Post by Bittycat on Nov 1, 2016 7:49:10 GMT -6
so i love skyclan. it seems like im the only person that seems truly interested/loving of its lifestyle. people always hag about how different they are from canon, but thats exactly why i love them. so here we go: defending skyclan!
1. their foundation.
i made it pretty clear that i LOVE dawn of the clans. i. love. it. i love the character arcs, the emotions, the relationships. it was good to take a break from "magical cats save the world!" and go back to the classic cat-against-cat-against-world, and the old clans. what caught my attention was clear sky's arc. he started as the loyal brother, and ended as the cat who founded many traditions - leadership, camps, ranks, and borders. he made mistakes and he was by no means a good cat, but he was responsible for a lot of clan culture.
they started out as seemingly vicious, evil cats, but really they just wanted an intense sense of security. clear sky was devastated after the tragic loss/es he suffered, and i imagine that went into it; if he defended these cats he'd never lose them.
i imagine this is where the "the leader defends their clan and represents them" thing comes from, even if it isn't from the code itself.
2. their unusual end.
it catches me as fascinating how skyclan fell, (presumably) three generations before bluestar came into the world. the clans had a strong sense of starclan back then, no doubt. they truly believed that the symbolism of 4 made sense to them, even if cloudstar disagreed. of course, 4 comes into a lot of essential things: number of toes, average litter size, oaks, clans, seasons. to them it made sense.
not only that, but the fact that skyclan blood is forever instilled not only in rogues and kittypets, but also in the clans as well. thunderclan was first, not just through thunderstar but through cloudstar's mate and kits, ancestors of tigerclaw and spottedleaf. through hawkfrost/mothwing it came into riverclan, and through tawnypelt it arrived in shadowclan.
the fact that the other four clans' belief in 4 things = always meant the death of a clan interests me. is that strengh still there? if the clans somehow culturally shifted from 4 to 3, would another clan eventually suffer? if it went down to 1, what would happen?
3. their rebirth.
after four generations, borderline five, firestar is told to rebuild the lost clan. mind you, he's a kittypet - a cat whose descendants not many respect. he leaves his clan in favor of this mystery gathering of cats. he's obviously going to be stressed out, since he left his clan to help another one. he'll want to get this thing done and get back before any of the other clans notice he's gone - specifically, before the next gathering.
so he rushes. he slams some cats together and tells them about starclan, appoints a leader/deputy/medicine cat, tells them about the rules of being so, teaches ranks, and leaves. but he left out one important thing:
4. their naming system.
firestar never taught them the niches and rules of naming. he never said "listen, all cats joining must be given new names." he just tacked appropriate suffixes on in his hurry to get back home, and left them to their own devices. leafstar didn't even know that this was technically wrong, according to the other clans. this was her first and only example, so she ran with the improvised system: a joining cat keeps their name, but gets a suffix. billystorm, harveymoon, etc. ensues.
if leafstar had been given a mentor with time on their paws, such as a senior warrior or elder, they could've taught her better so she didn't do this. but instead they have a tradition that sets them apart, even if they don't realize it.
5. their worship.
sure, leafstar has -star; but they clearly don't worship the moon in any regard. rather than visit the moonstone, they have an incamp place called the "whispering cave," which is covered in bioluminescent moss where medicine cats speak to their ancestors. since there is no moon connotation, this suddenly leaves moon- and -moon open for usage.
likewise, their starclan is unrelated to the other four. it consists only of skyclan ancestors and very powerful spirits (such as spottedleaf) who can cross the gap to send signs. this place is actually where skyclan came after they were chased out of their original home; then it was called the "shining cave." so moon- was never associated with it, interestingly enough. the whispering cave is the source of the river running through the forest territory, which also makes it responsible for all the clans' source of water, many herbs, and borders to keep battles from occuring too often.
the name of fhe cave implies that the moon is no longer a sacred thing. i like that deviation, since firestar never taught it to them.
6. their historical legends.
skywatcher was the last skyclan descendant to remain in the gorge where skyclan last slept before their demise. he watched the moon every night, perhaps after being told stories of fullmoon gatherings. two young cats tease him, but he eventually becomes a respected figure and even has a landmark named after him - "sky's den."
and then we have firestar and sandstorm. these two gave skyclan what it has now - territory, purpose, belief, family. leafstar even names two of her kits after them - firekit (firestar) and stormkit (sandstorm). it was said somewhere that they constantly talk about firestar (not so much sandstorm, unfortunately) and how strong/awesome he was. that's pretty neat.
in conclusion...
skyclan is awesome, and their culture is a blissful respite from the crowfood we're being fed with the other four cookie cutter kitties in the basin. hopefully we get to see them continue their cultural difference even as they move into the lake with the other four as they're certain to do in "a vision of shadows."
1. their foundation.
i made it pretty clear that i LOVE dawn of the clans. i. love. it. i love the character arcs, the emotions, the relationships. it was good to take a break from "magical cats save the world!" and go back to the classic cat-against-cat-against-world, and the old clans. what caught my attention was clear sky's arc. he started as the loyal brother, and ended as the cat who founded many traditions - leadership, camps, ranks, and borders. he made mistakes and he was by no means a good cat, but he was responsible for a lot of clan culture.
they started out as seemingly vicious, evil cats, but really they just wanted an intense sense of security. clear sky was devastated after the tragic loss/es he suffered, and i imagine that went into it; if he defended these cats he'd never lose them.
i imagine this is where the "the leader defends their clan and represents them" thing comes from, even if it isn't from the code itself.
2. their unusual end.
it catches me as fascinating how skyclan fell, (presumably) three generations before bluestar came into the world. the clans had a strong sense of starclan back then, no doubt. they truly believed that the symbolism of 4 made sense to them, even if cloudstar disagreed. of course, 4 comes into a lot of essential things: number of toes, average litter size, oaks, clans, seasons. to them it made sense.
not only that, but the fact that skyclan blood is forever instilled not only in rogues and kittypets, but also in the clans as well. thunderclan was first, not just through thunderstar but through cloudstar's mate and kits, ancestors of tigerclaw and spottedleaf. through hawkfrost/mothwing it came into riverclan, and through tawnypelt it arrived in shadowclan.
the fact that the other four clans' belief in 4 things = always meant the death of a clan interests me. is that strengh still there? if the clans somehow culturally shifted from 4 to 3, would another clan eventually suffer? if it went down to 1, what would happen?
3. their rebirth.
after four generations, borderline five, firestar is told to rebuild the lost clan. mind you, he's a kittypet - a cat whose descendants not many respect. he leaves his clan in favor of this mystery gathering of cats. he's obviously going to be stressed out, since he left his clan to help another one. he'll want to get this thing done and get back before any of the other clans notice he's gone - specifically, before the next gathering.
so he rushes. he slams some cats together and tells them about starclan, appoints a leader/deputy/medicine cat, tells them about the rules of being so, teaches ranks, and leaves. but he left out one important thing:
4. their naming system.
firestar never taught them the niches and rules of naming. he never said "listen, all cats joining must be given new names." he just tacked appropriate suffixes on in his hurry to get back home, and left them to their own devices. leafstar didn't even know that this was technically wrong, according to the other clans. this was her first and only example, so she ran with the improvised system: a joining cat keeps their name, but gets a suffix. billystorm, harveymoon, etc. ensues.
if leafstar had been given a mentor with time on their paws, such as a senior warrior or elder, they could've taught her better so she didn't do this. but instead they have a tradition that sets them apart, even if they don't realize it.
5. their worship.
sure, leafstar has -star; but they clearly don't worship the moon in any regard. rather than visit the moonstone, they have an incamp place called the "whispering cave," which is covered in bioluminescent moss where medicine cats speak to their ancestors. since there is no moon connotation, this suddenly leaves moon- and -moon open for usage.
likewise, their starclan is unrelated to the other four. it consists only of skyclan ancestors and very powerful spirits (such as spottedleaf) who can cross the gap to send signs. this place is actually where skyclan came after they were chased out of their original home; then it was called the "shining cave." so moon- was never associated with it, interestingly enough. the whispering cave is the source of the river running through the forest territory, which also makes it responsible for all the clans' source of water, many herbs, and borders to keep battles from occuring too often.
the name of fhe cave implies that the moon is no longer a sacred thing. i like that deviation, since firestar never taught it to them.
6. their historical legends.
skywatcher was the last skyclan descendant to remain in the gorge where skyclan last slept before their demise. he watched the moon every night, perhaps after being told stories of fullmoon gatherings. two young cats tease him, but he eventually becomes a respected figure and even has a landmark named after him - "sky's den."
and then we have firestar and sandstorm. these two gave skyclan what it has now - territory, purpose, belief, family. leafstar even names two of her kits after them - firekit (firestar) and stormkit (sandstorm). it was said somewhere that they constantly talk about firestar (not so much sandstorm, unfortunately) and how strong/awesome he was. that's pretty neat.
in conclusion...
skyclan is awesome, and their culture is a blissful respite from the crowfood we're being fed with the other four cookie cutter kitties in the basin. hopefully we get to see them continue their cultural difference even as they move into the lake with the other four as they're certain to do in "a vision of shadows."
