Brightheart deserves better

I agree, she's a senior warrior and has yet to get an apprentice. And same with Birchfall! I don't think he's ever had one either. And here's Bumblestripe who's on his third apprentice. Like--really? It's pretty bad.

I agree. That's not right at all.

Which annoys me greatly. It's more annoying by far to see the same cats get apprentices when they really are not all that skilled or special, and have the skills of other warriors be thrown aside and not passed on.

its not even that she isnt a mentor type cat. she does fine with one eye, shes also already had an apprentice, and she was promised another. which just...never happened. she definitely deserves better.

Just because Jaypaw was rude to her doesn't mean Brightheart was any better. She was patient with him, but there were times where she seemed to underestimate him as well. In fact, pretty much every cat in the Clan except for Lionpaw and Hollypaw thought he wasn't fit to be a warrior because of his blindness. Brightheart just wasn't as blatant about it as other cats were.

I'm still not sure how to feel about her getting another apprentice and not all cats are meant to be mentors, but I wouldn't exactly mind it either. Firestar gave Jaypaw specifically to her because she too knew what it was like to not see, but she was only half-blind. Still, maybe she'll get one of Cinderheart's or Ivypool's kits.

I'd understand it more if it was called for, but it wasn't. 90 percent of the crap Jayfeather says and pulls is uncalled for and shouldn't be defended. Aqua has a point. There's a difference between complaining and just being nasty. Feeling frustrated about something shouldn't mean you get a free pass to be nasty to everyone. Brightheart deserved way better.

If we were talking about older Jay, yah, I would agree. But remember he's a newly made apprentice at the time this happens, he's still just a child, inexperienced, doens't know better. Also, take into consideration this isn't long after he and his siblings almost get eaten by foxes, as kits. Jayfeather was downright unsatisfied with his life at a young age due to being born blind, he also did make good points, imo Bright should have been his mentor in the first place. He was frustrated to the point even Tigerstar tried to coerce him into training in the Dark Forest with him at some point, something we know he does with his "kin" and cats that are easy for him to hook his claws into. Jayfeather wanted to be a warrior, but because of his blindness, and his "destiny" he was forced to become a medicine cat. Imo I think his anger and frustration is understandable, does it mean he should have taken it out on Brightheart? No. I feel like people are only more harsh about this situation only because people seem to entirely blame Jay for the reason why Bright doesn't have an apprentice or never got another one when he's not. That and because of how bad-tempered he is later on when he's older. I don't hold his behavior against him, at such a young age, and honestly, Brigheheart was underestimating him quite a few times, it just comes down to them being incompatible. Like Moth said, the only cats that really didn't think he was unfit to be a warrior were his own littermates, and Brightheart was just sugarcoating it. And I don't like how Firestar only gave him to Brightheart just because she's been inflicted with half-blindness.

Jayfeather's behavior grew worse though. I understand he was frustrated but to me he overreacted big time. He treated her like trash, insulting her for her and Longtail because he couldn't get a perfect mentor that wasn't disabled. He was a big bully. I know he's a good cat at heart but I don't like him. Jayfeather has good intentions but he doesn't treat cats right. He's really mean, treats his patients like trash, it's like he doesn't even try. I admit he's a pretty darn well written character, but he's just really mean. I didn't like how he forced important purposes onto Ivypool and Dovewing, pressuring them into it and calling them disloyal. He seemed.. really obsessed with the prophecy. The moment Hollyleaf "died" all he thought about was the prophecy, that they were no longer the Three instead of grieving. Even Lionblaze said why is he mentioning that now. The only time I can actually understand his anger is towards Leafpool and Squirrelflight, and even then he went too far with them. There was a time when he said he wished that Squirrelflight never returned from the journey. He's really harsh. I admit I can tolerate him now since he seems to be softer (probably due to an older age) but he's always been mean to me. I don't hate him or anything, but hes just always been mean.

I'm looking over the book right now actually.

> He felt that Brightheart pitied him, pity and sympathy are two different things. You may claim you sympathize with someone, but to another person it can come off as pity, which is an insult. And Jay, who is able to sense feelings from others, got that from Brightheart, which made him upset.

>He felt that he would be considered a useless cat along side Longtail with the rest of the clan. He already knew Longtail, not long after losing his sight, was forced to retire early to the elders den. And thought that the same would happen to him at this point eventually.

> He actually goes out of his way and makes a good point about the blindness issue. Talking about how Longtail was blinded after he became a warrior, on the other hand he was born with it, to him it's much more natural. And it's normal for him, another reason why he didn't want Bright's sympathy, or Longtail, and wanted to be treated equally like other warriors.

> Jaypaw note that Brightheart also tended to be impatient with him, and this is only by the time they're with Longtail, not long after the ceremony. That's...really quick. Getting impatient with your apprentice on the first day..?

> Mousefur underestimated him, claiming he'd take forever just to clean him, on account of his blindness, but she quickly changes her attitude with that and finds him amusing even when he's easily able to tell where she went, by smell, and why she was so stiff, despite being blind. (Jay actually felt happy too, cause he thought maybe then they'd stop underestimating him at that point, unfortunately only Mousefur did.)

> The way Long and Bright talked to Jay, they pretty much were talking about things he already knew. Like about his other senses being stronger, Long says after becoming blind he noticed that and was informing Jay, ya know the one that was born blind and already knew all fo this....

> There are a few other times where Bright underestimates him, like yelling him to watch out for the bark in his path, when he already knew it was there and avoided it on his own. Then telling him when to stop, when he already sensed the path was getting steeper and already stopped on his own. Etc.

> Another thing, which imo is pretty interesting, and I think people just tend forget is that Jay, at some point, felt sorry for Brightheart. 




> Now the great thing about this scene is that because Bright got a better understanding about Jay and how he worked, she was starting to treat him like a normal apprentice. Which is nice. But then the moment he falls/trips, she pretty much drops back into the sympathy thing again. Jay can feel it coming from her and get angry again, insisting he's fine, and even notices she's watching him closely. It also doesn't help that Brightheart thought he couldn't cope on his own outside of camp for a whole day (when it actually wasn't considering he was in the Elder's den for part of it).

> Then the whole fox attack happens, I'm pretty sure this actually shows the trauma Jay still had over the fox attack when they were still kits, sadly. Brightheart tries to protect him, and told him to run away, but he refused to leave her behind and wanted to help her, fearing for her safety, not to prove anything. In the end when he realized she was alright, he was relieved, but then Thornclaw, in grumpy cat fashion, scolded him, and jabbed at the fact that he was almost killed before when he was kit by a fox.

> On a different day he was left waiting for Brightheart, and he thought that she had forgotten about him, and thought maybe she also thought he was useless like other cats in his clan. It's clear Jay had a mentality that he wanted to prove he wasn't useless, and that his sight doesn't hinder him becoming a warrior. He wants to be treated the same, equally, like other warriors. However, like foolish apprentice fashion, he wonders out of camp to find her, and eventually does get caught and brought back.

> There's another point, when Jay is heating, after having to treat elders for a while as punishment, that Bright keeps sending him looks, and he can sense her frustration toward him, like "thorns" on his pelt. Jay at this point thinks that all he's good for is looking after his clanmates, well that's what he thinks Bright thought.

> They're pretty much not clicking at this point. Like, at all.


> There's also the argument has has with Leafpool, where he makes it very, very clear he doesn't want to be a medicine cat.



> Also if you guys don't think Brightheart actually did "pity" Jaypaw, she did, here's a good example, along with some other times jabs were taken at Jay for his sight.



> It's noted during the fight with ShadowClan, Jaypaw was fighting any cats that tried to underestimate him due to his sight, and was doing fine. Which is interesting. Brightheart also mentioned that he never gave ground during the fight, meaning he did exceptionally.

> And then there's there was when Tigerstar and Hawkfrost offered to train him:



> And the final push for him to become a Medicine cat was his conversation with Spottedleaf:




> Also let me point out, that yeah, Jay and Bright didn't get along but Jay genuinely felt for her and cared about her feelings.




> The Erins actually did tease her being Holly's mentor instead, it literally makes no sense as to why they just didn't switch apprentices, cause Holly even made the suggestion.

> Firestar is the biggest jerkwad here though. He claims that her skills were perfect for training Jay, pretty much implying that just because she's blind in one eye, and he's blind in both, or because she became blind in one eye later, and he was blind at birth, that it's all the same thing, when it's really not. Smh. Then he also tries to assure us that she'll get another apprentice soon, but like....NEVER DID, lol.

>Another thing to note, thanks to Holly, was that him switching had nothig to do with how she was training him. (It's actually more on StarClan fault with that tbh)




I personally have no doubt that Jay would have been stubborn enough to stuck it out with Brightheart if not for StarClan's interference.

> Another time Jay genuinely felt bad for switching mentors:



> Now something to point out from that last quote. Firestar's logic, no the Erin's logic, is so dumb. Like Firestar claims that Brightheart isn't suited to train a cat like Holly, just because she's blind in one eye. But promised to give her Foxkit or Icekit as an apprentice, both are perfectly abled cats??? And the irony is that she never got either of them in the end, wow Firestar.

> Oh, they do make up in the end, sorta. When Brightheart has to help him with sick cats while Leafpool is away. Eventually, they meet a medium and are comfortable around one another. Jay even found her presence and her the sound of her breathing to be comforting.

To each their own. I still firmly believe there's no excuse for him to treat Brightheart like trash, even when he was older (at one point he wasn't happy that she was having kits again) which is pretty messed up. I stand by my own opinion. We'll just have to agree to disagree, Maple.

I said I stand by my own opinion. I don't want a debate. Agreeing to disagree. I don't care what his excuse is. He's too hard on her.

Edit: I'm not replying to any other debates. Not in the mood.

Ok well maybe if he'd tell the clan about the Prophecy and this whole fiasco instead of keeping it to himself, pressuring Dovewing and Ivypool into different paths and actually talking to his leader and Brambleclaw about things, then the cats might not be inclined to go making more kits in their free time.

So he really has no right to be angry about her having kits when nobody knew about any danger approaching until it was afoot. Besides, once again, Jayfeather is being unreasonably nasty about something that is really not his choice in the slightest.

He just...I can't even, for one second, ever admire anything about him when he is just so snappish and negative.

I can understand everyone's points. I think it was just as much Brightheart's job to prove herself to Jayfeather as he did for her. I mean, they really should have been the perfect pair...but it's interesting that they weren't, because obviously two disabled people aren't alike, and it doesn't mean they'll get along. I'm glad they showed that.

But she did pity him and didn't think he could be normal. If that were just coming from Jayfeather, that'd be different, but Lionblaze (and I think Hollyleaf at one point?) saw pity flash in her eye before whenever Jayfeather said something. She did pity him. And she tried to baby him, like before the fox incident and the tour of the territory, then keeping him exclusively in camp. He was being punished, but like Cloudtail argued, she could've shown him a move or two. She commented to Leafpool that she didn't think she was making him happy, and of course she wasn't! I understood his anger then, because why the hell would he be happy? For a split second or two, he proved himself when he described the territory to her, and then she was right back to thinking he couldn't do anything. The fact he made it so far to WindClan showed promise, imo, though the punishment was a good lesson...until he snuck out after Leafpool.

Anyway, we all know I really dislike Jayfeather; I make little to no excuses for him, so even if he was a child, the disrespect was uncalled for. Acting petulant did nothing for him, which he knew it wouldn't, but he did anyway. I don't think he should've acted all cheery or anything, but even though he was a kid, his attitude was gross. He was also far too touchy. If anyone gave the slightest mention of his disability, he got angry. Even Lionblaze thought at one point that if Jayfeather wanted to get upset every time someone even mentioned his blindness in passing  with no judgment toward it, then that was Jayfeather's fault. And it's true. As far as OOTS, he got prickly about it, even if cats were just being helpful, like Ivypool in TFW helping him collect marigold. I can't remember if he's the same in AVOS about his blindness, but he's just a straight up ass in general there.

So I think they were both at fault. Yeah, some cats aren't meant to be mentors, but her getting an apprentice wouldn't have been the end of the world, and she could've been good at it with the right kit. I can't remember us having yet to see a cat who was a bad mentor in recent years, excluding Ashfur. Apparently even Crowfeather mentored Heathertail just fine. Blargh. If he can, so can Brightheart.

How exactly are people being hard on Heathertail? I don't remember people bashing on her.