#brokenstar's rule

[burning-thistles-bt]

im not cryimgg,,,,, you are,,,,,

[dreamingblacktabby]

Thistlestar's Reign (Part 1)

AU starts with Thistleclaw finding out the father of Bluefur's kits is Oakheart and announcing it to the whole clan

Bluefur loses respect from the clan(except Thrushpelt and Rosetail) and ends up not being made deputy

Thistleclaw is rejected as deputy at first, the position being given to Adderfang

RiverClan finds out about Bluefur's kits and want them so Bluefur ends up giving up her kits to prevent a war and also for Crookedstar to relinquish the rights to Sunning rocks

One day Adderfang winds up being found dead along ShadowClan territory and Thistleclaw is made deputy

Sunstar dies pretty soon afterwards and Thistlestar becomes the new leader of ThunderClan

Thistlestar launches a war against ShadowClan for the death of Adderfang, the war resulting with casualties on both sides

I haven't decided who Thistlestar's first deputy is but whoever it is dies and Tigerclaw is made the new deputy

One day Thistlestar finds a queen wandering on ThunderClan territory and ends up killing her despite her promising to leave

Featherwhisker and Spottedleaf find the queen's kits and tell Thistlestar ThunderClan needs to take them in which he denies until Featherwhisker points out its against the warrior code to leave kits to suffer, regardless of their origin

Thistlestar relents and allows the kits to be brought to ThunderClan where they are given to Willowpelt to raise alongside her own kit

He names the two kits Lostkit(Firestar) and Softkit(Princess)

Lostkit and Softkit grow up close with the other kits in the nursery and don't understand why some of the older cats hate them so much

When the kits all become apprentices, Dustpaw is apprentices to Tigerclaw, Sandpaw to Whitestorm, Ravenpaw to Darkstripe, Graystripe to Lionheart, Lostpaw to Bluefur, and Softpaw is given to Redtail

Lostpaw has a vision of the forest rotting away from the war between ThunderClan and ShadowClan and tells Spottedleaf about it

One day Lostpaw discovered Yellowfang on ThunderClan territory and tries to get her to leave because he knows she'll be killed if she stays but she doesn't seem to care

A patrol finds the pair and bring them back to camp where Thistlestar decides to keep Yellowfang as a prisoner and question her for information about ShadowClan

He puts Lostpaw in charge of her for being soft on her and then privately pulls Lostpaw aside to tell him to gain Yellowfang's trust so he could gather information from her

Lostpaw does as he's told and tries to learn things from her but she catches on pretty quickly and tries to be cold towards him, finding it hard to do so since Lostpaw is genuinely nice to her

WindClan is still chased out but Thistlestar takes this as a big threat and tells Brokenstar that if even a hair crosses the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan it will be a fight

Brokenstar accepts the challenge and tells Thistlestar to meet him at the border in a couple days

Thistlestar prepares the clan for the battle, sending Ravenpaw across the border as a spy after he proves himself to be good at sneaking

Lostpaw tells Spottedleaf about his worries and Spottedleaf tells him she had a vision that he was destined to save the clans

Softpaw finds herself craving safety from the coming war and ends up running away to RiverClan

Ravenpaw also doesn't feel safe because of Thistlestar so ends up going off to find WindClan(Thistlestar and the rest of the clan think he was killed while spying)

During the battle between ThunderClan and ShadowClan, Lostpaw manages to take one of Brokenstar's lives by accident when Brokenstar chases him onto the Thunderpath in front of a truck

Thistlestar decides Lostpaw has earned his place in the clan and makes him a warrior alongside Sandstorm and Dustpelt

Lostpaw is renamed Fireheart because he's got a fire in his heart and is no longer lost

During their silent vigil as new warriors, Clawface and Deerfoot sneak into camp to try and steal kits but they get spotted and Thistlestar executes them both

Fireheart realizes the war is far from over and can see the decay of the clans is well on its way

-To Be Continued-

[bonefall]

a couple of leafstar questions! 1) is the process of selecting her to be new!skyclan’s leader changed at all by the fact that brokenstar is now firestar’s travelling buddy? 2) is billyleaf sticking around as a ship, and how will it change, if at all? 3) is leafstar going to be as… notably dumb in her reactions to everything happening so far in ASC?

The list of SkyClan changes is probably longer than the list of things that are staying the same. Cultural expansions, a very different culture, unique politics, even an alternate Warrior Code. Real fans of SkyClan want them to be completely different <3

Leafstar's not an exception. I HATE canon Leafstar. Every action they've taken with her has felt absolutely awful since Firestar's Quest so I'm just overwriting her completely.

SkyClan's Leadership

The part of Firestar's Quietus where Firestar and Brokenstar actually CHOOSE who the new leader is going to be is a bit up in the air. I have the beginning and end with the rats figured out-- but the middle has been evading me.

I know that Brokenstar prefers Sharpclaw, at first. Probably because Sharpclaw is so aggressive and dedicated to the old ways.

So it makes sense that Firestar prefers Leafdapple. She's making him realize things about his own way of ruling, parts of Clan culture he's come to accept uncritically.

She straight up blows past his thought-terminating cliches;

Firestar: "You see, Leafdapple... you can't live with a paw in both worlds."

Leafdapple: "Pardon? I don't understand what that means?"

Firestar: "It means... um... hmm ._."

In the end, she's probably chosen exactly because she's not committed to bringing back the past. SkyClan has not been the Clan of Skystar for a long time. It's the Clan of Skywatcher.

It is no longer the Clan-in-the-Canopy, it is the Clan-in-the-Stones.

I feel that the first Leader and Deputy were chosen by Firestar and Brokenstar. Though Brokenstar's mind changes over the course of Firestar's Quietus, I think they ultimately still agree that there were two "sides" of SkyClan that should live in balance.

Leafstar, committed to fairness, abides this. Until Sharpclaw ultimately betrays her for The Kin. (Repeat link from above but if your eyes just popped out of your head it explains everything about how PROFOUNDLY differently I'm approaching The Kin lmaoo)

I hadn't planned explicitly for the deputy system to work a bit differently here, BUT it does also feel in line for Leafstar to decide it on a whim after regrouping. Surrounded by the remnants of her Clan, deputy having just turned half of their warriors against them, SkyClan's protector oak ripping itself off the cliffside and destroying their camp, she jumps up on top of a rock like, "Ok team, that sure was a doozy. Let's try to pick a better deputy this time 8)"

It feels better that deputies are popularly "elected," or at the very least nominated by the Clan. Might make for a nice climactic moment in a rework of Hawkwing's Journey.

Is Billyleaf sticking around?

Yes! But it's actually a bit different.

First of all, Leafstar is actually in a constellation with Billystorm and Echosong, the Cleric. Leafstar is mates with Billystorm and a partner of Echosong. Echosong is not romantically involved with Billystorm. SkyClan actually split off from the main Clans before the Cleric's Vow was codified by Larkstripe's strike. They don't have the same taboo against Clerics having mates or raising kittens.

Billystorm is also a massive himbo now lmao, I'm not a huge fan of him in-canon. I'm still reworking stuff here though-- I'm planning to change SkyClan and the Stranger into Sol's Game, a darker story diving into Sol, the Entity, and Harry, the vessel it courts.

But it's been a while and I need to revamp my old drafts, so that's on the backburner for now.

Is Leafstar going to remain an idiot?

absolutely not. christ. I Don't Rewrite Arcs Until They Are Done but if I ever produce something as brainless as "An entire society believes that a child is lying because her accused murderer says he heard her mother snoring evil manipulation plans in her sleep" then explode me to bits with 10000 pounds of nitroglycerin

instead of just having her and everyone else be dumb, it's an easy enough small change to just have Splashstar already be in power and show the beginning of his reign having gone smoothly. Everyone's desperate for RiverClan to have a leader again. Have Leafstar's bias be against ShadowClan specifically, because Heartstar's nephew Juniperclaw mass-poisoned her entire Clan.

Even before then, too. I don't like how the Erins seem to treat Leafstar as this "unreasonable" character who's usually some shade of wrong. I don't like how she just has to accept that Sharpclaw was undermining her for her own good in SkyClan's Destiny. I don't like how Dodge dragged SkyClan into his stupid conflict. Or how she went back to the Gorge after Juniperclaw's poisoning, only to be herded back by the noble Clan cats when a sudden flood makes their old home unsafe for some reason.

I don't like how she only seems to get a "win" when she's accepting or asserting that the Clans have the perfect way of life and she should resemble it more-- see the opening of AVoS, where it's strongly implied that Daylight Warriors being unable to fight to defend the camp at night was how The Kin was able to throw everyone out, and thus the practice has been abolished since then. I think these conflicts are frustrating in the way they're written and presented.

So quite frankly I'm tossing a lot of it. First and foremost, SkyClan's primary conflicts should be trying to keep its unique cultural identity. Secondary conflicts should be based around its political interactions with the other Clans at the lake, particularly ShadowClan and ThunderClan, which it shares borders with.

BB!Leafstar's personality is that she's assertive, fair, and polite. In my head I lovingly imagine her always speaking in the tone of a corporate manager trying to keep control of her team as the office goes up in flames around her. While she always tries to consider all perspectives and stay approachable to all her warriors, she's often misinterpreted as being passive-aggressive or not genuine.

In a nutshell: I am personally making sure she's not the sort of dumb she is in canon. I have a vision for this version of SkyClan.

[brackenfur]

there’s a lot of plot holes in the omen of the stars arc but one of the biggest ones imo was what was the goal of the dark forest like…….were they just aiming for mass destruction ? but then characters like tigerstar and brokenstar and mapleshade were talking about “ruling” and taking over so like did they somehow….plan to take over the clans while being dead ? or use their trainees to take over ? like what was the end goal it felt like simultaneously all three of these things but also none of them

[mommyclaws]

Opinions on Leopardstar? I haven't read leopardstar's Honor yet, not sure what happens there, but I've heard it's somewhat disappointing.

I was always somewhat angry that she never really mentioned Tigerstar after the whole Tigerclan thing, and we never really got to see how she felt about the whole thing, just that the people she sent to die really didn't like her.

A Shadow in Riverclan also kinda did the same thing where she gave a little pep talk and suddenly everything was ok for Feathertail, after she had horrible ptsd from Leopardstar

I want to like her but she's such a nothing character imo to actually have an opinion on because I think she was done pretty dirty, as Riverclan and her weren't really the focus of the series for so long

I consider myself a Leopardstar fan. I’ve been wanting to talking about my feelings/view on her for a while so i’ll put all my thoughts here!

The direction they took with her in canon is dissatisfying but she has alot of groundwork that gives her interesting potential. Her father is a medic- formerly warrior- who changed his position because he is against violence. She turns into everything Mudfur wanted to escape from. Too proud, itching for a battle, apathetic to the suffering of the other clans. And even if it was a let down, I can appreciate the authors at least tried to do more with her character than let her off the hook as easily as Blackfoot.

I like her mostly in comparison to my dislike for Blackstar's character. He teamed with Brokenstar and Tigerstar, committed murders and didn’t protest to the abuse of his own clan. He does nothing to atone and doesn't even seem particularly remorseful but he's still rewarded by being made leader. Leopardstar was already in power when she made the decisions that cost cats their lives. Cats trusted her to protect them and her neglect threw them into savagery and death. Standing by to allow kits and her own deputy be slaughtered is GRUESOME. I read her as someone blinded by ambition, just another product of the code. She misjudged then got in over her head with Tigerclan and was willing to toss others aside to save her own tail. Maybe she truly is remorseful, but it doesn't change what she did. Nothing can.

Crookedstar's leadership was very relaxed and she considered him weak. He gave up land to Shadowclan, he could never keep Sunningrocks, he allowed Thunderclan to take refugee on multiple occasions, and all of the half clan cats he accepts are seemingly only because they're his kin. She had thoughts of making Riverclan powerful and feared once he was out of the picture, it's why she completely disregarded his dying wishes- She couldn't bring herself to respect him.

The politics of Riverclan change drastically with her nine lives. Closed borders and no tolerance for Thunderclan, not even Graystripe, who only wanted to be with his kits. Riverclan is strong. But it could be stronger, couldn't it? She and Tigerclaw served as deputies together, even if he was the enemy, she thought well of him. He is a fierce and respected Thunderclan warrior. Or so he was. While she initially thought it a red flag he was now serving Shadowclan, she couldn't disagree with him for leaving Thunderclan when she already had so much resentment for them and ruling Shadowclan, it was true. They had been weaken for many moons, it was Tigerstar who reunited them and made them powerful. So when he promises to make her clan just as powerful, together, she doesnt refuse.

She very consistently and vocally had a dislike for half-clan cats. She exiled Graystripe. She calls Featherpaw and Stormpaw liabilities. She banishes Stormfur and Brook. I think she has very genuine hateful beliefs but at the same time she’s horrified at what happened to Stonefur. That was a cat she was trusting to become the next leader of Riverclan. And he was killed for defending innocent lives. She knows she was wrong, she regrets it, she has nightmares about the bonehill. (<- This was confirmed by an author apparently!) but her attempts to “atone” are surface level and shallow at best. She wants to be forgiven without changing. She makes Mistyfoot deputy to show she’s better now, but what meaning does that position have after Stonefur was slaughtered? She apologizes to Feathertail and Stormfur, but they still feel like complete outcasts. They’re more friendly with their former clanmates in Thunderclan and Leopardstar later exiles Stormfur over a faked sign. I think her attempts were never to better herself or right her victims, but to relieve her own guilt. She’s always prioritized herself above others.

[wc-confessions]

Wanted to say this in response to the “Curlfeather is morally grey/isn’t morally grey” topic—

Curlfeather still loves Frostpaw. She even risked her life giving up her own to save Frostpaw from the dogs. She conspired the plan with Splashtail in order to make RiverClan better, as we all know StarClan is rather shady in their own practices (see Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s trial). The Clans need to start trusting and relying on themselves more rather than in the faith of dead cats who have in canon, put cats like Ashfur in StarClan because he “loved too much”, have given Tigerstar his nine lives despite in canon giving Pinestar the omen that he would be a monster, have refused to give Nightpelt his own nine lives when he stepped up to be leader because according to StarClan Brokenstar was still the leader of ShadowClan, and again they put Leafpool and Squirrelflight on trial for listening to them and having the prophesied litter that saved the Clans from the Dark Forest. StarClan is getting ridiculous and the amount of faith the Clam cats put in them needs to be diminished.

She IS morally grey because she is doing what she believes is best for the Clan. She’s doing a necessary evil to free RiverClan from remaining in the state of obeying dead ancestors who commit shady practices and rules. On the other hand, yes she brought Frostpaw into the plan to take over RiverClan. But again, she still loves her, and again, gave up her life to save Frostpaw. To say she didn’t or never loved her own daughter would be false. If she didn’t love Frostpaw, she could’ve left her to the dogs. But, she didn’t. Yes, her practices on how she carried out the take over RiverClan plan can be debated. But to argue that she is an awful mother through on through isn’t accurate. And it is misogyny that some people hate her, because god forbid we have a she-cat in the series who is actually interesting. Moonkitti actually did a very good video on this topic, and while I disagree that Crowfeather was worse because pain olympics are not right and we should not be equating different kinds of evils against each other in some sort of justice olympics (we can all agree Crowfeather is a shitty dad but we shouldn’t be fighting over who “had it worse” or “was worse”) her point that Curlfeather still loved Frostpaw and is still her mother stands.

ㅤ

[booksofstars]

Anthro Brokenstar 💪💪💪 Pretty pkease

braun was the illegitimate child of former shadevale mayor reginald hesterfield and military doctor yolanda dubois. he was born out of wedlock and quickly given to larissa sentrace to raise alongside her three children. unfortunately, between larissa’s harsh parenting and reginald’s willingness to let braun act out, he quickly became a charming young man with a penchant for convincing others to follow his lead. it was in this manner that he managed to assassinate his father, and take his place as mayor. he changed the rules of the city to prevent "voter fraud" and put all of his closest supporters in charge. he put children to work in the marsh and nearby pine plant, leading to horrific deaths, some by his own paw. after ordering the kidnapping of thundering hills youth for use in the workforce, his mansion was stormed and he was blinded by yolanda and taken prisoner. he briefly conspired with theo “tiger" in order to oust aidana from power, but was secretly poisoned by yolanda when she realized he was still a danger. in the afterlife, he tends to stick to himself. there is no money to make, no town to control, so why should he bother? his only trainee was reeves (breezepelt), who he saw himself in. he was vanquished again by yolanda in the great fight.

[redux-iterum]

Did Brokenstar have any reservations about killing his father? Did he disagree with Raggedstar’s leadership style (like Tigerclaw did with Bluestar), or was it simply a desire for power? Did the two of them have a good relationship?

Well, Raggedstar certainly thought their relationship was great. He was so very proud of his little boy and gave him everything he wanted, because he deserved it and he was trying so hard and oh, look at him, he's perfection in a cat, how can I not give him the world? Even with Yellowfang (Murkpelt at the time) making warning comments and trying to offer advice, Raggedstar was convinced everything was fine between him and his son. He thought he knew all about Brokentail and what he wanted in life, and he thought he was going to get to grow old and retire to watch his precious treasure rule ShadowClan as a wonderful, just, and faithful leader.

Raggedstar was a fucking idiot.

We've said before that Brokenstar, from kithood to death, was a massively self-absorbed prick that was obsessed with having total control over his life and the life of others. He was never satisfied with ANYTHING - no amount of control was enough. A wayward joke, a simple suggestion to do something he didn't order, outright questioning, all of it was unacceptable. He had to own his Clanmates like they were pieces of prey he had caught himself and was keeping from rogues. Not in a protective way, you understand. In the way of a dragon hoarding ill-gotten treasures.

To better gain that control - and it came naturally to him - he was quite a manipulator and liar, with a silver tongue and a good read on his Clanmates and their culture. He could cause trouble and pin it on someone else, or create a false sign for his Clanmates to interpret (not that it fooled Murkpelt, but it fooled everyone else, including the other seer), and he was very good at pitting ShadowClanners against each other (part of the reason Murkpelt couldn't get the Clan to side with her before she left). Had he been a little wiser, he could've probably succeeded in his goal of owning all of the territories. The only thing stopping him was his ego telling him he was a lot smarter than he really was.

Though, really, it didn't matter if he was stupid or smart when it came to his father. Raggedstar was completely blind to his son's bad behavior, even when he did get caught. Brokenstar had his dad wrapped around his finger, so to speak – he could do anything he wanted and get everything he wanted with a simple command thinly veiled as a sweetly-worded request. As Brokentail, he only had to mention once or twice that he sure would like to be leader just like his dad one day, and as soon as the previous deputy died under “mysterious circumstances”, Raggedstar made him second-in-command.

You would think this would be enough for Brokentail. He’s going to become leader eventually, and he can order anything he wants and his dad will agree to it. But the thing with control freaks like him is that it’s never enough control, and any small thing that they don’t yet have power over must be destroyed or taken by force. Brokentail didn’t want to put Raggedstar out of the way so much as he needed to. It never mattered to him that this was his father, who loved him dearly and probably would have retired early if he had just been asked nicely. He was an obstacle to cross over, nothing more.

To answer the question about reservations: no. He was very ready to hurt anyone he thought he had to in order to get what he wanted. Why would his idiotic, doddering father be different? He only hesitated for as long as it took to form a murder plot that wouldn’t be traced back to him.

I don’t think Brokenstar ever truly loved anyone in his life. Not a Clanmate, not his foster mother, not his father, no one. I think he only loved himself, insomuch as he was capable of love. Maybe it was just ego. Narcissism, perhaps. Whatever the case was, no one mattered but him. That sadly included the cat who would have died a thousand deaths before allowing anyone to even lay a paw on his son.

[shummthechumm]

yellowfang genuinely believing that because brokenstar was "cursed" and that her (being manipulated into) giving him up...her loosing her daughters at birth...and that this meant she was incapable of birthing and raising a cat like firestar....ooooo...

then later projecting herself onto leafpool having the three...which, as old as their prophecy is, i would imagine causing some unrest in starclan....her children having a "pre-determined" destiny, being born against the same rules that brokenstar was...

both leaf and yellow and their similar powers...its all too much really

[theanoninyourinbox]

New Longstar AU - Outsiders and Rogues

As there are many many cats in the world, there are many cats that have different lifestyles and different ways of viewing the world.  The Clans views of outsiders ave varied from clan to clan. These are the ones that our Clans have interacted with in the past, and hints of what they might run into in the future.

Kittypets

Kittypets are those who live with the mysterious and unpredictable Twolegs in their Tall Dens.  They are usually well groomed, with distinctive markings and vivid colors to their pelts.  Many Kittypets wear collars of strange materials around their necks, and some even have full body armor on at all times! (That’s a walking harness you mousebrain! -Flamewish) There are Kittypets who don’t want to BE Kittypets, and Twolegs who mistreat their charges, but the majority of Kittypets love their Twoleg, and said Twoleg seems to love them back.

The majority of Kittypets are fearful of Clan cats or intruders, but be forewarned – some are ferocious as a Front-Line Brawler, and often attacking a Kittypet leads to their Twoleg coming after the aggressor. Some Clan cats have been lost this way – it is said that Pinestar was battling a Kittypet molly on a Thunderpath when her Twolegs scooped them up into a Monster.  He has never been seen again…

Loners

Loners are those who walk the world either alone or in groups of less than 5.  They may have a small territory, or wander in certain paths.  Loners can be former Kittypets, or banished from previous groups.  Some loners have friendly relationships with the Clans – there are some that visit Windclan, and there were a few that saw Shadowclan as friends, before Raggedstar and Brokenstar.  Some Loners have even joined the Clans in the past, and it is whispered if a Queen or King brings kits to the camp with no other parent, they could have Loner blood.

Clowders

A Clowder is any medium to large group of non-Clan cats with a structured society and rules.  Usually led by one to three cats, most Clowders are just trying to do the best they can in a cruel world, but others are just power-hungry.  There are Clowders in churches, and on the streets of Twoleg Territories.  Clowders that protect the weak, and Clowders that exploit the innocent.  Some have a defined territory, while others wander together. The Loners that visit Windclan are part of a larger Clowder, the WorldWalkers, that meets up every year, then splits off to explore.  Another, spoken of in rumors, is nearly all mollies, that eject their toms at adulthood, and speak to the dead. (These rumors are highly exaggerated)

The Barn Cats

Specifically speaking of the Barn on the edge of the Clan Territories, the Barn Cats are a very friendly Clowder that is allied with the Clans.  The Barn is seen as a neutral zone, so as long as no one starts a fight, everyone is welcome.  Cats who visit are expected to have manners and provide for others who may be resting there, so bring some prey or nesting material or feathers for kits to play with.  Currently run by Barley and his sister Violet, they have allowed a garden of Emergency Herbs to be grown on the grounds, and keep the Twolegs that visit occasionally from stealing any kits or young cats that are sheltering there.  Ravenpaw of Thunderclan has joined the Barn Cats, and become the Herbalist of this Clowder.

Rogues

The criminal element of the outsiders, Rogues are only looking out for themselves.  They lie and cheat and steal, intimidate and eviscerate, battle and leave blood in their wake.  Usually living alone, they can be mistaken for Loners, and may pretend for a time, but eventually their true nature is revealed.  Groups of Rogues are led by either the strongest or the cleverest, and are generally cruel Clowders to grow up in.  Some born Rogues may choose to change their ways, but escape is such a difficult thing to do.  Bloodclan was a powerful Rogue Clowder, but with Tyrant’s Defeat, it has waned into little more that infighting and violence.  Some say a certain molly and a certain tom are trying to rebuild Bloodclan into something new and better, but no one in the Clans knows for certain…

There are whispered rumors of a Clowder of Rogues that is forming in the Twoleg Territory, as strong as Bloodclan and as wicked as Miretrees…

[wc-wild-rewrite]

THE CLANS

Before we get any further into clan culture details, we need to explore the clans more broadly. This post will detail the clan traits, what their known for, and what they specialise in

Thunderclan

Lets start with the pov clan, Thunderclan! Said to be descended from Lions, this clan is known for its pride and strength, but also its stubborness. Before Firestar came along, it was a very small-town community, things that were noticed weren't often stopped by older cats, and xenophobia was rampant. They called themselves the most upstanding clan, when really they were rather aggressive to nearly everyone.

During and after Firestar's reign, things were significantly friendlier. Their still stubborn, but more wont-give-up than wont-change-their-views.

They specialise in fighting and, after arc 2, end up specialising in climbing as well

Shadowclan

The so-called 'villain clan' of the four, Shadowclan. Descended from Tigers, this clan is known for its stealth and smarts, giving them a manipulative, yellow-bellied repuation, but that isn't true. They actually specialise in the social and smarts side of things, being the ones to invent sign language, various games, quizzes, and being the only clan to have a community nursery.

Their the most accepting of outsiders, as most of their ranks are ex-rogues, loners, or kittypets. They have a few 'Eras' of leadership, which i'll cover in another post, but for the most part, their just trying to survive. Their consistently the clan with the least prey, most at risk for sickness, and worst leaders. Its not often that most of Shadowclan agree with something, usually in two or more groups of mind.

They invented the rule of Leadership Overthrow, where a leader can be overthrown or have their say ignored if enough of the clan agrees with it. This is mostly due to Brokenstar.

Windclan

Next up, the speedy cats themselves, Windclan! This clan is generally laidback about most things, with only two exceptions; Starclan and Heritage. If you disrespect Starclan, or disrespect your bloodline, your pretty much fucked.

But Windclan is interresting, because they don't descend from Lions, Tigers, or Leopards. In fact, nobody knows who they descended from. Windclan claim their the descendants of a very rare type of cat, but historical accounts say Windclan descended from normal rogues that took over a territory. But that would mean a tainted heritage for the entire clan, and less of a connection to Starclan, so Windclan vehemently denies it.

Despite their focus on heritage, they have this little paradox about outsiders. They'll let you in, but you have to make a legacy good enough worth continuing. Unfortunately, a 'good enough legacy' isnt always for positive things, sometimes infamy will keep you in the history talks. Half-clan cats are treated as though they need to make up for their other side, for disrespecting their windclan heritage. Although, they've been known to turn a blind eye if the other clan parent has a good enough legacy of their own. Hypocrites.

Aside from that, they believe themselves to be the most spiritual, but other clans consider them the msot superstitious. They have a plethora of rituals, acts, and sayings to ward off the dark forest, and use it to scare kits into behaving. Unfortunately, this caused the sheer number of dark forest windclan apprentices in Power of Three and Omen of The Stars, as the biggest act of rebellion in Windclan is to turn against Starclan.

They specialise, aside from spiritualism, in construction. Their tunnelers, though an extinct role until the end of The New Prophecy, were renown for their skills at keeping tunnels up with their constructions. They also have song and dance, something the other clans don't.

Riverclan

And lastly, the drama queens of the clans, Riverclan. Descended from Leopards, this clan is known for their beauty, lack of hunger, and their egos. They have food almost completely year round, so they have a constant pile of food in camp, leading them to not need to send out hunting patrols as often. They also don't bother with borders much, only going through the effort when its something another clan could use. For instance, the other clans cant fish, so they dont bother marking their rivers as often, but Sunningrocks is a good source of fish and other prey, so they fight for it.

Their arrogant, if anything. At any gathering, you can find atleast four riverclan cats boasting about their looks, their diet, or both. Despite this arrogance, the other clans can agree that riverclan are, in fact, gorgeous.

As for outsiders, they must fit Riverclan beauty standards to be allowed in. Otherwise, their chased off. This beauty standard leads to plenty of issues, but after Elmstar (Crookedstar)'s reign, they learn to cool it a bit. Not a lot, but enough to cool it on the ableism, at least.

Due to their plethora of food and infrequent border patrols, they have a lot of free time. This developed into them inventing art and crafts, like berry juice art, weaving, camp decorating, and the like. They also, later down the line, invent pottery.

However, they have one issue, if they run out of food, they go into hysteria. This usually means that in particularly bad winters, Riverclan, depending on the leadership style, will either fight everyone for territory out of fear of starvation, or completely isolate themselves and basically attempt hibernation. Of course, neither ever go well, but they'd never admit that either reaction is actually due to food shortages. They just want bigger territory because their the better clan, of course.

And those are the clans, at least in arc 1! I'll be making a seperate post for Bloodclan at some point, and various off-shoot posts of more specific clan stuff, so look forward to that!

[pawtism-spectrum-disorder]

The Pre-Firestar super editions are always going to be my favorite Warriors books and I don’t even care how dumb they get or that they fuck up characterization sometimes because they’re so much more about clan life. I understand that you need big changes and high stakes to make exciting story but I get so sick of changing up the books status quo or world rules all the time. I feel like TNP-Onward we’re constantly changing something big or laying the groundwork for it and when they’re not doing that they just kinda wait around and that time could be so much better used.

Plots that focus on one character and their place in their clan, their destinies, and their singular, personal arc stick with me so much better than cats or plots that change the world. Seeing how a clan functions, how different cats relate to each other and getting to spend time knowing side characters as individuals is really interesting and they never take the time to do that in the main series.

EXAMPLE Yellowfangs secret isn’t the best book ever but it’s a great look into Shadowclan and it makes all of those cats into real characters, not 2D Evil Guys. PLUS Brokenstar is a much more interesting villain and his crimes hit much harder when you can put names and identities to his victims AND supporters (which I think makes him and Tigerstar more interesting than like, Mudclaw. We never spend time with Webfoot so who cares that he likes Mudclaw. but we SEE that Longtail and Darkstripe are valued and respected, and hold values that drive their choices which fleshes out Tigerstar as a villain)

Idk I’d just love more page time exploring what we already have and know about the clans because it’s so full of potential but from what I can glean about the past couple years of books I am not getting that

[bonefall]

BB Brief: The 9 Lives System

Quickie thing to answer asks with. How does the 9 Lives system work in BB?

BASICS, PULSARS

At its simplest, when the previous leader dies, the deputy makes a pilgrimage to the Moonplace (Stone or Pool) and receives 9 entire lives from Starclan. Yes, NINE. The 10th, the one you started with, remains in the afterlife.

This is called your "Pulsar," a concept somewhat like a "soul." The difference is that only cats in the Clan Afterlife System get Pulsars, where all cats have souls. A leader's 9 deaths will slowly fill in that very faint pulsar, until their final death combines them with it.

Most Clan cats simply die and their soul immediately becomes a full, solid pulsar upon reaching the Afterlife. But this is about Leaders.

Until the MODERN ERA (BB!TBC, the "current day" in BB) the previous leader HAD to be dead before the deputy could receive a life.

Pinestar and Brokenstar were not dead, ergo, Sunstar and Nightstar could not receive their lives.

No lives until the previous leader is dead and their pulsar is filled. ALIVE? NO LIVES!

The Clan cats are currently, as we speak, inventing a ritual to strip an ousted leader of their lives without killing them. "Alive? No Lives!" was a rigid rule for most of Clan history, but will soon have an exception if the ritual is performed.

Lives can be for any reason the Patron sees fit, but most of them are wishes or advice on how they hope the new leader rules.

LIVES COME FROM CATS YOU HAVE A CONNECTION TO. You will never receive a life from a spirit you do not recognize, or are unfamiliar with. (Elder Bones doesn't do pointless fanservicey cameos in this house)

Only 9 and no more. No, you cannot "replenish" lives or get extras.

LIFE DENIAL AND THE DARK FOREST

You do not get a 9-life guaruntee. It's uncommon, but if you don't have enough cats who want to see you rule for a long time, you won't get all 9. Because of this, leaders are encouraged to keep the details of their ceremony secret.

StarClan may also choose to "delay" lives. Blackstar was only given one life freely, the rest he earned over many years of repeated pilgrimages and trials as penance for his role in TigerClan.

It was unprecedented for Tigerstar to be outright and utterly rejected by StarClan when he went to receive his own. Instead, he went to the Dark Forest to recieve lives, both from demons and rebellious angels. And a surprise.

You can receive a mix of Dark Forest and StarClan lives, but StarClan will almost certainly damn you for taking forbidden lives.

There are extreme situations where there may not be enough ancestors to give the full set-- Spiderstar of SkyClan only received 3 due to a terrible rat problem.

Cats outside of the Clan cat afterlife cannot bestow lives, as they only have a normal soul, not a pulsar.

A leader's pulsar can be sent to the Dark Forest while they're still alive. This results in nightmares and dreams of the Place of no Stars.

MIRACLES

StarClan's power is directly tied to its collective emotion. It's known best for its devastating fury with lightning-strike smites and covering the moon with clouds, but they can also perform acts of great love or sorrow.

One example of that was the resurrection of tigerHeartstar, after seeing her father announce to the heavens that his daughter is his deputy before plunging into the Moonpool with her body. As his lives drowned away, sinking further and further, StarClan was so inspired that it restarted the dead deputy's heart, using Rowanstar's last life to do so.

The flip side to this is that it is very possible for a life donor to give you a curse instead of a gift... though, it's almost unheard of, and most certainly only something that comes from the Dark Forest...

[maplemouse-warriors]

OLD GROWTH AU

An AU where the first six arcs are all shuffled around! I wanted to see how long I could keep the Clans in the Old Forest, and play around with a different order for the arcs while still keeping the core plot points and storylines intact. I had some help from @wsoupofpain , and I am super down to talk about this AU at any time!

The Broken Code

POVs: Spottedleaf and Redtail

Thistleclaw, after being killed by Rosetail for grooming Spottedpaw, is accepted into StarClan. He begins planting false signs and eventually possesses Raggedstar, encouraging the Clans to punish and exile codebreakers. The Clans must come together to defeat him.

Brokentail kills his father, Raggedstar, ousting Thistleclaw from his body. Redtail then kills Thistleclaw’s spirit after Spottedleaf utilizes death berries to bring her brother’s spirit out of his body. Redtail becomes deputy.

Culture changes to be more about working together, and encourages treating the Code as being up to interpretation.

The Prophecies Begin

POV: Firestar

Tigerclaw attempts to take over ThunderClan, and eventually the whole forest. Firestar works to stop him, stopping Brokenstar and saving WindClan in the process. Eventually, the Forest Clans must defeat BloodClan, a ruthless group from the Twolegplace.

Culture changes to be more inclusive in WindClan and ThunderClan; ShadowClan and RiverClan are reeling from their support of Tigerstar.

A Vision of Shadows

B1: POV Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw. Squirrelpaw is sent on a journey to rebuild SkyClan. Brambleclaw tags along, and they successfully re-establish SkyClan, saving Petalnose from her Twoleg. In the Forest, something seems to be wrong with ShadowClan…

B2: POV Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt. In SkyCan, the journeying cats must help the new Clan fight invading rats to ensure that SkyClan can survive. In the Forest, Tawnypelt details the worsening condition of ShadowClan under Kin rule, including its eventual dissolution. Some of the remaining ShadowClan cats take refuge in ThunderClan, but many remain with the Kin, and a few simply vanish altogether.

B3: POV Feathertail and Squirrelflight. The Clans band together to drive the Kin from ShadowClan. In the chaos, Tallstar and Deadfoot are killed, leaving WindClan leaderless. The remainder of the Kin retreat to Highstones.

B4: POV Crowfoot and Leaffall. WindClan goes through a Civil War, caused by Tallstar and Deadfoot’s deaths. Before Tallstar’s death, Deadfoot had considered retiring and Tallstar had publicly planned to make Mudclaw deputy. However, Barkface finds a sign of a single slash mark and believes it to indicate that Onewhisker has been chosen by StarClan. However, the Clan cats are unable to reach the Moonstone. The two sides clash, and StarClan smites Mudclaw to end the conflict. The Kin leave Highstones soon after, allowing Onestar to become WindClan’s leader. His first act is to isolate the Clan.

B5: POV Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw. Tawnypelt goes on a little journey to retrieve cats who fled ShadowClan during the Kin takeover, helping to re-establish the Clan. Feathertail comes with her and joins ShadowClan because they are in love. ThunderClan grapples with a yellow cough outbreak. The Clans argue internally about how much they are obligated to help their neighbors when struggling themselves. With all the Clans preoccupied with their own difficulties, the Kin easily take over RiverClan.

B6: POV Squirrelflight and Leaffall. The Clans begin planning the attack that will drive the Kin from RiverClan. Leaffall and Crowfoot leave and return; Cinderpelt dies in the battle; Onestar and Darktail fall over the side of the Gorge while fighting each other, but Onestar is grabbed by Leaffall and Crowfoot, who in turn are grabbed by their families, such that there is a huge group keeping Onestar from going over the edge. With Darktail dead, the remaining Kin members flee the territories for good.

Power of Three

POVs: Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf

The Three are born and Jayfeather and Lionblaze grow into their powers. Hollyleaf is revealed to not be one of the three. Hollyleaf reveals their parentage and kills Ashfur, then flees the territories.

Instead of visiting the Tribe, they visit SkyClan.

The Dark Forest begins recruiting, starting off with cats like Lionblaze and Hawkfrost who have familial connections to the Dark Forest.

The New Prophecy

POVs: Dovepaw and Ivypaw

Journey Crew: Lionblaze and Dovepaw; Heathertail; Goldenheart (Tigerheart); Stormfur and his apprentice, Rainpaw. They swing by SkyClan and Harrybrook joins them; on the return trip they go through the Tribe.

SkyClan joins the Clans on the Great Journey, and live with them at the Lake, taking their canon territory.

Dark Forest trainees are able to recruit other cats on the Great Journey, when the Clans are not in communication with StarClan or the Dark Forest. Ivypaw is the POV where we see this in action.

The Moonpool is “discovered” by Jayfeather via time travel.

The WindClan Coup is replaced by the RiverClan Succession Crisis. After Leopardstar dies, Mistyfoot takes control of RiverClan despite not being able to go and get her nine lives. She chooses Hawkfrost as her deputy. After Jayfeather discovers the Moonpool, Dovewing is sent to RiverClan to share the news. While speaking with Mothwing, she hears Hawkfrost trap Mistyfoot in a fox trap, and runs off to help. Mothwing follows, and the two of them arrive in time to save Mistyfoot, although Hawkfrost is killed by Mothwing in the struggle.

The RiverClan Succession Crisis occurs during the last book of the series; the various problems the Clans encounter while settling in are shuffled to be earlier.

Omen of the Stars

POVs: Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Ivypool

Relatively unchanged other than most characters being older, and SkyClan being present at the Lake. The Clans must fight against the Dark Forest and their supporters.

Hollyleaf returns with a variety of Clan cats that left the Clans at one point or another, including some SkyClan warriors who chose to remain at the Gorge, some Kin members who want to join or rejoin their Clans, and some other rogues or loners who are interested in the Clan lifestyle. These additional numbers help to make a difference during the battle against the Dark Forest.

Culture changes to be a bit more open to outsiders, including a formal method for joining (or changing) a Clan. Collaboration between Clans is much more common.

[wc-confessions]

Starclan sucks.

I mean genuinely they do. They go against their own rules often, and they hold cats to stupid standards or none at all

Ashfur got in for 'loving too much' after trying to murder his crushes Kits because she didn't like him back.

Frecklewish got sent to the dark forest when she shouldn't have. Seriously, she thought mapleshade and her kits were being saved by riverclan, how could she have known otherwise?? And if it's about the exile of mapleshades Kits why is she the only one being punished? Shouldn't it be the leader at the time, who exiled Kits during a storm, not her??

The trial for leafpool is another great example of how stupid starclan is! They told her to do it. Spottedleaf literally told her to follow her heart when she asked them what she should do! Why shouldn't she listen to the ancestors she's been told to listen to and follow her entire life???

The medicine cats not having kits sort of made sense in the first series when every Clan only had two. But now, not only can there be more than two Medicine cats but there's also cats that choose to stay Queens to help look after Kits. The super-edition explaining this rule is also dumb, the medicine cat who had Kits wouldn't let other cats help look after them for dumb reasons and that's why she had trouble performing her duties while looking after them! It wouldn't be an issue for cats willing to let others babysit! It's dumb!

Then there's the fact they lied to squirrelflight, telling her she was barren so she'd take the three. If I were her that would have destroyed my faith forever, knowing the dead everyone worships will lie for their own gain and interests.

Likywhisker goes to the dark forest for 'not accepting fate after breaking her leg'. Like???? What??? What??? Starclan what the fuck??

Brightflower goes to the dark forest, a place where you starve forever and wounds never heal, becuase she believed her leader and got mad becuase she thought her older daughter killed her kits?? In what world did that make sense? Meanwhile Rainflower gets to hang out in starclan.

Tangleburr, deerfoot, and stumpytail didn't really do anything to warrant going to the dark forest. Blackstar did just as much, actually more, than they did. Blackstar(Blackfoot at the tine)murdered an elder, and aided brokenstar and tigerclaw. He changed, yeah, but who's to say the other three haven't or wouldn't have?

Juniperclaw shows genuine remorse for his actions and did save multiple lives. Yet he's still in cat hell while other cats who had done worse still get to relax in cat heaven.

Sol was right, the clans shouldn't worship something so inherently flawed. It was stupid that blackstar took not believing starclan to mean the clan shouldn't care for each other anymore. The clans can both recognize starclan as just a flawed as they are while also continuing to care for each other.

Starclan sucks.

.

[mommyclaws]

Hmmmmm.... thanksss for the insight Raggedstar, but why are are defending your son who murdered you to steal your crown lmao. What if Nightstar was rejected for a reason that actually made sense instead? Warrior cats is super lacking in cats who are genuinely willing to criticize Starclan and the code while still acknowledging their existence, and after reading Exile from Shadowclan, I think Nightstar would fit the role pretty well. Very interesting too. A leader who doesn't blindly follow starclan or it's rules and openly exposes it's flaws.

After seeing Brokenstar's violent reign, Nightpelt seems to be the only cat who questions why a clearly evil leader seemingly has Starclan's approval. While everyone else's questions end with Brokenstar's decisions, Nightpelt thought to question Starclan first.

Unlike nearly every character in the series, he doesn't have any problem openly and vocally disregarding the code when he thinks it's wrong. Even when others argue, it never seemed to hold him back when knew what he wanted was morally just. Sometimes the code is in the way of what's right. He knows that and it shows.

So imagine if instead.... Starclan refused to give Nightstar his lives, not because Brokestar still lived, but because they were scared of what he would do.

Even if Brokenstar was hurting the clan, for the most part he was still technically sticking to the code. His word is law. Whatever he wanted. That technically means in some way... him choosing to train kits before 6 moons could be justified in some way- according to the code. But Nightpelt? No. Even if what he was doing was right, there was no way that, within the code, he's justified to go against his leader.

Starclan was shown time and time again they can be manipulative. Betraying the cats who devote their lives to them (Ex. Leafpool) and demanding the unthinkable. (Ex. Pinestar) They use their rules to keep the living cats under their command.

So imagine, nine lives to a leader who openly criticizes their rules and choices? His influence would be long lasting and effective on his clanmates becuase his arguments are based on fact. Everyone saw Brokenstar's cruelty and how Starclan let it happen. He's right. He is right doubt them, and if they give him this level of power, everyone else will figure it out too. The code can be wrong, and so can Starclan.

What if he spread this to the other leaders? The other clans? They wouldn't hold the same power they used to. Their control would be at risk. Cats would be able to recognize when the code is holding them back and ignore it when they feel the need. Morally, the clans would improve. But for Starclan? It would be a disaster.

And so, they reject Nightstar. He cannot be leader. He's too smart for his own good.

....Wouldn't the best solution for Starclan be to let him pass away quietly?