#especially over alderheart

[esoteric-terror]

one if not all three of the dawncrow kids shouldve been protagonists in avos send tweet

[yuridovewing]

Needletail ghost reader??????????

[bonefall]

My birthday was a couple days ago, and I got to see my bio dad for the first time in a while. He surprised me with the fact that I have a little half-sister, whom I've never met and who was adopted about two years back. So, I wondered if any situations in BB mimic this or have a theme of "secret siblings" or "secret family"? Sorry if this is a weird ask; this blog is honestly just such a cool little place and I love the way you approach the subject matter and take the flawed misogynistic foundation of the WC books and make them so much better (JUSTICE FOR BUMBLE!!!). I've also learned a lot about healthy and unhealthy relationships here and am really glad for your deep dives on Squilf and Bramble. Thanks, Bones!

Not weird at all! I really like exploring all the little nooks and crannies of complicated familial dynamics. I think one of the untapped strengths of WC (that the writers seem to be unaware of) is how their MASSIVE cast allows them to present all sorts of unique dynamics. So I like to pick up on it, since they don't.

For secret siblings...

I'm pretty heavily leaning towards Ambermoon being adopted by Wildfur, as a surrogacy. Something feels correct about it. Especially since Icecloud is getting retooled into a post-Battle of the True Eclipse birth, and a major supporting character in AVoS-era stories as a friend of Alderheart.

Thinking about it, I should zoom in and expand this. Maybe have Icecloud, somehow, acquire forbidden knowledge that would invalidate the Queen’s Rights and he (transman) struggles with if he's going to use it to expose his parents as an excuse to help Ambermoon.

(Especially since Ambermoon and Icecloud are basically nothing alike. Amber is independent, bold, and vain. Ice is jessie pinkman big-hearted, disorganized, and deceptively meek if you look past his "chill" demeanor)

But that's wip-- there's also Breezepelt and the Three, who are going to have an actual friendship. In particular I can't unsee Breeze and Lion having a deep one. I know I commit the Cardinal Sin of borderline himbo-ifying Lionblaze in BB, but I can't help it.

Hollyleaf ended up nabbing a bunch of his most violent roles to make her villainous descent smoother narratively, so BB!Lionblaze's story ends up being more focused on Ashfur's abuse, comic relief with cats in other Clans (something that the very serious Jay and Holly have a hard time providing), and the emotional fallout of the big reveal and Bramblestar's turn on them. Breezepelt slots neatly into that.

They were friends. Lionblaze's whole life came down around the reveal, everyone looking at him and his siblings differently, like they're suddenly something terrible. Why can't we find a silver lining, Breezepelt? Why can't we call ourselves brothers if the whole world is going to do it anyway? So much is changing, but THIS doesn't have to, we will take their weapon and turn it to armor, my ally, my friend, my brother.

(and when Breezepelt is lashing out at the three because of the Dark Forest's influence, Lionblaze is there, taking the blows and trying not to give in to the impulse to send him flying with a single paw)

There's also Harespring and Kestrelflight of WindClan and Owlclaw of ShadowClan. All of them are from a single litter between Whitewater and Mudclaw. She was going to raise the three of them alone as ShadowClan cats, but when the sire was smote, Whitewater felt they were cursed.

She was able to give the oldest two to their bio-uncle, Torear, but the weather was so bad that day and the runt was so sickly and small that it surely would have killed him. I don't think Owlclaw ever finds out why his mother always treated him with suspicion, but it did mess him up horribly.

Over in BB!DOTC, Thunder Storm is getting more half-siblings earlier. Clear Sky and Falling Feather had two daughters-- Pale Sky and Tiger Sky.

I want to explore the way that the various stages of Clear Sky's life acted on his kids. How any little curiosity Thunder Storm had about the life he might have had if he wasn't abandoned is crushed by seeing kittens who weren't. How Clear's favoritism of his oldest child set the trio against each other from the start. How this idea of "love" is toxic yet intoxicating.

It feels good to be the golden child. The power it gives you over his sycophants is satisfying. To know you, and you alone, have what someone else craves. Problem is, that's conditional, and it's cruel.

What Thunder Storm learns from his time with his biodad is that Clear Sky is not his father at all. He's taught him exactly what he DOESN'T want to be. There may be similarities-- in temperament, in physical prowess (though BB!Thunder is three-legged, he's still ripped), in taste and senses. But Thunder Storm's father is Shaded Flower.

(BB!Gray Wing died in the first book, rescuing Shaded Flower from being trampled by a horse. Xey're a patron of wisdom, Shaded Moss is taking the role of fatherhood to Thunder)

His sister is Rainswept Flower. His mom is Bright Storm. If there was a bond he could have had with Tiger Sky and Pale Sky, it dies simply and cruelly on the knife they used to cut each other out.

Pale might have wanted to mend it, she was the gentler one. But she dies in the First Battle along with her mother. Tiger Sky is too stubborn to accept any help, should Thunderstar offer it, and Thunderstar isn't in the business of begging for others to like him.

Naturally I'm lowkey obsessed with them lmao. I need to make a BB!DOTC overviewww

[higgyandthebattlecats]

PROTAGONIST POST

pov designs! Read More for small design notes! will update links as I draw them

FIREHEART/STAR - for fire coloured, I decided to imply yellow-orange-red with his stripes

BRAMBLECLAW/STAR - I feel like comparing his tabby pattern with Flame, Alder, Shadow, and Tawny kinda shows the Tigerstar tabby pattern.

LEAFPOOL - thought adding lines to the stripes by her eyes could imply more leaves or more stress

SQUIRRELFLIGHT/STAR - definitely has some of Firestar's tabby pattern

STORMFUR - I wanted him to look like an old man when he's a kid, kinda like how I think of Graystripe.

FEATHERTAIL - ear tufts extend to the side of the ear for a feathery look and fuzzy Graystripe chin

HOLLYLEAF - Leafpool's eye shape! also you may notice that for black cats, I draw their fur thinner by their ears. this is a small personal thing bc I've noticed that the fur is thinner there and it's especially noticeable in black cats

JAYFEATHER - blind =/= cataracts imo. His eyes can be unfocused/"lazy eye". His ears being thinner?? at the base is inherited from Crowfeather

LIONBLAZE - at first it's very believable that he's related to Brambleclaw, but then you notice his ears, eyes, eyebrows, nose, tabby markings above his nose/over his eyes are either more similar to Leafpool or just not from Brambleclaw...

DOVEWING - green eyes with a golden ring around the pupil. it's not visible here but she's got a white spot on her butt, based on a common trait among rock doves. small eyes, nose, and ears, kinda emphasizing how her power to see/smell/hear is even more unbelievable and supernatural

IVYPOOL - ear notch shaped a fun way. Despite her more prickly personality, she still gets the fun hair swirl like Dovewing

FLAMETAIL - ArchdemonSains on toyhouse has a flame-point Flametail, and I thought it was a perfect idea. These colours are also on Tawnypelt

GRAY WING - warm gray to contrast brother, slightly darker points. not visualized here, he had gray on his back.

THUNDER/STAR - bright orange boi with some brown. brighter orange than Firestar, but not quite "fire coloured" pelt. Ear notch has a lightning strike shape, like the Clan logo.

CLEAR SKY/STAR - cold gray with white points, contrasts brother. not visualized here, he has white on his chest. Round bite-like ear scar is supposed to be like the tree in the Clan logo, but I'm not a big fan of the execution

ALDERHEART - Squirrel's hair and dark colours with Bramble's tabby pattern and light colour

TWIGBRANCH - didn't want her to look too related to another protagonist. however, I did do the same kind of Leafpool cheek stripe to imply a twig on a branch haha

VIOLETSHINE - vaguely petal-shaped spot of black, also two different coloured eyebrows bc I think it's cute. Same chin shape as Twigbranch

SHADOWSIGHT - kinda forget the exact causes of his scars, but I think a bite mark barely missing his eye looks super cool. Has the Tigerstar-lineage ear-base tufts and tabby pattern, but Dovewing's lighter forehead spot rather than the lineage darker spot.

BRISTLEFROST - I like to imagine Bristlefrost with a thicker, bulkier build like her dad. Some similar nose/forehead pattern and hair as Ivy

ROOTSPRING - similar ears and eye shape to Violetshine. Wanted "yellow tabby" to be distinct from Lion's golden or Thunder's ginger. Want his tabby pattern to be kinda pretty and dappled and wavy. maybe ticked tabby while Tree isn't.

FROSTPAW - colour point, some diamond-shaped speckles/point pattern. Longer, curling cheek fur from her mom.

NIGHTHEART - looks more like Larksong than Sparkpelt, but fuzzy chin is from Sparkpelt's side. not pictured on his chest are some faintly lighter shapes that can be interpreted as small flames/sparks or as shining star shapes.

SUNBEAM - also wanted to differentiate her from others to look unrelated. round chin, big radiating cheek fur. different tabby pattern. White is slightly assymetrical. Added the creamy bits to the brown tabby part because I noticed it on my own pet tabby cat and thought it was pretty.

TAWNYPELT - Tigerstar lineage tabby pattern with ginger. eyebrows are both two-coloured.

LEAFDAPPLE/STAR - brown and cream tabby. tabby patterns are leafy and elegant. ears end in a point, like some leaves (the first example I can think of are lilac leaves). eyebrows are also leaf-shaped. Wanted her warrior name -dapple to be evident in the design

MOONPAW - wanted a new shade of ginger for her. both eyes have rings of the other colour because it's cool lol. played around with different fur lengths, eye shape, ears... chimera of a ginger tabby and a tuxedo so she still kinda looks like a tortoiseshell but still clearly distinct enough to be interpreted as a sign from StarClan.

[rookflower]

for opinions: perhaps the most "i feel like I know the answer before I ask" but I have to know: jayfeather. my sweet baby boy. and as an addendum, if you feel like it, perhaps some alderheart? (he's actually sweet)

i just really like the tc meddie cats ok

i have mixed feelings on jayfeather! i appreciate his uniquity as a protagonist (for his time, anyways?). i find him compelling and appreciate that his struggles with his clan's ableism are important to people even if the narrative around him isn't always handling those themes very carefully. he's a very iconic character for a reason. looove a lot of his fan content!! however, i feel with the new team especially he has kind of been diluted over time from "character who is lashing out about his treatment in his ableist society and struggling to work with his magical psychic powers that set him apart emotionally from his peers" into just being "guy who is an asshole". it feels like he is often blunt and rude to fill a jayfeather asshole quota rather than because it would be interesting or justified for his character to be behaving like that in the moment. i get that being prickly and blunt is his whole appeal and i appreciate it when it works but he's sometimes... a bit too cruel to other people? in a way that could work if not for wc's writing problems, yknow. overall i would say i like him more than dislike him though!! the time travel stuff was boring as hell though i could not give a fuck about the ancients sorry jayfeather

im also really sorry to say that i don't really care much for alderheart. i don't dislike him that much, and i think i sorta liked him when i first read avos, but he's not ever a character i go back to or find interesting. i wasn't really interested in any of that arc's protags. i think my opinion on him has been a skewed more negative lately by people on here pointing out how dogshit the narrative treated sparkpelt compared to him (where she is on surface the golden child and he is the neglected child but she is constantly unfairly admonished and allowed no time in the spotlight while he is comparatively constantly praised and sympathised with) but i havent read avos since high school so that is mostly other people's thoughts and might partially be just bc i haven't thought about alderheart otherwise for a long time. i think he is pretty fun to draw and i think i could make a more likeable version of him in my head. i think the most notable thing i have to say about him is that in the song broken by gorillaz when the song goes "i am without a heart" at 2:18 it sounds like "i am with alderheart". funny to me.

[the-owl-tree]

you said alderheart works more as a supporting character and you know what? THAT’S what I’ve been trying to figure out was so boring about the books since this new trend of male characters. they’re not nearly compelling enough to be mcs. they’re supporting characters that the plot revolves around simply bc they’re men and the much more interesting female characters are interesting on ACCIDENT and sidelined or altogether forgotten because they are women. I’m just trying to understand how it keeps happening. how many years of this has it been? I can’t remember when avos came out. it’s gotta be like 8 right? damn near 10 years of this shit 😭

AVOS came out in 2016 so that's around 8-7 years (which. got damn). Like idk Alderheart is...fine, I guess. I'm sure if I reread AVOS I might get some enjoyment out of him, but as a protagonist, he just isn't what the story needs. A key part of AVOS is the growing instability of ShadowClan, something that should arguably be established in the first book...which since we're locked into Alderheart's POV, we don't really get a good enough glimpse. He's got no real particularly interesting insights on the situation from afar, and a majority of the apprentice's quest is essentially him being ushered into the plot by other characters (becoming a medic, going on the journey, and so on). I get people like his more anxious/timid nature, it's fine, but is is just....not the character I would have picked to be the POV. I honestly think he'd be better as a cute little guy on the side trembling and being silly.

Even thematically wise, the plot they have for him is just sort of...meh? I'd argue a key theme of AVOS is family (dare i say. kin), and Alderheart's parental troubles never really go anywhere because the writing team doesn't really want to make Bramblestar looking bad despite him agreeing to separate two orphan babies (and he doesn't even break out into song and starting calling alderheart an entitled piece of shit just a pot smoking good or nothing-). The most we get is the rift between Alderheart and Sparkpelt growing + some Twigbranch issues, but even then the former has a lot of issues in the writing that have only been exacerbated and the writing team has dropped any sort of familial bond Twig has with Alder. As much as I'd like a Spark POV, Alderheart more so makes me wish we'd gotten a ShadowClan POV instead! seriously we need to break the thunderclan pov curse especially after the recent asc book there should not be two povs on the same damn plotline-

Note: not Needletail, i think she's at her best when we don't know what she's thinking. she's a good supporting character

I don't think there's anything particularly new about the disinterest in the women with warriors, but it is feeling exacerbated with the new team's reluctance to try and carry over plotlines to keep arcs more self-contained (at least to me).

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Best and Worst POV? My fav is Squilf and my least fav is rootspring

Good choices! I love Squirrelstar/Squirrelflight/Squirrelpaw myself. I thought her view was interesting and refreshing. Rootspring is only saved to me by his friendship with Shadowsight, and at least by Book 2, he is trying really hard to be kind to Bristlefrost. Sure, he comes off as weird about it so far, but it comes off to me like "autistic teenage boy is trying to penguin pebble and it is not going well"

As for my favorite POV? It has to go to... Ivypool.

Yup. Despite my love for Hollyleaf, quite a few parts of her story were very uncomfortable to a kid like me who was struggling with the catholic school system. Hollypaw and I were both told to stop asking questions, given rules that presented blatent double standards and both told by our parents that we were the Good Quiet Sibling who could keep our brothers in check.

But my favorite was Ivypool. Mean? Yeah. At first though? I wasn't angry. Ivypaw was a jealous kid, that was fine, and I have enough nuance to know that warrior ≠ full grown ass adult that shouldn't let anything effect them ever (which... Is stupid anyways, you still have feelings the split second you turn 18).

Her POV was tense, filled with paranoia, and...Actually a pretty accurate example of grooming and radicalization. I love the relationships she had with others and how much of a Cuddly Porcupine she is. She wants companionship but keeps pricking the people who get close to her.

As for least favorite?

Alderheart. Full stop. Whiny, stubborn, and a perfect example of Not Helping Yourself. If he wants to get better at hunting, he needs to practice the basics, but we never see this happen and the timeline is too close and too seen for him to have actually put a plan in place to be better than his Awful Bitch Sister.

The way he hates Sparkpelt for breathing (to the point his "anxiety" magically disappears when there's an opportunity to look beyter than her), the way he scorns any and all kittypets as an "acceptable" form of bigotry to the point he BLAMES THE DAYLIGHT WARRIORS FOR SKYCLAN'S COLLAPSE and yet the fandom and writers (especially the writers) coo over him like he's a precious, nervous baby.

Actually... Gray Wing and Clear Sky too. Thank you both for ruining what was a cool sounding arc and tricking the fans so badly that everyone calls DOTC "actually really good" like it isn't a misogynistic (which I guess doesn't matter now because misogyny is seen as "bigotry light" and no one cares) slaughter fest rife with colonialism, abuse apologia, and other bullshit.

Favorite other little POV was that snippet from Darkstripe during Sunset's prologue. It was our first big glimpse at the Dark Forest, and the ending line from it gave me chills, I could practically see Tigerstar's face fade away into the camp view as it came to a close and Chapter 1 began, his eyes fading but lingering slightly longer as the shot transitioned to Brambleclaw standing in the ruined camp.

It was cinema to me, okay? And Darkstripe being his pathetic, sniveling self really tied it together. Odd he seemed to be there for so long and not know what was going on. Or... Maybe he only just spawned? But why? In WCR it takes long because his trial takes AGES due to an... Incident... With a certain Bloodclan deputy, along with other cats who are going to be damned before him taking a while to wrap up, ah the legal system. But in canon, he seems new there.

Maybe he really is that naive.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

I’m gonna go out here and say that tumblr should NOT be anyone’s main source of warriors content and opinions. Because… while it’s good to acknowledge misogyny in warriors, some of the more popular warriors blogs on tumblr definitely… exaggerate it?

while yes, male protagonists DEFINITELY have misogynistic writing, them being more important to the plot than their sisters or any she-cat that isn’t another protagonist is not the part that is. How they treat or think of them? Yeah! But not the simple act of being more important? But some people say that IS misogynistic! Alderheart is not misogynistic for outshining Sparkpelt in the books. Nightheart isn’t misogynistic for outshining Finchlight. Yes, the ways the BOOK treats those two characters on the other hand? Is very misogynistic.

Even more, they talk so much for this despite them showing similar tendencies to Bramblestar and Thistleclaw fans (two types of people they consider misogynists) with Tigerheartstar, refusing to acknowledge his shitty actions and writing and accept that they give his relationship with Dovewing more credit than it deserves. Even more, they hate on characters that go against him (Leafstar & Ivypool)

Wcrpforums seem to have the polar opposite opinions generally than tumblr.

Both tumblr and wcrpforums are very overlycritical to some characters and over forgiving to others.

They both make GREAT point and they both make HORRIBLE points.

My personal advice is to try to see opinions from multiple different places, don’t just copy the general opinion from one site and die on hill. ESPECIALLY not tumblr OR the forums.

That is some great advice

I can’t comment on tumblr specifically since I am ironically not too active on the warrior cats scene, but I will say that this is mainly because I overall do get a sense of hostility. Obviously it’s not every blog and there are several blogs I do like, but whenever I’m on warrior cats tumblr I do often get to a point and decide to clock out for the day because of the post’s contents. The same as wcrp forums. Both seem fine for a bit and then you see one thing that several people agree on and then it’s a case of “oh okay, that’s enough for today”

[troutfur]

Fern and Ash partician au: Ashfur is murdered around the time the Dark Forest battle would have happened, leaving a pregnant Leafpool behind. Thinking he was put gettingherbs for Ferncloud, and Fern never really forgives herself for not being there. Afterwards, Squirrelflight comes to Leafpool and tells her she's pregnant with Crowfeather's kits. (Bramble and Squirrel having broke up after Alderheart joined Skyclan to be with Needletail.) Which is huge, as Crowfeather is still a partician and in Windclan, while Leafpool and Squirrelflight are not particians. Of course, Leaf helps Squirrelflight hide her pregnancy (Ashfur enjoyed telling his mate about his augur duties, and she picked some up) Squirrelflight gives birth to Nightkit, Sandkit, and Breezekit and a few hours later, Leafpool gives birth to Ashkit, Brindlekit, Firekit, and Stormkit. The clan is extremely excited when Leafpool comes back, as that's seven partician kits! Ferncloud is doubly excited--Her brother's last gift, especially since Ashkit and Brindlekit looks exactly like their father. Hollyleaf and Lionblaze join their mother in the nursery for the next few nights, both having been extremely worried about her, and Both excited about their younger siblings. Ferncloud trains Brindlepaw on as an apprentice, Sandstorm gets Firepaw, Hollyleaf gets Ashpaw, Dustpelt gets Stormpaw, Ivypool gets Sandpaw, Lionblaze gets Nightpaw, and Bramblestar himself takes on Breezepaw. Breezepaw and Bramble do not get along, as Bramble just sees Ashfur in him. Breezepaw eventually snarls that he's proud to be Ashfur's son, and it's no wonder Flamepaw is an asshole who hates his own bloodline, he would too if he was related to Bramblestar....it doesn't go over well, especially with Flamepaw. Sparkpelt tries to soothe things over, as she has risen high in the clan (mostly because she looks exactly like Firestar, and she has distanced herself from Squirrelflight and Bramblestar.)

I love that the secret parentage thing has moved over a generation and changed sister, fun parallels.

Don't have much to say otherwise but damn, poor Ashfur.

[nightmare-foundation]

Honestly I'm not into Warriors as much anymore, but my GOD I still love Alderheart

I dont really know what happens in a lot of the books with him since I haven't read the books in years but like. From a lot of what I've heard he's soooo mistreated and it makes me want to like. Make some kind of au? A rewrite? I dunno 🤔

But I want Alderheart to be basically a Tigerclaw/star clone like how Sparkpelt is kinda a Firestar clone. Though he'd definitely be more round/puffy bc of squirrelflight, with richer colors maybe. He'd be HUGE too, the dude just towers over everyone. His claws would also be massive, partly because they kinda grow abnormally fast but also because of genetics skipping a generation.

I would,, kill,, for an alderheart villain au tbh. Imo this poor guy deserves to snap. BUT outside of that I kinda wanna rewrite Alderheart? He'd absolutely still have anxiety, but I'm gonna project onto him and make it not so obvious? He'd be a total introvert, and hides his anxiety in an attempt to not be a burden. So he kind of... looks scary, but he doesn't mean to be. When he warms up to you, he's a total dork and a huge softie.

Over time he'd gain the confidence to speak his mind, especially against Bramblestar. He realizes he's been mistreated and slowly starts to stand up for himself, with some other cats help (who, I don't know tbh, I haven't read the newest books).

Maybe some of Jayfeathers traits rub off on Alderheart, so he starts getting sassy and sarcastic, and a bit more blunt when he gains more confidence. 🤔

I think Alderheart is such a fun character to play with tbh

[yarnclan]

This is a sideblog, main blog is called eidoleon. If you want to see more of my art my art blog is called yarn-drag0n. If you want me to tag anything let me know.

They/them nb, ace/bi, Nearly 30 years old, aside from drawing i work in a crystal store and on a farm. When i was 12 i spent most of my time rping warrior cats on neopets dot com and arguing with people on the name rating boards, so many happy memories. im still very fond of these violent cat books.

This started as a blog for clangen stuff, i love clangen! But now i reblog and post other warriors content. I've read tPB, NP, PoT, and I must have read most or all of OotS but I kinda dont remember most of it.... I read VoS very recntly, and under very enjoyable circumstance. I've read some super editions, and and a lot of the graphic novels. I'm reading a Starless Clan as they relese the paperbacks. But i also will fully spoil myself and do not care about spoilers.

My favorite over all series is NP, my special skill is that I actually like traveling books. Parts of VoS made it touch on what I'd immagine my "ideal warriors" book to be. But it wasn't. I have been really really digging a starless clan tho.

Fav cats are: Jayfeather. Squirrelflight, Brightheart, Leafpool, Mothwing, every SkyClan cat with a silly name especially Bellaleaf, Yellowfang in tPB, Violetshine, Nightheart, Whitestorm, Longtail, Spottedleaf (headcannons), Scourge, Daisy, Alderheart, Briarlight, Leafstar, Tallstar, Sandstorm, Ravenpaw and Barley. Spotfur sounds cool. Sunbeam cool so far. Justice for Needletail forever.

Nightheart apologist.

[miss-kittyy]

Rewriting Briarlight and Longtail’s Deaths

So I am disabled, like very disabled, I am %50 of the teenagers ever diagnosed with my special combination of pain disorders, and I also unfortunately hyper fixated on warrior cats, which is bad news for me because warrior cats is super ableist, and to add insult to injury, the fandom can also be pretty ableist.

My biggest problem with the majority of “anti-ableist” AUs is that they “fix” the ableism stemming from the narrative and able bodied characters by making the disabled character less disabled, this so bad for many reasons. I’ve talked more about in other posts. The justification that real life disabled cats are less doesn’t make it not ableist, since when was warrior cats meant to be realistic? If you’re making an au where the disabled cats function like actual disabled cats you also have to make all the cats genetically accurate, and retcon Lionblaze lifting a tree.

My problem with warrior cats is not that the disabled characters cannot become full conventional warriors, I’d like it if they got to choose what duties the perform instead of being crammed into the medicine den, but I don’t care about Cinderpelt not being able to complete a marathon. Most of the fandom seems to think the issue is that the disabled character are not useful enough, instead of the way that able bodied characters deny of them agency and make remarks like “you wouldn’t want to return to a life like her’s would you?”. Disabled people do not need to be “useful” to be worthy and empowering.

It’s very obvious that most of the fandom just wants the disabled cats to be more palatable to abled bodied people, so I’ve decided to make my own rewrite instead to hopefully make myself feel better. A lot of these things are inspired by my own experiences and not every disabled person is looking for the same things in representation, this is totally self indulgent.

The goal of this AU is to highlight the many unique and valuable aspects disability and how being disabled does not infringe upon anyone’s worth, ever.

- Longtail doesn’t die in the storm, Briarpaw is still injured, but he’s found besides her, trying his best to help her cling to life.

- after Briarpaw begins to recover he stands up to Millie and other cats insulting her quality of life, he says her journey will be hard, but it is one worth taking.

- She asks him why he’s an elder, and he decides to request to have his warrior ship restored as Briarpaw is dreading the life of an elder.

- On his first patrol the cats accompanying him insist on speaking to him in an incredibly infantilism tone, and whispering amongst themselves over what he can or can’t do, without consulting him,

- He initially gives up on patrolling after that insufferable experience.

- Briarlight begins to create marks and blobs on the wall of the medicine den using crushed up dead herbs she asks him to retrieve some berries for her, and he complies.

- Jayfeather shows him how he navigates the territory with the help of some of the sighted cats, and Mousefur is quick to volunteer as his guide. He finds her company surprisingly empowering. He realizes that it was not his blindness which was limiting his abilities, but the other cats attitudes.

- Mousefur and Longtail return with mouthful of berries and herbs, Briarlight describes to him what she’s drawing on the side of the den and he helps he mound the materials into paint.

- The cats begin to pop into the medicine den to see Briarlights painting and soon Jayfeather has to kick her out occasionally so they’d stop crowding him, she’s given the walls of camp to decorate instead.

- She begins to illustrate Longtails stories of the old territory and Bloodclan, and this new form of storytelling becomes a tradition amongst Thunderclan.

- because more young cats are aware of the clans history it becomes harder for the dark forest to recruit them, unfortunately, Blossomfall’s resentment towards her sister means she never cared to listen.

- Ivypool is still recruited and trained like in canon, given her relationship with the dark forest was much more emotionally charged and manipulative than just plain lies.

- at a gathering Longtail meets Grasspelt who inquires about Briarlight, Longtail is surprised about how little he knows as the she-cat had mentioned how well they got along as apprentices. Despite Millie nagging him not to tell him the truth about her daughter he does anyways, but puts much more emphasis on how well she’s doing than Millie expected. Grasspelt thinks this sounds really cool and decides that he is going to see her and her paintings, and that nobody can stop him. Longtail makes sure to put any opposing cat in their place, but Briarlight is a very respected Clanmate, so most warriors don’t say anything.

- Briarlight is nervous and doesn’t want to come out of the medicine den at first, but when Grassheart darts into the den holding berries and flowers for her to paint with she quickly warms up to her visitor.

- Grassheart is happy to tell Briarlight that he’s never been able to be a “functioning” warrior, and that he has always imagined that his spirit is shaped different, the medicine cat says his body is normal, but he’s never been able to keep focus in a fight or react as quickly as he should be able to while hunting. (He’s autistic because I say so)

- As dusk nears he’s visually hesitant to return to Riverclan and when Longtail inquires on why he says that he hasn’t felt so “here” for a long time. On the way back he wanders off and comes back with a chipmunk, when returning to Riverclan territory his father, Mintfur, is shocked to see his catch. After talking with his family a bit he realizes that it was the noise from the river that was making him so tense and dissociated, Brackenfur, who was escorting him, notices that he keeps rubbing himself on the ground and wincing.

- For the next couple moons Grasspelt returned to Thunderclan to bring Briarlight plants that only grow in Riverclan territory, he begins trying to fish from the quite lazy stream in their territory and soon both him and Briarlight have got it down.

- Longtail notices the sadness present whenever Grasspelt left and exclaims that it’s rather stupid that he’s living somewhere so unsuited for him just because of words long repeated.

- Grasspelt confesses that he feels the same, but knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything. Briarlight tells Longtail that her and the Riverclan warrior had been thinking of each other as mates for moons.

- Longtail accompanies Jayfeather to the next half moon meeting where he proposes his addition to the warrior code, “no cat should be confined to laws which harm them due to an inherent physical or spiritual difference.” (Cats don’t really know how brains work, so they see mental disabilities as a difference within a cats spirit)

- A moon later the leaders meet to discuss this proposition, it is accepted and Grasspelt makes the journey to Thunderclan for the final time.

- Grasspelt is renamed Grassspirit when becoming a Thunderclan warrior, unlike prior renaming of disabled cats this is a celebration.

- Grassspirit spends most of his time taking care of the elders and kits, he’s incredibly compassionate especially with kits and is able to solve many problems within the nursery.

- When twigkit and Violetkit arrive in Thunderclan Briarlight and Grassspirit help raise them, after Violetkit is taken Briarlight and Twigkit paint her on the side of Thunderclan camp.

- Briarlight still gets sick and her illness progresses without any treatment, Grassspirit notices her trying to hide it and when Longtail finds out he’s very upset. Jayfeather frantically treats her, expressing his frustration that she didn’t tell them sooner, the second Millie steps out she breaks down and explains that she just wanted to deal with it herself, and perhaps if she were successful Millie would finally treat her like an adult.

- Longtail gives Millie a stern talking to, he tells her that Briarlight is a warrior of Thunderclan and as her clanmate she should show her some respect.

- Millie is inherently very reactionary, as she had not realized the full extent of her suffocation, but eventually after a couple moons her and Briarlight begin to rekindle their relationship, like adults.

- Blossomfall sees how Brairlight wasn’t basking in their mother’s attention like she imagined, and feels the urge to seek out an actual sisterhood after ignoring Briarlight for moons and moons.

- Briarlight isn’t really mad at her sister, and understands why she felt the way she did. Jayfeather suggests that Blossomfall help Briarlight with her painting, Blossomfall seems put off with the suggestion of being her sister’s assistant.

- The interactions that follow are less than ideal, Blossomfall commends Briarlight’s able friends (Thornclaw, Poppyfrost, Alderheart, etc) for being so nice to her, as if that’s not what friends do. She seems very sad the entire time, sighing when her sister dragged her legs around with her mouth to sit more comfortably, even though she was completely fine. When watching her paint she comments that it’s good she has “something to keep her busy”, and finally she expresses her view, of Briarlight’s injury and her (Blossomfall’s) suffering being all worth it because of her talents, as if her life was not worth living to begin with.

- Briarlight tells her that if that’s truly what she wants she’s going to have to put more effort into understanding and respecting her way of life, and that she won’t apologize for their mother’s actions.

- When Blossomfall has her kits they take a liking to Auntie Briarlight, and Blossomfall seems to have reflected on their past interactions, trusting her sister to watch her kits. Briarlight teases a bit, a subtle way of telling her not to rush things, but they do begin to feel like something close to sisters.

- Right before Briarlight’s Nieces and Nephews are made warriors Longtail dies of Greencough. Throughout the entirety of his sickness he kept his sense of humour, his mean streak, and his immense love for what he had made of his clan.

- At his vigil Grassspirit began whaling like a bird in new-leaf, he insists that the vigil is too sad, and that Longtail wouldn’t want everyone moping around, for Starclan’s sake, his life was good. Standing amongst them, Longtail’s spirit can feel every cat in Thunderclan standing around him, singing the song of a life well lived.

[bonefall]

OHHH OK now im curious. bc of this ask: https://www.tumblr.com/bonefall/729548700508160000/could-be-like-my-cousin-shes-100-percent-deaf-in?source=share about dovewing being deaf. do cats in the BB AU have a signed form of clanmew? or is it basic gestures/just the written form of clanmew for deaf/HOH cats?

signed,

someone who really loves languages (hoping to god i spelled everything right/actually used the right words. ive been rewatching 3 hour psych lectures sine 6am...)

They have a rudimentary writing system! Clan glyphs be upon ye

It's not phonetic Clanmew, it's glyphs. Snowkit, before his tragic death saving Tawnykit, was actually OBSESSED with these. If he'd survived, he would have built these out into something he could use to communicate with. He was actually a really interesting kid.

But, unfortunately... that passion went with him. Whitewing is the next cat born with a hearing problem, and she's really uninterested in them. She isn't the same creative person that he was, and struggled with the fact that her family seemed to imply she had to "live the life he couldn't."

(note: in BB, dovewing is lionblaze's adopted daughter and bio-niece.)

I think there's going to be a big of a tragedy at play, here. Whitewing has figured out her own methods of communication. It's not a full language, but she's able to communicate basic intent with "rudimentary signs" she's created on her own.

She was only ONE degree of separation away from Dovewing (as Birchfall's, Dove's mentor, mate), but...everyone was forcing Dovewing into what THEY felt she needed. More hunting practice, more glyph practice, more lip-reading. Dovewing wasn't allowed to set her own pace or learn in her own way.

And her response was to bolt, taking all the possibility with her.

IT was the right choice for Dovewing, I think. She thinks that too. But, it wasn't the ONLY choice, you know? There's always things left unsaid and things you'll never be able to try when you make such a big decision. Who knows what could have been?

Maybe Dove and White would have ended up creating the start of a brand new dialect of Clanmew Sign Language, or changed the glyph system in a way that fit them better. Maybe that's not what matters; maybe they would have just been able to make each other feel less alone.

But as it is...

Every deaf, HOH, and mute cat in BB is currently disconnected from each other. They can't pool their skills except at Gatherings.

So Fallowfern, Dovewing, Whitewing, and Stoneclaw all have their own unique way of communicating.

There are tail signs which are used for battle, and glyphs which are used for writing.

Info: Those who go deaf later in life are still usually able to speak. Those who were born deaf often have a harder time. (Clarifying because this is apparently not common knowledge?)

OH! Bonus! Here's how each of those four tend to communicate!

Dovewing

She's REALLY frustrated by everyone forcing solutions on her. I think part of her actually really likes that she can say whatever and then not hear the response. It's like, "Deal with it. Show me you care with your actions if it's so important."

ZERO patience for people who just try to talk over her. She will immediately respect you if you listen to her carefully; only then will she give you the time of day to try and talk back. She kinda treats it like a privilege to talk to her, and she WILL revoke it without remorse.

People who have earned this privilege;

Heartstar. Naturally. And all of their children.

All of the Guardian cats, especially Antfur who is her best friend.

Violetshine, weirdly enough. She visits ShadowClan now and then and Dovewing is very fond of her and her wife and husband.

Strikestone and her new family

Squirrelflight

Briarlight

Alderheart and Sparkpelt

Twigbranch

Fernsong (BUT HE IS ON THIN. ICE. As Ivypool's husband.)

Her preferred method of being talked to is glyph writing. Heartstar is really creative with them, and it's super endearing. She improvises signs a lot and draws full pictures, making whole "doodle pages", even writing little "love letters" in the dirt before Dove wakes up. Literally peak romance, Dovewing loves her wife so muchhh

Whitewing

Also has low patience, but in a more "quick" way. She doesn't like people who take a lot of her time trying to phrase something simple and act awkwardly around her. Time is prey to Whitewing-- cut to the chase and communicate what you need her to do.

Interestingly, this leads to her really disliking Bramblestar as a leader. He's very inattentive to her needs when he organizes patrols on his own. She has very strong opinions and bad synergy with some of her Clanmates, and if she's forced on a patrol with them it ruins her day.

(She's really relieved when Squilf is reinstated post-BOTTE, Squilf knows about this quirk and accounts for it.)

Her love with Birchfall was actually a long time in the making. He really sees her, and something about the way they communicate just clicks. It's easy. They were friends, then partners, and then eventually mates and have been close their whole lives. Their body language just makes sense to each other.

She's been deaf her whole life and only knows a few very important words, but won't "speak" words if she doesn't have to. She does have a habit of making noises when she's happy though, beeping, meowing, and meeping when she's surprised and "not in work mode."

Whitewing is the kind of deaf cat in those videos who sees their human is home and goes "MEEEEEEEEEA." She would walk into a bathroom and wail so she could feel the vibrations on her paws. Vocalizing feels good. She is NOT a quiet person unless she's hunting.

Her preferred method of communication is mostly modified tail signs, but ThunderClan broadly uses glyphs, but she doesn't want to correct them on it. She feels bad telling them it's frustrating that they take so long to draw.

Stoneclaw

She has selective mutism. Her vigil was the night of the WindClan Massacre, and while sitting outside the camp with her temporary silence, ShadowClan attacked and killed her sister Thrushwing in front of her.

At first, WindClan thought it was nobility, that she'd "carried out her vigil to the bitter end." But it never healed. It's not a choice, it's trauma. She can speak when she's extremely relaxed but it's a really rare circumstance.

But, the legacy is to her benefit. She's the granddaughter of Tallstar (through Flylight, his adopted son), has an honorable story, and is a strong and confident warrior... in the daytime. She never hunts at night, when the sun sets, so does she.

(Clan cats are crepuscular, working in the morning and in the evening, but Stoneclaw only takes daylight shifts.)

Glyphs serve her fine, but she really dislikes using tail signs to communicate... brings up really bad memories.

She would REALLY benefit from someone making an effort to "legitimize" some sort of CSL, it would be like a support club to her. SO if it ever happened, Stoneclaw would jump at the chance to join. She's probably friends with Fallowfern though, once SkyClan arrives. Stoneclaw lives to become a very old girl.

Fallowfern

Mom of the Road Safety Man, guy who knows a million words for vehicles, Rabbitleap, and best friend and co-parent with Hawkwing, Plumwillow, Fallowfern is an old cat who ends up losing her hearing later in life like Dovewing!

I'm actually not entirely decided on her personality, but I'm feeling that she'd make a really good "glue" to hold everyone together. Like some kind of organizer-type person, someone who's very good at networking. She's really upset to be losing her hearing, it signifies a lot of really negative things to her.

She suddenly can't talk with a lot of people... even the ones who are reaching out to her are doing exactly that. Reaching out to her.

She likes being the reacher-outerer. It feels like being old and washed up.

SkyClan is a very good, connected Clan, with bonds notoriously VERY strong in comparison to the other Forest Four because of shared persecution... but

She's got this awful feeling that everyone's just coddling her, being nice to her, sending her to the elder's den like a trinket on a shelf.

"Does this mean... does this mean I'm going to lose music? Will anyone dance with me ever again? Do my babies want me to join them, or... or are they just tolerating stinky old mama <:( ?"

They're NOT, btw. Of course not. She's Fallowfern and she means a lot to them.

So I think at the VERY least, she finds a fondness for Stoneclaw at Gatherings. Elder friends, girlies who bond over making little grandma bracelets, but I'm not sure if it's HIT them yet that they can do something very cool together.

In fact it would be kind of funny if they weren't even aware of each other's disabilities at first, like they just started hanging out quietly. Fallowfern assumed that Stoneclaw just doesn't have anything to say and Stoneclaw figured Fallowfern was respecting her silence.

Like something just gravitated them to each other in the most natural, orbital way.

And then Snapstorm, Stoneclaw's wife, bumbles up like "Hey babe who's your friend :) ?" And Stoneclaw smiles, nods at Fallowfern to introduce herself, and then Fallow's like... "Oh I can't hear you, honey."

Stone: !!! (Taps self and makes a crossing motion over her throat)

Fallow: O_O "Ohhhh"

BUT, anyway,

Her preferred form of communication is unequivocally glyphs. I imagine SkyClan might have more written characters than other Clans, simply because they used them a LOT during their time apart under Spiderstar's Plan. Plus, they used to see a lot of road signs which they may have just adopted as glyphs.

Hmm... yeah, seems very cute that The Road Family's traffic theme continues, lmao

[harriertail]

Honestly? I think Purdy deserves one. He has so much potential you don’t understand.

He was a kittypet who’s owner died. The house his paneer died in never got sold to someone else, which is interesting and leaves me to wonder what the circumstances of their death was.

How did Purdy manage to learn to live so well? Did he have help? Or was he stubborn/scared and learned himself?

Why was Purdy about to warn the traveling cats about the mountains? What did he know? It wouldn’t be out of question to assume some tribe cats ran off to love away from Sharptooth, maybe he ran into them and they told him about it. Or maybe he tried entering the mountains himself and witnessed sharptooth from afar!

What did he have with Sol? How did they meet? Sol has only ever stuck around people who can help him in ways of hunting and fighting, someone young and foolish mostly. You have Jingo and her group, all of which were mainly kittypets looking for adventure. There was Blackstar and ShadowClan, who were very devout cats, easy to convince especially since they had just had a minor battle end by what Sol had said to be a prophecy. And then later he used Lionblaze, who was desperat, to be free from his momentary prison. But Purdy was… Purdy. He was old, close to looking like he was gonna kick the can. But Sol stayed with him, listened to his stories a d Purdy seemed to genuinely have a connection with him, enough to defend him when TC came over to capture him.

Purdy is a good guy and a great character. He’s enjoyable and seems like maybe not all his stories are just tales, and maybe a few are true.

Even his death shows how good of a cat he was. He held back his own pain because he believed it was better not to burden Alderheart and Jayfeather with some pain that was probably his age, or so he thought. (Also curious if he saw what Bumblestripe did while Dovewing, a cat who he seemed to have a good friendship with, was mourning him. Wonder what he would think about it, Bumblestripe disrespecting his death like that)

It could be called Purdy’s Travels ^^

Purdy and the mountains was so interesting! I was rlly happy when he joined the Clans in Sunrise but it was so fucking MISSED! They don't have him give stories or anything really. I really love Dovewing and Purdy's grandparental relationship, and god I really want more Mousefur. Purdy looked after Mousefur after Longtail died : ( thats got to be some painful stuff

[warriorcatsamino]

Let’s give some traditional art some love! Check out this lovely piece by @noxvoca. Here we have the New Prophecy crew, Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight & Crowfeather, drawn in a very anime inspired art style. The designs here are super eye-catching and unique, I especially love Squirrelflight’s design with the white diamond on her chest! These three characters actually have more relation to each other than you may think. Brambleclaw & Squirrelflight of course are mates and the parents to Sparkpelt & Alderheart and grandparents to Finchpaw & Flamepaw. Brambleclaw, Alderheart & Flamepaw are all point of view characters so they have pretty important cats in their bloodline! Crowfeather was the mate to Squirrelflight’s sister Leafpool and was the father of her three kits, Lionblaze, Jayfeather & Hollyleaf. That makes him the grandfather to all of Lionblaze’s children and also makes him related to Bristlefrost through Fernsong. But these three aren’t just related to each other, they also traveled together in the New Prophecy and bonded over that journey. It’s actually pretty crazy how interrelated they all are. But, I want to know YOUR thoughts! What do you think of these three? Do you like them? Hate them? Or something in between? Like the artwork? Be sure to give the original post a like! Support like that really helps artists and lets them know that you like their work. Likewise if you want more daily Warriors content, join the Warriors Amino!

Original Post linked here.

Original Artist linked here.

~ 🍵🥔

[wc-confessions]

Okay, wait. This is an older ask and I don't disagree with the vast majority of it! But re: the ask about misogyny and medicine cats, no, it is not 90% of medicine cats that are female. There was definitely a concerning trend that way at the start of the series, but over the course of the series, there have been 30 male medicine cats, 28 female medicine cats, and 2 medicine cats of unknown gender. ThunderClan did have a streak of 4 she-cats in a row, which was especially noticeable as the primary POV Clan, but ShadowClan has had 5 male medicine cats in a row recently, and WindClan had 4 male medicine cats in a row before Whistlepaw. In fact, before Frostpaw and Whistlepaw were introduced, across all of the Clans, we hadn't had a new female medicine cat since Willowshine. Kestrelflight, Jayfeather, Flametail, Fidgetflake, Alderheart, Puddleshine, and Shadowsight were the most recent new medicine cats, all toms. I think that more than makes up for the overabundance of female medicine cats in ThunderClan at the start of the series, and I'm honestly grateful that they're breaking the streak. I was sick of having all my new favorite characters be toms, lol (I almost exclusively like medicine cats)

cool observation ig. i have no idea if this is your intention and ofc please tell me if it’s not, because that’s how i am reading this, but i don’t understand how there being more male medicine cats just erases the misogyny. i mean it’s still there