#because in the book they're not characters they're being treated as real people

[mister-tom-a-dildo-lover]

Confession Time!

So, over on Twitter, I'm a member of the Community Notes, and I can write Notes on any post as well as rate other Community Notes on those posts. This is done to fact check people. You have to provide a credible link as the source of your note before you're able to post it, right?

A bunch of M@rauders stans are attacking Tomarry writers, as usual, and because they can't handle that they like morally grey characters who did sus things, they make up all this shit to excuse those characters of their wrongdoings. Maybe that's why they're so jealous, cuz we can like a shitty character while NOT downplaying the bad he did.

Currently, there is an idea going around that Harry Potter was not abused in the canon story, and that everybody just swears he was abused when it was apparently, never addressed or shown and was just not treated the best. But when any M@rauder stans claim that Sirius was very clearly abused, it's unfair how no one agrees with them...

As such, they've been inundated with people pointing out all the abuse Harry has been through, from Vernon choking him out, Petunia trying to hit him with frying pans, them making him sleep in a closet instead of any of their extra bedrooms, lying about his parents, letting Dudley bully him constantly, punishing him when he doesn't understand that magic is at fault, starving him and his pet, putting bars on his window, etc... EXPLICIT ABUSE.

Now, one person gave a whole list of things that Sirius 'suffered' at the hands of his mother, and they're mad because it was pointed out that none of this actually happened in the story, not from anyone's mouth, and that that's just fanfiction tropes to make his parents worse and easier to hate. Harry's abuse is both told to us and shown as early as Ch. 2 of PS. We get to experience it through him in many ways throughout the books.

So usually, I don't get involved in these things, I just watch from the sidelines and laugh. But I thought it would be funny to put Community Notes on all of these people's posts because they're posting literal misinformation. And it's just funny to look at the post making all these claims and immediately see Rate Proposed Community Notes right at the bottom!

This person is ranting about how there are 'context clues' about Sirius was being physically abused by his family, while claiming that Harry's neglect was never explicit to try and make it seem as if Sirius choosing to leave home because of his parents' beliefs is proof of his suffering and is the same as Harry's blood relations treating him terribly for how he was born, his whole childhood.

When people have to sugarcoat and lessen Harry's experience because they want to uwu their favs so they can feel less bad about what their favs have done in canon... It's the weirdest thing. I'm not borrowing shame from a fictional character over their wrongdoings despite how all my favs are the villains. I'm here for the character, and to be so emotionally distraught over what your fav has done, that you need to gloss over it and invalidate canon over and over, is truly unhealthy behavior.

And then attacking people with different favs/ships than you, is peak madness. Get a life. Go figure shit out. You clearly cannot handle interacting with real people yet.

[navree]

Who do you think the most similar characters to Aegon ii in Asoiaf ?

Oof, tricky, cuz at this point Aegon doesn't really have an arc. Aegon was very much treated as a side character in season 1, considering that we only met him halfway through the series, he's only in four episodes as a not-toddler, and the childhood episodes were more focused on Aemond's character than any of the other kids. A lot of what I and others notice in Aegon's character and potential development comes from being particularly eagle-eyed and from choices that TGC himself is making wrt his acting. It's also tricky because the book this is based on is basically a history book, and historical figures don't traditionally have "arcs" because, they're historical figures, not authorial constructs.

I think, and this is conjecture, that Aegon's arc is likely going to see him go down something of a dark path, as by all counts his "arc" is going to result in what happens after the Flight to Dragonstone, when he technically wins the Dance, and what he does at Dragonstone is pretty dark (it's another one of those scenes where I need the writers to go all out). Aegon's arc could potentially see him abandon vices to focus entirely on the war effort as a way to cope, getting more ruthless and crueler, abandoning this party boy identity he has for a colder one as he suffers not just physical injuries but deeply personal losses (the Dance is going to end with everyone Aegon has ever been close to, ever loved, except for his mother and his daughter, though Jahaera kinda comes with a big asterisk next to her, dead as a result of fighting for his succession) and has to deal with it while at the same time being a reigning king.

Based on that, on that overall through line of "going down a darker road because of the really bad shit you go through" is actually very similar to Tyrion's. I don't think it will be quite the same, as I do think Tyrion is going to eventually pull himself out of the hole he's in, whereas Aegon never entirely manages, but I think it'll be the closest.

[sideprince]

I resent getting dragged into the discourse but it's wild to me that there are people out there who read the HP books and laud Harry for being brave and having a big heart and redeeming the wizarding world with his unusually great ability to love, yet can't comprehend how he could learn to appreciate Snape's sacrifice.

I'm very specifically thinking of the fact that Harry watches Snape die. Snape, who is lying on the floor, gripping Harry's robes, and whose eyes Harry is looking into and seeing the life leave. I don't understand how people can humanize some fictional characters and treat them as if they were real and completely dehumanize another. Not even for Snape's sake, but for Harry's sake, do these people not understand what it is to watch someone die? What's the expectation, that the Capacity For Love Posterchild protagonist steps out of character and doesn't care about the guy he watches bleed out and die suffering because you, as a reader, don't like him?

Which is it? Does Harry have a huge capacity to love or not? Pick a lane. Either you value this character trait in Harry or you don't. But you have to take or leave everything it comes with, otherwise you're a hypocrite. Or maybe illiterate.

I just don't GET it.

[fandoms-x-reader]

Unspoken Love

Requested By: @herdrops

Oneshot

Summary: Unable to confess their love out loud, MC does so through small acts of service and gifts. After realizing what they're doing, Satan returns the favor. Satan x Shy! Reader Word Count: 1,866

Words and phrases were Satan’s forte. Though, it would be silly to expect anything less considering the amount of time he spent reading.

When he first picked up a book, it was to gain respect. He couldn’t accept the fact that he was born from Lucifer because he was afraid no one would treat him as an individual.

He wanted to gain as much knowledge as possible to prove those people wrong. To show them how much of an independent and intellectual person he was.

But he soon grew a fascination with reading. He found that it wasn’t just a well of knowledge but it was something that entertained him. It could take him to faraway lands or teach him about feelings that he hadn’t experienced yet.

He knew anger. He knew sadness. He knew fear. But there was one emotion didn’t know - love. He was obsessed with reading about it.

Not the kind of love that he was told was shared between him and his brothers. But the kind of love where you want to share your life with someone. The kind of love that makes your heart skip a beat whenever the person walks into the room. The kind of love that makes you smile whenever you see them.

He read countless romance books, eager to know everything about it so that he knew when he experienced it in real life. But, no matter how many books he read, he never felt that way. 

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Satan had tried to make friends with others. And as one of the seven rulers, he had plenty of people approach him. But no one gave him that feeling that so many authors and poets wrote about.

That was until you walked into his life.

The first few times Satan talked to you, he believed there was something wrong with him.

His heart would race, he would feel hot, and his hands would sweat. He was sure that he was coming down with some sort of sickness. 

But, when it kept happening, he realized that those were symptoms of being around you specifically. So then, what about you made him feel ill?

And as that question ran through his mind, his thoughts went back to his romance books. Back to the way the characters felt in the presence of their beloved. He wasn’t feeling sick - he was feeling nervous. 

He was positive he was jumping to conclusions. That he was once again getting his hopes up. So desperate to know what love felt like that he was making things up. Creating ties where there weren’t any.

But he couldn’t deny the fact that every time he saw you smile, his heart swelled. Or the fact that whenever you talked to him, he would get an excited feeling in his stomach. Not to mention how excited he would get whenever the two of you had a moment alone.

Satan was a stickler for hard facts and those were all undeniable proof of what was happening. He was finally experiencing love for the first time in his life.

But love often went hand in hand with fear. Fear that you wouldn’t feel the same way. Fear of unrequited love. He had also read about that in his books, and it never ended well.

So, he didn’t have the confidence to approach you and simply tell you how he felt. He needed a plan first. He needed - wanted - you to fall for him back first.

He tried to mimic the things he learned in his novels. He did similar acts of service, attempted to recite some of their best lines, and even tried to give you lavish gifts that the love interests always seemed to like.

But his attempts didn’t go far. You always seemed to appreciate them. You would blush when he complimented you, be grateful when he did something for you, and thank him kindly whenever he got you a gift. But he still felt like he was no closer to getting you to love him.

He didn’t understand what he was doing wrong. It worked in his books every single time.

He had to take more time to analyze the situation. There had to have been something he was missing.

He observed every detail written on the pages when it finally clicked. In all of his planning, he didn’t take into account that you might not like the same things they liked.

He assumed you were like them instead of your own person. A mistake he scolded himself for because he knew how wrathful he could become when someone did the same to him with Lucifer.

These characters liked grand gestures because they were so bold and forward with their emotions. But you were more soft-spoken and shy. It was something he loved about you.

Love interests in his book tended to be fearless in their acts of love. Their confessions would be over the top and flashy. They proclaimed their love in extravagant ways, always making a huge deal out of it.

Satan assumed that was how all love was supposed to be. How was he to know otherwise?

But the more he sat by himself in his room and thought, the more he comprehended that you had been returning his love this entire time. Just, in a different way. In your perfectly unique way.

It was a moment of revelation as a montage of his past moments with you played in his mind.

Satan had come to the library one day, desperately needing to escape from the outside world for a bit. He found you there waiting for him already.

You immediately smiled upon seeing him, and he couldn’t help but do the same, genuinely happy just to see you.

The kind of love that makes you smile whenever you see them.

You had laid out Satan’s favorite books on the table, paying attention to which ones he liked to reread when he was feeling particularly worn out. He looked down at the table and noticed the one he wanted sitting on top of the pile as if you had read his mind.

He knew that you weren’t always the most talkative, so he sat down next to you silently. Giving you a small smile as he did before turning his attention to his book.

He hadn’t been reading for too long when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked up and his breathing faltered as he saw you staring at him. You immediately blushed at being caught and quickly turned your attention back to your book. 

*

About a week after that incident, Satan asked you if you would want to meet up with him to study for a bit. He wanted to spend some time alone with you, but he wasn’t sure how to ask you without coming off too forward. 

He anxiously awaited your arrival, sitting alone at a table inside a nearby cafe. He figured a public place would make you feel more comfortable. But as the time ticked on, he was getting worried you had stood him up.

That’s when he saw you approaching him, a gentle smile on your lips as you walked over to him. His heart skipped a beat as you got closer and closer to him.

The kind of love that makes your heart skip a beat whenever the person walks into the room. 

“I’m sorry I’m late!” you apologized, setting your things down. Satan was about to tell you it was okay when you continued to explain, “The bookstore was having a sale and I thought you would want some!”

Satan was surprised by your words but was even more so when his eyes trailed to your hand to see you holding out multiple cat-themed bookmarks. 

“I know how much you like cats,” you added quietly, avoiding his gaze as a light pink dusted your cheeks. 

Satan graciously took the bookmarks from you, telling you how much he appreciated the gesture. He would make sure to treat them like his most prized possession. They came from you, after all.

There were multiple times when you had surprised Satan with a gift or act that no one else would have thought twice about. And although he didn’t put too much thought into it at first, he realized now what it meant.

You had to have been quietly observing him from afar to know what he liked. He had been doing the same as well. He had noted what you liked to drink, what you liked to eat, what your favorite color was.

He could write an entire book about all of the things he’d come to learn about you. And eventually, he did have to write it down, scared to forget something. 

And he had never been so thankful for his detailed personality. If this was your love language, he was more than happy to speak it with you. He would show you his affection in any way that you wanted.

Satan started doing small things in return for all the ones you had done for him. 

He would wait for you outside of your classroom with your favorite drink in his hand. He immediately smiled when he saw you and he offered you the drink.

The blush on your cheeks as you accepted it only made his feelings for you grow stronger. He wondered if you knew how adorable you always looked.

Every glance from you that he noticed, he would return with twice as much love in his eyes.

Every smile you gave him, he would respond with one that was as equally bright and somewhat unfitting for the Avatar of Wrath.

If he ever heard you talking to someone or himself about a book you wanted to read, he would make sure that he got it for you the next day. He would present it to you in the library and ask if you wanted to read it with him. 

He never wanted anything in return for his gifts except for maybe a chance to spend some alone time with you. 

Sitting in solitude with you was his favorite part of any day. He loved reading with you, the library quiet except for when the two of you would talk to each other.

He watched as you energetically explained a scene in the book that you were reading and your voice sounded melodious whenever you laughed at something he said.

Eventually, reading in the library wasn’t as enjoyable if you weren’t there with him. As if a part of him was missing. He wanted to spend every moment with you. To share every line from his books with you.

The kind of love where you want to share your life with someone.

Satan was sure of it now. He had finally found the kind of love that he had been searching so relentlessly for. And it didn’t matter if you never said the three words to him that he knew you felt.

He would spend all of eternity showing his love through small acts if that’s what you wanted. As long as you knew what they truly meant.

[princesstarfire1234]

TLDR: I fucking despise ship art and fanfics that infantilize Orion Pax / Optimus Prime

Okay so I just wanna put my thoughts out here right now because I've not seen many people talk about it and it honestly bothers me a lot...

So, it's no secret that I ship MegOp and stuff right? I like and have reblogged a bunch of art of them before and I will keep doing so, but something about how this place (or more certain parts of the fandom) portray the ship gives me major icks and I fucking hate it so much

Detailed thoughts under cut ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Case in point, a massive part of the TFP fanbase likes to ship Orion and Megatronus and I get that, I get why people like shipping those two but it's the WAY they do it. A lot, not all, but most of the fanart surrounding Orion Pax and Megatronus is him being like the smaller and more submissive one of the relationship which fine, whatever, but most people just end up drawing him REALLY small like ik he's shorter than Megs who was a gladiator and all that and he was an archivist but jesus christ... Aside the size which is weird and all but it's really all about the rampant infantilization of the guy. When they remove all agency from the character and act like Orion is gonna fucking combust the moment someone confronts him or tries to fight him like no... I've not read Exodus but I don't think Orion being a nerdy book guy is gonna make him THAT soft, this is still the same mech who became PRIME like cmon

I don't know the exact words for it other than "infantilization" but like y'know what I mean right?? I'm not gonna name blogs but there's this one AU on here where Orion is blind and it has this cutesy artstyle which is fine but I vividly remember reading a comic on that AU where some thugs confront Orion and he's all like sobbing and shit and has to be saved by someone and it's... so you made him disabled and also a crybaby and absolutely incapable of anything??? Does that NOT give you an ick of sorts or seem weird??? God I don't even know anymore because I've seen many people seem to like that so I'm just scared I'm the weird one and wrong for this lmfao... Maybe there's smthn im not getting, you tell me

Anyways this post is getting real long, but this kind of "infantilization" also applies to certain fanarts of TFA MegOp, I always thought the ship was bordering on kind of strange (since TFA Optimus is like the equivalent of some 20-something college dropout and Megatron is implied to have been doing the war stuff way way way back like Ratchet's time) but I won't get into that, I just don't ship that certain brand of the characters myself, but it's fine, do what you want with it. Just know that I have seen art of those two where they treat TFA Optimus as this sort of incapable cutesy uwu boy (aaaghh)

So yeah.... hahahaha stop infantilizing characters and taking a ship where they're both grown ass big men and like straight up turning the other one into some weird ass incapable version of the character that lacks any and all agency and honestly bordering on being really icky as fuck, thank you, idc if you make Optimus the bottom or whatever, that's not what I mean, cya ✌️

[dduane]

I apologize if this sounds rude; that is not my intention. I’ve never read your work, and started following you on Tumblr because I like your posts. If I wanted to start reading your work, what do you feel is a good starting point? And if that’s not easy to answer, then which of your works is your favorite to recommend? Thank you.

You're not being rude at all! The last I heard, not knowing anything about my books hasn't yet been made a hanging offense. :)

Where to start is kind of a "what's your reading preference?" question.

If you like magic (though with a strongly scientific bent to it) and stories mostly set in the so-called Real World we inhabit, the Young Wizards books are a good bet. (As a general point of information, because sometimes people do get confused: the YW series began a decade and a half before that other series about wizards, and has absolutely nothing in common with it except characters in their teens.) Officially they're considered MG or YA, but adult readers seem to find a fair bit more meat on the books' bones than the classifications routinely imply. Try starting with So You Want To Be A Wizard and see how that works for you. There are now ten books in the main sequence of that series, as well as some interstitial works and one non-main sequence novel.

If you like fantasy in the adult mode, and/or enjoy LGBTQ content, the Middle Kingdoms works, starting with The Door Into Fire, are a good bet. Fire is where I got my first award nominations, and the initial trilogy scored a Gaylactic Spectrum Award in 2000. (Adding here the normal qualifier that appears on our ebook store's pages: "These books contain adult / mature themes and situations set in a sexually diverse and inclusive culture." Because there are people who're used to thinking of me exclusively as a YA writer, due to being unfamiliar with the series that came first.)

If you like science fiction, you might have a look at my Star Trek novels. Those have been positively spoken of for some years now, possibly because I insisted on treating them as SF and not as space opera. :)

I've also done a lot of licensed work here and there: a trio of Spider-Man novels, an X-Men novel, works in Tom Clancy's Net Force universe. ...And I could go on, but maybe it'd be more helpful if you wander over to the master list of fifty or so novels at my website and see what takes your fancy.

Anyway, thanks for asking! And thanks for the nice words. :)

[trippingontheescalator]

Curious about the direction the HP fandom has gone

Okay, so as an old HP fan from way back when the books were first coming out, and then getting hit with the nostalgia and decided to return after years and years of not interacting with the fandom at all, the changes are truly mindboggling and I'd love to get to the bottom of some things.

Like, the disappearance of Blaise Zabini. Blaise was a fan favorite way back when we only knew his name but now I barely hear a whisper of his name. Now, the obvious answer is racism, which I think is the #1 reason why Blaise-pairings have dropped of significantly. Back then we all thought Blaise was a hot Italian girl, and then we found out he's a black man and suddenly people stop writing about him? Hm, yeah, seems the obvious answer (especially considering the popularity of other characters who are just a name on a page *cough*regulusblack*cough*).

Or the rise in Snape-hate. Like, Snape used to be the fan favorite. Everyone loved Snape. The meaner he was, the more we liked him. Being mean to children was a plus, not a negative lol. And this was back when we all thought he was a pureblood who came from a wealthy family like the Malfoys. Now by the time the 7th book came out I had pretty much moved on and so I didn't really see the fallout of readers discovering his actual background, so I don't know if his drop in popularity is classism and learning that he isn't a palette-swapped Lucius Malfoy or not, but honestly I would figure his impoverished background would be a plus in these times. Like Snape is obviously one of JKR's least favorite characters, and considering how she-who-must-not-be-named has destroyed her reputation with her increasing radicalization you'd figure the poor, abused, author-hating character would become more beloved instead of the rich, white, heteronormative bullies who barely even show up in the books. Like with our increasing knowledge of social injustice, I just don't understand why the fandom would want to latch onto the Marauders? And I just can't believe Snape's handful of snippets with Lily is the cause of his downfall (like what's there is barely enough to fill up a few pages, and there are certainly more toxic relationships in the series that are still beloved), or the fact that he was a Death Eater or that he inadvertently caused the deaths of the Potters (we already knew that in GoF and HPB respectively and he was still beloved, and this was when we assumed he didn't give a shit about the Potters or if they died when he went snitching). Draco is still popular. DRACO who doesn't give two shits about slinging around the word "mudblood," as opposed to Snape who actually changed for the better.

Am I just too old to understand? Is this like 90s fashion coming back in style (no, I won't do it again, I don't care if it's cringy I'm sticking with my millennial styles, I did the platforms and the slip dresses and the cargo pants in high school and I'm not putting myself through that again lol you gen z's can pry my comfortable mom jeans from my cold, dead fingers, I don't care if it makes me look old, that's the point, I AM old). Like, in addition to 90s fashion, has the 90s obsession with luxury athletic fashion like Lacoste come back in style? All those fashion ads of rich white people on yachts with popped collar polos? Are people starting to obsess over the Marauders because nouveau riche conspicuous consumption is coming back in style? It can't all just be young kids who have only read AtYD and have never actually opened one of the books, can it?

There also seems to be a trend of treating characters as if they're real people. I mean, we've always done it (Snape Wives, I'm looking at you), but now it almost feels as if the crimes characters commit are treated as if they're real crimes and that liking them is somehow a moral failing on the reader's fault. If you were to say "I don't like Snape, his douchy actions anger me, I'd rather skip all the parts he shows up in" I'd say, cool, I get that. That's normal. But "Snape is an abuser, a racist, and an incel and if you like him you're probably those things too" is fucking weird. Like, Harry and Hermione are not real children. Snape is not a real person. The things that happen in this book have as much influence on the real world as me imagining ninjas breaking into my workplace on a slow day. And that "media does not exist in a vacuum" pisses me off because it's blatantly misused. The pieces of media that have had serious consequences? Jaws, The Birth of a Nation. One resulted in the culling of sharks, the other helped restart the KKK. Do you know what those two pieces of media have in common? They're not about fucking wizards and magic schools. They instead paint a target on real groups. After twenty years nobody has ever tried to hurt a marginalized group of people because of a harry potter book (except for JKR herself).

Anyway, these are just some random thoughts, feel free to chime in with your own.

[perpetualprocrastinationisme]

Is Ty in Denial Over Livvy?

Artist: Charlie Bowater

I think it's worth noting that what Ty is currently experiencing re: Livvy is not grief but denial. - Cassie Answering Asks on Tumblr

I think this really points to what one of the biggest points of tension in the TWP series is going to be: the denial that Ty might be in over Livvy. This is how Cassie answered a question about why Kit left without saying goodbye to the Blackthorns in QOAAD. But is Ty really in denial? That's what I'm trying to ascertain by analyzing the passages below.

PS. If you do find a ghost, treat it kindly. I don’t think all ghosts mind being ghosts, as long as people are nice to them.

So this is how Ty ended a letter to Emma and Julian in SOBH. I feel like this shows us that to Ty, the real reason that someone may not like being a ghost is that they're ignored and not treated well. So the answer to the issue with Livvy is just to treat her the best he possibly can, to always be there for her. (Also, just to say this, Ty is one of the most sincerely kind characters in the whole TSC universe if you really examine scenes that include him. So, I also just think this quote stems from who Ty is at heart). But is simply treating Livvy well enough? Does that meet her needs? We see Livvy's perspective in GOTSM here:

There was so little to feel. For months now she had been less than a shadow at Ty's heels. Oh, why couldn't Livvy do the same? Why was she the only one who could not return and take up her life again?

While I do think that being kind to ghosts like Livvy or Rupert is important, the primary injustice here is that Livvy gets to be almost human, just without the parts that make life most worth living. Here we see that she continuously feels this sense of unfairness, why does everybody else get to live their lives except for her? Why is there so little for her to feel?

Here's another of Ty's perspectives on Livvy's resurrection:

She said a lot of reassuring things. But it still gave me a cold feeling, which I think is my body telling my brain that I’m afraid. If Julian and Emma found out about Livvy, they wouldn’t just be angry. They’d feel like they had to do something, like lay her to rest. People don’t think ghosts can be happy, but Livvy is happy. She helps me with work and she tells me advice for Anush (he has a crush on Rayan’s sister Nasha) and when we’re alone we play games or I read to her. She can’t do everything but why would being all the way dead be better? Everyone calls it “rest” but no one really knows, do they?

I feel like with Ty we consistently see this idea that Livvy being a ghost is better than nothing. In QOAAD when Kit tells him that he doesn't think Livvy would want to be resurrected Ty tells him that he doesn't think Livvy would want to be dead either. To me, this isn't rooted in Ty selfishly wanting Livvy back. On the contrary, I feel like Ty sees it this way because Livvy has always been there for him, making life better. So, for Ty, what if this is his way of making Livvy's life better? After all, wouldn't being a ghost that can still see be on Earth be better than the nothingness of death? Here's another of Livvy's perspectives to compare it to:

The sun was rising, and she tried to feel its warmth - something other than its brightness. To warm herself. What she would have given to feel that wet velvet crust of the top layer of sand under her feet, to feel the cold grittiness of the sand underneath change in temperature as the warmth of her human feet soaked away. To scream herself hoarse, knowing that no one would hear over the roar of the surf. She squatted and tried with ever particle of herself to pick up a piece of beach glass. But it was a useless endeavor. She had no more effect on the world than a fragment of dream.

I believe this scene really showcases one of the two worst parts about Livvy becoming a ghost: her ability to take action. When looking at Livvy's character in the first two books it is evident that she wants to take care of people and be able to have an effect on people. In Lord of Shadows we see her say this:

"I realized something," she said. "I want to be like you, Jules. Not this second, not right now, but someday. I want to take care of people, other Shadowhunters, people who need me. I want to run an Institute."

And I do realize that Livvy can still help people and have a powerful effect on the world as a ghost, I mean she's already found useful information about the Cohort and TWP isn't even here yet. She's just not able to help people in the way I think she feels called to do. Livvy very much seems like a hands-on, people's person. As a ghost she can't be that. She can't run an Institute, she can't even pick things up. You can very much see that she feels useless in GOTSM. But I think we see the thing she struggles with the most in these excerpts:

You can see ghosts but you cannot see me. Not when I come to sit by you while you sleep. Not when I am in the movements of the shadows across the lawn, or the twitch of a curtain. You cannot hear me, even though I am speaking to you because I have things I need to tell you.

It was wonderful to see how settled in Helen and Aline were, but it was also all extremely unfair, Livvy felt. Everyone else got to come home. Mark. Helen. Even Ty would come home someday. But she would never truly be home again.

Family is the most important thing to all of the Blackthorns, it seems like they base almost all of their actions around each other. I think what tortures Livvy is being able to see this family she loves so much but never being able to interact with them again except for Ty. Never getting to be a big and little sister. It's a vital part of Livvy's life that she has lost for the time being.

I want to say this though, I think it may be easy to look at all of these scenes and immediately say that Ty is in denial about Livvy's true situation and feelings, but I don't think that is true. Look at this scene:

Ty said, "I'm so sorry, Livvy." "For what?" she said. "For doing this to you," he said.

I think Ty realizes what all Livvy is missing, for the most part. I think it also really hurts him. He just feels that what she does have is better than what she could have in death.

All of these scenes also beg this question, would Livvy feel like this if she figures out the ins and outs of being a ghost or if she could show herself to her entire family? Like, when she actually sees the power she has for good in her current state as a ghost? I ask because of this scene:

"Oh, Ty," she said. "I would have done it for you. It isn't a thing that should be done, but I would have done it anyway. And so we would be in just the same mess we're in now. Besides, I think I'm getting the hand of this ghost thing."

Conclusion: I feel like Ty may have been in denial in the beginning but I don't think he is anymore. I also think that Livvy will have an easier time as a ghost as things progress in TWP. I also feel like Livvy has the potential to be a huge force for good, a protector, in TWP and I sincerely hope that happens. However, I do think this will be a major point of tension between Ty and other characters in TWP, especially Kit. I feel that many of them, especially the older Blackthorn siblings, will want to help Livvy be released into the afterlife instead of staying as a ghost. I think the finale of the entire series will reveal the fate of Livvy: whether she can stay as a ghost, has to be released into the afterlife, or gets to come back fully human.

Edit: By not being in denial, I mean that I think Ty understands that he did wrong and regrets resurrecting Livvy. The issue is that he doesn’t regret it enough to talk to Magnus or one of his siblings to try to either release Livvy or bring her back fully. To figure out the best way forward with Livvy, is what I guess I’m trying to say. And also, while I think Livvy could be a force for good and could acclimate to being a ghost, I also think there’s just as good a chance that she could go into one of her more volatile states. This would lead to some really awful stuff happening and could even be the crux of Ty and Kit’s plot in TWP.

Also, sorry for the ridiculously long post, it felt kind of like a really poorly written essay. I hope it was coherent and that you enjoyed it though :) Here's some beautiful Kit and Ty art for the road.

Artist: @camisala01-art

[rookflower]

seeing nightheart arguments again as with every asc release so once again, a reminder that when people say "nightheart's arc (or that of any other warrior cats character for that matter) is sexist", 99% of the time they are not calling the character, themselves, within the universe, a misogynist. nightheart in the books does not hate women. liking nightheart is not misogyny. what IS sexist there is the choices the authors make when they are writing a character. because at the end of the day, the characters themselves are not real.

in nightheart's case, at the start of his story almost every female character in his life (sparkpelt, finchlight, squirrelflight, lilyheart, myrtlebloom, etc) was written as being needlessly cruel to him, in spite of their own characters, and the male characters in his life (bramblestar, alderheart, bayshine) were written as far kinder or more reasonable towards him. the issue was not the FACT people were being mean to him, but the blatant trend and malicious gendered stereotypes going on with how it was handled.

"but they've been redeemed by Thunder! they're all being nicer to him now!" yeah, but isn't it super fucking weird that it was written like that in the first place? that finchlight changed personality like the weather when she should have been a prominent enough character to have an established one, that sparkpelt needs to redeem herself for absences in squirrelflight's hope and tbc that were unfairly out of her control and were not even considered an issue until now it's convienent to make her son sad, that squirrelflight was treated as antagonistic and cruel over asking her adult grandson to do some chores or whatever?

"but that's the author's fault, not the character's!" the character is not real though. he doesn't have feelings that can be hurt, what is there are the words on the page, and a lot of people will look at a character's arc rather than imagining them as a real person or making up headcanons to fill in gaps. there is also nothing wrong with people disliking a character you like. that is always going to happen forever.

"so are you saying i'm sexist because i like or relate to nightheart?" no, nobody is saying this. nightheart is an insecure angsty young adult protagonist in a tonally silly book series who has a complicated relationship with his family and gets into relationship drama, of course a bunch of people are going to latch on to him, and there's nothing wrong with that. i know a ton of nightheart fans. people criticising him is not a personal attack on you or anyone.

"you're looking into this too deeply" man this is warrior cats tumblr, what are any of us doing here. sometimes engaging critically with a text is fun. sometimes, texts have genuine flaws and harmful biases within their writing and it's useful to learn to identify and analyse them. warrior cats is not and never will be peak literature and i don't think anybody expects it to be but that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to take critical approaches to it on anything more than a surface level.

[creatingblackcharacters]

This is going to be a long one so sorry in advance.

My question for is in your opinion how do you feel about Fantasy Racism/Racism Allegories?

Back when I was in booktok some of the POC/Black creators I followed express their opinion regarding fantasy racism/racism allegories.

They explained how fantasy racism/allegories is a way for white authors to profit off of Black/POC struggles while other explained that fantasy racism and allegories tend to miss the mark off of real life racism.

I'll uses these two pieces of media as an example.

One example is the mutant racism/discrimination in Marvel comics. While it is suppose to be an allegory for Black and POC racism some of the criticism that I have heard is the fact that mutants are being hated because they HAVE powers NOT because of the way they look or how humans have seen mutants inferior. Being discriminated because a person with powers/abilities falls short when compared with real life racism where Black/POC people aren't being discriminated and targeted because they have powers.

Another example of this is Faunus Racism in RWBY. Faunus who look human but have animal feautures. Their reasoning for discimination is because Faunus look and act like animals some even have "vicious" animal features that humans saw as frightening. One of the main characters is a faunus however her teammates treat her make jokes that can be seen as microaggressions because she is a cat Faunus. The show even shows her feline attributes such as being afraid of dogs and loves eating fish. Many have expressed they don't like this racism because you can't have a POC coded race who is faced with racism that is suppose to be taken seriously and wants to be treated equally but then you reinforce the whole cute animal behaviors. Just like the mutant discrimination falls short on real life racism. (It also doesn't help the fact the faunus racism was solved in 5 volumes)

These pieces of media also take inspiration of the MLK vs Malcom X debates. Which imo completely saturate and whitewashes both ideologies. As these two shows protrays the MLK inspiration (Charles and Blake) be seen as good because they want harmony and peace among the two races while the radical and "violent" Malcom X inspiration (Magneto and Adam) is protrayed as bad.

(It's also doesn't help the fact that Adam from RWBY was revealed to be a child slave who was branded by one of the main protagonist family but was ultimately reduce to obsessed ex boyfriend).

Sorry for the long ass rant.

Well I'm glad you got what you wanted to say out lol. You don't have to say "POC/people of color people", POC is fine.

I can't find my poll on it, I thought I had it saved. But yeah, pretty much. Getting into the nitty gritty of racism means acknowledging both how it is ubiquitous, on purpose, and mundane. Your average racist isn't a raging violent klansman worried about The Prophecy™ outright; they're someone that you'd probably think was "really nice" until you got into deeper discussion and realized where they stood politically and it was quietly just as cruel. And because many people don't quite understand that, they don't know how to write the actual experience of racism.

There's never "one big bad" or "some huge misunderstanding" that is everything wrong, it's many, many things and people contributing to a system- unconsciously and consciously. Well, that's not as entertaining or heroic in a book where you want your hero to take down the Bad Guys! Or that "No One is Wrong, We Can All Get Along!" Due to this, fantasy racism usually captures what looks like a reverse racism concept- what people THINK racism is.

[punkeropercyjackson]

We've lost the plot when it comes to Percy Jackson.He's the personification of abused neurodivergent kids who got to grow up to live happy adult lives and to defy stereotypes.There's no ambiguity or alternative interpretations because that's what his author has always said he intended him as.When i say 'defy stereotypes',i'm also not limiting it to mental disabilities but GENDER too seeing as his plot in The Titan's Curse was proving himself as different from traditional men to Zoe and is said to be unlike other male characters countless times even in looks by a significant amount of the rest of the cast.Not to mention he's accidentally written as way more afrolatino-coded,specifically monoracial and darkskin,than white-coded considering all the straightup profiling he gets in the mortal world as a child and how many of his habits and traits are black and latino norms and tastes,including being from El Barrio and for the canon purists,Riordan has stated verbal approval of moc Percy

He was NEVER meant to be a normie,he was ALWAYS meant to be a minority and relatable to US,not white boylosers that let people bully them because they're self-proclaimed 'cringe but free' and pick me girls who flirt by being mean and treat woc like an entirely different species.And NEITHER of who challenge societal expectations or help out oppressed groups or try to fix the system or break cycles of abuse because they're too pissy to in any way that's not as aesthetic instead of a personality and a lifestyle.Percy.Jackson.Was.Never.For.You.He's a misfit because he's a minority since he's neurodivergent,poor and an abuse victim and he loves other minorities enough to be a bully beater nonstop no matter how many schools he got expelled out of

Hmm,would any of y'all have done that?I mean i've never been expelled but i DID stand up for other kids in addition to myself without a second thought all the way back to elementary school and i've shared a personality with Percy my whole life even besides that,including being afrolatino,bpdtistic and a trans femme and BECAUSE i'm all those things since Percy is also them.But if the books were about me,y'all never would've gotten into the series because the only weirdos to you are nerds,not the oppressed and you think we spit in the name of 'real' outcasts because we're 'too much'.Percy literally hates rich white people in-text and is implied to listen to The Ramones but when we say he means that shit and ain't just being quirky or tryna look cool,y'all forget yourselves and what happened in the books because that neo-liberalism in all the other books you read gave you brainrot and convinced you bookworms and fandomers are persecuted.Get better taste and social awareness,i'm not embarrased to be into super into children's media cause i have a life but i AM embarrased to have to share it with y'all.Especially those of y'all who think Luke was a radicalist instead of a fascist and insult greek people by using the bad parts of their history for your ships but never employ their actual culture

[bitterrobin]

I see a lot of confusion on why calling Damian Wayne "feral" is racist/problematic, so here's a rundown.

There's a difference between calling your child or your younger sibling "feral" and calling a character like Damian "feral." You know your child/sibling/niece/nephew etc. They're real people, and unless they have a problem with it personally, then there's nothing wrong with calling them feral as a joke. It doesn't (shouldn't) affect their perceptions by other people. It doesn't become a label that follows them.

Damian al Ghul-Wayne is a fictional character. A canonically mixed Arab/Chinese/Jewish White character with a history connected to some of the most prominent Arab comic book characters, who themselves also get insanely mischaracterized.

He's constantly whitewashed. He's been written with racist undertones (the suicide bomber vest). He's had his character development and progress backtracked time and time again by DC. DC treats him weirdly most days and completely shitty in the worst stories.

A good majority of fanon hasn't done any better than DC. You cannot pat yourselves on the back for being more inclusive or mental health aware than DC when you call a mixed Arab/Chinese boy "feral". It's constant. You can come up with various titles and nuances for every Bat-character, for every Robin.

Tim can be smart, a skater, a genius, the one holding everyone together, the little brother, the one who needs love. Jason can be cool, morally "right" or "wrong", unstable, PTSD-stricken, the one who was betrayed, the one with Shakespearean tragedies. Dick can be fun, happy, the first one, the prodigal son, the one with complicated history and the big brother.

You give them room for exploration. Love and care and attention and research. Many headcanons. You either comply with canon or you don't, but there's substance to their character.

What does Damian get? He's feral. He's rabid. He's a gremlin. He can't be reasoned with. He has no self-control, he's impulsive. He's hurt others, and you can't forgive it. Sometimes he's homophobic. Or classist. Or plain mean and rude to your favorite boy. He's always carrying a sword. A psychopath with no regard for another's well-being (usually Tim in a lot of fics). He can't be taught what's right.

I've seen people cry that Damian needs to punished or kicked out or treated the same way he's treated others. He needs to be brutalized or talked down to. He can never grow as a person, because he's mean to Tim or Jason, and you need him to exist as the abuser. His first move is always violent.

Fanon compares him to an animal often; he bites, claws, hisses, growls. Bruce or Dick or Jason or Tim have to wrangle him, tame him, civilize him the white man's way in lieu of his brown mother and grandfather who "clearly" raised him wrong. You don't see the issue with that? The issue with always labeling one of the few major brown characters in Batman comics as the unreasonable animal? That the child of color is always the abuser, the instigator, to older characters?

And even if you don't see him this way, you don't write him this way - then are you giving him the care and attention you give for other Bat characters?

Do you know anything else about him other than his "anger"? Because he isn't always angry. In fact, he's typically well-mannered. Quiet even, when he's not being provoked. DC's writing will always vary but whenever Damian lashes out, he's usually written with a reason to act the way he does.

Are you making him intelligent like he should be? A hard believer in redemption? A neglected and abused child who isn't meek or crying or closes himself within? Are you willing to explore that he's always exhibited the "wrong" kind of trauma responses - lashing out, being snippy, ruining relationships, refusing to admit weakness?

Do you write anything about him without making his mother and grandfather comically abusive and violent? Will you give him the supporting cast/friends he actually has? Can you write his dad/siblings interacting with him without making them white saviors or therapy pets? Can you write him without a ship or his love for animals or being vegetarian overshadowing everything?

Is he a character to you at all other than a glorified plot device with a sharp tongue and the convenience of being violent?

[olderthannetfic]

I think you've talked before about how it's wrong to assume the only people who enjoy taboo kink like race play are bigoted white people, right? Tumblr's search remains garbage. I've been trying to formulate some thoughts on it after seeing some videos on "bad books" but I don't really know enough about real world kink culture to know what's valid critique of racism or anti-kink just hiding behind it. So I remembered you'd mentioned the topic at some point and might have some thoughts?

--

Well, first, one should apply basic logic: If shittons of women kink on the ways in which society abuses women, why wouldn't at least some ethnic minorities kink on the way society abuses them?

Second, social media overflows with jackasses saying "Listen to POC" as a thought-terminating cliche, but it's good advice as long as you grasp that you do have to evaluate which people you're listening to and what basis you have for trusting that they know something about a subject.

Honestly, I don't think this topic is that complicated. There are just a lot of cowardly white people around who are too scared of ever being seen as wrong to be willing to do a little research or stand up for anything even remotely controversial. They'll parrot the first anti they run across but not bother to engage with the comments of nonwhite kinksters who are long-time community members with informed opinions.

The person I'd listen to, personally, is Mollena Williams-Haas, a kink educator and submissive. She has talked about race play here, among many other places.

Her comments boil down to it being about consent. If kinksters want to play with a concept and everyone involved is on the same page, it's not the business of outsiders to tell them it's off limits.

Playing with heavy topics in an agreed upon way is completely different from having that thing sprung on you without warning. We're used to making this distinction when people are playing with the trappings of rape but, somehow, lose our goddamn minds when the topic is racism.

Now, yes, there are plenty of gross white creeps who think nonwhite kinksters will inherently be interested in this sort of thing and should cater to them... but how is that any different from your usual pest in a bar chatting up uninterested parties and refusing to take no for an answer? The problem isn't squicky kinks that many of us don't want to hear about: The problem is jackasses treating others as a fantasy and/or kink dispenser instead of a person with feelings and needs.

Frankly, most of the arguments against this sort of kink are your usual "As a woman, you should be setting a good example!" bilge that's leveled at all submissive women but on steroids because a woman of color is extra, extra, extra responsible for living her whole life as An Example. (And I notice that it's generally submissive nonwhite women who come in for the most abuse even though plenty of other dynamics exist. Quelle surprise.) It's bullshit. People should mind their own damn business.

As for "bad books"... Are we talking bodice rippers with nonwhite heroines or what? Are we back to colonizer romance wank? Books about characters engaging in race play in a BDSM context? I think it's reasonable to critique books that don't seem to know what they're doing—e.g. not seeming aware that a rape scene is one—but stupid to worry about iddy trash that is trying to be iddy trash. People will always like socially unacceptable id fodder. Some books will always cater to that.

[danlous]

I've probably said this before but when considering the unreliable narration in iwtv i think what we don't see is much more important than what we see. Like i think people have been since the beginning focusing too much on what is a 'fake' memory or narrative or lie. Especially Lestat fans have a tendency to do that when trying to explain away things he does saying that isn't 'real Lestat'. But there is actually very little in these first two seasons that contradicts Lestat's established characterization; what we lack is Lestat's point of view and more information. It's not about the existence of all the negative things and memories, but the absence of positive ones. We know there were good things in Louis and Claudia's relationship with Lestat but we see very little of it. There is nothing in Lestat's abusive and cruel treatment of them that contradicts that he loved them and that good things existed too. Even if he had been a hundred times more abusive it wouldn't have dimmed the reality of his love in the slightest. But that love, especially the love he has for Cladia, isn't necessarily clear for viewers or characters other than Lestat in the show because it's not shown.

When we get Lestat's version of the story in s3 it's going to be different than Louis' or Claudia's or Armand's version - but i think probably less so than most people assume. In 2.07 we already see that Lestat's version of the revisited scenes is more like an extended version and doesn't really even contradict Louis' and Claudia's story. In Lestat's version of Claudia's night of turning Louis begged him more desperately and he warned Louis more strongly, but it's actually very similar - we just didn't see everything they said. In ep5 flashback he's vague and doesn't tell everything he did (if we only got Lestat's version you'd have an impression that the assault was less violent than it was) but doesn't deny anything either and openly admits that he 'broke' Louis to hurt him. The additional scene is just what Claudia didn't see because she wasn't in the same room and it doesn't change anything, it just tells us more about what Lestat was feeling. In the same way i think Lestat's narration later is going to give his perspective and clarify his motivations and emotions, but it's not going to erase anything we've seen before. You can already guess that Lestat felt extremely lonely and abandoned and paranoid, and that he was worried and protective of Louis and Claudia and tried to control his fears and insecurities by controlling his fledglings. We'll see much more of him being vulnerable and loving and learn a lot about his past and trauma. But none of that means that everything we've seen didn't happen, and likely Lestat isn't going to claim it didn't happen either. And it most certainly doesn't excuse anything.

For example in 1.06 when Lestat forced Claudia to return, in addition to dragging her home so that Louis would stay with him i think he was also genuinely trying to protect her because he knew that other vampires in Europe would likely kill her quickly if and when she found them. But that doesn't make the way he treated her in that scene any less horrendous and abusive. The depiction of Lestat and Claudia's relationship in the show has actually been in line with their book relationship, where in Interview Lestat is often cruel to her, threatens to kill her, and indicates that he only made her to keep Louis with him. We only learn later from Lestat's own narration that he actually always loved her. The scene at the end of Interview where he's crying while clutching Claudia's dress after her death is arguably the first time we see proof of him loving her. I think it's pretty likely they're going to include that in the show, with Claudia wearing a similar yellow dress and Santiago pointedly snatching it from her ashes, and that is going to be a reveal to viewers that Lestat's feelings for Claudia were much more complex than shown so far.

I think Lestat's love for Claudia, which i'd argue is a core part of his character in the same way his love for Louis is, is the most significant part of the story that has been erased, and that erasure makes sense since Armand's narrative relies on the presumption that Lestat hated Claudia and wanted to kill her. But it's Lestat's own doing that narrative is so believable that even Louis believes his husband wanted their daughter dead. This is a tragedy that Lestat created himself. The greatest horror of the story is the continuous coexistence of deepest love and deepest cruelty. The most upsetting thing isn't that Lestat was a victim of some false narrative and didn't actually do the things he was shown to do, or that he didn't really love Louis and Claudia, but that he loved them, both of them, and still did those things

[agender-witchery]

It hurts

After talking with people in discord for the week that this has been going on, I think my feelings on the Project Moon situation are just. Like, this was a company I felt was "safe". Obviously corporations are not your friends, but this was a studio that consistently pushed out games with progressive - and at times even radical - messaging. This was a studio that has consistently written solid characters with gender as an absolute afterthought. Emma is a boy! Harold is a girl! That's how little gender matters, which, ironically, is something that matters.

I can't think of another franchise I've engaged with that just... writes women as people. I've heard George R.R. Martin is like that, but I never engaged with the TV series that introduced the US to the concept of filler or the book series it was based on. I'm gonna gloss over Lobotomy Corporation a bit here because the story only has 13 characters, but 12 of them return for Library of Ruina. In Ruina you have Binah, Angela, Nikolai, and Elena as assertive women that take control of the situations they're in. You have passive uwu smol beans like Hod and Eileen! You have characters who are war criminals and that's not a mark of a villain, that's just a part of their backstory! Some of the women here have just Done Crimes! One of the women IS a crime! And men are treated the same! There are characters with traumas and behavioral disorders who act like real people would! Lesti saw the aftermath of Love Town and started talking about food! Beef intestine no less! Philip saw his colleagues get murdered and physically manifested a mental breakdown! Xiao saw her husband get murdered and physically manifested literal burning rage!

All of the writing has been good! All of it! And it has consistently written women in a way that is flat out rare, even in 2023. And Limbus has been doing the same! Outis is assertive! Ryoshu is assertive! Hermann is assertive! Don is an idiot and Faust refuses to talk half the time! Heathcliff is assertive! Meursault is assertive! Gubo is assertive! Hong Lu is an idiot and Sinclair is/was a pathetic sop! Across the board, the character writing is just GOOD. As Lobotomy Corporation progresses, Ayin's shitty behavior becomes more and more apparent! And that all culminates with Angela being tossed aside like garbage once she's no longer useful to him, as you hear her desperate wishes to just be seen!

All of that, or at least most of that, was Kim Ji-hoon. But Kim Ji-hoon is also the person who hastily fired VellMori at 11 PM, over the phone, while he was out of office in Japan, because some incels accused his company of being sympathetic to feminists in 2023.

And it fuckin hurts that the source of those stories, the stories that I just spent three paragraphs praising, the stories that are so important to me, could turn heel in half a second like that. As if he was writing completely different stories than the ones I've been reading. And I hate that? I hate that. Because there isn't a replacement! I don't get Grandma War Crimes and Dumbass Justice Enactor in other stories! Like, maybe some will come close, maybe some will have the same exact character somewhere, but never all of it together. Never written as amazingly as the City is.

So it hurts. And the silence is loud.

[warriorcatsofficialfacts]

Can you share more about the ableism in warrior cats? I always hear it talked about but I haven't read it since I was a kid so I don't remember.

this is a complicated thing to discuss bc on some level the ableism in warrior cats has its roots in the sheer amount of value this cat society places on physical strength but here are the like. basic bullet points i guess

1. use of ableist slurs

the terms "cripple" and "lame" are used in the books, both of which are insults to the physically disabled, cripple being considered an active slur most physically disabled people agree ablebodied people shouldn't even say. i Have had one person defend this by pointing out that the characters who use the term cripple are using it As a slur: it's meant to be a depiction of jayfeather as a protagonist experiencing ableism

i countered this with pointing out that mentally disabled people do not have to worry about opening up a warrior cats book and having to read the pov character be called the r slur, nor do gay people have to worry about opening up a warrior cats book and having to see the pov be called a faggot or a queer. The issue is not the use of ableist slur itself, but instead the fact that it is the Only instance of a character being called an irl slur or curse word. i should not have to explain why it's not appropriate for books to contain slurs when they're not even allowed to say Fuck. if these were books where real life bigotry and bigoted terminology were used frequently and not only for physical disabilities, i would see no issue with jaypaw being called a cripple by two ableist jackasses

however even with that out of the way there's still the fact that disabled characters are referred to as Lame more than once, not by an ableist character, but by the Narration. that's not a character being a bigot, that's the Books being bigoted

2. disability as a plot device to serve abled characters

the most obvious instance of this is snowkit (who i often call a "walking hate crime" for this exact reason), but it's fairly consistent that disabled characters almost never solely exist for their own sake, but always to say something about the abled people around them or have an impact on those people

snowkit dies to traumatize his mother, his deafness being directly related to his death. jagged peak is made a paraplegic to demonstrate clear sky's cruelty to even his own family. briarlights paralysis is routinely shown through the lens of other people debating or discussing her worth and impact on her. cinderpelt loses movement in her leg both to emotionally impact fireheart and to be yet another person who's life has been impacted by tigerclaw. brightheart is permanently disfigured so that bluestars cruelty towards her can act as yet another step in her progression to madness, and so that firestars renaming of her can establish him as a more benevolent leader (sort of patching up his predecessors wrongdoings).

there are a few exceptions, crookedstar in particular is pretty good.

3. arc one exclusive: disability or disfigurement as a sign of menace

i generally say arc one is the best on ableism simply because it treats disability as a Fact that Will inevitably happen to all warriors (this is why basically Every elder is disabled). but there is one thing that. I think people forget? A Little?

Outside of elders, there are a decent number of arc one cats who are described as being disfigured or disabled outside of thunderclan

if i'm remembering correctly, these are crookedstar, brokenstar, deadfoot, and clawface. only two of these cats (crooked and dead) are intended to actually be Disabled (even though brokenstar has a SCI if you know how cat spines work), but all of them are meant to be visually disfigured, with brokenstar having an obviously deformed tail, and clawface having distinctive facial scarring

it's probably pretty easy to figure out why i'm bringing up broken and claw, since. they're both murderers. but here's something that's easy to miss:

crookedstar is rather consistently antagonistic in arc one and deadfoot is explicitly considered to be intimidating by fireheart. deadfoot is the least egregious, he is a deputy afterall so it makes sense fireheart is menaced by his presence, but crookedstar is very much like. he openly declares he intends to take over windclans old territory along with shadowclan. people tend to forget but riverclan is Mean in arc one, Crookedstar Included.

that's 4/4 of the non elderly disfigured characters in arc one who are meant to be somehow intimidating at best, and menacing, antagonistic, and evil at worst. not great numbers. btw the reason i'm not counting cinder and bright here is because those are previously abled characters who then Become disfigured and disabled, meanwhile these four are introduced as disfigured and/or disabled, which is a bit different from a meta perspective.

4. outside of arc one, a universal perspective that disabled characters cannot be warriors

now, this isn't really a Thing in arc one. there's only One character who is explicitly made to stop being a warrior because she's disabled, and even then it's not that she Couldn't be a warrior: her broken bone healed wrong and warrior duties would be constantly painful for her.

however after arc one there are very few New disabled characters at all, and all of them are medicine cats or elders. longtail is blinded and almost immediately retires (even though that doesn't seem super in character for him), jayfeather tries his best to be a warrior despite the complete and total uselessness of everyone around him but is eventually forced into medicine cat duties by god anyway, briarlight is genuinely just a medicine cat in all but name, and if you count shadowsight (which. honestly i don't think you should) he's also a medicine cat

i just. feel the need to point out that arc one specifically had brightheart get taught how to be a warrior by her abled boyfriend but somehow none of these cats could accommodate Themselves. I guess accommodations only exist if you're Half blind or have an abled boyfriend to save you from your own body