#clan culture

[bonefall]

Herb Guide: Deaf Warriors and Hearing Disabilities

UPDATE 1: Added more harshness to the lipreading section based on initial feedback; minor rewording of some lines!

A reference for Warrior Cats fans creating characters with hearing loss, blending human advice with cat biology, written for an in-universe perspective on living with and managing such disabilities.

AKA Bonefall casts Spell of Stop Being Weird About Snowkit on all amoebas in 500 mile radius

[ID: A headshot of three cats, a brown tabby with a shredded ear (Strikestone), a solid white cat with blue eyes (Stonewing), and a gray cat with a mane (Dovewing).]

In the five Clans, hearing loss is both one of the most common sensory disabilities, and one of the most intense to adapt to. Through any mix of simple infections, birth abnormalities, or even just getting older, any given Clan can expect at least 1 in 4 of its cats to have some form of hearing loss.

Hearing loss is any impaired ability to hear, defined as not being able to hear noises under 20 decibels. Deafness is "profound" hearing loss, which means their hearing STARTS at a noise that is 81 decibels (ex: motorcycle, middle-distant clap of thunder) or louder. Most deaf people can still hear slightly, but sound is "muffled" and they can only hear VERY loud noises.

Hearing loss = Any impaired ability to hear. Normal hearing is 20 DB or lower.

Hard of Hearing (HOH) = Mild to severe hearing loss; starts between 21 DB and 95 DB.

Deaf = Profound hearing loss at 95 DB or higher; a clap of thunder is a quiet whisper.

MOST hearing loss will affect one ear more strongly than the other, and the cat will be HOH. The vast majority of cats with a hearing disability will still be able to understand their Clanmates, if they're just spoken to louder and more clearly. Cats who are born deaf (congenital deafness), however, tend to have profound hearing loss which affects their ability to understand speech.

Cats rely on their hearing and sense of smell much more strongly than they do on their eyesight. With hearing that's 4x more sensitive than a human's and can differentiate between 1/10th of a pitch, a Clan's healer would recognize hearing loss as a disability long before humans would even notice a problem.

Since hearing loss starts with the high-pitch noises that prey makes, like squeaks and chirps, hearing loss is a major reason for a senior warrior to begin to consider retirement. However, with proper support and accommodation, ANY warrior could adapt to this disability; Especially cats born deaf and younger HOH warriors with lots of time to re-learn.

This guide covers;

Common Causes

Traits and Challenges of Hearing Loss

Communication: Signs, lipreading, and more

Unique Challenges Clan-by-Clan

Sources are linked in a separate post, here, and linked again at the very bottom!

(note: this guide doesn't cover devices of any kind, but one of many reasons why cochlear implants are controversial is because an implant will destroy that remaining hearing. They aren't hearing aids; hearing aids amplify sound. Aids and implants are two different things)

Common Causes

There are DOZENS of ways to destroy the incredibly sensitive ears of a cat. ANY infection or injury can lead to permanent damage. That can include,

Injury gone sour, from battle, hunting, accidents, etc

Concussion, or a hard enough blow to the ear

Ear Mites, especially if the cat can't stop scratching it

Swimming in cold or dirty river water

Fungal or bacterial infections

Allergies, which can lead to sinus infections. Even an infection in the mouth or throat can spread to the ear!

There doesn't even need to be an infection. Around the ages of 7 - 11, a senior warrior may begin to gradually lose their hearing. Sometimes, through genetic factors or degenerative disease within the ear, an even younger warrior will lose it for "no reason."

It just happens, and it's incredibly common. They will usually begin to notice it when they stop being able to hear and hunt small rodents, because hearing loss will start with high-pitched noises.

Healers can do very little about this, besides attempting to clean any wax out of the ear canal with flax oil and a dab (such as moss, wool, or cloth). There are SO many ways for it to happen and so little in the way of treatments, that it's practically inevitable.

The majority of hearing loss is from infection or disease, but the most predictable way to see deafness in the Clans is in kits born white with blue eyes. In fact, ALL pure white cats are more prone to being born deaf!

Pure white without blue eyes: 17% to 22%

White with a single blue eye: 40% (and usually on the side of the blue eye)

White with two blue eyes: 65% to 85%

In an afflicted kit, the inner ear will rapidly degenerate. They typically lose most of their hearing by their 4th day, and will only be able to faintly hear extremely loud noises.

Of course, there's also various other birth defects that can result in deaf and HOH kits, even if they aren't white with blue eyes. The ear canal and hearing organs can just not form correctly! Any kit could be born with hearing loss, and they can have any type!

If the loss came from injury or severe infection, chronic pain in the inner ear is also common. Nothing can be done about this besides painkillers such as poppy seeds. This condition is rare in born-deaf cats.

Most cats with hearing loss will also permanently hear a repetitive, single-note sound. For most it's a faint, tinny "ring," but others can hear hissing, crackling, or humming in high or low pitch.

At first, this constant noise can be distracting or even debilitating, preventing them from focusing or sleeping, until... you just get used to it.

There is no way to turn the noise off. It can get worse or better, but it's forever. Sleeping and not being stressed out will help, but over time, they typically learn to tune it out. Being reminded of it is usually annoying, just like when someone reminds you about manual breathing.

(We call this condition tinnitus. It is up to you what you would like your cats to call it, the same way they refer to pneumonia as greencough. Tinnitus is a LOT broader than this little snippet, but this is not a guide about tinnitus, this is about hearing loss)

So to summarize that,

There's a billiondy-million ways to damage one's hearing.

Losing your hearing from age or disease usually results in being hard of hearing (HOH) as opposed to deaf, and is likely to affect one ear more than the other.

It starts with high-pitched noises like rodent squeaks.

Cats born white with blue eyes have a massive chance of being born deaf; their inner ear degenerates.

But, any kit could be born with any type of hearing loss, not just deafness.

Most cats with hearing loss will hear a distracting, repetitive noise. They just learn to tune it out.

Traits and Challenges of Hearing Loss

Hearing impaired cats are LOUD.

Even warriors who have mild hearing loss will often end up speaking much louder so they can hear themselves, or not notice the sounds they're making as they shift around in their nests, scuffle sand at the dirtplace, or trample through crunchy leaf litter.

If one of their ears is better than the other, they'll usually try to stand with their "good side" facing any speakers or other sources of noise. They might appear to be constantly standing at an angle, with their head turned towards the sound. It might be so second nature that they don't realize they're doing it.

Plus, a cat with hearing loss in only one ear will lose their hearing's "distance perception," the ability to pinpoint a sound's location. EXACTLY like how losing the sight in one eye causes the loss of "depth perception," they will have difficulty telling how far away a noise actually is.

Warriors who lose their hearing later in life typically have years of experience in knowing how prey behaves and what sorts of actions make noise; but cats born deaf have to be taught this.

Instead, born-deaf cats tend to associate "sound" with "vibration." Echoes, rumbles, and the sensation of their own humming or laughter can feel very pleasurable. Their whiskers are so sensitive that they can even feel drafts of air from someone speaking in front of them! Because of that, cats with impaired hearing do better with low, rumbling "sounds" rather than high-pitched ones; even when they can't hear either. They can feel lower pitched noises.

(NOTE: Decibels are the measurement of volume, and Hertz are the measurement of pitch. These are different things, NOT interchangeable. HIGH pitch and LOW volume are lost first.)

This is why hunting is so difficult when cats begin to lose their hearing. Their sense of smell and sight can be perfectly intact, but a lot of how a cat hunts is in listening for delicate little sounds and balancing them in both ears to figure out prey's exact location. So, when a cat is learning to hunt without their hearing, they have to rely on their other senses and keep their whiskers low, dusting the ground with their chops and front paws, in hopes of their quarry making a vibration they can feel.

IMPORTANT: Don't forget that cats have carpal whiskers! They are short whiskers on the front paws of a cat, used primarily for "grappling" with other cats and struggling prey. They are less sensitive than facial whiskers, but still very useful for a hearing impaired warrior.

"Dusting," keeping the face low, is still more effective than relying entirely on "Sweeping" movements with the paws.

The younger the cat is, the more time they will have to practice and master this. Cats born deaf, who have never relied on hearing before, are usually better hunters than older warriors learning completely new techniques.

But. Clan cats aren't the only danger in the forest.

A warrior who is deaf or hard-of-hearing will not hear danger approaching, and is easy to sneak up on. Even if they keep themselves completely quiet, an intelligent fox or an enemy warrior can launch an unexpected attack on their unsuspecting target. The wilderness is dangerous, and it's not feasible to keep one's whiskers pressed to the ground at all times, even if vibrations did carry far enough to detect such danger before it's too late.

So, it would be recommended for warriors with hearing loss to not wander too far without a hearing Clanmate capable of alerting them to sounds.

They also will have a VERY difficult time acting as part of a "battalion," in large-scale battles.

In fights with dozens of entangled warriors, while they're focused on fighting the cat in front of them, they will have a hard time hearing commands. Even if well-trained in visual cues like tail signs, deaf and HOH warriors might fail to respond to yowled orders like, "RETREAT" or "SECURE THE ENTRANCE."

Even if the warrior isn't fully deaf, battles are loud and chaotic! It's very likely that such orders would get lost in the clamor of hissing and screeching cats, if the cat has any difficulties with hearing at all.

In summary,

Cats with hearing disabilities are loud.

Hearing loss in one ear will cause the loss of distance perception, and they will often stand at an angle with their good ear facing the noise.

If they were born deaf, they have to learn what makes noise.

Highly tactile, they tend to rely on whisker-sense to "replace" their hearing.

Keeping their facial whiskers low to feel for vibration, "dusting," is a very useful technique.

"Sweeping" with the carpal whiskers is also useful, but less so than "dusting."

They are in increased danger from things sneaking up on them, and shouldn't go anywhere unsafe without a buddy.

Following battle commands in large-scale battles will be difficult or nearly impossible, making them bad "team players."

Communication: Signing, lipreading, and more

(psst! @twiigbranch has a free-to-use version of pawspeak if you credit them!)

Since the majority of these cats lost their ability to hear later in life, most warriors with hearing loss will speak "normally." By "normally," that means they will talk the same way they did their whole lives, just louder so they can hear themselves better.

Over many years, they may begin to stop enunciating their words, 'slurring' their sentences, and their pitch may be a little off. Even then, it's rare that a Clanmate would be able to "tell" they have hearing loss just from their cadence.

But, meanwhile, cats who are born deaf will have a very complicated journey with speech.

It's PIVOTAL for the kit's development that the family and the Clan takes an interest in trying to communicate with them. Deaf children often become isolated from communities that don't seem to care about them, the same way any other alienated child would. This can result in trauma, lack of self-confidence, and behavioral issues.

Even if your project doesn't have Pawspeak (or doesn't have it yet!), kittens WILL find ways to communicate with their family and Clan. Sign language can evolve organically from home signs, unique gestures that will rise for a deaf child to speak with their family. BUT, the sooner they're introduced to a true sign language, the better they will be able to communicate.

Sign languages can also die naturally, simply fading away if the next few generations don't keep them alive. It's possible for the Clans to have gone through a few, over the years!

(Note: Sign languages are full languages, not just "physical versions" of a spoken one. American Sign Language and British Sign Language are from totally different families, even further from each other than English and Russian!)

It is also possible for cats born fully deaf, who have never heard words, to learn how to speak verbally... but, this takes a LOT more time and effort than using a sign language.

Teaching a deaf warrior how to say words is not quick, or easy, and is a very physical process. It involves a lot of dedicated practice time back-and-forth, with the apprentice placing their paw on their mentor's throat to feel their voice, and being coached on how to mimic the exact inflections of every word. It can be very repetitive, and very boring.

Even with lots of training, speakers born deaf have a noticeable "accent." They pronounce consonants better than they do vowels (aeiou), and often lack tone and inflection. Each warrior is an individual, and using a speaking voice is a skill some will be better at using than others.

Lipreading is very difficult. Most warriors born deaf will never learn how to do this, or even want to, as it takes an immense amount of time, effort, and tutoring. It will be more common for cats with more moderate hearing loss, especially if they lost their hearing later in life.

These are REQUIRED for a proper lip reading;

Clear view of the face. If the speaker is too far away, moving around, covers their mouth, stands in a dark place, or has their back turned, their lips can't be read. There are many ways that the view of the face could be obstructed.

Slow, clear speaking. If they're talking too quickly and mumbling their words, it will be extremely difficult to catch all of what they said. A better lip reader will be able to read faster.

Mental awareness. A cat who is tired to exhaustion, unable to focus, or not expecting to be spoken to will not be able to process what's being said. Lipreading is an action that takes brainpower.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: A single speaker, not overlapping with others. Lip reading is nearly useless during clanwide arguments. If there's tons of cats talking over each other, shouting out and interrupting, responding to unseen lips in the crowd, or even if an important speaker is just at a bad angle for the deaf warrior's line of sight to catch, they will not be able to catch everything.

Lipreading is also an action that takes focus. If the cat is tired, unable to concentrate, or isn't expecting to have to read lips, they won't be able to process what words the mouth was forming. It works best one-on-one, in clear lighting, looking straight ahead at the speaker... and even then, the BEST lipreader might only catch 40% to 50% of the words said.

So, it's truly reading. Interpretation. It isn't straightforward like language is. From, "I see a herd of deer, all of them are bucks" they might only catch, "...a... deer... of them... bucks." They will have to guess the meaning based on context!

(Look into a mirror. Quickly chant "Red right wrong" three times. Do you see how similar your lips look to form those words when you're not trying to clearly enunciate them? That's what lipreaders deal with.)

So, while there are other options, a sign language is absolutely the best choice if possible in your setting. Especially for cats who were deaf from birth, sign language is the ideal solution.

VERY IMPORTANT TIPS FOR WRITING A HEARING DISABILITY:

Please avoid them speaking with broken grammar, in third person, or with overly simplistic vocabulary, as if they are a toddler or a caveman. If a deaf cat is taught to speak, they will also learn grammar. BAD: "Examplefur go hunt. Me catch mouse good." OK: "I'm going hunting. I'm good at catching mice."

They will not suddenly "forget" how to speak if they lose their hearing, unless they have another condition such as brain injury.

Lip reading is inferior to signing.

They cannot perfectly catch every single word spoken in all conversations via lipreading, especially when the speaker isn't making an effort to include them, or it's during a disorganized group argument.

In ideal conditions, 30% to 40% of the words spoken will be picked up, and the reader will "fill in" the missing vocab with guesswork.

Teaching a deaf cat to speak verbally is a dedicated process, not something they easily "pick up."

Cats born deaf will almost never pick up lipreading, it is more common in milder forms of hearing loss.

Showing hearing clanmates making an effort to include hearing-impaired warriors, like doing translations or just making sure they understood everything, is massively appreciated.

A good culture around hearing loss is the best thing in the entire world for these cats. Support, respect, and acceptance are sincerely the most important factor in how well a hearing impaired warrior adapts with their disability.

So with that in mind, let's also explore the unique challenges in the terrains and culture of each Clan.

Unique Challenges Clan-by-Clan

Because of the nature of this disability, certain Clans are going to be more difficult for a hearing impaired warrior to function independently in, both in terms of environmental hazards and of culture.

Deaf and HOH warriors will not hear the sounds they're making if they step on noisy terrain or accidentally rustle nearby plants. Some enemies also rely more on stealth to attack their targets than others, and some territories will provide more places for prey and predators to hide. Water-related hazards will naturally cause there to be MORE disabled cats in some Clans more than others, which could mean that there will be less stigma and better community.

Environment means a lot to a cat with hearing loss!

RiverClan

Because this Clan is notorious for swimming in the river, they would have a massively higher rate of hearing loss (and scent loss) than other Clans; ESPECIALLY in late autumn and winter. This also means their healers would be MUCH more experienced with treating ear problems in general; but that's a subject for another guide!

(to answer a stray question before I eventually make that guide: RiverClan can make primitive earplugs out of beeswax to protect their hearing, but may need to trade with ThunderClan to acquire that.)

The important thing to note is that compared to other Clans, RiverClan has the highest rate of having HOH warriors. This means that there would be better support systems for hearing loss than in other Clans, and a cultural "bank" of techniques and knowledge to be shared.

They still have the same proportion of kittens born deaf compared to other Clans, but apprentices without hearing in RiverClan would have a bigger pool (heh!) of mentors who have experience with accommodating their disability.

Plus, you don't need to hear fish to catch them. While they'd still have issues hunting water voles and other wetland-loving rodents, fishers aren't at a significant disadvantage when it comes to providing food to the Clan.

Advantages--

High concentration of cats with similar disabilities provides community, and influences the broader culture to be more accommodating

Healers would have lots of experience with the injuries and illnesses that lead to hearing loss, leading to better treatment

Hearing is not necessary for catching fish, and thus has almost no bearing on how skilled a hunter would be.

Mentors would have better techniques for teaching deaf apprentices

Disadvantages--

Will not hear drowning cats. If you drop into that water you're on your own, bucko

Winter will be even harder than usual, when the river freezes over and fishing becomes more difficult.

Overall, RiverClan is THE best Clan for a deaf cat to be part of.

WindClan

With wide open spaces and lots of hills that offer a good vantage point, sight and vigilance is much more important for survival in a moorland than hearing. There's even an advantage to Pawspeak here; you can communicate from across the open moor without screaming out your location to all the prey!

On top of that, moorland has low-laying vegetation. It isn't a grassland, or filled with splashing water, or covered in crunchy leaf litter. There's not a lot of things TO accidentally make noise on, unless the warrior is trying to hide in a gorse or common heather bush, and WindClan is notorious for relying on speed over stealth anyway.

The one drawback to being a deaf moor-runner is that they will not hear baying hounds. Dogs are extremely common in moorland, either as sheep herders or as companions to human hunters shooting grouses. That said, the fact that hounds are the ONLY big predator they'll need to worry about immediately makes WindClan's moor safer than any woodland territory.

Badgers, boars, and foxes hate open spaces like moorland. It's just dogs that are a big concern, and hawks for smaller cats. There are very few "sneaky" predators in this area; most rely on speed.

So being a moor-runner is one of the best jobs that a warrior with hearing loss could have in the Clans... but the minute that they start to have problems listening to any orders, a tunneler should stop working underground immediately.

Deaf apprentices should be excused from their mandatory tunnel training, except to learn how to do evacuation drills.

There is no light underground. Even if they're capable of creating rushlights or are willing to sacrifice glowworms, that light will be dim at best, and could snuff out at any moment. Communication will become impossible with a deaf cat, and even moderate hearing loss will endanger any warrior who gets separated from their team.

If something as drastic as a cave-in or a flooding happens, they will be in extreme danger. They can't be properly warned unless they're pushed by a fellow digger, and they will not be able to notice anything that isn't rumbling. If they DO end up getting trapped under rubble, they will not hear a rescue party calling their name.

It's not just themselves they have to worry about, either. Not being able to warn or coordinate with their excavation team will put ALL of them in danger.

Advantages--

Moorland requires sharper eyes than ears to begin with.

Lack of ambush predators makes this territory particularly safe without hearing.

Quiet terrain makes sneaking less neccesary in the first place

Pawspeak is especially useful across wide distances

Disadvantages--

Hounds are still a massive danger; they could get very close before they're noticed, if they're upwind.

Will not receive a warning cry in case of any hawks or approaching predators.

Tunneling would be profoundly dangerous with a hearing disability; should be heavily discouraged.

Overall rating is that this is the second best Clan for a cat with hearing loss. RiverClan's sense of community still gives them the top seat imo, but if the attitudes of their Clanmates are good, WindClan's moor is an easy territory to adapt to.

ShadowClan

This one is going to depend on what version of ShadowClan the Erins feel like writing that day, or which one you've chosen for your own project. Do they live in a dry pine forest? Or a wetland?

If you're using the idea that ShadowClan lives in a dry pine forest, especially if your project exists in Britain where spruces, firs, and larches are non-native and thus the territory is a timber plantation, refer to the new growth section in ThunderClan below.

I do not abide by that idea, because Aengus the Prize Winning Hog did not emerge from a cranberry bog for me to disrespect him in this way <3 love ur local wetland <3

(quick note: a swamp is a wooded wetland, a marsh is an open wetland, a bog is acidic, and a fen is neutral/alkaline. Wetland is the general term here.)

Wetlands are rich with soggy ground, muck, and microbe-ridden stillwater. Though ShadowClan cats don't swim for fun, they would end up with more ear infections than most Clans through accidentally falling into the swamp. It's likely that they have the second-highest rate of hearing loss in the 5 Clans, but still significantly below RiverClan.

The lush, thick ferns and reeds provide lots of cover to the notoriously stealthy Clan, but to a warrior who can't hear, this terrain is loud and frustrating. The squish of mud under your paws and the rustle of undergrowth is very hard to adapt to if you can't hear it. ShadowClan's prey of birds, frogs, and water-rodents will respond to any accidental noises by fleeing, quickly, making hunting difficult.

Plus, ShadowClan doesn't rely on one, large, deep, stony body of water like RiverClan does, which seems to be sedimentary rock and open marsh all around. Predators are lurking everywhere in wooded swamps, and could sneak up on a warrior who can't hear them. Foxes, badgers, and boars are a danger in this territory.

All that said; ShadowClan still doesn't seem to rely on just rodents. They eat a lot of amphibians and reptiles, which are not hunted by sound. Most of the techniques they use to catch them can just be taught verbatim to a deaf apprentice, or continue to be used the same way by a warrior who has lost their hearing.

Advantages--

Concentration of warriors with hearing loss from falling into dirty water may provide community and support.

Has a good selection of prey that doesn't rely on listening to be hunted effectively.

Disadvantages--

Swamps, wooded wetlands, are dangerous and attract predators.

Lush foliage and soupy ground make moving quietly difficult for a deaf warrior; but not as difficult as leaf litter.

So, this Clan would be firmly middle-of-the-line in terms of its accessibility to a cat with hearing loss. It would depend a lot on how you plan to approach ShadowClan in your own project; such as if you plan to build out more campbound activities, see them as being social or antisocial with their Clanmates, and what kind of territory you choose for them to have.

SkyClan

As of the time of writing this guide in 2023, when the only decent description of SkyClan's new territory is from a single chapter of Squirrelflight's Hope, it's very difficult to figure out what sorts of terrain challenges a warrior with hearing loss would face at the lake.

Hopefully I can come back and update this later!

But it's most likely is that they have a diverse, varied territory, involving the climbing of steep hills and gorges. Even at the "gorge" territory, a lot of hunting would need to take place outside of the rocky parts of the ravine, in the sparse woodlands and countrysides nearby.

For hunting on sparse woodland, see the advice for ThunderClan. Most hunting in British countrysides is going to look very similar to WindClan's open fields, so refer up there for that.

Because of how close they are to humans, both in the Gorge and at the Lake, it's HIGHLY recommended that warriors with hearing loss avoid twolegplaces. ESPECIALLY towns. Between cars, crowds, and grabbing hands, these places are already dangerous (and sensory hell) for warriors with great hearing, but outright lethal for a hearing impaired cat who won't hear these things coming.

So while the majority of the Clan is jack-of-all-trades and regularly mixes up the particular terrain they hunt in, this is going to be harder for hearing impaired warriors. They have to invent brand new, unique techniques for ALL of these different environments, some of them more difficult than others. Because of that, it will naturally be easiest for a deaf warrior to "specialize" in a particular type of terrain.

This could result in some pretty intense feelings of alienation, as their hearing Clanmates regularly mix what sorts of places they tackle. Without even intending to, they could end up making the warrior feel very left out!

In terms of the culture though, SkyClan seems notoriously accommodating. Between the part-time-kittypet daylight warriors and the way they invented an entirely new mediator role for a cat who didn't enjoy hunting and fighting, it would likely be one of the BEST Clans in terms of supporting a hearing impaired warrior, even in spite of having a "standard" rate of hearing loss since their territory is not particularly wet.

So, it's very likely that they would WANT to fix the fact they've accidentally made their Clanmate excluded, and seek solutions that work for everyone. If any Clan besides RiverClan had a Pawspeak interpreter translating Leafstar's words, it would probably be these guys lmao

Advantages--

Varied terrain means there will be at least a few places that aren't too hard for them to adapt to

Sparse woods, open fields, and even gorges, the three most common terrain types, are at worst decent for a deaf cat to hunt in.

VERY accommodating culture, the absolute best outside of the Clans with a high hearing loss percentage.

Disadvantages--

Generalist training, where every warrior handles vastly different terrain types, will exponentially increase how much training a hearing-impaired warrior must learn.

Being unable to join with their Clanmates in hunting across the entire territory could feel isolating

Rating: Close to top tier, but variable. It's going to depend somewhat on the personality of the warrior. While SkyClan will likely make a big effort to include them, the reality of needing to learn several sets of parallel skills and the way they might feel like an "outsider" for specializing could cause extra distress. Especially for a warrior losing their hearing later in life.

ThunderClan

Because of their collaborative culture and hunting style, described as snobbish and bossy by other Clans, it's very likely that ThunderClan would struggle the most with a specific type of ableism. Since they value group cohesion, it follows they may force Assimilation onto a disabled warrior rather than Accommodation.

As mentioned earlier, Pawspeak is the best thing for the comfort of a deaf warrior... but it might not occur to this Clan to encourage the majority of the Clan to adapt to a minority of warriors.

But it gets worse. Forests are AWFUL terrain to hunt in if you can't hear. Imagine walking in a field with a bunch of invisible landmines, and if you step on one, it broadcasts your EXACT location.

It's difficult to tell if your mouse is running away because you crunched a leaf and made a sound... or because a bird in a tree SAW you and is now raising up an alarm cry. If you can't actually hear what the noise was that scared your lunch away, you might blame yourself for being clumsy as a fox barrels towards you!

When it comes to forests, there are significant differences between an old growth forest and a new growth forest. BOTH of them are going to be extremely difficult for a disabled warrior to adapt to, but old growth is harder.

OLD GROWTH

In both, ground litter is a challenge, but especially so in an old growth British forest. Natural forests there are primarily mixed oak, which drop twigs, leaves, and acorns all over the ground.

These areas are bountiful, productive, and brimming with life. Both in terms of prey and predators. The varied canopy of natural, mixed-age trees allows sunlight to filter through and create an "understorey," providing lots of food and cover to lots of different animals. Unfortunately, foliage is not a deaf warrior's friend.

As previously mentioned, a mix of areas for animals to hide in and a surrounding of rattling plant life is the worst possible combination for a cat who can't hear. Worse, hunting rodents depends massively on hearing them through the leaf litter, thanks to those high-pitched chirps and squeaks which are the first thing to vanish when a cat loses their hearing.

This would be so bad that it's likely ThunderClan "works" its youngest members much harder than its seniors, assigning apprentices and young warriors to significantly more hunting patrols. Since hearing loss is so common that it's practically inevitable, and the security of a Clan allows these wild cats to live to such old ages, it would be "common sense" to ThunderClan to structure things this way.

Old growth patches are practically food pantries for Clan cats, but hearing impaired warriors will have a HELLISH time trying to hunt in them.

NEW GROWTH

When a forest is new and all of the trees in a stand are about the same age, they create a uniform canopy. Like a continuous tent. This means they're so effective at blocking out sunlight that there's virtually no understorey.

No understorey means no food. Or very little food. But it also means no cover. And, usually, significantly less leaf litter. This is because in Britain, most of these types of forests are non-native conifers. Sitka spruce and douglas fir are the two biggest offenders-- and that's significant because nothing here has evolved to EAT the products of those trees.

In ThunderClan, Tallpines is an example of this, but this type of terrain could pop up anywhere that's seen massive destruction.

No understorey to feed prey, no products of the trees which native animals can eat, a silent floor covered in pine needles which offer no hiding places, almost chilling uniformity of the strange trees in evenly-spaced rows...

All of this to say that there's an irony here, that the hearing impaired warrior will be best at hunting in the most barren parts of the forest.

There's much less things to trip up on, or rustle. Prey can be plainly seen out in the open. Gray squirrels are the most significant prey that can utilize these areas, and they DO make a hearty meal for a Clan cat. Additionally, these areas are particularly silent because they're so barren, which might make them seem "creepy" to hearing warriors, but that wouldn't bother a deaf warrior one bit!

Advantages--

Cultural sentiment of "all for one; one for all" may lead to more dedication from the Clan as a whole in connecting to the hearing impaired cat

Which could be a blessing or a curse, depending on the individual warrior's feelings.

Ability to work efficiently in the most barren parts of the forest

Disadvantages--

Cultural emphasis on collaboration in group hunting likely leads to deaf cats being encouraged to adapt to the patrol rather than their own strengths.

May result in more emphasis on teaching lip reading and 'speech therapy,' rather than the adoption or implementation of Pawspeak.

Very difficult to stay quiet in a forest if you can't hear the crunch of leaf litter and twigs.

Lots of cover means random bullshit can spring out from any corner; abundance of ambush predators.

Cover also means there's a lot of places for prey to hide, and hearing can't be used to pinpoint the location.

Lots of rodent prey, which relies on hearing high-pitched noise to catch.

Rating: F MINUS, SEE ME AFTER CLASS. By FAR the worst Clan for a warrior with hearing loss to be part of, for both practical reasons, AND cultural reasons. Awful awful awful, absolutely abysmal, failing grade. Dark Souls for deaf cats

Though remember! This part of the guide is a suggestion. You do not need to include ableism in your own projects if you do not want to, and I hope with the information that you now have, you know how to better avoid it!

"Sources?"

Right this way~

#Deafness #Hearing Loss #Herb Guide #Clan Culture #warrior cats #deaf warriors #This is not BB but I feel like I should tag it just for the cover art #Since Stonewing and Dovewing don't have hearing loss in canon #BUT I SAY THEY DO #Better Bones AU...ish. kinda #Bonefall's Herb Guides

[mommyclaws]

this is a little off topic but i do think the warriors don't have enough recreational activities. they rarely play or claw stuff up or run around for funsies like no wonder they beat the shit out of each other or get so excited to go on little missions and hunts, they're too cooped up with no good releases besides maybe training. doing anything remotely fun is considered kit/apprentice/kittypet behavior. i wish they did more group exercises or play, like the clan olympics squirrelflight put together or more group herb runs for the medcats

Yeah, everything's pretty plot driven in the books. I headcanon/imagine the clans are just very strict societies like that. Apprentices and kits are almost always scolded or scorned at for playing or goofing off even when they're so young. I think playfulness is just something that's hammered out of them as the age. At home you're expected to be useful and working, in front of other clans you're expected to be representing your strength and prosper regardless of if your clan is struggling or not. There's no time for fun in a society that's all about honor...

Doesn't help either that the characters aren't really written to be realistic in animal behavior. Cats are very curious and like to explore, they're distracted easily, and still show play behaviors when they're mature or even elderly.

Personally I think apprentices should get a sort of "recess" period. Like at sunhigh when all of the warriors relax to share tongues, apprentices are relieved of their duties and allowed to play or wander nearby. I'm sure they'd come up with plenty of their own games and activities to do on their own, maybe even convince some of the warriors or elders to join.

#ty for the ask! :] #txt #asks #clan culture

[fan-clan-fun]

First thing. I noticed you mentioned you had a story about a med cat getting kidnapped by a Clan who lost theirs, and I think I've heard that somewhere before. Do you have anything like Wattpad or another site, and if so, what's your account? Anyways. Could you by any chance link all the parts to your "So you want to build a Clan?" in order since I can't really find all the parts....

I did at one point have a story with that premise, however what I wrote for it I wrote nearly a decade ago. I did enjoy it, but I think I didnt have a good idea of an arc and an ending, so I set it aside, and now it is lost. It was on my fanfiction.net account, so I can likely recover it, but it wouldn't be easy. And sorry, I wont be giving it out, that was a very old account, and whatever is on it is both unfinished and poor quality. Maybe Ill visit it again.

But for now, the second part of your ask, all the build-a-clan parts:

Clan Form (can help you think things through as you fill it out)

Build a Clan Part 1 : Setting

Build a Clan Part 2: Naming

Build a Clan Part 3: Formations

Build a Clan Part 4: History

Build a Clan Part 5: Mythos

Build a Clan Part 6.1: The Code

Build a Clan Part 6.2: Ceremonies

Build a Clan Part 6.3: Holidays

Build a Clan Part 7: Religion

And that's all I have at the moment. I had been planning to revisit the build a clan series with Part 8 being on Ranks, but then I got bogged down trying to decide if each rank needed its own post, or if I should just make one giant post, and my life got busy. So for now, that's all she wrote.... until I have it in me to write more. Hope this helps!

#warriorsworldbuilding #warrior cats #clan culture #non-canon clans #warriors oc #warriors #warriorsocs #warriorscats

[proudfreakmetarusonniku]

also, here’s the recreational activities i think each clan would have!

shadowclan: it’s common for cats of all ages to play games similar to tag, or to hide and seek. it’s considered a good way to train stealth, and is also just a lot of fun. shadowclan cats, suprisingly to most, also have a rich tradition of poetry (which, in cat language, focuses around descriptors that match or influence the subject in some way, literally or metaphorically)

thunderclan: playfighting remains a common activity here even after kithood- it’s seen as a little immature in the other clans, but here it’s highly respected. thunderclan has a rich history of storytellers, though they’re known to embellish the truth.

riverclan: they swim, obviously! you can catch a lot of riverclan cats just swimming laps in the water. apprentices often dare each other to dive under the water as far as they can, but this dangerous game is heavily discouraged by adults. riverclan is a very aesthetically minded clan, and has many artists- traditionally, weaving things found beautiful into the dens, but a few daring young warriors have started a trend of wearing them in their pelts, something that spread from clan to clan during gatherings.

windclan: windclan cats love more cerebral forms of recreation. riddles are a common hobby among them, often built around describing strange twoleg things (those are always the hardest to guess). this isn’t to say they don’t have physical forms of play- you’ll never find a windclan cat ashamed to have zoomies whenever they feel pent up!

skyclan: skyclan cats love to climb, unsurprisingly, but they’re also a fan of using their claws to carve designs into the ground or stones. they’ve developed a primitive form of writing with this, with unique markings to represent some basic concepts, but they usually just like making pretty shapes.

#warrior cats headcanons #warrior cats worldbuilding #clan culture

[theanoninyourinbox]

NEW LONGSTAR AU - Assessments

As there are many Roles an apprentice may choose to follow, there are many ways they may be judged worthy of adulthood and their Adult Name.

-ALL ROLES SKILLS-

Every adult cat -must- know four things - basic self defense fighting moves, baseline hunting skills, emergency healing methods, and dangerous plants identification. Some apprentices may also choose to also learn camp care or den repair, but these are not mandatory. Taking a secondary Role will require a second assessment, though not quite as rigorous.

-The Offensive Roles Assessments-

The Warrior, Brawler, Hunter, Tracker, Patroller, Nursery Guard and Camp Guard are all considered Offensive Roles. To be considered an Adult in any of these Roles, an apprentice must have extensive knowledge of both fighting and defensive battle moves.

Warriors, being the jack-of-all-roles, have the most variety in their assessments. Any of the below assessments may suffice, though a few demand to take more than one.

A Brawler needs to know both when to strike and when to speak - often their assessments are two faced: an apprentice must solve a fake argument between two clanmates, then defeat their mentor, or at least show great battle prowess, before even being considered ready for their adult name.

Hunters and Trackers have similar assignments - to bring in prey that weighs more than them, within a certain time period, and properly butcher said prey correctly. Tracker apprentices may also be tasked with identifying the tracks or nests of a certain number of prey and predators as well.

Patroller apprentices must be able to identify the borders by landmark from memory or lead a patrol without wandering over borders or getting into a fight with the neighbors.

An apprentice Camp Guard will be judged on their ability to keep the camp neat and tidy - usually an apprentice is made “lead” Camp Guard for a day, and judged on how well they do. Delegating is allowed - teamwork is a key part of Camp Guarding! For the more martial-minded cat, a night watch with “enemies” trying to sneak in may also work, but more than once a startled apprentice has woken the camp screaming in surprise - so not a popular method.

A Nursery Guard apprentice will be tested on their ability to keep the Nursery clean and repaired, their knowledge of kitten and Queen/King illnesses, and are usually set to care for weaned kits for a few days to see if they can handle it.

-The Healing Roles Assessments-

Healers, Seers, and Oracular Healers all are tested both by their Mentors, and by the Stars themselves.

Healer apprentices are usually quizzed over their herb knowledge, injury and illness knowledge, and their ability to keep cool in hard situations. However, an emergency dealt with exceedingly well or live saving innovations may also lead to their being presented to the Moonstone/Moonpool/Silverpelt. Firepaw was promoted for delivering Cloudkit and keeping his sister alive, and Runningpaw of Shadowclan for his invention of leaf masks, to protect both Healer and patient.

Seers are tested by Starclan, sent signs both small and large, monumental and insignificant. Their mentors test them with diplomacy and riddles. Any apprentice Seer of a certain age (over 12 moons) may ask Starclan to bless them with their adult title, but few receive it until after at least 14 moons.

Oracular Healers are tested both ways. (Therapists are tested both ways, and with the mental health of a patient. Darkpaw was ready halfway through the Journey, but waited until the Clans had made it to their new home to ask. The Stars gave him a Vision, and he followed it to the Moonpool.)

-Support Roles Assessments-

Historians and Storykeepers have very similar assessments - each apprentice must list certain facts or a tale without any warning. A Historian may be asked to list their leader’s bloodline three generations back, and a Storykeeper called upon to tell an important tale before the Clan.

Permaqueen/Kings are generally a Role chosen second, but any apprentice who wishes to become one has basically the same test as a Nursery Guard.

Tacticians are set to find a placement for a kit, real or imaginary. To give a kit, or perhaps a warrior, their place in life, is the highest calling of a Tactician. Sometimes an apprentice is asked to find a battle plan for a false or historical battle.

Crafters are judged for both the beauty and durability of their art. Apprentices are tasked with decorating a cat who then goes through their day as normal, and judgement is held on how the decorations held up. Inventing new methods also can be grounds for promotion.

Herbalist gardens are their proving grounds, with the most finicky plants held for assessments. To raise your own garden is only half the task, a competent Herbalist must also know the use for each - and identify their wild counterparts. It’s the harvest that really counts in the end.

To fail an assessment is not a shame to the student, but to the teacher and the Clan - an apprentice that needs more help is just an apprentice, not a bother.

#warrior cats #warriors #warrior cats au #hello from the void #Longstar au #New Longstar au #Infodump #clan culture

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

In the season of the holidays, let's talk about the Clan Culture of Gift-giving!

There are many different kinds of things that Clan cats give each other as gifts. I will show some of the different categories, feel free to ask about anything in them.

Flowers (for all intents and purposes, most flowers are no longer toxic to cats)

Flowers are a very common gift amongst the Clans. Different flowers also have different meanings. Lavender is given as a general "wishing you peace" as the scent has a calming effect. A rose is seen as a VERY bold gift, as they are mainly found in Twoleg gardens, and posses thorns. Stems, petals, and leaves are all seen as gifts themselves, but all parts of a flower have the same culture.

Scorchfur brought Snowbird tulip petals while they were courting. Quite brave and romantic since they come from Twoleg gardens!

Tree brought Needlekit and Rootkit daisies while they were small. Oops, that's a gift younger cats tend to give older cats. Thankfully they liked the smell.

Palebird liked giving heather to Woollytail, which is seen a nice, generic gift in Windclan. In any other Clan, it is pretty much seen as just friendly. Heather flowers were Woollytail's favorite though,

Generally, they are given to from any cat to any cat, but have their own meaning unlike human flower language.

Stones/Shells

Since shells are nearly Riverclan exclusive, I'm gonna throw them into this category.

Stones are seen as adult gifts. You don't give them to kits, they are given to fellow warriors. If a mentor gives one to their apprentice, it is seen as a HIGH compliment. Longtail gave a lovely smooth pebble from the river to Swiftpaw. Cloudtail buried it with him. Rainwhisker gave a jagged little stone to his friend Spiderleg, which he uses to help cut up mushroom pieces, good useful gift!

Shellheart, true to his name, gave shells to Rainflower while they were courting. She threw them all out when they split up. Crookedjaw gave a shiny shell to Willowbreeze when they got together. Silverstream kept it and it is now in Blossomfall's possession, as Blossomfall is Silverstream's daughter now.

Berries/Mushrooms/Nuts

Snacks! Snacks are great gifts! Anyone can give these out to anyone, and some have basic messages. They quite different from straight up meals. They are very often given from parents to children, especially nuts.

Acorns are very common in Thunderclan land, and Squirrelflight liked giving them to The Three for them to eat and play with.

A large beech nut tree grows on Riverclan land, close to their Windclan border. Beechfur would leave small piles of beech nuts for Gorsetail to find and give to their kits.

Mushrooms are more mature, since they have tastes that young kittens may not enjoy. They are most common found in Shadowclan's beautiful marshy land, but grow in other areas too. I'll be doing a post on the different mushrooms that grow in WCR. FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES THE MUSHROOMS USED IN THE STORY ARE NOT TOXIC TO CATS.

Toadstep made fried mushrooms (beefsteak mushroom) for Featherpelt during an Aftergathering while she was pregnant.

Berries are also incredibly popular! Whether for fur dye, food, or bait for hunting, every cat is happy to get gifted berries. They are most popular to give to cats you are either kin with or have mentored/been mentored by.

Puddleshine likes to give sloe berries to Shadowsight, as a bush grows on the Thunder-Shadow border.

Strawberries grow near the Wind-Thunder border, and strawberries are Leafpool's favorite snack, so Squirrelflight does her best to get lots for Leafpool, and got some for the Three.

Snowtail likes to give lots of blackberries to his mother Speckletail, as blackberries are both their favorite.

Feathers

Feathers are a lovely gift! They are often used in nest building or as toys for kits. (Or, if you for some reason make the hike up the mountain to the Tribe Of Snowy Peaks, used in sculptures) (except eagle feathers, which are only for nesting because of their stiffness being perfect for keeping nests together)

Note: You do not give Cuckoo feathers as gifts. Ever. It is seen as incredibly disrespectful. They are NOT gifts.

Icecloud likes to give robin feathers to her mom and dad, she makes sure they have nice nests, and knows that Dustpelt really likes the colour of them.

Ivypool found a large crow feather once and gave it to Blossomfall, who especially appreciated to softness while recovering from having their kits.

Tigerclaw gave Firepaw cuckoo feathers, because he knew Firepaw wouldn't know what they meant.

Clay

Clay pots, bowls and plates are all very good things. Most often given to Medicine Cats or Cooks since they get the most use out of them, they are the most frequent recipients. Each is very unique and has a different vibe.

Briarlight made a small plate for Jayfeather while she was in recovery, using her claws to make lots of different textures.

Bristlefrost made bowls for Rootspring and Shadowsight, they both still have them. They have her pawprint in the middle.

Curlfeather made Frostpaw lots of bowls, each with curly, looping designs on them...

Wood

Woodworking is difficult, but since the discovery of Fire, was revamped with woodburning. Tools and decorations are made, but while decorations are for anyone, tools are not for apprentices (aside from inheritance).

Pieces of wood are cut with sharpened stones and bone tools, then shaped as best as the WCR cats can get them.

Tools are important to the Clans, and inherited and passed down until the tool breaks, to which it must be replaced by the cat who broke it. Tools are a very high-value gift and a huge honor to receive.

Ashfur gave Ferncloud a small decoration, he burned a small pattern into it for the nursery to smell nice. She threw it out after his death.

Breezepelt gave his first litter (Smokehaze, Brindlewing and Needletail) their own tools when they were apprentices, despite the pushback he got.

Food/Meals

Food is always an amazing gift, especially when you know someone's favorite meal. You can always expect a meal gift if you are close with a cat who likes cooking, such as Sparkpelt, Strikestone, Featherpelt, Firefern, and Graymist.

To apologize to Daisy, Spiderleg made her favorite dish: scrambled egg. It was burnt in one part, undercooked in another, and not enough shell was in it, but Daisy told him it was the best meal she had ever had.

Spicy Chub Soup is Hawkfrost's favorite meal, so his daughter Cloudsnap learned to make it for him whenever he looks stressed out.

Squirrelflight makes Fried Squirrel for her family members, often drizzling it with honey as well.

All in all, giving gifts is done all year round, but a lot of gift exchanges happen at Gatherings or Aftergatherings.

Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate!

#warrior cats #warrior cats rewrite #warriors #wcr #clan culture #palebird #crookedstar #puddleshine #blossomfall #jayfeather #briarlight #curlfeather #frostpaw #ashfur #cloudsnap #bristlefrost #squirrelflight #shadowsight #snowkit #leafpool #toadstep #featherpelt #speckletail #spiderleg #daisy wc #silverstream #longtail #cloudtail #dustpelt #ferncloud

[kirwell]

It's been a minute since I've memorized myself with the og four arcs, but I still feel like the modern warrior clans don't show the things that make them unique as they used to in the older books. Actual culture in the clans has become such a background thing, and the clans' mostly acknowledge each other by overused stereotypes. "ThunderClan gets in everyone's business" "ShadowClan can never be trusted" yeah we know And then WindClan and RiverClan just kinda exist… they don't get involved enough to get slandered at gatherings.

It would be nice to see each clan acknowledged for their odd traditions and unique mannerisms too. And I would love to see the clans themselves DO MORE with their own clanmates that make their clan feel special. Especially now that we're getting more POVs not just from good ol' ThunderClan.

Have RiverClan show their skill for swimming more often. Have them swim to gatherings, unbothered by their slick, drenched coats. Imagine them leaving a gathering, dramatically submerging back into the dark water and disappearing into the night. "How unnatural..."

Have them incorporate water into their fighting technique, as we see in the opening of Into The Wild. Ambush rival cats from the water, or pull them into the water where they have the advantage. I want to see RiverClan excel in water and completely have the upper hand in some battles.

It says RiverClan decorates their nests, but it's rarely shown or appreciated. Let them have the most beautiful camp out of everyone, decorated in shells, pebbles, foliage and feathers. Let the other clans think "wow. why is it so pretty here?" or "ew, why do you decorate with fish scales?"

I want their ceremonies to involve dressing in elaborately made accessories that every cat learns to make. Have cats be given unique shells when they're born, and these shells are given to their chosen mates as a sign of true affection.

Show downtime, where cats just relax on the shoreline, kits playing in the sand, apprentices challenging each other in the water, and elders sunbathing on the rocks.

RiverClan was basically founded by a hippie. Let the clans see them as typically laidback and the type to stop and smell the roses. But when they step up, they have skills that no other clan can match.

Have ShadowClan be excellent at stealth and use the literal shadows to their advantage. Have other cats not notice a ShadowClan patrol until they suddenly burst from the dark.

Imagine they cover themselves in different smells, like mushrooms, moss and pine, to mask their natural scent. I like to think ShadowClan cats have the strongest tolerance for strong or icky smells.

I think it would be cool to have Shadowclan cats know how to mimic night critter noises, like owls, frogs and crickets, to trick prey, or to communicate with their own patrol without drawing away from the natural ambiance.

Show ShadowClan as being able to move in the dark better then any other clan, and let the clans think it's UNCANNY. During nighttime battles, have them lure rivals into the darkness where they can gain the upper hand. Have them work as a team to confuse and disorientate rivals in the darkness, before striking.

Show Shadowclan cats being more nocturnal and more active at night than other clans. They thrive in it, and do most of their training and chores when the sun sets.

I want ShadowClan to be known for more than their bad history and terrible taste in leaders. I want them to be seen as mysterious night dwellers, whose talents best shine in the dark. You will never see them coming until it's too late.

Windclan used to have a lot more goin on, in Tallstar's revenge, having a whole tunneling system with different ranks like Moor Runners and Tunnelers. We could have something similar to this again. Windclan navigating an elaborate abandoned warren underneath their moorland, for quick escapes, safety or even traps.

Have Windclan use the tunnels to outsmart invading clans or predators, or trap them in dead-ends. If their camp was ever overtaken, they could rely on the tunnels as a temporary home, a place no other clan knows how to navigate.

SHOW them as the fastest cats of all the clans. It's not shown all that much, except when WindClan shows up to mee a rival patrol. Show them being able to outrun rival cats, run circles around them, chasing off patrols with unmatchable swiftness.

Birds of prey used to be more of a thing in the books, but they seemed to have disappeared. Have dangerous predators around that only WindClan really knows how to evade or kill, taking down hawks and such, similar to how the Tripe of Rushing Water actively did.

Have Windclan be excellent at camouflage, since the moorlands are so open, they have to learn to blend in with shrubbery, or shroud themselves in plants and mud that blend in while patrolling. For battles, imagine they come dressed in full camouflage / warpaint.

I love the idea of cats singing and the winds just carry their voices away. It would be neat to see ceremonies directly involve the wind, singing different songs with special meanings, or releasing flower petals into the breeze when cats die. Let the other cats think that WindClan is strange, since no other clans have songs that pass through generations. Cat singing is weird.

WindClan once prided themselves for "being closer to Starclan" literally because they lived under the open sky. Imagine they're the only clan to recognize constellations, stargaze and create stories based off them.

WindClan gets wrecked more times than not, but they've got spirit, and I want the clans to see it.

SkyClan had a pretty rich culture prior to moving to the Lake, and lot of it tied into their environment, so understandably, they lost so much because of Darktail. I love Skyclan honestly, and I want to see them thrive again so much.

I wish we got to see them climb trees a bit more in public, using them during patrols, jumping from branch to branch. We saw them use this method in battle, jumping down from above and landing on their enemies, and I would love to see more of this!

Show SkyClan cats as excellent climbers who don't fear heights. Causally hanging out in trees and other precarious places for pure enjoyment. Let the other clans think that it's weird and dangerous, and they're stupid for doing it. But also it makes them uneasy, cause Skyclan could attack from ANYWHERE if there's trees.

I'd LOVE to see Skyclan continue to take in kittypets/strays/loners as Daytime-Warriors, and have this general acceptance of outsiders. The OG clans are very prejudice, as we know, even against each other, so it would be neat to showcase Skyclan's tolerance for non-clan-blooded cats. If Skyclan is ever in danger, imagine a legion of outsiders rushing in to aid their SkyClan friends, much to the other clans' shock.

Skyclan to me have always felt like they'd be storytellers, given how much they've been through and how their clan came to be. Would love to see them talk more about their experiences and history to the other clans, and encourage openness and change.

SkyClan is new to the Lake, but I want them to bring in what made them special and show it off. They've got so much heart, how can you not admire them for their strength?

And of course ThunderClan. The protagonist clan that's begun to feel so bland to me personally. We spent the most time with them, and I miss seeing what made them unique. (I'm very nostalgic for into the wild vibes)

ThunderClan has lived in their new home beside the Lake for years now, and I feel like it's barely talked about or used in any special way. I want to see them use their environment more.

Have it tradition for young cats to learn how to scale the rocky cliffs, in case of emergency. Have ThunderClan cats excel at scaling uneven surfaces, like little whiskered mountain goats. Oh, a Thunderclan cat was pushed off a cliff in battle? No matter. They manage to keep their cool and catch onto the surface, and scale back up or down with ease.

ThunderClan has lived through so much history, and have been at the center of it many times, so I would love to see them have more downtime together, sharing legendary stories and reliving old memoires of the past so it's never forgotten. Or fuzzy stories, just pleasant memories from a time in the past, where they learned valuable lessons or enjoyed time with loved ones.

Let everyone do fun activates and team building exercises, to strength their bonds, like hunting or cliff scaling competitions where they must work together. ThunderClan have their unsavory moments, but let's be honest, they're the heart of all the clans, holding them together more times than driving them apart. Anyway, that's the end of that. I just wanna see some inner clan chemistry, OK??? Is that too much to ask?

#warrior cats #warriors #cats #erin hunter warriors #thunderclan #riverclan #shadowclan #windclan #skyclan #clan culture #let the clans stand out #clan character #talking about warrior cats #warrior cats imagines #warrior cats rant #rewriting the clans #show some heart guys come on

[rippleclan]

[Image ID: Twinekit and Moonpaw in their StarClan forms. The title above them says "StarClan: Structures & Basics of Power"]

So, StarClan is… an interesting group. Everyone has their own take on them, because almost no one likes how they are written in canon. The Erins clearly want StarClan to be a Christian analogy. They want interaction with StarClan to be a story about having faith in an omnipotent, benevolent force despite the challenges you face. I don’t think this is a bad thing, per se. However, the basic world building of StarClan makes this almost impossible to effectively portray for two reasons.

A: The living cats speak to StarClan all the time. This means that the writers must write dead characters in a character-accurate way while giving them divine knowledge and power. StarClan lacks the separation needed to say “we may not understand them but we need to trust they’re working towards a greater purpose”. When our heroes can actively talk to God, God needs to have something of value to say, something that would contradict the characterization of whatever dead cat you’ve chosen to deliver the information.

B: StarClan is a body of dead spirits who make terrible decisions. As readers, we can scan through the entire Warriors timeline, and that makes a lot of decisions seem ridiculous, contradictory, or outright cruel. Some notable examples include the Leafpool and Squirrelflight issues, Goosefeather, Jayfeather, letting Ashfur into StarClan but sending Frecklewish to the Dark Forest, and more. Some of these could work if we weren’t in constant communication with StarClan, but we are.

With all these issues, every AU or FanClan needs to explain how they view StarClan in an effort to craft better world building and useful tension. For RippleClan’s Promise, I take some inspiration from @bonefall and his Better Bones AU (hi bone love your work hope you like this). Other details are based around the mechanics of Clangen and my own personal tastes. For this lore post, we’ll discuss the basics of StarClan and what they are capable of.

Positions In StarClan

Clan culture is based on hierarchy and on listening to figures of authority, so why would StarClan not have their own unique positions? In this series, positions are based on how long someone has been dead, their reputation among the living, their personal interests, and the occasional bout of StarClan politics. In StarClan, all are meant to be equal, but authority is to be respected when working towards the good of the living.

The Newly-Dead are StarClan's most recent arrivals. They are often chosen to present information to the living due to their close ties to living friends and family. They could also be called the "face" of StarClan. They spend their time learning about StarClan, reuniting with loved ones, and delivering prophecies/visions/omens under the orders of others. After some time, they can move onto other roles, although some prefer just to rest.

Fetchers spend their time escorting the souls of the Clan's dead away from Earth. When a Clan cat dies, their soul sticks around for a while. Their souls can be stuck on Earth if their deaths are not properly acknowledged and/or the Fetcher cannot find them. There are stories of souls hiding from Fetchers long enough to return to their bodies, but the Clans aren't sure if they are stories for historians or artisans. Fetchers also protect the souls of leaders as their bodies recover from a lost life.

Judges keep an eye on the choices of the living to see who deserves to join their ranks. When someone dies, if there is a chance they do not deserve StarClan, the Judges will host a trial, like those of codekeepers on Earth. One judge will defend the soul while another accuses them of breaking the code one too many times and standing against the values of the Clans.

Blessed Ones can create blessings and miracles for the living. When the living have earned their favor, Blessed Ones encourage the growth of certain plants, foster the expansion of prey, and design kits in the bellies of pregnant queens. If StarClan is angry, the Blessed Ones help guide that anger into a specific manifestation.

Rather than fading, if a cat is forgotten by the living and has grown tired, they join the All-Seeing. The All-Seeing is considered a singular deity who stores the memories and personalities of every StarClan cat within them. If they push themself, they can separate a soul from themselves to present as an individual, but they prefer to stay whole. Few living cats have ever met them, for they stay out of living affairs. They tend to the river of space and time, which shows them all events of the past, present, and future concerning the Clans. They share these notes with other StarClan cats through prophecies and orders for dreams and visions. It's hard to tell if the All-Seeing truly cares about the Clans, or if they just want to watch a story unfold.

Sometimes a cat reincarnates rather than joining the All-Seeing. They can be dead for any length of time, but the act of reincarnation is a sacrifice. Their next self will recognize who they once were after they die, but their own personality will be gone.

Cats who want to stick around or have a strong memory in the Clans gain more power and authority in their chosen roles. These cats are known as Celestials and are similar to Christian saints or niche gods in a pantheon. Celestials can display god-like forms and are considered the guardians of a specific domain.

The highest of the Celestials is a small group known as the Guides. There are five Guides, one for each Clan. They can be considered the leaders of StarClan due to their determination to maintain their beloved Clans. Each Guide died or lived in such a way to permanently tie them to their Clan. Moonpaw was chosen as the guide of RippleClan and is therefore the Celestial of RippleClan.

What Can StarClan Do?

StarClan's power is largely based on individual prestige and collective emotion. All StarClan cats can take a form matching any part of their lives and visit the living Clans. Fetchers have unique abilities that allow for the manipulation of souls. Judges have the power to take cats between StarClan and the Dark Forest. The Blessed Ones work together to bless the territory. Celestials have some special abilities connected to what they represent. However, all these cats only have power because they have a community to look after so they can one day join them in their peaceful, starry abode.

The All-Seeing is the only one who actually receives knowledge of the future. Their rather neutral perspective on life, death, and what the living need to know is a source of frustration for anyone who isn't ready to join them. Sure, StarClan sees a lot, but the All-Seeing gets mad if they reveal too much to the living. Even the Guides don't want to piss off the All-Seeing.

In terms of influencing events, StarClan's power is limited by their emotion. Some of their greatest signs are the result of moments of utter rage. The Blessed Ones manage the collective emotion of StarClan and guide each boost of emotional power into a stronger blessing or curse outside of their own limited abilities.

There is more to StarClan, such as their relationship with the Dark Forest, but I'll save that for another day. I'll leave you with this: Twinekit may be a Newly-Dead as of Moon 8, but she will eventually become a Fetcher for RippleClan.

#rippleclan #clangen #rippleclan clangen #warrior cats #warrior cats clangen #rippleclan lore #starclan #clan culture #better bones au

[wc-wild-rewrite]

THE CLANS

Before we get any further into clan culture details, we need to explore the clans more broadly. This post will detail the clan traits, what their known for, and what they specialise in

Thunderclan

Lets start with the pov clan, Thunderclan! Said to be descended from Lions, this clan is known for its pride and strength, but also its stubborness. Before Firestar came along, it was a very small-town community, things that were noticed weren't often stopped by older cats, and xenophobia was rampant. They called themselves the most upstanding clan, when really they were rather aggressive to nearly everyone.

During and after Firestar's reign, things were significantly friendlier. Their still stubborn, but more wont-give-up than wont-change-their-views.

They specialise in fighting and, after arc 2, end up specialising in climbing as well

Shadowclan

The so-called 'villain clan' of the four, Shadowclan. Descended from Tigers, this clan is known for its stealth and smarts, giving them a manipulative, yellow-bellied repuation, but that isn't true. They actually specialise in the social and smarts side of things, being the ones to invent sign language, various games, quizzes, and being the only clan to have a community nursery.

Their the most accepting of outsiders, as most of their ranks are ex-rogues, loners, or kittypets. They have a few 'Eras' of leadership, which i'll cover in another post, but for the most part, their just trying to survive. Their consistently the clan with the least prey, most at risk for sickness, and worst leaders. Its not often that most of Shadowclan agree with something, usually in two or more groups of mind.

They invented the rule of Leadership Overthrow, where a leader can be overthrown or have their say ignored if enough of the clan agrees with it. This is mostly due to Brokenstar.

Windclan

Next up, the speedy cats themselves, Windclan! This clan is generally laidback about most things, with only two exceptions; Starclan and Heritage. If you disrespect Starclan, or disrespect your bloodline, your pretty much fucked.

But Windclan is interresting, because they don't descend from Lions, Tigers, or Leopards. In fact, nobody knows who they descended from. Windclan claim their the descendants of a very rare type of cat, but historical accounts say Windclan descended from normal rogues that took over a territory. But that would mean a tainted heritage for the entire clan, and less of a connection to Starclan, so Windclan vehemently denies it.

Despite their focus on heritage, they have this little paradox about outsiders. They'll let you in, but you have to make a legacy good enough worth continuing. Unfortunately, a 'good enough legacy' isnt always for positive things, sometimes infamy will keep you in the history talks. Half-clan cats are treated as though they need to make up for their other side, for disrespecting their windclan heritage. Although, they've been known to turn a blind eye if the other clan parent has a good enough legacy of their own. Hypocrites.

Aside from that, they believe themselves to be the most spiritual, but other clans consider them the msot superstitious. They have a plethora of rituals, acts, and sayings to ward off the dark forest, and use it to scare kits into behaving. Unfortunately, this caused the sheer number of dark forest windclan apprentices in Power of Three and Omen of The Stars, as the biggest act of rebellion in Windclan is to turn against Starclan.

They specialise, aside from spiritualism, in construction. Their tunnelers, though an extinct role until the end of The New Prophecy, were renown for their skills at keeping tunnels up with their constructions. They also have song and dance, something the other clans don't.

Riverclan

And lastly, the drama queens of the clans, Riverclan. Descended from Leopards, this clan is known for their beauty, lack of hunger, and their egos. They have food almost completely year round, so they have a constant pile of food in camp, leading them to not need to send out hunting patrols as often. They also don't bother with borders much, only going through the effort when its something another clan could use. For instance, the other clans cant fish, so they dont bother marking their rivers as often, but Sunningrocks is a good source of fish and other prey, so they fight for it.

Their arrogant, if anything. At any gathering, you can find atleast four riverclan cats boasting about their looks, their diet, or both. Despite this arrogance, the other clans can agree that riverclan are, in fact, gorgeous.

As for outsiders, they must fit Riverclan beauty standards to be allowed in. Otherwise, their chased off. This beauty standard leads to plenty of issues, but after Elmstar (Crookedstar)'s reign, they learn to cool it a bit. Not a lot, but enough to cool it on the ableism, at least.

Due to their plethora of food and infrequent border patrols, they have a lot of free time. This developed into them inventing art and crafts, like berry juice art, weaving, camp decorating, and the like. They also, later down the line, invent pottery.

However, they have one issue, if they run out of food, they go into hysteria. This usually means that in particularly bad winters, Riverclan, depending on the leadership style, will either fight everyone for territory out of fear of starvation, or completely isolate themselves and basically attempt hibernation. Of course, neither ever go well, but they'd never admit that either reaction is actually due to food shortages. They just want bigger territory because their the better clan, of course.

And those are the clans, at least in arc 1! I'll be making a seperate post for Bloodclan at some point, and various off-shoot posts of more specific clan stuff, so look forward to that!

#warrior cats #wc #wc rewrite #warrior cats rewrite #warrior cat rewrite #windclan #riverclan #shadowclan #thunderclan #clan culture #worldbuilding

[nyan-1233]

Dandelion + culture sketches

#dandelion clan #Nightpaw #nightwhisper #specklepaw #speckleweb #Softpaw #softdawn #Applenose #sunnypaw #Sunnystep #warrior cats oc #warrioe cats culture #clan culture #oc lore #warrior cats #this is really easy to understand dandelion culture #if you can read my fast and messy writing #flower language #flowers

[i-have-bees-in-my-brain]

Thinking about the role system of the clans and how it is cemented in the different dens for each role. This has both positive and negative impact imo.

I love the sleepover or youth hostel vibey potential of the apprentice den. Staying up late to talk, plotting shenanigans, sneaking out, complaining about your annoying siblings snoring, cuddling with your friends after an exhausting day of training.

With the warrior den, i really like what was described in TPB when Fire and Gray were made warriors and (i think) Whitestorm, but definitely a mentorly figure, released them from the silent vigil and showed them free space in the warrior den to get some rest. A really wholesome thing which i think should be a tradition for former mentors to do, because it signifies that even now when the newly named is a Warrior, a part of the main protectors and providers of the Clan, they are themselves cared for and protected by the other warriors.

This first sleep of a warrior should also be jokingly referred to as an important ritual and base for one of these traditional unfunny jokes among the senior warriors. Young warriors are so lazy these days, sleeping till sunhigh.

Also it's so funny to me to think of Tigerclaw and Fireheart as roommates

These dens really signify the connection of a clan. To be one of the warriors isn't just a job, it's what shapes each day and night. They are always around each other, for better or worse. A betrayal hurts so much more when they have slept next to you everyday. A cat that died or left the Clan leaves a hole in the order of things. The remaining ones will feel it in the morning by the lack of warmth on their pelts. But eventually they'll fill the gap as time passes and new warriors join.

I like that the leader and the medicine cat sleep alone. These are important, sacred roles and it is an honour to have their own space, but it can be cold and lonely. They may have power, but they lose this understanding and community that comes with the other dens. It might push them to seek company with each other, or (mostly in case of the Healer) with their counterparts in the other clans.

StarClan is closer to these cats because they sleep alone. Their dreams are easier for StarClan cats to wander in because they aren't huddled together with others, and they sleep deeper because they are undisturbed. This is maybe also why StarClan sometimes seems more distant when they are most needed, because the healers will be busy and sleep less deeply when they have many patients to attend to.

Where the deputy sleeps may signify their role within the clan, which can vary depending on clan traditions and the current leadership's preferences. They could be seen as the first among the warriors, something between their manager and their union represantative, and thus sleep in the warrior den, maybe in an elevated or especially good spot. Or they have an entire den on their own, maybe if they are primarily seen as the heir. Some leaders may choose to share the den with their deputy if they are close and rely on them a lot. This might also happen if the leadership sees themselves as very much above the commoners.

#this post is so long already so im gonna do another one about tge negatives and the other dens #id love to hear your thoughts about this and how it is in later books!! #bee talking moment #warrior cats #warrior cats analysis #warrior cats headcanons #clan culture

[bonefall]

Warrior Bites: Dietary Needs

[ID: A fish carcass, bird carcass, and mouse carcass on a stone slab.]

Are you wondering how much prey a Clan needs a day? What they should eat to stay healthy? Why food processing is useful at all? All the answers to these questions and more, contained within a general guide to dietary needs for your Warrior Cats!

As an obligate carnivore, a cat's entire diet revolves around processing meat. More specifically, the ideal diet should be 55% protein, 45% fats, about 1% to 3% carbs, with the remainder being various micro-nutrients. You can expect the average 10-pound warrior to need 350 calories per day, about 3.5 mice on average.

I've also included a section talking about obesity, which dives into how canon's depiction of it is both harmful fatphobia and wouldn't make sense from a cat perspective. It also discusses obesity in realistic cats; and how you're free to choose the realism on that aspect.

Below the cut;

Caloric Intake

Nutrition

Food Processing

On Obesity

Caloric Intake

The general rule for how much a cat needs to eat is that an active, non-neutered tom will need about 35 calories per pound of their own body weight, per day, just to remain the weight they are.

That means that the average warrior, assuming they are 10 pounds, will need 350 calories a day.

Kittens, pregnant and nursing cats, and large warriors will need to eat more than average. Neutered cats, elders, and clerics/medcats will eat less. There are calculators online for determining how much an individual will need, but you can estimate how much an entire Clan will need just by taking 350 and multiplying it by population!

Assuming the average population is about 30 cats, that's 10,500 calories to feed a Clan for a day! To put that in perspective, that many calories would feed 7 large humans. If you felt like fighting a group of angry cats to steal their day's worth of mice, I mean.

Generally speaking, land prey will have a caloric value around 5 calories per gram. Aquatic prey is significantly lower, around 4 calories per gram. Birds will be just below 6 calories per gram. To find out how many cats a piece of prey will feed, or how many pieces a cat will need that day, take the category and multiply by the prey's weight in grams.

So for example, the average house mouse is 20 grams and it is land prey, meaning its caloric value is around 100 calories! A warrior will need 3 and a half mice a day to stay healthy, and a Clan will need 105 mice daily to support 30 cats.

105 mice may seem like a lot, but remember that a wild rabbit is 1,800 grams on average which means 9,000 calories. 2 big pieces of prey will feed the whole Clan, with leftovers.

Those estimates include every part of the animal. Cats eat organs, small bones, and even skin. Skeletal muscle, or "fillets" in reference to fish, is so low in calories that it's typically somewhere between 1 kcal to 1.5 kcal per gram. That's what you're buying in the supermarket; but wild animals don't usually cut their food into choice strips.

(unless you're writing a clan that does food processing of course!)

QUICK FACTS

Average warrior will need 35 calories per pound of weight

10 pound warrior needs 350 calories a day

350 x 30 cats = 10,500 calories to feed a Clan for a single day

Birds provide the most calories per gram, land prey the middlemost, and aquatic prey the least.

Calculate calories in prey by taking the weight, converting to grams, and multiply by 4, 5, or 6 depending on broad category.

If you're having trouble feeding a Clan on small animals, look at bigger prey like rabbits and trout.

Muscle fillets are inferior to organ meats and have a much lower caloric value.

Nutrition

Not all food is the same. The more important thing to consider about any particular meal is NOT its calorie count, but its nutritional value. This is especially important to cats because protein is not stored as fat. If the body has no immediate use for it, it's flushed out.

Since cats should not eat more than 3% carbs, ALL of their fat stores will need to come from fat.

The ideal piece of meat would be at least 55% protein and 45% fat. Every individual species will have a different ratio, and more importantly, individual cuts will have a different ratio.

Skeletal muscle has a higher ratio of protein to fat. Organ meat, also sometimes called "offal," will have a more balanced ratio. That said, nearly all meat skews towards protein. PURE fat is very hard to find on the sorts of animals Clan cats hunt, and must be carefully divided, collected, or processed to make sure all warriors are getting proper nutrition.

I'll be going more in-depth with dietary fat at some other time, as this guide is meant to just be an overview! Just know that some Clans will need to eat MORE food to stay healthy because of this.

Cats need more than the "macronutrients" to stay healthy. They can't JUST rely on the juiciest cuts of meat to keep their health intact, they also need several vitamins and minerals to support their body functions, and avoid getting a deficiency.

Here's some of the important micronutrients, where to get them, and what happens they don't get enough;

Vitamin A: Livers, mealworms, eggs This is one of the most important micronutrients in a cat's body, used for practically everything. Without this, their coats will grow dull, and their joints stiff, and they'll start to go night-blind. In a severe state, they'll start to lose the ability to heal skin lacerations and die. Pregnant cats and kittens need more of this than usual, but it IS also possible to get vitamin A poisoning from getting too concentrated of a dose.

Calcium: Bones, eggs With a calcium deficiency, the warrior will feel stiff and sore, and experience painful muscle spasms. Most cats will simply crunch the bones of small prey and never have to worry about this, but if your cats cook or scavenge, they have to be told to NEVER eat the bones of a roasted bird. Because bird bones are hollow and cooking makes them brittle, they can splinter and cause fatal internal bleeding.

Thiamine: Trout, boar meat, mealworms, eggs Called a Fish Seizure because raw carp and raw bream contains thiaminase, which will destroy thiamine in the body. Lack of thiamine will cause neurological issues, such as the aforementioned seizures, general confusion, memory loss, and muscle weakness. This can be counterracted by eating trout, which is so high in thiamine that there's a theory that carp evolved it specifically to eat salmonids better.

Potassium: Trout, boar meat, mealworms, eggs As cats get older, they begin needing a lot more potassium for their bodies. It's a very common micronutrient found in most meat, but elders should get the first bite of special snacks "out of respect" which helps keep their potassium level up. Without it, they become very weak.

i feel like that evil struthiomimus from land before time with how many times i typed eggs

QUICK FACTS

The ideal ratio of a cut of meat is 55% protein 45% fat

Organ meat > Muscle meat

Micronutrients are important

But micronutrients can also cause poisoning if, somehow, they're too concentrated (very hard to come across concentrated micronutrients without the science of chemistry tho. Like if a cat swallowed a vitamin gummy.)

Food Processing

"Food Processing" is when you do something to your food before you eat it. Just a little bit of care is going to go a LONG WAY when it comes to health of the warrior.

Cats that eat raw meat the way canon warriors do are almost guaranteed to get worms. Roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms are all passed through the infected tissue of rodent prey, and in fish, roundworms, tapeworms, and flukes can pass through raw meat.

All parasites do something a little different, but most digestive worms aren't fatal unless the cat is sick or a kitten. However, nearly ALL of them screw around with digestion, making the cat need to eat more just to stay healthy, or causing stomach irritation. Some of them can even pass in milk, infecting a suckler's nursing kits.

The easiest way to reduce this kind of infection is simply to slice the prey open from mouth-to-butt, Tigerstar-style, and hook and lift out the GI tract before eating. There's nothing in that worth eating raw anyway. It can just be discarded, or cleaned out and used to case tiny sausages! But it's only a reduction; there's still a risk of catching worms from raw meat.

There's also always the possibility of getting salmonella poisoning.

Many believe that cats are immune to this, but that's not true! Carnivores just have a shorter GI tract than omnivores and herbivores, so salmonella spends less time in their gut and ergo has less chance of causing an infection. It still happens, ESPECIALLY when cats hunt songbirds.

Nothing can be done about salmonella in raw meat, besides eating it as quickly as possible. It's innate to the bodies of birds and reptiles, and usually found on raw eggs too.

Some animals are small enough to be dried and carried around as rations, such as minnows or grasshoppers. Others could be sliced up into strips, and marinated in spices like valerian or catmint for an extra boost of energy. It could also be worthwhile to cut the pelt off a particularly soft animal, like a mole, to dry and keep as bedding material.

All of the above examples of food processing are possible without fire, but if your cats DO have fire, they will have a DRASTIC increase to the quality of their health.

Such as;

Cooking will almost completely eliminate those foodborne parasites. Their eggs don't survive extreme heat.

No more salmonella poisoning! GONE! Cooking is the only way to eliminate this!

It can increase caloric absorption from anywhere between 20% to 50%. Our example warrior who needed 3.5 mice a day could suddenly need one less mouse; and even a meager 20% drop in how much the entire Clan needs saves 2,400 calories a day. 24 whole mice!

I HAVE TO STRESS HOW BIG THAT IS. You save anywhere from 2/10 to 5/10 successful kills.

Thiaminase is destroyed by cooking, making bream and carp healthier and reducing "fish seizures."

It allows for fats to be processed and stored as tallow, lard, and oil, so it can be added to other dishes to make them both healthier and tastier.

Most food preservation requires fire in some way; by heating, jellying, boiling, etc. The only other two ways to reliably store food is by having access to a ton of salt, which is hard for most non-coastal clans to acquire, or vinegar, which is so acidic it's a notorious cat-repellent.

While cooking can also destroy some micronutrients, its benefits FAR outweigh any potential "strengths" of raw food. Destroying micronutrients is also not always a bad thing; as TOO MANY micronutrients can cause poisoning. Fire-using Clans will be more likely to "seek" micronutrients than non-fire Clans as a result, though they probably won't recognize the science behind a hankering!

QUICK FACTS

Worms. Basically unavoidable if your cat's eating like a canon warrior.

Some parasites can spread through milk.

Slicing and lifting out the GI tract can significantly reduce the chance of catching worms.

Salmonella can only be eliminated with cooking

Cooking will drastically increase the quality of a Clan's health, if your cats are advanced enough to figure out fire.

Warriors need to hunt a LOT less prey, and can store that prey, if they have fire.

Fire-using Clans will intentionally try to put more types of food in their diets and get 'cravings.'

On Obesity

Warrior Cats is not a realistic series. The boundary that any particular writer draws between humans and warrior cats is completely arbitrary. The series itself follows no sense of realistic genetics, regularly shows the cats using herbs that would poison them, and gives the characters human-centric morals like monogamy and paternal involvement.

So when it comes to being fatness in your project, please keep that in mind. You do not need too follow realistic cat weight distribution, if that's not what your project about. That said, let me tell you about humans vs cats in this department!

Humans have a massive diversity of weight distribution, with varied genetic predispositions to gaining and losing weight. The shame, bullying, and medical discrimination that comes with fatphobia is a LOT more harmful than being fat itself, and the causes of the "obesity crisis" are ridiculously more complicated than "ppl r snorking 2 much food".

Realistic cats aren't the same way.

When REAL cats are fat, that's VERY bad. It's a sign they are being fed the wrong things by humans, or live somewhere that they are able to eat what they shouldn't. They just don't have that same diversity in fat distribution that humans do. Because of how adipose tissue secretes certain hormones, feline obesity is like a chronic inflammatory disease which can cause arthritis, bladder stones, hepatic lipidosis, and more.

But with that in mind, fatness should be perceived very differently even in the most realistic settings. In comparison to humans;

It is harder for a wild cat to put on weight. Most of what they're eating is raw protein, actively trying to fill the 45% of daily fat intake they need to stay healthy. Protein isn't stored as fat, it's immediately discarded by the body if there is no use for it. A cat would need to be taking an INSANE amount of prey to start becoming dangerously overweight. Housecats are often fed human food, which has carbohydrates. Low-quality cat food will also use carbs as filler. High carb food is VERY bad for them, since they're only supposed to have 3% carbs at most. This is one of the reasons why it's easy for pet cats to become overweight.

Realistic cats don't look start looking overweight until they are significantly obese. Most of their fat is stored around their ribs and internally, unlike humans with our thick hips and round bellies, and they are covered in a naturally sagging pelt of fur. It's not as obvious with them. Visually, weight will be noticed best from a bird's eye perspective, unlike humans where it's apparent at every angle.

Putting on the fat that CAN be acquired is ridiculously important 3.5 raw, whole mice a day, per cat, are needed to fill their basic dietary requirements. There are going to be days or months especially during winter where they might be below that number, and that stored fat is going to be lifesaving. Bulking up is actually a big deal!

So not only is how canon treats overweight characters full of malice, it's full of lazy malice. It makes no sense from a realistic standpoint for wild cats to develop an association between fatness and greed or laziness. It's important, hard work for them to acquire it!

Though the Clans are notoriously xenophobic and kittypets are more likely to be overweight, it still doesn't make sense from a realistic cat perspective to be fatphobic in the same way as canon. It's more likely they'd see fat housecats as having "unearned" weight given to them by humans, like they're cheating, or they might be disdainful of how much junk food they eat, or pitiable because it's a sign of a bad twoleg... or just "sour grapes" variety jealousy ☕.

Bottom line is that there's a LOT you can do here which is better than canon's vicious bullying. The writers just lifted British cultural disdain for fat people and put it into the books. They simply did not think it through.

So please do what they didn't, and just put a little extra thought into how your project is going to view fatness! Consider if fatphobia is even a theme you need in your text.

As stated, you do not even have to write weight in your cats as being realistic in this way! I encourage you to pick and choose what's most fun and fitting for your own work. I personally give my characters a more human weight distribution, simply because I want to spite canon and be more body-positive. I am a fat people and you can take Bumble's big chunky bod from my cold, dead hands.

You can choose to make your work however you'd like, and now with this guide, you can have an easy reference for what your cats should eat! Thank you, StarClan, for this prey <3

#Clan culture #warrior cats #Fatphobia #Cw fatphobia #tw fatphobia #Nutrition #Prey #Food #Bonefall's Clan Culture #Food guide #Nutrition guide #Gamer-the-kittypet art #Also if there are any devs or modders out there who wanted to add food values to any games that involve cats #Please feel free to use this guide as all my work is open-source #I can explain how I came to those values and work out some more accurate numbers if you end up needing them #animal death #cw animal death #tw animal death #cw parasites #tw parasites #parasites #Warrior bites

[regulus-ready-to-scream]

itty bitty kitty languages

in my head,all the clans have different accents and speaking patterns and dialects. not like human accents though,like cat speak accents.

thunderclan sounds are big and clear,they have very strong voices,but not necessarily pretty or particularly pleasant. they're very chatty,big on the chatter sound.

 riverclan is very talkative and they speak in a very stream of consciousness manner,however they also speak very slowly. riverclan really values language. shit like that.

shadowclan in my head. just sounds russian? like, that doesnt make sense,l emme explain: they have very hard stops in their language, like you KNOW when a shadowclanner starts and stops speaking,but occasionally they have very heavy pauses to lead into another point. they also talk with their paws a lot,but it's more subtle sort of micro-movements. like they'll knead their paws on the ground,they'll twitch their tails. it kinda makes them look highstrung but they communicate with each otehr just fine. shadowclan doesnt have a very verbal

windclan's speaking pattern is very terse but also very flowy,like a breeze in the wind.

skyclan is cute as shit to me. they do a lot of chirrups and chirps and trills,which basically means they often use a lot of short,quick,inflective senteces. this sounds a bit strange and childish or somewhat condescending though though due to sounding like a lead in to meowing (as in "MEOW") ,which cats only really do with their kittens. they also do the "mao",small but clear sounds to grab someone's attention

Tigerclaw has a very quintessential Thunderclan accent and dialect that he lords over others,even in Shadowclan where he sounds unnerving and loud.

Firestar,by contrast doesnt really have a clear speech pattern that can be slotted into one pure clan. he does a lot of chirrups and chirps,a healthy dose of chatter. he sounds odd to his clanmates and he never loses his "accent"

#warrior cats #warrior cat headcanons #warrior cats rewrite #clan culture

[fan-clan-fun]

So you want to Build a clan? Chapter 8- Ranks : Leadership

Alternative titles: Monarch, King/Queen, Matriarch/Patriarch, Chief, Commander, Ruler, Chieftain, Captain, Boss, etc

The Canon explanation of the leadership of the clans is fairly simple and easily explainable. You have a leader, and a deputy, and when the leader dies the deputy becomes leader. The only requirements when it comes to choosing a deputy (which are often not even kept to anyway) are that a deputy must be chosen by moonhigh if the clan has need of a new one, and the one chosen to be deputy must have mentored at least one apprentice. The thing is, this approach to leadership is honestly a bit shallow. Even the books on occasion will mention what might happen if the rules are broken or twisted or confused (like when Tallstar gives Onestar leadership rather than Mudclaw) or when different deputies are appointed despite not having mentored any apprentices, but there are barely any lasting consequences.

So now the question is, what can we do in our own clans to give the leadership system more depth and solidity? You can stick with the Canon approach and just add more detail, or consider other approaches when it comes to the type of leadership, how it is implemented, and how long it lasts. Let's take a look at some of the options.

Leadership Duties

First, it's wise to consider what your leaders do. Are they just there to order cats around, or do they have their own tasks, expectations and responsibilities? 

In canon, it seems that leaders are the top of the piramid, making general decisions for the entire clan, and running some things such as patrols, training for apprentices, choosing mentors, etc. Some leaders seem more involved in day to day than others, going on patrols or staying back at camp. Of those who do remain at camp, some are more invested in their clanmates lives directly, either by interfacing with various different members of the ranks, or assisting with tasks within and without camp.

So when you are building your clan, consider what purpose the leader serves, what their day to day looks like, what the clan would expect of them and what work they do. That will help guide you when you consider what type of leadership you want.

Types of Leadership

Specifically for the top position of leadership in the clan, deputy/equivalent will come later. 

Canon Leadership

This was discussed above, so I'll be brief. Canon leadership involves one leader, one deputy, the deputy chosen by the leader to succeed them upon death. This system relies on the leader having almost absolute power, as is evidenced by the code which says the leaders word is law. There could be many discussions about the pros and cons of this system, how it encourages nepotism and authoritarianism. While on the flip side it is simple and should, hopefully, not cause any issues with succession (except when a leader changes his mind last minute or both leader and deputy die at the same time). In any case, most people know this way of leadership, so let's look at others.

Inherited Leadership

This type of leadership is different, the premise being that the leadership is inherited through some sort of specific criteria. The most common one would be by blood, similar to a monarchy, where an heir to leadership is chosen among family members as closely to the current leader/monarch as possible. The next leader can inherit through other criteria as well, such as being chosen by a religious sign, or by some criteria of skill or personality. The important part is that these heirs are usually chosen young, and raised to be placed in their role, giving them time to be taught how to lead. At least that's the idea, it doesn't always work in practice. But the point of this is that the heir is not chosen based on skill or experience. In some ways it could be good to choose leaders young, give them the time and training to take on their role, though it would also be a heavy burden to bear. A smart clan would train multiple heirs to be safe, in case one were to not make it to adulthood or the chance to take on leadership.

Elected Leadership

This would be most in line with the way leadership is decided in modern times, though the way it works in a clan would be different. Elected Leadership would be a clan, or part of the clan, casting votes to choose the next leader or deputy, through casting stones, or spoken votes, or another method. This method would hopefully choose a leader which a majority of the clan agreed with. Either through casting votes in some sort of voting system, or gathering in a meeting to agree to the best option. This system would ideally allow for leaders to be replaced if they did not do their job correctly, as the leadership is chosen by the clan itself, and thus beholden to the well being and support of the clan.

Group Leadership

This one goes somewhat hand in hand with the previous one. Group Leadership would be a different set up, in which more than one cat held power. Perhaps the clan has two leaders, or three, or a council with one senior member from each rank. How they are chosen could be from any of the other methods, but it's different in how it's set up, because power is more evenly shared.

Earned Leadership

Earned leadership in this case is a situation in which a leader of a clan has to overcome a set of challenges or hurdles, or fulfill certain criteria. Perhaps the clan warriors all have a battle royale and the winner takes the leadership. Perhaps only cats with a certain age, skills, or renown can become a leader. This type of leadership could encourage a lot of competition, and mean the clan is unstable for a bit until a leader is chosen and establishes themselves. Either way, it's much more individual, and about the cat who becomes leader having enough ambition or at least reason to pursue the leadership, than about the broader clan and it's needs and ideals. It would work best in a more independent clan, than a more community driven one.

Religious Symbolism

Leaders chosen based on the religious symbolism/rites of the clan. This could mean they are directly chosen by Starclan, or through prophecy, or through the word of the religious figure within the clan. It would be the kind of situation with a lot of pomp and ritual and meaning, surrounding their religious beliefs. Perhaps the leader is even considered a religious figure, or the religious authority within the clan. I would give examples, but this one is as varied as the different expressions of religious belief and symbolism. Clans who use this would likely have a more predetermined view of life based on their beliefs, and try to curry favor with whatever religious authority would give them such a privilege. 

Some questions to help you get an idea of the type of leadership that would work best for your clan:

How religious is your clan? Does your religion affect how a leader is chosen? What sort of ritual or ceremony surrounds the naming or choosing of a new leader?

Is it expected that a leader have certain skills? Be a good fighter or something else? Are there specific criteria to be eligible, like mentoring at least one apprentice? Or is it a case by case scenario?

What is the average age that a leader is chosen? Are they chosen young and trained for the role? Or generally older and experienced? How long do leaders remain in their position? A certain period of time? Until retirement? Until death? 

Do they actually get nine lives? If so, how do those function? Where do they come from, how easy is it to lose one? Do they combat old age?

What function does a leader serve? Are they a mere figurehead, or do they have more direct control over day to day life? What aspects of day to day life do they control? Is leadership considered authoritarian, or more egalitarian? Does your leadership follow Canon's guidelines of the leaders word is law? Are leaders generally respected, or disdained in the clan?

#buildaclan #warriorsworldbuilding #warrior cats #warriors #clan culture #warriorsocs #warriorscats

[proudfreakmetarusonniku]

random worldbuilding idea my head came up with: the language the cats speak obviously isn’t English it’s like. meowese or whatever just translated into English. so my brain decided to think about what the language might be like in universe going by clan culture.

- species tend to have a two word description as their title, similar to how cats are named, though there’s shortened versions used more commonly. it’s believed to be bad luck to refer to twolegs by their shortened name, and superstition leads to them being solely referred to by their descriptors.

- the cats do not have gendered pronouns- they instead have pronouns based on rank and accomplishment. there’s a single set of pronouns for kits, apprentices, leaders, deputies, and medicine cats, but there’s a few for warriors denoting their seniority. deceased cats also use a separate set of pronouns- one for those in starclan and one for those in the dark forest. referring to a cat by a separate set of pronouns is considered extremely offensive.

- there’s a rudimentary signed version of the language conveyed through tail signs, though this was designed for hunting and stalking and generally conveys only information useful there. it’s most commonly taught in shadowclan.

- descriptors are believed to give influence onto things named after them. kits are named after things their mothers want their child to grow up influenced by in many cases (though being named after physical traits or lost loved ones isn’t uncommon). clan cats have their own form of poetry that is centred around this- listing descriptors that apply to and or influence the subject of the poem.

- kittypets who spend time outdoors often pick up on bits and pieces of the language due to exposure to strays, but they tend to struggle with its intricacies, and are therefore considered by clan culture to be very rude. indoor kittypets are often completely incomprehensible to clan cats, having come up with their own language, though some pick it up from parents and siblings.

#warrior cats headcanons #warrior cats worldbuilding #warrior cats language #clan Culture

[theanoninyourinbox]

Would Kittypets be seen as Fae to clan cats? Considering most domestic cats live longer in homes than as feral

Plus many can have bright coats with unusual markings, and sometimes even chimeras; I'd imagine some clan cats think kittypets are some other cat creature, or not even fully cat. Along with how some kittypets could live with other animals, or grow up with dogs and such.

Kittypets are soft things, necks covered and claws capped or outright removed by the crueler or ignorant Twolegs, but…they live so much longer, they’re healthier even when left out? Fleas do not touch them, and dogs protect them?! They hide in the legs of monsters and ride in their bellies?!? Some are fierce warriors but others are cowards - there’s no visible way to tell the difference.

Their pelts are colors seldom seen, their eyes glitter with promise and happiness, they are pampered and knowledgeable - but they know not Starclan, and many break the Code every day. They are not Like Us.

(Attitudes change from clan to clan. Thunderclan is currently the friendliest and Shadowclan the least welcoming and most superstitious. Tawnypaw was confused by their attitude towards Fireheart and Flamewish - no I literally saw Flame trip on her own feet and miss a mouse, she can’t charm them out of holes, what are you smoking?!)

(Skyclan will be THE Kittypet Friend Clan)

Jake, with bright markings and sharp fangs - no I am not a magical creature, anyway, this is my friend Doug the Dog! The Twoleg calls him Douglas!

Talltail, internally panicking - You speak dog AND Twoleg?!?!?

#warrior cats #warriors #warrior cats au #hello from the void #ask answered #Kittypet culture #Clan culture