[kamelgirl]

username: kamelgirl
cat name: stormgaze
clan: rimeclan
rank: warrior
gender: she-cat
age: 50 moons

prompt: blackstar is my favorite because he's just a straight up terrible person, but he doesn't really... do anything. he's clearly an awful person who's done some really bad things and supported some terrible people but he never actually goes full-on villain? he just stays pretty mid-level to generically awful. and he just doesn't learn anything. at all. like he's so stupid i love him

so to start off with a list of his sins and assorted war crimes - blackstar, in chronological order: 1) supports brokenstar (literal child murderer), 2) murders an elder in order to kidnap some more children to replace those his leader killed, 3) assists tigerstar in his general crimes against humanity, 4) murders a prisoner for refusing to kill actual children, 5) completely dissolves his clan for no particular reason, and 6) is just a generally awful person throughout the series.

1) okay so at the start of the series he's supporting brokenstar, literal child murderer. one would think that this would give him pause, especially after his nephew (badgerfang) gets murdered, but he like. keeps going. of course you can probably chalk this up to the erins' general incompetence and lack of continuity but i'd like to think that he's just too stubborn to admit that he was very clearly wrong (with a side of genuinely caring about brokenstar - say what you will about that relationship, but i do think they were friends).

2) instead of reconsidering his life choices and reigning in brokenstar's terrible decisions, blackstar doubles down on his own bad choices and murders rosetail (an elder) so he can kidnap children. so they can have more child soldiers. who will also be murdered.

3) apparently this isn't enough, because blackstar then makes his way from bad (brokenstar) to worse (tigerstar) and refuses to learn his lesson that maybe following obviously evil cats is a bad idea. i'll give him leeway with the tigerstar, considering tigerstar rescued shadowclan from the literal brink of death and pieced it together with duct tape and a prayer, but it's

4) so just to complete his descent into general evilness, blackstar: a) helps imprison four cats in miserable conditions because of their blood (they were half-clan... and tigerstar was combining the clans... i don't know how everyone failed to see through that paper-thin excuse but okay); b) murders one of those prisoners for refusing to kill actual children; and c) chases down the fourth prisoner + the children for trying to escape. he's just... so terrible it's hilarious.

5) this one is still a little weird for me bc honestly i find it difficult to believe that anyone as power-hungry as blackstar would just assassinate his clan like that (especially bc shadowclan seems to be the one thing he really cares about) but i guess he's just petty enough about starclan ditching that it works out?? either way he left the elders/queens/kits to rot so we'll count that

6) okay so if you look back through the entire series if there is any opportunity for blackstar to be awful then he takes it. he picks fights at almost every single gathering, he's obnoxious to everyone who tries to talk to him, his first reaction on hearing that thunderclan's been decimated by badgers is literally to steal their land. he's so awful that lionblaze is shaken by blackstar being nice to them after the patrol brings back the lake. blackstar's mission in life is to make every other cat's life absolutely miserable and honestly i can respect that.

he's just so needlessly terrible and i love him?? and especially because he's not always like that. we actually get glimpses of him being a not completely terrible person - he's visibly upset when yellowfang is exiled, he comforts nightwing after smokepaw falls off the mountain, he's legitimately torn up over russetfur's death. so he's not completely terrible, he's capable of actual decency and even compassion - it's just that it only extends to shadowclan. being terrible to everyone else is a conscious decision.

so to sum it up (tl;dr) blackstar is great because he's unapologetically awful to anyone & everyone outside of shadowclan and never misses a chance to be petty and/or start a fight. he can be a decent person, as evidenced by multiple scenes in the books, but actively chooses not to be. he's just... a horrendously terrible person and i love him so much for it

[Goner.]

congrats! bluestar is one of my all time favorites, too and i loved your reasoning as to why she was your favorite. also, that is an adorable drawing of her!

Username: DancingEevee
Cat Name: Graydove
Clan: StormClan
Rank: Elder
Gender: Female
Age: 8 years

Prompt: Bluestar has been my favorite character right from the beginning. She suffers so much and her loyalty to her Clan is just incredible. This is proven time and time again. And when she had to give up her kits? Oh man, I was crying like a baby. But she finally made her peace with them right at the very end. To me, Bluestar was perhaps one of the most dynamic characters. She shows great personal growth in the books. And when she loses her faith in StarClan because of events happening to her Clan, this just made my heart go out to her even more. She's a character I think more than most than you can relate to. That so many characters are portrayed as happy, static, flat characters with no growth or challenges to shape their personality. And in Bluestar's prophecy, we learn of the death of her mother first, then her sister, and then shortly after has to give up her two kits. She has seen so much tragedy, and yet she still sacrificed herself, this time her final life to save her Clan. This is the ultimate show of loyalty and love beyond anything else a Clan leader has done. Bluestar is an inspiration to us all to keep pushing forward and to keep fighting for what we love, even when we have trials and hardships that test everything we believe in. I just absolutely love Bluestar also because I always imagine a fierce, gray blue she-cat with thick fur, beautiful shimmering blue eyes standing at the head of her Clan, proud and fierce. And in the first book getting to see just how powerful she is in battle is so awesome! Firepaw truly was lucky to have such a dedicated teacher...mentor... friend. Bluestar was all those things and more for her Clan and the ones she loved, right up until the very end...