Firestar and his Harem of Females

[celestialsquared]

Now, I never had thought of Firestar as a ladies man before, but after I read that Vicky Holmes had revealed in Cinderpelt had always been in love with Firestar in an Erin Hunter chat, I begun to think differently.

In the allegiances, Firestar has always been described as "handsome" but none of the other male cats have been described as such. Although the word "handsome" is subjective (Even I would describe my old tom cat handsome) it says a lot about what the Erins were thinking when they planned his character. And we see it throughout the series; Firestar makes the she-cats swoon.

Not only does he have three possible love interests but sometimes his interaction with these cats makes the females act completely out of character. Let's take Sandstorm for example:
Sandpaw was a feisty young thing who wasn't afraid to give you a piece of her mind. Not only that, but she bullied Firepaw constantly and she was always buddy-buddy with Dustpaw. If anything, I expected Sandpaw and Dustpaw to start a relationship. She was actually an interesting character.
But, everything changed when she became a warrior. Suddenly, she was all nice and constantly batting her eyes in Fireheart's face. It got worse in the second series as she got a case of Queen Syndrome. What happened to the feisty young apprentice? Her personality did a 180 and now she's a soft, gentle stereotypical mother. Horrible.

What do you guys think about how the Erins played out Firestar's love life? I don't really want to simply blame it on the fact that Firestar has Gary Stu tendancies, but that's what it seriously looks like right now,

[leah]

I actually don't mind that Sandstorm is Firestar's mate, but they should have just kept her freaking personality intact! xD But you're not the only one who thought Sandpaw and Dustpaw would end up together at first, I seriously thought that. I just think they made her his mate because they couldn't do a Medicine Cat, they didn't want to do a non-Thunderclan cat for him, and really the only she-cat close to his age at all is Sandstorm. And I just couldn't see him with any other she-cat.

But honestly, he doesn't /love/ Sandstorm; it's a joke. The Erins' idea of love is ridiculous. He is /obsessed/ with Spottedleaf: it's freaking scary. I mean, come on, if he really loved Sandstorm, he wouldn't have been stupid enough to give Tawnpaw to Brackenfur whatever the reason. He would have let Sandstorm mentor her.

[celestialsquared]

Oct 5, 2012 20:07:58 GMT -6 leah said:

I actually don't mind that Sandstorm is Firestar's mate, but they should have just kept her freaking personality intact! xD But you're not the only one who thought Sandpaw and Dustpaw would end up together at first, I seriously thought that. I just think they made her his mate because they couldn't do a Medicine Cat, they didn't want to do a non-Thunderclan cat for him, and really the only she-cat close to his age at all is Sandstorm. And I just couldn't see him with any other she-cat.

Don't get me wrong, I love this couple. I think it would just be more interesting if she kept the personality she had when she was an apprentice. Now she just seems like a cop-out.

[Grey]

Although the word "handsome" is subjective (Even I would describe my old tom cat handsome) it says a lot about what the Erins were thinking when they planned his character.

Thank you so much for saying this. Sometimes I think people overlook Allegiances, but in many ways, those lists tell you a lot. As you said, Firepaw/-heart/-star is the only tom to be described as "handsome" in Allegiances. Brindleface is one of the few "pretty" she-cats; along with the "once-pretty" Dappletail.

I should probably start a small thread for this discussion, as it's going to derail any second, I just know it.

Back to Fire-. I think the reason he has so many suitors is just for narrative effect and sub-plotting, rather than the fact he has qualities worth liking. He's kind of a [this is really annoying, I can't use the words I want to] loser. I mean, maybe he has good qualities? Maybe? I'm not seeing them, but I'm pretty blinkered when it comes to that and not exactly Warriors intended readership, so it could be that I'm missing all of Erin Hunter's "check this hottie" cues.

I think that "handsome" is included in Allegiances to cause him to be viewed as handsome, both by the reader and by the clan. I don't believe they ever extrapolate why he's described as handsome - he just is. It's because that explains why Sandstorm, Cinderpelt and Spottedleaf swoon at him with Erin Hunter needing to do any heavy lifting.

I have a half-theory about why this is, but I'll post it here later.

[celestialsquared]

Oct 5, 2012 20:11:03 GMT -6 Grey said:

Back to Fire-. I think the reason he has so many suitors is just for narrative effect and sub-plotting, rather than the fact he has qualities worth liking. He's kind of a [this is really annoying, I can't use the words I want to] loser. I mean, maybe he has good qualities? Maybe? I'm not seeing them, but I'm pretty blinkered when it comes to that and not exactly Warriors intended readership, so it could be that I'm missing all of Erin Hunter's "check this hottie" cues.

I found it interesting that Fireheart was so caught up in his investigation/Greystripe's secret that he nearly ignored all romantic cues from Sandstorm. It never strikes him as odd that this she-cat who was previously hostile to him was now being overly friendly. I think the fact that he's supposed to be "handsome" like you said somehow gives him the excuse to have a nonchalant attitude.
Or maybe it was because he never truly got over Spottedleaf? Who knows what the Erins were thinking behind that.