welcome to the garden - a clangen comic - updates friday-monday - asks are open for me or the characters - main account: jjnostredame (i follow from there!)
Our Garden Under Heaven is a supernatural slice of life following the mission of Imptail and Angelwing - two stars sent from Heaven to find a special cat who will rebuild an ancient Clan. With Heaven's intentions less than clear, they must work together to make the most of this life they've been given, in a land they hardly understand.
In the Beginning // Newest Revelation
Read on Comicfury !!
New Updates - Friday - Monday at 7:30 PST
The ask box is always open, and sending asks for both the author and the characters is welcomed and encouraged.
Allegiances -
Moon 12 // Moon 24 // Moon 36
Navigation -
Tag Guide // House Rules + FAQ // Official Playlist
TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR - religious (primarily Christian) imagery/themes/trauma, animal death/injury/abuse/neglect/illness, heavy discussions of grief, mild violence/blood/gore, pregnancy/birth, child abuse/neglect/abandonment, drug-like substances, depression, suicidal ideation, manipulation/gaslighting, indoctrination, overworking/burnout, misgendering/transphobia, eyestrain (bright colors), occasional strong language, domestic violence/abuse, cheating, high control groups/cults, sacrifice, and heavy use of eye contact and imagery - this list will be updated as needed. if you feel i have missed anything, please reach out via the ask box to let me know.
Our Garden Under Heaven is heavily based on a Clangen save, but please do not anticipate it sticking closely to canon Warrior Cats lore. Names, places, and in-universe laws will vary very greatly, and cannot be interpreted through the lens of canon Warrior Cats. While Clan Generator is used as an inspiration for the story, many liberties are taken in order to maintain the flow of the story.
Our Garden Under Heaven is a slice of life, Biblical-inspired fantasy. It takes place far in the past, and pulls much of its inspiration in story, characters, and setting from Bible stories. The story you are about to read is explicitly about religious trauma and existing within a theocratic society that often affects characters negatively. I am heavily critical of most religion and magical thinking, and this story is made as a partial reflection of past experiences with the church as well as my own complicated nostalgia. This blog is not a place for evangelism of any kind. No attempts to argue or convert anyone will be tolerated, and you will not be given a second chance if I see it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
You can call me JJ (he/him | in my twenties | ♉️). I consider myself far more of a writer/author than an artist, and this is the first and only comic I have ever made. I have been reading Warrior Cats since I was 8, and playing Clangen for YEARS now. This project began mostly as art practice and a good excuse to try new things and experiment with my art. Please expect plenty of mistakes and inconsistencies with my art style, and be patient with me as I continue to struggle to understand how Tumblr works.
You can find me on my main account - @jjnostredame , and on artfight. I am also active under the same user in the Clangen Creator Discord, which is a great place to come find me if you want to connect. Otherwise, I don't use social media very much. I do also have a Kofi, which I don't advertise much bc frankly monetizing my art scares me very much. But if you feel compelled to pay me, I won't stop you lol.
Please keep in mind I work a real job outside of this space. I have 3 cats and a partner to feed! I sometimes have to put the comic on breaks in order to make sure I don't run out of steam.
Thank you all so much for being here 🙏 I hope you look forward to watching our Garden grow.
Living in a group requires at least SOME attempt at civility, and the cats of the Garden generally put a decent effort into getting along !! Since it's such a small group, most of the cats at least KNOW each other to a friendly extent, so I thought I'd focus on the cats with the least chemistry and desire to hang out.
More info under the cut, for those curious -
Honey Fruit and Angelwing have the most complicated relationship here, stemming back to when Honey was first brought to the Clan. She used to have lots of fun playing with Angelwing as a little one, but hindsight has made her a bit wary of them. Angelwing tried hard back then not to let her complicated feelings about Locust and Mulberry affect Honey, but she knows that Honey picked up on the conflict even at a young age. Now, Honey's dislike of Angel stems mostly from their personalities clashing. Honey is very down to earth. She believes in Heaven, but will always prioritize the cats in front of her at the end of the day. Angelwing tries to think much more 'big picture', but often ends up with tunnel vision once she's focused on something. They're both stubborn (and a bit sensitive) which makes for friction between them. Honey Fruit has also never liked how much of Mulberry's time Angelwing demands, though her father swears up and down he doesn't mind. Angelwing thinks Honey doesn't understand his own relationship with their prophet.
Locust thinks Silver Sage takes the safety of living in a group for granted. She attributes it to his youth, and how young he was when he joined. Still, it's frustrating to hear him fret so much about their living situation. They rarely see eye to eye when it comes to things that should be taken seriously. They have very little in common, positive or negative. He finds her intimidating, and she worries he takes her orders as threats since he's always tripping over himself to do his work as fast as possible - even if his work suffers. She is careful to acknowledge his effort, and he does appreciate all of her hard work. She does find him charming, when he can relax a little. Sage feels safer knowing Locust is always around to protect the Clan. They just don't have much to talk about when together .
Chariot has more important things to do than worry about which cats she annoys. She sees Imptail more as a patient anyway, so any hostility that comes her way from him is just a part of her job. Imptail, of course, would rather die than have Chariot fuss over her. Angelwing has taken over most of Imp's care, so it's not a big deal either. Imptail just finds Chariot annoying, and feels like she sees herself as the Garden's savior, rather than another part of the group.
Wait, you have three cats? Can we see them mayhaps?
I do !!! These are my three special boys !!!
The fluffy black one is Mealworm (just Worm, most of the time). He is a rescue from my stepfather's horrible hell house for unfixed indoor/outdoor cats. I've known him since the day he was born 💕 almost six years ago. We have been through a lot together. He's the most reserved of the three, but he's ridiculously silly and SO sweet.
The fluffy brown tabby is Scooter. He's five, and the neediest cat I have ever met. We got him during a period where I was very sick and unemployed, so he is Very clingy. When he wants attention he will throw himself at or on you until you hold him like a baby. He would really like nothing more than to lick your face, and if you pull away he WILL pull you right back. He's very talkative, and likes to sing to let us know he has found his favorite toys.
The flame point is named Pigeon, and he is my four year old infant. Within two months of having him, we discovered he has a SERIOUS case of pica when he ate a bunch of carpet and strapped us with a few thousand in vet bills to get it removed. Worm and Scooter are very close, but Pig prefers human company over everything else. He has lots to say, and loves attention. He also has a thing for sucking on ear lobes that he has never grown out of.
They love to.... help? me work on the comic, and definitely never get in the way or slow me down AT ALL. They are me and my partner's whole world. I pride myself in how affectionate they are. They do really well with new people and are really easy to handle.
Oh you made a mistake encouraging author asks (/silly) because I have THOUGHTS
In your opinion, would Moonpaw still have chosen to train as a prophet/healer if she hadn't been attacked by the hawk? Because that had her spend a lot of time in Dreamer's den as a kit, but she would've been there a lot anyway as Dreamer's kit. Idk I'm curious
(I am Moonpaw's strongest soldier I left an impassioned vote for her in the favorite character poll)
Planning on post more of these throughout the month! Also I was thinking of opening up $12 commissions for pride icons if anyone is interested! Feel free to message me!
It's time to once more play our favorite game - Who is Your Favorite Gardener?
This poll is going to look a little different, because our Garden is officially too large for a tumblr poll. After a lot of thought, I've decided to move the voting over to a google form, which can be found here:
Hi everyone !!! Welcome to our third GardenClan fan favorite poll !!! The Garden is officially too big for a tumblr poll. I am so grateful t
SOME GROUND RULES:
Please only vote once. I don't want to require anyone to submit their email (ew), so I'm going to trust everybody to be very normal and kind to their fellow voters and not do anything shady. PLEASE do not make me regret this.
The only required question on the form is to pick a favorite from a list of all of our living Gardeners. Below, there is an optional space for WHY you voted, where you can tell me who you voted for, why, and anything else you might like to. I'd love to hear who your runner ups were, if your favorite has changed over time, or if there are cats outside of the Garden that are high on your list. I'm SUUUPER curious for those of you that voted for The Dreamer in the past, as these polls only include current living members. These submissions will be private, but some may be included within the winner post.
You are also 100% welcome and encouraged to state your reasoning here within the replies and reblogs, especially if you want others to see it (or for me to reply!!). Campaigning for your favorites is 100% fine by me. Likewise, these may also be included in the final winner post, but I haven't decided.
The poll is going to be active for a week after this post goes up, ending on May 30th (i may extend it depending on my whims). I will reblog this post several times throughout the week in the hopes that folks see it. I appreciate you all so much for being willing to go the extra step and vote through here.
There is an optional spot to put your tumblr or comicfury @. You are 100% welcome to submit anonymously!! This is more for my own entertainment, because I like to know who my readers enjoy. I try to remember and recognize as many of you as possible, and having a character to connect/associate with you makes it easier and is also just fun for me.
I have not decided yet whether or not I'll be updating you all with progress as the poll goes on, but please keep an eye out !!
I am SO EXCITED !!! The Garden has been through a WHOLE LOT in the past year of story, and we've made many new friends, and lost one as well. I can't wait to see what you all have to say <3 Thank you all so much again for participating, reading, and enjoying my comic and characters. It means so much to me.
so i actually keep a family tree for my own sanity, but i had to remake this without spoilers in familyecho. but i like you people, and i've been meaning to do this anyway, so this was a good push <3
the only cats not pictured here are Silver Sage and Chariot who have no stated family or formal relation to anyone else (I also opted to leave Night Rain's kits off for my own sanity - i'll add them eventually).
if you'd like a closer look (i know the screenshot isn't the clearest), you can click HERE and go actually see the familyecho page.
if you guys would like, i'm happy to add the link to this tree into the pinned post. my ONE CONDITION is that no one hounds me about keeping it updated. i'm already going to have to redo a lot of this when sprites update, so i'd prefer to not update it until cats have their adult sprites/full names.
hi !! i was wondering if you might have any tips on naming a clangen comic? i'm working on one of my own, but i'm really struggling with finding a good title for it. "our garden under heaven" is unique and fits gardenclan perfectly, what was your process in coming up with it?
p.s. i really like your character writing, and the dreamer's death was absolutely devastating </3 well done
oooo! names can be very tricky !! luck for you, i've actually answered a very similar question to this HERE <3 i hope it is helpful to you as well :3
Hello! Just reread through the comic and wanted to tell you that your comic is fucking amazing. That’s all :)
(Also yes I do regularly use crack as a reaction image. Fight me)
I would never fight you.... every Crack is a gift that should be treasured 🙏
also YAY :3 reading the whole comic is a BIG undertaking (coming from guy who reads through the whole comic every day). Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️ it's always so sweet knowing there's eyes on it
I will not lie, Honey Fruit feels like an Asexual Lesbian but I could not tell you why beyond the vibes.
I feel like Heartpaw is cis but in the way where he likes to wear skirts and paint his nails. He's pretty and he wants to look pretty and so by god he will look pretty. (Most likely to get the "groom groom grooming away" status [Affectionate]). Alternatively "You can't defend the Clan if you don't look cute".
Beetlepaw gives me "What gender are you?" "Well he/him on my dad's side and any on my parent's so I'm mixed :)" vibes. Alternatively, most likely to have mirror pronouns
Oh these are very good :3 the Heartpaw one is especially accurate. My boy cares about his appearance SOOOOO MUCH. He 100% would wear makeup too !!!
