Let's Read: Warrior Cats Series

[.kestral]

Okay so that's 14 and 15.
I hope to have the main thread up tonight, but I do have work. Everyone feel free to start chatting on the dicscussion thread.

If anyone else wants to join they are welcome to PM me and I will see if I can fit you in.

[bronzebones]

bumpbumpbump

[Arcaii]

Hey everyone! Been a while, eh?

So this thread is super dead, I know. However, there may be something coming soon that is also Warriors-related. We'll just have to see.

[The Lion Queen]

hi arcaii!

Oh, I was just wondering, what are your thoughts on Bluestar? Personally, I really, really dislike her

[Arcaii]

Howdy!

Bluestar, I think, is a tragic case of an interesting character being written by an incompetent author. Here you have a stern, respected leader of one of the mightiest groups in the country, but behind that direct and fair mask, there's a very tired and stressed person who life has been throwing curve balls at. She's lost nearly everyone she loves very quickly and closely to each other due to unexpected, preventable tragedies (which is stressful for even an experienced warrior), she's had to give up her children in the name of her Clan, and to top it off, some of the cats she trusted the most were out for her blood.

I can totally see what the Hunters were going for with her, but they failed spectacularly. Instead of making her a sympathetic, sad character, they made her into a complete sociopath and a hypocritical whiner. She throws a fit because her sister dates someone she doesn't like (who didn't do anything but be a jerk to her) and then has a one-night-stand with an outsider. She sends the resulting kits out into the snow and actually gets one killed because she's so desperate to become leader before Thistleclaw does, when there's no reason she couldn't have proved herself with her kits there. She throws herself down and bawls for weeks whenever someone she likes dies, when that is an expected part of warrior life. She appoints deputies who are either completely useless or obviously a bad choice due to her own bias. She spent a majority of her adulthood trying to forcibly separate a father and son who are coping with the loss of their mate/mother (and it was never once implied that Thistleclaw was a bad father). She lies, cheats and manipulates her way to the top, completely apathetic to how she affects everyone else.

She's a mess, plain and simple. I could go on, but someone else has done a much better discussion of the situation than myself. Warning for swearing.

[The Lion Queen]

Howdy!

Bluestar, I think, is a tragic case of an interesting character being written by an incompetent author. Here you have a stern, respected leader of one of the mightiest groups in the country, but behind that direct and fair mask, there's a very tired and stressed person who life has been throwing curve balls at. She's lost nearly everyone she loves very quickly and closely to each other due to unexpected, preventable tragedies (which is stressful for even an experienced warrior), she's had to give up her children in the name of her Clan, and to top it off, some of the cats she trusted the most were out for her blood.

I can totally see what the Hunters were going for with her, but they failed spectacularly. Instead of making her a sympathetic, sad character, they made her into a complete sociopath and a hypocritical whiner. She throws a fit because her sister dates someone she doesn't like (who didn't do anything but be a jerk to her) and then has a one-night-stand with an outsider. She sends the resulting kits out into the snow and actually gets one killed because she's so desperate to become leader before Thistleclaw does, when there's no reason she couldn't have proved herself with her kits there. She throws herself down and bawls for weeks whenever someone she likes dies, when that is an expected part of warrior life. She appoints deputies who are either completely useless or obviously a bad choice due to her own bias. She spent a majority of her adulthood trying to forcibly separate a father and son who are coping with the loss of their mate/mother (and it was never once implied that Thistleclaw was a bad father). She lies, cheats and manipulates her way to the top, completely apathetic to how she affects everyone else.

She's a mess, plain and simple. I could go on, but someone else has done a much better discussion of the situation than myself. Warning for swearing.

I read that post, and I agree with it entirely. Bluestar is probably the best example [besides Hollyleaf] of a character in Warriors that had marvelous potential, but the erins then proceeded to step all over them. The difference is that Hollyleaf didn't become an horrible, horrible person as a result of this screw-up while Bluestar did, Bluestar is just plain a bad person, from her treatment of Snowfur when Thistleclaw was her mate, to how much of a freaking hypocrite she is, to her relationship with thistleclaw in general and the fact that she pretty much killed her own kit


Yeah, if you can't tell, I hate Bluestar

[Arcaii]

You've got all the right in the world to, my friend. The Hunters aren't exactly skilled at making sympathetic characters.

I mean, there's a lot of different cats who ended up screwed over to be unsympathetic or just plain stupid. Off the top of my head (and keeping in mind that I haven't read the books past the first series in ages), Ashfur, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Feathertail, Crowfeather, Leafpool, Graystripe, Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw, Yellowfang, Brokenstar, and Scourge were utterly wasted in potential.

[The Lion Queen]

You've got all the right in the world to, my friend. The Hunters aren't exactly skilled at making sympathetic characters.

I mean, there's a lot of different cats who ended up screwed over to be unsympathetic or just plain stupid. Off the top of my head (and keeping in mind that I haven't read the books past the first series in ages), Ashfur, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Feathertail, Crowfeather, Leafpool, Graystripe, Ravenpaw, Tigerclaw, Yellowfang, Brokenstar, and Scourge were utterly wasted in potential.

Yep, pretty much

Hell, even YELLOWFANG, as awesome as she is, got really annoying later on in the series. WHY do the Hunters insist on making there characters unlikable???!!!!!!

And don't even get me STARTED on LeafxCrow. Honestly, when I first read TNP at age 10, there were four characters I liked and could relate to. They were Squirrelflight, Leafpool, Crowfeather, and Mothwing. THEN LeafXCrow happened, and that list shortened to just Squirrelflight and Mothwing. I hated that pairing even when I was a starry-eyed 10 year old, so that's saying something

[Arcaii]

I feel like Crowfeather was only added because they needed a cat from WindClan. He was entirely useless and only there for love triangles which added nothing to the story. TNP could have been really excellent if they had gotten a cast of character who were, y'know, likable, but they were either boring or irritating.

[The Lion Queen]

I feel like Crowfeather was only added because they needed a cat from WindClan. He was entirely useless and only there for love triangles which added nothing to the story. TNP could have been really excellent if they had gotten a cast of character who were, y'know, likable, but they were either boring or irritating.

]

EXACTLY.

And don't even get me STARTED on Ashfur. Dear god, I hate him. I hate too how the fandom tries to justify all the stuff he did with "Squirrelflight led him on!" Putting aside the fact that the erins said that squirrelflight never tried to lead him on, just THINK about the unfortunate implications of that statement for a minute. Say it out loud if you have to.

Also, here's something that's always bugged me about the series: the fact that EVERY SINGLE TIME a molly has kits, her personality does a complete 180 degree change to be all motherly and nice and sweet or whatever. Its especially jarring when the molly in question's personality was some sort of badly written attempt at being "spunky" [I.E. Sandstorm and Squirrelflight] Its been bothering me for years.