#and its another thing to literally outright have them be actually ostracized by society for it....

[oflgtfol]

listen i love soulmate aus but also it is fucked up how some of yall fully lean into the “in the event that a character doesnt have a soulmate, they are fully 100% ostracized from society and its seen as something fucked up about the character, that they’re broken/unloveable/evil/unworthy/etc, but also then the twist at the end is that they DO have a soulmate :D and so the happy ending is that this one character was NOT broken or otherwise fucked up! the fact that the ostracization of people without soulmates exists is never unpacked or resolved and its just brushed under the rug”

like uhm. OKAY LMAO

[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!!

[lateforcoffee]

This is a little political but please open a debate, this an important topic

Violence.

Violence is everywhere in American culture. Its so prominent in our every day lives that one could say we as humans almost seem to crave some sort of violence. From violent movies featuring idolized super heroes literally getting their head cut off or gunning through hordes of unnamed faceless goons, to video games where an entire feature is that you can murder random people in a number of whacky ways, to novels which have been around far far longer than either of my previous points that contain violence of some kind.

Now. Is it an insane assumption to connect the dots and believe that the crime rate and mass murder rate is directly affected by these forms of media? No. It makes sense with ver little thought required. I see violence; I want to emulate violence.

Now heres where i interject and propose this radical new idea that can be applied to more than violence.

Perhaps we crave violent media because it is a moral, ethical, and guilt free way to feel empowered. To scratch an itch. Some would turn away, deeply disturbed, from Grand Theft Auto's realistic environment inwhich you have the option to mow people down in any kind of car you can think of only to murder droves and droves of cops. GTA is a low hanging fruit but it sends the message. Its disturbing. Outright morbid. The things you CAN do are truly vile and no person should ever wish to do them in a real world setting.

You're driving to work. You cant find your keys and so you cant brush your teeth or eat or really get cosy before commuting to work. You're already a little disgruntled. Its a hot summer day and the steering wheel is too hot to touch and the car seat is sticking to you and no matter how hard you crank it the AC just wont give anything. Then you pull out... and into a mile of traffic. Traffic so bad the radio is talking about how they pitty you if you're heading to work. You get to work an hour late. You're hot. You're tired. You dont want to be here. Your boss chews you up and spits you out. By now, any reasonable person would want to tear their hair out and scream in frustration. Its normal. Its /human/. Lets say you're not fased by GTA's violence or any other graphic media that portrays violence sickeningly realistically. If you were to go home in this exhausted, hot, and angry state you might want to find a way to vent that out before it hurts something or someone. You could go for a run, maybe do some yoga. Follow your hobby. But if your hobby is to immerse yourself in a fantasy for a few hours a day then why not endulge in some violence in a safe place?

Just like violent art, no one is actually getting hurt. Theres no blood or blame for anyone to carry as burden for the rest of their lives.

But of course we still have mass shootings and murder and rape. But perhaps these stem from mental illness and unwellness, being disturbed in a fragile state such as childhood, wreaking a sad and horrowing cycle of abuse from father to child. We are, collectively, working towards understanding why people feel that way. What goes so wrong in someone's life or chemistry that they cant control their violent tendencies. That they actively wish to fulfill them.

When you pick up a good book you know the characters will stay in the pages and your mind. You wouldnt run around screaming about the one true ring or how you need to get to Hogwarts after you read. For some people the line between reality and fiction is blurred, however. And why this line is blurred or missing entirely is important to know. Imagine for a moment that all of your favorite characters and villains never stopped following you after you consumed their media. It would be horrible, and in some cases, very scary.

Back on topic a little. You just got home and you're exhausted and angry and you dont want to talk to anyone or even hear your name. So you do some yoga. You make something. You feel better. Theres a sense of fulfillment that follows you doing that hobby or activity. Violent media is no different. We consume it so much because, deep down, a staggering amount of us dont like an equally staggering amount of everyone else. We know, though, and in our stable mental health, that we cant just punch Richard in the face for being a dick to you at work. Your boss gets angry, Richard gets angry, people are scared, nothing sensible comes from that. It just makes a bad situation worse.

In a movie henchmen and mobs of animals or other miscellaneous aliens and creatures are killed over and over and over in pursuit of the hero achieving their ultimate goal: stop the bad guy. In a movie does the hero face immediate repercussions from punching some random guy in the face? Of course not. Nobody was actually punched and we know that no one was hurt in the end. But the look, the sound, the violence that follows the characters is fulfilling and relieving.

Now to the other things i mentioned forever ago. Sex. Sex is, for some reason, taboo in America. You dont say you have sex, you dont share porn, you actively deny the existence of porn in public otherwise you face social ostracizing.

Porn is quite literally a sexual movie. Its soul purpose is to provide an experience you might not be able to do safely right now or at all. You probably wouldnt just watch porn just to watch porn. Its boring like that. Theres no fulfillment from it. You watch it and consume it to achieve that fulfillment. That fantasy of that fetish.

If you take away porn you take away that same style of vent for those other less than comfortable emotions (anger, sadness, anxiety,) and you, in my opinion, make things worse. Theres no longer a safe place or way to express that feeling. You cant find the same fulfillment and some will get restless. It will drive others mad and these emotions that build up without fulfillment get stronger and stronger until the consequences of your actions no longer stunt you and you lash out at somebody. That creates a dangerous environment. Another plus side to porn is that we get to explore ourselves intimately which is an important part of life. It will help you to explore your mate or partner more intimately as well.

How about self worth. Self worth is a really important part of personality. You need to value and validate yourself otherwise you become depressed and recluse from society. So why not have another safe place to express yourself? Like Tumblr. You can post almost anything you want and talk about almost anything you want(I say almost because certain topics and media are banned by our government and our society looks down on other topics such as racism). You could play a game where you're an epic unstoppable knight and for a while feel powerful and in control. Or you could watch an action movie and get your fix that way.

In conclusion. I believe we need violent media and most importantly we need to internally moderate ourselves. You are the only person and being that has ultimate control over you. YOU decide what you say and how you say it. YOU decide what media you see and how you think of it. YOU need to be the one in control of your media. Know your boundaries and keep yourself safe, happy, and fulfilled.