#and alderheart absolutely is NOT mean to her.

[lagomorphpaw]

avos siblings siblings

[bonefall]

so was ashfur just like sitting up in starclan plotting his really good dishonor titles while he watched people live their lives or is he just. lowkey a really excellent namer. actually how taboo would it be for a leader to have a friend of theirs come up with names bc the friend is better at it. that would be so funny

It's actually not taboo at all for someone else to come up with the name, as long as the leader makes it official! In fact, every leader probably has a couple of cats of high status (deputy, patrol head) that they run names by.

If the leader has fully outsourced it may be a bit insulting, like, "oh so you don't want to do your sacred duty??" But kept quiet or done respectfully, that's totally allowed. The leader simply has the holy authority to set the names.

(I like keeping name "rules" loose because I try to stress that names are very personal and dependant on the leader. A Star who knows they are uncreative and has someone they can trust to do this with them? That's a wonderful way to show something meaningful about the character and the way they rule!)

I can see Blackstar doing this with Russetfur.

Anyway... yeah, Ashfur is lowkey just a really creative person. His skill with his absolutely SCATHING Dishonor Titles is that he is FILLED with spite. He looks for something that will HURT his victim and crafts a name around it.

And he doesn't need a ton of "prep time." He came up with Clearface on the spot. She started calling him out on wanting punishments for people who had already paid for their crimes or done nothing wrong, and his gaze was clear and almost considerate, as if he was thinking about her words.

In truth, her little speech was all the time he needed to come up with something that would emotionally obliterate her on the spot.

Not that it was hard to find it for Blossomfall. She oozes insecurity, in his mind. The way she leans on her family. How she does nothing alone. Betrayed her Clan twice, ay? Ha. That isn't the action of someone truly self-assured.

Twigbranch was also easy. She's always apologizing. Eager to please, suggestible. Ashfur has heard she can stand up for herself, yes, so simply plant a seed in her mind. Make her think she's stupid, tell her to pay attention to her claws, and she will make them fumble all on her own.

And that was important for breaking some of the coalition between her and Alderheart. All the cats who are close with the Cleric's den are troublesome. So it's important-- construct a Blasphemy problem. Or, bring attention to it, really.

BB!Ashfur DOES believe in what he's doing. This isn't JUST incel entitlement like canon! Incel entitlement is part of it, but secondary. He really believes that the Clans have strayed from the righteous path.

Openly challenging a leader, defying the will of StarClan, all this inability to prove their honor in battle... he'll fix it. And he means it. These cats are becoming unruly heathens and he will snap them back into line.

Squilf is a bonus, really. The minute it's between her and his wider goals, his goals will win out.

[cryptidclaw]

Leafpool! Character Bio. plus a slightly updated design!

Bonus happy Leaf bec I felt bad about only drawing her sad.

There are only a few very slight changes to this design, I just wanted to tweak it a bit! After rereading Po3 I was reminded how after TNP Leaf actually becomes a lot more jaded and combative. She lost her kits, her life is being absolutely wrecked by dead cats and she's exhausted. I really enjoy older Leaf, and her more emotional and angry outbursts, she can actually be very mean lol. Sooo I wanted to draw her older, at more of a Po3 age, she's got tired eyes now.

...

Leafpool 

Bisexual, strong preference for mollys; Demi-Molly; she/her

Age as of 2nd arc's end: (idk yet :p)

Title meaning: -pool = this Title was earned after she was the cat who found the Moon Pool; -pool also means: a calm and serene cat; an intelligent cat “vast/deep”; a reflective cat

Healer of Thunder Order

Mother: Sandstorm (not biologically)

Fathers: Star Fireheart, Shriketail

Siblings: Icecloud, Foxleap

Half Siblings: Squirrelflight (they were born in the same litter)

Adoptive Siblings: Briarlight, Bumblestripe, Blossomfall

Mate: Mothwing

Kits: Jaywing, Falconclaw, Dove, (Dovesong, kind of?? she has Dove's soul)

Grandkits:  (undecided)

Other notable kin: Littleleaf (aunt), Cloudtail (cousin), Snowshoe (cousin), Mistletoe (cousin), Spiderleg (cousin), Shrew (cousin), Hollyleaf (niece), Alderheart (nephew), Sparkfire (niece)

Extra notes: post Po3 Leaf has gone through a whole arc surrounding her following of the Stars, and she now does not trust them at all.

[sillspore]

Now that brambleclaw and squirrelflight aren't mates, how would Alderheart and Sparkpelt being born? Most AUs (not saying those aus are bad) just have Bramblestar as a nothing character either as a villain with no personality or forgettable, with the personlity of wheat bread "man wife"

A lot of Bramnleclaw's character in/is about Squirrelflight and their love triangle with Ashfur. I can't really see (again no offense to you. Just airing my thoughts) as him being nothing character, if he isn't her mate than how would TBC happen or would that series never happen because Ashfur or Brambleclaw aren't mates with Squirrelflight. How would plotpointd such as his relationship with firestar would become? It would be jus them as adoptive siblings?

beware, this shit is long! soooo much more under the cut.

i’ve been thinking about this! basically, squilf would replace leafpool in the forbidden romance plot with crowfeather. during tpb, all of squilf’s romance will be with crowfeather. we get his pov during the journey, where he will be close with feathertail but crushing on squirrelpaw. we get squilf’s pov when they get home, where we can hear her internal debates over her feelings about crowpaw and missing him. she is attached to brambleshade (brambleclaw), but in a sibling way. in my head, firestar is a pseudo-dad to bramble, so a sibling dynamic makes sense. however, this isn’t reciprocated the same way. bramble grows to be in love with squirrelflight.

in twilight, squirrel and crow debate leaving, but decide against it and amicably agree to split. at the same time, leafpool is having the same issue with mothwing — mothwing cares little about the warrior code, and would much rather leave the clans and live their lives in peace, with a bonus of the fact that hawkfrost would never follow her and she’d be free of him. they run away, but come back just in time, like the leafcrow romance in canon.

as a note, because tc doesn’t share borders with rc, they had no idea it was mothwing that leafpool ran away with.

afterward, in sunset, squirrelflight grows closer to bramble and ashfur is scorned, much like in canon. she realizes he assumes she’s in love with bramble, and she lets this happen to dissuade him from trying to “win” her back. she feels safe doing this, because she assumes her sibling feelings towards bramble are the same from his side.

(note: squilf did date ashfur while she was arguing with bramble, but at first it was just friendship. she thought he’d make a great mate, and she could forget about crowfeather and maybe even have kits. but as he grows more controlling, she breaks up with him. soon after, she reconciles with bramble and ashfur takes this as badly as possible.)

after the whole saving her dad thing, squirrelflight is delighted. (side note again: bramble does become deputy, because longtail retires early. longstar would be too good of a leader, we need a shit one, for plot reasons.) bramble is delighted, because he thinks this means she loves him “again”. leafpool had no idea about the crowfeather thing, and tells squilf about the dream starclan sent of squilf and bramble walking side by side. squilf takes this to mean starclan wants her and bramble as mates (they absolutely do, the meddling weirdos), but with the way she feels about him? she isn’t fond of the idea. however, at the book’s end, leafpool tells her she’s pregnant. squilf knows exactly who’s they are — and she is both petrified and delighted. it’s complicated situation, she’s so overjoyed to have her love’s kits, but he will never know them and the clan will be suspicious. everyone knows she was courting ashfur but spends all her time with bramble now, so they’ll assume it’s one of theirs. so will the two cats in question. if she refuses to say who, it’ll be very obvious their father is not thunderclan. she tells this much to leafpool, who advises her to follow starclan’s wish and become bramble’s mate, for real. squilf tries to convince herself this will be okay, because it’s what starclan wants.

later, leafpool tells her she’s carrying mothwing’s kits, and they (TOGETHER) devise the plan to have squilf raise them, which will be easy because she’ll actually have milk here. bramble is over the moon at the news of kits, and squilf is dying inside. it’d be a depressing inner monologue, her trying to convince herself she can be happy like this.

leafpool fakes a starclan vision, saying squirrelflight must visit the moonpool immediately, for plot reasons. squilf gives birth up there, and crow stumbles upon them. there’s a unique herb growing in the cave that he was sent to retrieve for his “mate” (they’ve come to an agreement: crow takes night as his mate to look loyal, and the kits she has won’t appear as if they were fathered by a rogue, like they actually were), nightcloud, who’s about to give birth. he sees squilf’s kits, they get emotional and sappy. there’s two kits, unnamed. together, they name them hollykit and breezekit, and crow takes breezekit (the one out of rhe two without red on him) back to wc to be raised by nightcloud with her kits. he’ll blend right in with the litter.

a few hours later, leafpool gives birth to jaykit, lionkit (still haven’t decided his name change), and dovekit. after another day, a tc patrol comes to get them, wondering what took them so long, surprised to find squirrelflight’s four kits! they carry ‘em home, and squilf settles in the nursery, fussed over by brambleshade. about a week later, dovekit dies, and squilf is heartbroken. she grows listless and finds it hard to take care of her remaining kits, but later recovers and is a great mom.

power of three goes pretty close to canon, major plot wise. hollyleaf is not a member of the three, but it makes SENSE bc she wasn’t actuallt part of the three’s litter. dovekit was, who was later reincarnated into whitewing’s kit, dovekit, in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled. for the fire scene, it goes the same mostly, squilf claiming they aren’t her kits, ashfur says idc you love them anyway. i think i may have firestar save them from ashfur here, losing his final life. after the fire, squilf admits that hollyleaf is her kit, but the other two aren’t. hollyleaf pries the whole story out of leafpool, and goes STRAIGHT to brambleshade, before he goes to receive his nine lives. he thanks her for telling him, and he is heartbroken (because, apparently, his wife never loved him.) and furious. none of his kits were his, some of them were even leafpool’s! after he’s made bramblestar, he appoints hollyleaf as his deputy, citing that she’s the only one he can trust. things go to shit, sol, hollyleaf snaps and kills ashfur, hollyleaf tells the clans everything, including the prophecy, etc etc. hollyleaf dies, killed by the falling rocks in the tunnels. her role in the great battle stays the same, as does firestar’s, bc their ghosts can still kick ass.

after this, during omen of the stars, we see bramble actively punishing squirrelflight. everything is shit. i don’t know who i’ll have him pick as deputy, but they’ll die during the flood of bramblestar’s storm. jessy happens, etc etc, squilf and him make up. she apologizes, and he apologizes, but he kinda makes it about him, hmmm….

anyway, spark and alder are bramblesquirrel kits still. i haven’t thought about major plot for avos yet, i’ve barely thought about pot and oots. but, squilf is made deputy, and the broken code is a thing. bramblestar is freed of rhe possession, but there will be a scene where squirrelcrow have a Moment and bramblestar loses his shit. he accuses her of betraying him, of being cruel and evil, yada yada. brambleshade is a little weird, maybe kinda vindictive, but bramblestar is out of his mind. the sheer amount of power he has and his desire to use it against her is dangerous. he is very clearly an evil person, despite the sympathies he has. anyway, bramblestar tries to exile her, but spark stops him. she, and the clan, are OVER bramblestar, who was just as bad a leader as the imposter. he is stripped of his name and lives via rhe new warrior code rule, and the clan watches in horror as he loses all but his last life in real time. he’s moved to the medicine den. meanwhile, squilf becomes a star, and appoints ivyclaw (ivypool) her deputy. she gives brambleshade the option of leaving the clan or retiring, and he hobbles his old ass to the elder’s den.

after all this, crowfeather decides to join thunderclan, and squirrelstar happily accepts him, daring anyone to argue. they get their happily ever after, and it’s very sweet. maybe breeze even comes with his dad, tired of his clan’s scorn? regardless, it’s a very awkward time for nightheart watching his grandad spit obscenities at his step-grandad. wild.

pls tell me if this is incoherent ive never written my ideas out for the squirrelcrow bramblesquirrel plot before !!!

[pigeonclaw]

I liked Sparkpelt's start in the series, and I liked this thing going on for a little while where she and Alderheart kinda drifted apart due to their different jobs and different views on the prophecy and SkyClan and all that, and how they finally talked it out and promised to support each other from now on. That was nice.

It's just about impossible for me to like Sparkpelt in River of Fire. It's like she forgot her chat with Alderheart because they are never seen together and she's suddenly become this bitter, mean, and unforgiving person, especially towards Twigpaw, who she acts like she has a personal grudge against. It's almost hard to remember why I ever liked her in the first place. And it's such a shame! She had a good introduction and dynamic with her brother and a strong characterization, and for what. I will say that she did show signs of being short-tempered early on, so it's not like it came from nowhere. But the way she acts in RoF feels like an absolutely bizarre extreme.

(I know she's a contentious character because of stuff later in the series and I do NOT wanna touch that mess with a 10 foot pole. I haven't gotten that far so I can't comment on it anyway. I'm only talking about AVoS here.)

[warriorkittiecats]

While I understand Twigbranch's desire for a biological family and why she felt such a strong need to be near Violetshine and to look for their mother, especially early on, I will say, it hurts seeing her say things like "Just imagine if there was a cat who loved us just as much as Pinenose loves her kits" because, I mean, even if we say Lilyheart didn't treat Twigbranch the same as her other kids, Alderheart absolutely unquestionably loved and treated Twigbranch like his daughter and it's just sad that Twigbranch doesn't realize just how entirely he loves her.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Just wanted to get this off my chest

seeing people say that the Thunderclan cats are out of character in this book, is something I disagree with. Most of them are characters that have not had any personality up until this point; we never saw Finchlight or Myrtlebloom do or say anything before this, they were just background characters. I honestly don’t even think Sparkpelt is really out of character, she’s always been pretty brash and would unintentionally hurt Alderheart’s feelings in the first VOS book. She WAS compared favorably to Firestar growing up (Graystripe talks about how much she looks like him and is surprised that she isn’t named Sparkfire). I can easily see that she saw being compared to Firestar as a point of pride, a point she tries to instill in her children. She’s also very traditionalist; she’s one of the cats who initially was against Skyclan living around the lake and was a pretty harsh mentor to Twigbranch when she returned from living in Skyclan.

Parents also can feel very entitled to their children; a LOT of parents would react angrily when their kid changes their name for any reason. We haven’t seen much of Sparkpelt being a good, understanding person, she’s always been really hotheaded and kind of self centered. I absolutely think that it’s in character that she’s responding to Nightheart this way! I like that she’s a complicated person who doesn’t always react how we want her to, I like morally gray characters in my cat books.

One thing about Finchlight though, I remember her publicly sticking up for Flamepaw asking to change his warrior name last book but now she’s like this.

But yeah Myrtlebloom hasn’t done a single thing in her life before now, I want her to be a stuck up mean girl, that would be fun, let’s keep her like this. Make her the Regina George of ThunderClan.

As for Sparkpelt, when you break it down like that I can definitely see that. I feel like once her anger subsides she might try and make it up to Nightheart, but at that point I doubt he’s going to want to hear from her. I feel like it would be a better plot beat if she had a gripe with his name change because of how she and Larksong preplanned kit names as opposed to it being a Firestar pride thing.

[i-am-niche-kepler]

spoilers for River, but not much and not really plot related.

So. Larkwing, a WindClan she-cat, has two sons out of literal nowhere, and even though no one probably cares, I have a prediction on who the father of her kits is.

Larkwing is described on the wiki as a pale brown tabby she-cat. One of her sons, Brookkit, is described as a black and white tom, and her other son, Stripekit, is described as a gray tabby tom.

Now, I don't know all that much about cat genetics, or Larkwing, but I'm gonna explain my prediction.

First off, I don't think Larkwing has a mate outside of WindClan, because I feel like it would have been mentioned when couples like Shellfur (ThunderClan) and Fernstripe (WindClan) and Spireclaw (ShadowClan) and Fringewhisker (SkyClan) came to light and switched Clans. Thus she needs an eligible tom from WindClan.

I made a list of currently living WindClan toms to start. Harestar, Crowfeather, Kestrelflight, Breezepelt, Emberfoot, Leaftail, Slightfoot, Oatclaw, Crouchfoot, Hootwhisker, and Flutterfoot.

Right away I cut Emberfoot, Breezepelt, Crowfeather, Kestrelflight, Flutterfoot, and Oatclaw away. Emberfoot is Larkwing's father. Enough said. Breezepelt and Heathertail don't appear to be splitting up anytime soon, and I don't believe Breezepelt would cheat either, despite some opinions on him. Crowfeather I don't believe is going to have another mate ever again. He's had three, and I just find it highly unlikely he'd be the dad of Larkwing's kits. Kestrelflight seems pretty devoted to his medicine cat job, and I don't believe the kits are his either. Flutterfoot is Larkwing's nephew. And Oatclaw is the mate of Larkwing's sister, and Oatclaw's kits are relatively young. One isn't even a warrior yet, so I sincerely doubt anything would happen between him and Larkwing.

This cuts the list down to Harestar, Leaftail, Slightfoot, Crouchfoot, and Hootwhisker. Leaftail had an apprentice and was fully a warrior by The Power Of Three, and Larkwing wasn't apprenticed until Omen of the stars, so i don't believe Leaftail to be the father of her sons. Harestar becomes a warrior in power of three, and I also just feel like he wouldn't want kits or a mate. Regardless. I don't believe Harestar is the father of Larkwings kits. Crouchfoot is apprenticed at the same time as Larkwing, and Hootwhisker and Slightfoot are made warriors sometime before A Vision of Shadows starts.

We're down to 3 possible mates. Crouch, Hoot, and Slight. I don't believe Crouchfoot to be the father, partially due to the fact that he doesn't seem to interact with Larkwing much after being apprenticed together, and partially because he's a ginger cat and I don't believe Larkwing's colors would've completely trumped his if they had kits together.

Now we've narrowed it down to 2. I do not believe Slightfoot to be the father, because even though I feel his coloring (he's mostly black with a flash of white) match up, he doesn't seem to be very close with Larkwing at all either.

The finale is here folks! I believe that Hootwhisker is the father of Larkwings newborn baby sons! He's not related to her in any way we know of, he's about her age/give or take a few moons, he doesn't have a mate or kits already. He's dark gray in color, which mixed with her pale brown tabby could potentially produce and black and white kit and a gray tabby kit, and he actually seems to spend a considerable amount of time with Larkwing!

they're both part of the patrol that looks for watermint with Alderheart, they guarded together on that same trip, and they were on a hunting patrol together.

Now, I am by no means saying this is absolutely the only possibility. It's just a little prediction I made. Maybe Larkwing does have a mate outside of WindClan. Maybe her mate is never revealed, or maybe it's one of the cats I left out for one reason or another. But I think that these two could be cute together, and that it would be a wholesome post due to all the craziness that takes place in river.

[amethyst-halo]

Being 100% honest here, I feel like a lot of the recent fandom hate towards Sunbeam and/or Nightheart seems to be very… overblown?

I think Night was well within his right to leave ThunderClan, personally - Sparkpelt, Squirrelflight, Finchlight, and Lionblaze have all been shown so far to have put needless pressure on him to conform to a VERY high standard set by someone that he never even got the chance to know before he was born, and is lambasted for it when he dares to request a name change as a means of carving out his own sense of belonging within the clan. That is toxic. Is it a bit too self-loathing about it for my taste? Absolutely. But he’s still being reduced down to someone else’s identity by his family + being shunned by them for expressing any sort of individuality outside of it, which is not a healthy living situation to be in at all. I feel like some of the fandom is making it out as if Night openly believes that everyone around him hates him, when that’s simply not the case - he openly acknowledges that he has been shown nothing but respect and support by Alderheart, Jayfeather, Bayshine, Sorrelstripe, Finleap, Brightheart, and Twigbranch. It’s really just his immediate family that’s the problem - and I think that, in such a case, it would be the healthiest option for him to get away from them. With Sunbeam, I don’t think that it’s ooc for her to be a little bit insensitive with Lightleap’s feelings - she’s been previously characterized to be a bit oblivious and aloof, in my opinion. She doesn’t seem to pick up on that stuff as easily as others do, and that’s something that she’ll probably have to work on. She still has good intentions at heart, but just goes about expressing her feelings rather poorly - and really doesn’t give herself time to process her thoughts before acting. I just think that people have judged these protagonists a bit too harshly considering how early on we are into the arc - I highly doubt that Nightheart’s angst or Sunbeam’s obliviousness will be something that isn’t improved upon as the series goes on. Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Ivypool are some examples of this - characters grow and develop throughout the books, overcoming their flaws to some degree, if that makes sense!

hi!! yea i can definitely see where ur coming from here. i think for sure there are some harsh judgements this early in the series, yea.

i personally don't have- and i think most others don't have- a problem with nightheart's reasons for doing what he does. it's absolutely toxic for him to be put under the pressures he's facing and it's probably the healthiest for him atm to leave that situation. most of my and others' problems from what i understand is that a: the characters around him are being forced out of character solely for nightheart's arc- specifically female characters i.e. squirrelflight sparkpelt and finchlight (and also lionblaze who is honestly completely in character imo), and b: his arc COULD have gone to his mother, a noted firestar clone, instead. he Shouldn't have to be put under these pressures and he Should be allowed to carve out his own place in the clans. the erins just think the only way to do that is for everyone to bully him even if they never would, and they won't give the arc to someone who could have had it earlier and would possibly fit the role better. and ig i don't know for sure bc i don't have the book yet, but iirc he does think a few times that everyone hates him, whether or not it's true and whether or not there are exceptions. idk if he ever Says it outside of the end of sky, but i feel like i remember seeing a few places where he thinks it at least; it's pretty open to the reader imo, i just dunno if its open to the characters

i agree with u on sunbeam! she feels like she's in her own head a lot and not picking up on everything around her. i think her feeling bad about lightleap and blazefire makes sense bc (from what i understand) romantic feelings are just Like That sometimes. she might like... be feeling them at a bad time or something, but she isn't acting on them from what i can tell rn. she was, kind of, when she got herself hurt, but she feels like she's trying more to keep it to herself now. some of her reactions are out of place, but she seems to know that and is trying to minimize her outward responses. she's juggling her feelings for blazefire with her argument with lightleap with her stress from literally everything else going on, and i think it's understandable if her feelings get a little mixed up in there somewhere.

yea though, i agree with u! i'm willing to give both of them a little more time before solidifying my opinions i think- granted, am already biased but askjdhjs y'know

ty for ur thoughts!!!! i like having convos

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Disabled Warriors - Discussion

since this isn’t really an AU, I’ll put it under the discussions tag instead. Because really this is an overall things.

I want to start this by saying that I’m mentally ill and I’ve had a bum leg for well over five years now, HOWEVER what I say isn’t gospel and my own personal thoughts on the mishandling of disabled and mentally ill characters in Warriors.

I will not be talking about all of them, but I have a lot of key points I want to make

First things first DEFINATELY get rid of ability/injury-based names

No more Deadfoot or Crookedstar or anything like that. Those names are ableist in themselves and it’s more frustrating that only ONE character in the entire series had her name changed to something not horrible in the entire series.

One-eye/White-eye and Deadfoot/Hopkit are two examples of characters who started with ableist names and the names got worse when they were changed. I’m going to be open about the fact I have a Warriors fanfic going where their names are Palesong and Nightheart respectively, but the pint is that both names they had before hand really only pointed out their disabilities.

Halftail? Easy. Keep his name Sparrowpelt. No need to give him a shitty name cause something happened to his tail.

Crookedstar is the worst of them, his mother demanding his name be changed after he was hurt. Rainflower is at fault for suggesting it, but Hailstar should’ve put his paw down as leader and refused. Stormspirit is a good warrior name, as he’s got a strong will that rivals the storm he was born in and obviouslly he’d have the name Stormstar as leader.

I have no knowledge of Oddfoot, but I’ll just firmly say his name is cruel, given his twisted leg.

Now, the only one I struggle to have many thoughts on is the DotC character One Eye, as he was a rogue and really only he was in charge of what cats called him, meaning it was his chose to be known as One Eye which??? I can’t say much on???

Second order of business! Disability And Becoming An Elder/Medicine Cat

This is a big crime Warriors has. From Cinderpelt, Longtail, Lilywhisker, Alderheart, and others. It has horrible implications for both the injured cats, but also for medicine cats as well. That being a medicine cat is a ‘punishment’ for not being able to ‘keep up’ and other horrible, shitty things like that.

Let’s start from the top.

Cinderpaw was forced to become Yellowfang’s apprentice after it was determined her back leg was useless. On top of it just being terrible to tell a child she’ll never be able to be “normal”, Cinderpaw could’ve very easily become a warrior, much like Deadfoot was. Some may argue and say his was a front leg and hers was a back leg, but that’s barely an issue. Yes, three-legged cats do have to struggle a bit more to adjust if it’s a hind leg [and the depression rate is higher], there are plenty of cats down a back leg that can run around and play just as fine as their four-legged brethren. 

Then there’s Jayfeather, who was born blind. As someone who grew up knowing people who had blind cats, they are not helpless. Jayfeather, though may [not always] need help from time to time when in new territory, could’ve easily become a warrior like he had wanted. Not only that, his whiskers would be there to help him navigate all on his own. 

Finally on the medicine cat list - Alderheart. Alderheart has anxiety. He gets in his own head a lot and that usually ends in him messing up and/or second guessing himself. I can relate to that heavily. What I can’t relate to his him being tossed into the medicine cat den without his consent because he wasn’t perfect. That’s the absolute wrong way to handle a child with severe anxiety. 

Next are the ‘retired’ ones.  I’m going to be a little controversial and place Briarlight here, as they never allowed her to do any true warrior duties after this happened. So that means this list includes Longtail, Lilywhisker, and Briarlight.

Starting with Longtail, he could have very easily continued his duties. Not only could he remember the forest territories [before they moved] based on his memory, again he could learn to navigate with his whiskers and other senses. He was still young and healthy aside from being blinded. Lily’s another simple one. She could be a warrior, even if it was her hind leg. I explained this in Cinderpelt’s thing. Simple as that. Especially cause it’s more painful that SHE IS IN THE SAME CAMP AS DEADFOOT WHO BECOMES DEPUTY. Briarlight I cannot touch on heavily, as I as someone who, even if I walk with a limp, cannot speak over those who have spinal damage.  However, this she-cat never deserved to be confined to camp. There are stories of cats who can move able - granted a little limitedly - without hind legs [or the use of them]. Briar could’ve been a wonderful warrior.

next Mental Illness

Now, there are very few cats confirmed as mentally ill, but I will state now that they’re not handled the best.  Bluestar has depression? Well she’s going to have a giant breakdown, disown god, and give this young woman the world’s most insulting warrior name. Alderheart has anxiety? Throw him in the medicine cat den! Shrewtooth has PTSD and possible anxiety-based trust issues? We’re just going to erase him from existence and no one will notice.

It’s horrible and needs to stop.

my final topic for now Snowkit just Snowkit

Snowkit, to date, was the only deaf characters in Warriors.

Want to know what happened to him?

He died before he was ever able to be made an apprentice. Even after canon showed us that his mother, Speckletail, had been making her own version of kitty sign language just so her son could learn and communicate. There’s even tail language in Warriors already. They had a start and then shot themselves in the foot

And ever since then, despite all the white-furred, blue eyed cats, we haven’t had another deaf character.

He should’ve had the chance to grow and form his own personality. Not only would it be cool to have a deaf character, even if they were a side character, it’d be progressive to show that in a kids book series. 

But no

[mallowstep]

tpons initial/reading thoughts

keeping my "liveblogging" in one place to maintain my mortorium on spoilers

tpons spoilers below the cut. obviously.

prologue

i swear to god if bramblestar comes back and i don't get squirrelstar i might actually seek out the collective representation of erin hunter and kill her

chapter one

bristlefrost.

bristlefrost, can you hear me [1].

jayfeather is under exactly the same stress as alderheart. so either you're implying alder is weak or you're in the "adoption isn't real" camp and i'm neutral on you as a character, i don't want to dislike you.

you know, i thought the scene in mtbnsof where all of thunderclan is like "yeah, let's just exile squirrelflight" [2] was exaggeration, and honestly i spent a long time workshopping it to make sure it felt natural, but apparently i didn't have to do that, because the characters are canonically OK with it!

do y'all want your leader back or bramblestar? (i'm not salty nope not me.) also twigbranch the fuck do you mean "it would be wonderful if bramblestar came back" like what he barely let you stay in thunderclan stfg.

fuck, i can't tell whether or not sparkpelt is denying lionblaze and jayfeather as squilf's kits, but they're really ruining my good faith in adoption. or just proving my point that it's not about adoption.

does thunderclan care about shadowsight? what is going on i swear did they forget he killed bramble and is responsible for the entire mess right now?

chapter two

shadowsight you did a bad of course they're not hiding how disappointed they are you did a bad my son

lmao it's the reverse of tawnypelt's clan [3], shadowsight is being kidnapped against his will for the tribe. also please can we go back to the tribe but only if it's good

he listed dovewing next to "clan leader" not "clan leader's mate" which implies dovewing has shc's respect which yes i stan

aww siblings being siblings. i miss that from po3. nothing has captured it as well. well, like, the sight.

chapter three

you know, i think part of why i've struggled so much with this arc is because i just don't like any of the pov characters. i don't dislike any of them but i don't like them.

yeah! tree defending rootspring!!!! fuck. good fathers in warriors.

so rootspring calls lionblaze TC deputy which means squirrelstar [4].

god they go, like, ages without caring whose parent is who and suddenly they're covering it all over again but like, in an adoption bad way, and just, fuck you erin hunter [5].

it's good to see lionblaze does care about her, fuck, can we just get some consistency here. (i mean god rootspring he lost his mom too --- i mean, if anyone should know this, your mom was violetshine, posterchild for bad adoption, who fought w twigbranch over adoptive mother shit)

i want a bernie meme like "i am once again asking for adoption to be treated like a legitmate form of family."

chapter four

wait why the fuck is bris faster than windclan their whole thing is being fast

also that moonkitti video about harestar having no personality[6] is painfully real i know nothing about this man

oh huh we were just talking about windclan camp[7]. this is actually pretty similar to the first ever description, right down to bris wondering how people sleep there (they don't.) well, uh, credit where credit is due, good job for sticking to your guns on windclan sleeps outside.

i love how crow and breeze being difficult is just common knowledge.

oh, so crowfeather gets credit for the three? fucking hell man i'm done.

also fuck you crowfeather for victim blaming i will be making a call out post so help me [8]

okay i'm ngl it feels like bris is crushing on lionblaze. i don't think that's supposed to be a thing [9], it just feels like that.

okay okay okay i'm confused in earlier books the great battle was like a well discussed thing. god, avos had that whole the names of the fallen thing. and now, not even a full generation later, and bris doesn't understand the dark forest? (also who's even in the dark forest?)

(oh wait this book is going to answer that. uh for the record, now, squirrelstar/mtbnsof has been fully plotted and will disregard whatever this book says, unless it's good.)

oh wow i guess we're just throwing out the concept of the moonpool why don't we. really, everything i heavily justified/couched in mtbnsof is happening unironically in canon.

mothwing and willowshine god fucking damn. they're prob my fav mentor/apprentice relationship. mistystar's omen stg.

what is it with everyone and bouncing all the fuck around with squirrelflight? like, okay, i'd get it if they doubted her because yeah, i could make a strong argument about clan morality and her actions [10]. but they're so on and off about it i hate it.

shadowsight.

shadowsight, can you hear me.

you're literally saying, "i could solve this, if i had a solution to the problem."

well ig we know who he takes after.

chapter five

what's up with this "darkest thoughts" bullshit come on you're really going to invalidate ivypool like that?

lionblaze really do be going back and forth. can't blame him he's not used to having a character.

also, i really love jayfeather standing up for alderheart [11].

mothwing wtf how're you getting to hell you don't believe in it. how do you have faith in shit. also please stop trashing shadowsight [12]. that said, she's absolutely right, she would be the ideal cat for the job, considering she has warrior training.

jayfeather what the fuck dude why are you suggesting it. although i'm glad at least he acknowledges his connection to squilf. good job. good job for being the one fucking character.

willowshine. willowshine baby no. don't do it. willowshine. willowshine no. don't do it. baby. no. please. i'm crying please don't do it.

"well, Mothwing, I admire everything about you" holy fucking shit what a line that's a line to inspire so much fic [13].

willow please baby no. please. send kestrelwing or something. puddleshine. anyone but you please baby.

damn okay what is with the connection between mothwing and.

no.

no no no no no.

they're killing willowshine.

why.

she's. baby. please no. she's not read. she's too. no. i can't.

ffs moth please stop dissing shadow like this he doesn't deserve this. (also, unrelated, did, uh, did puddleshine name shadowsight for spiresight, a cat he never met and had no connection with? fuck i forgot what happened there.)

you know, out of the med cats, mothwing and jayfeather are the oldest. it's nice to see that dynamic have weight: when jayfeather speaks, people listen. it's been a while since we've had that role of the med cats in thunderclan.

god willow is dead and i'm going to sob.

chapter six

I FUCKING CALLED IT I HATE EVERYTHING

why did they have kill my baby [14]

when did rootspring get fucking responsible this is worse than when i got responsible

also mothwing i'm so sorry.

fuck.

i didn't cry i was too angry and i cried about it last night because i knew it was coming just.

they didn't have to do her dirty like that.

chapter seven

just, before we begin, still sad about this willowshine bs. give me back my baby.

oh gee bristlefrost i wonder why lionblaze can't talk about his mother being taken away

does this mean they're going to acknowledge adoption again? please let this not be me raising my hopes too soon.

also really with all this lionblaze = deputy stuff...i just want squils [15]

oh lionblaze is back on his bullshit again. like, dude. he was instructed to treat ashfur. he was ordered. jesu maria.

uh. spotfur. what the fuck?

okay, first of all, squilf was chosen as deputy, so yes, she does in fact inherit leadership. that's...that's just wrong.

if you want to complain about lionblaze, sure, i hate it as much as you [16]. but squilf?

yes, yes, please give me ivystar [17]. if i can't have squilfstar (and i don't think i can, hence the existence of mtbnsof [18]), please let me have ivypool. (although mousewhisker? who said that lmfao.)

uh, lionblaze? there are so many better choices. i think bristlefrost would do a better job. (that's not an idea please don't give me bristlestar.)

ayyyyy! graystripe! what a man. what a time.

(graystripe and his gd dramatic entrances.)

also it's good to see elders getting the respect they deserve. (wait what what what the fuck happened to him.)

hehe (mtbnsof spoilers) i'm glad at some level that like, i identified key things that need to happen to make the story interesting and compelling, and they're happening. tbc really is picking up with the good writing. i have a lot of thoughts about this, but mostly, like, these books have changed since when i started them, but i'm happy with where they got. also, lmao i'm dying because like, yeah fuck i don't even know, i can't believe both the worst and best parts of mtbnsof have made it into this. god. what a world.

oh thank god lionblaze is stepping down.

hey, uh...is anyone going to follow up with what graystripe was doing? this is getting sus i can't take another thing i just need to trust someone.

chapter eight

i'm still not over willowshine

i. can people decide if dark forest is punishment or. wasn't lionblaze against sending shadowsight? i can't remember shit i should be taking useful notes i have a memory problem xd

aww dovewing mom.

you know i have a quick q: in skyclan & the stranger, leafstar's kits call her mama. but i don't think we've seen any adult cats say that. what's up w that?

oh dovewing i love you but...nah i just love you

that said, uh, can shadowsight's behavior be treated consistently? i don't know something is just bothering me.

oh yeah icewing exists lmao. forgot about that. can this continue like can shadowclan be the new home for wayward souls? they kind of deserve it after all of the villains they've had. and the earliest books kind of implied shadowclan used to do that.

i really, like, okay. cats like icewing are all "durr hurr dark forest very bad" and then others are like "bruh hell is real?"

uh. nope. i hate this implication that the dark forst is poisonous. very bad very bad very bad.

aww tigerstr being a good dad. breaking the cycle. first one [19].

i really, like, why do cats blame shadowsight? he wanted to go? he wanted to be the one? like, wtf?

urgh who wants to be warriorcatsfandommisandry [20] would praise shadow's rule breaking while victim-blaming squilf for the same behavior.

well, uh, ig i'm glad mothwing secretly cares about shadowsight? like, that's kind of fixing her character. kind of.

chapter nine

wow this post is getting long whoops i mean it is all of my notes on a book. usually i condense em into the good stuff.

lmao shadowsight b like "yeah if i die sorry my dad's gonna kill u luv u thanks for coming >3"

seriously mothwing was definitely the cat to choose considering she could 100% fight. also, like, his body is at risk?

you know, i think mothwing is supposed to be having a jayfeather arc here, but it's crippled by the fact that we're not in her head [21].

how many cats are even in the dark forest wasn't this the whole plot of oots that they're all dead?

also, like, i'm glad mothwing is back to herself. i don't even care about the inconsistency i'm happy to have mothwing back.

seriously it's starting to get to me that the knowledge of the great battle is so inconsistent.

okay i like that we've ditched the "darkest thoughts" thing that was kind of stupid

squirrelflight

(i am crying she's here again fuck)

chapter ten

okay yeah valid gotta maintain that tension (altho fuck you erin hunter [5])

huh. i still kinda hate rootspring for basically no reason ngl

you know, i've never questioned this, but how the fuck does moss ball work? moss doesn't work like that god no no no i can't over think it [22].

you know, forbidden romance might be "overdone" but it's worth pointing out that we very rarely get the perspective of the cats in the forbidden romance

lmao what is it with greystripe? like? is everyone in love with him? i'm not being fair to him just...what?

emotional support wife dovewing [23]

i really wish there was a deeper bond between bris, rootspring, and shadow. i appreciate the viewpoints into different clans, but with no meaningful differences in culture, it's just weird because we're used to po3 and avos and stuff where our leads are really close to each other.

willow

willow baby

you know it's occurred to me i've never vocalized my love for willowshine on this blog before now? xd see i don't actually talk about my favorite characters that much. i talk about dovewing the most out of my top 3 (dovewing, jayfeather, willowshine, in no particular order), but they just kind of feel...too personal? because i have really specific reasons to connect with all of them.

dovewing just happens to be for reasons i'm most able to share >3

willow please don't be corrupted

chapter eleven

please i just want to know squilf is okay

bris u fucking idiot we've established the moonpool is deep. don't you remember literally yesterday?

flametail imagery

"drypaws" what a word. interesting ik leopardstar just avoided water, but here bris can't swim. i don't care i'm just happy for some gd culture

okay i've said it before and i've said it again: i draw the line at cat cpr

wait what is daisy doing? fuck was i supposed to read the novellas first? is this what daisy's kin is about? when did daisy leave? did i miss something? what's going on??

okay can we...like, cats who aren't elders trained in the dark forest. this wasn't even a full generation ago. lionblaze. breezepelt. just...guys.

tigerdove...so cute. i love them [23].

where tf are the sisters they got here so fast

like bruh...i liked the sisters but now they're like, clan on demand ghost summoners? i think? idk clearly i'm missing something very important

emotional support wife dovewing

chapter twelve

i see shadowsight and i don't see squirrelflight and i have a complaint

oh uhhh who's snowtuft again?

also i feel like, i feel like i made my point about it being empty

a light in the mist title drop dodoododod

bruh what is ashfur even

oh series one cat xd yeah that checks

look. if they're not in the allegiances, i don't remember them for shit, okay? my series one memory is excellent, it's just that series one cared about thunderclan, and, like, tallstar

squilf squilf squilf squilf squilf if she's not in this chapter i'm going to scream it is 2am bitch

I AM SCREAMING BITCH

chapter thirteen

the scream lengthens

just give me her

at least i get to spend time with willowshine?

wait mapleshade is still alive? i thought someone killed her oop

also uh yeah how did ashfur amass power like, that bitch is an incel he's done nothing but fail to kill three cats and get murdered and go to heaven

are there even enough dark forest cats for that?

rootspring this is a bad idea don't do this haven't you seen horror movies stop being the white chick

sad ghosts r sad sigh

chapter fourteen

when did warriors get all "oh no can't do multiple chapters of the same narrator in a row" please nobody fucking cares that bris is sad i just want to see squirrelflight

lmao bris like "it's illegal to be atheist" bitch i read code of the clans exactly once i know it's dovestar who tried that and the answer was no.

ah, tree. actually mediating, for once.

god, bris...why is firestar's legacy so large? like, fuck, i know why, i just...

also, tree, she said a nobel and true Clan, not the clan. so like, maybe chill out for a moment [24].

hnnnng family drama also i really like that tree loves his wife very good very good

dfskj okay mothwing missing riverclan would be much more impactful if we actually knew what was going on in riverclan. (like, say, if willowshine was a pov in this arc [25]?) also, you know, riverclan has had so many problems with treating cats badly? god, a shadow in riverclan. wait, like, shouldn't mothwing also remember/reflect on this? wait this would be so much better if we had more pov for this fuck

also fuck off bris about being proud you are so fucking priviledged your forbidded romance drama is as intense as like, idek, the notebook? from someone who lived through, uh, forbidded romance that involved threatening to send someone to conversion camp [26], fuck off

bruh. why is she acting like thunderclan is gone xd you have no idea what it's like for a clan to almost fall apart yeah i stand by my comments on shadow/skyclan.

"what will my place be?" it will be a fucking warrior of thunderclan??? all you've ever wanted???? god she's...look i get it she's like, my age. and lord knows i don't react gracefully to shit. she's stressed, i get it. i do. but also, just, ffs bris. get it together.

"you die in the dark forest, you die in real life" can we meme that?

oooh okay it would be really good to get all three pov cats in the dark forest [27].

also, how long has rootspring been down there? how does this work? what's up with shadowsight? what is anything even? how long has it been?

thank you mothwing for pointing out bristlefrost is extremely unexperienced.

also can i just say, i really like bris' name? like i think bristlefrost is an extremely cute and good name. cute in that it's cute and good in that it conveys her character well.

god i want mothwing pov on this [25].

why is bris so convinced that if she doesn't act, rootspring isn't coming back?

chapter fifteen

wow i had a lot of notes on last chapter huuuh

oh vibe do i finally get squilf

stopping caring about bramble shadow no one fucking cares

seriously when did ashfur get this, uh, good at being a villain?

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

she's

here

fuck i'm crying

poor bb i just. poor baby.

okay. ashfur. let me making something clear.

i do not understand why in the world squilf would ever choose bramble [28]. but you're fucked as a choice.

ffs yellowfang this is why we don't say "his only crime was loving too much"

okay well as much as i'm confused by his power his characterization here is fantastic. i'm really glad we got ashfur back as a villain, you know.

good job squirrelflight. do not take unnecessary blame.

(also please learn to transfer these skills to your pos husband.)

#when you can't get her to love you by killing her husband and dragging her into hell so you think you can make her love you by showing her how you're torturing the souls of her loved ones

you know i had the snowtuft thing spoiled for me i just forgot who snowtuft was so it had 0 impact

damn bramblestar is still alive.

dammit.

people kept calling lionblaze deputy don't do that to me if you're not following through on it ffs

okay not to pimp out my own fic but if you're interested in a squirrelstar au, "may there be no sadness of farewell" is my squils (squirrelstar) au and it does have an imposter arc. so you know. if that's your thing.

hnng my thoughts on bramble [29] aside i can appreciate the drama

ashfur. ashfur. ashfur you fucking idiot you're the one fighting her. also fuuuck i love this character. if i was bookmarking this on ao3 you know it'd get the "hot damn" tag.

huh. uh, wow. good chapter. hot damn. loved it. loved it so much.

hate what it means for my hopes and dreams, but very good. very intense. i approve.

chapter sixteen

eh, wasn't she going to the dark forest? did i forget something?

ohhh dream

huh this is interesting

and cute.

i love the "everything is fine" trope so much tho

does...did no one ever describe ashfur to bris?

you know, i think this is why so many people, me included, go with the we-don't-talk-about-our-villains thing. sure, it makes some bits awkward, but...yeesh

huh. weird chapter. both impactful and kinda meh.

chapter seventeen

you know i'm feeling a lot of things right now, and i might have to just give in and finish this damn thing.

we'll see.

willow willow willow willow willow

sigh ffuuuck she's dead. i'm sad. i'm going to write a fic about her. "under a willow tree" i have plans. it's going to be good.

yeah see okay. i made a joke about warriors needing to make not talking about shit part of the culture and i'm glad they did because it works

squilf!!!!!!!!!

oh fuck i'm crying again. my girl. she's here. she's here.

of course they saved you!!!!!! you're!!!!! squilf!!!!!!

please get nine lives.

please.

let the body be dead.

let bramble die.

please.

chapter eighteen

okay seriously i really want to memify "if you die in the dark forest, you die in real life"

oh rip shadow's ear. that sucks. huh. i'm gonna have to explore this, too. esp. w dovewing.

eeeeee mothwing being mothwing again i'm happy

willow

mothwing stick to ur guns for a moment

also i appreciate the "u can't tell me what to do i'm a med cat" thing going on

hehe tigerdad (where's dovewing my beloved)

chapter nineteen

wow okay i'm 3/4 of the way through

dammit rip squilf something something exploring some canon complient stuff.

huh, shadowsight. do you think maybe. being in the dark forest. is bad. do you think. maybe.

bruh shadow way to go call out your own father smh.

mothwing, my dear, you're the one who didn't want to treat him like that. i mean i'm glad you're standing up for him but this kind of makes your whole treatment of him feel like a plot device.

okay, i'm glad that's a formal thing, med cats > leaders, that makes me happy

i really want to know what alderheart is up to.

yeah really why have they waited so long. i mean i forgot about them too but the sisters seem like an obvious choice? since they're here?

(also i'm still really confused by the daisy thing.)

heh i really do need to read squilf's hope. i've been putting it off (i don't want to read cft, but...), but i think it's about time.

rootspring what? okay going to read it now ig

okay okay i'm really glad the sisters are like fuck we're done w y'all cause that's been a long time coming

what debt where the sisters in to the clans XD???

chapter twenty one

"moonpond"xxd i'm dying

awww tigerdad

don't the sisters know the basics of herbal healthcare?

poor tigerstar. no no guys. his wife was in a dangerous prophecy, and now his son is. :(

tigerdad!!!!!!!

ohhh this chapter hit hard

chapter twenty two

"the sign of a true leader" is...talking fast?

dfsjadfskj rootspring you are lead by leafstar the best and most capable leader the fuck are you talking about

:((((((((( brambles........alive

is squirrelstar so much to ask for

y'all're lucky i was going to release "ilex aquafolium" tonight as a follow-up to "better left unsaid" because freyja (my cat) chose it to be next in the rotation but i might end up finishing chapter three of "may there be no sadness of farewell" first because coping

chapter twenty three

you know writing that chapter did not take me better i forgot mtbnsof is angst until like...the epilogue

heyyy they're back....i'm.....soo....happy...about......this [30]

i mean i feel like every one is way too trusting how do u know it's the real squilf?

shadowsight bris rootspring polycule? just a thought

oh. so that's it, then.

you know, i enjoyed it.

citation: a moonkitti video ↩︎

see here to read it, but...you could probably get it in canon ↩︎

legally i have to tell you i haven't actually read this yet ↩︎

please let me have this. ↩︎

where "erin hunter" refers to the collective who writes warriors ↩︎ ↩︎

it's called "leader chance" if you're interested ↩︎

okay, techincally i was talking about riverclan dens, but it's close. ↩︎

for my own personal reference, pg 50 on phone. about 19% ↩︎

warrior cats still hasn't invented cheating. also, no, i'm not going overboard on the footnotes. ↩︎

nts, do this. or add on to like "daughter of mine" or "secrets passed over in the dead of night" ↩︎

gives more weight to sunset and evening star. ↩︎

although also guys it's not that out of character for her. like, she's always been quick to do what she thinks is right, and this time, it's the wrong thing. you know? ↩︎

including my own fuck. ↩︎

spoilers for mtbnsof. i mean i know i killed willow for exactly the same reason but...why'd they have to lift all of my least favorite parts of squilfstar. ↩︎

squilf but for squirrelstar. coined in my drafting notes for mtbnsof ↩︎

to be clear, he's wrong, i just wouldn't bother arguing because it's annoying having lionblaze as clan leader. ↩︎

nts: do something with this. mtbnsof spoilers. even if i don't end up going through to squils death, i want to do something with ivystar, preferably before the entire clan is ocs. ↩︎

in case you're new here, my ao3 is mallowstep and mtbnsof stands for may there be no sadness of farewell, a squirrelstar au that begins at the end of lost stars. ↩︎

"love knows no bounds (but maybe it should)" (unannounced) spoilers. ...i say, knowing about how he's, uh, not in lknb. ↩︎

hopefully, i'm speaking ill of the dead and not summoning the devil. hopefully. ↩︎

yes of course i will now be writing that thank you for calling me out. we will also be exploring her relationship with religion. title? unsure, but we might reuse "i'll believe the wind is calling me" since that has been scrapped and salvaged ↩︎

only valid kit play scene is now the one at the beginning of the sight. ↩︎

no tigerdove discourse please. i'm not in the mood for it. play nice. ↩︎ ↩︎

although to be clear, the only actually noble and true clans, at least time of this book, are shadowclan and skyclan. ↩︎

nts - "under a willow tree" ↩︎ ↩︎

oh. so that's why i don't like her. ↩︎

it triples my odds of seeing squilf. ↩︎

i do. i really, really do. but until the erins acknowledge it, i try to ignore it in canon. otherwise i get too sad. ↩︎

as mentioned before, when i'm interacting with canon, my standards are a lot lower. because i like to enjoy the stories. that's why i write fix-it fic. ↩︎

i'm crying ↩︎

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

Could you make, like, a quick list of all the important events in vos? I’m seeing so much happening and I’m getting very confused. -someone who doesn’t have time to read the books but likes to know what’s happening

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

i hope it doesn’t have to be in chronological order

-shadowsight is half dead in a ditch, spiresight helps him, he discovers he can do neato things as a ghost and he goes to find out who tried to kill him and the guy possessing bramblestar tells him he did it and also it was “hard to make out his pelt color” but he had /dark blue eyes/

-spiresight gets rootpaw to help shadowsight and shadowsight recovers in skyclan

-tigerstar thinks (and is right) about bramblestar trying to kill shadowsight and wants to kill bramblestar (rightfully)

-leafstar finally decides to believe shadowclan and the rebels

-squirrelflight has to beg everyone to not kill bramblefake because bramblestar will need his body back even though rootpaw (now a warrior) hasn’t seen him in like a month

-squirrelflight tells bristlefrost to keep bramblestar’s body safe

-a group of rebels attacks the fake to kill him but somehow even though it was like 5 cats versus 1 for like at least a solid minute they apparently could hardly even make a scratch on him and three cats died including stemleaf, conefoot, and dappletuft

-bristlefrost faints from stemleaf’s death

-rootpaw was made a medicine cat apprentice for like 3 days since he could speak to ghosts but he sucked and hated it so he became a warrior after saving shadowsight

-bramblefake kicked out jayfeather and alderheart and made flipclaw the medicine cat because he had a dream about giant birds attacking him, he sucks at being a medicine cat and brightheart tries to help him but bramblestar screams at her to get the fuck out

-graystripe spoke up against bramblefake and fake mcfakerson scratched his face and like 1/3rd of thunderclan left with graystripe (including blossomfall and bumblestripe which i respect)

-oh yeah bramblefake exiled berrynose because he didn’t come help him fight the rebels fast enough and made bristlefrost deputy, everyone in thunderclan hates bristlefrost, and because she didn’t help kill bramblefake the rebels also hated bristlefrost, but she proved to rootspring and the rebels that she isn’t on his side finally

-shadowsight has a vision and eats death berries to knock himself unconscious so he can travel as a ghost and go into the moonpool which apparently leads directly to the dark forest where he finds bramblestar stuck in a tree trunk and finds starclan (a starry pool of water?) covered in brambles and stuff so they’re basically stuck

-shadowsight vomits up the death berry and lives

-shadowclan skyclan and the rebels are planning an attack against thunder river and wind, thunder thinks sky is on their side as thunder sneak attacks shadowclan before THEIR sneak attack, skyclan shows up and attacks thunderclan

-everything is terrible, berrynose betrays the rebels and attacks tawnypelt who fucking eviscerates him because she’s amazing

-rosepetal, strikestone, smokehaze, frondwhisker, and softpelt also die in the battle as well, there’s like no reaction from their loved ones

-also squirrelflight faked her death so bramblefake would stop looking for her, she asked jayfeather to scratch her to make enough blood but could easily heal and jayfeather was like “wtf NO” and mothwing was like “I’LL DO IT” which honestly i loved that moment

-also also rootspring confesses to bristlefrost about his feelings for her and she reciprocates them even though we’ve also had her pov this entire series and we as the readers never

saw her develop or have feelings for rootspring it’s always been about stemleaf, the closest thing is that like she was specifically sad that rootspring might’ve thought she was a traitor too

-however the seen was up a tree and really cute honestly it reminded me of oakheart and bluestar

-squirrelfligh becomes “leader” of thunderclan and makes lionblaze her deputy even though it’s been shown that he has no control of himself physically and also in the book there was like a line that lionblaze sounded like a leader and i was like “you better fucking stop that”

-oh yeah, dappletuft, that warrior that got killed trying to kill bramblefake, mistystar had riverclan not sit vigil for her and buried her like they would a rogue, not even her family got to sit vigil

-also mistystar exiled icewing and harelight after the battle because they were fitting alongside shadowclan and the rebels even though she knows now that they were right this whole time, she let’s mothwing back in but mothwing is like “fucking no mistystar, i’m not coming back to a clan that’ll just exile me because of how i was born even though i’ve been nothing but loyal and have literally done nothing wrong and because some other leader told them too, and who just throws out their warriors even though they were doing the right thing” and she’s absolutely right and mistystar might be one of my least favorite leaders

-tigerstar invited icewing, harelight, and mothwing to join shadowclan which is fucking wild but i can’t wait to see that and i am BEGGING you erins to let this mean we’ll get tawnypelt and mothwing sister bonding erins PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU, ALSO THIS MEANS SHADOWSIGHT GETS TO BOND WITH HIS GREAT AUNT MOTHWING

-oh yeah the book ends with squirrelflight realizing who the possessor is but before she gets to announce it (it’s ashfur, we all know it’s ashfur)

[ironxkid]

1, 2, 9, and 23 for the salty asks meme!

Salty Ask List

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

hoo boy, I do not understand Moonlight/Squirrelflight at all - Moonlight is absolutely terrible and while Squilf 100% deserves better than Bramblestar, she also deserves better than Moonlight bc she’s just... awful fsdgjhsdgfkj (Warriors related)

also I don’t understand Daisy/Ward anymore (I did at first! and then the whole HYDRA revelation happened), Tony/Steve (MCU at least, idk about their comic counterparts gfjdfshj), and Yon-Rogg/Carol Dancers (like,,, y’all--) are a few marvel related ones that I can think of off the top of my head fdhjfdh

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*

uhh Tony and Natasha (again, mcu specific bc I know nothing about the comics), Tony and Steve again fdgjhsdf, Hill and Fury (tbh, I kinda ship Hill/Coulson? but I honestly really like Hill, Fury, and Coulson as a platonic bunch fdghjsfd), Mousefur and Longtail (Mousefur is aroace and you can pry that from my cold dead hands dfgjhsdf; Warriors), and Needletail and Alderheart (I get why people ship them? but idk I never really felt it!; also Warriors)

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

man, fuck Ashfur dfsghjgd - he’s one of the worst. I mean, you want an incel character? you get an incel character dfgshjd (Warriors)

Moonlight bc she’s just... awful in her own right; K*lo R*n mainly bc of the fandom tbh, but he’s also awful (at least in the movies - I’m not into the SW EU so idk anything about that); Howard Stark (he’s a douche tbh); Meredith Harper (she was just,, annoying tbh sghjfd; Castle)

23. Unpopular character you love?

Victoria Gates! I mean, I didn’t like her at first but she definitely grew on me gdshjdfs (Castle); I’m gonna bend unpopular here for a mo, bc he’s unpopular in the terms of just not paid attention to vs one commonly disliked, but Shrewtooth! I just love him so much fdgshjfsd (Warriors); Christina Everhart! I mean... I don’t care for her really? bc she was unnecessarily rude to Pepper in IM1, but she grew on me pretty quick in that movie bc she’s got guts - I mean, she confronted Tony about Gulmira at the gala without really knowing how he was gonna react. and if she confronted Obadiah instead? that would’ve gone south for her and I respect her determination tbh; and uhhh Vincent Nigel-Murray (Bones)! now, I honestly dunno if he’s popular or not in the fandom? since I’m not really in it, but I love his character a lot and I don’t see/hear much about him dsfghjsdfhj

[stimmypaw]

stimmypaw reads Thunder & Shadow, another blog post

much like the first time, I am continuing to read A Vision of Shadows for the first time and sharing my thoughts as I go! This post of course has a bunch of spoilers for Thunder and Shadow. It’s all in the read more, have fun!

I'm so glad echosong is okay but what will she do??? Where will she go??? I'm so worried

I don't like it that Briarlight is stuck in the medicine den all day, love to see her playing with kits and showing her strength tho she's so sweet and good she deserves better

Now littlecloud is sick too???? Fuck!!!!

Also seems Needlepaw and Alderpaw haven't managed to get along better yet, maybe Alderpaw can talk to her through Leafpool since she's going to Shadowclan?

Also graystripe is awful as always and I love him 2 bits

I love Rowanstar's character too, he's so stupidly proud. Shadowclan has a fun trend of having a long line of mediocre to awful leaders and I feel bad for Tawnypelt, Shadowclans braincell who should be leader.

Jayfeather is gonna miss his friends

YES, SKYCLAN!!!! SKYCLANNNN

Twigkit lifting her front paws im 💖💖💖💖 AAAAA BABY

Graystripe :] he's silly

Omg feather time

If something bad happens to this feather ill fraud my taxes I will commit many crimes this delivery must happen safely and if anyone takes it from violetkit I will Kill

Omg sleekpaw don't be so mean poor littlecloud :c medicine cats are important!!

I see alderpaw leaving his feather behind alderpaw get it to violetkit Now

Oh God imagine being puddlekit, shadowclan needs to get its shit together real fast

Leafpool is just that picture (i do not see) while trying to process the mess they got her in

OKAY SO I'm glad he's getting along with needlepaw and that he can finally give violetkit her feather but LITTLECLOUD GUYS??? LITTLECLOUD?????????

My heart melted with violetkit, this was so sweet, why are the queens so mean to her??? She's just an autistic icon bro!! Like every cat I like in these books.

Alderpaw: hey I have an idea, why don't we commit crimes?

Needlepaw: FINALLY I THOUGHT YOUD NEVER ASK

VIOLETKIT POINT OF VIEW FINALLY???? FUCK YES YESSSS YES YES SHADOWCLAN TIME IM SO HAPPY THIS IS SO COOL

Last time this happened the character immediately died tho

Hm

I am suffering for violetkit

i wish violetkit would spend more time with leafpool im sure she’d be caring maybe?? maybe im just desperate for violetkit to be loved

no one here knows how to treat a kit

OH YES YESSS

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS SSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHEYRE TOGETHER AGAIN

im so sad

im 

broooooo

aaaaa i hope needlepaw treats violetkit better from now on, this is hearbreaking.

Fuck I knew it, the rogues are coming for them aren’t they? And where’s Skyclan now????? fuck fuck fuck

ok I have no clue who Fernsong is but he’s funny already why is he like this what is happening why is he blocking them from looking at Honeykit while talking about how worried he is about her?? Absolutely misterious I love him

  Jayfeather 🤝 Yellowfang

 “I don’t want kits around me”

oh the girls are fighting

oh the girls ARE fighting

furzepelt had a cool name im sorry to hear he only existed to die immediately :c

onestar also is very proud, im glad he accepted help this time tho

SPARKPAW MED CAT MOMENT HAHAH

i forgot bumblestripe was a cat and i was wondering if it was just a typo for bramble

also what’s up with dove and tiger??? i forgot everything about their relationship in the previous books because i don’t care about it and the erins tend to write some pretty boring straight couples

the way they’re described makes me feel like needlepaw and sleekpaw are just differently colored versions of each other at times, are they related?? they don’t seem to be.

and here’s the bit that’s previewed, oh boy, it must have been seriously scary being violetkit, but i hope they don’t convince her the clans hate her :c thunderclan likes her shadowclan just sucks

What do these background cats want from Twigkit???? To shoot lasers out of her eyes?? I guess she isn’t magical or anything but also she’s just a kit??? Firepaw was also just a kittypet and he’s a big deal :/// y’all just don’t get it, I hope Twigkit doesn’t get Dovepaw’s protagonist anxiety

I know Twigkit is being scolded but this scene is just so cute like Jayfeather is just tucking her in a moss bed while being mad at her for leaving camp

Thats another one I need to draw i love them

SPARKPELT YESSSSS YESS SYE SYES YES 🎊🎉🎉🎉🎊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈💖💖💖💖💖💕💖💕💖💕💖💕💕

Mothwing ableist????? That's cringe

Omg poor kestrelflight

Jayfeather misses Leafpool so bad, Puddlepaw must feel awful though

OLD AGE? H HOW OLD IS LEAFPOOL THEN???

?????? OH GOD IM LOVING THIS???

This apprentice rebellion is Nuts its so good oh fuck!!! I'm loving whats happening here its awful and perfect

Violetkit is getting bitter :c she needs 2 be embraced and loved stat

She is also clearly getting some bad dependency and abandonment issues, desperate to do anything to please so she won't be left alone again :c

FUCK NO NO NO AAAA NEEDLEPAW WHAT WWERE YOU THUNKING??????? JESUS POOR VIOLETKIT

Kitnapping, this is bad

Oh, very interesting

These apprentices and rogues are so smart god this is a perfect plan

Twigkit absolutely is the sunshine

I love her interactions with Alderpaw, I wish she had gotten to see her sister

In comparison Violetkit looking around camp desperate for attention is awful

Oh fuck bribing

NEEDLEPAW DONT BE MEAN TO VIOLETKIT :C

Oh fuck ou fuck the 4chan kids are angry

??? BRO WHAT??? DONT KICK OUT VIOLETKIT, THATS WHY YOUR APPRENTICES TURNED INTO ANCAPS DAMN

I'm angy

Oh no

Something bad happened :c

Bramblestar: good day!

Rowanstar: Oh Is it??? You could say that while starving in winter, cringe ass

Mistystar: its not winter tho

Onestar: well you're fat

God rowanstar must be obliterated

Hey where's the rowanstars maps use idk loon on a lake or something this man has angst!!!

I appreciate Ivypool is her mentor, at least Someone is honest about whats going on and hey they can both relate on the fear of not being special! Ivypool can be very good to Twigpaw im counting on her

Oh fuck

Violetpaw sounds like she's in trouble with the rogues :c aa

AAAA TWIGPAWWWW AAAA

Violetpaw don't be mean about your sister :C she misses you so bad

Sleekwhisker is like that dad that let his kid starve until she learned to open a bean can she didn't want

Holy fuck

Aaaa violetpaw D:

Jesus christ that was awful

That was so intense I was so nervous for Violetpaw, I'm really happy for her now aaaa

Another gathering already? Wowie

I hope Shadowclan gets those herbs soon :c

I see he appeal in FernIvy and I appreciate it

Violetpaw and Twigpaw sharing a den my heart......this is IT

Jayfeather: I want to steal

I'm listening to Burn Pygmalion! and "viscious kin" is very fitting for this series ehhehe

I love violetpaw and twigpaw btw

IM CRYING

I cant believe Alderpaw is an all lives matter kinda guy

Yesss rebel get those herbs alreadyyy

Starclan has agreed to let kestrelflight kill onestar, goodbye onestar /j

Epic I love you harespring

Alderpaw being confused at Jayfeather saying he is proud is the Best

What an ending! Terrifying and hopeful at the same time, I am very excited to see the hijinks Bramblestar and Rowanstar will get into and how they will go searching for Skyclan, it was PAINFUL to have that prologue talking about them with 0 hope of them showing up again Nothing Nada Zilch, feels like that and the ending were just 2 remind us that that was still the major plot point hahaha, I appreciate it I guess. I'm glad Violetpaw and Twigpaw are on uh good terms despite it all, not very ideal and they're both upset but they still consider each other siblings and know they care about each other :'0 Alderheart getting his name is epic too!!! I was hoping he would soon. I loved everything about his interactions with Jayfeather here, loved all the characterizations really it was just top notch, Onestar being a bastard, Needletail, OH AND SHADOWCLAN JOINING THE ROGUES, top notch!!!! The ancap apprentices were a riot.

This was a good book!!! Flowed very nicely and smoothly, reading in shadowclan's point of view for more than around 3 chapters was great. I can barely wait for the rest!!! Will Violetpaw find belonging in this new era of Shadowclan??? Or will she leave again??? Will Alderheart somehow figure out where Skyclan is and get them together at the lake??? Will Twigpaw get all the spicy details of Dovewing's secret romance with Tigerheart??? Who knows!! But I am very excited to find out what happens next :D

[the-broken-code-rewrite]

My favorite neurodivergent HC is Alderheart having Autism/Asperger's. Felt this a lot in TAQ but the writers couldn't seem to keep his personality consistent from TAS onwards :(. I can also see Violetshine with PTSD after her time with Darktail's Kin.

What do you mean autistic Alderheart isn’t literally canon? Boy also has an anxiety disorder for sure

Also Violetshine absolutely has PTSD... a lot of cats in the Clans probably do tbh

[oakyhearts]

VoS Spoilers

Ok VoS was SO GOOD so I’m gonna ramble about it below 

First off I’m still incredibly upset that they brought Ashfur back and turned him into... well, this. His name has not been mentioned yet but it’s pretty clear it’s him like there’s no doubt. I really liked that, despite all that happened in the power of three arc, Ashfur went to starclan and he and Hollyleaf came to an understanding where they didn’t disrespect each other and lived on their lives up there. But now that’s ruined so Ashfur is back and even more horrible like... please Erins if people didn’t hate him already he’s just unlikable now.

Also I am very sad about Berrynose’s death. He is another character that was pretty much ruined. I remember when Brambleclaw was still Brambleclaw and Daisy first came to thunderclan, he was SO excited to mentor Berrynose, and Berrynose was always kind to his mates, but they were really set on turning him into an asshole?? After Honeyfern’s death and all I feel like Berrynose could have had great potential as a character but nope. But yah I am really sad he is gone.

Things I DID enjoy:

- The exile cats deciding NOT to kill Bramblestar cuz they don’t want Berrynose to become leader. This was so funny to me

- Rootspring and Bristlefrost... be still my heart. I’d die for them and I really hope they can be mates after all this is over

- Alderheart being absolutely DONE with Flipclaw. He brought a kit back from god knows where and pretty much helped raise her but when it comes to training a cat how to use herbs? He’s having none of it

- Spiresight and Shadowsight interaction was great. I’m glad they got to reunite

- TIGERSTAR BEING GOOD AGAIN. In Tigerheart’s shadow he was so good but as soon as he became leader they turned him into an asshole? In this book he’s back to his old character, and I really love that he’s compassionate once again

- This may be a little triggering, but Shadowsight purposely killing himself. It was always something I wondered about, I mean I know they’re cats but, there’s so many ways it could be done, especially with the death berries, I’m surprised no cat has done it before. I understand it’s a very dark topic, and Shadowsight had a reasoning behind it, but it was really interesting to read him do that just so he could help his clan

Anyways the book was incredible I enjoyed every page of it and I am very excited to see what happens next now that Squirrelflight knows it’s Ashfur. I can’t imagine Jayfeather and Lionblaze will be very happy about it either