#schwipschwap123

this guy has ptsd me thinks,, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised considering the horrible war the King put everyone through

People who go into wars get ptsd no matter what, it's why most people see it as the "veteran mental illness." but also, Frost is a coward who loves to get on other people's asses about how to handle being a soldier/leader (Lain) but when push came to shove he wasn't able to keep it together either, and would rather leave his soldiers to die than fight along side them. If someone else pulled what he did, he would be heavily criticizing them to hell and back and calling them a coward.

The stuff with Condor knowing how king cats fight was not intentional but that is a very fun read and I like that analysis a lot! Dude really just likes to throw his bodyweight around.

He is just a silly background character who I made up on the fly to fill a specific character mold, so I didn't expect anything like this to happen lmao.

I love your work SO much!!!!

Especially how you did the yellow crazy ants, they are so terrifying in the way they move, talk, and emote.

They are both an all knowing collective and also have such an aggressive feral feel to them, like they are itching for a reason to rip someone to shreds. It's such a terrifying combination.

And just the concept of these creatures that are both hyper defensive, insular to their species, and fully willing to just kill anyone for any grievance, also attempting to run this massive and diverse of a society.

Surely to some extent they could just wipe out every living thing that's not them, they don't seem to hold life all that sacred and already killed all their serious competition. Is there some other ambition to them? Do they need the other creatures to preserve themselves?

I am also really interested in the concept of property and the ants abiding by it, because I can't imagine the ants themselves really needing or wanting that for themselves.

Was there a sense of 'legal' ownership in societies before they took over everything?

Or is this a way for the ants to abstract the whole concept of solitary existence that other bugs have so it makes it easier to govern them?

Which does make me think of some of said homicidal creepy ants having to make a ruling on like civil court type shit like disputes on zoning or accuracy of advertisements lmao

You know how ants keep aphids because they provide them with honeydew? Same thing here, except with all the little conveniences that a society of various insects can provide. They pay the ants tribute, so the ants are entitled to everything the other macrovolutes make--as much as they want, whenever they want.

The ants view the aphids, and all other insects and arachnids, as livestock. They do not respect them as people. The others at least have some illusion of freedom through their Swarms, but Arachnid Swarm in particular lives in absolute slavery.

Most macrovolute law is enforced by the Swarms themselves (you wouldn't step in to settle a legal dispute between cows, after all). The ants only step in when it concerns them somehow. A myrmecophile like Clef popping up is an example of something that concerns them.

Rosy just watching as all her family slips right between her paws while she can't do anything but beg and break down was heart wrenching.

Particularly with Fire himself saying that he won't visit her, and her just desperately calling out to him as 'Rusty'

I interpret it as her giving up Cloud because she was scared he would get taken away and she would be completely alone, and figured that if Fire could visit then surly so could cloud, better then never seeing him again. Only for that to be the outcome anyways.

Was she warned? Yes. Should she have seen it coming? Maybe. But it is still upsetting watching her beg to not be left alone

I would describe Rosy as someone who deeply desires family in a lifestyle where such a thing doesn't exist. She was fucked from her birth to never have what she wants the most. She was taken away from her mother and brother. Her kits left her as soon as they were weaned. Even her mate didn't stick around for more than a month. Sure, one day she might have another cat in the house, but it won't be the same.

I have sympathy for her in this moment, selfish as she's being. She was so close to having her dearest dream come true - her son living with her, her brother visiting (and maybe she could convince him some day to stay too!) - and it's been snatched away for good. She will never have that hope again. She's spayed. She won't have more kits. No further chances. She's alone now. Permanently. Forever.

Goddd. Imagining like, Tiger, slowly, subtly just taking over Hawk's body, subsuming his personality until it's just one and the same as Tiger.

Hawk was so desperate to meet any of his family and he just ends up used and discarded in the most cruel way possible.

I mean... I *hope* that isn't Hawk's fate... But with him running away from the only family and life he has had... Tiger is probably going to play a larger and larger role in his head

I didn't want to immediately respond to this because it's a pretty major spoiler, but I feel like I can talk about it now!

A virus is a great way to describe it! He's become so intertwined with Hawkfrost's thoughts that at this point, it's difficult for Hawkfrost to tell which thoughts are his and which ones are Tigerstar's. Overall, it's a pretty tragic fate, and not one that he deserved, but I've had it planned from the beginning, and I was so excited for that reveal!

(this is about Humans-B-Gone)

I absolutely adored it! I actually recommended it to my boyfriend as well. I'm a big fan of weird sci-fi and speculative zoology, I LOVE the way exposition is presented in literal lectures. The justification that the insects have been given more expressive faces that would be realistically possible as a sort of translation was really compelling to me. The fact that we're outright told that what we're seeing is NOT reflective of reality, it's filtered through a humanizing lens, is absolutely delightful to me.

I'm a big fan of the Ladd Ehlinger Flatland film and I think it has a similar vibe, charmingly janky 3D animation, blurring the line between sci-fi and educational content, utterly alien culture and terminology that we just sort of learn through immersion.

I think it's really fun seeing something so inventive making developing a fan base. It's encouraging to me as an independent creator with a lot of very niche interests.

Firestar wants to comment on why he can smell his daughter and medicine cat on Crow..... But that leads on to the secondary question of why Crow can smell Onestar on him so they just awkwardly pass each other without a word

Because not only is Tiger violent, he defined a big part of his own pride and honor on violence. Thistleclaw instilled the importance of strength and showing it off above everything. He basically goes out of his way to get as close to killing as he can, and everyone around him praises that, how skilled of a warrior he is, how many scars he has. It is so much of his self worth.

And then one day, having some schmuck trapped under his claws, about to tear into them, he sees that stupid kittypet looking at him. And suddenly he doesn't feel up to it any more, because he knows Fire would think it excessive

It works soooo well for them!!!

The clans are a very battle-focused society, so naturally, violence and battles are normal and encouraged, but there is battle, and then there is Tigerclaw's overkill. When he is seen in a battle, I feel like everyone starts slightly panicking, cause he is known to leave wounds that become permanent scars, and he is not a mindless brute that just attacks but actually has a battle strategy, plus his giant size is scary.

All that makes him an incredible warrior and fierce enemy, and he knows it, and he is very good at it; it's the main thing everyone praises about him. It's what Thistleclaw trained him for, but all that leads to him never really realizing when enough is enough, and yeah, like you said, he basically gets as close to killing without actually killing.

And while Thunderclan is used to it, Fireheart is not. He knows battles, of course, and is proud to fight among his clanmates, but when an enemy turns tail, he doesn't feel a need to give chase to do even worse damage. Fire still has a moral compass.

"he sees that stupid kittypet looking at him."< that part, love the implication that this might take place before any real romance happens between them, lovingly feeding into my "Tigerclaw falls first" agenda hehe