#but shes still a thunderclan pov :(

[yuridovewing]

I haven't read TBC yet but I already know for certain that in my rewrite in my head, Needleclaw is the protag not Rootspring

[boilingrain]

I’m almost completely done with the allegiances for Floodwaters but I have run into a small problem

So I decided to have one Main/POV character in each clan and I’ve already decided the POV characters of Thunderclan, Shadowclan and Windclan (Hawktail, Blackberrynose and Snowfeather respectively) but I can’t decide which Riverclan cat should be the POV character

With the other POV characters, I decided while writing down notes about their personalities that I wanted to show things through their eyes. I didn’t really go into this with plans about specifically who would be the main characters (since the main characters from the original version, After the Flood, have been deleted from existence because the original draft of the story with the allegiances was lost when I moved computers and Minnow is really the only remaining character from the original because I forgot everybody else)

I’m considering Aspennose but idk

[angsttronaut]

My Changing Skies Predictions : D

Leafstar going blind will be treated as a fate worse than death.

Squirrelstar will be constantly mocked by the narrative and characters alike. Thunderclan will lament that Bramblestar was a much better leader.

While making reasonable decisions, Skyclan treats Leafstar like Squirrelflight was treated as interim leader during TBC.

Moonpaw is a Nightsun baby. She'll get along with and admire Nightheart, but resent and have a difficult relationship with Sunbeam.

Events from past arcs will be brought up in an attempt by the Erin Hunter Collective to show that they totally know their stuff. All of these callbacks will be entirely superficial.

Tigerheartstar's characterisation will change on a whim.

Windclan won't get to do anything. Whistlepaw is mentioned exactly once.

At some point the narrative makes it clear that the writers think Tawnypelt joined Shadowclan after Tigerstar died.

At least one of the three POV characters has barely any plot material. Despite this, they still get equal screen time with the other two characters.

Moonpaw is a medicine cat apprentice. She struggles with horrific things happening to her constantly, and a connection she once thought was to Starclan turns out to be to something much darker. She ends up ostracised because everyone around her doesn't believe her for arbritary reasons.

Starclan do terrible things. One of the morals of the arc is that Starclan is still the most important part of Clan life.

The only thing that is destroyed by Twolegs is the Moonpool. They find a new one (with Tawnypelt or Leafstar sacrificing their lives so it can be found). This restores the status quo.

One of the Erin Hunters declares that they believe wholeheartedly in Starclan and have decided to found the first IRL Moonstone.

[bonefall]

BB!Nightcloud

Nightcloud Woobification Army ASSEMBLE.

There's actually very little canon information on Nightcloud outside of how her ex-mate deflects blame onto her, which she is notoriously demonized for. So for Better Bones, I've cooked up a backstory from scratch! I feel this character deserves to exist outside of her romantic relationship, y'know?

Make sure to check the BB!WindClan Family Tree if you recognize any of the repurposed Missing Kits!

Clanmew Name: Oogarhai (The period of time where the sun has set + fat cloud) Official nickname: Nico (NIghtClOud), Oogi (OOGarhaI)

Alignment: WindClan

Relationships: Ex-mate - Crowfeather Child - Breezepelt Family (all deceased) - Hillrunner (Mi), Downwind (aunt, bio-mother), Tawnyfur (sister), Crowfur (grandparent) Mentor - Addersong

Nightcloud is a controversial warrior of WindClan, and also among its largest, strongest cats. She continuously finds herself tangled up in nearly every massive conflict since the day they arrived at the lake, with only some of these events being things she ever had a choice to be involved in.

Though she yearns for a more peaceful life, her violent, stressful childhood following the WindClan Massacre carved deep distrust of outsiders into her bones. It lead her to the lowest point in her life, fighting for Mudclaw during the WindClan Civil War. The following years of distrust, Crowfeather's mistreatment, and the abuse towards her son, Breezepelt, made much of Nightcloud's life lonely and stressful.

In spite of that, she absolutely adores her son and stands by his side no matter what. After the secret that Crowfeather sired kits with a ThunderClan Cleric is revealed and he is banished for a few moons for dramatic, codebreaking behavior at the reveal, a "spell" that he cast over WindClan begins to lift. In his absence, Nightcloud is able to truly begin fixing her reputation.

Though Breezepelt still has a way to fall as a new POV in BB!AVoS, where his treatment as a Dark Forest trainee drives him to join Darktail's cult, Nightcloud's life begins to turn around after her mateship with Crowfeather crumbles. After participating in a secret plan to rescue her boy and several Kin members under the command of her future leader and son-in-law, Harespring, she is solidified as one of the most powerful fighters in the entire Clan and occupies a lofty position as one of its most reliable brawlers.

She's also developing a friendship with Willowclaw about it, which is neat.

Glossary

Upbringing

WindClan Civil War

Mateship & Abuse

Breezepelt and BB!AVoS

Trivia and Misc

Upbringing

The Mothermouth Moorland War came to a cruel and bloody quietus at the claws of Brokenstar's ShadowClan, ending a three-generation long conflict with an event called the WindClan Massacre. Along with the rest of their Clan, a pair of twins was forced into exile; Downwind and Hillrunner.

They looked out for each other, and ferociously protected the tattered Clan while living in the Tangle of Thunderpaths. It was hard, but they had each other and that was enough.

After Bluestar's champion, Fireheart, fetched WindClan to bring them home, Downwind soon gave birth to her first litter. A pair of sisters; one of them practically a little copy of her mother... and the other one who looked hilariously nothing like anyone in their family. The twin girls were named Nightkit, and Tawnykit.

They'd barely settled in before Nightstar and Crookedstar turned on them, attacking to try and drive them out AGAIN. If it wasn't for Bluestar and her reinforcements, ThunderClan's charity, they might have succeeded.

But this time, Downwind refused to run. Hillrunner saw her twin, limp, red, and ragged outside the nursery. The kits were too young to remember her, or to understand the significance of their new Mi's anguished cries that night. They came so far together, only for Hillrunner to lose her other half in the place where things were supposed to get better.

NOTE: On adopting the kits, Hillrunner is then considered their "Mi," a primary parent in Clan culture. Her biological relation as the aunt is superseded.

Nightkit and Tawnykit only knew Hillrunner as their Mi. They only know that Downwind was identical to her-- except for a scar across Hiller's nose.

Hillrunner was notoriously short tempered, paranoid, and easily offended. She shouldn't have been raising kits alone, but what choice did she have?

She was CONVINCED that she'd failed Downwind that day, and that something could have been done to avoid the WindClan Massacre. So she was dedicated to making sure her own kits were better prepared.

They knew the whole territory by heart by their 6th moon, and even major abandoned tunnels below the moor

Most apprentices don't learn how to differentiate individual warriors out of scent marks until a moon or two into training. Night and Tawny knew it before they became 'paws.

Ever trying to ask a question, or tell Hillrunner that they didn't want to do something, was "backtalk;" argue too much and she would hit them with a punishment.

Punishments, "lessons," were usually strenuous physical tasks, like doing laps, moving large objects, or being made to carry a stone in the mouth for hours.

The sort of thing, in hindsight, was probably meant to be a sort of "cover"... the Clan thought the 'Lessons' were harsh but 'understandable'. No one would step in.

If Hillrunner was angry though, she would also just straightup smack them. She was less creative when she was in a mood.

As an adult, Nightcloud will tell you how messed up it used to be... but sometimes she preferred when Hillrunner was moody. If she got hit, the creative "lesson" wouldn't be applied to Tawnykit too.

Because Nightkit got in trouble more often than Tawnykit, there was a sort of sour resentment between them, mixed in with the unbreakable sense of solidarity.

Tawnykit: "You got US in trouble. But no one else in the world knows what we're going through. I love you. I'm going to take this out on you when we're alone. I can't believe you did this to me, I can't believe our Mi did this to us. Can't you try harder?? We did nothing wrong. Why am I paying for YOUR mistakes?"

Hillrunner says she, "Just wants you to be safe. ShadowClan won't hit you with their claws sheathed! This is what real life is like! If you'd just LISTEN to me you'd know this is for your own good!"

The little family was "close," in the way that mice tied together at the tail are close, even as they desperately pull at the knot and gnaw at each other's flesh.

Hillrunner convinced them the world was terrifying, that they couldn't entirely rely on their clanmates, and the most important thing in life is Gan, blood-family.

"The ONLY ones who will turn out for you, who you can rely on, who will be there until the end, is your family. The only way you'll lose us is if you're not strong enough, and I'll make you strong. I promised. You'll see!"

When she finally became Nightpaw, Hillrunner continued to try and have control over her... but the new mentor, Addersong, would not be bullied. And he would not let his apprentice get pushed around either.

He taught Nightpaw that now that she was an apprentice, she was free to make her own choices.

If she needed him around when she confronted Hillrunner, he would be there.

And if she needed to be the one to do that alone, he would support that too.

But on one condition; he would never tolerate someone speaking down to his apprentice in front of him. THAT is a matter of his pride. Capiche?

That was a term she could handle.

She had always known that she didn't want to be like Hillrunner, and that one day she'd be free of all the torment she was put through, but Addersong was the one who showed her the way out. Protected her when others didn't.

It gave her a sense of newfound confidence, and freedom. Like maybe the world WASN'T so terrible after all. And maybe... there's people out here who are kinder and more loving than she was ever allowed to believe.

And then, Hillrunner died in a TigerClan attack

And she began to wonder if it was HER fault when Tawnyfur fell to BloodClan

And suddenly Addersong's lessons felt far away. And maybe that was a good thing.

Hillrunner tried to teach her that family, KIN, was the most important thing in the world, and Nightcloud began to reject that. And now they are all dead.

She didn't appreciate them enough while they were alive. And now they are gone.

So... she pushed Addersong away. He figured she needed space to mourn.

WindClan Civil War

While Addersong was composing Tiger's In A Heap with his buddies and others were baking Tiger-shaped tunnelbuddies to welcome relations with BloodClan, Nightcloud was joining the group that was critical of the decision.

Especially when Snapper and Leo-- sorry. They call themselves Snappaw and Brushpaw. When those two joined the Clan. Ex-BloodClan traders. Not to mention Pigeonflight's... charge, also acquired from BloodClan

Nightcloud felt like she was the only one who remembered that they fought BloodClan. That Clan cats died in that battle.

Until she found others, echoing the same feelings she did, and more.

Mudclaw was the most legitimate member of the group, organizing this group of cats with "concerns."

Those "concerns" started having weight when things began to sour in the Moor. The poisoning, the Mothermouth's collapse and the death of Barkface and his apprentice, Blackfur... eventually a warrior, Runningbrook, was SHOT by a human as if she was a grouse.

Someone called the two apprentices "jinxes," pointing out the bad luck they'd brought to them, and it stuck.

But Tallstar did nothing. Didn't listen to the concerns, and insisted that Snapper and L-- Snappaw and Brushpaw, that they were part of the Clan now.

Eventually they were all forced out of their home, and sent on a journey following Crowfoot and the other Chosen cats to a new land. Tallstar just continued to look weaker and weaker.

All around Nightcloud (and the cats who would eventually become the Rebels), the Journey was uniting the Clans in a way that was never seen before. Apprentices were trying out ancient recipes that had been untouched for generations. Warriors from WindClan were helping to carry kits from ShadowClan.

It was terrifying. It felt WRONG. It filled her with a sense of deep dread and unease. No one was enforcing the boundaries that made the four groups into Clans.

When they arrived at the lake, what would HAPPEN there? Would there even BE a WindClan? Or would they just get lured into forming the new TigerClan?

Through all of this... Mudclaw seemed strong, and sure of what needed to happen next. He was certainly more of a leader than the feeble Tallstar, who had allowed the jinxes to follow along on the Great Journey.

So when Tallstar was allegedly on his deathbed, and mysteriously swapped his deputy to Onewhisker, Nightcloud was one of the very first to call foul play.

It felt like an awful betrayal, to know that Firestar, one of the FEW cats outside of WindClan that Hillrunner spoke fondly of, could be trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

But just LOOK at the other witness-- Brambleclaw. Son of Tigerstar. This was a PLOT, and Onewhisker should be ashamed of himself!

Mudclaw jumped at the opportunity Nightcloud presented.

But... the newly honored Crowfeather came forth too, to calm the tension.

"Brambleclaw is a LOT of things and untrustworthy isn't one of them," Yet, he put up a smokey-black paw when his friend's eyes lit up, "But a change in deputy? To Onewhisker, of all cats?"

Onewhisker: "no offense, right? ...right?"

"So if no one here is lying, then Tallstar's brain fell out on the way here and I'm not going on ANOTHER journey to look for it. Mudclaw is the rightful leader of WindClan."

His endorsement of Mudclaw sent the Clan reeling. His own mother, Ashfoot, came forth to argue against her son, and his aunt Morningflower pointed out that Mudclaw was his mentor.

OF COURSE the two jinxes also argued in favor of Onewhisker. Leo had even joined in the first place because he wanted to be with him.

The compromise that the Clans reached, at ThunderClan's treacherous suggestion, was that they would wait until StarClan could sort the matter out and confirm the rightful leader.

But of COURSE ThunderClan felt like they could wait for StarClan. THEY had two Clerics, Leafstripe and Cinderpelt.

In the meanwhile, the Clan started to split in two. Those who were backing the feeble Onewhisker, and those who were supporting the powerful, charismatic Mudclaw.

Nightcloud refused to allow her Clan to fall into the claws of ThunderClan's ambition. WindClan could not be allowed to be seen as WEAK. Weakness invites invasions. Invasion invites death.

Not everyone that joined Mudclaw's side of the rebellion believed that ThunderClan was lying. Crowfeather believed it was the truth. Mudclaw himself did as well, though he didn't discourage beliefs that benefited him.

Nightcloud absolutely did believe that ThunderClan lied. And that cats outside of the Clan can't be trusted.

...and then.

Mudclaw started working with non-WindClan cats, namely Hawkfrost. The rebels were joined by reinforcements, given quiet support and aid, handed the knowledge that they would have extra backup if things got violent.

At first, Nightcloud was one of the most vehemently opposed to them.

At first.

But... Hawkfrost has some good points about all of the Clans needing to be strong and independent.

And he's right, that; "ThunderClan's plotting won't stop with one Clan. Tigerstar came from ThunderClan, after all."

And, if things go wrong... they will need the extra claws. They couldn't fight against the remainers alone.

"Hold on, who says we'll be fighting anything?"

Wide, innocent blue eyes, "You can't believe that ThunderClan will just let the word of StarClan shine through, can you?"

He's... reasonable. He's right.

So, in the BLINK of an eye, she and Crowfeather were surrounded by Thistle Law supporters. OPEN ones.

And Mudclaw himself didn't seem to mind all that much.

For Nightcloud, it was too late to have doubts, especially when Hawkfrost's lie made such perfect sense. When the Moonpool was discovered by that THUNDERCLAN Cleric, Leafstripe, Honored by the new name Leafpool, that was the last push she needed to ride into battle with Mudclaw.

ThunderClan had to be stopped at ALL COSTS before they installed a fake, sniveling little mouse to do all of their bidding. If Onewhisker had to die to prevent it?

Then... so be it.

They created a plan. Onewhisker was organizing WindClan to carry out a Muirburn, a carefully controlled fire to return the territory to heathland.

They would sabotage it, and throw him into the same fire meant to cleanse their new home. It would be symbolic, practically religious in its righteousness.

But CROWFEATHER betrayed them. Bolted to his friends in ThunderClan, that daughter-of-Firestar and the Tigerkin liar.

During the battle, Nightcloud leapt on Leo and went for a ferocious bite to the back of the neck. She was ripped off by another warrior just in time, taking a chunk of his scruff with her.

It gave him a permanent, gnarly scar. A reminder to Nightcloud of how close she came to killing him, and how much she hated such a kindhearted tom.

The tide of battle turned as the ThunderClan reinforcements came behind Crowfeather. In that instant, it was as if StarClan had torn open the sky, and the heavens were bleeding rain upon the burning moor.

Nightcloud fled along with the other rebels, and bore witness to StarClan's smiting of the false idol.

With a clap of lightning, a tree from the Gathering Island toppled down, crushing Mudclaw beneath it.

She stopped running, staring in breathless awe. The rain washed away the mud and the ash that clung to her pelt, and for the first time in moons, she felt like her mind was clear.

It was like, for a brief moment, the song of fear and anger behind her eyes forgot the lyrics, leaving her with cold reality.

"What have I DONE?"

That sabotaged Muirburn was one of the most short-sighted, cruel, evil things she can imagine any cat taking part in... but at first, her regret was just in the amount of destruction it had caused, not in the ideology she'd fought to defend.

The heinous act had caused the peat below the moor to catch on fire, and WindClan was playing Whack-A-Mole with the various little blazes that kept popping up in the area; and THAT was what initially made her regret her role in the Civil War.

But... she had to work next to Snapstorm and Brushblaze, just like any other Clanmates. Pigeonflight's daughter had also come into her own, Cranberrysplash. And ThunderClan continued to send aid to help with the reckless disaster she'd been part of.

She still grappled with a strong, immediate distrust of strangers... but it was tempered by the sobering realization she had while watching Mudclaw die.

And the shame, knowing that she'd been taking out her grief of losing Tawnyfur and Hillrunner on all these innocent cats.

Onewhisker's lenience... was mercy. All along.

She tried to punish herself for ever criticizing her new leader for "weakness." WindClan needed all the paws it could get to fight the fires and continue to feed the Clan, and Onestar was the cat who understood that.

He showed unfathomable kindness and wisdom by giving her and the other rebels no punishment.

She vowed to atone for it. She would not waste her second chance.

Nightcloud had been so busy trying to make up for what she'd done, fighting fires, building dens, and carefully rotating hunts to manage the prey populations that she barely registered that she didn't see much of Crowfeather after the night of the Muirburn.

While WindClan was gossiping, she was largely left out of the loop for being distrusted at the time.

When he came back, they started spending a lot of time together.

Mateship & Abuse

She liked Crowfeather. They'd been in each other's orbit since the Civil War, and she admired his judgement at nearly every turn. Mudclaw seemed like a good choice for a lot of people, but Crowfeather had seen when his true colors started to show. He made a truly heroic choice at the end. So when he expressed interest in her, it felt like she was going to be his next good call.

Nightcloud had so, so much to prove.

In spite of his absence, Crowfeather was a hero to the Clan. The warrior blessed by StarClan to bring them to their new home, a land of a thousand more stars, he who betrayed the traitors.

And in spite of that. He had a loneliness. He requested a name to honor the cat of another Clan, a lover he had lost on his mission

He is loud, passionate, and yet there seemed to be a niche in his heart he wanted to fill.

So... she wanted to be his missing piece, in service of the great love that binds a Clan together. To help him.

To prove she could mean something to someone, and be trusted in turn by a Clan that, rightfully, looked at her with suspicion.

but she didn't LOVE him so much as she RESPECTED him.

and he never saw her as much more than an in-Clan replacement for Leafpool, especially while he was secretly reeling from her dumping him and cancelling their elopement plans.

It didn't really strike her that they were mutually using each other; Crowfeather to affirm his loyalty to the Clan, and Nightcloud to prove she could love and be loved.

And neither of them were even accomplishing that. But, there's a difference between them.

While Nightcloud was trying, GOD she was trying... Crowfeather quickly grew frustrated that she was a person, and not just the perfect image of the "true love" that Feathertail and Leafpool would have given to him

So he started FINDING things to criticize about her. Reasons that he could use to justify why it's not HIS fault he's not happy, but hers.

She's clingy. She's too cold. She's less attractive when she's carrying their child. She's too demanding when she tells him to help out with the kit.

NOTHING she did was right, and meanwhile, even when Breezekit was young, Crowfeather was an awful Ba.

Depending on his mood, he was either too rough or too distant, a dichotomy he used to describe as Nightcloud being unable to make up her mind. Does she want him to help, or does she want space??

Problem is, you can't be fair with unfair people. When Crowfeather would say ANY of this, she would try to take his words in good faith

And Breezekit's formative moons were spent watching his mother twist herself in knots, trying to avoid whatever his father was complaining about that week.

But it NEVER satisfied him. It never COULD.

and worst of all...

Whenever she DID fight back, dragged down into explosive arguments after biting her tongue again and again, Crowfeather would ALWAYS bring up Feathertail. She's dead, and so Nightcloud could never defeat this ideal, NONEXISTENT image of this nearly perfect hypothetical lover that he could have had.

Crow: "And YOU don't even care. You CUT me, Nightcloud! I am being flayed and left to DIE from infection, and you don't even care."

Night: "Of course i care, I'm here aren't i?? Feathertail loved you, but I do too! And I'M in YOUR Clan, in case you haven't NOTICED."

Crow: "Oh you love me do you? I don't think you do. There's a reason I loved Feathertail enough to be so tempted away from my Clan, but YOU'RE such an awful person that YOU happily did ARSON."

Night: "I... I wasn't-"

Crow: "Wasn't trying to betray your Clan? Wasn't trying to make me feel like some kind of animal?? What WERE you trying to do, then?"

Night: "I've ALWAYS tried to make up for what I did, I was trying to-"

Crow: "To WHAT? To hurt me? Like you always do? All I wanted was you to see that I'm-"

Night: "Can you cut it out?! I wanted-"

Crow: "STOP Interrupting me, this is exactly what I mean! Feathertail NEVER made me feel this way, she would let me finish and listen to everything I have to say before trying to jump in. WHAT have I done wrong exactly? What IS it this time?? Hm???"

Night: "I-- Crowfeather I'm trying! I didn't mean to make you feel that way, and I'm not trying to fight. I just don't know what you want from me, I'm-"

Crow: "I say it over and over and over!! Are you stupid? I should have been with a rabbit, at LEAST it would have given me faster children!"

Night: "Can you stop being a CHILD for a minute and TELL me what you want me to do? In simple terms? Or is that just too much?"

Crow: "Fine. But im not going to repeat myself again. I don't deserve this, you're lucky I'm gracious."

When Breezekit became Breezepaw, Nightcloud had lost patience with this treatment. She still tried to be gentle with Crowfeather, but he was starting to force her into making a choice; Was she going to protect her son? Or was she going to keep endlessly trying to appease her husband?

In her head... SHE might "deserve" it. She knows she's "difficult." And that a lot of the things Crowfeather says about her are "true"

And if she's lonely, she "brought it on herself" by doing awful things. That's why she tries so hard to atone for them.

But Breezepaw is her BABY, and Crowfeather makes him feel like a little brat. Yells at him, finds reasons to pick on him, gives him the cold shoulder when he's done wrong...

At first, it looked like overprotectiveness, because she was often shoving herself between Breezepaw and his father, never backing up Crowfeather when he was punishing their son, and "downplaying" her son's rude behavior.

In reality, those were the actions of someone who was trying to prevent arguments from turning into abuse.

Those were things HILLRUNNER used to do with her, though at the time, she didn't realize that Crowfeather was in the same positions that her Mi had once been in

In fact, she continued to grapple with the deep feelings of shame, that she might be like Hillrunner when she was trying so hard to be different.

But the truth remained, that she recognized the same patterns that she was forced to be hyperaware of, and was trying to stop them before they escalated.

It took MANY years, well into Breezepelt's adulthood, AND well into her divorce, before she realized that.

Protecting her son was as reflexive as a hunting crouch. It was just something she did.

Unfortunately, Crowfeather was the one with power in this situation. And his immense sway was palpable. If he vented to a Clanmate about how hard it was to have a mate who undermines him and a son who defied him, they'd believe him.

So, Breezepelt started getting written off as "a problem kid" by the adults.

What changed... was Hollyleaf's reveal at that fateful Gathering.

She had been desperately trying to "atone" for what she'd done for years, guilty and shameful that she'd been complicit in an attack that had gotten cats killed and set the peat on fire. She kept proving herself, over and over, as Crowfeather held his love for an outsider up over her head.

And then she finds out he was HIDING this from her, ALL THIS TIME. There'd been ANOTHER MOLLY from another Clan she was being compared to.

Unlike canon; Crowfeather knew. He didn't need to be told. Hollyleaf looks just like his father Deadfoot. Lionblaze has his tail tip. Jayfeather is a miserable git.

They were born 2 months after Leafpool left him, choosing her Clan and her CLERIC FRIEND over HIM. He isn't stupid.

Emotions ran high and, right in front of his wife, at a PUBLIC GATHERING, he made another love confession to Leafpool. That she never should have abided her vow because she belonged with HIM.

Leafpool was fucking mortified. On top of her life crumbling as the secret was revealed, she was undergoing the cat equivalent of being cornered in a public space as an unwanted ex begs you to acknowledge your LOVE.

Leafpool is completely and utterly out of love for Crowfeather, not a SINGLE flicker of it left in her heart, but NIGHTCLOUD felt like Leafpool's tears were because she missed Crowfeather soooo much.

And after YEARS of being compared to FEATHERTAIL, only to find out she was being contrasted to LEAFPOOL all along??

And that Crowfeather really WOULD just break the code for any OTHER lover? Even "a treacherous, vow-breaking, abominable little [cat meow censor] FROM ANOTHER CLAN?"

AND A CLERIC?????

YEARS of trying to unlearn bigotry, keeping lessons about unity kept close in spite of the growing tensions between the Clans, having an open mind towards the people she'd unfairly judged, trying to atone for following Mudclaw... What's the point??

She was humiliated, embarrassed, scandalized. For moons she'd tried to appease him, and then he goes after HER SON, and then DOES THIS.

But something was different.

Onestar had enough of Crowfeather and his shenanigans.

By making a fool of himself at that Gathering, he made a fool of the WHOLE Clan.

Not only did he sire kittens with a Cleric, in a half-clan relationship, vanishing for a week to go on a holiday as the Clan was fighting peat fires, but he didn't even have the decency to NOT TELL AN ENTIRE GATHERING THAT HE DOESN'T REGRET IT.

Onestar snapped.

CrowFEATHER is an Honor Title. CrowFOOT was in respect to his deceased father, Deadfoot.

These names are both too honorable.

And even a DISHONOR Title is too good for this sort of behavior.

If he cannot behave like a Clan cat, then he WILL NOT BE ONE.

For one moon, Crow, no suffix, just Crow, would live on his own in total exile.

It was such a scandal that Nightcloud was horrified. The whole Clan had turned to look to her, see what she would do, desperate to know how she was reacting and what she would do next.

But... their tune changed.

They weren't looking at her like Crowfeather's ungrateful mate. They were curious about her judgement.

CrowFEATHER had convinced so many people that Nightcloud had been the problem, with his immense sway and influence.

But what he did was shocking and abhorrent to WindClan. Now he is just Crow, a rogue on the border.

And Nightcloud is as reliable as she always has been.

What really causes Crowfeather to begin to change here in BB, is that when he comes back... nearly everyone has been better off without him.

After a moon, Crow came back thinking that Nightcloud would snarl at him, or they'd fight, or she'd weep, or... something negative.

But instead, she greeted him. Cordially. Casually. With the tiniest little lilt to her tone that you only hear when you're forced to welcome someone you dislike.

For the rest of BB!OotS, they were together but... distantly. If it wasn't totally over, it was visibly dying.

They had a few more fights, public spats, but now that the Clan didn't seem to have Crowfeather's back...

He started to lose his nerve, and she stopped feeling terrible for things that happened long ago.

Now WindClan was following Nightcloud's lead on Crowfeather. When she was gracious, so were they. When she was pushed to snapping, they saw him like the unreasonable one.

But, honestly? That attention made Nightcloud uncomfortable.

She disliked the sway she now seemed to have over her ex-mate's reputation. She hated him and everything he did, especially in the few times that he would STILL try to deflect blame onto her, but... wielding that kind of social sway, after being an outsider for so long, it felt heavy and toxic in her belly.

Between OotS and AVoS, she realized that she's not like him. He reveled in the spotlight and influence he had over the Clan as a result of his power, adored attention and drama and being able to command it. Crowfeather would complain that life was so unfair, but he ENJOYED how the rules were applied so loosely to him, and how well he was treated because of the pain he'd gone through.

She doesn't.

In fact, she even resents the finicky opinions of her Clanmates. That earning their respect, in the end, was something she had absolutely no control over. She'd gone through so much for so long and so very few cats had ever had her back, and to be vindicated now of all times?

It was sour. Not comforting.

If she made any mistakes during OoTS, it was enabling Breezepelt's growing xenophobia in the midst of her own pain and frustration. She didn't KNOW that he was being recruited by the Dark Forest. If she did, she would have done something to try and stop him.

Breezepelt and AVoS

The worst part of it all was that none of this newfound reputation carried over to her opinions about her son. Breezepelt continued to be hated and distrusted because of his role in the Battle of the True Eclipse (BOTTE), where the Dark Forest killed so many warriors. He'd fought until the end of the night.

Of course she was disappointed in him. Of course she knew he'd done something awful. But she had too, so many years ago.

The fact he had also been a victim of Crowfeather's slander was disregarded in the eyes of WindClan, and for his role in the fight, Onestar gave him and his complicit friends Dishonor Titles.

Breezepelt became Dodderheart-- a reference to a parasitic type of bush, native to heathland, which strangle and kill the flowers. Harespring didn't get off without one. Darkseeker had sought his biological father in the Dark Forest, Mudclaw, and then the BOTTE had killed his Mi and biological uncle, Torear.

Nightcloud tried to encourage her son to follow Darkseeker's lead in seeking atonement, but he had decided that this meant; "My own mother had taken HIS side, that damn traitor who threw me under the boar so that he could save his own reputation, distancing himself from THE REST OF US so that he can climb the ranks! WELL!"

When The Kin arrived at the lake, lead by the mysterious Darktail, Nightcloud was powerless as the pied piper called forth cats of many Clans.

He appealed to everyone who felt alienated. Every HalfClan cat still dealing with stigma, every young warrior frustrated by the dogged separation of the Clans... and, especially, to all of the Dark Forest trainees who still lived.

It was a trap, and Breezepelt was drawn to it.

As the situation got worse and worse, Nightcloud could only watch from afar as Onestar responded with furious embargoes, aggression, and fury towards any type of contact with Darktail's cats.

Along with Brushblaze and Harespring, now deputy and having shed his Dishonor Title, she plotted ways to undermine Onestar's strict orders and try to reach her son.

And.... Crowfeather, too.

To her surprise, he wanted to help.

The irony was overwhelming. Yes Breezepelt, or Dodderheart, damn Onestar's pernicious name, YES he had been making his own choices for a long time, but Crowfeather knew full well who had set him on this path.

In spite of how he'd try to deflect the blame for seasons on seasons.

Hedgehogs took flight that day, because his response was, "You think I don't know that? ...that's why I'm here."

Someone else might have wanted to shove that back in his face, drink in every drop of smugness they'd earned, tell Harespring to kick him from the help efforts for causing so much pain in the first place..

...But Nightcloud isn't like that someone else.

Breezepelt was what mattered to her. Anyone who was going to help was another alibi, another mouth to carry herbs, another set of claws to fight by their side.

...is that what working with others really means, at its core?

Maybe it's not love that truly binds us, but a sense of duty. The commitments we make to each other, and the honor to keep them.

She loves her son. And by extension, she loves Heathertail and Harespring who love him.

But her Clanmates... she doesn't love them. Or Crowfeather.

And Crowfeather wasn't here out of love for her. Maybe not even love for Breezepelt as a person. He was here for honor. Repentence. To right a wrong.

Whatever reason he was here; it still meant he was HERE. To help.

In that moment, she thinks back to the words of Hillrunner. That only blood-family would ever turn out for you, and strength was what allowed you to keep them.

Looking over to Brushblaze, thinking to her Clanmates, she finally had the wisdom to see the words for what they were

It was the scared, broken philosophy of a molly who had lost everything a hundred times over, clinging to something that made sense, trying to scare her kits into never leaving her side.

Nightcloud was truly unlike her. Surrounded by allies of all kinds, united in their goal to rescue her son and other Kin captives and victims.

She was entitled to her reasonable distrust, but not held back by it. She never would forgive Crowfeather, but they could work together. For Breezepelt.

Hillrunner wasn't completely wrong about strength. It was an asset.

But so is faith.

After they'd brought Breezepelt home along with many others, bedraggled and shaken by their experiences, Nightcloud was absolutely shocked by how graciously Onestar seemed to be towards them.

She didn't question it at the time, but when Onestar spent his final life stealing a plan Breezepelt admitted was his own, to sacrifice himself drowning Darktail, it suddenly made sense.

After Harestar took power, she had cemented herself as one of his favorite warriors. A powerful, loyal brawler, who was willing to do anything under his command. Breezepelt had accepted at this point that he was never going to have a position of power due to his past; and that was okay.

She spent a lot of time with the grandkits Breezepelt eventually had with his mates, Harestar and Heathertail. For the first time in a long time, she's finally at peace with the family she's acquired.

Trivia and Misc

I'm tempted to swap Crowfeather and Nightcloud as deputy. I feel like Nightcloud makes a very interesting one.

At the same time though, I do like the drama of Crowstar and Squirrelstar as opposing leaders, so I'm still unsure.

For some reason whenever I think of Nightcloud, I think of ABBA songs lmao. Thank You For The Music, or maybe Knowing Me Knowing You.

As you can see, I split up Crowfeather's Trial and shuffled it around. I feel like for most of OotS, Nightcloud and Crowfeather are doing nothing but arguing and the development feels incredibly rushed because it's all in an SE, so I've pushed a major event back.

They also never actually describe their verbal arguments; so I'm using them to make my take on Crowfeather more clear. He's emotionally abusive.

Something that I often feel isn't done enough is abusers who are popular, and also funny. How devastating it feels for someone you love to mock you in public, and then a bunch of people laugh because "you deserve it."

Or just see you as the aggressor by default

Knowing you can't do shit about it because they're just more loved than you. Their word vs yours.

(especially when paired with trauma that makes you forget major details so you can't even recall any examples in the moment, so you just get painted as clingy and whiny)

All that said, there's a ton of abusive cats in BB, most of them never improve or get better, but Crowfeather will.

And from Nightcloud's perspective, that's a good thing. And I want to capture that deeply bittersweet feeling.

She's happy he's not so terrible anymore... but god, it doesn't undo any of the AWFUL things he did and said to her.

Anyway, I really want to fit Nightcloud's buddy Pickle in somehow, but I'm still working it out. Pickle was such a cute character

Hillrunner and Downwind are repurposed Missing Kits! WindClan is ridiculously tiny so I had to stretch it pretty thin.

I don't see a ton of Nightcloud origin stories, so the one I figured made the most sense was picking up on the observation others have made about her "coddling" behavior

In-canon, because Crowfeather is abusive to his kid, it suddenly implies that a major reason why Nightcloud is so protective of Breezepaw in arguments is because she's trying to prevent it from escalating into abuse.

Eventually I'd like to build out some more friends, and expand on her budding friendship with Brushblaze. Not to mention Willowclaw.

Maybe I should repurpose Crowfeather's Trial into an SE about Nightcloud... Nightcloud's Thaw, maybe. Something about a change that's a long time coming, so I can show her new backstory and how she reacts to all the changes in WindClan towards her reputation.

And that's Nightcloud! I think she deserves an AU where she gets to be a more fleshed out supporting character, as a treat <3

[puppiekit]

One thing about the warriors Mapleshade hate train era of the fandom that still pisses me off actually is how people swore up and down that Mapleshade MUST be an unreliable narrator and so therefore nothing she expirienced or thought could be in any way accurate.

When in reality it was just the fandom making up bullshit headcanons out of thin air and portraying it as canon just so they can excuse Thunderclans blatant hatred/xenophobia, assault of a mother, and banishment of literal babies. Nobody wants to admit the fact that Mapleshade was severely screwed over and had every right to be pissed the hell off! (and don't get me wrong murder is inexcusable but like.... you guys baby so many other murderers in this series please stop playing)

Because outright saying "Mapleshade lying is worthy of assault and/or death" will reasonably earn you a WTF response, so people exaggerate her aggressors victimhood by making up bullshit about Mapleshade being a "baby trapper" or an "overtly possessive toxic girlfriend", and/or crafting some make-believe soppy sad backstory for Frecklewish. All to make Maples decision to lie seem worse than it in actuality was, or actively malicious in nature, and deserving of the recieved "punishment" (assault and death of her children).

Like... I cannot state enough how much it pisses me off when people discredit *the literal POV expiriences of the book protagonist* just to make up random crap about her clanmates and craft some elaborate tale where Maple is the worst and has sucked all along. When we know literally nothing about them, and especially Frecklewish, except that she made a stupid assumption, is willing to beat a mother in front of their kids, and quiet frankly didn't actually give a shit about those kids the moment she realized they weren't blood related. LOL

Like completley out of nowhere people decided Mapleshade lying was the worst crime ever commited in the history of the series... UNLESS you're literally any other character in the series to do it like Bluestar Leafpool Squirrelflight Yellowfang etc etc etc.... When they get flack for lying it's unfair and they were doing what they thought was right! But also it's completely unacceptable for Mapleshade to lie about her children's half-clan heritage in an environment where her peers are violently hateful and xenophobic. Because it hurt their feelings ... LOL

And don't even get me started on the fact that, quiet frankly, Frecklewish and Oakstar were being unreasonable from the very beginning by being hateful and blaming Riverclan for their loved ones death. They literally sent their son/brother INTO BATTLE and are now mad that he DIED? What the hell do they think happens when you send people out to beat eachother up (often to the death)??

Battle and death is such a normal and accepted part of clan culture it genuinely baffles me people dont realize that, as understandable as their grief, their anger/hatred is pretty crazy, even if Appledusk *had* killed Birchface. They were wrong to assume Birchface was the father and they were wrong to project their hatred on Mapleshade and her kits. Not a single action made by them was reasonable or excusable. You don't put that kind of pressure on a single mother who *explicitly avoided stating her kits father* and get all mad when it isn't who you assumed it to be. Like it's next level stupidity

[wc-confessions]

Kind of wish AVoS had Needlepaw as a Windclan pov instead of Shadowclan. Like, instead of Darktail targetting Shadowclan, he befriends a wayward Breezepelt who's still struggling to fit in because cats are still suspicious of him and he helps Darktail and the Kin take over Windclan while also chasing Onestar out because he's too cowardly to face his past. It would also be kind of cool of Ivypool and Twigpaw went off together to find Skyclan and bring them back right as Darktail takes over Riverclan. This would be a good alternative instead of having them flounder around on what to do with Skyclan in the last 3 books.

Instead of Darktail getting killed early, he survives and also manages to take over Shadowclan forcing the surviving/uncaptured cats into Thunderclan when Onestar finally sheepishly admits what he had done in the past. This prompts Leafstar to going on a raging tangent at him saying how she lost a lot of clanmates due to his cowardice to take responsibility. In this version, Leafstar is the one to take down Darktail in vengeance of her clan but also does die for it as well. In this, Onestar steps down and gives leadership to Harestar.

I just think this plotline would be cooler than what we got in as AVoS arc.

.

[the-owl-tree]

Fallen Stars - Act Two - The Fall

With your assistance, Princess has finally managed to convince Sandstorm to tell her what happened that night. Every story has its beginnings. Follow Sandstorm and Firestar from the past and see what transpired to drive them from their own home, and remember, you cannot change what must happen.

[Rough Overview + Archive!]

Quick summary of the intro for those who didn't follow the blog: This arc opened up with Sandstorm! She'd be our eyes in the Clan, revealing that ThunderClan was still recovering from the loss of Bluestar. Important to note, she'd reveal that Firestar was not eating or sleeping enough.

look at that gorgeous old ass rushed art

This arc was meant to introduce the voting system, a way for people to interact with the characters and guide them. However, I wanted to make it clear that while you could influence them. The first vote was going to be a quick way to show this, with people being allowed to vote on whether or not Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw could be allowed to come to the gathering.

Quick reveal here: This was a vote where I knew the outcome and was absolutely going to use it to my advantage lol a majority of people (obviously) voted yes. However, to demonstrate that votes weren't complete control over characters, the outcome was going to be that only Tawnypaw was allowed to go, as Bramblepaw had to go and ask Firestar permission.

Bramblepaw is then sent to wake up Firestar, the POV then switches to Firestar who is in the midst of a nightmare. This would be where the story would sow the seeds of one of the bigger conflicts of the story. Bluestar would deliver a word of warning here:

Firestar wakes up at Bramblepaw's call. Once he's a little more alert, the two talk and Bramblepaw asks to go to the Gathering. Firestar says no and Bramblepaw protests that Tawnypaw is allowed to go, something which Firestar doesn't like.

He finds Sandstorm and the two argue about it, with Sandstorm standing her ground and Firestar unhappily standing down. This was going to be a way that I was going to set up Firestar's struggle with conflating control and leadership, and learning to balance it both out.

The rest was going to be a Thunderclan intro montage where the reader got to see how everyone was doing. Nothing too different from canon quite yet, everyone's grieving but also expecting trouble from ShadowClan. Firestar visits Cinderpelt, who would reveal she's having strange dreams. This would fuel Firestar's struggle with paranoia and the trauma from the attack, it's building and festering.

The cats that would come to the gathering were obviously Firestar, Whitestorm, and Cinderpelt but the Warriors chosen were: Sandstorm and Graystripe (obviously), Dustpelt, Cloudtail, Brightheart, Goldenflower, Tawnypaw, and Fernpaw.

Cut to gathering, I wasn't going to draw everyone lol just the key players to keep an eye on such as all the Clan leaders, deputies, and their medics, Morningflower, Gorsepaw, and Onewhisker.

The gathering would play out in the books where every leader talks and when Firestar tries to tell them what Tigerstar has done, the clouds begin to cover the moon. However this time, panicked he'd lose this opportunity, of the potential harm that Tigerstar would wreak lest he stopped this...Firestar lets out a battle cry, demanding Tigerstar face him in a Leader's Duel for his crimes against ThunderClan. Firestar's actions are incredibly divisive, with most of ThunderClan backing him up, but the other Clans protesting at a duel during a gathering, especially when the clouds are covered.

Winner remains, loser is exiled. No holding back.

Tigerstar smooths it over and accepts, the two circling each other. The fight starts out even, with Firestar being able to hold his own in the beginning...but he's running on adrenaline alone. The lack of sleep, the lack of food, the desperation of needing to win eats at him, and Tigerstar quickly gains the upper hand. The fight turns brutal in seconds as Tigerstar beats him and brutalizes in front of a horrified crowd...and taking the first life.

ThunderClan hurries out to stop it but the ShadowClan and RiverClan warriors stop them from interfering. This would add to set up of the two Clan's alliance.

The plan here was the beating to be completely done away from the viewer's eyes, with only the horrified reactions of allies from all Clans listening as another life is taken. In particular, there would be a focus on Tawnypaw who is witnessing the brutalization of her leader at her father's claws, it's implied Firestar loses another life in front of her. Cue the "Tawnypaw will remember this" text ala telltale games lol

Throughout this, an unseen figure would be seen making their way up the great oak.

It's as Tigerstar lifts his claw to claim a third life that the ThunderClan and WindClan warriors break free of the restraints from the other Clans, moving to swarm Tigerstar- but it's Gorsepaw who outspeeds them all, launching himself off one of the great oaks and right at Tigerstar!

Flinging himself onto the face of the tyrant, he manages to pull Tigerstar off of Tigerstar. However, Tigerstar flings him off and doesn't hesitate to snap his spine, killing the brave apprentice instantly. He's barely given a chance to breath as Onewhisker, Mudclaw, and Tallstar charge him with Onewhisker and Mudclaw being stopped by Blackclaw and Jaggedtooth respectively, while Tallstar 1 v 1's Tiger.

The perspective switches back to Firestar with the battle raging around him, fading in and out of consciousness. He looks up and he grows shocked, gaze fixed to something unknown. No one else sees it, the intense battle leaving Firestar alone to gaze up at the omen before him.

A massive cat made of dark, angry clouds stealing the moon. Sent surely by StarClan, Firestar thinks, right...?

He fades out of consciousness and Sandstorm and Graystripe take the lead, fighting through the mess of cats. They manage to get a hold of him with Sandstorm lifting him onto Graystripe's back, the two beginning to make their escape as ShadowClan and RiverClan cats grow hot on their heels. A majority of the ThunderClan cats help them, however Goldenflower and Dustpelt can only look on in shock.

Darkstripe tackles Sandstorm and she calls for Graystripe to make a break for it. While she's able to take on Darkstripe, Blackfoot ambushes her from behind and the two quickly begin to overwhelm her. She sees Dustpelt and calls for him to help, dodging blows. He doesn't help, eyes wide with shock. It's Cloudtail and Brightheart that intervene, yowling for Sandstorm to run and get Firestar to safety.

He howls for her to get to the garden, Sandstorm taking a moment to realize what that was before understanding hit her.A twoleg word that Princess, Cloudtail, and Firestar knew...and one that the rest of the Clans didn't. Sandstorm had only been familiar with the word when Firestar had introduced her to his sister on their search for Cloudpaw.

Without a moment to spare, Sandstorm hurries and guides Graystripe to Princess' garden, ending the arc where the first one had begun.

Princess would take in the story and comfort them both, thinking over the information. She recounts an old rumor, but one that she's not too sure of herself. However, she says they might be able to help. Desperate and unsure, Sandstorm and Graystripe agrees.

As Firestar begins to awaken again, Princess promises to bring them to someone named "Vivi".

[harriertail]

Omen of the Stars reread + a lot of thoughts

The Fourth Apprentice

The cover is actually the best cover in the series are you kidding me? Its so pretty. The yellow blue and dark green r so nice

Why does the TC/ShC stream drying up affect the lake water level and not the RiverClan... river? Does the Moonpool stream still run???

Every mention of Squirrel and Leaf sitting together "so close they were like kits just out the nursery" is an actual STAB in the chest. They go thru so much :((((

A flash flood seems to take out the beaver den (or its just poorly worded?) so what was the point of the journey...

Dovewings personality is snappier than i think pple give her credit for, I kinda enjoy her

Tigerheart literally does not interact with her on the mission lmao what is he on about 'I'm gonna miss you'

Jayfeather missing Lionblaze is act so painful :(

Fading Echoes

So much of the opening of these books is just recounting previous events and character arcs omg this goes for all WC books.

Hollyleaf :(

Blossompaw's siblings joke that she moons over Toadstep. Idk why fucking Thornclaw becomes her mate later on then :/

What is Tigerheart doing on the border ? he doesnt explain it? I actually thought that he was already meeting Dovepaw secretly but then hes not like what is he doing...?

Dovepaw being worried for the other Clans + her thoughts about having this power should put her above the Clan rules could be so interesting. the series back-and-forths over Lionblaze (we must protect ThunderClan) and Dovepaw (we must protect all the Clans) even though Lionblaze gets annoyed at Dovepaw for using her powers to look after ThunderClan???

The whole "being obsessed with Prophecy and what it means" is probs a part of Jay's character (as he baso became a med cat to fulfil his destiny) but it also feels like a gross misunderstanding of what a Prophecy is. All the "the dark forest is rising. This might be what the Three is meant for" is like putting the horse before the cart- a prophecy is meant to describe a situation and hint at the character/means to solve it; but PO3/OoTS has the characters/means to solve, but no conflict :/ its a bit backwards.

I like the mentions of Firestar + Sandstorm going on night hunts etc.

Blossompaw/fall's a cunt lol. Shes kinda fun but shes not nice at all especially to Ivypool.

I love Littlecloud. I love when the med cats share ideas and discuss things 10/10 makes my day everytime

The pacing is actually... not good. Ive defo always been on thr camp of "too many povs and too few chapters ruins the book" but wow FE really shows it.

So much of Doves characterisation so far is about agency and not wanting to be special and have Firestar/Lion/Jay talk to her. I wish this was not forgotten about in later Super Editions.... kittypetdovewing2k24

this battle is crazy tho. I wish more of the DF plot was about stirring up trouble between the Clans and specific troublemakers in each Clan rather than the later nebelous 'dark warriors invade the forest' battle. Ill get to that one day

Night Whispers

Picking right back up in the battle...

and again just recounting the last books events. hollyleaf death/disappearance explanation count: 3

Kinda love how many times shes mentioned. From Lionblaze avoiding the tunnel she ran into to Jayfeather finding the fur that Leafpool hid.... cute

Okay i actuallt love ShadowClan discussing the battle + tactics + training and then the chapter immediately after the TC camp doesnt mention it at all and Ivypaw is like "why arent we discussing the battle? Just because we won doesn't mean we will again!!" interesting character moments + a nice look at differences between the Clans

Ivypaw and dovepaw fighting over tigerheart????? they fight so much but then always wanna be together like jfc.

Dove n tiger have negative chemistry like it just jumps right into "no boundaries can keep us apart". I get shes using him as an escape from TC/prophecy bullshit but like.... rlly? I wish it was just like expanded on. Tbh i wish every chapter had like just two extra pages to actually delve into things a bit better.

Lmaoo lionblaze cinderheart leafpool dovepaw patrol this is so fucking funny brambleclaw u get one point for this

Tigerheart break up scene count: 1

Flametail POV. Interesting but... why? Bad things r coming we know... what was his point narratively? It was cool tho. I liked seeing ShadowClan.

Every single book Dovepaw has a character die/get really hurt and is haunted by their screams. Rippletail, Longtail/Briarpaw, and later on its Antpelt... jesus christ girlie has it SO rough

The ivypaw "nernernenerner im better than you im being trained by tigerstar" to "oh fuck hes actually a bad guy i cant believe the terroristic maniac lied to me" is so rapid shes so funny/stupid

The imagery in this book is kinda crazy. Fire and ice cats and drowning in darkness visions. Very fun.

Sign of the Moon

So the med cats are divided and split up and StarClan does not trust any other Clan cat- but when in StarClan, Barkface and Flametail are hanging out? Crookedstar offers to share prey with Yellowfang? But StarClan is super fractured rn each Clan must stand alone. Okay

Antpelt nooooooooooooooo

Idk what the mountain prophecy actually means like. Firestar was always going to lead ThunderClan into battle.... what is he gonna do that's different...

Rock: i was the first Stoneteller Five chapters later Half Moon becomes the first Stoneteller. This is egregious

Swoop death. that's the fourth death Dovewing is going to be haunted by

The Forgotten Warrior

all the hints to Hollyleaf still... its a nice throughline... the yarrow and tansy and Molepaw/Cherrypaw scenes... shes my fave. sometimes the foreshadowing feels like it could be just Jayfeather coping that she's 'defo still out there' but TFW ties it up well. especially when you get surprised by Sol coming back and its like 'oh they were convinced she was defo still out there :(' and then she's actually back!!!

also the title??? is banger. the Forgotten Warrior, with Leafpool on the OG cover??? wow. espec as its constantly brought up that Leafpool was the medicine cat but no one sees her as a warrior really.... TBH all these titles are just as good as the TPB titles in terms of meaning/how good they are.

Another fox? okay.

SOL.... okay

tunnel adventures part 3.

All this like.. Bumeblstripeing is just kinda naff. Dovewing is clearly tryna force herself into liking him. But then she's also going on about how Tigerheart used her??? NGL i do really wanna see like.. why she changes her mind in AVOS

Brambleclaw lying to protect Hollyleaf is actually like. GOD that hurts. especially when you consider Bramblestar's Storm and how much he misses her. thats his favourite

the cinderheart shit is so stupid my jaw is actually on the floor. what you do mean you've been in love with a cat you shouldn't have. is cinderheart having cinderpelt's feelings for fucking firestar and that's why she doesn't want to be with lionblaze. also they have negative chemistry they literally are CONSTANTLY having issues.

oh my god i swear the 'Sol is secretly working with WindClan' was brought up chapters ago and we are only now dealing with it okay. anyway hollyleaf moment.

its kinda weird we dont get any like. scenes of the siblings just being siblings... they only discuss prophecy/plot shit and dont get to be siblings again - which i guess fits with the whole 'everything has changed' but god it'd be so god to just have them doing like. normal cat stuff - especially when so much of this series has had Jayfeather missing her and Lionblaze

i love Dustpelt and Brackenfur building shit... its so good

Dawnpelt murder accusations. okay.... i can't wait for Flametail to suddenly be argumentative again next book

the battle we've been building to all book is one chapter. cool. Sol runs off again and it's the end of the book. cool.

[kirwell]

I don't have to voice that the new era of warrior books are,,, struggling creatively,,, to put it nicely, cus everyone's who has been here for a minute already knows. But A Starless Clan is already coming to an end,, and I just feel like it was all REALLY short. The final book drops in November before we immediately move onto Changing Skies in January, but I feel like we should still be in the middle of THIS arc. The conflict is so short-lived.

Maybe it's just me, but when comparing TBC to ASC, the former felt it had a much longer, drawn out and more involved story and plot, with all the POV characters going through plenty of experiences that impacted them before the final endgame.

Rootspring dealing with Bramblestar's spirit. Direct involvement. Shadowsight being manipulated by Ashfur. Direct involvement. Bristlefrost and her complicated involvement with the imposter, the Rebels, and ThunderClan. Direct involvement.

That's not been the case for half of our protags in A Starless Clan. Not that Nightheart and Sunbeam don't do anything at all, but compared to Frostpaw, who is literally carrying everything, they might as well be background characters. Damn near the entire plot has been carried on this poor girl's shoulders, and it shows, because Nightheart and Sunbeam are suffering from lack of important character progression and main plot relevance.

Nightheart's most prominent arc was his angst phase and temporarily switching clans for his crush. Even when he and Frostpaw were traveling and met the park cats, he took a major backseat compared to Frostpaw. The book told us that Nightheart and Frostpaw grew closer on their journey together, but it really doesn't feel that way. It would've made more sense for a banished Frostpaw to stay with Thunderclan rather than ShadowClan. We'd get more Night and Frost interaction, and now all our protags are together as well.

And Sunbeam, don't get me wrong, I like her, and I've been much more invested in her emotional journey then Nightheart's, post his ShadowClan arc. Breaking up with her best friend, crush rejection, her overbearing and phobic mother, leaving her birth-clan, being abandoned by Nightheart more than once, and her family (aside from Spireclaw) living in exile. However, Sunbeam has little affect on the overarching plot, compared to Frostpaw. Sunbeam's chapters in Wind basically consisted of her worrying about her mother and crossing the border to check up on her family. As for Nightheart, all that he was really doin' was trainin' Waffle (our precious waffle boi) and being his girl's yes-man for the majority of the book. It also seems like Sunbeam's and Nightheart's romantic arc is just finished now i guess. We'll probably see their kits in Changing Skies, and Sun and Night will be put on the backburner of obscurity.

I just wish Nightheart and Sunbeam took a more pressing role in the plot and were more emotionally invested in the main conflict. Their personal stakes aren't nearly as high as Frostpaw's, who is truly burdened by the weight of so many responsibilities, on top of having damn near no one that supports her. A Starless Clan is truly Frostpaw's series- and ya can't tell me otherwise.

Nightheart quite literally has nothing to lose if Splashtail takes over RiverClan completely. He has Sunbeam, and that's all he wants.

Sunbeam has an emotional investment now with BerryHeart being Splashtail's cohort, (and now deputy), but her focus is less set on RiverClan's wellbeing, and more so directly on her family's. If Berryheart wasn't involved with Splashtail, I feel Sunbeam wouldn't have gotten herself up in RiverClan's business after the ShadowClan warriors left.

Frostpaw is carrying an absurd level of trauma and personal involvement with what's going on, as she's entangled in everything that's important within the plot from every single angle.

ASC just feels really, really short and underwhelming, in terms of it's supporting cast and main villain. Part of me kinda likes that Splashtail is a sleezy snake, but he's still just sooo,,, boring, especially when putting him up against other villains like Ashfur and Darktail. Curlfeather didn't even get a chance, and she's by FAR, a much more interesting choice for an antagonist.

Off the top of my head, a better plot could've been Curlfeather successfully pretending to be Curlstar, and Splashtail being discontent with only being deputy, and stirring up chaos and plotting to overthrow Curlstar. The endgame could've been Splashtail trying to kill Frostpaw (again), but Curlstar refusing to let her daughter be murdered, and in the end, sacrifices herself to take down Splashtail for good. And then, like what a lot of us are expecting will happen at the end of ASC, Frostpaw becomes Froststar (i love frost so much this better happen dont let the flame die out!!)

The theme of this season has 100% been family issues/trauma, as every protag has stuff goin' on with their moms, but we get Splashtail as a main villain, with no prominent ties to anyone except Curlfeather (tho we don't rlly see much of it)

but anywayy,,, enough rambling and GIVE IT UP FOR ARC 9 EVERYBODYYYY!! ARC 9 COMING SOON LETS GOO !! WE'RE GONNA BE READING CAT BOOKS TILL WE'RE 90 :)

[marsupialmuseum]

Being a Nightheart fan is rough on Tumblr 😭

Okay here's my Nightheart take:

He wasn't completely right as an apprentice, but he DID have a right to be upset. I don't think we were meant to be entirely sympathetic towards him and agree with all of his opinions in the early ASC books. For instance, it seemed to me like we were supposed to see him failing his assessments as justified, considering he tries to show off when he shouldn't, and he takes risks that are completely unnecessary. Squirrelflight failing him on his 2nd assessment was the right choice. However, he had every right to be angry about his name and how everyone was comparing him to Firestar. Like he says, he's a black cat, the Flame prefix never made sense. The clan already knew he didn't like living in Firestar's shadow when he was given his warrior name, and giving him almost the same warrior name as Firestar didn't honor him for the individual he was, it honored his heritage.

Nightheart also felt that Sparkpelt had abandoned him when her and Finchpaw left ThunderClan, and throughout ASC, we see his take on her become much more nuanced, and they eventually forgive each other. Iirc, he also apologizes for his actions, but correct me if I'm wrong. I do agree that there was sexism from the Erins involved in Nightheart's story that made Squirrelflight and Sparkpelt (and even Finchlight, a little bit) look bad, but I also think that they weren't as vilified by the story as some people claim. We were reading from Flamepaw's point of view- He saw things in black and white when he was younger, and he later grew to understand that the situation was a lot more nuanced than he'd first thought.

I like that Sunbeam makes him more cautious while he makes her more daring. He becomes considerate and she learns to stand up for herself. I see a lot of people saying that it's not fair that Nightheart was the main cause of Sunbeam's character development, but the way I see it, she affected him just as much as he affected her.

I do agree that Sunbeam's arc got sidelined a bit for Nightheart's. Honestly, in TBC, I felt that Shadowsight's - and *sometimes* even Rootspring's - arcs got sidelined for Bristlefrost's, and my opinion is that it was about keeping more of the focus on ThunderClan so that it'd still be seen as the "main clan" just as much as it was about the writing of Warriors being sexist at times. Multi-faceted issue.

Also, people seem to act like he didn't grow as a character, but he definitely did. He becomes less reactionary, he starts to consider the opinions of others, he forgives his mother and sister, and (minor spoilers for Star, doesn't reveal anything about the plot which is why I'm not bothering to like, put this in a separate post) in Star, when someone whose name I honestly cannot remember starts to say that he becomes more like Firestar every day, Nightheart says thank you. That's... like very obvious character development and I have a little bit of hope that it'll make people favor Nightheart a bit more, but I'm not *that* hopeful.

I see a lot of hate for him that comes from the Erins saying he's only a POV character because they needed a male POV character. Personally, I don't REALLY understand why the (rightful) disdain for that fact gets thrown onto Nightheart instead of the Erins, but I mean, I can get why that would sour people's opinion of him. I'm just sad about it because I'm a Nightheart fan and it gets kind of tiring to see people constantly hate on him and even go so far as to say that they hope he suffers in Star or that they headcanon him as having an orange flame-shaped marking just because they know he'd hate it 😭

I kind of view people who call him a bad character specifically because he's annoying and whiny the way I view people who call Catcher in the Rye a bad book because they find Holden annoying. First of all, you can find a character annoying without calling them a bad character. Second of all, he becomes like, a LOT less whiny and annoying after he actually grows up and realizes he wasn't always right. Lastly, he was a teenager (and yes, he was basically warrior aged in the early books so maybe a young adult, but still very young) who felt misunderstood. He felt like ThunderClan didn't appreciate him for who he was because they could only see him for who he was related to, and he's kind of right tbh. He clearly holds the same values in Star regarding his belief that every cat should be an individual and they shouldn't have to live in the shadow of someone else's legacy, but he's more reasonable than when he was an apprentice.

Overall, I love Nightheart as an interesting, nuanced character that has some of the best character growth in Warriors. I love how him and Sunbeam compliment each other. I think a lot of the hate he gets should be directed at the Erins for their... very male-favoring writing instead of at him, and I definitely do not believe Nightheart fans deserve to be attacked or called sexist for liking him. That's going way too far. We're all going to have different takes on these books and the characters in them, and ngl, the writing is so inconsistent in the series that one book can portray a character as being loyal and kind and the book directly after it can portray them as the complete opposite, so we should all fight each other less and fight the Erins more LMFAO.

Now, I'm perfectly open to hearing people out if they disagree with my takes here, but they won't make me stop liking Nightheart. I relate to him and I like his arc. If you don't like him, whatever. Just don't come in my comments talking about how you hate him and want him to die between books and never be mentioned again because I'll just block you 😭 I don't want to see that. And to the people who comment shit like that on art people post of characters you don't like, stop doing that. Seriously. Unless the artist is already talking about hating that character, their post is not the place for you to rant about how much you despise what could very well be someone's favorite character. Yes, that includes comments like "I hate x but this art is great". Just say the art is great and move on. This community isn't always nice to each other, and a little less negativity would go a long way imo.

Yeah 3 am post about how much I love Nightheart. Also, I was 100% happy with Star. That seems to be an unpopular opinion, which I understand, but yeah I really liked it :)

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

I'm not trying to be rude, but I feel like you're going way too far to punish Brambleclaw. Thistleclaw, the child groomer, doesn't receive this treatment. I don't understand the point of bringing him back if you're going to portray him as the most evil cat in history. Brambleclaw is buried outside, while most of the evil cats are buried within the clan's territory, which seems very extreme. If you hate him so much, don't include him in a rewrite. It will feel just like what you hate the Erins for, "forcing too much on Brambleclaw." If you dislike a character, don't focus on them. Like Jesus Christ, my friend wasn't wrong, you have a hate boner for this cat. I mean no offense, but it's weird, dude. Real weird.

Why is it that the minute I post bramble facing consequences for actions I get bramblestans in my inbox assuming I hate him? I think what's weird is very clearly trawling the tag to look for posts like mine so you can write an essay. What you should be doing is drawing him with green eyes, it looks good.

Cause if you knew this project, you would know that Thistleclaw isn't a child goomer anymore, technically. He is Ivypaw's Dark Forest mentor (which... is grooming people but not THAT way), as Hawkfrost has a proper arc now and... Doesn't die in Sunset.

I will say one thing though, I did actually forget one thing to mention that you caught! He isn't on Thunderclan's MAIN territory. I mean... what do you call a border that shifts ALL the time? It's the Thunder-Shadow Niagara Falls.

It's where Tawnypelt is going to be buried! Under a pine tree. (It's also close to a lungwort patch Rowanstar is the protector of, territories NEED landmarks)

Also.... I don't truly hate him hate him! Sure, he sucks but he isn't real. And as a character? Dude, he's FUN. He's a self fulfilling Prophecy, he has good moments, in WCR, he is still a POV during TNP and is buddies with Cinderpelt. He's canonically a giant PUFFBALL of an animal and I've never been against adding your own pets to Xenofiction! I am also the biggest advocate for the Give Brambleclaw Green Contacts Organization. I'm giving him more moments with his family, and while those relationships get REALLY strained, it's a story. He wouldn't be interesting if he was a cardboard cutout of a cat. I think he's interesting in a way that is both intriguing and frustrating.

He's messy.

He loves his daughter Dandeliontuft, but she's the spitting image of his mother who died right after swearing to never speak to him again, and Dandy is nearly mute... It's hard to think about. Abusers are not unfathomable monsters with no redeeming qualities. He still cried when he thought Lionpaw was buried alive.

He does show up to Starclan, but when he sees the smoldering scorched earth, it's a clear message. He wasn't welcome, and he will not be staying. It's not like the actual literal groomer Stormtail, who got poisoned repeatedly, had all of his relationships ruined, and chased out of Starclan every night by a living and dead Goosefeather until his spirit eroded due to his refusal to move on. Tom got eaten alive and his spirit consumed by One Eye.

He's a ghost now. He's gonna have a long, long time to reflect on what he's done. How badly he did hurt others. He's been around too long, and his generation needs to be done away with. I think he'll find peace wandering the land, being a cat ghost.

He's not an evil cat, he's just stubborn. Stuck in the way he was taught to be by the Clans.

[blimbo-buddy]

If you had your way with arcs: who would you have as the single pov character for them?

See, I think that some arcs could benefit from bigger casts, such as TNP. But that's only if they actually stuck with the idea of multiple povs from different clans and wrote it actually good. Though I can still give my own choices of protagonists from each arc, if I was given the chance to.

These are just rough ideas so not everything is gonna stick, y'know. Dunno if this will all be apart of a rewrite so don't take this as a solid idea of my rewrite

The Prophecies Begin

Main pov: FireStar

This one has the least amount of changes done to it. I feel like FireStar being the main pov, the main protagonist is what works best for this arc. I'd really go into detail about how alone he feels in this new world he chose for himself, make it seem like that everything and everyone is working against him because of his heritage. All building up to his victory in the battle against Bloodclan, where he loses all of his freedom, his humanity, and finally becomes the leader of Thunderclan. It's horrible, tragic, beautiful.

The New Prophecy

Main pov(s): BrambleClaw, SquirrelFlight, CrowFeather, TawnyPelt, FeatherTail, StormFur, LeafPool

I'd probably go the first arc of Wings of Fire route for TNP, each book is from the pov of a different protagonist. As much as we've all dread the idea of CrowFeather having a book, we still got a super edition of him (Which, in this version would go to BreezePelt). I don't know which books would be about which characters though, but BrambleClaw and SquirrelFlight will probably share the Thunderclan book together, or I might switch that to SquirrelFlight and LeafPool sharing the Thunderclan book. HawkFrost and MothWing would fill the roles as the major supporting cast for sure.

The Power of Three

Main pov(s): LionBlaze, HollyLeaf, JayFeather

Also generally stays the same, it's called the power of three. Characters like CinderHeart, FlameTail (Who is far, far younger in this version), HeatherTail and BreezePelt would have more of a presence in the books, filling in the role of major supporting characters. Not much to say here honestly.

Omen of the Stars

Main pov(s): LionBlaze, JayFeather, DoveWing, IvyPool

Excluding HollyLeaf from the main cast because she would show up generally around the same time as she does in the books (Maybe earlier though). She does, however, fill the role as a major supporting character. Some of the other major supporting characters: TigerHeart, HollowFlight, CinderHeart, BreezePelt, HeatherTail

Dawn of the Clans

Main pov(s): GreyWing, TurtleTail, Thunder, TallShadow, probably some other cats

Okay this is where it's becoming obvious that I'm making this up from the top of my head. I got no real explanation for my choices I hope these characters all die (Except TurtleTail, Thunder, and TallShadow)

A Vision of Shadows

Main pov(s): SparkPelt, TwigBranch, VioletShine, someone else I dunno

So here's the thing: I want AlderHeart and NeedleTail to still be super involved with the plot, so they might become major supporting characters. But I'm struggling with the choices of making them povs or major supporting characters. But AlderHeart and NeedleTail would fall into different roles, especially AlderHeart, who would become apart of The Kin. That's all I got though I really don't care for this arc, just some of the characters, can you guys tell I want to get to TBC already.

The Broken Code

Main pov: ShadowSight

Yep, BristleFrost and RootSpring have now been slapped down to the major supporting character rank, joining this rank with NeedleClaw. Same thought process with FireStar being the only pov, I want to make ShadowSight seem alone, even if he has the support of his family, he doesn't even have the trust of his Clan, even his mentor flinches whenever he moves a little too fast or aggressively. Although I really want BristleFrost and RootSpring to be povs, I really do and I have no idea what route I want to go for. But I feel like if I had the choice, making ShadowSight the only pov really adds onto the hopelessness of the situation that he himself had caused because of heavy manipulation by an angel.

A Starless Clan

Main pov: FrostPaw

Double whammy with these singular pov characters. I explain my thought process with both her and ShadowSight better in this post, but basically I want her situation of all her support slowly fading away to really have an impact. You read the first book and think "Wow I'm so glad FrostPaw has all of her support from her family, mentor, and Clan!", until the end of the first book and beginning of the second book comes around, and it just hits you in the face like a brick that FrostPaw is going to be in for the worst time of her life

In the supporting cast department, we got: SunBeam, WhistlePaw, ShadowSight, LightLeap, FinchLight, SparkPelt, NightHeart, TigerHeartStar, and DoveWing

[bonefall]

i know u dont rework arcs untill theyre complete but im very excited to see what you do with a starless clan, theres so much exciting things happening in this arc to work with. do you have any changes you already know for sure you’ll be incorporating?

No for-sures. I don't want to make any for-sures. I have ones I'm feeling but I don't want to call ANYTHING a for-sure yet. I need to find out what the ending is, WHERE this is all going, because I have a strong philosophy in my writing that a story is like a spear;

IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING TO THE POINT.

But we are 4/6 of the way in, so I CAN start talking about thoughts!

I'm actually leaning pretty heavily towards axing Nightheart as a POV. There's still time for the books to turn around and justify it, BUT HEAR ME OUT

(Saying AS someone who is a Nightheart Enjoyer)

So far I'm really feeling that his character would benefit from us never being inside of his head, or seeing what he's been going through. As much as I WILL stand by that I enjoyed books 1 and 2 and liked his perspectives there, I'm starting to think that it would serve the story a lot better for Sunbeam and Frostpaw to be guessing just as much as we are.

We'd get introduced to Nightheart on the journey for catmint.

Sunbeam connects with him immediately, because she's tossed on this mission while she's in the middle of a swirling tide of drama. With nothing but Clerics and a hardened Rootspring to the left and her ex-bestie (exstie) to the right, he's really her only other choice for companionship. She's chronically unable to stop problems before they get out of hand, the sort of person who becomes frozen by indecision, and then here comes this Glorious Bastard

In her eyes, he's so caring, and bold, and fun! He's the first one to jump headlong into danger, to really be interested in her problems and just let her talk, and his story is so heartbreaking! A mother who's so hard on him... and his Clan is so mean all the time, but he wants to prove to all of them that he's more than just Firestar's descendant... but he was so brave to choose his own name.................

And then, when she follows him into ThunderClan, she learns he fucking lied. She changed Clans based on SOB STORIES

When she first comes, no one knows what he's been saying behind their back. Even if they did, they don't want to start trashing Nightheart right to his new mate's face. But then he LEAVES, and Sunbeam will bring up,

"Maybe it was because you were hard on him?"

And then Sparkpelt tries to agree, just to take blame onto herself and stop all this, but Finchlight's had eNOUGH and ends up setting the record straight;

"No this is DEFINITELY another tantrum. He already ran off once before."

"NO he didn't pick his own name, he stopped the whole ceremony to complain and Bramblestar gave him a compromise"

"MEAN to him?? I had to do HIS WORK because he couldn't STAY ON THE GROUND"

"Oh he's buckling under the weight of his legacy? that must be so hard. I was cat-fifteen when i punched my first fascist and he was wearing the face of my grandpa."

"His mom aba-WHAT?? ABANDONED???? OUR MOTHER WAS EXILED AND HE STAYED HOME!!!!! WE WERE CAT-FIFTEEN!!"

With this false hope shattered, Sunbeam is thrown into a devastating situation where... her mother was right. She was tricked. And now she's stuck in this new Clan without any of her old friends, without this mate who was too-good-to-be-true, the ONE impulsive choice she's made on her own in her WHOLE LIFE turns to ashes in her mouth. She can't go back, either, because Berryheart would NEVER let her live this down.

But... it's okay.

It's a slow shock, to make a choice SO impulsive and SO self-concerned, and find a safety net below her. It's going to be okay. The trials are fair. The cats of ThunderClan interrupt and speak over each other, but, that teaches her to be more assertive. Sparkpelt and Finchlight are not the mean assholes that Nightheart built them up to be, and they'll support her no matter what she chooses to do with her possible mate.

I want Nightheart TO get better, but, in order for that to happen, he has to face, and, more importantly, ACCEPT consequences. He needs to develop the maturity to say, "I acted like a brat and didn't appreciate what I had. and I'm sorry. you don't have to forgive me."

Bottom line being, Nightheart is striking me lately as a character that works best as unpredictable, because we have NO IDEA what's truly in his head. It would be interesting for him to have a novella later, but as it stands, his POV has consistently just been a duplicate since he joined ShadowClan. We gained NOTHING from splitting the Frostpaw Journey of the newest book in half POV, and VERY little from splitting the ShadowClan one into half POV.

I might reduce the POVs to 2, just Sunbeam and Frostpaw, or change Nightheart's to Lightleap. If I NEED 3 main characters, then they should all be a consistent camera on different parts of the conflict.

Again. I do not commit to changes until the arcs are done. Nothing in BB!ASC is set yet.

But here's some other little things I'm thinking,

Bramblestar is VOTED out.

He does not step down. The little "game" he played with Nightheart to create a situation to yell at Squilf, who hasn't been his mate in a long time in BB, was the LAST straw for ThunderClan.

They had sympathy for him before that point, because of what he went through with Ashfur, but his leadership was long and controversial even before the Impostor.

And there's a really strong sentiment that IF Bramblestar had been a good leader... they would have realized he was possessed sooner. So, there are those who partially blame him for the tyranny of the Impostor.

Basically; enough is enough.

Berryheart's hate group has ACTUAL consequences. Someone gets killed; probably Antfur, who survived the last arc to die here.

More fights. This arc has been too bloodless. Already planning SEVERAL sudden, random brawls in RiverClan as tensions boil.

Heartstar is going to be MORE controversial. Not controversial enough in canon imo. I don't like how Leaf and Squilf seem like they have "hypothetical" issues with the invasion instead of being able to point at REAL ones.

riverclan didn't forget how to do the chores they've done their WHOLE lives, no. I'm going to talk about POWER VACUUMS and create ACTUAL factions that begin to coagulate in RiverClan.

if we're going to have a brainless plot about how "Well Ackshually democracy has enough problems to make us reconsider not having unaccountable, tyrannical dictators, because a vote could maybe be called over One Single Issue" then I'll talk about shit like the spoiler effect, mob mentality, and factionalism. Get the hell out of my way ERIN I'll cook

No Smoky. Society has progressed past the need for Smoky. No Smokyng Area.

Whistlepaw should to try and take care of her ALONE, not trained enough to take care of SUCH bad wounds and barely able to keep her trembling paws straight, and Frostpaw realizes that she's making her watch her own friend die.

Is this how her life is going to end? slipping away under the paws of someone she loves, for what? pride? to do what her mother told her-- trust no cat?

As she TRUSTS Whistlepaw? Trusts her SO much, that Frostpaw will force her to be the only witness to her death?

FROSTPAW CALLS THE HUMAN

...which in BB, is a team of researchers. She drags herself to them, and collapses. This is why they just HAPPENED to have the proper equipment on them; they're WILDLIFE VETS.

Not sure how I'm going to handle Frostpaw's Journey though. In BB, the Park Cats are already a foundational part of Clan Culture.

In all honesty, while I HAVE to praise the fact that the Erins have FINALLY created ONE outsider group that isn't malicious or defenseless... I don't much care for them.

sending frostpaw on a side quest to what's essentially a big DOTC reference. Look! It's that group we introduced in the last 5 chapters of our latest glorified recap! cooool.

We're just going to get nothing but fucking founders in every dream from now on. I'm SURE of it.

As a consolation prize to myself though I will be writing cool angel scenes of the absolute BEING that Riverstar has become in heaven.

Riverstar (normal cat): "Elder Bones I'm going out!"

"not dressed like THAT you're not!!!"

Riverstar (the manifestation of the river, the rain in the sky above, and the abyss below, and how through water we are all truly connected as one being): "better?"

I will probably keep the Park Cats and rework them significantly, but I'm leaning pretty heavily towards Frostpaw visiting a LOT of places. A holy pilgrimage.

ESPECIALLY one of the Tribe's three wards; the River Ward. The Tribe of Rushing Water believes (it's even in the name) that water connects all things.

So I think it would be really fitting for Frostpaw to learn from MANY perspectives, starting with this philosophy put forth by the River Ward.

And she realizes-- that's what Riverstar is, as well. As a being. He is mentoring her on this pilgrimage, while barely saying a word. She can feel him wherever she is, because he isn't JUST the God of the River.

He is connection. He is peace. He's water. Too much and you'd drown, not enough and you'd thirst.

EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: Here is the rough draft of Frostpaw's Journey

[chelseareferenced]

I might have a vague power of three/omen of the stars au brewing in my brain because I am way to far behind in the series to actively try and catch up so here are my basic ideas.

Three is Four from the start because God that plot point was stupid and I hate it and it added needless drama when we all knew it was Firestar because it's always Firestar. The four are Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Breezepelt because drama but wait there's more.

Squirrel x Crow who have Holly and Breeze. Ashfur is just a dude not an asshole, he dated Squilf for a week but could see she was unhappy because she was in love with someone else and let's her go. Now Brambleclaw is the asshole because I don't like him.

Hawk x Leaf but it wasn't a serious thing looking back on it, more like a summertime fling that resulted in children being Jay and Lion. Hawkfrost is just a little ambitious, has a good relationship with Mothwing, fully supports his ex and sister being in love and tells awful puns.

Holly and Breeze are raised in Thunderclan, Crowfeather lives there with them and Brackenfur is deputy instead of Brambleclaw because as much as Firestar doesn't want to admit it, Bramble is an asshole and Sandstorm yells at him whenever he is remotely rude to Squirrelflight. Holly is mentored by Ashfur who becomes like a fun uncle and Breeze is mentored by Brightheart because fuck you Firestar you promised her an apprentice.

Holly becomes Hollyfur in honour of her mentor because Ashfur is just a cool dude and her power is being able to sense when cats are lying and occasionally, forcing the truth out of them. Her early arch is learning when to call out lying and when to let it slide.

Breeze becomes Breezeflight after his mother and gets Dovewing's power because it's there, might as well use it.

Lion and Jay are raised in Riverclan because they deserve POV chapters and it's the clans best kept secret that they're Leafpool's kits but after that whole Tigerclan incident they all collectively agree to keep quiet about it and Hawk becomes a den dad in the nursery and even after his kits are grown he stops by to help the queens when he can.

Lion is terrified of his power especially because he has nightmares about being like Tigerstar and begs Mothwing to let him be her apprentice, she agrees. Lion's power is still the same but he figures out he can use it more defensively than offensively, if there's a battle he's there acting as a shield while he heals. He's named Lionflower because pretty name.

Jay is a lot happier, he's not forced into being a medicine cat and it's only really the queens and younger cats who worry over him. He gets to be a warrior and is mentored by Reedwhisker (Pouncepaw is mentored by Blackclaw instead) his power is the same as in the books and he occasionally helps his brother out with starclan symbols and prophecies, he gets to have secret meeting with his brother as well and is named Jaystep.

Certain Starclan cats (the loudest being Goosefeather) tell the more involved spirits to back the fuck up and let them be kits. But no one trusts Bluestar, Yellowfang and Spottedleaf to behave so they all get a Starclan assigned bodyguard/spiritual mentor

Hollyclaw gets Whitestorm

Breezeflight gets Thrushpelt

Lionflower gets Oakheart

Jaystep gets Crookedstar

EDIT: I have unintentionally implied that both of Bluestar's "romantic partners" and her nephew are away that she will not stay away from the Four and I love it.

Also Crookedstar yells at any Starclan cat who says Jaystep belongs as a medicine cat (cough cough Spottedleaf and Yellowfang)

[wc-confessions]

sunbeam had so much going for her and the writing team utilised exactly none of it to progress her character. she's only interesting when arguing with her mom or lightleap. she gets even LESS interesting when she's with nightheart, and sucks all life out of him too. i'm fine with nightheart's problems being resolved by getting a girlfriend but sunbeam had too much going on for her misunderstood bad boy thunderclan boyfriend to fix

literally the only way i can imagine enjoying sunbeam's pov in star for ONCE since river is if they have her get in berryheart's good graces to act as a spy and eventually allow access into riverclan. have her think of the plan on the spot and break up with nightheart in front of berryheart without actually informing him of said plan first so she gets a genuine reaction out of night and he gets some of his personality back

all that being said... lightleap should have been the shadowclan pov. we'd still get nightsun but as viewed from her pov which would be extremely entertaining as well as more peeks into how shadowsight is doing. she wouldn't be as close to berryheart but let's be real what has sunbeam contributed to the berryheart plot aside from going nooooo moooooom you're embarrassing me in front of my in-laws!!!!!

.

[the-owl-tree]

I know its not gonna happen but i hope moonpaw becomes a med cat because of leafpool, like she hears about this cat the literally dedicated her life to being a medicine cat, liked doing and was GOOD at it and even got her suffix for being the one to discover their new homes way of communicating with starclan their literal gods and thought she was so cool, its the only way to make up for yet again another thunderclan pov

And also leafpool needs more fans in-verse, leafpool should be allowed to have followers in the clans actually why was she not worshipped ill never know

THAT WOULD BE SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!! it actually kind of kills me that like. the authors are almost afraid of cats receiving certain benefits. the journey cats being treated with a little more honor and reverence, cats whispering about them at the gathering. leafpool especially!! she literally found their new connection to starclan!! she would be part of the apprentice curriculum, could you imagine a scene where mothwing with this deep wistful look and a fond tone tells frostpaw about the brave she-cat who found the moonpool?

it would be so nice if the books cared about leafpool more, her death leaving this hole in thunderclan that newer generations don't understand why it's there but can still feel. aaaggghhh!!!