#everyone hates thunderclan

[lightningwaters]

[an1malcannibal]

I actually DO like sunbeam joining thunderclan! I love her being a cringe fail female characters we need more of those. Frostpaw is objectively the best, nightheart sucks on every level unfortunately, and sunbeam is a cringefail loser. And I think that’s beautiful.

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

you know that vision leafpool got of brambles surrounding the camp and she took it as meaning that brambleclaw should be deputy because he'd protect the clan

first of all, shout out to leafpool for being very mature and assuming the most positive outcome about that vision even though she fucking hated brambleclaw (rightfully)

but also what if she was wrong, what if she interpreted the sign wrong, what if the vision meant brambleclaw, like brambles, would ensnare, strangle, and cause HARM to thunderclan, not protect it

bramblestar's leadership has literally caused more harm than good to ANYONE in thunderclan (as well as outside of thunderclan, literally all of the clans (except skyclan i guess?), as well as the sisters have SUFFERED because of bramblestar being thunderclan's leader

and not to mention the individual cats who've suffered the most from him being leader, like him using his power to literally ABUSE squirrelflight, as well as his decisions actively causing leafpool's death, as well as the death of moonlight, killing a harmless group's leader and leaving three newborn kits as orphans, and ALMOST killing squirrelflight

not to mention brambleclaw literally had to STOP AND THINK about whether or not he should save firestar from the foxtrap like what the fuck man, and maybe if he hadn't literally hesitated firestar wouldn't have lost that life and then at the great battle firestar would have survived

what if starclan WAS sending a warning, and specifically sent it to leafpool because she was already suspicious of brambleclaw, but because she was still so young and less experienced, because she was so kindhearted and wanted to see the good in everyone, she WANTED her sister's mate to be a good person, a good leader, and was such a positive person, she thought, she wanted, she HOPED that it was a sign from starclan that brambles would protect her clan, her sister, her family

but it wasn't

[bonefall]

If Sasha had left Hawk and Moth with Thunderclan or Shadowclan do you think Tigerstar would have been able to sink his claws that deeply into Hawk?

In ShadowClan, perhaps. Blackstar starts doing his damnest to stamp support for Tigerstar and his ideas out, but Ratscar is a clever cat. A clever, charming one. I can see him easily leveraging his charm to earn Hawkfrost as an apprentice, or the other Thistle Law supporters coalescing around their "young heir."

There would be less chance of Tigerstar getting his claws deep into his boy than RiverClan, which actively has NO reckoning and is deeply politically divided.

Meanwhile, it would be extremely unlikely in ThunderClan. ThunderClan as a whole HATES Tigerstar. Being part of his legacy is NOT something Hawkfrost would have been raised with-- and I can honestly see Sasha, if she realized ThunderClan was a good place to go, ALSO developing a pretty significant bond with Goldenflower.

...Thinking about it, it really would have been the Good Ending for Sasha here. Goldenflower would have learned about everything and felt a deep need to protect Sasha. Tigerclaw took EVERYTHING from her, and she immediately moved to reject him, but he still managed to convince her daughter to leave her side. TOOK Tawnypaw from her, and KILLED their oldest son Swiftpaw.

Learning that Tigerclaw went on to use Sasha would make Golfy sick. She doesn't have to think through it logically to know, deep in her gut, that what Tigerclaw liked about Sasha was that he could control this one. That Sasha was her replacement, to birth him kits he could own. Stealing her own child wasn't enough-- he wanted ones he could instill loyalty in from the very beginning.

There's a precious memory in her mind, of when their daughter Lynxkit caught greencough. Everyone knew she wasn't going to survive. Tigerclaw took his little kit, so small he could cradle her in his paws, and he hummed her to sleep for the last time. EVERY moon, she learns something that cracks that memory a little deeper, a little further, and one day she feels that she will loose one of the most meaningful images she has of her lost child.

How can she reconcile that image, to the trembling, half-starved woman who stands before her? This thin-boned rogue, who believes she is selfish and stupid for the egregious sin of losing a child while desperately trying to raise them alone?

Hawkkit and Mothkit would have had a very different upbringing. I also don't know if Sasha would have vanished back into the wilderness. World hard and cold. Golfy soft and warm.

[wc-confessions]

sparkpelt is the one character who i truly think has done nothing wrong and i'm astounded every time the book makes something up for nightheart to be mad at her about

no she never neglected her kits, they were loved and well taken care of by friends and family while she recovered from post partum depression and the trauma of watching her mate die as she gave birth. she recovered remarkably fast, like a month tops, and got to making up for lost time immediately

and NO she most definitely did not abandon flamepaw in his early apprenticeship, she was exiled to ensure her kits safety because the impostor was threatening him. finchpaw followed her, flamepaw didn't have to, but he was not abandoned. that was his choice. sparkpelt didn't get a choice

regardless those aren't nightheart's grievances with his mom. he brings them up to upset and argue with her but what he really thinks about 24/7 is sparkpelt giving him a name that doesn't match his physical appearance but is "sort-of" reminiscent of his great grandfather. sparkpelt. living in a clan full of fernsongs and hollytufts and honeyfurs. whose own name AND physical appearance remind everyone of her grandpa. who chose her kits' names with her mate before they were even born. nightheart's issue with his name is understandable but it's entirely unique to him and unheard of in thunderclan. i can't believe i have to say this but sparkpelt COULD NOT have predicted it and IS NOT in ANY WAY responsible. or are we supposed to believe spotfur hates her kits too

free my girl she literally didn't do any of the shit she's being accused of. i can't believe she's in the mommy issues arc being compared to xenophobic murderesses and coup stagers curlfeather and berryheart

.

[jasperflickercats]

I wanna write this eventually but, I have a Bramblestar's Storm au in which the literal storm still happens, but instead of a stupid love triangle, it's about Bramblestar facing consequences for being a DF trainee in TNP.

The Clan is still divided on the OOTS trainees, and then when it's revealed that Bramblestar was an og trainee, all hell breaks loose. ThunderClan almost splits in half. And because of the physical storm going on, it almost destroys them. The pressure is immense. Some cats want Bramblestar forgiven, some don't trust him, and some hate him, because he saw firsthand what Tigerstar was like. He knew better than almost any DF trainee just how horrible Tigerstar had been. But he still trained with him.

So ThunderClan must try to reunite under the hurricane, while Bramblestar struggles to keep everyone together when so many simply don't trust him.

[brackenfur]

i really do wish that like. ok when i think about brambleclaw and ashfur, in firestars quest they seem like good friends and get along well, and then we all know what happens in the book series(s) beyond that, but i really would want to give their dynamic more like. impact, and i’ve talked abt it here and there before, but:

i imagine that when bramblepaw first became an apprentice, ashpaw really liked him and treated him like a younger brother, almost. he saw how bramblepaw was kinda shy and he took him under his wing - he would teach him how to leap after leaves, he’d taught him crouches, talk to him about training, that sort of thing. and bramblepaw really looked up to ashpaw bc most of the clan treats him and tawnypaw rly differently, except for ashpaw and fernpaw and a few others. but bramblepaw rly likes that he has a close friend in the clan

and then brindleface is killed. and bramblepaw sees how sad fernpaw and ashpaw are at her vigil, so he comes up to say how sorry he is - he just lost his older brother, swiftpaw, too. and if ashpaw needed to talk, he’d always be there - but when ashpaw looks up at him, he looks….angry. he doesn’t say anything, so bramblepaw leaves because he thinks ashpaw is grieving and needs space, but form then on out, ashpaw won’t even speak to him. and after tawnypaw leaves to shadowclan, bramblepaw feels more alone than ever - he has other friends, but ashpaw was his first real friend, and now ashpaw wont even look at him. and bramblepaw tells firestar about it, saying that maybe it’s because he’s grieving for brindleface, but……..deep down bramblepaw knows why ashpaw is angry at him, he just doesn’t want it to be true.

and after tigerstar is killed, bramblepaw doesn’t really know how to feel since he hates his father, but to see him die like that…….. but he sees the weird, almost smug way ashpaw keeps looking at him and he almost wants to ask him why, what his problem even is, but he thinks about brindleface and decides he doesn’t want to know the answer.

and then after the battle with bloodclan when they kill bone together , he thinks maybe it’ll change - maybe ashpaw will like him again - but outside of some curt words and greetings, they aren’t friends anymore. bramblepaw wants to respect his decision, even if it hurts really bad that he lost his first friend bc of something tigerstar did, but he just wants to focus on becoming a warrior now.

and for a year that’s what he does - sometimes a cat like sorreltail or thornclaw will be like “hey, didn’t you guys used to be friends?” to which brambleclaw doesn’t know what to say - but he’s determined to prove ashfur and everyone else wrong.

and then he meets hawkfrost and starts training in the dark forest and for the first time in years, ashfur really starts to pay attention again. because he stopped trusting brambleclaw after brindleface died - ashfur knows that’s cruel, to blame him for something tigerstar did, but his heart can’t take anymore betrayals and deaths, and he sees it as a measure to protect himself and thunderclan - but when he sees hawkfrost he thinks, oh, i was right. and not only was i right - but squirrelflight is becoming closer to brambleclaw and she doesn’t even know about my mother, how she died. how brambleclaws father killed her to feed to a pack of dogs.

so he starts talking to squirrelflight and hanging out with her, and they get close, but when she goes back to hanging out with brambleclaw, he can’t cope. brambleclaws father took away ashfurs mother, everyone in thunderclan adores brambleclaw again, AND he was made deputy, AND squirrelflight thinks ashfur is this overbearing creep and he’s like, oh hell no.

and THAT to me feels more interesting than in canon but!!!!!!! that’s just me

[redux-iterum]

Throwing in on the Bluestar dementia thing, her canon decline sort of feels like less of a tragic loss of a beloved leader who faced many hardships and more like just the next problem forcing Fireheart to step up. When she got worse, I couldn’t fell anything for Bluestar herself? Just ‘Fireheart has yet another problem’. Here though, it is genuinely painful watching Bluestar lose herself and everyone struggle to accept it.Here, Bluestar’s decline is important for everyone, not just Fireheart.

That's a good way to put canon Bluestar. Though, fairly, that's a good way to put a LOT of the characters of the first arc. I've ranted before (to you, in fact!) that these cats exist to be pushed around for a plot to happen, and Bluestar is one of them. Her entire downfall arc is just a mess, honestly, and I absolutely hate how it concludes especially.

All that to say, thank you for liking how her fall goes in this fic. I wanted her to be handled respectfully by the narrative, even if not by the characters within the story itself, and to be a proper big deal that everyone needs to handle - even outside of ThunderClan. I'm glad that we seem to have done it right!

[one-in-a-million-fishsticks]

Kidnapped Firepaw AU

Following up the "Banished Fireheart AU" with this absolute gem.

Premise:

As Spottedleaf recounts the prophecy of fire to Bluestar, Tigerclaw lurks and listens, wholeheartedly believing in the words of Starclan like the UWU good pureblooded clan cat that he is.

Obviously he now needs to find himself a highlighter orange cat, he can't have the clan destroying itself before he ever even gets the chance to lead it after all, but where on earth is he supposed to find one when highlighter orange genetics aren't exactly common in the forest?.......

Enter Rusty, wondering the border of two-leg place all helpless and alone, itty bitty wittle barely apprentice aged kitty.

He's perfect, he simply HAS to join Thunderclan, the prophecised cat has gotta be him.

Besides, "rescuing" a kit from potential danger is the right thing for a noble warrior like Tigerclaw to do in this situation.

(Scourge? Never met her.)

Recruitment speeches and independent thought processes? What in Starclan's name are those?...

Tigerclaw could just carry this kit home right now if he wanted to.

So he does, he just stalks Rusty for a while, pops out of the bushes when the timing is right and straight up catnaps him.

Rusty is still the Rusty whom we all know and love, so he isn't THAT deeply upset about getting to live in the wild, but his little paws are rated E for everyone and he vows to make this entire experience as difficult for his kidnapper as possible.

Measures taken by Rusty to ruin Tigerclaw's life now include:

Acting more cynical and prickly than even Longtail on the daily

Ensuring that the cat assigned to escort him back home one final time as he says his last goodbyes to Smudge is Tigerclaw, the one cat who hates two-leg place more than Darkstripe

Cozying up to Bluestar (and later Yellowfang) when he knows damn well that Tigerclaw wants to be the adult in his life for some stupid reason

Making Ravenpaw his best friend as soon as organically possible because he also knows perfectly well that Tigerclaw will be forced to tolerate Ravenpaw if Firepaw takes a fancy to him

Ravenpaw: "Tigerclaw wants to kill me...."

Firepaw: "So that he can convince Bluestar to make me his apprentice instead?.... No thank you!"

Firepaw is a paw-length from convincing Bluestar to be his mentor, he will not be letting Tigerclaw ruin that for him.

The petty grudge continues into Fireheart's career as a warrior, prompting a neverending series of events seen as unfortunate only by Tigerclaw.

What do you mean his orange cat likes all of the remaining cats that he was planning on murdering?.... That was supposed to be HIS orange cat! Now how is he supposed to continue on his bloodthirsty quest for power?

Fireheart is best friends with Goldenflower now, she is his big sister, all of the adoration, attention and respect that Tigerclaw wishes he could get from Fireheart goes to Goldenflower

Bramblekit and Tawnykit are on the same level as Cloudkit, they are also his niece and nephew and he goes out of his way to hog nursery visitation

Longtail and Dustpelt are going to be Fireheart's friends now whether they like it or not, he is going to slowly squeeze their Tigerclaw love out of them like two-leg tooth paste and make them part of the 💥 Fireheart Squad 💥

Graystripe, Ravenflight(paw), and Sandstorm are already part of the 💥 Fireheart Squad 💥 and they help him bully Darkstripe

[koras-human-warriors]

Fire family redesigns, arcs 1-4! (I don't have the strength for after that)

design notes under cut!

Jake is just your typical ginger white guy. He is probably of Irish descent and has insane levels of rizz and strong genes that are still present generations later. He gives his pink bow to Tallstar to toe his hair and never takes it back

Firestar is just a more muscular version of his dad (not shown since this is just a bust shot). However, he is still smaller than most leaders. His lander rodes help him look bigger

Took the controversial decision not to make Scourge a devientart oc. Hope yall can forgive me 😔. He is a grown man. Since the outsider villages are pretty much just 1800s British people, he has the typical style of that period. However, the difference is his nacklace covered in the teeth of his victims (and one from an old dog he killed as a kid and lied saying it was a dragon). He also wears Frsdy Kruger-esque knife gloves

Princess is pretty much just gender swapped Firestar, has a rounder face. She doesn't have a good family life in this au, which is why she sent Cloudtail away. Fun fact: this also makes Cloudtail's full name Cloudtail Mcleod

Squirrelfight gets a lot of Firestar's looks! Her hair is curly thanks to Sandstorm's genes. Wears a necklace that represents the three

Leafpool didn't get the ginger gene, but she did get the good looks that charms everyone she is not supposed to date. She is not wearing her ceremonial clothes here. As a medincine person, she has tattoos, but they are under her clothes

Whitewing gets her papa's white hair but Brightheart's skin tone. Her hairband resembles Marigolds, which Brightheart used to grow outside her house in the old forest.

When designing Cloudtail, it is HAD to make him look handsome but also like a smug asshole. Hope I did well. Obvious fur collar resembling cloud. Got his eye scar from a stupid childhood accident and gave Firestar a heart attack.

You know what is funny? Making it to where SOMEHOW Squirrelfight manages to get the whole clan think the Three- all of which having Asian features - are the offspring of her Irish ass and Brambleclaw. Thunderclan is either stupid or, for once, good at minding their own business.

Hollyleaf got hit HARD by Windclan genes. A female version of Crowfeather. Got the freckles, tho. While staying in the tunnels, she chops her hair off and loses a ton of weight.

Jayfeather also got hit hard by the Windclan genes but also got some stuff from Crowfeather's mom. He wears the obvious Jay feather (given as a gift from Sandstorm when he was little) as well as a fake Briar flower (made of paper on a rainy day while she was keeping him company). Has tattoos because he is a medical person.

Lionblaze just barely got any Windclan genes, mostly getting left over traits from Sandstorm. Originally, I had him being more Thor-like, but I decided to lean away from that. He is taller and buffer than most of his family but can not grow facial hair well. He hates it. (Update: he is a spitting image of Deadfoot now, just blonde)

Tried to give Dovewing a rounder, fuller face than everyone else to show her being a bit heavier built. Don't know if it shows, tho. Gave her cool Grey's and dove colors and a feathered shall- made from the hide of the first monster she killed solo- a griffin. Her ribbon was given to her by Tigerheart, and she thinks she is being subtle about it.

As a Sapphic ace, I decided Ivypool deserves butch rights. Her face scars were caused by training in the dark forest. For a while, she had a black star tattoo marking her as a trainee, but she burned it off herself (Jayfeather got very angry she would, so such a stupid thing)

[oh-sturg-art]

Oops my hand slipped-

WARRIORS!141

So yeah I turned the 141 boys and some ocs of me and my friend into warrior cats because this is just where my life is right now y’know? Hate these motherfuckers

The 141 is considered a rogue group by the Clans, but in reality they assist any cat in trouble. That being said, they don’t take sides in fights unless it’s justified and one side is definitely morally in the wrong methinks

These designs are free to use just tag me if you do!!! I’d love to see it!!

vv CLOSEUPS/HCS!! vv

Captain John Price

Oakclaw ; A long-furred, muscular, dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes.

- Used to be a senior warrior in ThunderClan! Was probably even considered for deputy before he left because things were changing in ways he didn’t like.

- Has seen. A lot of battles. Big guy, great fighter.

- Fascinated by twoleg objects, like their clothing items. Probably gave Spirit his mask.

- Really fucking soft.

Lieutenant Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley

Spirit ; A huge, pale, heavily scarred, broad-shouldered tom with icy amber eyes. He conceals his face.

- Used to be a ShadowClan senior warrior. Saw waaaay too much conflict for one life, probably being apprenticed and made a warrior too early.

- A half-rogue, which definitely contributed to how others perceived him in his Clan. Another reason why he deserted to the 141 after Oakclaw didn’t express any prejudice.

- Used to be named Lightface. Changed his name after rejecting Clan life.

- His skull isn’t actually a skull. It’s a plastic twoleg object. The daisy petals adorning his chin represent his family members.

- His claws are permanently unsheathed because of injuries.

Sergeant Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick

Sharpsight ; A tall, short-furred, lanky dark tom with large paws and amber eyes.

- Used to be a ThunderClan warrior, was also Oakclaw’s apprentice! Really respects him.

- Has diluted WindClan blood, I’m thinking a third.

- This WindClan blood often had him ostracized by others, thus leading to his close relationship with Oakclaw and his own family.

- Has incredible stamina. He may not be the fastest or strongest, but he could keep going a lot longer than anyone else.

- Has several small nicks and scars from battles, but he hardly has any large scars- though there’s one on his left cheek.

Sergeant John ‘Soap’ MacTavish

Blaze ; A stocky, short-legged ginger tabby tom with icy blue eyes. He wears a collar.

- Used to be a kittypet. Saw Oakclaw, Spirit, and Sharpsight romping around and wanted some adventure in his life.

- His kittypet name was ‘Socks,’ and he hates anyone bringing it up.

- Spirit is constantly making fun of him for being a former kittypet, especially after choosing to keep his collar. It started off as cruel, but over time they found they had a similar sense of humour and tease each other over everything anyways.

- Still loves his twolegs, and even visits time to time!

Sergeant Virginia ‘Gin’ Abernathy

Curl ; A curly-haired, muscular, long-furred caramel she-cat with hazel eyes.

- Used to be in SkyClan! Trained Sev after she joined the Clan.

- Her warrior name was ‘Curltail,’ but she changed it after joining the 141. She says it helps others take her more seriously, and everyone always called her that anyways.

- Great tree-climber, and was one of the best in her Clan. Unfortunately, she was never a fan of border skirmishes and arguments over whoever’s the best Clan.

Character owned by @emmsiplier

Sergeant Marius ‘Seven’ Kole

Sev ; A dark ginger cat with a darker mane and big yellow eyes.

- Formerly in SkyClan, though she was born a loner.

- ‘Sev’ was actually her loner name. While she joined SkyClan at warrior age, she was dubbed ‘Darkpaw’ and trained by Curl, at the time Curltail. She chose the warrior name ‘Darktail’ in honour of her mentor, though she hardly uses this name anymore.

- Joined SkyClan because warriors convinced her that living as a loner was no way to live. Unfortunately, in the Clan, she faced a lot of stigmatism both for having been born a loner and also for not appearing to be a tom or she-cat.

[willicewc]

On last post a lot of people commented about Brackenfur wanting to mentor Snowkit, and I didn't think of that !

Snowkit's death was so.. Weirdly written. I was really mad about it. It was as if Snowkit was written specifically to die, and knowing that he was one of the only known disabled characters, that's a bad look... Also his death was really random, out of nowhere, and I don't remember birds of prey being such a threat before or after his death ? (I might be wrong on that, my memory is kind of fuzzy!) I just really hated it. I would have loved to see how the clans would have adapted to him.

So in my au, Snowkit survived ! He was mentored by Brackenfur and became a warrior. I think that, for fighting, he would mainly go up in trees and take enemies by surprise. Being up in the trees would give him an overview on the battlefield to know where to attack ? He might fight and hunt side by side with another warrior too to have a few indication ? Maybe mainly to know if there are noises he should pay attention to (like dogs or foxes, if he doesn't smell them first because of the wind direction ?)

Generally, I feel like the other cats would develop some kind of a general "sign language" using mainly their tail ?

I am genuinely so mad Snowkit died because I could come up with adaptations and ideas for him in a few minutes. The Erins could have done that but decided to just.. Kill him off ? He would have been a very interesting character. But I am happy to see the rest of the fandom making au where he is alive and notice that his death was, honestly, kind of just ableism ? Because everyone saw the hawk come and no one thought "oh wait that baby can't here us, let's always have someone near him", that's even worse if Thunderclan KNEW that hawks were a permanent issue ???

Design wise, I wanted Snowkit to look kind of like a bird ? He has some big tufts of fur on his shoulders looking like wings and the base of his tail was meant to look like a bird tail !

[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 :)

[notwarriorswiki]

Knot, please enlighten me with this Ravenpaw. He looks amazing

In Po12, Tigerclaw attempts to kill Ravenpaw rather soon after Firepaw joins ThunderClan, rather than allowing him to lurk around for moons. Firepaw even thinks Tigerclaw successfully killed his new friend, and Tigerclaw belives Ravenpaw bled out after all the injuries he sustained. But in truth, he was found by Scourge.

"Should I send you to join your clanmates?" "No! Please! Anything but that!" Ravenpaw cried out. The black tom seemed to pause, icy blue eyes widening faintly. "Don't send me back. I don't want to go back to ThunderClan. Please, I can't go back!" Ravenpaw dug his face into his paws, practically able to taste the dirt as the thick stench of blood wafted on his pelt. His breathing was growing slower, eyes becoming heavier, his voice but a timid murmur in the cold darkness of twolegplace. "Please, I don't want... clan..."

Scourge saw himself in that quivering cat that day. He brought him back to be tended to by their medic, and outfitted Ravenpaw with everything he'd need to be a thriving member of his clan - BloodClan. There Ravenpaw took on the name Raven, and met Barley, Scratch, and other kind cats.

It was no secret to the other BloodClan cats that Raven received special treatment from Scourge. He became practically like a son to the BloodClan leader, who involved him in all aspects of leadership in the territory. Unknowingly, Raven was being primed to take over Scourge's role one day.

Raven was indoctrinated with all of the loyal and active BloodClan cats. From what he saw, they took care of each other, and it was like he found a new home that was safe and away from Tigerclaw. That changed though when he encountered Brownpaw of ShadowClan.

"Ravenpaw! Is it really you? Bluestar said you ran away, but I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes!" Brownpaw chirped. The small apprentice lashed his tail with a chuckle. "So you did become a kittypet, huh?" Raven curled back his lip with a shake of his head. "This collar isn't from a twoleg. It's from my new clan, and you're in our territory." He straightened up and flicked his ear. "What are you doing in twolegplace anyway?" Brownpaw frowned and tilted his head. "New... clan? Whatever - look I got lost chasing some mice, ok. Your territory smells anyway. I don't want to be here, so could you point me back the way I came?" With a small huff, Raven nodded. He supposed ShadowClan cats did have to hunt in odd and smelly places. He couldn't blame Brownpaw, after all it had taken himself some time to get used to the alleyways of twolegplace. He flicked his tail and nodded back. "You take a right just the way you came. When you see that house with the pine trees, that's your sign you've reached the territory. Turn right again and you'll find the forest in no time. Now get out of here, ok?" He paused. "And don't tell anyone you saw me." Brownpaw scoffed. "Why should I?" Raven opened his mouth to protest, but Brownpaw chuckled and shook his head. "I'm kidding. I wouldn't want to be in ThunderClan either. I gotta get back before I get in trouble. See you, kittypet!" "I'm not a kittypet!" Raven protested. But Brownpaw was already gone, disappearing out of sight to return to the forest he called home.

But Brownpaw never made it home.

Upon returning from patrol, Raven found the ShadowClan apprentice's body strewn over the gathering grounds of Scourge's Alley. The tower of boxes were the throne of the black cat who reminded his cats what they did to any clan cats they encountered.

"The Clans must be eradicated."

And thus Raven slowly began to uncover the world Scourge hadn't let him see before. The cats who didn't ally themselves with his cause, who were forced to pay dues or risk being punished within their own gardens. The spread of hate for those outside BloodClan's walls, breeding an "Us against Everyone" mentality. It was familiar, yet just as horrifying. Just as the Clans hated outsiders, so too did BloodClan - and the Clans were those outsiders.

"Why didn't you kill me that day?" Raven quietly asked. Scourge blinked, surprised by the young tom's question. He almost looked as if he might ask why he asked such a question, but the way his ears fell back told Raven he didn't need to. He looked away, raising his head high. "Because I saw myself in you, Raven." It was his turn to blink back in surprise. "What?" "You're not like them." Scourge flicked his tail, blue eyes looking down upon Raven from his perch atop his throne. "You're not a clan cat." "B-But I was-" "No. You weren't."

He may not have been a clan cat anymore, but Raven knew clan cats who he still cared about. The Clans were flawed, yes, but he didn't think everyone apart of them deserved to die.

Raven ends up discovering later that Barley too isn't so happy with Scourge's rule. His sister wasn't willing to fight against clan cats, and as such she was called a traitor by Scourge and nearly killed. She was believed to be dead, but Barley took her into hiding, and brings her food so she can remain undetected. At first he thinks Raven will out him, but Raven does not. Instead he wishes to change BloodClan and twolegplace. He realizes that while he's grateful to Scourge, that this cannot continue.

Raven and Barley have their own story, changing BloodClan from the inside and building up a supportive group that wants change. Raven even reunites with Fireheart and Graystripe later, collaborating as they exchange intel on Tigerstar. They learn Tigerstar has learned to communicate and guide the dogs through the knowledge he has learned through Scourge, and that the BloodClan leader is helping Tigerstar to get close to him so he can launch his war against the Clans.

When the war happens, BloodClan is split, Raven and Barley revealing their own forces as much of Scourge's army takes their side. They wanted to live their lives in Twolegplace in peace, without thinking about the Clans. This new clan would no longer be BloodClan, eating dirt off the ground. Rather they would be SkyClan, who look up towards the future.

When Scourge is killed by Firestar, Raven takes back his old name of Ravenpaw. He collects Scourge's severed collar, gingerly removing the dog teeth that no doubt jabbed into his throat every day - Ravenpaw knew the feeling fell at this point. He remembered when Scourge told him how he was reminded of himself when he found him. Ravenpaw wishes he could've known that Scourge, before draping the broken collar over his shoulders.

He'd always love Scourge like a father, and would carry his memory with him all of his life. He would be like Scourge - the old Scourge. He would be Ravenpaw.

[bonefall]

wait if ivypool is daughter of lionblaze but secret child of jayfeather does that mean that the Po3 basically repeated leafpool’s whole thing? like leafpool had Po3 and passed them off as squirrelflight’s kits. then jayfeather and poppyfrost had Dove-Ivy kits and passed them off as lionblaze’s children? holy shit

Yep. Each one of the Three have a sobering moment in Cruel Season where, suddenly, they understand their parents more than they ever did before.

Lionblaze is in a gutwrenching state after rescuing his mother and siblings from Ashfur during the fire scene, the blood of his mentor on his claws and everything he'd ever known pulled out from beneath him. When Hollyleaf reveals the secret at the Gathering and the Clans turn on Squirrelflight and Leafpool, he jumps to their defense. Bramblestar disowns him, and he spits back that he only has a mother-- Squirrelflight.

He's the same Lionblaze he was yesterday, but suddenly, he's HalfClan. There's cats in the Clan who are treating him differently. When he confronts them about it, they deny it. He didn't change at all, but it's as if the eyes of his Clanmates did.

For him, it comes quickly. This is what Squilf and Leafpool were trying to protect him from, all along.

Sometimes, secrets are very precious things.

Jayfeather takes longer, probably because he was already treated as different. Brambleclaw had never been as close to him as he was to his siblings. What really starts his path is the fact that Leafpool was stripped of her status-- he's still relatively new to this, but now he's ThunderClan's sole Cleric.

To deal with the stress, he starts to rely more and more on Poppyfrost. It's traitorous. It's codebreaking. It's a relief.

Everyone forgets how lonely Leafpool was at the end of TNP, when she turned to Crowfeather. Her friends had started spending their time with their love interests. She was a lake away from Mothwing. It was a new place and a stressful time, and Crowfeather was an escape from that. Just like what Poppyfrost is now.

The difference is that Jayfeather really, truly does love Poppyfrost. He always has. Probably always will.

When she finds out she's pregnant, it's like a curse. It's the cruelest thing that StarClan could have done to them. He'll NEVER give up the position of a Cleric, and Poppyfrost finds out that he will choose this over a life with her. Reality comes crashing back down.

No one hates irony more than Jayfeather. So he tries to consider it a bitter lesson, instead. This is why Leafpool did what she did.

And Hollyleaf... Hollyleaf has been taught that it's her job to keep her brothers in line. That the Code cannot protect itself; it must be enforced to stop the past from happening again.

She learns of the plan through Cinderheart, by way of her accidentally spilling the beans. Hollyleaf snaps, convinced that the only way to stop her cursed family from breaking the code again is to try and kill them.

Attacking Jayfeather in the tunnels and being fought off by Lionblaze, Sol rescues her from a cave-in and begins the events of Hollyleaf's Century.

[wc-confessions]

i still hate what happened to mudclaw. he was humiliated in front of every single clan including his own by another clan's leader. tallstar allowed him to be deputy until his very last breath instead of just demoting him to his face. i suppose i can cut tallstar a little slack considering he was weak and dying but it still irks me that it really did feel like thunderclan was scheming behind his back and everyone had no choice but to believe them over him.

also it sucks because tallstar made onewhisker his deputy because wanted thunderclan to remain friends with windclan but onestar ended up fucking that up anyway. so what was the point LMFAO

and sure, mudclaw was a little (not even) extreme in his ideologies, which honestly were very reasonable in-universe, but why do that to him? why let him believe he'll be the next leader and have thunderclan, the clan he was most worried about, shoot him down? why allow him to gain so much respect from his clanmates just to have them watch as he's humiliated and undermined by another clan?

i really don't think he did anything wrong. pretty reasonable crash out afterwards. they could never make me hate you mudclaw

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