I KNOW Someone Else Out There Sees The Parallels Between Walt+jesse And Tigerclaw+darkstripe. I Am NOT

I love Ivypool!! Just because her character arc is different doesn't mean she's bad, or wrong, or evil for it.

Negative traits can be neutral traits, guys. You can't say, "I love complex characters!" But then shit on Ivypool fans because you think Dovewing is the victim automatically.

The point is that neither character is more of a victim than the other, because both characters have their own perspectives, their own arcs, and their own understanding of the situation.

You can see yourself in either character, because both characters are well-established, personality-wise, and fairly rounded characters for Warrior Cats.

But, if you want Ivypool to go, "You're right, Dovewing, I'm such a bitch, you had a harder childhood, and are living in ShadowClan because of how I treated you, specifically, which is my fault. Let's make up,"

That will never happen!!!

What if Tigerstar got tnr'd but the vet noticed he had a weird lump in his stomach so he ordered an mri but it turns out that lump was just a big hunk of metal or whatever and Tigerstar exploded on the spot and lost all nine of his lives at once.

reblogging my own post to tack on this "additional" commentary.

whenever questions of the worst wc character come up, i can't really understand the fact that darkstripe has genuine vitriolic haters that think he's one of the worst characters in the series. like obviously morality holds some stake in character preference, and i can also understand why people hate on him in a jokey way because canon keeps putting him in a position where he's easy to point and laugh at and he's given very little on-page sympathy or reasoning unlike other antagonists, but, like. darkstripe? he serves his narrative role well, he's got room for intrigue and headcanons, he can be at least funny or endearingly pathetic if you don't want to do that, and he's still not nearly the most morally reprehensible character in the series even though he tries to poison a child/potentially his little sister depending on how much parentage retcons you buy into, so like idk what you people even want from him

Anyone can look like Arthur Lester if i look at them for long enough

I know I don't usually mention things that I dislike about the books but probably one of the all-time "that was dumb," moments that I think about fairly often is the outcome of the Firestar and Bramblepaw " trust " arc that happens in the first series.

They have this whole arc where Firestar goes from being afraid of Bramblepaw to gradually accepting him.

And then— the Erin's ruin it by deciding that Firestar named him Brambleclaw.

Yes— Nothing says, "I trust you," like naming Bramblepaw after his father.

This father, mind you.

It makes the entire first arc relationship between the two, moot. Honestly one of the worst writing decisions the Erin's have made.

By the way, fanfiction isn't the place for reviews or criticism.

When you're a published author, it's like you're preparing a meal in a food competition. You expect a rating and to be told what worked and what didn't to improve your craft and embark on your career.

When you're a fanfiction author, it's like taking some of your free time to enjoy the process of baking cookies and then offering them to someone to be kind.

If you take a cookie from the plate, you don't spit it out and tell them it sucked.

Unless the writer asks for your opinion, you can keep it to yourself.

Adding this to clarify, and you don't have to agree with this by any means, I cannot force you to, but the reason Ao3 and Fanfiction isn't the space for criticism and ratings...is that it is a fan space created by fans for fans.

It isn't school.

It is a space where people with the same interests can congregate and enjoy the same fandom.

When you think about commenting on an fanfic authors fics, don't think if it as fishing around in your pocket to give them a compliment.

Compliments are nice. Most everyone likes compliments.

"I like your character development."

"You paint wonderful imagry."

Those are comments that are compliments. Speaking for myself as a fanfic writer they're nice, but they're not what my fan heart craves.

I want engagement with my readers.

The best comments I get aren't talking about my skill as a writer, but what just happened in the story because you and I (the reader) are already fans of the world created.

Comments like:

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"Did she actually just do that?"

"EXCUSE me?!?!"

None of these comments are compliments and none are critical. They are emotionally aligned with the story. They are engaged and with this engagement we create a little community in this tiny little space we get to call ours.

I cannot stop people from saying cruel things, but I can inform those people of the "dangers" so to speak when people treat fandom spaces like Ao3 as if it's Goodreads.

Writers, who write for themselves and offer it to you out of kindness, can decide that if people are just going to spit out their cookies they don't need to post about them anymore and that is how fandom spaces die.

If you don't like the flavor of cookie they made, or you're allergic to one of its ingredients...don't eat the cookie. Put it back for someone else to enjoy and then go find the flavor you do like.

Is it a safe space to say this ,,, Sol is the most nothing Warrior Cats character.

He was just there to pad for pages, until we finally got to the reveal. I wanted to smack him with toy hammers every time he showed up.

Our protagonists had much better things to do than stare at the silhouette of a guy on a hill who predicted one thing one time, and then just bloated the arc with his nonsense.

He was just a loser who knew nothing about the three's parentage, or their destiny.

And he sucked— and I think he's boring—

You must unapologetically, and thoroughly curate your own online experience. You choose with whom and with what you interact with online.

There is no shame in blocking, or quitting relationships / communities. It is just a part of being alive.

You would leave a party if the crowd made you uncomfortable, wouldn't you? Online is the same.

You can't change the hearts or minds of others, only your own.

Policing other people's problematic behavior, opinions, and content does nothing.

You must learn to ignore it.

My biggest tumblr fear is making a sideblog and not knowing what to do with it. I just talk here. If I made a sideblog, it'd just be me talking somewhere else??

Ahhh, I can't decide.