#ailuronymy

[ailuronymy]

Notice: the beginning of the end.

Hello, everyone, 

I’ve been thinking for a long time about when and how to give this news and I’ve decided now is probably a good time to start the process. In five months, Ailuronymy will be celebrating its tenth anniversary, which is a huge and exciting milestone. However, it’s also a little bittersweet as, not long after that anniversary, I will be retiring from this blog. 

I’ve been thinking about this for well over a year by this point. My life is becoming far too busy for me to be able to meaningfully sustain running this blog, as I’m sure some have noticed in recent years regarding the decline of updates, and more and more I want to put my time and energy towards other parts of my life, including my original writing and career. 

It’s been incredibly fun here, and honestly a huge honour. I’ve learned a lot through these ten years, which I am very grateful for, and I hope I’ve been able to offer some interesting and new ways of thinking about world-building for others too. I’ve always felt so touched by every kind and thoughtful ask I’ve ever gotten here, and the support and enthusiasm you’ve all shown this blog is really humbling in the best sort of way. I’ve always believed that by far the best quality of the Warriors fandom has been its creativity and ingenuity, and I feel blessed to have been a part of that, even if only in a very small niche space. 

The blog will continue to run as normal for several more months, so there’s no need to panic. If there are questions or comments on your mind, you still have plenty of time to send those in and there’s no need to rush. I’ll also be making another post leading up to the end day, so it won’t take you by surprise. The blog will still be available to view and use even once I’m no longer answering asks. 

Additionally, there’s some exciting news I’ve been looking forward to sharing for over a year as well. In preparation for my retirement, I’ve been working on Ailuronymy’s biggest and final feature update, which is a book pdf that you will be able to download and keep for free. This pdf will be Ailuronymy’s Greatest Hits and includes all the most interesting, useful discussions ever had on this blog, as well as a significant amount of resources for reference and use. My hope is that, even if tumblr crumbles into the sea (inevitable), those who enjoy this blog will still have access to it in a form via that compilation for as long as they want it (+ with a better search functionality!)

There’s no specific ETA for this final pdf version of Ailuronymy, as (again) my life is busy and it’s quite a significant labour for one person to undertake. However, my hope and goal is for it to become available sometime next year--although likely not before the anniversary. I will keep everyone updated on its progress once we hit the new year. 

I will still be on tumblr in a fashion on my personal writing blog, but sporadically and much more as personal chatter. For those who want to keep up with my happenings post-Ailuronymy, @solacefruit is the best place for that. 

I think that’s all that needs to be covered for now. Thank you all for your support over the years. I’ve said it before, but this blog really would be nothing if not for the interesting questions that you’ve sent in, and the enthusiasm and positivity that you bring to talking about pretend cats. It’s been overall a total joy to run this blog, and I look back on this very weird, very niche archive with a lot of pride. 

Take care all of you!  Grey

[newtcloud]

Fanart of a scene from @ailuronymy‘s Mudclaw story, where he and Tallstar watch sunrise happen on the moors

[sparrowminder]

9 and 10!

9. Favourite canon scene or dialogue of all time?

Oh jeez, it’s been so long since I’ve read any of the books. Genuinely one of the most memorable scenes for me was in Into the Wild, where it timeskips to after Firepaw has been with the clan a few moons. The writing there is just really nice and descriptive and very convincing that it’s from a cat’s point of view, and I knew immediately that I was going to be staying up all night to finish the book. I remember Firepaw finding Yellowfang to be good in that regard too!

10. Favourite canon leader of all time?

I think Bluestar is the most interesting and fun to play with character-wise, Leopardstar as well, but my favorite is definitely Tallstar! I just love him a lot.

[redtail-au]

Hello! Thank you so much for the kind words, and thank you for reading! I'm delighted to hear you enjoy the blog. 1, 3, 9, 13, 24, 27, and 28, please! -- Grey from Ailuronymy.

You’ve been an enormous inspiration to me over the years, in more ways than one.

1: Favourite canon warrior name?

Regardless of what I say I’ll think of something I like better tomorrow, but... let’s go with Littlecloud.  His name is definitely up there.

3: Warrior you’d most like to rename?

I’m torn between the very obvious Twigbranch, and Sparkpelt.  I really dislike Twigbranch’s whole name, but the fact that Sparkpelt was basically named after Firestar because she looks like him leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and then she didn’t even get a suffix befitting her personality or abilities.

9: Favourite canon scene or dialogue of all time?

Of all time is difficult.  In more recent books, I really enjoyed Alderheart’s interactions with Puddleshine and Shadowkit.

13: Favourite AU concept?

I absolutely adore AUs where Fireheart has a sibling relationship with Scourge.  Naturally, I’m also very fond of AUs with significant LGBTQ characters and ones where characters with disabilities get to do what they want with their lives.

24: What would you ask Erin Hunter, if you could?

Have you considered adding someone to your team to keep track of all of your characters and plotlines?

27: If you were on Drunk Warriors Rants, what would you talk about?

Probably mostly ableism and the fact that nobody knows how to talk to each other in these dang books.  Also, Tigerheart’s Shadow, one of the most infuriating books I’ve ever read.

28: What would your warrior name be?

Definitely Spider-something; in the system I use here, -path and -throat are both viable options on top of the strictly traditional possibility of -nose.  One of my favourite names I’ve been given by someone else is Tinythroat, though.

[sparrowminder]

25/26?

Ok obviously these aren’t going to be a true top five, it’ll just be five I like. I don’t know how I would possibly pick a top five prefixes!

25. Top five prefixes (canon or otherwise)?

Honey-. It’s pretty versatile and very cute!

Drizzle-. I’ve started putting it in my lists for grey ticked tabbies, as opposed to Rain- which is typically for spotted/broken mackerel tabbies.

Boneset-. This is kind of representative of all the compound words I’ve been able to use as prefixes with the -er system, as those suffixes prevent them from being as awkward or confusing.

Fern-. This is here because I really love it but cannot for the life of me justify it traditionally. Bracken- can work for the color of the dead plant if that’s something you’re ok with, but Fern- is pretty much green only. Maybe if you wrote properly colorblind cats it could work, but that would throw off the whole traditional system so much.

Parsley-. This is kind of out of nowhere but I gave offhandedly gave Parsleystar as an example leader name last night and I’ve decided I need a Parsley- cat immediately so it just happens to be in my brain.

26. Top five suffixes (canon or otherwise)?

-nose. Wish it was used more in the books, it’s really delightful. I don’t think I used it at all before I read Ailuronymy.

-watcher. It’s one of my favorites in my -er system and I think what it implies is fun. It’s not quite an intelligence suffix, but it is a sort of memory suffix - it means the cat is very good at remembering and retrieving information to help solve mysteries, create battle plans, or just to be a living encyclopedia of whatever they’re interested in.  

-pelt. Ok, hear me out. A lot of us think of -pelt as a simple, common, maybe even kind of boring suffix. But it creates a certain atmosphere because pelt isn’t really a word that gets used a lot in everyday life. It makes me think of fur trappers and hunters out in the wilderness, which really helped my immersion when I was first reading the books.

-stream or any variation. -creek, -brook, -river...I just find them really lovely and evocative.

-fall. I wanted to do a non-traditional one for this last one, and, like Fern- this is squarely in the camp of “I love it but cannot for the life of me find a use for it”. A couple people in the Feline Fiction discord have come up with some, but nothing that suits me.

[ailuronymy]

Hello all! Just a little note wishing you all the best this holiday season and into the New Year. Ailuronymy will return in early 2020. Until then, take care, be kind, have fun, and enjoy your time with friends, family, good stories, and whatever cats you can get your hands on. 

- Grey. 

[sparrowminder]

4, 15, 24 for the warrior ask meme?

4. Best name-change name?

Probably Deadfoot, if, y’know, you make him renamed as an adult like he should have been and we all kind of assumed he had been. Simple, straightforward, and very cool.

15. Warrior code rule you think is best?

So by “best”, I’m going to go with most interesting, and for that reason, I’m going with the “leader’s word is law” rule. For my au, I’ve clarified it a little to specify that this is so long as it doesn’t break any other parts of the code, but I feel like this can usually be inferred. I think this is an easy in to explore how the warrior code is flawed, which parts of it were made for good reasons and which parts should be reconsidered. 

24. What would you ask Erin Hunter, if you could?

Whoof. Most of my questions boil down to “whyyyy” and the answer to almost all of those is most likely “because the series wasn’t expected to become this large and complex and so not as much thought was put into some parts”. I guess what I would want to know is what the organizational system is and was like behind the scenes? Discrepancies have happened so often with the timeline, pelt colors, characterization and so on that obviously it’s flawed, but which parts are actually planned out?

[ailuronymy]

Ailuronymy’s Warriors Ask Meme.

As part of Ailuronymy’s anniversary month, I have put together a little ask meme about the series, an ask for every day of the month. Feel free to post an answer to the #ailuronymy tag every day or reblog the post and encourage your followers to ask you questions themselves! Have fun!

Favourite canon warrior name?

Least favourite canon warrior name?

Warrior you’d most like to rename?

Best name-change name?

Favourite canon character overall?

Least favourite canon character overall?

Favourite Warriors book?

Least favourite Warriors book?

Favourite canon scene or dialogue of all time?

Favourite canon leader of all time?

Character you think deserved better?

Character you’d like to see “morally” flipped (made “bad” or made “good”)?

Favourite AU (alternate universe) concept?

Warrior code rule you think is best?

Warrior code rule you think shouldn’t exist/should be changed?

Describe your ideal vision of Starclan/clan afterlife.

Traditional or non-traditional naming. Thoughts?

If traditional: What non-traditional suffix would you include in your system? If non-traditional: What’s your favourite canon suffix?

Best thing about the clan system as a concept in your opinion?

Favourite Warriors fanfiction (or fanfiction writer)?

Favourite Warriors fanartist (includes animators)?

Most interesting villain?

Favourite canon clan?

What would you ask Erin Hunter, if you could?

Top five prefixes (canon or otherwise)?

Top five suffixes (canon or otherwise)?

If you were on Drunk Warriors Rants, what would you talk about?

What would your warrior name be?

Bonus questions:

Describe your favourite original Warriors characters!

Describe your original Warriors clans!

Talk about your feelings about the Warriors series!