I Don't Like Fireheart X Sandstorm Because Fireheart Is Always Juxtaposed To Sandstorm In A Way That

reblogging my own post to tack on this "additional" commentary.

whenever questions of the worst wc character come up, i can't really understand the fact that darkstripe has genuine vitriolic haters that think he's one of the worst characters in the series. like obviously morality holds some stake in character preference, and i can also understand why people hate on him in a jokey way because canon keeps putting him in a position where he's easy to point and laugh at and he's given very little on-page sympathy or reasoning unlike other antagonists, but, like. darkstripe? he serves his narrative role well, he's got room for intrigue and headcanons, he can be at least funny or endearingly pathetic if you don't want to do that, and he's still not nearly the most morally reprehensible character in the series even though he tries to poison a child/potentially his little sister depending on how much parentage retcons you buy into, so like idk what you people even want from him

Do we fw my utau design??

There's something so special about Mapleshade's Vengeance that I don't see in the other books, namely, the attention to detail in the names of the characters.

Mapleshade's name, of course, is meant to be conceptually similar to Reedshine, and Appledusk. But, the names of Mapleshade's three kits also have similarities to the cats around her.

Petalkit shares a similar name scheme to Mapleshade's mentor, Bloomheart, and more importantly, Flowerpaw.

And ironically, Mapleshade foreshadows her own future here when she and Frecklewish reflect on Birchface, and Flowerpaw's deaths— Symbolizing the cyclical nature of vegeance.

Larchkit, obviously, is named after a tree, as is Birchface and Oakstar. Of note, however, is that a birch tree, and an oak tree are both hardwood trees, while a larch is a softwood tree, bearing needles rather than leaves.

Symbolizing, of course, that he is not a "true" ThunderClan cat.

Patchkit might seem to initially bear similarities to Frecklewish, namely that he has a 'patched' coat, and hers is 'freckled'—

But, you'd be mistaken, because Patchkit is both the last kit Mapleshade rescues, by killing their father, Appledusk.

Is the least resemblant of his father, Appledusk.

—And is the kit that most closely resembles Mapleshade.

Patchkit, unlike the other two kits, symbolizes Mapleshade, herself.

I'm just so taken aback.

It's like learning that someone compares the experiences of deaf children to Snowkit, as the correct context in which we should read his story.

And not, as a cat, being born with a defect that inhibits your ability to do the thing you were bred for— which is to contribute to a society that values rearing as many children as possible specifically to have soldiers to defend their territory, resources, and colony with.

Purposefully anthromorphisizing and decontextualizing the characters from the worldbuilding and context they were originally viewed in, in order to make an issue out of nothing is just— baffling to me.

Even with Snowkit, Brackenfur and Speckletail's messaging is not— Snowkit is a valuable member of our Clan, whether or not he can hear— It's 'I can personally train him to be a soldier so he can fulfill his societal role in ThunderClan'.

The cats of ThunderClan are at war. They are fighting not to starve, not to die.

Why would you remove the context of them being cats?

I see this a lot, so I want to say something about it. You don't need to add a disclaimer onto your opinions regarding antagonists.

When you say, "I like Tigerstar, even though he's xenophobic, and a facist,"

Try this instead, "I like Tigerstar," Then, list what you liked about him.

I know there are a ton of Holly fans in the fandom, but I honestly think Jaypaw's pov was the most interesting out of the sibling povs in Power of Three.

Holly is this sweet, kind-hearted cat whose very sincere intentions get her into trouble, Lion is beating the shit out of Ashfur in what is the most heel-turn, dramatic irony mentor-apprentice dynamic possible, and also bumming around with Heatherpaw and Breezepaw—

—and Jaypaw is just pulling quantam mechanic time-travel shit, and playing investigator throughout the whole arc and it's just such good writing. He was such a meddler, and his relationship with Leafpool was such a rug pull once you learn the twist.

Probably my favorite arc just because of how condensed it is, I went back and read it twice after I finished it just to pick up on all the foreshadowing. It's so good.

This thread on Reddit about StarClan no longer being mysterious is so good!!

Heads up guys I might change my url / layout. But, if you're wondering who this is, it's still t46006476.

I really hope the graphic novels continue to cut out all the unecessary bloat and plot contrivances left over from the original series.

For example, Fireheart saves Bramblekit from the fire, in the graphic novel, without hesitation— which is so refreshing.

I disliked that entire b-plot in the first arc where he's menaced by Tigerkit's oh-so-scary, 'amber eyes'— because it made zero sense, came out of nowhere, and was also, very dumb.

And while I'm sure Bramblekit will face some prejudice in the next graphic novel, with how well they've handled Cloudpaw and Cinderpelt, I think they'll manage to make it work.