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bonefall · 9 months

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do you have a quick link to information about Brokenstar, Runningnose, and Skypelt? I'm curious about the story behind Runny's acorn necklace and I want to read about Brokenstar becoming SkyClan's guardian, and how he was able to follow Firestar/help him restore SkyClan. i've been having a hard time finding it

I need to finish (or at least *reasonably complete*) the SE where Fire and Broken go to resurrect SkyClan. That is called Firestar's Quietus. Brokenstar's origin, which completely replaces Yellowfang's Secret, is called Brokenstar's Cataclysm and that's another one I need to complete.

The exact story has undergone a lot of revision SO I'm gonna take a quick break to try and compile some Best Hits of BB!Runningnose's and BB!Brokenstar's dynamic to get you up to speed, and make a definitive list of what's currently canon to Better Bones

And, because this is DEFINITELY the change that raises the most eyebrows and it's a good opportunity to make an intro,

"Elder Bones, what's all this I hear about your Not-Totally-Evil Brokenstar?"

He's still evil lmao, but he's not BORN evil in BB. NO ONE is.

BB is a story about culture. It's about a lot of things, family, anti-authoritarianism, xenophobia... but at its core, Better Bones is about how people impact culture, and how it acts on people.

Something I realized early in this process is that Canon Brokenstar, who is a born-evil punishment for SkyClan's exile (this is CANON, go re-read Yellowfang's Secret if you don't remember!), only made worse by abuse and enabling, does not effectively tell a story about culture.

Depending on your reading, Canon!Brokenstar is either a cosmic horror story or one about abuse. Could Yellowfang have saved him (and ShadowClan) with love? The book implies no, it was his destiny, just the medcat den was hers.

But looking at Canon!Lizardfang who let him get bullied*, and Canon!Raggedpelt who enabled him every step of the way as Sagewhisker held Yellowfang back, you could also read it as someone who was treated so horribly that he did horrible things to others. That he wanted respect and this is how he got it

So, okay, you could read that it's the fault of this bad woman, bullying, and this overly permissive dad that he became a baby killer. Problem solved?

HOWEVER... the Erins also refuse to actually write about people who unironically love his philosophy, because they don't want Brokenstar to be systemic. Blackfoot, the posterboy for a Broken-supporter, gets to reckon with how sad his childhood was and how he was only ever a mislead kitty who Truly Loved His Clan, as opposed to Brokenstar, who was Born Evil And Did Not Truly Love His Clan.

Blackstar's greatest flaw wasn't xenophobia, or hatred. He wasn't groomed by a society that glorifies violence and pushes a might-makes-right mentality. He just followed The Bad Person. With the death of The Bad People, society is fine :)

This is a recurring dichotomy. Leopardstar was good all along, Tigerstar was bad all along, Needletail was good all along, Darktail was bad all along. The Erins are not telling a story about how Clan Culture produces villains, or how it makes good people do terrible things, they tell stories about treacherous Evil People who always had a seed of badness inside of them.

-Onestar's Confession, Page 704

This is their guiding philosophy, and it's what Better Bones sets out to reject.

So, Brokenstar.

I realized while drawing him this one time that I was making him look too much like Tigerstar. Charismatic and puffed up, ready to twist the code to fit his own ends. Then it hit me-- why am I telling the same story twice?

BB!Tigerstar is the inheritor of Thistle Law, apprentice of Thistleclaw, with a backstory where he was a lonely, abused child and seeks respect to fill that hole. He's getting all sorts of reduxes to explore him, and the way that violent ideologies recruit (and prey on) angry and lonely people. Why should I just... have two Tigerstars, but one of them is explored less?

AND, I would waste the fascinating idea that Brokenstar is a manifested curse. Why remove something so cool, when instead, I could lean into that...? Then I started to realize...

Why didn't they ever connect Brokenstar to the resurrection of SkyClan, if he is this manifested curse?

So, enough preamble. Come below the cut and I'll tell you about the story in Better Bones so far...

BB!Brokenstar is not born evil. He is born angry.

He was ALWAYS going to happen. His birth, his ambition, and his fury were inevitable.

This is a curse that was laid generations ago, at the end of Ripplestar's Rot.

The last-ditch attempt to save SkyClan was literally crushed by StarClan itself, blasting the base of the blighted 5th Tree of Fivetrees and sending it toppling down to smite Ripplestar.

That tree was the symbol of SkyClan and their place in the forest. All the love, comfort, and memories that they had ever put into that oak had a power of their own-- and they took form on that night.

Brokenstar is not the only "entity" of this type. Star Flower, eons ago, was another. BB contains many new types of entities beyond, and even adjacent to StarClan. Gods, curses, guardians, other religions of equal standing...

But he needed to be born to someone. In return for Dawnstar's kindness, taking in Cloudstar's young children (Re: Ripplestar's Rot), ShadowClan would be the eye of the storm.

And it would be a Cleric who bore him, just like Larkstripe, who had been cruelly separated from her only kitten.

Yellowfang, Shroompelt at the time, this was before her Dishonor Title, saw when he was born that he was furious. She'd never seen a newborn look so angry.

In Brokenstar's Cataclysm, she only gets the opening chapter. It's enough to establish how Sagewhisker pressured her into the role, the lengths she went to in order to keep this secret, the reason for his name despite it not matching his tail.

NOTE: Brokentail's name, Kanochswash, means Broken-in-half-tail. He has two breaks in his tail, making three segments. It matches the way the oak was broken, once at the base, again against the rock, but it is actually obvious in Clanmew that his name does not refer to his tail.

Or, it's obvious to Lizardstripe at least... who is VERY different in BB. Old followers will know, she is a very loyal friend of Bluestar herself, and a member of her inter-Clan friendgroup, the Forget-Me-Nots.

She really doesn't want to be in this situation, doesn't LIKE being a mother, and Mudfoot is unhelpful... but she's the most perceptive of the Forget-Me-Nots. She hears that name, sees Shroompelt's distant eyes, and it clicks. She sometimes looks for things to complain about so Shroompelt has an excuse to stay in the den for a while.

But Lizardstripe is not raising Brokenkit. Raggedstar is. Raggedstar is Brokenkit's Mi, and Raggedstar alone. He's pointedly adamant about that, and as soon as Brokenkit doesn't need round-the-clock suckling, he started sleeping in the Leader's Den with dad.

Unfortunately, being the golden child of the leader did not pair nicely with Brokenkit's short fuse.

And he made a little friend.

What first drew Runningkit to Brokenkit was that he was very large. Runningkit LOVED pissing off one of his siblings, and then hiding behind his bestie who was younger than them but already as big as a stump.

When Lizardstripe tried to do anything about this, Raggedstar would get pissed off at her, insisting that his son needed to be with his friends.

Together, the two of them learned they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they stuck together. With Runny's brain and Broken's brawn, they weren't even a year old and already unstoppable.

And their idea of "unstoppable" was... mostly getting seconds when they'd already eaten and pushing against the horrors of bedtime. Sneaking out and collecting acorns. Being allowed to practice with the warriors.

Even better, since being the leader's kitten meant everyone tended to be extra nice to Broken to butter up to Ragged.

If they got what they wanted, they were sweet to adults. But from watching her son, and from being friends with Lizardstripe, Shroompelt knew that they could be vicious when they wanted to be.

And from a young age, Brokenkit knew that he needed to become Brokenstar... and Runningkit promised he'd get him there.

You might be noticing something.

Brokenstar was always loved, very, very much.

Spoiled? Absolutely. A little bully? You bet.

Not yet more than the sort of things angry, spoiled kids get up to.

The point I'm meticulously building here is that BB!Brokenstar WAS LOVED, and he loved in turn.

It won't stop what is about to happen.

Brokenkit was only a few months old when his father became leader, after Cedarstar was killed in the war with WindClan. Heatherstar wanted the Mothermouth Moorland; a floodplain just beyond the Carrionplace, which grows flax and many other medicinal flowers.

It was something the two clans had fought over before, that IS the code's Right of Challenge, but Heatherstar wanted all of it. She'd even killed the practice of tunneling to dedicate all of her forces to take it.

If you are not strong enough to keep something, you do not deserve to have it. This is what the Code says.

And strength is what Brokenkit quickly learned.

Taking extra bowls of food means nothing in the fall when the prey grows fat, but ShadowClan's marsh freezes fast.

You can't whine up a second bowl when not everyone even got a first.

Do you defend your territory? Or focus on survival? When the challenges are frequent, you have to go without eating to defend them.

And yes, you're hungry, but it's for a reason.

Brokenkit wasn't out of kithood when he saw his first death, because people were already dying before he was born.

In skirmishes, in hunting accidents, to infection because they didn't have enough herbs. Starvation in winter.

From a very young age, he was taught this is the way of Clans, and this is because of WindClan.

And his ambition to become deputy only became stronger. Runningpaw hatched a plan to get into the Cleric den, against Shroompelt's will.

Brokenpaw got into fights at Gatherings over ShadowClan's honor, enthusiastically bowled into battle against WindClan raids, became Raggedstar's best little rat hunter.

And he saw clanmates he loved dying.

Over many years, through his warriorhood, into his deputyship.

Cloudpelt, Foxheart, Toadskip, Nutwhisker. Lizardstripe was killed during an event called Heatherstar's Last Stand, her neck snapped by the WindClan warrior Flytail.

Heatherstar died, and her much more reasonable and peaceful deputy, Tallstar... continued to keep the Moorland she won.

ShadowClan went through that last winter, again trying to win their land back, but beaten so hard they couldn't mount a resistance. More cats collapsed in the snow, Mudfoot was one of them.

WindClan won. The land was theirs now. Out of his magnanimity, Tallstar reached out to Raggedstar and made him an unprecedented offer. He would give him a tax of rabbits, for peace. ShadowClan would stop attacking, and formally acknowledge that WindClan was the victor of the war.

A peace deal, a surrender.

Tallstar didn't have to do that. If his Clan won, it was his land in the eyes of StarClan. He had no obligation to reach out in this way, and Raggedstar acknowledged that.

But it made Brokentail SICK.

He couldn't believe that Raggedstar was going to buy this, let WindClan keep THEIR LAND and just send them back some of their own rabbits. What happens next?? What if WindClan decides to come further south, what then? What will Tallstar ask for next? What price will his warriors pay for the blood they spilled?

And this is the moment that Brokentail kills his father. On his last life, frail and weak after an entire life of fighting, he decided that the last kindness he could give him was a quick death, preventing him from taking that deal.

Runningnose sprang into action as soon as he'd been told about it; helping him to cover up the murder.

And together, they turned to TOTAL war.

Once, as an apprentice, Brokenstar recalled the words of a warrior at a Gathering. A parable of thistles-- how they don't care what attacks them. They don't hold back. How they will choke out the whole field who they can thrive.

Is that not the conclusion of Might Makes Right? If you can, you must, before they do it to you.

An apprentice becomes a warrior-- stop that from happening.

Don't let your enemies escape to fight again-- kill them when you have the chance.

Their herb stores are just as limited as yours-- dwindle them with infection and poison.

WindClan Must Pay, every single one of them. All the Clans are tomorrow's rivals, they have to go too.

Everything is for ShadowClan, and he was LOVED for it.

well.... by many.

This is about Brokenstar and Runningnose, but I must mention that there's also a lot of people who oppose him. Who realize this as evil. Nightpelt, Cinderfur, Deerfoot, Dawncloud and Stumptail are some of them.

And, importantly, Shroompelt was one of them. Whenever she learned of some code-breaking thing they'd done, she would make waves about it.

The word of a Cleric has an immense amount of weight, and it prevented Brokenstar from ending this war once and for all.

So Runningnose, as always, constructed a plan. Brokenstar decided it was a sacrifice that must be made.

Marigoldkit and Mintkit (kits of Rowanberry and Clawface) were in the Cleric's den for an infection.

Marigoldkit was a blind girl, and very fussy about taking her medicine.

Shroompelt would serve it to her in a berry capsule, either knout or rasp, a naturally red berry one.

Runningnose simply swapped her medicine with yew, and made sure that Mintkit was able to witness his sister being fed red berries over many days.

When Marigoldkit died, Mintkit was a distraught child who could only communicate that Shroompelt fed her "Red Berries," like the ones he'd been taught to stay away from.

Shroompelt IMMEDIATELY turned on Runningnose, accusing him of killing a blind kitten.

And he turned it on her. She'd fallen right into his trap. "You did this! You've been wanting us to stop fighting WindClan, and now you've stooped so low that you're trying to get rid of StarClan's only other messenger! You've killed your own nespring!"

Many cats of ShadowClan had completely lost patience with her before this, and were now shocked to see that she'd do such a thing. While some suspected the truth, in the end, Brokenstar's word is law.

And his law was that he would show mercy on an ex-Clanmate. But from here on, her name was Yellowfang, so that the world may be forewarned that StarClan rotted her teeth from so many lies as she walked in exile.

Brokenstar's Cataclysm ends on the WindClan Massacre. A bloody event where well over a dozen cats are slaughtered, and Brokenstar resurrects an ancient practice at the bellowing request of his warriors-- Kitten Stealing.

(The only time BB!Brokenstar uses a child soldier is during this battle, apprenticing Badgerpaw early so that he can participate in the all-out assault.)

With WindClan gone, he turned his sight on the other two. The Clans were cursed to die as they lived-- overpowered by a stronger, more bloodthirsty tyrant, violently driven out just as SkyClan had once been.

From there, the rest is very close to canon. Brokenstar is deposed by a coup, one that NEVER would have succeeded if it wasn't for Bluestar and her apprentice, Firepaw. The Curse is thwarted by change. Cats of different Clans working together in the name of righteousness.

Bluestar could have gone, grabbed the kits, and come back, but she knew that WindClan would never be able to return if Brokenstar was still in power.

This time around, ShadowClan's plague was intentional. Runningnose infected Nightstar on purpose.

He wanted to eliminate a weak leader... and a treacherous rogue who had defied his own.

Collateral damage was acceptable, if it eliminated as many of Nightstar's supporters as possible.

And yet, his brother Deerfoot survived. Sentimentality? Just luck? Who knows.

If Runningnose has any regrets for anything he's done, it's only this. That he cleared out ShadowClan for Tigerstar's rule.

He approved of him at first, interpreted signs to benefit him, even killed for this old ally of Brokenstar...

but Tigerstar's goal was to abolish ShadowClan, and make a TigerClan of his own. Brokenstar never wanted this, and neither did Runningnose.

What Runny really wants, more than anything, is what Brokenstar wants. Destroying WindClan is a bonus, eliminating all of their enemies is anger that they were able to obstruct him. Runningnose thinks he loves power, but what he REALLY loves is his ability to get Brokenstar what he wants.

Everything he's ever done has been in pursuit of that goal. He doesn't care that he'll be going to the Dark Forest in the end, that's where Brokenstar is going to be. Hell is wherever he isn't.

In life, neither one of them knew anything about the curse, or destiny. Brokenstar reconnects with memories in his death.

And he started having dreams of SkyClan, which he communicated to Runningnose through channeling.

I'm working on the full outline of Firestar's Quietus right now so I'm going to be a bit more brief;

Runningnose got Firestar involved on this quest because he's a little goody two shoes. Of COURSE he would agree to help... that's who Firestar is.

He brings him to the moonstone, where a scene similar to canon plays out where StarClan tries to encourage him to go back to his Clan and ignore what he now knows.

And, of course, he tells them to shove it.

Firestar's Quietus is a book about righting wrongs. Brokenstar as a curse means that what he needs, in the end, is peace.

The peace he needs is the knowledge that SkyClan will be saved, and that it will survive.

Runningnose is willing to let him go, in order to get what he needs. He passes off an acorn necklace to Firestar, so that he can channel him with ease on his journey

In this gesture, it becomes real that he will go to an afterlife without him. After all he'd ever done and been through.

So, he hesitates before handing it off, but makes Firestar promise to take good care of it.

On this journey, Brokenstar and Firestar do a lot of bickering about how SkyClan should come back. The sort of values they should have, who should lead it...

But in the end, Brokenstar realizes, they will be something new. They'll choose their own path in life, because that's what it means to be alive.

And his final action is to face The Rats, now supernatural creatures of their own, finally dispelling the threat that faced SkyClan.

Having done his job as a Guardian, he can finally rest. His necklace is buried overlooking the Gorge, returning SkyClan's guardian to them.

Eventually he falls during AVoS, in Darktail's attack, killing several of the kin and their rebels and allowing Leafstar and co a chance to escape.

For more on Skypelt, see this little guide I made on the afterlife locations. Hopefully one day I can clean this up into its own entry.

More stuff to check out (that I found while searching for other posts but are cool and I'm re-sharing);

Jaggedtooth isn't a villain anymore

"What's your favorite ShadowClan-adjacent change?"

First post I made on Tigerstar's Paws

Brokenstar's two honor-kits, Littlecloud and Rowanclaw

On curses and anger

"What does Runningnose think of the other TPB Clerics?" Hates em!

A rundown on all ShadowClan leaders post-Ripplestar

Cedarstar sketch

First post on StarClan Technicality Brokenstar lmao

IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS ABOUT SKYPELT

Some specifics on the religion/entity/magic mechanics in BB

#better bones au #Brokenstar's Cataclysm #BB!Brokenstar #BB!Runningnose #Firestar's Quietus

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the-owl-tree · 6 months

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snow would have been as bad or getting to be as bad as thistle had she lived. her death was probably what saved her from being an enemy in blue’s life. it was a mercy.

however, how interesting and tragic would it have been if bluestar’s first real trial was her sister? how heartbreaking it would be if she had to give up everything to protect her clan from snowfur?

OOOOHH ANON YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING HERE. Snowfur figures out Bluefur's been meeting with Oakheart before she died...but if she lived? To meet the kits? It's the first true test of her bond with her sister versus her shared beliefs with Thistleclaw...and could you imagine the drama if she sided with Thistleclaw? Thistleclaw's influence, his hunger for blood, has now crept into her own sister. She can see it, the way that her own kin is staring at kittens with undisguised hatred. How can she keep them here when she knows that their own aunt won't be able to look at them the same...?

The drama of it, snowfur being considered for deputy to really hammer in home the development....mwah

#deer rambles #ooohh ur mind ur minddd

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everybody-loves-purdy · 6 months

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In response to anon’s ask about Bluestar giving up her kits, I agree entirely. With how quickly Bluestar declined after Tigerclaw’s attack, her almost immediate rejection of StarClan, & her insistence that Mistyfoot and Stonefur were the only noble cats in RiverClan, it stands to reason that Bluestar was never truly content with her decision. There was always a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind that maybe, she didn’t have to give up Mistyfoot and Stonefur. That maybe Mosskit didn’t have to die that night. That maybe, she could’ve been both a mother and deputy.

When Fireheart came to Bluestar about his concerns revolving around Tigerclaw, she immediately shut him down. She knew Tigerclaw was an aggressive and ambitious warrior, but she had no reason to believe that he’d murder his own Clanmate to attain high rank.

Bluestar thought that by taking away Thistleclaw’s chance to become leader, she’d eradicated the chance of evil ruling her Clan during her lifetime. She had loyal and respected deputies in both Redtail and Lionheart, and thus had no reason to believe Tigerclaw was any different.

When Tigerclaw attempted to murder Bluestar in her own den, it showed Bluestar that everything she sacrificed was for nothing. She’d given up her children to prevent a murderous, bloodthirsty tyrant from becoming deputy only to appoint a cat even more dangerous than Thistleclaw to that exact position.

Bluestar dealt with a lot of pressure from Goosefeather & StarClan (indirectly). She knew from an early age that she was destined for greatness, and that with such greatness, sacrifices were demanded. As painful as it was to lose all three of her children, Bluestar knew it was for the best. But was it really?

The books that follow Forest of Secrets depict Bluestar as a decrepit leader too traumatized by treachery to remain as an effective leader. It seems that her hatred for StarClan is so sudden, but it’s exactly what Bluestar should’ve felt realistically. If StarClan’s destiny was that Bluestar give up her children to prevent evil from taking over ThunderClan, why had they allowed Tigerclaw to live?

This is an excellent analysis

#acornflower #Bluestar

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butchbigcatz · 26 days

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Wc au writing, BlueQuince meeting and a lot of talk on how she loves:

(brief mentions of blood and lots of memories.)

Bluemoon loves in the way of a warrior, the only way she’s ever learned how to. She learned it from a father who was in her life like the passing storm he was, a distant drop of rain to an overpowering force tearing the trees from their roots. She never got her mother’s version of affection besides in the self sacrificing way. Her sister got that piece of her as well.

Her love is of service. A duty. She showed it by wrapping around those who were worthy and never letting anything get in. Or at least trying to not let anything in.

(The horrible feeling of cold crept in under her well made shell and stung. Ice, frost, snow, an impossibly small kit only covered in down succumbing to its greedy teeth. It’s little evergreen tail lost in the endless white winter around them.)

She knew the land that bowed to her step like its endless twisting trunks grew from her own body. An ever stretching expanse of green leaves and brown bark. The rocks under her paws were always the same. The birds singing above were always the same. The swaying shadows were always the same. It all held her like the warm pelt of another. She was alone yet so set in her place out here. She was of the moss and flowers, her blood pulsed and bled out into it all around her.

But the normal sound of her feathered fellow was cut off- and everything was new. Startling so.

(That same chill stabbed through the few unprotected parts of her and she felt herself shiver once again. No snow, no snow, no snow-)

Her legs warped and ran her forward. They didn’t need her brain to instruct their movement, they knew the ground underneath it, they knew to go before she froze to the forest floor. The act made her warmer. Blooming in her with an adrenaline that put her in overdrive.

Bluemoon broke out through a thorn bush, not even feeling its claws dig into her. And she was still hot. No longer from the forced movement that overtook her- no now it was from the anger that made her body bare up to fight. Thistleclaw stood behind his apprentice, the young naive Tigerpaw, instructing the striped kit to attack a scrawny little thing. It was shaking. The vibrations passed through the land and right into her own stiff stuck legs, like how she could sense a mouse hiding in a burrow. She knew the pairing of Thistleclaw with any young one would go bad but this. This was over the line. Sunstar had only done it to try and appease the enraged warrior after he was passed over for deputyship.

She felt herself barrel into Thistleclaw, paws against his back pushing him into the dirt, his grey fur tangling into her drawn claws. But instead she swiped her tongue to stop this- whatever this even was.

“Thistleclaw what do you and your apprentice think you’re doing?” She asked, letting her claws sink into the earth to hold herself in place while she spoke. He turned to her with a heat, his hatred for her boiling up once again. Tigerpaw stepped back and slunk down, suddenly realizing the white warrior was here. That wounded kit was still shaking and frozen in place despite being able to escape now.

Thistleclaw puffed himself up and pushed his voice to be more confident and less outright angry at her intrusion to his ‘training’. “I’m teaching my apprentice to defend his clan.”

“This is not how you train Thistleclaw. Defending borders doesn’t include attacking a lost kitten!”

All he did was give a lick to his chest, as if he was in the right. Tigerpaw still kept himself small. She couldn’t help but soften her expression when it went to him. “This kittypet crossed into our woods, and my apprentice was teaching it a lesson. Do you want more soft bellied pests in Thunderclan’s land? Taking our food when they have enough given to them for nothing? We would starve is all these collared self called cats decided they wanted to try warm blooded food for themselves!”

Bluemoon bristled at the way he spoke like he owned the tabby, and she hissed lowly at how he took this time try and call her weak. “The kittypets know the woods aren’t for them Thistleclaw and thrashing an innocent kit won’t stop the occasional hunting by them-” While she hated it, she steeled herself into a boulder and tried to end this.

“-And I would hate to have to report your bloodlust and bad teaching to Sunstar. If he saw this clear lack of honor he’d be sure to replace you as Tigerpaw’s mentor. Maybe to someone he actually trusts.” Her words hit like a falling branch, knocking his head in and making the grey tabby shrivel. A sneer showed across his previously smug face, that underlying grudge growing again. She knew if he forgot the power she had over him he would’ve thrown himself at her right here. He might’ve done it anyways, if he was entirely sure he could actually defeat her.

Instead of putting himself in a worse place he twisted his head to Tigerpaw and called the apprentice to follow him, slinking away with heavy paw steps.

Bluemoon had to hold herself from grabbing Tigerpaw and not letting him back alone with Thistleclaw. But that would’ve only ended with the two grown warrior fighting. If she saw him like that again though she would be sure to report him to Sunstar. And he knew that.

Finally, as the heat drained from her and into the cooler earth she looked to the injured kit. It was small, and almost all black with one white paw. It’s huge glazed over blue eyes burning a hole through her. That love, her version of it, reared its powerful head and almost took over all of her. She felt herself again in that stuffy nursery, in a nest she never imagined herself back in, with three little paws kneading her belly. That same exhaustion almost made her collapse beside the kit but she wasn’t there. She was here. And it wasn’t hers. Still she loved it despite the sharp part of her sinking its teeth into her and telling her to never get attached again.

She shook it out and drew a tongue over the hits head. Trying to stop its shaking.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.” She cooed as she licked away the salty blood that welled from the wounds across the kits face. It would scar. That set the dying embers of anger in her belly back alight. But she tried to keep that away to focus on the current kit in front of her.

Bluemoon didn’t know really what she was supposed to do at this point. It was a kit from a house, the smell of those places mixed in with the milky scent was there, even under its smell of overwhelming fear. It was probably hungry too. And cold.

(The temperature of this mystery kitten made her chest tighten. Her nose was frozen again. It was winter again. It was winter again. The sound of the river distant as the grief stabbed into her gut. She couldn’t save-)

She pulled her head from the frost and tried her best to warm it up. Small and frail against her, almost lost in her longer coat. She could save this one. She could save this. After a bit of curling around the kitten in silence, the warrior pulled her tongue from the place it stuck to in her mouth. As if it would shatter from anything above a whisper, she spoke so soft the wind could’ve easily taken her words away.

“Where’s your home kit?”

It looked up at her. Blue eyes slightly less clouded over. “O’er the fence. One with the bush”. Its voice was small and shaky still, with that kitten talk that made her melt immediately.

“I’ll bring you back kit. It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.”

The warrior walked the strange streets and felt so out of place. The ground wasn’t soft or kind or comforting in anyway. It was the most disconnected she’d ever felt. The stronger breezes felt like they could steal the kit from her jaws. She didn’t tighten her hold but she did puff herself up bigger to combat it. Tall branchless trees stood over her and glowed unnaturally. Little stars seemingly trapped in their tough cages illuminating the black paths that carved between the many houses all around. They’d lit up just a little while ago but they still freaked her out. How had twolegs been able to catch the stars themselves? And why put such forces into these strange traps? It was wrong. She imagined her sister’s own spirit stuck in one. That made her stomach twist so bad she’d had to stop and duck into a darker more compact trail to breathe.

Now out of her hold and a little less shaky, the little kit stood and stretched a bit. Though it was slowly and with its eyes watching her the whole time. As if worried she’d snap it in half for stepping wrong. They stayed there for a while to rest. The sound only that of monsters roaming the paths and other strange clanging noises Bluemoon had no idea about.

“Thank you Miss.” the kit said shyly, looking down at its paws with a little bit of a frown as if upset by its own tongue.

“No need for thanks kit. Those cats never should’ve attacked you. I’m sorry they hurt you hon-“ she swallowed the endearing term. She couldn’t get attached.

The kit looked at her again with those eyes. So so blue. She didn’t know if its eyes were just that color or if it was still young enough to have that innocent blue in its eyes. Either version made her angry at Thistleclaw.

It had a thought at the tip of its tongue, possibly worried at what saying it would do but wanting to anyways. Finally the kit gave in and spoke “My names Tiny.”

“Hello then Tiny. I’m Bluemoon.” The name fit the little kit but she couldn’t help but feel like the name was half thought. It’d be tiny forever. She’d of named it something more like Midnight, for its incredibly dark pelt and startling white paw- the fact that slipped into her thoughts made her shiver. Cold again. Always cold. This wasn’t her kit. The sooner she found its nest the sooner she could move on.

“Blue… but you’re not blue.”

Bluemoon couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Her mind moving past at least. “No I am not blue but that’s just what I was named. Moon makes it a little more suiting doesn’t it?”

The kit- no Tiny thought for a bit and then nodded. Still a little confused but not going to question her name. Funny little thing. Though she wondered about how considerate it was of its words. Most kits just said what they thought freely. It reminded her oddly of herself. She hoped this kit wasn’t too much more like her though.

“Tiny do you know the way to your home? I’m pretty lost here.” Bluemoon asked as she stretched, getting ready to start walking again. She wouldn’t like to be here all night, especially not with such a small kitten. It was most definitely hungry by now.

Tiny shook its head slightly but then lifted its eyes back up as if figuring something out. “It’s next to a blue one though. And its fence is brokn.” It said, a long yawn following the little description. Poor thing. But Bluemoon now knew she was looking for a blue house. Well the house next to one but that would be easier to find. The warrior dipped down and scooped up the kit carefully, tucking it closer into her fur so it was slightly more covered as she walked forward.

Bluemoon had found two houses so far but neither had a house next to them with a broken fence. Her paws felt shredded from the rough terrain and her muscles were sore, walking and holding a kitten for so long was really wearing her out. Finally after she climbed up on a roof she saw another blue house. If this wasn’t the one she’d start her way back home.

The building wasn’t far from the woods and she probably would’ve checked it initially if she hadn’t started her searching already farther into the twolegplace. The house looked like most of the rest of them. Plain strange walls. So many objects she had no words for. Before she went up to check around she said a small prayer. And then she walked forward, coming from the front to then climb into the fence to see into it. The yard was like most of the rest as well except bushes lined the back wall. It wasn’t that odd but maybe, just maybe this was the one? Bluemoon did a quick look around before jumping down and luckily only smelled cat here.

Her heart soared as her ears caught the wailing of a cat, an anxious cry that made her know she was in the right place. Carefully the white cat jumped down and set Tiny at her paws. Having heard her the one that was yelling came around, looking almost like she was going to try and chase Bluemoon off herself but switching immediately upon seeing the little kitten.

She was a chubby black molly with warm eyes and odder white markings. She was small in stature but something about her gave Bluemoon the feeling like she could’ve beaten her if she had attacked immediately.

“Oh Tiny! Oh my baby my baby!” She sobbed as she carefully wrapped herself around the kitten, frantically licking warmth into its skin. The mother switched back to defensive when she noticed the new wounds in her kits face. The fur on her back lifted and hackles raised, now launched up to stand over Tiny with the power of a protective mother. Blue backed off and made herself less threatening, which was hard as she was rather tall compared to Tiny’s mom. But before anything happened Tiny moved between them.

“Momma momma momma! It’s okay it’s okay! Blue bought me here. She didn’t hurt me she helped me get back!” Tiny cried, trying its best to look bigger and break through its mom’s anger. Luckily she listened. Tiny’s mother softened slightly but still pulled her kit closer to her again.

The two cats just stared for a second. The distant crickets chirping as if it was a normal night. She only wished it was.

But the black and white molly relaxed more at last and laid down, her head nudging the ground to tell Bluemoon to as well. “Thank you for bringing back my little trouble. I don’t know how to make it up to you. I don’t know what id do with myself if my baby never came home.” She said kindly, blinking gratitude into her gaze. Bluemoon blushed a bit and tucked her paws underneath her fur to be more comfortable looking.

“No problem miss-“ She started to say before the molly cut in.

“No need for any misses. it’s Quince. Any cat who takes care of my babies gets to know my name.” Quince said with a laugh that made her smile with just its sound.

“Well then Quince my names Bluemoon. It was no issue getting it home, I just hope Tiny’ll be okay with the scratches and all.” She finished saying, a smile across her face as she tried to not take too much complimenting. The kit never should’ve been hurt in the first place. Guilt grew in her again. Some amount of it always hurt in her, but she tried to keep it from her pelt.

Quince shook her head harshly “Bluemoon… you’re one of those outside cats aren’t you?” She asked with a little edge of unease in her voice again.

Bluemoon swallowed carefully, trying to figure out what to say exactly. How is she supposed to respond? She is of course but she didn’t know if the fire would leap back her new acquaintance if she said so. But she couldn’t lie.

“Yes ma’am I am. I’m a warrior of Thunderclan-“ She started to say trying to be as careful as she could, still not knowing how she should explain all that happened. “- but I didn’t hurt your kit. Another warrior did and I promise you he will get a punishment for it. Warriors aren’t supposed to attack any cats that can’t defend themselves, and are never ever to harm a kitten. If you’d like I can head back. All I wanted to do was make sure Tiny got to a safe place.”

The cat across from her clearly didn’t know how to respond either. She had started to bristle back up again but the fur laid down as Bluemoon spoke. And she now just watched, eyes searching across her own to see whether she believed her or not. Presumably she wasn’t worth attacking because Quince went back to being more comfortable, that gratitude glowing in her face again. She bit back her own thoughts on that. Better to not show a lot of herself to a stranger. Let alone the things that bother her.

“Well thank you then. I hope he is dealt with however you warriors deal with your own.” Quince passed another lick down Tiny’s face before she got up and took it inside, probably to rest. That kitten needed plenty of sleep after the day it’s had. A want to follow made her twitch but she bit it off again. That’s not her business. She wasn’t Tiny’s mother. For a bit she sat there in the grass waiting to see whether she was to leave or stay. It was darker with the strange light coming from the inside of the home into the yard. But she stayed mostly in the natural light, looking at the moon above her. Finally at last she decided it would be best to leave so she got up and jumped to the top of the fence. She could’ve gone under the bushes and out the broken part but the would involve more noise and scrambling then she wanted.

But as Bluemoon stood ready to make her leave Quince came back out from the house.

“Hey! Don’t leave just yet Blue- not without a final thank you.” The black cat called and Bluemoon immediately turned around. She didn’t know why. A deep part of herself told her to leave. She wasn’t even supposed to speak to kittypet’s in the first place, and now she had wandered through their domain for hours to give back a kitten. But what was a little longer in the end? Shoving it down she jumped back to Quince. She knew if her father were here he’d of grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her back like she was a kitten herself.

She stood in front of Quince who looked at her in a way that made her forget her father entirely.

In the round cat’s maw was a flower, its blue petals stiff but beautiful. It didn’t smell like anything close to other flowers.

“I don’t know if warriors have these sorts of things but it feels wrong to not give a gift for you bringing me back Tiny. It’s just a fake but it’ll never wilt.” Quince had dropped it on the grass and was looking right into her own eyes, and Bluemoon almost felt like she was blessed. The stars blinked above her as if to say, go on, to her. The warrior had never felt so lost for words. And despite only just meeting her she felt the same protectiveness well up and wash over her. She felt like a guardian to Quince and her kits. She felt like her only duty was to her. She was a loyal warrior and yet now she had another to care for. So much took over her that she simply blinked before grabbing the gift that felt more special then anything else in her life. And even though she hadn’t said anything to Quince the cat dipped her head and turned back around to go to her house with its warm light and odd smells.

Bluemoon barely even felt her body as she turned around and leaped over the fence. Didn’t acknowledge as the trees blurred around her and the stray plants brushed against her. She felt the rocks under her paws but she also now felt the cats that were far behind her.

As she made her way back to camp she stopped and sat under a tree she hadn’t visited in a while. One with five stones and beautiful moon flowers around it. Tucking herself in its sheltered scoop of roots, she slept. A new flower tucked right at her chest.

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cat-alyzing · 1 year

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Lilyclaw (fusion of Goldenflower and Tigerclaw) ideas at this time:

Daughter of Sunfall and a wanderer which keeps her as the sister of Lionheart. Her mentor was Pineheart tho and him leaving hurt her A LOT. Fueled by a mix of self hatred, bullying by her new mentor Thistleclaw, and him leaving she starts hating outsiders. When she’s just brought into camp the prophet Goosefeather receives a vision of her bathed in dawn light on one side and the other covered in blood, this about the way she could’ve been.

At the beginning of the story as Bon comes into camp she is a scratched queen with a swollen flank but battle hungry look in her eyes. She had just come back from a battle with the unconscious deputy Splotchedtail in her jaws. He soon ends up dying but Spottedleaf finds a lily petal in his mouth clueing her in on his true murderer

LOTS OF REPRESSED LESBIANISM. The clans at this time are a little sexist, have a lot of double standards, super xenophobic, and push a heteronormative idea on most cats. In a better life where she was taught or had some cat to guide her she could’ve been much more of a code changer like Bon but instead she followed the trail of tragedy. Her and Spottedleaf flirt a lot, but Lilyclaw always leaves feeling trapped in her partnership with the still undecided mate of hers.

Soon she has Lynxkit (Swiftkit) and Leopardkit (OG Lynxkit) named for the powerful cats and after her foster mom Leoaprdfoot. Sadly Leopardkit dies soon after complications caused by her fighting while so pregnant, and Lynxkit barely makes it. She is angry grieving mother and Bon ends up overhearing the fight she has with Spottedleaf.

Her ideology is based on wanting a better world where she can be free but also hating it from her past traumas. She wants the clans to fuse so more cats like her with a mixed blood can be seen as just as good but also being aggressive towards half blooded cats for the aggression she faced for her parentage. Hypocrite on purpose.

At some point when she’s joined Star Leopardstrike she has Moth, Hawk and Tadpole who are all renamed. Can’t decide if she has them with Leopard as a symbolism of their pact or some other cat. Either way the kits are just older then newborns when Lilyclaw has the battle that ends her life. They still become rogues tho after a raid is done on Riverclan by a group of Bloodclan cats including Sasha but they are tracked down and taken back, over this time the river floods on their way back and Tadpole dies.

She was never given 9 lives. While Starclan is very nuanced in this they do not want the clans to unite so they refuse her. The note of Scourge dying bc of their atheism is instead towards her as Starclan says Lilyclaw has no extra lives. She’s ripped in half in the fight after far for blood is spilt, taking Fireheart’s live that canon Scourge did and dying to the two brothers attacking her. Scourge gets their iconic kill by splitting her from throat to tail a move so horrific it spawns many tales, writings, and depictions for many generations.

From her death, carnage, and death she brought to the clans she did cause change but not by her owns paws. But instead by the paws of the cats who destroyed her. Her daughter Dawnclaw takes her suffix and spreads the other side of her mother that was fiercely loving, powerful, and so so hurt. She is one of the strongest voices to never let a cat with so much potential to be powerful go down a bloodied path like that.

#lilyclaw #I love Lilyclaw so much #I am so focused on this story #really really want to rewrite many of the books myself #Tigerclaw #goldenflower #character drafts

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nanistar · 8 months

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

★ julius was fronting when typing this ★

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

anyway i like him (: *not fireheart

#warrior cats #tigerstar #nyask

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booksofstars · 11 months

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How's DarkStripe in the reboot? Also I love how CrookedStar is in the reboot especially with his daughter trying to influence change

Darkstripe

(Art coming soon)

Darkstripe, Light in the Mist

From a young age, Darkstripe was looked past. He was no one's favorite, no one's priority. That is why, when his cousin Tigerclaw became his mentor, showing him a kindness and companionship he'd never felt, he was devoted to the cause.

He trained Longtail in much the same way, fostering a hatred of outsiders and an aggressive fighting style just as Tigerclaw had with him.

Canon is much the same from here, but it should be noted that he REALLY dislikes his younger half-brother, Graystripe. Why should he get so much love and praise when no one cared for Darkstripe?

He's still, however, the weakest of the trio, relying on dirty tricks to win fights and arguments. When he poisoned Sorrelkit, it was much the same. He was so desensitized to cruelty at this point that he initially felt no remorse. Graystripe still drives him from the Clan here, fostering even more hatred.

Darkstripe truly begins to see the faults in Tigerclaw's, and truly Thistleclaw's, rhetoric, when he is ordered to kill Stonefur. He isn't strong enough to take down the tom, so Blackfoot does it instead. Watching Stonefur bleed out on the muddy ground horrifies him. Do Tigerstar's ways…truly lead to this?

He slowly forgives Longtail for redeeming himself at this point, and begins to regret what he's done. How much damage has he caused?

Yet, he still fights alongside him until his death, killed by his half-brother. Upon waking up in the cold, lonely Place of No Stars, he seeks out his cousin, his best friend. Yet, he is cruelly rejected. So, he snaps at Tigerstar, reaming him out, then leaves. He spends much of his time in the shadows, alone. He does not participate in the Second Great Battle.

When the TBC Three showed up, Bristlefrost found him before the rest of her ghostly friends. She tells him what's happening with Ashfur, and he sees the chance to redeem himself once and for all. He aids the TBC Three in fighting Ashfur, working alongside Snowtuft to trick him into allowing the Three and Squirrelflight onto the Island to free the spirits. Ashfur still captures Snowtuft and Rootspring as they escape, and Darkstripe rallies his fellow redeemed DF cats to save them. His plan is successful, leaving Snowtuft alive and the spirits freed.

In the Battle of the Falling Stars, Darkstripe fights on the side of the TBC trio. He, Snowtuft, and Juniperclaw are allowed into StarClan after the battle, tasked with the holy role of protecting the bridge between afterlives. He eventually reconciles with his family, as well as Longtail, though things are a bit awkward for a long time.

#warrior cats #cham caws #warriors rebooted #darkstripe #wr!darkstripe #im glad you like wr!crooked and the vague wr!silverstream!!#i hope you like this since ur the number one darkstripe fan

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zenfulmockingbird · 4 months

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"Scourge."

"What do you want kit? "I need to ask yousomething?" "What is it?" "It just, Mapleshade told me that Thistleclaw wasn't murdered by Riverclan Patrol, but by you and Spottedleaf." "...."

"Tell me...that a lie, right." "...what she said was true." " Ugh." "Spottedleaf asked for my help to not only kill Thistleclaw but also Tigerstar."

"Why would Spottedleaf ask for you to murder them?" "Tell me what do you know about Thistleclaw and Tigerstar." "I know that he violent tom that if he had became leader would have destroyed the clan if Bluestar...as for Tigerstar, you should know what kind of tom he is" "Violent Tom is too kind a way to describe Thistleclaw. He was a monster was a that was recruiting cats to a place called the dark forest." "!"

"Out of all the cats he recruited there was a kit training to be medicine cat that he unfortunately took a liking to and planned to not only make her into a warrior but also his mate. You can take a guess who this cat was." "...Spottedleaf." " She fear that if he would do anything to become leader. So she came to me with a offer. Help her kill Thistleclaw and in exchange she would give us medicine. " "Still why didn't she ask Bluestar or any of the other warriors." "She didn't want to risk anyone else from the clan if she got caught. After that, she would sneak out to see me, not for business, but to just chat. When her brother died, she ask for my help once again even telling me how to get rid of a cat's nine lives in case the worse should happened. When I learned she was killed, I lost whatever sympathy for the clan. The last time I saw when I was dying. You know what I saw on her face. Not anger, not relief, just disappointment and guilt. She didn't betrayed anyone, but I betrayed her by abandoning our plan for my vengeance...no, for my hatred and undo everything we worked hard for. Yet she... why she felt guilty for an idiot tom like me?" "...Why not ask her yourself? " " I can't"

"Why"

"...I'm too scared to know the answer."

Yep. Scourge murdered Thistleclaw and Tigerstar in this canon. Both have a bad history with Thistleclaw. Original plan for Spottedleaf was to lure Thistleclaw to Scourge. The battle with patrol made their plan easier to execute. Not so much with Tigerstar.

Did Mapleshade know about Thistleclaw trying to groom Spotterleaf. Not until Firestar told her.

"He wanted to WHAT?!"

#warrior cats #digital art #limited palette #anthro #scourge #firestar

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burning-thistles-bt · 2 years

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Welcome to the Official Burning Thistles AU Blog!

What is Burning Thistles? Burning Thistles, or it’s extended/original workshop title, Burning Spotted Thistles, is a warrior cats au where Fireheart--and his siblings--are the kits of Spottedpaw/leaf and Thistleclaw. The idea was originally started by @alollinglaughingcat and then expanded and co-written with @firealder2005 to create the fanfiction Burning Thistles on ArchiveOfOurOwn.

Additionally, here is the Wiki for Burning Thistles (currently unfinished)

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS: PEDOPHILIA, grooming of minors, non-platonic/familial romantic/sexual relationships between minor(s) and adult(s), implied/referenced sexual harassment/assault/non-consensual/rape, lying/cheating, toxic/abusive relationships, family-based manipulation, general manipulation, mental health state deterioration, queerphobia/LGBTQ+phobia, internalized hatred, self-hate (please note that NONE OF THIS is SUPPORTED or intentionally GLORIFIED by us, pedophiliac relationships are WRONG - pro-shippers DNI!)

Information on Us:

@alollinglaughingcat - Call me Lolling! Any pronouns welcome, though she/her is used primarily for me by others. I also created the Genetically Accurate Warrior Cats series, and various other small projects here and there. I fandom hop quite often, so my attention often quickly shifts! My warriors blog is @leafpool-loves-ashfur , my Ao3 user is LollingCat, and my YouTube is LollingCatto!

@firealder2005 - Feel free to call me Alder, much less of a mouthful! I prefer she/her pronouns, and have an additional Warrior cats Time Travel Fix-It series on Ao3. (I also have fanfics for Star Wars and the Trials of Apollo series) My main blog is @firealder2005 , my new-ish warriors sideblog is @firehollyalder and my AO3 is FireAlder2005.

Feel free to send in questions/messages to either of us!

Tags:

#lolling art / #lolling thoughts / #lolling memes / #lolling response / #lolling rb - the content of the post (art, memes, writing, random) was by Lolling

#firealder art / #firealder thoughts / #firealder memes / #alder answer / #firealder rb - the content of the post (art, memes, writing, random) was by FireAlder

#bt memes / #bt charts / #bt polls - the memes, meme-charts and polls of Burning Thistles

#bt fanart / #bt art / #bt references - art for Burning Thistles

#character ask / #asked and answered - posts/art where characters respond to questions from fans, and the ask common tag

#bt what if / #bt mini-shot / #bt snippit / #bt excerpt - posts about how the story could’ve gone, mini one-shots/drabbles, and teasers of chapters

#bt war era / #the countdown / #pack pack kill kill - referring to specific arcs, such as the Dangerous Path book and the dog pack attack

#ft apprentices group / #the apprentices gang - first refers to the Frosted Thistles apprentices (Spottedpaw, Frostpaw, etc.) and second refers to the dog pack era apprentices (Swiftpaw through Bramblepaw)

#ship-attacks - the ship attacks of March 20th, 2023, #ear rip and #berries being the targets and #waterpoppies being mentioned

#featherships / #spottedfrost - the tags for Lolling’s personal favorite ships, the first focusing on Feathercloud’s love life, and the second being between Spottedleaf and Frostfur

#firesand & #sandfire / #copperdawn & #dawncopper / #darkcherry - ship tags for Alder’s favorite BT ships. 1st being Fireheart & Sandstorm, then Copperleaf & Dawncloud, and the last is a ship involving Cherryfur and Darkstripe!

#firefam / #firesiblings / #firefriends - groups that are relating to a) Fireheart’s direct family, b) Fireheart and his siblings, c) Fireheart and his core friend group

#bt songs / #bt ships / #bt animatic / #bt pmv / #bt incorrect quotes / #bt ages / #bt family tree / #bt timeline / #chapter 161 / #pawspeak - miscellaneous organizational tags

#btr / #btr au / #burning thistles reflamed - refers to an AU of BT made by Lolling! A mash-up of “what-if’s” that gets a little angsiter.

One-Shots/Extras - series link

#frosted thistles (Read) / #roaring rivers (Read) / #elder rush (Read) / #hunted lynx (Read) / #ripened cherries (Read - In progress) / #caramel apples (Idea) / #clouded dawn (Idea) / #bitten adder (Rough outline) / #brindled beach (Idea) / #little sparks (Read) / #bubbling bubbles (Idea/Rough outline) / #longing heart (Read)

Character Asks? Currently Closed!

#burning thistles #burning thistles au #burning spotted thistles #information #information post #introduction #introductory post #pinned post #alollinglaughingcat #firealder2005 #warrior cats #warriors #warriors au

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wc-confessions · 2 years

Note

warrior cats are fundamentally bad books, both in terms of basic writing and in terms of how bigoted they are. the hatred for women, victims of abuse, victims of toxic relationships, non-biological families, disabled people, cross-group relationships, religions outside the ones the protagonists' worship, and more that's interwoven into a majority of warriors' books is dizzying. literally a majority of the discourse i see surrounding the books and its characters could be resolved if all parties just acknowledged that frankly these books fucking suck and these authors don't know how to write. there's only so much bad writing, both in terms of basic story crafting AND in terms of messaging that you can excuse as being harper collins' fault before you might as well start saying that the /editors/ wrote the books, not the actual authors. i don't think the editors are making the hunters' prose sound as hollow and characterless as it is. i don't think the editors demanded the hunters to make thistleclaw a child groomer, or to do write it in such a way that would make thistleclaw's tactics come off as acceptable. i think that's just the hunters being terrible writers.

the only thing the warriors series had going for it is that its fandom, 9 times out of 10, crafts better stories with the concept then warriors itself. if not for the creativity this series inspired, i do not think it would have survived in the cultural zeitgeist as long as it has.

yes, i hear the new books are slightly better, but the acknowledgement for warriors' history of hatred + history of just being some absolutely garbage writing is few and far between. genuinely shocked warriors hasn't been fully condemned by the internet yet. is it a reclamation thing?

#lies. the new books are worse #its repetitive garbage #and yeah. ig its kind of like a hs thing?#confession #text #faves #anonymous #warriors #warriorcats #warrior cats #wc #erin hunter #this is well said btw

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cryptidclaw · 2 years

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Rise of Change First Arc Summary !

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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bonefall · 11 months

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Does it give Thistleclaw any power that the idea of Thistle Law comes from his beliefs? Or no

In StarClan? It did, for a brief period of time. He was on the council, he had living people invoking him for honor, for the protection of old values, for chivalry. He wasn't a strong spirit yet, having only been dead for a few seasons, but he would have been.

But his spite and hatred was blinding. When Bluestar was on Trial, he was spitting at her and everything she stood for. He would do anything to get her sent to the Dark Forest to rot, where he believed she belonged. Lizardstripe realized this was a weakness, exploited it, and had him make a fool of himself in front of the entire Council.

When Bluestar was accepted into StarClan on a razor thin majority, he threw a TANTRUM. Just the way he always does. Picked up his ball and went home, nearly a dozen of his supporters (Leopardfoot, Finchflight, Adderfang) following him out of Heaven and into the Dark Forest.

They'd already collaborated with them before, when StarClan Prime refused to grant the murderous Tigerstar any lives. Going there was just the next step.

And in doing so, they gave up the multiplying force of StarClan's hunting grounds. Thistleclaw is a demon now, with only his own power to use. Not an angel that can craft kittens and make trees grow.

As a demon, his powers include;

Causing sickness

Influencing the physical plane

Calling cats to the Dark Forest, though they must accept the invitation

Boosting the strength of a cat who channels him

In addition, he also has some sort of weed-related individual power, but I haven't quite worked it out yet. I know Hawkfrost can grant some simple ice powers to someone who channels him; Thistleclaw's powers will rank above his somehow.

#BB!Thistleclaw #BB!Dark Forest #Spiritual Overhauls #Better Bones AU

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the-owl-tree · 6 months

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can you imagine snowfur dying on the thunderpath because she attacked bluefur

chasing her sister and snarling with her (unknowing) last breath before being struck dead mid-stride.

or chasing oakheart who’d snuck over to see bluefur, freezing in shock on the thunderpath when bluefur shows up/or she sees her with him and the monster gets her.

bluestar has a lot of tragedy in her life but the idea that this one is on her? god that would be a punch in the gut. would also be cool if tiger in this au who is thistle and snow’s kit resented blue for his mother’s death if he ever learned and vowed to kill her in revenge.

idk “power hungry” is a cool motive and all but he was also massively xenophobic and a purist. clan culture is already bad enough but to have personal reason to hate cross clan relationships would have been interesting. not saying they need a reason to be worse I just like giving characters more depth. and it’s not like any of these cats ever learn hating outsiders are bad anyway. you’d think with how the halfclan cats were sentenced to death and how tigerstar did riverclan more cats would say “no, we’ve seen this before, this thinking. this is wrong.” and learn the consequences of unchecked hatred. it gets people killed.

sorry this ask is all over the place ajhfdfhd just!! thinking about what could have been if I existed in the writers room when warrior cats was being written

OOOOHH YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING!! the last time snowfur was on that road, she was chasing trespassers out of their territory....but this time, she's chasing her own sister. bluefur won't fight back, at that point she'd given up her children- she wasn't going to hurt her only sister. it's an accident, of course, but the guilt destroys her inside and out.

and thistleclaw is there to stoke the flames of tigerkit's anger. tigerclaw grows into a warrior and he learns two things very quickly: two honorable warriors died in the glory of battle, and it was the coward who became leader. that was a wrong that he had to right.

and man. the half-clan executions were so fucked you'd think it would have more of an impact on the series, but asc is....ough.......it was all tigerstar's fault eh. the only bad thing that happened was joining the two clans together eh writing team.

#deer rambles

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redux-iterum · 2 years

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Ok, we all get why you despise Greystripe... but Spottedleaf, Frecklewish, Mistystar, Rootspring?! Why... :'(

You know what? Just for you, I'll give you a brief rundown of my hatred on each character. Enjoy the anger under the cut!

Greystripe: Just...just look through this tag.

Blackstar: I've discussed this here and there, but the short of it is that the Clans seem to have completely forgotten that he was a willing assistant to two tyrannical leaders, got kicked out of his own Clan for being evil, and murdered a cat for the crime of being a half-breed. The warriors' reasons for disliking him are because he's from ShadowClan and he's a little grumpy, not for any of his actual fuckin' crimes. Add to that the fact that he's a gullible idiot who let some outsider nearly destroy his Clan based on lies that he should have been able to figure out were fake, and you have an idiot asshole who just hurts ShadowClan.

Spottedleaf: Aside from the creepy nature of her romantic tension with Firepaw (not -heart, -paw) and her obsession with him after her death, she doesn't have a damn thing going for her. She's, what, pretty? Smells nice? Keeps mourning that she never got to be with her True Love? She is a hollow character with "Firestar" as her only personality trait. Thistleclaw's manipulations are the sole interesting thing that ever happened to her, and you can guess for yourself why that's fucked up.

Leopardstar: Look. I get it. She's a popular character. Strong Female Hero, Queen of the River Clan, Blah Blah Blah. I don't care. She's an unpleasant bitch that let her Clan be walked over by Tigerstar (who we'll get to in a second) because she was "in love with him". And then she spends the rest of her appearances being an asshole. Fuck that. Why don't you do something beneficial to the other characters for once?

Frecklewish: Bearing in mind that I only read the Wiki pages of Mapleshade's Vengeance and Frecklewish herself, I can at least say that this character is awful. She forces her way into Mapleshade's business, to the point that she won't even leave her alone as she's giving birth, and does a complete 180 at the reveal and screams at her for "betraying" her and wants the kits she was previously obsessed with out. For why? Those kits not being her brother's, which Mapleshade never said they were? Bitch assumed and made it her business to micromanage the entire thing. She's not awful enough to go to the Dark Forest, but boy is she a fuckwad.

Tigerstar: Did you know he has a superpower? He has the magical ability to make everyone around him stupid as a rock so he can act evil and do horrible things and get away with them. If it wasn't for the fact that everyone just drops every IQ point they have where he's concerned, he would not have gotten nearly as far as he did in the books. StarClan gave him nine lives, Bluestar dismissed his dangerous behavior, EVERYONE bought his story about Ravenpaw of all people being a traitor, so on and so forth. All it would have taken is one person getting their brain back and asking a single question about what he was doing, and he would have failed and been killed. It's purely the writers getting him anywhere. It's bullshit.

Thistleclaw: I don't think I need to justify this one. He's a predator (which I still find a bad choice for the writers to have made), he's an asshole, etc. I'm disappointed that they failed so hard to make him dangerous in Bluestar's Prophecy that they had to backtrack and make him a monster in a side story, when there was no indication of that, like, ever.

Mistystar: Just read The Broken Code and you'll get it. For a recap, she just agrees with everything the obviously evil people say, to the point of almost letting Bramblestar run her Clan for her. She's unkind to her own Clanmates, refusing to let them back in even after it's clear that they didn't deserve their punishment. She's a terrible leader, made even worse by her going as stupid as she did and just doing whatever Bramblestar says. It's ridiculous.

Lionblaze: Boring. He is so goddamn boring. He's overpowered, so he can't lose any fight. He goes through the same Dark Forest arc Bramblestar did, and that goes nowhere. His personality is dishwater and I never had it in me to care about him, even back in the day when I was first reading the third arc. And let's not forget that he had so many kits that ThunderClan is one big incest clusterfuck now. I desperately want him to die.

Rootspring: God, did you see him in TBC? He's so self-pitying and whiny! He won't drop his crush on Bristlefrost (and the fact that she dies and he doesn't still pisses me off because she was infinitely more interesting) until she says she loves him back out of fuckin' nowhere. He's constantly going "weh, why do I have to have an embarrassing dad, why do I have to have powers, oh, woe is me, I have a lot to be grateful for and I refuse to acknowledge those things". God. It's pathetic. Grow some nads and quit complaining about your life, dipshit. Shadowsight has seizures and almost destroyed the Clans, and he's not bitching nearly as much as you are.

#a reminder that im not going to debate this with anyone #or at least respond to angry comments #let me rage in peace #ask #anonymous #readmore #i speak #rant

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