u/Frost_And_Ice3

Official Art from the Warriors Wiki!

Graystripe was such a horrible mentor it is genuinely a wonder how he was picked as deputy by Firestar because of anything other than friendship bias

I mean here Brackenpaw was, an innocent, adventurous, and excited apprentice, ready to help serve his Clan, but without Firestar’s help, he probably would’ve become a warrior when Cloudtail did

Graystripe barely mentored him for a moon before padding after Silverstream and abandoning his training with Brackenpaw. When I read the paragraphs of Firestar noticing Brackenpaw was depressed or disappointed by Graystripe not paying attention to him I was like 😭 MY BABY DOESNT DESERVE THIS

If I were Brackenpaw, I DEFINITELY would’ve resented Graystripe for a while. I honestly don’t see why people even like Graystripe in the first arc, he felt like such a brat. Love doesn’t excuse abandoning someone you were committed to train or trying to tear your best friend to pieces—a BEST FRIEND, MIND YOU, that you knew for MOONS more than your love interest

I’m glad Brackenpaw ended up being a good warrior, though :D good on you for being an awesome mentor to him, FIREHEART

Official Manga Art of Tigerstar and Sasha made by Don Hudson!

How does TADPOLE—a black tom with amber eyes—look more like Tigerstar than MOTHWING—a golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes?!

Unless Russetfur meant Tadpole’s build(which she clearly didn’t, considering the three kittens have the exact same body type) was like Tigerstar’s, why the heck would Mothwing NOT be included? How do just the TOMS look like Tigerstar, when Mothwing has amber eyes like Tigerstar AND a tabby pelt?

Tadpole doesn’t even have the same PELT DESIGN as Tigerstar, he’s just described with the same colored eyes! Eyes that MOTHWING ALSO HAS!

Maybe it’s just a personal nitpick but… bleh. Warriors doing another Warriors, where every single tom has to look like their father in either build, strength, or pelt color, and she-cats are the same with the sleek pelts, beautiful colors, etc they get from mom 😭 Especially in the first couple of arcs, where even if the she-cat looks more like the father than a brother(like the example above), they usually dismiss it

Art by graypillow!

Needletail as a character has very divided opinions on this subreddit, with the majority I think liking her. And although I love how morally gray she is(we usually never have she-cats like this in the story), her relationship with Violetshine, or rather Violetkit/paw, is a VERY big reason on why I don’t like her. She was a horrible friend to her and im going to explain why.

First, let’s get this out of the way: Rowanstar absolutely is at fault for separating Violetkit away from Twigkit, but nobody seems to remember that it was Needlepaw who also played a part of it in the first place? She KNEW that her leader would be separating kits from each other, kits whose mother had been killed, and kits who only had each other as kin, yet she didn’t even protest when they were being taken away. I get that she snuck Violetkit out a couple of times to play with Twigkit, and that Needlepaw wanted to make sure ShadowClan was a part of the prophecy, but this is still inexcusable.

Especially since, in ShadowClan’s camp, Needlepaw never paid attention to Violetkit. She never participated in games with her, nor tried to cheer her up when she was down. She brought Violetkit into her camp and then proceeded to do nothing with her until ALDERPAW had to point out that it was partly Needlepaw’s responsibility to care for Violetkit. And Needlepaw’s reaction was only that it would be cool to have a kit trailing her tail—not that it would be a kind thing to do, considering Needlepaw played a part in separating her from her sister.

The gaslighting especially in books two and three were horrible. Violetkit couldn’t even have an independent thought, decision, or opinion. Everything had to be approved by Needlepaw, or she sent Violetkit to do her chores. When Needlepaw began sneaking out to see the Kin, Violetkit was forced to keep it a secret because Needlepaw would be in so much trouble if she was caught. And when the confrontation happened in the end of the second book, Violetkit joined sides with the Kin only because Needlepaw basically guilt tripped her into believing that Violetkit owed her because of her nice behavior towards her—behavior that she wouldn’t have had, had Alderpaw not pointed out how Needlepaw should be paying attention to her.

And even in the Kin, Needletail seemed extremely annoyed with the fact that she had to be with Violetpaw most of the time rather than with Rain. Needletail didn’t care for anyone but herself and her boyfriend and then spat on Violetpaw when she very reasonably left the Kin, saying that she hurt her. And then she gaslit Violetpaw AGAIN when Darktail took over ShadowClan! With the same stupid excuses and half-lies as before! Her gaslighting infuriated me. Poor Violetpaw!

I could go on about how Needletail didn’t care that innocent cats died/were hurt until it was her own boyfriend who fell victim to Darktail, but I won’t. This is mainly on Needletail’s relationship with Violetpaw, and why it was manipulative and unhealthy, rather than Needletail as a whole.

I haven’t read A Vision of Shadows in a while, so if I missed some stuff, or I remember incorrectly, feel free to tell me. But what’s your thoughts on Needletail’s relationship with Violetpaw/shine? Let me know in the comments!