#more people should use firestar she's a good character

[willicewc]

Just a quick drawing of my Lionblaze is Scourge's reincarnation au :) I am still sick so the drawing is a bit wonky here and there.....

This au is still a vague concept and everyone is free to interpret it or create their own story line with it ! It's mainly made to make Lionblaze more revelant as a character, I liked the idea of him having the power to be "impossible to defeat in battle", and at the same time, be the reincarnation of the one of most deadly cats in the series !

So what if Scourge's new chance at life - being Lionblaze - turned out to be not that much of a good idea ?

Starclan "rant" ahead !

Starclan is often a bit weird when they give out powers and prophecies, such as lying to Squirrelflight about being infertile so that she would adopt the Three. ...Or forcing Jayfeather to become a medicine cat against his will, going literally against their decision to reincarnate Cinderpelt so that she would become a warrior because she was made a medicine cat against her will ??? If we follow Starclan's logic, then Jayfeather would have to then be reincarnated to become a warrior because his dream to become a warrior was cut short by Starclan ITSELF ???

Anyway, Starclan being so strange about its decisions, it would be right up its alley to make Scourge's reincarnation have a power to give him a full chance at bettering himself, just like how Brambleclaw was given the chance to kill off Firestar to become leader, and chose to kill Hawkfrost instead.

Knowing that Lionblaze's main inner conflict is the fear of losing control and killing people against his will, being Scourge's reincarnation would make that way more difficult. What if Scourge had genuinely always been a horrible person ? What if Scourge was meant to be terrible in every single timeline, Tigerpaw or not ? Would Lionblaze be able to fight off this strange, tingling need for blood ? Starclan really be testing my boi Lionblaze in this au.

But anyway I hope you enjoy that small sketch! It's not much, but it's honest work lol ! :)

Oh, also, sorry for the Starclan rant again, I feel like I keep ranting about Starclan but Starclan is such a strange mecanic in Warriors ??? Like they go against their very own concepts at some points (the cinderpelt/jayfeather point...), not even counting the fact that they would let Ashfur in Starclan when he threatened to KILL three cats just because Squirrelflight friendzoned him years before wtf??? Or sending Frecklewish to the Dark Forest??? I might make a full written post to talk about Starclan because Starclan is a really weird plot device and they can't seem to keep track of what they are doing. Such as : Let's forbid the medicine cats from having kits. But let's give the children of Crowfeather and Leafpool some powers. Why would Starclan give powers to children that are born against their own values ???

Idk man Starclan is really weird sometimes and I wish they were more... Logical ? Maybe these are just neatpick ? If you have anything to add, if you agree or not, feel free to tell me ! :)

(Also should I write Starclan as a "it" or as a "they" ? I am a bit confused so I used both on this text !)

[bonefall]

What is Lion/Jay/Holly's relationship with Bramble like pre-reveal (it wont let me put a question mark pretend theres one here) I can't imagine them having a good relationship even before he stops being their father.

Similar to canon, BB!Brambleclaw wasn't a great father. I like him a lot as a character, his ego fascinates me.

Jayfeather

Of all his siblings, I think Jay was the 'wisest' in regards to Bramble. He kinda saw his reaction coming, or, was the least surprised by it. Probably because Bramble was never as prideful about him as he was about his two young prodigies.

All Jay's life, people are coming up with their ideas of him and refusing to let him change their minds. Brambleclaw was no different. Jaykit becomes Jaypaw, training under grunckle Longtail to become Jayfang, and then eventually earning an Honor Title as Jayfeather. At no point in this process did Brambleclaw stick up for him, in fact, Longtail filled that role more than Bramble did.

Longtail was the one who fought for him, challenged him when he was repeating the Clan's tune, taught him that his limits are drawn by HIS body, not where everyone else says they are. Brambleclaw...

He wasn't distant but he wasn't present in that process, either. He rarely talks about Jay as an individual-- he's spoken about in terms of the other two 'looking out' for him. He let him wander in the safe beech patch just above the camp with Poppykit when he was old enough, but Squilf was equally involved in that decision.

Forgotten middle child energy. Brambleclaw could be approached but rarely went out of his way for Jay. He could be a source of comfort but they weren't close. It didn't make the public disowning hurt any less, though.

Lionblaze

He was so proud to be Brambleclaw's son. Lionblaze adored both of his parents, all he ever wanted to do was to make them happy. There was a time where he felt like the strength in his claws was because of his blood in his veins.

Then he was given to Ashfur as an apprentice.

He was BRUTAL. Lionpaw knew he had a lot of potential to live up to, but he didn't know that training would be this hard and painful. He didn't know that what was happening to him wasn't normal... and Brambleclaw was the only one who had been told about it.

He did nothing. Ashfur had "explained everything" to him, buttered him up about how Strong his son was, how Proud he should be, how much like him Lionpaw was turning out. When he heard the same story again from the perspective of Lionpaw and Hollypaw, he ended up shrugging it off.

Lionpaw walked away thinking that you're supposed to suffer for strength. Not even that he "deserved" to suffer; no, he thinks that you don't have gain without pain. This is an expected part of life, and one day, he will be the very strongest in ThunderClan.

Going to the Tribe later taught him something else; that the point of strength is using it to protect others. So if you must suffer to be strong, and being strong means giving that to other people... what's left for you?

When Brambleclaw disowned them, Lionblaze IMMEDIATELY realized that this is why Squirrelflight lied. To protect him. he's obsessed with this, protecting his Clan. His love and respect for Brambleclaw soured with pain. If he has any left for Brambleclaw, it's hidden deep down.

He HAS no father. He has a mother. He looks Brambleclaw in the eyes and spits, "That's all I've ever had."

Hollyleaf

She was always the most promising of the Three. Apprentice of the deputy Brackenfur, Firestar's honored grandchild, daughter of two members of the Sundrown Patrol. Holly was forging alliances in other Clans as soon as she'd changed her career path.

She was very close to Brambleclaw. He spoke very highly of Holly and Lion, always seemed to 'have their backs,' at least in Holly's eyes. He used to tell her that she had to be an example for her brothers, and help him keep them in line.

And that extended to Lionpaw's Abuse. She learned it is necessary to hurt the ones you love to protect them in the future. She was taught that she is the most mature of her siblings and is therefore responsible for them.

He turned on her just like he turned on her brothers, but she was quick to accept this, turning her hatred on Leafpool and Squirrelflight. No more lies, no more Codebreakers.

After her 100-year-long timeout, she was shocked to come back to Bramblestar being the only one being petty. At first she was even a bit relieved, believing that at LEAST he was still holding her accountable for her horrible deeds in Cruel Season. That would have been cathartic-- it's nothing compared to what she did to the Kinships of the Lake, but it's some consequences from a living cat. Any consequences.

But... it's not about anything she did wrong. She stepped out of the tunnels to living, weeping family who missed her as much as she missed them. Their actions are based on love and yearning. Bramble's are just based on being fucking mad at his ex-wife.

Everyone thought she was dead and he can't take a break from giving Squirrelflight the Cold Shoulder long enough to welcome his daughter back like a father would. His greeting is the same as any other leader welcoming a warrior back after they've been gone for a while.

But, hey, if she's disappointed at him it's a nice break from being disappointed at herself. It's nice to care about these sorts of things again, and besides, she has crunchy leaves to step on with her CORPOREAL BODY. It's so nice to have MASS again

[spiritmander13]

So I was scrolling through the Warrior Cats tag and apparently you're all joking about how inbred Moonpaw is and even using the r-slur against her?

...

Y'know what's bad? I don't even think her potential ADHD and autism comes from being inbred. That's just a sick joke you all keep saying, and if the Erins decide that's why she has ADHD and autism I WILL RIOT.

So y'know what? Welcome to-

My Rant On Cabby's Disability 2; Electric Boogaloo + Completely Different Fandom And Character, wahoo.

WARNING BEFORE WE BEGIN! I do not support ableism. Mental issues do exist, things like autism do not come from vaccines, people can have both mental and physical disabilities, and FINALLY and MOST IMPORTANTLY people with disabilities are people just like you, not anything lower, not anything higher.

Also, just to add a bit of an edit- we don't actually know if Moonpaw has these things yet, but when I wrote the post I assumed she did, so berate me on the misinfo all you like.

That being said:

SEEING YOU ALL USE THE R-SLUR AGAINST MOONPAW AND THINKING CALLING HER THE PRODUCT OF INBREEDING IS FUNNY? GO GET A LIFE.

Context for some of my followers who are not into Warrior Cats: Moonpaw is a new character introduced in a blurb relating to a new Warrior Cats arc, called Changing Skies. There have been many speculations on what she'll look and act like, but recently controversy has spread and now people are joking about her inbred family tree and even using the r-slur in extreme cases.

And for you all in the Warrior Cats tag looking at this post and wondering why the title of this post is that, it's because I have defended my stance against a character with both physical and mental disabilities before; Cabby (II). Not exactly defend her, but defended my stance on when I said that I don't understand the reason behind her files (that being there wasn't too much content of her struggling with her memory for me to appreciate it, which WE ARE GETTING MORE CONTENT OF IN THE FUTURE, AMAZING).

Of course, this is Warrior Cats, not Inanimate Insanity. So I fully expect that if Moonpaw has autism and/or ADHD, she'll be forced into medicine cat duties just like Cinderpelt and Jayfeather were. It'll also probably be just a quirky, relatable thing that could potentially define her personality. II does have a bit of a problem with this, but I will not bring up examples because most of the people reading this will potentially be Warrior Cats fans who have zero idea on what Inanimate Insanity is.

Now I am aware that ADHD and autism are hereditary things. There's the most common hereditary neurodevelopmental disabilities a child can have. But if Moonpaw has ADHD and autism, then DON'T BLAME IT ON INBREEDING. BLAME IT ON SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY TREE.

Okay, that's not a good approach either, but hear me out. We all should stop joking on inbreeding in the series. Yes, the Erins have lost track on these cats time and time again and that has led to a lot of inbreeding. But maybe it's because there's over 1,000 NAMED CATS IN THE WHOLE SERIES? And even more off-screen potentially? Did you ever think about that? 20 cats I can get, 100 is a bit ambitious, but OVER 1,000? Yeah, impossible to track without the tree's branches getting all tangled up.

Yes, Moonpaw's potential father (if her father is Nightheart) has a fucked up family tree full of inbreeding. However, I'd say the line Nightheart comes from (the BrambleSquirrel line) is very sleek, narrow, and not really that conflicting. Brambleclaw and Squirrelstar had Sparkpelt and Alderheart (as well as Dandelionkit and Juniperkit but they're dead), Sparkpelt and Larksong had Nightheart and Finchlight, Nightheart and Sunbeam have Moonpaw. I'd say I blame it on Leafpool for the fuckery that is the Firestar family tree.

And Sunbeam? She's a descendant of fucking Snowbird, the cat that has had the most kits in the series at 9, including Berryheart. Sure, Larksong is a descendant of Cloudtail and that is also a fucked up family tree, but Nightheart's part of the tree is fairly narrow.

Even if you blame someone in the family tree for Moonpaw's potential disabilities, you really shouldn't. Sure, my ADHD is hereditary, but for ASD, autism-causing mutations are spontaneous. Even if your parents don't have autism, you can still have a genetic mutation that can give you or your descendants ASD.

So what's the moral of the story about this fucked up post about how the family tree is something you shouldn't blame for Moonpaw's potential disability? Simple.

Never call anything or anyone with a potential disability the r-slur and blame it on their family tree, no matter how fictional or real they are. Or simply, Never use the r-slur, especially against someone with a potential disability that could've caused their actions.

Now I except this post to be countered way more often than the Cabby post because Warriors Cats is bigger than Inanimate Insanity and this is a relatively new topic still, but I patiently await your responses and counters.

[the-owl-tree]

I wish Sparkpaw was a pov character and got Nightheart’s arc. have her be named Sparkfire at first which is an arguably cooler name. and then make Tawnypelt relevant again, get to know her aunt and then name herself after her. please just anything interesting for she-cats

i remember when avos got introduced people were like "ugh of course we're gonna be saddled with sparkpaw and her cliche plotline" and then it came out and we've been locked in this loser boring brother pov while the arguably way more interesting sister is sidelined curse for a third arc now. it's SICKENING.

i think if the authors wanted me to invest myself in this conflict between her and nightheart, they shouldn't have spent the entirety of avos using her as a prop to make her brother look better and then spent this arc manufacturing a conflict to make her son look better. salt in the wound for that dumbass article that said "maybe sparkpelt should remember how much SHE suffered under firestar's legacy" as if they ever wrote any sort of conflict for this character and weren't too busy trying to convince the reader how annoying she was for being good at hunting.

[josiedoe]

funny weird fursona from ages past hours while i wanna take this opportunity to share my art, i kinda also wanna reach out to everybody who had cringy neon old fursonas and oc's that they're embarrassed of or feel like they need to shittalk every time they mention them bc "theyre totally better at making characters now i swear!" this is my fursona splash. i've changed sonas a few times, but none of them will be as important to me as her. she's not there yet, but next year in february, on my birthday, she will be 9 years old. i made her feb 22nd of 2015, my 9th birthday. i stopped using her eventually, because i thought i'd grown out of her. i used to show her to people and laugh about how stereotypical of a mary sue she was, how she had a demon AND angel form, how i'd ship her with characters from whatever media i was interested in at the time, how she had super secret sparkle powers that could do anything and how she's "not me anymore" then i remembered how crushed i felt when my friends at the time first started calling her one. i was knee deep at that point in thinking mary sues were dumb, and felt really bad about it when a friend said she was a huge mary sue and how i should probably change her. they even got mad when i said i didnt want to and told me i "couldn't take criticism". ive tried so hard over the years to distance myself from her while trying not to be too hard on her, to enjoy her in an "ironic, more experienced way" and regard her as what NOT to do.

this is the first ever drawing i did of her. another oc of mine turns 9 on my bday, and ill do art of her too, but this is where i made her. she was a drawing of firestar that i got bored drawing and decided to slap some neons on from the ms paint advanced preset colors. as you can see, she hasn't really changed much. her name used to be colordrop, because i had a stuffed bunny around that time with the same name. i think i renamed her to splash because i liked splashkittyartist. is the art good? no. did i really care? not really! i didnt even know it was bad at the time, because it honestly wasn't. i just wasn't as far in my art journey as i am now. im glad i never deleted my deviantart account, and i plan at some point to go through and save the images that are important to me on a google drive of some kind. aslong as im able to remember and keep her, she's an important part of myself. she's still me, just from a different time, and also so much more than that. im not sad about her, not in a nostalgic "i wish i could go back way". im happy, if anything, because i only recently realized we shared a birthday. isn't that cool? to not only have an oc that was made on your birthday, but reaches milestones with you? when she turns 18, i'll be 27. when she's 27, i'll be 36. i think that's pretty neat. i think it's important for every artist, if they struggle with this, to look for their old oc's and fursonas and whatnot from when they were kids and instead of looking at them through a lens of "im better now, do you see how bad i used to be at this whole character making thing though? its funny.", instead be kind to your old creations and go "wow, i had alot of fun with you. i wonder if i can have even more." if you're able to, start using them again. write with them again, even if its small and silly and more out of whimsy and joy than actual plot development. i implore you to be kinder to kid you. even if kid you wasn't very kind themselves. if you would look at another kids drawing and oc and go "wow thats amazing! you're so creative!", then you should regard what you made then with the same enthusiasm. put your own work on the fridge if nobody else did. anyways, ramble over. i'm very passionate about this subject because i lived it, and i deeply enjoy reclaiming what i was made to feel embarrassed of. so moon darkraven, demon wolf with an anime scythe and scene bangs and red eyes and neon colors that don't mix, i think you're doing great. i hope you're doing well, wherever you are now, and that so is the person who made you. happy early birthday to me and my special little gal

[pumpkinnkidd]

sorry if somebody has already asked you this, but do you have any favorite characters from warrior cats ? personally mine are firestar, scourge, ferncloud, & sorreltail, but i kinda wanna know yours ! :3

no one has ever asked me this!!! i love talking about my favorite characters im so happy you asked

those are all amazing fav character pics btw!!! my favorites are hollyleaf, bristlefrost, feathertail, and dovewing!! i love crookedstar, squirrelflight and leafpool, and briarlight too but the previous four are my beloveds of all time.

little ramble, i love hollyleaf because her story is very tragic to me and she is cringefail! she is so interesting… most of these characters i really love because me and my gf has a massive rewrite au and hollyleaf gets the glow up of the century. a traumatized murderer loose in the tunnels can only end well! other than that, i love hollyleaf for all the other reasons people love her: sacrificial lamb with no powers >:))

bristlefrost is a much more recent fav but she is probably my favorite warrior cat of all time. i actually really like bristleroot, though it has its flaws. her death parallel to ashfur’s ( and how her and hollyleaf should have met ) is so good. she died thinking only of love while ashfur is obsessive and filled with toxic malice. it’s beautifully poetic. she is also big strong battle women i love her 💖

feathertail i love for similar reasons to hollyleaf. her and tawnypelt could have had the relationship ever if written about. i wish she stayed bitter longer. i have an au idea where when she died midnight reincarnates her into jayfeather! i love thinking about her… i could go on and on about the bonds she has with other characters and how they can be dissected and elaborated. especially sasha + her kits… hawkfrost should have been a journeying cat with feathertail over stormfur imo

AND DOVEWING!!! I LOVEWING DOVEWING! she is even more of a sacrificial lamb than hollyleaf but she doesn’t even die. she should have gone deaf after losing her powers that would have been very cool. she was used for her entire life as a child of war running away to shadowclan was the best thing ever for her. tigerheart should have been a girl they coulda been lebsians… and remove all the weird stuff about their age gap pretty please. i really love the two of them together but the fact they are related + weird age gap is… so unfortunate!!!

anyway thank you so much for letting me ramble i love these dumb battle cats

[thevindicativevordan]

You'll probably talk about it in this week's comics, but what do you think about the big reveal of Boy Thunder's identity in this week's Batman/Superman? Is there anything to be gained for that character with this new backstory?

Lots to talk about this week!

World's Finest #10 - Boy Thunder's identity at last has been revealed as Magog, or at least he's the kid who will eventually grow up to be Magog. I actually had predicted the reveal beforehand when I was puzzling over who David could possibly be - Waid had mentioned he was a character he had written before - and suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head. What big story had Waid written involving Superman and the Joker before? Kingdom Come! And someone else even pointed out to me that Magog's civilian name was David! Makes sense that Waid would return to what is arguably the biggest contribution he's made to the Super Mythos in Magog and try to flesh him out as a character. Other writers have made attempts to use Magog as an ongoing Superman Rogue outside of Kingdom Come and it's never worked for me. The takes were too boring or one note, failing to convince me this was someone with more stories to tell. Waid is the first one to grab my attention, Magog as Superman's "Red Hood" is the first time I've wanted to see more of him.

Batman vs. Robin #4 - Waid's portrayal of magic here, and why Batman sucks at it, is a great moment. Makes him writing Shazam even more exciting because it seems like he has thoughts on how magic should work. Otherwise this has been fine, a cut above Dark Crisis, but hampered by how much of it is already well trodden grounds.

Dark Crisis #7 - Sucked. There's two cool moments, Black Adam empowering everyone else to beat Deathstroke and Waller revealing her team at the end, but the rest of the book is a total bore. Nightwing... doesn't do anything really, the multiverse is infinite (again, for the third fucking time) but there's no reason to care, and the legacy heroes failed to accomplish anything of worth. Jace pushed a button and then dipped, Yara didn't get any cool standout moments, only Jon had a good showing taking on all of the DC Big Bads at once. Speaking of them man what a waste of a cool concept, they did nothing, they didn't kill anyone, and Darkseid just goes back to ruling Apokolips afterwards. If this was meant to spotlight the legacy heroes it failed, nobody is reading this and thinking they're all that important. I want to know what Composite Bizarro's deal is, otherwise I've already moved on. What the hell was the deal with “Earth Alpha” anyway? Remember that? Williamson set that up as a major mystery of Infinite Frontier and never resolved it!

Nightwing #99 - Other than whatever is in Nightwing's box in the hold, I'm struggling to think of what plot threads Taylor could do for the big 100 issue. Clearly a marriage is not happening any time soon, will it just be Dick gathering the Titans together for the bold new era of NTT nostalgia?

Stargirl: The Lost Children #2 - It is night and day compared to the Johns writing JSA. This is the good Johns, the guy who loves these C-Listers and can make you fall in love with them too.

X-Men Annual #1 - Good character story that gives Firestar an arc where she comes to terms with her mutant identity.

Strange #9 - Do people care about the Sentry anymore? Feels like the hype from his usage during the Bendis era has long since worn off. Otherwise another great issue, we've seen a lot of wife guys but Clea as a husband gal is refreshing.

[wander-wren]

i was trying to avoid spoilers under the assumption that i would Eventually getting around to reading tbc and asc, but im bored and i want to watch videos about them and i probably wont read them for a long time, so i went to the wiki to see whats up!

my official take on tbc is that the concepts seem very cool, but i cant say much about the execution or smaller details ofc. ashfur being the imposter feels like a really good choice, i dont know if thats controversial, i'm like 3 years late to all this lmao but i thought i saw some posts about him not making sense.

i mean, his connection to squilf and bramblestar alone...plus, yeah, he wasn't super into the code in life, but all of the events leading to his death WERE caused by codebreaking, and with leafpool especially going to starclan after inadvertently contributing to Ruining His Life, he might get mad about it? i kinda get it. also the whole concept of him possessing ashfur is so so horrifying and sad to me and has anyone written fic about this from squilf's pov???

also, ALSO, i skimmed a light in the mist plot summary bc i was still bored but it seemed cool. i dont remember if people were mad about that when i came out, just that it was Everywhere. kudos to the erins for actually carrying a plot through six books instead of splitting it in half for the first time since, like, tpb. po3 and oots dont count bc they didnt Have a plot.

but i was trying to think about why the new gen (arcs 6-8) arent as popular/getting much attention and why the fandom is slowly falling off post-oots. which, there are a lot of reasons, but this is one of the main ones i haven't seen anyone discuss yet (tbf, again, i was avoiding spoilers until literally today, so).

like, think about the new prophecy, power of three, and omen of the stars. they all happen VERY close together and are deeply intertwined. lionblaze and jayfeather even get to be pov characters for 2 arcs instead of one! and no pov characters die! except flametail but eh!

then we get to avos. we lose needletail, what, three books in? then violetshine literally becomes a mom to one of the broken code protags, and, again, only reading plot summaries, but she Never Came Up. neither did twigbranch. alderheart did some, mostly by virtue of being a medicine cat and therefore important to the plot.

and now, in the broken code, we've lost bristlefrost. i havent gotten to a starless clan yet, that's next, but i know flamepaw/nightheart is sparkpelt's kid, and sunbeam and frostpaw are the kids of random side characters (at least, they didnt stand out to me?). i'm not saying it's inherently bad that they're not connected to the previous protags (you could argue its a positive for sure), but it's contributing to this feeling of disconnection in the new books, i think.

i DONT think we should keep doing firekin as protags. i am perfectly happy putting that line to rest. but we introduced twig and violet and needletail, those are brand new bloodlines and focusing on them instead would be really really cool.

what you did the first time worked, erins! do that again! like. they had the opportunity to decimate the clans in oots and essentially start with a clean slate for avos/tbc/asc, but they chickened out. changes to the code shouldve been FIRST. new mains unrelated to firestar shouldve been FIRST.

actually, avos did have that potential. that was Good and Correct except for the part where there were no significant culture changes and too many tnp-era cats are still around. but like, okay, firekin! we like firekin! alderheart is my BOY. he is familiar, or related to familiarity. GOOD. he brings in needletail, twigbranch, and violetshine, so they feel connected to familiarity too, rather than just "heres some kids of cats you've never heard of. care about them."

and then they just. gave us bristlefrost and shadowsight. more firekin, woo. forget about twig and violet, oh and needletail is dead btw. i'm sure everyone has talked and talked about the tragedy of finally getting a she-cat who doesnt want kits but it's TWIGBRANCH. ugh.

anyway, yeah. all the protagonists for the first four arcs were interconnected and important to each other and i'm not getting that at all with the new arcs and i think thats why its hard for me and other fans to like, care.

plus also firestar and other fan favorites died and the prequels immediately came out and stalled the continuity for a while at just the right moment when a lot of fans were poised to lose interest. and then they did. and here we are.

this isn't what i meant to make a post on but i did! woo

[nimmenstjer]

This is difficult because all of them are too good and all of them are good in different ways.

Easiest to hardest: Lodestar, a very tall city-sized spaceship woman with a cool design vs villain of the week who happens to have a cool design. Skyburst vs Arcee. I mean, it's Arcee. Poor Skyburst didn't stand a chance. Clobber vs Firestar. Clobber has the sheer force of her personality. Shadowstriker vs cool ninja that isn't always a person Velocity vs. Cryak. The best friend vs the toxic mother. Javelin vs M.o. Flame is cool design vs cool design that bitchslapped Windblade for misguided religious reasons

Edit: Forgot to put in Blackarachnia vs one of the Torchbearers. Strongarm vs Rust Dust. Rust Dust is cute, but Strongarm is wife. Slipstream vs Provoke. Provoke is cute, but Slipstream. I mean, it's Slipstream. Airachnid vs Quickshadow. Sorry Quickshadow. Airachnid is not the missus, but she's certainly the mistress. Nautica vs Nickel. Nautica. Nautica is fave. Lug vs Slash. Lug's had more of a story arc. Nyx vs Botanica. We're heading into uncertain territory here.

Pyra Magna vs Road Rage. This would be a draw, but I have a fave. Codexa vs Chromia. Even closer to a draw. Chromia is Chromia, even though Codexa is Optimus' mom. Glyph vs Aileron. Before IDW 2, it would have been Aileron without question, but now they are both so cute! Still Aileron, though. Augh, why did you make us choose! Proxima vs Airazor. Nerd vs tomboy, but Airazor. Stormclash vs Rosanna. Team Torchbearer twin vs cool spy idol. But Stormclash has the advantage of not reminding people of Hannah Montana. I voted, but did I vote correctly?  I don't know. Strika vs Moonracer. The general who must be worshipped and obeyed vs the cute girl next door. Moonracer is so good. But Strika is too magnificent. Trans lady adventurer who is a wife vs literal godess. This is nearly impossible to decide on, but Solus is my fave. Character wise, it should have been Anode. Trickdiamond vs Lightbright. Yeah, just do this by feel and impulse, otherwise I just can't decide. Greenlight vs Dust Up. I think that Greenlight will win this, in part because the Torchbearers have six of them. Windblade vs Termagax. Optimistic sweet idealist vs extremist beef idealist with MILF potential. I think Windblade, but ugh. By a hair. Termagax is so good though! Elita vs Flamewar. Are you kidding me. You want me to decide between these? Queen Elita vs horrible little gremlin Flamewar? They are both such delights! This is cruel and unusual punishment. Gah!

༓♡ ROUND ONE IS HERE!

RESULTS WILL BE RECORDED ON THIS SHEET!

Yanno, I can't help but notice that we've had two robot husband polls, but not a single one for any ladies ( At least, not to my knowledge )! I for one think that's a crime, so I aim to change that.

The matchups in this poll were set up via randomizer, but I did tweak a few to feel a bit more fair? I hate to have big names go up against lesser known characters, but it's sometimes just unavoidable... If I forgot any major characters, I apologize. I'm pretty knowledgeable, but TF is a big franchise, and i'm bound to miss something. As a note, i'm not including children or characters that feel too close to children for my own comfort. That's why Gauge, Twitch etc etc aren't present.

Rounds are set to run for 24 hours, and then i'll allow myself a small grace period to prep for the next one. I'll deal with ties and such if and when they arise.

Though i've used particular images for each match up, let it be known that any listing isn't continuity specific. You're voting for all versions of a specific character, not just one! No worries.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send them my way!

➜ Windblade VS. Termagax ✫ Elita One VS. Flamewar

➜ Glyph VS. Aileron ✫ Lodestar VS. Glowstrike

➜ Anode VS. Solus Prime ✫ Trickdiamond VS. Lightbright

➜ Stormclash VS. Rosanna ✫ Jumpstream VS. Blackarachnia

➜ Slipstream VS. Provoke ✫ Javelin VS. Mistress of Flame

➜ Nyx VS. Botanica ✫ Proxima VS. Airazor

➜ Airachnid VS. Quickshadow ✫ Velocity VS. Cryak

➜ Greenlight VS. Dust Up ✫ Skyburst VS. Arcee

➜ Lug VS. Slash ✫ Nautica VS. Nickel

➜ Strika VS. Moonracer ✫ Clobber VS. Firestar

➜ Codexa VS. Chromia ✫ Strongarm VS. Rust Dust

➜ Nightbird VS. Shadow Striker ✫ Pyra Magna VS. Road Rage

[thenamesblurrito]

Firestar: when she learned she was selected to attend a brand new premier Academy on Cybertron, Firestar was thrilled. When she learned her group of Camien transfer students would include her younger sibling Flareup and be led by her creator Nautica, she was significantly less thrilled. She’s practical and outgoing, if occasionally callous, and had been looking forward to starting something new without the influence of her family. She tries not to associate with them any more than she has to, and her new friendship with her roommates Ariel, Arcee, Chromia, and Moonracer has certainly helps set her apart. At first glance, a size 5 shuttle like her might seem ungainly, but she moves with a careful grace that belies the stereotype of her frame.

Elita 5: when Ariel picked up the Enigma of Combination and shared it with her roommates, Firestar finds herself capable of an upgrade into Elita 5, a formidable bastion of strength named after her desire to live up to her full potential. Alongside the rest of the fivefold Elite Guard, she stands in defense of justice for everyone, from both corruption and catastrophe. Her faction usually works alongside the Autobots, but she would never side with them over her fellow Guardsmecha. Her powers include a sense for her team that lets them work together perfectly, a burning blade called the Omni Saber, the ability to manipulate fire as one of the five Primal elements, access to the Infinite Combinatoric that turns separate mecha into a gestalt individual, and the ability to combine with her teammates to become Elita Infin1te with the Cyber Caliber. Her most common enemy on the battlefield is Triptych, wafting away the flames of Predator’s cannons, and she and Elita 4 join forces to take him down.

It’s the second biggest buffest toughest wife in SNAP! After this I’ve got some more Autobots for y’all...

[warriorcatsamino]

Can you guess exactly what cats are being depicted in this piece? I’ll give you a few seconds to think about it…3…2…1. Okay time for the reveal! The cats depicted here are Tigerstar the 1st (on the left), Hawkfrost (on the right) and Bramblestar (the silhouette). This piece is a comment on Bramblestar’s life and how his evil family influenced him. To be honest, Bramblestar had a lot going for him in the beginning. When he was a kit and apprentice he struggled with being compared to Tigerstar just because he looked like him. Fireheart always had a panic attack every time he’d look at him. The pressure was too much and caused his littermate, his only friend other than his mother Tawnypelt, to leave Thunderclan and join Shadowclan. But Bramblepaw kept going and in the Darkest Hour, he denounced Tigerstar as his father and stated his loyalty was only to Thunderclan. But then in the New Prophecy he trains with his father in cat hell, despite knowing he’s evil? :/ It makes no sense with his character. Unless you argue that Hawkfrost influenced him to join, despite the fact Bramblestar knew his father to be a evil cat. It always annoyed me that Brambleclaw put such faith in Hawkfrost and got mad at Squirrelflight for having suspicions about him. I mean Hawkfrost proved himself to be ambitious, look how he acted when Mistyfoot was captured by twolegs. He was ready to take over her position. Why would Leopardstar ever put him in charge? I mean Leopardstar always has poor judgment (especially with the whole Tigerclan situation) but surely she learned her lesson? I believe it’s not right to judge a cat for their parentage and it’s very likely that not every Tigerstar descent will be evil but if a cat is showing concerning signs, they should be looked into. I don’t know, that’s just my opinion on the matter. I feel like it would have been so much more powerful if Bramblestar never trained with Tigerstar. I think the scene at the end of Sunset was really good with Brambleclaw being tempted to kill Firestar and take over the leadership but ultimately deciding to save him instead and killing his half-brother. He later kills Hawkfrost for good during the Great Battle with the Dark Forest. Can I just say that Brambleclaw SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN MADE DEPUTY? Like he got exactly what he wanted, a position of power. I feel like Firestar should have kept Greystripe as deputy or picked a younger cat who was trustworthy like Brackenfur or someone similar. I feel like it really hindered Brambleclaw’s character to get what he wanted, instead he should have had to work around not being in a position of power and finding content with that. But I want to know what you think. Do you think it made sense that Brambleclaw trained with his father after denouncing him? Do you think Firestar was right in choosing Brambleclaw as his deputy? Should Brambleclaw have become leader? Leave all your thoughts, opinions and feedback in the comments below. Do you like this artwork? Leave a like on the original post on amino. Directly supporting the artist benefits this account. It motivates more people to allow us to post their content and means that the same style will show up on your feed more. Want daily Warriors based content? Consider joining the Warriors Amino where we have posts all about battle cats.

Original Post linked here.

Original Artist linked here.

~ 🍵🥔

[petalstem]

Finished my reread of the first arc! Sorry this post got a lot longer than I expected, I rambled angrily about ableism there for a paragraph, so be warned. My thoughts are:

The good parts

-Honestly, held up pretty much as expected! I don't think its any worse than when I read it as a kid, at least not in writing quality (There's other things about it I find downright despicable but the writing quality isn't that)

-I appreciate Runningwind, honestly. He's THE most minor character ever but I like him. He's my new favorite background guy alongside Tallpoppy and Woollytail

-The ThunderClan forest fire chapters are legitimately still VERY good, they feel intense and real, as is Yellowfangs death honestly the highlight of the arc

And the bad parts

-Hoooly fucking shit is the ableism something to behold. I already knew the series was ableist, I feel like we as a fandom already know, but I guess I forgot just HOW much it is and how it's just constant. And I feel like not enough people talk about how fucking AWFUL Firestar is to Brightheart. When she's initially moved to the elders den, 1. It is very explicitly said to be a choice SHE has to make, and neither he nor Cinderpelt will force her

2. It's less "she can't be a warrior so she's going to be an elder" and more implied to be that she's not ready to return to being a warrior yet, and she probably still needs someone to watch over her for now, but it doesn't have to be Cinderpelt, so they let a still mourning Speckletail help with that

But when its time for her to move into the warriors den, FIRESTAR ACTIVELY SAYS HE DOESN'T KNOW IF SHE SHOULD, and, in singlehandedly one of the most insulting things I've seen in this series, he tells Cloudtail that since he doesn't have an apprentice, he can train Brightheart instead, and that he has to keep an eye on her, and continues to think to himself how she'll never be a "true warrior". It is downright baffling and nightmarish how they take any and all agency away from Brightheart, who, I forgot to add, IS SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM DURING THIS CONVERSATION. She is treated like a helpless child and her boyfriend is essentially told to watch her like she's a toddler, and this is basically NEVER addressed. Yes, she does become, as Firestar thinks, a "true warrior", but I don't care how many cool fighting moves Brightheart does, the narrative never acts as if Firestars constant thinking of her as needing supervision and not being as "useful" as her other Clanmates as being wrong. It legitimately disgusts me, and that's not even the first time. I honestly had less of a reaction to the ableism against Cinderpelt and Snowkit because I was already expecting it and remembered the majority, but I guess I just forgot how bad it was to Brightheart and it caught me entirely off guard. How the books have the understanding that "Lostface" is an insulting name but calling Brightheart "not a true warrior" is just fine is absolutely beyond me

-Why is the message of the final book "cats without religion are morally corrupt". Maybe I'm reading into it wrong but Barley literally says BloodClans weakness is not believing in StarClan, and says because they don't have the warrior code, they neglect kits, the sick, and the elderly

-The hypocrisy of StarClan in coming books angers me so ungodly much. There is an entire passage where StarClan claims they can't intervene with BloodClan because StarClan can not control the living cats, and a cats choice to either believe in StarClan or not is what makes them free. Only for later books to prove THATS bullshit and StarClan can 100% manipulate and lie to cats to force them to do things, as well as actively scold and yell at them for breaking the code

-This is a minor nitpick but Tawnypaw's reasoning for leaving ThunderClan is uh. Stupid as shit. The reasoning itself is fine, but you're telling me its WORSE to be judged than to join a violent tyrant where children her age are killed for nothing? You couldn't have just waited a few months until either Firestar or Tigerstar won and THEN made your decision? I think, narratively, Tawnypaw DID need to join ShadowClan, but having her do so IMMEDIATELY after the scene of the cats rescuing the RiverClan cats makes her seem like she's either a moron or she's okay with what Tigerstars doing as long as he's not bullying her

-Another nitpick but there's a continuity error in Yellowfangs death scene where Fireheart thinks about how Yellowfang doesn't know he knows Brokentail was her son, but she literally told him when they took Brokentail prisoner so that's not true

My favorite characters were Runningwind, Longtail, Yellowfang, and Sandstorm, and my least favorite were Greystripe for all of Fire and Ice specifically, Leopardstar, and Dustpelt. Honorable mentions go to Bluestar (Of course, Bluestars great, also she was right StarClan fucking sucks), Mistyfoot (Despite how much I hate modern Mistystar, Mistyfoot in this arc is pretty flippant with the rules tbh, and I like it! I also love that she and Silverstream are besties), Darkstripe (LOVE how pathetic he is), Whitestorm (He's a LOT older than I remember him being, also while he was written with the idea he's Bluestars nephew, I like to think that Firestar just doesn't know they're related and thinks they're besties, I honestly love how kind and patient is Whitestorm is with Bluestar even at her lowest) and Tallstar (I know he's written with the authors not intending that he was gay for Firehearts dad but every time he's nice to him I like to think its because he sees Jake in him)

TL;DR Overall, I DID enjoy my reread. I love this series to bits, and while it has some MASSIVE problems I can't and won't overlook, the good parts are frequent and well done, and I genuinely think it earns a good portion of its emotional payoffs

[spark-glow]

This is probably going to be long, sorry. Great Spirit be with you if you decide to read all of this.

A lot of my conflict on Nautica and how she's written in IDW2 stems from a deviance on her core character concepts that were... vaguely presented in MTMTE. Obviously IDW2 was an entirely new cont and didn't need to follow any of the old rules or notions that previous characterizations set up, and I think it's fine to take a fresh look on things but... I don't know, something about the direction they took did not sit right with me. First I guess I should talk about her original incarnation.

Nautica's themes were woefully under explored in MTMTE. They were there, but.. not quite given justice. A lot was left up to interpretation and I feel like that kind've compounds issues on how people view her. More on that in a bit.

My personal belief is that Nautica's character is all about the reclamation of the self. She came from a society that did not value her, and a social circle that chewed her up and spit her out. She was forced to enter an amica-ship with someone who's only goal in the relationship was to use her as a springboard for getting attention from the public (not to imply needing attention is bad or wrong, Firestar is simply just a manipulative person). It wasn't healthy, and it's something that obviously still sticks with her even after leaving.

Nautica spent her entire life being forced to live within the box that others built for her. There was so little freedom for her to stretch out and grow. I imagine it was a serious uphill battle for her to become such an accomplished scientist on a planet that valued her trades and skills so little. It doesn't surprise me at all that she leapt at a chance to leave, and I think a lot about what the Lost Light meant for her conceptually.

Think about it. On the Lost Light, she could do whatever she WANTED. She could spend months tinkering with some of the most advanced quantum engines ever invented. She could freely build friendships without the societal pressure that was in place before. She had the opportunity to interact with and learn from other scientific minds. And she could finally stand on her own and let her knowledge and her experience speak for itself. She wasn't just some outsider that 'rode on people's coattails', she was a valued member of a team! Can you imagine how that must have felt?

It bears mentioning that, of course, these are things that are fumbled. She isn't allowed to cut off Firestar for... some reason, despite how horribly she's treated her. She never gets to fully elaborate on these concepts, and she never openly talks about the stresses of Camien life outside the first time it's brought up. We had all these interesting set pieces provided to us, but in the end, there just wasn't time to explore them. I wish we had! I'd like to do that on my own sometime, I guess, but...

All of that is really important framework for to understand why the decision to give Nautica a body guard that she needs to rely on makes me feel so WEIRD. Again, new cont, they don't have to follow the same rules, but... My goodness, what a down grade? Tossing out all of these themes about independence and finding immense joy in one's passions, if only to turn her into a diplomat who can't defend herself? When I was reading IDW2, I got to this panel in Escape, and it made me physically hoot out loud.

Because ALL I could think about was this;

Nautica has a small personality change after the events with the DJD on the necroworld. Before, she couldn't even take one punch without getting lain out, but now... she's learned how to stand up for herself and the confidence to do it repeatedly. She calls people out, and speaks her mind, which is in stark contrast to the woman that didn't even know how to go about threatening someone in Dark Cybertron.

So you put a version of her in front of me that has been so defanged that she isn't even interested in the proposition of standing up for herself? A version of her that has to have someone else do it instead? Come on, man. It feels so... flat, so unsatisfying.

And that doesn't even begin to touch on the fact that Nautica is generally so lifeless in IDW2 as well. She lacks any of her exuberance, and is just kind've reduced to a stoic politician type. (My god, I hate that she's a politician. You let that woman be arm deep in a quantum engine RIGHT NOW or so help me!!!!!) It's weird, noticing how little she emotes in IDW2. I have a folder of just 100x100 icons for roleplay purposes, and there's a visible rift between a cont where she's allowed to be a fuller version of herself and the one where she's just kind've... a wall fixture.

And yanno... I like Road Rage, I really do. I think she's interesting, and i'm a sucker for bodyguard types but... That scene where it's implied that she's jealous of Nautica spending time with other people physically made my stomach turn. It came way too close to Firestar for my comfort. (Obviously she's nowhere NEAR as horrible as Firestar was, but still. Don't fucking do that!!!!! Back up!!!!!!)

I'm very passionate when it comes to how female characters are written, because I think having ones that are multi faceted and complicated are important! We really have to think about the implications of alternative interpretations, and how to do them effectively without reducing characters to lesser versions of themselves.

Anywho, take some besties for your time;

I need to find a way to articulate my feelings on Nautica's writing in IDW2 and why I think the direction they took was really disappointing without getting too drawn out. Brevity isn't my strong suit sometimes. Thoughts incoming (maybe).

[mallowstep]

What are your opinions on forbidden relationships in Warriors? I've seen people label it as a "trope" because of how common this is. Some find the forbidden romance aspect intriguing, though others find it extremely repetitive and old

I'd like to know your thoughts!

hm. well, it is a trope. i mean, there's an average of one major one a series, right? greysilver, leafcrow (and others, but that's the big one), heatherlion (and implied others), tigerdove, idk i don't remember anything from avos but violetshine luv her but there's probably something, bristleroot. dotc doesn't count bc well it's dotc.

anyway.

definitely a trope.

but that's not a bad thing.

what i think people don't give warriors enough credit for is that these are not all the same forbidden romance. most of them are handled in different ways and bring up different conflicts. i understand why people are tired of them, but let's not discredit one of the only good things in warriors romance: that they make forbidden relationships different.

like, with grey and silver, it's about loyalty and responsibility. leafcrow is just bad idea central, both heatherlion and tigerdove are about responsibilities and young cats, and they have two different answers, and bristleroot is challenging the whole idea from the start.

so like. give credit where credit is due: we're not doing the same (forbidden) relationships again and again. i don't see enough people talk about that.

okay so it turns out i have um. a lot of thoughts about this. idk i just kept writing and now it's over 2k words. so you know. under the cut: matthew does half-baked media analysis to talk about why the code and cats' relationships to it are misunderstood. while actually staying on topic.

anyway from here on i'm just going to say relationship/romance, and understand that i'm generally talking about the forbidden kind. also i'm talking exclusively within the realm of warriors romance, which is, on average, bad. so when i say "X is good," i don't mean "X is good in general," i mean "given what we have, X is good." just to be clear.

right! basically, this is a tool. it creates tension and drama, and that's fine. warriors is a soap opera, remember. soap operas use secrets and relationships and all sorts of plot devices over and over again. warriors is not Serious. it can be dark. it has serious moments. but it is not a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids. it is a soap opera for Future Theatre Kids. yeah?

from that perspective, i'm a-ok with forbidden romance. (also, as a mini-aside, it creates some much-needed genetic diversity when kits are involved.) and again: all of the major relationships are different, so i think that's better than a lot of people give it credit for.

yeah, heatherlion and greysilver and tigerdove are all about the same general idea (loyalty and responsibility), but they all have different circumstances and different resolutions.

so like? yeah. sure. why not?

plus, like, who's reading warriors for the romance? i separate the concept of "romance" from a "relationship" here: i like the relationships in warriors (ivy and dove tension my beloved), but i'm not here to read about tigerheart wooing dovewing. (yes, i do love the tigerdove scenes in oots. no, that's not because i think they're very good at being romantic.)

but i digress.

if warriors was a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids, i'd have a different take here. having been in an IRL forbidden relationship, i have the Personal Insight and Experience to say they're this weird mash of "very much how it feels" and "not at all how it feels."

tigerdove is probably my favourite bc it's the closest to my circumstances, and i think dovewing is a good pov. i like how she breaks up with him because it's a bad idea, but that's not the same thing as not feeling for him.

(heh. twelve-year-old me reading oots like "this will never apply to my life" what did you know)

but to the point, if warriors was serious, i'd point out that the consequences always seem to be internal. we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions. and so on.

but warriors is a soap opera.

and here's my actual thesis: we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions, because "forbidden relationships" are a normal and expected part of clan society.

like no, fandom-at-large, you're kind of missing the point. okay, you know how like. people complain about. idk. ivypool and fernsong being distantly related?

(third aside/very long ivyfern rant, i put a nice big "rant over" after it if you want to skip past it: they're third cousins. they share, max, 2.2% of their genetics. they are fine. do you know your third cousins? do you? yeah. and like. they live in a closed society. there is no one new.

i've never seen someone complain about forbidden romance and ivyfern at the same time, and i do generally agree we should have more mystery fathers, altho for a different reason, but like. idk. this bothers me.

their last shared relative was nutmeg. that's so far back. god. i get it, there was a prophecy saying they're related, but if you remember my rant about how dovewing shouldn't be a part of the prophecy because of how distantly related to firestar is, you know how i feel about that already.

complaining they're related and that's a problem is. deep breath here. it requires demonstrating that warriors has kept track of kinship all the way back to firestar's mother. and even if you wave that requirement, you still have to convince me they would care about that. this isn't a "they're cats, harold" situation, this is a "you would not know your third cousin even if you lived in the same town" situation.

i mean maybe you would. some people do. but my hometown has generations of people who married within its borders. you get as far as "cousin," maybe "second cousin" if you're feeling fancy. i'm not trying to make an always true statement, i just. every time i see someone complain about ivyfern being related, it strikes me as not understanding how extended families work?

i know third cousins isn't technically classified as a distant relative, but you have, on average, 190 third cousins. i feel so strongly about this i looked it up.

like i'm not. okay if you say, "I don't ship ivyfern because they are third cousins and that makes me uncomfortable" you are Valid. in general, you are all valid. i do not think you have to, on a personal level, be okay with ivyfern. you are free to do as you wish.

but. if you want to argue "ivyfern is a Bad Ship because they are third cousins" you have a hell of a burden of proof. simply saying "they share a great-great-grandmother" does not meet that, because like. yeah. we're all pretty damn related.)

(ivyfern rant over)

IVYFERN RANT OVER

right so. anyway. if you remove forbidden romance? you're forcing a lot more of those situations.

i've been messing around with modelling some small-scale fan clan-adjacent stuff to double-check the ratios for wbcd, and it's. it quickly becomes a necessity, is what i'm saying.

but i got distracted like. researching how related third cousins are. my point is not about that, that's like. a different topic. that i crammed into here because i have no self-control.

no, no, what i was trying to get to is: oakheart straight up tells us that cats have half-clan kits all the time, it's not a problem, no one talks about it. and that? that is exactly what we see modelled by warriors.

the only reason greystripe and silverstream have a problem is that silverstream dies and greystripe claims the kits. i feel very strongly that if she had lived, the kits would have been born and raised riverclan kits, that might, maybe, one day, guess who their father is.

we haven't had any half clan kits in a while, which yes! i think is a problem, but like. the fact that the three are medicine cat kits seems to be a bigger issue. which feels right.

and i'm not trying to argue what i think should be, i legitimately believe the text of warriors defends this, even in newer books which throw out a lot of the older world building in favour of more human-like conflict.

as readers, we are naturally following protagonists. we are following the interesting story. but imagine you're just a background riverclan cat. minnowtail, if you will. do you think, do you honestly think, anyone cares about minnowtail?

not in a bad way, just. if she's meeting up with mousewhisker at night, do you think anyone cares? of course not! no one cares. she's not a Protagonist. her kits aren't going to be prophesized about.

heck, finleap switches clans! and it's barely a big deal. it feels like one, but when's the last time anyone bothered dealing with it? that's what i thought.

(also i forgot like all of avos so that very last point might be a bad one if it is my argument stands i just literally do not remember anything in avos but violetshine. none. zero.)

but it's easy to get caught up with characters like hollyleaf and bristlefrost and forget that like. not everyone cares about the code. most of our protagonists do, because it's become mostly equivalent with being moral. and i have an essay draft titled "the code as religion vs the code as law" where i want to expand on this more, but i think like. that idea, that we as readers should use the code as a way of evaluating cats' behaviour, is flawed.

like, i'm not talking about being inconsistent with how that is applied. if you want to say, "the trial leafpool goes through for having half-clan kits is legitimate because of the code," i still think your approach is flawed.

because the cats themselves don't seem to think that way.

the code doesn't, to me, feel like the ten commandments. it does not feel like "you must do this to be a good cat."

rather, it feels like aesop's parables. "here are mistakes cats made and what we do instead of that."

i don't think the cats know the code the way we do. i do not think they memorize a list of rules as kits. i think they know what is and is not part of it, but i imagine they know the stories far more than the rules.

(i'm working on my lore stories to replace code of the clans.)

and even if that's my thoughts, i do think this is supported by the text. no one ever teaches the warrior code, cats just learn it in pieces. "don't waste food because we don't have enough to spare" is taught, not "there's a rule about food and starclan on the code."

that's why the whole arc of the broken code even works: the reason the imposter is able to manipulate things is because cats don't treat the code as a rigid set of rules and commandments, but guiding principles.

the parts of the code that we tend to focus on the most are relationships, apprentices, and battle. or that's my perception. i didn't do a poll to obtain that. there's also the leader's word, but readers don't usually think of that as a good rule, so i'm not including it.

but the parts the cats focus on most are food, territory, and the leader's word. which makes sense: those are basic needs: food, security, and...i don't want to say authority so much as some kind of social system. explaining it would be a whole thing. just trust with me, if you don't mind.

i don't think we have any real reason to believe cats care about half-clan relationships half as much as we do. yes, apprentices are chastized about it, but that's not really the same thing as being punished.

and it's hard to tell, because apprentices being punished has really fallen off, and that's kind of the problem with any argument i try to make about warriors, but.

wow.

i'm actually still on topic? i'm 2k words in and i'm still on topic? a day i never thought would come.

let's wrap this up. cats seem to care about half clan relationships in that: a) they lead to conflicted loyalties, b) they mess with borders and prey, and c) they are in the code as bad. in that order.

and again, if the code was some high and holy religious doctrine, we couldn't have the broken code as an arc. it does not work if the cats are already following it to a t, and know it word for word, because it's signfiicantly harder to manipulate people if they do.

not to the level the imposter does, at the speed he does.

and yes, you could argue that it's more bad writing, but. i think that discredits warriors. yeah, it sure has its fair share of bad writing, but i don't think that's in the way the imposter works. instead, he seizes on a big important doctrine that's nebulous, and uses that to control people.

and that? that feels much more interesting.

so with that in mind, i don't think the cats would care about your typical, non-protagonist forbidden relationship, and i don't think we should, either.

as far as a plot device, i think we're okay with what we have. don't get me wrong, i understand why people are tired of it, but i think we also should remember that warriors is not repeating itself. having multiple forbidden relationships is not repetitive. now, if medicine cats were having half-clan kits every series, i'd make a different argument.

but all of the major forbidden relationships have different outcomes, lessons, and circumstances, and for me, i think that's signficantly interesting.

i didn't really check sources and quotes for this, so like, if you spotted something wrong, feel free to correct me. my overall point stands, but there's a lot of warriors and i have a bad memory, so i could have missed somthing major.

[ihopesocomic]

I came across this comic from the My Pride review that you did and even tho I think the comic has neat art and I love the angle of our gay couple meeting as cubs, the whole thing with our disabled lead not being given a name feels just as problematic as Nothing being called Nothing? This is just my opinion tho, not trying to be rude? ^^; I love this comic but it seems to be making the same mistake My Pride did with its disabled main character and I just wanted to give my two cents.

I’m actually pretty glad you sent this, anon. Because we’ve been talking at great length on how to approach the whole concept of ableism through Hope’s name while also using it to deconstruct the topic, which we feel My Pride didn’t do a good job at. I’m going to do my best to explain our intent behind this.

warning: may contain spoilers

The fact that Nothing was called Nothing in My Pride wasn’t really a problem on its own (for me, anyway). There are certain factors that went into people having issues with it,  like the fact that Powerstrike is not portrayed as being in the wrong for giving Nothing the name. Aside from Fire and Sharptongue giving her death glares, nobody voices any real protest or makes an effort to point out how wrong and ableist Powerstrike is. It’s all treated as ‘wow that sucks but whatever’ and the plot moves on.

And then you have Hover happily using the name despite having no obligation to. When I first watched the trailer for MP and the first episode, I expected the name to be changed very quickly. Pretty much everyone did, as they were all speculating what the new name could be. Hover using it in the next episode was when it really began to rub people off the wrong way, including myself. Hover was a prime candidate for pointing out how shitty the name is and deconstructing the ableism behind it by not using it because a) she lives outside of Pride Law and its customs and b) this is her girlfriend, it’s perfectly natural for people to give cute little nicknames to their girlfriends. 

Then the show doubles down on its decision to keep the name with Feather’s take on it and by making the sole person who still refuses to use it - Fire - an antagonist. It sorta delivers the message that audience members who don’t like it are wrong too, which is all sorts of yikes.

I want to bring up what happened with Brightheart from Warrior Cats as a comparison. When Bluestar gives her the name Lostface when she is severely injured by the dog attack, the reaction to this is a complete 180 to My Pride. It is not only made clear that Bluestar is not in the right frame of mind and we as an audience should be appalled by her actions (because she’s using Brightheart as a means to attack StarClan), but several characters make it clear that this is an awful name and Cloudtail - who is falling in love with Brightheart - swears that he will never use it. Unlike Hover, who just laughs at how ‘mean’ her love interest’s name is. The name is then changed by Firestar a book or so later, effectively doing away with and deconstructing Bluestar’s ableism and allowing Brightheart to reclaim herself. It’s never doubled down upon and nobody is portrayed as being wrong for not liking it. Lostface is a bad name and it deserved to be phased out, end of discussion. Not saying that Warrior Cats treats its disabled characters flawlessly because Brightheart is treated appallingly afterwards, but the whole thing with her name is something that was handled pretty much fine imo.  What does this have to do with Hope’s name? Well, what we have planned is that Hope gets her nasty family name - Hopeless - in the upcoming chapter and we begin the deconstruction of how crappy the name is and how hardly anybody is going to use it in a similar vein to Brightheart’s situation. Clever immediately shortens the name to Hope at the end of this chapter, indicating that she does not intend to use the less flattering long version of the name. We expand upon this intent in the next chapter when Clever makes Hope her official name. Adamant and Quiet also call her Hope, as they were impressed by her attempt to take down the zebra and don’t vibe with their parents’ actions at all. The pair of them are annoying lil sisters, but we’re not setting out to make them ableist too. And that’s another thing: you don’t need to portray the majority of somebody’s family as ableist in anti-ableist media. One or two characters - especially those who are in a position of power, like the parents - is more than enough. You need other characters to balance out their awfulness and deliver an effective counterargument. 

Anyway, when Hope finally leaves her family with Storm in an upcoming chapter, it is revealed how Hope WAS named Hopeless (Storm isn’t immediately privy to this because of Hope being called Hope, as mentioned above). Of course, Storm says that Hopeless is a gross name and suggests that Hope can just be short for HopeFUL from that moment onwards. Hope agrees, effectively doing away with this last, abusive link to her family before she leaves the Golden Grove for good. And that closes the book on that particular issue. 

Sorry if this turned into a bit of an essay, by the way. We want to try and portray ableism and how wrong it is and how the disabled and everyone around them can rise above it as best as we can without disrespecting or offending anybody so things like this do require a thorough explanation. If there’s any further concerns from anon or anyone who reads this, feel free to poke us and open up discussion. We’re more than happy to hear constructive criticism on how we handle these things. Thank you for reading. c:

[harley-sunday]

This is Where I Leave You

Summary: What was supposed to be a simple mission turns out to be a matter of life and death. 

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader [unnamed OFC (loosely based on Firestar)]

Warnings: ANGST. Character death. Language.

Word count: 5.9k

AN: Not sure why but I was in the mood for some angst last week and so here it is. It is somewhat inspired by Flashpoint S02E14 for those of you who know that show, but it takes place in that wonderful Marvel fanfic Universe where everyone lives at the compound/in the tower and Friday night’s are for Tony’s parties. I’m sure you know the one. I apologize in advance and yes, I did cry while writing this, so…

♥

Flashbacks in italics

In for seven, out for eleven.

It’s almost like a mantra stuck on repeat in your head, a distraction that only works half of the time. 

In for seven, out for eleven.

In for seven, out for-

All of a sudden something moving in the treeline catches your eye and you squint against the sun to try and figure what it is and if you should alert Steve. 

Steve, who’s on his knees at your feet, quietly working away and completely focused on the task at hand, although you can tell from the tense muscles in his back and the beads of sweat crowning his hairline that there’s probably a war going on inside of him. You wonder what he’s thinking right now and if he also feels like the weight of the world has been dropped on his shoulders.

Something steps out from in between the trees then and you let out a sigh of relief when you see it’s just a deer and her two fawns foraging for food. You watch them as they continue their journey, the fawns trailing behind their mother as if they’re connected by an invisible string, completely unaware of the two humans that are not even fifty yards away. You know the direction of the wind is in your favor, a brisk breeze kissing your face every now and then, a welcome relief from the sun that’s burning your cheeks, but even so you are amazed at how invisible you can become if you just stand still. 

Your watch beeps then, scaring off the animals and letting you know another minute has passed. Like he did at every other minute mark, sixteen of them now in total, Steve looks up to check on you. 

“You ok?”

“Yeah,” it comes out a little shaky and the tears that have started to form in your eyes are not helping to convince him. You try to smile, “Guess I should have taken a better look at that waiver Tony made me sign when I first joined, huh?”

“Rogers,” Tony says as he takes your elbow and guides you to where Captain America is standing, alone, in front of the large windows that make up the entire west wall of Tony and Pepper’s penthouse, his hands in his pockets and his back to the crowded room. 

He turns around just as you and Tony reach him and you wonder if the serum has enhanced his hearing so that he can hear you approach him even over the murmur of the crowd that’s gathered here for one of Tony’s infamous parties, but then you realize he must have seen your reflection in the window he was staring out of. 

“Cap,” Tony says as he gently pushes you forward, “I’d like you to meet our newest recruit.”

You can see Cap’s eyebrows knit together as his eyes land on your face but before you can say anything Tony beats you to it.

“Don’t look at her like that, she’s still a good, what-” he shrugs, “-sixty years younger than you.”

You throw Tony a look, “Sixty-eight, thank you very much.” 

“Whatever,” Tony says with a very elaborate roll of his eyes.

You shake your head and try to ignore him, instead holding out your hand and introducing yourself.

“Steve Rogers,” Steve replies with a hesitant smile, his eyes moving from you to Tony as if he’s trying to figure out your history. 

“Yeah, so uh, she’s a nuclear engineer but as we all know-” Tony nods to his left where Bruce is sitting at the bar, “-sometimes experiments fail, you know, liquids get mixed up, nasty stuff. So now Firestar over here can produce radiation and light, and can absorb and manipulate energy. Pretty nifty, if you ask me, but then again-”

“Tony-” 

“You know what, fine,” Tony says with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I just came here to introduce you to Cap since he wasn’t here for the official introduction earlier this week.” He turns to Steve then, “Told you she’d be a delight.” 

You shake your head at Tony, “Please go away.” 

Tony fakes being shocked, hand to his chest as he says, “Remind me to write you up for bad behavior, Sparky,” before he salutes the two of you and disappears.

“Asshole,” you mutter quietly as you watch him make his way across the room. When you turn back you find Steve staring at you with a questionable look in his eyes. You’re quick to explain, “I know him from before all of this-” you hesitate but then you hold up your hand and snap your fingers, creating a tiny spark, “-happened. We worked together on some projects in the past and when he found out about the “incident”-” you air-quote the word, “-he contacted me and told me there would always be a place for me here.” You smile, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve known him long enough to know he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.” 

“Hmm,” Steve agrees, although he doesn’t comment on it any further. Instead he nods towards the other people in the room, his hands back in the pockets of his pants again, “Everyone treating you ok so far?”

“Yeah,” you nod, “it’s nice to be here.” It’s true. Ever since the incident at the lab you’ve felt like an outsider, felt people could tell there was something wrong with you, but not here. Here people are kind, not just interested in your powers but in you as a person, and honestly it’s like a weight has lifted off your shoulders. 

“Good.” 

You open your mouth to say something but it’s then your watch beeps, letting you know it’s time to get back downstairs. “I’m sorry,” you look up at Steve, “I have some things I need to do in the lab.” You pull a face, “Probably best not to mess up five months worth of experiments in my first week here, right?” 

Steve chuckles, “Probably not, no.” 

“So,” you try to smile, “I guess this is where I leave you.”

After another three minutes have passed you risk a quick glance down and see Steve’s still trying to clear the dirt surrounding your foot, his movements as controlled as possible, trying not to touch the box you’re standing on. When you look up again you do the same thing you’ve been doing for the past ten minutes or so and start listing off the things that are in your field of vision.

“Tahoe on my left,” you whisper, “an iron gate in front of it, three barracks to my right, all their doors open.” You let out a staggered breath, “The tree line in front and behind me, and a mother deer and her two fawns wandering around somewhere.”

“Steve at your feet,” he says then, looking up at you with a weak smile, “trying to get you out of this mess.”

“This is going to be one hell of a debriefing, Cap,” you try, but your voice catches on his name and when you try to smile you feel yourself failing.

“I don’t understand, Nat.” You let out a frustrated sigh and throw your gym bag on the floor, “Why does he have to be such an asshole?”

“He’s not-” 

“He tells me to watch my language like I’m a fuckin’ sixteen-year old kid,” you hold up your hand and start counting on your fingers, “he makes me write the reports after every mission we go on and then ever since last month, he wants to meet up so we can debrief but it’s always just the two of us, whoever else is on our team doesn’t have to attend for whatever reason, and then during our last mission brief he told me to be careful. Like, what the hell is that about?”

“Maybe he-”

“I have been a part of the team for over a year and all of a sudden he’s worried about me? That accident in the lab should have killed me, and let me tell you, I was ok with that. I made peace with it. But instead of dying I can now produce fuckin’ radiation at any given time,” you fume, “so I don’t think breaking and entering into a high security prison to retrieve the file of one their inmates is going to me killed. I’m sorry, but no.” 

Natasha throws you a look, silently asking if there’s more or if this is it. When you don’t say anything else she takes a deep breath and holds out her hands, letting you know she comes in peace, “Maybe he does those things because he likes you.”

“I- He-,” you stutter. “What?”

Natasha drops her hands and sits down on one of the benches, patting the spot next to her and waiting for you to sit down before she continues, “I’ve known Steve for a while so,” she shrugs, “I like to think that I know him,  sometimes maybe even better than he knows himself.” She smiles at you then, “I see the way he looks at you when he tells you to be careful-”

You scoff, “Yeah, sure.” 

“No.” Natasha shakes her head, “You want to know the reason why he wants you to write those reports?”

You shrug.

“It’s because he values your opinion more than anyone else’s,” Nat puts her hand on your arm and gives it a gentle squeeze, “and all those debriefings with just the two of you?” She chuckles, “That was my idea.” 

“What?”

“Like I said, I see the way he looks at you, but-” Natasha shakes her head, “-he would never admit it. Not to me, not to you, and sure as hell not to himself. He’s lost so much already that he doesn’t even believe this is a possibility.”

“And what makes you think I do?”

“Oh come on,” Natasha nudges you with her shoulder, “I’ve seen the way you look at him too.” 

“Steve?”

He stands up at the sound of your voice, so suddenly that it makes you want to take a step back, and so you curse quietly when at the very last nanosecond you realize that you can’t. Your leg’s a little shaky, no doubt a result of the conflict between the neurons your brain already fired when you wanted to move and the new neurons that were sent to intercept that message when you remembered you shouldn’t move. With a grunt you try to regain your balance while trying to make sure you don’t move your weight around too much because God knows what will happen if it does.  

“Shit,” he holds up his hands to you, “I’m sorry. I-”

“Hey,” you say with a faint smile, “language.” You nod towards the Tahoe that’s parked just outside the gate, “You think you could get me a bottle of water? I’m feeling a little thirsty.” 

Steve looks from you to the box and back, unsure almost.

You glance at your watch, “I’ve been here for almost twenty five minutes,” you try your hardest to smile, “I’m sure it’ll be alright.”

“Ok,” he nods, “just don’t move, ok?”

“Nope,” you say, popping the P. 

“I’ll be right back.” 

“Go on,” you nod towards the car, “I’m not going anywhere.” You know it is the wrong thing to say when you see him try to hide the pained look that crosses his face by turning around quickly, but you catch a glimpse of it anyway and it makes your eyes burn with unshed tears while a ragged breath escapes you. The unfairness of it all hurting you the most.

Before you have time to think about it though, your watch buzzes to let you know you have a new message from Nat, telling you to switch your comms unit over to channel two. You tap the settings on your watch and change the channel effortlessly, “Nat?” 

“Hey,” her voice is kind, softer than usual, and it’s at that moment you realize this is way worse than you thought. “You ok?” 

“Tell me what you know,” you reply instead, not really wanting to answer her question because you are sure that it will break you if you do. 

Nat clears her throat, “We’re almost there.”

“What’s almost?”  

Natasha hesitates.

“Nat-”

“Twenty minutes,” her voice is barely above a whisper. 

“Fuck.” All of a sudden it’s getting difficult to breath and it feels as if someone has dropped a hundred pound weight on your chest and then punched you in the stomach for good measure. 

“Just breathe,” Nat says, “please. Just,” she sighs, “don’t move and keep breathing, ok?”

It’s then you hear Steve close the car door, holding two bottles of water, “I need to go.” You let out a shaky breath, “Nat,  If I don’t- Promise me you’ll take care of him?”

“Don’t-”

“Nat,” you plead, “promise me.”

“Ok,” she whispers, “I promise.” 

You let him know you’re there with a soft knock on the door before you step inside, “Hey.”

“Hey,” he draws out, suspiciously eyeing the basket you're carrying.

“Uh, yeah,” you say, feeling the heat rising to your cheeks but deciding it’s better not to beat around the bush, “so today a year ago we had our first debriefing together and I thought maybe we should celebrate?” 

“Hmm,” he replies while walking over to where you’ve put the basket on the table, trying to lift the lid.

“Don’t,” you say as you swat away his hand, “you’ll ruin the surprise.” 

“Surely you don’t want to celebrate here?” 

“Why not?” You smile, “This is where we had our first debriefing after all,” a grin then, “and every one after that.”

“Well, if you’re up for it,” he says with a smile, “maybe we could go up to the roof? I think there’s a picnic table up there, so-”

“I’d like that,” you say, reaching for the basket. 

This time it’s him who swats away your hand as he grabs the handle, “Come on.” 

You follow him to the elevator bay not too far from the meeting room, for once glad that he prefers to have the debriefings at night, when there’s no one else around. There’s an elevator already waiting for you and when you get inside you push the button needed, while you wait for the elevator doors to close. 

When you get to the top floor and off the elevator you walk next to Steve as you make your way to the south corner of the building, to where the roof access is. Steve’s been awfully quiet ever since you stepped off the elevator and you start to wonder if this was such a good idea after all, but then you open the door that leads to the roof and you let out a gasp, “Oh,”

There’s a small platform that has four posts on each corner, with strings of lights hanging between them, casting a warm yellow glow on the picnic table that stands in the center. 

You look from Steve to the scene in front of you and back, “You did this?”

He smiles, “You’re not the only one who remembered our debriefing anniversary.” 

“I love it,” you tell him with a smile before you make your way to the platform. There’s a bottle of what looks like champagne in an ice bucket on the table and when you recognize the label you turn around, “How did you know?”

Steve shrugs, a mischievous smile on his lips, “I have my ways.”

“You have Nat,” you reply, suddenly remembering the conversation you had with her not even two weeks ago. She kept asking you all these random questions, like what your favorite drink was and if you preferred savory over sweet when it came to snacks. And now all your answers are on the table in front of you. “Remind me to thank her.”

“Already did,” Steve says with a grin. He motions for you to sit down and takes out the bottle of champagne, uncorking it with ease and filling up the two glasses that are on either side of the table without spilling anything.

“Captain America,” you tease, “popping champagne like it’s nobody’s business. Who knew?”  

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” 

“Really?”

He just nods and hands you your glass before he holds up his own and clinks it against yours, “Cheers.” 

“Cheers,” you reply, “to, uh, the debriefing crew?”

He chuckles, “To us.” 

“To us.” You watch him as he sits down opposite to you, and take a sip of your champagne, relishing the way it tickles your throat. You smile then, “I know you take your first coffee of the day with milk and sugar but that every other cup after that is black. I know you like baseball more than american football even though you don’t want Tony to find out.”

“What are you-”

“I know you and Nat are like brother and sister and that you value her opinion the most.” You shrug, “I know we work well together, even though you really should stop telling me to watch my language, and-” You hesitate then and drop your gaze down to your hands. 

His foot nudges yours under the table, “And?”

“And,” you draw out, “I know you like me,” you look back up at him, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks, “and I know I like you too.”

The sun’s at its highest point and you can feel yourself starting to get a little lightheaded just as your watch beeps to let you know you’ve passed the thirty-minute mark. You get ready to answer Steve’s inevitable question, but it never comes, instead there’s not but silence and it feels ominous, worrying you more than everything that has happened so far. 

When you look down you see Steve sitting back on his heels, shaking his head. 

“Steve?”

“I can’t do this.” He looks up at you, his eyes filled with dread “I am so sorry.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I’ve never seen one of these before,” he nods at the box, “I don’t know how to-”

“Hey,” you tell him, holding out your hands to him even though you can’t reach him, “it’s ok. Tony will be here soon, right? He’ll know what to do.” 

Steve lowers his head, not looking at you and ignoring your outstretched hands, “Yeah.” 

“Steve,” you tell him, your voice much more commanding now. You wait until he looks at you before you continue, “It’s ok.” There’s a weight behind your words that you hope he understands, even if maybe he doesn’t want to. 

He runs a hand over his face and straightens his back, “Ok. Let me get an update from Tony and then we’ll take it from there, ok?”

“Ok,” you agree and watch as he walks towards the gate, no doubt to keep you out of earshot. A little frustrated to be left out of the conversation you activate your comms unit, “Nat?”

“Yeah?”

“What channel are they on?” 

She probably knows better than to argue with you and so she lets out a resigned, “Five point three.”

“Thank you.” Before she has a chance to say anything else you push the button needed on your watch to switch to the other channel and all of a sudden Tony’s voice comes in loud and clear over your comms unit that you wear in your left ear.

“You sure about that, Cap?” 

You see more than hear Steve’s frustration from the way he’s pacing in front of the gate, “It’s a TM-38, Tony. Soviet-made. I’ve seen them in the field before.” 

“And there’s no way you can dismantle it?” Tony tries again, his voice a little tighter now.

“No,” Steve says while he looks at you, the desperation in his voice matched by his pained expression.

The mission brief is simple. The HYDRA division that used the army base had abandoned it in a hurry three days ago, leaving behind a plethora of important files that you and Steve are sent out to retrieve. This morning you tried to convince Tony to delay the mission with one or two days, not particularly looking forward to spending your six-month anniversary out in the field instead of the nice little restaurant Steve promised he would take you to. 

Tony didn’t budge, said he had intel that HYDRA wanted to return to collect what they could sooner rather than later and so here you are, trying to navigate through the dense Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia while Steve is driving the Tahoe that somehow got transported here on the Quinjet. 

“There it is,” you point towards a stone structure on your right. The base is surrounded by tall trees and definitely looks like something HYDRA would use to hide out in. You can only see three barracks above ground, but the map Nat has given you on the flight over shows an intricate underground network of tunnels, bunkers, and panic rooms. 

The room you’re interested in, however, is all the way in the back, housing about five servers full of information you’re desperate to get your hands on. There’s a laptop in your backpack to connect to the servers, and a program written by Bruce that should be able to copy the files in no time.

“Ready?” Steve asks once he’s pulled up to the gate. He looks at you with a smile and then surprises you by leaning in and giving you a kiss, “Not how I wanted to spend our anniversary, but-”

“Yeah,” you agree, for a moment allowing yourself to get lost in his eyes. Your watch double beeps then, letting you know it’s go-time and so you grab your backpack and exit the car, drawing your gun as soon as you reach the gate.

With every step you take towards the first of the three barracks it is clear that there’s no one here, the doors of all the buildings wide open and not a sound to be heard except your footsteps. You feel yourself start to relax a little and a sliver of hope starts to form somewhere, because maybe you will make it home in time for dinner after all. 

The trek to the server room proves to be rather uneventful and once you’ve connected the laptop to the mainframe it only takes about twenty minutes for the files to upload. You use that time to scout the other rooms for valuable information, but come up empty-handed. Apart from the servers there’s not much they’ve left behind and you can’t help but wonder if this was all some sort of setup and if by downloading the files you’re bringing in some sort of spy-ware. 

“Remind me to tell Bruce to check the files for any malware,” you tell Steve, who nods. A notification lights up on your screen then, letting you know the download is complete. You unplug the laptop and stow it in your backpack before you nod to Steve, “Ready.”

“Alright, let’s head out.”

When you finally make it outside again, you have to blink a few times to adjust to the bright sunlight that’s shining through the treetops. You’re following a few steps behind Steve as you fish a piece of paper out of your pocket, on it the coordinates for the pick-up point you’re supposed to go to, so the team can fly you back to the compound. Of course they’re programmed into your watch as well, but you like the act of taking a minute to write down the pick-up coordinates before you leave on your mission, almost like a sort of good-luck charm to remind you to make it home safe. 

A quick glance at your watch tells you it’s still early enough to make it back in time for dinner and you’re just about to tell Steve the good news when a gust of wind blows the paper out of your hand. You chase after it, stepping off the path that leads to the gate and onto the soft forest floor. You almost catch it but then the wind picks it up again and for a moment you debate just leaving it, after all it’s just a piece of paper, but the information on it is too important and so once again you chase after it.  

Finally it’s within reach and you stick your foot out, hoping to trap the piece of paper under your shoe before it flies off again. There’s a click resounding through the sole of your shoe once you’ve put your foot down, the surface on which you’re standing hard and not at all like the soft bed of pine needles you were walking on before. Instantly a chill runs through your spine and you try to stay in position, afraid of what will happen if you move.

“Steve?” 

He must hear the panic in your voice because he turns around right away, his brows furrowed as he tries to understand what’s going on. 

“I’ve stepped on something,” you try to explain, but your voice is too weak and the wind carries it away from him. You point at your ear and turn on your comms unit, before you hold up your hand to tell him to stay in position, “Can you hear me?”

“Yes.” 

“I- uh,” you let out a shaky breath, trying to gather your thoughts so you can give him as much information as possible, “I stepped on something. It’s a- It’s a hard surface, almost like metal, and when I put my weight down on my foot, something underneath clicked, like-”

“Like you stepped on a pressure plate?” Steve asks, already one step ahead of you.

“Yes,”

“Steve?” It’s Natasha who comes in first, “What’s going on?”

“Rogers,” Tony barks through the comms unit, “I need a status report stat.” 

“Please,” Steve pleads, his voice rough and full of emotion, “just- Just give me a second.” 

You can see him tap his watch before he runs a hand over his face, no doubt trying to figure out what to do next. With a small nod, almost as if he tries to convince himself, he drops his backpack and slowly starts making his way towards you.

“Steve. Don’t” you tell him, but either he really doesn’t hear you or just pretends he doesn’t because he keeps walking.

“Talk to me, Sparky,” Tony says, his voice much kinder now. “Cap’s offline, yeah?”

“I think so, but he’s making his way towards me, Tony, I-” you look around you, “I don’t know if it’s safe. Please tell him to stop-”

“His comm’s off,” 

“There must be some way to turn it on remotely, right?” There’s no reply and so you try again, “Right?”

“Fine,” Tony sighs, “but before I do I want you to know that there’s nothing we can say to stop him. You know that right?”

You lock eyes with the man walking towards you and your heart suddenly feels heavy in your chest, “I know.” When Steve reaches you, you turn off your comms unit, “So, what’s the plan, Cap?”

“I need to take a good look at it first,” Steve says as he drops to his knees, “just try to stay still, ok?”

You nod, “Yup,” and for the first minute or so you look down to try and see what he’s doing, but it messes with your balance and so instead you focus on the treeline in front of you, trying to remember the breathing exercises Clint taught you during one of your stakeouts together. 

Breathe in for seven seconds, out for eleven.

In for seven, out for eleven.

Another beep, but this time you ignore the impulse to check your watch. You don’t want to know how long you’ve been here. It doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters now is making sure Steve makes it out of this alive.

“They’re five minutes out,” he says when he gets back to you. 

“Ok,” you tell him, eyeing his reaction to see if he hears you over the comms unit you still have switched on. He doesn’t respond and so you figure he must have turned it off after talking to Tony, which is good. He kneels at your feet again, why you’re not sure. There’s nothing he can do. Still, it gives you a chance to check in with the rest of the team and you quietly whisper, “Team, do you copy?”

“Loud and clear,” Nat replies almost immediately. 

“Same,” Tony and Bruce say at the same time, while Clint’s “Yes, ma’am,” follows a little later. 

“Steve?” You wait until he looks up at you before you continue, “I think we need to consider our options here.” 

“Why?” He looks confused, “The team’s almost here, they’ll know what to do.”

“And if they don’t?”

“And if they don’t,” he bites back in a tone of voice you haven’t heard before, “we’ll find another solution.” 

“Steve-”

“No.” He pushes himself up and stands in front of you with his hands on his hips, “We’ll find a way.”

You hesitate, trying to find the right words, “I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to be completely honest with me, ok?”

“That depends on what you’re about to ask me, because-”

“Do you think I could absorb the energy that this thing produces?” 

He shakes his head, “I don’t-”

“No,” Bruce comes in over your earpiece, sounding absolutely defeated, “I’ve run several calculations but there are way too many variables-”

“This thing is too strong,” Tony says, the desperation seeping through his voice, “before you have a chance to absorb any of it you would be-”

“-know.” Steve lets out a heavy sigh, “I don’t know enough about nuclear physics to even try to answer that question.” 

“Ok,” you nod, trying to stay calm even though your heart is screaming and your stomach is twisting and turning inside of you, “but Tony and Bruce are sure they can dismantle it?”

“They said-”

“No,” it’s Bruce who speaks up first again.

“There’s no way to dismantle it safely,” Nat says, her voice low. “The Soviets purposely built it that way.”

No matter how hard you try to hide it, you are sure something registers on your face. Disbelief first, anger next because Jesus, Steve was supposed to be your happy ending, and finally acceptance, Nat’s words about not being able to dismantle the mine slowly turning into something inevitable. It’s ok, you tell yourself. You were living on borrowed time anyway. 

“-they could try,” Steve says, looking at you in a way that tells you he knows something’s up. He points at his earpiece, “Your comm’s on, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” you say, trying to give him an apologetic smile, but undoubtedly failing. “I’m sorry, Steve, but-” you shrug, “I just had to know.” You bite your lip to keep from crying and it’s almost as if the reality of it all has finally sunken in, “There’s nothing we can do.” 

“There has to be something-”

A chorus of no’s echoes over your comms unit. 

“No,” you shake your head, the tears you've been trying so hard to fight back finally spilling over, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Steve. My heart is pounding in my chest, my leg has been shaking non-stop for the past minute or so, if I- If I spasm right now-”

“Stop.”

“Steve-”

“Stop!” He rubs his hands over his face, “There’s got to be another way.” He turns his comms unit back on, “Bruce, what about a weight transfer?”

Bruce hesitates, “I’m not sure I-”

“The only reason the mine hasn’t exploded yet is because somehow her weight is keeping the pin in place, right?” He sounds frantic, pacing back and forth in front of you, “So what if I find something that’s the same weight and we do a transfer?”

“I don’t know, Cap,” Bruce says, “that’s really tricky. It has to be perfectly timed.” 

“At least wait until we get there,” Tony suggests, “don’t go at this on your own.”

“We’re less than a minute out, Steve,” Nat offers, “please wait.” 

“What about my shield, maybe-”

“Steve?” Your voice is weak, hardly audible but somehow he hears you and stops talking. “Steve, look at me.” When he does, you nod, “It’s ok.”

“What?” 

“Go get your shield.” You take a ragged breath and blow it out in a small puff before you nod to the car, “Go.”

“They’re almost here,” Steve tries and you know it’s because he doesn’t want to leave you, “they can pick it up.”

“Steve,” you try again, your voice a little louder this time, “go get your shield.” 

He looks from you to the car and back, unsure of what to do. 

It’s then you hear the distant rumble of another vehicle approaching and you know there’s not much time left. Another deep breath, “Now.” 

He furrows his brows at your command but then does as he’s told, and you let out a sigh of relief as you watch him jog to the car where he opens the trunk. He stands still for a moment, drops his head, and you can tell he’s feeling desperate and out of control. Leaving him behind hurts you more than anything else, but you know there’s no way you’ll make it out of this alive. It feels like whatever got a hold of your heart earlier tightens its grip, making you gasp for breath. 

“Steve,” you tell him, your voice soft as you see him turn towards you, his shield in one hand as he closes the trunk with the other, “it’s ok. It’s time to let me go.” 

You think you hear Tony whisper a quiet, “Fuck,” over the comms unit. 

“I know. I’m sorry guys,” you tell your team, “but I guess we all know there’s no other way.”  “Are you sure?” It’s Tony who asks you the question. You nod, even though they can’t see you, “It’s the only way.”

“It’s ok,” Nat says, her voice a little unsteady, “It’s ok. I’ll take care of him.” 

“I’m gonna miss you, kid,” Clint tells you in a whisper.

“It was an honor working with you,” Bruce says, his voice catching on the last word, “I’ll keep your research going, doc.” 

“You are braver than anyone I’ve ever met,” Tony admits quietly, “I won’t forget you.” 

“Thank you,” you whisper, a single tear sliding down your cheek. 

When you look back up you see Steve is still rooted in the same spot, disbelief written all over his face. You try to smile at him, “I love you,” a sob then, “I just want you to know that.” 

Something else registers on his face then, something you recognize as the determination to make things right and you know it’s your cue. 

“Let me go, Steve,” you nod to let him know it’s ok. A faint smile then as you remember the first time you met him, “I guess this is where I leave you.”

From that moment everything happens in slow motion. 

Steve is running towards you, eyes wide in shock when finally he understands what you’re about to do. 

You give him one last apologetic smile, and another “I love you.” 

He comes to an abrupt stop just thirty yards away from you and watches you as you take one last deep breath. 

It’s time to move, you tell yourself, and when the neurons fire from your brain and the muscles in your leg react you whisper a final, “It’s ok.” 

The last thing you see and hear is Steve, his eyes finding yours as he quietly tells you, “It’s ok. I love you.”