I Still Can't Believe That Warrior Cats Get So Old, So Fast. You're Telling Me You're Already At Retiring

What are you talking about? They absolutely do!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with John or Arthur being canon straight guys in a bromance. I'm totally cool with that.

But, as a fan of the series since like— season two I have always shipped them, lol.

Art dump of my oc. Her stripes and whiskers are optional :P

I feel like this could be considered a cancellable offense on here—

Buuuut, in my opinion, Fireheart has waaaay more chemistry with Whitestorm than he does with either Sandstorm, or Graystripe.

I'm just so taken aback.

It's like learning that someone compares the experiences of deaf children to Snowkit, as the correct context in which we should read his story.

And not, as a cat, being born with a defect that inhibits your ability to do the thing you were bred for— which is to contribute to a society that values rearing as many children as possible specifically to have soldiers to defend their territory, resources, and colony with.

Purposefully anthromorphisizing and decontextualizing the characters from the worldbuilding and context they were originally viewed in, in order to make an issue out of nothing is just— baffling to me.

Even with Snowkit, Brackenfur and Speckletail's messaging is not— Snowkit is a valuable member of our Clan, whether or not he can hear— It's 'I can personally train him to be a soldier so he can fulfill his societal role in ThunderClan'.

The cats of ThunderClan are at war. They are fighting not to starve, not to die.

Why would you remove the context of them being cats?

What if Warrior Cats had executions? Like, guillotine, hangings, etc. How absolutely sick would that be? Let's behead Splashtail.

I feel like fans tend to ignore the line between "fictional kitty society" and "intentional veiled commentary of real world societal issues" when it comes to critiquing Warrior Cats.

When you read a piece of media, you will always come away from it with two seperate interpretations.

What the author intended

What the reader interpreted

Like, I don't think the Bumble thing was a commentary on abusive relationships in real life, and I don't think, based on how Kate or Vicky talk about and treat Warrior Cats, that it was intended that way, for instance.

—But, the parallels are there for those with eyes to see them, and I think it's worth noting that the fandom treats her situation as if it were supposed to be interpreted that way to start with— as an analogue for real abuse— and are incensed by the way the topic was handled.

Similar to Bumble, I see this with cats like Snowkit, or cats like Jayfeather, who, at the time of their being authored, were very likely not intended to convey the authors' stance on disability.

And, if Jayfeather were to do that then the best thing you can possibly say about his portrayal is that came from a well-intentioned, well-meaning place.

To summarize, I don't think Jayfeather or any other situation / character in Warriors is or was—

Intended to be an offensive caricature / stereotype

Purposefully demeaning to children or older readers with a similar disability, or in a similar situation as to what has been portrayed in Warriors thus far

That his character or any other character comes from a place of bad faith, or underlying bias

—even if some readers feel otherwise.

t46006476 => bayemon

Heads up guys I might change my url / layout. But, if you're wondering who this is, it's still t46006476.

I really hope the graphic novels continue to cut out all the unecessary bloat and plot contrivances left over from the original series.

For example, Fireheart saves Bramblekit from the fire, in the graphic novel, without hesitation— which is so refreshing.

I disliked that entire b-plot in the first arc where he's menaced by Tigerkit's oh-so-scary, 'amber eyes'— because it made zero sense, came out of nowhere, and was also, very dumb.

And while I'm sure Bramblekit will face some prejudice in the next graphic novel, with how well they've handled Cloudpaw and Cinderpelt, I think they'll manage to make it work.