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warrior-cats-rewritten · 11 months

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The Bramblesquirrel Problem.

Canon!Bramblesquirrel has GOT to go. And I already have plans to have Squirrelflight with the silly, happy Shrewfoot (Shrewpaw, not pancaked). But... If I do this right from the start, the ripple effects will no longer make much sense for a story. So I have proposed an alternate solution.

During TNP, Shrewpaw leaves Thunderclan with Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw despite the fact that his warrior assessment is to take place the next day. The Shadowclan cats are Tawnypelt and her apprentice, Smokepaw. The Windclan cats are Crowpaw and Cranberrypaw. And the Riverclan cats are Hawkfrost, Feathertail and Stormfur. Brambleclaw is Squirrelpaw's link back to the clans where they can get information just like Leafpaw could in canon. This will fade after the journey. This isn't budging, but it has caused some changes that posed a problem of where to go from that point.

The answer?

Divorce, babes, Divorce.

Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight still get together after the Journey (though it seems Leafpool knows something she isn't telling), Ashfur still fucks around and finds out.

After The Reveal (which is handled differently anyways) he does tell Squirrelflight off only for Hollyleaf to snap that he allowed Ashfur to bully her during her apprenticeship. Not only that, but another secret comes out through Hawkfrost, now a changed cat from that Journey; that Brambleclaw was training in the Dark Forest with Tigerstar and Mistfang, Tigerstar's surviving sister, only stopping when he was presented with the opportunity to kill an unconscious Firestar. Hawkfrost killed Mistfang and saved Brambleclaw's life. The Three feel betrayed by the cat they thought was their father and side with Squirrelflight and Leafpool, at least with them, they know that love is unconditional.

The end of The Last Hope sees the 2 trying to give it just 1 more shot but Bramblestar is on thin ice, especially with the Three, who only want Squirrelflight to be happy. He acts better during Bramblestar's Storm and I will give him credit, it is hard to be a leader, especially a new one, in a crisis situation; but he falls back into his old ways during AVoS, being Xenophobic towards Skyclan and the (Rewritten) Sisters, and a terrible parent towards Sparkpelt, Alderheart, and Dandeliontuft.

Meanwhile, Squirrelflight is realizing she has feelings for her oldest and closest friend, and he loves her too, and her children who he helped raise when Bramblestar was too busy, whoch I will iterate, isn't entirely his fault, but Firestar is much more present in Squirrelflight and Leafpool's lives.

This culminates in Squirrelflight's Hope, now named Squirrelflight's Freedom. She snaps, stepping down from her deputy position and publicly dumping him much to the unexpected approval of her clanmates, even if they will miss her being deputy. Hollyleaf is made deputy and though she is thankful for the position and can be civil, she has not forgiven him, much to Bramblestar's shock.

Shrewfoot and Squirrelflight get together and he is an incredible dad to his new step children (one of whom he mentored for a while). However, this causes a rift between leader and clan leading into some new odd behavior from Bramblestar later on... were his eyes always that blue? He is so strict now, so devout to Starclan, and he is being awfully cruel to the new deputy Hollyleaf now as well, just like her old mentor was...

#warrior cats #warrior cats rewritten #bramblestar #squrrielflight #shrewpaw #hollyleaf #a vision of shadows #power of three #squirrelflight's hope #the broken code #ashfur #warriors au #i think ill be redoing jessy #jessy #bramblestar's storm

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brackenfur · 3 years

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au starting from lost stars/one non canon event mentioned but i cant stop thinking abt a scene where bramblestar slips up abt thinking abt killing firestar in sunset n how squirrel would react to that. this is a very quick drabble aka its not rly thought out or edited, i jsut needed to write and get it out somewhere ! i also cant rly definitively say that everything abt bramblestars version of events/what squirrelflight knew abt the foxtrap scene is canon-accurate since its been a minute since ive read tnp + that time period is extremely muddled in terms of which author writes it and what any cat outside of bramblestar ACTUALLY knows.

anyways tysm for reading <3

"i've sacrificed everything for this relationship, for you," bramblestar snaps, eyes that were at one moment dim and exhausted from his oncoming illness now alight with anger. "you don't even know how much pressure i was under all those years ago, after we got back together and i became deputy. i was dealing with my new position, with thunderclan's mistrust, with hawkfrost telling me to-" and he stops dead in his tracks, eyes widening just slightly as he realizes he let something slip.

squirrelflight blinks, deeply uncomfortable by his reaction. she knows that he and hawkfrost kept communicating after she and bramblestar got back together, and she knows to this day that hawkfrost never had good intentions - but there is something about the way bramblestar looks away from her, how his fur prickles along his spine, that makes her think there's more to this story.

"hawkfrost telling you to what?" she tries to keep up her bravado and confrontational tone so he doesn't detect how disturbed she's becoming, but her voice wavers. "what are you talking about?"

"nothing," he says too quickly, shaking his head. "it doesn't matter. i'm tired, squirrelflight; this leafbare is the worst i've seen, and i'm not feeling my best, either. you know that - i've been so sick, and-"

"yes, you are sick, and i've told you to rest," she reminds him, cutting him off. "and i'm sorry about that, but what are you talking about with hawkfrost?"

"i said it was nothing."

"it doesn't look like it was nothing."

bramblestar sets his jaw, shaking his head. "you know how he was. i was just going to say that he was just trying to pressure me to stop talking to you, that's it."

it doesn't feel like that was it. she has no love for hawkfrost and doesn't particularly care that he didn't like her much either - but bramblestar wouldn't be so upset and secretive about something that trivial. there's more.

"you're not telling me something," she says finally. "i know you - or, i mean, i think i know you. you're hiding something from me about hawkfrost, and i swear to starclan - we just had a conversation the other night about being truthful."

"i've always been truthful."

"it seems like you're not right now, though. i've laid out all of my secrets and told you every bad thing i've done - i've let the whole forest know my demons. not by choice, but what's done is done. there's something you're not telling me about hawkfrost - and don't tell me he didn't like me, we all know that. what was he telling you to do?"

he twitches his whiskers. "squirrelflight, you need to drop it."

this just makes her more angry. "i've told you everything i've done and you're always going on about how we need to stay truthful to each other to make this work - whatever it is, i'll listen to you about it. i know how hawkfrost was - did he want you to take over the forest, or something? i know he talked to mudclaw about things like that; he wasn't subtle about his plans to be tigerstar junior."

bramblestar looks deeply uncomfortable. "i didn't do what he wanted me to do, you know i didn't," he finally says after what seems like an hour; she blinks, unsure of what he's talking about.

"what do you mean? like...yeah, you didn't take over-"

"he wanted me to become thunderclan's leader. that's it. now, please, just drop it."

she frowns. she kind of expected that, but there's....a deep shame in his eyes, and she thinks there's an element to this story he's not saying. he's being evasive and private, and her heart begins to beat harder when she really, really thinks back on all those years ago.

a memory surfaces, one that she always thought about with pain and yet an underlying feeling of pride - for brambleclaw, for her mate, for saving her father....

it hits her then. she always thought that the foxtrap was brambleclaw's moment of undying loyalty to her father - stumbling upon hawkfrost about to kill firestar, and immediately jumping to his defense. that's always how he told it, anyways; he knew what hawkfrost wanted to do, and put an end to it.

but there were always these underlying moments that she couldn't quite place over the years - some type of underlying shame and embarrassment that she just chalked up to grief for his brother.

they look at each other, and she tries to keep calm. "when you found my father in the foxtrap," she says slowly. "did you think about letting hawkfrost kill him?"

bramblestar's beat of silence is all she needed to know; he immediately tries recovering it, though.

"squirrelflight, i would've never done that- hawkfrost and tigerstar were-"

"tigerstar? what does your father have to do with this?"

bramblestar is very quiet; she thinks that the world around them is completely silent as they stand in the middle of a snowy clearing. the cold usually heightens the sounds in the air, but in this moment all squirrelflight can hear is the thudding of her own heart.

bramblestar seems like he's trying to piece his thoughts together carefully; she forces herself to wait until he finally says: "i was never going to do it," he says, voice tight with emotion. "squirrelflight, i loved your father - you know that." she can barely hear him anymore as she finally grasps what exactly he's telling her. "my father and my brother- you've heard about how they are from lionblaze and ivypool and the others that went to the dark forest, how could i have- they were my family once, i thought that maybe-"

so that was his big secret, the one that he never meant for her to uncover. everything makes a little more sense now; the guilt and shame in bramblestar's eyes for those first seasons after hawkfrost's death whenever he'd look at firestar, the overcompensation bramblestar tried to preform as deputy. it wasn't because he felt like he allowed his brother to cause harm to firestar before saving him, it was-

"hawkfrost told you to kill firestar," she says softly, looking up at her mate. "but that- if it was just that, you would have told me, not lead me to believe that hawkfrost was the one who wanted to do it all along," she feels herself shaking as the shame begins to come back into bramblestar's expression. "you thought about, didn't you? about killing my father so you could become leader?"

bramblestar gives one moment of hesitation, and she shakes her head.

"i'm going to be sick," she says quickly, stepping away from him.

"i didn't hurt him. it wasn't-"

"this whole time, you've shamed me and made me feel like the worst cat that's been born because i kept a secret for my sister," she almost spits, her fur raising. "i don't know if i was morally right or wrong, i don't know what anyone else would do in my paws during that time - but you made me feel like i was worthless for a year because i protected leafpool, and now i finally get to know that you not only met up frequently with tigerstar but that you actually- you thought about killing my father. you thought about hurting firestar just so you could become leader."

ashfur's jibe all those years ago suddenly makes more sense - after the fire, the way he bumped into her with his shoulder and sneered you don't really even know your own mate, do you?

who knew that even after all this time after his death, ashfur still got the last laugh.

#srry mobile users if the read more doesnt work!! sometimes they do sometimes they dont #warrior cats #im....very stressed bc of whast going on w my family rn and my sis' dog but writing this helped take my mind off of things #i hope u enjoy its been awhile isnce i wrote LMAO #also srry if its ooc/not lining up w canon but honestly idgaf i Tried #writing tag #shark noises

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mallowstep · 3 years

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Just saying on the whole: I decided on Brackenpelt and Mintfur's personalities, this blogs anon's (and a bit you, no offense) literally decided to kick canon Reedwhisker to the curb, he now looks like Oakheart, and he's a sweetheart and a bit of an idiot who tries his best to protectand tell on Hawkfrost? (I've not read past TNP, so idk if he's actually like this so if he is forgive me.)

oh my god i. i can't.

okay so i have this thing that. is kind of long and convoluted to explain and also i neither want nor have to but i have this thing about repeating work. i can't do it. like i physically cannot make myself do it. if something interrupts what i am doing, and i lose what i wrote for an ask, i cannot make myself rewrite it. the thought alone is enough to make me want to cry.

so. i was. god. i can't even -- even summarizing what i wrote is very difficult for me. so i'm just going to jump in to where i was writing, maybe back up a little, because i was having fun talking about character arcs, and -- y'all can just deal.

(n.b. when i bring this up, people tend to suggest things like drafting responses to asks in software with autosave, or just saving responses to asks as drafts periodically. the answer is always, "i know that's an option, and it doesn't work for me for any number of reasons." while i appreciate the care, i'd rather save us all the time.)

(but to respond as quickly as i can to your actual ask -- i change background characters all the time, and no one has ever commented on it. secondly, while i often enjoy what anons offer me from different ideas, i'd prefer if we don't -- treat them as mine, perhaps? hm. not sure how to phrase that well and i want to move on now.)

anyway, basically, i'm rambling about decisions anons make and why i wouldn't personally make them. because i was in the middle of a thought, i'm going to have to back up a little, but -- i'm going to try to save myself some time and pain and just make one starting statement and then move on.

while i'm about to explain why i wouldn't make the following choices, that does not make them bad choices. in fact, i often enjoy responding to your asks with snippets utilizing these choices. they're just not choices i would independently make, but that doesn't make them bad. i just like to ramble about character arcs, and this gives me an excuse

reedpaw interfering with hawkpaw's dreams of the dark forest

the arc i have planned for hawkfrost revolves around no one knowing about the dark forest. it is essential to tigerstar's manipulation of him that no one knows. it is fundamental to his character arc.

so -- i can't just throw in reedpaw interfering. it would change every character's arc. and i like my arc for hawkfrost. i do not think it is benefitted by reedpaw interacting with it.

(this is kind of what i mean -- i've greatly enjoyed writing the drama that comes of reedpaw interfering, but i would never choose to have him interfere in independent content.)

reedkit being born not long after hawkkit, mothkit, and frogkit

this is the piece i'm most angry to have lost. i had -- guys i had a very good explanation of this one. it's. i will do my best because -- i don't know.

i am very -- the misty au matters to me. unlike the other aus, the misty au is mine. it is not some web of ideas, it is my au, and while i adore seeing everyone play with it, it often feels like -- handing someone a rubiks cube, watching them fiddle with it, and then, when they give it back to you, you solve it in a few moments. (i did speed cubing personal best was 27s, although i doubt i could get anywhere close to that now.)

like, you hand me this idea. mistyfoot has another kit about six moons after hawkkit, mothkit, and frogkit. i nod as you explain, am excited to see you so excited about it, but i cannot simply leave the cube unsolved. it is a compulsion of a sort. you hand me an unsolved cube, and i will solve it. i don't mean to, sometimes. it is simply that i know the patterns so well, and the process of observing and solving a cube is so instinctual, that i look for the best cross without realizing what i am doing, start to solve without meaning to.

and -- in this case, this is me solving the cube, this explanation. i have inserted this metaphor in part to explain why i feel i must try to explain this once again, why i am -- now that the chance, the idea of covering this topic has been raised, i cannot set it down.

so. although it is difficult, i want to tell you why i wouldn't choose to do this. again. there will be less couching this time, as there always is, so review my -- i don't think you're wrong, i just wouldn't make these choices -- above. i mean it.

reedkit being born changes every character's arc inherently. i've mentioned this in passing, but it fundamentally changes every single character's arc. for the main seven, it is a direct and tangible change, and for others, it is a ripple effect, and no stone is left unturned.

but i will use mistyfoot's arc as a catch-all, to explain my reason for not making this choice.

mistyfoot -- okay, if reedkit is born, mistyfoot's primary focus is no longer feathertail. i'm not one for "one child is loved more" stories. i don't like writing them. so. mistyfoot's focus is split between reedkit and feathertail.

and that is a problem. because -- feathertail is the most important thing in the world to mistyfoot. in an unhealthy way at first, but in a healthy way, later on. it is Unhealthy for mistyfoot to base her every action around how it affects feathertail; it is healthy for mistyfoot's top priority to be feathertail. codependency vs being a parent.

so. why is that a problem? well -- because it changes a lot of things, but most importantly, or at least, most close to the main time period the misty au covers, it changes how mistyfoot builds a relationship with hawk, moth, and frog.

because -- well, let's back up for a moment.

mistyfoot does not go in the nursery once. despite the fact that it is feathertail, that before and after this, they are nearly inseparable (unhealthily before, heathily after), she does not visit feathertail in the nursery a single time.

[insert a tangent about mistyfoot being in the nursery with reedkit i cannot bring myself to rewrite]

her interactions with the kits, once they are weaned, are either highly structured, or incidental moments she avoids and escapes from as fast as she can.

but -- feathertail is always there as a buffer. feathertail brings them out to mistyfoot as her kits, as a form of -- presentation, almost. or, mistyfoot and feathertail are talking, and one of the kits approaches momentarily.

because she can't do it anyway.

[insert tangent about mistyfoot being a good mother and how in this instance, that means not being around them]

and as the kits grow up, it is through feathertail that mistyfoot manages to build a relationship with them. the fact that they are feathertail's kits is how she does it. in part because -- it is a degree of separation that she is afforded. if things are too much -- she is not their mother. she can back off. but also because -- they are important to feathertail, and that makes it easier for mistyfoot to want to know them.

this is -- core to all five arcs at hand, here.

she sees hawkpaw seek out feathertail after a nightmare, and she sees a kit, who loves, who feathertail loves. she sees -- it makes it easier to forget his father, if he can simply be a child, sleeping with his mother to ward of nightmares.

hawkfrost is -- will always be the one she has the hardest time connecting to. this has little to do with his appearance (while he looks similar to tigerstar, he is not a clone -- he has more contrasting markings, a white chest, blue eyes, a narrower build, sleeker, glossier fur, and so on), and everything to do with the grief he causes feathertail as an apprentice. she worries over him, and mistyfoot doesn't know what to do.

frogheart is easier, or at least more straightforward. he bonds with mistyfoot when he's carrying feathertail down the mountain. there's -- two levels. first, he's doing a great service to the most important person to mistyfoot. second, this is a very hard time for feathertail, and mistyfoot wants to be with her for it. so -- they walk down together.

mothwing is -- she starts to be more and more responsible for feathertail's healthcare. and -- mistyfoot is. pretty much always with feathertail for that. even something as simple as marigold on a scratch, or getting a thorn pulled out -- mistyfoot is there.

it is an Anxiety Inducing Time. feathertail associates being treated with very bad things, and avoids going to the medicine den, so like -- mistyfoot has to be there to actually get her to go.

so while mothwing is learning to deal with -- a bit of a role reversal, in that she has to take care of feathertail. as a doctor, yes, but feathertail -- requires a lot of patience, cajoling, and creativity. and you know, that's hard. it is hard to see the cat who raised you like that. that's a big theme for mothwing.

but it means she starts to build a relationship with mistyfoot.

so -- why does it matter?

well, putting aside a long list of reasons that mistyfoot having reedkit then is so angst inducing (she's grieving for her first litter, she's not in a place to voluntary have another child, she's still coping with the trauma of a forced pregnancy, etc), if her focus is split between reedkit and feathertail, the weight of all of this is decreased.

not -- by half, or anything. love is not some finite resource. but mistyfoot no longer avoids the nursery, and she has many more early interactions with the kits. when feathertail leaves, she has another kit that means she can't fall apart in the same way. and -- that means that frogpaw, hawkpaw, and mothpaw's initial impression of her never changes.

when feathertail vanishes, they start to gain a deeper understanding of mistyfoot, which enables them to be able to start connecting to her.

other stuff

i'm doing this thing where i try to go to bed before 3am, so unfortunately, not right now.

oh wait i lied real quick

tawnypelt

i think this is because you haven't seen her pov yet, but a lot of asks about her tend to misunderstand her internal thought process. or at least -- they don't characterize her the way i intend to.

#ask #mine #misty au #anon #not sure how to tag this tbh #reed au #i don't know #again to be clear #anons never change #i just felt like explaining #why i make the decisions i make #and i like talking about mistyfoot

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maplewind-au · 4 years

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Retrospective Author’s Notes

I just crossposted this note to the Wattpad and AO3 copies of Maplestar’s Light, but I’m going to post it here, too.

Hi there! My name is Razeru. First of all, thank you very much for reading my story!

I think, if you've read my story, you can surmise that I love Mapleshade. She's grown to be one of my favourite characters in Warrior Cats; her story, narratively, is written the best - in my opinion - out of most of the super editions and novellas.

Keep in mind, these words are coming from someone who grew up with these books, and also gets big mad about the things the Erins have pulled on other characters, like Squirrelflight (specifically Squilf, actually. They keep doing my girl dirty, and I'm so angry).

I took a read through my story again recently, and passed through the comments both on this Wattpad copy of the story, and the AO3 mirror. I really and truly appreciate all the love, but some people did seem to misunderstand the intention behind some things in my story, so I feel like I owe a bit of an explanation to you, my readers.

I offer this explanation because I've chosen to abandon the MapleWind AU entirely. There's too much in retrospect that I'm unhappy with, too many story ideas that don't connect narratively - it just makes a poor story. So, this is basically a big spoiler chapter for what would have happened, if I continued.

The remainder of this letter is just going to be me giving a word vomit about this story, so feel free to skip down to the bottom if you're only curious about closing remarks or projects surrounding other upcoming warriors works.

Alright. First and foremost, I want to address something specific. Mapleshade's story, as it was in canon, is a multidimensional story that a lot of people see as black-and-white. I, personally, see it as a fantastic narrative where not a single character is in the right, at least not in the context of the Clans - or morally, in some cases. This being said, a lot of the arguments about Mapleshade are usually "she's absolutely terrible and deserved what she got" / "she did absolutely nothing wrong and everyone else should be suffering" - both of which are... Very, very dangerous views to take on any person or character. When I wrote Maplestar's Light, my intention was to explore the idea where a few cats stepped out of the norm that seemed to affect this specific generation of the Clans and offered sanctuary.

WindClan has always felt like the most lax Clan out of the four, to me. With their history of welcoming in strangers and making kindly bargains with the other Clans in their times of need, it made sense to me that if a wandering cat passed out on their territory, they would reach out and help them. I chose Heatherstar specifically for this story because she was such a revolutionary, and wasn't afraid to shoot down any cat's words if she felt someone was going to get hurt.

Moreover, this AU explores the idea that instead of sleeping in Myler's barn and then going on her rampage, Mapleshade simply collapsed into grief - so Ravenwing, Frecklewish, and Appledusk all survive. Temporarily.

While Mapleshade is taken into WindClan, Mapleshade's kits are restless, and it's their turn to be angry - assuming StarClan spirits know everything (and it's heavily implied, in the first series, that they do), they pull strings just like the canonical iteration of their mother would. Ravenwing, Frecklewish, Appledusk, and - moreover - Oakstar, all suffer painful deaths as a result of the angry StarClan kits. To add insult to injury, all four lose their lives to the river while patrolling it - or are tricked into falling in. The kits drag them down until they drown.

Ravenwing and Oakstar are the only two who are able to make it to StarClan themselves, if only because of the good acts they've done to balance out the karma. The kits, however, are able to swing judgement on Frecklewish, who attacked their mother, insulted them, and was fine to watch them die, and Appledusk, who was willing to have them to begin with, who failed to save them.

This is unhealthy point of view, but they died as kits. All they know is the anger and betrayal.

On to the future.

Maplestar and Palebird have the three kits; Finchkit, Larkkit, and Firekit. Some people didn't seem to get it, and I thought I wrote it to be obvious, but Firekit is supposed to be THE Firestar in the future. With Maplestar at the helm of WindClan, ShadowClan is unable to drive them out. ThunderClan, however, is much weaker after their constant battles with RiverClan and the loss of not only Redtail, but many other great warriors. ThunderClan is driven out instead; WindClan, in their graciousness, would allow them to share the territory until something can be done about ShadowClan's terrible leader, and three Clans would unite against the one to protect their way of life.

During their time in WindClan's camp, Firepaw would grow close to the ThunderClan apprentices Ravenpaw, Graypaw and Sandpaw. Following the battle against Brokenstar, not only do Firepaw and his siblings get their warrior names, but so do the ThunderClan apprentices who participated (Sandstorm and Dustpelt included). Fireheart realizes during the night of his vigil that he doesn't want to lose his ThunderClan friends, and while meeting his family on the battlefield would be painful, he would feel worse fighting Graystripe or Ravenflight - the latter tom being the only cat Fireheart has met that makes his heart flutter.

The following day, as ThunderClan returns home, Fireheart goes with them. Yellowfang, in turn, has joined ThunderClan, having been a crucial asset to getting them in and out of ShadowClan. In return for the WindClan warrior, Spottedleaf stays; Spottedleaf had been attacked by a ShadowClan warrior the day before the battle, but Hawkheart protected her with his life. Feeling indebted, she swore to finish training Barkwing and serve WindClan just as she did ThunderClan.

The rest of the story would have gone similarly to canon, with a few minor changes; for one, WindClan and ThunderClan would forever have a close bond, not only through the blood of their Clanmates, but also through Bluestar and Maplestar, who exchanged each other's stories and bonded over how similar they were. Cinderpelt would have still gotten disabled, but through saving the ShadowClan apprentice Littlepaw from a monster; while she picks up healing from Yellowfang, she remains a warrior in spite of her leg. Swiftpaw narrowly survives, and Brightpaw lives with her scarring still, taking inspiration from Cinderpelt. Fireheart and Ravenflight become mates and have kits - Squirrelflight and Gingerpool.

I had further plans for TNP and PO3, but they're sort of lost to time at this point. The general ideas surrounded Brambleclaw - renamed Brambleflower - taking after his mother instead of his father, and being close friends with Squilf, but not mates. Gingerpool and Crowfeather do have kits, and Squilf does take them, but claims they were loner kits that she chose to raise. Bramble was their nursery parent, having chosen to be a queen instead of a warrior, and took care of them while Squilf went about being a warrior, only tuning in to feed them and sleep with them. Jay would have become a warrior named Jayclaw and Holly, an albino in this AU, would go on to be Gingerpool's apprentice and become Hollysnow. Jay is blind, and Holly is a selective mute. Lion would still have his powers of strength, but use them unwisely, and he would be the one to wind up having a crisis and revealing the secrets of his origin before disappearing into the caves.

The general idea for the OOTS arc of this AU was to give Ivy powers and still have her train in the Dark Forest, under Lionblaze - who is very much still alive, but misaligned. Dovewing would be given the opportunity as well, and only take it when she learns Tigerheart is also training there. Their struggles would surround a constant sibling rivalry, one that would deepen once Jay and Holly figure out Ivy is the third cat. I also threw around the idea of a deaf Ivypool, either from birth or caused by something much later - just to complete the "See/Speak/Hear No Evil".

The underlying, long plot to the AU was that Petalkit, Larchkit, and Patchkit effectively replaced Canon Mapleshade. Maplestar recovered, then seemingly forgot about her previous kits and replaced them with Fire, Finch and Lark. Petal, Larch and Patch want stupid, special Firestar and his bloodline to suffer for being their replacements. Technically, they were still spirits of StarClan, but pulled the strings in the Dark Forest.

Oh, boy. Those sure were a lot of words, huh.

I hope I'm not disappointing anyone by discontinuing this story. Again, looking back on it, I'm very unhappy with the way I was handling certain subjects and aspects of the story - and I'd rather kill it before I get carried away again. I've always held the belief that taking time and writing a more consise and well-placed narrative is much better than writing it quickly and breaking characters and morals. Mapleshade is a character I do want to do justice by, and Warrior Cats is a great sandbox to play in!

All that being said, I am still writing Warriors works. On AO3, I've published a couple smaller one-off stories that explore the idea of Tigerclaw not getting twisted up by Thistleclaw, and getting Scourge to join ThunderClan instead. You're welcome to read them if you haven't yet!

And I'm not done with Mapleshade, either. I'm currently working on a new, seperate Warriors rewrite based on the same time (with better allegiances); the working title for it, right now, is Falling Petals. I don't want to give too much away, but if there's enough interest, I might post a teaser excerpt to this story! There's no telling when I'll be finished with it, but I would much rather publish a finished work in full than post it by chapter and run the risk of losing interest or being unhappy with what I've put out.

A final project I'm working on is a personal Warrior Cats story called Rising Storm - it'll surround some OC Clans and Characters instead of rewriting canon material, and I'm looking for a main platform to post it on when I crack into it! If you're interested, I could use some beta readers when I start working on it, so please get in touch if you want to help out! If you know any non-Wattpad or AO3 websites I could publish the story on, please do let me know. I'll likely crosspost here, but I don't actively post on here too often, so I'd rather it not be the primary host.

I think that's everything I wanted to say! Again, thank you so much for your continued interest in my work. If you'd like to see more of what I do, look for the user 'ghastimafrix' on Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, deviantART, AO3, and toyhou.se! I do a lot more than just write Warriors, and I'm always happy to chat.

Stay frosty, y'all!!

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northern-passage · 2 years

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If I remember right, we have to be the ones to bring up Keld with Lea? Like if we don't do that those two don't have a conversation about wanting to be better during the campfire scene. When you were writing that scene, did you ever think about having Lea bring it up without the Hunter needing to initiate the conversation, or were they always the stubborn, "I'd rather bottle all this up," Handler that we've come to know?

Lea actually used to have a completely different personality at the start - they really were meant to be "calm and collected." the original character that Lea was created from was also a part of a duo, and he was always the calm, slow-talking voice of reason - still a little stoic, but far more in touch with his emotions and far more sincere. i'm not sure what happened when i started writing tnp, but it is true what they say about characters having a mind of their own....

and you're right, they do only directly bring up Keld if the hunter brings it up first - otherwise they always just comment about it "being nice" which is basically them just saying "it's better than Keld."

however, Lea is the one to push about wanting to talk later at the tavern, quite literally forcing the hunter to agree to talk later in some variations. (or if you avoided the argument and agreed to be partners at the first choice, they mention wanting to talk after shaking hands)

actually it's potentially spoilery under here, i've avoided hinting at this for a while but 🤷 so i'm going to put it under a readmore. i'm not really sure how many people, if any, have thought too much about this lmfao

who is to say if Lea plans on keeping their word about having any kind of talk.... Lea knows they fucked up pretty badly in Keld, but they're not quite ready to admit that, not directly - and there are a few secrets they've been keeping for a long time. while i do think Lea likes the idea of the two of you talking it out, it's something that will be really difficult for them, and choosing to talk "later" was both them trying to convince the hunter but also themself - and give them time to figure out what the hell they're doing. to be clear, Lea does want the two of you to be better, they really do want to stay paired together not just for their reputation but because they genuinely want to make it work - i think i've made that obvious in a lot of the asks i've answered about them. but that still doesn't make it easy. i think i've also made it obvious that Lea is very stubborn, and is in a very difficult position (that they put themself in....) and they're trying to claw their way back out; and once they're out.... there's no guarantee they'll have changed.

for the talk to actually happen, i think it depends entirely on how the current job goes for them. this is Lea making a desperate gamble for two reasons: they know they fucked up at Keld, and they know there's something wrong with the hunter. they're anxious you're going to ask for a reassignment if this job doesn't go well, so they're propositioning you ahead of time in an attempt to keep it together (though they're too late for some hunters who ask for it anyways)

soooo..... to answer your question, Lea would not bring up Keld themself if they didn't have to. but due to how things are going with the hunter, they feel a bit cornered, so it's a bit of a hail mary - and we don't know how it's going to play out yet.

#i mean I know how it's going to play out. but you dont lmfao #Lea doesnt either. im the hand of god grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and shaking them around #but basically Lea and the hunter are both desperate for different things at the moment #and both of them are really just trying to get thru it one day at a time #anyways sorry this is kinda vaguely spoilerish. ive actually tried really hard to avoid implying any of this previously #it's kind of hard on the blog. and with a project that is like Actively developing #i think i end up contradicting myself sometimes bc im trying so hard not to spoil things. lmfao #lea chen #spoilers #ask #anonymous

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mallowstep · 3 years

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Leopard AU what would Feather think if she found out white Tigerstar did after Leopard helped her and Misty escape? (Maybe Leopard carried Feather across the border meeting Firestar and Greystripe and that's why Feather didn't lose a claw? And that's why Tiger took one of her lives?) What would the other medicine cats think of Mudfur's treatment in his clan? Things like that don't go unnoticed (I.E Shadowsight's demotion In TBC) poor Twanypaw....Poor Bramblepaw! He only has to look at Misty or Leopard and they might have a flashback.

hello! my like. the way i'd do the escape is that mistyfoot goes back to featherpaw when tawnypelt sits vigil, and that means camp is -- a little easier to escape from. just slightly, just enough, and everyone is just desperate enough to try. most of riverclan wants them out, but leopardstar doesn't want to pull them into this. shadepelt was already nearly killed over stonefur.

and i think -- i dunno. maybe they have a plan with thunderclan? i'm not sure. i'm never sure. i'm just talking.

i would Like leopardstar to be the one to escort them to the border, but mudfur does, and leopardstar trails behind, in case something goes wrong (on either end).

tigerstar catches up with them because ??? plot convenience ??? and kills leopardstar. maybe in front of tawnypelt. why not add More tigerstar-traumatizing-his-daughter to the mix?

as for mudfur -- i think i'll put the cut here.

cw: sexual assault, parent being involved in sexual assault of child

i hope that wording works for a cw? i'm not -- i don't want to cw for incest, because it's Not what that would Imply, but it's not Not incest? sigh. if people would like me to do things differently, you're welcome to let me know.

anyway. onto the subject.

so -- okay. here's the Thing. mudfur's involvement is known, kind of. tigerstar is. god i hate him so much. okay so -- the clan knows what's going on, but it's not Public (contrast with mistyfoot), but it's not hard to figure out -- mudfur is there and he's not stopping him. and damn mudfur that's your daughter and leader and you're just. watching. cool. that's fucked up, riverclan decides. because it is. admittedly, for a slightly different reason than they think, but still.

but -- this is riverclan business. i imagine -- i don't know where runningnose and/or littlecloud are around now. i always forget what's up with the both of them. but let's say they're tucked out of the way, just like in the misty au. but let's say for convenience's sake, they're not there.

i don't imagine shadowclan wants to talk about how their old leader was repeatedly raping leopardstar in front of her father, so -- they don't find out.

and this is riverclan business. riverclan is a proud clan. i've mentioned offhand that i think leopardstar is the Ideal of riverclan. she is proud and smart and skilled in battle, but not war hungry.

riverclan as a whole is proud. not to derail but that's part of why they're the least ableist.

and just like shadowclan doesn't want to talk about it among themselves -- riverclan wouldn't want others to know that their leader was repeatedly raped by an enemy clan leader.

i mean they wouldn't want other clans to know regardless, but the fact that it is another clan's leader? a tom who was born in thunderclan and still thinks like a thunderclan cat, their oldest enemy? yeah. riverclan is not talking about this to other clans.

but.

("Where's Leopardstar?"

Mistyfoot shifts. "She -- had kits and is still with them."

It is a satisfactory answer for the Clans. Leaders having kits is uncommon, but not unheard of, and no one could dream of forcing a queen to leave her kits behind, especially not if they were newborns.

But Barkface turns to Mudfur. "I thought she didn't want kits."

It's not a question, and Mudfur is thankful, because he doesn't have an answer.)

they...can piece things together.

cinderpelt figures it out first. tigerstar was gaslighting mistyfoot re. pregnancy status, so -- she probably talks to cinderpelt about it at some point. she doesn't need to talk to mudfur about it because by the time tigerclan is over it's visibly obvious, but.

yeah.

cinderpelt figures it out first, because she has that information, and the rest of matters slide into place easily.

when hawk moth and...we'll stick with frog, when hawk moth and frog first come to a gathering, most cats can guess who their father is. mothpaw looks the most like leopardstar, but her pelt is broken spots and stripes. frogpaw looks like neither of his parents, but -- hawkpaw looks like his father. oh, he has a riverclan warrior's build, and his eyes are blue, but -- it takes only a glance to know he is tigerstar's son.

maybe not everyone knows, of course -- some wouldn't piece it together, some wouldn't want to, some wouldn't have enough information -- but the medicine cats certainly do.

they of course don't know that mudfur was there.

but -- come the tnp era and,

("Mudfur is sick."

"I know," Leopardstar says. Cinderpelt can't place the emotion in her voice, but it is not what she expects.)

again, not everyone knows, but the medicine cats know.

but by then, mudfur is dying, and then dead. there's no point -- wondering over a memory. whatever he has done, he will answer for it in the stars. there's no use in bringing it up.

and lastly, as for bramble -- oh yeah. much of this is true for the misty au, btw, but he feels -- oh man.

he doesn't know what happened, of course, but

(He meets Mistyfoot as an apprentice. She is curled around Featherpaw, and Bramblepaw puts down the mouse.

"I thought -- you might be hungry."

She is Bluestar's daughter, it is obvious in her eyes and pelt. Bramblepaw wonders how anyone missed it. Her eyes narrow.

He picks up the mouse again, placing it closer to her head. She stiffens, takes a bite.

"Thank you," she says, the words full of misplaced sincerity.)

and -- he probably doesn't interact with leopard all that much, until that is, he returns from the quest. fully grown. looking the most like his father.

and whoa that is. very hard for leopardstar.

#leopard au #ask #anon #mine

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