#nanosecondthoughts

Also please give us more cold Firestar- please, just make him roast the people around him more. It would be great if he was in control of it and not just in a depression arc.

It's making me sad that we're not going to get much side-character interaction, if there is something I love about this book and the narration choice to stick to Firestar is that we can feel the isolation and the sudden separation of leadership along with him. It's really not the same as being a warrior or apprentice. It's so far away from the rest of the cats-

Firestar should jump down in one these gathering after the leaders are done speaking and just go around hanging out with others the way he used to.

So all of this is a treat, and I agree that the side-character interactions are a lot of fun, but this part:

1) How dare you. In general.

2) You knew what you were doing with Tigerclaw. You knew we would come begging for him to be not evil. Even though he has been The Villian since thirty pages in Into The Wild.

3) I love the lore. Worldbuilding is one my favourite asoects of any media and you have went out of your way to make it as well-grounded as possible. I need to know the terminology. I need to know.

4) Why is Crookedstar dead. What did you do to him.

5) Thunderclan with Firestar and Riverclan with Leopardstar is certainly. A combo. A strange sight. I want to see those two interact just as much as I crave Firestar and Deputy Dustpelt interaction. Canon robbed us of Dustpelt and Firestar.

6) You are doing god's work.

7) I was so sad when the Redux stopped and I just had the story plotlines and ideas to imagine. But you made it! To the fourth book!

Glad to receive your thoughts! In order:

ouo

I have to say, I think the most fun part of the middle section of Burning Hearts was the deluge of comments I got here and on AO3 of people begging for Tigerclaw to be a good guy this time around. Credit again to our editor, Lynx, for kickstarting that idea with her love of Goldenflower!

I keep forgetting to work on the terminology post! We have more lore posts coming - I intend to finish off at least that part of this blog while RSR is posting - and I think they're pretty darn swell! The terminology will require me to go through the first arc again and mark down everything, so that'll probably be posted and updated after RSR is done.

oh yknow

You have no idea how much fun it was writing Leopardstar in this book. ESPECIALLY when she's talking directly to Firestar. Oh my god. I cannot wait.

Thank you!

Wow.

Scourges death should have been celebrated. It would have been celebrated. And nobody can celebrate. Nobody can look at Firestar and come up with anything more positive than 'at least he is dead'. They can't even say that because of what got him into that state.

And everybody just being so kind to Firestar, the other leaders waiting for Firestars opinion, Dustpelt taking over the burial, Firestar sleeping with the warriors.

He is not doing well, and this probably will be haunting him forever. But through out the chapter I just kept thinking that it will be okay, bevause he has so many people ready to support him.

Also Oracle is not surviving this book. And she reminds me so much of Spottedleaf I was suprised that Firestar did not make a comment on it internally, though I think he picked up on it unconsciously.

So, um. How common is it for a tom to adopt a kit without having a mate?

I can't say much about the future in this series or this book, so I'll just answer your question and leave it at that!

A solo father isn't the rarest thing on the planet, but it is less common than mollies adopting kits alone. Sexism and the culture of the nursery play a huge role in that - a tom with no blood connection to any of the kits will not be allowed to visit them, and as a result it's more regular for a matriarch to take on a maternal role and be the "parent" for a lone kit until they're able to wander out of the nursery and talk with their adult Clanmates. It's only after then that a tom may develop a familial relationship with that kit, and even then he has to be careful in case the matriarch is watching and her instinctual protectiveness leads to her not trusting him with a lone child.

What you're more likely to get is a more mature cat, apprentice-aged or newly named as a warrior, coming to see a tom older than them as their father, and he to them as his kid. Mentors and apprentices especially have this happen fairly frequently (helped by if an apprentice has lost both of their parents already and needs a parental figure to guide them through growing up). It's not even that much to remark upon for the Clans, but they always enjoy seeing it happen.

Because Leopardstar isn't particularly happy or relieved about not being homeless. I don't know but she read to me as someone that was pushed to be there.

Well, they were.

Also, How do the elders and remaining senior warriors feel about Firestars leadership?

For the first question: It was mutually agreed by the other authorities of RiverClan that Sunningrocks was their best bet for a place to live. Leopardstar knew they were right, but it pissed her off badly enough that Stonefur went with her to request it as a temporary home, because he had no faith she would do it herself.

Firestar is The Therapist Leader, he is the Social Worker that enjoys it. The most -heart to have ever -hearted. But the constant reminders to how the change in rank have shifted pre-existing dynamics is very sad to read. Firestar is very much a social butterfly and I don't hink the distance being a Leader gives him is good for him. I think he'll change tjat aspect of his leadership by the end of this book.

Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw are adorable. You're really good at setting up character personalities from kits to apprentice to nearly grown adults. Tawnypaw is still protective but it's way more subtle. Bramblepaw has insecurities and it's not subtle. Your Cloudpaw is my favourite version of the character. Such growth in personality.

And is it just me projecting- but is Thunderclan acting more open with eachother than they were in Kindling or is it just Firestar being closer to his clanmates than the first book?

The excitement for Saturday returns and it makes me happy.