#flameheart

Such a dumb creature, I love him. He was just a stupid edgy teenage boy, unreasonable and impulsive, and I genuinely adored it. I also liked how he actually matured over time, understanding his mistakes and repairing his damaged relationships. And this one scene where he sacrifices himself to save two SkyClan kits, becoming RiverClan's prisoner in their place? It was great, I loved it.

His whole thing with "struggling with Firestar's legacy", which was mostly just him hating ginger people, was kinda dumb, yes. But it's actually fun to read when you interpret it as just Flamepaw being an insecure teenage boy, struggling with his identity, his relationships, and using the Firestar thing as an excuse. If they actually wanted to write a genuine legacy story like that Sparkpelt would be much better for it. Maybe they could write a novella about it someday? I dunno, could be fun.

Anyway, Nightheart's relationships, my favorite part of every character ever. There was some really neat dynamics, like with his sister and mother. They didn't understand him at first, and he didn't understand them either, feeling like an outcast in his family. But all of those issues stemmed mostly from lack of communication, something that they managed to fix once he came back to ThunderClan.

His friendship with Bayshine is also really sweet, it was genuinely nice to see at least one ThunderClan cat genuinely support Nightheart, even when he was being kinda dumb. Myrtlebloom was there too, but while she was nicer than Nightheart's family, she still didn't understand his reasoning behind rejecting his warrior name, acting a bit condescending towards him.

There was also Lilyheart, Nightheart's mentor and grandma. It's one of the very few grandparent-grandkit relationships in warrior cats, even if it was mostly treated as a mentor-apprentice one. It was still nice. I appreciate how he actually apologized to her after running off, showing that he genuinely respected her and considered her an important figure in his life.

His relationships with Squirrelstar and Brambleclaw are pretty interesting as well. He really adored Bramblestar, getting hurt and upset whenever he ignored him due to his declining mental state. He did care about Bramblestar though, in the end being the one to convince him to retire. I still think Bramblestar naming him Nightheart was a bit passive aggressive, but I guess it's fine since Nightheart liked the name anyway. His relationship with Squirrelflight meanwhile was a bit more negative. He found her to be too hard on him and didn't like or really respect her for that reason, but it seems that his views on her changed over time. By the end of his arc, he respects her as a leader, which is already an improvement.

There's also Frostdawn, the cat that dragged Nightheart along on a spiritual field trip to the park. They were awkward around each other at first, but managed to form a very sweet friendship in the end. I love how much he supported her, and how he actually thought and worried about her even when they were apart. This one scene where Nightheart scolds some RiverClan cats because they cared about Frostpaw only because of what she can do for them was really nice.

And then there's Nightheart's mate - Sunbeam. A lot of people disliked their relationship from what I've seen, seeing it as just another generic Rootbristle situation, but honestly? I really love Nightsun. I think their relationship is genuinely good. It didn't come out of nowhere, they were actually friends at first. Nightheart's decision to move to ShadowClan and become her mate was rushed and impulsive, yes. But during his time in ShadowClan he managed to grow, and by the time he went back to ThunderClan he and Sunbeam formed a genuinely nice relationship. I was kinda upset with Nightheart when he constantly left her on her own when she joined ThunderClan for him later, but it really wasn't his fault. He was either following his leader's orders or StarClan's will, both incredibly important in their culture. And the entire time they were apart, he actually thought of her, every minute of the day. I also liked the little conversation they had about kittens, in which they decided that while they both want a family they should wait a bit, and just enjoy their time together first. They didn't end up waiting very long, but eh, that was to be expected... I like their kits though, especially Shinepaw, she's fun.

I might be saying that because A Starless Clan is the most recent arc that I've read, but I really do adore it. I was genuinely sad when I finished it, since for the first time since the first arc I actually got attached to all the characters. They're still around, sure, but they're just background npcs now. Sunbeam has been getting some attention as Moonpaw's mentor, but Nightheart is strictly a background kitty, while Frostdawn showed up maybe once, at Moonpaw's first half-moon meeting.

Aside from all the canon stuff, I also like the transfem Nightheart headcanon. I just think it’s neat, his story of struggling with his identity, changing his name and finding his own unique path could be easily read as a trans allegory.

Anyway, Nightheart's design. He takes mostly after Larksong, being a black cat with orange eyes. My Larksong actually has heterochromia, but Nightheart still got the orange from him. Aside from that, he has Bramblestar's face markings, a mix of Sparkpelt's and Lilyheart's leg stripes, Sparkpelt's ears - big, tufted and with light tips, and Sandstorm's tail stripes and lean body. He also has a flame-shaped tail, like Sparkpelt and Firestar. I drew him twice - first as the edgy moody teenager, with a bang covering half his face and a frown, and then a more mature version, fully grown and confident, with the bang brushed back now. He kinda looks like a muppet in the older version but let’s ignore that part...I kinda like the idea that his fur will eventually get this rusty shine to it that some black cats get from staying in the sun. Would be kinda funny.