And then Plumstripe gets with a she-cat. Not that Barrenclan was against same-sex relationships, of course, but with the kind of expectations Barrenclan put on cats, I don't think Plumstripe would've even dreamed of having a relationship like this before. I feel like if circumstances had been more favorable for Barrenclan, she would have picked the "best" mate, whatever that means. She would have tried to hit the milestone of having kits as fast as possible, just to feel superior (secure) to Beeface. This is to say she would have whether or not she wanted kits in the first place, and she might not have judging by how her epilogue ends with Eberhart (No mention of kits! Maybe it's something she's never really cared about. I dunno, that's just pure speculation on my part.) And that's the irony to me! Asphodelshine was tormented by this expectation to have kits, to have a certain kind of relationship, a mate, to uphold Barrenclan's legacy, pushed on her by Plumstripe and her stupid rivalry with Beeface. And it's Plumstripe who also being quietly choked by the expectations of Barrenclan. It's Plumstripe, who would have never approved of anything but the "best" relationship for her apprentice, who suddenly finds herself in (by the standards of her culture) a non-traditional romance. A relationship that would have never been 100% approved of by the cultural expectations she herself upheld. Eberhart coming into Plumstripe's life is kind of revolutionary for her, I think. Eberhart is a freedom that she didn't know she was being deprived of too. Suddenly, she's feeling even some of the feelings Asphodelshine felt back then, if not for the same reasons. Rightness. Security. Near serenity if you'll let me be poetic. I think it's really important that it was Plumstripe who gets a relationship with Eberhart in particular (and it makes sense that her more stoic but secretly inconfident personality jives better with Eberhart's, compared to Beeface's more brazen one!)

Similarly, I think it's important that Beeface is the one that doesn't get a mate. She was, as mentioned, the one who had been "winning" when it came to this particular battle before everything happened. The ball was in her court, and she finally, finally chose to not fire back. I dunno, I think it just goes to show how toxic the culture in Barrenclan really was, and how even the perpetrators of it were suffering under it. The sisters are, of course, not owed forgiveness, but I dunno. It's really nice to me that they get a happy ending. I think about that one drawing you did on the first page of the epilogue, showing Dustfeather, Plumstripe, Beeface, Daffodilcloud, and Asphodelshine all in a vertical chain, one's suffering trickling down to the other. I think it just kinda perfectly encapsulates this whole situation. The cycle of abuse sucks for everyone in it, folks! It's nice to be able to see people growing past it, even if they were in the middle of the cycle rather than the beginning. Even after you fuck up and hurt someone irrecoverably, you still have to live the rest of your life. Realistically, all you can do is just move on. To live

Not related to anything above, but I also just really loved Epilogue #4, haha. I feel like I might as well talk about it while I'm here! And gosh, the Kittens and their conflicts mean so much to me??? Meadow's chronic pain (I don't have it myself but people I'm close to do) and overall theme of escapism from a life that doesn't make you happy even if it's not strictly bad!! Egret's story of guilt and learning to accept that it's okay to ease your own burdens!! Honey's optimism initially framed as naive being instead a desperate, hopeful coping mechanism, to try to live to survive!! And Sky's overwhelmingly, breathtakingly joyful self-discovery all conveyed in like three paragraphs!!! AUGH!!! I feel all of these things so much (including being transmasc) and it's just really meaningful to me to see it in a story like this. I feel like I've only known the Kittens for a day but if anything were to happen them I'd turn into bloods haha. I love them so so so

OH and I just want to say. I'm so extremely happy you kept Egret as visibly heavyset??? On top of everything else that Also means a whole lot to me and I'm so so happy to see it haha. Good fat character representation is still really rare so when I see it just makes my whole day. Everything about Epilogue #4 is just pure condensed joy for me and I just had had had to express it, haha

Wow, props to you for not giving up on this absolute essay after Tumblr axed it more than once. This is all very well-written and very much in line with what I intended for Beeface and Plumstripe's ending, I can't even add that much! Thanks so much for sending it in.

Im glad they left barren clan and forged their own path, especially Plumestripe. I doubt she ever would have found love had they stayed there.

Mentor and apprentice relationships are very rarely explored in the Warriors canon, so it was something I really wanted to focus on in PATFW, with the three main mentors (Plumstripe, Beeface, and Cootstorm, and comparing Redstar as the effect of a good mentor). An apprentice spends more time with their mentor than their own family when they're training, so how the mentor behaves and what they teach you would have an enormous effect on a young cat. Beeface and Plumstripe taught what they knew.

Of course, they'd make journeys home sometime. The city they live in is not very far away from the barn. I'm sure Eberhart would get along fantastically with everyone, I can see her being flustered by thinking Egrettail is really cool.

No, it's a good point! There is the fact that Blacknose is surrounded by many willing cats who can care for her (Redstar, Pinewing, Slugpelt, Daffodilcloud, the four now-adult kittens, Cormorantleaf), along with her primary caretaker Egrettail. But there is a very real question of balancing your own life with the responsibility you feel to your parents in their decline.

it’s the tragedy girls!!!! they a little traumatized but that’s ok <3

dustfeather!! i hate her immensely

awww blacknose :(

oh they going together!!

OH SHIT A CAR

OH SHIT A LOVE INTEREST. the pussyplum has just sunk before my eyes. can’t believe gay people r real tho

god plumstripe becoming a silly goober out of love is incredible. love beeface being an incredible wingman on accident

even though i am sadly beeface’s biggest hater i love how both her and her sister got a happy ending. good for them good for them

Thank you so much but how dare you mention pussyplum on the blog itself. Criminal activity.

To me, Plumstripe has always been someone who puts on an air of malaise and disaffectedness that covers up a very insecure, wibbly inner self. If you know how to get through to her core she's very easy to fluster and charm. For all her bluster, Beeface is a lot more solid and steadfast, haha.

"A Dream, A Nightmare"

I told you Plumstripe being bisexual would be relevant eventually!

I've been excited to write the end of Beeface and Plumstripe's stories. I always meant for both of them to get a redemption arc, although their behavior in the middle of the story got away from me a little and they ended up being more abusive than I had originally intended. I don't mind it, though; it opened up interesting avenues for my storytelling and I like where it landed them in the end. It's interesting to explore characters who behave extremely terribly for not very good reasons, but actually regret their behavior and want to grow from it. I'm also really fond of Eberhart's design, it's one of my favorites from the comic as a whole.

The title quote is taken from Fredric Brown's story "Arena": “Was this a dream, a nightmare? This heat, this sand, that vague feeling of horror he felt when he looked toward the red thing?”