solargoose

[solargoose]

Bonus chapter of SR up today because I accidentally got a new kitten! We're technically trying to rehome him but tbh we're not trying that hard.

[solargoose]

At the ripe old age of 82 moons and full of hate, Wrenstem's murdurous rampage was cut short. Not by revenge, but by greencough.

He was never caught.

The face of a killer!

Wrenstem has murdered 3 cats so far - Russetstar (rip to a real one), Fluffyspots (one of Russetstar's daughters), and Partirdgetrot (a sweet old man who everyone liked, but he also had the prophecy interpreter trait so I've decided he got some kind of sign about the murders and Wrenstem decided he needed to cover his tracks.)

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Your clan is filled with murderers

There's actually only been 6 cats, out of 75 total in 111 moons. It's just been the last handful of moons when Wrenstem decided he needed to create drama lol

(Technically 7 murderers, but I'm not counting Teaseltail because I've decided she knew Owlsoar was a murderer and was just trying to protect her clan.)

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Warrior sprites :) Marigoldglint, Pebblegrass (who also came out as nonbinary, good for them!), Brightcricket (murdered by her uncle :( ), and Firesky!

Fun luck in clangen - this is Coniferkit! He's a male calico with heterochormia. Isn't he lovely? (He's also the son of one of my favorite cats, so I might be biased)

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Aaaaand cat number 5 just a couple moons later. Owlfang, named after her uncle, Owlsoar, who was a murderer. Also both of her parents were murderers (only 1 has been caught so far though).

She was pretty normal though. Wrenstem just hated her for some reason.

Just a moon after that, Wrenstem's old apprentice (Lilacpurr) murdered a cat, too.

The face of a killer!

Wrenstem has murdered 3 cats so far - Russetstar (rip to a real one), Fluffyspots (one of Russetstar's daughters), and Partirdgetrot (a sweet old man who everyone liked, but he also had the prophecy interpreter trait so I've decided he got some kind of sign about the murders and Wrenstem decided he needed to cover his tracks.)

[solargoose]

He's done it again! This time it was his aunt Snowymoor. Poor thing couldn't catch a break - her mate got murdered by his apprentice and now she's been murdered by her nephew.

This is the most murders I've gotten out of a cat that wasn't bloodthirsty or fierce, too - Wrenstem is charismatic (very true to real life serial killers). He's also a great hunter, which is a little ominious given that he prefers hunting cats.

The face of a killer!

Wrenstem has murdered 3 cats so far - Russetstar (rip to a real one), Fluffyspots (one of Russetstar's daughters), and Partirdgetrot (a sweet old man who everyone liked, but he also had the prophecy interpreter trait so I've decided he got some kind of sign about the murders and Wrenstem decided he needed to cover his tracks.)

[solargoose]

Good news - Coniferleaf's first litter are apprentices now! In order we've got Marigoldpaw, Pebblepaw, Brightpaw, and Firepaw.

Bad news, his mother Teaseltail became a murderer. The cat she murdered was also a murderer though (Owlsoar murdered Rocknip, who was Russetstar's oldest kit, Owlsoar's mentor, and the mate of Teaseltail's first apprentice Snowymoor) so I think it's fine. #girlboss

Fun luck in clangen - this is Coniferkit! He's a male calico with heterochormia. Isn't he lovely? (He's also the son of one of my favorite cats, so I might be biased)

[solargoose]

The face of a killer!

Wrenstem has murdered 3 cats so far - Russetstar (rip to a real one), Fluffyspots (one of Russetstar's daughters), and Partirdgetrot (a sweet old man who everyone liked, but he also had the prophecy interpreter trait so I've decided he got some kind of sign about the murders and Wrenstem decided he needed to cover his tracks.)

[solargoose]

I was hoping his warrior sprite would show more colored patches, but oh well! He's still a handsome boy :) His warrior name is Coniferleaf.

Fun luck in clangen - this is Coniferkit! He's a male calico with heterochormia. Isn't he lovely? (He's also the son of one of my favorite cats, so I might be biased)

[solargoose]

Fun luck in clangen - this is Coniferkit! He's a male calico with heterochormia. Isn't he lovely? (He's also the son of one of my favorite cats, so I might be biased)

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Idk if anyone else will find this as enthralling as me but as of this chapter, sr's word count (published, not total) is 175,715. Almost a palindrome but not quite! All the same numbers though, 1, 7, and 5.

I just think its neat :)

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Apparently at some point I changed Emberdawn's name to Emberfur? I don't remember it being a conscious choice, but I guess that's her name now.

I checked, she only appears as Emberpaw, her warrior name was only in the allegiances. So I don't have to go back and edit anything at least lol

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Ugh I had another idea and I do not have time to write this but au where the fire prophecy is interpreted differently and instead Bluestar focuses on Tigerclaw's amber eyes looking flame-like, so she just...makes him deputy right off the bat? Like asks Redtail to step down, so he doesn't get murdered, chapter 1 starts with Tigerclaw becoming deputy.

And then everything is different. Tigerclaw doesn't have to murder and scheme, but does he still choose too? Is Rusty still allowed to join? What happens in all the other books?

I just think it'd be neat. If you know of any fics like this feel free to leave a rec.

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SR isn't that close to 200k words, but it's close enough that I'm already thinking about fun things I could do to celebrate lol

Sometimes motivating yourself to write looks a lot like planning your own birthday party, and you know what? I like it

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Yet another AO3 bot situation - please spread the word!

Hi, it's me again, the person who wrote that viral post about fanfiction plagiarism! Today I'm here to warn you about abuse perpetrated by bots who have stolen AO3 usernames.

There's currently an epidemic of bots going around leaving (apparently random) horrible, hateful comments on people's fics. This isn't the first time bots have invaded AO3, but the big problem with this wave is that they're using real AO3 usernames to do it.

I learned about this when another writer contacted me after receiving the following comment on their story:

Now, while that is my username, I DEFINITELY did not leave this comment (and anyone who would leave something like that on a fic should be slapped! What an awful thing to post). This fic is in a completely unrelated fandom that I have never participated in, nor has that author participated in any of my fandoms, so the probability of it being some intentional fandom drama thing to make me look bad is also low.

The writer whose fic the comment was left on enlisted the aid of some friends and tracked down other guest comments with unrelated usernames attached, which is pretty strong evidence that they are being left by bots at random.

The TL;DR: If you receive a cruel comment from a (Guest) with an actual AO3 username attached, it's most likely from a bot. Please do not lash out at or dogpile the AO3 user who owns that name, and who in all likelihood has no idea that their name has been hijacked for evil.

If finding this kind of comment on a fic, even left by a bot, is likely to upset you, I would recommend changing your comment settings so that only users who are logged in can leave comments. To do this, edit your story settings, and under "Privacy," select the radio button that says "Only registered users can comment," as shown below.

Please spread the word to other AO3 users! And if you see mean guest comments on other fics, maybe let the author know that it's probably from a bot and not a real person who thinks their writing is bad.

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World building that I don't think will come up much in the scrambled rewrite but that I want to write about somewhere: clan traditions regarding vigils.

Talkin' 'bout death, so be warned!

The vigils themselves are mostly the same, as this tradition stretches back to the dawn of the clans. There are minor variations, such as who speaks first or what herbs and flowers specifically are used, but most traditions are the same.

The main point of deviation is vigils when there is no body. A cat who is taken by a predator, swept away by a river, or goes missing and is confirmed or believed dead will still have a vigil.

Thunderclan As seen with Ravenpaw's vigil, Thunderclan uses a bundle of herbs to stand in for the body. They usually use the same herbs that are used to prepare the body, but may include the cats favorite flowers or herbs that the healer has extra of.

During herb shortages, a bundle of bracken, twigs, and regular non-medicinal plants are used. Catmint and other rare or valuable herbs are rarely ever used, although there have been some cases where a cat heroically saves someone but is lost in the process, and catmint was used to honor them.

After the vigil, the herbs, flowers, or twigs are burried as if they are a body. The reasoning for this varies from cat to cat, and the exact origins are unknown. Some believe it's just meant to give grieving cats a grave to visit, while others think it helps the spirit return to Thunderclan territory and join Starclan. Many cats attribute it to luck - it's bad luck not to have a burial after a funeral, and worse luck to reuse herbs that were used in a funeral.

Riverclan Riverclan's tradition is similar, at least at first. They focus more on using things to represent the cat rather than the tradtional funeral herbs, though. While a representational body might include some herbs, it's also common to see feathers, small stones, shells, and flowers.

Riverclan in SR does still decorate their nests, so often times one or more of the cat's personal decorations will be used, and friends and family may contribute some of their own decorations to represent the part of them that went with the cat who died.

In the case of any funeral, most of the cat's decorations are claimed by the cat's friends and family, and it can get just as messy as sorting out inheritance among humans. It's not unusual for elders, sick, or heavily injured cats to specifically give away some of their decorations to cats to avoid their loved ones arguing after they die.

Unlike Thunderclan, Riverclan does not bury their representational bodies. Instead, the collection of items are taken to the river, to either be swept away or sink to the bottom. For vigils with bodies, some objects may be buried with the body and others may be taken to the river.

It's considered very rude to intentionally recover an object used in a funeral. However, if a younger cat finds one of the objects used without realizing what it was, it's considered very lucky. It's believed to be a sign that Starclan is watching over the young cat. This is one of the reasons that even funerals with bodies often include giving objects to the river.

The other reason dates back to Riverstar, who was brought to the clan by the river. He had great respect for the river, and believed it would carry him to Starclan as well. Over the years Riverstar's belief that the river connected their clan to Starclan has remained in Riverclan, although not every cat believes it or believes as strongly.

Windclan Windclan does not use a representational body at all. If asked why, most cats would not know the answer, but the elders may remember that it is connected to the legend of the Grave-Crawlers. To have a grave without a body is to invite trouble, so they don't make a grave.

Instead, they gather around and hold a vigil over the empty space where the body would be. When it is time to bury the body, the elders walk outside together to the burial ground, as if they were carrying a body. They then step apart, symbolically releasing the body so the spirit is no longer attached to the ground.

Windclan is unique in that they take the weather into account for vigils. Rain or shine doesn't matter, but vigils held on windy nights are said to be a good sign. The wind will carry the spirit swiftly to Starclan. A still night without even a slight breeze is considered bad luck, and more superstitious cats might try to use their breath to speed the spirit along.

Shadowclan Shadowclan uses prey as a representational body, something the other clans find grotesque. However, Shadowclan does not see it as comparing their loved one to food. Instead, it's a representation of life, since cats need prey to live.

The cat's loved ones will usually hunt prey specifically for the funeral, with the best piece being chosen to represent the cat. The chosen prey is not eaten, not even during a famine, and is instead buried.

There was a brief period of time where cats argued that if dead prey represented live cats, then live prey should be used to represent dead cats. Cats would catch prey without harming it, bring it back to camp for the vigil, then release it afterwards. That particular type of prey would not be hunted for a few days afterwards.

However, this was difficult and led to some highly chaotic funerals, where cats tried desperately to keep a frog or mouse from escaping without hurting it. Arguments also broke out over how long they should wait before hunting that animal again. They went back to using dead prey.

Elders sometimes get the urge to wander off, especially when they're close to death. While other clans do their best to keep this from happening, Shadowclan believes it disrespectful to intervene. The belief is that cats know when it is their time, and standing in their way is the same as proclaiming that you know more than them about their own fate. An exception is made for cats who are clearly confused or not aware of what they are doing.

Elders who feel the urge to wander beginning will sometimes hunt or select their own prey for the clan to use in their funeral. Unlike with other funerals, the elder does often eat the prey as a way of exercising control over their own mortality. The bones are cleaned and left for the clan to use. The funeral for wandering elders is held either when the death is confirmed or one moon after they leave.

Because of this tradition, cats will notice if there are bones around camp. It often makes older cats nervous, and typically prompts the healer to make rounds checking on every cat (if they don't know where the bones came from) or the specific cat leaving the bones.

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The writing advise post you made was very helpful. Curious about what you meant by spite got you through the bday count?

Oh! OH! Let me tell you the story of Dog Park Guy! This is a long one because I'm still angry.

So I go to the dog park with my mother and her dog fairly regularly. We chat, I get play with the various dogs, it's a good time. It's a pretty small town so we're familiar with most of the dog park regulars, and we get along with most of them.

Dog Park Guy started off pretty normal. His dog is great, no complaints. He's an older guy, and I noticed he did the older guy thing of kinda ignoring me a little and focusing on the other adults, but that's not out of the ordinary. Since I'm there with my mom people tend to assume I'm younger than I actually am.

It's been a few months of DPG coming, at this point he is aware that I'm in my late 20s and I'm a writer. He happened to be there while I was updating mom about my old writing job and my new job, so he's also aware that I'm a writer professionally. This is important.

He reveals that he is also a writer - great! I love talking to other writers! He picked it up recently as a hobby after retiring, cool, I'm ready for a pleasant chat.

He does not want a pleasant chat.

DPG proceeds to, very condescendingly, tell me what I need to do to be a better writer.

Not advice or suggestions or tips, but flat out says what I need to be doing.

I'm already insulted. He hasn't read my writing, he doesn't know what I need to improve on. I'm not too proud to take advice, and I'll take a good suggestion from anyone, but I do not take orders from someone unless they can back it up with experience or reasoning.

Here's the kicker - the thing he says I have to do, what I need to be doing to be good at the thing I've been doing professionally for several years? Use AI.

I haven't talked about my feelings on AI in depth on this blog, but to summarize I would rather stop writing entirely than use generative AI for anything. In addition to all the ethical and environmental problems, I take great pride in my work and refuse to outsource any part of it to man or machine.

Now, I tried to be polite. I firmly but politely told him I don't like using AI. He insisted. Kept arguing and bringing it up over and over. Implied that I was stupid for not embracing modern tech. Talked about AI with this smug air like he, after just a few months of writing, somehow discovered a miracle-cheatcode that every other writer was too stupid and stubborn to use. Keeps insisting this would work for every writer ever, no exceptions, because it's so incredible that it can do anything and everything.

He uses it for editing - he feeds some of his writing into it and it spits out an 'analysis' and advice. He shows me what it tells him. It's bad advice. Shallow and largely unhelpful. I'm still trying to be polite because picking fights at the dog park is generally frowned upon. He claims that the advice is very good and also that you'd need an advanced degree to do the same thing without ai.

I tell him that's not true, it's a skill that anyone can learn, and in fact learning how to do it yourself will make you a stronger writer because you will internalize the improvements more. I also point out that I have a degree in writing, so his insistence that I, personally, need this is moot anyways. Using it would slow me down significantly (to say nothing of the drop off in quality, trust me when I say this was bad advice).

He ignores all that and continues insisting that I'm wrong. It would be very helpful and it actually wouldn't slow me down at all. At this point I've graduated from seething to wrathful and have abandoned all pretense of being polite.

I point out that he doesn't know anything about my writing, and he certainly doesn't know more than me about how changing my process would impact it.

He challenges me to a writing contest and I am giddy with rage. I'm vibrating out of my skin with hysteria and am about to scream and laugh.

This is not a friendly contest, I am out for blood.

I go home and immediately write a 2k short story, followed by 10k words on SR. The short story isn't my best work (the prompt we agreed on was intentionally restrictive), but it is pretty close.

He has not returned to the dog park since issuing his challenge, and I have declared him to be a coward unwilling to face me.