Post by Basement Cat on Aug 3, 2016 11:15:51 GMT -5
I hate Millie. Allow me to explain why.
First of all, I don't care if she looks like Silverstream. I don't care she kept her name. None of that bothers me, and is irrelevant to this topic. I wish to immediately get that out of the way before I continue.
I hate Millie for being a neglectful parent.
"But BC, yelling at her daughter once isn't neglectful! She was breaking the rules anyways by entering the tunnels!"
Let us define abuse, as used by the Department of Human Services.
"Abused Child means a child whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, whether legally obligated to do so or not, has caused or allowed to be caused upon said child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, non-accidental physical injury or other maltreatment."
After Millie yelled at Blossomfall, Hazeltail went over to Blossomfall and told Millie that Blossomfall may be hurt. Millie ignored her and went to go check on Briarlight. By ignoring her daughter, she was neglecting her health, which is a form of abuse. Not to mention the emotional damage it would cause.
"But BC, Blossomfall was a fully grown adult in cat years! She should have known better."
Well, let us check how many moons Blossomfall was in SotM. She is 4 moons older than Ivypool and Dovewing, and they are both 54 moons currently. Blossomfall is currently 58 moons.
In SotM, Ivypool and Dovewing were both 14 moons, which would make Blossomfall 18 moons. If you were to calculate her age on a cat to human calculator, you would get 1.5, or about 17 human years. Considering the characters behave like humans, this means Blossomfall would be considered a teenager. Teenagers are still dependent of their parents.
"But BC, Millie only did this ONCE. This doesn't mean she is a bad parent."
This isn't the only case. Bumblestripe tried to get Briarlight out of camp for some fresh air, then they were attacked by dogs, and Cinderheart and Lionblaze had to help. Bumblestripe was worried about his mother finding out, and Cinderheart told him not to let her find out. Bumblestripe was afraid to tell his own mother, his FAMILY. Not to mention, Millie is rarely seen interacting with her other kits after Briarlight was paralyzed.
"But BC, Briarlight was PARALYZED FOR LIFE. It is natural for a mother to be worried and focus so much attention on her."
Too much attention isn't a good thing. Millie didn't support Briarlight, she smothered her. She even told Jayfeather that maybe the best thing would be for Briarlight to just go to StarClan as she didn't want to see her in pain. That is wishing for your daughter to be killed. That is not something a loving parent does. Frankly, that is sickening.
"But Briarlight IS suffering."
Does that mean to give up? Should they stop trying and just let her die? Jayfeather wouldn't be able to let himself do that without doing everything he could for his patient. Death is the final solution a doctor should come to. And even then, it isn't a solution, it is the last possible option. Briarlight HAS options. For Millie to say death would be better is terrible.
"Millie does everything she can for Briarlight!"
Millie is not the medicine cat. Millie should not go bother Jayfeather to magically fix things. That isn't going to help him, and that isn't going to help Briarlight. What Millie needs to do is be there for her daughter. She needs to support her, give her the space she needs, and unite the family in such a difficult time. Instead, she barely pays attention to the other two, smothers Briarlight and tries to control where she can go, and yells at other cats when they can't fix things. She'll blame Bramblestar if Briarlight dies. She'll blame Jayfeather if Briarlight dies. This does not help Briarlight. This causes extreme distress, to the point of suicidal thoughts.
"But BC, every character handles grief differently."
What Millie has done is not helpful or productive. Yelling and screaming to fix things won't actually fix things. Ignoring your other kits while in such a time is wrong to do as well.
These are the reasons I hate Millie so much. It isn't her name, or if she is a replacement or not. It is because she is the prime example of how NOT to deal with things, causing the characters around her, including Briarlight, more problems than they need.
