Original Post: Ember, May 28, 2017
Hello everyone, I hope that you had a wonderful May! The past few weeks on this site have been very eventful, as NightClan and DawnClan merged into EarthClan and tore The Burnt Woods away from SunClan. For more details, please check out the History Page. Out of character, registrations are open and will likely remain so for at least another week, possibly two. If you have any friends who have been meaning to join the site, make sure they sign up before registrations close. As well, if you have some time you’d like to kill advertising for this site, please private message me. Before we jump into the fun part of this Monthly Meow, I have a few reminders for everyone. Firstly, please update your profile character lists to reflect the current pages (MoonClan, EarthClan, SunClan, and rebels separated by NightClan or DawnClan). If you haven’t filled out the member survey yet, it is still open and I will continue to check for new responses for the next week or so. Leaders, please remember to only post ceremonies for characters that are still on the pages. The Monthly Meows are not updated to account for characters that have moved or died, so the pages should be used as a reference for which characters actually need to be promoted with each ceremony.
This is part four of the series of Monthly Meows comparing the canon universe to Warrior Cats of the Forest, this time with a focus the relationship between the living clans and their dead ancestors. Previous topics included The Warrior Code, naming conventions, and demographics. As in the previous Monthly Meows, I used the Avon paperback 2004 American edition of Into the Wild, my sketchy memory of the rest of the books, and the Warriors Wiki to write this, so if you see anything inaccurate please speak up. As well, The Warrior Cats canon universe is notoriously riddled with contradictions and continuity errors and is far beyond the scope of these newsletters, so I’ve limited these Monthly Meows to primarily focusing on the first six books published. While roleplaying in StarClan and the Dark Forest outside of ceremonies or approved plot points is not allowed under ordinary circumstances, around Halloween each year we open up StarClan and Dark Forest threads. Most of the references to Dark Forest and StarClan cats from this site come from either those roleplays or ceremonies.
Across both the canon series and the clans of Warrior Cats of the Forest, StarClan is composed of deceased cats who live on as ghost-like spirits and watch over their living descendants. Only cats who have lived an honorable life and respected the warrior code –even if they broke it on occasion- are welcomed into StarClan. If a cat doesn’t live an honorable life, they go to the Dark Forest. However, on both our website and in the canon series, there isn’t a hard-and-fast rule to determine which characters deserve to go to StarClan. In the canon series the ThunderClan warrior Ashfur goes to StarClan, despite being involved in an assassination attempt on Firestar and attempting to kill Squirrelflight and her kits out of frustration with his unrequited love. Meanwhile, Thistleclaw was not responsible for any unjust deaths, but is found in The Dark Forest presumably for his somewhat violent tendencies. On this website, whether a character ends up in StarClan or The Dark Forest depends on the judgement of their owner.
While in the canon series StarClan is responsible for sending omens and signs to the clans as warnings of dangers to come, the set-up involved in going through with prophecies constrains roleplaying and therefore hasn’t been used since the early days of the website. This marks what I consider to be the largest difference between clan life in the canon series and on WCF. In the canon series, even everyday occurrences or things clearly instigated by living cats are considered to be signs from StarClan. StarClan is also invoked less on this website. While in the canon series, cats are expected to give thanks to StarClan with every piece of prey they catch or eat and regularly say farewell with phrases such as “may StarClan guide your path,” neither of these practices are nearly as ubiquitous on the roleplay. Instead, StarClan is only consistently mentioned during ceremonies, in which they are ritually invoked with traditional ceremony words. However, unlike in the canon clans were ceremonies are a very solemn occasion believed to be overseen by StarClan, leaders on this website have been known to shorten or otherwise change ceremonies with little regard for StarClan. The only ceremony that is consistently left intact is the leadership ceremony, with the notable exception that lives are occasionally given by Dark Forest cats.
On both the website and in the canon series, medicine cats are considered to be specially bonded to StarClan. However, while this connection is the main reason they’re revered by the canon cats, medicine cats on this website are respected for their healing first, then their close relationship with StarClan. In both the canon series and this website, medicine cats meet regularly at the Moonstone. However, while in the canon series they go there to speak with their ancestors, on this website they only converse with each other instead of contacting StarClan.
How exactly a cat joins StarClan is poorly defined. In both the canon series and this website, StarClan is composed primarily of clan cats, that is, it isn’t overwhelmingly populated by kittypets. As well, cats don’t have to be in the clans at the time of their death in order to be welcomed into StarClan when they die. For instance, Pinestar in the canon series is found in StarClan despite having retired into the life of a kittypet at the time of his death. On our site, cats who were never in the clans are in StarClan. Often these are the deceased parents of cats, who are either spotted during StarClan roleplaying or give lives in leadership ceremonies. Across the canon series and WCF, how a cat transitions from life to StarClan is inconsistent. While sometimes when a cat dies, they are guided to StarClan by a deceased cat who played an important role in their life, sometimes cats simply close their eyes in the living world and reopen them in StarClan.
Unlike the living clans, where surviving is a struggle, the cats of StarClan live a leisurely existence free from the dangers the living cats face or the need to carry out defined tasks throughout the day, and therefore there is no need for a singular leader or rigid hierarchy. This is true across both the canon series and our roleplay.
Which rank a cat is in StarClan is inconsistent, as at different point cats are described as living in StarClan at the highest rank they would have achieved had they not died, or staying at the age they were upon death, or even living in StarClan as they age they were at when they were happiest. The one consistent thread is that once a cat is reborn in StarClan, they do not age. All of this is somewhat consistent with our roleplay, where the age of cats in StarClan is left to the discretion of their owner, but to my knowledge no one has roleplayed a cat in StarClan as older than they were at the time of their death. While it is possible for cats to be killed in StarClan in the canon series, this has never happened on this roleplay. In the canon series, a cat disappears from StarClan when they cease to be remembered by any living or dead cats. This has never come up in our roleplay, to my knowledge, and the closest equivalent would be cats who are forgotten because they belonged to a former member and cannot be found on the pages anymore. Strangely, the Character Updates Page acts as a sort of StarClan in which cats from before July 2013 have disappeared. One interesting aspect of joining StarClan that is rarely, if ever, discussed on the website is how that whenever a leader loses a life in the canon series, that life appears as a faint copy of the leader in StarClan that grows more solid with each lost life. This ghost-copy of the leader is unable to communicate with the other StarClan cats until that leader loses their final life and officially joins StarClan.
The actual territory of StarClan is described in the canon series as a moonlit forest in eternal green-leaf, always masked in cloud-like mist and shadows. Several locations exist in both The Forest territories and in the living world, such as Fourtrees. Interestingly, Fourtrees, not the Moonstone, is considered the most common landmark seen in the dreams of cats while visiting StarClan. Even after Fourtrees was destroyed by twolegs, it remained in StarClan as a remnant of cats’ memories of the place. On our website, the territory of StarClan has never been described in any great detail as StarClan threads are open for such a small portion of the year, but I imagine that they would follow a similar pattern of resembling the living clans’ territories, with prominent landmarks existing in both StarClan and the living territories. The canon Dark Forest, meanwhile, has a less defined territory. It’s described as dull, vast, and dank, with no shared landmarks with the living territories. As with StarClan, the WCF Dark Forest is poorly defined. Unlike the canon series, where cats in The Dark Forest rarely stumble across each other and live in almost complete solitude, The Dark Forest of WCF is more similar to StarClan in which cats travel and converse freely, as they would in the living clans.
One major difference between the relationship between StarClan and The Dark Forest in the canon series and on Warrior Cats of the Forest is the ability to travel between the two. While in the canon series, StarClan cats can enter the Dark Forest, but they risk being unable to find their way back out again. However, the opposite is not true and cats from The Dark Forest cannot travel into StarClan. On our website, the relationship is more fluid. The original StarClan/Dark Forest roleplay was all in one blog entry, leaving StarClan and Dark Forest cats jumbled up together. While they were later separated, cats still seemed aware of each other between the two threads. As well, cats who presumably would live in The Dark Forest after their deaths are spotted during leader ceremonies, sometimes even giving lives. This does not seem to occur in the canon series.
MoonClan
Apprentices:
Sagekit, Springkit, Lavenderkit, Shadekit, Ghostkit, Stillkit, Crowkit, Ravenkit, Havenkit: Early June
Seakit, Whitekit, Riverkit, Otterkit, Oceankit, Dovekit, Birchkit, Moltedkit, Flowerkit, Cinderkit, Coalkit, Ghostlykit, Teutonickit, Hysteriakit, Dicekit, Splatterkit, Swampkit, Twistedkit, Milkykit, Cloakedkit, Triumphkit: Mid June
Cow, Creamkit: Late June
Warriors:
Sparkpaw: Early June
Gingerpaw, Dutchpaw, Legendpaw, Reichpaw, Regalpaw, Pikapaw: Mid June
Elder: Solardemise
Death: Jerboapounce
EarthClan
Apprentices:
Shadekit: Early June
Maplekit, Furkit, Komorebi, Duck-kit, Goldenkit, Dovekit, Cougarkit, Wolfkit, Coyotekit: Mid June
Lurkingkit, Rye: Late June
Medicine Cat Apprentice: Mossypaw (Late June)
Warriors:
Wavepaw, Envypaw: Early June
Hailpaw, Tidepaw: Mid June
Nettlepaw, Graypaw, Rockpaw, Shadowpaw, Carnationpaw, Wolfpaw, Lostpaw, Lastpaw, Lastpaw, Smallpaw, Devilpaw, Ashpaw, Red Cedartail, Blazingpaw, Brokenpaw, Pantherpaw, Jaypaw, Blindingpaw, Toweringpaw: Late June
Elders: Boundstar, Murdercrow, Silverpool
Death: Alienfish
SunClan
Apprentices:
Wavingkit, Cinderkit, Lusterkit, Monarchkit, Moorkit: Early June
Returning Moon, Coyote Out Hunting: Late June
Warriors:
Frostpaw, Honeypaw, Lionpaw: Early June
Terrier, Lightningpaw, Dovepaw, Kindlepaw: Mid June
Lilypaw: Late June
Elder: Jaguarstar, snakeslither, Tungstenwolf
Deaths: Osiris, Horus
NightClan Rebels
Apprentices:
Quietkit, Baredkit, Bristlekit: Mid June
Owlkit: Late June
Warriors:
Elmpaw: Early June
DawnClan Rebels
Warrior:
Speckledpaw: Late June
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