#ask sg

Not a dumb question at all, thanks for asking!

This chapter introduced the major change, but it'll be an ongoing thing. There'll be some other changes to things like how long Graystripe stays in Riverclan and the circumstances of his leaving, but at the core of it is this emotional beat, that Graystripe's grief and guilt are causing him to struggle to connect with his kits (as well as how those feelings change over time based on what he does/doesn't do to cope with it).

My main frustration with cannon Graystripe isn't really how he acts, it's how flat he is. His relationship with Silverstream is a big deal plot-wise. It leads him to neglect Brackenpaw's training, puts a huge strain on his relationship with Fireheart, and ends with him switching clans. But Graystripe, as a character, just kinda...floats along? Other than being sad about Silverstream, he doesn't really express a lot of opinions or feelings about the whole ordeal. I went back to reread the chapters where he leaves Riverclan, and while Fireheart thinks of Graystripe's kits a few times and says he can see pain in his eyes over leaving them, Graystripe doesn't actually mention them at all. That's free emotional real estate!

I know there's a few reasons they did that. Partly, I'm sure, it's that they didn't know if people would actually care. The early arcs were also still kinda figuring out how much of the characters' behaviors were cat-based vs people-based, and irl toms don't always help raise kittens (sometimes they do! There are some good cat dads. It's just less common.). Graystripe was the first father (ok technically Oakheart was the first but you know what I mean), so it makes sense that he'd suffer the most from this toms don't raise kits mentality. Plus, early arc characters just didn't talk about big feelings as much in general.

Thanks for the question! Lol yeah I try to balance the Things are Happening chapters with a few Good Times chapters to keep things from being a total slog, glad to hear it's working! :)

For the prophecies begin, I'd say it's roughly comparable to canon. There's actually a few deaths I'm getting rid of (not to say those characters will remain alive forever, but they live a little longer), so there might actually be slightly fewer? But I like to really dive into the emotional aspects of the story, so the remaining ones are maybe a bit beefier. It probably evens out!

I'm counting 5-6 real tragedies left in TPB, with a sprinkling of emotional moments that aren't exactly tragedies but might pull at the heart strings. The remaining tragedies in this part are all canon as well, so if you've read canon arc 1 you're probably all set, no major worries.

For the rest of the parts, it's hard to say because while I do have an outline, it's not chapter by chapter. It's probably similar - roughly the same number as canon, just changes to the how and when.

But not every arc matches exactly with it's canon counterpart - for example, canon arc 4 Omen of the Stars, vs SR part 4 Solar Winds. OotS has the final battle and Solar Winds doesn't, so it's way less tragic than canon.

Oooo that's a lot more varied. Starting with video games because that's easy - I haven't played a new game in like a decade, I just play Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky. And any type of picross or nonogram game but that's not story related, I just love puzzles.

I do love reading secondary world fantasies and tragedies, but I'll also read almost anything. I struggle the most with slice of life and cishet romance (I used to think I hated reading romance in general but then I started reading queer romance and giggling and kicking my feet).

I'm a lot pickier with stuff I watch, it's definitely more vibes based. Secondary world is still at the top, but not so much tragedy or horror (I'm a little squeamish when it comes to visuals). For most tv shows I prefer animation over live action, but I think part of that is just the types of stories told in each medium. It's easier to find a secondary world anime than something live action lol.

I actually really enjoy comedy, I'm a big Dropout fan in particular. I enjoy ttrpg actual play shows (Dimension 20, Worlds Beyond Number, and Critical Role specifically, but also Pixel Circus and Good Times Society). And I really like Team Starkid musicals, they're campy and fun and a little spooky but not really :)

For both reading and watching (and writing tbh) I love stuff that could be described as A Little Weird. I just think it's neat if a story has details that make me go Huh, that's weird, or Oh, how interesting.

I also love media that makes me Experience An Emotion. Any emotion. Usually it's Joy or Profound Grief, but Frustration can count as an emotion if the media has something else going for it. (That's why I still read warrior cats.)

And also it feels important to mention that my Favorite Movie of All Time is Homeward Bound. It's got beautiful mountain scenery, a lovable cast of animals, it's from before Disney started doing that weird CGI animal mouth thing to make them talk so the animals just do normal animal stuff and then there's voice over, it's old enough that you can see the special effects so you know the animals aren't in real danger, and it makes me cry if I think about it for too long.

Vulture-Men! :D

I really doubt it comes up much if at all in SR (or if it does, it'll be in later arcs, not TPB), but I wanted to give the Bloody some kind of extra flavor or culture. They haven't been around long enough to have major traditions and like a super solid group culture, but they do have the beginnings of one!

Idk, in canon Bloodclan kinda felt like...ya know, they're just mean. That's their whole deal. They're mean city cats who love violence. Which was fine, since their only real purpose was to be an uncomplicated antagonistic force that they could pretty much wipe out instead of Tigerclan, cause if they get rid of most of Shadowclan and Riverclan then where does that leave the series? But if I'm already trying to flesh out the other antagonists, and I don't do anything at all with the Bloody, they feel kinda like a cop-out.

Anyway, to answer your question more specifically, what the fuck vulture-men:

They're the city workers who come to clean up dead animals

The cats who follow them kinda treat them like the ferryman, carrying the dead to the afterlife.

Cats who don't follow them think they eat the cats, feed them to the beasts, or just dump them somewhere else.

Sorry it took so long to get to this, I typed out most of a reply, went to double check something, and it disappeared without saving as a draft.

I assumed this was about SR specifically, but if I'm wrong feel free to send another ask!

There's a few easter eggs about either future events or fandom jokes. There's a reference to Midnight when Firepaw first joins the clan. And Dustpelt enjoying the camp repairs was initially kind of a reference to the fandom joke about him being the clan builder. Also there's a reference to Thornclaw being the patrol guy, Mousefur complains about not having time to do much battle training or hunting practice with him and says he's going to be a warrior who only knows how to patrol.

Then there's also been a few things that weren't references, just points of inspiration that felt really obvious to me but actually weren't lol. Brokenstar being scentless was largely an accident, but part of why I kept it (in addition to working with a different thing I needed accomplished) was that it reminded me of a scene from a podcast I adore. Minor spoilers for The Wizard The Witch and The Wild One (specifically the Children's Adventure), but the titiular wild one loses his magical fae scent when bathed, taking on the scent of the soap used instead. Grandmother Wren comments that it's a good thing they didn't use unscented soap, so he won't have to go without a scent. It's not really brought up again, but I've listened to it enough that it stuck with me.

Then one book inspired both a scene and some world building. Spoilers for Briar's Book (or The Healing in the Vine if you have the cooler UK title), by Tamora Pierce (in case anyone cares about spoilers for a 30+ year old book series that's been out of print for a hot minute lol). The book is set during an epidemic, and there's a character who becomes ill, but then recovers completely except for a cough that won't go away. Now, in the book it become pnemonia, not redcough, but you can probably see how that became Crowfrost's whole everything.

The other thing inspired by that book is also Shadowclan/Crowfrost related! There's a part that really stuck with me - "Daja was a Trader: they held it was mad to argue when the sick thought that Death approached. Denials only told Death here was someone who would be missed, Death's favorite kind of victim."

Did I....did I never make an intro post??

I guess not. 4 years on this blog and I've never actually introduced myself, wow.

If I was going to do that I would have to do a lot of rewriting, some of y'all have gotten pretty good at figuring me out!

In all seriousness, no, I haven't. I know there are some people who get upset about twists or plotlines getting guessed, but my take is that it just means readers are paying attention and my foreshadowing is working. And that's exciting!