Hey. Thoughts On Darkstripe And Longtailss Relationship As Mentor And Apprentice? I Think It TOTALLY

hey. Thoughts on darkstripe and longtails’s relationship as mentor and apprentice? I think it TOTALLY should have been explored more, esp bc Longtails’ first apprentice dies so Badly…

I think it's pretty overlooked when it comes to art/animations/stories about it. I like to attribute one of the many problems in their dynamic towards the fact that the two were way too young for their rank

I like to think that DarkStripe was made a warrior a little earlier than normal, while LongTail was made an apprentice (and then warrior) as early as well. They were both gullible children who listened to their previous mentors about the law of the Clans and to uphold the most amount of loyalty and pride towards your home, even if it means talking down to those who don't share the same lifestyle as you.

The entire line of mentors and apprentices was one plagued by jingoism, blind loyalty, awarded violence and total acceptance of your community and of Starclan, no matter how bad it gets. From ThistleClaw, to TigerClaw, to DarkStripe, to LongTail. It was a neverending cycle of early societal development when they weren't ready yet.

And the things that LongTail learnt from DarkStripe carried over to SwiftPaw, blind loyalty, eagerness, pride, impulsivity to resort to hands-on action. It's what got SwiftPaw mauled to the point of being unrecognizable as a cat. Bits of him on the tree, covering the ground, a little bit over there in the bushes. I think when it all clicked to LongTail, his entire world just. Shattered.

He slowly bettered himself, he tried as best as he could, y'know. Watching DarkStripe - His mentor, his best friend- be exiled after feeding SorrelKit deathberries, it made his heart sink and his head ache, he mentally grasped out to DarkStripe like a kitten reaching out for a string. But the only time he was able to finally, after all of this time, reach out and finally get a grip on DarkStripe, he felt only cold flesh and blood-dampened fur, a gash over his throat from GreyStripe's killing blow. The roar of battle around him deafening any thought he had in that moment.

Spoiler warning

Long story short he's a cat who comes back with two of Protagonists of the latest arc from Riverstar's (Riverclan's first leader) home prior to coming to the forest territories

Okay gamers, what is going on

Like in general

Im not keeping up eith the current arc, what wafflepaw???? Waffle is interesting??? What bro do

dawn of the clans to

What happen 🧍

WHO IS WAFFLEPAW

Guys please what is waffles purpose

ㅤ

be careful what you wish for.

Get to Know Your Character

Here are some questions to consider for character development:

What parts of their childhood trigger them?

How do they treat themselves when they're feeling sad?

What parts of themselves do they tend to hide?

How do they punish themselves when they make mistakes?

Who are they loyal to? Why?

Who do they avoid? Why?

What emotions or situations do they try to avoid? Why?

What angers them?

What are their insecurities?

What are their emotional triggers?

How do they feel about love?

What are their fears?

What is their relationship with their family like?

What kind of people do they tend to gravitate towards?

What do they like/dislike about themselves?

Happy writing ❤

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

When you’re designing a cat with a more complicated non-solid fur pattern, like stripes or tortoiseshell, how to you find the balance between making it look full with pattern while also being somewhat recreatable?

(Gonna answer both these in one post since they're kind of relevant to each other!)

I break the design down into specific patterns with a bit of randomness incorporated as well!

This is the rough base pattern for Redtail and Spottedleaf, as an example. The goal is to keep these specific spots consistent and let the rest of the patterns just be random splotches to get a complete look!

Trivia bit: Spottedleaf used to have FIVE COAT COLORS and it was absolutely exhausting balancing them all out, so I cut out all but three, like most of the rest of the cast (the only other exception being Crookedstar, with four). Having three coat colors for every character helps make them feel like they're all part of the same world, and forces me to keep the designs relatively simple.

Here's a little step by step!

1. I lay down the rough dark tones on top of the base flats. I use a textured brush on Paint Tool SAI to get the splotchy look. Actually, every single character in the comic gets colored with their dark tones first, as they usually lay underneath the light tones.

2. I throw the light tones on, using a seperate layer for now.

3. Details! Including Redtail's fox marking on his nose, which is just much easier to do if I do the light tones on a seperate layer, lock the layer, and paint in a simple triangle. I also color the eyes differently if a character is closer or farther away; for more distant characters, I just do four tones, two for the sclera (eye white) and two for the pupil and iris. Closer characters get a full proper three color gradient in their eyes.

I hope that helps!! ;v;