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(You don’t have to post this on the blog, I just wanted to apologize) I’m sorry about the xenofiction speculation ask, and I promise I’m not disappointed by your answer at all! This series has been my main hyperfixation for the past few months and I’ve been rereading it on repeat, so I spend a lot of time speculating and trying to identify themes. I didn’t think about the possibility I was overanalyzing when I sent that, and I realized that I shouldn’t analyze the blog like I do the text, because it isn’t the source material and also it wouldn’t be nice for you to have your words and thoughts be looked at that closely. I will be more considerate in the future and ensure that I’m only referring to the text or the tagged plant facts before sending any asks, and I hope you didn’t feel disrespected.

Very sweet of you to be concerned, but no need to apologize! No offense has been taken and all is well on my end. I just haven't read a lot of xenofiction, and we're planning to correct that come the second arc. Lynx's already got a massive list of potential books to vote for, so it'll be up to y'all whether I read A Black Fox Running or Call of the Wild.

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I am completely out of the loop on the fandom culture and the books' events, honestly. I don't watch any WC channels or follow any blogs, fics or artists. All my information comes from Lynx.

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Head canon that firepaw started to look more like a lion cub/ thunder clan after getting Horoa’s blessing.

I.e getting slightly bigger than he would’ve and getting rounder ears. Magic does exist here after all.

Now this is an interesting idea.

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We do our best around here!

I was reading the WC graphic novels and was wondering why Thornkit wasn't being portrayed with his speech impediment. And then I realized that was from the Redux. I've simply accepted the Redux as canon in my heart at this point.

It has been zero days since Iterum has been confused with/considered to be canon!

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Could the reason you’re hanging off on the xenofiction until arc two happen to be because of Fang? I imagine if we have a WindClanner POV, that means we’ll get to see interactions with all sorts of creatures with their own cultures on the journey! Oooh, I wonder if that means we’ll also get more Clan Oral History through RiverClan and more fun spirituality through ShadowClan? There’s so much to speculate about!

It's more boring than that, unfortunately. We're just expanding our options in the book club from Erin Hunter stuff to general xenofiction. Fang will come up in the second arc, but it likely won't be inspired by other books.

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I saw you read WD, which is a classic honestly and I'm not surprised.

What about Tailchaser's Song? Iterum reminds me of it because of the vibes, if not then it's a good read (gen rec also for other fans around here :D)

If you haven't also I recommend Duncton Wood series tho it's surely a lengthy one, it features moles ^^

[Sorry, I'm very into Xenofiction and love when people just share the books they like no matter the animal]

Oh, yeah, Tailchaser's! I totally forgot about it. I read it years ago when I was in either the end of middle school or the beginning of high school. I should reread it. I remember nothing.

I should say that I'm holding off on reading more xenofiction until we get to the second arc of this series. You'll see why then.

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Best movies/books/comics with cats as main characters?

Personally, I'm not much of a cat-focused-animal-story person these days. I like writing Iterum, and I have a setting of my own with cat-folk, but I don't seek out or rewatch/reread cat stories as of late. I'd rather see what other animals have to offer.

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what are your best (or personal favorite) xenofictions?

I actually haven't read too many of them, so I'm going for the classics (read: boring answers) here. Both Jungle Books and Black Beauty are ones I read all the time and thoroughly enjoy. All three of them have left an impact on me in one way or another, so I favor them greatly. Watership Down is also awesome.

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Song suggestion! Take Me to War by The Crane Wives for Firestar. He would sing it more grimly than the eager way the singer does it. It only plays when he's at the end of his rope.

Theatre Musical Villain Firestar Song Here:

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What is your opinion about “ Watership Down”? Do you think he did certain aspects better than Warriors Cats?

LYNX: Oh, I love Watership Down, it's a comfort read of mine. And yes, Richard Adams did so many things better than the Erins have done with Warriors, but I would say that there's a lot of stuff Watership Down did that Warriors shouldn't take notes from, such as the narrator feeling more like half a nature documentary narrator, half an orator for an epic.

DULLARD: Watership Down is infinitely better than Warriors, I'll just get that out of the way. Granted, their tones are wildly different, but I would still prefer to read WD every day of my life. It's not my most-read-most-well-loved animal fiction in the world, but I will never deny its quality and what trails it blazed for animal fiction.

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I had like a ahitpost crack dream where arc two of redux was Mira waking up and going into space, and then the rest of the series was a Voltron crossover with all four clans as the one single blue paladin

(Suriin Horoa and Rokhar came too, but we’re not corporal/physical in the same way Mira was, and thus were not actual lions of Voltron)

I won't lie, that's probably better than what we've got planned.

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Further advice!

how does one come up with a plot. im worldbuilding and character building but im struggling to make an actual plot

the only thing i got are themes of the fear of death and religious trauma :shrug:

This may be a pointless ramble, bear with me.

There are a couple different ways that people develop stories. I've heard some folks like to decide on a message they want to send and build the plot, characters and world around that (environmental opinions, questions about how handle grief healthily, etc). Others take a setting they've developed and make a plotline out of the natural issues that come up from that setting (severe class divide, elements of nature going out of control, etc). There's also people (like me) who start with one of the three factors of a story (plot, characters, worldbuilding) and sort of build them at the same time as each other, so they're woven together.

But for actual ideas...I can't really speak to your sort of creative mind, because I don't know how your brain functions, but I'll describe how my stories come to me. Hopefully it'll help you.

My favored path to a story, setting, or character is inspiration. I'll see something I really like that speaks to me (or is just plain fucking cool) and I'll take it and develop how I want to do it my way.

For example, I really love the concepts described in Downtrodden (which you all should look at, it’s so sick): small animals in a world with beasts much larger and more dangerous than them, having to rely on their own cunning and abilities to survive, complete with an interesting culture and unique interpretations of other animals for different races. So I took that and ended up making multiple settings with my own personal spin on them - one with bipedal cats as the dominant race but every animal, including their livestock, is still the same size as in our world; one in a book I’m working on now with regular prey animals in a redwood forest; and one with unicorn-people who have to destroy corpses so they don’t automatically come back as shambling zombies thanks to the earth’s desire to negate death. The materials and coats of paint are entirely different, but the core inspiration is still there. I just saw something I liked and said, “Now, how would I do it?” In the process of molding it to my liking, it changed enough to not be just a repeat of something someone else did better.

The same is to be said for story ideas. While it is just a fix-it fic, for Iteurm, Lynx and I saw Warriors as it is, used the plot as a baseline, and ended up coming up with things that are a far cry from canon (which you’ve seen in the worldbuilding and will be seeing a lot more of in the third arc’s plotline). One original project, Seeker, was inspired by Moonstuck, Prequel and all of MSPaintAdventures – I liked the idea of interacting with player commands, and worked that into the story as a major plot point. In every instance, I wanted to play with a concept someone else did, and it became its own unique thing by virtue of being done by a different person with different opinions, ideas and desires. It can follow beats or slither the same general pathway of a movie I watched (or whatever), but it’s still its own thing, and you didn’t have to claw at your brain trying to figure out something “new” and “original” (which is the most blatant lie artists tell themselves – there is nothing new under the sun, and trying to go so different to everyone else will just fuck you over).

The main key for this method is that you are saying it with your voice and your interpretations of the world around you. A lot of people just blatantly copy something someone else did without thinking about why they were so inspired, and what specific themes and concepts lit a fire in them. Taking from multiple stories helps with this, because in order to make them fit together, you HAVE to say it your way.

I recommend watching this section of C-Puff’s video about My Adventures With Superman, because she says a lot of this way better than I did, and it’s a good place to start thinking about stories in general.

I have no idea how helpful this will be, but it’s about the best I could do. Feel free to send something in if this failed to answer anything.

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how does one come up with a plot. im worldbuilding and character building but im struggling to make an actual plot

the only thing i got are themes of the fear of death and religious trauma :shrug:

This may be a pointless ramble, bear with me.

There are a couple different ways that people develop stories. I've heard some folks like to decide on a message they want to send and build the plot, characters and world around that (environmental opinions, questions about how handle grief healthily, etc). Others take a setting they've developed and make a plotline out of the natural issues that come up from that setting (severe class divide, elements of nature going out of control, etc). There's also people (like me) who start with one of the three factors of a story (plot, characters, worldbuilding) and sort of build them at the same time as each other, so they're woven together.

But for actual ideas...I can't really speak to your sort of creative mind, because I don't know how your brain functions, but I'll describe how my stories come to me. Hopefully it'll help you.

My favored path to a story, setting, or character is inspiration. I'll see something I really like that speaks to me (or is just plain fucking cool) and I'll take it and develop how I want to do it my way.

For example, I really love the concepts described in Downtrodden (which you all should look at, it’s so sick): small animals in a world with beasts much larger and more dangerous than them, having to rely on their own cunning and abilities to survive, complete with an interesting culture and unique interpretations of other animals for different races. So I took that and ended up making multiple settings with my own personal spin on them - one with bipedal cats as the dominant race but every animal, including their livestock, is still the same size as in our world; one in a book I’m working on now with regular prey animals in a redwood forest; and one with unicorn-people who have to destroy corpses so they don’t automatically come back as shambling zombies thanks to the earth’s desire to negate death. The materials and coats of paint are entirely different, but the core inspiration is still there. I just saw something I liked and said, “Now, how would I do it?” In the process of molding it to my liking, it changed enough to not be just a repeat of something someone else did better.

The same is to be said for story ideas. While it is just a fix-it fic, for Iteurm, Lynx and I saw Warriors as it is, used the plot as a baseline, and ended up coming up with things that are a far cry from canon (which you’ve seen in the worldbuilding and will be seeing a lot more of in the third arc’s plotline). One original project, Seeker, was inspired by Moonstuck, Prequel and all of MSPaintAdventures – I liked the idea of interacting with player commands, and worked that into the story as a major plot point. In every instance, I wanted to play with a concept someone else did, and it became its own unique thing by virtue of being done by a different person with different opinions, ideas and desires. It can follow beats or slither the same general pathway of a movie I watched (or whatever), but it’s still its own thing, and you didn’t have to claw at your brain trying to figure out something “new” and “original” (which is the most blatant lie artists tell themselves – there is nothing new under the sun, and trying to go so different to everyone else will just fuck you over).

The main key for this method is that you are saying it with your voice and your interpretations of the world around you. A lot of people just blatantly copy something someone else did without thinking about why they were so inspired, and what specific themes and concepts lit a fire in them. Taking from multiple stories helps with this, because in order to make them fit together, you HAVE to say it your way.

I recommend watching this section of C-Puff’s video about My Adventures With Superman, because she says a lot of this way better than I did, and it’s a good place to start thinking about stories in general.

I have no idea how helpful this will be, but it’s about the best I could do. Feel free to send something in if this failed to answer anything.

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welcome to The Fanon Zone, graphic novel anon

Welcome to our cluu-uub! Welcome to our cluu-uub! Welcome, anon, welcome, anon, welcome, anon, welcome, anon!

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I made this in like 2 seconds but as per that last anon. Behold. The meme.

PERFECT!

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I was reading the WC graphic novels and was wondering why Thornkit wasn't being portrayed with his speech impediment. And then I realized that was from the Redux. I've simply accepted the Redux as canon in my heart at this point.

It has been zero days since Iterum has been confused with/considered to be canon!

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Sorry if this wasn't obvious but who came up with Swifttail's name? Bluestar wasn't in the right frame of mind to do so, and I think I remember Speckletail having to help with his warrior ceremony somehow (although I didn't go back to double check so if I'm wrong then I'm sorry), and clearly the -tail suffix fit him because otherwise, ThunderClan probably would have been up in arms about it. Did Speckletail talk to Longtail and Willowpelt to get name ideas for him? Or are potential suffixes generally pretty obvious to the clan as a whole, the way that Greystripe knew his suffix would be -stripe or the way that the medicine cats all knew that Cinderpelt could have been a -belly?

When it comes to a suffix, it's commonplace that the entire Clan can guess what the cat will be called. They may not know for certain, especially if there can be multiple choices, but no one's going to be surprised when an apprentice becomes a -fang or a -storm. The mentor is often talked to by the leader regardless, just to be sure that their name will fit, and the apprentice themselves can be approached if they have different options, so that they can decide whether they want to be a -heart or a -whisker.

In this case, though he didn't really get to exercise it in the story, the Clan knew he'd be a -tail. Bluestar prior to her mental downfall had talked to Lizardtail to keep track of Swiftpaw's training, so she was planning to name him -tail anyways. Speckletail knew as well, but she didn't have to correct Bluestar that time.