#'oh hey warrior cat people'

[fierceawakening]

Post on my dash: sometimes it annoys me that I pick up some sci fi and it’s rad until suddenly a sexism

People replying to it: Don’t say sci fi has a sexism problem. Read this instead!

Me: Thats very cool, but some days I STILL think back to no one bothering to warn teenage girl me about the kzin and get mad all over again. Can I say so please?

[bonefall]

⭕️Hey Bones! Is it ok if you explain and/or elaborate how Crowfeather is abusive to Breezepelt if please?⭕️

I do KNOW that crowfeather is indeed, abusive to Breezepelt, due to the fact that he emotionally and/or physically neglected him - with child neglect being known to BE a form of child abuse - and I also heard that he slashed and/or hit him within one of the books, which I believe is in the book Outcast, in chapter 16.

But I also wish people would talk and be informed about it more within the fandom, because in the parts of the fandom I’ve known portrayed Crowfeather’s neglect on Breezepelt as negative and bad, but not in a way that made me think and/or feel: “Wow, that’s pretty bad. That’s…actually abusive.” I suppose? So I hope more people will talk about it more in that type of way.

Also, please be aware that I have NOT read PoT, OoTS, etc. or barely any warrior cats books, since the majority of the information I got from the series is from the wiki and the fandom, so that probably explains why I didn’t know this part of Crowfeather’s character is as bad as it actually is until now. Also, feel free to talk about Crowfeather’s abuse on Breezepelt I haven’t mentioned and/or don’t know right now as well if you want.

I’m SO sorry that if this ask is unintentionally quite long, and feel free to make sure to take all the time you need to answer it. Thank you!

OH LET'S GOOOO

Breezepelt is both physically and emotionally abused by Crowfeather. I'm not talking about only child neglect; he is screamed at, belittled, and even once hit on-screen.

The fact that Crowfeather both neglected and abused him is very important to the canonical story of Breezepaw. There's actually a lot more to this character than people remember! Even from his first appearances he displays good qualities, a strained relationship with his father and adult clanmates, and is clearly shown to be troubled before we understand why.

As many problems as I have with the direction of Breezepelt's arc (especially Crowfeather's Trial), his setup is legitimately a praiseworthy bit of writing from Po3 which carries over into OotS. To say that Breezepelt was not abused is to completely miss two arcs worth of books SCREAMING it.

BIG POST. Glossary;

INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River

ABUSE: Outcast, Social Alienation, the Tribe Journey.

DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.

For "brevity," I'm not getting into anything post-OotS. I'm just showing that Breezepelt was abused, the narrative wants you to know that he was abused, and that his status as a victim of child abuse is CENTRAL to understanding why he is training in the Dark Forest.

INTRO TO BREEZEPELT: The Sight and Dark River

Our very first introduction to Breeze is when Jaypaw walks off a cliff in the first book of Po3 and is rescued by a WindClan patrol. He's making snarky remarks, and Whitetail and Crowfeather are not happy about it. Whitetail snaps for Crow to teach his son some manners, and Crow growls for Breezepaw to be quiet.

But our proper introduction to him is at his announcement gathering, when Heatherpaw playfully introduces him as a friend,

From the offset something's not entirely right here between Breezepaw and his father. He's cut off by Heatherpaw here, but he's touchy whenever his father is involved, and we're not entirely sure why.

Throughout Book 1, he's just rude, with a notable xenophobic streak. He's a bit of a mean rival character for Lionpaw, as they're both interested in the affections of Heatherpaw and make bids to get her attention, but nothing particularly violent yet.

He participates in the beloved Kitty Olympics and gets buried in liquid dirt with Lionpaw, basically a rite of passage for any arc.

(And Nightcloud has a cute moment where she watches over them until they fall asleep)

As the books progress, the relationship between Crow and Breeze visibly deteriorates. They start from being simply tense with each other in The Sight, to the open shouting and hitting we see in Outcast.

In the very first chapter of Dark River, we learn where his behavioral issues are really coming from;

Crowfeather.

Breezepelt is getting xenophobia from his father. Occasionally he says something bigoted and his dad will agree and chime in, and those are the only positive moments they have together.

(Note: In contrast, Nightcloud explicitly pushes back against xenophobia, chiding Breezepelt for his rudeness to Lionpaw in back in The Sight, Chapter 21. The Sight is the book where a lot of "evidence" that the Evil Overbearing Woman is actually responsible for the rift between father and son but. No. She's not. Though she can be overprotective; Crow and Breeze have a bad relationship when she's not even around in Breeze's first appearance and even his Crowfeather's Trial Epiphany refutes it. Anyway this post isn't about Nightcloud.)

So he starts acting on his bigotry, accusing cats in other Clans of stealing, running really close to the border. What's interesting though, is that this is not entirely his doing. The first time we get physical trouble from Breezepaw, DUSTPELT aggressed it. Breezepaw and Harepaw were just chasing a squirrel and hadn't yet gone over the border at all.

We learn that WindClan is teaching its apprentices how to hunt in woodland, and tensions between the two Clans is starting to escalate as ThunderClan isn't entirely trusting of their intentions.

The second time, fighting breaks out over him and Harepaw actually crossing the border and catching a squirrel. WindClan is adamant that because it came from their land, it's their squirrel. So it's as if Breezepaw is modelling the aggression around him, learning how to behave from the older warriors and his father.

When he joins Heatherpaw and The Three to go find Gorsetail's kits in the tunnels, he's grouchy towards the ThunderClan cats, but very gentle with the kittens. Notably so. When Thistlekit is dangerously cold, he cuddles up next to her, and even assures Swallowkit when she's scared,

Through this entire excursion, he's the one in the comforting roles for the kittens. Breezepaw is the one who is taking time to tell the kits they'll be okay, that he'll protect them, and physically supporting them when they're weak, even when he's terrified.

And it's always contrasted to Heatherpaw who's way more 'disciplined,' as a side note. It's a detail I'm just fond of.

All this to point out,

Breezepelt displays his best qualities when he's away from the older warriors of WindClan, and he's at his worst whenever he's near Crowfeather. Even while he's essentially just a bully character for The Three to deal with. He's gruff but cooperative when it's just him and Heatherpaw interacting with The Three, but mean when there is an adult to please.

We're getting to the on-screen abuse now, but Po3 actually sets up Breezepaw's troubles and dynamics well before it's finally confirmed that he is a victim of child abuse.

ABUSE: Outcast, the Tribe Journey.

In Outcast, Breezepaw's problems have escalated into open aggression towards cats of other Clans, and is now a legitimate concern for his own safety. Yet, he's spoken over by older warriors, and reprimanded at nearly every opportunity, right in front of the warrior of another Clan.

Squilf just asked the poor kid how his training was going, and then Whitetail JUMPS to talk over him so she can complain, RIGHT in front of his face.

They can't even wait until they're alone to grumble something rude about Breezepaw, who is still just a teenager here;

They taught him already that a bit of prey that runs off their own territory still belongs to WindClan, encourage him to blow past borders in pursuit, and started a battle with ThunderClan over this. And then they're pissed off at him for being aggressive, thinking it's deserved to scold him in public.

When Onestar announces that he wants Breezepaw to go on the Tribe Journey, he's devastated by it...

Because he thinks WindClan doesn't like him, and he's right. He's gossiped about, torn into in front of a ThunderClan warrior, and even his own dad doesn't want to be around him. It's clear that Breezepaw's impulsive "codebreaking" behaviors are a desire to prove himself, and once you realize that, the way that he's being alienated is heartbreaking.

But Wait!! Hold on a minute! Where did he get a "patrol of apprentices" from to confront the dogs with, exactly?

Simple. Breezepaw CAN make friends! He actually values them a lot! So much that it's the first thing Crowfeather snaps at him over, out of frustration that his son is also being forced on this journey with him. It's an angry response to his child having emotional and physical needs, resentment that will continue all journey long.

Note that it's plural, friends. Breezepelt has multiple friends, at least one who is not Heatherpaw, and she promises to say goodbye to them.

Up next, they state over and over, Crowfeather and Breezepaw do not like each other. Crowfeather resents being around him and dealing with his rudeness, embarrassed and angry, and Breezepaw is absolutely miserable being sent on a journey to the mountains with a man who hates his guts.

The whole while, Crowfeather is brooding longingly about Feathertail, already thinking about her as soon as he kitty-kisses Nightcloud goodbye, his eyes looking somewhere distant. He makes a jab about loyalty when Breezepaw doesn't understand why they're helping the Tribe.

Breezepaw gets smacked after he's "shoved" at Purdy and acts rude to him, while the other three manage to be polite (while still having internal dialogue about how stinky he is).

Without so much as a, "cut that out," Crowfeather raises his paw and hits him. Breeze is quiet after that.

I don't give a shit how rude your teenager is being. Do not hit kids. Being throttled on the head is not okay.

In spite of the Three not liking Breezepaw, or even Crowfeather, they're constantly noting that their arguments are not normal, and that Crow is a cold, unsupportive father who digs into his kid constantly, and the only time he ever DOES "discipline" his child it's through immediately smacking him.

At one point, the apprentices get hungry, and decide to foolishly hunt in a barn that they know has dogs in it against Purdy's warnings. Once again, JUST like the first two books, Breezepaw is more friendly when Crowfeather is not around.

EVERY time he is alone with cats his own age, he's grumpy but cooperative. Even enthusiastic at times! The minute Crowfeather is in the picture, he's nasty.

Naturally, the dogs show up, but Purdy rescues them. Though Brambleclaw also chews his kids out (and i have strong opinions about bramble's parenting style for another time), Hollypaw is taken aback by the contrast of what a scolding from Brambleclaw looks like vs how Crowfeather reacts.

The narrative is desperately trying to tell you that the way Crowfeather treats his son is not normal.

And then Crowfeather is pissed off that Breezepaw is exhausted from running for his life from hungry dogs,

And he's constantly losing his shit whenever Breezepaw says something as innocuous as "dad im hungry"

Then, Breezepaw is made to watch his dad pine over the grave of a woman who died long before Crowfeather was even considering his mother for a mate. What he feels is jealousy, because he knows his own father doesn't love him anywhere near as much as he loves the memory of Feathertail.

This really goes on and on and on. The ENTIRE trip is like this, with Crowfeather treating Breezepelt poorly, giving him a smack before even verbally warning him, pushing him past his limits and blowing up on him when he asks simple questions about eating or resting.

It all comes to a head in this one exchange, towards the end. Hollypaw ends up snapping at Breezepaw for his rudeness, before having an epiphany.

It's explicit. Crowfeather's emotional abuse, his "scorn" for Breezepelt, is what is driving a wedge between him and all of his older Clanmates. Between EVERYONE in Breezepelt's life who wasn't already his friend. This awful treatment is only making him worse and worse.

Realizing this, she has more sympathy for him, but it's too late. He continues to be rude to her because he feels insulted, and her patience completely runs out. She's just a kid. They're both just kids. She's not responsible for fixing him when he's pushing everyone away at this point.

That's the end of Breezepelt in Outcast. It can't be helped anymore. Any spark of friendship they had together in the barn, or in the tunnels, is gone.

As the series progresses, Crowfeather continues to refuse any personal responsibility for the mistreatment of his son, even pinning all of Breezepelt's behavioral problems on Nightcloud. He is a cold, selfish father who only ever thinks about his own pain and reputation.

DARK FOREST: How these factors push him towards radicalization.

Everyone talks about the Attack on Poppyfrost, which happens in the first book of OotS, in oversimplified terms. YES he is going after a nun and a pregnant woman. I've never said that's not Bad.

But no one talks about "WHY", and that reason is NOT just that he desires power like so many other WC villains. Breezepelt makes his motivation very clear on the page.

Escalating to violence was about making Jayfeather feel the way that he does.

When Breezepelt says that he wants Jay to be surrounded by "lies, hatred, and things that should never have happened," he's talking about the way HE grew up, knowing his father never wanted him, and that his Clan HATES him as a result. Killing Poppyfrost is about trying to frame Jayfeather for her murder, so ThunderClan won't trust him anymore.

When Jayfeather points out the simple truth that what Breezepelt is saying doesn't make any goddamn sense, his hatred "falters." He's blaming his half-clan half-brother for his own treatment because of the reveal, but totally failed to consider that JAYFEATHER'S ALREADY GOING THROUGH IT... so his response is just this pitiful, "s-shut up, man."

Then the ghost of Brokenstar and Breezepelt bounce him back and forth between them like a beach ball for a bit until Honeyfern's spirit shows up.

Breezepelt's childhood abuse and social alienation was a hook that the Dark Forest latched onto, to reel him in. His anger at his half-brother is so obviously misplaced that its absurdity was something Jayfeather pointed out.

We soon learn that it's the Dark Forest who's planting that ridiculous idea in his head;

The narration is SCREAMING, "The Dark Forest is validating the anger he feels towards his father, and redirecting it towards The Three." He's described as 'kitlike,' Tigerstar's eyes are compared to a hypnotizing snake.

This prose could not make it more obvious if it drove to your house, beat you with it, and then spoon fed you the point while you were hospitalized.

At the end of this scene, Tigerstar sends Hawkfrost to recruit Ivypaw. This scene where Breezepelt is being lovebombed, and the command to start grooming Ivypaw, ARE LINKED. That was a choice.

A VERY GOOD choice! Again, as many issues as I have with OotS, its handling of indoctrination is unironically fantastic, and it owes a good amount of that to the outstanding setup of Breezepelt that was done back in Po3. And that setup doesn't work if Crowfeather was merely distant.

Breezepelt was abused by his father, both verbally and physically. It drove him to be more aggressive to prove himself, modeling the battle culture around him. The adults of WindClan judged him based off Crowfeather's responses, shunning and belittling the 'problem' teenager, which eventually drove Breezepelt to the only group that he felt "understood" him.

In a book series that is RIFE with abuse apologia, this is one of the few times that there's any behavioral consequences for abuse and the narrative holds the perpetrator accountable for it.

But people hear Crowfeather's deflective excuse in The Last Hope where he says he never hated him, blames Nightcloud for everything, and just lick it up uncritically.

Gee whiz, I wonder why the guy who never blames himself for any of his problems would suddenly say it was his ex-wife's fault. Real headscratcher!

(Crowfeather's Trial then goes onto, for all my own problems with it, also hold Crow accountable as the reason why Breezepelt turned out like he did. But that's a topic for another day.)

[erose-this-name]

humans are not the default race

In every scifi and fantasy setting with """races""", humans are the default.

If you're lucky, we're the short-lived, fast-reproducing pests that are all white Europeans for some mysterious reason, and also have disproportionate rates of being raised as undead because we can't be bothered to make zombie dwarf minis or animate a vampire gnome that has to jump up to bite a tall person's neck.

(We've got BOTH human AND elf skeleton warriors! Oh, hey, I just changed the scale, now it's a hobbit skeleton OR a giant skeleton! Such skeleton diversity! No, Khajiits can't be bone boys, a skeleton with a tail and a cat skull is just TOO SPOOKY)

I feel like a lot of people don't realize that we (Homo sapiens) have the longest running endurance of any land animal. Being able to run a marathon is not normal.

(It's because we evolved the very unusual hunting strategy of Slowly Chasing Gazelles Or Whatever While Throwing Sticks At Them Until The Gazelle Or Whatever Collapses From Exhaustion Then Casually Walking Up And Bashing Their Head In With A Rock™).

Even Neanderthals probably couldn't match our tenacity (they were considerably stronger and tougher though, but by no means dumber judging from the size of their brain cavities{which was bigger than ours actually})

(the evolutionary Neanderthal hunting strategy was probably something like Jumping Out And Stabbing An Ice Age Megafauna With A Stick Then Getting Punted 12 Feet Into a Tree Then Getting Up And Doing It Again Until It Dies Because You Have Superhuman Bone And Muscle Density And If You Do Break One Of Your Unbreakable Bones Your Homies Will Take Care Of You Until It Heals™ [Neanderthal skeletons are found with healed fractures surprisingly often despite said bones being much stronger and denser than ours, they just kept evolving denser bones until they couldn't even swim without sinking like a rock and they still got broken all the time])

So given that we, Homo sapiens, actually literally used to be the "species that specializes in sheer endurance, determination, and unbreakable fucking will", I want more fantasy and scifi settings where we are that way! I think the only setting where that's even remotely the case is Undertale. We're not just the "default" intelligent species!

The only reason we're good at everything is because we can make complex tools and can learn and aren't bound by instinct. Which, by definition, all fantasy races would also be able to do. Otherwise, they'd just be considered animals. Like trolls and Redditers.

The "default" species should just be really good at making tools and quickly adapting, but kinda suck in every other category. So I guess gnomes or goblins are the default d&d race.

And Humans are certainly not the Tolkien "that one race that lives short lives and reproduces faster than everyone else and is good at farming" because:

A) we actually do already live relatively long lives for mammals of our size and also GIVING BIRTH CAN KILL US, AND IF OUR PARENTS DON'T RAISE US JUST RIGHT THAT CAN ALSO KILL US, WE ARE SPECIFICALLY VERY BAD AT REPRODUCING

B) we are in no way adapted to farming, and most of our modern health and societal issues stem from the fact that we aren't meant to farm or be civilized, but do it anyways.

We only farm because it helped us survive the ecological collapse at the end of the ice age, now we're in too deep to go back.

When the ice age ended (quite abruptly) the ecosystem couldn't provide for hunters and gathers anymore, a bunch of stuff were getting heat stroke, sea levels rose, hibernation and bloom cycles and reptile gender ratios were out of wack, predators died out because herbivores died out because plants weren't doing well so weren't making as many fruits or seeds. Decomposers like vultures and worms had a field day. Until they didn't (rip condor population). It would take a while for a new equilibrium to emerge and for evolution to fix things.

But farming doesn't need any outside ecosystems except for soil and pollinators, mostly, so that still works. And farming makes more food meaning you can have more people.

But it also means you can't go back to foraging without all the extra people dying of starvation. So anarcho-primitivism would technically be the most deadly ideology if implemented and therefore is not based, unfortunately. Here's hoping for an apocalypse to do that for us! (I would not survive it)

Fun Fact: those isolated tribal societies like the Sentinelese that still do hunting and gathering only spend 15-20 hours a week doing that and another 20 doing camp chores, and the rest of their time forming meaningful relationships and not being depressed.

Notice how most of what they do as "work" (hunting, fighting, hiking, berry/mushroom/etc picking, cooking, camping, arts and crafts, oral history/story telling) are things that we need to do during our limited free time just so that our "work" doesn't drive us insane. If we were good at farming or industry or civilization, then things like math and repetitive manual labor wouldn't be work.

Sure, these foragers die young, but so did medieval peasant farmers who were even less healthy since they had much less diverse diets (a lot of carbs) and got plague more often thanks to cities and their close proximity to livestock. And our modern sedentary lifestyle is bad too.

Hobbits are suited to farming (also Entwives I guess). Hobbits are quite good at it, at the cost of not being as good at much else, they inherently enjoy it quite a bit and most* aren't haunted by the sense they should be anything else, like we are. *(The Took family got that call to adventure 'tism)

We only think that we're not special or can't be anything other than what we currently are because we no longer have anything else to compare ourselves to. The Neanderthals, Denisovans, and irl hobbits died out tens of thousands of years ago and the fucking aliens are somewhere, presumably

We are special, only we survived.

But at the cost of becoming the species equivalent of an abandoned child raised by wolves. We fantasize about these things because we all know that we shouldn't be alone. But our perceptions of ourselves are twisted by our trauma and lack of socialization.

Personally, the realization that having lost our family was probably our fault makes that hurt so much worse.

[mixtapedoh]

How about lonely boy, lee know, and forced proximity?

@eclliipsed — i am thinking of you, specifically while writing this <3

;༊ — lonely boy

pairing: lee minho x gn!reader genre: fluff, office setting word count: ~3.6k warnings: language, situational stress, han is here stirring the pot, a startling amount of homicide jokes

olive’s notes: a unique challenge of writing lino fic that i did not before account for or even conceptualize is that when i think of said silly little stray kids cat boy, i think of him almost 99% of the time as 'lino' and like 0.9999999999% of the time as 'lee know'. lee minho? you mean the actor? it's not clicking up here, asdfghj. all that's to say, if i make a mistake and call him lino instead of minho, i'm so sorry, feel free to stone me in the square on whatever day is most convenient for you <3.

☄. *. ⋆ lee minho x forced proximity...

— society, as a collective, just loves their 9 to 5, right?

i mean, if it were actually a 9 to fucking 5, maybe you wouldn't be screaming, crying, throwing up, gnawing on the iron bars of your enclosure.

— but haha, as a general rule (collectively agreed upon at some point, or perhaps no one agreed so much as they were browbeaten into submission), more than society loves their 9 to 5, they love their workplace grindset culture.

gotta get those financial gains, amirite?

— which is all to say, you were simply enamoured, quite totally besotted with, completely captivated by and hopelessly devoted to your demanding, grueling, parasitic life-force of an office job.

and people had the gall to say you didn't have romance in your life.

clearly, they hadn't seen the zeal and devotion with which you dedicated yourself to your company issued computer, stacks of files, and white-walled cubicle.

after all, regular hours simply weren't enough for all the worship you had within you — you simply had to have both your mandatory overtime and your Implicitly Dictated and Oh-So-Reasonably Expected overtime hours as well <3 you did want to keep your job after all, and job security is such a silly little thing <3 corporate culture really is just soooo romantic in that regard <3 complete and utter devotion <3 commitment almost pious <3

until you managed to break away from the curse of Living in a Society and could live without bills, debt, responsibilities, more bills, more debt, and the desire for silly little (but financially substantial) hobbies to make this existence of yours worthwhile, your love affair with your job would simply have to stick.

— which made for the perfect little soup you were currently mired in. a thick broth of learned helplessness seasoned with intense loathing, a dash of interest in low stakes coworker drama, a sprinkling of compulsory people pleasing, a garnish of yes man energy, and an optional mix-in of untapped, constantly simmering rage.

so, of course you were best friends with han jisung.

— the universe really did do you a solid when they placed han jisung in the cubicle next to you.

perhaps the only employee that hadn't succumbed to the incessant humanity-sucking leech affectionately called a company, jisung was the only one who kept you sane when you were 56 hours deep in your work week and considering moving to a homestead on alaska where you would likely not even last a whole 72 hours — but, hey, you would at least get some sleep at the end of it when succumbing to the effects of hypothermia, so it didn't seem that bad of a gig, really (jisung always offered to cover half of the down payment cost, but at the end of the conversation, he'd just buy you a coffee and the two of you would call it even).

— and being friends with jisung was, all at once, both a blessing and a curse.

(because this is corporate living and existence is a fucking nightmare ~°~♫⭒~꘎ )

— poor excuses for jokes in your company chat box, sticky note battles during days when the mundane tasks you were assigned were mind-numbing enough to fell the strongest of corporate warriors, the constant "i owe you" back and forth when one of you went on a coffee or vending machine run and grabbed something for the other, and, of course, juicy gossip during your lunch break — all of these were the positives of being jisung's partner in captalist crime.

— but on the other hand, should either of your work be wanting in any regard... well... accountability is a word long enough to stretch between two.

— which led you to your current state of affairs.

"the next time you forget to delete your 'tongue-in-cheek' speaker notes on the powerpoint we're submitting for review from higher ups, i'm breaking your fingers so you can't type them in the first place."

but of course jisung just turns it into a joke about a hand kink.

— your punishment for 'distasteful' jokes left in the margins of official company output wasn't anything too severe — bless whatever cosmic force made it so that the generally easy going mr. ok taecyeon was the one to see jisung's fuck up, and not someone less forgiving — but it meant the next few weeks would be hell in the form of grunt work.

see, your company was expanding in the industry, and it meant that the building you were currently working in wasn't big enough to house all the ✨aspirational goals✨ it was just starting to believe in. thus, the majority of higher ups were going to move into a new office building... and for some ass-backward reason, so, too were all of the archives.

and someone had to go down there and box it all up, making sure it was properly labeled and in order.

sure, the company was just head-empty enough to have the desire to move physical archives to a new office building. but at least they wanted it all in order before they stuck it in a different dusty basement.

— the very first day you went to the basement and saw the sheer level of work the two of you had in store, you locked eyes with jisung and just knew that fucker was going to find some way to get out of it.

— on your lunch break you tried to beat him to the punch and defend your honor against the soul crushing weight of undue punishment. but alas! you had already taken vacation days in the last month (damn that kpop concert - did you really have to be that devoted to your ult group??) and han hadn't had a day off for the last 6 months.

how the hell did you end up doing the punishment work for actions that weren't even (mostly) yours?

han jisung better move to that alaskan homestead after all, nowhere else would ever be safe from your wrath... once you got out of this basement, of course.

— the most you were given was help in the form of lee minho — who would have thought that he of all people would be your saving grace?

maybe he'd help you plan jisung's murder. they were friends, true, but anyone who was around han long enough would not be opposed to plitting his demise. it was part of his elusive charm, after all. everything wonderful about him also lent itself to fodder for plotting his demise.

convenient, really, given the circumstances you were in.

— but back to lee minho. perfect performance lee minho. always last to leave the office lee minho. infuriatingly not suffering from looking chronically fatigued or daunted, overwhelmed, or simply fazed by the overzealous work culture you found yourselves in, lee minho. curt and focused but lacking of an edge that would make him unapproachable lee minho. impossible to pin down, the vitruvian man of corporate dreams, somehow the bosses favorite despite failing to do any of the sucking up some of your other coworkers engaged in almost religiously lee minho.

he didn't frustrate you; he didn't even really baffle you, but he didn't exactly occupy your brainspace in a way that could be described as indifference, y'know?

maybe this was something you could blame of jisung, too. he always talked about minho an ungodly amount, waxed poetic about how it was a shame that minho worked in a different department — how the two of you really would get along famously, but damn, if he couldn't convince either of you to spend any of your (perhaps two (2)) hours of off-duty life in the same place at the same time.

social lives, after all, were laughable, where the both of you were concerned.

— the day you walked down there and saw minho already elbow deep in a filing cabinet seemingly older than your parents (which, lamentably, was the worst organized filing cabinet you'd ever seen, and was regrettably representative of 95% of the work ahead of you), you laughed out loud and took the moment to convince minho to take a picture for you, so you could tell jisung that he was missing the Historic and Long Anticipated Meet Up, and that was the moment you realized that you were so deep in the basement, phone service was a pipe dream.

it wasn't a concern, really — you were both benefiting from the random employee benefit of free spotify premium, so your downloaded content was enough to get you through the long hours of organizing and packing, and hey! being in the basement meant no one really expected any more out of you than your required hours and whatever mandatory overtime you had left to complete.

— so really, jisung had been stupid as hell to avoid this punishment. it was effectively less work than you were used to (though tedious) and you were far enough away from your desk that the thought of the work piling up in the world above wasn't eating at you that much (at least not any more than usual; workplace anxiety and you were well acquainted, at that point <3)

— and minho! — god forbid you say anything complementary about that bastard han jisung while he left you (more than) 6 feet under, doing work that was, by many rights, his punishment — but he had been right when he said you and minho would gel.

he didn't disturb you, for the most part, but working in the same space for full work days with nothing to do but listen to podcasts and check the dates on dusty files meant that Annoying The Only Other Person In Your Vicinity became a welcome distraction from wallowing in the fact you were moving at a pace slower than desired. and he responded quite well to any question you threw his way - no matter how brain-dead, invasive, or embarrassing. in fact, he'd hit something back - put the ball in your court in a question almost more ridiculous, leaving you to question how jisung hadn't forced the two of you together sooner (but fuck jisung; all my homies are blaming this comedy of errors on jisung and are in this basement actively plotting his demise).

— and it didn't take you long to realize charming minho is almost exactly like getting a neighborhood cat to endear itself to you.

pspspsps at random (bat a stupid ass joke his way);

give him space but respond to his random bids for attention;

have a snack drawer (one of the first emptied out file cabinets furthest to the back of the archival area) and occasionally offer something sweet as a reminder that the snack drawer exists and is for joint indulging;

entertain him with logic puzzles and psychological warfare;

and, of course, shit talk your coworkers and company.

indulge the cats desire for destruction and mayhem; tell minho that whenever he was ready to put in his two-weeks, you'd be right there beside him and would run the paper shredder all night while he corrupted the files.

exist calmly and comfortable in the cat's space; work so well in tandem that you began anticipating the movements of the other.

spend quality time with the cat; both of you begining to wordlessly take your lunches at the table in the archival basement, instead of going all the way back up to the cafeteria, choosing instead to chat with each other and indulge in the other's niche interests and stupidly staunch opinions on poor pieces of media.

slow blink at the cat; catch yourself staring for a bit too long when he doesn't notice you looking, your thoughts getting all muffled and sappy as you become wholly fascinated by the slope of his nose and the softness of his big, dark eyes that look perpetually half-bored at work but sparkle with intelligence and mischief when you call out his name — lighting up with interest and disguised delight as that lazy, gummy smile makes it's way onto his features, eyebrows quirking upward, already expecting a challenge and...

— wait... what was that?

— is there absestos in the company walls, and that's why they decided to randomly move buildings? is there lead lining these filing cabinets? black mold in the ceiling? were you perhaps inhaling narcotics in this dusty ass air and hallucinating something vivid?

you were not developing a crush on someone just because you were stuck in the basement with this fool for going on two weeks now and hadn't seen another good looking coworker in quite some time. this wasn't some kind of drama where the ceo has a strange delight in forcing company employees into situations laced with ✨sexual tension✨. you weren't a main lead suffering from romantic withdrawals. remember your leech of a company. you have no time for shit like that.

— but, i mean, if you're never out of the office, perhaps finding romance in office is a solution...

shut the fuck up, you and minho weren't even in the same department. that point was moot.

— because damn, maybe asbestosis really was getting to you, and that's what was knocking the wind out of you any time minho smiled. yes, certainly the absestos in the walls was what was informing the way your heart constricted whenever the two of you brushed hands passing a file between you. maybe you should sue your company and have some hospital use you as a case study. maybe all the distracted daydreams was a new symptom of your newly contracted deadly disease.

see, that would make sense. you weren't catching a mean case of crushing on your forced proximity coworker, you were simply dying. because of the absestos.

— but even still, the day both of you piled all the boxes of (appropriately lableled) filing into a work car, and minho drove you over to the new building, the fresh air didn't seem to be a cure all. you were still a little more than distracted by his messy hair and black sunglasses... his concentration on the road... his pushed up sleeves... not to mention his hands wrapped around the steering wheel.

(but of course you'd snap out of your thoughts when you remember that joke jisung made about your supposed hand kink at the beginning of all this nonsense. shut the fuck up, memory ghost jisung. you don't know shit. you and minho had already talked about it and were coming for his broke ass the day he had the courage to step foot in the office again.)

— yeah, haha, you weren't crushing on lee minho because of a comedy of errors you had never dreamed would befall you in the first place. working alongside him hadn't woken anything in you. certainly not.

— and yeah, haha, you'd definitely be able to hide this from jisung when he came back. not a problem at all when he asks you about how sorting archives went (he had the gall to bring it up every five minutes — taunting you with the fact that he got to have 4 days off and was then reassigned to do answer all the emails that had piled up during his time out of office. yes, he had picked up some of the work originally meant to go to you, but still. a veritable traitor who deserved your absence from your usual lunch dates. and yes, it was hard to be slick when he'd bring up your casual absence from lunch — were you finding minho's company to be more than enough? — but you'd manage. like hell were you going to give the smug bastard satisfaction after he made you atone for his and also your crimes.).

— and yeah, haha, you'd would definitely be able to explain to a suspicious and put out jisung why you were canceling anime re-run night with him to instead go with minho to this hybrid cat-and-comic-book-cafe he had mentioned never being able to get a reservation for, despite living two blocks away from it. silly little things like that would be easy to wave away, right.

it's like, totally platonic for you and minho to meet up on your only day off to spend hours lounging at a cafe retreat together where you cooed at semi-sociable cats and joked about adopting and co-parenting the one who enjoyed wearing cute hats, and read comic books for hours and order food to share and have low-stakes debates about the best tropes and characters of shared beloved media.

it's not like that whole set up is incredibly date coded.

and it's not like it would become a recurring habit for minho to invite you to do things with him that would have jisung waggling his eyebrows even as you pleaded innocence and smacked him with whatever quasi-weapon you just so happened to have on your desk (mostly file folders and your favorite cat themed mini calendar).

— haha... it wasn't like you were down bad and incredibly bad at hiding your crush.

...right?

— you fool. you absolute buffoon. han jisung could smell your lies and poorly contained crush from thousands of leagues away. even if you weren't shit at hiding it, he would have known. he could have actually been on that remote homestead in alaska and still picked up on just how brain dead you were over your crush. you thought you were slick? when han jisung has a doctorate in anxious suspicion and twelve master's degrees in the art of bullshitting?

hell, he knew you were going to fall in love with minho before the two of you even met. why do you think he'd wanted to connect the two of you in the first place? because he thought you two needed a social life? please — he knew going in that putting the two of you in the same room was horrible for his self preservation; he knew it was practically undermining company goals because your joint productivity would fall 2000% and the amount of cat memes you two would send on company time would increase so exponentially, you'd both resort to making your own memes using your company paid subscription to adobe creative cloud; he knew that the two of you were almost scarily well matched and equally devoted to drinking your refusal-to-believe-i-can-be-loved-romantically juice.

he knew that you and minho would develop glaring crushes on each other and wouldn't do a damn thing about it beyond smoothly flirting for an afternoon, inviting the other out on dates-that-aren't-dates and promptly fake-gagging and denying in a manner almost theatric that you might *gasp* enjoy the other's company in a way not-so-platonic, only to do it all over again. a vicious cycle of 'stop feeding the rest of us lies and just kiss with tongue already, damnit.' and he knew all of your coworkers would be caught in the middle of it.

— which they were. for, like, a solid five months.

— now, it wasn't too bad, considering the fact that you and minho worked in different departments, but anytime there was cause for collaboration, suddenly you were clambering to be considered, no matter the intense workload or the way the task was slightly out of your wheelhouse. suddenly, it seemed you were incredibly eager to learn and prove yourself.

at first, your team leader was overjoyed. initiative? drive? a seeming zest and fire for more commitment? say less and do more! marry yourself to the dumbass collaboration with the other department! perhaps this could mean freedom for their long suffering servitude under the corporate thumb!

but then they saw you flirting with minho and making plans to spend an afternoon together at a book signing while still on the clock. and while they're not opposed to a bit of misuse of company time (vive la révolution contre les régimes capitalistes, and all that), it was a bitter and sobering pill to watch that shit happen daily while not getting any yourself, and then stomaching the fact that these clearlly love-struck fuckers won't admit their own transparency-set-to-0% feelings and put their chronically-single corporately-suffering coworkers to rest. either say you're in love and just be done with it or take the rest of us out with a shot gun. goddamn.

it's like a sitcom's mind-numbingly over-the-top valentine's day special. someone make it stop.

— and it didn't take a genius to connect the dots and realize that the employee responsible for all of this was han jisung.

after all, he's the mutual friend between them. no doubt he talked about the other constantly in glowing terms. no doubt he planted the seed they'd be a match made in heaven. no doubt he was the one to blame.

and! wasn't it his fuck up that forced you and minho to work together in the archives to begin with?

maybe killing han jisung wasn't going to make you and minho confess to each other, but it would be some kind of catharsis for the people who were stuck in this hell of Watching You Two Take Your Sweet Time With It.

— so jisung had to understandably think of some kind of plot. after all, the two of you were his best friends, but to hope that you would admit your feelings for someone to save his livelihood? don't be ridiculous. the both of you were quite happy with the flirting stage, as it currently stood.

— how to get your stubborn friends to admit their (very real and very reciprocated) feelings for each other... when there's no external or even internal pressure (on them, at least) to do so... jisung would have to think outside of the box.

or perhaps inside of it.

— which i'm sure is reason enough to explain how the both of you managed to get stuck in a closet during your company's holiday party.

and, through it all, is minho's mischievous eyes and your flair for the dramatic.

"do you think we should tell our coworkers we've been dating?"

☄. *. ⋆

blog home

[loudclan-clangen]

Hey there!

Checking out Loudclan? That's great! Thanks so much!

Loudclan was originally planned to be drawn as I played the game like most other clangen blogs... Then I got frustrated about how slow it was moving and played ahead. Just a little bit, nothing to worry about, only about 1000 moons. So this blog should be running for A WHILE. I also take pretty big liberties with the designs and events. I think it's more interesting that way! Also it's been several real life months since I started playing and some things I just... forgot. Or lost. Either way, it's fun to stretch my creative skills.

As for the mechanics of the blog:

General Content Warnings Include:

Death, Animal Death, (Cat Death specifically), Death in Childbirth, Violence, Murder, Illness, Gore, Bad Parenting, Cheating, Affairs, Drama, Cursing, Language, Dirty Jokes, ECT. (if i missed something please let me know)

Updates are not going to be on a consistent schedule... ever. I'm a college student. I just don't have the time or energy.

The style is going to vary wildly. It's been years since I've consistently drawn cats and I wasn't ever really happy with the way I did it back then anyway. Come along for the ride with me! I'm just as surprised by what my hands create as you guys!

Overview:

Loudclan is set in a fictional location that is based on South Central Alaska. A group of rogues fled up the mountains to get away from the deep snows of the valleys at the beginning of a particularly harsh winter. The clan follows three "Leaders" in the form of the Leader, the Lead Healer, and the Lead Mediator. These leaders will each pass their position on to their oldest heir, the closest related member of their direct family. Issues regarding what happens when two cats have similar claims have yet to be sorted out by the clan, and may never be fully decided... *insert mysterious foreshadowing sounds*

If you are interested in more of a deep dive into the lore check out this post: Lore, or anything tagged #loudclanlore .

Want to see a list of all of the Loudclan cats? Go here: Allegiances.

Asks are welcome! I will do my best to answer them quickly and efficiently! I am happy to talk about characters, art, process, gameplay, pretty much anything. (I probably won't be showing sprites though, just because I've played ahead so far and a not insignificant amount of them are just... gone. Lost to the ether. Sacrificed so that my laptop could keep running the game.) All asks are tagged #loudclanasks .

Also fanart/writing/edits are more than welcome! You guys are so cool and talented and I am honored that you would want to make something based on my dumb little pixel cats. Referencing or imitating my style/designs/layout is absolutely allowed, just make sure to mention me so I don't miss them! All fan contributions are tagged #loudclanfan .

I will never complain about anyone "blowing up my notifications" or spam liking. I think it's so neat to see people go through the blog liking as they go. Don't worry about it. I enjoy seeing you enjoy my work!

A little bit about me, you can call me "D"! I use any pronouns, I'm pretty ambivalent about them but the majority of people use she/her for me and I'm fine with that. I'm 20, I live most of the time in Alaska and part time on a ranch in Texas and I'm working on my BA in Elementary Education. I started reading Warriors in 2nd Grade and stopped in 6th Grade but the brain worms never die. If you know me in real life no you don't: It took me all of high school to kill the furry allegations I'm not going through that again. Oh, and my main blog is @restinginpiecesofpizza but warning, there's spoilers for Owlstar's family tree for like 8 generations posted on there.

Anyway, thanks for checking out my blog! I hope you enjoy!

[sincerely-sofie]

Chapter 8 of Sofie Plays "Slay the Princess": The Hero and the Princess (Round 3) + The Damsel

This is a love story, but it's a love story that I wrote at thirteen during my Warrior Cats phase.

[ Beginning ] - [ Previous Part ] - [ Next Part ]

... Hopefully she doesn't mind the flesh rotting off of my avian visage?

This run is going exactly like the one where I was forced to kill her by the Narrator--- I'm hoping I can change it by not alluding to her gnawing off her own limbs and just checking upstairs for a key.

FRICK.

Interestingly, the option to slay the Princess is no longer available here. The run is a bit different, despite being very similar.

I can't select any of the options. Am I stuck like this?

IF YOU SCROLL DOWN YOU CAN WARN HER. OH MY WORD. THE ANGST IN THIS SCREENSHOT.

Can I please chuck the blade away so that she can defend herself with it. Please. Pretty please. Narrator pleeeeeeeease---

Huzzah! Okay new game title: Slay the Borb.

... I didn't think that was actually going to be the route we took, but alright. Fair. Knowing the way the writing in this game has gone, she's going to miss anything vital and just make it hurt.

This is probably the single game I hate having so many predictions about prove to be correct.

Oh, shoot, it's a new chapter? I couldn't see through my tears.

New party member: Now introducing the Voice of the Simp! ... Smitten. Voice of the Smitten. Yes. That's what I said.

Mirror check! The Smitten is a dork. Moving on.

Once again, I didn't take the knife. I really gotta see what happens when I enter the basement with it in hand.

The Smitten ranting about how much he loves the Princess to the Narrator and Hero's utter dismay like:

I don't have any comments to make on this exchange other than how hilarious it is and how relatable it feels for someone who's had hallucinations try to talk to real people in the past.

The Hero was pulling out a squirt bottle for the Smitten two minutes ago, but the second the Princess calls him a hero he's competing for the Smitten's title. Peak character right there.

The idea of the Princess having a sort of Narrator instructing her on how to behave and what actions to take / things to say is INSANE and a question I had the second the Narrator told me to go down into that first basement. The immediate deconfirmation is a little saddening, but the Smitten's comment makes me wonder if the one who has reality warping powers here isn't the Princess, but us.

Hear me out. The way we interact with the Princess in the first chapter of every loop seems to dictate what the next Princess will be. It's like our opinion of her shapes what she becomes. She savaged our player character in that very first interaction, and then in the next, she was a wild animal that swallowed us whole. In the chapter preceding the Stranger, we never entered the cabin in the first place. We never met. And when we finally did, she was a fractal of possibilities--- almost as if because we hadn't formed an opinion of her yet.

GIRL HUH. Yeah no she's not real. This is a cardboard cut out with a speaker behind it.

NOPE DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT THE MUSIC IS VERY MUCH CHANGING.

Hey wait her eyes look different. Am I crazy?

Yeah no a lot more than her eyes are different! The gal is having a crisis of identity that is represented by the art style and that is VERY COOL and also VERY DISTRESSING

Chickened out and didn't press the issue of her having her own wants beyond leaving the cabin beyond a second question. I said that if she wants to leave, then we'll leave, and she was abruptly back to normal. Sweetie you need therapy.

The Smitten just said "We have each other. We don't need the world for our happy ending." and that COULD just be his mushy romanticism showing... but what if it's not?

Turns out the Narrator is the one who's been locking us in the basement 90% of the time, not the cabin itself, or the Princess. When we were locked in, I asked the Princess if she thought she could open the door, and said I believed in her when she asked if I thought she could.

THE POWER OF DATING A MARY SUE Y'ALL

Ultra Princess I'm genuinely so thrilled to hear your terrifying ambience again this princess scares me infinitely more than the ones who gnaw off their arms or eat me please take her away ;w;

FINALLY GOT A SCREENSHOT OF THE ARMS. THIS TIME I WAS READY, HECKERS!!!

Continuing this in the next post. Can't wait to take my next mirror selfie! I'm not scared whatsoever :,D

[tashacee]

It’s safe to say that everyone in the chain has ptsd or trauma of some sort right? I’m thinking about hero’s aspect!Wild having a nightmare and screaming and talking and begging in his sleep and he can’t wake, and the chain has no idea what he’s even experiencing because they can’t understand him

-🪱

OH BOY I know i kind of touched on this in the original Fic, but hell, Worm Anon, you gave me Brain Worms.

Aspects of A Nightmare

He'd been with them for two weeks. Long enough that the chain was starting to feel like they were getting to know him - or at least getting used to him - but not really long enough that they could communicate with Wild in any sort of meaningful way.

It grated. Warriors was a leader of men, 'The Captain', always in control, who prided himself on being able to relate to those he served with. Sure, he wasn't in the army now and his brothers were anything but soldiers, but still. The point was, he liked to know the people he was fighting with, and despite his best efforts he just didn't know Wild.

It was easy to ignore most of the time. Ah, yes, that was Wild. He likes to cook, fights like a maniac, and will straight up pick you up if you're being annoying.

Sometimes, though, their lack of communication was all too obvious.

Like tonight. Wars was on second watch when he heard it. Wild, but not his customary rumble or the soft purrs he made in his sleep. A whine, long and low and distressed. Like a call for help.

Wars dashed over to him, wondering if somehow a monster had invaded the camp while he was turned the other way, but no.

As usual, Wild was sleeping with Wind cuddled up beside him. While their newest brother's blanket was thin and ratty, barely big enough to cover his massive form, Wind's was vast, more than big enough for the both of them.

Wild had somehow gotten himself tangled up in the blanket as he slept. Wars could see him trying to lift his arms, move his legs, but to no avail. He whined in his sleep, the sound pitiful and terrified.

Warriors didn't know what he was dreaming of. Nothing good, that was for sure, especially if it had to do with his current trapped position.

Wild tried to thrash again, and still stuck, he whined.

Wars bent down. Normally waking up a hero was something best done from a distance. They could be a violent lot, especially when woken from nightmares, but. Well.

It wasn't like Wild could move enough to do anything.

Wars gently touched his shoulder and shook him awake. Wild's eyes flew open in a flash, and as expected he bared his teeth, snarling. Not particularly intimidating, though, given that he was currently a giant cat-burrito.

"Hey." Warriors whispered, glancing over at where Wind was somehow still asleep. "You were having a nightmare."

Wild blinked, coming back to himself, and then looked down at the sheets. As if reassuring himself that it was just a blanket. That his nightmare wasn't real.

He whimpered, a low grumbling noise almost as if he was attempting speech. Then he sniffed and began to wiggle out of the blankets. Wars helped him untangle himself, and then guided his massive brother over to the fire.

"It's okay." he said, not knowing if it was true or not. He didn't know what Wild had been dreaming about, after all. It was hard to comfort someone when you didn't know what you were comforting them about. "It- it's over now."

Wild fixed his gaze on him, his lower lip trembling. He made a few more of those almost-word-mostly-grumbles before his face just. Crumpled. Here he was, this massive, musclebound lion man, dissolving into tears.

And Warriors? Warriors froze. He wasn't proud of it, and it was only for a second, but he froze.

Wild was big. He was strong. When Wars shot him through the shoulder the other day he barely flinched. But whatever that nightmare must have been about, it must have been truly, unrelentingly terrible. Warriors could scarcely imagine what could be so horrible that it made someone as big and strong as Wild sob.

Then his body kicked into action. Like waking them up, giving heroes unexpected hugs could go very badly, but Warriors was on autopilot. He gathered Wild into his arms (well, as best he could, with the height difference) and pulled him into a hug, stroking his hair and rubbing the fur on his back.

Wild sobbed into his chest, twisting his hands into his tunic. He may have tried to communicate again, but honestly, Warriors found it hard to distinguish from the sobs and he sort of hated himself for that. He wanted to talk to Wild. He needed to know what had hurt him so very badly, what had taken his arm and left him scarred and sobbing in a strange place in a strange time. He need to know so that he could go and fight it, make it pay for hurting his brother.

But he couldn't do that. So he did the next best thing. He held his brother as he cried, and helped him dry his tears when he finally calmed down. He made him a cup of tea and sat with him until his hands stopped shaking enough that he was ready to go back to bed.

Warriors knew next to nothing about Wild.

But by Hylia, he would do anything to learn.

[skittlewrites]

LU Boys Headcanons

Hey! I have some headcanons that I'd like to share, and most of these will make, at the very least, brief appearances in my stories. Some of the boys have more than others, but oh well.

To start us off, we have Wind!

-He certainly looks small and sweet, but he's a terror when he's angry.

-He's super protective of those he claims as family.

-The wind reacts to his emotions and feelings without prompting. It has a mind of its own when it comes to its champion.

-His hair is bleached blonde from all of the time he spends out on the ocean (He despises the cap of the hero's clothes).

-He can dual wield! I feel like this would be very fitting for him (This has made an appearance in ATS as well :) ).

-Full name is Link Aalto (Aalto is wave of water in Finnish)

More under the cut!

Wild

-He's super good with animals. Small, large, feral, domesticated, anything really. He understands them to a certain extent, and they generally understand him as well.

Legend

-He's one of the more graceful ones in the group, but the most graceful.

-Doesn't really have an issue with Hylia, and is a fan of Din and Nayru (During the Oracle of Ages/Seasons, he made good friends with them both, imo).

Time

*shrugs* nothing yet

Hyrule

*shrugs* nothing yet here either

Twilight

-Country accent 100%. When they're in his Hyrule, it gets so crazy thick and the others tease him relentlessly about it.

-Loves pumpkins. As Ordons' main crop, he's a huge fan of all things pumpkin, and he and Sky trade recipes.

-Best friends with Dusk, evolved into a relationship.

-Loves to gossip with Warriors.

Four

-Speaks the same dialect of Hylian that Sky does (Ancient Hylian), so they tend to gravitate to each other when they get frustrated or overwhelmed.

-Has a bit of an accent compared to the others, but its nowhere near as prominent as Sky's.

Sky

-He's the most graceful in the group. His fighting looks very similar to dancing in the sense that its fluid and smooth.

-He dances with Fi. During his quest and once Sun was stuck in the crystal, Fi would occasionally force him to slow down and stop pushing himself so hard. They would dance together, Fi teaching Sky some of her favorite dances, and Sky teaching her Skyloftian dances in return. They both loved it.

-Sky hasn't danced since Fi returned to the Sword.

-Sky has a prominent accent. In my head, it sounds kind of like Fi when she speaks in-game, melodious, smooth, and ancient.

-His ears are very expressive. They move with his expressions. Skyloftians also have much better hearing than other Hylians. This comes from spending so much time on their Loftwings, and the necessity of hearing others flying with them, and needing to be aware of Skytails.

-Sky will startle and/or spook easily, but he doesn't get genuinely terrified very often at all. There's only a few things that will truly scare him.

-He's really good with anything with wings, and cats. Since Remlits don't exist outside of his era, this translates over to cats imo.

-Uses a lot of statistics and probabilities. This carries over from Fi, and he's aware that he does it, but tries not to most of the time (Sun thinks its adorable).

-His anger is quiet. He doesn't typically yell, but he gives off an entirely different vibe when he's angry. Depending on the situation, he can sometimes be quick to frustration, but he'd never take it out on anyone except himself.

-Speaking of, he feels like most things are his fault. Huge guilt complex. Sun and Groose hate that he feels this way, but despite their best efforts, he finds a way to blame himself for most things. :(

-He's a silent crier. He's always been on the quieter end, and he doesn't like to bother people when he's overwhelmed or upset.

-He's very light. I feel like most of Sky's 'bulk' comes from his layers. Living in the sky, the nights must be frigid, and the wind certainly doesn't do anything to help. So, he wears multiple layers, all Skyloftians do. I fee like Skyloftians might have a different bone structure than other Hylians, especially as the Loftwings carry them around, and can catch them out of freefall so easily.

Warriors

-Loves pumpkin soup. Had some when he was on Skyloft in the War of Eras, and has wanted more ever since.

-He knows Fi fairly well, having spent so much time with her during the war. He and Sky sometimes talk about her for hours at a time.

-Gossips with Twilight.

-He can understand a good deal of Ancient Hylian, but not as much or as well as Four can.

-He struggles on and off with speaking. Proxi hangs around him more often than not, and she'll help out when he needs it.

Good grief, I didn't realize how much typing this would be. But regardless, here you have it! Sky's got more than the others because I love him and I have a lot of Feelings about him. I know that Time and Hyrule have nothing, but I don't know their characters very well, so I just don't know what to think about them. Lol.

Have a good day!

[alcedeerie]

hey quick question what in the world is going on over in qsmp? (you can infodump all you want to if you'd like)

okay so in recent news from the Island:

resident wet cat skeleton man came back from getting extremely lost to his loving husband and son

an emo dude’s AI-based alter is coming back from the Code Dimension and is sending cryptic messages in binary

french cucumber warrior has picked a fight with a scary binary code monster because he stole its overpowered shield and they’re gonna have a deathmatch about an hour from now

the resident sad genderfluid detective whose entire family went missing under mysterious circumstances is turning into one of the said scary code monsters because the Unethical Island Mystery Government fucked up his parasite removal surgery really badly

a french-speaking swiss duck woman found out she was actually raised by said Unethical Island Mystery Government as a child but escaped

unethical island mystery government does trauma-inducing experiments on a duck man, leaving him unable to read and with severe amnesia

New people have arrived! They were frozen in ice after breaking out of a prison!

amogus

oh, also did I mention the furry club i definitely feel like i should mention the furry club

[starsurface]

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Regressor Reiko w/ CG Rain (Fic)

Rain was very glad that Mileena had given him a second chance. Even after his . . . accident with Havik, she had granted him mercy. Something he desperately tried to show her was a good idea. Put on close watch sure, but granted his spot back as their high sorcerer.

Reiko . . . was not too keen on the whole second chance thing.

It was weakness, granting mercy for an enemy. Letting an enemy that hates them and wished them dead in their own home? It made no sense! Shao, if he were here, would never allow this. Then again, Kitana was the General now. And Reiko was now her Lieutenant. A second in command who refused to listen . . . Unless her plan was . . decent enough. Which, unfortunately, was surprisingly more often than not.

"I can't believe they gave us a second chance!" Reiko complained as he burst into Rain's room, causing the guards at Rain's door to roll their eyes as he passed by. "It is humiliating, Rain!"

"Hello to you too, Reiko," Rain greeted, pausing his reading. "And for your information, I am quite glad they gave us a second chance."

"It is humiliating, Rain!" Reiko whined, stomping his foot. "How can you be okay with this?"

"You're stomping your foot again," Rain pointed out, returning to his book. "Are you feeling small, Reiko?"

Reiko whined again, stomping his foot. He hated being easy to read, especially from Rain. The supposed half-god and he were good friends, childhood friends at that. Both were taken in by the royal house at a young age.

"No," Reiko grumbled, walking over to Rain's bed, where the demi god was laying at. "Just thought you could use company instead of your stupid reading . . . What are you reading anyhow?"

"Book of Magic," Rain explained, showing Reiko the book. He could tell that Reiko wasn't fully regressed. He most likely began to feel small and rushed to Rain, as he usually did.

"Lots of words," Reiko grumbled, snatching the book from him. "Looks boring."

"Hey!" Rain said, going to snatch the book. Reiko giggled and stretched his hand out further. "Give that back Reiko! You're going to destroy it!"

"Will not!" Reiko complained as Rain snatched the book from him. "Hey!"

"Will too! Plus, Tanya got it for me," Rain said, getting off his bed and heading towards his bookshelf, putting his book back in it. Reiko began to get off the bed too- "Don't try it, it took forever to reorganize the last time you tried looking for a . . . picture book."

"Or Warrior Cats?" Reiko asked

"No, haven't gotten that either," Rain rolled his eyes. "I can't believe the first time you've ever been interested in my library, you wish for a children's series. I guess it makes sense, with your current headspace-"

"Raiden recommended it!" Reiko tried to defend himself. "And I not small."

"Oh so now we're taking book recommendations from the people who kicked your a- I mean, your bum," Rain teased him, receiving a glare from Reiko.

"I could take him again!" Reiko cheered, grabbing Rain's pillow and punching it. "And dis time I'd win!"

"Don't punch my pillows!" Rain complained, walking over and snatching it. Reiko huffed, rolling over and onto the floor. "Really Reiko?"

"There's nuffing to do!" Reiko complained, hiding his face in his hands. "Nuffing fun at all!"

Rain didn't like play fighting or telling outlandish stories, things Reiko liked while small. When Rain was small, he liked to be read to or go outside and make Tanya catch frogs for him. Reiko didn't complain while watching him . . . Okay, sometimes he did. But he always meant well!

Reiko had obviously come to him while small and wanting attention. Feeling more playful than usual. Rain still remembers when Reiko only came to him when he negatively regressed. Where Reiko would cuddle up to him and Rain would read Nursery Rhymes while the boy tried not to sob into his arms.

"Oh, come here," Rain sat on the edge of his bed. Reiko looked at him confused before sitting beside him. "What kind of shape do you want?"

Reiko looked confused until Rain raised his hands, forming water that flowed around them. Reiko loved this game! Rain hated using his powers for 'silly reasons', but sometimes he'd make fun shapes or let water run on Reiko's skin.

"Sphere!" Reiko decided, patting his lap excitedly.

"Alright," Rain smiled, forming the flow of water into a sphere, holding it for Reiko to see.

"Pretty!" Reiko gasped, putting his hand into the sphere, giggling as his hand got wet. He immediately tried to touch Rain's face, which Rain gently pushed his hand away. Much to the boy's dismay. He would have complained, but he'd have to splash Rain's face with water later. "Do a star!"

"Can I hear a please?" Rain smirked.

". . . Now," Reiko grumbled, crossing his arms.

"That's not even close," Rain said, but formed the sphere of water into multiple tiny stars.

Reiko gasped and tried to grab one. Whining and pouting to Rain when his hand went through it. Rain rolled his eyes and formed some of the starts into a fish.

It swam towards Reiko, kissing his nose and splashing water onto Reiko's face as the shape disappeared. Reiko laughed and clapped his hands.

"Again Rain!" Reiko demanded, tugging on Rain's shirt.

Rain eyed him.

". . . Please?" Reiko quietly added.

"Why of course," Rain agreed. "What nice manner you have, Reiko."

"Shush it!" Reiko pouted.

He went to lightly hit Rain, even though he knew it was naughty of him.

Although his anger quickly disappeared as another fish reappeared. Rain smiled at Reiko's easily distracted attention. It was easy to watch him . . . Fun even. He would have to schedule more little times with him again. . . Maybe they could even invite Havik. . Maybe.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I wrote this before I knew Rain was just a sorcerer in MK1, that's why it mentions to him being half god!

[goodluckclove]

A Celebration!

So I have memory issues.

It's for a lot of reasons that I won't get into here, it's really not a big deal. But it plays a fun part in the way I form relationships, especially relationships online. To put it simply, I can no longer really remember how I met @mercuryytheraven. I think I made some post asking people to tell me what's keeping them from writing and challenging them to allow me to fix it. We spoke for maybe thirty minutes, and I remember them saying that they were working on a Warrior Cat's fan fiction, which tickled me because I didn't know people still read those books.

They essentially said that they've been trying to write for some time, but no matter what they did they could never get past around 100 words. Something always got in the way. If I'm being honest, I don't remember what I told them, but it must've been insightful because they've been messaging me almost daily ever since.

Eventually my brain just accepted the presence of this bright, dandelion-fluff of a human being. I would look at my phone and say oh hey, it's them again. I would tell my wife about their exploits and we would remember what it was like to be young and even more confused than we are on a daily basis. Quietly, and I have never told them this, but I started calling them my protege. I don't know if that's arrogant or not.

Mercury is such a treasure of spirit. All it takes is one conversation to see the depth of color they carry within them. They care so deeply and about so many things, a quality hard to find in a world so preoccupied with cynicism and meta post-irony. Not only are they already an insightful and deeply curious writer, they are also an incredibly skilled visual artist. I questioned the validity of the high standards they held themselves to again and again - but then I told myself that I once did the same thing.

When I met Mercury they said they never wrote more than 100 words. That was less than a month ago. Today they just finished the first chapter of the Warrior Cats fanfiction they've been brewing for years. It's just over 3500 words.

Friend, do you know how remarkable that is? Can you imagine that big a breakthrough? I cannot stress enough that this is an immense achievement - not unbelievable, very believable, but hard. Worthy of accolades. Worthy of relishing in!

One chapter is never just one chapter. It's the creation of something foundational that didn't exist before. It doesn't matter if it's a fluffy fanfic one shot or literary novel or long-form au or pulp genre shlock. It wasn't here before and now it is and that is one of the most wonderful things in the world to me.

You might know me as someone against the general romanticization of The Writer as an archetype, but it's moments like these that truly call that stance into question. Because what @mercuryytheraven did today, and what many of you do whenever you can, is truly a precious sacrament. It is ritualistic in nature, a human sacrifice where we are the blood offering and the result is a story birthed from our own transfer of matter.

It is beautiful. So please, if you can, send some congratulations in the direction of our friend and colleague. And the next time you reach a milestone you feel is too small to be remarkable, know that you're wrong. You're doing something special for yourself and those around you with every single word you write, whenever you can write it.

So go write it!

[bonefall]

hey this is purely for. clarification. I know making fun of moonpaw for the writers bad descion bc she might be disabled (read this in a spooky voice. I am mocking them) but also breeding things like. Nano bullies (dog breed) is still like fucked up right? especially bc the dogs cant chose it?

Oh i think i answered my own question with that? idk. Im really intrested in your thoughts on all this. but im also not super familiar with this area of thought. Thank you

Of course, and you answered your own question! The difference is that a dog is a pet who fully relies on its owner. Humans, and warrior cats in this fictional series, are capable of higher thought and making their own choices.

When you're talking about, say, a scottish fold cat, you're talking about humans who know they are pairing up animals who will produce kittens that inevitably have severe pain for their whole lives. The cats do not care about who their mates are. They do not have a concept of romance outside of an estrus cycle. They wouldn't even care if they were neutered or spayed. They aren't a species that has the capacity to think about these things. The cat isn't to blame for this, and neither would the nanobully dog.

The onus is on their breeder.

There is no in-universe owner breeding ThunderClan cats. No one is selectively pairing warriors that can't breathe or have chronic pain. Warriors also don't act like real cats; they have a concept of culture, social organization, language, religion, and government. They even make complex choices regarding who they become mates with, including monogamy, something cats are famously known for not having.

So in comparing her and ThunderClan to severely deformed, inbred animals because her bloodline contains a high COI index, or because her parents are cousins, you're not making a commentary on unethical breeds. You're just making an incest joke.

The punchline is a dig at disabled people who are born from victims of incestuous abuse or small populations. Unethical breeding of animals is bad! The discussion around Moonpaw is involving slurs, straightup ableism, and hopes for her death because the writers are careless. THAT'S what's fucked up.

[luimagines]

Can I request headcanons of the boys crushing on gn reader who can turn into a cat? And the more they turn into a cat the more they act like a cat. Sleeping,ignoring people, being annoyed at people etc. please and thank you!

Oh! That sounds delightful! Coming right up!

Masterlist

Headcanons you want and headcanons you shall receive.

Content under the cut!

Wind

He’s confused

How does that work?

But hey! He can make the same noises you can!

That being said he’s going to do as much research as he can on how cats behave and how they tick

He going to know so much

Wind’s going actually treat you like a cat

He’s trying his best, give him a break

Even if that were the case, Wind is also very protective by nature and will fight anyone who tries to wake you up from your mid morning nap

Wind might try to make the argument that he gets to keep you

His island is big enough and there’s lot of trees for you to climb on and avoid people if you wanted to

His home... also has a lot of water.... but that’s ok! Frankly it’s easy to avoid if you don’t go anywhere

The more you begin to act like a cat, the more he’s going to lean into it

Be prepared to have a lot of sounds thrown back at you 

Twilight

Oh dear, literal cats and dogs

It would be harder to get along with each other in the beginning

He would want all of your attention and you would just want to be left alone and nap and not have any social interaction for at least eight hours

With time you both do find a common ground

Naps together are an essential part to the relationship and it’s the best Twilight can say that he’s slept in a really long time

He does try his best to meet you at your level

Literally and figuratively

But will also try his best to annoy you at random intervals because he thinks it’s funny and he has nothing better to do

Aside from saving the world but that can be ignored for a little bit, right?

But when you’re calm and chilling and in your animals forms it is the cutest interactions ever

Wild has so many pictures on his slate and he refuses to delete them

Will also let you ride on his back as long as the claws are in

Rides on Epona are also allowed in cat form- even if he’s willing to sneak a few in while in true form anyway just so he has an excuse to hold you for longer

Warrior

Hello? Cuteness overload??

Sign him up

I’d think he’d be more of a cat person anyway so this is right up his alley

Warrior understands nearly every sentiment mentions

Sleeping? God he wishes he got more of it

Ignoring people? He can only do so much, let him do his paper work in peace... what do you mean he has another meeting to go to?

Being annoyed at people? Can you be his anger translator please? Some of the people he works with are actually idiots

Warrior would love moment where you’d be a cat and are simply curled up against him and asleep

He’d have to stay there- it’s the law- he can’t move now

But also just generally vibing more often than not because you’re the only one he can be next to and get some peace of mind

Wanting to stay in and relax instead of going out become the next big date night

He wants to settle down and live quietly and in peace

If he would have things his way, he’d also be a cat but this is good enough for him

Legend

Now some people are like cats and they get along with other cat people

This is not like that

He may like you a lot, but it’s like two cats that fight over territory

Lots of sass and hisses and maybe a smack of two

It takes the dogs like people to break you both up

That being said, he loves your cat form

You’re so cute, it should it illegal

His heart can’t take it

He probably wouldn’t even notice that you’re avoiding people because he does the exact same thing from time to time

Hissing at people? He still does it... but only when no one is paying attention to him

Flopping over people when they want attention? Do people not do that?

It might be the bunny showing through, but he’s not going realize that your cat like tendencies are connected to your behavior like of his bunny like tendencies

Meaning you might have to tell him and that’s going to be fun

Four

His relationship with cats is a bit... tense to say the least

So his relationship with you would get a bit tense at times as well

It’s not that he dislikes them...

But after getting hunted by them time and time again does put a damper on the impression you can get from felines

He has no problem with you while you’re not a cat

It’s just... while you are one he tells you to keep some distance from the “mice” around the forge and his home

They are friends 

And sure you can handle that quite easily, but scaring them is out of the question

They smell you and get scurry away and Four becomes distraught when he gets wind of it

It’ll come to a head if someone gets hurt but hopefully it won’t come to that, right?

Maybe keep a bit of distance while you’re in cat form

For both your sakes... and for the “mice” of course

Sky

Oh boy- these two will never get up from a nap ever again

The only experience he has anywhere close to cats is with remlits

So to his genuine surprise and delight, kitty cats won’t try to kill him once the sun goes down

But Sky will more or less end up the mediator when you get into your hate people mode

Which is fine by him to be completely honest

It’s like a golden retriever puling away their cat friend by the scruff of their neck before they can get into a fight

Have you seen those videos? I’d say they’re fairly accurate to their dynamic when you’ve spent too much time as a cat

That being said, the whole fiasco is a bit... out of his comfort zone?

Not to say that it weirds him out- let’s be real, after seeing the surface for the first time, Sky is willing to believe and work with literally anything that is thrown at him

But he doesn’t really know anything else to compare it too so he feels a bit lost

Does this mean you’re more animal? You act like it

Are there others like you? Maybe? Has he met anyone else like that?

Sky is a bit intimated by how much he doesn’t know but when has that ever stopped him from diving head first into the unknown?

Hyrule

OH OH OH OH He can change into something small and cute too!

You can go on adventures together!

You can cuddle up together in small spaces where no one will find and disturb you!

He doesn’t care about the ginore people part

He’s so happy about this merely as a concept

Seeing it in person is a whole other thing that he’s 100% willing to put up with any side effects that might come with it

Hyrule might ask to ride your back at some point

Don’t be afraid to say no to him about this 

Because he has wings, why does he need a ride?

Is going to steal you away, cat form or otherwise for naps in the sun

That’s a thing cats need, right? That’s why they sleep all the time? 

Please don’t hunt him in fairy form

Yes, blinking lights and glowing balls sound fun to jump on and chew but it will scare him half to death XD

Time

Oh you are the sweetest little thing he’s ever laid his eyes upon

In retrospect he’s not that different from being cat like himself, huh?

It’s not something he’s familiar with, not is it something he’s thought about too deeply, but without realizing it, he’s working with and around everything that might be thrown as him

It doesn’t even click that it might not be what most people would consider normal behavior

The hissing is new though, he can admit that

He adore your cat form and will lovingly let you sleep on his lap more often than not

Time is going to make sure that you have your space when you need it, happily directing everyone that might be asking for your attention to something else until you feel like you can socialize again

Time is going to try to keep your attention as a human though just so that you don’t change into a cat so often

Don’t get him wrong, he loves it

But he’s also needy for attention and it’s a lot harder talking to a cat that can’t talk back than just talking to you as it is

Time will let you ride on his shoulders while you’re in cat form though!

It’s a shame that he doesn’t also have a hood, he’d let you sleep there too if he had one

Wild

You can be in his hood as he rides around Hyrule!

Which is obviously his first thought

He wouldn’t mind it too much

In fact, I doubt he would even register it

Climb random things? Avoid people? Hiss?

Even if he wouldn’t do those things often, he can’t say that he hasn’t actually done it

So he’s in no position to judge

Maybe you just need a dark corner and some quiet time?

He can work with that

Some days are better than other but he’s also a huge cuddle bug

If you can spend some time just laying down next to him by the fire then he would be one very happy boy

Honestly, he might just need someone like this to calm him down as well

But how does he get close to you without being hissed at as well?

[clangenrising]

Month 6 - Greenleaf

The morning hummed with heat, even before the sun was up. Nightfrost, with her thick, dark fur, was not looking forward to seeing how hot sunhigh was going to be. She had something she had to do though. Goldenstar peeked out of her den to grab a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and Nightfrost forced herself to leave the shade of the warrior’s den to meet her. 

“Hey,” she said, “have a moment?” 

“Sure thing,” Goldenstar purred, “What’s up?” 

“Why don’t we talk in your den,” Nightfrost said with a wince.

Goldenstar nodded, “Totally.” She grabbed the mouse and led the way back to her den, Nightfrost following quietly behind. Once they were safely inside the cool confines of the burrow, Goldenstar settled down and gestured for Nightfrost to sit. 

“What’s on your mind?” 

“Well,” Nightfrost took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to begin, “I wanted to talk with you and try and make sure we understand each other. Specifically, with these new changes. I honestly wish you had consulted me about them.” 

Goldenstar frowned slightly but nodded. “Right. I’m sorry I didn’t. In hindsight, that probably should have been my first move.” She winced sympathetically and looked down at her untouched meal. 

“It’s alright,” Nightfrost said, feeling guilty already. “I just… I was talking with Russetfrond and Pantherhaze a while ago and they were worried about your decision.” 

“Oh,” Goldenstar’s ears wilted. “What did they say?” 

Nightfrost shifted awkwardly. “Um, Russetfrond thought it was bold of you to make such big changes so soon into your leadership, and Pantherhaze was worried about you leaving StarClan out of the recent ceremonies. He said he didn’t want you to forget the cats who gave you your lives but I assured him that wasn’t the case.” 

“Good,” Goldenstar sighed in relief. “I definitely haven’t forgotten StarClan.” 

“Right,” Nightfrost nodded, “But the thing is I didn’t know for sure because we hadn’t talked about it. So… I’d appreciate it if you passed this stuff by me in the future, at the very least so I can have your back when people ask questions.” 

Goldenstar nodded thoughtfully for a moment, taking in and processing this information before she replied, “That makes sense. I promise I’ll be a better leader and rely on my deputy in the future. I’m sorry I didn’t think to do that in the first place.” She met Nightfrost’s eyes and Nightfrost saw the fire of conviction there. 

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Like I said, it’s alright. I would love to know your thoughts behind the new changes and to what extent they go.” 

“Of course,” purred Goldenstar. “Where should I start?” 

Nightfrost hummed in thought. “Let’s start with the ceremonies,” she said. “You changed the words a lot and I think it has people worried that you’re going to abandon the traditional ones entirely.” 

“Right,” Goldenstar winced. “It felt right in the moment but I can see how people would take it wrong.” Nightfrost didn’t speak, and after a moment Goldenstar continued. “I really just changed the words to make Scorchplume feel better about taking the oath. I can tell she’s used to feeling cornered and I didn’t want her to feel pressured into committing to cats she doesn’t believe in or like, feeling like she needed to die for us.” 

“Isn’t that the point though?” Nightfrost countered. “A warrior should be willing to die for their Clan.” 

Goldenstar shifted as she tried to articulate her thoughts. “Right, but Clan born cats have their whole apprenticeship to learn what that means and to really commit to that kind of dedication. If I had asked Scorch to promise it then, she would have, but the words would have been empty. She still needs time to understand what we have here is worth fighting for.” 

Nightfrost hummed. “I suppose I can understand that. Okay, so what about the open borders?” 

Goldenstar kneaded the ground with her paws anxiously. “Ah. Well, I thought about how Scorchplume wouldn’t have stayed if she hadn’t gotten to know us all and I wondered how many cats we drive away who might stick around if we let them.”

“But what about prey? We can’t afford to lose our prey to strangers.” 

“Right now we can,” Goldenstar said stubbornly. “I mean the Clan used to be three, maybe four times this size and we still got on fine. There’s plenty of food right now and if a day comes that we do struggle to feed ourselves, we’ll address it then.” 

Nightfrost made a noncommittal noise, mouth screwing to the side. “I suppose. I see your argument, but I know lots of cats won’t agree.” 

“What do you think about it?” pressed Goldenstar.

Nightfrost paused before carefully deciding on, “I think it’s risky but maybe worth a try. We’ll have to see how it goes.” 

“I guess we will,” Goldenstar nodded. “Is there anything else you wanted to know?” 

“Not that I can think of,” Nightfrost shook her head. “Or- well… What do you think of Scorchplume? I can’t seem to get a read on her.” 

Goldenstar softened a bit as she spoke. “I think she’s lonely. I think she’s scared. I think she has the potential to make a great warrior if she can find a home here. That’s all I want there, to make her feel welcome and safe so she can be herself.” 

“I see.” Nightfrost nodded. After a moment, she added, “Do you think Yarrowshade fancies her?” Goldenstar’s eyes twinkled in a way that made Nightfrost feel like there was a game she was missing out on. 

“Nah,” purred Goldenstar. “He likes to joke around with her, but there’s only one cat he swoons for.” Nightfrost blushed. 

“Hey, stop that,” she half-joked. 

“What, it's true!” Goldenstar teased. “He’s head over tail for you.” Nightfrost licked her whiskers and looked askance, ears hot with embarrassment. She didn’t like being the topic of gossip, even harmless gossip.

“Do you fancy him?” Goldenstar asked her, tilting her head. 

“I’m… not sure,” Nightfrost said. “He’s very sweet, but… I’m not sure he’s someone I can rely on, you know?” 

“Yeah,” Goldenstar winced. “But I think he’ll surprise you. He plays like he doesn’t care but he’s a hard worker deep down. And he’d do the work for you.” She grinned with a wink. 

“Don’t say it like that,” Nightfrost laughed. 

“What?!” Goldenstar feigned innocence but her laugh gave her away. “I’m just saying, I bet he’s very good at taking instruction.” 

“Okay, I’m leaving,” Nightfrost said, standing up. 

“Hey, no, no, I’m sorry,” snorted Goldenstar, reaching out a paw to stop her. 

“It's fine, really,” Nightfrost smiled genuinely. She hoped the smile conveyed that her indignation was mostly a bit. “I should head out anyway. Thanks for talking with me.” 

“Of course,” Goldenstar purred. “Any time. And I’ll try and reach out more often.” 

“I really appreciate it,” said Nightfrost before stepping out into the blistering heat. She squinted against the light but, spotting Yarrowshade, she decided now as good a time as any to set up the patrols for the day.

“Hey, Yarrowshade,” she called, “You feel like hunting?”

“With you?” he asked, brightening, “Always.” She smiled, struck by the earnestness of his dopey grin. Maybe she would have to reconsider her feelings about him.

[frostyblustar]

HEAR ME OUT JACK ROSE/WANDERROSE FANS

OKAY- THIS LOOKS WEIRD I KNOW ITS A WARRIOR CATS FAN SONG BUT THIS FITS JACK SO WELL I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT - I’M DISSECTING THIS SHIT LYRIC BY LYRIC.

I implore you to listen to the song first/while hearing me out :)

I see this as Jack having some sort of jealousy and resentment towards Wanderlust, seeing him as someone who he has to be opposed to. Really this speaks to me as Jack during Majesty, realizing ‘hey this doesn’t feel great’ when he helped with Wanderlust turning into a servant. Okay, now I’m gonna go into the lyrics so you understand what I mean.

“I’m not who you think I am if you think of me at all. In this callus ground of loneliness, you’ve planted my upward fall.”

This speaks to me as Jack being isolated and saying they don’t think of him till they need him, and Wanderlust thinks of him wrong if they think he’s going to help them defeat his mother. Also theres a lot of flower puns in this song (Rose loll), ‘planted’. Also, upward fall makes me think of that platform he has that rises. Basically, his mom set him up for an upward fall.

“You’ve let hate blossom now you cannot recognize.”

Blossom, Jack Rose, again think that’s cool.

“And in my wreckage may you burn upon your throne forged from unbloodied stones.”

Jack has a throne, but it’s made from ‘bloodied stones’. Wanderlust has a throne, but it’s one that isn’t based in fear and innocent lives being corrupted. Jack is thinking in his defeat, Wanderlust will be able to be cozy on a throne he doesn’t despise.

“The reflection stings so rejection brings- A mirrored shame that’s shared ‘tween our pair of frames.”

In Jack’s dressing room there is a crap ton of mirrors (Locked Out of Heaven/Treasure) He also rejects Wanderlust when they meet in Majesty, and I’d imagine Wanderlust would feel a little shame in the fact he trusted Night Swan’s son so easily while Jack would feel shame in helping her. So mirrored shame.

“It seems, to me, that I have always been the problem, Though I’d wish to solve it. Foolishly I’ve gone and charred each star that’s fallen.”

Well self deprecation on the account of who he is makes sense- ‘Charring each star that’s fallen’ could refer to him taking down Wanderlust and seeing him metaphorically as a falling star.

“In this frozen state of apathy, I’ve blossomed with every flaw.”

Jack feels like he is frozen and trapped with his mother, causing him to feel quite a bit of apathy to his situation. However, he sees himself as incredibly flawed due to his mother striving for perfection (it doesn’t exist lady) Oh also, another flower pun.

“This feels wrong, It’s not playing out right… How am I colder now, Upon a bridge, I chose to ignite?”

This is basically during Majesty, him realizing he doesn’t feel right doing what he did to Wanderlust. This sort of guilt is persistent throughout the song.

“Am I all wrong? It doesn’t feel like it should. This hollow triumph doesn’t fill the pain I thought it would…”

This goes along with my last note, pretty much, cool asf though.

“How could you be so blind? You close your eyes but open mine! I hate the way you make me hate myself for sharing eyes!“

This fits really well with the idea of Jack seeing Wanderlust as blind for trying to ask for his help. In this blindness however, Jack saw what he did as wrong. He realized he didn’t enjoy having people corrupted, and he likely hated what he did, in turn making him hate himself and his actions.

“Pushed me to walk ‘neath starless skies! Because I’ll never shine as bright as the light of your eye…”

He sees himself as inferior to Wanderlust in a way.

“What good is it to even try? You’ll never hear, or see, or face, all the parts of you you despise-“

He sees Wanderlust as carefree, without any guilt. He’s envious of this.

There are more lyrics I could reference but these are the ones that stuck out to me as Jack Rose coded. Gah, I love this song, and Just Dance Lore. Please leave a comment, I’d love to talk about this.

[mothmans-wedding-photographer]

Finished Thunder! Here are my thoughts (spoilers obviously):

SQUIRRELSTAR SQUIRRELSTAR WE WON

Oh my I have so many mixed feelings on this book. I mean first of all I'm so excited for Squirrelstar but I digress. Also I'm pretty good with Ivypool deputy, I was rooting for Twigbranch but she was my second option :)

Frostpaw and Whistlepaw's friendship was so cute, Whistlepaw cares so much for her :) and I loved the bonding between Frostpaw and Nightheart, they're such good friends. It's nice to see Nightheart with someone with problems a lot worse than his, gives him some perspective.

The fact that Frostpaw was spayed is... interesting. I hope the story team doesn't make her be a medicine cat because "hey i can't have kits what's even the point of being a warrior :(" in real life TNR is great but from the perspective of humanized cats it feels so awful :(. Im not entirely against the plotline, I just hope it's handled well.

I hate Riverstar in this book he's so annoying and OOC. I did like the fact that they essentially sent Frostpaw to therapy to work through some of her trauma though lmao. Waffle is so cute, and I love Rook and Bee. I felt Wasp was a bit of an odd choice to come back to the Clans but whatever.

CURLFEATHER COMFIRMED EVIL YES our first main series female villain and she's complex?? She's awful and she used her kid, but she still loves her enough to sacrifice her life?? That's so cool. Splashtail is fine ig

Nightheart really did not need a POV this book lmao he just spent it worrying about Sunbeam. I do like that he's learning he's not the main character though lol, and again his friendship with Frostpaw is so sweet.

Sunbeam was sooo good this book I loved how they showed her learning to want to be in ThunderClan for ThunderClan, not just Nightheart. And she girlbossed when she stood up to her mom and Cherryfall, she's no longer a pushover! Character development.

I will say that argument at the start of the book between Bramble and Squirrel was stupid like ah yes the perfectly mentally capable woman somehow walked STRAIGHT INTO ANOTHER CLANS TERRITORY without realizing but somehow Bramble with his deteriorating mental state is right. Not misogynistic at all

OTTER CAMEO WHOOHOO

The ending with Berryheart was so anticlimactic and awful like she gets exiled for?? Expressing that she doesn't agree with her leader?? What the actual fuck??? I know she's xenophobic but she's not being exiled for that, she's being exiled for exercising her rights. Thanks I hate it! I wanted her to get kicked for like. Getting someone killed, or starting a fight, not this bullshit. Also Puddleshine miss me with that shit about how "one grudge can exploit this new code" like yeah ok but he's fucking invading and controlling another Clan, even if he has good intentions that's still a fair thing to be mad about?? (To be fair though Berryheart was being more xenophobic than on the side of RiverClan's freedom so I guess I can see where Puddleshine's coming from. I guess)

Speaking of why are all the protagonists so forgiving of Tigerheartstar like "he invaded, beat up, threatened to kill, and forcefully took control of this Clan and gets mad when people question him but he just has good intentions UwU" like no.

Splashstar real? That's going to be interesting. And I'm excited to see more of Podlight as a character

Overall an ok book, probably my least favourite of the arc so far but I still enjoyed most of it