So over the last few days I've read Darkness Within and today I finished it. While I was going through, I wrote notes and my initial reactions. At the end of this I'll share some analytical insights and serious stuff. Bare in mind this is my initial reaction! I haven't had a full reflection on this book and I'm sure I'll have more thoughts and different opinions later. This isn't a proper analysis or rant. This isn't professional in any way, it's unedited word vomit. A little glimpse into how I process things when I'm reading them? This is how all my rants start out like before I craft them into something legible.

Darkness Within spoilers ahead!

I really appreciate Jayfeather standing up for Squirrelflight after she reveals the imposter is Ashfur and everyone immediately turns on her and blaming her, because everyone hates Squirrelflight, apparently.
"It's not Squirrelflight's fault Ashfur developed an obsession."
This is the message the Erin's needed to send when writing the fire scene and the fallout the first time. Not excusing Ashfur's actions by saying "he loved too much." I remember this fandom going through a major victim-blaming phase, so while this message comes a little too late, I appreciate how direct it is. It's NEVER a victim's fault for how their assaulter/abuser acted. Squirrelflight rejecting Ashfur does not excuse his actions towards her. It isn't her fault that he developed an obsession. Very well put.

They took this further by Squirrelflight explaining to Bristlefrost that Ashfur didn't love her, he was obsessed with her.
"It wasn't love. It was obsession. To love another cat is to put their needs first. But Ashfur only ever out himself first. He will do anything to make me sorry I chose Bramblestar over him."
Very important message and I LOVE the phrasing. Wish someone told Severus Snape from HP this. But seriously, this sends a really great message to kids. It explains the difference between love and obsession, helps show the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship, and debunks their earlier justification of "attempted murder is okay because he loved her!!!"

THORNCLAW IS SPITTING FACTS.
"No, but I do think the only reason you're the one making decisions is because your Squirrelflight's kin...since Firestar's time there's been no question about who ThunderClan's next leader might be...so it's just a coincidence that Firestar made his daughters mate deputy...and Bramblestar named his own mate deputy, and now Firestar's kin, a cat Bramblestar and Squirrelflight raised as their own kit is Thunderclan's deputy. Are we supposed to believe that only one family in this Clan can raise kits to be leaders? Are the rest of us just here for them to order around? Who will you name deputy? Sparkpelt? Flamepaw?"
Firestar's kin have been in charge for too long. ThunderClan have turned into a nepotistic Clan and it sucks. THORNCLAW IS A RACIST BASTARD ANS I DON'T LIKE HIM BUT FOR ONCE HE'S RIGHT. Even Bristlefrost is acknowledging it.
"Every word Thornclaw had spoken had been true"

ThunderClan are SO MEAN to Squirrelflight I hate it here

Flipclaw's views are extreme but it's interesting to see the Clans oppose StarClan. For so long it's been this unanimous "Starclan is good." And that's so boring worldbuilding wise. It restricts opportunities, and is so unrealistic. 

"Perhaps they don't care about us anymore or maybe they never did. Perhaps we imagined all their prophecies...whatever StarClan thought in the past, it's pretty clear they're not here for us now. Perhaps they won't be here for us again. We might have to live without them...we all know the Clans were born before there was even a StarClan. We existed without them once, we can do it again...what's the point of following the code with StarClan gone? So we carry on, following a code no clan cares about but us?"  - Flipclaw

"The point is that we take care of one another. We're loyal, we protect one another. We defend our own and we make sure they're safe and well fed whether they're weak or strong. Do you really believe that if StarClan stops caring about us we should stop caring about one another?" lilyheart u absolute BABY. I love u with all my heart.

"I'm just saying that things need to change. If our ancestors have abandoned us, why bother following traditions that they invented? We don't even live in the forests they were born in we can make up our own codes to suit our new life by the lake."  - Flipclaw

"Do you really think the warrior code should change?"

"I don't know what I think. But isn't StarClan's absence a perfect opportunity to work out what we believe?" yeah, Flipclaw, FUCK THE SYSTEM. Again, not sure how I feel about his views but there's definitely some validity in there. It would be interesting to see the Clans navigate life and societal change without StarClan for a while.

Mothwing has the most nuanced take on StarClan and my favourite.
"I believe StarClan exists, but I don't know that their intentions are good, or that we always benefit from their guidance"
Tell me she's wrong. That's right, you can't. The only thing that separates StarClan from living cats is that they're dead. They're no wiser. Yellowfang and Jayfeather had a conversation about that. They don't act as a collective. They're literally a bunch of dead cats in the sky. They've been wrong and misled the Clans before and the Clans are far too reliant on them, to the point where it's unhealthy.

On the subject of Mothwing ERIN'S WHY IS SHE SO MEAN IN THIS BOOK. They butchered her. Mothwing is one of the best characters why did they do this.

Okay so Rootspring and Tree saw some random ghost who said she's seen some Clan cat spirits, but they keep disappearing and fading in and out of existence almost. She talked about her fear of disappearing into nothingness, and Rootspring has an existential moment thinking about this fear. So clearly some shit is going on with the cats who have died since StarClan disappeared but also !!! Surely the Erin's link this to the "StarClan cats fade away if they're killed again or if no one remembers them?" Because that random piece of lore makes me so angry. Because no one has ever spoken about it? And it's like...so you guys all eventually fade away into an unknown existence/lack of existence...and you're telling me no one has a problem with this? No one ever talks about it? Hmm, maybe we'll finally get to explore this. Knowing the Erin's, we won't.

The Clans hatched a plan to capture Ashfur and Squilf is an actress! She plays this man like a damn fiddle. She basically pretended to be in love with Ashfur and run away with him so that the Clans could capture him and imprison him in shadowclan. I can already imagine people going "She's toxic, she's horrible, she's just as bad as him, she played with his feelings!!!" Don't you even start. Don't go there.

So Brashfurstar has been captured and is now being imprisoned in ShadowClan. Each Clan sends their strongest warriors to guard him in shifts. While it's likely the Erin's just chose random cats, I'm now deciding it's canon that these cats are the strongest cats in the Clans because I'm fuckin thirsty for background character characterisation. Little slice of life tidbits and trivia? I eat that shit up. We have Breezepelt and Sedgewhisker from WindClan. Breezepelt? Fuck I hate that man. Sedgewhisker? I'd die for her. I like to think she's the character Kate was referring to when she said she wanted to make a "lesser known she-cat" deputy over Crowfeather. From ThunderClan we've had Thriftear, Lionblaze, Cherryfall, and Whitewing. Inchresting. From RiverClan we have Lizardtail and Mallownose. Ive read a fair bit about Mallownose for au reasons and I can see him as being one of the stronger warriors in RC. They also sent Gorseclaw and Nightsky. Hell yeah. I know nothing about either of them but I like Nightsky's name and therefore I like her. I don't think poor SkyClan was mentioned but I might've missed it as shit started to heat up in the plot.

"If she agreed to leave with me, I wouldn't bother the Clans anymore. Then no cat would have to suffer" ashfur shut the FUCK UP. Squirrelflight doesn't like you and you're not entitled to her.
"What if Squirrelflight doesn't want to leave with you?" - Shadowsight
"She must. She's a warrior, she'll do anything for her Clan"
sir u need to stop. I would like to respectfully ask u to stop. But alas, I have no respect for you.
"Ashfur would clearly be willing to take Squirrelflight with him against her will" - Shadowsight's thoughts.
I'll go into an Ashfur is an incel and mirrors real life situations of misogyny-fuelled crimes against women later on but you cannot tell me this doesn't parallel with rape. While they were talking about physically going somewhere, Ashfur taking Squirrelflight against her will? For years I've talked about how Ashfur and Squirrelflight's conflict is a commentary on how men feel entitled to women, and how this entitlement is deadly, like in many cases of femicide. Men will kill women for rejecting them. It's scarily common. This only takes it further. The majority of rapes occur because men feel entitled to a woman's body. And here we have an Ashfur moment that can be read as a reference to rape and his entitlement to Squirrelflight. It's equally funny and frustrating how the Erin's can unintentionally write the most compelling storylines.

Poor Shadowsight is Going Through It. He's been demoted back to a med cat apprentice because Mothwing is mean all of a sudden and Tigerheartstar is being a bad dad. Erin's!! You made me fall in love with Tigerheartstar in this arc over his love for his family and now you're taking it away? Why?? Anyway everyone blames Shadowsight for being too naive to realise his visions weren't coming from StarClan and ended up letting Ashfur into Bramblestar's body. Which is Not Fair. He was literally being groomed by Ashfur (not for sexual purposes; grooming can refer to a number of different things including an adult conditioning a minor into doing a task) he should be comforted and not blamed. The little dude's terrified that he'll be a murderer if Bramblestar can't come back into his body and y'all are out here blaming him? No!! Fuck no!! He grew up in an environment where StarClan's will is accepted and shouldn't be questioned. Mothwing should understand this with her beautiful take on StarClan from Lost Stars. Their intentions aren't always good and their guidance can be harmful. She shouldn't be blaming Shadowsight, she should understand that the Clan's reliance on StarClan and immediate acceptance of StarClan's intent and will leads to this kind of situation. If the Clans were more wary of StarClan in the way Mothwing is, then maybe Shadowsight wouldn't have immediately trusted the voice. He's the victim here.

Lightleap and Shadowsight sibling moment!!! Shes the only one who's being kind to him. I love it

"I don't know anything about hunting" - Shadowsight
Med cats used hunt when they wanted to and had to learn some fighting skills. I don't like that the Erin's have forgotten this. Medicine cats needed to be able to look after themselves in a worst case scenario. I like that medicine cats can still hunt or fight if they need a break from herb shit. Although it could be interesting to tie in this inconsistency to all the other medicine cat inconsistencies - the way medicine cats are no longer respected. They used to be seen as just as important as the leader and it was a huge honour to be one, but now are frequently ignored and put down. This is very likely due to the fact that now no cat wants to be a medicine cat, they're just forced into it because they're disabled or something. These are just Erin Hunter mistakes but you can read into it and spin it into an interesting narrative.

Lionblaze attacks Ashfur while guarding him. Ashfur totally deserved it, but it just goes to show what a shit deputy Lionblaze is. He's too reckless, and doesn't have a brain cell in his head. All I want is Bristlefrost or Spotfur as deputy. Especially Spotfur. I was rooting for Rosepetal but god do I want a Spotstar. She's the love of my life and I deserve this.

Context: Shadowsight is on a hunting patrol, gets a fright, makes a noise and scares prey away.
"What scared you?" - Some ShadowClan warrior, I didn't write it down.
"A bee buzzed in my ear" - Shadowsight
"A bee?" - the random
"A really big bee." - my baby Shadowsight
God it's such a cute and funny scene. The random bits of humour scattered in amongst the doom and gloom are really refreshing, and make the dark bits darker by comparison.

This next scene is the same, honestly the funniest fucking moment in the whole book. Basically Rootspring goes out in search to find the Sisters, as the Clans need help with this Ashfur situation. They want to kill Bramblestar's body to get rid of Ashfur, but Brambleghost needs a body to return to. Problem is, Brambleghost is nowhere to be seen. Personally, I think killing Bramblestar would be fine because he sucks and no one likes him, but unfortunately Squirrelflight doesn't agree and isn't down with murdering her mate. Even though he deserves it. Squirrelflight, you deserve better, queen. Anyway, Bristlefrost, Needleclaw, and Spotfur go too.

Nsfw mention //

Bristlefrost and Rootspring stay up on guard together while everyone else is asleep. Alone at night. 👀
Needleclaw delivers the best fucking line.
"I should never have let you stand guard together last night. Did anything happen?"
Just imagine your sister yelling in your gace "DID YOU FUCK?" Needleclaw said no horny rights. Go to horny jail.

Oh just to clarify they didn't fuck. No half clan babies yet.

Nsfw warning over //

They also meet kittypets called Eggs and Bacon, I repeat, EGGS AND BACON.

Why do these cats travel for like two days and then act like they've been walking forever. Y'all are fucking weak I have friends who have gone on longer tramps for fun.

SPOTFUR IS PREGNANT SHE'S FUCKING PREGNANT I LITERALLY YELLED OH NO OUT LOUD WHEN I READ THIS. my poor baby!!! I knew something else had to be going on than just grief. Nausea, tiredness, clumsiness...I just assumed the Erin's were bad at writing grief but no. She's pregnant oh dear lord.

Poor Spotfur cannot catch a break. First her mate dies, then she finds out she's pregnant, now she nearly gets taken away by a hawk?

I'm so upset that Bristlefrost and Spotfur are aunt and niece. They'd be such a good ship otherwise. Tell me I'm wrong. You can't. You just can't do it. Bristlefrost is being so sweet and so supportive to Spotfur and it hurts my heart so much that I can't ship them.

Holy shit Spotfur doesn't want the kits...she keeps putting herself in risky situations, as Bris pointed out... like Bristlefrost asked her why she keeps putting herself at risk after she risked her life trying to catch the hawk that nearly snatched her when she should've just let go and run to safety...and she replies by saying she doesn't want the kits? Erin's?? What the fuck??? Are you implying she's trying to make herself miscarry so she doesn't have to have the kits???? There's no way they're saying that. Are they? Is this another accidental compelling storylines? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.

"Stemleaf is dead and ThunderClan doesn't feel safe anymore" my poor, precious girl. Spotfur, baby, you're the love of my life and I'd do anything for you. I'm going to Cry.

Right, Needleclaw and the sisters were arguing about the code again. We have Clan Nationalism, My culture is the only right culture and you're a bunch of savages because you don't follow the same rules kind of shit going on. And one of the sisters as a beautiful reply:
"We're still cats living together and taking care of each other. Isn't that enough?"
You know what, Sister who's name I didn't write down? You're so right and the Clans need to learn this message. Hey, so does the human world. That is enough. People taking care of each other is the most important thing. Not your religion, not what rules you live by. We go by this cynical "everything in life is horrible and everything sucks," and yeah, maybe we do have a deadly pandemic, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, kids in cages and all kinds of horrible shit, but the world and humanity isn't inherently bad. We could be good, if we all just lived together and took care of each other.

Nectarsong has kits! Beekit and Beetlekit. That's cute as hell. Whistlepaw might become Kestrelflight's apprentice! I love little slice-of-life Clan news like this.

Right so Bristlefrost and Rootspring are hardcore crushing on each other. I don't like that it popped out of nowhere and I'm on the fence about them as a couple. But I like that Rootspring has matured so much. It no longer feels like Bristlefrost is his babysitter. I hate how in relationships men often act like a baby manchild and their girlfriends take on the role of mother and maid to them. Because men suck. And that's what I was worried about with Bris and Rootspring. She was so much more mature than him. It felt weird and icky that she was attracted to him. No!! You don't have to settle!! There's a good guy out there who would actually understand you and treat you better! But that's not an issue anymore. And they communicate together healthily!! Both talking about their future and if they would move Clans to be with each other, who would move, and all that. Warrior cats? Communicating?!! I never thought I'd see it. But basically the Sisters are talking about how bs the forbidden romance rule is and how cats should be allowed to love who they want. And as usual, they're right. This is GREAT. We're revving up to discussing a certain topic. SOCIETAL CHANGE, BABY! Forbidden romance rule? We don't need it! Throw it in the trash! Love is love!

HOLY SHIT. I LOVE THIS ARC. One thing I adore about this arc is in every book there's one hardcore, absolutely batshit scene and this book is no exception. The Sisters summoning all the spirits and they're all fucking ZOMBIES? I LOVE the horror/supernatural elements of this arc. I was waiting for shit to hit the fan and shit truly HIT THE FAN.
"The acrouched against the earth, twisted like snakes, their earth spiked as they looked around them. Lips drawn back, they hissed, their eyes black as holes. They're in pain...a yowl seemed to tear itself from Stemleaf's throat. It echoed around the camp, more tortured than the scream of dying prey."
WhatthefuckWHATTHEFUCK !!! This shit is metal as hell. The art that we're gonna get of this scene? This is by far the most interesting shit to happen in Warriors. These spirits are tortured and malicious, wanting to harm the Clan cats...and then they see Ashfur in the background, grinning and looking smug. WHAT?! I'm losing my mind this is incredible.

Rootspring saying fuck the Clans and their rules, agreeing with the Sisters and no longer seeing them as weird and resenting everything different about them, learning more about his culture...we love to see it. This reads as a kid growing up in a very white environment suppressing and hating everything about their culture growing up and learning to embrace it. Full rant on this later because I adore it.

Beekit and Beetlekit wanting to learn Rootspring's ability to see ghosts instead of shaming him for being different to the Clans, being tolerant and accepting of cultural differences...WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

okay then shit really hit the fan and my notes ran out. I literally just typed SQUILF in all caps. Lemme try to comprehend the end because I read it very fast because all sorts of shit was going on.

After the Sister's ceremony, there was still no sign of Bramble so he was assumed to be gone forever. The leaders decided to kill his body and Ashfur and Squirrelflight had said she would go along with it if they all decided to do that. They did. They made a kill party? Like they were literally chanting kill? Mothwing was really down for using deathberries to poison Bramblestar. Girl...this is the second time you've been down with poisoning, are you okay?

Anyway, then Squirrelflight decides no, she can't let them kill her mate. (Babe...getting rid of both Ashfur and Bramblestar would make your life so much better) and Ashfur and Shadowsight have another horrible interaction. Seriously, Ashfur is so manipulative towards Shadowsight. All their interactions in this book make my skin crawl. It's so uncomfortable. Anyway, Shadowsight frees Ashfur because he still believes Bramblestar is out there (I think Bramble might've shown himself but as I said, I read this very fast and I need to go back and reread the end because I have no clue what fully went on) and he can't let Bramblestar's body be killed otherwise that would make him a murder. Also bc Ash reveals he can inhabit other ghosts bodies, including Spiresight. This is probably how he's torturing those spirits, or at least part of it. Ashfur's spirit escapes just in time to avoid being murdered. He and Squirrelflight end up at the moonpool somehow and HOLY SHIT. they fight and the book ends with Ashfur grabbing Squirrelflight and dragging her into the moon pool.

That's right. Squirrelflight gets sent to super mega turbo hell just like fuckign Cas after the homophobic gay confession scene. I don't watch supernatural, I've just been on tumblr since 2015.

I just??? What the fuck? That CLIFFHANGER? THAT ENDING? my god I have a lot to comprehend.

So that's all the reactionary stuff. Time for a little analysis.

I don't like what this arc is doing to Ashfur's character. Don't get me wrong, I love this villain. This villain is easily the best villain we've ever had in Warriors. But this villain isn't Ashfur. If this villain was two cats, Ashfur with his Squirrelflight obsession and Sol wrecking more havoc on the Clans...I always thought Sol didn't live up to his potential.

My main issue with this book and the whole concept of Ashfur as the imposter (damn, Warriors predicted Among Us) is that it turns him into something he's not. What makes Ashfur as one of the most interesting villains (in my opinion) is that he isn't power hungry, he doesn't want to destroy the Clans. He goes to extremes to punish a woman for rejecting him; he believes he's entitled to her and she's wronged him by not being in love with him. It's a painfully real scenario and something that unfortunately many women face in real life. I've read countless stories of femicide over women rejecting men. In a less extreme case you still get plenty of men blaming and hating women for rejecting them. Basically Ashfur's a classic incel lol.

But that's why I like his role in the books. Because he's real in a way the other villains aren't. And him going around causing chaos in the Clans by stirring up this "codebreaker" stuff, forcing cats to atone by exiling them, inciting conflict, even attempting murder - it flips his character on its head. He becomes another villain trying to destroy the Clans, even if its still motivated by hurting Squirrelflight

In the recent books they're retconning his character to be a complete asshole, like being xenophobic about kittypets. In Darkness Within, a character described him, saying: "He always had a darkness within." What I liked about Ashfur was that he was a normal guy. Just your average Joe. He didn't stir up trouble, he wasn't argumentative (except for him opposing Brambleclaw becoming deputy, which was motivated by jealousy of Brambleclaw) he was always just kind of a nice guy. As an apprentice he was endearing and sweet! This is so important because so many predators are like this. They're not evil. They don't act like misogynistic, overall horrible people. They don't have some obvious inner darkness. They can be seemingly nice, good people. That's what makes them dangerous. There's a reason the "nice guy" incel stereotype exists. That's my favourite thing about Ashfur. Before he acted on his obsession with Squirrelflight, he was a friendly, sweet background dude. Just like real life. It felt like a commentary on a real world problem. Turning Ashfur into a caricature of himself cheapens the writing and shows the Erin's haven't quite grasped the wider societal issue they accidentally portrayed. Misogyny and male entitlement is killing women. Women are murdered and raped for turning down men daily. It's a real, horrible problem, and that's what makes Ashfur the most terrifying and dangerous villain in my opinion. And now the accidental rape implications...it takes this to a whole new level.

LETS TALK ABOUT ROOTSPRING. This boy was so annoying in the beginning of this arc. He was so immature, so insecure. He had a great dad but had daddy issues because he hated everything his father was and represented. The Clans looked down on Tree and shamed him because he wasn't Clanborn, because he had different abilities, values, and customs. Does this sound like any societal issues to you? Uh, yeah. Rootpaw was essentially a kid growing up in a whitewashed area. That's what his situation came off as to me. The Clans are xenophobic and racist; they hate and look down on anyone who is different. They believe they're so superior to everyone else. Rootpaw was shamed for being different and tried desperately to assimilate himself into Clan culture. He refused to learn anything about his father and the Sisters, he tried to fit in and prove himself as the best, most normal warrior ever. He hated and despised his father and his culture because he was taught to do so by those around him. When he first started seeing ghosts, he hated it. He was terrified of his different abilities and that he was like his father. But slowly over time, Rootspring has matured and learned to embrace his culture. He became indifferent towards his ability to see spirits as he got used to using it and began to bond with his father. But in this book we see the biggest shift. Rootspring is no longer ashamed of his connection to the Sisters. He goes off on the quest to find them and discovers new abilities that the Sisters have - the power to "see" through the earth, to feel what the earth feels. He isn't scared or ashamed of this. For the first time, Rootspring is intrigued, interested in his culture. Part of him wishes he was taught from birth how to do what the Sisters do. He's proud of the unique culture of the Sisters! And the kits back this up for him, telling him they wished they could see ghosts the way he can and fighting over who would be his apprentice.

It was so beautiful and refreshing to see. I'm white. So I've never experienced what poc people growing up in predominantly white areas have experienced. But I know the narrative of suppressing your culture, trying desperately to fit into white society and rejecting your culture because you're taught to hate it by racists around you. Only to reclaim your culture later on in life and celebrate it. And that's exactly the story Rootspring has gone through. I don't think the Erin's meant to mirror this common struggle that poc go through. But they wrote a very beautiful and important arc with Rootspring, and they should be applauded for that.

As for Rootspring and Bristlefrost's relationship...I have mixed feelings. But it certainly strengthens the plot, and if the forbidden relationship rule was going to be challenged, it definitely needed two characters in a forbidden relationship to fully explore that. So book-wise, it's the right decision. If you disregard the earlier books, BristleRoot is a fine ship. It's healthy, honestly it's kind of cute. I need to let go of my initial prejudices against this relationship. I'm still deeply upset that I can't ship BristleSpot though. I would fully be writing fics about them if they weren't so closely related.

All in all I think there are some very important discussions this arc needs to have. Namely around the code and StarClan. In an ideal situation, the Clans rewrite the code and relax their borders. Cats could visit each other whenever they wanted, and everyone stops fighting all the time. InterClan relationships are allowed, medicine cats are allowed mates and kits, and the leader's word is not law. And we need to have a conversation about how the Clans view StarClan. Shadowsight being manipulated is a prime example of how this relationship between the Clans and StarClan is unhealthy and easily exploited. The Clans need to learn to think for themselves and learn to be critical of the messages their ancestors send them. I don't know if the Erin's will tackle these topics - this is Warriors, after all - but at least we seem to be gearing up to a code rewrite.

So that's some thoughts on this book! I hope this was an entertaining read, at least. I think we all need some fun after the latest wattpad dramas. Thanks for reading this far if you managed to make it all the way through!