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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 12:45:58 GMT -5
I've been getting interested in early fandom warriors, as I'm still a pretty new fan myself(Started reading in 2018). I think taht a lot of the old art, while some edgy, is pretty awesome. For those older fans, what were the forums like in the beginning of the website's release?
Questions I have:
How many people were active in compared to the older days vs. now? What do you remember being the main topics of discussion? When did you join the WCRP forums? Who was your first WC oc?
These are some questions I have but you do not have to answer them, just say whatever you think is worth mentioning
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 13:35:34 GMT -5
While I didn’t engage in posting much back in the earlier days . I can tell you a bit about how it was . For starters their was about 15-20 times the active members , which lead to a lot more heated arguments then we have now . Censorship and laws protecting younger people from being harassed or verbally abused were far looser then we have now , so things had a tendency to get really crammed with profanity’s and back and forth badmouthing very consistently . The Fire Scene from Sunrise was by far the most divisive, and controversial topic discussed . As it was pretty polarizing and divided into those who thought it was a very iconic and great scene(which I see much more positive reception for it now then back then) and those who thought it was an offensive dumpster fire of an climax to the Arc that definitely had the most Hype and suspense , and alot of people felt letdown (myself included). Especially with them Breaking up Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight , with this being when they were probably the most popular couple in the series, so plenty of people were pissed about that as well . Second to that would of been the TigerxDovexBumble love triangle and Cinderpelt’s reincarnation , those 2 topics blew up the fandom for quite awhile as well . And I myself never was part of the role playing community or had any OC’s. Wow! Ty so much for sharing, I assumed the TigerxDovexBumble stuff but I never would have though the fire scene would've been disliked.
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Nov 15, 2021 13:47:37 GMT -5
Does being a member in 2011 count as early years? Sometimes people only mean to refer to 2009-10 when they say early years.
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Cloudstorm
Don’t let it kill you. Even when it hurts like hell.
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Post by Cloudstorm on Nov 15, 2021 13:59:04 GMT -5
While I didn’t engage in posting much back in the earlier days . I can tell you a bit about how it was . For starters their was about 15-20 times the active members , which lead to a lot more heated arguments then we have now . Censorship and laws protecting younger people from being harassed or verbally abused were far looser then we have now , so things had a tendency to get really crammed with profanity’s and back and forth badmouthing very consistently . The Fire Scene from Sunrise was by far the most divisive, and controversial topic discussed . As it was pretty polarizing and divided into those who thought it was a very iconic and great scene(which I see much more positive reception for it now then back then) and those who thought it was an offensive dumpster fire of an climax to the Arc that definitely had the most Hype and suspense , and alot of people felt letdown (myself included). Especially with them Breaking up Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight , with this being when they were probably the most popular couple in the series, so plenty of people were pissed about that as well . Second to that would of been the TigerxDovexBumble love triangle and Cinderpelt’s reincarnation , those 2 topics blew up the fandom for quite awhile as well . And I myself never was part of the role playing community or had any OC’s. Wow! Ty so much for sharing, I assumed the TigerxDovexBumble stuff but I never would have though the fire scene would've been disliked. Large chunk of the fanbase quit reading after Power of Three because of it , all of my friends included that used to read the series , plus with the pacing of the plot being so slow , and not having any clear direction certainly didn’t help .
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 14:00:38 GMT -5
Does being a member in 2011 count as early years? Sometimes people only mean to refer to 2009-10 when they say early years. Absolutely, I'd say anyone from 2009-2014
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 14:03:15 GMT -5
Wow! Ty so much for sharing, I assumed the TigerxDovexBumble stuff but I never would have though the fire scene would've been disliked. Large chunk of the fanbase quit reading after Power of Three because of it , all of my friends included that used to read the series , plus with the pacing of the plot being so slow , and not having any clear direction certainly didn’t help . That's the arc my sister and friends stopped at aswell
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Post by mymerlincat on Nov 15, 2021 14:09:39 GMT -5
A way better and more positive place than they are now
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Post by rabbit on Nov 15, 2021 15:53:14 GMT -5
A way better and more positive place than they are now if OP is talking about the original forums, there were flame wars and drama almost every day when OOTS was releasing. The Lionblaze shippings wars were intense. Also Dovewing vs Ivypool, Cinderheart being a sue, Ashfur being in StarClan, and the constant debates of who would be a 4th cat, and who would replace Brambleclaw as deputy because everybody thought Bramble was going to die somehow.
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 16:13:12 GMT -5
A way better and more positive place than they are now if OP is talking about the original forums, there were flame wars and drama almost every day when OOTS was releasing. The Lionblaze shippings wars were intense. Also Dovewing vs Ivypool, Cinderheart being a sue, Ashfur being in StarClan, and the constant debates of who would be a 4th cat, and who would replace Brambleclaw as deputy because everybody thought Bramble was going to die somehow. Wow I want to be apart of those lionblaze shipping wars. They sound as chaotic yet fun as the forums are now
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Post by Sand 🎃 on Nov 15, 2021 16:52:34 GMT -5
OP, if you mean WCF-- the Hoopla version of these forums, then my answers are way off. But I know a lot about this site since 2016.
2016 'til now:
This site was by far more active in 2016, 2017, and 2018 compared to now. Activity dropped in late 2019, not sure why. I imagine members having other obligations was part of it along with drama. Also, I'd bet that having a job or university takes up one's life. Sometimes we outgrow our fandoms.
OTD used to be very active and the topics would range from "what are you listening to" to controversial topics like politics for example. OTD, as a board, had its problems just like this one has its problems.
Joined this site in July 2016, when it was born. I don't really remember my first OC, but I can remember my most developed one.
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Post by Midnightcacoon loves Sunbeam on Nov 15, 2021 17:01:50 GMT -5
OP, if you mean WCF-- the Hoopla version of these forums, then my answers are way off. But I know a lot about this site since 2016. 2016 'til now: This site was by far more active in 2016, 2017, and 2018 compared to now. Activity dropped in late 2019, not sure why. I imagine members having other obligations was part of it along with drama. Also, I'd bet that having a job or university takes up one's life. Sometimes we outgrow our fandoms. OTD used to be very active and the topics would range from "what are you listening to" to controversial topics like politics for example. OTD, as a board, had its problems just like this one has its problems. Joined this site in July 2016, when it was born. I don't really remember my first OC, but I can remember my most developed one. Thanks for your answers, I wasn't actually sure when this site was activated so I just went with early 2000's. It is weird that activity dropped in 2019, but your guess makes a lot of sense.
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Post by Sand 🎃 on Nov 15, 2021 17:09:32 GMT -5
OP, if you mean WCF-- the Hoopla version of these forums, then my answers are way off. But I know a lot about this site since 2016. 2016 'til now: This site was by far more active in 2016, 2017, and 2018 compared to now. Activity dropped in late 2019, not sure why. I imagine members having other obligations was part of it along with drama. Also, I'd bet that having a job or university takes up one's life. Sometimes we outgrow our fandoms. OTD used to be very active and the topics would range from "what are you listening to" to controversial topics like politics for example. OTD, as a board, had its problems just like this one has its problems. Joined this site in July 2016, when it was born. I don't really remember my first OC, but I can remember my most developed one. Thanks for your answers, I wasn't actually sure when this site was activated so I just went with early 2000's. It is weird that activity dropped in 2019, but your guess makes a lot of sense. You're welcome!
This site (wcrpforums) in specific is on ProBoards platform (hence their ads), but ran by 4 people who are came from the original WCF. Original WCF became a forum in 2009 or 2010 if I remember correctly. It was taken down in August 2016. This site was "born" in July 2016, has gone through two administrators before me. Staff has relatively stayed the same except for one or two changes.
Honestly, I could do more research about the activity because I have access to analytics which I check weekly... but I'm not sure how far back I should go. All I know is that it's stayed the same since fall 2019.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Nov 15, 2021 18:41:42 GMT -5
I'm one of the one or two changes and one of the only staff to be added late, rather than left.As for WCRP history, I was here from the start. If you're looking for more fandom history, including the OG forums, there's a post in WCF Memories that lists the wild history to the best that the members on the forums as a whole have collected. wcrpforums.com/thread/8089/warrior-cat-forums-history-farBut yeah, the activity drop was a bit strange. Sand's guess is as good as mine. We see small up-ticks every time a new book comes out. As for my first OC, it was a character called Whitefire. One black ear, one black paw, all white, with green eyes. Honestly considering I come from the 'Cats with Hair' era, I'm surprised she wasn't edgy. I joined in 2012, but floated around as an observer for two years prior. So originally stumbled here in 2010.
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Post by rabbit on Nov 15, 2021 20:00:27 GMT -5
if OP is talking about the original forums, there were flame wars and drama almost every day when OOTS was releasing. The Lionblaze shippings wars were intense. Also Dovewing vs Ivypool, Cinderheart being a sue, Ashfur being in StarClan, and the constant debates of who would be a 4th cat, and who would replace Brambleclaw as deputy because everybody thought Bramble was going to die somehow. Wow I want to be apart of those lionblaze shipping wars. They sound as chaotic yet fun as the forums are now It was a ruthless battle between LionCinder and LionIce to the point where people were getting bullied over it. So many people ended up crackshipping LionPurdy with how ridiculous it was. Lol Somebody please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers LionPurdy because it feels like a fever dream now.
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Post by halogen on Nov 15, 2021 20:23:05 GMT -5
Besides what people have already mentioned: fanmade post-TLH allegiances and a whole trend of writing fan fiction about Jayfeather dying (am I the only one who remembers the 'Jaydeath' craze?). And the whole DoveBumble vs. IvyBumble drama, since one of the Erins responded positively to IvyBumble fanart and said it would be a good couple, which made people angry when Bumblestripe was suddenly interested in Dovewing. Threads where people listed their liked and disliked characters and people debated them to try to change it.
And yes, I remember LionPurdy.
Edit: IvyBumble fanart, not "canary". Autocorrect...
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Post by rabbit on Nov 15, 2021 20:29:20 GMT -5
Besides what people have already mentioned: fanmade post-TLH allegiances and a whole trend of writing fan fiction about Jayfeather dying. And the whole DoveBumble vs. IvyBumble drama, since one of the Erins responded positively to IvyBumble canary and said it would be a good couple, which made people angry when Bumblestripe was suddenly interested in Dovewing. Threads where people listed their liked and disliked characters and people debated them to try to change it. And yes, I remember LionPurdy. oh no I remember that. I think I even remember the user who asked and got so pissed about it, frost_cloud I think? There was so much salt directed towards Vicky that day.
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Post by Tealraven 🎃 on Nov 15, 2021 20:51:56 GMT -5
[*writing my answers before looking at any other posts in this thread.]How many people were active in compared to the older days vs. now? I joined the og forums in March 2013 and was fairly active there until their closure in 2016. From what I remember, the old forums were always pretty consistently active. Dozens of new posts every day, easily. OTD, Fan Clans, and the WCF equivalent of Warriors General (I forget what it was called, but it wasn't as condensed as this one - there were a few more boards, I think; one for each of the arcs?) were the biggest boards, followed by OTRP and the Art Forum to a slightly lesser extent. I was mostly active in Fan Clans and OTD, though, so I might be missing some information. OTD was always moving. Multiple new threads in a day. If you posted something, it would be at the bottom of the page after a few hours.
The WCRP, on the other hand, has never reached the same levels of activity as the old forums. I feel like it was busier in 2016 and 2017, and has since petered off, with occasional spikes here and there. It's safe to say that those of us who are still here are pretty determined to keep this site going.What do you remember being the main topics of discussion? If you mean in regards to Warriors, OOTS drama was pretty big. Ashfur, Hollyleaf, and Dovewing discourse was everywhere. I'm not really sure what else there was; reading some other forumers' posts would probably jog my memory. Like I said, I wasn't super active in the other boards.
On the WCRP, I have no idea, as I stopped reading the books around 2015 and only occasionally poke my nose into Warriors General to see what's happening.When did you join the WCRP forums? August 2016, under a different account. I joined a couple of days after the website opened. Who was your first WC oc? Ugh, Flamestripe, a cringy feminized version of Firestar. I don't remember anything about her personality, which means she probably didn't have one lmao. That was before I joined the og forums. The first oc that I actually remember roleplaying on the forums was a ginger tom with green eyes named Lightningstrike, and he was super fast and excelled at hunting. I think he was pretty laidback and easygoing, iirc. Likeable enough for two other forumers' characters to crush on him. He was also part of a prophecy at one point, and eventually became Clan leader. I have fond memories of that guy, and the people I rped with. They were a fun group.
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Cloudstorm
Don’t let it kill you. Even when it hurts like hell.
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Post by Cloudstorm on Nov 15, 2021 21:26:49 GMT -5
A way better and more positive place than they are now if OP is talking about the original forums, there were flame wars and drama almost every day when OOTS was releasing. The Lionblaze shippings wars were intense. Also Dovewing vs Ivypool, Cinderheart being a sue, Ashfur being in StarClan, and the constant debates of who would be a 4th cat, and who would replace Brambleclaw as deputy because everybody thought Bramble was going to die somehow. Oh Man, those we're chaotic times on the forums for sure , and yeah I remember all the DoveXbumble and IvyxBumble wars, DovexBumblexTiger wars, and Cinderheart being a sue , and people literally coming up with every crack shipping under the sun, cause to hell with the slightest hint of a notion that he'd end up with Cinderheart in the end. And before the old WCF were even conceived , going way back now. I used to be apart of Several different Book Clubs, Local book and reading Groups in my area(Back when I was actually sociable, how times have changed) from 2003 to I'd say around 2010, that focused on reading the warrior series and some others in the same genre. That I remember a lot of the member getting pretty fired up over Vicky deciding to takeout Yellowfang instead of Cinderpelt, only to later kill her anyway. then have Cinderpelt reincarnated as Cinderheart, which really ground people's gears , and probably is a contributing factor to all the Cinderheart ire since then. and then when Long shadows released with the dumpster fire that is the fire scene, which is super iconic nowadays, followed by the anticlimatic ending in Sunrise imo. that's when most of my friends and the members of book groups I was in pretty much unanimously agreed they'd weren't even gonna bother with the fourth arc. there's some other social sites from before the original WCF I used to be apart of, of course forgotten their names, that I used to discuss the books with people on. but since very few people I knew actually read past Power of Three, and the few that did never finished OoTS, eventually lost my passion and drive to participate an any kind of Fan discussion, and with the conclusion of OoTS i moved onto different interests. though I did still read the books for a little while afterwards. read the first 2 books of DoTC's , lost interest, read the novellas that were out at the time , then Bramblestar's Storm, that's when franchise fatigue and Story inconsistencies started to bother me , so stopped reading up until TAQ of AVoS released, read it , and never continued afterwards until later down the road.
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Omnisexual
Fernflower
I forgot how amazing Firestar is
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Post by Fernflower on Nov 15, 2021 21:33:01 GMT -5
Wow I want to be apart of those lionblaze shipping wars. They sound as chaotic yet fun as the forums are now It was a ruthless battle between LionCinder and LionIce to the point where people were getting bullied over it. So many people ended up crackshipping LionPurdy with how ridiculous it was. Lol Somebody please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers LionPurdy because it feels like a fever dream now. Crazy story but LionPurdy was how I first found out that there's a NSFW side of the internet lmao. People had some weird conversations on that site.
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Omnisexual
Fernflower
I forgot how amazing Firestar is
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Post by Fernflower on Nov 15, 2021 21:44:23 GMT -5
I only briefly skimmed this thread but here's my thoughts: I basically only visited the pages about the actual books/characters, I didn't care about off topic or roleplay or anything like that. The Omen of the Stars page was very busy bc that's the book series that was current when I was on. I felt like the people there were questionable sometimes? Cliquey might be the right word? I wasn't a part of any group, I just posted about cats so I felt like I was kind of an outsider. Not everyone was like that though! Actually I still recognize some of the names around here which is really neat The overall vibe was kinda crazy though. People would host "marriages" where you would choose a cat and put in your signature that you were married to them and nobody else could marry them. Also you could only select certain avatars (mostly book covers) and couldn't upload your own. Mine was always a character from the Seekers series. You could only have one avatar typically but through contests you could get more (sometimes with special graphics on them too). There used to be polls and people would make adventure series with them. I remember making one and it was pretty fun. You basically tell a story but let the readers choose certain actions. During the time I was on it was very active. When I first joined the new forums here I was worried about how slow it was compared to the old WCF.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2021 0:28:25 GMT -5
This thread makes me feel like a baby lol. By the sound of it good thing I wasn't old enough to be perusing the old forums
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Cloudstorm
Don’t let it kill you. Even when it hurts like hell.
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Post by Cloudstorm on Nov 16, 2021 0:55:18 GMT -5
This thread makes me feel like a baby lol. By the sound of it good thing I wasn't old enough to be perusing the old forums yeah straight up, they got wild like the way online Gaming lobbies used to be .
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Post by kells on Nov 16, 2021 1:03:23 GMT -5
I didn't frequent the old forums at all, the few times I did peek it looked crazy. A ton of craziness and flaming. It may not be forum specific but some things I remember are:
Firestar and Dovewing were mary-sues
Speaking of mary-sue, calling any character you didn't like a mary-sue was common for some reason
Dove vs Ivy
Lionblaze x Icecloud was a thing for some reason
Foxleap x Ivypool too..?
Daisy was annoying and useless and Ferncloud was just "kit machine"
Spotted x Fire was universally loved
Bluestar's Prophecy was a tragic book that didn't make Bluestar look bad in TPB at all
TPB arc just being called the original series
And BrambleSquirrel vs AshSquirrel
Yeah... lots of people kinda excused Ashfur's actions... a lot... the Erins weren't joking when they called him controversial bc he was
I don't know about anyone else, but finding decent rps were much harder back then
SCOURGE COLLAR COLOR WARS
Most of the time when I peeked a the old forums, it was mainly Fern/Daisy hate
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Aroace
#ffa100
Name Colour
𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Villain Enjoyer
Taking a break from the forums because my cat died. Will probably be back mid to late October.
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Post by 𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 on Nov 16, 2021 11:34:16 GMT -5
Wow I want to be apart of those lionblaze shipping wars. They sound as chaotic yet fun as the forums are now It was a ruthless battle between LionCinder and LionIce to the point where people were getting bullied over it. So many people ended up crackshipping LionPurdy with how ridiculous it was. Lol Somebody please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers LionPurdy because it feels like a fever dream now. I was not online much until 2011 even though my parents were anything but strict when it came to me browsing the internet (there was no child lock installed) but I did see some random LionSol and HollySol stuff floating around one day. Was that ever a thing of discussion on the old forums? I asked a similar question a while ago (at the start of this year) on another thread on here after someone brought it up but no one answered it back then. Lionblaze and Purdy had some nice grandpa/grandson vibe scenes in PoT but them getting shipped out of spite for the LionCinder vs LionIce shipping wars drama is hilarious as well.
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Post by ❅Maplefrost❅ on Nov 16, 2021 13:04:23 GMT -5
Hmmm, I remember being on the previous forums, and when it was shut down I moved here in 2016, back in July. But I went by Phoenix before, and on here I went by Maple. I don't think a lot of people still remember me by Phoenix.
The fandom was much more controversial and aggressive back in the day, IMO, I remember a lot of that toxicity moved onto the forums here for quite a bit, and WG got an awful reputation for it. I've also personally have witness and been involved into a few dramas as well that have happened on both sites. Yeesh.
I think the most annoying conflicts definitely centered around OotS, whether it be character writing, plot inconsistencies, or unnecessary ship wars. It was a battlefield. Ugh, I remember being in a time when SpottedFire and Spottedleaf was popular, Crowfeather had an army of apologist, and the Lion wars scathed the lands.
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Post by Neekwanakwaki (Cloud) on Nov 16, 2021 14:31:49 GMT -5
I joined back in 2012, but kept forgetting my accounts so I had to make several.
I vaguely remember there being a lot of drama, especially people being bullied sometimes. Shipping wars, characters being called useless, Mary-Sues, Gary-Stu's were common.
I didn't like being on the forums much so i mostly lurked instead.
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Post by rabbit on Nov 16, 2021 15:26:03 GMT -5
It was a ruthless battle between LionCinder and LionIce to the point where people were getting bullied over it. So many people ended up crackshipping LionPurdy with how ridiculous it was. Lol Somebody please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers LionPurdy because it feels like a fever dream now. Crazy story but LionPurdy was how I first found out that there's a NSFW side of the internet lmao. People had some weird conversations on that site. oh no I’m sorry you found that side that way. Yuck
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Post by rabbit on Nov 16, 2021 15:31:21 GMT -5
It was a ruthless battle between LionCinder and LionIce to the point where people were getting bullied over it. So many people ended up crackshipping LionPurdy with how ridiculous it was. Lol Somebody please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers LionPurdy because it feels like a fever dream now. I was not online much until 2011 even though my parents were anything but strict when it came to me browsing the internet (there was no child lock installed) but I did see some random LionSol and HollySol stuff floating around one day. Was that ever a thing of discussion on the old forums? I asked a similar question a while ago (at the start of this year) on another thread on here after someone brought it up but no one answered it back then. Lionblaze and Purdy had some nice grandpa/grandson vibe scenes in PoT but them getting shipped out of spite for the LionCinder vs LionIce shipping wars drama is hilarious as well. i don’t remember LionSol but HollySol was something some people shipped. I think most people hated it and thought it was creepy. I felt the same. On a similar note HollyBreeze was also a somewhat popular ship on deviantart before the reveal.
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Aroace
#ffa100
Name Colour
𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Villain Enjoyer
Taking a break from the forums because my cat died. Will probably be back mid to late October.
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Post by 𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 on Nov 16, 2021 15:37:11 GMT -5
I was not online much until 2011 even though my parents were anything but strict when it came to me browsing the internet (there was no child lock installed) but I did see some random LionSol and HollySol stuff floating around one day. Was that ever a thing of discussion on the old forums? I asked a similar question a while ago (at the start of this year) on another thread on here after someone brought it up but no one answered it back then. Lionblaze and Purdy had some nice grandpa/grandson vibe scenes in PoT but them getting shipped out of spite for the LionCinder vs LionIce shipping wars drama is hilarious as well. i don’t remember LionSol but HollySol was something some people shipped. I think most people hated it and thought it was creepy. I felt the same. On a similar note HollyBreeze was also a somewhat popular ship on deviantart before the reveal. I totally get and agree why shipping Sol with any of the Original Three would be creepy. Although the platonic dynamic is still "interesting" seeing as he was trying to manipulate Hollyleaf and Lionblaze into joining/helping him on different occasions. Kind of like with Blackstar. The only problem with shipping Sol with them is the age difference in the former regard and the fact that he just uses cats and is the opposite of healthy in the latter one. And yeah, I remember seeing some old fanart and ideas for Breezepelt with either of the Original Three before the reveal at the end of PoT. Yikes. But what is especially weird is that there are still people who ship him with his half-siblings to this day. Big yikes.
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