#this happened with the rainflower discussion

[the-owl-tree]

hey, is it true some people are saying Lizardtail is t that bad? It’s just something I heard from Squilf haters. If it’s not then whatever but if it’s true can you explain to me why they may say that? I’m saying this because I’m always open to understanding this stuff!

There's a very bad game of telephone going on currently in the discussion sphere of things, where a topic like "Lizardstripe being a bad person is based not on her cruelty, but by the fact she doesn't want children, which is a horrible sentiment to tell children" and is somehow misinterpreted (eitherfully willfully or not) to be "Lizardstripe is secretly a good person who is a victim and therefore her abuse is good." You're probably not going to find someone saying Lizardstripe biting children is good, but you will find people being critical of why she is portrayed as an abuser.

To demonize a woman for not wanting children (and solely for that reason. ah, except for the half-assed "ambition" they slap onto her) and painting THAT as why the reason she is an abuser is shitty and misogynistic. The scene where we actually see Lizardstripe hurt her children isn't even in Yellowfang's Secret, it's in Omen of the Stars, and it makes you wonder why they chose to put scenes of her not wanting kids as ways to show her as a bad person and, you know, her nipping a child. Why did the writing team choose to spend time on that and not actual abuse? It's not defending her or saying she's not bad by pointing that out. I've reblogged it a few times but tumblr user Bonefall does a great job pointing out the narrative frames Lizardstripe and what it chooses to focus on to make her seem bad.

There's been a pretty awful trend lately of people obfuscating these conversations and jumping to the worst possible bad faith reading of a discussion, and I'm glad you opted to find a second opinion before jumping straight to conclusions! You don't have to agree with me, but I do hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

[theanoninyourinbox]

NEW LONGSTAR AU - THE NOT-SO-LONG BALLAD OF FIRE AND FLAME

Before Fire Prophecy

Talltail seeks to kill the Loner that he believes killed his father.  With the help of a kittypet named Jake, he finds the strength to forgive, and instead saves Sparrow from the Monster, and returns to Windclan with new determination in his heart and a dear…friend…that he leaves behind.  It is with this new spirit that he protests the renaming of Hopkit, and he stays Hoppaw.  The two remain close friends throughout their lives.

In Riverclan, Stormkit is renamed Crookedkit, but Rainflower is also renamed – Rottenflower.  Crookedkit’s name is given as a sign of survival, and Rottenflower’s as a sign of her true heart.  Crookedkit still leaves for a time, still is haunted by the Geist Mapleshade, but with his head a little higher and heart a little clearer.

Tiny is playing on an old stump when the Thunderclan Patrol finds him, and Thistleclaw orders Tigerpaw to attack.  Bluefur intercedes, and the heavily injured kitten is brought back to camp to be treated.  Sunstar decides to keep the poor little thing, and Frostkit is semi-adopted by Bluefur. 

Yellowfang is about to bury Hopekit and Wishkit when the sounds and smells of Twolegs alert her.  She knows they will try to take her and her remaining kit, so she grabs Brokenkit and runs.  The twoleg, stretching their legs after a long car ride, finds the two kittens and sees signs of life in the little tortie.  They rush the cold kitten to a vet, and with time and effort, little Nutmeg thrives. 

As Frostkit heals, a moons-long process, he makes friends with Spottedpaw and Whitepaw.  Eventually he notices that Thistleclaw keeps trying to get Spottedpaw alone, and with the help of Thrushpelt, discovers the horrible truth.  Thistleclaw is dragged before the clan, and with Spottedpaw’s testimony, the Traitor is banished from the clans permanently.  Spottedpaw becomes a Healer apprentice, and Thrushpelt begins to mentor Frostpaw.

Nutmeg eventually is introduced to a handsome orange tabby named Jake, and falls in love.  He breaks her heart by leaving when she’s due to give birth, and swears to take care of her beloved bundles of joy by herself.

Raggedstar lies dying, with his daughter Brokentail laughing as she cleans the blood from her paws, and realizes the enormous mistake he made with the way he raised her.  He dies, and watches as Brokentail receives her lives from the Dark Forest. Watches her kill kits.  Watches her banish her own mother.  What has he done?

Longpaw is mentored by Frostfoot, making an unusual pair.  Longpaw is eventually named Longtail, and wonders what his future holds for him.  He does not see the starry crown behind his head, ethereal and light as a dream.

Bluestar and Spottedleaf sit together on a hillside, Leader and Oracle Healer, and a pair of stars fall burning from the sky.  Fire Will Save The Clans.

The Long Ballad of Fire and Flames

Rusty the kittypet has yet another strange dream, of a red-tailed bird falling from a rainy sky.  He and his friend Smudge discuss the happenings around the neighborhood.  Princess, Rusty’s sister, forbids Rusty from going to the forest by himself.  Later that night, Rusty tries to catch a mouse on the border and gets tackled by a gray tabby, who is impressed when Rusty flings him off.  After meeting his mentor Lionheart, Rusty agrees to meet them the next morning, to see the Clan.  Rusty tells Princess about this.

The next morning, Rusty sneaks past a still sleeping Princess and a worried Smudge, and meets Bluestar, Graypaw, and Lionheart. The Thunderclanners refuse to wait for his sister. They head off to camp, with Rusty leaving a subtle scent trail so Princess can find him.  Princess wakes up, and follows the trail with stealth and careful steps.

At camp, Bluestar introduces Rusty as a potential clanmate, and some cats take offense to that.  Darkstripe demands he be tested, but Frostfoot tells him to calm down, what, are you threatened by him? Really?  Lionheart gets inbetween them to break it up, but cocky Longtail challenges the kittypet before anyone can stop him.  Frostfoot is mortified.  Rusty accepts, and the two square off.  Longtail gets the upper paw almost immediately, and gets a hold of Rusty’s collar.  As he pulls, he hears a yowl of outrage.  And suddenly he is FLUNG bodily, his ear burning, the collar still in his mouth.

He gets up, and there is an ENORMOUS molly standing over the fallen kittypet, the warriors and camp guards at the ready to fight.  As Spottedleaf helps him to his feet, Longtail hears the Tortie scolding Rusty for leaving without her, I TOLD you there would be trouble but noooOOOooo you don’t listen to your sister!  You just listen to your silly dreams!! Bluestar interrupts, impressed with the boldness of the kittypet and interested with the dreams comment.  Princess introduces herself, and after Rusty says he agreed to the fight, apologizes to a still stunned Longtail.  Rusty explains he has dreams that come true sometimes, and tells Bluestar and Spottedleaf about the red-tailed hawk dream.  Spottedleaf asks to mentor Rusty in the arts of healing and Starseeing, and Bluestar agrees, asking is Princess would like to join as well. Frostfoot mildly scolds Longtail for leaping without looking, and Princess and Rusty become Flamepaw and Firepaw, with Bluestar herself mentoring Flamepaw.

And then Ravenpaw rushes into camp.  Redtail is dead, he screams, and collapses.  And pandemonium rises.

After Tigerclaw brings Redtail’s lifeless body back to camp, and the apprentices and kits are shielded from the sight by Whitestorm and Lionheart, the pair of siblings settle in.  Firepaw makes fast friends with Ravenpaw and Graypaw, and Flamepaw befriends Dustpaw and Sandpaw.  The pair drag Longtail into being their friend as well, which brings Frostfoot and eventually Swiftpaw into the equation as well.

Longtail begins to mentor Swiftpaw, and finds that he loves teaching.  With the help of Frostfoot and the other Mentor cats, he begins to become more humble and less cocky.  Longtail begins to appreciate his friendship with Firepaw and Flamepaw, and takes more time to live, not just be a Hunter and Mentor.

One day, while gathering herbs for the Healer’s Den, Firepaw is knocked off his feet by an old gray and yellow molly.  He springs to his feet, ready to fight, but the attacker is just…staring at him.  Like she’s seen a Geist.  He cautiously asks if she’s alright, do you need help ma’am?  And she moans something unintelligible, falling to the ground in a dead faint.  Firepaw panics, and drags her back to camp.  There, she is identified as Yellowfang by Spottedleaf, who tells Firepaw of her alleged crimes, and how she believes that Yellowfang was framed.  Said Healer wakes up, takes one look at Flamepaw coming in to drop off a mouse, and promptly wails in grief and pain.  The three of the get her to calm down, and she quietly apologizes, the siblings look like…patients she lost long ago.  Bluestar listens to her tale of Brokenstar being a False Star, and while still weighing the information, relegates Yellowfang to being a War-Bound for the time being.

Bluestar does not hear the story Yellowfang tells to the Healers and the Apprentice Brawler.  She does not see the siblings take the old molly to meet their mother.  She does not know a family has been made as whole as it will ever be.

At the Gathering, Brokenstar tells everyone how she ran out Windclan, and Bluestar realizes that Yellowfang was probably telling the truth.  As she had just revealed Thunderclan had Yellowfang as a War Bound, she begins to prepare for an attack, and she is correct – Shadowclan tries to kill Yellowfang, and succeeds at killing Lionheart and her dear friend Rosetail. Her heart grows a crack. She names the brave Tigerclaw, names Yellowfang part of Thunderclan, and tries to go on.

Then Ravenpaw leaves, begging shelter at The Barn with Bluestar’s old friend Barley, for reasons the apprentice refuses to communicate.  All his friends Graypaw, Firepaw, and Flamepaw will say is that he needed to be something that the Clans couldn’t let him be.  And the crack grows.

And then Shadowclan steals Frostfur’s kits, Lionheart’s kits. They kill Spottedleaf, Firepaw wailing over her body. She goes with her Warriors, Brawlers, and their apprentices to rescue the innocent.  They are met by Senior Warriors and other banished cats from Shadowclan, aided by Yellowfang in secret. Brokenstar is run out of the clans. Yellowfang takes over Firepaw’s training, and Flamepaw and Graypaw are named Flamewish (per her request) and Graystripe. Why is the crack still growing?

Flamewish, Graystripe, Longtail, and Swiftpaw are sent to retrieve Windclan.  It goes well, until a Riverclan patrol tries to fight them, and Whiteclaw falls off a cliff while fighting Graystripe.

When the group returns, Flamewish and Graystripe receive their first apprentices – Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw.  Flamewish finds Mentoring difficult, and asks Longtail for advice.  The pair become close friends.  Firepaw and Sandstorm make bets as to when they’ll become mates.  Unfortunately, Cinderpaw is lured away from camp and gets hit by a Monster. (It’s a car, just – just call it a car!! -Firepaw) Firepaw saves her life, and Yellowfang bestows the name Fireheart upon him at the next half-moon.

Also unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), at seeing her apprentice so badly injured, Flamewish has an unusual reaction.  She goes into labor.  Seeing as Flamewish had no idea she was even a little pregnant (as she put it), things get a little crazy.  Longtail is flabbergasted, Bluestar is confused, Yellowfang is baffled, and Fireheart is delighted but also flabbergasted.  Flamewish does some calculating, then privately asks Fireheart to go bite Smudge in the face for her.

(This means Flamewish misses Graystripe meeting the gorgeously muscled Riverclan molly)

But it DOES mean she spends time in the Nursery with Brindleface, her kits Fernkit and Ashkit and Frostfoot and his kits Flykit and Coldkit.  Frostfoot who had just gone out one day and brought back the pair, claiming them as his.  Bluestar was frustrated and elated at the same time. 

The three become even closer when Brokenstar attacks, as they defend the Nursery together.  Longtail and Swiftpaw help drive off the Rogues together, and after Yellowfang blinds Brokenstar and leaves her Brokentail the War Bound, Swiftpaw is rewarded with his Adult Name – Swiftspirit. (Later, Longtail will see this as an omen, unknowingly given by Starclan through Bluestar…) Graystripe is later caught giving prey to Riverclan, and punished by having his apprentice taken away – Longtail is suddenly a Mentor again!  And Brackenpaw has so many things to learn!

Cinderpaw makes a nearly full recovery, but her time in the Healer’s Den had made her rethink her life – she wants to heal others.  Flamewish cracks a joke about her brother poaching her apprentice, but wishes her well.

And then Brokentail’s War Bound status becomes known.  And Thunderclan is attacked.  And Tigerclaw is at her throat, keen claws at her throat.  But as her heart shatters, a yowl of outrage rings through the air, and Longtail and Flamewish HAUL the Traitor off of her.  Bluestar banishes Him, and she holds the pieces of her heart and weeps – there are no stars in her tonight.  She waits too long, then names the astonished Longtail as Deputy.

Then Graystripe begs for the Healers to help him – they find the laboring Silverstream and do what they can, but Featherkit and Stormkit outlive their mother.  Graystripe leaves for Riverclan, refusing to abandon his kits.  Fireheart and Flamewish can’t blame him, but it still hurts.  And Brokentail is dead.  Yellowfang tells her leader that he dies of natural causes, but Bluestar does not see the look on Fireheart’s face.  (She will eventually learn that he just watched his grandmother kill his uncle) Then the fire. Oh the fire.  Patchpelt and Halftail, coughing and then forever breathless.  Fireheart and Flamewish race to find Yellowfang – to find their family.  She lies in a hollow tree, and blesses the Stars that she has enough time to say goodbye.  To say how proud she is of them – both her life paths.  I’ll always watch over you. (and Yellowfang keeps this promise)

Bluestar feels her mind failing, rain through the treetops instead of thoughts. So when she sees the Traitor leading Shadowclan as a False Star, she just…lets go. She watches Leopardstar rise and her clan move around her like a fever dream.  She watches the hawk impassively as it goes for Snowkit, and barely reacts when it takes Speckletail instead.  She doesn’t react when Longtail promotes Snowpaw to train under Brackenfur, or when Flamewish brings the elderly deaf kittypet Brahm to teach Snowpaw and Mistlepaw and others Pawspeak. She doesn’t react to the death of Swiftspirit or the maiming of Brightpaw, save to curse the Stars that left her broken by naming the poor thing Lostface.

(Longtail MOURNS.  He refuses to eat, has to be pried from his nest, and it takes a teary Flamewish admitting she misses the tom she loves for him to snap out of it.  The pair find solace in each other.  Fireheart and Sandstorm are too busy and too worried to exchange the mouse that they bet.  Neither ever says who won that bet)

Rabbits lead a bloody trail to poor Brindleface, and Longtail makes a plan to lead the dogs away from their den and over the river-cliffs.  Bluestar nods absently, but there’s a shining spark in her eyes that hasn’t been there in ages.  The runners lead the killer hounds up to the cliffs and away, but one grabs Longtail, pinning him and scratching his face.  But a blur of blue streaks onto the dog’s back, and overbalances them both into the river.  A pair of Riverclan warriors leap into action, and Bluestar says goodbye to her family, Frostfoot and Whitestorm having raced to the scene.

Longtail is escorted to the Moonstone by Fireheart, and finds himself in Starclan.  He receives his lives from Nightstar, Runningwind, Speckletail, Lionheart, Redtail, Silverstream, Yellowfang, Bluestar, and finally Swiftspirit.  Longstar vows to stop Tigerstar and his cronies.  He names Whitestorm as Deputy, and begins planning.

Tigerstar goes after Windclan, pinning and seemingly killing Gorsepaw, but as soon as the Shadowclan Battle Patrol leaves, he brings his head up and smiles weakly at his frantic mother. He will be scarred for life, but he will have his chance to live.

At Riverclan, Stonefur defends the apprentices to his last breath, and Graystripe rescues his kits from Tigerstar and Leopardstar.  Some Riverclan cats escape in the chaos, unwilling to follow their leader on this path.

Finally, with Windclan and Thunderclan united against the forces of Riverclan and Shadowclan, Tigerstar plays his deadliest card yet, as hordes of strange city Rogues appear.  Led by a figure some Thunderclanners recognize.  Thistleclaw.  But the rogues, no, the Bloodclanners, call him Tyrant.  Tigerstar boasts to the assembled clans how he killed Bluestar using the dogs and

Tyrant kills Tigerstar with a slash to the underbelly

Nine lives gone, in a single blow

The battle comes the next day, all four clans together – Longstar and Tallstar, Leopardstar and Blackstar.

Bone holds down Whitestorm, and is ripped of by a squad of apprentices, including his own, Brightheart.

Darkstripe goes after the Healers, and Graystripe strikes him down. His body is never found, and a gray tabby wanders desolate, his mistakes weighing on his soul.

Longstar strikes the final blow against Tyrant

And life goes on

[bonefall]

regarding shellheart and rainflower, maybe rain asked shell to be an honor sire (would fit with her personality of everything wanting to be perfect bc what better honor sire than the clan deputy?), and when stormkit’s accident happened shell could have stepped up from there?

It fits Rainflower, it works out genetically, but there's one reason why I'm not sold on it;

I think it's a stronger story if Shellheart isn't biologically related at all. Just a really good guy who stepped up for these two kids who need a parent. Adopts the kiddos just out of pure goodness.

In Clan Culture of course, honor sires (without discussed co-parenting) are NOT parents and don't have claims to the kits any more than a gene donor does. So it would be functionality the same if he was just Some Guy. But still, from a meta context, I would love to be able to include more adoption messaging to spite canon.

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Bored so list of Warriors AUs I have / I’m making up on the spot

Rainflower/Crookedheart

In this AU, everything in Crookedstar’s Promise is the same up until the fateful re-naming ceremony. The only one that knows what will happen is Hailstar--Rainflower still believes that Stormkit will be renamed.

Instead, Hailstar renames Rainflower without warning in front of everyone, calling her Crookedheart.

Storm feels guilty for it, but eventually grows to accept that none of it was his fault.

Hailstar and Rainflower are also littermates in this AU.

Brightflower raises Brokenstar

Connected to the Crookedheart AU, though it can stand on its own. With the connection, it was discussed at a gathering that custody of kits should be taken away from parents that do not care for them properly.

Because of this, the kits were taken away from Lizardstripe and instead given to Brightflower (can’t remember why her exactly, possibly her choice). 

Brokenstar didn’t know that he and Mintkit and Marigoldkit were related, but in this case they are his adoptive younger littermates, and if he still kills them, that makes things even harder for Brightflower--should she believe her daughter or her adoptive son? It’s worse when she finds out the truth.

Pinestar and Rusty

After Pinestar leaves the Clans, he feels really guilty for leaving his family. He finds comfort in Jake and the other neighborhood cats. One of them is named Nutmeg.

Eventually she has a litter, and names one of them Rusty. Hint hint who the father is.

The Void

More an AU of the Dark Forest specifically of this blog, but since I like to think that all characters are canon to the Warriors timeline, might as well add it.

The Dark Forest is actually a sort of purgatory. When evil cats are killed twice / cats die in the Dark Forest, they go to The Void, and endless black territory with nothing but open space. It is so wide, in fact, that the chance of running into someone else is 1 in 1000.

Bluestar Raised Tigerstar

Basically Leopardfoot dies (maybe with her daughters) and Bluestar promises her that she will take care of her remaining son, so she raises him with Whitekit.

I feel that that at least gives some weight to her pain in Tigerstar’s betrayal instead of just she knew him well. He wasn’t even her first or second choice as deputy.

This also leads to further questions. Does he even still try to kill her? If everything in the first series is the same, does he try to kill Bluestar’s bio kits?

Hawkfrost Gene

An AU that Hawkfrost is born mostly white but grows more tabby brown over time. When cats learn who he is the son of, they start to believe that he is Tigerstar attempting to come back through his son... and maybe some try to stop the process, however necessary.

I’ve been told that this gene may not exist (but Warrior logic, woo), but it also may be fever coat!

[wc-confessions]

I'm really curious on why many people here are okay with some morally questionable characters being liked but not others.

For example, I see a lot people who are fans of Mapleshade and Sol. They enjoy their personalities and they often discuss all of the things those cats did, sometimes saying their actions were justified or that they were wrong but appreciate them as part of their character. No one seems to really have a problem with that.

Then there's other characters like Bramblestar and Crowfeather who are almost always spoken about in a negative light. There is seldom anything good said about those cats and it's usually only of when they were apprentices. If someone is a fan, says something positive, or even doesn't quite agree with a widespread opinion of those characters, it's very likely that they receive a lot of backlash and accusations of being a horrible person.

There's many other instances of this happening with numerous other characters. Some of them being Hawkfrost, Clear Sky, Tigerstar (both of them), Rainflower, Brokenstar, Gray Wing, and Lizardstripe to name a few. They've all done bad/terrible things, some closely similar and others vastly different, yet there's a divided consensus on which ones are awesome antagonists or completely unlikeable in every way. I really don't understand why.

.

[mallowstep]

Haven't read ALITM but have seen the Silverstream thing too, and I agree with you 100 percent.

[nb. i haven't read alitm, so we are only discussing this particularly silverstream detail.]

alitm spoilers

yeah like! i feel so strongly about this oml. i don't want to go dig out the screenshot i saw lest i be exposed to more alitm content, but i feel like. like. the way she reacts is so in character for her?

"but she told him to move on"

yeah and? people say things they don't mean all the time. my ex said he wasn't gay after dating me for three years. i can fully see silverstream saying that he should move on while also assuming that he would be back with her in starclan, because that is exactly how silverstream thinks and behaves.

(i'm not sure where she tells him to move on tho? i do not recall that happening, i'm just responding to what i have seen in response to this. i'm not saying it didn't, i just literally do not remember it happening in the slightest.)

like. god.

this is what happens when a character only exists in tpb. i'm telling you. they all get forgotten and mashed down into a convenient form for easy consumption. some of the time it's flandarization (yellowfang), but wrt silverstream, i think it's just a failure of the fandom as a whole to understand her.

yes she is pretty and sweet and nice to greystripe; she's flirting with him. there's a world of a difference between that and silverstream as someone going, "can't you drown on your own territory?"

god i love her so much.

but like yeah, this is not bad characterization. if you want to talk about broader trends wrt to erins and female characters, sure. i'm not going to do that here and now and wrt alitm because again, haven't read it. but i strongly feel silverstream reacting any other way would be out of character.

like she didn't...at least of what i've seen (and again, if this is contradicted pls don't correct me, also pls don't confirm if i'm right just leave this be), she doesn't cause a fuss. she's just kind of. jealous? which like? yeah?

like yeah that's actually hella reasonable? people have feelings in fact and are allowed to continue to love someone and be jealous and she doesn't like. cause an affair.

i dunno. i just don't get it.

i don't want to go on a long rant bc i'm way too tired for this and i also don't want to get all conspiratorial but i posit this is tied to fandom's weird treatment of female characters. if they're unlikable or unsympathetic they're bad writing. that's not a universal statement, i think most takes on rainflower are fine. but.

there's a lot more to b said again tryna keep it to the point but it's not like. it is a good writing choice. yeah. that checks out.

[warriorsbutnotreally]

Disabled Warriors - Discussion

since this isn’t really an AU, I’ll put it under the discussions tag instead. Because really this is an overall things.

I want to start this by saying that I’m mentally ill and I’ve had a bum leg for well over five years now, HOWEVER what I say isn’t gospel and my own personal thoughts on the mishandling of disabled and mentally ill characters in Warriors.

I will not be talking about all of them, but I have a lot of key points I want to make

First things first DEFINATELY get rid of ability/injury-based names

No more Deadfoot or Crookedstar or anything like that. Those names are ableist in themselves and it’s more frustrating that only ONE character in the entire series had her name changed to something not horrible in the entire series.

One-eye/White-eye and Deadfoot/Hopkit are two examples of characters who started with ableist names and the names got worse when they were changed. I’m going to be open about the fact I have a Warriors fanfic going where their names are Palesong and Nightheart respectively, but the pint is that both names they had before hand really only pointed out their disabilities.

Halftail? Easy. Keep his name Sparrowpelt. No need to give him a shitty name cause something happened to his tail.

Crookedstar is the worst of them, his mother demanding his name be changed after he was hurt. Rainflower is at fault for suggesting it, but Hailstar should’ve put his paw down as leader and refused. Stormspirit is a good warrior name, as he’s got a strong will that rivals the storm he was born in and obviouslly he’d have the name Stormstar as leader.

I have no knowledge of Oddfoot, but I’ll just firmly say his name is cruel, given his twisted leg.

Now, the only one I struggle to have many thoughts on is the DotC character One Eye, as he was a rogue and really only he was in charge of what cats called him, meaning it was his chose to be known as One Eye which??? I can’t say much on???

Second order of business! Disability And Becoming An Elder/Medicine Cat

This is a big crime Warriors has. From Cinderpelt, Longtail, Lilywhisker, Alderheart, and others. It has horrible implications for both the injured cats, but also for medicine cats as well. That being a medicine cat is a ‘punishment’ for not being able to ‘keep up’ and other horrible, shitty things like that.

Let’s start from the top.

Cinderpaw was forced to become Yellowfang’s apprentice after it was determined her back leg was useless. On top of it just being terrible to tell a child she’ll never be able to be “normal”, Cinderpaw could’ve very easily become a warrior, much like Deadfoot was. Some may argue and say his was a front leg and hers was a back leg, but that’s barely an issue. Yes, three-legged cats do have to struggle a bit more to adjust if it’s a hind leg [and the depression rate is higher], there are plenty of cats down a back leg that can run around and play just as fine as their four-legged brethren. 

Then there’s Jayfeather, who was born blind. As someone who grew up knowing people who had blind cats, they are not helpless. Jayfeather, though may [not always] need help from time to time when in new territory, could’ve easily become a warrior like he had wanted. Not only that, his whiskers would be there to help him navigate all on his own. 

Finally on the medicine cat list - Alderheart. Alderheart has anxiety. He gets in his own head a lot and that usually ends in him messing up and/or second guessing himself. I can relate to that heavily. What I can’t relate to his him being tossed into the medicine cat den without his consent because he wasn’t perfect. That’s the absolute wrong way to handle a child with severe anxiety. 

Next are the ‘retired’ ones.  I’m going to be a little controversial and place Briarlight here, as they never allowed her to do any true warrior duties after this happened. So that means this list includes Longtail, Lilywhisker, and Briarlight.

Starting with Longtail, he could have very easily continued his duties. Not only could he remember the forest territories [before they moved] based on his memory, again he could learn to navigate with his whiskers and other senses. He was still young and healthy aside from being blinded. Lily’s another simple one. She could be a warrior, even if it was her hind leg. I explained this in Cinderpelt’s thing. Simple as that. Especially cause it’s more painful that SHE IS IN THE SAME CAMP AS DEADFOOT WHO BECOMES DEPUTY. Briarlight I cannot touch on heavily, as I as someone who, even if I walk with a limp, cannot speak over those who have spinal damage.  However, this she-cat never deserved to be confined to camp. There are stories of cats who can move able - granted a little limitedly - without hind legs [or the use of them]. Briar could’ve been a wonderful warrior.

next Mental Illness

Now, there are very few cats confirmed as mentally ill, but I will state now that they’re not handled the best.  Bluestar has depression? Well she’s going to have a giant breakdown, disown god, and give this young woman the world’s most insulting warrior name. Alderheart has anxiety? Throw him in the medicine cat den! Shrewtooth has PTSD and possible anxiety-based trust issues? We’re just going to erase him from existence and no one will notice.

It’s horrible and needs to stop.

my final topic for now Snowkit just Snowkit

Snowkit, to date, was the only deaf characters in Warriors.

Want to know what happened to him?

He died before he was ever able to be made an apprentice. Even after canon showed us that his mother, Speckletail, had been making her own version of kitty sign language just so her son could learn and communicate. There’s even tail language in Warriors already. They had a start and then shot themselves in the foot

And ever since then, despite all the white-furred, blue eyed cats, we haven’t had another deaf character.

He should’ve had the chance to grow and form his own personality. Not only would it be cool to have a deaf character, even if they were a side character, it’d be progressive to show that in a kids book series. 

But no

[lawrising-a]

( starter for @madetrouble !! )

tacenda ( or the words better left unsaid ) was always a foundation matthew believed in. reluctance tingles the air when he mulls over the word, because a part of his wayward soul wants to announce everything ---- though he still puts blind faith in the act full heartedly. it's normal, isn't it? to keep things under the weight of your pink tongue, locked away from the judgemental predatory minds of your own kind. people claim honesty is what breeds strong bonds, although in matt's experience, it's been the exact opposite. when he's honest, brutally blunt like an emperor's rugged sword, people go away. a slow process, usually tedious, but they leave nonetheless. and the former detective is left with the ruined, shattered pieces of that outcome ; trapped in a self deprecated prison that he knows was built with his own hands. this 'incident' happens too often to keep score ( he knows the number by heart, anyway ) and it's happened recently too. sure, it goes unsaid that everlock is a festering wound that can never glaze over. forever stuck on discolored skin. but it's not just that, it's all the words he said when he shouldn't have that haunts him too. sticking to him like flies to a corpse. drawn to the oozing pus, the trails of blood that prickle out of his tired ( beaten in ) pores.

there were his gruff comments aimed at the town itself that should've stayed in his head. scoffing at the civilians ; parading as judge, jury, and executioner. acting as if the deaths had been for naught. who gave him the right to determine that? ( his badge, right? his badge ---- ) did those comments stick with anyone he'd met? did he play a hand in placing guilt on calliope, on the pig-nosed man, or even mortimer? were two deaths on him?

then teala. jc. seems like a bad habit, speaking ill of the dead. of people who had only done their best. bleeding heart tenses up, trapped within the confines of his crumbling ribcage, and he expertly chokes down a wheeze that wants to wobble out ; as though he'd been crushed under the heel of something. a sign of emotional vulnerability so easily stomped out. because showing is telling, in a more intimate way than words could ever dream to be. poets wish they could express what they write. leaders wish they could act on the promises they speak. and that's why matthew is quick to straighten his posture, pretend like he's not being torn to shreds. act as though he never died when he's out in public. among others who will never know anything besides the safety net of normalcy.

or, to be fair, it's why he acts like this around … nikita. not because she doesn't get it ( ha, she doesn't ) but he pretends due to the fact she gets it too well. if she looks hard enough she'll see things that are tacenda. something he isn't ready to carry is her knowing the things he doesn't say … after all, hasn't he said enough raw honesty to her?

their argument earlier resurfaces. with him red faced and spitting, hands clenched at his side like weapons ramping up while he stood his ground. she didn't cower because she is ( was ) the troublemaker. took his storm with an almost bored expression. it was then he noticed the overwhelming absence of everyone, especially a certain record producer she'd been keen on standing in front of one of the many times they've fought. it burst from him then. locked and loaded and thriving to win ; the survivalist part in him clawing for it. when he remembers what he said now, tersely walking to where nikita currently resides, he shudders with pure disgust. how could he be so agonizingly cruel? why did he have to be honest with her? so honest to the point he was an ugly shadow threatening to suffocate the life out of her that everlock failed to?

‘you know manny should be here, not you, right?’ he'd said, starting off dead toned until he saw her breaking ---- levitating his voice with victory. ‘safiya should be here. anyone but you, but especially him, since he had a chance.’

the words ‘since there was a choice’ went unspoken, yet the damage had been dealt with expertise. and matt had turned around and stalked off, the new adorned society jacket whipping violently with the motion. 'i hate you' whispered in the darkness, not from his own pink mouth, but from the context. implication rests in everything and he's never messed up so bad. letting that linger in her head for hours while he fixed himself together. cruelty no longer shines on him when he cautiously steps up to her door. only veiled tired eyes that look too swollen, lips set in a permanent frown, and rainflowers resting oddly in his arms. cradled like a newborn baby. not the first time he's brought a beautiful lady flowers! what's original this time around, however, is the fact he's going to apologize for not leaving certain words unsaid. and for, erm, bringing up her dead best friend solely to use against her … yup, that definitely takes a 'never done before' spot. there's fawn hair poking out of place from the clearly haphazard way he's applied his gel ; honestly, what a complete mess. the former detective is miserable and it shows all over his lean form.

how do you say sorry for things already said? matt's never apologized much before. pride worn tightly, proudly. he lets things fester and does his best to move on, convinced he did all he could. but after losing so many people after opening his big mouth, he can't handle the idea of losing the former troublemaker too. as much as he wants to not need her, he knows he does. thinking of her makes his soul ache, wriggling uncertainly in his body. being away from her is more tortuous than being stuck with her. if something happens to her, matt … doesn't want to think of what he'd do. especially if the last things he said were … that.

( don't leave me don't leave me, please don't go anywhere i can't follow, nikita ---- )

knuckles rasp against the door. knock knock knock! being made of sensitive skin isn't as fun as you'd think, since matt feels the sting the moment the act's over with. withdrawing his hand to cling to the rainflower stems again. impatience eats him alive when he's not answered fast enough, and with an impulsive quickness he reaches that very arm out once more to twist the handle. is this place hers? was she so utterly confident in her abilities to leave it unlocked? they'd have to discuss safety precautions later. for now …

“hi, hello, um,” sputters matthew, suddenly feeling so self conscious when he's face to face with her. “you weren't answering quickly, and i got worried ----” he lies, stopping midway through to swallow.

he slowly pushes the flower towards her, keeping eye contact even if it hurts. “we didn't really finish our talk earlier since i ran away, so i thought, hey! it deserves an ending. we both need all the closure we can get so … i'm sorry. for earlier.”

unbeknownst to him, matthew doesn't know how much he's downplaying this in an attempt to breeze by it. he's always been rather horrible at confrontation. aftermaths especially.

he's rarely stuck around for those.

[seadramonster]

Why some cats aren’t in the DF

Since the beginning of the time we learned where certain cats went, a lot of people have been asking why certain cats went to StarClan or the Dark Forest. The most popular examples being; Thistleclaw (before Spottedleaf’s Heart), Ashfur, Rainflower, and Appledusk.

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that the Dark Forest is where all the bad cats go, no matter what. But that’s not what we’ve been shown in canon. Let’s take a look at all of the Dark Forest cats to see what they did that made them go to the Dark Forest and use the information to figure out why the cats people think should have gone to the Dark Forest went to StarClan instead.

NOTE: I’m only going over the cats in the Dark Forest whose crimes we know. Cats such as Houndleap, Maggottail, and such who we barely know anything about will not be discussed, since we have no idea what they did. Although we can assume it was something similar to everyone else in the Dark Forest.

Antpelt- Antpelt chose to join the Dark Forest because "These are my Clanmates more than WindClan ever was. Where else would I go?". He could have been in StarClan, but chose the Dark Forest instead.

This shows us that a cat can, if they are capable of going to StarClan, choose to go to the Dark Forest instead.

Brokenstar- Heavily broke the code by training kits too young, killing them and his own father (perhaps even others offscreen), exiling elders, and driving out another Clan

Darkstripe- Attempted to kill a kit by tricking her into eating poison, betrayed his Clan not once, but twice by leaving to join Tigerstar and then joining BloodClan immediately after.

So why is Darkstripe in the Dark Forest for being a traitor and other cats who left their Clan not? Well, aside from attempting to kill a kit, Darkstripe was never loyal to any Clan, just Tigerstar. And when Tigerstar died, instead of fighting alongside his new Clan, he instead betrayed them, too. 

Cats who leave their Clan for another usually do so with good intentions and are either loyal to their new Clan, or end up returning to their old one and are loyal to that one now that they realize it’s where they belong. Even if the decision was selfish, it was never done so to harm others. Darkstripe just wanted to be on the winning side, and once Tigerstar was gone, he had no one left he cared about except himself.

Hawkfrost- He just wanted power and wasn’t afraid to turn on his own Clan to obtain it. It’s heavily implied he struck up a deal with Mudclaw to help him take leadership from Onewhisker, he talked Ashfur into luring Firestar into the fox trap, and then tried to kill Brambleclaw when Brambleclaw refused to kill his own leader.

Mapleshade- I know a lot of people have pity for her and all, but like. She was a literal serial killer. She fell in love with a cat from another Clan, had his kits, lied to her Clan about the father of her kits by letting them believe it was the cat her mate had accidentally killed, made the stupid decision to take her kits across a flooded river in the middle of a storm, and it got her kits killed. Then she killed a medicine cat, the cat who she had manipulated into believing Mapleshade’s kits were her brother’s, attempted to murder a pregnant queen, and killed the father of her kits. Mapleshade was a victim, yes, but so was everyone she killed. She was not forced to go across the river, she chose that path herself. More on Appledusk later.

Redwillow- Joined the Dark Forest in the final battle against the Clans and was killed by Blackstar. Pretty clear why he ended up there

Thistleclaw- The big one. Spottedleaf’s Heart confirmed he chose the Dark Forest and this is all but confirmed in Crookedstar’s Promise already when he reveals he thinks StarClan are weak fools. While he was loyal to his Clan, he was also incredibly bloodthirsty and made it obvious that he wanted to destroy the rest of the Clans. A medicine cat had a whole prophecy saying he would bring unnecessary war and bloodshed as a leader. He also nearly had his apprentice murder a kit and attempted to kill the deputy of another Clan. It’s possible he may have killed cats from other Clans or from outside the Clans offscreen, but as far as we know, he didn’t kill anyone from his Clan.

Tigerstar the first- I don’t think I need to explain this one

So what do we know about the Dark Forest from this? What qualities does a cat need to have to be in there? Well, they.

Need to have betrayed their Clan maliciously and have little to no loyalty whatsoever, even to their new Clan if they have one,

Needed to have severely broken the code by either murdering cats without good reason or attempting to kill an innocent kit,

And/or could have gone to StarClan, but chose the Dark Forest instead

The Dark Forest is an extreme punishment for cats who were never loyal to their Clan, or who killed others without a second thought. It’s not meant to be the place where bad cats go. It’s meant to be the place where traitors and serial killers go. Cats who are bad people but never really did anything wrong still go to StarClan, because at the end of the day, they were still loyal to their Clan as a whole.

So now it’s time to go over some cats people think should have gone to the Dark Forest, but didn’t;

Ashfur- This one was the subject to heavy debate. Here’s what I think. Ashfur may or may not have known what Hawkfrost was doing exactly. It’s possible he didn’t know Hawkfrost’s entire plan and thought Firestar getting caught in a fox trap wasn’t part of it and ran to get help. Or, maybe he decided he didn’t want to go through with it after all and chickened out.

As for what happened with the Three... Well, he did attempt to kill his Clanmates, but again, nothing came of it. He chickened out again. And it should be stated here that like. The three were adults. They were not harmless kits! They knew of their powers at this point! Nothing was stopping them or even Squirrelflight from just grabbing Ashfur and hauling him off the tree or throwing him to the fire. Especially Lionblaze whose entire power centers around him not getting hurt in a fight. It would have been a four on one fight if everyone fought him off. They could have easily stopped Ashfur at any time, but they didn’t, because the plot demanded they didn’t. They were never going to die there, not without a fight. Maybe if Ashfur had died there, he would have ended up in the Dark Forest, but he didn’t. He never actually killed anyone, never actually physically attacked anyone himself, and even warned the Clan that his leader was in danger. He was just focused on getting revenge against one specific cat, but we never saw him treat the rest of the Clan poorly. And for StarClan, his loyalty and the fact he never actually killed anyone was enough to let him in on a bullshit excuse.

Appledusk- A shitty, shitty person. But overall, loyal to his Clan. We never saw what Appledusk was like to the rest of his Clan offscreen. All we know is that he was cheating on his mate with Mapleshade (who Mapleshade clearly had no idea was his mate). That’s basically the only crime we’ve seen him commit. Is he a bad person? Yes. Yes, he is. But he never murdered someone, and admitted to his Clan he thought his relationship with Mapleshade was a mistake. As far as StarClan was concerned, that’s all it was. A mistake. He was a loyal warrior who died protecting his real mate and their future kits from a traitor, and had likely proven his loyalty in other ways offscreen.

Rainflower- Another case of “terrible person but ultimately loyal to their Clan”. Rainflower never killed anyone as far as we know, or even broke the code. She treated her son horribly, but I don’t remember her ever being rude to anyone else. And even if she was, as we’ve seen, being a bad person isn’t enough to land you in the Dark Forest.

Mudclaw- He may seem like he belongs in the Dark Forest, but here’s the thing. StarClan was never against Mudclaw’s leadership. Tallstar made the decision by himself. For all we knew, Mudclaw would have made a better leader than Onestar or been exactly the same. Tallstar changed his deputy last minute on his deathbed and didn’t do the ceremony correctly. The only cats who saw were cats of another Clan, and the one he was making the new deputy. Mudclaw had every right to challenge the decision when it was announced. From his perspective, another Clan was lying about their friend being chosen as the new deputy. Of course he was going to feel wronged, because in a way, he was. It’s possible StarClan may have even rejected Onewhisker, if Mudclaw had not revolted at the time he did. I don’t think Mudclaw’s death was divine intervention, either. Not every bad weather event that happens in Warriors is StarClan’s doing, even if the cats think it is. I think it just Mudclaw being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was still loyal to his Clan, he was just trying to get back the position he thought had been stolen from him.

Oakstar- Oakstar is the one who exiled Mapleshade and her kits and everyone thinks this means he belongs in the Dark Forest. I. Disagree with this. Yes, he exiled the kits, but that isn’t actually against the code? The only codes about kits are that they can’t be apprenticed before six moons and no cat can neglect a kit in pain or in danger. (an extra rule is they can’t be out of camp without a warrior) You probably can’t throw out just a kit on their own, but Mapleshade’s kits weren’t alone. The kits were with their mother. 

A single mother in the wild can and will raise kits on her own. Will they all survive? It’s unlikely, but there’s no guarantee they would survive in the Clans, either. Not being in a Clan does not mean these kits will die, just like being a Clan doesn’t mean they’ll all survive. There was a good chance at least one of those kits would have survived to adulthood. Oakstar probably thought Mapleshade would take them somewhere safe, or, if she did take them to RiverClan, that she would use the bridge that led across it up by fourtrees instead of the flooded stones. He only told her to the leave the territory. He never told her where to go. Mapleshade is the one who chose to take them across the river in the worst spot possible.

Let’s look at it from Oakstar’s perspective; Oakstar had just lost his son and an apprentice in a big battle. His daughter is still grieving for the loss of her brother, and it’s likely Oakstar is still grieving, too. And then Mapleshade becomes pregnant and the Clan mistakenly lets them believe that Oakstar’s son is the father of her kits. Only for them to later discover the cat who caused the deaths of Birchface and Flowerpaw, a cat from another Clan who they all believe killed Birchface on purpose, is the real father. What else was Oakstar going to do? The Clan wouldn’t have treated those kits or Mapleshade fairly. Their lives would have been miserable. Think of what happened with Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw, only the entire Clan is against them, not just a handful of members. Exiling them was likely the merciful thing to do.

As for the “no neglecting a kit in danger” code, the kits weren’t in danger until Mapleshade herself put them in it. There was no mention of foxes, badgers, or anything else in ThunderClan’s territory. The only issue they had (the snakes), had been dealt with already. No, they couldn’t have known it was like that in other places, but as long as they were in ThunderClan’s territory, those kits were safe. And there was no reason to think they’d be in immediate danger in other territories either.

The Clan territories are actually rather safe, all things considered. Threats like foxes, badgers, and the like are dealt with quickly. The only real threats in another Clan’s territory are the cats who own it, who would probably not attack a queen just passing through with her kits. If anything, if she had met with ShadowClan or WindClan first, they might have even allowed Mapleshade to stay, once she explained everything to them. At least until the bad weather had passed.

So, yes, all of the cats above were terrible, but they never actually did anything wrong by StarClan’s standards. They were loyal members of their Clan who made some mistakes, but ultimately never killed anyone or severely broke the code. Just being a bad person isn’t enough to send you to StarClan. As long as you’re loyal and don’t actually kill anyone, they don’t care.

[suncomesupandtheworldstillspins]

Dark Forest And The Three Hunger Games

The Bloodbath

As the tributes stand on their podiums, the horn sounds. Patchpaw runs away from the Cornucopia. Slash runs away from the Cornucopia. Icewing breaks Stumpytail's nose for a basket of bread. Tangleburr, Shredtail, and Minnowtail work together to get as many supplies as possible. Deerfoot finds Thistleclaw hiding in the cornucopia, but Thistleclaw kills him. Lilywhisker, Clawface, Furzepelt, and Snowtuft share everything they gathered before running. Brightflower runs away from the Cornucopia. Mapleshade finds a bag full of explosives. Bee grabs a shovel. Beetle runs away from the Cornucopia. Rainflower stabs Lizardstripe while her back is turned. Jaggedtooth grabs a backpack, not realizing it is empty. Blizzardwing runs away from the Cornucopia. Tigerstar grabs a shovel. Larkwing runs away from the Cornucopia. Hollyleaf runs away from the Cornucopia. Harestar grabs a shovel. Marshcloud finds a bow, some arrows, and a quiver. Swallow shoots an arrow at One Eye, but misses and kills Dovewing instead. Maggottail runs away from the Cornucopia. Silverhawk runs away from the Cornucopia. Mudclaw runs away from the Cornucopia. Breezepelt stays at the cornucopia for resources. Petalpaw grabs a shield leaning on the cornucopia. Jayfeather runs away from the Cornucopia. Splinter runs away from the Cornucopia. Darkstripe finds a canteen full of water. Redwillow, Brokenstar, and Ripplestar work together to get as many supplies as possible. Hawkfrost, Antpelt, and Lionblaze work together to get as many supplies as possible. Ember gathers as much food as he can. Snake runs away from the Cornucopia. Sparrowfeather runs away from the Cornucopia. Larchpaw runs away from the Cornucopia. Boulder runs into the cornucopia and hides.

~

Day One:

Minnowtail explores the arena. Clawface receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Rainflower searches for firewood. Tangleburr receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Maggottail chases Ember. Blizzardwing travels to higher ground. Tigerstar hunts for other tributes. Larkwing makes a slingshot. Brokenstar diverts Mudclaw's attention and runs away. Petalpaw receives clean water from an unknown sponsor. Snake silently snaps One Eye's neck. Brightflower constructs a shack. Hollyleaf discovers a cave. Jayfeather discovers a river. Snowtuft practices his archery. Redwillow receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor. Silverhawk stalks Antpelt. Hawkfrost receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Larchpaw dies from an infection. Boulder diverts Swallow's attention and runs away. Patchpaw begs for Splinter to kill him. He refuses, keeping Patchpaw alive. Shredtail receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Bee begs for Lionblaze to kill her. He reluctantly obliges, killing Bee. Furzepelt hunts for other tributes. Harestar discovers a river. Thistleclaw searches for a water source. Marshcloud sets an explosive off, killing Darkstripe, Jaggedtooth, Lilywhisker and Stumpytail.

Beetle chases Sparrowfeather.

Mapleshade, Ripplestar, and Icewing hunt for other tributes.

Breezepelt tries to sleep through the entire day.

Slash cannot handle the circumstances and commits suicide.

~

Night One:

Snowtuft repeatedly stabs Hawkfrost to death with sais. Silverhawk and Mudclaw sleep in shifts. Swallow attempts to start a fire, but is unsuccessful. Marshcloud receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Blizzardwing cooks his food before putting his fire out. Sparrowfeather and Rainflower tell stories about themselves to each other. Maggottail receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Breezepelt, Tangleburr, and Snake cheerfully sing songs together. Hollyleaf tends to her wounds. Minnowtail tends to her wounds. Boulder, Petalpaw, Harestar, Tigerstar, and Brokenstar sleep in shifts. Redwillow convinces Lionblaze to snuggle with him. Furzepelt, Larkwing, Ripplestar, and Ember tell each other ghost stories to lighten the mood. Jayfeather dies of dysentery. Mapleshade quietly hums. Patchpaw tends to Splinter 's wounds. Clawface begs for Beetle to kill him. He refuses, keeping Clawface alive. Antpelt stabs Icewing while her back is turned. Thistleclaw receives clean water from an unknown sponsor. Shredtail tries to treat her infection. Brightflower receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor.

~

Day Two:

Swallow discovers a cave. Redwillow discovers a cave. Tangleburr and Thistleclaw work together for the day. Mudclaw searches for firewood. Clawface searches for firewood. Furzepelt goes hunting. Silverhawk tracks down and kills Maggottail. Blizzardwing questions his sanity. Tigerstar diverts Sparrowfeather's attention and runs away. Minnowtail scares Harestar off. Brokenstar makes a slingshot. Marshcloud steals from Patchpaw while he isn't looking. Splinter and Ripplestar hunt for other tributes. Beetle receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor. Snowtuft tends to Hollyleaf's wounds. Petalpaw hunts for other tributes. Mapleshade, Snake, Rainflower, and Ember hunt for other tributes. Boulder explores the arena. Shredtail fishes. Brightflower sees smoke rising in the distance, but decides not to investigate. Breezepelt constructs a shack. Antpelt and Larkwing work together for the day. Lionblaze hunts for other tributes.

~

Night Two:

Larkwing and Brightflower tell stories about themselves to each other. Marshcloud receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Rainflower receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor. Patchpaw begs for Petalpaw to kill him. She refuses, keeping Patchpaw alive. Swallow severely slices Harestar with a sword. Boulder cries himself to sleep. Beetle poisons Tigerstar's drink, but mistakes it for his own and dies. Snowtuft, Mudclaw, and Silverhawk sleep in shifts. Furzepelt destroys Tangleburr's supplies while she is asleep. Redwillow loses sight of where he is. Clawface thinks about home. Splinter bleeds out due to untreated injuries. Sparrowfeather and Minnowtail talk about the tributes still alive. Ember, Snake, and Lionblaze discuss the games and what might happen in the morning. Antpelt, Thistleclaw, and Hollyleaf sleep in shifts. Shredtail passes out from exhaustion. Ripplestar cries himself to sleep. Brokenstar tries to sing himself to sleep. Breezepelt sees a fire, but stays hidden. Mapleshade goes to sleep. Blizzardwing cries himself to sleep.

~

Day Three:

Sparrowfeather sees smoke rising in the distance, but decides not to investigate. Tigerstar goes hunting. Snake receives clean water from an unknown sponsor. Clawface steals from Breezepelt while he isn't looking. Hollyleaf fishes. Rainflower hunts for other tributes. Brightflower hunts for other tributes. Larkwing throws a knife into Minnowtail's head. Brokenstar collects fruit from a tree. Ember fishes. Redwillow, Mapleshade, Shredtail, Patchpaw, and Swallow hunt for other tributes. Boulder receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Lionblaze and Blizzardwing hunt for other tributes. Mudclaw goes hunting. Thistleclaw travels to higher ground. Tangleburr sprains her ankle while running away from Marshcloud. Antpelt diverts Furzepelt's attention and runs away. Ripplestar picks flowers. Silverhawk, Snowtuft, and Petalpaw hunt for other tributes.

~

Night Three:

Tigerstar thinks about home. Swallow, Larkwing, and Tangleburr cheerfully sing songs together. Redwillow receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Furzepelt, Antpelt, and Mapleshade sleep in shifts. Clawface and Boulder talk about the tributes still alive. Mudclaw and Ember tell stories about themselves to each other. Lionblaze convinces Blizzardwing to snuggle with him. Brightflower climbs a tree to rest. Snowtuft screams for help. Brokenstar, Snake, Sparrowfeather, Rainflower, and Hollyleaf sleep in shifts. Marshcloud stabs Patchpaw while his back is turned. Shredtail cooks her food before putting her fire out. Silverhawk stays awake all night. Ripplestar screams for help. Breezepelt screams for help. Thistleclaw starts a fire. Petalpaw tries to treat her infection.

~

Day Four:

Ripplestar runs away from Silverhawk. Thistleclaw searches for a water source. Brightflower begs for Blizzardwing to kill her. He refuses, keeping Brightflower alive. Tigerstar receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Marshcloud overhears Shredtail and Mudclaw talking in the distance. Mapleshade is pricked by thorns while picking berries. Rainflower kills Redwillow for his supplies. Hollyleaf and Lionblaze split up to search for resources. Sparrowfeather is pricked by thorns while picking berries. Snowtuft, Brokenstar, Ember, Petalpaw, and Furzepelt hunt for other tributes. Breezepelt searches for firewood. Swallow tries to spear fish with a trident. Larkwing goes hunting. Antpelt, Snake, Boulder, Clawface, and Tangleburr hunt for other tributes.

~

Night Four:

Breezepelt dies from an infection. Mudclaw receives clean water from an unknown sponsor. Snowtuft and Tigerstar sleep in shifts. Silverhawk looks at the night sky. Mapleshade goes to sleep. Blizzardwing is unable to start a fire and sleeps without warmth. Snake tries to treat his infection. Brightflower begs for Clawface to kill her. He refuses, keeping Brightflower alive. Brokenstar starts a fire. Sparrowfeather and Ripplestar huddle for warmth. Antpelt sets up camp for the night. Shredtail and Swallow tell stories about themselves to each other. Larkwing tends to her wounds. Ember receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor. Tangleburr falls into a frozen lake and drowns. Marshcloud convinces Boulder to snuggle with him. Petalpaw goes to sleep. Lionblaze, Thistleclaw, Rainflower, Hollyleaf, and Furzepelt sleep in shifts.

~

Day Five:

Brokenstar tries to spear fish with a trident. Hollyleaf diverts Thistleclaw's attention and runs away. Blizzardwing scares Tigerstar off. Swallow injures herself. Brightflower practices her archery. Ripplestar explores the arena. Clawface makes a slingshot. Antpelt receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Rainflower receives a hatchet from an unknown sponsor. Larkwing is pricked by thorns while picking berries. Mudclaw sprains his ankle while running away from Boulder. Sparrowfeather, Snowtuft, Petalpaw, and Snake hunt for other tributes. Silverhawk tries to sleep through the entire day. Lionblaze injures himself. Ember travels to higher ground. Marshcloud discovers a cave. Shredtail camouflauges herself in the bushes. Furzepelt steals from Mapleshade while she isn't looking.

~

Night Five:

Larkwing starts a fire. Mapleshade looks at the night sky. Mudclaw severely injures Marshcloud, but puts him out of his misery. Snake is unable to start a fire and sleeps without warmth. Tigerstar destroys Sparrowfeather's supplies while she is asleep. Ember quietly hums. Rainflower lets Brightflower into her shelter. Silverhawk and Petalpaw hold hands. Brokenstar and Boulder tell stories about themselves to each other. Hollyleaf destroys Snowtuft's supplies while he is asleep. Furzepelt tries to treat her infection. Clawface, Lionblaze, and Antpelt discuss the games and what might happen in the morning. Swallow begs for Shredtail to kill her. She refuses, keeping Swallow alive. Ripplestar questions his sanity. Blizzardwing cooks his food before putting his fire out. Thistleclaw accidently steps on a landmine.

~

Day Six:

Brightflower collects fruit from a tree. Petalpaw and Larkwing split up to search for resources. Lionblaze sets an explosive off, killing Sparrowfeather, Furzepelt, and Boulder. Swallow scares Blizzardwing off. Clawface defeats Shredtail in a fight, but spares her life. Snowtuft makes a slingshot. Tigerstar travels to higher ground. Ripplestar steals from Mapleshade while she isn't looking. Snake overhears Mudclaw and Brokenstar talking in the distance. Hollyleaf diverts Rainflower's attention and runs away. Ember and Silverhawk split up to search for resources. Antpelt dies from hunger.

~

Night Six:

Brokenstar goes to sleep. Mudclaw repeatedly stabs Ripplestar to death with sais. Brightflower tries to sing herself to sleep. Shredtail and Silverhawk hold hands. Clawface, Petalpaw, Ember, and Swallow sleep in shifts. Rainflower lets Snake into her shelter. Snowtuft, Blizzardwing, and Hollyleaf discuss the games and what might happen in the morning. Mapleshade is unable to start a fire and sleeps without warmth. Lionblaze, Larkwing, and Tigerstar sleep in shifts.

~

Day Seven:

Rainflower defeats Snowtuft in a fight, but spares his life. Clawface poisons Mudclaw's drink, but mistakes it for his own and dies. Lionblaze diverts Larkwing's attention and runs away. Tigerstar, Brightflower, and Snake hunt for other tributes. Hollyleaf is pricked by thorns while picking berries. Swallow discovers a river. Shredtail chases Silverhawk. Blizzardwing, Petalpaw, Brokenstar, and Mapleshade hunt for other tributes. Ember sees smoke rising in the distance, but decides not to investigate.

~

Night Seven:

Petalpaw's trap kills Lionblaze. Swallow tends to Ember's wounds. Mudclaw destroys Silverhawk's supplies while he is asleep. Snake, Larkwing, Brightflower, and Shredtail sleep in shifts. Rainflower kills Mapleshade with her own weapon. Blizzardwing questions his sanity. Brokenstar receives clean water from an unknown sponsor. Snowtuft sees a fire, but stays hidden. Hollyleaf is awoken by nightmares. Tigerstar receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

~

The Feast:

The cornucopia is replenished with food, supplies, weapons, and memoirs from the tributes' families. Tigerstar decides not to go to The Feast. Ember decides not to go to The Feast. Mudclaw decides not to go to The Feast. Larkwing stuffs a bundle of dry clothing into a backpack before sprinting away. Blizzardwing attacks Snowtuft, but Brokenstar protects him, killing Blizzardwing. Petalpaw decides not to go to The Feast. Hollyleaf and Brightflower work together to drown Rainflower. Shredtail decides not to go to The Feast. Snake decides not to go to The Feast. Swallow steals Silverhawk's memoirs.

~

Day Eight:

Brightflower makes a slingshot. Brokenstar hunts for other tributes. Swallow discovers a cave. Mudclaw receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor. Silverhawk explores the arena. Shredtail sets an explosive off, killing Snake, Petalpaw, Hollyleaf and Tigerstar. Larkwing attacks Ember, but Snowtuft protects him, killing Larkwing.

~

Night Eight:

Ember bashes Brightflower's head against a rock several times. Swallow cooks her food before putting her fire out. Brokenstar goes to sleep. Shredtail passes out from exhaustion. Snowtuft and Mudclaw talk about the tributes still alive. Silverhawk receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

~

Day Nine:

Brokenstar is pricked by thorns while picking berries. Mudclaw, Shredtail, Ember, and Snowtuft hunt for other tributes. Swallow stabs Silverhawk with a tree branch.

~

Night Nine:

Mudclaw thinks about winning. Snowtuft is unable to start a fire and sleeps without warmth. Ember sets an explosive off, killing Brokenstar. Shredtail convinces Swallow to snuggle with her.

~

Day Ten:

Mudclaw dies from thirst. Ember dies of dysentery. Swallow chases Snowtuft. Shredtail dies from hunger.

~

Night Ten:

Snowtuft dies from an infection.

~

The winner is Swallow from District 10!

[kestrelwing]

What this person is calling apologism is what most people are calling discussion. They’re not saying Curlfeather for instance was right. They just want her to have something beyond being a heartless monster because that’s what a character is.

And every time I see Rainflower discussions, it’s about asking why the writers highlight bad mothers and not bad fathers. Look at Tom and Sandgorse discussions to see how the writers treat fathers over mothers and their actions. Look at how people praise the crumbs of Fernsong being mentioned to be a den dad and then yell at Squirrelflight for taking a break from sitting in the nursery all day.

I will agree that Mapleshade discourse is a whole other boat, what with her awkwardly written Super Edition that goes out of its way to make everyone around her look worse than her, however every person with critical reading skills knows Mapleshade is bad. They just wish other characters didn’t just have nothing happen to them, especially the men. Like wow, only the female character got sent to the Dark Forest? Not Oak or Raven?

Lizardstripe is commentary on why she’s written that way rather than ever saying she herself was right. Again, it feels like this confession wants to make it seem like people analyzing these characters are forgiving them, when you have to remember these books are written by someone who is telling the story.

In short - it’s commentary. There is a continuous pattern of a guy being able to do things, while a woman can’t. And even if you disagree with that, understand it’s a discussion on that idea rather than saying “Rainflower wasn’t a bad mom”. That has never been anyone’s conclusion, and if it was, they’re already getting yelled at by a vast majority of people.

Something about warriors fandom being apologists for female abusers / villains (Lizardstripe, Mapleshade, Rainflower, Curlfeather) doesn’t sit right with me. I hate the implications that female characters can’t be complex and have to be soft