Aaaaaaaaaay! Beeeeeee! Ceeeeeeeee! Shreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm back, baby! Didja miss me? Cuz I missed you! How's it been? How's 2016 been treating you?

I've noticed that there have been several stories made with some heavy inspiration taken from this story right here. I'm fine with other information-giving crazy-cat talk shows, but I would appreciate you guys at least giving me a heads-up before publishing stories inspired by WGTWF in the future.

I'll add a Story Spotlight here as soon as I can read through some fanfictions (dunno what's still active since I lasted posted a chapter).

In the meantime, Reviewing the Reviews!

Featherfall's Lullaby: Since I am a merciful benefactor, yes, you may have a cookie. -offers- Thank you for the compliment!

Keeper of the Starry Night: FirexGray is destined to be . . . A THING? Yes, I think so.

Amberfoots Warriors wizard: I'm glad you found it useful!

ShadmetheAngel: Eh, there was enough newness that I didn't mind the retread.

Rosymist: I actually do have a couple episodes planned that would focus on making good characters! :)

Rivermoon: The Aspen's Screech is a pretty neat story. However, the purpose of the Story Spotlight is to give attention to stories that don't have a lot of reviews. Since The Aspen's Screech already has a lot of reviews, it doesn't qualify for the SS.

Shadowman: Oh my, that's a lot of reviews. x3 Lessee . . . I probably wouldn't have a cameo from a character outside of the Warriors fandom. However, I could add some velociraptors and lightsabers in future episodes! I might also do a chapter on Human-Warrior stories in the future, after this current series of episodes is complete!

Thank you guys so much for 100 reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and approving of the information I've compiled in here! Today's episode isn't one of the more humorous ones, but it is definitely more info-centric. I hope you enjoy!

Episode Nine (Nein!): Plotting the End of the World

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"Hey, what's up, viewers?" Honeyshine said, waving at the camera. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry 'bout that! But hey, to make up for the absence, we've got a special announcement! Previously, we just made episodes on the fly, with whatever subject material we thought was the most fun, or the easiest to talk about. However, some of our previous episodes aren't all that helpful to the majority of writers, so we decided to switch up our gameplan. Now, we're giving you a step by step process to making a Warriors story! Here is the line-up for future episodes:"

1. Plot (today's episode!) - the events that occur in your story!

2. Main Characters - the characters the story is about!

3. Evil - making realistic/interesting antagonists!

4. Background Characters - how to make lesser characters (get rid of those pesky OCs Needed!)

5. The First Chapter/Prologue - how to draw readers in!

6. Conflict - writing good battles, and making struggles within your story interesting!

7. Romance - how to write good and realistic romances!

8. ? - maybe more?

9. Conclusion - how to wrap your story up!

"You like? We hope so? Leave suggestions for relevant episodes in your reviews! After we reach the chapter about Conclusion, we will return to our usual hectic nature."

Smokepaw stood up, and smoothed down his mottled black and gray chest fur. "While we are doing these episodes, we will be developing an 'example story.' For example, in today's episode, we will be coming up with a hypothetical plot! By the time we reach the Conclusion episode, we'll have a complete storyline on our paws, er, hands."

Honeyshine nodded. "Alrightee then, let's kick-off today's episode, which is about coming up with a plot! Fell?"

The tiny white kit, wearing her beloved Master Collection Dark Forest Robes, presented a white card with the word "Brainstorm" written on it in embossed gold letters.

1. Brainstorm

"While it may seem obvious," Fell chirped. "In order to have a story you have to come up with an idea!"

Badgerkit, who sat on a stool next to the whiteboard, began to write on it. "Okay, so I thought of something! What if we write a story about a character who tries to fight their destiny?"

"Ugh," Smokepaw said. "Haven't we seen enough of that kind of story already?"

Badgerkit pouted, but Fell perked up. "But, what if this cat lives in a clan that is super superstitious? Like, they're always looking for signs from the dead to determine their fate!"

Honeyshine nodded. "Now, that sounds interesting!"

"Oh, and this cat got an omen that they're destined to something horrible, or something!" Badgerkit said, standing up on his stool.

"Oooo, what if they tried to destroy the evidence of them getting this omen, or they ran away?" Smokepaw asked. He perched earnestly on the edge of his seat. "What if they were trying to investigate the truth, and one of the higher-ups planted the omen so the clan would turn against them?"

"Ooh! Ooh! What if the whole omen thing is a generations-long ruse by the leaders or medicine cats?" Fell said, bouncing excitedly.

Honeyshine grinned. "These all sound great!" She pointed a paw at Badgerkit. "Write it down!" The kit nodded and began to scribble furiously on the whiteboard.

"Next card!" The gold and white she-cat shouted, pointing at Fell. The white cat presented a card that said, "Find a Conflict."

2. Find a Conflict

"Now that we've come up with a cool idea, we need to hone a base conflict for our story!"

"Cat vs. Destiny!" Fell shouted. "Yeah, I paid attention in school!"

"Bingo," Honeyshine said, pointing her trusty Pointy Stick of Pointing at the kit. "10 Points to Slytherin!"

"Woot!"

"Hey, how come I never get any points?" Badgerkit protested.

"Because you're in Hufflepuff, and nobody cares about Hufflepuff."

"Poo."

"Aaaaaanyways," Honeyshine said, grasping The Stick. "Like Fell said, our cat-tagonist is struggling with the concept that they have no say in their fate. They're a rebel. Which means there's probably some Cat vs. Society sprinkled in there, too."

"In conclusion," Smokepaw said. "Blahblah is a cat living in BlahClan. BlahClan is obsessed with destiny, and sees prophecy in everything. They're really superstitious, and when a bad omen about Blahblah is revealed, they grow wary of them. Blahblah struggles with their destiny, and their clan members, yada yada."

"Writing it down," Badgerkit said, covering the whiteboard in black.

Fell held up her third card.

3. Determine a Sequence of Events

"We've got a conflict, now we determine the exposition, rising action, climax, and aftermath!" Honeyshine said.

"Should we go the usual route, with the story following the character as a kit, apprentice, then warrior?" Smokepaw asked.

"Well, if we're going to start at kithood, there should be a valid reason. Maybe she or he sees the medicine cat find an omen or something?" Honeyshine said.

"Oh, what if we start with a birth scene, and the medicine cat pops in to say that the protagonist is going to be special, or whatever?" Badgerkit asked.

Smokepaw shook his head. "Nah, that would be too cliche. How about the prologue is about the protagonist at some future point seeing their life literally flash before their eyes?"

"We can worry about the prologue later, if it's going to be out of sequence," Honeyshine said with a dismissive wave of her paw. "It would be easier if we focused on creating a linear sequence of events.

"Alright, so maybe we should start with the character being an apprentice, just because kit chapters seem to be unnecessary filler," Smokepaw said. "The first few chapters or so would provide information about the clan to the reader, and what makes that clan different. Perhaps, the main character is a loner, who doesn't fit in well with the other apprentices, making them more susceptible to being turned against by the clan."

"Ooooooor, what if they're actually really popular because they got a good omen at birth or something?" Fell chirped.

Smokepaw shook his head. "The story is about the character struggling with a destiny they don't want, so that doesn't make any sense. Perhaps, we should give some backstory to the character. Maybe one of their parents was a bad cat, and that's their 'bad omen.' Like parent, like kit, you get what I'm saying?"

"It could make sense," Fell argued. "Maybe they don't want to have the 'good' destiny dealt to them, or after being so popular for so long, receiving a bad omen is what causes them to backslide."

"Both of your ideas are interesting," Honeyshine said. "And both provide good motivations for the character to struggle with their destiny. However, we should probably consider what kind of message we want to send to the reader."

"That you can overcome strife if you persevere," Smokepaw mewed.

"That spoiled people get what's coming to them," Fell said.

Honeyshine frowned, pondering both of them. Suddenly, Badgerkit sprang up on his chair. "What if we used both?"

"Oh, good idea, Badgerkit! Perhaps, we can have two protagonists; one well-received character eventually has their life fall apart, and another scorned character desperately trying to change the system. Maybe, they are friends of sorts who eventually rise up against the rest of the Clan and free everyone from their superstition!"

"Auuuuuugh, what is this rush of joy and excitement?" Fell said.

"It's called inspiration. Enjoy it while it lasts," Smokepaw said, patting the kit on the shoulder.

"Alright, alright, quick, Badgerkit, let me at the marker before the feeling's gone!" Fell began to eagerly scribble something on the board.

There was a brief silence, and then- "Fell, what in the world are you drawing?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a forest burning, and cats running in terror while our main characters look on triumphantly!"

Honeyshine put a paw to her forehead.

"Give me that!" Smokepaw hissed, snatching the marker out of Fell's paws.

"Hey!" The white kit protested, but Smokepaw ignored her. The tom wiped away her crudely drawn stick figures, and began writing down a sequence of events.

1. Main Character (Omen) is typical apprentice in Clan / Supporting Character (Gold) is the well-loved daughter of Clan leader. Both are friends. Clan is in good mood; spirits seem pleased with them.

2. Omen does poorly in hunting and fighting, and is teased by the other apprentices. Omen feels disillusioned about future as warrior. / Gold is a promising apprentice, and discovers an omen showing two forces fighting, one of them being a shower of golden light. She tells Omen about it, excited about being a future hero. Omen tries to feel happy for her.

3. Omen runs off into the woods, determined to hunt for herself, and accidentally stumbles upon a strange cat. The stranger flees.

4. A disease starts spreading among the clan, and the medicine cat takes a group including Omen. During a huge storm, Omen is separated from the group. She is found and revived by a group of rogues, one of which Omen recognizes as the stranger they saw earlier. She is wary of them, and sneaks out while they are sleeping, but is surprised they helped her.

6. Omen returns to the clan, and is welcomed with surprise. Some of the elders mutter about Omen not being destined to return, and as a result, will incur the spirits' wrath.

7. The Clan hunts for a cat to sacrifice to the spirits in thanks for finding the cure, and the rogue that is caught is recognized by Omen as one of the ones that helped her. She sneaks the rogue out in the middle of the night, but is spotted by a clan cat.

8. That first stranger (let's call them Watcher) sneaks over to Omen while she's hunting to thank her for bringing back the rogue. Omen, curious about the rogues, begins meeting up with Watcher more frequently. She learns more about the life of those not obsessed with interpreting omens and following destiny.

9. Omen, Gold, and others become warriors. Special ceremony happens where medicine cat interprets an omen for each warrior. For Omen, the medicine cat speaks about a traitorous decision and a bloody death. Gold meanwhile, gushes about her future as a mother of beautiful kits, and a hero in a great battle.

10. Omen warns Watcher about the fact the Clan may discover them. Watcher agrees to stay away. Omen starts to be plagued by dreams full of shadowy cats chasing her through dark forests. / Gold and the tom she liked become mates. / Omen spots one of the rogues (Wander) with another clan cat (Bird). Omen discovers an omen in the medicine cat's den; a bloody bird with deep claw marks in it

11. Bird is found dead, with a strange cat's scent on them. The Clan suspects it's a group of rogues. Patrols increase, and Gold starts talking about her omen again. Omen's dreams worsen.

12. Omen wakes up in the middle of the night to see a shadowy cat in the clearing. She stays still, and when they leave, she finds an "omen" left by the cat shows an animal covered in blood that is related to her name. Quickly, she takes the animal and dumps it outside camp.

13. Wander is captured by one of the patrols, and determined to be Bird's killer. The leader takes the opportunity to determine if there are any other rogues, stating that the clan needs to rid themselves of these malevolent cats. Wander reveals the rogues' location in an effort to save her life, but is killed anyway. The clan prepares for war.

14. Omen struggles between her concern for the rogues and the horrible fate she'll face if she helps them. In the meantime, she tries to keep her head down. Gold is informed that she is pregnant by the medicine cat.

15. Omen is on a patrol when Watcher is spotted. He'd come to try and rescue Wander, and has brought several of the other rogues. A fight breaks out, and Watcher is pinned down. Before he can be killed, Omen tackles the other warrior and ends up killing him. It's out of the other cats' sight, though, so no one else (supposedly) saw Omen's actions. She tells Watcher that Wander is dead, the clan is preparing to kill them all, and the rogues retreat.

16. When the day of the raid arrives, the rogues' camp is abandoned, and the clan suspects a traitor. Omen is relieved that the rogues escaped.

17. Gold delivers her kits, one being a stillborn lookalike of Gold. Rumors spread about bad omens.

18. Omen sneaks out at night to investigate a strange noise, and spies the clan leader and another cat talking. / Later that same cat (Merc) ambushes Omen while she's alone, and tries to kill her. Omen gets the upper hand, and demands to know who they are. They tell her that they are in a business relationship with the leader and the medicine cat. He gets the stuff they use for constructing fake omens, and carried out the murders that were later pinned on diseases or the rogues. He was going to kill Omen for being a traitor to the clan. Omen kills him and hides his body.

19. Omen knows she must flee, but decides to warn her friend Gold that some of the omens are a ruse by the leaders. However, when she gets back, she discovers that the whole clan is up; Merc had dragged Gold's kits out of the nursery, and murdered them. Considering Omen was still covered in Merc's blood, she is accused of being jealous of Gold, and killing her kits. The leader informs the clan that Omen was also the one who helped the rogues on multiple occasions, and they all launch themselves at her.

20. Omen flees, and eventually is caught and pinned down by Gold. She pleads for her life, explaining that she was framed, and that the rogues never did anything wrong. Gold doesn't believe her, but Omen overpowers her and runs away.

21. Omen reunites with the rogues. / Gold find herself an outcast in her own clan, and feels broken after the deaths of her kits.

22. Omen is visited by an ancient spirit from "StarClan," urging her to liberate her Clan from their tyranny. Omen agrees after some hesitation. She rallies the rogues, asking them to help her.

23. Climatic battle truth is revealed yada yada. Gold's omen comes true when she turns against her father, and those who don't join the rogues flee or die. Closes with Omen giving a monologue about how freedom is better than knowing one's destiny.

"Aaaaaaand done!" Smokepaw said triumphantly. The others gaped at him.

"Wow, that is really tiny font," Honeyshine said, pulling out a pair of binoculars.

"No, it isn't! It's the same font size as everything else!"

"Shhhh, don't break the fourth wall."

"But I wasn't-and you just-oh whatever."

Honeyshine frowned. "This is all fine and dandy, but you just copied this off of something that took hours for GP to come up with. We want to be able to coach people through creating a plot, not just writing an example one down."

"You know what this means," Smokepaw said with a sigh.

"Yes," Honeyshine said grimly.

"It's time to pull out some letters!" Fell cheered. She began to write on the back of the card.

3a. Write Down the Main Problem and Resolution

Badgerkit scribbled down, "The clan is being controlled using fake omens made by the leader and medicine cat. The protagonist reveals this to the clan, and they turn against their leader."

3b. Add Other Problems

Badgerkit craned his neck at Smokepaw's resolution of the plot, and wrote down various things, including Omen's Lack of Popularity (resolved by her acceptance by the rogues), Disease (resolved by cure), Rogues About to Get Attacked (resolved by Omen warning them), Omen's Persecution (resolved by her running away, and then revealing the truth).

3c. Refine

"After writing down a sequence of events, feel free to edit and such. The plot we used as an example was edited a lot; we changed things like Gold's and Omen's relationship, the order that events occurred, and what happened to certain characters," Honeyshine said.

4. Fix Plot Holes

"Inevitably, some of the plots you'll come up with will have details that seem contradictory. For example, not all the omens in our example could possibly have been constructed by the leader and medicine cat. How were they able to predict the battle between the rogues and the warriors? Why would the leader allow Merc to kill Gold's kits, just to get rid of one traitorous cat? What was the origin of Omen's dreams? Why would the Clan treat Gold as an outcast just because her kits got murdered? Why didn't the leader and medicine cat have Omen killed right away when they discovered she had been meeting with one of the rogues?" Honeyshine ticked off all of the plot holes on each of her toes.

"It's important to recognize plot holes, and then fix them. That's why you ought to determine a sequence of events before writing your story. Too often, people end up quitting on stories because on paper/screen, they turned out differently than they expected them to. You're never going to get a story exactly perfect the first time you write it, so you might as well patch things up before they become a huge problem."

Fell pulled out a list from beneath her robes. "Here are some examples of things that create plot holes:"

a. Fourth-Wall Breakers

"Have you ever watched a horror movie where a jump-scare happens to spook the audience, but doesn't really make any logical sense within the context of the story? Like, for example, a monster lunging at the screen when there's technically nothing there for it to scare. That's what's called a fourth-wall breaker. Not all fourth-wall breaks are plot holes; some are used effectively for comedy.

"An example of a problematic fourth wall breaker is when Omen discovers a torn-up bird in the medicine cat's den. From a writer's point of view, it's there to give information to the audience, specifically a heads-up to Bird's death, but when it's revealed the omen was fake, that information-giving device no longer makes any sense. Why would the medicine cat go to the trouble of bloodying up a bird, when he never ends up doing anything with it? Perhaps, he was going to put it somewhere to serve as a warning to Bird, but we never get to see that, only Omen accidentally coming across it."

b. Contradictory Information

"In the beginning of the story, it's established that the Clan relies on omens to determine its future. So, when it's revealed these omens are actually fake, a lot of things are put up to question. How were the cats making omens able to predict the future so accurately? Why was it that some of these omens mentioned in the story physically impossible for those cats to create (e.g. Omen's dreams, Gold's "shower of light)? It's important if you're incorporating plot twists later on in your story that contradicts previous information, to justify the new information without creating any plot holes.

"These next two kinda go along with contradictory information," Fell mewed.

c. Shaky World-Building

"This isn't usually a problem in fanfiction, since you're writing stories within an established setting with its own set of rules and expectation, but in this particular case, we were creating a story about a Clan with a different lifestyle than that of the warriors found in Erin Hunter's books. If you ever find yourself needing to create new rules, and information, you should make sure that everything makes sense, and is coherent."

d. Plot Twists

"Building on what I said earlier, plot twists should be implemented without creating any contradictory information, or additional plot-holes."

Fell reached for the next card, and frowned when she failed to grab one. "Um, I think that's it."

"Great!" Honeyshine mewed. She turned towards the camera. "I think that concludes today's episode, then! Make sure to tune in next time, for our discussion on Protag-"

"Wait!" Fell shouted. She stumbled over to Honeyshine, and in her eagerness, tripped over robes. "We never actually got around to plotting the end of the world!" The poor kit seemed despondent, craning her head up from under her hood.

"Oh, well that's easy!" Honeyshine said, waving the kit off with a paw. In classic Honeyshine-fashion, the gold and white she-cat pulled a remote from out of nowhere. This one, unlike her myriad of other remotes, had only a single, shiny, dangerously irresistible red button. Fell eyed it curiously.

"See, what you do is make a red button, and tell people not to press it," Honeyshine explained. "And because people are dumb, they go ahead and press it anyway."

Fell scratched her head. "How does that make the world end?"

"Didn't you just hear me say this was a red button? Red buttons were made for only one purpose; ending worlds!"

"I wish coming up with plots was as easy as making the world go 'boom'," Fell said with a sigh.

Honeyshine nodded solemnly. "It is a sad, twisted world we live in, young one. A sad world, indeed. Now . . . who wants to press a button!"

"I do!" Everyone chorused.

Woo, another chapter down! Coming up with that plot took forever! Sorry you guys had to wait so long for this one, I hope it was worth your while! Until next time!

-froths incoherently at the mouth-