#maplepatch

[clangenrising]

If you don’t mind constructive criticism, I just wanna say, outright using the word “sex” is a bit inappropriate. Like, you mentioned this blog will never depict sexual content on screen, but stating that word onscreen seems a bit…much. I know the header states that there might be some content of that sort but I still think it would be better if you refrain from directly stating that word, since a notable number of your fans are minors.

I disagree. Strongly.

First of all, having frank discussions about sex is not inappropriate. Sex is a normal part of human life and the more taboo we make it the less prepared people are for actually interacting with it. Saying I shouldn't mention sex outright because some of my audience are minors is like saying there shouldn't be sex ed in schools because it would be inappropriate and that's just not true. It's been proven over and over that sex ed and discussing sex with minors in a responsible way leads to them having safer sex when they do decide to become sexually active. So no, it's not inappropriate for me to mention sex.

Secondly, how is saying the word sex any worse than strongly alluding to the fact that Razor has sexually assaulted Scorchplume? Is the latter fine just because I never say "sex" outright? Because I would argue that THAT is probably the thing that edges closest into being NSFW and it's still not inappropriate and I'm not going to stop doing either of those things because this is a story about human connections (told through cats) and that includes how they engage with sex. That's the story I want to tell and it's resonated with a lot of people and I'm not going to censor myself.

Thirdly, even if there are minors in my audience, it's not my job to control the content they engage with. Like I've said, I'm never going to depict sexual content on screen so I don't think I have to cordon my work off just because some of the characters have sex lives and talk about them sometimes. My stuff is no worse than most teen dramas anyway. If my work makes a minor uncomfortable then thats on them to stop engaging with my work. I'm not going to stop making what I want to make bevause some minors found it. Its not like i cultivated a young audience on purpose so I could show them something inappropriate. I don't think my work is inappropriate in the first place and just because it's mature doesn't mean I should change its content so its more "kid friendly" or that I need to police who is reading it.

So I won't be taking that piece of criticism. If you take constructive criticism, I would urge you to re-examine why you think saying the word sex is inappropriate and then educate yourself on why sex ed and frank discussions of these kinds of topics is important.

[crystalsclangencorner]

SpringClan

(CW: Animal deaths)

Moon 0 (Newleaf)

My name is Cresskit.

Me, Fadedkit, and Maplekit are the only ones left of SpringClan.

There was Edelweisspaw, she didn't tell us what was happening.

... I miss her.

Moon 1

Maplekit renamed himself to Maplepaw, he decided to be a healer.

He also always seems to have petals stuck to his fur.

...

I don't think Maplepaw likes me that much though...

I overheard him talking to Fadedkit, and Maplepaw said that he finds the way I act uncomfortable...

Moon 2

Maplepaw renamed Fadedkit to Fadedpaw.

... She left camp and never came back..

Moon 3

Maplepaw renamed me to Cresspaw.

... He doesn't seem to want me going out by myself.

Moon 4

I fell in a river, Maplepaw saved me though.

I also chased a cat off the territory.

Moon 5

Maplepaw and I are still alone.

... I miss Edelweisspaw, and Fadedpaw...

... I also made a mistake...

I shouldn't have tried to investigate that badger den.

I'm sorry, Maplepaw...

Moon 6

My name is Maplepaw, and I am alone.

Moon 11

My name is now Maplepatch.

Moon 13

Why am I alone? Why did that fire have to happen? Why did Edelweisspaw have to die from her injuries? Why did Fadedpaw go by herself that day? Why did Cresspaw try to fight that badger?

If I had told Cresspaw how I felt, would he still be here?

Moon 17

My name is Maplepatch, I am no longer alone.

I had a mate, a outsider. They wanted me to raise our kits in the wild.

I have three daughters, Flipkit, Pinekit, and Raccoonkit. My son's name is Scratchkit.

Moon 18

... I... Feel better...

It's probably because I am no longer alone.

I spend my days collecting herbs and looking after my kits.

SpringClan is small, but at least I am not alone.

... Leaf-bare is coming soon... Will my kits survive?

I was hardly able to survive leaf-bare by myself... But now I have kits...

Leaf-bare is cold...

Moon 21

Pinekit gave Flipkit a poppy she found.

Not important but... It's good to know my kits are fine whenever I leave to collect herbs.

Moon 22

My mate had another litter.

So soon?

... Yeah... They wanted me to take them.

My two new sons are named Limekit and Lemonkit... My mate named them themself.

... I also got injured by a dog...

Moon 23

My first litter is now Flippaw, Pinepaw, Scratchpaw, and Raccoonpaw.

Flippaw decided she wants to be my apprentice.

... I hope she doesn't end up like how I used to be... Alone...

My tail is also infected now...

Flippaw and Pinepaw went out herb-gathering together... I'm not surprised, out of the kits of my first litter, Flippaw was always close to Pinepaw. Pinepaw's her favorite, after all.

... But then Scratchpaw ran back to camp..

... No...

He and Raccoonpaw tried to chase a dog off...

...

Raccoonpaw is dead...

Moon 24

I have a scar.. Seeing as that dog tore my pelt.

I miss Raccoonpaw...

Scratchpaw left Raccoonpaw's favorite prey at her grave...

Moon 25

I finally recovered from my mangled tail.

Scratchpaw also came out as nonbinary, I'm proud of them for it.

Moon 28

Limekit and Lemonkit are now Limepaw and Lemonpaw.

Moon 30

Pinepaw and Scratchpaw are ready to be warriors.

I remember Edelweisspaw once said she wanted her warrior name to be Edelweisssong, so I name Pinepaw Pinesong.

Scratchpaw is Scratchspring, in honor of Springstar, the founding leader of SpringClan.

... Scratchspring, Pinesong, Limepaw, and Lemonpaw found a dumped kittypet... Her name is Nova.

... Nova has redcough... I hope Flippaw and I can help her...

Moon 33

Flippaw is ready to be a full healer. I name her Flipfade, in honor of Fadedpaw.

Scratchspring, Limepaw, and Lemonpaw brought back another kittypet, his name is Red. And he decided to become something called... A meditator?

... I am also just noticing how pretty Nova is... I really hope she lives...

Moon 35

Limepaw is now Limecress... I also received a omen that Pinesong is to be the new leader.

Scratchspring brought two kits back to camp... The she-kit is named Pondkit and her brother is named Lakekit. He also refused to talk about their origin.

Moon 36

Lemonpaw is now Lemonraccoon, he's also the deputy now.

.... He, Pinestar, Limecress, and Scratchspring also brought back a loner named Claw.

Moon 37

... Scratchspring brought back another litter of kits back to camp. Three she-kits and two toms. The she-kits are Elkkit, Nectarkit, and Heartkit, and the toms are Swampkit and Wolfkit.

Nova and I are also mates now!

Lemonraccoon, Scratchspring, and Limecress brought back another loner, his name's Current.

Moon 39

... Nova died from redcough...

Does StarClan not want me to be happy..?

[mapledeathrecords]

It's late summer but we finally have some Maple Death Patches ready to go. Embroidered Iron-On, 9cm diameter. What more could you want? Get your jacket up-to-speed. http://bit.ly/maplepatch #mapledeathrecords

[clangenrising]

Which piece were Scorch’s mom’s mentioned in? I have a bad habit of skimming, so I missed that.

She mentions her "mothers" in the piece where she walks and talks with smokyrose, its from sometime last newleaf.

Also, she was raised by more than two mothers which I've seen some people confused about. It wasn't a gay couple she was raised by (although some of them were probably queer) it was more like a group of nuns, like a collection of women living together who took in and raised orphaned children.

[clangenrising]

In the process of writing my fic, I need to make some changes. In my universe, medicine cats (or healers in your case) have a special herb, a medicine cat herb. I need to give one to Sage and one to Odd. If you don’t mind, could you give me your approval and ideas? I think baby’s breath for Odd, but I’m stuck for Sage. Also, I made some language changes, like month to moon, healer to medic etc.

As much as I'm happy you like RisingClan enough to write a fic about it, I don't want to be involved in the process at all. You're writing a fan fic, not a collaboration with me, and I don't think it's appropriate for me to "give you approval" on things.

Please, have fun and keep writing your fic but I'm not going to help you write it or probably even read it. Its nothing personal, in fact, that's the point, I'm a public figure not your friend and I want to make sure that I keep that boundary intact.

[clangenrising]

I love how you’re writing Warriors while also being supportive of Palestine. It seems so nice of you.

Being nice has nothing to do with it. It's the right thing to do. I get what you mean, but I want to stress that this isn't about me and how good of a person I might be. I speak out on behalf of Palestine and other groups because no one deserves to be tortured, starved, and exterminated like that.

Just to be clear, since I don't think I've said out right, I am 100% in support of the Palestinian people, the college protesters advocating for them, and the other people suffering under ongoing genocides like the people in Congo, the Uyghurs in China, the indigenous populations in Canada, and the many other peoples facing this kind of oppression currently.

[clangenrising]

OMG, I am so so so sorry. I don’t mean to offend you. I understand now. Thanks for answering anyhow. Have a wonderful day/night.

It's okay. If I was offended or not isn't actually important here. This was a discussion about censorship, it's not about if I was upset. I'm having a hard time articulating why, but it feels to me like being worried if I'm offended more so than that you might need to rethink some things is tied to the same thing that led you to say the word "sex" was inappropriate without actually examining what that word is doing in my work or what my work is saying about it.

This isn't to bash on you (and I also urge my followers to not harass this person), I don't want you to feel attacked or shamed. I just think you may not have actually examined your beliefs, instead simply conforming to a new standard someone has set before you. I don't want you to just agree with me cause "not agreeing with me is wrong" or anything, I want you to actually sit down and ask "why do I believe that? Why would that be a harmful thing to believe? Should I believe something differently?" And thats something you do in private over a longer time period. Don't feel like you need to perform repentance, this isn't a space that demands repentance. I simply wanted to invite you to look at things from a different perspective.

[clangenrising]

In the most recent update, did Scorch look strangely at Fog because of…Ghost? Also, my gosh, Russet smiling at his tiny children. I am picturing that scene in my head and dying out of cuteness!

Who knows? There are a lot of possible reasons but Fogpaw isn't good with reading people so we don't really know what that look was for.

And yeah he's being a cutesy dad watchin his boys take their first steps haha

[clangenrising]

Once the boys are weaned, will Russet be a single dad? Does he ever find “true love” or a partner he loves and can rely on?

Yes he will be a single dad, seeing as he doesn’t have a partner.

You'll just have to wait and see about the rest, won't you?

[clangenrising]

Does “Bluekit” count as water-related? Every litter has had a water related name before and it’d be funny if that continued on until we’re out of watery words.

I guess he could haha although the streak definitely ends after this litter. I just happened to get a bunch of blue and white kits in a row haha

[clangenrising]

I just met Yellow and Blue, but if anything happens to them, I will kill the whole Clan and then the others and then StarClan and then myself.

Woah, haha easy there ^^; I'm sure the babies will be fine

[clangenrising]

I’m working on a RisingClan AU/fanfic (not to be posted online, but if I do, you’ll get SO MUCH credit). Basically, the Clans lose the battle against Razor. Cats like Golden, Scorch and Odd are killed and Aldertail is left badly wounded. The Clans move to the River of Stars for a week or two, but Aldertail dies and Mystique goes into labor, the kits are born and Mystique dies. So, the Risingcats journey across the desert, meeting MY Clan LakeClan. Just silly little thing that I doodle about lol.

I'm glad you're enjoying the story enough to make your own art about it. I'm probably not going to comment on or engage with much fanfiction though. So have fun! But don't expect a big reaction from me

[clangenrising]

What’s the Shadow Truth?

Its the name Mystique gives a specific train of thought. You can learn more by reading other pieces with her POV, I think it's in most if not all of them.

[clangenrising]

Ohmagud, my mind is a mix of hate for Mystique, and pity. When I read the kitting piece, I hated her, but now…I feel so bad for her. You’re doing…okay, sweetie! Russetfrond will be my baby and always will be, tho. I still feel awful for Myssy, it’s been what four months since she left?

Oh, wow, I'm surprised there are people who hate Mystique haha definitely not something I would have expected.

It's been just about three months since she left the city, the longest she's ever been away from home.

[clangenrising]

Where did you get the name “RisingClan” from?

Uh, I like sun imagery but SunClan felt too important edging on sacrilegious so I went with RisingClan instead.

[clangenrising]

Can we make RisingClan OCs? I have one. Rosyblaze is Russet’s littermate. She’s Compassionate and Quick to Help. She likes shipping and used to hardcore ship Russet and Golden before that thing that made Golden’s crush fade. She formerly had a crush on Yarrowshade before realizing that he liked Nightfrost and is currently crushing hard on Branchbark. She almost died against Razor’s troops and is currently recovering from her injuries. She wants to have kits.

Sure, I suppose you guys can make up ocs for RisingClan haha like I can't stop you (nor would I try to). I don't have much to say about them though since they aren't canon so my brain refuses to engage with them ^^; Might be better to share them with other fans than with me