Damn, He's Pretty.

And They Were Boyfriends - Barely and Ravenpaw

"we want more mental illness rep!" usually means "i want my favorite woobified characters to wax poetic about their trauma". If they made a character have ocd, bpd, or a non-glorified version of ptsd (underdogs) most of y'all would hate those characters for being 'mean', 'morally corrupt', 'abusive', or 'whiny'. the larger fandom despises most characters who mildly resonate with mentally ill folk, there's no way y'all could handle an accurately written depiction of stigmatized conditions lol (1)

im a wind clan stan

I think it’s fascinating how the time and social context a piece of media is released in can drastically change what an audience takes from it.

When Hamilton was first released in the mid 2010s, I don’t remember seeing any sort of criticism of it. It was near universally beloved (to my recollection). But when the Hamilton movie was released on Disney+ during the BLM movement, then we started to have conversations about celebrating slave owners and if racially blind casting actually makes it “woke”.

Rian has said he intended Miles Bron to be a stand in for Mark Zuckerberg. But in 2022/3, as we watch supposed genius Elon Musk destroy Twitter and throw a temper tantrum, we see him instead.

No story’s message is universal, nor is it static. Every person, every time period, with their own values, life experiences, priorities, will read it in a different way. And as our societies change and evolve, so will our interpretations of older books, movies, musicals, tv shows, and more.

So… How is you day?

Let damian be more cringe

spottedleaf: how’s your life been in the few weeks i haven’t seen you? how’s training? your friends?

firepaw: well i reported someone to admin for sexual harassment! :D

imagine Warriors but they have fire

Here is where I dump or information on the idea but I had to make these realllyyy fast sketches before I lost the idea. Fire and the coal they keep is sacred to them becasue it mirrors the Sun. The coal is especially used in festivals during Winter and Spring but they are also used during special ceremonies.

How the coal is treated also acts as a characterizer of each Clan. Wind Clan is more communal so apprentices and warriors can carry/place the coal. It is kept in a tunnel in the center of the clearing wall. For this reason, they all have general knowledge on how to create and fix masks. Rabbits feet may be used to decorate them or dried flowers.

In contrast, River Clan is more private and prioritizes keeping the coal sacred. This resembles how they interact with Star Clan believing that each cat has a more personal relationship with Star Clan, fesivals are more quiet and focused on calming and centering oneself. The coal is stored in an unmarked area which is moved if any other clan finds it on accident or on purpose. Medicine cats exclusively can touch or place the coal. The mask is equally sacred and can only be properly mended by a medicine cat although leaders can fill in if necessary. The making of a mask is taught to medicine apprentices.

Thunder Clan keeps the coal in the leaders den becasue they believe much of Star Clan's power is funneled through the leader. Leaders are expected to move and place coal, however, medicine cats make the masks. The coal is kept in the leaders den in a nook in the rock. Thunder Clan is known to have loud crackling bon fires.

Shadow Clan is more communal in terms of coal handling as well, however, masks are extremely sacred and can only be made/mended by medic cats. A charred and hollowed tree near the entrance is where they keep the coal. Clan specific festivals are completely exclusive and secretive unlike Wind Clan which is known to invite friendly members of other clans if they feel inclined. Bon fires are not common but they often cremate bodies on a small island that is surrounded by bog. Cremation is also common in River Clan.

Star Clan must bless a mask before it is used, this contributes to how long lasting they often are (the oldest being from Shadow Clan going back 10 generations). The coal, although it mirrors the Sun, is contrasted by the blue light glow of the moon stone so the fire of coal represents life while the moonstone represents soul and spirit.

In many ways, the coal makes the Clans somewhat dependent on eachother because if coal somehow goes out there is an obligation for any Clan asked to share. If, for whatever reason, this does not happen there is a small eternal fire in a cavern said to be located far beneath the moonstone, however, no one has had to travel here for a couple generations. The knowledge of this cavern is held by medicine cats.

Theyre talking cats so I don't feel too bad making a crazy ass fire society head canon

Darkstripe is real

I feel like I don't see enough conversation about how they had Star Flower be pursued by Thunder and Clear Sky who are explicitly father and son