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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 5, 2012 10:40:16 GMT -6
That’s right guys.
I’m looking at the back cover and some critic compared Erin Hunter’s writing style to J.R.R Tolkien and Brian Jacques. I’ve read stuff from both of these authors; don’t believe it, kids.
I totally forget what this book is about. Looking at the summary inside the cover it seems that the clans haven’t even started the journey yet. Oh joy.
Prologue
“Stars glittered coldly”
Stars are made of hot gases. So…
It seems Firestar is leading the clan some place. Sandstorm asks him if he thinks they’re daughters will find them when they come home.
From the conversation, we learn that not only is Suepaw missing, but Leafpaw as well.
How, exactly? Unless you plan to make another LionClan and attack the construction vehicles head on with your kitty Kung-Fu. That would really make some good reading.
Uh, since when? Last time I checked, WindClan was constantly asking/accepting help from other clans. ShadowClan and RiverClan maybe, but WindClan?
Yeah. If anything, ThunderClan is going to boss everyone else around. They’re the special snowflakes of the series.
Firestar stops and the clan realize that something is wrong with Fourtrees. They all run forward just to witness them being cut down. Their use of rhetoric describing it is supposed to make the reader feel the same anger and distress as the cats watching, but honestly I don’t care.
Two things:
1. Once again, stars are hot masses of gas.
2. This is where the Erin’s choice to continue describing things in cat language bites her in the butt. This sentence makes zero sense.
Chapter 1
Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, Stormfur, and Suepaw are all returning back to the forest and it’s noted that Damseltail was killed in the last book. There’s a recapping paragraph as they all waste time to mope about her.
It was her destiny to fall to her death for a group of cats she hardly knows? Sounds legit. BTW, are cats a normal part of a puma’s diet?
More recapping as the cats finally move on to finish the journey. Suepaw is anxious about her sister. Pointless dialogue about what the clan leaders will think, yadda, yadda. I’m less than four pages in and I’m already bored.
They encounter a WindClan apprentice who despite being malnourished and younger than six moons thinks he can take on cats twice his size. Crowpaw asks to speak with Tallstar and three more warriors appear out of nowhere.
Apparently being malnourished affects brain function as Webfoot acts like he can’t comprehend cat language and demands that the other clan cats leave. Crowpaw says his good-byes and just when they agreed to meet again at Fourtrees, Webfoot rudely tells them that it was destroyed.
Anywho, the remaining cats head for the WindClan border. There’s a paragraph of no importance here followed by one filled with imagery. And…Omg, more imagery. Here’s an idea, let’s put yet another paragraph where the characters state the obvious by repeating what they had just established the paragraph before.
Once they finally reach the border, Tawnypelt leaves, but Stormfur stays with the ThunderClan cats saying he wants to tell Yesman about what happened to Damseltail. A little recap about Yesman’s love affair.
Suepaw’s got the feeling something is wrong. I dunno, maybe it’s the fact that HALF OF THE FOREST IS GONE?
Chapter 2
In Leafpaw’s dream, she yells out Spottedsue’s name several times but she never appears. How rude.
She wakes up and realizes that she’s stuck in the animal shelter. Naturally, she starts to panic.
“An acrid Twoleg stench”
I wonder what that smells like.
A cat next to her kindly greets her, but she’s too wrapped up in her own issues to respond. It seems Spottedsue’s rudeness has passed onto her.
Okay.
1. Is the staff of this shelter so lazy that they don’t periodically clean out the cages?
2. Are you sure you’re not smelling yourself? You seem pretty hype, buddy.
The nice she-cat from before wakes her up from her nightmare of “water-swollen rivers scarlet with blood”. Sounds terrifying.
Leafpaw, I officially dub thee Rudepaw until further notice. I’ve never seen a cat so proud that they’ll refuse food when they’re obviously starving. Thankfully, real cats lack such foolish behavior.
Thank you, nameless kittypet, for speaking some sense into her.
It seems the kittypet, Cody, is planning to escape from the shelter and take as many cats with her as possible.
You’re not lying, sister.
Cody admits that she’s in the shelter because she wiggled out of her collar and the shelter folk thought she was a stray.
That’s not true, Rudepaw. A good percentage of cats on the street had a home once upon a time and they’re completely capable of finding food. It also helps that humans are wasteful and garbage is gold mines for them.
A page and a half is spent on having Rudepaw explain to Cody what a clan is all the while making herself appear mightier-than-thou because she catches her own prey.
Wow.
So Leafpaw went from being a waste-of-space character to a rude and snobby brat within three books. Good going, Erin Hunter.
So a worker comes in to replenish the cats’ supply of “fresh pellets” and “stinking water” and Rudepaw looks on in horror as Cody kisses up to him.
What, do we have some kind of disease or something?
Rudepaw finds other clan cats in the shelter and there’s more useless dialogue.
Yeah, so I can’t even handle the rest of this chapter.
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Rolo
Apprentice
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Post by Rolo on Nov 5, 2012 18:57:21 GMT -6
Hey there :3
It's always nice to see someone starting a new project. However, I have to admit, I'm not convinced by all of your criticisms. I think it's very valid to analyse the Erin's works, but some adjectives are used for a certain purpose, some passages are there as part of structure and some things still make sense, even if they're awkwardly worded. I say these things not to make you feel bad or silly, but just so you can avoid them in future chapters.
Here you took issue with the use of the word 'coldly'. However, this sentence is, in terms of writing, solid. It's setting a mood, and the use of 'cold' is designed to make things feel bleak. In addition, it IS possible for things to shine coldly. People do describe things in terms of 'warm light' and 'cold light'. Cold light is typically the light found during the night or particularly 'white' light from bulbs, and is particularly harsh. 'Warm light' is thought to be 'softer', produced by the sun, by fires and by yellow/orange light producing bulbs.
I don't get what you mean by 'cat language'. Cat language is not English, or even an approximation of it. The Erins are aware that they are writing for children. However, it's true this sentence is unclear. I'm guessing that, by the context, it's likely that you'd get a better idea of what is meant. Regardless, I agree it's a poor sentence.
Your use of 'alternative names' makes it really hard to understand who is who, especially since you don't often explicitly state what name you've given who. That, at least, needs rethinking. Additionally, I'd like to suggest that, rather than giving cat's alternative names based on one instance or behaviour, you wait to label them with these things. You never justify why 'Suepaw' has that label, which also means the names are a bit cryptic.
These criticisms are pretty null. Even if they cleaned out the cages, a cats senses are 14 times stronger than humans, and they would likely be able to smell the other cats even if it had been cleaned.
But yeah, carry on. The stuff you've got in terms of criticising characterisation is good, although it'd be awesome if you could add /why/ such behaviour/statements is negative. Does it effect our liking of the character? Make them less sympathetic? Also, it's not a bad thing to point out what you like/worked well in a book, and it takes just as much effort and intelligence to find and illustrate those.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 5, 2012 20:39:20 GMT -6
Thanks for the critique, Rolo!
I hardly get them, so I appreciate when others share their own thoughts.
By "cat language" I mean words that are used to enforce that it's in a cat's point of view. Although there's nothing wrong with this, their word choice often makes scenarios hard to imagine. I often find myself struggling to understand what they're trying to get across.
This is just pretty much a sequel to Midnight Abridged, so I know it wouldn't make much sense if you haven't read those. I'm also aware that characters change as time goes on, in which case the names I gave them earlier wouldn't really stick anymore and I might just go back to calling them their real names.
Another thing to note is that this is not really a formal analysis, but rather just crack-pot thoughts I had while reading. Believe me, if I was serious this would be so much better.
It's pretty much like what Colbert Report does to American politics.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 6, 2012 6:50:01 GMT -6
Chapter 3
For some reason Squirrelpaw is surprised that ThunderClan is already being tore up. They make it to the camp and they’re surprised that the camp is empty.
Why did Brambleclaw have to change his wording? Don’t warriors have to deal with that sort of thing often?
Instead of using common sense and looking for where the clan must have gone, they stand around and mope and ask more questions that no one has answers for. It takes them a page to realize that the clan must’ve moved.
They search around the camp for clues. Squirrelpaw gets attacked while sniffing around the medicine cat den; she fights her off and finds out the other cat was Cinderpelt.
Happy reunion time. Cinderpelt explains that ThunderClan abandoned ship and that Rudepaw had been captured. More recap and small talk and noting the obvious.
It, um…It kinda lasted three pages.
Chapter 4
MORE SMALL TALK. I don’t care why ThunderClan chose to stay at Sunningrocks, I don’t care how RiverClan feels about it, get on with the story already. God, this book is so slow.
I don’t like to be this annoyed at the beginning of a book.
Maybe. But then again, Cinderpelt has a twisted leg and hasn’t eaten a good meal in a while.
Sorreltail and Brackenfur greet them first and follow them to meet up with the others. Squirrelpaw feels the need to torture poor Sorreltail for losing track of her sister by using it as a conversation starter.
Gee, are you forgetting the fact that you left for a month? They probably feel you abandoned them if anything.
The clan’s reaction to their return paints an image that plainly screams “You came to the wrong neighborhood.”
Ashfur, who showed no interest in her in the first book, is the only cat that doesn’t look at Squirrelpaw with hostility and greets her kindly. That’s interesting.
The clan surrounds them and begins questioning them, but they obviously don’t care about the answers they give. They’ve already made up their minds about what happened.
Um. You left. For a month. Meanwhile clan cats have gone missing and/or killed and their prey has been scared away. What, you expect the red carpet treatment?
As soon as Squirrelpaw mentions StarClan, all the cats forget all hostilities and shut up. Wow.
What is there to wonder about? She’s standing right in front of you.
Skipping the rest of the small talk, Firestar and Yesman returns and greets Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw. These cats sure do echo a lot. Are they hard of hearing?
I’m sorry, what? I didn’t quite catch that.
Stormfur breaks the news that his sister died on the journey. In his grief, Yesman blames Brambleclaw.
Yes, Greystripe, focus all your anger on the stars. Well actually the Tribe of Endless Hunting is to blame, but they’re essentially the same.
Erin tries as hard as she can to drag this chapter out longer than necessary. Just when it seems that Bramble and Squirrel are going to tell their story, more stuff comes up. Always keep your readers on edge, it makes them keep reading. Or get annoyed.
Okay, they finally get to explaining. Firestar asks Squirrelpaw if she had the same dream as Brambleclaw.
HA! No, don’t stand up for her, Brambleclaw. I just wanted her to admit she didn’t have to go.
They recap everything. Firestar agrees to go with the two to finish the prophecy to find out where StarClan wants them to go.
Chapter 5
I do think this chapter is going to offend Misty a lot.
They find out that Sasha is stuck in the pound as well when she was captured on her way to RiverClan to check on her kits. Rudepaw informs her that they are safe, but it should be noted that she hesitated when she thought about Hawkfrost.
What are you implying?
Knowing how prejudice clan cats are, why did you give them your kits?
Mistyfoot explains to Sasha who’s who.
The worker comes by again to make sure everyone has a good supply of food and water. Rudepaw tries to convince Cody not to butter him up, but she’s convinced that if she behaves, then he will trust her.
Hold on. I don’t think she truly grasps what evil monsters humans are. Let’s prove it to her.
Coal, a grumpy tom that’s caged next to her, lashes out at the worker, cutting his hand. From the description, the wound must be deep, because it starts trickling blood. In anger, the worker shoves Coal back into his cage which causes him to hit something sharp and gash his leg. I’m wondering why he doesn’t stop to tend to his bleeding wound and continues working.
In any case, after witnessing that, Cody is no longer friendly to the worker.
There’s a dramatic scene where they try to find cobwebs to stop Coal’s wound from bleeding further; it’s so bad that it’s dripping on the poor cat below him. Grosetail finds some and once that’s taken care of, Rudepaw finally eats some of the “foul pellets” that’s left out for her.
She complains and is surprised when Cody informs her that humans can be “trained” to provide better tasting cat food.
While I never believed in “an eye for an eye”, Coal kinda sliced his hand open. Or are we supposed to ignore that?
They wonder what the humans plan on doing with them and Rudepaw suggests that maybe they’ll be “turned into kittypets”. Sasha doubts it, saying they’re not the “pampered” cats humans go for. Pampered = domesticated?
Since when did you care about her feelings? You’ve been saying rude and offensive things since you two met.
How do you figure? From all this all I got is that they’re lazy and impatient. I wonder if they’re getting paid.
Apparently, this is the worst kept shelter ever. Everything about it stinks; I’m guessing these people don’t know what sanitizing cleaning products are. I’ll understand if these smells were fresh, but it’s constantly implied that the place hasn’t been cleaned in months. And where did they get this “slimy” water from?
So, from this Erin has convinced me that the animal shelter is the equivalent of prison, so never give your pets up to the shelter because it’s a cruel place full of uncaring people.
If there’s one thing Erin is good at, it’s rhetoric.
The chapter ends with the cats trying to unlatch the locks to their cages. As a semi-realistic book, I would be highly disappointed if they manage this without thumbs.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 7, 2012 12:51:52 GMT -6
Chapter 6
So Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw, Firestar, and Cinderpelt are all making their way to where Fourtrees used to be.
We get a flashback of what happened when Firestar told the rest of the clan the bad news. The elders of the clan, Frostfur and Speckletail refuse the idea of leaving, despite the good sense the younger cats are saying.
Squirrelpaw begins to doubt if they should even listen to Midnight, but Bramble makes the point that StarClan told them to. And, well, that’s that. Bringing up the name “StarClan” seems to settle any doubt or argument any cat tries to make.
Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw are horrified to see the four oaks gone and the Great Rock completely moved from its location.
Amazingly, all the journeying cats managed to convince their leaders and medicine cats to come. Whoa, whoa. Why was Hawkfrost invited?
The leaders get up on the Great Rock and the young cats discuss some things, mostly about how Blackstar apparently already thought about leaving the forest. Oh, and Hawkfrost is deputy in Mistyfoot’s absence. Doesn’t explain why he’s there; no one else brought their deputies. Is Leopardstar showing off or did Hawkfrost demand that he go with them?
I know he’s the deputy now, but I’m more interested on what Leopardstar thinks about this. And he’s gotten pretty bold in a couple of days, hasn’t he? Based on what Stormfur is saying, I’m pretty sure he demanded to come along.
Crowpaw says they shouldn’t have stayed with the Tribe so long and Squirrelpaw insists that they had to help them. Uh, not really.
Wait, what? Where did this come from? All Crowpaw was saying is they shouldn’t have stayed in the Tribe for so long. Helping those cats wasn’t in the original plan. Or did I miss something here?
Brambleclaw asks about the situation over at WindClan and the future seems bleak. Crowpaw says Tallstar wants to leave as soon as possible. After hearing this, Squirrelpaw forgives his “harsh” words and says some things in sympathy.
When Crowpaw reacts in a colder and more independent way than she expected, she gets angry for some reason.
Why can’t you be like a normal person and be quiet when people are upset? Just leave him alone. Or maybe she doesn’t realize he’s upset?
Meanwhile, the leaders bicker about whether they should stay and see if StarClan comes through. Mostly, it’s just Firestar trying to convince Blackstar and Leopardstar to stay. Blackstar says he doesn’t need a sign to know that they need to move; it’s only common sense. And RiverClan is well fed and there’s no reason for them to move at all.
Is that necessarily a bad thing?
Blackstar says he plans to move into BloodClan’s old territory. Firestar practically begs him not to and just when Blackstar has lost his patience, the young cats step in.
So…So a canon character has finally realized what I’ve been saying this whole time?
Cinderpelt tries to convince Leopardstar that RiverClan should be a part of this too because of Damseltail and Leopardstar gives a rather nasty retort. Comes to show how much she really cares about Feathertail and Stormfur.
Hawkfrost throws in his two cents, saying if the other leaders can’t feed their clans then they should leave.
I'm with you on this one. Who is this kid?
I think Squirrelpaw just got outsue'd. At least she grew up a little bit; Hawk's deputy-ship has gone to his head.
Brambleclaw suspects that Hawkfrost just wants to take their territory when they leave and Hawkfrost basically tells him he’s right.
He makes a crack at his rogue roots and this hits too close to home for Firestar who tells Bramble to “show some respect”. Why? Hawk is clearly not showing respect to anyone else.
Blackstar and Leopardstar leave, along with their respective clan mates. Tallstar urges Firestar to just go without them, but the ginger is determined to have all four clans go.
The "fifth clan" BS is mentioned. To bad Firestar's Quest is going to make this conversation out of place, especially since according to the revised timeline Firestar knew about SkyClan at this time.
For the umpteenth time, Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw reevaluate if they were right or not. And of course, they convince themselves that they are.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 8, 2012 20:12:22 GMT -6
Chapter 7
Squirrelpaw is back in the apprentice den and notes how shabby their shelter is in comparison to before. She soon falls asleep and dreams about hunting a rather fat mouse.
Spottedleaf interrupts, however, and says she has something to show her. Squirrelpaw calls her out on her rudeness, but once she realizes that this was Spottedsue, she calms down.
She comes up to greet her, but she disappears before her eyes. Um. Okay.
Squirrelpaw walks around some more and realizes that she's lost. She tries to wake up and panics when she can't. She calls on Spottedsue for help, but she lets her suffer a bit more before reappearing again. Quit playing games, woman.
She leads her to the shelter where Rudepaw and the other clan cats are being held captive.
She wakes up after Shrewpaw complains about her fidgeting. She tells him about the dream and says she must go save her, but Shrewpaw points out that she can't just leave without telling anyone. He tells her to wait until morning. What a smart kid.
If by "special bond" you mean creepy teenage lust, then yes.
In the morning, Shrewpaw informs Squirrelpaw that Firestar is out patrolling with his best bro and she's mad he didn't wake her. She asks if he told him about the dream and he didn't, which infuriates her more.
"It was a message from StarClan!" She says, which makes poor Shrewpaw feel bad. She apologies.
She tells Brambleclaw about the dream and says that if they go now, they can rescue her. Bramble disagrees, saying they can't take on such a big mission themselves.
Patience is a virtue. Squirrelpaw can't get it through to her thick skull that Brambleclaw is only being rational. You're back in the clan now; you can't just go do whatever without your leader's okay. Well, Firestar did it all the time, but he's not a good example.
Also, I've realized that "prickled" is one of Erin's favorite words.
Squirrelpaw accuses Brambleclaw of being afraid. Um...Here, it's better if I show you:
I'm confused. Am I supposed to feel sympathy towards her or Brambleclaw? This is from Squirrel's POV, so...
Sorreltail runs after her and agrees to go with her. Squirrelpaw is a little jealous that her sister made a friend without her. I see her self-centeredness hasn't changed.
Ignoring Brambleclaw's wisdom, she and Sorreltail race to save Rudepaw. I'm not too sure what her problem is. Sure, Leafpaw's her sister, but I didn't think she was this impatient. It really shows her immaturity, I think.
They arrive near the shelter in time to see a worker loading the cats into a van for reasons beyond me. Maybe they're taking them to the vet? So the next part is even more odd:
Why is he so happy about learning he missed some cats? And why would he abandon his task just to chase one. Sounds like a reaction a small child would have.
In any case, Sorreltail saves her by viciously attacking his hand and together they run as fast as possible back to Sunningrocks.
It seems Greystripe is there and for once he's not playing as Firestar's yes man. I thought for sure those two were bound by some mystic force that keeps them together at all times.
Squirrelpaw explains the situation and Rainwhisker and Thornclaw are revving to go.
So the deputy leads the attack against the shelter worker. I am just feeling sorry for this guy; he's getting his legs shredded by three full grown cats.
Sorreltail, Squirrelpaw, and Brambleclaw jump into the van to rescue the rest of the cats.
Leafpaw instructs Squirrelpaw to go inside and save Cloudtail and Brightheart who are still inside the building.
They struggle with Brightheart's latch and more humans are showing up. Greystripe barges in and tells them to run and he'll take care of it.
Once safe in the trees, they take a count of all the cats and everyone's accounted for. Well, except for Greystripe.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 9, 2012 8:55:29 GMT -6
Chapter 8
The cats are pretty horrified that Greystripe was captured. They don't have time to dwell on that though, as that they run further back into the forest in case the humans decide to run after them.
Once the cats feel they're safe again, they take time out to mourn Greystripe. Admittedly, he fought pretty hard. Did I care? No. When I first read the book I was just waiting for Brambleclaw's chance to become deputy and I was pretty darn happy here. I was a horrible kid.
Leafpaw realizes that Squirrelpaw grew up during the journey and now feels awkward around her. She also realizes what a good leader Brambleclaw is. I'm not really too sure if Brambleclaw changed much at all since the first book besides the expected maturity factor.
More grieving of Greystripe. Thornclaw prays for StarClan to help him but Squirrelpaw retorts that StarClan is hopeless against humans. We later learn that StarClan is hopeless against most things.
No. Your sister is just extremely hardheaded and cares about you a lot, apparently.
Brambleclaw offers to take Cody back to the suburbs, but Leafpaw says it's too dangerous at the moment. Best take her back to ThunderClan to wait out the storm.
And so, it begins.
They head back to Sunningrocks.
You see, there's this rule the clan founders set up. It's called "appoint a new deputy". Preferably one that has his own mind, please.
The rescued cats are given the low-down of what's happening in ThunderClan so far.
Is this a typo?
Happy reunion time. Explanations and all that.
That thought was in Leafpaw's POV, wasn't it? Where is the editor in this chapter?
Poor Firestar is grief stricken. He'll never find a better yes man than Greystripe.
This is sad and junk, but you gotta move on man. You can't have a mental breakdown in front of your clan during a crisis. I mean, Bluestar did that, but that's not a good example.
Squirrelpaw says he'll be alright as long as he believes Grey comes back. Okay? Is this a form of denial?
Do you know how impractical you sound? There's a reason why that rule is there; what if Firestar dies before he returns? Who'll lead then?
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Post by mistytail on Nov 9, 2012 10:49:20 GMT -6
Yeah, pretty much. Erin Hunter.... /turns into a giant squid of anger
First of all, WHAT are all these adult feral cats doing at an animal shelter? News flash: If they're feral, they cannot be tamed. Feral cats are freaking monsters. Put one in a cage and it sounds like it's channeling frigging Satan. The only reason a shelter would take in adult feral cats would be either to neuter and release them, or to put them down if they were horrendously injured. That's it.
Maybe they would try to rehabilitate a cat as young or a little older than Leafpaw. We have a 7 month old in our shelter named Daisy that we're trying to adopt out. But here's the thing: Daisy abandoned her colony. Leafpaw is still very much a part of hers. So why are any of them there?!? Does Erin Hunter really not understand how animal shelters work? (I'm going to kick myself for asking that.)
First of all, good worker, most paid staff at shelters are frigging jerks and wind up making the volunteers do all the work. (Or at least that's how it is at the one I volunteer at.) And that second sentence: Therein lies the difference between a feral cat and a stray. Feral cats hate people. Strays are trusting of us.
So why the hell are all of these Clan cats at the shelter taking up space and time?!?
Coal, a grumpy tom that’s caged next to her, lashes out at the worker, cutting his hand. From the description, the wound must be deep, because it starts trickling blood. In anger, the worker shoves Coal back into his cage which causes him to hit something sharp and gash his leg. I’m wondering why he doesn’t stop to tend to his bleeding wound and continues working.
In any case, after witnessing that, Cody is no longer friendly to the worker.
This is such a heap of steaming bologna I can't even.
First off, the only way a cat could scratch that deep would be if it was latched onto your arm and using a kill-bite on your hand. That cat would probably be put down for serious behavior problems.
Second, anyone working at a shelter knows better than to leave cussing sharp edges inside the cage. What the hell is this garbage? Furthermore, if a cat is attacking you as viciously as to draw blood (which not even most bites do!! which is why cat bites are more dangerous than dog bites, you get infections easier because the wound doesn't clean itself by bleeding!!), a worker's not going to be angry, they're going to be terrified.
And what is this "shoving him in his cage" crap? We love our animals. Even shelters that euthanize like the one I work at, we adore every cat that comes in our door. Even the ones we have to put down because they're too old or too aggressive or too disabled for people to want them (which honestly breaks my heart because those are always the sweetest cats). We hate putting them down, we want them to have long, happy lives and be loved and cared for. That's why animal shelters even exist. People saw how many homeless animals there were and decided to give them a place where they could be fed and taken care of and loved. Most volunteer work is being there just to socialize the animals and get them to see that there are good people who want the best for them, and it works.
This BS portrayal that we don't care about our animals is just disgusting and it makes me want to shake Erin Hunter and yell, "Did you even go into an animal shelter and look at how the cats were treated even once, you horrid wench?!"
First, let me address the food thing: That's actually pretty normal. Most cats don't want dry food if they're used to eating raw meat or canned food. Some really do like it, but most don't. It's not good for their bellies though. Dry foods contain lots of vegetables and gluten, which cats aren't built to digest. They are carnivores and should only be eating meat.
As for the wound: Holy buttnuggets, there's no way that would happen. First off, we wouldn't let cobwebs grow anywhere, that's just gross and unhealthy. Second, we would immediately find a way to treat the wound if a cat got cut that badly. If they get a little scratch from a fight and it bleeds a little bit, then fine, we won't deal with that. ut this is pooling underneath him!! There's no way we would just let that go! Un-frigging-believable.
We do prefer former pets, but we also try to get very young cats because nobody wants adults. People only come in looking for kittens. It's sad and it makes me rage but it's true.
I am going to defecate a badger.
No, really.
Erin Hunter: CUSSING. STOP. It's people like you that make people look down on animal shelters. We frigging love our animals to pieces. We try and do our best to take care of each and every one. We don't want to "just get rid of them," we want to get them adopted out so they can be happy, and if you're too cussing stupid to understand that, I would recommend removing your swelled frigging head from your posterior.
Yeah, that's totally why we have soap, Purel, and two sinks in the cat room, we neeeever clean.
Erin, you are an idiot.
*snort*
Good frigging luck. If the cages are worth half a rat's behind they wouldn't be able to get out. That's the whole point of a cage.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 9, 2012 15:02:40 GMT -6
First, let me address the food thing: That's actually pretty normal. Most cats don't want dry food if they're used to eating raw meat or canned food. Some really do like it, but most don't. It's not good for their bellies though. Dry foods contain lots of vegetables and gluten, which cats aren't built to digest. They are carnivores and should only be eating meat. I'm amused that the accurate information is lost under all these stereotypes. I totally related with what Cody had said about training humans. My cats only want "the best", much to my pocket's displeasure. |
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Post by mistytail on Nov 9, 2012 15:36:18 GMT -6
First, let me address the food thing: That's actually pretty normal. Most cats don't want dry food if they're used to eating raw meat or canned food. Some really do like it, but most don't. It's not good for their bellies though. Dry foods contain lots of vegetables and gluten, which cats aren't built to digest. They are carnivores and should only be eating meat. I'm amused that the accurate information is lost under all these stereotypes. I totally related with what Cody had said about training humans. My cats only want "the best", much to my pocket's displeasure. In all honesty it probably has nothing to do with Erin Hunter knowing two wits about cats and more to do with "CreatION of HumanZ!! BaD THIng!! evIl!!!1" |
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 13, 2012 18:14:36 GMT -6
Chapter 9
Everyone wakes up to the wails of Ferncloud, who had just lost another kit. No one likes dead kittens.
Oh, you're feeling depressed? Here, drugs.
Brambleclaw mentions they must leave before winter comes around.
Apparently, it was the will of StarClan to have you guys suffer so badly. Afterall, instead of all the cryptic bull, they could've just outright tell all the leaders to leave. But that would've been too easy.
And are these cats not capable of thinking for themselves?
Cody helps Ferncloud cope, remembering when her litter was old enough to be adopted into new homes. Leafpaw has a fit of ignorance for a moment, but Cody corrects her so I don't have to.
Erin calls Birchkit a "scrap of fur". Interesting.
Leafpaw feels the need to get away from all the depressed ThunderClan cats and goes off into the wood for a while. She finds Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G and eavesdrops on their conversation.
And what, pray tell, are they talking about? THE PROPHECY. I swear, it doesn't even make good character development, they're just arguing about the same thing nonstop.
Leafpaw makes her presence known.
What are you acting so nervous for? It's not a secret.
Brambleclaw asks Leafpaw if she thinks Midnight was wrong, bleh. This conversation is so pointless, they're just repeating the same thoughts they've had since the beginning of the book. Nothing new was brought to this conversation.
It wasn't that wise. It was just a matter of fact.
The convo switches to the subject if Greystripe and for some reason they think just because he's alive means that he's still the deputy. From my viewpoint, if they're not physically there and active in the clan for a long period of time, then how can they be the deputy?
Leafpaw tells Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw about the fire and tiger prophecy. Yawn.
This provoked a hilarious mental image that involved Bramble and Squirrel leading the clan through the mountains and they were picked off one-by-one.
As a side note, is there never a time when these cats are not worried about something that could destroy them all? It's like there's never a normal moment going on here.
They return to Sunningrocks after a bit of hunting. It's noted that there's not enough prey for each cat to receive a whole piece, so Leafpaw decides not to eat that night.
She also checks on Ferncloud. It seems Hollykit's death has broken Dustpelt's will and he insists that the clan must leave ASAP. But Firestar refuses to take another yes man and leave without the rest of the clans. I'm beginning to think this is all just some ambitious scheme of Firestar's to control all the clans again.
Dustpelt still insists saying the other clans can catch up at anytime, which makes sense. But his logic is stomped on by not only the clan leader, but Cinderpelt and Brambleclaw. Bramble even makes up a sappy speech just for the occasion.
Even so the issue of deputies is still in the air and Mousefur still says they need a new one.
Brambleclaw: The Chosen One.
Firestar is ticked off. He simply postpones the issue by assigning all the deputy duties to be shared among the senior warriors. Psh.
He takes Leafpaw aside for a private talk. StarClan is discussed mostly. For some reason, Leafpaw shows wisdom beyond her years by saying some deep, philosophical stuff.
Yes, she is well on her way of earning the prestigious -sue suffix.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 18, 2012 11:21:36 GMT -6
Chapter 10
Firestar is taking Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw and Ashfur on patrol along the RiverClan border. It's noted that Firestar and Brambleclaw had already made the journey the ShadowClan and RiverClan before, but the two leaders were too stubborn to listen.
The patrol stops when they smell the scent of a rogue, who runs out of the bushes like there's no tomorrow. He runs over the RiverClan border, but the cats still give chase. Surprise, surprise, Hawkfrost comes out of nowhere as soon as Firestar's paw so much as touches the border.
Firestar expresses extreme shock beyond Squirrelpaw's understanding. I think it may be a way of foreshadowing, but it's so vague that if you haven't read this already then it wouldn't make sense to the reader either.
Hawkfrost demands to know why they crossed the border. Um, did he not see/smell that cat running past not five seconds ago? As it turns out the rogue was Sasha. Figures.
Sasha goes to show why she's the best mother in Warriors, personality-wise.
Firestar. What does that even mean?
More banter that makes Firestar look like an idiot. Hawkfrost offers for Sasha to stay in RiverClan for a while, saying they have plenty of food in a way to mock the ThunderClan cats. He then says he'll send a patrol to make sure they didn't steal any prey. Oh, yeah. I forgot this little turd was a deputy.
Firestar finally figures out that Hawkfrost is Tigerstar's son. Whoopie doo.
Brambleclaw, baby, please go sit down somewhere. Squirrelpaw is just as stupid, as she just now notices that they both have similar pelts and broad shoulders.
What.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 29, 2012 18:51:42 GMT -6
Chapter 11
On the way back to camp, Firestar proposes that they don't say anything about Hawkfrost's background to the rest of ThunderClan to prevent unnecessary drama.
That was indeed lame, Squirrelpaw.
Brambleclaw agrees with Firestar and Squirrel can't help but think he's only agreeing to protect himself. Ashfur voices Squirrelpaw's fear that Hawkfrost will share the same ambition as Tigerstar.
So apparently, if the father was a murderer, the son gains the title "murderer" as well as a birthright. Makes perfect sense, Ash.
Actually...
Ashfur is far from convinced and Squirrelpaw tries to reassure him although she could be trying to convince herself.
When they return, they're shocked to learn that Shrewpaw had died of a broken neck after being hit by a car(?). Time for more Ferncloud angst, woo-hoo! Now check out Leafpaw's awesome comforting skills!
Thank You For Your Wisdom, Leafpaw.
Um, why is Cody still here? Also, why is Leafpaw leading the show? What is Cinderpelt doing, standing around looking dumb?
Cody coaxes Ferncloud away by saying that Birchkit needed her. Firestar questions Thronclaw on the details.
Okay? He goes on to say that they split up in order to cover more ground and he wasn't close enough to see what was going on. So how do you know what happened...?
While everyone is sitting vigil, Squirrelpaw is talking to Brambleclaw about how he feels about learning about his half siblings. Glad to see that Shrewpaw meant so much to you guys.
While next to the river, Sqiurrelpaw makes the startling discovery that the river is more shallow than before even though it's been raining for a while. At that moment Stormfur greets them and joins them on their side of the river.
Wow.
Stormfur offers them fish, but Brambleclaw doubts that the Clan would accept it. The conversation changes to be about Sasha and her kits again. Stormfur says that Mistyfoot is the deputy again (thank God).
Wow x2.
Brambleclaw asks if Leopardstar had changed her mind, but Storm says as long as there's fish in the river, then they won't be going anywhere.
Bramble's brain neurons are probably as bright as a Christmas tree right now.
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Post by celestialsquared on Nov 30, 2012 12:53:58 GMT -6
Chapter 12
Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw are spending quality time together. Apparently, Cinderpelt is discussing with Firestar whether or not they should make the journey to the Moonstone for the Medicine Cat Club (MCC) meeting.
Cinderpelt arrives and says that Firestar agrees that the journey would be too dangerous because of the demolition workers. Leafpaw wonders if the RiverClan cats would be going, but her sister doubts it.
Leafpaw had hoped that travelling to the Moonstone would bring the Clans closer together and StarClan would give them a sign.
Squirrelpaw's loudmouth tendencies resurface again. She basically reveals that she knows about Mothwing and Hawkfrost's lineage and surprise, Leafpaw already knew. I'm going to assume she learned of this in the previous book.
Squirrelpaw demands to know why she never told her and Leafpaw says that it wasn't impotant.
I know that Hawkfrost is an unpleasant guy, I don't like him myself, but how do you figure? Based on what evidence?
Oh, looks like Leafpaw touched a nerve.
I'm trying to understand how Squirrelpaw is rationalizing this, but I'm drawing a blank. She suddenly thinks Hawkfrost is capable of all these evil things even though she hardly even knows him all because she now knows who his daddy is. And yet, when it comes to Brambleclaw, she says his bloodline doesn't matter. Hypocrite?
Leafpaw realizes Squirrelpaw is smitten for Brambleclaw and hopes that StarClan shares a dream with her.
She's awakened by Mothwing, who came to ThunderClan for her help and not Cinderpelt's. Why not just kill her off already?
Mudfur is ill and Squirrelpaw is still being prejudice, whoopie-doo. Leafpaw goes to tell Firestar and Cinderpelt what's going on.
In the leader's den, she finds her mother and father. They were both sleeping, but Firestar wakes up when she arrives. But Cinderpelt mysteriously steps out of the shadows from the back of the den. Was Cinderpelt watching them sleep?
Firestar allows her to go with Mothwing.
It seems Leafpaw is getting ahead of herself. She doesn't even have her full warrior name yet and she's already acting like she's ThunderClan's head medicine cat.
Squirrelpaw wants to come with because she's still being prejudice, but thank goodness she's staying home.
Leopardstar greets them and shows them to Mudfur. Cinderpelt inspects him and asks Mothwing what she used to treat him. When Mothwing says basically everything Cinderpelt would have done in this situation, she concludes that there's nothing that can be done. So she gives him a bunch of poppy seeds to ease his pain instead of mercy killing him.
In the camp Leafpaw notices that the RiverClan cats are beginning to look thin and guesses that their running out of fish because the river is low. She's disappointed to learn that Leopardstar plans to stay as long as the humans stay away.
Hawkfrost appears out of nowhere to congratulate Mothwing. He also makes an inspiring speech that makes the reader think twice about Squirrelpaw's paranoid claims:
D'aw, He just wants to be accepted.
But what does our heroine have to say about this?
This actually set me off. There is so many things wrong with this. Why is ambition always seen as a bad thing in warriors? What, are clan cats supposed to walk around with no dreams or aspirations? Also, Erin is trying to force us to accept Hawkfrost as a villain by only using these arguments:
1. He's intimidating.
2. He's ambitious.
3. His father is Tigerstar.
4. He looks like Tigerstar.
These are the weakest arguments ever. Hawkfrost has yet to do anything wrong and yet his brother who shares the same father and appearance is treated like a saint.
Ugh, I can't.
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Post by celestialsquared on Dec 2, 2012 15:23:26 GMT -6
Chapter 13
Ferncloud's too depressed to eat so Cody has been sharing food with Birchkit.
Thank you.
Firestar basically says that he keeps her around to be Birchkit's maid and Squirrelpaw figures that Sorreltail is just bitter that Leafpaw is spending more time with Cody than her.
While taking food to the elders, Longtail says that he smelt WindClan cats approaching. Sure enough, Tallstar, Onewhisker, Tornear, and Crowpaw show up, hungry and ungroomed.
Um, yeah, if you count being skin and bones okay.
Apparently Crowpaw's such a good hunter that he managed to find prey to feed everyone. He even managed to catch a hawk using what he learned from the Tribe.
Anyway, Tallstar is there to plead for help, as always. He even collapses as he's making his request that ThunderClan and WindClan just leave together without the other clans. Just at that moment, Tawnypelt comes out of nowhere to inform ThunderClan that humans are attacking the ShadowClan camp.
Some cats are worried about what would happen if the camp is left unguarded and Firestar puts out that their only enemy now was the humans. Leafpaw suggests that maybe they should be worried about RiverClan.
Are you serious? Who cares?
Maybe it'll finally convince you idiots to leave the forest already.
The warriors "misunderstood" Leafpaw, however, thinking she meant that maybe RiverClan could help. Cinderpelt argues that maybe RiverClan might because the river is drying up.
Yeah, because two adolescents are clearly smarter than all the adults in all the Clans combined.
Firestar tells Brambleclaw to go ask Leopardstar for help.
That Tigerstar look-a-like can't be truste- Oh, wait!
Squirrelpaw is to join Sandstorm's patrol. She notices how excited everyone is to finally "fight back"; even WindClan wants to join the fray. Pfft, hopefully you all get crushed by a bulldozer.
Brambleclaw came through and Mistyfoot has brought a patrol to help. Squirrelpaw realizes that all the cats that had made the journey to the beach was there. What a coincidence.
They encounter a bulldozer that is busy clearing out the area, a task that was given two paragraphs worth of descriptive imagery designed to make the reader feel horrified. (Of which I politely skimmed over)
More bulldozers can be seen, all working their way towards the ShadowClan camp. Firestar says the only way to ShadowClan is to go around them.
The chapter ends when Crowpaw yolo'd and dashed straight into the bulldozer's path, saying he wouldn't care if he dies because Feathertail would be waiting for him. Unfortunately, Squirrelpaw stops him.
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