#duskstar727

[clangenrising]

June Featured Follower Post!

Congratulations to this month’s featured follower, @duskstar727! She has been leaving so many long, thoughtful, delightful comments recently and it's clear that they understand my characters very well.

The OC they asked me to highlight is Slatestar, a future character for her own ClanGen blog, @taleofturtleclan! I don't want to spoil too much of her story but this beautiful baby has so much on her shoulders and I adore her. I've heard that the blog is on an unofficial hiatus but you all should check it out and follow the blog to make sure you don't miss it when they stop posting again.

Next month I’ll pick another follower! I’ll be trying to pick people who reblog and comment so if you’re interested in being considered, that’s the way to get my attention. Please do not message me or ask to be featured.

A Special Thank You To My Patrons!

A massive, massive thank you to Autum_not_Fall, Daes, Abigalil Warner, and Saffronique! You guys make it possible for me to put more time and effort into RisingClan and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Want your name on these posts? Go check out my Patreon! Patreon members at the Sunrise Tier get their names on my Featured Follower Posts! In addition, all Patrons also get sneak peeks at upcoming pieces and Sunrise members get a unique illustration for every season. I’d love to see you there!

[fallenclan]

Teddyfluff, how are you settling into the Clan? Have you made any friends?

[wyrm-clangen]

Oh my god I read the last ask. And now Fiercechasm is mentoring one of Shineivy's kits. It probably feels like absolution to her, but also terrifying. Because on one hand, Riftstar is entrusting her with his son, and it feels like he's saying "I don't blame you for her death, I still trust you, I trust you so much that here is my son to train and teach and guide into adulthood" but on the other hand if anything, ANYTHING ever happens to Icypaw Fiercechasm feels that everything will come crashing down. Her actions led to Shineivy's death, and if that's repeated with Icypaw then it will feel like proof that she couldn't protect anyone, couldn't be trusted with anyone, not with Shineivy and not with her son. I also wonder if Icypaw resents Fiercechasm a little bit? He's still so young, reassurances like "it wasn't her fault, she was just there when it happened" don't mean much when you're a child and Fiercechasm was the last one to go out with your mother...

Every day of my life I just ask myself, why did Riftstar pick Fierce for Icypaw? Like, objectively it makes sense because the two have similar temperaments and Icy would probably benefit from someone he could relate to, but.

BUT RIFTSTAR. BUDDY. BESTIE. HAVE SOME TACT, MAYBE?

Goooood, Fiercechasm deserves a vacation and she's barely over a year old. Like, this feels like a weird punishment to both of them, despite Rift's probably good intentions?

[doritopaw101]

It's time folks! Take this quiz I spent literal hours making to find out which trope you fall victim to as a product of the bad writing in the warriors series! You know you want to know... rb with your result to make my day (NOT spoiler free)

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

Ok but what about a suffix that doesn't work with "Ash". I legit can't think of anything. Even Ashtoe sounds fine.

ashface sounds bad

[twilights-800-cats]

duskstar727 replied:

I mean, you could probably set up a patreon and then make your chapters or novellas or some other sort of content patreon-exclusive if you wanted to. I for one think your work is well worth the money!

Aw, thanks!

TL;DR - Patreon and I have a strained relationship rn and while it might be a good idea to maybe rework things to include my writing too, I’ve tried for so long already and I’m not willing to try again until I’m sure I can make it reliable, consistent, and satisfying to my audience.

Thing is, I’ve had a Patreon for several years now, lol. I made it to coincide with a comic I’ve also had for several years now lmao. However, the interest was basically one pretty devoted person + my mother and my bf’s mother (who ironically is the only patron left there anymore and I know for a fact that she hasn’t even looked at anything on the page, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t even remember donating soooooo).

The comic is on hiatus for personal reasons, and the Patreon was reworked to be focused more on all the content I create and not just the comic, since interest in the comic is... like, three people at best lol. Constantly advertising and promoting something no one had any interest in was getting grating on my sanity, so I’ve kinda left my Patreon on the backburner for now - my audience and draw just isn’t large enough to justify charging people.

I have no desire to create another Patreon for writing, so I’d have to rework my current one again to accommodate, lol. tbh it IS tempting to just drop all the rewards down to just like $1 or $5 and just... give patrons access to EVERYTHING - but until there’s enough consistent interest it’s not something I’m willing to put myself through again :`)

PLEASE NOTE that I am NOT saying you guys and your support doesn’t mean anything to me when it doesn’t make me money!! I love you guys so much and I’m so grateful for all your kind words; but I am well aware that Warriors is a fandom of children to teens and that people in general don’t have access to all the money in the world. My content just isn’t great enough to draw the kind of audience that would support a Patreon.

Depending on what projects lay ahead I might reconsider, but for right now, that’s where I stand.

[haven-clan]

Haha....yeah....

It's kind of part of why drawings take so long, but hopefully once we get the new set up going, the process will be smoother?

I've only used a tablet once before and it went pretty okay, so fingers crossed I guess? I'm also thinking of maybe switching from firealpaca to krita for the actual art

The time has come, friends. I've broken.

I've ordered a drawing tablet lmao

[shesarealphony]

I was tagged by @gussie-finknottle to list 10 songs I’ve been listening to recently and tag 10 other people

Same - Deb Never

A Kiss - The Driver Era

She Plays Bass - beabadoobee

Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches

My Guy - Mary Wells

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order

Prittyboi - Pandaraps ft. Alexa Prus

Gold on the Ceiling - The Black Keys

Come See About Me - The Supremes

i dont interact w anyone on here so. im just gonna tag some followers who i appreciate and irl friends. lol

@oddsbod @youcandohardthings @billboarddad420 @solitaryandwandering @ltlexay @hobbitofhobbiton @bookpressed-dandelion @never-had-a-macaroon @duskstar727 @epocalyps @calliopeos

[clangenrising]

I have a confession to make. When I found this blog (I think it was just after the first or second post), I wasn't a big fan of the real time updates thing. I mean, I certainly thought it was a cool idea, but I figured "it's going to take forever for anything to really happen, and the author will probably lose interest after the first six months." But that's not what happened at all. You've crafted an incredible story that is well paced and exciting, and each of your characters are unique and memorable. This is in large part because the real-time updates allows your readers to really sit with the characters and get to know them, to theorize about their futures. Like I'm more excited for the Oddlets to become warriors than I've been for anything else in any other Clangen blog, because we've watched them grow from kits for almost a year now. It makes everything much more meaningful and exciting. Thank you for crafting such a beautiful story!!

Thank you!!

Yeah, I think there's something to be said for delayed gratification and the way it helps build a story into something more meaningful and memorable. Its like how I ruined my first D&D campaign because I couldn't wait for the fun stuff and then it wasn't as satisfying as it could have been because I rushed it and there's wasn't any build up to pay off.

I'm so glad the story has managed to capture so many people's attention and make them happy. That's all I could have asked for.

[clangenrising]

This might be a weird thing to say and I may have said something similar before (recovering from anesthesia so I'm slightly out of it) but I seriously respect and admire how polite but firm you've been with your boundaries in interacting with us. I feel like 99% of the other Clangen blogs out there (and this is by NO MEANS any hate towards them whatsoever, there are some really fantastic stories being told out there) have the tendency to... not pander, exactly, but let their followers have a pretty high level of involvement in terms of confirming headcanons, answering questions in character, or even just making themselves available for consultation on questions like the one you declined to answer about the fanfic. There's nothing wrong with that, it lends itself to building a different kind of story, one that is more collaborative, but not all stories are designed to be told it has definitely given some well-meaning fans Expectations about how they can interact with other Clangen bloggers, and I admire the way you stand your ground on not running your blog or interacting with us in that way. It gives me hope that we can all choose to tell our own stories and succeed at building an audience without having to do things the same way. My own Clangen blog that has been on (unannounced lol) hiatus for a few months now never took off because I didn't get involved in the constant reblogging of other Clangen blogs to encourage like treatment and increase popularity, and it felt a bit discouraging that I wasn't really able to build an audience without running my blog that way. Not to say I was just creating for the sake of others, but it definitely sucked to spend sometimes hours on an art piece and story only to get like. 14 notes. So it's really nice to see that you have in fact been able to tell your story your way without playing that game, without letting your fans cross boundaries that they assumed due to their other experiences you wouldn't have. You are very much an author and storyteller, not a content creator trying to curate a fan base, and I respect that.

Thank you, that means a lot to me. I'm glad I could be a source of hope for you. I wish you luck and inspiration with your own creative endeavors!

Also, I got another ask being critical of that response that I deleted out of principle because I don't publish hate mail but I think maybe here I can clarify something. When I said I was a public figure, I didn't mean to imply I was famous or overly important or anything, just that you, my audience, don't know me personally and you aren't entitled to my time and energy. I appreciate asks that show interest in my work but I don't want to become beholded to my asks, like the person above describes. I appreciate all of you who understand and respect that.

[knuckleduster]

dont say that duskstar727 </3

Gorilla Grip Pussy - Popculture

[clangenrising]

Hmmm do I sense the potential for a bit of a love triangle developing between Aldertail, Oscar and Oddstripe? Oscar seems very cool, gallant even! Hoping to see more of her in future.

Could be! Who knows, we'll have to see :3c

And yes, I already really like Oscar as a character. Don't worry, we'll see her again.

[clangenrising]

Maaan this piece... this piece. The interaction between Scorch and Fogpaw. Absolutely phenomenal.

I think it's the first time that someone in RisingClan has been willing to interact with Scorch through her own worldview instead of trying to convince her it's wrong, and it seems to be a much more effective way to reach her. Because Goldenstar might be able to say "that's not the way things work here, not everything is a transaction, I give to you without necessarily expecting anything in return, I give to you because I love you for you," and while it's deeply important for Scorch to hear that, I think that right now, part of her is just going to write it off as naivety, as Goldenstar not understanding the way the world "really" is. But then there is Fogpaw. Who has lost much already, but is still innocent in other ways. Fogpaw who is willing and eager to learn from Scorchplume, and who doesn't really understand what Scorch's transactional worldview means when applied broadly, but is willing to speak to Scorch in those terms. So when Scorch says, "hey, I could betray you too," she is trying to teach Fogpaw that NOBODY is safe, not even her, because giving anyone your complete trust lets them have too much control over you. But then there is Fogpaw's reply: "if everything is a transaction, if everyone is just trying to get ahead, then in fact I CAN trust you because you would gain nothing from betraying me. By your own rules you are safe for me to trust because I have nothing to take away. I'm just a kid." (Thats my interpretation at least). It's a reply that so deeply displays Fogpaw's innocence, the fact that she doesn't conceptualize all the ways in which an adult could stand to gain from manipulating a minor, but she is speaking to Scorch in terms that actually get through. It's a much more effective way of telling Scorch "I trust you completely, I know you won't hurt me" than just coming out and saying that. Idk maybe I'm just babbling but it got to me. And think that in training Fogpaw, Scorch is unwittingly beginning another part of her healing that is so, so vital to developing a healthier worldview. I love them and cannot wait to see what is next for them.

50 RisingBucks for a spot on character analysis!

I love how you phrase that, "giving someone your complete trust gives them too much control over you" like Fuck! Thats Scorch in a nutshell! It wasn't really conscious when I was writing it but you're so right, the fact that Fogpaw buys in to Scorchplume’s transactional world view but still says "I have no reason not to trust you" is so much better at reaching her than what Goldie says. Its so interesting, I love it

[clangenrising]

Oof, Scorchplume IMMEDIATELY imparting her transactional worldview on Fogpaw, I see... I mean, I don't think she's entirely wrong, the leaders definitely want to present themselves a certain way and Greyvoice was definitely trying to get gossip, and it's good to be aware of those things, but if you choose to view the world only through that lens, you close yourself off completely to any deeper connections and become incapable (like Scorch) of understanding genuine kindness without selfish motivations. Like yeah, pull your apprentice away from Greyvoice who's being nosy (though probably mostly just for the sake of being nosy, not necessarily to use that information against Fogpaw), but lying about the reason so that Scorch will have the "advantage" next time seems a bit extreme. There's a balance to be struck between naivete and paranoia and I fear Scorch will never accept that, though its very easy to understand why she is the way she is. Viewing all of your interactions in terms of advantages and disadvantages is just. A really heartbreaking way to live and though Scorch is clearly trying to protect her, I hope that Fogpaw doesn't fall entirely into that mindset. Anyways great writing and I am SO curious to watch this apprenticeship evolve.

You can tell that Scorch is trying to help but that means she wants to teach Fogpaw all of her maladaptive coping mechanisms in an attempt to keep her safe. We can only hope that Fogpaw has more positive influences in her life that can temper that mindset.

[fallenclan]

I have feelings about Maplethorn meeting his mom...

Maplethorn stared, speechless, at the beautiful ginger molly before him. He'd never seen her before, and yet he knew her. She existed only as the faintest scent in his memory, buried deep beneath moons upon moons of life. The curve of her muzzle, the shape of her ears, there could be no doubt about who she was. "Mother?"

Morningbloom let out a little gasp of delight, her eyes brimming with starlight- could StarClan cats cry? "My son. How I've waited to meet you. It warms my heart that you know me, even after all this time. And I am so, so proud of all that you have become. You will follow in your father's footsteps as a kind, worthy leader." She stepped forward delicately, and Maplethorn dipped his head to touch noses with her, to recieve her gift. "To help you upon that path, I give you a life for empathy. Never dull your heart to the feelings of others. Know that even the tiniest kit crying over the loss of their favorite feather still feels their hurt just as deeply as any cat, and deserves your kindness and understanding." With her words, Maplethorn realized that this life would not be an easy one to bear.

The sensations rushed through him- pain and loss and grief and heartbreak on a monumental scale, so strong that he thought it might wash him away. Why must I bear the suffering of so many cats? Isn't my own hurt enough? And then he felt it. The love, the gratitude, the warmth of a cat who, in their suffering, is reached by the kindness of another. The feeling of not being alone in your pain, of knowing that someone still loves you, still cares for you, still understands you. The way that kindness and understanding can be a branch to cling to amidst the surging tide of pain and loss. For the first time, Maplethorn thought he understood the monumental strength it must have taken for Goldenstar to love his kits despite the fact that their birth had taken his mate from him. The fact that Goldenstar had not been bitter or angry with them, had played with them and cared for them and not allowed his hurt to mar his relationship with them, despite seeing Morningbloom reflected in their forms and in their mannerisms. I will always reach out to my Clanmates, Maplethorn vowed. Even when I too am hurting. Will will bear our burdens together. As one family,  one Clan. I will never let any cat feel alone in their suffering.

Morningbloom broke the contact as the sensations faded, and as she stepped back, Maplethorn saw her eyes brimming with pride and love.

GOD THIS IS SO GOOD......... Morningbloom and her kits that she didn't get to raise mean. so much to me. and now Applebranch is the only one she hasn't met :(

but. yeah. when i tell you i cried when this was in his leader ceremony

[clangenrising]

Hi! I really love the story you're building with RisingClan, and I'm so excited to see more. I just wanted to say I very much agree with your sentiment about tracing, there's no harm if you're open about it and not making money, and it's a great way to learn and improve. However, I would like to ask you to consider linking the photos you trace at the bottom of each post that uses them, or in a seperate master post that links back to the posts each photograph was used in, both to credit the original photographers and so those who might be interested in doing similarly can see the same poses and original photos! I saw that you said in a previous ask that you'd credit the photographers if they asked, but I feel that credit for their photos shouldn't need to be requested on a case by case basis, rather credit should be part of the baseline process. I feel that photographers often get the short end of the stick when it comes to crediting, even though so many of us artists would be completely lost without their contributions to the artistic world. I hope you will consider this perspective!

That's a really good point and I think I agree. Let me clarify what I meant:

From now on, I'll start linking photo references somehow (I'll have to figure it out since Ive heard that tumblr punishes posts that have external links in them) but posts I've already made will be very difficult to credit since I've since deleted the images I used to make them. I know this isn't a good excuse but I genuinely don't know if I can find them again so in that case if someone contacts me about it I would be happy to link from there.

Does that make sense? ^^;