#firestar mention

[lordyglor]

Re-did Silverstar’s design because the first one wasn’t scratching that itch…. I hated it at first but after a day I came back to it and loved it so! Here she is!

Silverpaw, Crookedstar’s daughter, and promised heir of RiverClan, wanders a wee bit too far on one of her self appointed patrols (she takes boarder rules very seriously), and can’t help but spot an unfamiliar face, swimming — or rather drowning — in the ravine that separates RiverClan from their neighbours. As an act of kindness (but if you asked her, she’d say it were merely her responsibility), she leapt in to help the heaping pile of ginger fur onto the shore. Gasping his thank-you’s, the tom introduced himself as Firepaw, apprentice of ThunderClan.

[birdsong-warriors]

Putting off uploading because I kind of hate this comic right now, lol.

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Part 1: Friend and Family

See up to thirty pages ahead, with timelapses, on Patreon!

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[cursed-transformers-gifs]

[gutterclan-after-dark]

‼️‼️I am gay and transgender ‼️‼️ I am not criticizing anyone just mentioning some stuff I've noticed in a literary analysis sort of way I am not trying to start discourse‼️‼️

Anyway. One of my clangen cats just rolled as trans (yay) & it's got me thinking like.

What is it to write cats with gender variance in a world that is essentially post-gender (to the extent that any of us, having been raised from birth saturated in the unconscious stew of gendered thinking, can write something that is 'post-gender').

I've noticed that the vast majority of work in the warrior cats space does seem to strive to have complete equality between the sexes- and not just equality, but complete indistinguishably. I've even seen audiences routinely forget what gender a character even IS (which is kind of delightful). Toms raise litters, mollies become leaders, there is no friction, commentary, noticeable difference.

And that's fine- I'm more or less going that route with Gutterclan- but in a world where this is no social or material difference between the sexes- what does gender variance mean? How does it function? Where does it come from? What does being transgender mean in a world where gender identity does not really exist (or at least is not differentiated- there is One gender, and it is warrior cat*), and physical transition is not possible? Is it just a matter of pronouns?

What need for gender neutral pronouns in a world where essentially all things are already gender neutral? Is it just dysphoria? Do trans tortoiseshell toms hate their orange patches, or do trans mollies feel self conscious about their stud jowls? That's sort of miserable, if the only thing that being trans is, is having a problem with yourself that can't be solved.

And what does sexuality mean, when gender barely exists, and sex essentially doesn't? There is romance in warrior cats, for sure, but sex doesn't really... exist in most warrior cats works, and it definitely doesn't exist in the canon books. Which is absurd to say, because people are always having kittens, and accidental litters are a constant plot tangle, but there is never a sense of how these things occur. Being mates means you sit together at mealtimes and rub cheeks and get sad when the other person dies, and sometimes kittens appear after a timeskip.

This is of course due to the age range of the books, and because the main characters are animals. And I don't think it's a problem in need of changing, but it does make trying to conceive of sexuality strange in this world.

What does being asexual mean when no cats ever really display a sexual desire? What does being a lesbian mean where there functionally is no difference between mollies and toms? (Aros get to stay, the WC conception of romance ports more or less 1:1 from our world).

I do believe that sexuality and gender are to a certain extent innate, but they are also deeply, deeply shaped by our society's conceptions. Which is to say, eg, only desiring relationships with other women is perhaps innate, but the identity of Lesbian is constructed (which is not to say it isn't real- like, currency is a social construct, and we wouldn't say it's fake, or that it lacks power over us, etc). So what does it mean to have those labels in a world that- ostensibly- lacks much of the very human, very 21st century, very western, social baggage that creates them? And the answer is basically one of two things:

you do a lot of baroque gender worldbuilding. For your warrior cats fan work (which! Honestly kind of bangs and I would like to see).

People like to see themselves reflected in fiction, and the reason that we have pansexual cats and grey-ace cats and demi-boy cats is more or less because we have those things in real life, and we say the cats are those things and so they are, even if their history & context of gender and sexuality are completely different from ours, and likely wouldn't have created the same labels.

And there's nothing wrong with either of those approaches! I'm more or less going to go with approach 2 in Gutterclan, which just small switches in terminology, but I find it sort of... unsatisfying, the more I turn it over

*I put this question to my buddy Goose & he posited that the space that gender roles serve for us are, in warrior cats, essentially occupied by narrative roles. Leader, warrior, med cat, even things like villain or loner. I am nodding at this proposal very vigorously. In a world without gender, is the angst of a medicine cat apprentice longing to be a warrior not a sort of transgender longing to fit a different societal role than the one you are coercively assigned?

Anyway. I still don't know how to make my cat trans.

[t4twnyclaw]

old man complains about lack of familial relationships again

as much as i personally loathe how nightsun was written i wanna know how nightheart, a cat without a father and with a shaky relationship with his mother handled fatherhood.

i want to see how thriftear, who ivypool hinted at being messy and immature (didn't she have a public argument with plumstone) got with her cousin and how she acts as a mother.

harrybrook and blossomheart were like YELLOWFANG age when they had their kids. are we going to forget the two times the narrative said that old cats have difficult pregnancies. (sorreltail and sorrelshine both described as being 'old')

[sleepyspots-wc-designs]

maybe a Firestar/sandstorm hypokit?

Glad to see you’re doing well!

Starting off strong for the hypokits!

MEET: Antbite

The last child of Firestar and Sandstorm, and their only son, Antbite was born just days before The Great Battle, and extremely prematurely (which led to a skinny, smaller-than-average stature) alongside two littermates who were stillborn.

Growing up in the great shadow cast by your father’s light wasn’t easy, especially when you, yourself, never got to experience the warmth of that light. Antbite’s mother did what she could to share stories of her beloved mate with their final kit, but Sandstorm’s grief also overshadowed him quite often, leading Antbite to feel as though he was raised in the shadow of one parents, and by the shadow of another.

Due to this (or perhaps in spite of it), Antkit grew into a rowdy troublemaker, desperate for attention, and desperate to break free of the expectations placed upon him. He wasn’t his father, he wasn’t his mother, he was more, he was stronger, he was better — he just had to make his Clanmates see that! He worked tirelessly to improve his skills, growing into a well-respected, well-rounded warrior who was honored and named especially for his sharp tongue and quick wit that often shone through when he tried to prove himself. While his ambitions tempered as he grew older, and as he found a comfortable, proper place for himself, Antbite never did quite grow out of his love for pulling pranks for surprising a friend with a snappy comment — and loved to fit himself against his mother’s side, where he always seemed to fit perfectly.

Please read the rules when requesting future hypokits!

This character may be up for grabs, for their design, storytelling, or any other personal use! Keep an eye on the status below if you’re interested! :)

Status: CLAIMED! By @bears-artlogyippee

[skyclan-funny-name-squad]

What's everyone's minor warrior cat plot point brought up like twice at MOST that lives in your head rent free with SO MANY QUESTIONS for me it's the warrior cat leader life fragments that get introduced to us and never like, come back up again outside of like, one scene of Jaypaw going "what the fuck"??? Like what do you mean for nearly the entire time of firestar's leadership theres just...also been a fragment of firestar just vibing in starclan???? as an incomplete fragment??? what the fuck????? I HAVE QUESTIONS

[alatowritesalot]

I hope that the fandom doesn’t think that Harper Collin’s or warrior cats as a whole are progressive for making Ravenpaw and Barley cannon after like 10 years of being vague about it. It’s no different from the whole jk Rowling “actually dumbledore was gay all along” thing. The only reason it became canon was because unlike previous years it is more likely to make them a profit (esp if they decide to do some limited time shitty merch after the book comes out).

[pale-opal]

Hear Me Out 2:

So. I know that this image, like the ones in the last post I made, is incredibly niche. I also suspect that, the MMX and Warrior Cats fandoms, much like the Mega Man and Homestuck fanbases, probably don't have that much overlap. However. I am not going to let that stop me from drawing this conclusion: if the books existed in the MMX universe, Axl totally would've read Warrior Cats. And he would've loved it. To prove this, I am going to write an entire multipoint essay about this strange little reploid, and this somehow stranger series of books. Buckle up, folks. This one is going to get wild. Now, first things first: I need to explain what Warrior Cats is. For those of you not in the know, Warrior Cats (also known simply as Warriors) is a book series that follows several different groups of cats known as "clans" through their time in a forest. Every writer who has worked on the Warrior Cats series has done so under the pen name "Erin Hunter". However, some of the authors identities are known. For example, the first few arcs were primarily written by a woman named Victoria Holmes. - The cats are not anthropomorphic (for the most part). They are feral. Humans exist, but they can't understand them. Pet cats are referred to as "kittypets." - A clan cat receives several names during their lifetime. If they are born into the clan, they are born as [noun/adjective]kit. As an apprentice (a warrior cat in training), they would be called [noun/adjective]paw. Once they become a warrior, usually at 12 months (or "moons", as months are referred to in the books as such) of age, they will become [noun/adjective][noun 2]. Cats who are the appointed leader of their clan are known as [noun/adjective]star. Cats that join a clan from elsewhere have a chance to go through this naming system as well, but they do not have to if they don't want to. Cat names will be used interchangeably, depending on when that specific cat had that name. - Leader cats have nine lives, of which are given to them by Starclan (cat heaven). There can only be one leader at a time. Also, there is a hell-equivalent known as the "Dark Forest". Dead clan cats get sent to one of these two places after death. Their ghosts can also die - either through fading (being forgotten by the living), or through severe injuries and other similar causes of death. - The clan cats follow a set of rules known as the "Warrior Code". It is mostly composed of basic rules, such as not being allowed to kill cats for no reason, not being allowed to quit being a clan cat to go live with people, etc. However, some more complex rules were added. An example includes a rule that allows a leader to be disposed by their subordinates. - I will be discussing spoilers for the entirety Warrior Cats series. If at any point during this essay you want to put on a life jacket and jump ship so you can experience these books blind, feel free to do so (however, I do recommend skipping to the final few bullets of the "Additional Notes" section before leaving the cruise, as I do mention topics that I think would be a disservice to not warn new readers of beforehand). I also have to provide a content warning for violence because these books can be dark sometimes.

Part 1: Character Arc Cousins Something that makes a book or story likeable is relatability. And how do characters become relatable? By having experiences that readers are likely to have gone through themselves. And if we go through the Warrior Cats series, we find that there are quite a few characters that Axl would relate to. For instance, there's Firestar:

Let's go through a list of the things he and Axl have in common: 1. Born as a kittypet named Rusty, Firepaw leaves his home to join Thunderclan because he feels he's meant to be doing something else with his life. Axl leaves Red Alert when they become evil, and joins the Maverick Hunters because he doesn't feel that it's right for him to be using his copy ability to harm innocents. Shared experience: leaving home to pursue their destiny. 2. Firepaw spends the majority of The Prophecies Begin (the first set of Warrior Cats books) trying to prove himself worthy of being in Thunderclan, even when he becomes Firestar. Axl spends all of X7 trying to prove himself to the Hunters, and continues to work toward doing so when he fails to win X's approval, even after all he's been through. Shared experience: proving themselves to people who are older and more experience than they are. 3. At the end of The Last Hope (the final book in the Omen of the Stars collection), Firestar dies from his injuries in a fight against the ghost of Tigerstar I (long story), his final life being spent protecting his clan. Guess what happens to Axl in X8? If you guessed "gets a mysterious black crystal shoved into his head by Lumine's corpse after working together with his homies to kill him, leaving him in a near-comatose state," congratulations! You're right! Your prize is... um... the satisfaction of being correct! Huzzah! Shared experience: dying/becoming severely injured after working to secure the greater good for their loved ones.

Firestar's not the only character Axl would relate to, either. There's also: - Squirrelfight (both characters do reckless things to keep others safe, and have an early habit of rushing into things. They also have trouble getting older people to take them seriously.) - Hollyleaf (both she and Axl betray people they care about - and they both do it with murder, too. (Axl has to kill the members of Red Alert, while Hollyleaf betrays Thunderclan by killing Ashfur (note: to clarify, Hollyleaf did not betray Ashfur specifically. She betrayed the clan by breaking the Warrior Code (although one could make the case that she didn't actually break it, but that's a whole issue of its own))) - Dovewing (similar to Firestar somewhat: both Dovewing and Axl work with older characters, and struggle to fit in with them)

Usually, the more relatable the characters are, the more a viewer or reader will enjoy the story. And with four whole cats that he can feel free to project himself onto, Axl's all set to have a great time reading Warrior Cats on the basis of the characters alone. But that's not the only reason he'd have a heck of a time. There's also:

Part 2 - The Drama of it All

Let's make another list. This time, we'll take note of what Axl likes, what kind of person he is, stuff like that. Axl: - Is trigger happy. Literally. One of his lines in X8 directly states that the thought of fighting mavericks "makes [his] trigger finger itch". The boy lives to fight. - Is a child. Based on his behavior (not taking certain things seriously, wanting to be treated as an equal to those older than him, being easy to amuse), as well as the way he is voice acted (he had a female VA for X7, and a common practice in voice acting is to give male characters who haven't gone through puberty a voice actress or a male VA who is younger or around the same age as the character being portrayed. Additionally, the voices given to him in X8 and Command Mission are at a somewhat higher pitch than X and Zero's - while he does sound older, it's clear that he's younger than X and Zero) tell us that he is not meant to be the same age as the other members of the Hunter trio. Warrior Cats is aimed at middle-school aged children. Keep this in mind. - Despises injustice. He ditches Red Alert when they go maverick, and spends an entire game trying to become a Hunter. And after he becomes one in between X7 and X8, he gets darn good at it. By Command Mission, he's an S-Class Hunter alongside X and Zero. Oh, and in X8 he shoots Lumine in the middle of an evil laugh and tells X and Zero to disregard his evil monologue that he just finished giving.

Based on all this, I think it's safe to say that Axl would enjoy how Warrior Cats includes the following: - The first antagonist, Tigerstar I, attempts to kill Bluestar (the leader of Thunderclan prior to Firestar), kills several innocent cats in his quest for power, and manipulates a dying clan to become its leader after getting exiled from Thunderclan. And how does he get his dues? By getting killed by the second antagonist, Scourge, with all of his lives being taken by one wound, (yes, this is considered a children's book series). And Scourge gets killed by Firestar, who takes him out after coming back to life from Scourge killing him first. You know. Like a boss.

- The majority of Warrior Cats start off as kits or apprentices, meaning that they begin their journey as children and/or pre-teens/teenagers. Recall the target demographic for the books. Now recall how old Axl is. I think you see where I'm going with this. - All of the major villains in the Warriors series meet a terrible fate, one that matches their horrible actions. We already talked about Tigerstar I (and Scourge, to a lesser extent). Now here are some other examples: Brokenstar: He forced kits (aka BABIES) into becoming apprentices before they were of age (6 moons old) (which is not only against the warrior code, but also dangerous because... well, I think we all know why it's a bad idea to send an actual baby out to do certain things like hunt or fight against entire adults in any context). He meets his end by getting blinded and poisoned by his own mother. And then when he dies, he goes to the Dark Forest. Ashfur: After becoming bitter over how Squirrelflight chose another man over him, he decides to go and kill her and her children. But guess what? Not only does that loser fail miserably in doing that, but Hollyleaf also takes him out. Unfortunately, Ashur somehow gets let into cat-heaven. However, this lapse in Starclan's judgement leads to Ashfur being able to magically force all the dead cats in both the Dark Forest and Starclan to do his bidding. He also possesses Bramblestar. But you know what happens to him afterwards? HIS GHOST GETS DROWNED IN A POOL OF WATER THAT SAPS THE LIFE FORCE OUT OF THE CATS THAT GO IN IT. YOU KNOW. LIKE A FREAKING LITWICK (shout out to Bristlefrost for being the one to take out this poser).

Part 3 - It's Not All Perfect Now, anyone who's read Warrior Cats knows that the series has some... interesting flaws in its writing. From forbidden romance being the Special of the Day every series to established lore being retconned at the drop of a hat, the Warriors books have gone through their fair share of bad writing decisions. Here's how I think Axl would respond to some of those issues:

1. Continuity Errors: - "Redtail's Debt" has dubious canonicity. It was established in the second book of the first arc that Redtail, the first deputy of Thunderclan talked about in the series, did NOT kill Oakheart (a former deputy of Riverclan) in a battle that took place in the first book's prologue. Whether or not he did was a huge part of the intrigue of the first two books, and finding out he didn't was an important part of uncovering Tigerstar I's treachery. The writers who took over after Holmes retired from the series retconning this has horrible implications for the series timeline. (And it makes Ravenpaw (one of the most iconic characters, and the one who revealed that Redtail wasn't a murderer) look like a liar for no reason. And we can't have that.) As a result, I think Axl would be pretty upset about this one. I feel he'd take the lore for these angry kitty-cats super seriously. He probably has a mock timeline in his room on the wall. He takes notes whenever new bits of worldbuilding is introduced. He represses the urge to bang his head against a wall whenever the writers confuse a cat's lore with another (looking at you, Graystripe). He knows everything about these cats, and he knows that Redtail didn't kill Oakheart. - On that note, the Heavystep situation would drive him up a wall. For those of you don't know, Heavystep is a character who has died a grand total of three times in the Warriors series. But he was never leader or anything like that: no, the authors just kept losing track of him. But you know who didn't lose track? The readers. I like to think Axl has an original copy of the book Dark River. In the original print of that book, Heavystep was brought back to life for a fourth time. This was later fixed in a reprint, but Axl doesn't know that. 2. Forbidden Romance: Until recently, cats who belonged to different clans were not allowed to become mates. But due to some changes in the Warrior Code, that is less of a problem. However, that doesn't change the fact that we got a lot of forbidden relationships in the series before that point. But even with that in mind, I think Axl would actually eat this sort of plotline up. He'd love it. We've already established that he would enjoy the more violent aspects of the drama. So why not the drama that takes place between characters in non-violent ways? - I figure that Axl would enjoy it until the last book of Omen of the Stars (AKA The Last Hope). That's when he starts punching the air out of frustration. I can totally see him venting about it out loud to anybody who will listen:

Axl: "And then Dovewing chooses freaking BUMBLESTRIPE over Tigerheart, even though Bumblestripe tried to ask her out DURING A FUNERAL." Zero: "And then what happ--" Axl: "Dude, I haven't even told you the worst of it. Before all that, Jayfeather was catching feelings for someone from the freaking PAST because TIME TRAVEL. And - oh. OH. Let me tell you about Firestar and Spottedleaf. Guess what they do. While everyone around them is dying and fighting for their lives. Guess." Zero: "Firestar.... moves on from her?" Axl: "HA! I WISH. No. Instead, they have an entire MOMENT. IN FRONT OF SANDSTORM. I HATE IT HERE." - As you can tell, Axl wouldn't exactly be supportive of the whole "Spottedleaf x Firestar" debacle (Spottedleaf dies in the first arc after Firepaw develops a one-sided crush on her. Spottedleaf starts to reciprocate as a ghost (after Firepaw becomes an adult and is named Fireheart), only for this to continue... until the day Spottedleaf's ghost dies). I imagine Axl would be fine with it at first, but once Firestar becomes mates with Sandstorm? All bets are off. I just can't see Axl supporting Firestar emotionally cheating on his wife. Axl would appreciate a lot of things - adultery most likely wouldn't be one of them. - Omen of the Stars would probably leave a bitter taste in Axl's mouth as far as forbidden romance goes (even after Dovewing ends up getting together with Tigerstar II) until The Broken Code, which would end up redeeming the concept in his mind in the most dramatic way possible:

Axl: *Is crying* X: "Aw, Axl! What's wrong?" Axl: *Is holding book 5 of The Broken Code, weeping miserably* "Bristlefrost and Rootspring just w-wanted to be h-happy, but now they can't, because -- because Bristlefrost is dead!" X: *Has no idea what he's talking about, is trying his best* "Oh, no! That's... that's awful." Axl: "And now all Rootspring has left of her is a vision of her and him with - with the kids that they'll n-never get to have-!" *Sobs* X: "Okay... how about... how about you read something a little happier-" Axl: "No, that - that's okay. I wanna finish it." X: "Are... are you sure?" Axl: *More serious than he has ever been in his life* "Yes." X: *Puts hands up* "Well - okay, then!"

Part 4 - Conclusion So. To sum this up, Warriors is a book series that contains copious amounts of violence, underdog characters to root for and relate to, killable villains, romance, and things that people can complain about. And Axl is someone who would enjoy all of that. In other words:

Rest in peace, Axl. You would've loved Warrior Cats. ...

(Yes, I know he's technically not dead. But he may as well be since we never got X9. The writers of the ZX series didn't even know what his final fate was supposed to be. That's why we got Model A and not Axl. Seriously. Look it up.)

Part 5 - Additional Notes Here are some other things that I would like to say that wouldn't fit into the whole of the essay:

- This took way longer than expected: it was in my drafts since August 10th! I actually had to edit a certain part of the essay because the arc A Starless Clan concluded while I was writing this. But now it's free. And I am now able to start work on another essay meant to boggle hearts and minds. Get ready. - Axl's favorite villain would be Tigerstar, even though he reminds him of Sigma. Reading about him getting killed twice gave him deja vu. - Zero would read Warriors to get a feel for it, so that he could understand whenever Axl started ranting about it. He ends up losing the plot and has to resort to watching YouTube videos. - X, on the other hand, would get super invested - but only after Axl started reading A Starless Clan. Which means that he's got a long way to go before he can relate to Axl's cat-related tangents. - Signas tried to read Warriors because Axl brought it up during a meeting once. He confused it for Tailchaser's Song (1985) and ended up introducing Axl to a new book to get excited over instead of figuring out what's "hip with the kids." - Axl cried at the end of The Last Hope. He bawled his eyes out. Just completely inconsolable. And then he read Dovewing's Silence, and cried some more. - When Grey Wing said "Kill me. Kill me and live with the memory. Then tell the stars that you won.", it formed an entire core memory in Axl's brain. He would totally say this at some point in the fight against Red. And Red would just laugh and recall when Axl lived with Red Alert and spent a bunch of his free time reading silly cat books. The tension is eased. And then Zero runs over with his sword while screaming a battle cry and then they remember that they're at war. - Now for the serious parts. To begin with, there is a certain novella in the series known as Spottedleaf's Heart. Long story short, I don't like the idea of Axl reading this book. I don't like the idea of an actual child reading this book (at least, not without guidance). So Axl will not be reading it. I do not feel like it would be appropriate for me to explain why here, since it involves topics that would be hard to discuss in what's supposed to be a lighthearted essay. However, Moonkitti has a video that explains the issues with this book in case you want to know what it is I'm referring to (however, please heed the warning that she provides at the beginning). - For the second point, I'll cut straight to the chase: Warriors has quite a few examples of ableism and sexism. I didn't discuss either of them in-depth because I felt that it would be out of place tone-wise in the grand scheme of the essay, but again: I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't at least warn new readers about these aspects. To be specific, these problems are issues because it sometimes feels like the writers resent having disabled and female characters existing in their narrative at all. However, something that is worth mentioning is that there seems to have been efforts made over time to fix these problems. - In case you're wondering how Axl would feel about all this, here's how I see it: he'd hate it. While there aren't any disabled characters in the MMX series that he could've interacted with, Axl does know what it's like to be underestimated and mistreated for reasons outside of one's control. So he would most likely be personally upset by how the narrative takes the chance to sideline or get rid of characters in a similar position, regardless of whether or not the reason why was because of a disability (I imagine he would have some very strong words to say about what happened to Snowkit). As for the sexism: as far as I'm aware, most of the female influences in Axl's life are positive, with him knowing all of them personally. Why wouldn't he get mad about how the series treats women? Especially when all of the ones that he's friends with have been directly involved in what he does as a Hunter, or in saving the world in the case of MMX Command Mission?

Additionally, the books sometimes have legitimate trouble properly writing abusers. Some are written in genuine, believable ways, while others are written that way by accident or aren't fully treated the way they should be by the narrative. This leads to some... odd implications as to what is considered abuse in Warrior Cats and by the authors. In light of that last sentiment: do not come after any of the authors. While you don't have to respect all of their writing decisions, that doesn't mean you can just run around attacking people. Be respectful.

Furthermore, Warriors also includes relationships between characters with lengthy (and sometimes problematic (which is a topic that warrants it's own discussion, although I am not sure if I should be the one to discuss it)) age gaps. Keep that in mind before you start reading. - TL;DR: read the books at your own risk. And be mindful of what you're getting into.

[redux-iterum]

Bouldernose deserves to crash out ngl. “I risked my life for this clan, help you find food, and protected the young better than any of you lot during Brokenstar’s reign, but suuuuure treat me as lesser!” At least he’s around for Fire “I was blessed by god for questioning clan’s bias and customs” Star

Were you expecting Bouldernose to get so popular? Also who is a cat you thought would be more popular, but isn’t talked about as much?

I did not remotely expect Bouldernose to get as much attention as he does, I'll be honest with you. He's such a background character that he hasn't showed up since the very first book and I truthfully would've forgotten he exists if it wasn't for y'all. It's quite funny.

A cat I thought would get popular and didn't... I can't say. I have my own favorites and ones I think about a lot, but I try not to have any expectations for any of my projects about who or what will get the most attention. Less disappointment that way!

With Iterum specifically, I'm working with a fandom that already has favorites, so I can make guesses, but with how much we've changed, who knows, really? Though, to be fair, Goldenflower has no personality in canon and she still claims a spot in the public's loving eye. Of course she was going to skyrocket into popularity when she gets to be a loving, terrifying mom to the main character.

But I can't think of anybody I was sure was going to be loved and wasn't. More often, the opposite was true. Darkstripe getting the attention he does caught me off guard quite a bit, I'll say that.

[boilingrain]

There’s something silly to me about Bluestar x Yellowfang

It’s just “yeah Firestar’s moms should date”

Old women with tragic backstories and the very orange boy they separately adopted

[theanoninyourinbox]

moth and micah divorce in starclan. instead of cloudstar sending visions to firestar in firestars quest, its micah. they fall in love. micah views leafpool as a daughter. when her and squilfs trial happens, he pops off at moth. discuss.

SO

Micah watches from Starclan, watches Moth Flight separate their kits, watches her keep other cats from a love like they once shared. He pleads for an explanation in her dreams, and she insists that they were a burden, a distraction from her true calling.

Their beautiful kits. A BURDEN!?!?

He disavows her on the spot, and when she joins Starclan, Micah refuses to even look at her. He greets his kits warmly, and watches the medicine cats, but only speaks to Moth Flight if forced.

SO

He watches Skyclan's descendants failing, and cannot abide by Moth Flight's call to leave them to their fate. He leaps into the dreams of the ginger Thunderclan leader, seeing how he supported the healer Yellowfang. Micah calls him to aid Skyclan, and follows Firestar and Sandstorm. He breaks the rules of Starclan as soon as their eyes are off of him, and joins both the mortal cat's dreams, often connecting them so he can talk to both of them at once.

They fall in love like a trickle of water breaking through a beaver dam and becoming a flood. As the pair travel back to Thunderclan, he shapes their kits with his own paws. Leafkit and Squirrelkit grow up knowing their Papa Mi and he watches them with care.

SO

Micah watches his earthly kits and grandkits. He cannot always help, but the times he can make all the difference. He watches over the Three as they are born, and convinces his daughters to tell Brambleclaw and their living parents about the kit's true parentage. He keeps Jaypaw on the warrior's path, and helps Hollypaw remember her herbs. Micah guides Lionpaw away from the Dark Forest, and in the Great Battle, slams Hawkfrost off of Hollyleaf as she defends Ivypool.

And when his daughters are brought to be judged, as their bodies lie near death, Micah nearly takes his ex-mate's head off. How dare she judge cats who loved, as they once loved!? How dare Moth Flight, mother of four BEAUTIFUL KITS, judge another, and one who chose to BALANCE her kits and her healing! HOW DARE YOU, MOTH FLIGHT!!

YOU

WILL

N O T

Moth Flight flees in shame and fear, and the mollies finally embrace their Papa Mi. He promises that he will keep watch over them always...and they wake together in the medicine den, with their family around them.

[lionblaze03-2]

mousefur and longtail are both asexual aromantic in some sort of qpr relationship with one another. Do you get it do you see my vision

[comfymoth]

Out of curiosity, since Quinn was based on Jaiden, is Quinn also Japanese :O?

yup! she’s still japanese and german! and still honorarily mexican, according to leon

[kasterarts]

rereading warrior cats in 2024 (almost 2025) is such an experience. I haven’t read these books in YEARS. I was like. 9-10 when I read them the first time. that was a decade ago. crazy.

anyway here are some of my thoughts so far (in no particular order) after finishing the first book:

- why did all of my friends think Firepaw was a boring protagonist. I never understood why they didn’t like him. I still don’t. I love that silly little guy he’s so funny and sweet and charming and I love Firepaw

- YELLOWFANG IS SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER?? like I remember liking her a lot as a kid but like. not a lot a lot. I just thought she was neat. but now????? and her relationship with Firepaw,,,??? auguhhhh

- I still stand by Bluestar. I love Bluestar. I support women’s wrongs /j fr though I have no idea how the fandom feels about her now but I loved her and still love her.

- poor Ravenpaw. I felt bad for the dude before but man. Poor Ravenpaw.

- what the heck was the deal with Spottedleaf. I’m sorry (I’m not) - why is she. like that. why was Firepaw so obsessed with her. The spoke like 3 times????? all he ever says is that she’s “nice” and “smells sweet”?????? bro what

- Greypaw is chill. I’ve never had super strong opinions on him one way or another tbh. homie is there.

- not really a thought but I miss Cinderpaw. I think she was vaguely mentioned in this book but she was my favorite I can’t wait to meet her again

- also Bracken?? fur?? Brackenfur. I think. I remember really really liking a cat named Brakenfur. were they siblings?? I do not remember in the slightest. I feel like they might have been.

- honestly the writing quality is better than I was expecting. very pleasantly surprised.

that is all for now I may update when I continue reading!!!! this is fun