Opinions on Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's relationship.
May 28, 2023 7:19:09 GMT -5
Wildbriar likes this
Post by dinofelis on May 28, 2023 7:19:09 GMT -5
This pairing was once very popular among fans of the franchise, but has fallen out in recent years due to their large number of arguments, frequent relationship drama and lack of proper communication. Many now believe it to be abusive or toxic or both.
I personally have mixed feelings about this relationship and how rocky it is. Note, this is just my opinion, and anyone is free to agree or disagree with me if they so choose.
On the one hand, I definitely want to like it. It’s one of the most complex and interesting relationships in the series. I like the idea of them, the offspring of two different cats who were mortal enemies (Firestar and Tigerstar) getting together. At least some of their relationship drama is kind of fun and interesting, the times where they fight side by side are awesome and the tender moments they share are very heartwarming (I particularly liked the manga of Bramblestar’s Storm, the bonus scene of The Apprentice’s Quest, and chapter 4 of Sunset, where they comfort each other, fight well together, and talk through their problems maturely, respectively). I understand it’s important for their relationship to experience ups and downs, and that they can’t agree or get along all the time otherwise they wouldn’t learn anything, and their relationship would get boring and also extraneous (irrelevant) to the story.
On the other hand, I believe that the number of arguments they’ve had is a bit excessive and the way they argue is sometimes over the top. I feel like they don’t learn enough, or arguably anything at all, from their falling outs, because they seem to keep making the same mistakes over and over again (not listening to each other, keeping secrets e.g.) Some of their arguments also seem a bit forced to me and caused by external rather than internal issues. Also, I feel that there aren’t enough tender or bonding moments between them. Furthermore, I think that the authors sometimes (deliberately or not) make Bramblestar act out of character and make him be the harsher and more unreasonable of the two (even though he is a pretty nice and reasonable cat in general) just to make the readers root for Squirrelflight, who by the story team’s own admission is a favorite of theirs. I particularly don’t like how they had him refuse to help the Sister Sunrise, when he’s never outright refused to help a wounded cat before. Also, I believe that Squirrelflight is right too often, and her flaws, mistakes and the sometimes extremely questionable way she treats Bramblestar are nearly always downplayed or condoned by the narrative. I particularly dislike how she never apologized for how she treated Brambleclaw just because he befriended Hawkfrost; snapping at him, breaking up with him, accusing him of being disloyal before he had actually done anything disloyal e.g.)
I don't want them to break up, but I feel their relationship definitely could've been done better, and they shouldn't argue as much as they do.
So what do you think?
I personally have mixed feelings about this relationship and how rocky it is. Note, this is just my opinion, and anyone is free to agree or disagree with me if they so choose.
On the one hand, I definitely want to like it. It’s one of the most complex and interesting relationships in the series. I like the idea of them, the offspring of two different cats who were mortal enemies (Firestar and Tigerstar) getting together. At least some of their relationship drama is kind of fun and interesting, the times where they fight side by side are awesome and the tender moments they share are very heartwarming (I particularly liked the manga of Bramblestar’s Storm, the bonus scene of The Apprentice’s Quest, and chapter 4 of Sunset, where they comfort each other, fight well together, and talk through their problems maturely, respectively). I understand it’s important for their relationship to experience ups and downs, and that they can’t agree or get along all the time otherwise they wouldn’t learn anything, and their relationship would get boring and also extraneous (irrelevant) to the story.
On the other hand, I believe that the number of arguments they’ve had is a bit excessive and the way they argue is sometimes over the top. I feel like they don’t learn enough, or arguably anything at all, from their falling outs, because they seem to keep making the same mistakes over and over again (not listening to each other, keeping secrets e.g.) Some of their arguments also seem a bit forced to me and caused by external rather than internal issues. Also, I feel that there aren’t enough tender or bonding moments between them. Furthermore, I think that the authors sometimes (deliberately or not) make Bramblestar act out of character and make him be the harsher and more unreasonable of the two (even though he is a pretty nice and reasonable cat in general) just to make the readers root for Squirrelflight, who by the story team’s own admission is a favorite of theirs. I particularly don’t like how they had him refuse to help the Sister Sunrise, when he’s never outright refused to help a wounded cat before. Also, I believe that Squirrelflight is right too often, and her flaws, mistakes and the sometimes extremely questionable way she treats Bramblestar are nearly always downplayed or condoned by the narrative. I particularly dislike how she never apologized for how she treated Brambleclaw just because he befriended Hawkfrost; snapping at him, breaking up with him, accusing him of being disloyal before he had actually done anything disloyal e.g.)
I don't want them to break up, but I feel their relationship definitely could've been done better, and they shouldn't argue as much as they do.
So what do you think?