinions.

Hello there, Ruddles! I hadn’t heard of this person before but I went and watched this video and I think I understand where your mixed feelings might be coming from. This video is trying to do a lot of things but, in my personal opinion, it’s doing none of them particularly well.

There’s three major things happening all at once: 1. a legitimate personal reflection about how certain traditionalists acted towards this person in the past and how that impacted her (4:50; 6:20); 2. an incorrect and misleading explanation of what traditionalism even is and very clearly no understanding of why it appeals to people, and therefore very little empathy towards people who use the style; (5:13; 6:00);  and 3. (from an outsider stance as someone who likes deconstructing arguments for fun) a fascinatingly messy argument both in favour of Erin Hunter while using Erin Hunter’s various (and typically more incompetent) choices as justifications for… everything and anything. 

It’s a mixed bag to be sure! To start with, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that some people who use the traditional style are jerks. It’s very true. I remember those days too. Some people genuinely did crash forum threads just to mock and belittle other people. It was terrible and I think it’s totally legitimate to be upset about that.

I think the argument that everyone who uses traditionalism behaves that way is bad faith, however, and I also question the confirmation bias happening at 6:54, because I only ever see people talking about traditionalism for themselves, because that’s the spaces I hang out in. I wonder if Moonkitti has ever actually looked for traditional forums and sites, or if she’s just taken for granted that they don’t exist and everyone who uses the style is waging their own personal crusade. That’s not something I endorse in any way, by the way. Don’t anyone do that. 

The second topic is personally the most frustrating because at points she’s almost right. But her definitions are incorrect and explanations simplify in a way that isn’t helpful to anyone. She’s not trying to actually give an account of the style and then point out the ways it doesn’t work or shouldn’t exist or anything like that: she’s half understood the idea and gone, “That sounds dumb.” This is in fact what she claims traditionalists say about other styles (7:22), which I disagree with: traditionalism is based mostly on having a set framework in place and then fairly rigorously debating what works and doesn’t within that world set-up. Plenty of names that are traditional sound pretty silly, but that doesn’t mean we knock them back wholesale. The whole point of the style is there is a method. Making judgments based on looser qualities, like sound or flow or imagery, is more of a lyrical approach.

Anyway, she doesn’t even seem to have gone to the effort of learning about it herself before deciding to preach. I think that’s tacky. It’s exasperating to me, because it’s not like there aren’t a ton of resources out there: if nothing else, traditionalists are good like that! We love lists and archives and referring to rules we’ve written out. That’s one of the things she’s correct about. She frequently refers to the fact that traditionalism is fan-made (2:25; 3:59; 6:45), but she does so as if this is a bad thing, which it’s not. Traditionalists are aware it’s fan-made: we are, after all, the fans who made it. That’s the whole idea. 

Which brings me to the third topic: she doesn’t seem to fully understand why traditionalism exists and why it brings joy to people who use it. That’s an issue, because much of her argument is based around “well, canon.” She mischaracterises traditionalists as people who are “taking things too seriously” for being creative–i.e., she recognises that the entirety of traditionalism is fan-made, but can’t seem to understand why fans would elect to create rules to follow; it seems to cancel out the creativity in her world-view. She also repeatedly refers to the fact that she doesn’t need a traditional system to enjoy the Warriors world (0:26; 7:17; 8:28; 9:05)–to which I reply, your mileage may vary–and seems to look down on people who are pulled out of the story by “a silly name,” unlike her or Erin Hunter, who don’t take things “seriously.”

The major problem I have with this approach is that it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of good world-building–or even some idea of what it looks like. She claims a strict system would result in a boring story (which perhaps would be true for her, who knows: again, mileage may vary) (8:28), but the issue I have is that she says: “don’t get me wrong, warrior cats is not perfect, but the least of our troubles with the quality of these books is how strange these names are. Sure, Bouncefire sounds weird and doesn’t seem realistic, but if you’re worried about this story’s realism, consider the fact that we have about fifty cats who live together who barely gossip except if it’s about a housecat” (1:06). 

She uses the word “realistic” throughout the whole video, as though the goal of using a traditional style is to make Warriors realistic, which in my opinion it’s not. Plausible, yes. Believable, yes. Cohesive, yes. But not realistic. These are, after all, talking cats with religion. I myself multiple times a year refer to the fact we’re all getting excited over “feral cats talking to stars in the forest.” There’s no pretense there! But the thing Moonkitti argues that actually makes me mad is that, because it’s not real, nothing matters. 

And that’s absolutely horse-apples. It matters that the names in canon don’t have structure, because the world of Warriors doesn’t have structure and that is the underlying problem of the series. That is part of why the series is not well-written. The world doesn’t have structure or consistency in how it is built, and the run-on effect is that characters are frequently flat and their decisions–even their deaths–are regularly made meaningless by the world of the story. The world-building is inconsistent and poorly planned, and the run-on effect is that plots regularly force characters who are supposed to be intelligent or even an average amount of smart into being unbelievably stupid simply for the sake of furthering it, and the stakes of the stories are constantly forced to increase to squeeze any amount of impact out of the plots because the writing itself won’t do it. 

There is no hierarchy from most to least when it comes to the quality troubles of Erin Hunter’s work. The issues in Warriors are not stand-alone. They are interconnected. It’s silly to pretend that transformative world-building, which is what traditionalism is, is somehow a superficial, ornamental thing and not simply another way for fans to mend some of what makes Warriors “not perfect,” like any other AU or fandom meta. Canon invented the name-change custom (7:43)–and repeatedly made it messy, and shameful, and had no idea what they wanted to go with. Traditionalism mended that and made it better. If you can recognise that the series isn’t perfect, I don’t think it’s a stretch to also recognise and acknowledge different ways of how fans react to and deal with those imperfections in fan-works, such as role-playing and fanfiction and OCs. 

Moonkitti’s repetitions that this is a fantasy series and it’s not real so stop caring frankly reminds me a lot people who get uncomfortable and defensive when you analyse and discuss a piece of media in any kind of critical or thoughtful way and will tell you don’t be so serious. In my case, these people tend not to realise that, for me at least, this is fun--and it’s worthwhile and important to do. It’s also my actual job, in the daylight hours. (Here it’s just a hobby).

So tl;dr: Erin Hunter doesn’t take Warriors seriously–and that is the problem. The canon naming style is a symptom of how little effort Erin Hunter puts into consistent or meaningful world-building. Traditionalism exists as some fans’ attempt to craft a solution for themselves, and I include myself in that. 

Moonkitti’s approach to explaining traditionalism from a place of 1. not being interested in understanding it and 2. being oddly defensive of Erin Hunter, the creative team behind all of canon’s terrible weird writing choices, rather than critical of said choices and choosing instead to blame fans for wanting canon to be better and then acting on that desire, feels a bit in bad faith to me. I’m sad to hear that she had such bad experiences with traditionalists in the past, because that’s awful, but I also feel strongly that it’s a good idea to know what you’re talking about before you step onto the stage like this.

For instance, she says, “There’s no real argument for why [certain] names [should] not be in the series,” (2:13), but, well. I’m here and this blog is my seven-years-and-counting argument. I like to think it’s often a persuasive one, too!

[lostwarriorcatsfacts]

Name Rate Request (Please and Thank you)

I have four kits I would like to be rated (Preferably mod V, I think they’re more lyrical than traditional.) for a Warriors Au I’m writing called Harestar’s Reign. They’re the kits of Fernfoot (a grown-up Fernpaw) and a kittypet. Their names are Grassclaw (tom), Beeflight (molly), Thornnose (tom), and Blazetail (molly.)

Grassclaw is a creamy-brown tabby (probably a cinnamon or fawn to pick an actual cat color.) and has fur that sticks up, and is definitely the leader among his littermates. He has a bigger, buffer body than most Windclan cats, and cats of his clan don’t know if it’s because of his fat kittypet blood or harder training. He’s a feisty lil bugger too, always ready and willing to get involved in any battle and is ready to jump into the latest border skirmish. He’s not the best fighter (or hunter for that matter; mostly because he’s heavy and stocky, not the best for quick movements.) and can get a little over-excited at times. He tries as hard as he can though, but doesn’t strife to be the best in his clan, or anyother big goal like that, he’s content with just being good ol’ kinda-okay-at-everything Grassclaw. His humbleness for his life had gained him a bit of respect in the clans, but for the most part, that part of him is overshadowed by his half-kittypet bloodline (“Starclan, even Thunderclan is insulting us!”) and he will defend his littermates and mother if it costs him his life, as he values loyalty to your blood rather than making friends with other clans.

Beeflight is nearly the splitting image of Grassclaw, but has a flash of white on her muzzle and chest, and her stripes seem to be thinner and slightly darker. She was always co-leader of her and Grass’ kit adventures, and still relishes having the clan leader as her stepfather. In contrast to the humbleness Grass earned growing up, she lost her humbleness. At any given chance at Gatherings, if the topic somehow shifts to parentage (or even if it doesn’t) she’ll end up pointing up at Harestar and saying “Yeah, y'know Windclan’s leader? That’s my stepfather.” She’s a very optimistic cat despite this, always thinking being sorta-related to a clan leader should get her special rights in a clan (first pick of food, best nest, choosing which patrols to go on, etc.) and is usually put into place by the other members of her clan, to which her siblings (and close friends) end up teasing her. This starts an endless cycle of arguing that will only end when the other party walks away. Even if she does seem to be put down, she always soars back up into her place of expected privilege and victory. She’s strangely good at fighting, and seems to love the excitement of battle. She has a thin but muscular enough frame to be a silent enemy, but still strong enough to pin you down. She also loves racing her clanmates, and loves flaunting her skills by telling her clanmates that Starclan granted her with such skills because of her relation to the clan leader.

Thornnose is a gray tabby tom that nearly looks black because his stripes are so thick, he also has a tuft on his muzzle (and all over his body, for that matter, he just has random patches of tufted-up thicker fur) that earned him his prefix. Despite his denying of it, he grew up close in personality to his brother. A better hunter and tracer than his siblings, and possibly the best in his clan, Thorn finds himself being sent on hunting and tracking patrols. Sometimes even battle patrols, if not to fight (his thin frame doesn’t allow him to do much more than run for help anyway), then to see where enemies are hiding. He doesn’t enjoy battle at all, and the times he finds himself caught in fights he will be frozen and waiting to wail like a kit for it’s mother, before realizing the only way to get out is fight, and letting his instincts take over. He’s such a small, thin cat that enemies usually pick him out to fight first (to weed out the weak ones). Needless to say, they don’t expect such a small cat to have such a powerful kick. (Who needed those ribs anyway?) He thinks of himself as a petty cat, and a bit of a crybaby, whether or not this is true depends on how you know him. He likes making friends in other clans, mainly under the thought that if he gets caught in a battle with him they would remember their friendship and move on. He’s also quite a wanted cat for the ladies out of his clan (and some toms, but they’ll never admit it), and Thorn is sometimes joked with catcalls by apprentices or his clanmates, which freaks him out immensely (“Oh my Starclan! Fernfoot, why do all these cats love /me/ of all toms so much?!) which usually earns him an apology and some good bonding time with the jokers. Little do all his suitresses know he’s gay ;). For some odd reason, he also has an attraction/obsession to ducks and other small/water birds, which sometimes lands him on Riverclan territory. He slips onto their territory so much in his waterfoul chasing adventures that Riverclan likes calling him an honorary member.

Finally, Blazetail is the splitting image of her father, Silk. She’s a silvery-gray tabby with strangely soft fur, a plumy tail, big, fuzzy ears, with white toes on her forepaws, and white that goes to her heel on her hindlegs, along with tail tip, muzzle and chest flash (much like Bee’s white markings.) She was always cautious as a kit, scared of any feather a bird might drop, of any dead piece of grass cracking under her paws and any snowflakes to catch on her pelt (she was born in leaf-bare, so that fear was really unfortunate.) Everycat expected that she wouldn’t make it into warriorhood, that eventually she would have so many fears stacked up she’s commit suicide to escape it. Because of this, any and all cats kept close eyes on her, checking to make sure nothing bad happened to her, and reporting any strange behavior to her mother. Instead of the stares making her more scared though, she found they comforted her, as she took it that everyone was watching out and telling her everything was okay. She eventually got over her more “stupid” fears (cracking sticks/grass, bugs, snowflakes, birds blocking the sun, clouds randomly darkening everything, etc.) and everyone celebrated as she earned her warrior name. Blaze is one of the best hunters in her clan, being to scared of battles to do anything but run from them and go into panics whenever a particularly brutal one was mentioned. Once her mother was killed (and her stepfather lost a life), she seemed to get over this fear, if not by thinking that’s what her mother would have wanted, than wanting to avenge her mother’s honor. If she does find herself in battles (with Thunderclan mainly, as Fernfoot was killed on their land by foxes; Blaze had been told a Thunderclan patrol showed up and helped scare off the foxes, before fighting the Windclan patrol itself, a TC cat accidentally landing the killing blow on her) she lets her fear and vengeance guide her paws. If she ever feels guilty about it, Thorn’ll take her on a tour of Riverclan/birdhunting. Eventually she falls in love with a Shadowclan tom.

If you take the time to read through this, thank you in advance.    Hello! So sorry for the wait but since this was a pretty long submission we wanted to make sure we had the time to look over it the best we could! I’d be happy to give you my thoughts on these characters now, I rate on the Lyrical System. First of all though we’d both like to say we’d love if you could send us Harestar’s Reign once you’re done we’d love to read it!  Grass- typically doesn’t work well as a  prefix since grass is green. A possible way around this if you’d want is suggesting dead grass but the problem here would be that it’s rather morbid in thought as to naming a kit for something which is technically dead. It would really depend on how you view WindClan to see if you feel you can justify naming a cat for something which is typically green, alternatively of course you could name him for something else. I also can’t say I suggest -claw for him as it works best for cats who are above average in fighting which you mention he is not. Allot of what you mention about him makes me feel he might do well with the -stripe suffix as you don’t mention anything that he particularly excels at. He might also work with -heart because of how his loyalties work for him as well. I definitely think that Bee- works for her appearance wise and she definitely sounds like an interesting character and would be interesting to watch her grow. For her suffix, -flight might work just fine for her since you mention she is optimistic and fast on her feet, both of which are traits associated with the -flight suffix.  The suffix -feather also has these same meanings attached to it. It’s possible she could have -strike as it’s associated with cats who are good fighters, especially those regarding sneak attacks which she would likely excel in due to her size though this would depend on where exactly her fighting ranges in comparison to her clanmates.  I don’t recommend Thorn- as his prefix as even if a kit looked a certain way when they were born, there would be no way to tell how their fur would look once they were a bit older. If you’d like the same plant feel as Thorn- though, Ivy-, Willow-, or Wisteria- might not be bad alternatives since they work for grey tabbies (albeit a lighter grey than you described). -Nose definitely suits him as a suffix though since it’s associated with cats who are excellent trackers. But as this anon link pointed out a while back, -snout could work as well as it can be used for cats who are good trackers but also seen as being attractive in their clan. Unrelated to his name, but I really like him as a character and he must be my favorite of the four. Blaze- works best for ginger cats so I don’t recommend this name for her. Since you describe her as looking so similar to her father though, Rabbit- could be a nice alternative I believe. I don’t think -tail really suits her either as it is a suffix better used with agile cats. For her, -whisker could be a bit better as it is used for cats who are excellent hunters.  I hope this could help you out and I really do like these characters that you have here, they all seem like they would have a great dynamic, I wish you luck with your au! -Mod V. Violetbreeze

[cover32-yahoopartner-blog]

Buffalo Bills: Things we know this week

It is toilsome to believe that this is the second time I am writing my weekly Buffalo Bills commentary from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I lay here on day five of endless unlimited food and drinks as the celestial tropical sun sets on our luxury suites second level balcony as opposed to last year when I was typing poolside.

(Dream Noise begins Wayne’s World Style) Last year, it was the week ensuing the Super bowl that Denver won convincingly, so far less activity on the Bills front existed in early February, except the Bills were preparing to enter the offseason that Rex Ryan eventually claimed the Bills had won. Won what? Now I’m getting fired up about those clowns known as the Ryan Brothers.

I was a Rex fan when he was with the Jets and was excited to get a big name coach here in Buffalo. The big personality was intriguing after the likes of “Mr. Excitement” Dick Jerean and Chan Gailey kept Bills fans on the edge of their seats.

Then you had the fraud of a man who was so likeable at his first press conference and initial media interviews that slowly progressed into a very unlikeable coach and I am referencing Doug Marrone. I saw him introduced as Jacksonville’s new coach and again remembered how he was that great exciting guy he was for a few weeks in Buffalo at one point.

I also bought in to Rex Ryan’s extremely strong way of re-selling the value of Rex Ryan and the way he operated. I grew tired of the Rex critics all over him for every little thing he did or said. His truck and tattoos really made a lifelong Bills fan like myself buy in to his enthusiasm.

I framed the cover of Sports Illustrated with him having wings and beer with Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. You can read my articles dating back to my first couple articles when I joined Cover32 — right around the time Rex named Tyrod Taylor the starter — prior to both of their first seasons as Buffalo Bills.

My fledgling day’s timeline contributing to the Bills pages of Cover32 coincided directly with the two of them as newcomers to the Bills. My “Rex” enthusiasm remained for the better part of his almost two seasons as “the guy” in Buffalo. Due to the injuries the team suffered, I really wanted Rex to get a third season to go hard and get the Bills a couple more wins and into the playoffs. I really wanted Rex Ryan to shut people up and win as head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

When it is all said and done though, Rex is secondary at most, being no more important than any other individual passing through during the great drought. I really just want the Buffalo Bills football team to win. To Win at The Sport Of Kings. Come again?

Coach Molly McGrath, (Goldie Hawn) can upgrade from motivating the lowly Wildcats, the 1986 movies high school team, and coach the Bills for all I care.

Sing loudly if you see fit

”It’s the sport of kings, better than Diamond Rings That’s why we’re here to sing, football. Sunday in the snow, referees whistles blows we’ve been warrior’s toe-to-toe, football.”

Goldie can coach as long as our Queen City wins double digit games topped off by playing meaningful football come January. Most importantly, this would signal an end to the great drought of the 21st century.

After the departure of Rex and digging in a little deeper, I can say that nothing Rex ever did — including presumptuous talk — was going to change. The peeled back layers of the previously unknown organizational onion revealed that his same approach was going to get the same results. He did things his way and was not flexible and the results would have been the same had he been given a third year and I can honestly say I totally agree with Terry Pegula for terminating Rex when he did.

Why drag it out longer if you realize that doing it the same way would produce the same or worse results and the Rex way was the same way. The fact that Rex would not change things up and was going to use the same approach was why he was not given the third season that many others get.

If he would have made significant changes from year one to year two and big changes were certain for year three, then maybe a year three could potentially have been a successful option. The fact is he believed in his system and his coaches and was going to repeat blaming injuries, officiating, scheduling or other parts of the organization for the same mediocre to poor results.

It nailed his coffin securely shut when he refused to play Cardale Jones in the meaningless final game of the season. He already publically goes out of his way and claims he is not bitter, but says he got “F’d in New York and in Buffalo.” When you are paid the way Rex was and given the authority and responsibility that he was, longer hours, harder work, outside of the box thinking, reaching out for help are approaches one must do if they are failing at what they were hired to be great at.

Staying the course after missing the playoffs, being the last one in and the first one out the door is not the way to lead a team to success. If we had been winning and improving then feel good about your “work smarter not harder” approach. That was not the case. In the business world, when you take management positions that pay you a hefty salary, you may then need to put in 16 hour days or seven day weeks.

The saying that you are not productive after eight hours does not apply when planning and watching film and paying attention to every little detail as if your career depended on it.  That saying is outdated and belongs back in a different time at some cancer causing coal mine in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

If you are not willing to put in the time or work especially when things are not going well…then stay with your hourly non-management job where you are only responsible for yourself and not the results of many others. For now, he will be very entertaining on ESPN where he accepted a new position and will indeed have interesting takes on how to coach against certain teams.

An entertainer is not needed in this leadership role in Buffalo now and was not needed when Terrell Owens was given the key to the city. Russ Brandon equals great marketing but adds zero value to the win column. A serious methodical detailed leader who assembles a similar staff and who finds a way to win in Buffalo for the first time since the 20th century is needed.

It is not a bad thing for the head coach to be the hardest working employee on the Pegula payroll. Ask people who have worked with Jon Gruden about working hard and long hours. After that check out his winning seasons heading up the Raiders and proceed to browse at his Super Bowl ring he won in Tampa Bay.

Keeping tradition alive I shall go put some aloe on my soon to be sleep preventing sunburn and proceed getting myself a fresh frozen drink in my amazing leak proof temperature maintaining thermos style drinking container. I shall then move onto to plan exactly how and when I will give my Lady the engagement ring tomorrow that I had brought along on the trip.

I am hopeful for a “yes” or this will be an embarrassing article that I will blame on the booze. Editing beyond recognition is a real life option as well. She is on her way back from a spa appointment so I will break now and then return later to tackle….

AROUND COVER32

Trivia Blitz: Enjoy a little St. Patrick’s Day fun with this football quiz

2017 Free Agency: Taking a look at the worst deals in free agency so far

cover32 Exclusive: Interview with Baltimore Ravens’ safety, Anthony Levine

Bills News: Buffalo’s potential first round draft picks

Follow us on Twitter here

Things We Know About The Buffalo Bills This Week:

J = Just when you hear we signed him and then it’s tweeted that it is not a fact, the Buffalo Bills have finally gotten Andre Holmes inked to deal. This contract makes the 28-year old, 210 pound, 6’4 former Raider wide receiver the highest profile free agency signing at the much needed wide out position.

The Bills should not be content here after losing Goodwin and Woods to free agency this year and still not fully staffed from the Chris Hogan defection. Tyrod took a pay cut to free up money to supply more weapons. Hopefully they meant more weapons he can throw the ball to and not a punt returner or new kicker that have been addressed.

E = E.J. Manuel has officially signed with the Raiders. Oakland will be fine as long as Derrick Carr doesn’t not get hurt… again. As Bills fans, we have learned that E.J. is more effective not actually playing in the games and occasionally getting called to take part on a trick play. That is ample EJ for me to see.

Now that the former first round pick is for sure gone, the Bills have not one player left on the roster from the 2013 draft. I will stay positive and change the subject by saying… she said Yes on the beach during out last full planned day in Punta Cana. I am one lucky guy.  I have that Sport of Kings Song in my head still and some other LL Cool J songs popped in my head while celebrating our engagement. I think my record speaks for itself in that this is a family article so I will not repeat any of these lyrics.

F = Free Agency losses had my Bills notification alert quite active on my voyage to the Caribbean, before and after traveling as well. A key loss obviously was Stephon Gilmore signing with New England as he walked away as so many defensive backs have done over the years with the Bills getting nothing in return.

F can also be for frustrating and notice it was not for a swear word. I get so frustrated watching the Bills draft the player, coach and train him while tolerating the inexperienced days and then watching them unable to pay the player when they really enter the prime days of their careers. I understand that it is sometimes in the best interest of the on field situation and other times it is a salary cap issue. I still get frustrated especially when the franchise tag is out there to use.

F =  Free Agent activity has been both re-signing and retaining several of our own players as well as signing free agents from other teams. They wrapped up two fullbacks in Mike Tolbert and Patrick DiMarco showing they plan on staying the course as a power running team.

Guard Vladimir Ducasse, place kicker Steven Hauschka, safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, wide receivers Jeremy Butler, Corey Washington and Corey Brown and defensive end Ryan Davis all signed on believing that Buffalo is the best place for personal careers as well as opportunity to win. I was glad to see them keep Lorenzo Alexander and Jordan Mills who both were starters with important roles last season not easily replaceable.

The spelling above of ’Jeff’ is honoring and paying tribute to Jeff Sgroi, who would have turned 47 Saturday but celebrated premature in the heavens as he passed away last February much too young. His sudden passing left a huge void in the hearts of hundreds of family members and friends, WNY sports, the business world and the charitable community throughout the area.

He was extremely active in the Buffalo/WNY community, being that everyone knew him from somewhere/somehow.  He served on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Orchard Park as well as the Academy of Digital Media in the West Seneca School District. He attended every Bills and Sabres home games as well as taking it to the road supporting our hometown teams out of town as well.

You could always spot his smile a mile away and the word always is pretty close to accurate as Jeff was always in attendance at anything proactive, social or charitable that was taking place in the Queen City.

He was on the baseball coaching staff at St. Francis High School for close to a decade. Jeff played division one baseball at Niagara University and was well known as a great ballplayer throughout his entire education. We remembered Jeff last year after he passed on Cover32. We all miss you very much Jeff. RIP.

READ MORE: Buffalo would be smart to sign cornerback Snead

The post Buffalo Bills: Things we know this week appeared first on Cover32.

[andrewpham-blog1]

Blog #6

1. Considering Bushido, how did Magoza’s acting demonstrate Bushido? Choose two of his actions and explain the reasons.

The scene in which Magoza’s accepts his lord’s request to take care of Kane and her baby, instead of going to battle with other ronins. The strong sense of devotion to duty for one’s lord is a main factor to Bushido. Another scene in which Magazo embodies Bushido is when Magoza fought Kichiemon away from his home in order to keep secret of Kane. Magoza attempted to kill Kichiemon, even though they were personal friends in the past. Their friendship meant nothing to Magoza in the face of duty.

2. “Giri does not have an equivalent concept~” (p.95). What is the difference between Giri and the English word “obligation” Compare and explain the differences of each word.

In my own words, obligation means an action that one is bound to perform. While the definition of Giri is “behavior one is obliged to follow or that must be done against one’s will” (pg. 95). Although the terms have similar definitions, I believe Giri goes beyond just obligation. With obligation morals and determination can sway one’s decision before performing the action.  Yet with Giri, there is nothing but seeing to it that the action is done. Giri to me seems to be the extreme version of obligation on a sense of duty scale.

3. Considering Bushido and Giri, what are the differences between Giri and Bushido? Using scenes from the movie, explain both concepts.

In the scene where Magoza is talking to Kane about his duty to see to her happiness, Magoza tries to push Kane into marriage. Magoza sees Kane as a daughter and in my perspective Magoza would like to spend more time with her, yet he follows the orders of Kane’s late mother. As a warrior who follows his own set of rules must uphold his task. Giri, on the other hand, seems to be more of a social obligation or social standard of rules. In the scene where Magoza goes and cleans the grave of Oishi shows the social obligation to pay respect to his late master.

4. Considering the Japanese Ie system, what scenes of the movie represent this concept? Choose two scenes and explain the reasons.

A scene which represents the Ie system, is where Yu adopts Kane and raises her as own, teaching her about proper edicate, reading and writing. Although Kane is not technically adopted nor takes the name of Magoza or Yu, she is still considered family to both of them. The scene where Magoza goes and cleans the grave of Oishi is also falls into the category of the Ie system. The Ie system stated that people would worship their ancestors, yet Magoza lost his wife and had no children. Therefor the only person that was close enough to be considered family was his master.

5. Considering the Japanese Ie system, what kinds of conflicts/contradictions does this concept bring into the relationship between Magoza and Kane?

One conflict that the Ie system brings to the relationship between Magoza and Kane, is that Magoza tries to push Kane into marriage. Even though this upsets Kane, Magoza uses his father like presence to order Kane into marriage, yet this causes distance between the two.

6. Considering the Japanese Ie system, “51 percent of people think that men are treated better than women in the family, while 40 percent think that men and women are treated equally”(p.124). What do you think about it comparing with American culture. Use your experiences and explain the reasons why you think so.

Considering American culture consist of a wide range of ethnicities, each with their own customs. However I believe in today’s society, we see most families as men and women as being treated equal. Women are allowed to work and make difficult decisions for the family household just as men do. Traditionally in Asian family households, men are the dominate figure in which decided all decisions. Yet since my family no longers lives in Asia, we are no longer bound to such traditions and my parents have equal power or control of the household.

7. Among 3 concepts we learned in this session, what term does it fit to explain the following scene from the movie?

When Kichi heard that Magoza escaped from the important battle, Kichi was very confused and puzzled. Why was Kichi confused? Explain it using one of the concept and why you think so.

Bushido best describes the following scene, because everyone was prepared to fight and die for their fallen master. Mainly everyone was prepared to die in revenge, therefore Kichi was expecting Magoza to prepare for the battle as well. Kichi knew Magoza had no wife and children, therefore Kichi expected Magoza had nothing to live for and not fear for the battle to come..

8. What do you think of Magoza’s acting at the end? Using citation from the textbook and guess the ending.

I think Magoza’s actions were very respectable in a sense that he was doing everything to ensure Kane happiness. When Kane got to the age of 16 Kane had to change his words and habits towards her, even though she is like a daughter to him. As for the ending I believe Kane will marry into the clothing merchants family and Magoza’s duty is finally fulfilled. Because of the concept Giri, which states “rules one has to obey in social relationships” (pg. 95), I believe this end because Kane was learning tea ceremonies and learning how to become a wife.

9. Considering the prior concepts we learned in our class, which concepts do they use  effectively in the film? Why do you think so?

Bushido was the concept that was effectively use in the film. It showed the audience the great lenghts and struggles one commits to duty under the warrior's code.  The sense of loyalty to one’s duty was seen throughout the film, and therefore I believe this concept best embodies the film from the concepts we learned in the past.  

10. Reflective inquiry— Share whatever you want to tell considering your personal perspective.

I thought this movie was quite interesting, yet the theater scenes where the man was singing was a bit drawn out. Perhaps it's because of the language barrier that I can not appreciate the lyrics; for all I know it could be poetry rather than just a story. Yet I disliked the those scenes because the singing was long drawn and frankly sounded bad in my ears. I was a bit repulsed that head of the clothing merchant wanted Kane as a concubine; even though this may have been ok back then.