kittycats...

formerly a warrior cats rewrite, now it's own xenomoggy! askbox always open for questions!

[felis-artis]

Felis Artis Redux

This is the blog that hosts the first version of Felis Artis, alongside the redux of the work done on the original project. All posts on the original project's contents have been tagged with "#FA: OUTDATED" and can be found that way.

Author uses he/him/his pronouns.

Blog icon drawn by Blue Loon Fine Arts (Wayne McLoughlin) Blog header photographed by Denis Budkov

[felis-artis]

"Oh man, if I lock in for March, then surely I'll have enough work done to make a huge post about the territories!" He said, knowing he would not lock in enough to do that.

I do have a lot for the territories written down, but not enough for me to finalize my map sketches into anything usable for Tumblr quite yet. The moment I'm able to get those things readable, believe me, I'll be sharing them.

[felis-artis]

Slowly concepting the territory maps at a snails pace… Eventually they will be done…

[felis-artis]

Major changes include:

Making each group’s territory a lot bigger. Im splitting the cats up among multiple camps, and making each territory take DAYS to walk across. (This is also how I’m going to introduce specific types of conflicts in arcs 1 and 2)

Making each area distinct. I want specific prey from specific areas WITHIN their borders, making national trading a lot more interesting while diversifying their international trade

Speaking of international trade, let’s make that more fun! Traveling merchants need to feasibly pass through and offer certain items that you couldn’t get in the area. Therefor, it can’t all be closed off

Need a space for international meetings, but perhaps instead of them meeting every month, how about every two months? These meetings would function more like the Nomai Outer Wilds festivals, rather than a monthly forced attendance thing.

Suggestions or expansions on these ideas are also open! It’ll be a while before I have everything set in stone, so new ideas are always appreciated and welcome!

[felis-artis]

Slowly concepting the territory maps at a snails pace… Eventually they will be done…

[kat-witha-k]

shoutout to cats. cats are cool as fuck. shoutout to bugs as well

[felis-artis]

Was doing family tree work and realized that you all don't even know the renamed factions yet huh. Whoops! I'll get those out eventually, when I've finished touching up the allegiances :)

[systlin]

Did you hear the scientists have found a way to grow colored cotton? Thoughts?

It’s not a ‘scientists have found’ and much more ‘people have been already doing that for thousands of years and it’s just gaining more attention recently’

[beowulf22121]

Scientists didn’t know. It should be “Scientists just found out”

[systlin]

There’s actually been a load of vitriol leveled against folks who try to raise traditional colored cottons, because a lot of cotton growers don’t want the colored cottons cross-pollinating with their standard white cotton.

But anyway cotton can be grown in lovely natural shades of greens, reddish-brown ochres, and browns, all of which deepen with a good boil in water with a bit of washing soda thrown in.

The color obviously doesn’t fade or run, because it’s not dye. It’s the intrinsic color of the fiber itself.

[angry-cajun-lady]

I....I want clothes made out of those colors. They don't hurt my brain!

[systlin]

Aren’t they lovely?

I’m biased because I love the natural earth tones of many fibers, of course...browns, blacks, creams, copper-reds, ect...but I think they’re just gorgeous.

[systlin]

https://www.vreseis.com/shop

If anyone wants to know where you can get yarn or cotton like this!

[carolxdanvers]

Scientists did not "just find out", and this is more of the same anti intellectual bs as the post that goes around claiming archaeologists were too stupid to know that hair could be sewn for elaborate styles.

Anyway, scientists DID figure out how to grow colored cotton. They genetically engineered it to be bright fuckin pink, and they didn't "just find out" about it, they already knew which is literally what inspired them to attempt the thing they just accomplished. Begging y'all to stop pretending that scientists don't know things, don't have interests, don't grow up in farming communities or have family who taught them this. Scientists are people. Do you seriously think people who use genetic engineering to make eco-friendly pink cotton don't know anything about textiles?

Anyway. Bright pink cotton without dyes, because science is awesome

[gamerwoman3d]

Yes. CSIRO scientist Doctor Colleen MacMillan led the team that figured this out. They used tobacco plants for testing because of the genetic similarity. Basically if the tobacco leaves produced colors when injected with a bit of the experimental genetic material, the scientists on the team already understood that the color change would affect cotton bolls as well.

They grew bright red and bright yellow in a petri dish.

And yes, Doctor MacMillan knows lots of things. Here's a list of some of her publications.

@csirogram on Instagram

Additionally folks are researching how to create flame resistant cotton and black cotton. If a variety of black cotton becomes viable, it can stop a LOT of environmental damage caused by chemical manufacturing of black dye.

[nartoq]

THIS. Every damn botanist I know, including myself, is at the least tangentially interested in fiber arts and indigenous methods behind things like that. Scientists have hobbies and we're all goddamn nerds so a lot of those hobbies are more niche. The anti-intellectualism is insane. I swear half of y'all think scientists are all evil cackling old men devoted to holding up colonial power systems. The work done by Dr. MacMillan is crazy cool and should be celebrated

[felis-artis]

Finished placing all the cats into the allegiances for the first arc! Not including planned litters and unborn cats, we have 198 cats in the allegiances alone! This means it might be a bit before I can showcase all of these cats, as I have to do family tree work and renames in the new naming system, but eventually I'll finish it all up for publishing here!

[felis-artis]

FAR: Naming

The naming system within the new Felis Artis is one of the largest changes from the original, simply to take it away from it's origin point.

Initially after deciding to cut the project loose from it's fanwork status, I knew that I needed to change that. I'd changed the names a lot from the canon ones already, but I felt that the full separation would be needed.

Once I'd decided on that, I got to work on deciding what to keep, and what to change. I knew I wanted to keep an aspect of changing names across ranks, but with a little more creativity than just one option for the suffixes to be changed to.

I wanted to take the key parts of the canon I'm working from as follows:

Starting name is simpler/less complex than adult names.

Changes parts of it as the character changes ranks.

Then, I noted a few things that I also wanted to consider when making the new naming system.

Frame it so epithets and titles are more usable.

Account for certain technologies. You know how the initial proposed name for Tigerclaw was Hammerclaw? If they'd had hammers, then it'd probably would have gone through. It made sense within the universe.

Acknowledge the accomplishments in secondary schooling.

Nicknames! All these requirements can lead to pretty long names. What do these cats call each other in casual settings, when the formal naming won't work?

Recognizable. As the names get more complex, this might be an issue.

With my goals laid out, I got to work on developing a system that would work with what I wanted out of the names. I wanted to slowly see what would work, and by extension, what wouldn't work, by work-shopping a few character names; I decided to focus on our two protagonists in Arc 1 as a good starting point.

In the original project, the two of them were called Wildfire and Crowtongue.

Wildfire's name has clear symbolism and imagery associated with it that I wanted to maintain, but Crowtongue's associations would be harder to maintain.

The first thing I did was hyphenate the two parts. This makes it easier to read whats being changed and swapped around.

Wildfire -> Wild-fire Crowtongue -> Crow-tongue

The first thing I decided to tackle was the acknowledgements of secondary education. In the original project, cats would change their secondary names, or suffixes, based on their ranks in the groups. Now, they change their names based on expertise.

The easiest way to do this is to have a third part of the name that changes depending on their documented schooling. With the new system for education and learning (which I will make another post for... eventually) there are three levels in completion of schooling.

None -> Required -> Intermediary -> Advanced

I decided to make the new added part of the name change with specific words. In Redux canon, these specific words are translated for English readability, but probably would be shorter to say in their cat language. Choosing words for this was a little tough, but I worked from the original project's ideas and finally settled on these suffixes.

(none) -> "-paw" -> "-paws" -> "-pawprints"

Now, after settling on where these characters would end up in the new education system and what they'd realistically complete in their lifetime, all I had to do was add it to our character's names, right at the end.

Wild-fire -> Wild-fire-paws Crow-tongue -> Crow-tongue-paw

Now, it doesn't really roll off the tongue easily, does it? After taking a short break to consider how to fix it, I couldn't thing of anything better at the moment. I could always come back to it later after I had more to work with.

Deciding to work on another aspect next, I tackled the titles and epithets.

In my first idea was to just tack it onto the beginning of the names (alike to things like "The Brave ___" or "The Honorable ___", but realized I'd have to make individual titles for any cat that reaches the high enough rank, and that simply is not sustainable with the sheer amount of cats that exist in the series. I'd run out of words.

So, I decided to add a new system. Honor titles are added at the beginning of their names, but now there's another, slightly more common, honoring system. Honor renaming.

Cats with Honor titles, such as "The Brave ___" or "The Honorable ___" and other such items, have to have passed away before their title is given. Honor renamings happen when a cat is alive and changes their whole first section of their name.

Honor renaming is for smaller feats. Honor titles are given to grand cats who change history, for better or for worse, but honor renaming is more like graduating valedictorian. It's for smaller, less large-scale feats that would be honored. It's like saving a kitten from a flood (honor rename) versus curing an illness that was killing kittens for years and years (honor title).

So, for example, a cat with the name Gray-snow-paws would be honored, and their name would be changed to something else. Something like Blue-dusk-paws. The education status would not change, but the initial part of the name would.

Cats with honor renamings can be, and often are, given an honor title after death. It depends on their work.

After finishing that section up, I decided to finally outline what would give a cat their initial names. After floating a few ideas around to some friends, I decided on how the first parts of the names would be given.

The first part of their name would be a virtue or that their parent would want them to embody as they age. It would be in the noun or infinitive form until their second part of their name is placed at the beginning. It will change depending on the word, but it will either change to an adjective or an adverb

For example, a kitten born could be named Kindness or Sympathy, but once they get their second part at the front, it could change to Snow-kindly or Holly-sympathetic.

You might be thinking that these names are long. They don't roll off the tongue easily, and aren't easy to remember. You'd be right, but before we can even think about that, we have to define the parameters for what gives a cat their second section of their name.

Looking back at the original project, I'd made the names change based on their education status, but with the updated tiered education system, that wouldn't work. So, what else often dictates education in hundreds of cultures around the world? Age!

Cats gain their second part of their name when they become three months old, and then typically begin their formal education at around four months old. Their second part of their name usually refers to their physical description. Being named after pelt colors, patterns, or unusual features are common.

But, what about Wild-fire-paws and Crow-tongue-paw? They don't have their first/central part of their name as a virtue, it's just words!

Fear not, there's an explanation. When a cat completes their required schooling, their central name is changed for the first time. It can change to anything, save for words reserved for special sections of their names, and can mean whatever.

It can change to something that fits their physical description, special skills or affinities, interests or inside jokes. The only requirement is that it has to be one word. Anything goes.

When a cat retires from work, their central name can be changed again. Like the first time, it can be anything they want. It will be the name they keep in death. However, unlike the first time, they can also choose to keep their old name. It depends on the cat.

As a note, the only time a cat's second name is changed is with honor renamings. This is what makes them so specially permanent and why it's often named after a physical feature. Not much will change about your pelt color as you age, save for a few special gene cases, so it's generally safe for a cat to be named after their pelt, or their ears, or anything else.

So, with these parameters set up, let's run through a normal cat's name changes (honor titles and honor renamings excluded simply for simplicity's sake) in their life.

Strength -> Mouse-strong -> Mouse-dusk-paw -> Mouse-dusk-paws -> Mouse-chase-paws

As you can see, the cat gained their first education completion suffix alongside their central name being changed. It is the same ceremony. In a few cases, these events are two different ceremonies due to the style of education (cooking and medicine are the main ones that tend to require two ceremonies, but specific mentors and teachers may also stagger the ceremonies for numerous other reasons in any of the other fields of education/work)

After all this, we need to decide on changes for leaders. In the old project, they gained the second name of "-star," but I feel that this won't work again.

After a lot of deliberation, leaders will gain a special title. It's like an honor title, in the sense that it goes in the front of their name, but it simply is the word "Starlit"

Blue-dusk-paws -> Starlit Blue-dusk-paws

Now, with all of this done and dusted, the final part of the work to do in names: Nicknaming!

Nicknaming is usually done with a part of the subject's full name, or entirely unrelated. It's simply what they're known by in casual settings. The exception to this is leaders, in which their title is always going to be included as a sign of respect.

Starlit Blue-dusk-paws would be known as Starlit Blue, whereas others would be commonly be refereed to with specific parts of their name (Wild-fire-paws is referred to as Wildfire, while Crow-tongue-paw is referred to as Crow. It depends on the cat's preferences.)

After all this work, I'm happy with the final result! I've been considering making the naming system it's own (creative progress not included) visual guide to showcase the changes across time, but we'll see if I end up making it.

[felis-artis]

After doing a lot of work on the Felis Artis Redux's education system, I've realized that the original group sizes are just... too small. Groups of twenty to thirty cats made sense at the time, with the lore, but with the new systems in place to accommodate more complex knowledge-bases and technologies, it just makes sense to add more cats.

They'd be surviving longer due to advances in medicine and cooking, learning about proper nutrition, better tools for hunting large-game that result in less casualties, and more. There would just be More Cats because of all of these combined.

My biggest issue would be the naming. Naming and developing thirty cats is already a huge undertaking, but to continuously name and develop them across stories, time, and history? It's a lot. It can be done, but it's a lot.

[felis-artis]

I've been taking a break from this project to focus on other (slightly smaller scale) writing projects, but I think it's time I come back to this! I've got a few ideas and am ready to talk about them!

The new(er) naming system has been refined and I have a handful characters renamed. I'll be making a post sometime later today to discuss major characters in Arc 1 and their new names (alongside the first character profile!)

I've reworked Arc 1's plot slightly. I'll be working on a specific post across the next week to showcase these changes. Since I never actually posted most of the Arc 1 details from the original project, a lot of the rework will just be new information and scenes.

I've figured out how I need to adjust their tools and technology to fit their time period, mobility, and usage! I don't have plans to make a post on this just yet, but I'll be answering any questions that come my way!

Finally, a possible Felis Artis version of the Warriors Adventure Game! It would tweak the existing adventure game to fit into the Felis Artis world, but I've also been floating around the idea of starting from scratch with a TTRPG in this universe. Although, that idea would take far longer and is simply something that I'd have to get multiple people on helping me with.

I'll be answering every question in my inbox as I receive them, whether it be about characters or concepts of the worldbuilding!

[memories-of-ancients]

Silver inlaid axe head, Scandinavia, 11th-12th century

from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[felis-artis]

Felis Artis: Revisited

It's been about a year since I last seriously thought about this project, so I just wanted to fully announce (in its own special announcement post) that I'll be divorcing it from it's Warriors origins and making it into a xenomoggy!

What does this mean for the blog?

It's staying the same for the most part (save for a few visual changes in the theme) but with a different sorting system and name. Asks and requests will still be handled in the same way, and responses will be similar. All-in-all, not much is changing except for a some bits of lore that tethered the story to Warriors.

The URL itself will stay the same, same blog author, similar concepts, but with more originality added into the mix and an improved storyline. I'll be referring to the old project as Felis Artis (FA), and this current project as the Felis Artis Redux (FAR).

I do have a few unfinished posts in my drafts for the original project that I do hope to release someday, but for now, I'll keep them under wraps to avoid spoilers.

Thank you to all that showed interest in the original project! I hope I can continue to write similar and adjacent stories under this new project name!

[felis-artis]

i havent even looked at warriors in ages. wow, can it go downhill any faster? might have to abandon ship

[felis-artis]

i have already started work on turning this project into a xenomoggy behind the scenes, expect that. eventually

[felis-artis]

im slowly going through every post and deciding how much of each one i want to keep/divorce from warrior cats. and then i think im going to retag them all so i can easily sort through new canon versus old canon

[felis-artis]

i havent even looked at warriors in ages. wow, can it go downhill any faster? might have to abandon ship

[felis-artis]

i have already started work on turning this project into a xenomoggy behind the scenes, expect that. eventually

[felis-artis]

i havent even looked at warriors in ages. wow, can it go downhill any faster? might have to abandon ship

[felis-artis]

hey! do you mind if i take inspiration from the necklaces for high ranks you came up with? ill make my own designs of the necklaces and stuff just asking if i can take some inspiration

yeah idc!! where would art be without inspiration? go ahead! <3