#04F9B3
StarClan leader
Name Colour
Featherstar
She could now see that destiny alone could not save RiverClan. - Frostpaw, Wind
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Post by Featherstar on May 30, 2021 19:42:28 GMT -5
What are you thoughts on this book?
I can't believe that Appledusk rejected his kits from Mapleshade and let them drown! But man, Perchpaw is a good fighter.
P.S. I found there were a few more cats then the allengences showed.
Marshpaw Seedwhisker Midgepelt
Were mentioned in the book.
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Post by ❅Maplefrost❅ on May 30, 2021 19:52:09 GMT -5
I personally enjoyed it, but I think it would have been better as a SE. Considering the time period this takes place, the Erins could have done so much more exploring tbh. I think one day I will write a longer version of it, but still keep Mapleshade as a villain, and give other characters more depth. We really do need more SE's from the villains point of view, instead of just quick novellas.
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Post by Mothdapple on May 30, 2021 20:09:58 GMT -5
I dislike the book. I hate how it’s solely from Mapleshade’s perspective, but it was interesting to learn her backstory. But it would’ve been better as a SE to add more details and prevent the misunderstandings I often see. Although I hate Mapleshade, there were some good parts to her novella.
Honestly, the characters are quite complex, but tend to be a bit unlikable. Most of the characters I believe fall into a more “morally gray” area, which I find interesting. The only truly innocent cats in this book are Mapleshade’s kits, Reedshine, Myler, Nettlepaw, and Perchpaw.
What happened to Mapleshade was horrible. She deserved to be punished, but her kits should not have been exiled, especially in the middle of the storm. It’s sad that her kits drowned and she almost drowned as well if Appledusk didn’t save her, but I wish she took a safer route like the bridge she crosses later in the novella. Or at least waited for the patrol that appears soon after that contained Appledusk help them get across.
I can tell the Clans were especially strict during this time, as most modern day cats wouldn’t banish Mapleshade or would’ve let her stay after her kits drowned. Oakstar and Frecklewish were especially bitter because they believed for moons that Mapleshade’s kits were Birchface’s. It was disgusted that she lied by omission to a grieving family. It wouldn’t have hurt to correct Frecklewish. Also, Ravenwing is implied to be an inexperienced medicine cat, barely an adult. It is mentioned that his mentor died recently.
However, the book continues to show how cruel Mapleshade became. She kills Ravenwing and Frecklewish cruelly. She kills Ravenwing at a holy site and then digs up his grave for the scavenging birds to eat. Frecklewish suffers for days before eventually succumbing to the snake venom, going blind in the process. She blamed Frecklewish for their drownings, although she couldn’t swim and she was likely traumatized from her brother dying in that river moons before. Appledusk dies protecting Reedshine and their unborn kits from Mapleshade, which I think is something a lot of people forget. She was going for a pregnant cat who had nothing to do with her kits’ deaths, screaming that Appledusk was hers.
She went mentally insane, and I honestly found it interesting. Her hallucinations were fascinating. It was almost as if her brain was trying to find excuses for her to find her revenge and let out her rage. Although I dislike how the novella was written, I do enjoy parts of it. I just wish it was longer.
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Post by Mothdapple on May 30, 2021 20:12:58 GMT -5
I can't believe that Appledusk rejected his kits from Mapleshade and let them drown! But man, Perchpaw is a good fighter. Actually, that’s not what happened. Appledusk cared about Mapleshde and the kits prior. Mapleshade’s kits were already dead when she got to RiverClan. Appledusk and the rest of the RiverClan patrol tried to save Mapleshade’s kits after saving Mapleshade herself. Appledusk was actually angry that Mapleshade crossed the river with the kits and blamed her for their deaths. He cared about them, and used to care about Mapleshade as well. No one let the kits drown.
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Post by Neekwanakwaki (Cloud) on May 30, 2021 20:21:03 GMT -5
It should have been an SE.
I don't really feel bad for Frecklewish, Ravenwing, or Appledusk though.
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Post by vectoring34 on May 30, 2021 20:46:20 GMT -5
Here's my hot take, the book is incredibly overhated. The story it's trying to tell is fine, it's a simple story of a perfect storm of things going wrong and someone going on a killing spree over it. It didn't need anymore and I find the criticism "everyone is unsympathetic" to not really grab me. Is it so unbelievable to have a few cats act awfully? I don't think so.
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Post by *Ottersplash* on May 30, 2021 21:45:16 GMT -5
Here's my hot take, the book is incredibly overhated. The story it's trying to tell is fine, it's a simple story of a perfect storm of things going wrong and someone going on a killing spree over it. It didn't need anymore and I find the criticism "everyone is unsympathetic" to not really grab me. Is it so unbelievable to have a few cats act awfully? I don't think so. I think the "everyone is unsympathetic" combined with the fact literally no one stands up for Mapleshade in her clan very jarring. Surely she has friends or family who would try to support her?
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Post by vectoring34 on May 30, 2021 22:18:53 GMT -5
Here's my hot take, the book is incredibly overhated. The story it's trying to tell is fine, it's a simple story of a perfect storm of things going wrong and someone going on a killing spree over it. It didn't need anymore and I find the criticism "everyone is unsympathetic" to not really grab me. Is it so unbelievable to have a few cats act awfully? I don't think so. I think the "everyone is unsympathetic" combined with the fact literally no one stands up for Mapleshade in her clan very jarring. Surely she has friends or family who would try to support her? No one stood up for Stonefur and the apprentices. When the leader and medicine cat speak up, most cats will be afraid to rock the boat in public even if they might hold private sympathies. We saw that Ravenwing's apprentice was willing to show sympathy, just not in public. I don't think it's really that strange, we've seen public moments like this before where cats didn't speak up out of fear
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Post by Mothdapple on May 30, 2021 22:21:35 GMT -5
I think the "everyone is unsympathetic" combined with the fact literally no one stands up for Mapleshade in her clan very jarring. Surely she has friends or family who would try to support her? No one stood up for Stonefur and the apprentices. When the leader and medicine cat speak up, most cats will be afraid to rock the boat in public even if they might hold private sympathies. We saw that Ravenwing's apprentice was willing to show sympathy, just not in public. I don't think it's really that strange, we've seen public moments like this before where cats didn't speak up out of fear That is true. Even Mapleshade’s mentor doesn’t stand up for her. Also, Ravenwing had an apprentice? I thought he was a new medicine cat and his mentor died recently? Isn’t the whole reason Cloudberry moved from RC to TC that Ravenwing trained no apprentice?
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Post by Rainsplash on May 30, 2021 22:22:39 GMT -5
I would've liked it much, much more better if it was like SkyClan's Destiny(With better quality, of course) with more perspectives. The story it told was good, but it was solely from Mapleshade's, an insane, hallucinating woman's, P.O.V., and it makes people so biased towards Mapleshade. I believe it would've been better if we had a quick view of Frecklewish and Ravenwing.
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Post by *Ottersplash* on May 30, 2021 22:25:41 GMT -5
No one stood up for Stonefur and the apprentices. When the leader and medicine cat speak up, most cats will be afraid to rock the boat in public even if they might hold private sympathies. We saw that Ravenwing's apprentice was willing to show sympathy, just not in public. I don't think it's really that strange, we've seen public moments like this before where cats didn't speak up out of fear That is true. Even Mapleshade’s mentor doesn’t stand up for her. Also, Ravenwing had an apprentice? I thought he was a new medicine cat and his mentor died recently? Isn’t the whole reason Cloudberry moved from RC to TC that Ravenwing trained no apprentice? You're right. I think Vectoring may be mistaking Nettlepaw (Nettlebreeze) as a med cat apprentice. He did show sympathy to Mapleshade when he found her later But Ravenwing had only recently become the sole med cat
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Aroace
#ffa100
Name Colour
𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑
Villain Enjoyer
Taking a break from the forums because my cat died. Will probably be back mid to late October.
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Post by 𝕱𝖑𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑 on Jun 1, 2021 11:02:48 GMT -5
I enjoyed reading about Mapleshade's backstory although her novella felt a bit short. Then again, she was only a minor villain from the OotS arc so I'm not surprised an SE was out of the question at that time. Mapleshade showing up in a lot of other books afterwards did end up getting a bit annoying over time, even though it kind of made sense.
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