#sleekwhisker could be one

[yuridovewing]

results are in!! im skipping the rest of avos. yay :3

[esoteric-terror]

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

[bonefall]

Who’s Juniperclaw again? Also the quote about ruthlessness? Staring curiously

Canon!Juniperclaw is tigerHeartstar's nephew, son of Dawnpelt and brother to Strikestone and Sleekwhisker.

He was the first deputy of ShadowClan after tigerHeartstar's return, until he tried to pressure SkyClan into leaving the Lake in AVOS by poisoning their food. No one was hurt any worse than "bad tummyache," but he was exiled anyway. He then died rescuing Shadowkit from a flooded river QuickTime event.

We found out that he went to the Dark Forest in TBC. He was allowed to become the guardian of the tunnel between the Place of No Stars and StarClan's Hunting Grounds, in the hopes of finding redemption.

For BB this is all a bit different;

I've been waiting for a while for the perfect opportunity to rise to rework Juniperclaw's story.

I REALLY like the idea of his poisoning, his exile, and his placement in the Dark Forest... but the back half of AVoS is baddd.

Plus, it's just too bloodless. If he's going to get DARK FOREST over this, I expect a body count.

So now, his actions lead to at least 3 deaths. Leafstar is one of them, Sparkpelt was ALMOST another but Hollylark uses xeir powers to die in her place, and Flickerkit dies shortly before his birth.

ANYWAY JUNIPERCLAW

I feel like he wasn't expecting the death toll to be so devastating.

This event is being moved to Squirrelflight's Horror. Juniper's plot was that he was going to do this poisoning to blame it on The Sisters.

He just wanted SkyClan off ShadowClan land, he figured if he convinced Leafstar that the Sisters are a threat that needs to be dealt with that she'd move

He didn't think it would kill three people, just make them sick! Maybe just ONE of Leafstar's lives! And how was he supposed to know ThunderClan's leader's daughter would have a bowl?!

This plan probably works, but the guilt EATS Juniperclaw alive. He got exactly what he wanted-- a battle patrol against expectant queens.

I can't see this secret going on too long, someone rats him out and he crumbles. He can't live with it anymore.

But in Waspstar's eyes, an exile was a light punishment. Exactly what xey expected out of Heartstar, so openly biased for her family, not taking the death of SkyClan's leader as the murder that it was.

Xey dealt with this by sending a message; all "honored" guests could come and pay their respects to Leafstar.

Juniperclaw isn't invited explicitly... but the message reaches him. It is implied. So he comes, hoping to offer his sincere regrets.

I'm trying to figure out the cat equivalent of "Being taken out back and shot" is lmao

Professional mob boss kind of hit. Someone takes out the pistol with a silencer and ends his existence in the back alley as the loud party inside drowns out the sound of the shot. Do you understand me

Whoever the "hitman" was, Waspstar is the one who ordered it and xey take full responsibility.

The kill was clean. Not messy. Juniperclaw didn't suffer-- unlike his victims.

Juniperclaw goes to the Dark Forest like canon, but in BB he isn't the only border guard. He's buddies with Mudclaw and Appledusk.

The line about ruthlessness I mentioned offhandedly is this one from KA Applegate. I'm pretty sure it's from Animorphs.

"People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think that it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution."

It's become a popular paragraph as of late, because it slaps.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

The Genetic Journey of Two Sisters: an Analysis of ThunderClan’s Gene Pool

Flashnose and Daisytoe made their debut in Goosefeather’s Curse, and are revealed to be sisters born to unknown parents. Although these sisters fade into the rest of ThunderClan’s old history, their genetics encompass the entirety of ThunderClan, bleeding into two other Clans. Here is an analysis of their profound genetic impact, starting with Flashnose. (Cats who’s names are red have kits)

Flashnose + unknown tom have a single daughter together: Swiftbreeze. Later in life, Swiftbreeze and Adderfang have five children: Leopardfoot, Patchpelt, Redtail, Spottedleaf, and Willowpelt. Leopardfoot and Pinestar have Tigerstar, Mistkit, and Nightkit. Patchpelt and Goldenflower have Swiftpaw & Lynxkit, while with Robinwing, he has Longtail. Willowpelt, with unknown toms, have Darkstripe & Graystripe. With Whitestorm, she has Sorreltail, Rainwhisker, and Sootfur.

→ Tigerstar and Goldenflower have Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt, and with Sasha, Tadpole, Hawkfrost and Mothwing. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight have Sparkpelt, Alderheart, Dandelionkit, and Juniperkit. Sparkpelt and Larksong have Nightheart, Finchlight, and Flickerkit. Tawnypelt and Rowanclaw have Tigerstar II, Dawnpelt, and Flametail. Tigerstar II and Dovewing have Lightleap, Shadowsight, Pouncestep, Birchpaw, and Rowankit, while Dawnpelt and Crowfrost have Strikestone, Sleekwhisker, and Juniperclaw.

→ Graystripe and Silverstream have Feathertail and Stormfur, and with Millie, he also fathers Briarlight, Blossomfall, and Bumblestripe. Stormfur and Brook have Pine that Clings to Rock, Lark that Sings at Dawn, Feather of Flying Hawk, and Breeze that Rustles the Leaves. Blossomfall and Thornclaw have Stemleaf, Shellfur, Plumstone, and Eaglewing. Stemleaf and Spotfur have Stempaw, Graypaw, and Bristlepaw.

→ Sorreltail and Brackenfur have Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, Honeyfern, Molepaw, Lilyheart, and Seedpaw. Cinderheart and Lionblaze have Fernsong, Sorrelstripe, Hollytuft, Spotfur, Snaptooth, and Flywhisker. Fernsong and Ivypool have Thriftear, Flipclaw, and Bristlefrost. Sorrelstripe and Dewnose have Bayshine and Myrtlebloom. Spotfur, as previously mentioned has Stempaw, Graypaw, and Bristlepaw with Stemleaf. Thriftear and Bayshine have Moonpaw.

→ Poppyfrost and Berrynose have Cherryfall and Molewhisker.

→ Lilyheart and Snowbush have Larksong, Honeyfur, and Leafshade. As previously mentioned, Larksong and Sparkpelt have Nightheart, Finchlight, and Flickerkit.

This wraps up Flashnose’s genetic line, moving us into Daisytoe’s genetic line.

Daisytoe and Rooktail had Moonflower and Goosefeather. Moonflower and Stormtail had Bluestar and Snowfur. Bluestar and Oakheart had Mistystar, Stonefur, and Mosskit. Mistystar and Blackclaw had Reedwhisker, Primrosepaw, Pikepaw, and Perchkit. Snowfur and Thistleclaw had Whitestorm. Whitestorm and Brindleface had Ferncloud, Ashfur, Elderkit, and Tulipkit. With Willowpelt, he also had Sorreltail, Rainwhisker, and Sootfur. Ferncloud and Dustpelt had Spiderleg, Shrewpaw, Birchfall, Larchkit, Hollykit, Foxleap, and Icecloud. Spiderleg and Daisy had Toadstep and Rosepetal. Birchfall and Whitewing had Dovewing and Ivypool, who’s mates & kits were previously mentioned.

Although Daisytoe and Flashnose’s bloodlines began separately, they converge at certain points (i.e. Whitestorm x Willowpelt, Tigerstar II x Dovewing) to form an extensive genetic pool that is responsible for 30/46= 65% of the current ThunderClan population (as of Wind) & 6/30= 20% of the current ShadowClan population. Holy shit.

I’d add Robinwing x Fuzzypelt as an honorable mention, but given the fact that their son (Dustpelt) and their granddaughter (Ferncloud) have kits, their line merges with Daisytoe’s since her great-grandson is Whitestorm, who’s also Ferncloud’s father. Alternatively, we could focus on Frostfur, but since both of her sons took mates from Flashnose’s genetic line, their entire family line is one with Daisytoe & Flashnose’s.

Times like this make me feel very fortunate that certain information was retconned. If the fact that Redtail & Brindleface had Sandstorm remained canon, this would make Squirrelstar, Leafpool, Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf all related to Flashnose. Which raises that ThunderClan percentage from 65% to 76%. This would also make Lionblaze and Cinderheart related.

Seeing how much ThunderClan grew from these pair of sisters is always a “wow” moment for me. Their spirits have likely faded from StarClan’s ranks, but I can’t help but wonder if they ever looked down on their descendants and felt proud of how big their families have grown.

I’ve never seen the exact percentages before that’s absolutely wild. It’s insane how these one off characters that no fan would really remember otherwise, let alone remember they are sisters, have ultimately become the root of most of the current ThunderClan incest problems.

[sadiepeach]

I RAMBLE ABOUT A STARLESS CLAN ANTAGONISTS

I made a meme with the ASC villains a few days ago and then I proceeded to ramble about them. This is the rambling that was supposed to accompany that post before I had some technical issues with Tumblr.

Warning: I think some of my takes here might suck in the eyes of others but I can't really rest until I get these thoughts out of my head.

I like to think Podlight was aware of this whole mess since before Curlfeather died and that he just thinks Splashtail is continuing his sister's work. I think that before Wind, he knew everything they had done EXCEPT for the fact that Splashtail planned to have the dogs kill Curlfeather. I also believe he will likely betray Splashtail now that Frostpaw revealed that bit of information at the Gathering in the beginning of Wind.

I also desperately need to see how Splashtail, Berryheart and Podlight interact and how they rule RiverClan. But for that, we need a protagonist to witness these events. So, dear antagonistic kitties, please notice the THREE protagonists hiding in a bush JUST outside your camp and take one of them as prisoner. It can't be Frostpaw because she is meant to rescue RiverClan and she can't do that by being stuck in the enemy camp. Also, Splashtail would kill her. It can't be Nightheart because Berryheart would want him dead. Thus, Sunbeam remains our only option. And if they do capture Sunbeam, we will have more mother-daughter angst, yay. Actually, no, I changed my mind Nightheart could fit this scenario quite well too. Berryheart could use him to sorta "blackmail" Sunbeam I suppose. And Frostpaw and Sunbeam could have the occasion to bond a little more as they're both protagonists. Nighheart already has strong bonds with both of them. We would have an arc where the protags have bonded with each other all the way through. (Unlike TBC in which Shadowsight was like: "Omg we've been through so much together, the 3 of us, we're such good friends!!! Meanwhile Bristlefrost: We spoke to eachother exactly 2 times. (I don't think she said this but it'd be so funny if she did))

Do I want these cats to die though?

Berryheart, yes. (too much of a karen to be left alive, I'm sorry). I know it's kinda iffy since the other female antagonist of this arc is also dead but like. I'm sick of her, I'm sorry.

Podlight, no. (he's such a silly little man, bonus points if he actually remains a medicine cat and learns how to be a proper one). Actually this applies only if he does end up betraying Splashtail. Otherwise, I'd want him gone too.

Splashtail, no. (I am so sick of the main villain dying. But I also don't want him to disappear into the unknown like Sol and Sleekwhisker. I guess what I want the most for him is a redemption of sorts. Maybe he is beyond that. But like. Fucking Clear Sky got a redemption (a very shit one, but a redemption nonetheless). So I'm not that convinced Splashtail is beyond redemption. I guess I also want him to live because he is so unbelievably young and has his whole life ahead of him. My solution to this dilemma is the following: Splashtail is defeated. He wants to return to RiverClan like he said he'd do when he was at the Moonpool with Podlight. But Frostpaw tells him that he may come back to RiverClan only after he learns to meditate and reflect on his actions. She basically sends him to the Park Cats and after some time he comes back as a changed man and proves himself to the rest of his Clan. THE END. I don't know how this would work without him killing someone, though (actually if they sent Rootspring (+ another cat so it's 2v1) to guard him, it would work as Rootspring has his op earth powers that could help him easily find both the park cats and find Splashtail if he tries to run away and escape from him). It's a bit frustrating how we still don't know that much about Splashtail and how his mind works because I have so many headcanons based on little things I noticed about him and I have the massive urge to write a psychological analysis on him but the Erins might butcher his character so it would all be meaningless. I will make an AU out of it if it doesn't come true (which probably won't) and write a fanfic or something about his whole life in RiverClan as well as this redemption journey I have in mind for him.)

I got it all out for now, thank you for reading!

[morningmask27]

Yarrowleaf X Sleekwhisker!

from left to right Hemlockstream, Oleanderheart and Lobeliabite

Hemlockstream is a quiet, but caring cat. most warriors of shadowclan kinda forget she exists

Oleanderheart is hurt a lot by everything that happened. They are very timid and withdrawn to most cats in the clan, fearing theid dislike of them.

Lobeliabite is so angry at everything that happened that she decided to flee shadowclan, but not without a last fight with poor Oleander, leaving Lobelia with a small cut, but blinding Olly in one eye.

The story I have for these three is kinda vague, but Yarrow and Sleek arrived asking for shelter since Yarrow was expecting kits, their kits. Yarrowleaf was always truly in love with Sleekwhisker, but slowly began seeing Sleek for who she truly is, but not before they managed to be accepted in SkyClan. Sleekwhisker stole the kits and held Tawnypelt and them hostage, threatening to kill Tawny and take the kits, Her kits with her away from the clans. Rowanclaw died like in canon, the kits were reunited with Yarrowleaf, but things were definitely not going to be better now.

Yarrowleaf hurts whenever she sees Lobelia; she looks so much like her mother, who hurt her and betrayed everyone. She also can't take proper care of her other two kits ngl, but her family do try to swoop in (Sleek's side of the family have disowned the kits). Snowbird and Berryheart are at Yarrowleaf's side to take care of the kits, but bring a sentiment of shame in Yarrow. She (and Berry and Snow and the rest) betrayed the clan and these kits shouldn't have been born, she loved a cat who hurt her and these kits are as much her kits as they are the kits of her abuser.

Yarrow begins falling for Berryheart's points, joining her in the extreme conservatism in ASC, but her kits had to bear the heaviest load. all three were raised by a mother who struggled massively to even look at them, a judgemental aunt and a strict grandmother; it was never the best environment to grow in and they show it. Lobelia sought constant confrontation, was always acting out to gain attention, Oleander was meek and timid and didn't want to do anything, which annoyed Lobelia and Hemlock was just there in the middle, but more often than not choosing Oleander's side in arguments between the two siblings.

ngl, how ths kits manage to not fully rip appart before getting their warrior names is even a myserty to me, but the thing that fully sets things going is the time around TBC and ASC. Hemlock was one of the rare cats who were kinda on friendly terms with Shadowsight and she just wanted to support her poor friend. Lobelia, acting like a very mean bully to everyone, was mostly out to hurt Shadow whenever possible. things were on an awkward stalemate between the three siblings as things became more dangerous for everyone, but as soon as Ashfur was dealt with and the code changes began being rolled in the tensions became WORSE.

Lobelia is a contrarian; Lobelia wants what her family doesn't want, so the code changes themselves were not of interest to her, but being a pain to her family was definitely the point.

Oleander was still so chained to everything happening in their family. They want so badly to be seen as worthy by them that they will roll over for them in many ways. They definitely had a crush on a cat from another clan (reciprocated!!!), but would Never fight back against their family.

Hemlock again was just in the middle; avoiding conflict, doing the peacekeeping, being a bridge between both siblings, even if she didn't really like how far Lobelia was going.

eventually all three siblings had reached their breaking point. Lobelia was fed up with ShadowClan and everything and wanted to leave, Oleander didn't want to lose a part of their family and begged her to stay, but Lobelia refused. Oleander for physical, Lobelia fought back, Hemlock could only watch as Lobelia clawed Oleander's eye before running away.

both siblings know she's looking for Sleekwhisker; their infamous mother that the entire clan doesn't dare to speak of, but were always reminded of her existence by Lobelia. Lobo was always compared to her silently and she wanted to know who this cat, her mother, is to be such a hated figure to the clan.

Maybe if in ASC Sleekwhisker returns, it'd be because of Lobelia in this au, or maybe Lobelia would never want to return, hoping to find a better environment to live in at her own pace.

--

for their names I immediately knew I wanted plants; plants that are toxic to cats. I also dabbled a bit in floriography for added meanings.

Lobelia is a flower that means arrogance/malevolence. the name lobelia also always made me think of the Spanish word for wolf: "lobo" and it made me think of that one tumblr post of the black sheep who becomes a wolf since everyone treats them like one

Oleander means desire, but also caution; something that is dangerous. I also decided to listen to Oleander from Mother Mother because it kinda fits the vibe of whatever Olly has going on here.

Hemlock is one of The Poisonous plants. even used to kill humans, it's just a deadly plant in general.

[borderline-purrsonality]

I love Needletail and Sleekwhisker and a part of that is watching the fandom be completely wrong about them.

Yeah I hate the way the fandom characterizes them and it annoys me immensely.

In the fandom, Needletail is pretty much always portrayed as a Sadgirl™️ and it makes me so angry how people miss the point of her character. The whole point of her character is that she was someone who made countless horrible decisions and hurt those who cared about her until it all came crashing down towards her. The entire point of her sacrifice was to try and amend her mistakes; by dying so her best friend Violetshine could live on. She is a tragic character, but the events in her life were fueled by following Darktail in order for power.

Sleekwhisker is at least more excusable, as she’s mainly a side character and her exact motivations are unknown. But there’s so much that could be done for her aside from Girlboss™️ What led her to follow Darktail. How did she go from being the granddaughter of the clan leader to betraying him and ultimately killing him? How did she grow to be someone who caused the deaths of those who grew up around her? Her own mother Dawnpelt?

So many people fail to see the potential between these two characters. One a tragic antihero trying to amend her mistakes, and another a villain born from her own desire of power.

[flurrypawz]

Flurry returns with another funny au

Spoilers for a starless clan

Sleekwhisker returns to the clans at coincidentally the same time the of the mystery of mistystar and reedwhiskers deaths, Sleekwhisker would be allowed to join shadowclan again but a guard keep watch of her at all times, Tigerstar allowed her to return in hopes she could find peace like other cats who used to follow darktail, shadowclan is unhappy about this decision and they are even more so when riverclans issue is revealed. After all the grief and anger yarrowleaf had for sleekwhisker all these seasons, the burning hatred she expected to feel when she first saw sleekwhisker standing in the middle of shadowclan clan camp, was numb, the fire had extinguished itself and all that was left was a thinning smoke. Yarrowleaf volunteered to be sleekwhiskers guard, she shared a moment with tawnypelt as they both silently remember the death of rowanclaw, and the almost death of yarrowleafs children. Yarrowleaf should want to pin sleekwhisker to the ground and claw her ears out like she had tried to do to her kits, but she couldn’t, because behind the smoke was something else, trust? Something similar maybe.

Sleekwhisker has changed a lot the past few years, living a stray alone but also meeting many cats that have widened her views of the world, it was different from what she had learned from darktail, but then again sleekwhisker never trusted him, every moment she stood pining for him made her want to vomit the bile she kept sitting in her throat. She hated him for all the deaths of the cats she had turned her back on, her mother, her best friend and many more innocents. For the first months of living alone she was angry and took her frustrations out on any cat that would cross her path, but then she felt numb, what was this all for? There’s nothing. Sleekwhisker finds herself in the old two leg place and meets a kittypet called Melody, sleekwhisker finds herself having a conservation with the kittypet and introduces herself, melody asks sleekwhisker if she is a clan cat, sleekwhisker asks her how could she know? And melody responds that she used to be friends with a cat named onestar. Sleekwhiskers heart stops as she listens to this cat talk about the fallen windclan leader, melody asks sleekwhisker how onestar is doing, and sleekwhisker had never felt such dread after telling the cat that he was dead. This interaction inspired sleekwhisker to return to the clans one day and make things right. When she returns she decides to enter the camp on her own, and was unprepared for the hateful stares beaming into her. She was relieved when tigerstar allowed her back but it definitely wasn’t a welcoming one, she should have expected that, she was even more caught off guard when yarrowleaf of all cats chose to be her guard, sleekwhisker shrugs admittedly in defeat, but the time they spend together, sleekwhisker expected yarrowleaf to hate her, but she doesn’t, and instead acts… warm? Friendly? … affecionate? Is she insane?

And ye I’m gonna stop before this becomes a fully detailed fanfic BAHHAA OOPS

[pigeonclaw]

I had... such a hard time reading River of Fire. This book clearly has no sense for what it's trying to say or where it's going. Chapter lengths vary wildly (chapter 1 is 17 pages, chapter 9 is barely 5 pages and ends so abruptly) and any development for the characters is limited to an even more severe version of AVoS's usual problem —putting in a lot of short time skips and telling us afterwards that a problem was resolved off-screen, leading to a book that is almost entirely filler. (Funniest example is how a chapter-end cliffhanger was that Squirrelflight was one of the sickest cats in camp, and then in the next chapter some time has gone by and it's offhandedly mentioned that she's recovering well. She doesn't actually appear in a scene even once until after the plague is over.) I can feel the author struggling to find something to write about. And it's weird and sad to me because there actually is potential for a good plot here.

At this point, we've got a lot of cats struggling to find their place and fit into their homes: Twigpaw, Tree, Yarrowleaf, and sort of Sleekwhisker — she's ultimately a traitor, but still. All of these cats have a personal connection to Violetshine. She feels betrayed and depressed by Twigpaw going back to ThunderClan, she feels personally responsible for Tree because she found him and brought him here and — as is her typical pattern — she got attached to him really quickly for that reason, and she sympathizes with Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf but remains angry and distrustful towards them for their role in ShadowClan's dissolution and Needletail's murder. ShadowClan as a whole is just trying to get by and fit into SkyClan. This is a very unsettling time for both Clans, and for Violetshine in particular.

I would love for the plot to focus on this! Give me a book about Violetshine throwing everything into her friendship with Tree out of desperation to make someone in her life stay with her, spending time with Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf, and gaining some insight from her time with all of them about how hard it is to figure out where you belong when you don't really fit in anywhere and your loyalties are split between different groups. Bringing this understanding to her relationship with Twigpaw and learning to forgive her for leaving and trust her to make the right choices. Finpaw can also fit into that category of cats who are trying to fit into a new Clan. He and Twigpaw can be a great parallel/contrast to what's going on in SkyClan.

These elements are touched on only briefly — if at all — in the actual book and it's so disappointing. All relationships and character development are ignored in favor of devoting every single chapter to someone worrying about yet another vague and spooky prophecy and doing absolutely nothing about it. I'm with Jayfeather on this one — I'm sick of the prophecy.

A story is only ever as strong as its characters. This is why AVoS feels so weak to me — especially River of Fire — because the characters are not the focus. No matter how interesting they could be, they're always pushed aside. It's always about whatever prophecy of the day mentions the words "darkness" or "shadows" and ultimately barely matters.

[blimbo-buddy]

16 (you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

16: You can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I can't understand why so many people like NeedleTail and SleekWhisker or AlderHeart. Although SleekWhisker is fun to imagine if you see her as DarkStripe but a girl. But I could give less of a shit for NeedleTail or AlderHeart. Sorry but NeedleTail isn't as complex as one may think, she sucks, AVoS sucks, AlderHeart sucks.

[exvelovly]

📝🗺💋❓️

attackin u >:3

woah

OH THIS IS WARRIORS GIVE ME A SEC

1. i could write endless paragraphs about firestar don’t play with me

2. i think that fire on fire map with graystripe or something and i think it was firegray which i didnt even notice until i started paying attention to the lyrics (also how i found out sam smith was gay??) and i vaguely remember a zombie map for ummm JUST CHECKED YES it’s the first map that pops up when u search for wc zombie maps and it’s sleekwhisker

3. no i don’t go crazy over warriors ships i vaguely shipped some but i only really paid attention to like. firestar and his shit with sandstorm and graystripe

4. there was one cat who unintentionally got sorted into 2 different clans in the clan lists in separate books and i found that so funny but i forgot their name

[bonefall]

BB!Tigerheart -> Heartstar

For @noisycitrine and @halogenwarrior who wanted more info on the most woman ever.

[Image ID: An AU version of Tigerheart from Warrior Cats, now named Heartstar. She is a small, lithe russet-brown tabby with a long tail and bright golden stripes. She has a two-colored mane, raptor claws, and oval 'glasses'. There is a bright golden 'heart' on her chest.]

FUN FACT did you know that Canon ShadowClan had 7 male leaders in a row, from Houndstar to the modern arc? I said no. Girl Tigerheart be upon ye.

Names are sacred and carry immense weight in Clan Culture. When a cat is about to become a leader and would have a name conflict with an unfaded ancestor, StarClan renames them. Heartstar was particularly special.

She returned to the Lake after bringing back the love of her life, Dovewing, and died in a raid to take back ShadowClan kits from the Kin's remnants. Tigerheart's father, Rowanstar, couldn't bear to lose his last child. He declared her his deputy, and plunged into the Moonpool with her body.

He drowned the last of his lives away, so that she could live. StarClan itself was awed by this sacrifice, and performed a miracle. Heartstar burst from the water sputtering, ready to rebuild ShadowClan anew.

As a leader, Heartstar is back and ready for the controversy. She watched her Clan fall apart twice, once from Dark Forest meddling and a god's games, and again from Onestar refusing to lend aid during a yellowcough epidemic, and has vowed to never let that happen again.

She's ferociously protective of her family, supporters, and clanmates, in that order, and is not afraid to gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss if she thinks she's doing the right thing.

Clanmew Name: Gaorbabun, Babishai (Tiger + Heartbeating, Heart will Beat + Star)

Alignment: ShadowClan, brief periods as ThunderClan and SkyClan

Relationships: Mate - Dovewing Children (adopted) - Lightleap, Shadowsight, Birchkit, Rowankit Parents - Tawnypelt, Rowanstar Siblings - Dawnpelt, Flametail Nespring - Strikestone, Sleekwhisker, Juniperclaw Mentor - Marshwing

Below the cut is trivia first, then all the changes to the character arc-by-arc, up to OotS, AVoS, and Heartstar's Rise.

Trivia!

Rowanclaw is now the son of Brokenstar along with Littlecloud! They were honor-sired for Newtspeck.

They have a distinct bi-colored mane from their mother, and 'glasses' from their father.

Tigerclaw's family trait is being brown tabbies with raptor claws.

Heartstar got all of the traits because she deserves it

I also miss how she was once described as having 'gold' in an older description so compromise; golden stripes.

I feel like you can't just miraculously resurrect without some kind of cool physical change, so, Heartstar gets to have a raised heart-shaped keloid scar on her chest.

She didn't sire any of her kittens; Light and Shadow were Bumblestripe's, and Strikestone's death left two more behind. It's free baby.

Heartstar fights in perfect tandem with Dovewing. Heartstar is so small that she can leap freely around and under her, skilled enough to never trip her up.

Their favorite tactic is for Dovewing to grapple with a huge opponent, allowing Heartstar to pop like a weasel from up between her legs to viciously attack the opponent's belly.

Tigerheart was the smallest member of the Tigerkin family, by far. In a lineup of record-setting Clan giants, Heartstar is barely larger than an apprentice.

She is much smaller than her entire family. Pocket pikachu.

Heartstar's favorite food is crayfish. She likes how most Clans are unsettled by this, Reedclaw was unbothered.

BB!OotS

Change NUMBER ONE is that Tigerpaw is the only survivor of Tawnypelt's second litter, born during the Cruel Season that saw the rise of Bramblestar.

His siblings, Dawnpelt and Flametail, are much older.

A tom-kit initially named Goldenkit, the other kits in the litter died to illness. Before her last child died, Tawnypelt angrily challenged StarClan by renaming the survivor Tigerkit.

"Go on, take a tiger into the stars so it can bite your faces off. No? Thought so."

Dawnpelt and Flametail were cool older siblings, Tigerkit especially idolized Dawnpelt and her quick sass.

The rowdy and troublesome kit was assigned to Marshwing, the cat that Brackenfur saved from an eagle during the Great Journey, now one of ShadowClan's finest warriors.

Marshwing's mentor was Oakfur, who liked to joke that whenever Marsh wanted to admit defeat he'd take the little twerp instead.

Tigerpaw met Dovepaw on the journey to unblock the southern river.

During this time, Dovepaw made her realize that she was definitely not a boy and probably also a lesbian.

This was to Rowanclaw's soft amusement when she returned home, as he is also transgender and figured it out after going on a long journey

"Maybe if we send you out again you'll come back with another one"

Dove and Tiger were fast friends after this eye-opening trip. Dove's perspective expanded to include the other Clans and the death of Rippletail made her realize how much they matter.

Tiger's perspective expanded to, "I do whatever i want because I want to see Dovewing"

Unfortunately for them, tensions between ThunderClan and ShadowClan were beginning to sour. Blackstar and Russetfur were not fond of the new management style of Bramblestar and his aggressive deputy, Thornclaw, both of which had recently taken power shortly before Tigerheart was born.

Unknown to Bramblestar, Thornclaw was training in the Dark Forest, and trying to encourage him to act more aggressively than Firestar.

Tigerpaw started training in the Dark Forest through her good friend Redpaw, who was brought in through his mentor Applefur. Applefur was the sister of Marshwing.

Her paternal grandfather was Brokenstar, and her maternal grandfather was the infamous Tigerstar. If Tawnypelt had given her this name to ward away StarClan and protect her death... then surely there was a power to gain from him?

Tigerstar took a shine to his granddaughter immediately, introducing her to his dead son, Hawkfrost.

It was very surprising to not find Brokenstar in the Place of No Stars, but Runningnose was there to... "explain" is not the right word, more like, "cryptically leave breadcrumbs of answers"

Tigerpaw was often pitted against Ivypaw in particular, as if their mentors considered them rivals. It fostered a lifelong resentment between them, especially as Dovewing began to speak highly of Tigerheart.

Tigerheart remained a supporting character, someone that Dovewing was able to talk to for a different perspective from her father Lionblaze and sister Ivypool, until near the end of the arc during a fateful battle

Attacking ShadowClan for control of a contested berry patch, Russetfur was killed, and Blackstar was devastated.

A troublemaking calico creature slid into his good graces. Sol, God of Chaos and Games, convinced him to abandon his leadership.

In the scramble, Redwillow, Ratscar, and Applefur took control of ShadowClan, and started enforcing their own rules. Tigerheart was more cunning than them, and realized they were not going to be able to keep power.

She was threading a thin needle, not openly supporting her fellow Dark Forest trainees, and she knew it.

When they were thrown out of power by Rowanclaw rallying Blackstar to return to power, Tigerstar punished them harshly in the Dark Forest and praised Tigerheart for her foresight.

Shortly after, Flametail had figured out the plot. Redwillow, Ratscar, and Applefur were freakishly strong and Thornclaw was encouraging Bramblestar not to help. They were all in cahoots!

The Dark Forest used their powers to kill him so he'd be silent, ice cracked by demonic meddling.

Tigerheart didn't know if she was going to be able to save his soul, but she had to try. Once again, Tigerstar had ignored the warning sign to preserve his family, calling off the execution.

In that moment, it proved to Hawkfrost that he was undeniably playing favorites. It wasn't about the plan. It wasn't about breaking out of the Dark Forest. It was all another project for Tigerstar's ego... and he was not valued like his bloodline through Tawnypelt.

(Go check out my meta intentions with Hawk's redemption arc over here!)

During the Great Battle, Tigerheart stayed to watch the embarrassment of the first attack, but defected as soon as the fighting got serious in the second one. She wasn't going to hurt her Clanmates, haughtily announcing that this was the best opportunity to, "join the winning side."

After the fight, Dovewing's powers started to ebb away... taking her hearing with it. Meeting with Tigerheart was always refreshing, sometimes it felt like she was the only one who really 'understood' what she wanted.

Things began to get serious when Tigerheart's apprentice, Sleekpaw, developed a rebellious streak, and a group of strange cats arrived at the lake. Onestar reacted badly, and ShadowClan fell to the kin.

BB!AVoS

If Tigerheart has any regrets, it's how she was careless with her niece. She didn't think it was a problem to just let her work it out.

It seemed... harmless. Kids who wanted to feel cool and powerful, she could empathize with that.

The apprentices weren't wrong, at first. The way Onestar immediately became upset about the outsiders, the way two kits were separated because of a vague prophecy, how Clans refused to cooperate even after everything. Tigerheart was frustrated by much of it too.

But there was something wrong about Darktail. Especially when he announced that he was accepting any cat who felt wronged and excluded from Clan society.

Maybe the impulse was harmless. Maybe Darktail was the problem in the end. In any case, the yellowcough outbreak ravaged ShadowClan and the Kin, and WindClan refused to let either of them collect mullein to treat their sick.

Dying to yellowcough is a horrible fate. Catmint can cure, but mullein must be used to prevent lung damage. Tigerheart watched clanmates survive the illness, only to choke to death in the end.

Crowfrost, the deputy and Tigerheart's brother-in-law, was one of them.

Crowfeather, Harespring, and Heathertail went behind Onestar's back to deliver what they could, but too late to save many cats that Tigerheart loved.

After this, ShadowClan quickly fell apart. The Kin was stronger, having immediately kicked the sick out of their group and quarantined.

Cats like Scorchfur said that if Rowanstar wasn't a weak leader, he would have made "hard choices" and done the same

Tigerheart realized that every group had a different reason for following the Kin. Some wanted Clans to be harsher. Some wanted more diplomacy. Others were just looking for connection.

She's smarter than most, and realized that this was much like the Dark Forest. The Kin was everything and nothing, and that meant there was probably an ulterior motive behind it.

They couldn't be trusted.

But no one listened to her. ShadowClan crumbled, she had to flee, and her last memory of her sister Dawnpelt is the image of her worried expression over her shoulder, leaving her behind in the Kin's new camp.

Dawnpelt wouldn't separate herself from her kits, including Sleekwhisker.

An ancient curse was filled yet again, tabby tiger watching their golden sibling fade away.

While staying with ThunderClan, Tigerheart found herself wrapped up in the messy sort-of-relationship between Dovewing and Bumblestripe

Dovewing was clearly unhappy, caught between two uncertain options, growing increasingly frustrated with ThunderClan

When Violetshine brought SkyClan back to the Lake for the final fight with the Kin, Tigerheart decided she needed to go be with her freed Clanmates, wherever they were to go.

Tigerheart asked her to come, but Dovewing wasn't ready. She couldn't leave her Clan, especially not when it wasn't even clear if the ex-ShadowClan cats would be fully accepted into SkyClan

Shortly after making that choice, Dovewing became pregnant. Dread twisted into panic as she realized she didn't want to raise kits with Bumblestripe, the thought of ThunderClan constantly speaking over her as a parent sunk in, and the knowledge that she had already turned Tigerheart down overwhelmed her.

With ShadowClan disbanded, Rowanclaw refusing to choose a new deputy and rejecting his remaining lives, Tigerheart and the survivors had to try and get used to being part of SkyClan.

Heartstar's Rise

This is a summary; go ahead and see the 1st draft outline of Heartstar's Rise over here!

After Dovewing choose Bumblestripe over her, Tigerheart returned to the ShadowClan survivors

They had been annexed into SkyClan, as Rowanstar was refusing to lead after his Clan fell apart under his watch

He never replaced Crowfrost after his horrible death, and was calling himself "Rowanclaw."

Ironic, that he was now in the same position as Blackstar, just before he was made deputy... but this time, there was a safer, more stable Clan for his cats to serve. He was convinced he was doing the correct thing.

This was causing problems related to the ex-ShadowClan cats having a lack of autonomy over themselves; they were no longer a Clan, but still felt like one.

They didn't want to be SkyClan cats. They were ShadowClan.

Tigerheart was more of a leader than Rowanclaw, but he was insisting ShadowClan would never have another star to its name.

"Let it rest in peace."

But before she could hatch a plan, Dovewing vanished, and Tigerheart was told by Poppyfrost (open to change) that she fled because she was pregnant.

So, of course, Tigerheart charged off to go find her.

After traveling far, far east for many days, she hit the church of the Guardians.

While there, her resolve to rebuild ShadowClan only grew stronger, though she promised Dovewing that this time... it was her choice.

She would stay and raise the kits with her, become a Guardian. Anything.

Dovewing, however, felt that this wasn't right either. Tigerheart needed to get home, her love of ShadowClan was completely different from Dovewing's dread for ThunderClan.

And... though she loved it here, she would love being wherever Tigerheart was.

Several guardians decided to join them for their own reasons; Blaze, Ant, and Cinnamon.

Spiresight is probably not going to be one of these (open to change); because he is now the leader of the Guardians. His name refers to the Guardian's new leader ability to sense anything that happens in their territory through the flora that grows there. It was not a name given by Tigerheart.

They came back to SkyClan and ex-ShadowClan cats having an argument over kittens that the Kin's remnants were still in possession of.

Yarrowleaf had been exiled from the Kin remnants and was begging for them to go back and 'save' the newborns Hopkit and Flaxkit.

The ex-Shadow cats wanted to launch an attack; Leafstar didn't feel there was enough evidence to justify a kitten-stealing raid.

How could she know if Yarrowleaf was telling the truth that Nettle was a danger to the kits? Yarrowleaf could have been exiled because she was the danger.

Tigerheart decided that enough was enough. ShadowClan was clearly still a separate Clan in their hearts, and they should be making their own choices, not begging someone else's leader for permission.

She will make controversial, ShadowClan-centric choices as a leader-- this time around, I want it to be less "black-and-white," so that the Kin remnants aren't completely evil and there's nuance to this situation... which Tigerheart tramples, displaying how she makes decisions.

But, this time, the raid has a consequence; Tigerheart died in the attack.

this is a formative moment for Shadowkit

However, Dovewing couldn't accept this, and brought her to the Moonpool in desperation.

Once there, Rowanstar refused to watch another child die. Declaring her his deputy, he grabbed her body and dove into the water, drowning away all of his lives so that she could live.

StarClan was touched by this heroic display of self-sacrifice, and was emotional enough to perform a miracle; Rowanstar's last life became Heartstar's first.

And with that life, Rowanstar gave her strength. Strength he used for one last kick, to send her thrashing back up to the surface of the pool as he sunk into the abyss below.

After this, Heartstar rebuilds ShadowClan. She can be a very biased leader, often ending up in situations where she lets her family off the hook easier than other warriors, or doling out 'theatrical' punishments just to say she did it. On that note, there are aspects of the code she barely cares about.

For this reason, even with the Clan she has the achievement of rebuilding, she can be quite polarizing. Her supporters adore her; her detractors despise her. This hasn't inhibited her ability to rule though...... yet.

(Better Bones does not cover arcs that are not done yet!)

Her political profile is largely 'soft' Traditionalism. She believes that ShadowClan must come first and that fighting keeps the Clans strong, but is committed to preserving the strength of the other four and does a lot of diplomacy. On Clan collaboration, she leans towards Fire Alone. On most other things, she leans Traditionalist.

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Idk if you’ve alr talked abt this but Berryheart and crew are for sure gonna get Sleekwhisker right

Ok this is brilliant, this hadn’t even occurred to me but now you’re saying it, this would be the perfect opportunity to bring Sleekwhisker back.

Sleekwhisker could easily tell Berryheart that when Rowanclaw died, things happened differently than what Tawnypelt and Violetshine said (also she could say how Tawny isn’t true ShadowClan anyway and Violet is SkyClan, in an effort to invalidate their accounts). And she could absolutely say she only cared about ShadowClan having strong leadership. Hell her revenge in river of fire on Rowanclaw was directly because she saw him as a weak leader who ultimately caused her friends to die.

And since one of Berryheart’s clique is Yarrowleaf, Berryheart is a former kin member herself, and that she is now in a position of hurt and desperation, I can absolutely see her partnering with Sleekwhisker if she sees it for the greater good of ShadowClan. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Sleekwhisker and Raven have found themselves some new friends by now…

[blxxdingtoy]

To add on the Darktail thing; Darktail and the Kin could have been easily used as a way to shot down those believes the clans have. Darktail could have been a fun morally grey villian that could have started the whole "let's rethink our kitty cat clan culture" specially with outsiders with having Onestar actually take the fall and blame of the situation while also blaming it in their xenophobic believes.

This would have also made the whole situation 20 times more interesting with presenting the Kin as an actual "clan" with a better leader and just begin better in general to justify the amount of cats (literally all but 3) leaving for it while also having their shady bussiness with the whole trying to take the other clans and killing Onestar.

Hell, they could have continued this story line about breaking the xenophobic idea with SLEEKWHISKER. The fandom really destroyed the reason she had for doing what she did in River of Fire as just "hahaha evil queen" when in reality she did what she did bcs she considered Rowanclaw weak and went to The Kin bcs she was sad in Shadowclan and the way she says it actually makes it sound as she does in fact regrets her time in the Kin and what she did, but still puts all the blame into Rowanclaw's weak leadership.

What they could have done with this so the situation was a bit more interesting (and less stupid if we are honest) is having the clans be shaken up and try to justify the Darktail thing with the stupid "Oh but he was a rogue so", have Sleekwhisker come back with the same line of logic "She's not violent or EVIL she is clan born after all" and then here get fuck by her bcs that shit doesn't matter.

Fuck you could add into this the Skyclan situation and the ending of the arc could be Leafstar telling all of them to shut the fuck up about that xenophobic bullshit bcs "as you guys can see is makes no senses" and with a full rewrite of Tigerheart's shadow ALSO have him say the exact same thing bcs idk somehow the cats of the church help the clans somehow and with Tree is just a even bigger fuck you to them. The ending wouldn't actually be a happy one, instead the clans are actually shaken up and would lead to questions about their believes INSIDE CLAN CULTURE, bcs if they were wrong on the outside part what about the inside? Hell put Squirrel's hope on the mix with an also kind of torn Starclan that can be seen through that awful Trail scene so it actually give us something instead of anger. This would give a great set up FOR THE BROKEN CODE ITSELF.

The xenophobia thing is so frustrating, like the amount of characters who the authors present as “well he’s a little racist but he’s a good guy!” as if bigotry is just this fun little opinion some people have. And sorry for ranting but the way they won’t let it reflect on any other aspect of their character, like-

Any good ideals a xenophobic character has aren’t really all that good because even if they don’t say it, there’s the implication of “except for Those People.” If a xenophobic character says everyone deserves to be cared for even if they can’t contribute, they actually mean everyone Except Those Nasty Outsiders (rip Daisy). This is most relevant to the Erins’ stock character of “good and loyal warrior who always says the xenophobic things at clan meetings” but I feel like it DEFINITELY applies to bramblestar too

i love Darktail but this book makes me wish avos was obliterated. It is wild that he has been used to multiple times to JUSTIFY the Clan's wariness and downright hatred of rogues (because that's how the authors see it! they think bigotry has some real tangible root and not that is illogical and hypocritical system of beliefs). Why is everyone so mistrustful of the rogues? Well, those EVIL and BLOODTHIRSTY outsiders almost destroyed the Clans so now we have to sympathize with the Clan cats because this ideology has been "justified". Outsiders can be bad and therefore we can't fault the Clans for being wary.

Like Bramblestar is openly spouting pretty evil rhetoric in this. He is emboldening a faction in ThunderClan that was fighting to let a cat die on the basis of them being a rogue, and Bramblestar is pretty blunt that reason he thinks they should drive the Sisters out is because they're rogues and are therefore inferior to the Clans (which is then reinforced as not a horrific thing to say/believe by Squirrelflight thinking "he's noble in his own way" no I am not kidding). I'm repeating myself at this point but like...this is bad! It's BAD that Thornclaw can say they should let a cat die and he doesn't get the shit kicked out of him, it's bad that Bramblestar can espouse the idea of Clan superiority and STILL have the text fawn over him.

like at least Crowfeather's Trial was enjoyably bad, this is just downright frustrating and depressing.

[lesbiten]

ive ALSO seen complaints (or maybe just observations? but either way) about how so much non-main series content is focused around the first arc and its like. yeah kind of fair i guess but also i think its because of how little the authors were exploring the universe at that point

[iamfabiloz]

hmmm u know how sleeks whole fandom thing was that she liked darktail n all and she’s evil and does murdery stuff 4 him but like I was skimming avos river of fire and this scene makes me thimk

She hates rowanclaw and blames him for what darktail did?? She doesn’t like darktail?? What huh but JWKW what cats is she talking abt??? Crowfrost? Dawnpelt?? Did she not kill her mom real?? She was miserable growing up she says hmmm her whole supporting darktail bit that was cuz she hated Rowan 4 not dealing with him?? Or did she believe in him bc she thought he would give her a bette r life than Rowan, but then realized he was bad when he was killing people she liked she redirected the blame on Rowan 4 not stopping him?

Also this part it could have been sleekwhisker faking her shock, but when leaf is telling them abt the terrible things darktail has done, is she like oh man he’s even more horrible than I thought?? She pins the blame on rowanclaw for her being sad as a kit and his weak leadership for not getting rid of darktail, so darktail did hurt her too and she knows he’s awful?? Sleek isn’t a darktail Stan in this book or mom killer potentially??

in other books I know she’s like number one darktail supporter but this also makes me think like what hmmm shakes sleekwhisker WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR MIND maybe she’s still like sticking and making herself follow darktail bc she can’t bear to grovel to Rowan LMAO but then bee and dawnpelt dies and that’s when she realizes he’s bad bc people she cares dies hmmm

Idk it’s 5am and im dead tired so I probably misread smth lmao but I think this is rlly inchresting…