So I know you hey graystripe… what about his kits? What are their opinions on him? Also… why the hate? I’m curious
In this post you can find my Greystripe rant! (lol)
It's a long story really, and I do play up my hate a Lil bit, it ain't really that serious...
The thing is, I feel people get nostalgia lenses, as the books acknowledge that his behavior is (at the very least) unfair.....
As I said in the other post, Greystripe is not a good friend. Holding him up to the standard of 'THE best friend character' is blatantly misreading the books and honestly a little silly. Like yes, his relationship with Silverstream put him in a rough position, and I'm not saying love is bad or anything, it just doesn't stop the fact he was a bad friend and mentor. Yes, Bluestar made them mentors extremely early, but it is a responsibility, and Greystripe, being raised in the clan, should know this. You do not need to be with your girlfriend 24/7. Forcing Fireheart to cover for you, and train your apprentice (as well as his own) is not best friend behavior imo.
(I believe Greystripe does apologize for this, HE HIMSELF TELLING THE AUDIENCE HE WAS A BAD FREIND which the fandom loves to IGNORE. Im not even sure if Greystripe does apologize at all, its been a while. More about the fandom later)
Don't get me started on the deputy thing. Nothing makes my blood boil more than that. Holy shit. Whitestorm tells Fireheart to pick a new deputy and.... I'm just gonna copy what I put in that other post.... '
"Whitestorm told Firestar to pick a worthy deputy and this mf picks Greystripe? GREYSTRIPE?! The LEAST deserving cat in the entire clan!! ANY cat would've been better! Pick a kit or an elder and they would have been BETTER! Greystripe DID NOT train Brackenpaw (who still hates him)! HE WAS A SHIT FRIEND!"
You really gonna pick that cat who broke the code and lived in Riverclan for a while? (Being with his children IS a valid reason, but most of Thunderclan wouldn't want Greystripe deputy because of this)
THIS PART IS VERY IMPORTANT: If you like Greystripe, that is okay. I'm not telling you to hate this character, liking Greystripe is not a sin. I'm open to Greystripe defenders here, to each their own. It is okay to like flawed characters, in fact it is good to do so. The thing is, I am SICK of the fandom acting like none of this happened. YOU CAN ADMIT AND ACCEPT WHEN A CHARACTER YOU LIKE DOES BAD THINGS IT IS GOOD FOR YOU. Also a character can be a bad person without having to be a murderer. Greystripe is a flawed grey character. We need more of these. If only the fandom would allow Greystripe to be who he actually is in the book. I do not recognize fandom Greystripe. Who is this man.
Uhhhhh also I think he doesn't treat disabled Briarlight that much better than Millie. Idr for sure tho
(I ACCIDETALLY POSTED THIS EARLY, IF YOU SAW IT NO YOU DIDNT)
Does Shrewpaw live and become mates with squirrel?
(Sorry if this is weird, but I've seen you liking a lot of my posts. Thank you! Opening Tumblr and seeing so many notes from you always makes me smile!)
(Let it be known I love like spammers!)
Unfortunately, I can not answer this fully, but I feel bad about leaving this blank, so let me give you what I can.
As for him dying, ughhhhhhh Shrewpaw lives until a certain book and then dies. Which could be said for any cat in AtD lol.
Mmm I'll answer the other one tho
Shrewpaw and Squirrelpaw are very very close. If Leafpaw's best friend is Sorrelpaw, Squirrelpaw's best friend is Shrewpaw (make of that what you will)
Squirrelpaw confides in Shrewpaw often, and finds his somewhat laidback personality balances her out.
I've never seen romantic connections between the two. But! They are so so close, close enough to be each other's favourite person. I can very much see them being queerplatonic partners, platonic spouses, etc. Of course, I'm not allowed to confirm anything due to spoiler block.
Thank you for the ask! (Feel free to send another one I can actually answer, I feel bad)
if you had to change anything like. big big abt plot in canon what would you change
Dawn of the Clans next question.
Man like... so much. I think most warrior cats fans can agree the writing isn't that... good.
I could say so much. The fact that racism, xenophobia, colonialism, sexism, ableism, fatphobia, abuse apologia, are not only all present, but normalized and are explicitly shown as the moral and righteous viewpoint/status quo/thing to do. Now portraying these topics, even in children's book (which wc is), is fine, as long as it's clear these things are wrong. It's important for this information to be accessible to kids, if they read about abuse they can understand that their own situation is bad; hence why Kosa bill and book banning are real bad. I want to say the writing in this regard isn't deliberate, but not to get controversial but I don't exactly trust white middle aged British women (sowwy)
A post about my dotc feelings, see @bonefall for more or the moonkitti Bumble video
ANYWAYS
I think it's fine to have these kinds of elements in warrior cats, but you HAVE to show that they are bad things. Which is a believe you should have anyway but...
For overarching stufff, I would really love to do something about that ableism. Part of the reason it's so weird that wc society treats disabled cats like... that... is because if you look at real cats that are blind, or have a missing leg or whatever, they are almost always perfectly mobile, and most of them could hunt. Cats rely on their other senses far more than humans do. You could find plenty of videos of 'disabled' cats doing just as much as 'abled' cats.
You could argue that the cats in wc are basically human, which is true (moonkitti's 'the cats are just people' video). HOWEVER, you know who else can still be mobile and do things with disabilities? That's right, humans!
It doesn't make sense from either the 'wc cats are cats' OR the 'wc cats are humans' angles.
And the thing is, Jayfeather was the perfect opertunity to tackle this! Everycat and their mothers have made a Jay as a warrior au, and even without that we could have had a great discussion through the books about the society's ableism. Don't even get me started on Briarlight's death. Absolutely insulting.
As for smaller plot things, ima do stuff for all the arcs!
The Prophecies Begin
(I have not read every book but have absorbed the plot through Tumblr osmosis)
- This is the best arc writing wise so I don't have much but...
- the last book. not great
- It's such a weird sudden heelturn from the previous books. Like Firestar adopting the xenophobia when it doesn't make that much sense from a character standpoint? If anything, he should at least have to struggle with his duty to the clans vs his feelings about Scourge. It would make sense for Firestar to sympathize with him
- Speaking of....
- Listen ima say it. While I love the aesthetic and potential, as it is, Scourge is overrated. Send the fire and pitchforks and stuff, ima say it like it is. Be honest without the Scourge Manga would he be as popular. Be so fr
- It's so so so weird for Scourge and Bloodclan to have similar if at least conflated ideologies with Tigerstar. Why would they be weird about half clan kits and such.
- Also.... sigh... the evil atheist thing gets me. I'm a certified Starclan hater and it is so boring for every villain to be the evil atheist (unless you're going to actually explore that) Implying someone is evil or doomed or whatever because they lack (your) religion is bad and dumb
- and this is the arc I have the least to say about
The New Prophecy
- We do NOT need to know every step of the journey
- Biggest problems here are pacing and POV
- This arc is about clan solidarity. That's had to pull of with only Thunderclan POV. We NEEDED at least Wind and River POV and thos arc would be perfect
- Tribe racism is bad.
Power Of Three
- If you thought TNP pacing was bad...
- huh I wonder if that has anything to do with the arc being created for the fire scene. I don't know though
- Listen I love the idea of slice of life but you have to stick to that. PO3 can not decide on high stakes magic stuff or slice of life. Pick a lane.
- Dark Forest plan makes no sense. At all. I ain't gonna explain it here but yeah it's bad
- Also the prophecy. What's up with that. How did their powers affect the battle except maybe Lion? What's up with them not knowing where it came from?
- This arc has just... so may dangling plot threads. You just keeping throwing them at the wall and giving no answers.
- The cave. The time travelling. Random tribe visit. Rock. Midnight. The spirit world. SOL. THE ECLIPSE
- Most of the things I mentioned have... wait for it... NO EFFECT ON THE MAIN PLOT WHATSOEVER. OR ANY PLOT
- The ending feels like a middle. Like I love the Holly stuff but that's for the middle idk
- Also I would love for Lionblaze to have a paw in killing Ashfur
- I don't like the weird 'adoption bad' thing they have going on
- Oh and Tribe racism is bad again
Omen Of The Stars
- OK I need to talk about the prophecy.
- First literally any other candidate would be better than Firestar. Raise you hand if you cared. Oh alright.
- Speaking of give Flametail something to do or cut him. Why is this like our only main series Shadowclan POV? (this arc in general has too many POVs, pleaseeee we do not need Lionblaze POV)
- 'Hollyleaf didn't have a power because we couldn't think of one.' Gives Dovewing a power
- Just throwing in a quick 'Dovewing deserved better' in here...
- For spending thirteen books setting up the Dark Forest battle, man was that disappointing and a lil boring. Good for them for killing Firestar tho. Shoulda killed more guys off.
- Starclan acting like complete idiots for no reason. Cool I'm sure this will never happen again.
- One tiny thing to make the plot better. Make it so Starclan can't come to the living world (or won't hehe) while DF spirits can. Makes the battle actually plausible (for DF) and adds more stakes and tension. (Maybe the prophecy came from the DF... hm...)
- Oh and Tribe racism bad again
A Vision Of Shadows
- Okay if this is the Skyclan return arc why do they have such small a role?
- Darktail's backstory sucks I'll say it. Cowards
- The Tigerheartstar book and the Hawkwing book should've been inside the main arc. Whyd you give me required reading. At least the Hawkwing book anyways. Skyclan's journey to the lake 100% needed to be IN this arc
- Here begins the reoccurring theme of the ending destroying the arc. This is probably the least bad of those. But still not great chief. If you can't fill the six books with enough plot maybe you need more plot... (or yanno replace b6 with Hawkwing's Journey and shuffle it around? Who said that?)
- Alderheart's character growth being offscreen and him just not having anxiety anymore irks me
- First time the sister would have been a more interesting protag. This will happen again..
- Also the mediator stuff flopped. Skyclan should have invented it earlier. Skyclan NEEDED to be so much more weirder. Now we have copy-paste clan number five, old people edition
The Broken Code
- Sisters being more interesting part two
- First time two of the protags have a relationship while the other protag has the entire plot. This will happen again.
- What did you do to Mothwing.
- The ghosts thing, while interesting, yet again requires required reading from a super edition. Okay. Leafpool's death not being in a main arc book is insulting
- Alright this arc was pretty alright I'll admit it
- If Bristlefrost somehow returns I'm deducting points I stg
A Starless Clan
- (the Southpark kid voice) KILL NIGHTHEART!
- Ugghhh can I get a misogyny number two combo?
- Everything else with Sunbeam except Nightheart is SO interesting and the arc needed more of that.
- Oh we have evil atheists again. Okay.
- At least Curlfeather had a bit of interest. Splashtail flopped hard in, you guessed it, the last book! Yet again they ran out of plot for the last book, sad!
- Starclan should stay away more often tbh
Changing Skies
- I could just say Moonpaw's parentage but that would be lazy
- ughhhhhh I bet we're getting loads of ablesim against Leafstar. Sounds fun. Also Leafstar is one million years old but I doubt they'd have the balls to kill her off. Modern Skyclan will never have another leader.
- Also ableism against Moonpaw cause I'd bet a dollar they'd imply DID with her and they will NOT do any research and it will ableist as hell. If the voice is evil istg
- The absorbed twin thing isn't great either. Don't get me started on the chimeraism thing. None of it works that way
- Also we might be leaving the territories again. I bet the next place will have even less to do in it than the lake
- They will find a way to get Stormclan stuff in here and it will be bad and I will be mad about it
- The arc ain't even come out yet and I'm mad lol
Ughhhhh yeahh that went long... ugh picture of my cat fo your troubles..
food has been on my mind, so what would be the clans favourite dishes if cooking was a thing? like maybe honey glazed ham or venison or hamburger idk.... like, culturally, what would be a favourite food among each clan?
Oh boy you have NO IDEA what you've just started! I love food culture, I love talking about food culture! Buckle in for an essay
First of all, I HAVE to mention @bonefall, the GOAT of Warrior Cats culture redux! SO MUCH of AtD is inspired by their work < 3 I love it, if you wanna know my opinion on basically any Warrior Cats disc horse/hot takes just look at the bonefall post l!
I love their culinary clan cat stuff! Especially Windclan tunnelbuns, my favourite!
-
OKAY AtD time
So because The Prophecies Begin is canon, I can't really change much, HOWEVER that means I can do ANYTHING I want to the lake territories. Also other clans (UNLIKE CANON) WILL have their own cultures, such as around food. More on that later.
Also I should mention I will ignore irl what cats can actually eat to let myself be more creative. AtD locations are not based anywhere in the real world.
We really get things going with the journey. This is the first time the entirety of the clans are forced to work and travel together. This is an important moment to see even though their cultures aren't the same they're all cats. They have more in Common tha apart. This actually plants some seeds for further things down the line >: )
Cats in AtD can eat a more diverse palate than in canon, and being forced to move on before learning how to hunt in one place, they have to get creative. This is where the eating of insects is born. It's for survival now, but later becomes a common snack.
Besides having new food to eat, cats from different clans, mostly the young generation, combine cultural food practices to make new memories, or just share things with each other!
Clan Differences:
Thunderclan
- not much I can say rn (until we get to the lake)
- this is base canon
- fav food in atd, Thunderclan likes mixing food, especially mixing mice meat and the meat of any corvid
- idk why, but for irl, Thunderclan always gave me BBQ energy, especially backyard bbq
Shadowclan
- these guys...
- Shadowclan, even before the journey, has the most diverse foods
- due to past famines, they are more open to trying different prey
- a Shadowclan cat invented adding things to prey for flavour (rn its mostly herbs)
- has the skills to identify whether roadkill/crowfood is safe (wich will be vital on the journey)
- fav food in atd, cut open a large frog/toad, clean out the meat leave the juices, dice up some small mammal prey meat, put inside frog belly and leave to ferment : )
- fav irl food, Shadowclan is soups and stews to me. Also bread with stuff in it
Riverclan
- FISH
- started the practice of removing the bones (and scales) from the prey, more like perfected it
- will later find out they're really the only clan that has the ability to enjoy sweetness ie fruit or honey
- atd fav food is fish
- I know you think irl fav food is ALSO fish, but actually Riverclan is 'throw a bunch of random things in a bowl and call it a salad' to me. Also the expenssive gourmet restaurant nothing meals lol
Windclan
- they do the most well during the hunger-pained journey because they are kinda used to it?
- Windclan cats are practically trained in not eating much, only really eating once a day
- one rabbit is usually good for many cats, they don't hunt that often
- will later experiment with drying strips of prey meat (bacon clan)
- fav atd meal, strip the fur n' skin of a rabbit, leave it out in the sun (flesh facing up) for a bit, enjoy!
- fav irl meal, sandwiches, anything you can wrap in bread. Also energy drinks for some reason. I know I said Shadowclan would develop stuff like spices, but Windclan is the spicy food clan to me
(no skyclan yet shush)
Much of this happens once we get to the lake so I might remake this then! Thanks for the question
Was reading runningnose’s life and a part of me is really hoping he gets caught and punished
(YES another ask!! I be starving out here boys, please feel free to send more, ask anything, I love askes! I'm happy people are still interested smile)
(This is a good time to mention AtD isn't dead! I've been very busy with the wombo combo of uni work, holidays and a depressive episode. Ima try and drop something holiday related mayhaps soon)
Runningnose! Very interesting guy. Yeah I realized the backstory section of that post was gonna be huge whoops. Pre and mid Brokenstar Shadowclan is so so interesting to me.
As for getting caught and punished... uhh.. no spoilers but you might be a lil disappointed. I'll explain why later but first I wanna ramble about why I went this direction for this character..
It's a big change from canon, for a few reasons.
First, 'evil' villainous healers are a super interesting concept I would love to see (though I doubt it would happen in canon). Healers hold such power in a clan, political, medical, spiritual. They are always respected and needed in a clan. It makes sense that at least one of them might try and use that power to manipulate things for themselves. Also, on the medical side, Healers have more knowledge and power that other cats don't. Warriors are more likely to just accept whatever the healer tells them. It's a cool power dynamic that'll be fun to explore.
Secondly, I've seen some great evil Runningnose aus and got a bit inspired.
Thirdly... well... it really comes across in the books like Shadowclan in the first arc is just a helpless baby being yanked around by whoever has 'star' in their name, with no of their own. You're telling me everyone was just cool and neutral to everything going on around them? Nah. I've tried to make sure every Shadowclan cat has their own reasons and opinions on things, including an underground rebellion I've alluded to in other posts. I felt giving Runningnose some control over the Shadowclan schemes really works.
Also we needed more... morally dark characters in general.
Runningnose gets away with it because he's smart. He's the real mastermind in Shadowclan. He let Brokenstar and Tigerstar believe he (Runningnose) was their pawn when it really is the other way around. Which helps cause he can retroactively claim innocence and throw the blame on Tiger and Brokey (who are conveniently dead).
And it just so happens the leader of the old rebellion died in the Battle of Bloodclan.
Blackstar is very suspicious. He was groomed heavily by Brokenstar and though he doesn't know the full extent of Runningnose's crimes, he has... thoughts.
But that's the thing. Runningnose is a well-respected healer. And without solid proof, there really is nothing Black can do politically. Politically, which is where a lot of Runningnose's is power.
So, spoilers kinda..
I hate to break it to ya but... Runningnose dies comfortably without any of his crimes being revealed. There is no grand reveal or confession. That might be narratively satisfying, but not realistic. And usually I don't put too much stock into realism, but I felt this was fitting. Not all evils are punished. Sometimes, often, they win. We have to deal with that.
(This is bordering on non-canon but I feel obligated to mention Runningnose (and the Brokenstar era in general were at least somewhat inspired by the fact that many nazis were not charged or punished for their crimes for many years after the war ended.)
ALTHOUGH. I will say one thing.
When Runningnose dies, he doesn't go to Starclan immediately. Take from that what you will :)
Hawkfrost need to pass on his genes because we need more pretty cats…. I choose reedwhisker as tribute
Yaayyy Hawk and Moth got that pretty privilege fr!!!!! (Funny enough these two are the ones who got personal compliments and called pretty haha!) Thank you heart heart
I'm finally back from my vacation so expect a lot of design posts coming up !
As for that last part I'm sad to say that Reedwhisker does not exist in atd (Misty has no kids but Stonefur does so Maple curse continues mwahaha)
if u could add anything to the series, like a role or a group or something, what would you add?
Mmmm idk..
One thing that bugs me is that after you become a warrior, there really is nothing to work towards, unless you want to be deputy. Which will be a little hard, as the leader has nine lives and you are much more likely to die before them, maybe even before you become deputy.
I like a lot of common concepts for this, where there is things such as 'head of hunting', 'head of battle training', yknow, something you might specialize in. I also like the idea of scouts (guys who explore and send messages) and guards (potentially a good job for disabled cats to have(?))
I'm also sad about the fact they got rid of tunnelers.. it would help clan diversity if each clan had clan specific roles.
(I'm not going to say much here, because in the future of AtD, you might just see new roles and clan structural change wink)
New groups would be cool as well, lots of possibilities, instead of just 'basic evil road group with one nig bad guy and cast of blank slates' we've seen one hundred times before...
