#i just think about fireheart and bluestar a lot

[valpezian]

Have some firestar at different stages in his life, for a project I want to work on. The Bluestar design I posted earlier is involved

#firestar #warriorcats #warriorcatsfanart #warriorcat #cat #warriorcatsart #art #i just think about fireheart and bluestar a lot #valart #val's art

[bonefall]

BB!TPB Titles

Having some fun just absentmindedly thinking of titles for the BB overhauls of main arc books. I think I'm gonna do it for all of them, because I actually really like renaming these and explaining my thought process

But here's TPB for now, because it's on my mind after that little scene bundle I wrote

Below the cut;

Arc Rename: The Prophecies Begin -> The Forest Four

Into the Wild -> Into the Clans

Fire and Ice -> Thermal and Undertow

Forest of Secrets -> Forest of Flowers

Rising Storm -> Rejected Rites

A Dangerous Path -> The Hunting Trail

The Darkest Hour -> Before the Dawn

The Forest Four

It's the intro to the original four, y'know? Plus, I use this term all the time in Clan Culture entries to specify when something is different about SkyClan from the "Forest Four." Makes sense it's the arc title.

Plus, there's a bit of a thing going on, especially in the later books, where the number of the Clans comes up a lot. Three Great Clans, but only four modern ones, River and Shadow combine to make TigerClan leaving three, BloodClan would make four, LionClan's alliance leaving two...

In BB, they know about SkyClan in history lessons, but Firestar doesn't think about it much until after this arc is done. More importantly, his choice to spare Scourge at the end of the arc suddenly means there's a Forest Four, and a Town One. I just think that's interesting.

(for some reason I also just love Scourge's insult where he calls Firestar a "forest fool" lmao. four forest fools.)

Into the Clans

The book with the expanded intro to the culture of the Clans. I feel like it's more fitting for BB to not call it "into the WILD" because... well, Clan cats DON'T see themselves as ""wild"" like animals. They're in Clans, with culture. They have ranks, politics, family, and even cooking and little kitty tools. It doesn't really make sense to me that they define themselves as "wild" just because their home has nature.

To them, loners are who's "wild," y'know? Rusty isn't totally coming to the Clans because it's wild, he's coming because of the community. Friendships and bonds with cats like Ravenpaw, Graystripe, Frostfur, Spottedleaf, Bluestar, and the sense that he could belong here. That he matters to these people.

This title's the one I'm actually waffling the most on, though. I don't like it very much yet. I don't feel like it captures the feeling I'm going for. It's also really close to a field guide title.

Thermal and Undertow

I've always interpreted "Fire and Ice" to be about how differently Graystripe and Fireheart are as people, and how that starts pulling them apart. The thing that people focus on is their "reconciliation" at the end of the book, but what stands out about it to me is that this is the book where Fireheart's TRULY integrated into the Clan.

His friendship with Graystripe is strained because of the HalfClan relationship Gray gets in, and he starts looking back to his roots for comfort because he doesn't feel like he's completely part of ThunderClan. I love this irony; they're BOTH struggling with loyalty in this broken system, experiencing types of xenophobia that prevent them from having happiness, but not yet wise enough to recognize they have a similar problem.

They're both breaking the law to talk to outsiders. Their forbidden love, both familial and romantic, makes Clan life harder. They're BOTH not doing anything wrong, but the STRUCTURE of their society is setting them against each other.

Graystripe responds, eventually, by leaving. Fireheart thinks he can make a home where he is. They're both wrong. The STRUCTURE needs to be challenged.

And meanwhile, they must go to fetch WindClan after it was driven out. They have to face RiverClan AND ShadowClan when Crookedstar and Nightstar show that power acts through them, as leaders. All the while, they experience the simple truth that love for cats in other Clans makes cruel, bloodthirsty battles like these too difficult to be sustainable.

And that's just canon!! I fucking love this book!!!

So in the rename, I'm putting emphasis on the natural flow, above and below. A wind is controlled by the temperature, rising up into a warm thermal. An undertow is a ferocious current that will pull you into the cold depths. They're not so different, in the end.

Forest of Flowers

And that leads right into canon's Forest of Secrets, where we learn that the older warriors also struggled with those pressures. Fireheart and Graystripe were never alone, cats have been suffering under this cruel system for GENERATIONS.

In BB, this is where I'm dropping the flower symbolism for the three major branches of politics in Forest Four society, which persist and are expanded on for the rest of BB;

Traditionalism, represented by the Honeysuckle, is used to justify the current system. "The Clans are branches of a honeysuckle bush. We fight and strangle each other for the light, and this prunes the weakest sprigs and rewards the fittest. When the winter comes, the strongest branches ensure the survival of the bush."

He also learns, much earlier, of Tigerstar's mentor. He hears the Parable of the Thistle, a story about how a young apprentice was forced to attempt to uproot a bull thistle, only managing to spread its seeds across a clearing, and won a trip to the Cleric's den for the trouble. How Tigerstar, and others, believe the honeysuckle must be challenged.

And meanwhile, he uncovers the story of the Forget-me-nots. A friend group even stronger than his collection of allies, with cats of every Clan, and how ambition drove it apart. How Bluestar looks back at it with both silly shame and deep appreciation.

The kindling ember in Fireheart's chest as he realizes he is the heir of a Forget-me-not, and that surrounding the obvious slash across Tigerclaw's nose, are the subtle pockmarks of thistle thorns.

Rejected Rites

I feel like Rising Storm is the "weakest" book of TPB, because it's where canon's cracks begin to show.

There's still a lot I love about this book. I love the way that Bluestar's cruelty arc begins with her grace and altruism towards other Clans not being returned without a catch. I adore the rescue of Bramblekit and Yellowfang’s guilty, harrowing death insisting she deserves judgement as Fireheart insists she is a good person. Its harsh ending revealing Tigerstar as leader of ShadowClan is a gut punch in an already brutal book, making an excellent mid-arc climax

But I feel its sudden turn towards suggesting the status quo was actually good drags it down.

For example, Cloudpaw is constantly arguing with Fireheart, in ridiculous fights Fire started. He's abducted by humans and returns in the same book, suggesting his uncle was totally right all along and he Totally Promises he won't mess with humans any more. The fact Fire was projecting on his young nephew and denying him answers when he questions their way of life, in a way very similar to the shame Firepaw himself went through, is not addressed.

A lot more of this book than you remember is also dedicated to Fireheart and Sandstorm arguing because the writers think a good romance is when you hate each other but stay together anyway.

So instead, this book in BB focuses more on what I DO like; Fireheart learning to be a LEADER. He's young, inexperienced, and has acted mostly alone up to this point. The Clan is in a moment of SERIOUS tumult as it reckons with how no one saw ANY signs about Tigerclaw.

As he loses his mentor Bluestar to paranoia, he has to learn which warriors are truly trustworthy, and try to win back those whose loyalties might stray.

In this way, Rejected Rites is about the WHOLE Clan. It's Whitestorm throwing his reputation and experience behind Fireheart. It's Goldenflower and how her disgust with her ex-mate blows her mind open and she shifts into Fire's most ferocious champion. It's Mousefur deciding that Tigerclaw was a uniquely bad person and refusing to admit fault with a Clan that supported him.

And of course it's about Cloudpaw, grappling with how Fireheart insists he's his mentor, not his father, not his friend, going back to how he botches the Queen’s Rights on bringing him to the Clan. Fireheart, too, is a flawed person capable of being complicit in damaging systems.

The Hunting Trail

The dog plot barely needs a recap, it's this fandom's bread and butter. But there's a small, VERY popular misconception about; in canon, Tigerstar only uses the dogs at the END of this book with a rabbit trick. Before that, the dogs are practically a natural disaster he has nothing to do with.

There's a reason why it's misremembered. It works better if he's more involved with them the whole time, showing how DANGEROUS he is, how Bluestar's fixation on her war with StarClan is blinding her to reality, and adding to the tragedy and madness by having Swiftpaw getting wrapped up in his father's/stepfather's quest for revenge.

So in BB, Tigerstar's involved MUCH sooner. He freed the dogs.

The title change reflects that. There's a hunting trail and the cats of ThunderClan are its prey, but it doesn't specify who the predator is. In the end, it was Tigerstar's scheme all along and Bluestar sacrifices herself to save her apprentice.

(I also want to take the moment to highlight how short-sighted and impulsive Tigerstar's plans actually are, something I find fascinating about him as a character. He's malicious and intelligent enough to make some incredible schemes, taking advantage of every opportunity. But he never accounts for details like... "what if my dogs don't go right to where I want them to go?" or "what if I'm not picked as deputy after I kill Redtail?" or even "what will i do after my demons kill all the living cats?")

TigerClan is also forming earlier. It begins in THIS book. Stonefur and Mistyfoot are "detained" after leaping into the ravine to rescue Fireheart and Bluestar, it's all the "evidence" Tigerstar needed to accuse them of divided loyalty. To finally start his persecution of HalfClan cats.

Before the Dawn

...In spite of its iconic moments, I'll be honest; Darkest Hour is actually the book that makes me the angriest about the original series.

All arc long, we are shown that the Clans are flawed. They have been, long before Rusty set foot in the woods that day. It NEEDS bigotry to exist the way it does, fostering xenophobia between Clan cats so that love and friendship won't get in the way of violence, encouraging and even rewarding extreme Jingoism, and even setting clanmates against each other for these senseless problems instead of the STRUCTURE of Clan society.

Darkest Hour SLAMS the breaks on that theme, and brings the message to a screeching halt.

FIRST of all, this is the book where it's explicitly stated that StarClan "doesn't interfere," even giving them a moment where they yell at protagonist about free will or whatever while simultaneously barking a vague, ultimately useless prophecy at him. The first of many scenes like it in later arcs. It feels completely and utterly out of left field, instantly turning StarClan from a mysterious, possibly not even fully benevolent force, into THE most annoying plot device ever.

Secondly... BloodClan.

BloodClan is introduced as a TRULY EVIL group of horrible atheists who hate love and friendship, to the point of banning families, and are now here to destroy our glorious society and steal our home. They're depicted as being ruled by fear and brutality, unbound by concepts like "honor" or "loyalty." You cannot reason with them or spare their lives, the barbarians must be killed and kept out, lest they replace us.

(there is even a moment where it's implied that if the soldiers lose the war, BloodClan will come and murder the elders and children too.)

It is SO bad and SO egregious, and it's played completely unironically. It bothers me so badly I've talked about it before. Multiple times, actually

After Tigerstar gets his well-deserved grallocking like a 10-point buck, the endgame villain of TPB is a foreigner and his army. Scourge is a foil of Firestar himself, but THIS one hates the clans and doesn't worship the right god, which makes him dangerous. Firestar is textually stronger than him because of his faith in StarClan.

At the end of the day, TPB, and the rest of the series that follows, doesn't refute Tigerstar's ideology. It even agrees. Weakness IS abhorrent. Outsiders ARE to be distrusted. Split loyalties ARE detestable. It just didn't like that he challenged the status quo.

Foreigners and their leaders ARE less trustworthy and more villainous than Clan cats. Wariness and even violence towards them is necessary, "justifying" the isolationist structure of the Clans. Scourge is only the first in a very long chain; then comes Sol, One Eye, Slash, and Darktail. Even Hawkfrost and Willow Tail can fit into this pattern.

With the death of these evil, troublemaking cats, the Clans return to the status quo. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Darkest Hour frames this like a wonderful, triumphant thing, with Firestar noting how the now-leaderless BloodClan fighters look so inferior to Clan warriors, Scourge's evil will never haunt them again (Tigerstar gets to be grieved though), and that with LionClan disbanding, they will all return to their petty bullshit squabbles.

So, BB's renaming.

I had a lot of ideas. I really liked the name "Moment of Truth" because it's the book that really brings together the theme of the arc, ending with Firestar realizing Scourge is right to distrust the Clans and that change is DESPERATELY needed, but the more I thought about it... the more I liked Before the Dawn

Reference to the phrase "The darkest hour comes before the dawn" BB is a much more optimistic story than canon, by tweaking the themes and details while following the major beats. Something is just... idk poetic? About picking the more uplifting part of the idiom. It feels right, like it's almost too perfect to go with any other title

It's a new era for the culture going foward It IS right before a "new dawn." It's the start of major changes to Clan culture, setting the events of the rest of BB into motion. The years and generations that follow are going to see major changes to the code, territory, culture, and philosophy in the universe. The choice that Firestar makes here is going to bring the Clans into a new epoch. Plus the cats are crepuscular now so I can literally have the final battle take place just before dawn because subtext is for CHUMPS

I like the idea of opening up the next arc with Dawn Just because that's really funny to me lmaoo. Something is cute about titles that reference each other. Maybe the first book of TNP could be "Dawn of the End" since the destruction of the forest starts early. Maybe add in some apocalyptic prophecies and such...

#I don't think I will update the tags... not yet at least. #Not until I manage to scrounge together a good summary ... post thingie #Something akin to a masterpost #Btw the Clanmew masterpost broke OTL #I can't edit it with new links so im gonna need to make a new onr #Which is fine i guess since the old one wasnt like... scalable #It was messy #But looooord can tumblr work pls #Better bones au #BB!TPB

[thunderc1an]

op im begging you to lore drop about the Scourge and Tigerclaw [evil!bluestar?] au you have going on i need to know if tigerclaw is good or not

Bluestar isn't evil in this au.

It's more along the lines that the events of "The Prophecy Begins" happen earlier (Brokenstar things, bringing windclan back, etc.)

Just think of it as if the protagonist of the first arc is Tiny (THEN the protagonist of arc 2, finding the clans a new home, is fireheart, and everything else from the other arcs get pushed back too)

What i want most out of this au is to see (from the perspective of Snowfoot, tiny) a complex version of Tigerclaw, how through his own grief he does the things he does.

Though Fireheart (as an apprentice) is still the character that will reveal what Tigerstar (Leader of thunderclan) has done, and Snowfoot (deputy of thunderclan) would be the one to end him.

So that being said, the whole thing about Bluestar, straying further and further from Starclan because of her own grief, causes for Thunderclan to crumble. This and her friendliness towards riverclan does cause for a lot of the cats that Tigerclaw cares for to die.

In a simple sentence Tigerclaw (later -star) is a bad cat, he does kill to get to his desired endpoint. His endpoint is "good", bringing strength and dignity to Thunderclan after Bluestar's leadership. But I also want the viewer to have their own thoughts about if he's good or not

#warriors #warrior cats #warriors au #tigerstar au #sorry if there are any grammar mistakes #I am watching a movie with my roomates heehee #tigerstar #bluestar #wc scourge

[mud-castle]

I forgot about the kittypet Sandstorm stuff! I think that could be a fun AU, definitely :D

I don't know much about it at all, but I certainly wasn't expecting Fireheart to be related to Tigerclaw. Given Tigerclaw and Rusty's dynamic in canon, I suppose that'll definitely make for some drama between the two.

I wonder how relationships will be this time around, as well. Is it going to be a SandstormxFireheart? Or how about Fireheart's other relationships in general, since he isn't just swapping roles with Sandstorm - he's the oldest (assuming) son of the most well-respected cat in the clan. Is he Goldenflower's child? Realistcally, probably not since Goldenflower had Swiftpaw before getting with Tigerclaw at all, but speaking of Swift, I imagine Fires relationship with him/his other siblings will probably be a Whitestorm/Graystripe thing. Although hopefully closer, but I imagine that depends on how much Fires actually follows in his father's evil pawsteps or whatever.

I have a soft-spot for "aged-up Fireheart" AUs, so hopefully he is cool, and hopefully Sandstorm will give him a hard time because I can imagine Fires as this really good fighter that likes to look cool but also is kind of a huge dork and she relishes in the fact he's not "perfect" like daddy is.

It will probably be more Sandstorm & Fireheart rather than Sandstorm x Fireheart.

He is Tigerclaw's eldest kid and Goldenflower is not his mom, so him and Swiftpaw are more step-siblings. His mom is unknown by anyone in the clan except Tigerclaw. She was might be a kittypet. Don't speculate on that while Tiger is around.

I could write a whole nother post about him and Tigerclaw's relationship. But to put it in a nutshell, Tiger's hard on him for a multitude of reasons. The conscious part of it is Fireheart's other half of parentage, the subconscious part is his resemblance to Pinestar.

As for his relationship with Tigerclaw, well... It wasn't bad, at first, Fireheart thinks. Tigerclaw is hard on him, but he's not cruel. Affection tends to be more of a reward than a given. But Tigerclaw is fairly quick to boast about his son's skills to the clan. He gets a lot of extra training from Tigerclaw when not training with Bluestar all of which quickly makes him the best fighter out of the apprentices, which gets rid of most of the rumors surrounding Fireheart's parentage. So it's all in his best interest clearly. His dad just wants what's best, right? It's not until Bramble and Tawny are born that he notices the stark differences in how Tigerclaw treats them.

Swiftpaw adores him. He knows him as his kickass older brother. And since Longtail is close to Tigerclaw and wants to stay in his good graces there's not really anything to influence Swiftpaw otherwise. Fireheart loves him right back and tries to be a good influence.

He's cool to an outside observer, being the most skilled out of the apprentices due to the extra training and being Tigerclaw's son. But he's insecure and a people pleaser. He's also a massive dork when you really get to know him. No he's not evil.

Him and Sandstorm hated each other through most of their apprenticeship. He's not a bully, but he hangs around her bullies and though he doesn't join in, he won't defend her either. So she's bitter towards him. Sandpaw can't beat him in a fight, but she does leave him in the dust with hunting, which upsets Tigerclaw, which makes Fire a bit bitter. Tiger did not spend his time getting rid of the kittypet rumors surrounding his son just to have him get shown up by a kittypet. They get better eventually though. I honestly see them as platonic, but in a way that can easily be read as romantic.

Sandstorm has ulterior motives for befriending him, but yeah eventually she comes to love his dorky self and finds someone she can relax around. He also likes her for being someone he doesn't have to put on a show for constantly.

#you know that quote that says 'sons don't want to hear i love you from their dads they want to hear i'm proud of you?' #yeah that's not Fire. All he wants is to hear 'I love you.' #kittypet sandstorm au #warrior cats au #warrior cats #firestar #sandstorm #tigerstar #ask #I will push my aroace agenda onto the fireman and sandgal. t they like me fr fr

[cryptidclaw]

Shriketail! Aka. Longtail in my AU! I've made a Longtail design before but I changed stuff about him in my au, aaaannd I just wanted to update it bec I wasn't completely pleased with it!

I gave him one floppy ear and blue eyes from his mom Downnose, and I made him look more like Down overall. I made his brown a bit paler and gave him more white to reference Down as well, plus I think it looks better. 

reblog with image descriptions

Info about him in my au below! warning it is very long (as usual lolol) v

-First off he is trans masc and Gay! He eventually ends up mates with Firestar and he is best friends/ in a queer platonic relationship with Sandstorm who is Firestar’s other mate! 

-his mother is Downnose! Down had a short affair with a kittypet, which resulted in Shrike!

-Down was extremely exited to be a mom, despite the fact that it would definitely cause some questions ... but I think that Shrike's kittypet parent (who was the one to birth him since Down is trans) didn't want a kid like Down did, and had just been enjoying a dumb affair, so they were perfectly happy with letting Down raise Shrike in ThunderClan.

-Down took Shrike to ThunderClan once he was weaned. Her showing up with a child caused a lot of drama, but Downnose refused to say who the parent was stating "I am a molly and this is my kit, Queens don't have to say who the other parent is, and that should be no different for me." The clan begrudgingly moved past it bec they knew how stubborn Downnose was and that she would not budge.

-Down looooved raising her kit, and absolutely adored Shrike, and after a while most of the clan just tried to ignore the mystery of where he came from. Though the main theory was that he was from that kittypet Down was always caught talking to (which was correct)

-when Shrike became an apprentice things went downhill, Darkstripe was his mentor and was a strong follower of "outsider bad, kittypet weak" and with all the rumors about Shrike being half kittypet, Dark was harsh on him and was determined to train the kittypet out of him. As a result Shrike became very insecure, and that took its from as anger, he chose to conform to Dark (and Tigerclaw)'s ways of thinking to prove himself and to keep himself separate from the strong possibility of his kittypet blood.

-during this time he grew apart from his mother, feeling anger and resentment towards her for having a kit with a cat outside the clans. This hurt Down a lot and she tried to get closer to her son again, but that just pissed him off more.

-he eventually became a warrior, and soon after Rusty, soon to be Firepaw, was taken to ThunderClan. All of his resentment toward kittypets caused him to start his fight with Fire, and he was only more angered when he lost that fight.

-and so began his animosity towards Fire, caused by his indoctrination to Tiger and Dark's xenophobic beliefs as well as his internalized hatred for his kittypet blood.

-over time however, Shrike started to grow to like and respect Fire, this was a very slow process, and he refused to admit it to himself or others. This process was helped by his mom constantly telling him off for being an asshole though.

-after Tiger was revealed to be a traitor, it really started to hit Shrike that maybe the things he was taught weren't something he should be believing. He stopped hanging around Dark as much and even started speaking to his mother more.

-and once Dark was revealed to be a traitor too? Shriketail came to terms with the fact that he had been wrong and an asshole, and really he always knew that deep down, he was just insecure. 

-after Swiftpaw’s death, Shrike started to grow closer to Fireheart. Fire had apologized to Shrike, stating that it was his fault that Swift had died, because he had been unable to convince Bluestar to make him a warrior. But Shrike told him he was being dumb and that Fire had done everything he could. 

-After this Shrike admitted to Fire that he didn't hate him at all, and apologized for how he had acted in the past. Fire forgave him, and they started hanging out as friends, and Shrike took it upon himself to tell others off if they said something rude to Fire, or chose to undermine his commands. 

-Shrike also became besties with Sandstorm, both having similar personalities (and they both could bond over their crushes on Fireheart) 

-Shrike was also close to his mother again, apologizing for how he had acted, and wanting to make up for the time he had been an ass to her. Down was just happy to have her baby back, though she would be sure to keep knocking sense into him if he ever acted stupid. 

-After the battle at the end of the first arc, Shrike was deeply wounded in the eyes by another cat, and would later completely lose his eyesight due to infection. 

-During this time Fire admitted his feelings for Shrike and they became mates, Fire is poly in this au, and is mates with both Sand and Shrike. 

-It was extremally hard for Shrike at first after being blinded, he had to give up his apprentice, since he was going to have to recover for a long while, he had and extremely hard time talking to his mother at first since Down is deaf, and he was unsure if he could ever be a warrior again. 

-But Shriketail’s support system came to help him! Down was determined to talk to Shrike despite their barriers, she learned how to better her speech, so they could understand each other. Down along with Fireheart and Sandstorm were determined to help Shrike learn to be a warrior again, and after a while Shrike was able to be just as good of a warrior as ever!

-Shrike helped raise Squirrelflight and Leafpool being like another parent to them, and it is often joked that it was the combination of having BOTH Sandstorm and Shriketail as parents that caused her to have that strong snarky, stubborn personality, and it doesn't help that her dad Fire is just as stubborn! 

-Shrike would later train Jaypaw, though Jay would choose to be a medicine cat, right before his warrior ceremony. Shrike and Jay have a very close relationship, Shrike basically being Jay’s grandfather, and them both having similar snarky personalities and both bonding over being blind. 

#cryptidclaw's warriors au #warrior cats #warrior cats design #Longtail #longtail design #longtail warriors #longtail au #shriketail #Longfire #Firelong

[nanistar]

what's a character that you like that you would consider a "problematic fav"?

★ julius was fronting when typing this ★

hmmm that's kind of a hard one because i personally don;t really think any characters are problematic, since they tend to be pretty poorly written and a lot of their personalities, values and issues will change all willy nilly between books for whatever the authors see fit instead of creating a character with set morals, ideals, goals, and an established character arc lol. and also i don't really like a whole lot of characters, i tend to Nothing a lot of them. but, as i've said before, my opinion on characters, ships, scenes ect can usually be swayed by whoever is writing it or talking about it.

that being said, characters that i like that could generally be seen as problematic...

i love tigerclaw. always have. (keeping in mind that i read warriors long before the pinestar novella gave him a specific extra hatred of kittypets and the dark forest stuff was retconned to be in his past instead of only after his death) i have always thought that tigerstar was the best villain that warriors has ever had, and ever will have. he's patient, smart, and he plays the long con. despite fireheart being suspicious of him, which makes the reader suspicious, he puts on a front for almost three books. he's mean, aggressive, sure, but he's loyal to thunderclan* in battle and in daily life and i genuinely believe he started out wanting what was best for the Clan, believing (maybe due to thistleclaw's influence, maybe not) that Bluestar was not good for the Clan/was too soft/ect (like bringing in a kittypet kitten, like sending a party to look for WindClan instead of taking their territory) before the idea of absolute power got to his head.

he's awkwardly respectful around the Medicine cats, he listens to Cinderpelt when she yells at him about silverstream's kits (i think the quote is something like "do you want that kit to die?? shut up and lick it") and he does and even fireheart is surprised. this little scene in particular says a lot about his character to me: he's a ruthless killer but he cares about young life, and he respects the authority of the clan;s healers. he's more than Just evil. he's a person.

he plans things perfectly, his plot to kill bluestar and pin it all on brokentail's gang almost succeeded.

he's exiled and immediately takes control of the gang of brokentail's rogues that he JUST tried to blame the (attempted) murder of a leader on. his ruthlessness and his diplomacy is unparalleled by any other character in WC. he brings this gang of abusive cats back to Shadowclan, where a majority of them were exiled from due to war crimes in the first place, and takes over the Clan. is he bad? absolutely. but he pulls the frazzled, sick and dying ShadowClan back together, nurses them back to health, and plays the straight man again for the next book all the while he's plotting with blackfoot and darkstripe to bring his kids to safety because he's slowly feeding the dogs in TC territory and plotting to kill everyone in a ruthless, indiscriminate slaughter. he's there for it. he's watching the whole time. we know this because, at the end of the chain, he catches fireheart and holds him down for long enough for the dogs to catch up. at this point, he doesn't care about TC, he just wants fireheart dead. plans are foiled once again when bluestar leaps to the rescue.

next he moves to Riverclan, he convinces Leopardstar to combine Clans and join him. the newer books want you to believe that she was pressured into doing it, but truthfully she was equally as ambitious as he was (just less willing to kill indiscriminately for it) and likely saw it as an opportunity to get into a higher position of power, probably planned on dethroning Tigerstar the second she had the chance. obviously this doesn't happen.

he creates this whole narrative about halfclan cats not being loyal to their given clan, using mistyfoot and stonefur (The RiverClan Deputy!!!!) as examples and even riverclan believes him despite the fact that misty and stone have never had a lapse in loyalty for their entire lives, only finding out they were half-clan a few moons ago. (unrelated since it's due to the retcons of later super editions, but silverstream's mom and crookedstar's mate Willowbreeze (AND her sister Graypool) was also a halfclan cat, though her loyalty was never doubted, which while halfclan cats are rare it seems like for the most part theres not tooooo much discrimination of them, leading me to believe that tigerstar did sort of jumpstart this new narrative of them clan-swapping and having no true loyalty.) they even doubted the loyalty of two young apprentices, featherpaw and stormpaw, and kept them all locked in a prison and starved. riverclan may have objected to this, but they couldn't say anything about it and they certainly couldn't have stopped it at all.

then, he gave stonefur the chance to prove his loyalty; prove you're loyal to your clan by killing these two apprentices. of course he knew stonefur would never. stonefur objects, and while leopardstar does seem reluctant, but she agrees with tigerstar. she thinks, maybe due to his heritage, he IS unloyal to riverclan.

what tigerstar does is cruel, violent and horrible. he has a calmness about him, a patience, and an intelligence that makes him incredibly scary. he always has a backup plan. when his plans are foiled he is quick to think of a new one. he;s diplomatic, charismatic (at first), he could convince you to give him the clothes off of your back. he escalates and escalates until he almost has everything.

then he gets unzipped, and starts ALL over again in the dark forest. (i do not care for dark forest tigerstar after TNP. it gets really played out and boring.)

anyway i like him (: *not fireheart

#warrior cats #tigerstar #nyask

[fishtinker]

Seeing your warriors x mlp au makes me wonder... if normal cats are non Clan cats (kittypets, loners, rogues, etc) and clan cats may be the equivalent to earth ponies/pegasus/unicorns... what happens with Rusty/Firepaw or just any non Clan cat who joins a Clan? Do they stay the same? :0

Same thing about other groups like The Sisters for example!

Ok so i saw this few days ago and now ill answer

So for a while, Rusty/Firepaw is a regular cat and is one of the rare cases where this magical cat race takes in a regular, they don't make themselves very seen or known which is why it's rare and Firepaw ended up getting lots of backlash, not because hes only a housepet-- but because he had no wings nor magic.. he was just a cat getting involved with their society.

After proving to get his cutiemark and earning his name, the respect from his clanmates began to grow and eventually after Bluestar dies from wendigo attacks or wtv, Fireheart suddenly gets the overwhelming power of BOTH wings and a horn thrusted into him during his ceremony.

Firestar happened to be a lucky noodle the first time, because he is the only regular cat that goes from being regular to an Alicorn,,, any other cat that joins is kept in the camp for a majority since i.. dont think it'll be safe for just a regular cat.

Maybe it becomes more survivable for regular cats after the 4 clans moved into new territories, maybe Firestar helped with finding a more sustainable place for the magic cats, winged cats and normal cats.

#sorry bad grammr #mlw au #also dont feel like rereading i just wanted to infodump what i got

[redux-iterum]

Burning Hearts: Chapter Twenty-Two

(AO3 counterpart here.)

A couple nights passed, each one nicer than the last. Fireheart was once awoken by loud, dragged-out meows that were strained with effort and pain. In the evening, it was Frostfur sitting outside of the nursery, not Goldenflower.

“Brindleface had her kittens,” the white molly explained when Fireheart approached. “Goldenflower’s keeping an eye on her while she rests.”

Fireheart’s tail stood straight before curling over his back. “That’s wonderful! Are they healthy?”

“All three of them are plump and eating fine,” Frostfur replied, her eyes shining. “Our nursery is going to be quite full once Goldenflower has her kittens, too.”

Fireheart nodded enthusiastically, then deflated as his mind drew a conclusion. “I’m not going to be able to visit Goldenflower, am I?”

“I’m afraid not,” Frostfur said sympathetically. “Mates and mollies only.”

Fireheart sighed and rolled a shoulder. “Well, maybe you and Tigerclaw can tell me about them when they’re born.”

Frostfur tilted her head, thoughtful. “I don’t even know if Tigerclaw would be allowed in if Brindleface is here. He makes a lot of queens nervous.”

“Oh.” Fireheart blinked.

“I can at least tell you,” Frostfur said. “When they come around, of course. In the meantime…” She twisted her front half around and called into the nursery, “Kits! Come play outside!”

A unanimous, squeaky cheer echoed from inside the den. Fireheart and Frostfur stepped out of the way just in time for a cloud of white and gold to stampede into the open—and to Fireheart’s surprise, Snowkit wasn’t the last one out. In fact, he beat Thornkit and Brackenkit easily. The kits spread their chaos out, with the golden brothers running to the just-waking elders and Brightkit plunging into the admittedly small prey-pile, pawing at a squirrel about her size. Snowkit stopped in the center of camp, looking around with his big blue eyes before sniffing the air and crouching clumsily, fluffy little tail thrashing about.

“Wonder what he’s up to,” Fireheart said to Frostfur.

Frostfur purred. “He’s been trying to sneak up on his siblings for the past two days.” She paused, then spoke with more confusion than affection. “It’s odd. He used to try and speak, but suddenly he’s not making a single sound.”

“Oh!” Fireheart perked up more. “I’ve seen him; he mimicked Ravenwing when he was telling that story the other night - moving his mouth to Ravenwing’s words. I mean, he didn’t talk, but…”

Frostfur looked at him, eyes wide. “Did he… do you think he understood what Ravenwing was saying?”

Fireheart’s mouth twitched in consideration. “Well, I don’t know, but he looked like he was trying. But—” he hastened to add “—I think he’ll get it down pretty quick. He seems smart.”

“He is smart,” Frostfur said, the tiniest edge in her voice and iciness in her expression. “All of them are.”

“Of course,” Fireheart said quickly. “I just mean– well– you know– I think you don’t have anything to worry about. I think he’ll be just fine.”

The cold edge left Frostfur entirely. She sighed and nodded. “I hope so.”

Fireheart opened his mouth to unnecessarily add more, but he was saved by a high-pitched roar and then a grunt. When he looked to the source, the entrance, Brightkit had just tried to tackle Bluestar, Brackenkit helping on the leader’s other side.

Frostfur shouted in wordless outrage and trotted forward. “Brightkit! Brackenkit! Apologize right now!”

Bluestar didn’t seem bothered. She just gazed down at the unaware kits and gently tousled the top of their heads, one at a time.

“Bluestar, I’m so sorry, they don’t know who you are yet, I—” Frostfur met her and glared at the kits. “You do not attack our leader! Tell her ‘sorry’.”

“It’s fine,” Bluestar said, quiet and calm. “They’re just having fun.” She looked down at the kits again. “But I do need to eat, little ones.”

Bluestar’s request, followed up with Frostfur’s glare, seemed to be enough to convince the kits to back away and mumble nonsense that was probably supposed to be an apology of some kind. Bluestar flicked her tail in acknowledgement and walked slowly to the prey-pile. She sniffed the available prey with some disinterest before taking the squirrel at the top and moving at that same slow pace across camp, reclining where it was quietest. She observed camp without a word, not touching her prey.

Driven by a spark of concern in his heart, Fireheart made his way up to her, briefly trying to look casual by glancing around aimlessly. The hollow look in his mentor’s eyes made him give up on that and trot to her directly.

“It’s a good night, isn’t it?” he said cheerfully, coming around to her side and sitting down.

Bluestar, thankfully, did not seem offended or awkward about this intrusion. She simply looked up at him (only shorter now that she was halfway on her side) and flicked an ear.

Fireheart waited a moment for her to respond. When she didn’t, he tried again. “It’s just nice! New kits in the nursery—Frostfur said they’re healthy—and her kits, they’re all strong and happy, running around and enjoying life. And Cinderpaw’s finally resting, which…” He nodded at the crashed-out apprentice lying in a bundle of messy dark fur with her bad leg kicked out. “Took her long enough, right?”

Bluestar hummed in acknowledgement, looking at her apprentice fondly, even if that fondness was dampened with melancholy.

“And then Goldenflower, she’s pregnant!” Fireheart’s chest buzzed happily. “She’ll have kits, too.”

Bluestar finally spoke, quiet and reflective. “She’s been wanting kittens for a very long time.” Her eyes ever-so-slightly crinkled. “Small wonder she took to you so quickly.”

“Small indeed,” Fireheart muttered without any bite in his voice. His left ear turned sideways. “How come she hasn’t had kittens already? Was she just busy as the matriarch?”

Bluestar’s eyes drifted to the nursery. “As far as I’ve known, it was Tigerclaw who wanted to wait. I never pried into it. That’s just what I’ve heard.”

Fireheart pondered that for a moment. “…That’d make sense, I think. Nice of Goldenflower to give him time, then.”

Bluestar didn’t respond. When Fireheart looked at her, her eyes were distant and unfocused, the claws of the paw on her squirrel ever-so-slightly unsheathed, grazing the fur.

Fireheart very gently tapped her with his tail, asking in a murmur, “What’s bothering you?”

He expected her to get snippy with him prying, or even just not respond. She instead looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a moment, before sighing and turning back to watch Snowkit wrestle soundlessly with a yowling Brightkit.

“We’re going to need as many kits as we can get,” she said. “Winter isn’t a kind thing to the Clans. We’re bound to lose a couple as they grow.”

It took Fireheart a moment to realize what she meant. He stiffened. “…‘Lose’ as in die?”

Bluestar nodded morosely.

“But—” Fireheart almost started looking around for someone to refute her words. “But how? Aren’t they all safe in the nursery? Nothing can get them, right?”

“Anything can,” Bluestar said quietly. “Sickness, the cold, weak hearts… we can’t keep everything out of the nursery, as much as we’d like to. Fighting off a stoat or eagle is easy—it’s when a kitten just stops eating or freezes to death overnight that we can do nothing about.”

Fireheart stared at her silently, mouth slightly agape. His mind flew all over the place in its newfound fear: to his sister in the Houses, to Goldenflower in the nursery, to Silverstream in RiverClan, all with a bundle of kits that were ready to die off, one by one. It was a fear he could do anything about as much as he could hold back a storm.

“It happens all the time,” Bluestar said, watching the kits roll around, oblivious to the dangers of the world. “Sometimes… sometimes entire litters are lost.”

Fireheart did not miss her claws sinking into the squirrel’s hide, gripping it like a rogue’s pelt. He leaned forward a little to look into her eyes - pale and foggy like a sun on an overcast winter day, her face the frozen earth.

Fireheart didn’t dare to press, but he saw something unidentifiable in her expression. If he could just thaw it out—

Bluestar sat up and pushed the squirrel in his direction, her claws leaving puncture holes in its side. “Have this. I need to speak with Tigerclaw.”

“Bluestar—” Fireheart started, almost wanting to apologize for a reason he couldn’t name.

“You should eat.” She walked past him with speed, leaving camp before he could even respond, several cats watching her go with confusion.

“I’m not really hungry anymore, either,” Fireheart said to the empty air she left behind.

---

“Yeesh.”

“Yeah.” Fireheart rolled a loose pebble under his paw. “I upset her on accident.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Greystripe said after swallowing his mouthful of squirrel. “The loss of kittens gets to everyone. She was already thinking about it before you said anything, it sounds like.”

Fireheart sighed. “Still…”

“‘Still’ nothing. Just get some food in you, buddy.” Greystripe stretched out a huge paw and pushed at the mole between Fireheart’s feet.

Fireheart twitched his whiskers weakly and looked down at his mole. It was a very fresh one, almost warm still, and fat with rare autumn’s bounty, but his stomach was stiff and icy. Chewing alone seemed a monumental task.

“Maybe I should give this to someone else,” he said.

Greystripe shook his head. “You’d tell me to eat if I was feeling bad, right? Even if I didn’t want to?” At Fireheart’s sheepish nod, he returned with a sharper nod of his own. “Go on, then.”

Fireheart’s stomach stayed chilled, but he bent his head and pulled off a piece of his prey—more like he was pulling a tick off of Halftail than chomping on fresh meat. He chewed without tasting and swallowed. To his relief, his stomach lost its cold just a bit, enough to alert him to how hungry he really was.

Greystripe purred as Fireheart went for more. “Better?”

Fireheart nodded more enthusiastically, his tongue waking up to the taste of mole.

“Awesome.” Greystripe creased his eyes in self-satisfaction before he continued on with the last half of the squirrel.

They ate in silence, occasionally glancing up to watch Swiftpaw try to get Cinderpaw to lay back down or Teaselfoot make some quiet joke that Mousefur swatted him for. The kits were back in the nursery, having lost their energy after bouncing around for quite a while and then staggering into the den. Not a sound came out from under the roots that served as its architecture. Every conversation around them was quiet but cheerful, and as Fireheart half-listened, munching away, his anxiety and guilt gradually subsided.

“Oh, hey—” Greystripe looked to the shifting entrance. “Ravenwing’s patrol might be back.”

Fireheart perked up and waited until Willowpelt and Whitecloud passed through to call a greeting to Ravenwing as he followed behind. Ravenwing turned his head to his friends, who both waved their tails, and trotted over to them, his own tail stiff and slightly puffed out.

“Oh, there you are,” he said, only stopping when he was almost touching Fireheart, and bent his head down, speaking almost under his breath. “Are you two done eating? Can we go out and talk?”

Greystripe and Fireheart looked at each other with mild puzzlement, but nodded. They chomped down the last bits of meat before standing and following Ravenwing back to the entrance.

“Already leaving again?” Willowpelt asked, head tilted.

“Still got some energy,” Ravenwing said quickly. “I just want to hunt a bit.”

Unusually, Greystripe seemed to catch something Fireheart didn’t and added, “Yeah, there’s nothing left for anyone else,” and jerked his chin at the single, pathetic mouse lying in what used to be the prey-pile.

“That’s kind of you.” Willowpelt glanced at her kits by the stump before adding, “Do you think you could find a pigeon for Cinderpaw? I know they might not be out right now, but…”

“We’ll try to find one,” Fireheart said brightly. “What about Swiftpaw? Anything for him?”

“Oh, he likes pigeon too,” Willowpelt replied. “If you only find one, they can share.”

Fireheart dipped his head and followed his friends out of camp.

“So—” started Greystripe, but Ravenwing held up his tail for silence. Greystripe glanced back curiously at Fireheart, who tilted his head with the same unspoken question. The pair continued on after Ravenwing until the scents and sounds of camp were far behind them. Abruptly, Ravenwing stopped and turned around, his eyes wide and nervous.

“Do you know where Tigerclaw is?” he asked quietly.

Fireheart frowned, confused. “The last I heard, Bluestar went to talk with him. Why?”

Uttering a tiny, low groan, Ravenwing looked around, ears swiveling before they flattened against his head. “Okay. Um. This is going to sound crazy, but please hear me out.”

Fireheart blinked. “Of course we’ll hear you out.”

“Something wrong?” Greystripe asked, his casual tone ever-so-slightly leaning into wariness.

“Okay. Okay.” Ravenwing swallowed. “So…I think– I think– well– you know how Tigerclaw called Bluestar to the border and a car hit Cinderpaw because she went instead?”

“Yeah?” Fireheart said slowly.

“And then Tigerclaw called Bluestar to the border again, and you went instead, Fireheart? And you said some black-and-white rogues were coming right for you, but then Tigerclaw showed up and they went away?”

For a reason Fireheart didn’t want to understand, his chest tightened. “…Yeah?”

“And before all of that…” Ravenwing looked around again, much more conspiratorially. “Lionface disappeared, and all we heard about were the sight of two black-and-white rogues? And then Tigerclaw got promoted to deputy?”

Fireheart glanced at Greystripe; his face was weirdly unreadable, like he couldn’t decide what emotion he was feeling. To Ravenwing, Fireheart said uneasily, “What about it?”

“It’s just… weird, you know?” Ravenwing’s teeth clicked a few times. “Why are those two rogues showing up so often? Why does something bad happen, or nearly happen, when there’s some business at the border?” He shivered. “And why do our deputies keep disappearing?”

“Lionface was probably taken away by humans,” Greystripe said, but his eyes were intensely focused now. “And… are you talking about—”

“Redtail,” Ravenwing said. “He fell into the Gorge and we never found a body.” His feet shuffled, pacing in place. “And yeah, okay, that’s the Gorge. We never get anything back from there. But I’ve been thinking about this for a few nights now, and…” He swallowed again. “You know, only Tigerclaw saw what happened to him.”

Ravenwing’s words made the fur on Fireheart’s spine prickle. “What are you saying?”

“I’m not– I’m not sure exactly what I’m saying yet.” Ravenwing heaved a shaky breath, visibly forced his paws to stop moving, and looked between his friends, eyes now alert and face setting into something like determination. “But I want your help in whatever this is. Something’s going on and I want to find out what. Maybe I’m just making things up, I don’t know—but it’s weird. It’s really weird, and I need to at least get some information before I pass it off.”

“We can help,” Greystripe said, his voice low. “Fireheart?”

Fireheart opened his mouth, shut it when he realized he didn’t know what he wanted to say, and then nodded. “…Yeah. What’s the first thing you want to do?”

Ravenwing sighed with relief, then refocused. “First things first… I want to find out exactly what happened with Lionface.”

#here we go #warrior cats #redux iterum #iterum #chapter #chapter twenty two #book two #arc one #burning hearts

[talonslockau]

Forest of Secrets - Chapter 13

Chapter 12 || Index || Chapter 14

Fireheart shook himself off as he entered camp, carrying the limp body of an ill-fated cardinal. The first snows of leafbare had at last arrived, beginning to coat everything in cold, white flakes. Only the camp currently remained uncovered, thanks to the careful pattern of branches and leaves that stretched over it, though he imagined that it wouldn’t remain that way for very long.

As he took his kill to the freshkill pile, he could see that camp was bustling with activity. He could hear Goldenflower’s litter begging her and Frostfur to go out and see the snow, while the elders were bitterly complaining about how the cold was reaching their bones. Even most of the warriors were sitting around camp, sharing tongues in the evening light. It was good to see the Clan thriving, even despite leafbare and the sinister plots that threatened them.

“It’s quite active today.” He heard Longtail remark to Tigerclaw as he deposited his prey. “Has something happened while we were out?”

“Bluestar will be calling a meeting shortly.” The dark tabby deputy responded with his usual low growl. “You’ll see.”

Fireheart perked his ears, but he knew better than to ask anything of the treacherous tabby. It was too early for anything regarding the Gathering; it was still over a half-moon away. No, he thought to himself as his eyes drifted towards where Cinderpaw and Snowkit were play-fighting, this had to be something else.

He caught sight of Peppermask, who was sitting near the entrance, and trotted over with a tail flick as greeting. “Where’s Graystripe?” He asked her curiously as he sat down beside her. “Surely the Twolegplace patrol got back before we did.”

“They did. Tinyfrost and Dustleap are here.” She pointed out the two warriors with her tail, nearly on the opposite sides of camp. “He must’ve left almost immediately, because he wasn’t here when I got back from patrol.”

The ginger tom frowned at that. “Do you think he’s avoiding us?” He wondered, glancing at the bramble entrance. It was empty - all the patrols for the day had already come back. “He’s been spending a lot of time out of camp since the Gathering.”

“Since Quickflash died.” The spotted tabby replied, her ears dipping slightly as she gave him a warning glance. “He’s likely just distracting himself with hunting. He probably thinks he’s being helpful.”

“He wasn’t in camp for the battle, either. You think he’d stay in camp after the scolding Tigerclaw gave him when he finally showed up again.” He huffed as he recalled getting woken out of his drowsing by Tigerclaw’s yowling. He couldn’t fault the deputy, either: All Graystripe had brought back from his day-long hunt had been a couple paltry voles that would barely feed one of Goldenflower’s kits. “I hope he doesn’t miss this meeting. Do you think it’s going to be-?”

“I hope it is. I don’t think anyone can deny that Cinderpaw fought bravely during the battle. Taking on Ratscar and Tangleburr by herself- that’s something any cat could be proud of. Especially with what happened to Mistspring…” Fireheart glanced across camp towards the healer’s den as Peppermask spoke, but the entrance was covered in shadow in the evening light; he couldn’t see inside at all. “If she’s not made a warrior after that, then when?”

“Right.” Fireheart couldn’t disagree with that; he was thinking much the same thing. It had to be a ceremony; if it were anything else, surely Peppermask would have already heard the gossip and told him as such.

“And it’s past time for Snowkit to be apprenticed, too. Sandstorm’s been dropping ‘hints’ all day that she thinks Tigerclaw is going to pick her to be his mentor. It’s her time, or whatever.” The molly rolled her green eyes with great exaggeration. “I was about ready to claw her mouth shut on patrol!”

Fireheart hesitated. It was clear that Snowkit’s deafness, and his being held back, wasn’t common knowledge around camp. Was it fair for him to share it with Peppermask? As he glanced towards the nursery, he could see that Speckleflight had separated him from Cinderpaw and was now busily grooming his head and face. Perhaps Peppermask was right, and Snowkit would be apprenticed today after all.

“There!” The tabby beside him gasped, and he looked over to see Bluestar emerge from her den and immediately scale the Highrock. Even before she said a word, the Clan started to swarm out from around the clearing.

“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!” The Thunderclan leader called out proudly, watching her warriors assemble beneath her. “As you all surely know by now, Brokentail and his rogues were indeed planning to invade our camp. Already they had been stealing prey from our territory.”

There were jeers and hisses at her words, and he noticed a few cats glance back towards the prison where Darkstripe was guarding with a scowl. Word had also spread of Brokentail being held prisoner, and while the Clan had accepted Bluestar and Yellowfang’s word on the matter, it was clear that they had mixed feelings about it. Fireheart couldn’t blame them: Even though Yellowfang was true to her word and hunting and caring for him, he still felt strange about protecting the kit-killer after they had taken in his victims.

“Each warrior in the patrol performed their duties admirably. Fireheart, Dustleap, Longtail and Mousefur acted with great courage and risked their lives to make sure our camp remains safe. Thunderclan honors each of them.” There were excited and envious murmurs at her words, and he noticed several cats stealing a glance towards where he was sitting. He ignored them, keeping his eyes focused on Bluestar.

“However, there is one cat on the patrol that acted just as bravely as each of these warriors, who has not yet received her name.” All eyes now turned towards where Cinderpaw was sitting, near the middle of the crowd. The dark gray molly sat as still as stone, but her tail tip rattling furiously betrayed her excitement. “Her mentor and I have agreed: she has earned her warrior name. Cinderpaw, step forward.”

She did so readily, her dark blue eyes as wide as the moon as she gazed up at the silver queen. “I, Bluestar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” Their twin blue gazes were locked on each other now. “Cinderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

The young molly’s body was shaking all over now, yet she still nodded determinedly. “I do!” She yowled, her voice echoing through camp for all to hear. Several cats stifled a chuckle, Fireheart among them.

“Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Cinderpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Cinderspark. Starclan honors your valor and quick thinking, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan.” Bluestar jumped off the Highrock to meet the new warrior, and rested her muzzle on the dark gray molly’s forehead before allowing her to lap respectfully at the leader’s shoulder.

“Cinderspark! Cinderspark!” Fireheart called along with the rest of the crowd, glancing towards the healer’s den as he caught sight of movement. Mistspring stood next to the rocky entrance, her own icy blue eyes glittering with pride as she watched. He could see that her throat was covered in white cobwebs; she was still recovering from her wounds, and he guessed she was under healer’s orders not to use her voice.

The rest of the crowd parted as they caught sight of her, allowing the former mentor through to the newly-appointed warrior. He saw her mouth move slightly as a few quiet words were exchanged before they gently touched noses. As Mistspring began to move back towards the healer’s den, the crowd quickly pressed in, eager to welcome Cinderspark into the warrior ranks.

Fireheart joined them, watching as the newest warrior beamed in pride as she welcomed congratulation after congratulation. “Well done.” He mewed softly to her, touching noses with her softly. “I knew you could do it.”

“Thank you, Fireheart.” He paused as she replied, glancing back at her sparkling blue eyes. “For believing in me, despite everything.”

“Of course.” He dipped his head before continuing on, allowing Peppermask to greet her sister as a warrior. He fondly thought of his own warrior ceremony, as much of a blur as it was from how exhausted he had been. At least Cinderspark wouldn’t have to sit vigil with those mourning, like he had. Tonight would be a night of triumph for her.

He was just about to pad away when he heard a loud yowl from the crowd. “Wait!” He turned to see Speckleflight glaring at Bluestar, who had begun to make for her den. “There’s still one more ceremony to be performed tonight.” The pale golden queen growled, her yellow gaze locked on the leader. “I’ve waited long enough: it’s time to make Snowkit an apprentice.”

While the cats in the crowd perked their ears in curiosity, Bluestar’s own ears flattened in anger. “I’ve already had this conversation with you far too many times, Speckleflight.” She snapped, her blue eyes narrowed to slits. “My decision is final.”

“He deserves a ceremony!” The oldest queen howled, the fur on her spine beginning to raise. “Would you truly make him stay in the nursery forever?”

The silver leader’s scruff started to rise in response. Cats around them whispered eagerly, Cinderspark’s ceremony momentarily forgotten in the sudden drama, and Bluestar glanced towards them with a frown. After a long moment, she sighed and forced her fur to flatten. “If you insist on Snowkit leaving the nursery, Speckleflight, then I suppose I have no choice but to agree.” 

She began to ascend the Highrock once more as Speckleflight grinned triumphantly. Fireheart wanted to celebrate with her, but something about the leader’s flicking tail told him to hesitate. “Snowkit, step forward.” She called out, gazing out at the white kit sitting near the nursery still.

Snowkit stepped forward at his mother's coaxing, looking surprised and a little nervous as Bluestar glared down at him. "Snowkit. The time has come for you to move to the elders' den." There were gasps of shock at her words. Most of the Clan wasn't aware of the young tom's deafness, so such a move would no doubt confuse them. “I will have Dewpaw arrange you with a suitable nest."

The gathered cats eyed each other uneasily as Snowkit stood there, his head tilted in confusion. After several moments of tense silence, Speckleflight came to stand beside her kit. "He won't be going to the elders' den without me." She growled defiantly at her leader as she rested her tail on her son's flank.

Several heartbeats passed. Even though the air was freezing, his fur felt hot from the tension between the two. At last, the leader dipped her head in acknowledgement. "Very well." Bluestar replied coldly. "Speckleflight. Is it your wish to retire to the elders' den?"

Fireheart shifted nervously as he watched the two mollies face each other down. "If you make us, then yes." The dappled golden queen snapped, the fur on her spine beginning to rise.

The silver leader ignored her attitude and continued on. "Thunderclan honors you, Speckleflight, and all the moons of service you have given us in the nursery. May it be Starclan's will that you have many moons of rest."

It was then that Fireheart realized the disparity between the two elder ceremonies, and he grimaced uncomfortably. It was clear that Bluestar cared very little for Snowkit, which seemed so uncharacteristic of her normal motherly demeanor towards the rest of the Clan. 

He glanced at where Cinderspark was standing as Speckleflight began herding Snowkit towards the other elders, and saw the dark gray molly's tail was bristling out of anger for her friend. Still, if she had any objections, she didn't voice them.

“Clan dismissed.” Bluestar called, and the rest of the Clan immediately started gossiping amongst themselves. A kit going straight to the elders’ den was unheard of. And while Speckleflight was the oldest queen in the nursery, it had been assumed - expected, even - that she would have another litter after Snowkit. What would her retirement mean for the nursery?

“Fireheart…?” He glanced over to see Peppermask padding over to him. “You don’t look surprised. Did you know…?”

“I-” He glanced back at the elders’ den. Smallear seemed to be leading Snowkit into the den, presumably to get him a nest, while Rosetail and One-eye were pressed into Speckleflight’s side in comfort. “Back in leaf-fall, the Gathering after I became a warrior, I overheard Speckleflight talking to Bluestar about his apprentice ceremony. Bluestar said she wouldn’t give him one, but I didn’t know why until recently.” He looked back to meet her questioning gaze. “Snowkit is deaf.”

“That’s why…? Oh. Oh.” Peppermask looked past him to the elders’ den. “I- I guess I can see that. Most elders retire once they’re no longer able to hear certain sounds. I guess I can see the logic in it, but to never even give him a name seems cruel.” 

Fireheart hesitated. He didn’t know where he stood on such matters. He was still new to the Clan and its ways, and while he knew why Bluestar had done it, some part of him agreed with Peppermask. He had seen the delight on Snowkit’s face when pretending to spar with Cinderpaw - a delight he remembered well from sparring with his friends as an apprentice. It felt cruel of Bluestar to never give him the chance to experience that for himself.

“Graystripe!” He blinked out of his thoughts as he heard Peppermask call her brother’s name, and turned to see the gray tom exiting the bramble entrance. “Where have you been?”

He looked startled to see them, his yellow eyes wide as they flicked back and forth between his sister and his friend. “I- uh- I was just taking a walk. Enjoying watching the snowflakes falling and all that. What happened? Why is everyone gathered around the Highrock?”

“Cinderspark got her warrior name. You missed it.” Even though he didn’t look at her, he could feel the tense anger in Peppermask’s form beside him. Obviously, she wasn’t pleased with Graystripe in the slightest. “And Speckleflight and Snowkit-”

“She did?” Graystripe gasped in surprise. “I better go congratulate her then! Thanks for letting me know.” He breezed past them, not even bothering to listen to the rest of her words. The gray spotted tabby stared after him, her mouth agape in shock.

“That was weird, even for Graystripe.” Fireheart observed out loud. “He doesn’t even look wet from snow-melt.” Actually, it was quite the opposite - his fur was light and fluffy, as though it had been well-groomed.

“Yeah…” Peppermask replied, her tail twitching beside him. “He doesn’t seem like he’s mourning much at all anymore. Enjoying the snowflakes falling? He’s never liked the cold. He wouldn’t be out there without a reason.”

The ginger warrior hesitated beside her. Had Graystripe lied to them? But why? Surely he knew he could trust them with anything. Even as he thought it, however, thoughts about his sister surfaced. He often lied and said he was going hunting when he visited her. But Graystripe certainly didn’t have any kittypet kin, so who would he be lying about visiting? No, he thought to himself - it must be something else.

“I guess it doesn’t matter right now.” The spotted tabby sighed, getting to her paws. “I’m going to go bring some prey to the nursery. We’re all going to have to take care of the apprentice chores, until Goldenflower’s kits become apprentices.” Her nose twitched irritably. “Unless Bluestar holds them back, too.”

“I hope not!” Fireheart mewed as she padded away. Still, he couldn’t get his mind off of Graystripe. What was his friend hiding? Was it the same reason he seemed to be avoiding them? As he watched Cinderspark accepting congratulations from her brother, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was wrong - and that he wouldn’t find out what until it was too late.

#talonslock #warrior cats #the prophecies begin #fanfic #thunderclan #bluestar #fireheart #peppermask #snowkit #speckleflight #tigerclaw #longtail #darkstripe #cinderpaw #cinderspark #graystripe #talonslock story #forest of secrets

[trinitywc]

big fan of the great light!!! do you have any advice for story structure/finding the balance between slow and fast pacing?

so long answer, as usual

I start off by thinking of the Main Points I want to write about, and then fill out from there with Secondary Points. For example, TGL: Main Points (this isn't 100% accurate to the book just a rough example) - WoodClan and CreekClan go to war; a nuclear bomb is dropped - The cats are split up, but find each other by a badger sett - Radiation sickness sets in while trying to find their friends - The cats decide to leave to find their Clan Is the basic plotline, and then i fill it out with moments I want, I'm calling these 'Secondary Points', these are what needs to happen to allow the 4 Main Points above ie for the First point to happen, the Clan needs to be introduced and the setting developed so; - introduce Pinepaw and those closest to her, her mentor, her sister, - introduce the war between the Clans - give Pinefrost a motive to hate WoodClan (her mother's death) and reject her pacifist wishes - hint at the human war with various planes, barbed wire, and soldier mentions So I made a timeline of Apprenticeship > Warrior > Bomb, adding scenes that served a purpose (Secondary Points) and those I deem necessary; introducing a character like Blackwillow as mysterious but distant from his Clan by having him appear on the riverbank, showing Chestnutspike and Ouzelheart's relationship, showing CreekClan's buildup to war and training, showing Pinefrost as a rash, impulsive, but curious, young cat by introducing her as runnign away from her duties to explore the forest (with her friend who wants to impress her). "Necessary" scenes in WaCa fic are stuff like 'this is the medicine cat' 'this is her warrior ceremony' 'this is Clan life and hunting and patrolling', so mileage will vary on your story. When it comes to "fast vs slow" pacing, I'm not sure. I think by starting with the Big Points and whittling down, you can keep the story going- and Story also includes character moments - the "break" in TEW where the cats are in the House also explores the ruined city and affects of the bomb, gives Cuckoopaw and Rutherford some character moments (ie training sessions), not everything is nuclear war 100% of the time. Even if characters are doing something "slow" like walking, or routine hunting, something can happen- character motive reveals, backstory, or just some joking to build relationships, a nice 'break' from the fast 'something happening all the time'. I like to think back to first arc warriors were something happened every chapter (Dangerous Path - Tigerstar is revealed as ShadowClan leader, then Whitestorm reports smelling dogs, then Fireheart bumps into Greystripe in RiverClan, then Cinderheart gets 'pack pack kill kill', then Fireheart observes Snowkit acting weird, then Bluestar refuses to make new warriors, all in the first five chapters; all these are tied up by the end; vs the newer books were to me, it feels like a whole lot of nothing happens in between each chapter)

Later, I'll end up going back and adding things once I know how the rough outline goes- ie once Flaxstripe ran away from the Clan, I went and added some scenes of him being selfish and self-serving- I think it's best to get the skeleton and then paper mache on the meat of the story. 'Slow' pacing is where nothing happens (ala Stevie King where he drones on and on about advertising or some 'scary' childhood story with no relevance to the plot), as long as you are providing some information- be it plot, character beats, 'a nice break', or some fun. Eg, if a character is walking home, that's not very interesting just describing the path home, think of why you're describing it- are you setting up their home route or have we been here before and could skip it with a brief 'and she went home' mention? Is she daydreaming about the awkward goodbye she just had, or her plans for tomorrow, or marveling over the simple beauty of her walk home?

It depends on what you are going for, but if you start small and go big, it works itself out

#i hope this is somewhat... illuminating #start small and go bigger #if it helps i literally use bullet points #thank you for the ask! #writing advice

[kuramirocket]

I'm on book 2 of Warriors, Fire and Ice, left off on ch. 18.

The brief moments we've gotten of Fireheart meeting his sister, Princess again and sneaking off to visit her; Sharing memories of her when they were kits and washing off her scent when he returns to Thunderclan. Thinking of how these are such happy moments for him, so much so that he feels confused and almost torn in his duties and loyalties to Thunderclan. Coupled with the resentment, bitterness and anger towards some of the cats within the clan who view him as beneath them for having been born a "kittypet."

And I just. Okay, where are my shipcest shippers at!! I haven't really been active in the fandom yet because I want to avoid spoilers (though I do more or less know what happens between them later. Lol).

And anyways, does this ship have a name? I tried looking it up, but didn't really find anything. If it does not have a ship name, how about Fireprincess? I think it sounds cute and is perfect because if I'm not mistaken Fireheart's name changes again later on to Firestar.

Anyways, Greystripe has the storyline I would have loved to see for Fireheart and Princess. LOL. I want to see the drama and more confusion of Fireheart having to be angry and defend himself seeing his sister who is a non clan member and worse for Thunderclan a "kittypet." I want more drama and angst of Fireheart having to choose where he would rather be - Thunderclan who accepted him, despite some of the cats attitudes and those he has come to care for or his sister who he just found and connected to again. Princess who is so kind and gentle and loves him for who he is. Warrior, Kittypet, it doesn't matter.

I don't know how it would work with the current storyline though - Bluestar being on her last life, Fireheart's apprentice in bad shape, Tigerclaw's shady character, Shadowclan and Riverclan's plots, Greystrip seeing a riverclan warrior. So much stuff happening. Lol.

I just want to see a fic that just focuses on that drama I mentioned regarding Fireheart and Princess. As for the actual shipcest. I'm not far enough into the series so I also don't know how the clans and kittypets would view a brother/sister relationship that is more than just sibling love. But for, sure I am all for the forbidden romance trope it could bring! Adds to the drama and angst!

It could make it even more better if imagine an au, where for his sister, Fireheart decides to leave Thunderclan no matter how grateful and how much he has come to love some of its members. I can see Bluestar respecting his wishes because she's a very wise and patient leader. Idk how Greystripe would react, guess it depends if his own love plot is still in this au. Lol.

But anyways, Fireheart decides to leave and imagine him starting his own clan made solely of kittypets. The ones he grew up with. Maybe like a best of both worlds scenarios. The kittypets can still live with and enjoy their two legs, but also have their own territory close to the two legs they guard and patrol. So they can be somewhat wild, but still have the comforts of a kittypet life. Idk how feasible this scenario would be, but I just think it's fun to think about. Especially, if Fireheart and Princess are sort of the "queen" and "king" of the clan and can eventually and finally be free to fully love each other and share a life together.

Idk what any of this is. I have lot of thoughts. Lol. I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts. Though, I would be thankful if spoilers could be kept to a minimum if possible cause I want to try and avoid spoilers as much as possible! I just had to make this post cause Fireheart x Princess (FirePrincess if it truly has no ship name) sounds like a cute ship xD

#warrior cats proship #warrior cats #shipcest #fireheart x princess #fire and ice #fireprincess #antis do not interact #antis dni #greystripe #bluestar #tigerclaw #thunderclan #au #warrior cats au #warrior cats franchise

[bonefall]

in the nightcloud summary post- "They'd barely settled in before Nightstar and Crookedstar turned on them, attacking to try and drive them out AGAIN." is this a typo, or is nightpelt in charge of shadowclan during this attack?

Not a typo and also COMPLETELY canon! That is not a BB addition, that happens in the book!

Fire and Ice, chapter 30:

"Fireheart skidded to a halt, reeling at the sight that greeted him in the camp clearing. Last time he’d been here, in search of the scent trail that would lead them to the missing Clan, the place had been deserted and silent. Now the clearing swarmed with writhing, screeching, fighting cats. Onewhisker had been right—the WindClan cats were hopelessly outnumbered. A fresh party of ShadowClan and RiverClan warriors waited at the edge of the clearing, but WindClan could spare no backup group. The whole Clan was fighting, apprentices and elders, warriors and queens."

ShadowClan and RiverClan team up after Fireheart fetches them home, to try and drive WindClan out a second time. It's explicit how horrifying this is, how the battered clan is hopelessly outnumbered, and how the invaders have a backup reserve of reinforcements while WindClan is fighting tooth and nail.

He even sees a ShadowClan tom BATTERING Morningflower, a nursing queen who's trying to defend Gorsekit.

"Fireheart heard Runningwind yowl for help. The tabby warrior was grappling desperately with Nightstar, ShadowClan’s treacherous leader. Fireheart darted through the throng to Runningwind’s side. Without pausing to think, Fireheart leaped, grabbing Nightstar from behind. The black warrior howled in rage as Fireheart pulled him backward and sank his claws deep into Nightstar’s fur. He had fought side by side with this warrior only a few moons ago to help him drive out Brokenstar. Now he sank his teeth into Nightstar’s shoulder with the same ferocity he had used against the former ShadowClan leader."

I could talk about how interesting this battle is, and all of the little interactions between various warriors (my girlie Leopardfur gets another mini bossfight <3), but the bottom line is that this moment means a lot to me. I want to FRAME it in BB.

BB!Nightstar, at the end of the day, isn't principled. He is no radical. BB!Brokenstar is infamously overhauled, and the biggest part of that is that he's a reflection of Clan Culture. He's a manifested curse, which was only broken because BLUESTAR and her new philosophy are different.

If it wasn't for her and Fire Alone, the Clans were doomed to end the way that Ripplestar had seen born on the night of his death. Self-concerned and violent, blinded by their pride, ripping each other apart and letting the others fall one by one

But Nightstar just thinks Brokenstar went too far. He has no objection to honor, or the Warrior Code, you see. Stealing kits and driving Clans out of their territories is what's unacceptable. Not keeping what you already own; and certainly not the concept of violently winning land in furious battles.

He became leader because he appeals to the two "divided halves" of the Clan. Deerfoot the Rebel is too controversial for those who enjoyed Brokenstar's methods, but old, wise Nightpelt who only retired because of asthma, he's a good compromise. At first.

Power has a mind of its own. You know what Brokenstar did? He promised these cats glory. He let them fight how they please. ShadowClan HATES WindClan, they've been fighting for generations. Appealing to those cats means letting them do whatever they want, and what they want is MURDER.

So Nightstar keeps appealing to them, alienating Deerfoot and his group, causing him to appeal even harder to ShadowClan's other half. Thus, he ends up in the same position Brokenstar was in, with Downwind's blood on his hands, only this time... Runningnose holds a grudge against the little weasel who caused the death of his beloved leader, biding his time to clear the Clan of all the traitors who stood against Brokenstar.

He tried to make allies out of cats who were ALWAYS going to hate him. Power drove him towards becoming what he had previously opposed. In the end, he paid for it.

#BB!Nightstar #Better Bones AU #BB!TPB

[sophswritingthings]

Longstar AU — Chapter Seven

Longtail padded behind Graystripe, whom was leading a patrol through ThunderClan territory. They trotted toward the ShadowClan border, the strong scent of pine trees and general ShadowClan scent filling his nose.

   “Graystripe?” Thornpaw's voice sounded from behind Mousefur, “What.. is that?” The apprentice gazed off to the left, his yellow eyes wide.

   “What’s what?” Graystripe whipped his head to the side. The large gray tom's eyes widened, gazing at  a large trail of rabbits strewn about the territory. “I.. have no clue.”

   “Let’s follow it,” Longtail suggested, taking a few paw steps ahead. “It looks like it’s going back towards camp.”

   “I agree,” Graystripe affirmed, taking lead of his patrol once more. They made their way down the trail, the rotten stench of blood flooding over them. “Oh—oh my StarClan—“

   A gray spotted body lay at the end of the trail, soft fur and gentle green eyes. Longtail's ears flattened. Brindleface was lying dead and cold.

   “Brindleface!” Cloudtail cried, his ears pinned and his blue eyes clouded. “She.. she didn’t..” He rushed toward the she-cat who had nursed him, resting his chin on her side.

   “What happened?” The yowl from Cloudtail had alerted cats in the camp, Fireheart crawling up camp entrance. “Is eveyrthing okay, Graystripe?”

   “No,” He shook his head. “Brindleface is dead.”

   “How..?” Fireheart's voice trailed off, gazing at the dead she-cat. Than he dipped his head, “She'll be remembered as a fierce warrior and a wonderful mother.”

   “Of course,” Graystripe dipped his head as well. “I'll.. find Ashpaw, Petalpaw and Fernpaw. They need to know the news and have a moment with her before she’s buried.” Fireheart nodded in agreement, the gray tom slipping past him into camp.

   “And what are those?” Fireheart gestured with a paw toward the trail of rabbits.

   “A trail of rabbits, placed there purposely,” Longtail curled his tail over his paws. “They lead toward camp. And.. Brindleface was at the end of it.”

   “Hm,” Fireheart hummed. “We need to get everyone out of camp, now.”

   “What? Why?” Longtail's eyes narrowed, “What’s so urgent?”

   “Someone is trying to lead those dogs here,” His eyes narrowed. “I think you and I both know who that is. We can’t be in camp when they lead them here,” He hissed. “Grab the rest of the patrol and help me lead these toward the gorge. I have an idea.”

   Longtail gazed at his deputy for a moment, than nodded. He signaled toward the patrol with his tail, who nodded and began to pick up the rabbits.

   The few cats laid the rabbits all the way toward the gorge before returning to camp. As they did, Fireheart hopped up onto his place on the High Rock.

   “Cats of ThunderClan!” He yowled, the cats soon gathering in front of him. “Tigerstar is trying to lead a pack of dogs here. We need to evacuate the camp before he attempts to do so,” He mewed firmly. “We have removed the prey from their trail, but the scent still remains. It’s up in the air wether they'll follow our trail or Tigerstar's. We must leave.”

   “C'mon, the lot of you,” Whitestorm spoke up, turning to the cats. “We'll go to Sunningrocks.”

   “Yes,” Fireheart affirmed. “Follow Whitestorm to Sunningrocks.”

   With Fireheart’s words, the cats crowded out of camp after Whitestorm.

   “We need to get Swiftpaw and Brightpaw,” Longtail gazed at his deputy as he hopped down. “Cinderpath and Bluestar, too.”

   “We will,” Fireheart gave a gentle smile. “Come on then, we don’t have all day to talk about it.”

   Longtail and Fireheart made their way into the medicine den.

   “I heard your announcement, deputy,” Cinderpath purred with a twitch of her whiskers. “The three of us are ready to leave. I just need help carrying them.”

   “I can help with that,” Graystripe popped up behind them. “You grab Bluestar, Fireheart, I can help Longtail.”

   “Thank you,” The ginger tom dipped his head toward his friend, sliding out of the medicine den.

   Longtail slid the scarred black and white tom onto his back, Graystripe doing the same with Brightpaw.  Cinderpath padded in between them, taking charge in the front, dragging her injured leg behind her. The two tom's glanced at each other and padded off after her.

   They approached Sunningrocks with Bluestar and Fireheart in toe. Longtail slipped Swiftpaw off his shoulders, the apprentice resting in the shade of a large tree. Graystripe did the same.

   “ThunderClan, listen up!” Fireheart yelped, “Tigerstar is leading dogs to us. Or, he is trying to. We have thrown the dogs hopefully off the scent, and led them to the gorge. We must be prepared to lore them the rest of the way,” He mewed, his green gaze resting on Longtail. “Longtail, you will be the first of those cats. Than Sandstorm, Runningwind, Mousefur and Graystripe. I will go last and lead them over the gorge. Understood?”

   Longtail stared at the deputy, his eyes wide.

   “Can you handle that?” He padded closer to him, raising an eyebrow.

   “Of course I can,” He mewed with confidence, narrowing his eyes.

   “Let’s go, than.” Fireheart dashed off into the trees toward the gorge. Longtail ran after him, the rest of the cats he called on following after.

   The group of cats reached the gorge, lining up in the trees of the left. He took the first position, his paws shaking yet itching with a type of excitement he couldn’t exactly explain. Fireheart trusted him to help the clan to stop Tigerstar's plan.

   The same vile stench of the large dogs flooded through his nose, the dogs coming into view soon enough. His eyes narrowed, dashing out of trees. A vivid, loud barking sounded in his ears. He tried to block it out, the sound pounding in his ears throwing him off a bit.

   He dipped off to the side, Sandstorm dashing out after him. Longtail's breathing heaved, sliding into the bushes. He tucked his paws under his chest, taking a deep breath.

   “Bluestar!”

   A loud yowl spooked him, his head popping out of the bushes. His ears pinned to his head, watching as Fireheart leapt over the gorge.

   “He’s insane!” Mousefur skipped up beside him, “Now we’ve lost both our leader and deputy!”

   “.. Just wait a moment,” Longtail murmured to the she-cat beside him, curling his tail over his paws. “I’m sure he'll be fine. He’s our deputy for a reason, he'll get her.” He glanced at Mousefur, who stared at him with a puzzled expression.

   “Who are you and what have you done with Longtail?” Mousefur's ears flattened.

   He scoffed, “I’m the same cat,” He hissed. “Just think a bit differently, is all.”

   After a few moments, Fireheart trotted up the side of the gorge, dragging the dripping wet leader behind him. Two RiverClan cats followed him as well, the two cats he knew as Mistyfoot and Stonefur.

   “Bluestar had passed,” Fireheart rose his voice to the clan. “I will take over the leadership. Cinderpath and I will travel to the moonstone soon,” He gazed around. “Whitestorm,” His green eyes rested on the white tom. “Will you take my current place as deputy?”

   He dipped his head, “Of course I will.”

   “Than let us clear out and get back to camp,” He meowed. “We will hold vigil tonight and the elders and I will bury her at Sunrise.”

#warrior cats #erin hunter warriors #warrior cats au #longstar au #longtail #bluestar #warriors tpb #whitestorm #swiftpaw #brightpaw #fireheart #graystripe #mousefur #cinderpelt #cloudtail #thornpaw #mistyfoot #stonefur #riverclan #shadowclan #thunderclan #warrior cats fanfic

[sillypenguincats]

I will DIE on the hill that the song Piss Punk by VIAL is a Sandpaw-Firepaw song.

The first verse is about Sandpaw teasing Firepaw about his kittypet heritage, and the chorus that follows is when she gets mad that he's not really reacting.

"I'm not trying to change your mind, I mean look at me I'm better than you"

"I'm just trying to change my life, I mean look at me it's better than you"

Second verse is Sandpaw getting even angrier as the time goes on. I mean, this kittypet is getting so much attention from Bluestar, Tigerclaw, even Whitestorm! Even though she's so much better than him, right?

"I can do the things that you do and I can do them better than you"

"Do the things that you never thought that any fucking woman can do"

Then the bridge. It's at the point where Sandpaw is jealous of Fireheart for getting his warrior name. She's been training for more moons than he was, and he's a kittypet!

"I can't say how hard it is, when you keep trying to sneak wins in"

"You take the credit right from me so you can claim my masterpiece"

I've been thinking about this a lot.

#warriors #erin hunter warriors #warrior cats #wc #song #music #firepaw #fireheart #firestar #sandpaw #sandstorm

[cryptidclaw]

Rise of Change First Arc Summary !

Here are the changes I have come up with for the First arc so far!!!! I will update this post as I change or come up with new ideas!  

have realized this is very long so I am going to put it under here! v

Thistleclaw was the son of Pinestar and Leopardfoot instead of Tigerclaw, this is where Thistle got his hatred for outsiders from! I know that's not really a part of the first series but it is good backstory!

Tigerclaw is Thistleclaw's son and Whitestorm's brother from the same litter, and he learned his hatred for outsiders from his father. He grew to be much more like his dad then Whitestorm, mostly caused by him also being mentored by Thistleclaw

Sandstorm's parents are Redtail and Birdflight (Runningwind). Something I haven't mentioned is I think that a lot of her attitude and anger issues are caused by her mourning and not being able to process her father's death, along will her struggling with high expectations since she was a deputy's kit.

Dustpelt and Ravenpaw are Dappletail and Stormtail's kits, and are deeply affected by the high expectations of the Order since they are half siblings of Bluestar.

Dapple and Storm also had two other kits before Dust and Raven! These kits are Downnose and Cricketstep! They are very good warriors, which is an added pressure on Dust and raven since their siblings have lived up to the Order's expectations.

Dustpelt is mentored by Downnose after Redtail died, apparently he was mentored by Darkstripe but I don't even remember that lol, and this would give more Downnose content!

Darkstripe and Greystripe's parentage! Their mother is Willowpelt but their dad? He's unknown. Mollys are allowed to just not say who the sire of their kits are, but this leaves people with a lot of questions.... In truth Willow had taken a mate from outside of Thunder Order, I haven't decided who, and it doesn't matter much, but she had Darkstripe with this cat. Over time as Dark grew up he realized that his mother must have had an affair outside of the Order, and since he was mentored by Tigerclaw, this upset him greatly, he became in denial about his parentage, distanced himself from his mother, and spent his time trying to prove himself as the biggest outsider hater of all and Tigerclaw follower. When Willow had Greystripe, it was obvious it was with the same cat, he looked so similar to Darkstripe, just lighter in color, which just enraged Dark more, he basically decided to ignore that Grey was his brother at all and Grey grew up barely knowing Dark, but not really liking him.

Fire (paw) does not have a crush on Spottedleaf and Spotted def does not have feelings for him! Spotted views him as a little brother, and took it upon herself to guide him because of the prophecy that she received. Her death was impactful to Fire because it felt like the death of a sister, and someone who believed in him and did not doubt him for being a kittypet.

Raven (paw) does not get to run away to the barn, instead he is chased off by Tigerclaw. Tiger claims that Raven deserted the Order, but Fire and Grey, know that Tiger most likely killed Raven. 

Cinderpelt decides to be a healer because she falls in love with healing while she was recovering in the healer den. She receives the Title Cinderspark instead of Cinderpelt!

Swiftpaw is Tigerclaw and Goldenflower's son! His death was caused by his own father!

Throughout the series Longtail and Fire's relationship has progressed though slower than Sand and Fire's, and after Swift's death things come to a head and they comfort each other over the loss and become officially friends, and after this Longtail is outwardly a Fireheart stan!

Bramblekit does not look like Tigerclaw, at least he doesn't look like him in pelt color, he is gold like his mom, and has a slightly softer personality, (though this more so progresses when he grows older in the second arc and has character development)

Fireheart does NOT hate Tigerclaw's kits for being Tigerclaw's kits, that never made sense to me, I feel like he would be one of their main defenders since he too suffered from judgment for his blood and origins.

After the battle Fire and Longtail become mates (Fire and Sand became mates before the battle) Both Fire and Sand are poly in my au!

Tigerstar is not the one to enlist the help of Blood Order, Firestar is! Blood Order is not evil, but instead cats just trying to help eachother and survive. 

Raven (paw) is not in fact dead! he is Scourge in this au! Tiger chased him off into the city, where Raven grew tough and formed Blood Order! Firestar hears word of a cat by the name of Ravenscourge who sounds a lot like his old friend raven, and goes to find him to enlist his help in the battle against Tiger Order! in RoC Tigerstar would never request help from outsiders and he is very xenophobic, while Firestar symbolizes the fall of old ideals and the beginning of a new era led by newer ideals. Firestar is willing to embrace the help of outsiders to protect the clans, and the side who is willing to accept change and outsiders, is the side that wins in the end!

Ravenscourge kills Tigerstar just like Scourge does, but this time he and the Blood Order show up during the peak of battle as reinforcements! Tiger stops the battle due to his anger at outsiders joining the fight, and Raven challenges him to a fight to settle the battle. 

Sandstorm is made Deputy instead of Greystripe!!!!!!

#cryptidclaw's warriors au #cryptid rambles #warrior cats #warriors au #warriors rewrite #warriors fix it

[best-fictional-cat]

Agreed with the last anon about Bluestar and her paranoia. I also think a lot of people are getting way too serious about a haha funny which fictional cat is best poll, but yeah—I think a lot of the arguments against Bluestar as a character are very rooted in ableism and ignoring all of the trauma and suffering she endured throughout her life. I will concede that the argument that she abandoned her kits has merit as a valid point against her—because the death of Mosskit was a tragedy that could have been avoided—but that was an accident, and Bluestar doesn’t deserve the blame for something she couldn’t have foreseen. She was driven to make that decision by something greater than herself—the prophecy foretold it, after all. And her two living kits, Mistykit and Stonekit, both grew up to be happy in RiverClan without ever knowing their real mother until the very end.

But the argument that Bluestar’s paranoia makes her an inherently bad person just… really rubs me the wrong way. It gives me a bad feeling that some people weren’t able to think critically about her paranoia arc, because that’s literally WHAT IT WAS THERE FOR. Bluestar is one of the best examples of PPD/paranoid schizophrenic representation I’ve ever seen in any form of media. I have never experienced psychosis myself, so I wouldn’t know what it’s like, but learning about it through her taught me so much about how to sympathize with and understand the struggles of people who do. It truly makes me a bit sick to think that there are people who read the same books I did and all of the nuance of her character flew right over their heads.

Bluestar always loved her Clan above all else, and she always loved Fireheart (as a son and trusted friend) because he was there for her and trusted her judgment when nobody else believed in her, and she loved her kits—who, in the end, accepted her for who she really was (their mother) despite all of her flaws and past transgressions. She may not have always made the right decisions, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t do the right thing when it counted.

Ok, wow. I am sorry. I said I wouldn’t get serious about the funny cat poll but here I am being serious about it. I think I’m due for a reread…

(Thanks for making this poll btw, OP! You’re awesome :))

How does this book series raise more and bigger issues than so many of actual "adult" literature holy

#cartoons are not just dumb shit for kids #there are things grown-ups can learn from children literature too #case to the and points #gotta be real with you guys #getting really invested into all this warrior cats discourse was not on my to-do list but I'm glad to be here #cat propaganda #cat asks #warrior cats