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Post by Flamefrost on Nov 12, 2021 5:02:18 GMT -5
TW: trauma, abuse
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Indulge me in reading too much into cat fight books.
As someone who grew up abused and manipulated by an adult, Shadowsight's arc really resonated with me and was an extremely mature and important lesson on abuse.
After Ashfurs defeat, Shadowsight can't bring himself to feel relief. Instead, he feels guilt, hollowness, uselessness. He can't help but focus on that he WAS manipulated, and blames himself for it. Sure, the abuse is gone, but so is the comfort of the familiar, of knowing your own identity, even if that identity is that of a victim. In Shadowsight's case, Ashfurs loss is confirmation that he WASNT special (As in, had no connection to StarClan), which imo mirrors the feeling of realising that the lovebombing your abuser gave you was all lies.
People often forget that abusers tend to make up a huge part of the victims lives, and that regardless of how bad it is, it's still difficult to cope without. The line that really stuck with me went along the lines of: *"It's not grief you're feeling, but loss"*. Personally I have gone no contact with my abuser, but the loss - the "hole" as Shadowsight describes - is still felt every day, years after my freedom. There's a reason people go back to their abusers, as Shadowsight had by freeing Ashfur. Loneliness, a feeling that no one else would understand, and the longing for familiarity. And thus, the one thing that makes him feel a bit more at peace at the end is the acceptance and forgiveness of others in the scene with the other medicine cats.
Shadowsight's guilt is also a great representation of how it feels when we look back at our actions whilst in contact with the abuser. Questions like "why didn't they leave?" exemplify the ignorance surrounding abuse. We also see this guilt with Squirrelflights want to "fix" things, and I think it was very important for the characters to stress that it was NOT her fault he was an incel and also NOT her responsibility to resolve things, and that she had the right to safeguard herself first. This is a message often cast away in literature, with authors instead pushing the idea that closure comes with the personal defeat of the villain, and emphasising that the character is in the right for feeling responsible for their abusers actions and thus must "right" them. In reality, her living the life she chooses and free for him IS her victory, and I'm glad this was celebrated rather than seen as weakness.
Anyways, Im glad that books accessible to kids are talking more about issues like this, even in our StarClan forsaken trash cat books. It was a breath of fresh air to see that neither Squirrelflight or Shadowsight had to be the ones to defeat their abusers. I honestly really like this book, as insane as it was and despite a pretty lackluster middle of TBC. It felt new and less "and they all loved happily ever after" like every other Book 6 has been.
Also Stan Bristlefrost for clear skin xoxo
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Post by seantheskyhunter on Nov 12, 2021 7:00:12 GMT -5
I hope that the person that manipulated you is suffering now
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Post by Flanoir on Nov 12, 2021 8:04:45 GMT -5
Thank you for your perspective! I like those elements even more now.
Warriors has its share of storytelling and characterisation clichés and issues, but it is also able to go off the beaten track when it comes to the portrayal of relationships.
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Post by vectoring34 on Nov 12, 2021 9:07:46 GMT -5
This is a huge thing I want to agree with that I think a lot of people are judging unfairly. Some people are saying it should have been Squirrelflight going down there and personally confronting Ashfur, and while this is interesting, I do think there is something far stronger to be found in the idea that she doesn't NEED to do that. Ashfur is not her responsibility nor should he be, and the fact that she won't even deign to give him the attention he so desperately wants is ultimately a far greater move of self empowerment as well as spite to Ashfur than it would be to go and confront him on his own terms. The whole thing works on several levels really, that living well is often the best revenge. It also feels like it is more realistic; it is rare you get the chance to tell your abuser face to face everything you want to say to them, and you often have to take solace in the fact that someone else can do it even if you cannot.
It also sets up a good parallel to Shadowsight, who is the one who also needs to learn that it's not his fault to "fix" this whole problem. It's pretty poignant IMO that he didn't need to save himself from Ashfur, that this responsibility wasn't placed on a wounded, weak medicine cat, but that it was correctly recognized that this responsibility belonged to those who actually had the power to do something about it.
Meanwhile this fandom be like "Shadowsight should have been the one to sacrifice himself to defeat Ashfur" and I can feel my soul dying just a little bit with that. Like, I'm not saying the abuse victim bites back thing is bad, but acting like it's the only possible way to handle it is really myopic IMO.
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Post by Flamefrost on Nov 12, 2021 10:15:37 GMT -5
I hope that the person that manipulated you is suffering now I honestly don't know how they're doing, which is one of the frustrating things about going no contact. But I know that my life is happy and good and I am healing, and that no matter what they can never escape themselves. And that's the sweetest revenge. I hope they get help so that they never hurt anyone like that again, but that's not my responsibility in the slightest.
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Post by Flamefrost on Nov 12, 2021 10:46:58 GMT -5
This is a huge thing I want to agree with that I think a lot of people are judging unfairly. Some people are saying it should have been Squirrelflight going down there and personally confronting Ashfur, and while this is interesting, I do think there is something far stronger to be found in the idea that she doesn't NEED to do that. Ashfur is not her responsibility nor should he be, and the fact that she won't even deign to give him the attention he so desperately wants is ultimately a far greater move of self empowerment as well as spite to Ashfur than it would be to go and confront him on his own terms. The whole thing works on several levels really, that living well is often the best revenge. It also feels like it is more realistic; it is rare you get the chance to tell your abuser face to face everything you want to say to them, and you often have to take solace in the fact that someone else can do it even if you cannot. It also sets up a good parallel to Shadowsight, who is the one who also needs to learn that it's not his fault to "fix" this whole problem. It's pretty poignant IMO that he didn't need to save himself from Ashfur, that this responsibility wasn't placed on a wounded, weak medicine cat, but that it was correctly recognized that this responsibility belonged to those who actually had the power to do something about it. Meanwhile this fandom be like "Shadowsight should have been the one to sacrifice himself to defeat Ashfur" and I can feel my soul dying just a little bit with that. Like, I'm not saying the abuse victim bites back thing is bad, but acting like it's the only possible way to handle it is really myopic IMO. Completely agree with you! You bring up a great point that it was unreasonable to think that Shadowsight, especially in a state of near death, would be the one who had to finish Ashfur. I like how both Shadow and Squilfs arcs aren't solely tied to their abuser and abuse, but highlight that they are so much more than that relationship. Shadow is STILL a great healer and cherished member of the medicine cats, and Squilf is acknowledged as a deeply loyal and perseverant deputy to ThunderClan and Bramblestar (Not gonna get into BrambleXSquirrel, my memory ain't good enough to form to an opinion on them). Also, I'd add that we got the "abused bites back" plot with Darktail being killed by Needletail and Violetshine, and it was brutal and great and made sense.
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#a3c5e6
Name Colour
𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵
Warrior Fanatic
All hail me, the flower-flushing queen of Prague
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Post by 𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 on Nov 12, 2021 11:55:10 GMT -5
Squirrelflight or at least Bramblestar defeating Ashfur would've made more narrative sense given their long history together, but I don't mind that it was Bristlefrost, either, given she'd once been his ally while he was still impersonating Bramblestar. I'm more upset she ended up dying twice.
As for Shadowsight, he's been through way too much already, he deserves to just rest. I'm more annoyed he can't communicate with StarClan than anything, but even then, it's mild.
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Asexual
#07B04C
star_black.png
Name Colour
Ṣanɗypaw™
The Shiny User
🎵Guess that's just the way it goes, easy come, easy go🎵
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Post by Ṣanɗypaw™ on Nov 12, 2021 19:08:21 GMT -5
Thanks for pointing this out! I'm very happy that the Erins were able to handle this right. I really hope that Shadowsight will be able to eventually heal. <3
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Post by *Ottersplash* on Nov 12, 2021 20:51:49 GMT -5
I'm glad Shadowsight didn't die, because that kind of guilt is another arc for him, something we can see him struggle with and so he still has more story to tell
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Cloudstorm
Don’t let it kill you. Even when it hurts like hell.
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Post by Cloudstorm on Nov 13, 2021 1:54:45 GMT -5
While I fully agree with mostly what’s been said regarding shadowsight . I’d definitely say it’s unreasonable to think that it’s necessary for him to feel responsible to solve the problem , by defeating ashfur and having it recognized By those that have the capability to intervene and shoulder the burden , while also recognizing that he needn’t feel guilty or that he doesn’t belong for been unable to fix the problem while in a weakened state is pretty poignant.
While I’m only in partial agreement about Squirrelflight . While she should under no circumstances feel guilty or that’s she’s responsible for Ashfur’s downward spiral into his demented state of mind , and while I do believe there’s a strong message to be found in it being recognized that she isn’t required , nor should she feel obligated to to confront ashfur and resolve a problem that isn’t her fault in the first place , and safeguarding herself and not stopping down to his level can be pretty empowering . Though in her particular circumstances, I believe it would of been far stronger and more empowering for her to have confronted him, and at least been involved in his defeat , since most of her guilt is more deeply ingrained and derived from her insecurities and uncertainty , that sliver of doubt creeping in the back of her conscience telling her maybe she made the wrong decision choosing bramblestar over ashfur , given their long, shaky history of a relationship , and less from her feeling like Ashfur’s abuse victim. Which don’t get me wrong , Ashfur is totally an abusive prick . But we’ve seen Squirrelflight struggle pretty badly with her insecurities and feelings of self-loathing ever since her and Bramblestar rekindled their relationship, ands she’s pushed herself really hard to prove not only to him , but herself that she is worthy of not just his trust and forgiveness etc , but also her Clanmates that she’s worked tirelessly to regain the trust of respect from after her and Leafpools secret was revealed . Which plays a much more momentous role in Squirrelflights character arc in TBC then her being abused by Ashfur imo . because let’s be honest , The number of times Squirrelflight has been in an abusive incident with Ashfur can literally be counted on one hand . Her rejecting him in sunset , him ignoring her afterwards I guess , the fire scene in long shadows , dragging her from the leaders den, and then mauling her and subsequently carrying her through the moonpool to the dark forest . I think it’s safe to say that bramblestar breaking up with her , and giving her the cold shoulder for 12 moons, ( or however long it was) was far more damaging and impactful on her psyche, mental health then anything that Ashfur’s done to her , except for taking over Bramblestars body, and making her feel like she was gonna lose him forever .
While it is rare to confront your perpetrator/abuser face to face . Often times it’s an much needed occurrence to fully find closure , and in her situation confronting Ashfur I feel wouldn’t have only a given her a more prodigious and satisfying sense of empowerment , it also would have given her the opportunity to rub it in Ashfur’s face, and let it be known that she won’t submit to his demands , and be allowed the bittersweet taste of revenging Bramblestars lost life , and solidifying to her conscience that she made the right choice choosing Bramblestar over Ashfur, which would quash a lot of her guilt and bring better closure for her .
Though what they gave us is decently done as well , and these are just my thoughts and opinions , and personal perspective on the whole ordeal. And I’m by no means trying to reduce the significance of Abuse . It truly is serious business , and an very awful experience for anyone to be subjected too.
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