Post by Deleted on May 10, 2018 18:26:01 GMT -5
For the cats' father to generally be unknown or not around- or at least, with background characters?
Bluestar stated somewhere in the original series that no one was suspicious that she didn't want to openly say who the father was of her kits, because it was common culture back then to just, ya know, not say or at least no pry. It's up to us why this was, maybe it was because it was considered personal, maybe to hide the fact of the small genetic pool, or maybe because mates weren't always super loyal and it was rather common to have multiple ones. I'd probably guess the last one- cause I mean it makes sense, if you want a strong, united clan, you can't have a bunch of cats fighting over affairs.
It was also common for dads to just kinda not be around. Firestar was around Lionheart, Whitestorm, and even Runningwind all the time yet none of them mentioned being a father, even though there were plenty of kits in the nursery and some of them could have been theirs. Even Lionheart, who we all want to be Frostfur's mate, simply introduced Firestar to the nursery with an unbiased "this is where the queens take care of their kits". No mention of his own family. Darkstripe was... well... Darkstripe, so no surprise there, but there was no hint at all about who was the father, of any of those litters, in Into the Wild, even though it had to be one of them.
But what if it was still rather taboo or common to just not know? What if they still had the culture of dads not being around? Would it be better for the series? Worse? Would it make any difference, or would we find out anyway? I mean, it's kinda interesting to think about. What if Spiderleg was just, Spiderleg, not Dustpelt's son. In fact, what if, due to the number of litters Ferncloud had, that we theorized that they all had different fathers? What if people actually thought Ashfur could be Dove and Ivy's father cause Birchfall was never around and never confirmed? What if Blossomfall never told anyone, or Lilytail, or even Ivypool? What if Brackenfur wasn't around, or Cloudtail, or even Bramblestar?
In a way, I think it'd honestly be better because we wouldn't have the issue of worrying about relations in the series. Sure, we'd know they'd have to be related somehow, but we wouldn't know enough specifics to care. It'd also take out a lot of the "mom and dad problems" that's a common plot in the series now. In the original series, Swiftpaw didn't seem to care who his father was, nor did the Frostfur bunch, or even Sorreltail to an extent, and she was aware enough to remember Whitestorm. I mean, family problems are a good plot to some people and I accept that, as it can make it more relatable, but I'd personally have less of it if I could.
On the other hand... I think it'd honestly make the series a bit boring. Let's be real, what else would the series be about besides war and generic conflict over territory if no one knew who they were related to? Dovewing could have never been the third cat because we wouldn't know for sure if Cloudtail was her grandfather, which I guess would be enjoyable for some but it would have also made Ivypool be a generic background character who never amounted to anything cause she didn't have "royal blood" (aka main character blood). Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's relationship- and struggles- wouldn't exist because, well, Bramblestar wouldn't exist as a father, really, and if it was found out that his supposed kits weren't his... he wouldn't really care. Hollyleaf might not have cared that Crowfeather didn't care about her, might not have revealed the truth, which caused Breezepelt to start his mission- and as you can see, so much of warriors is involved in blood ties. Father/child relationships, revealing who shares kinship- it's everywhere. Without these key relationships, Warriors couldn't be, well, warriors, at least the modern series.
But that's just my thoughts, what do you think? Would you enjoy a series without these key relationships or would it bore you? Or do you not mind either way?
Bluestar stated somewhere in the original series that no one was suspicious that she didn't want to openly say who the father was of her kits, because it was common culture back then to just, ya know, not say or at least no pry. It's up to us why this was, maybe it was because it was considered personal, maybe to hide the fact of the small genetic pool, or maybe because mates weren't always super loyal and it was rather common to have multiple ones. I'd probably guess the last one- cause I mean it makes sense, if you want a strong, united clan, you can't have a bunch of cats fighting over affairs.
It was also common for dads to just kinda not be around. Firestar was around Lionheart, Whitestorm, and even Runningwind all the time yet none of them mentioned being a father, even though there were plenty of kits in the nursery and some of them could have been theirs. Even Lionheart, who we all want to be Frostfur's mate, simply introduced Firestar to the nursery with an unbiased "this is where the queens take care of their kits". No mention of his own family. Darkstripe was... well... Darkstripe, so no surprise there, but there was no hint at all about who was the father, of any of those litters, in Into the Wild, even though it had to be one of them.
But what if it was still rather taboo or common to just not know? What if they still had the culture of dads not being around? Would it be better for the series? Worse? Would it make any difference, or would we find out anyway? I mean, it's kinda interesting to think about. What if Spiderleg was just, Spiderleg, not Dustpelt's son. In fact, what if, due to the number of litters Ferncloud had, that we theorized that they all had different fathers? What if people actually thought Ashfur could be Dove and Ivy's father cause Birchfall was never around and never confirmed? What if Blossomfall never told anyone, or Lilytail, or even Ivypool? What if Brackenfur wasn't around, or Cloudtail, or even Bramblestar?
In a way, I think it'd honestly be better because we wouldn't have the issue of worrying about relations in the series. Sure, we'd know they'd have to be related somehow, but we wouldn't know enough specifics to care. It'd also take out a lot of the "mom and dad problems" that's a common plot in the series now. In the original series, Swiftpaw didn't seem to care who his father was, nor did the Frostfur bunch, or even Sorreltail to an extent, and she was aware enough to remember Whitestorm. I mean, family problems are a good plot to some people and I accept that, as it can make it more relatable, but I'd personally have less of it if I could.
On the other hand... I think it'd honestly make the series a bit boring. Let's be real, what else would the series be about besides war and generic conflict over territory if no one knew who they were related to? Dovewing could have never been the third cat because we wouldn't know for sure if Cloudtail was her grandfather, which I guess would be enjoyable for some but it would have also made Ivypool be a generic background character who never amounted to anything cause she didn't have "royal blood" (aka main character blood). Bramblestar and Squirrelflight's relationship- and struggles- wouldn't exist because, well, Bramblestar wouldn't exist as a father, really, and if it was found out that his supposed kits weren't his... he wouldn't really care. Hollyleaf might not have cared that Crowfeather didn't care about her, might not have revealed the truth, which caused Breezepelt to start his mission- and as you can see, so much of warriors is involved in blood ties. Father/child relationships, revealing who shares kinship- it's everywhere. Without these key relationships, Warriors couldn't be, well, warriors, at least the modern series.
But that's just my thoughts, what do you think? Would you enjoy a series without these key relationships or would it bore you? Or do you not mind either way?
