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emotional-damage-book-series · 3 months

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Not A Bad Cat (short story)

Gorseheart halted mid-groom, his tongue just barely brushing the hairs of his mate’s neck. “Froststorm?” he called, alarmed, at the distant figure running towards them.

Emberdawn opened her eyes and, within a heartbeat of seeing her daughter’s expression, shot to her paws and ran to meet her. “What’s happening?” she asked while Froststorm gasped for breath. “Where’s Molechive and Lightswan? I thought you were with them.”

Froststorm’s chest heaved. “They…stayed back…I ran….I had to get…you have to…”

Gorseheart ran his tail along her side. “Breathe, honey.” Dread filled the pit of his stomach like rocks. What was happening? Why did Froststorm have to run to them?

“We didn’t know what to do, but you do,” Froststorm explained unhelpfully.

“Know what?” Emberdawn pressed.

“There’s…there’s a kit…”

—-

Gorseheart and Emberdawn followed quickly after Froststorm after she took a few more moments to rest. As they moved, Gorseheart felt anger guide his storming paws, claws gripping the earth wherever they landed. Another kit. Another kit rejected by StarClan! Didn’t they understand how dangerous it was here? Didn’t they understand they were sending kits to a potential second death? For what? Because they were too young to fully grasp their actions?

“Here,” Froststorm told them, slowing.

Ahead of them, Lightswan seemed to be standing guard, glaring at the surrounding shadows.

Molechive lay crouched, eyes wide and uncertain at what Gorseheart had first assumed to be a dark patch of ground. Then he realized that it was a kitten–a small one.

Both sagged their shoulders in relief when they saw Gorseheart and Emberdawn.

Gorseheart’s heart twisted–this kit was the youngest yet.

The kit had dark grey fur and a white throat. He shivered heavily, though from fear or the cold of this forest, he wasn’t sure. He would think both, but the way the kit was pressing against Molechive’s shoulders had him thinking otherwise.

Emberdawn leaned and whispered into his ear. “He’s too young to even understand that he should be scared.” She echoed his own thoughts.

Sure, the kit appeared wary and looked at the cats with confusion and disquietness. But that was because these were strangers in a strange land. If this little tom really knew where he was, really understood it, he would have run and hid at the first sight of another cat, and he would be trembling so strongly that Gorseheart would be seeing two of him.

Gorseheart lowered onto his belly and crept closer, keeping a comfortable distance for the tom. “Hello, little one. My name is Gorseheart. What’s your name?”

“Ashkit,” the kit answered, staring at him with green eyes as wide as the moon on a Gathering night.

“Hi Ashkit,” Emberdawn greeted from her place lying beside Gorseheart. “Do you know where you are?”

Ashkit let out what sounded like a whimper. “Somewhere bad. I did bad.”

Emberdawn let out a gentle hum. “We all do bad,” she reassured him. “No one is perfect.”

Ashkit shook his head. “I think I hurt my friends,” he wailed.

That made the family pause for a few moments as they processed that this little kit could have hurt someone, and a little more as they debated how to respond.

“Do you feel bad about it?” Gorseheart asked.

Ashkit nodded vigorously.

“Then you’re not a bad cat,” he told the little one simply. “Because bad cats don’t feel bad when they hurt someone, okay?”

Throughout their talking, Gorseheart had slowly crept closer and closer towards the kit. Now he stretched a paw, half-expecting the kit to flinch away as he brushed it testingly against his side. When Ashkit showed no sign of wanting to get away or wanting Gorseheart to leave, Gorseheart moved closer until the kit sat between his front paws. “So you’re a good cat, you just made a mistake.”

“I made mistakes,” Molehchive chimed in quickly, watching the kit.

Gorseheart purred, proud of how fast Molechive jumped in to reassure the kit as well.

“I made mistakes,” Froststorm added.

Lightswan and Emberdawn followed suit with their own admissions.

“I hurt my friends, too,” Gorseheart went on. His heart twisted, and tore a little more when Ashkit looked up at him with those eyes that were so curious and sad and innocent all at once. “And I feel really bad about it.”

Emberdawn pressed against his side.

“Do you think I’m a bad cat?” he asked the kit.

Ashkit blinked, then shook his head.

“Well, I don’t think you’re a bad cat either.” He let the words hang for several long, long heartbeats before deciding to humour the kit. “But you are stinky!”

Ashkit giggled, caught off guard. “I’m not stinky!” he protested.

Gorseheart sniffed his fur. “I think you are,” he replied, “very, very stinky!”

Ashkit batted at his snout.

“I think it’s you!” Emberdawn decided. She made a show of pressing her nose against Gorseheart’s shoulder and taking a long, hard sniff. Then she pulled her head back dramatically, wrinkling her muzzle. “It is you! You’re the stinky cat!”

Ashkit giggled harder, little teeth glinting in the red light.

Froststorm joined in. “You need a bath!”

“A big one!” Lightswan added, holding a paw up to stifle her laughter.

“Hey! Why am I being ganged up on?”

“Because you smell,” Emberdawn answered.

“Well, can’t argue with that,” Gorseheart sighed. “Hey, Ashkit, do you want to come with us to our warm den and help me get all this stink off?” He added, whispering in the kit’s ear, “or help me hide from everyone who wants to give me a bath–ew!”

Ashkit nodded, grinning so wide that his mouth practically touched both ears.

“I can carry you, if you like,” Lightswan offered.

Ashkit paused, thinking with very readable expressions, then ran over to her.

“Do you want to share my nest?” Molechive offered, following beside them. “It’s got the comfiest moss.”

“Well, my den is the warmest,” Froststorm contested.

“I’ll teach you all the cool moves!”

Emberdawn and Gorseheart followed behind their kits, purring so hard that their bodies shook. Anger still swelled deep within Gorseheart’s chest. It had been there since they found Lightswan–then Brokenkit–and he was sure it would be there forever. But as he watched and listened as their kits welcomed and supported who would hopefully be the new addition of their family, he was overcome by immense pride.

================

--Since Lightswan, Molechive, and Froststorm were all adults by the time Ashmint joined as a two-moon old kit, they were all very welcoming towards him. It's a mix of "I know what it was like to show up here as a kit" and "I want to be the coolest big bro/sis."

--The siblings were hanging out when by chance they found this kit and pretty much all went "UH UH UH WHAT DO WE DO UH....GET MOM AND DAD THIS IS THEIR EXPERTISE."

--Gorseheart would want it to be known that he does not actually stink.....no more than any other resident.

--

Ashmint belongs to @ambitiousauthor

Molechive and Froststorm belong to @wills-woodland-warriors

Lightswan belongs to @liberhoe

I was originally gonna have Light be the one getting them, but wanted to give Frost some love. Plus something tells me Light wouldn't want to leave the kit.

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emotional-damage-book-series · 3 months

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A moment of silence for Bloomtail

#clangen #sporeclan #Sloespots #Bloomtail

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emotional-damage-book-series · 3 months

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@residences-of-the-darkforest, @starfalcon555, @wills-woodland-warriors, @elementaldeityoffood

#clangen #Sporeclan

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emotional-damage-book-series · 4 months

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@residences-of-the-darkforest this is his villain arc

#clangen #warriors oc #warrior cats

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emotional-damage-book-series · 4 months

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The goal of the wc name generator I was using: come up with names for the characters that really fit!

The reality: the name ‘Creamdream’ got suggested.

#warrior cats

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emotional-damage-book-series · 4 months

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I was inspired, here’s what Hollylion and Buckfuck’s kiddos would look like.

Hiddenkit: very friendly and outgoing. Nonverbal but noisy as FUCK when she meets someone new. She can’t move very well, but she can move fast enough to get pretty damn far from Daycare (Add: ‘the great Hiddenkit escape’ to list of reasons Fungichomp is going gray) named after the fact that, while Pumpkinkit was found first, she stayed hidden for a while longer bc she was taking a little nap

Pumpkinkit: sweet and sleepy, she doesn’t really move at all, and needs intensive caretaking to make sure she doesn’t get nest sores. She will throw tantrums if she’s understimulated. She’s named after Pumpkinpatch, who found them both and brought them to the Daycare

The only kits Flamebuck will ever have

It'll be so funny if, assuming Flamebuck knows these kits are his, NO ONE believes him.

"No! I have kits! See, there they are!"

"Psst. Yeah sure man, and that rock over there is my son."

@elementaldeityoffood

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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Gentle paws, Gentle care

Brightsway played gently with the kits.

They were small, her mama had taught her.

She needed to be gentle with small cats. Their bones wouldn’t be strong like hers. She could hurt them if she messed up!

Gentle paws. Claws sheathed. Don’t use force. Let them win.

It seemed like ages since she had been that small.

She let the little kit she was playing with win another race, acting as defeated as she could to hide her grin.

She was good at this!

Not a good hunter, no, she could never rip a cat apart like she had been.

Not a med cat, stars no.

A mediator wasn’t needed in the bad woods.

But a queen? A mama? She could do that! She could spend all day with the kits, caring for the infants and playing with the toddle-kits.

She stood, and trotted over to Fungichomp, head spinning her new idea back and forth like a mossball.

“Fungichomp?”

“Yes, Brightsway?”

“I’d like to be a permanent Daycare worker. Is that ok?”

Notes:

- Idk how Fungi would react to this, so part 2 is open for anyone to write if interested!

#dark tales #brightsway #fungichomp

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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Remaining categories for my second communal resident!

Pelt type = ??

Heterochromia = yes - residents-of-the-darkforest

Scar = Brightheart - elementaldeityoffood

Tint = purple - frightnightindustries

Skin = black -ambitiousauthor

Patches tint = none - ambithiousauthor

Taglist:

@residents-of-the-darkforest, @starfalcon555, @wills-woodland-warriors, @liberhoe, @frightnightindustries @elementaldeityoffood

#clangen #warriors oc #make a resident

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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Pelt color chart picked from this photo of the Mojave!

Taglist: @residents-of-the-darkforest, @starfalcon555, @wills-woodland-warriors, @frightnightindustries

#warrior cats #color chart

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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Communal resident 2, let’s go!

Pelt Type = ??

Pelt colour = black - ambitiousauthor

Eye colour = green - starfalcon555

Heterochromia = ??

White patches = yes - starfalcon555

Pelt length = long - starfalcon555

Sex = male - ambitiousauthor

Paralyzed = no - ambitiousauthor

Scar = ??

Vitiligo = phantom - frightnightindustries

Points = none- residents-of-the-dark-forest

Tint = ??

Personality = nervous - residents-of-the-darkforest

Skin = ??

Patches Tint = ??

Tortie = yes - residents-of-the-darkforest

Condition = partially deaf - residents-of-the-darkforest

Kill count = 15 - elementaldeityoffood

Taglist:

@residents-of-the-darkforest, @starfalcon555, @wills-woodland-warriors, @elementaldeityoffood, @liberhoe, @frightnightindustries

#warriors oc #warrior cats #clangen #make a resident

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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Cat Tumblr Dashboard Simulator

🖋️ meowful-musings Follow

🕊️ birdwatching Follow

what's wrong with dry food??? my humans feed me it all the time and i think it's fine

💀 elusivehider-deactivated948204 Follow

op wheres the natural feeding option

🌲 outdoorsy Follow

you guys are getting fed?

#im a barn cat so maybe im missing something here #meowtthew don't look

7,192 notes

☀️ pawsitive-affurmations Follow

ITS OKAY TO BE A MOGGIE

YOU ARE NOT LESS VALID IF YOU ARE NOT A SPECIFIC PEDIGREE!!!!!

☀️ pawsitive-affurmations Follow

extra special shout out to cats who have "common" coat colors. grey tabbies and black cats i am rubbing against your head affectionately <3

🪤 m0usetrap01 Follow

as a grey tabby i really needed to hear this :"3

#i feel like i never see positivity posts for moggies even tho we're the most common type of cat....

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🎵 rage-against-the-meowchine Follow

i cant believe there are cats ACTUALLY advocating for kittens to be separated from their mothers before 12 weeks??? kittens still need to learn how to interact with other cats before being placed into their furever home omg you guys know you're advocating for undersocialized and aggressive cats right

❤️ loving-paws284 Follow

um op some of us??? matured early??????? i was separated from my mother at 7 weeks and i turned out fine... interesting how you assume that kittens being separated from their mothers at a younger age will lead to the degeneracy of the next generation...hmm i wonder where i've heard that before...

🐈 fluffy-the-cat Follow

OP got bit too hard during a play-fight as a kitten and it shows XD

🐟 tunafeesh Follow

also op have you ever considered that just because somecat is kind of scared and unable to deal with strange cats or humans, it doesn't mean they don't deserve to be adopted?? you sound like a vet psyop honestly

🎵 rage-against-the-meowchine Follow

oh meow god saying that kittens should be fully weaned before leaving their mother is NOT veterinarian rhetoric and i never said that they deserve to be euthanized!!! my mother literally died when i was 3 weeks old and it seriously messed up my development so stop putting words in my mouth, thanks

anyway friendly reminder that underweaned kittens are prone to illness and often struggle with basic cat behaviors like litterbox usage, and in some nyavinces it's even considered kitten abuse

#discourse #cant believe "kitten abuse is bad" is controversial now

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🍃 naturalliving Follow

BORN TO DIE

WORLD IS A FUCK

猫神 Kill Em All 1989

I am trash cat

410,757,864,530 DEAD BIRDS

#outdoorliving #outdoorcats please interact #outdoorcat friendly

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🎣 salmonpurina Follow

can't believe cats are uncritically reblogging that born to die world is a fuck post. i know it's funny but op is literally an outdoor cat truther

#like cmon now you just have to go to their blog #lulu speaks

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💀 tabbystripes-deactivated098712 Follow

gentle reminder that pushing cups off the table is not cute and can cause a lot of distress in your human!!!! gentle reminder that our teeth and claws can easily hurt them more than they can hurt us!!!!

🐰 evil-tabbystripes Follow

evil reminder that the cup should always be pushed off the table. evil reminder that you should always bite and claw at your human no matter what. you can do whatever you want forever

💀 tabbystripes-deactivated098712 Follow

make your own pawst

💀 laser-point-deactivated8574721 Follow

umm i know a tomcat who did that and his human ended up putting him down so...

👬🏻 nyasunaruenjoyer Follow

Nyaverage shelter cat behavior

#not nyaruto #re-nyab #pickles shut up

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🌈 nyaoi-warrior Follow

saw two male cats sleeping together on the porch today. homeow behavior imo

💡 discourse-meows Follow

hey um what the fuck??? it's really not okay of you to go assuming other cat's sexualities, especially cats you don't even know???? as a queer cat i'm VERYY uncomfortable. real-ass cats didn't consent to your nyaoi fetish, thanks

🌈 nyaoi-warrior Follow

1. i was making. a joak

2. i'm literally gay???

#literally what's your pawblem

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🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

reblog if you've ever caught the laser pointer

🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

i know you fuckers are lying

🍭 gaykittens Follow

this tom hasn't caught the laser pointer

🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

shut the heull up

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🐾 b-e-a-n-t-o-e-s Follow

grey toebeans >>>>>>>>> pink toebeans and don't let the haters make you believe otherwise

🐁 ladymouser Follow

op shut the fuck up ALL toebeans are beautiful!!! just bc you're miserable and insecure doesn't mean you can bring others down based on things they can't control

🐾 b-e-a-n-t-o-e-s Follow

oh so the cat-human separationist wants to preach to us

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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I was thinking about how you said that kits are named after flowers and then get their official prefix after six moons and now I’m wondering: have there ever been any cats who wanted their “kit” name as their prefix for their full name? If a cat were to make such a request, how would the cats around them react? Would that have some kind of stigma attached to it?

I don’t think so…

Not only are flowers a staple of mortality, they’re also a staple of youth. It’s like coming up to the highest level boss of your company, after years of your hardest work, and introducing yourself as your childhood nickname.

Part of the whole concept of them shedding their “kit” name, the flower, the petals, is for them to grow up. It’s something of a coming-of-age ceremony.

If someone were to request their “kit” name for their true prefix, though, it would be met with a lot of hesitance. Lots of elder cats trying to coax the cat into changing their mind, lots of prefix suggestions, lots of whispers and rumors of the cat in question not being ready for the next step in their lives.

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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i know you said that generally appearance suffix aren't used and can be insulting. are there any instances of a leader who gives a new warrior an appearance suffix just because they have personal beef?

Oh, for sure.

Rainfall named Minktail -tail due to his parentage, rather than his skills. Dude literally has a balance issue; his name was in poor taste.

Lizardstripe was renamed by Raggedclaw. Formerly Lizardheart, for the way she treated her son, Raggedclaw made a full ceremony out of it. Renaming a fully grown cat, especially when that cat has no desire to change their own name? Not only is it practically unheard of, it’s also just plain mean.

Wigeonfur was named in bad faith by her older half-brother, Rhema Turtlemask. Bad blood and all that, rivalry, bitterness… some cats just shouldn’t be offered positions of power, especially not when they might hold it over the heads of others.

That’s just a few via current characters, but throughout the fealty’s history, there’s been many, many more cases of such naming taking place.

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emotional-damage-book-series · 5 months

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What does the suffix -blaze mean?

Suffix: -blaze

Basic Meanings:

The suffix “-blaze” represents a cat who is bright-furred, bold, fierce, hot-tempered, brash, and notably destructive.

(A personality suffix; can also be a physical suffix.)

Reasoning:

While “fire” is more gentle, something that gives the imagery of control and warmth, a blaze is at the opposite end of that. All consuming, leaving ash in its wake, destruction.

Coincidental Traits:

Often given to cats who tend to take out their emotions on others. Also often given to cats who are skilled or renown in combat.

Notes:

Rainfall’s name was meant to be Rainblaze before she requested to be named after Songfall.

Due to the nature of the suffix, very few cats actually end up being named “-blaze”, and those that are tend to either be recluses within their community, or bright-burning and popular. No in between.