#guess who’s my ivypool voice now?>>?>><>.?>.>/.//.>???

[bellpaw]

OH, BARRA BARRA BARRA BARRACUDA!!

[dovewingpkmn]

[A video is attached. Would you like to view?]

[Dovewing’s phone remains down. While it is recording, it’s shoved into the saddle so it won’t be seen.

“I don’t understand why she asked to meet in the Vault. I guess it’s.. out of the way? Assuming Sonia isn’t there? But.. these stairs.. Dear Starclan…”

Eventually, she makes it to the top, shaking out her fluff. The door’s opens with a creak.

“You’re late.” Bede says.

“..Oh. Hello.” Her tone is sharp. “I’m here to meet with Oleana, I thought. Unless there was a change I wasn’t aware of?”

“There’s no need to be rude. I’m here to apologize.”

By the ‘rrow’ that can be made out, Dovewing certainly sounds confused. “..What??”

Bede just continues. “I have come to realize that me referring to you as just a skitty was.. rude of me. It is clear now that you’re your own thing. A cat, I’ve heard?”

“What’s the point of this now?? You were just awful to Hop from the sound of things, for no reason—do you think you apologizing for this is gonna make me like you?? Not after how you’ve hurt my best-“

“Oh. I never wanted to be friends, we’re still enemies in the challenge,” Bede corrects, “I still need wishing stars. I still need to become the Champion. I doubt you’ll get farther, and Hop’ll do worse. I have simply just been.. educated.”

“A few days ago I read through your mousebrained ‘takeover’ of my blog. What do you mean ‘educated’? Multiple people tried to explain this to you! What chang-?!”

The door opens again, and heels click.

“Dovewing.” A voice, assumedly Oleana, calls, “We’re so glad you could join us.”

Two voices gasp, one of which is clearly Dovewing’s. “W-wait-!”

“..Dovewing?”

“Ivypool?!” Dovewing shouts, “You’re here too?!”

“I thought I was the only one here after that thing attacked the clans.. where have you been?” Ivypool’s voice shares that same sort of ‘accent’ as Dovewing.

“I woke up in Postwick, taken in and then taught about the Challenge,” she explains. There’s still some edge to Dovewing’s voice, but it’s mostly gone, “Where have you been?”

“I was found by Oleana here, taught about Wishing Stars and what they need to do.”

“..What they…?”

“You have to understand, Dovewing.” Oleana’s voice is sharp, “In a thousand years, our world will be destroyed from a power crisis. We need to use these Wishing Stars in order to summon what will stop it. Surely our future is worth more than a silly Gym Challenge, isn’t it?”

“..W-what?”

“That’s why I’ve been taking them. I’m just doing what is needed.”

“You can have fun all you like, Dove. But destroying this new home of ours to it just isn’t right.”

“I’m not destroying it though! If these really were bad, Professor Magnolia herself wouldn’t given it to me! Right??”

“Why you-!”

“Bede.” Oleana pauses, waiting to see if the boy continued, and took a breath when he didn’t. “Dovewing, I can see you’re hesitant. Chairman Rose wouldn’t want to force you. However, think upon what I’ve said. I also hear a real reunion is in order.”

Oleana’s heels clack again, and from the sound of it Ivypool hops off from somewhere and runs at Dovewing, who laughs and purrs upon having her sister again.

“I’m not in the challenge, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me following you… right?”

“Of course not! Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet Hop!”

“I need to get going now—Chairman Rose is in need of me. Bede?”

“Of course.”

[skrs-cats]

Set in-between dovewing's silence and avos

-

Dovewing lay curled up on the moss beside him, Lionblaze was thankful to see the tell tale rise and fall of her chest, the ease of her breathing, of a dreamless sleep. Every now and then her ears and whiskers twitched, and she mumbled out phrases and names, but other than that she seemed to be resting properly.

"You worry a lot."

Lionblaze's gaze flits to his left, where Jayfeather grooms a paw and draws it over his muzzle. His blind blue eyes were bright. "You say that like you don't."

Jayfeather doesn't confirm nor deny him, moving closer to lay his body so that it warmed Lionblaze's side. "There's a lot to worry about, being a medicine cat and all."

"If you need more fox dung for your garden," Lionblaze jokes. "You know who to call."

"Definitely not Ivypool." There's a wry smirk on his brother's face. "And you may have fought a fox alone and won, but it's different now, you need to learn to be more careful."

Lionblaze rolls his eyes. "Yes, yes. As if I hadn't heard that a hundred times already."

"I'm serious." Jayfeather hardens his tone. "The clan needs you. I need you."

"You'll do just fine without me in the picture." Lionblaze protests. "You and Hollyleaf have always been more than capable."

Jayfeather's expression morphs into anger. "You don't get to decide that." He spits, only low enough so that they wouldn't wake Dovewing up. "You don't get to decide if I want to lose another littermate or not."

Lionblaze feels his heart crack. "Jay, that's not what I-"

"I know." The tom interrupts, taking a deep breath and letting all the anger go with a sigh. "Just. Say you'll be careful, okay?"

"I can't promise that and mean it." Lionblaze mews, guilty but honest. "I've spent all my life heading into danger because I always believed I couldn't get hurt, I don't think I can force my body to forget that every time."

Jayfeather sighs again, resigned and tired. "I know." He repeats. "You're going to try and prove that losing your powers didn't stop you from being ThunderClan's best warrior."

Lionblaze presses his nose to Jayfeather's shoulder. "It's the only way I feel of use to the clan." he says, voice muffled by gray fur. "I know you overwork because you feel the same way about your medicine cat duties."

Jayfeather briefly taps his chin against the golden tom's forehead. "I guess we have a lot to deal with, still." he pauses. "And so does she."

Drawing away from him, Lionblaze glances back to Dovewing, nodding out of habit. "I have to admit," He says, tongue heavy in his mouth. "I don't think she's doing better than the two of us combined."

Jayfeather knows what he means, remembers the younger she-cat's voice, distant and dull on worse days, distracted and out of it on her best. He wonders if they're part of the cause, feels his stomach coil at the thought.

"Whatever happens, if- when she decides to choose her happiness over stupid prophecies..." His voice fades for a moment, thoughts running over countless possibilities. "I won't stop her."

Lionblaze's responding meow is as soft as the fluffy tail that curls up over Jayfeather's back. "Me neither."

They stay like that for a moment, before Lionblaze speaks again, a rumbled buzz beneath Jayfeather's neck.

"I wondered, but was afraid of asking..." he tapers off awkwardly, and Jayfeather gives his ear a lick to continue. "Your powers, you said they helped you see in your dreams, right?"

"They did." Jayfeather blinks, vision still obscured far too much to discern what he was looking at. "But that doesn't mean I don't see whenever I dream anymore."

"So do you still know what I look like?"

"Yes, Lionblaze." Jayfeather snorts. "I still remember you and you're ugly face in excruciating detail."

"Hey-" The bigger tom breathes a huff of laughter. "I'm fairly handsome, I'll have you know."

"I quite literally and figuratively can't figure out what Cinderheart or Berrynose sees in you, honestly."

"Just because I'm not gentle or tall like Kestrelflight doesn't mean other cats don't have a crush on me, okay?"

"Kestrel- you know what? Nevermind. Forget I said anything." That's another headache to ponder about another time, and Jayfeather mulls over a thought in his brain, one that sits at the back of his throat. "I don't think it'll last though, the dreams, I mean."

Lionblaze rights his position. "How so?"

"They'll fade." Jayfeather says. "I'll forget."

The finality doesn't leave room for opposition but Lionblaze still finds himself looking at the stars in the sky anyway.

"If you ever do," he meows. "I'll remind you."

Jayfeather dips his head, Dovewing shuffles closer in her slumber, and Lionblaze continues gazing at the beyond alone.

[mallowstep]

I wanna hear about the PO3 au's the anon left out! skyclan, loner, po5. Im guessing loner is Crow/Leaf raising the 3 outside of the clans. I love hearing you talk about your au's!

aww thanks! okay, same plan as before, details below the cut.

skyclan po3: it's, uh, pretty on the nose. crow and leaf run to skyclan with their kits.

loner po3: this is a catch-all term for three aus with similar premises, but i don't have a clear/short title to differentiate them. one is leafcrow, one is mothpool, and one is just leafpool. i'll talk about each of them.

po5: this is my internal name for the jaywing au. this, if you don't remember (and why would you), is a bit of a parallel to the dovefeather/med cat dovewing au where jaykit and dovekit are siblings.

skyclan po3: "they move on tracks of never-ending light" (title song)

the au title for this in my notes was "whitewater," but i think i'm going to save something else for that. (if you're confused why i have two titles for all of the aus: when i make a big au, it usually gets a temporary title that's short and easy to search, but i replace it with a permanent title later. sometimes they stay the same, like ashes, but usually i change it.)

so my only notes on this is

crowfeather and leafpool make it all the way to skyclan with a trio of newborn kits.

and like yeah, that's basically all i've figured out.

uhhh i know skyclan will come to the lake sooner, obviously, and i know that jay's character arc plays out really differently because there's less ableism.

(even in the windclan au, jay is intertwined with ableism: in that case, it's "either you're the same, or you're not capable." but leafstar is a sensible leader who doesn't have that problem.)

otherwise, yeah, i don't really know where i'm going with this, other than i think it'll be fun to explore, since leafpool is firestar's daughter and named after leafstar.

loner po3: the common thread in all of these is what happens to thunderclan's medicine cat after leafpool leaves?

(tbf, that's a common question in quite a few aus. but it makes itself a central conflict in these three.)

loner po3 I: leafcrow. "on and on we run in loops"

uh, yeah. they run away, and stay away. this one isn't supposed to focus on the kits that much, but rather, leafpool's struggle with duty and desire.

i've got this:

“There’s a loner,” the kittypet said, her voice languid, claws extended, but with an air of ease, “named Leaf. She’s been helping out loners for, oh, a season or two.”

as a quote from it. it's my least favorite of the loner po3 aus.

loner po3 II: single mom leafpool. "between us, i'd trade you for them every time"

i've talked about this one actually quite a bit, but it's probably going to take me a while to write it. it's inspired by "butterflies and hurricanes," but instead of leafpool dying, crowfeather dies.

also, the chapter titles come from "marjorie" which is basically 90% of why it's going to take me a while to work on it, that song makes me cry a lot and uh, things are a lil Much right now.

i've got a few scenes sketched out, from holly running away, and leafpool panicking, to leafpool worrying about bringing her kits to thunderclan.

loner po3 III: mothpool. "to make a choice in all this mess"

this is the au competing with divided po3 for next po3 au to write, and i'm...i love it. (as a note, i won't write two aus for the same time period at the same time. that's why i was waiting to finish wfmisus before i got back on doahins. now it's all messy. but i get confused lmao.)

anyway, i have the least written for this, but i'm very excited. in my first warriors fic ever, "if you love me any, let me know it now", leafpool thinks this:

(Leafpool should have left. She should have found Mothwing and told her and left. Maybe pause to say goodbye to Squirrelflight. Mothwing would have gone with her, and things would be alright. Not like they are now, all tangled and impossible.)

and well. i'm weak.

i don't have a ton of concrete stuff to say about it, especially considering it's so high on the list, but i mean, i'm excited.

po5: "wing and feather"

alright, this is an old one. since it's also high on my list, i want to explain where it came from rather than what it's about, because that will cover what it's about in a broad sense, without tempting me to give away the details.

(also, w&f is a working title. much like "feather take flight," i may change my mind.)

anyway. i started getting into warriors with "cloudtail's daughter," an au where dovewing and ivypool are brightheart's kits.

in a post so old i had to go to my main blog to find it, i said this:

i also want him to be dovewing’s brother. but the au where brightheart gives birth to dovekit, anxiety child, and jaykit, blind, and feels like a failure despite the fact that its not like her half-blindness is genetic, is not this au. that is another au.

and the seeds were planted.

so right, i'm writing up ctd around when i'm first reading "flightless dove, poison ivy," which will go on to inspire dovefeather (med cat dovewing au, but as you'll see, dovefeather is the assigned working au name. after i decided i didn't like feather take flight, i reverted back to its initial working title, dovefeather.)

so i've got these two things rolling around in my brain.

dovefeather comes first, because i reread fdpi so many times and i just. i want dovepaw to stay in riverclan. i don't want her to leave. i want her to be happy. (also please! i'm still finishing ch 2 of fdpi no spoilers it's taking me embarassingly long to finish.)

but anyway, consider this a bonus au talk because explaining what po5 is, imo, requires me explaining what dovefeather is. like, in an au talk scenario. they're unrelated aus, from a reader perspective.

so i come up with this list of "things i want to be different in oots":

dovewing should be cloudtail's daughter

dovewing and jayfeather should be siblings

dovewing should be a medicine cat

dovewing should go to riverclan

ivypool should be the fourth cat (but i'm not revealing which aus this applies to bc big time spoilers)

and this creates a bit of an au matrix. pick and choose, you know? ctd is (1).

dovefeather is (3) and (4).

but i still wanted (2), and so it seemed pretty natural to make a (1), (2), and (3) au.

but that's a retrospective analysis, what really happens is, i get like fourteen "what ifs" deep, until i'm writing fic for my fic for someone else's fic. kind of.

dovefeather diverges pretty sharply from fdpi, especially based on what i've read of ch2. it takes the same core idea, and because my idea of riverclan was inspired by fdpi, there are plenty of similarities, but i think it's functionally very different, and superficially similar.

(also, hollowflight ends up in a completely different trio lmao dovepaw hangs out with rushpaw, troutpaw, and mossypaw.)

but anyway, i'm trying not to write another au of the same time period, but i just finished writing out the full outline for ashes, and the next chapter (i.e., ch 12, which i'm hopefully posting today if all goes well) gets me thinking, and i can't let it go: i want (2) to happen.

so i look at my outline for dovefeather, because the rule is, it has to be very different from this.

since dovefeather is like 70% drafted (altho that number seems low, because i suspect i'm going to end up adding a lot into the fourth chapter), i now know that was never going to be an issue, but at the time, i was very worried.

so i was like! well, that means i'm going to fuck with every part of po3, and we're going to get ivypaw and hollypaw roped in, and jaypaw is always going to be a warrior, and i think i made squilf his mentor? or maybe sandstorm lmao.

either way, it ended up being defined by jaypaw, which i didn't initially plan on. but that's po5: squilf's litter lionkit, hollykit, ivykit & brightheart's litter dovekit and jaykit grow up together.

it's got a similar vibe to ashes IMO.

okay wow that ended up being a lot i've been hyperfocusing on dovefeather all weekend, and in my head, it's inextricably linked to ashes, ctd, and jaywing/po5, so uh. yeah.

hope this was what you were looking for?

<3

[mogaikinscourse]

warriors discourse time (tw: animal death, q word, patriarchy, sexism, caps, bad language)

hey anon!! i completely, completely agree with you. 

the number of lgbtq+/mogai-coded cats, both she-cats and toms, is mindblowing. there are so many! there is so much potential! and yet those identities are reserved for either villains or for cats who are killed off, as you mentioned. 

your mention of Tigerstar makes me think of Scourge, who was always described as having a ‘high-pitched’ voice and having gone through a literal lifetime of bullying & abuse. i do not sympathize with him in any way, but! but. the “high pitched” voice thing has long been theorized among lgbtq+ circles to be a way of stereotyping and othering gay folx. so you’re right about non cishet-coded cats being kind of pushed aside. 

when it comes to gender roles, even the names tend to be gendered. and there’s no reason for gendered names in this universe! at all! she-cat/molly names like Daisy, or Hollyleaf (luv her btw), or Leafpool, or Goldenflower, are much more common than tougher sounding +  gender neutral ones, ie Bluestar/Sandstorm/Cinderheart/Yellowfang. 

meanwhile, toms get names like Firestar, Brambleclaw, Tigerstar/claw, Lionblaze, and on and on. they get names that sound tough or neutral. which speaks to how the Erins actually view the she-cats/mollies in their universe. a she-cat is not as good a fighter, or a hunter, or a clan member, apparently, because they’re not as tough. 

i also don’t like how they treat disability. of course living in the wild, it can’t really make much sense for, say, a cat who’s lost their back leg function to still be a warrior. physically they are not able to do fight like an able bodied warrior, but are they useless? No! can they provide insight into what they’re dealing with? yeah! can they be medicine cats? yeah! can they be advisors to their leaders? yeah! can they be mediators? yeah, probably! there is so much disabled cats can do, and yet... look at what happened to Briarlight. Blossomfall was a massive ableist for being mad that Millie was upset about her sister’s disability... and the Erins showed Big Ableism by not having Blossomfall confront & unlearn her own ableism. 

and the sexism! omfg, the sexism! oof eek yikes! the names thing is a sexism issue, of course. yet. sexism was the driving force behind Bluestar’s Prophecy! why couldn’t she still go for the deputy position while being pregnant or raising her kits? the gestation period for cats is not that long, so would it really be a massive deal for someone to help her during that time... and then for her to take over as full deputy? i mean???? 

that and we see the she-cats suffer more, in general, than toms do when they get into half-clan relationships, with one exception being Graystripe. and even in that example, we see his suffering more than we see Silverstream’s. almost as if his pain matters more  because he’s a tom. hmm. 

i really was bothered that they didn’t let Ivypool be lesbian or aroace. i was bothered that, despite her initial discomfort with the idea of having kits (and even outright repulsion), they had her “get over it” and get a mate. that reminds me uncomfortably of the “oh she just needs some pp” thing that men do when women are in bad moods/upset. 

ahhh, there’s also the casual kitty xenophobia! the kittypet blood thing. i can understand why kittypets wouldn’t be allowed in clans that have to be as physically strong, fit, and used to nature as possible to survive outside. but .i don’t get why the clans have to despise kittypets’ very existence. live and let live. i guess that’s too much of a difficult concept for these authors to grasp. 

i shall also be pirating or borrowing my warriors books from now on, because i still enjoy the stories overall. but it really is nasty how much minority-coded cats are pushed aside and not allowed to be actual characters. 

i don’t think i need to say a single word  on the exclusion of nonbinary folx... the erins know animals can be born intersex, right? and if these cats are humanized, fantasy cats... then they can have gender identity, they know that, right???

let’s all just remember that we need to consume our media critically. and, as anon said, no work is ever going to be 100% free of problematic content. 

just because someone enjoys a work that has problems... doesn’t mean the person thinks those problems are good things. 

but! steer clear of people who like a ton of problematic sources, because that is a sign of their refusal to recognize the problems.

“ashfur just loved too much” -- shut.

[leopard-mask]

we still have each other

Lionblaze and Alderheart are worried about Jayfeather. Set during River of Fire, AVOS.

Jayfeather stomps out of the medicine den with a scowl, calling some excuse about gathering more watermint over his shoulder as he leaves. Nobody says anything, but he can practically feel Alderheart’s exasperated gaze on his back. That’s fine. Let him feel a fraction of what Jayfeather’s been feeling these past few moons.

He hears Lionblaze’s telltale heavy footsteps approaching and lets out a hiss before his brother even has the chance to say anything. “Can I not have a moment to myself?”

Lionblaze, never one to take antagonization well, stops short. “Well, hello to you too,” he spits. “Pardon me for wanting to spend some time with my brother.”

Jayfeather lashes his tail and steps past him. “Go spend time with your mate and kits.”

To his irritation, Lionblaze follows. “Believe it or not, I have the capacity to care about more than one cat at a time.” His tone is still sharp; he’s clearly already not taking Jayfeather’s company well. That’s fine. Maybe he’ll get so fed up that he’ll finally leave him alone. “Where are you even going?” Lionblaze continues when Jayfeather doesn’t say anything.

Jayfeather puts extra force behind his growl. “Use your brain Lionblaze. Where do you think I’m going?” he doesn’t wait for Lionblaze to answer. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s this sickness going around the camp. I’m getting more herbs for it so no one else has to die.” His own words make him cringe internally. He’d just unwittingly admitted, aloud, unprompted, that Briarlight had died from this sickness. The one he’d given her. Which, yes, it was irrefutable—of course she’d died, there was no avoiding that at this point. But he’s been pointedly avoiding the thought since her vigil…

Thankfully, Lionblaze must not have caught the significance of the slip. Instead, he (predictably) bristles at the jab at his intelligence. “What’s wrong with you? You’re ruder than normal lately.”

“Why are you following me?” Jayfeather snaps by way of answer. They’re in the forest now. He’d expected Lionblaze to leave when they reached the camp entrance, but much to his annoyance, he’s still here. “I’m busy.”

“I’m worried about you,” Lionblaze snaps. The growl in his voice is an ironic contrast to his words that Jayfeather might have pointed out if he was in a better mood. Lionblaze has never been great with heart to hearts, but then, neither has Jayfeather. That skill was best left with Hollyleaf.

The thought of his sister just worsens Jayfeather’s mood. “Well, don’t be. I can take care of myself. That’s kind of my job.”

Lionblaze sighs, but this time it sounds more weary and less angry. “Jayfeather, this is about Briarlight, isn’t it?”

Jayfeather stops so suddenly he nearly stumbles. Why would you bring that up? He can’t even think of something to say—he just stands there rigidly.

Lionblaze shifts slightly closer. “You forget I know you. That’s why you’re upset, isn’t it?”

Jayfeather shakes himself forcefully and pushes on. He’s already had this spiel with Alderheart—while his apprentice’s soft words of comfort had been nice at the time, he can’t help but hate himself for breaking down in such a way. Having such a conversation twice in as many days was simply not going to happen. “Stop distracting me. Like I said, I have work to do, and you’re not helping.”

Lionblaze’s long-suffering eye roll is evident in his tone. “Come on, Jay—”

“Shut up!” Jayfeather seethes. He certainly doesn’t beg.

Lionblaze quickly steps in front of Jayfeather, preventing him from continuing. Jayfeather flattens his ears and jerks back, but Lionblaze is quick to speak. “I’ll be honest,” he says, temper surprisingly controlled. “Alderheart asked me to talk to you. He’s worried, too.” His tone sharpens. “And I can see why.”

Of course Alderheart had. Jayfeather turns his head away mutely.

“Now you’re the one wasting time,” Lionblaze points out. “Just talk to me, will you?” when Jayfeather still refuses to speak, Lionblaze deflates slightly and sits down. After a few too many heartbeats have gone by, he exhales and admits quietly, “I wish Dovewing was here.”

Well, great. This isn’t something he particularly wants to talk about either, but he supposes any topic change is a good topic change right now. Besides, he can’t just ignore Lionblaze’s confession. Neither of them had spoken of it since she’d gone…

With a sigh, Jayfeather reluctantly turns back to Lionblaze and stiffly sits beside him. “She’s with Tigerheart.” They don’t know that, really, but it had to be true. Why would both of them have gone missing at the same time if not to run away together?

Lionblaze shifts. “That doesn’t make it hurt less.”

Jayfeather doesn’t say anything, but he does lean a bit closer so his fur presses against his brother’s.

Lionblaze shakes his head sadly. “It’s like… I know it’s different, but she chose him over us. And she didn’t even say anything! I can only imagine how Ivypool’s doing…”

“There’s no use wallowing about it,” Jayfeather chides softly.

“Grieving and wallowing are not the same thing,” Lionblaze counters.

“It’s all the same to me.” Jayfeather shrugs. “There’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to move on.”

“That’s your problem.” Lionblaze tips his head; Jayfeather feels his brother’s whiskers brush his shoulder. “Sometimes you have to address it to move on.”

“Are you trying to give me a lecture?”

“Are you admitting that I’m right enough to lecture you?” Lionblaze asks cheekily.

Jayfeather rolls his eyes. “What do you want me to say?” he asks, perhaps a bit harshly. “I wish Dovewing hadn’t left? I wish I hadn’t gotten Briarlight sick? I wish Alderheart—” he breaks off, mouth twisting into a disgusted frown. He hadn’t meant to say so much. He abruptly gets to his paws. “There’s no point in wishing for things that can’t happen.”

Lionblaze gets up too. “What about Alderheart?” he asks slowly. “I didn’t know there was something up between you two.”

Jayfeather scowls. “Haven’t you seen the way he acts around Velvet?” his tail flicks. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes off with her before the moon is up.”

Lionblaze’s surprise is almost palpable. “Alderheart and Velvet?” he echoes, as if he honest to StarClan hadn’t seen it himself.

“Yeah.” Jayfeather sniffs. “Why don’t you watch them a bit when we get back? I’m not overreacting.” His shoulders hunch forward miserably. “I’ve been trying to keep them apart, but if Dovewing’s anything to go by, that’s not going to do anything.”

“Well,” Lionblaze says awkwardly. A few moments drag by before he evidently figures out what to say. “Alderheart isn’t Dovewing, you know that. You can’t assume you know what he’s going to do.” He nudges Jayfeather’s shoulder lightly. “Have you talked to him about it? I’m sure he’d listen.”

“No,” Jayfeather admits. He hadn’t wanted to explicitly say anything. He’s sure Alderheart must’ve gotten the hint by now, but neither of them has spoken of it out loud.

“Maybe give that a try before you keep assuming the worst,” Lionblaze suggests gently.

“I know.” Jayfeather shifts uncomfortably. Maybe he can get Leafpool to talk to him about it? After all, she’s the one with the firsthand experience; he’s sure she could dissuade him from pursuing anything with the kittypet. But that would involve Jayfeather actually talking to Leafpool about that, and, well, they’d just finally gotten past it. He doesn’t see himself approaching Leafpool about something like that anytime soon. Or ever.

“That’s not it though, is it?” Lionblaze guesses. “Don’t deny it,” he interrupts when Jayfeather makes to speak. “There’s something behind all of this, isn’t there?”

Jayfeather lets out a defeated sigh. Fine, Lionblaze wins. “I just… First there was Hollyleaf, and now Dovewing, Briarlight, and Alderheart next?” he shakes his head. “After all we’ve done for StarClan, it doesn’t seem very fair.” Not to mention, Fuzzball will be leaving soon, but Jayfeather will die before he admits to getting attached to the annoyingly chipper kittypet.

He hates going to sleep every night wondering, who’s next?

“You’re right.” To Jayfeather’s surprise, Lionblaze agrees. “It’s not fair.”

Jayfeather snorts humorlessly. “You’re not going to lecture me about being pessimistic?”

“No. We’re grieving, not wallowing,” Lionblaze corrects. His lighthearted inflection grows more solemn. “It helps to know that they must be happy, wherever they are, but… I know what you mean. It isn’t fair.” He nudges Jayfeather again. “But we still have each other. And I have Cinderheart and my kits, and you have Alderheart and Leafpool. As long as we all still have each other, we’ll be okay.”

Jayfeather rolls his eyes, unwillingly fond. “Quit trying so hard to be profound.”

Lionblaze snickers. “Oh right, I forgot, you’re supposed to be the profound one.” He flicks Jayfeather’s ear with his tail, then laughs louder when Jayfeather ducks away from him indignantly.

“Come on,” Jayfeather grouses, “I really do have to get that watermint.”

“Alright, alright.” The two walk together in companionable silence for a while before Lionblaze says anything else. “I hoped it helped a little, just to get it off your chest. You know you don’t have to shoulder things alone. It’s not like I can fix anything but… Talking helps.”

Jayfeather doesn’t want to admit it, but he does feel a little better. Less angry and spiteful, anyway. It still hurts terribly, thinking about all he’d lost, but… it does feel better.

He won’t admit that Lionblaze was right, though.

[mandareeboo]

Unfinished Work #9

Heey, an old warriors thing! This was gonna be a connecting piece between the birth of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight’s litter and the start of the actual books- the deaths of Juniperkit and Dandelionkit and Jayfeather/Lionblaze’s reactions to their young kin, etc etc. It was all gonna accumulate with Jayfeather visiting the two deceased kits in StarClan and deciding that it would be in his and their best interest if he ignored their blood relation, as the Three had many enemies (also because Jayfeather isn’t good with handling emotions head-on)

Jayfeather forced his features to remain blank as his paws roamed Dandelionkit’s tiny body. Even powerless as he was, the medicine cat could detect the anxiety flowing off of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight both. Lionblaze was nearby; his strong scent helped his nerves.

You can’t leave them, he told the kit silently. They already lost your brother.

“Is she any better?” Bramblestar meowed quietly. His deep voice was like a weight on Jayfeather’s shoulder.

How do I tell the tom that raised me that his daughter is dying?

“Dandelionkit will be moved to my den for safekeeping,” Jayfeather announced. I can better stifle her pain that way. “Fetch Dovewing. She’ll help me carry her.”

“But-” Squirrelflight went to offer her own services, but Lionblaze had already vanished from the den.

“It won’t be forever,” he promised. “I just don’t want Sparkkit and Alderkit hurting her by accident. One miss-roll can do her body damage.”

“We can still come see her, right?”

“Of course. She’s not sick, Squirrelflight.”

“No,” Bramblestar rumbled. “You could fix her if she was sick.”

Jayfeather didn’t respond. Dovewing’s scent washed over him as she ducked inside. Thank StarClan. A cat I can actually talk to. “I’m here to help carry?”

The blind tom slipped between the two hovering warriors and into the clearing. She heard pawsteps behind him and smelled his ex-prophecy-mate, with a heavy touch of kit oder.

Leafpool saw them coming first, and by the time they arrived the extra nest was free of any old scraps. Briarlight gently curled around the edges, tail curling under Dandelionkit’s chin.

“Touch is important to kits,” she explained. “Daisy told me that, once.”

“I’m getting some prey,” he meowed stiffly. “Dovewing, will you join me?”

“Of course.”

Jayfeather’s relationship with Dovewing is hard to explain. They were certainly much closer than the average warrior was with their medicine cat. Jayfeather trusted her to keep a secret. He was even more blunt with her than perhaps he would be others. You spend enough seasons silent together, you forget you can talk to anyone else.

That’s not to say they weren’t growing apart. They were. Dovewing was hesitantly testing the waters of normal Clan life, while he spent most of his time doing his job. That’s to be expected; everyone moves on eventually.

“Share a squirrel?” Dovewing asked as they settled in.

“I’m not eating the tail.”

Jayfeather heard her move away. Lionblaze sat beside him not long after, giving his shoulder a quick lick.

“Shouldn’t you be with your kits?”

“Cinderheart said they wouldn’t mind. They’re a bit too old to be considered kits, you know. They’re apprentices now.”

“Fair enough.”

Dovewing took a bite and swallowed to look at ease to their Clanmates. “What’re the chances that Dandelionkit will be okay?”

“Do you want this put bluntly or nicely?”

“Blunt.”

“Next to none.”

Jayfeather heard an intake of breath from Lionblaze. “What about Sparkkit and Alderkit?”

“They’re perfectly healthy,” he reassured with a twitch of the tail. “Some kits just come out weak, Lionblaze.”

“But Juniperkit-”

“Juniperkit was a miscarriage. There’s a difference.”

“Oh.” There’s a pause. “Well, I call dibs on not telling Squirrelflight.”

Dovewing shot out a paw to claw his arm. “Lionblaze, that’s so cheap of you.”

“I’m not telling the cat who raised me that her kitten is going to die. That’s all there is to it. I’ll break down, and she’ll break down, and then who will be strong for her and Bramblestar? They need us.”

Jayfeather took a reluctant bite out of the tail. For once, he didn’t mind the extra fur. “I don’t plan on telling them just yet.”

The medicine cat heard some rustling. He guessed they were both staring at him.

“Why not?” Dovewing meowed.

“They’ve just lost Juniperkit. The possibility of Dandelionkit surviving will give them hope; hope they’ll need to power through their grief and take care of their two other kits.”

“Sparkkit and Alderkit?”

“Who else, mouse-brain? There’s three of us in the medicine den- one of which has already been a queen. We can keep Dandelionkit perfectly safe and content.”

“But she’s not getting any stronger?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry.”

“These things happen sometimes. It’s unfortunate.”

Lionblaze nudged him. “You’re disassociating from the problem, Jay. Remember; she’s our kin too.”

“Do you intend to coddle them as our own?”

“No.”

“Neither do I. Don’t lecture me if you can’t back up your own argument.”

“Do you want me to keep Bramblestar out of your fur?” Dovewing broke in. “I can’t really do anything about Squirrelflight, but I can ask Ivypool to talk to him about learning some new moves to protect his kits.”

Jayfeather considered her offer with a twitch of the whiskers. “She’ll want to know why.”

“I think we all can agree that Ivypool can keep her muzzle shut.”

“She’s got a point,” Lionblaze meowed. “Go ahead.”

Jayfeather swallowed his indignation at being spoken for alongside a meaty bite of squirrel.

“Attack!”

Jayfeather jumps awake with a pitiful ‘mrrow!’, all but flinging himself out of his nest. Claws are digging into his spine. Leafpool and Briarlight both are purring.

“Hello, Sparkkit. How are you, Sparkkit,” he stated with no inflection. “Did you get into my herb stores, Sparkkit?”

“Only a little!” she chirped. He felt her settle in on his back. “I rolled in that one pretty plant so you couldn’t smell me comin’!”

“Leafpool?” he asked.

“Just a few of the shriveled up watermint leaves, Jayfeather.”

“Alright, then. Why are you climbing all over me?”

“To see Dandelionkit, of course!” she meowed. “Squirrelflight said I could, so long as you sat with me!”

“Did she, now?” Jayfeather observed. “How nice of her.”

Sparkkit was climbing higher up. Jayfeather felt her tiny paws pulling at the top of his head. “Hey, if you’re blind, does that mean you don’t know what you look like?”

“Sparkkit!” Briarlight cried.

“It’s alright. I much prefer this to avoiding it.” Jayfeather shook her off, though Sparkkit climbed right back up. “StarClan has shown me what I look like.”

“Oh. You have a scar on your shoulder, you know that?”

“I won’t repeat myself, Sparkkit.”

“Okay!” She didn’t seem perturbed by his snappish tone. “How’d you get it?”

“I fell.”

“Off a cliff?”

“Sure.”

“I fall off things, sometimes. Do you think I’ll get a scar?”

“You want to be a warrior, don’t you? You’ll have plenty of scars.”

Lionblaze pushed into the den. Jayfeather caught the delicious scent of bird in his jaws.

“Guess who I caught by the prey pile?” he meowed, nudging a small body closer.

“Judging by the milk smell, I’ll have to say little Alderkit.”

Alderkit shuffled his paws, though Jayfeather couldn’t see it. “I wanted to get something for Dandelionkit. You said she’s weak, and prey is what makes us so strong, so…”

“Not that kind of weak,” he responded.

“Sorry.”

“Go easy on him, Jay,” Lionblaze purred, “he’s too small to know better yet.”

“Better to learn now over later,” he sniffed. Sparkkit found an ear and tugged on it. “Ow.”

“How come Lionblaze calls you Jay?”

“Because he’s my brother, and therefore gets away with certain things.”

Sparkkit perked up. She began to sound excited. “We’re kin, aren’t we?”

StarClan, give me the strength to not tear her pelt off one chunk at a time. “You may not call me Jay.” His voice was sharp. “That’s a special nickname.”

“I’m gonna call you Jay-Jay!” she informed him.

“Sparkkit,” Alderkit warned. He, at least, seemed wary of the snappish medicine cat. Jayfeather reached behind himself to grab a mouthful of the kit’s scruff, pushing her brother out with a paw.

“Squirrelflight, control your offspring!” he called to the nursery, with no reply.

“What about Dandelionkit?” Alderkit squeaked.

“She’s sleeping,” Jayfeather meowed bluntly, then stalked back into the den. “Briarlight, stop chuckling.”

Briarlight cleared her throat. “Okay, Jay-Jay.”

“I will take away your helping privileges.”

“No, you won’t,” Leafpool gently but firmly put in. “Now that the kits are gone, let’s get started. I have a herb combination I wanted to try.”

Lionblaze skittered to his paws. “That’s my cue. I’ll bring you a bird from the fresh-kill pile later.”

“Better yet, just bring me the feathers. They’ll keep the kits busy for the next six moons.”

“Would you have been content with a pawful of feathers at that age?”

“Perfectly content.”

“Actually, you had a thing for leaves as a newborn,” Leafpool told him. “There weren’t any in Leaf-bare, so when Greenleaf came and they started growing, you were amazed. None of you could believe that these weird-feeling things just grew on trees.”

“Did I tell you that?”

“You told the whole Clan that. You were really chatty at that age. Tripped a lot, too.”

Jayfeather flicked an ear dismissively, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. All kits are mouse-brains, it seems. “Let’s get back to work.”

Jayfeather isn’t certain what it is that stirs him, but he wakes up just in time to catch a whiff of Sparkkit’s scent. Her paws scuffed the den floor as she crouched, tail swishing. He rolled just as she pounced, listening to her ‘oof’ as she landed face-first in the moss.

“Told you it wouldn’t work a second time, dear.” That sounded like Millie. “Is Jayfeather working your joints properly, Briarlight?”

“Of course.”

“All you ever do is sleep, Jayfeather,” Millie chided. He imagined the elders’ scruff rising in irritation. “What about Briarlight? Or poor little Dandelonkit? Are you even doing your job?”

“If you’re going to insult me,” he said with gritted teeth, “then you have no reason to be in my den. Leave.”

He heard Millie scoff and her pawsteps pad out of the den. The medicine cat’s shoulders relaxed.

“Oh, that’s right!” Sparkkit untangled herself from the moss excitedly. “Can we see Dandelionkit today?”

“Where’s Leafpool?” Jayfeather asked.

“Comforting Squirrelflight,” the brown molly announced. “You might as well bring Sparkkit over, Jayfeather. Alderkit is already here.”

“Of course he is.”

“Sorry,” a quiet voice murmured. “I just wanted to clean her pelt for her. She likes it shiny.”

Jayfeather kept the tip of his tail on the energetic kit’s shoulders as he settled in beside Dandelionkit’s nest, but Sparkkit grew silent, gently crawling up to lay next to her.

“I’m keeping her warm,” she told him. “Dandelionkit gets cold easy.”

I’ll see about getting some moss to cover herself with later. It won’t help, but it’ll make her more comfortable.

“Jayfeather?” Alderkit meowed hesitantly. “What’s StarClan like?”

Jayfeather felt ice sting his heart. “Why do you ask?”

“I want to know Juniperkit is safe and happy. Dandelionkit, too.”

Sparkkit shoved his shoulder. “Dandelionkit isn’t dead, bee-brain. She’s just sleeping.”

Alderkit sounded dubious. “But all she ever does is sleep.”

“Exactly! If she was in pain, she wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

Sometimes, all a cat can do is sleep. “She’s tired. Are you two almost done?”

Jayfeather heard Alderkit’s tongue rasp against his sister’s forehead. “Bye, Dandelionkit. Feel better.”

“You better be awake when we see you next,” Sparkkit added. “You’ve gotta be.”

“Jayfeather!”

Jayfeather knows the smell of blood when he smells it, the familiar complaining meows of Ivypool, and grabs a wad of cobwebs. Bramblestar marched the warrior over to his den, pelt prickling anxiously.

“I got her shoulder,” Bramblestar tells him as Jayfeather approaches.

“It’s a scratch,” Ivypool sniffed dismissively. “A quick wash and I’ll be fine.”

Jayfeather calmly nodded. “Okay. Let’s get that wrapped.”

[stimmypaw]

stimmypaw reads Shattered Sky, a late tumblr post

I just, forgot to post this for some reason. It’s me writing my thoughts on the third book of A Vision Of Shadows, I also did that with the first and second ones! Very full of spoilers, enjoy!

Omg.....meet Darktail's Kinnies... someone should name their wc kin server that its a great name, most of them seem to have wc names tho I thought he was a whole gang?? Did more of them get wc names or have already than we knew???

Oh no I barely got to see echosong :c I hope the others are okay, frecklewish is a wonderful name

Chapter one they already have all of the clans going 2 fight???? This absolutely won't go well and that terrifies me

Onestar realized Darktail has a beautiful voice :/ and he feels bad battling him /j

Yup just as I expected, awful loss. Plus Twigpaw was sure her sister was gonna kill her which killed Me

Alderheart parent mode

YASSSS ITS TIME FOR SKYCLAAANNNNNN

obviously the clans are pissed why the hell did they have this as a secret bro!!! why?? bramblestar was just ashamed now firestar???? bro WHY i seriously need to read firestar’s quest I just don’t get it

scenes of elders being cared for by apprentices is always so comforting, seeing it being interrupted and taken from violetpaw feels awful

WHO THE FUCK IS THISTLE he isn’t in the allegiances??????????????????? HELLO ah okay the rogues are showing up slowly ok

Violetpaw did a u-turn to her character here it seems?? She didn't find the elders were lecturing her at first, was Darktail's lil speech about how she was brave enough to convince her they are wrong??? A few compliments couldn't possibly be enough for that. Plus again she is seeing Darktail brutally murder someone and how despite seemingly treating each other nicely these cats are ready to betray each other anytime. Surely this would be enough for her to feel like the elders are still right and she can't trust these cats???

Hope she doesn't start seeing this violence as normal

I'm so sorry for blossomfall I can't believe she got with thornclaw of all cats

LIONBLAZE JAYFEATHER CINDERHEART AND TAWNYPELT, ALL JUST CASUALLY LISTENING TO GOSSIP. ABSOLUTELY SCANDALOUS I LOVE THEM

I love like how the book will take breaks every now and then to show for a millisecond ivypool being mad at tigerheart or vice versa and dovewing looking at tigerheart or vice versa and have the POV go "wonder what thats all about" and just proceed with the plot. Wonderful

Twigpaw :c

"A "mrrow" of welcome" has got to be my favorite line on this book

The cats complain there's already enough plots going on.

Whitewing is a very nice background cat and I appreciate her. But God Omen of the Stars only proved Starclan is just a bunch of old dead cats and that can be both good and terrible. Her argument is needed tho.

The others have a point tho, how can they leave the clan with less cats right now? I guess they would come back with more but what if they're not strong enough to defend themselves? A lot of trouble could happen with Skyclan coming as is to the territories and its understandable for the cats to be concerned

Violetpaw and Needletail cope with trauma as best they can and thats not a lot

I hope Violetpaw at least realizes how fucked up it is that they are scared of their leader who is supposedly their kin and the one who they should be the most loyal to

Oh Boy kittypets!

I love kittypets so much they're always fun. Darktail is so creepy tho I read some quotes he said to my girlfriend and she said he sounded like GLaDOS and yeah he's creepy I can feel it without Violetpaw agreeing with me that she's scared of what will happen next. Where did Darktail get that blood thing????

I like Zelda. She seems to be Violetpaw's age I hope she is so they can kiss. ALSO THIS IS KINDA LIKE MENTORING??? Violetpaw should get a warrior name

TWIGPAW PUT A PILLOW UNDER HER BLANKET SO NO ONE WOULD NOTICE SHE LEFT AHAHAHHA I bet she went to find Skyclan didn't she

PURDY

NOOOOOOO PURDYYY NOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

my gf said indigestion can sometimes have those effects on a cat if its really bad i didn't know that

PURDY CANT BE GONE PLEAS

I am SO sad I knew this was coming and I hated it terrible awful

I never saw a vigil so sweet. We Are All Love Purdy.

OH RIGHT TWIGPAW GSGWHAHAH

I appreciate no one is annoyed or pissed theyre all just worried, I am too

Apparently Alderheart and Bramblestar disagree lot? They seem to get along great though. And uh I guess Bramblestar doesn't always take his advice but, that doesn't mean much they like talk about stuff and Bramblestar forms conclusions taking in consideration the stuff his son said and all. Idk, feels like a weird statement Twigpaw something tells me the Erins are failing to send a message somewhere

Fuck I hope someone finds twigpaw soon, her adventure has been fun but I'm terrified for her

Violetpaw seems to be having a hard time too, not only is everything awful and terrible plus we had a time skip of a few days so who knows what happened to Twigpaw. Anyways Violetpaw having to care for Needletail like a mentor is like a young teen having to care for a young adult's mental health and that always sucks for the kid, there's not much else that can be done though Needletail probably doesn't want to worry

Violetpaw :C

This is so sad and terrible, I wish Violetpaw could be with Twigpaw right now she wouldn't be starclan knows where if they were just together!!! I hope the other cats don't start saying nonsense about Violetpaw now. She's scared she won't be accepted in Thunderclan and doesn't see herself as worthy of acceptance, and feels responsible for her older friend. I'm :CC

PAGGDHAHAHA Zelda is a trash cat and I love her

Violetpaw is suffering so much and Darktail is absolutely brainwashing her ass and she can't understand how he is to blame for everything.

Oh boy when she does.

This is such a good story God im like very tired and in need of sleep but I can't stop reading

Oh God so much has happened, this is so terrible, I love that Mothwing and Alderheart are hanging out tho I forgot what a fun character she can be!!!

Thinking about how so much would be easier since book 1 if Onestar agreed to lend a helping paw. Thinking about the begging dying bodies piling up at his door. Thinking about onestar.

Oh scratch what I said earlier guys WHEN VIOLETPAW FINDS OUT DARKTAIL KILLED DAWNPELT OH BOY

Its terrible knowing dawnpelt isn't there and like, so far thinking she was in thunderclan, only to have thunderclan cats wonder if she's in shadowclan like oh God oh fuckle this is IT

I feel so bad for Loki and Zelda :c I would give them treats

What the fuck Darktail

Holy shit Darktail

I am noticing like, cats making seriously spot on assumptions of things that happened out of small information and idk if that really isn't realistic and just a way to make cats realize things or if I'm just too autistic to relate

I'm so glad the medicine cats treat anxiety. Last time I remember that happening was the prophecy begins but I might be forgetting somethin

The fear these cats have of the clans ending feels so real I am absolutely terrified for them and I love it

It doesn't make sense for twigpaw 2 die so I'm not buying it but wow this hurts

Violetpaw time

I am itching for them to find skyclan so bad

Violetpaw you're not Squirrelpaw or Leafpaw in the new prophecy you wouldn't have felt if Twigpaw died :P

Bro Needletail :c I miss when she was a wild free creature

This prisoner smuggling deal is so fun I am absolutely excited about everyone's plans, it can't all go well so soon though.

TWIGPAW YESSSS BABY I MISSED YOU

Twigpaw lactose intolerant moment

omg she had a vision

Vision cat be nice 2 my baby she is dying

TWIGPAW FOUND SKYCLAN YESSSS YES YES YES

OMG......HAWKWING.....AAAAAAA THATS HER DAD BRO SHE FOUND HER DAD IM YESSSS YEAYESYESYEYD

This is so good im so happy

This is so awful I'm so sad WHERES THE CLAN CATS they were supposed to show up when they were asleep right????? Fuck!!!

This is so scary

NEEDWETAIL IM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Violetpaw definitely could have used a better friend at times, but God was Needletail good im so sad

Bramblestar: alderheart we need a point of view from thunderclan of what's happening so you're coming to the battle

OMG THEY DID IT!!!! I DID NOT EXPECT THAT WROW VERY NICE

Oh this is so exciting, how will they get Windclan back????

Twigpaw baby you always had your place here

I think they should both go to Skyclan but I understand if Twigpaw is indecisive she has always had a good life in Thunderclan.

Nononono Rowanstar, Scourge is the villain from the The Prophecy Begins here, your guy is named Darktail

Ominousnestar

I have been vaguely spoiled about Onestar being related to Darktail but I have no clue how

I can see Onestar's, Smoke's and Darktail's designs rotating in my mind its beautiful

I'm loving this story this is so cool

You dare challenge the warrior cats Fandom?

SKYCLAN, DROP YOUR CATS

RIVERCLAN, GET THE BUCKET

WINDCLAN, GRAB YOUR LEAFBLOWERS

THUNDERCLAN, GRAB YOUR LIGHTNING RODS

SHADOWCLAN, IDK MAN SAY BOO OR SOMETHING AHHAHA

I'm glad this is the prophecy this series really is Tumblr vs 4chan

Oh my god

This is so surreal

What an astounding battle wow and what an ending

I loved it

That was so so good

Everything here was fantastic, looking back its hard to believe they managed to fit so much plot into one book and like the pacing was Very Good this was just good writing wow? The development of Darktail, everything with Onestar, very fun I was on the edge of my seat through the whole thing it was incredibly fun. I’m very excited for what’s to come too, I worry it probably won’t be as fun and exciting as this since they already got rid of the biggest threat, unless they get another, but still like I really wanna know what’s gonna happen with Skyclan! And Violetpaw and Twigpaw!!!! How will the clans cope with all this loss and receive a new clan in the territories??? There’s a lot of good build up that I don’t know if it will live up to all that happened so far, but I think it can be very good and I’m excited, lots ahead of us!!! Oh boy!!

[cat-in-a-basement]

I was...cautious, about posting this. I tried my very best cover all angles and counter every viable point I could think of, but it is still a rather heated topic. 

Let’s discuss the differences between why is okay to make heterosexual characters LGBTQ+, and why it is not okay to make LGBTQ+ characters heterosexual.

Naturally, I will be using Warrior Cats as my example.

   I would like to take this time to try and explain the sort of...the sort of difference that comes with shippings, and sexualities/romantic attractions in Warriors. 

   So, it's a logical thought process. Why is it to okay make characters in a heterosexual relationship in canon a different sexuality/attraction, but making LGBTQ+ characters straight is not? 

   I occasionally see it, and, in theory, it is correct. 'I have every right to change what I don't like about the series.' Yes, you do have the freedom to say, change Tallstar and ship him with Reena. But, is that 'right?' Objectively speaking, no, it isn't. But I'll come back to that point later. Let's start on the differences between the two.

   This is the difference between changing heterosexual characters and changing LGBTQ+ characters. 

   With LGBTQ+ characters, you already know their sexuality/romantic attraction, or what they identify as. The only way to add onto that is to make the character into an even more specific category. For example, you could in theory change the previously mentioned Tallstar from gay and attracted to Jake to something along the lines of 'Is attracted romantically to Jake, but doesn't have a sexual attraction to any cat'. So he loves Jake, but at the same time, doesn't desire a sexual relationship. The overall original character's attraction stays the same, but more is added to it that doesn't change from what is canon. It does not erase the feelings of the character in canon.

   BUT, if you decide to completely erase this already established canon and erase it to be heterosexual, then it is going backwards. You're not adding onto the already established canon. You are reversing it. This is erasing what is already confirmed, and choosing instead to ignore the romantic attraction/sexuality confirmed. This is not acceptable in an environment that typically encourages the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves. It shouldn't be socially or morally acceptable in any environment, but sadly that isn't the case in many countries and religions.

   So, on tumblr, you are going to get negative reactions due to the nature of reversing the sexuality/romantic attraction already confirmed. This happens on the forums as well, as people who chime in they prefer Tallstar with Reena, or Ravenpaw is better off with a she-cat, often get ignored or a flame war starts if people take the bait. This is because It continues the very real problem in society of erasing LGBTQ+ communities and individuals because of who they are attracted to. 

  I mean, you have the freedom to ship who you want, but if you're erasing canon romantic attraction/sexuality to do it, you're probably not going to get many positive responses. I fully believe in the neutrality of the internet, but I also believe in progressive ideals and in giving people a character to represent them in their respective fandom. Ultimately, it’s up to whoever to decide for themselves. Your freedom to create what you want should be respected. But, at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt to be mindful they are plenty other characters to work with.

-

   This is why the same idea doesn't hold up with heterosexual characters.

   The thing with heterosexuality, is that unless it is explicitly implied in the books, it can't really be confirmed. This means that writers have free reign to interpret the relationships as they like, because they are not erasing the sexuality. (Unless the sexuality/romantic attraction is explicitly defined, that is.) They can only add onto that character. For example, Blossomfall had a brief crush on Toadstep, and later on, has scenes that could be implied as her liking Ivypool. However, she does have a canon (unfortunately...) relationship with Thornclaw. (My apologies for that bout of bias there. I'm just...processing the information. Slowly.)

   You could very well headcanon Blossomfall as bisexual but only romantically attracted to other she-cats. It does not erase what is canon. It adds onto what is already established by giving Blossomfall layers and making it so that she only develops a romantic attraction to she-cats, but is sexually attracted to both toms and she-cats.

   And yes, like before, you can do what you want. Say Mothwing is explicitly stated to only be straight. People can and will still ship her with Leafpool.

   And, this is where things differ. It is not acceptable to erase canon LGBTQ+ characters. But, due to the nature of heterosexual relationships being generally undefined, it is acceptable to change heterosexual relationships to LGBTQ+ ones.

   I know. That isn't exactly 'fair'. It's kind of hypocritical to say only heterosexual characters that are canonically straight can be made LGBTQ+, while the exact opposite will net you a ton of angry people telling you that you are wrong.

   But...here's the thing. Heterosexual people haven't endured the same. They don't have to worry about some of things LGBTQ+ people do. I don’t speak for them, as I’m not going to silence their voices, but one has to admit that LGBTQ+ community is constantly facing hurdles, obstructions, and hate. Heterosexual people do not have to worry about the same struggles. Sure, both may have bills to pay, a job they need, and like memes galore, but the attitudes of the people around them can change depending on their sexuality and romantic attraction.

   Not to mention, heterosexual people have quite literally over a million heterosexuals in media and literature to choose from to represent them. In the Warrior Cat books, they have over a thousand to pick to represent them. LGBTQ+? The only confirmed (and it's debated whether it was, even at that) representation is Ravenpaw and Barley, and Tallstar and Jake. Two. Two couples. One might understand why they choose a non-confirmed character to represent them and give them a different sexuality/romantic attraction other than heterosexual.

   If you want an example of that, it’s why I headcanon Hollyleaf as ace-aro. I see lot of myself in her and her redemption story, and so I portray her as ace-aro like myself. Since only Mousefur (again, debatable as to whether it was explicitly stated or not) is possibly asexual, that just leaves me with her as a canon asexual character. However, I don’t know a lot about Mousefur. But Hollyleaf, who has stated she doesn’t want kits or to be a queen and whose only possible ship was Fallen Leaves, and they basically acted as friends...now her I can relate to.

   And I can understand some criticisms. The books focus on the plot, not the romances. The romances are added to give some drama to the story, try and give character depth, and try to complete character arcs. It shouldn't matter what their sexuality/romantic orientation is because 1. they're cats - cats don’t care, and 2. the books aren't geared to detail every little romance that happens.

   I get that. But what needs to be understood is that there is a major difference between 2 gay canon couples to choose from and a thousand heterosexual couples (well, unconfirmed heterosexuality). I get wanting to create your own thing. But you have to understand that people may not respond as you like if you choose to erase this when you have thousands of other characters to work with.

   I also get that not everyone needs a character to represent them. And that’s fine too. But, there are people in this fandom who think differently, myself included. I want characters to represent my lack of attraction. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t concern yourself over it. But for others, things can be different, and I think it’s important to be able to distinguish this.

   So, I guess in my personal opinion...are you going to tell somebody whose sexuality/romantic attraction is constantly dismissed, erased, and prosecuted they can't change a heterosexual character to a sexuality/romantic attraction that represents them? You can, but you're not going to be considered a good or decent person for it. And, it isn't fair. But neither is what LGBTQ+ people go through either. So I can overlook a fictional heterosexual character being made LGBTQ+. (Well, as long as it is written and done well. I can't condone shipping cats just to ship them. I have to give them a backstory and character development. But that's more my opinion than anything.)

   "But...BC, it's a book about fighting cats. It's really not that important, or worth making an analysis over."

   Here's the thing. In objective writing standards, it is illogical to rewrite a story where a LGBTQ+ character's entire sexuality/attraction is replaced just to have wish fulfillment. You could say the same for heterosexual characters being make a different sexuality/romantic attraction, but as stated before, there are generally less LGBTQ+ characters to work with. So unconfirmed sexualities will receive fanworks to give them background and a story, as well as a character who can be represented. 

   And, as stated before, you are only going backwards if you decide to erase the canon sexuality/romantic attraction. You can add onto it, but going backwards is taking character away. It doesn't add anything new to the character's feelings. I made this to explain why the two are different, and while one is acceptable and one is not.

   I mean, you could still do what you want. Nobody can stop you from expressing ideas. Just don't expect to erase a canon LGBTQ+ representation without people telling you how it isn't acceptable. Myself included.

   And finally, I’m not one to censor criticism. If you disagree, then you are absolutely free to state so. If you think I got something wrong, then tell me. This was an attempt at an analytical essay explaining the differences between the two, and if it wasn’t satisfactory, tell me so I can learn for next time I make an analysis. I’m not trying to be a mouthpiece who parrots words. I do my research and homework, for I am a nerd. I try to be non-biased (Unless it’s BlossomXThorn because WHO ON EARTH thought that was a good idea?!), while also trying to see both sides PoV. 

  If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and whether you agree or disagree, you have every right to give your opinion.

  If you are heterosexual, and whether you agree or disagree, you have every right to give your opinion.

   Regardless, I hope everyone who reads this has a great week!)

[firedragonx]

Warriors Tag

Original from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW2xOJX9Wzo

This was created by butterflyidentity and I thought this was a cool thing. So I decide to put this on tumbler with the blessing from butterflyidentity

1. How did you get into Warriors?

I got into Warriors when I was in middle school and I was looking for a book to read at Walmart. Where I found and brought the book Fire and Ice. I love it but I was confused about well a lot of things, so then I got Into the Wild. And that’s hook on Warriors and I give the Erin's all of my money.

2. Favorite Arc

Here comes the hate because my favorite is Power of Three.  I like the characters and the mystery of the new prophecy. There also a big theme of family that I like during this arc and I find really enjoyable. ^^

3. Favorite Book (excluding mangas, super editions, novellas)

More hate that may come my way because my favorite book is the Last Hope. The like that clan's version of heaven and hell fights with living. Also, Firestar’s and Tigerstar’s character arcs finally come full circle. In fact, a lot of character development come full circle. Which one the reasons I like it. 

4. Favorite Super Edition, Novella, or Manga

Tallstar’s Revenge, mostly because it took me by surprise how good it was. See the thing is when these Super Editions come out I was more looking forward to Bluestar's Prophecy and Crookedstar’s Promise then Tallstar’s one. But when I read I was surprised. I didn’t know that problems that Tallstar had were pretty new to the series and the character was so likable. 

5. Favorite Clan

SKYCLAN! SKYCLAN!

Yeah I know they’re silly and they live so far away from the clans that they barely interact with them. But I don’t care. They’re so different from the clans that I actually like reading their books. And now they actually back into the plot in the new arc. :D

6. Favorite Character

Oh, that’s the hard question. My favorites are Yellowfang, Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf, Sharpclaw, Hawkwing, and Alderheart. Now you might be thinking that’s a weird list of cats. Well let me explain:

Yellowfang like her because I like her backstory and her personally. It was rare back in the day(still) that a mother will go fight against her son that was rotten to the core. What she goes through and still could keep it together was so incepting. And her death was so sad especially after she said she wanted her son to be more like Fireheart. 

As for Squirrelflight she just makes me happy. She also has really nice character development in the series. She went from being an annoying apprentice to one of the best Thunderclan deputies.

Hollyleaf I like for character development. Like the other main characters in Warrior at the time were always the good guys and they don’t do no wrong. Sure Bambleclaw had that arc with his father but it kinda seems out of place. Hollyleaf it’s the character I feel that a ‘grey’ character. Like she really only cares about her clan, family, and the warrior code.

Sharpclaw I like because he’s really good deputy and warrior to his clan. Even if that’s going against his leader but like Firestar, he just wants what best for his clan.

Hawkwing I feel like have really good development from his book. He went from hot-head to a really good clam deputy. It actually both funny and inspiring.

7. Least Favorite Character

Beside villains that you're supposed to hate like Tigerstar and Darktail. But while I don’t hate him, I dislike Ashfur. Just the whole realized that he went mad because Squirrelflight didn’t want to be his mate. And no, Squirrelflight didn’t lead him on. She just wanted to be a friend but Ashfur didn’t want that. So he tries to kill her kits and got into to Starclan because fans were sad by his death. This just rubs me in all the wrong places...

8. Most Aesthetically Pleasing Cat

That depends on how you draw them because there are no official designs. But if we going off what the guide tells us then I like Tawnypelt design, and Ashfur.

9. Favorite Leader

This is easy Leafstar, Bluestar, Tallstar, and Mistystar. Just because I feel like those leaders are really good because they always trying to make the decisions but always second guesses themselves. But they willing to take charge.

10. Favorite Villain

Well you see I like a villain who is either complex or ‘fun’ And really not one of them are really fun or that complex. They try with Tigerstar’s past and Breezepelt’s relationship with his father. But Breezepelt was not hurting his father but his mother and friend. Who he actually like.  And Tigerstar made a really good one in his book, there were these voices in his head and his father left him a very young age. When I heard about I was going billet!  Then we find out later that it was Mapleshade that was doing that to Tigerstar. That was huge disappoint with me.

So I guess the only villain I like is the new one Darktail. He shows a lot of promise of tricking both Shadowclan and Skyclan into trusting him. Hopefully, this villain won’t disappointed.

11. Favorite Medicine Cat

Yellowfang. Her backstory, her character development, and her relationship were work really well. But when in POT and OOTS she a bit of bitch. But overall I like her because of her flaws and her death was one of the saddest one in the series.

12. Overrated Character

I have to say Breezepelt. Just the fandom always making excuses for him for all the bad things he was done.

13. Underrated Character

I think Dovewing. Like if you look at the Warrior fandom she doesn't have much love as Ivypool. Plus I feel she gets a lot of hate for all the wrong reasons. People like her for the woobie. The jersey sister instead of brave cat that spy on the Dark Forest.

14. Favorite Minor Character

Sorreltail and Ferncloud. I like mother characters.

15. Favorite Pairing

Firestar and Sandstorm, and Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. I feel like their relationship was developing more realistic. Then the side characters have hints and then later boom kits, without actually character development.

16. Least Favorite Pairing

Crowfeather and Leafpool. They were to act like teenagers that think they know the true meaning of love but don’t. And it’s no wonder it falls apart like it did.

17. Favorite Friendship

Got to hand to Graystripe and Firestar. They have been through everything together. In fact, I ship sometimes.

18. Favorite Moment

Oh boy, this was a hard question. There are a lot of great moments in the Warrior series. But I think the ending the Sunset was really good. It was like the first really bad ending for a Warrior arc. The Last Hope was actually really good. Everything comes together at the end and the huge epic battle between Starclan, Place of No Stars, and the clans were really good. So yeah, those two are my favorite.

19. Most Tragic Death

Stonefur, Yellowfang, and Hollyleaf. All three deaths I didn’t see coming. All deaths were beloved characters from both story and the fans. All death could be been avoided at one point. Even in case of Hollyleaf and Yellowfang would have to kill Ivypool and Bramblekit would have died. So yeah, those stuck with me.

20. Favorite Battle / Fight Scene

The battle between the Dark Forest vs The Four Clans and Starclan. Great action, drama, and nice set off for some of the characters.

@stormears