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kirwell · 1 year

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"LOVE" as seen in A Starless Clan

I wrote most of this while reading Shadow, but my feelings on the matter still haven’t changed, now having finished the book.

I don’t like how Warriors handles most of their romantic relationships, and maybe it’s just my demiromantic brain taking the reigns here, but even still, Warriors has a problem.

Read on! A semi-coherent ranting below. Spoilers for book 3 Shadow of A Starless Clan!

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FROSTPAW is not in love with Splashtail

She has a crush built on her own infatuation and inaccurate expectations of love, and that’s understandable as she’s young and literally has no parents left to teach and guide her. The last thing anyone should expect from their own trusted clanmates is manipulation. Before it was revealed that Splashtail had ulterior motives for getting involved with Frostpaw, I was really nervous that they would actually become mates. There is nothing of real substance between them. But now we know that Splashtail is in fact using her affections to manipulate her in his favor. With the amount of gaslighting that he uses on Frostpaw and how she’s so annoyed by him second-guessing her decisions, I’m surprised she still has a crush on him. It’s really sad to see someone inexperienced in life be manipulated by an older, trusted individual, especially when “love” is involved. From our perspective as well as Frostpaw's, Splashtail is never supportive with what she wants, and he’s never once shown signs of what actual love looks like. Like...putting the other person first...considering their feelings...supporting their dreams...taking an interest in them as a person...and the list goes on. Very concerning and predatory, and I hope Mothwing gets to beat the living shit out of Splashtail when everything is revealed in the end. Or better yet, have Frostpaw do it now that she has warrior training. Imagine Frostpaw pummeling him, eyes flooded with tears, grey fur stained red, and her body quaking with pain and fury. “I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! YOU USED ME! MY…MY MOTHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!”

If Frostpaw doesn't get her moment, ima be upset.

NIGHTHEART is not in love with Sunbeam

He may find Sunbeam attractive and enjoys her company and attention, but that is the extent of his feelings, and he’s lying to himself when he says otherwise.

Nightheart busting into ShadowClan and proclaiming to everyone that he and Sunbeam are IN LOVE was absolutely embarrassing. I’m surprised no one really questioned him up front, or asked Sunbeam directly if she wanted Nightheart in ShadowClan or not. He “loves” Sunbeam because she’s giving him the validation he’s never gotten from loved ones, and Sunbeam just so happens to be a she-cat he can be mates with. Let’s be honest: if Sunbeam was a tom, Nightheart would have been less inclined to leave ThunderClan for ShadowClan… (actually…that would’ve been cool to see! Can’t cats switch clans for friendships, too, as they do for mates?)

Nightheart’s situation kind of feels like a patient falling for their therapist because they feel listened to and accepted and then blur the lines between "love" and "in love". I believe that he believes he loves Sunbeam, but they still have no foundation past, “Oh, you agree with me? Wow, I feel special. Let’s get together.” I also wanna mention that Nightheart JUST became a warrior. HE’S YOUNG. He’s barely been a warrior, and now he already wants to take a mate? Maybe it’s just cat hormones at work, but calm down man.

If we had gotten to see Nightheart realize that he actually didn’t romantically love Sunbeam and was just projecting, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING! Tragic but awesome for the plot and his character progression. I thought that's what the plot was being set up for, because we see Nightheart ignore Sunbeam whenever it suits him, worry her, question her, and never ask what SHE FEELS about him. It’s all about Nightheart.

Nightheart should have faced consequences for the hurt he’s dealt. Show Sunbeam resenting him instead of going after him. And show Squirrelflight rejecting his request to rejoin ThunderClan instead of just accepting him back like he didn’t abandon and embarrass them. I actually think a rogue Nightheart arc would have been interesting! Make him learn about being an adult, that not everything revolves around him, and that other people have emotions too. Show that his initial problems weren’t as big as he thought they were and have things put into perspective. Imagine he befriends like this old rugged stray who's seen some shit, and they just put Nightheart in his place at some point and tell him to grow up and make amends with his family cause life’s too short, and cats die before we’re ready for them too.

Have Nightheart return to the clans after experiencing some real-life shit somewhere, more mature and changed on a much deeper level.

SUNBEAM is not in love with Nightheart.

And it’s painful to read her inner dialogue about him, trying to manifest romantic feelings when they’re nonexistent. She wants to be in love with him, but she wasn't for most of the book. If anything, I’m given the impression that Sunbeam felt as though Nightheart was indebted to her love because he’s already made sacrifices for her in their relationship. And he did, which only puts Sunbeam in a worse situation.

Imagine you just met someone that you’re kinda into, but it’s new. Now imagine that person selling their house, all their possessions, basically disowning their own family, and then suddenly showing up at YOUR HOUSE, in front of YOUR FAMILY, and just being like, “I’m here now because I love you. And you love me too, right?”

That’s messed up. Is that love in the air? No, it’s emotional manipulation.

Sunbeam likes his personality, his demeanor, finds him handsome, and the two can relate to each other on some level. But there’s no real love behavior between them, previous or current. Nightheart is self-serving and thoughtless. I’m pleased Sunbeam made the point to say that Nightheart needs to want to be in ShadowClan for himself and not just for Sunbeam because he’s not loyal to ShadowClan. He just wants Sunbeam. And if I were Tigerstar, I’d be very hesitant to let him come into my clan on his current pretenses. What happens if Sunbeam doesn’t love him back, or they break up? If Nightheart loses that support and validation from Sunbeam, will he whine and cry, and run away from ShadowClan because he’s “not understood?”

Sunbeam deserves better.

My thoughts after reading Shadow

I hate…I HATE how everything went down between Sunbeam and Nightheart. I was so excited when Nightheart realized he wanted to be in ThunderClan, and wanted to make amends with his kin and leave ShadowClan.

And I love that Sunbeam felt deeply hurt and betrayed by him because she had every right to be. He used her to escape from his own problems, put so much pressure on her, and then when she finally grew romantic feelings for him, he dumped her.

We could’ve seen Sunbeam have an arc of being bitter and angry, and aligning with her mother’s ambitions because of her resentment. BUT INSTEAD. SHE FOLLOWS HIM TO THUNDERCLAN.

“There’s no other tom for me in ShadowClan.”

GIRL. There are toms who will treat you right. Maybe not in ShadowClan, but they exist. Don’t chase the boy that broke your heart!

Idk man... This feels like a missed opportunity for some actual good drama between two main characters that could have gone somewhere tragic. I imagine some ObsessedSunbeam!AU could easily be made here, especially after her having that dream that another she-cat put the moves on her man and she was PISSED. I doubt we’ll see a love-crazed Sunbeam in canon, but it’s a fun concept.

sigh.

I guess Nightheart will just get off scot-free, messing with Sunbeam’s emotions and putting ThunderClan through so much unnecessary shit.

I’m still curious to see where everything will go in the upcoming books. Maybe there’s still room for something real to happen between Sunbeam and Nightheart…

But really, im much more invested in what's goin on with the frost baby,, ;-;

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