harper
pfp credits to solslowlyfadinq on insta
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Post by harper on May 2, 2024 21:36:30 GMT -5
I really like Nightheart x Sunbeam and I hope Wafflepaw will have a mate in the future I'm imaging a kitty pet she-cat he met while he was an apprentice. I really wish the cats will listen to Frostpaw.
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Post by iceheart on May 3, 2024 8:50:52 GMT -5
Easily the worst ASC book, and considering Thunder exists, that is a very hard thing to be. Over 200 pages of filler, nothing happens until the last few pages, and Clan boundaries apparently don't exist anymore since Tigerheart can go wherever he wants and then moans about being kicked out of SkyClan. More Tigerheart worshipping, and also the entire book's premise lies on Splashtail saying that he... overheard Curlfeather talking about her plans in her sleep. Not to mention that Splashtail is inherently a pathetic joke of an antagonist. Harelight's death was awful and underwhelming, he's virtually killing his own allies. Him not getting 9 lives is absolutely insane to me, because that means a patrol from ThunderClan can streamroll him. Or, even that, considering he has the worst mc in existence, if he gets an infected wound or greencough, it's joever because he has a single life, and not nine lives. In addition, we keep hearing how manipulative he is and how powerful he is when all I see is a pathetic cat who's only working because every cat is dumb enough to believe in. Everyone is dumbed down so Splashtail can win - you cannot sit here and tell me that Squirrelflight AND Leafstar will allow any of this to happen. Now he's suddenly turned into a moron who does what he wants for ~power~ with no compelling backstory whatsoever, no motives for what he did, nothing to prove a point, just because the writers said so. Harelight's death was so pathetic that I don't even have words for how terribly it was written. Not to mention that Nightheart’s POV is inherently useless in this book. He provided absolutely nothing to the narrative, and I argue that Sunbeam doesn’t either, because it simply ends with Berryheart walking into RiverClans camp as if she was never on death’s doorstep in the first place.
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Post by Hollyfall on May 3, 2024 12:13:25 GMT -5
Overall I liked the book. I think it could have benefitted from being a little longer and help justify all the moving of the chesspieces around to set up Star, but it was still pretty good.
Really loving Splashtail as an antagonist so far. RiverClan's been so desperate for a leader from their own Clan and now he's been handed it. To RiverClan, he's a better option than the likes of Tigerstar coming in and taking control, or appointing a puppet leader to rule for him (Icewing, Cloverfoot, Duskfur). He's absolutely resolute in refusing the -star suffix and nine lives which I think is interesting since he's told several times that the other Clans won't buy into his leadership unless he has them. Frostpaw's survival has thrown a wrench into his plans and now he has to try and navigate appearing like a legitimate leader while maintaining his Clan's trust. I think it's when he's forced to compromise and take the leader suffix and lie about nine lives, especially the one think he criticised Curlfeather for, is when he starts to snap.
He's young and inexperienced, but shown to be popular among the Clan. We know he has large ambitions, and now he's been given total power over the Clan. He hates being reminded of his youth and how it might affect his leadership ability and credentials since he mentions Mistystar's age as a weakness, so I think when Harelight mentions "he's young and has much to learn" (paraphrasing here), Splashtail snaps and kills him. It was well done with how sudden it was. It's clear now that his original plan of leading with respect isn't working, and now he rules through fear. That, and I think his motivations of being less reliant on StarClan, also tying into is own ambitions, is really cool.
Also, the scene where all the medicine cats are just not buying Podlight's lies of Splashtail's nine lives was funny and really good. Dude's in waaaay over his head.
I also like that we got some more insight into Harestar's character and while he's rather passive, he's also quite sensible and I liked his talks with Frostpaw and Sunbeam. On the topic of leaders, Tigerstar is shown that he can be sensible at times, and Leafstar not wanting to get involved I'd wager is in character since she looks out for SkyClan first and foremost. Squirrelstar, while a bit frustrating, I've mentioned previously how I think this is in character for her now that she's leading the Clan; especially if she's lying about receiving her nine lives. A recurring sentiment among them is that they cannot forcibly remove Splashtail themselves and the first fight has to come from RiverClan so they're not impeding on RiverClan's ability to govern themselves (cough cough Tigerstar).
Frostpaw continues to grow on me as a character, and I liked her friendships with Puddleshine and Shadowsight. Nightheart and Sunbeam are also growing on me, as is their relationship. The latter two still suffer from not really being heavily involved in the main plot and aside from a few instances, feels like their story is mostly over? We'll see. The end was pretty good too. I'm very interested in seeing what's going on behind the scenes between Splashtail and Berryheart. Sparrowtail and Hollowspring are in an interesting position where, at least to me, they're not really comfortable being in RiverClan and clearly miss ShadowClan.
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Post by valleylight on May 3, 2024 13:09:15 GMT -5
I really enjoyed Wind! There is an issue I have with one scene in it though, that I’ve been thinking about lately. The one thing Squirrelstar did that felt truly out of character to me was refusing to let Nightheart and Wafflepaw rescue Wasp. I understand why she didn’t want to put her Clanmates at risk, but it was hard for me to believe she would abandon Wasp to likely be hurt or killed by Splashtail after he’d been ThunderClan’s guest for over a moon. I get that he made his decision to try and join RiverClan freely (and recklessly), but like… Even the new cautious and politic Squirrelstar doesn’t seem the type to do nothing when a cat is in grave danger— especially one who’d been living in her Clan’s care for some time.
It seems especially arbitrary when she sends Nightheart and Sunbeam into that exact same danger to spy immediately after. So when there’s a cat who’s in danger, she can’t risk her Clanmates’ lives. But when they want to spy on Splashtail, that’s something she can put their lives at risk for?
Don’t get me wrong— it makes sense for her to send spies after speaking with Tigerstar and Frostpaw. But refusing to help Wasp in the first place, when she’s so easily convinced to send spies right after, just doesn’t feel consistent with Squirrelstar’s character or values to me. Maybe there’s another factor to it I’m overlooking?
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