#tallstar x barkface

[skyscratch-wc]

Tallstar x Barkface or Runningnose x Nightpelt/star hypokits

Your wish is my command lmao

Thanks for the request!!

[headcanon-vault]

some queerplatonic relationship / platonic partnership headcanon edits. can't really call most of these icons at this point lol, i had to mess around with sizes and ratios to make these work

fox mulder & dana scully // tallstar & barkface // robin buckley & steve harrington // dethklok // jay & silent bob // hawkwing & plumwillow

warriors art by @/eggfeather

[snailchasers-den]

For the rarepairs- could I get tallstar x barkface?

Absolutely! I Apologize for the ungracefully cropped doodle! I was half asleep and drew Tall's legs weird LMAO

I know Barkface doesn't have stripes, but I wanted to make him have tree bark patternings- I love them, honestly, we need more Medicine cat lovins.

Windclan solos.

[wc-confessions]

tallstar is demiromantic mlm. shrewclaw has a VERY repressed crush on him, Andy You're A Star -style. but tallstar deserves better than some1 who basically teased him since birth soo he's mates with either barkface or jake X] or both because. poly win

.

[lakelyasleep]

I was playing around with warrior cats AUs earlier and an interesting thought came up. What if Fireheart was a WindClan cat and a Med cat? (And had amnesia, for funsies) Here are some jumbled ideas in (mostly) chronological order.

Rusty leaves the two-leg place at four moons, meeting Tigerclaw. As you expect this doesn't end well. He barely gets away alive, passing out inside WindClan's border.

It's Deadfoot that finds him, acting as his main parental figure next to Barkface.

When he wakes up he doesn't know who he is or what happened. Though because he smelt like ThunderClan, Tallstar could guess.

Because of Tigerclaw, he is very scarred, the most notable one on his left side goes from his shoulder to his flank.

He was five moons when ShadowClan chased WindClan from their home. He already wanted to become a med cat and helped Barkface where he was allowed.

Firepaw gets far more warrior training than the average med cat would due to the exile. This becomes a part of WindClan culture later on.

He has a very strong connection to StarClan in this AU! While they meant for him to be a ThunderClan warrior they aren't particularly disappointed with what he chose.

Firepaw keeps having dreams of the same two cats, one a tortoiseshell tom with a red tail, one a brown tiger-like tabby with sharp claws. The tabby looks familiar but he has no idea where he'd met the cat.

We're gonna move from WindClan for now, let's check in on ThunderClan, shall we?

Spottedleaf still gets the "Fire will save our clan" prophecy, but doesn't understand it until much later.

Tigerclaw becomes deputy after he kills Redtail, but is more patient than he is in canon.

Ravenpaw doesn't leave ThunderClan because he never saw Tigerclaw kill Redtail, though he is still scared of Tigerclaw. He gets the name Ravenflight for his flighty personality. Raven x Barley is still a thing, don't worry!

Ravenpaw is the one who helps Yellowfang and is punished because he feeds her. Ravenpaw acts in the place of Firepaw for the most part.

Sandpaw stays roughly the same, her arc does not change much until later.

While Spottedleaf isn't killed by Clawface the kits are still kitnapped, and Yellowfang is still blamed. They thought she was a spy or something.

Graypaw and Ravenpaw go looking for her and find out the truth. Things go the way they did in canon. Brokenstar and his followers are chased out. After the battle, they're given their warrior names and do their vigil.

Graystripe and Ravenflight are the ones sent to find WindClan. This is how our favourite trio meet.

They actually spot Firepaw hunting and run up to him, not expecting him to turn and swipe at them. It takes Deadfoot calling out to Firepaw to make him back off.

They take a break when they meet Barley, who offers to let them stay the night in the barn. He and Ravenflight talk for hours.

When Graystripe gets Firepaw to relax, he asks about Firepaw's scars. Firepaw shakes his head and says he doesn't remember how he got them. He doesn't remember anything from before WindClan found him.

The party of cats leave, deciding to cut through RiverClan territory. They still fight with that RiverClan patrol but no one dies, luckily.

Ravenflight and Graystripe go home, both their minds stuck on different cats.

And we're gonna stop there, for now, I'll probably rb with more ideas later. My brain is already rotting with this AU so I'll def be coming back to it!

[everybody-loves-purdy]

Tallstar x Barkface starting out with Tallstar being like " man I miss my boyfriend but at least I still have my medicine cat best friend who I'm definitely not gay for."

This is the best summary of TallBark I’ve seen

[avaragewarriorsenjoyer]

warriors question thingy

1. How did you get into Warriors?:

the internet

2. Favorite Arc:

the broken code

3. Favorite Book (excluding mangas, super editions, novellas):

thunder (asc)

4. Favorite Super Edition, Novella, or Manga:

super edition: tallstars revenge, novella: goosefeathers curse manga: winds of change

5. Favorite Clan:

skyclan

6. Favorite Character:

oh gosh i have a few uh, squilf, dovewing, brairlight, goosefeather, barkface, and tree

7. Least Favorite Character:

thistleclaw and bluestar

8. Most Aesthetically Pleasing Cat:

squilf, the way ppl draw her is so nice

9. Favorite Leader:

tallstar

10. Favorite Villain:

mapleshade shes so horrible i love her

11. Favorite Medicine Cat:

goosefeather and barkface

12. Overrated Character:

swiftpaw

13. Underrated Character:

barkface i love barkface guys

14. Favorite Minor Character:

barkface

15. Favorite Pairing:

barkface x tallstar or sorreltail x leafpool i love them sm

16. Least Favorite Pairing:

bramble x squirrel, just yuck

17. Favorite Friendship

cody and leafpaw/pool

18. Favorite Moment:

the fire scene, im basic who cares

19. Most Tragic Death:

hollyleafs death 😕

20. Favorite Battle / Fight Scene:

darkest hour fight scene

[foxstride]

sent this one in already but tumblr was being weird, so in case it didn't go through: honeyfern/lionblaze. and in case it did, tallstar/barkface

It did! Tumblr is weird tho.

ooooh I've never thought about them. Hm.

5/10!

I see Barkface as aroace but I think he and Tallstar are VERY close, they're extremely supportive of one another and they work very well together too. I could definitely see a queer-platonic relationship between them, especially when their dens are otherwise empty during leafbare. The idea of Tallstar peeking into the medicine den to check on Barkface and he's shivering, and Tallstar curls up with him and drapes his tail over Barkface to help warm him since Barkface doesn't have that. The idea of Barkface asking Tallstar to accompany him on herb trips because he sees him staring longingly out into the distance, his pride and his ties to his Clan keeping him in camp perhaps too much because he struggles with whether this is the right thing, whether he should be out like he has been before, whether he'd be happier...

[gay-salt-amber]

So, you've talked about a lot of the relationships in Moor on the Hill, can you give some headcanons on them please?

❄️ Anon

OOOO yes I can!

I think I've told some of these to @blackbutlerfandomnerddomain so I may steal some of those back idk lol

Idk if I'll mention this in the AU itself but Scourge x Ashfur is actually a poly of Scourge, Ashfur, Ravenpaw, Bone and Brick

Sol is dating Little'cloud and Blackstar, which took a while, especially for Little'cloud who knew all along that Sol was manipulating Blackstar, but Sol loves their bfs

Longfire is very much a thing and I love it so much

Mapleshade, Snow'tuft and Freckle'wish have been a thing for as long as anyone can remember

Ivybreezeant got together a few months Antpelt was killed

Flamejaykestrel dance together a lot in the dream world

Tallstar is the reason the Windclan has gay rights, he is married to Barkface and Jake

Pine'star and Goose'feather married once they died because Goose'feather was finally comfortable enough to be married since he didn't have to deal all of his mental problems now

Blackstar has missed several apprentice naming duties or had them late because Sol and Littlecloud (mostly Sol) were tired as shit from a gathering/moonpool meeting/etc

Barley doesn't know of Raven'paws relationship

Mapleshade has adopted all the gay dark forest cats/trainees as her children

Antpelt will cling onto Breeze/Ivy non stop

Scourge and his bfs are the whole reason Ruggie knew what polyamory was at first

Ravenpaw will just walk into meetings that Scourge is having, give him a kiss and take a short nap on the couch Scourge has in his office and Scourge is 100% fine with this

Darkstripe and Tigerstar's first date was breaking into Starclan and stealing food, very romantic

jay'feather really likes stuff like rings and necklaces cuz he can fidget with them so Flame and Kestrel go and make him so fidget necklace and rings and Jayfeather loves them so much

Berry'nose was so flustered when he was asked to join the poly because behind that big, jock exterior is just a blushy bisexual who didn't know his joke-y flirting would go anywhere

Longtail had to go and meet Jake, Tallstar and Bark'face when he first started dating Fireheart/star and he was so nervous but they liked him pretty well

Blossomfall and Mistberry are the most recent couple in the series, only getting together a month before the canon takes place

So, the first kiss of a dark forest cat to a living leaves a marking, well so do more after that too so now Breezepelt and ivy'pool have more black spots on them then anything, which they actively encourage

Lionblaze is dating Toadstep and Lionblaze hypes him up so much and its just the cutest

Frecklewish brushes Mapleshades hair despite her protests

Snowtuft makes sure that any of the dark forest apprentices have the best clothes for any of their dates

[phoenixofheaven]

can I get some umm... tallstar x barkface hypokits :o

Dreamchaser: black and white molly with green eyes

Paleface: pale ginger molly with light yellow eyes

Gorsechaser: dark brown tom with amber eyes

...

Tallstar's relationship with Barkface begins a little after he returns from his journey. As much as he misses Jake, he decides that he will be happy being with one of his closest friends. They keep their relationship secret, however. After the kits are born, Talltail is bombarded with questions about who's they are. He angrily snaps at all of them, leaving them to wonder in silence later.

..

As her name may imply, Dreamchaser is either always sleeping or always has her head in the clouds. As soon as she woke up, she would always tell her everyone about the dream she just had. Barkface decided to take her as an apprentice, which delighted her. For moons, she trained with the cat she didn't realize was her father. She still doesn't know yet, but they'll tell her one day.

Paleface, named after her grandmother, is a gentle soul. She doesn't like going into battles and prefers to remain in the nursery, even though she doesn't have kits of her own. Paleface was always found chatting with her namesake. When she passed away, Paleface was very sad and missed her very much. Being in the nursery has given her some of her old spirt, but she still misses her grandmother a lot.

Gorsechaser is an energetic tom, but he is also arrogant. He is always prepared for battle and always picks fights at border skirmishes. His fathers began to try and get him to calm down a little. It worked, however, Gorsechaser became very suspicious of how close they acted around him. Much different than they did usually. He plans to ask Tallstar one day.

[minty-sage]

Do you have any talldad head-canons? I love your art!

First off, thank you x'3 <3 

And for ur question, here u go, I hope u like them úvù)/: 

Once he becomes Talldad he can't turn it off. He will give little shoulder taps, words of encouragement to apprentices (and even warriors sometimes) when they are successful in hunts/after training and he will especially praise Tiny once he becomes an apprentice, not so much to spoil him thou. 

He always listens to Tiny, whether he's telling a story about how he caught an adult hawk and ate him up or about certain encounter with some Thunderclan warriors. In return he tells him about his adventures outside of Windclan territory

Will give badger rides that's a must XD (even when Tiny insists he's too old for badger rides, the offer is always there) 

Secretly a worry wart but he manages to hide it (he always goes to Barkface to concern-vent "He's still too small Barkface! Maybe we should wait another moon" "Tallstar he's only a little shorter than average, he will be fine"). He gets teased by Deadfoot for this ( "You weren't even this bad when I was your apprentice~") but Tallstar gets back at him once Crowkit is born 

-He protec, he dad, but most importantly, if you hurt his son better watch ur bacc

Overall hes a good dad, worrisome on the side but still good 👌uwu

[doritopaw101]

How does the surrogate/sperm donor system work in the clans?

A few ways

If two or poly mollies want kits they can do two things, ask a cat to sire kits for them or ask Starclan. With the Starclan method, the kits have the blood of all mollies. (Example non-canon to the story: Doestar x Cloudberry x Fallowsong)

With toms it works the same way. Just ask a cat to surrogate kits. If they ask Starclan for help, they kits have the blood of both toms and not the molly, they only have the blood of the molly if everyone agrees to it.

Example (non-canon to the story anymore to make cats less related) : Morningflower and Ashfoot are the kits of Duskstar (Tallstar) and Barkface. Morningflower is younger than Ashfoot by a half-moon. Ashfoot’s surrogate was Quince (they all met through Jake) with Starclan’s help, Ashfoot has Dusk and Bark’s blood but not Quince. Ashfoot is aware of who birthed them btw. Morningflower was surrogated by Larksplash (she’s also the mother of Thrushwing and Stoneclaw), Morningflower has all Dusk, Bark, and Lark’s blood in her. She sees all three as parents to her.

While kits can only have their parents blood, they very much can look like their sperm donor/ surrogate.

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

Good ships for Tallstar that aren’t Jake?

barkface

i love tallstar x barkface

that’s all we need

[ilpiubelbruttomisandro]

Warrior cats au where all of those Windclan cats from Tallstar's Revenge don't have the same parents so there is no incest(Heathertail and Breezepelt)

Heatherstar: Hawkheart, Hareflight

Flamepelt: Redclaw

Dawnstripe and Sandgorse as siblings

Lilywhisker and Leafshine as siblings

Flailfoot: Palebird

Whiteberry: Cloudrunner

Gorsefoot: Aspenfall and Appledawn

Dawnstripe x Mole: Ryestalk

Hareflight x Mistmouse: Stagleap, Doespring

Redclaw x Brackenwing: Shrewclaw, Barkface

Sandgorse x Palebird: Tallstar, Finchkit

Larksplash x Reedfeather: Morningflower, Oatwhisker(make morning related to Silverstream would be cool)

Darkfoot x Plumclaw: Ashfoot, Rushtail

Ryestalk x Shrewclaw: Mudclaw, Tornear

Crowfur x Lilywhisker: Deadfoot

Hickorynose x Meadowslip: Sorrelpaw(nose), Pigeonpaw(wing)(1 litter), Thrushwing, Stoneclaw(2 litter)

Palebird x Woolytail: Wrenflight, Rabbitkit(step), Bristlekit(fur), Flykit(paw)

Wrenflight x Stagleap: Onestar

Aspenfall(Appledawn as donor) x Cloudrunner: Whitetail, Webfoot

Pigeonwing x Rabbitstep: Runningbrook, Tawnyfur

Tornear x Sorrelnose: Snowbird, Ratscar(1 litter), Owlwhisker, Robinwing(2 litter)

Morningflower x Mudclaw: Gorsepaw, Adderkit(1 litter), Nightcloud, Gorsetail, Thistlepaw(2 Litter)

Deadfoot x Ashfoot: Crowfeather, Eaglepaw, Downkit, Hillkit

Tawnyfur x Oakfur(From ShC): Weaselfur, Antpelt, Leaftail

Runningbrook x Webfoot: Willowclaw, Dewspots, Emberfoot(1 litter), Sunstrike, Boulderfur, Whiskernose, Furzepelt(2 litter)

Onestar x Whitetail: Heathertail, Harespring, Kestrelflight

Crowfeather x Nightcloud: Breezepelt

Gorsetail x Beechfur: Sedgewhisker, Thistleheart, Swallowtail

Thrushwing adopts Oatclaw and Crunchfoot

Swallowtail x Antpelt: Slightfoot, Hootwhisker

Sedgewhisker x Emberfoot: Featherpelt, Larkwing(1 litter), Ferntail(2 Litter)

Breezepelt x Heathertail: Smokehaze, Brindlewing(1 litter), Applepaw, Woodpaw(2 litter)

Featherpelt x Oatclaw: Songpaw, Whistlepaw, Flutterpaw

[ailuronymy]

Book Club: Tallstar’s Revenge, chpt. 19-27 overview.

Meta analysis of Erin Hunter writing tropes and trends, courtesy of two acclaimed e-sports commentators: 

“[Erin Hunter is] like, we need these characters to seem smart, so they will be the ones to call out all the bullshit. But they [the writers] don't go, wait, why is the bullshit even happening, it doesn’t make sense, and then write something better in the first place. I guess because we read these books on such a meta level so often, it really feels like watching one person play ping-pong against themselves, but one persona needs to look good so the other persona keeps giving themselves wedgies at the table and holding the paddle the wrong way. Which is... less impressive overall than just watching a nice normal game of ping-pong.” - S.

“Erin Hunter, about to self-own: I'm gonna pull what's called a pro-gamer move,” - K.   

“Literally! I can’t get past it. I know both players are you, Erin Hunter. I can see you putting on your dunce hat and walking to the other end of the table. You’re not tricking me.” - S. 

This week we’re discussing this chapter through these nine questions. Please feel welcome to do the same and @ailuronymy + use the tag #ailuronymy writing challenge. Happy reading and I’m looking forward to seeing your feelings about this book.

1. First impressions?

K. Oh boy. Lots of emotions, lots of rollercoaster moments. I'm actively hating the things that are happening, all the time, forever.

S. Mood. I would say actively detesting what's happening is the primary emotion now.

2. How did you feel reading this section?

S. Very much bounced between anger and frustration, with moments of genuine delight. Very much extreme ends of the negative and positive spectrum.

K. I don't think I've been more confused and full of pure venom in my life. As a writer I am appalled, and as a reader I am... so uncertain. The good bits were truly lovely to read, though. They made it feel worthwhile, when they shone through.

3. What chapter did you find most interesting/moving/effective, and why?

S. I think it's got to be the conversation with Heatherstar and Barkface. I think that most hooked me. I was also interested with the Flailfoot conversation, although I hated the turn it took. It will be different in my version.

K. Chapter Twenty is the one that actively had me yelling aloud. I was so ready for the Erins to make Tallpaw a tunneller out of sheer fear, and so to see the back-to-back catharsis of Heatherstar disbanding the tunnellers and then Dawnstripe being so A+... god. It got me good.

4. What chapter did you find least interesting/effective/most frustrating, and why?

K. I honestly blue-screened throughout all of Chapter Twenty-Seven, the last chapter. Without anything happening at all,  I saw a swathe of unending, dull descriptive text and my mind just blacked out to save me from comprehending any of it.

S. Was that the moonstone one?

K. Nope, that's like, the very last chapter of our reading. When he leaves the Clan and finds some rogue cat to lead him in the direction of a house.

S. Oh right. I forgot that too. I'm going to go with the Moonstone chapter, though. I fell asleep and dreamed of a better book for that whole time.

5. Is there a passage that stuck in your mind–for good, or not-so-good reasons? What is it, and why did it stand out? Try breaking it down and analysing what this passage does and how.

S. There were several things in this chapter I loved and that really resonated with my concept of Tallpaw and my writing. 

S. “He’d be a warrior soon, then a senior warrior like Hareflight. One day he’d be an elder, limping like Whiteberry and sharing stories from moons ago with his denmates. Above the vast sky stretched toward distant horizon. The Clan looked small and fragile beneath it. Was this it? His life laid out before him like an old story, told again and again through countless moons? Tallpaw’s chest tightened. Suddenly he felt trapped, as though he were in the tunnels once again.”

S. “A thought flashed in his mind. We’re just visitors, like the rogues. We arrive, we eat, we sleep, and then we move on to StarClan. The only difference was that Clan cats stayed in one place their whole life. I’ll only ever see heather and grass and sky. Tallpaw felt WindClan’s borders pressing closer.” I loved this kind of thinking showing up in the story, and I’d have loved way more of this and far far less of literally everything else. You could honestly cut out all of the Sandgorse angst and just lean into this, because it's good and it's real.

S. I also lost my whole mind at this bit: “They’re survivors, like you,” Barkpaw purred. They walked in silence for a while. Talltail gently steered his friend toward Outlook Rock.  “I love this view,” he mewed as he led Barkpaw out across the stone. Barkpaw peered into the night-shadowed valley. “Why? Everything is so dark and far away.”  Talltail sat down, beckoning Barkpaw to sit beside him with a flick of his tail. “Just wait.”  “For what?” The sky was growing pale as the sun pushed up toward the horizon behind them. Glancing over his shoulder, Talltail saw weak rays seeping through the bare branches of ThunderClan’s forest. “You’ll see in a moment,” he told Barkpaw.  As he spoke, the sun lifted above the trees. Sunlight swept the moor and lit up the tips of Highstones.  S. I was basically like fist-pumping. Canonical evidence that dawn is Tallstar's favourite time of day. I didn't know this before I wrote my other story, but damn it feels good. I love when things line up serendipitously like that. 

K.  Absolutely. Those felt so good to read. Not a very long passage, but: “How could his Clan be so unfeeling?” — This isn’t a galaxy brain take or anything, but I do love how evident it is that Tallpaw is just. Solidly projecting his own feelings onto everyone else. They’re not unfeeling, dog! You are!!

6. What themes have you noticed in this section? Are these themes a continuation of the themes you noticed in the first section, or has the story’s focus changed since then?

S. In the first chunk, I picked out "division" as a theme. And that feels very true still, as far as what's happening in the story. It's even more emphatic, with Palebird pushing Talltail out of her family (or so he feels, and with reason, in my opinion) and his self-imposed removal from the clan.

K. "Desire" might also be poignant for this section, actually. Talltail's desire to go off on his own, Barkface's desire for Talltail to be happy, so many other background characters doing something with their lives to have a new start (while Talltail broods).

S. Yes! I agree there. It's actually pretty interesting how the clan's unity in the face of tragedy and their kinship with the visitors is actually a big catalyst for Talltail to feel that division happening. The more together they are, the more apart he feels. I think desire is true of this too. There's--as always--a lot of emphasis on individuality, and choosing your own destiny and doing what you want.  It reminds me of that line from Hawkheart that I really liked, how every cat has to choose their destiny.

7. If you were going to learn a lesson from this section, what lesson would it be? What message stands out to you most clearly? Do you agree with it?

S. I think insofar as I can glean a lesson from this section, I'd go with learning from Heatherstar: sometimes it will be difficult to help people and they might resent you for it, but if you have the power to make a positive change, you should act, even though it's hard. S. That feels very appropriate, given the state of the world right now. So many people are angry that authority figures are telling them to stay home and prevent the spread of COVID, and are resenting the very people who are trying to save their lives. I can see that same issue playing out so clearly in these chapters, after the death of Sandgorse in the tunnels.

K. Absolutely. It's so, so easy to direct anger towards something or someone tangible, rather than accepting that there are things that Just Happen and there's nothing you can do about it.

K. I was going to say something very similar: the things you need to make yourself better aren't always the things you want to hear. So many people try to help guide Talltail away from his anger or towards other, much healthier ways of thinking -- all of them trying to tell him he doesn't HAVE to be a tunneler is one moment -- and he just HATES hearing it, every time. He doesn't want to accept it. It feels better to be in his emotions about it, even if that's most obviously the worst thing he could be doing for himself and for others. Sometimes you just have to let other people give you the honest to god vibe check and learn to put your heart down for a bit, to see what you need to see.

S. Definitely. I feel that getting better necessitates taking responsibility for yourself. It seems like Talltail is resisting that, maybe because it's difficult to be honest with yourself. If you try, you risk failing. And the problem with any kind of self-improvement or recovery is that it's overall made up of little moments of trying to be better every day. That's so much failure to face, it can feel insurmountable. Whereas one grand gesture of revenge? So much easier.  Anger is a motivating emotion, so if you stay in anger, you can often get things done. But anger is also an emotion that makes it harder to react with patience or think clearly. A double-edged sword, if you will.

K. Absolutely. Pinning "if I complete X Task, I will feel better and fix myself" on some big goal is way easier.

S. I think that's what's happening for him at this time. He's not willing to do the mundane, scary work of trying to be better each day, and is going for something he thinks will alleviate guilt instead. But of course it won't.

8. The title of this novel is Tallstar’s Revenge. How do you feel about that title so far? Does it reflect the content of the story well, or would you choose a different title? What alternative title would you suggest?

S. I personally feel the title sets up the story poorly. Because I knew it was hinged around revenge, I was alert and looking for it from the start. I was paying attention to potential betrayals or crimes, so on. And when I realised this extremely unlikeable awful character, Sandgorse, was the catalyst, I got real mad.

K. I don't even know what better title would work, since I'm honestly not very fond of the Super Editions titles. They just... all do the same, on-the-nose shit and it makes it very boring from the start.

S. I think if we were allowed to tweak it a little, The Forgiveness of Tallstar, would be a title I would potentially enjoy more. There's an ambiguity to it, re: who is being forgiven. Is it Tallstar who needs to be forgiven, or is it Tallstar doing the forgiving. And I think you could thematically tie that in so much better to the kinds of beats this story is already showing up.

K. The only like, quote from the book that I think you could mangle into a title is "We guard the edge of the world," which like... I dunno, having something like "On The Edge" included in there feels right. The book's obviously full of big tension and drama within Windclan, while also noting that they literally are on the fringe of Clan territory.

S. I think maybe Beyond the Edge of the World? Since that’s essentially where Tallstar’s journey takes him? 

K. Yeah!

9. Many of us read because we’re curious to find out what’s next. How has curiosity featured in your experience of this book? What’s motivated you to keep reading?

K. Hoo boy. Honestly, half of the reason I'm reading is just with crossed fingers that somehow, SOMEHOW, Talltail becomes better. I know he must. He has to.

S.  For me, curiosity is a big part of why I'm reading--and continuing to read--this book. I want to know what happens next! I'm just usually expecting not to like it.

Final notes:

K. I'm excited for Jake to show up, because I feel that'll help break up whatever the hell Talltail is doing. He needs an excitable twink to break him from the evil fog he's in. S. I don't know if Jake is a twink, honestly. K. Oh, very true. We do love a good himbo. S. He's a bit of a rolypoly boy, according to the wiki. K. OH, even better. K. I forgot that Talltail is the twink. S. He's just a long sad string bean.

K. I AM APALLED AT THIS TURN OF EVENTS, ERIN K. This book is… it’s like being consistently starved to death and then given like, a single apple slice and going ravenous for it. There are so many moments that FEEL great (even if they’re not miraculous, writing or content wise), almost solely because so many things that precede them straight up cause my reader brain to flatline. The despicable one-two punch of Chapter Nineteen into the handful of great moments in Chapter Twenty makes me feel like I’m being waterboarded by Erin Hunter. K. Erin Hunter, holding my head down into the waters of godawful content, before yanking me up for air to see Heatherstar and Dawnstripe saying Good Things just to shove me in again. S. I can't disagree with you. S. I genuinely had moments of going "yeah!!!" followed by "NO!!!" like that one John Mulaney skit.

S. Anyway, I'd like to start us off with a familiar old Erin Hunter classic theme, quoting my notes:  - "Is it even a Warriors novel without multiple birth scenes?" - "Oh excellent another peripheral birth scene, I felt that there wasn’t quite enough in this book so far" S. If I don't have multiple women moaning and/or shrieking and/or groaning from birthing pains in my Warriors novels, I'd be devastated. K. It'd break the immersion.

K. I am very happy to see Deadfoot on the scene though, even though he shows up for like. .5 seconds before he's gone. A very good and lovely baby boy. S. “Tallpaw turned back and tucked his nose under the black tom’s belly. “Hang on!” he warned, flipping the kit onto his shoulders. Tallpaw purred as the young kit dug his tiny claws into his pelt, and carried him over to his littermates.” uhhhh what the fuck K. YUP K. Y U P K. HEY ERIN S. Let me just uhhh toss this child like a sack of potatoes over my cat shoulder real quick. K. Tiny Tim over here S. I lost it. I'm like, you really don't care what cat bodies can do, do you?  K. Erin Hunter: hmmm what if we just pepper in some wack shit. Like, what if it's just. Nonsensical as fuck. Who's gonna tell us we can't? Harper Collins? S. And the answer is: of fucking course not, kitty kung fu time.

K. “You’ve turned mean, Tallpaw,” Reena spat. “ That’s why you’ve got no friends anymore. Whenever a cat comes near you, you bite their head off.” “So?” Tallpaw hissed. “At least I don’t kill them.” “See what I mean?” Reena’s gaze hardened. “Why don’t you talk to me once you’ve finished feeling sorry for yourself?” — God I love Reena, calling it like it is. S. Mood, but also: hate Erin Hunter for doing this to him, over Sandgorse. K. "Flailfoot is trying to reason for a Sandgorse Redemption Arc and I will NOT be having it, you LOSE sir, GOOD DAY," S. Note two from my notes page: "I DON’T CARE ABOUT SANDGORSE" S.  Gets abused by father. Father dies in what is objectively an accident caused by his own defiance and hubris. ??? Goes on a hateful revenge spiral to try and make daddy proud. K.  The worst part is that, unlike Bluestar's which was a fucking awful mess the entire way through, this one gives us just enough to show that the Erins are capable of like. SOMETHING. They can write okay things! They know what they're handing us is bullshit and they do it anyway! It's infuriating. S. From a writing perspective, it's kind of fascinating to see this all happen, because like. What a fucking horrorshow. S. Really feeling in this moment for the people who think Erin Hunter is a good writer. They're getting swindled on Sherlock is Garbage and Here's Why levels. S. Where's the secret good fourth episode, Erin???

K.  “Tallpaw’s wish to learn the skills that led to his father’s death shows true courage.” — HEATHERSTAR WITH THE PREMIUM ROASTS K. Followed by: image: “fuck them [tunnels]” K.  “Shrewpaw!” Dawnstripe glared at the apprentice. “Show some respect to your Clanmate.” Hareflight joined them. “Stop teasing him, Shrewpaw!” “This has gone beyond teasing!” Dawnstripe snapped. “If Shrewpaw were my apprentice, I’d claw his ears.” — HOLY FUCK, GET HIM K. The fact that nobody has noticed Shrewpaw using his claws during training is fucking ridiculous, though. He's done it the whole book, Erin. They would know. They would know. S. Admittedly don't love how everyone's concept of discipline is straight to violence, but we'll overlook that, I guess. K. I understand that like, bullying is something that can go unseen very often, but like. Come on, man. S. Yeah. It's like wearing knuckledusters to a playground fight. Hard to overlook.

S. It's what happens when your characters don't have internal worlds. They're just props standing there until you need them, not people watching and listening to what you're writing right in front of them. S. The problem with Erin Hunter's writing for me is that by this point it's hard to read their female characters generously. S. Most of the time I can go, "okay but if we pretend this woman is real, what rich inner world does she experience?" and try to pick up where lazy writers leave off, but like... Erin Hunter's characters are so vapid. K. It's horrible to read. It's just the worst. S. Not just the female characters, but especially the female characters. And I hate it. K. I'm genuinely surprised that Dawnstripe and Heatherstar haven't been mangled already, but honestly, half of my rage at this book comes from their moments, because it shows that the Erins know exactly what they're doing and how bad this fucking plot is. K. Two major background characters are constantly talking about how things Should Not Be The Way They Are, and it just makes me wanna bang my head on a wall. I know you can see the elephant in the room, Erin. You know this. You know the bad things you're making. S. I genuinely feel that’s why they do it. They make bad plots because it’s easier to make certain characters seem smart or likeable if everyone’s a rude idiot.  S. They’re like, we need these characters to seem smart, so they will be the ones to call out all the bullshit. But they [the writers] don't go, wait, why is the bullshit even happening, it doesn’t make sense, and then write something better in the first place. S. I guess because we read these books on such a meta level so often, it really feels like watching one person play ping-pong against themselves, but one persona needs to look good so the other persona keeps giving themselves wedgies at the table and holding the paddle the wrong way. K. FUCK, THAT'S EXACTLY IT S. Which is... less impressive overall than just watching a nice normal game of ping-pong. K. Erin Hunter, about to self-own: I'm gonna pull what's called a pro-gamer move, S. I just can't get past it. S. I know both players are you, Erin Hunter. I can see you putting on your dunce hat and walking to the other end of the table. S. It makes it really hard to sink into the story. Whenever something stupid happens, I'm brutally yanked out of the narrative, and it's happening constantly at this point, because of the direction they're taking Tallpaw. S. I've tried to like, put that aside and imagine his perspective, but it's so challenging for me to envision an experience where I'm a nice boy on a moor with an idiot backwards dad who bullies me and tries to control my life with emotional manipulation and disregard for authority, and then he dies of the thing everyone was saying was super dangerous and off-limits, and then I lose my mind because I didn't make him proud while he was alive (which he's not anymore, because of tunnelling) so I need to do the thing that killed him (which is tunnelling). S. Tallpaw can't be smart and also have this characterisation for me. It's too incongruent.

[need1etail]

Blackstar? Or maybe Deadfoot if you want a less popular character?

I just woke up lol (it's 1 am) but I can do both!

Blackstar

Sexuality Headcanon:

I imagine he's either gay or bi, I lean toward gay tho

Gender Headcanon:

Hmm probably cis male

A ship I have with said character:

Blackstar x Sol holds a weird place in my heart, I don't necessarily ship them but I always imagine that Sol actually did love Black but . . . He feels things differently than a lot of cats do. Oddly. Oddly enough they're startin to remind me of my comfort ship which could be why I like them so much....

A BROTP I have with said character:

Him and Russetfur!

A NOTP I have with said character:

can my OTP also be my NOTP causefjsjfjsjxb when I see BlackSol content I always think of ahem they-who-shall-not-be-names (dr*ik) and it drained me of liking it :')

A random headcanon:

Uhh hm. I think the headcanon that came to mind would be spoilers so none sorry ;w;

General Opinion over said character:

I quite like him! His arc is very interesting and I want to see where his novella goes. Fingers crossed his traumas are written well.

Deadfoot

Sexuality Headcanon:

Bi! Or maybe even pan!

Gender Headcanon:

I like the idea that he's agender and goes by he/him or they/them pronouns

A ship I have with said character:

Him and Ashfoot! Pretty much it.

A BROTP I have with said character:

Him and Tallstar and also I've always imagined him getting along well with Barkface!

A NOTP I have with said character:

Hmm none probably.

A random headcanon:

If he lived in TNP, Crowfeather's life would be much different. Also, when he heard about Cinderpelt, he wished he had stepped forward and offered to train her as a warrior. It's still one of his biggest regrets. They're close friends in StarClan.

General Opinion over said character:

I. Adore him. I get to focus on his relationship with Crowpaw in my TNP rewrite and it's oodles of fun I love it so much, but I also just loved him before I focused on his character.