#writing issues

You design their personalities, their past, their dynamics.

And then they refuse to behave

the way you planned.

At some point you stop arguing with them

I’ve been speaking more about why I dislike The Broken Code as an arc, so I thought I would share my biggest problem with the arc:

The treatment of Squirrelflight.

She’s abused, mistreated by her clanmates, and she endures suffering I don’t think any cat in the series has been through (psychologically and physically). She’s used as a stepping stone and a punching bag all throughout The Broken Code for the narrative. Yet, when the arc ends, they completely gloss over the atrocities that happened to her and just “forgive and forget” her situation, so I have no choice to believe what the did to her was for the sake of drama, and to be “interesting”. That was disappointing and saddening to read.

I would like to preface that I am in no way trying to police the writers about what they write. Writing about abuse does not make a writer a bad person. Writing about suffering does not make a writer a bad person. Writing on the topic of uncomfortable topics does not make a writer a bad person.

But what I will say is that there is a certain degree of responsibility a writer must take when writing about topics like what Squirrelflight is experiencing. In my honest opinion, I do not think the Erins had any grace when it came to the topic of her abuse, and I’ll be looking at a specific chapter to justify my thoughts on how the writers quite horribly portrayed a victim of abuse.

This chapter 20, in The Silent Thaw for reference

“She padded wearily to Bramblestar’s den,” speaks a lot of volumes about her mental and physical state. She’s exhausted, exhausted by Bramblestar to be more specific.

Squirrelflight has just returned from her self-exile and is now talking to “Bramblestar” (Ashfur is in his body).

“Guessed she was only acting to put Bramblestar at ease”, this isn’t the first time Squirrelflight has acted and spoke for the sake of Bramblestar’s emotions. That isn’t an indicator of a healthy relationship.

“Bramblestar” then goes on to talk about Squirrelflight’s sister, Leafpool, in a horrible way. Which isn’t a surprise, the Erins love to talk about Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s past mistakes more than they love to talk about what good they’ve done.

“But she was scared and I was weak.” And I was weak. And I was weak. The fact that Squirrelflight was SO willing to degrade herself in front of her “mate” to make him complacent was awful. It also shows just how awful Squirrelflight feels about her past. The cats around her have shunned her for so long that she’s developed a kind of self-hatred.

“Bramblestar” then goes on to physically and mentally abuse her on the spot, I don’t need to sugarcoat or explain further on that matter.

Here’s where things get worse: her Clanmates see Squirrelflight getting physically abused, and yet as we read further into the chapter, all of her clanmates just accept it, and don’t even care that much for her abuse.

So, let’s look further into how her family, clanmates, and “friends” react to the situation.

“Alderheart and Jayfeather padded from the medicine den, their ears twitching.” Jayfeather can’t see the situation, I’m letting him get a pass on this (for now). But Alderheart, he just witnessed his mother get physically abused by his father, and the only thing they write him as doing is “ears twitching”. An odd and almost indifference thing to write. I’m hoping the Erins actually tried to imply shock, but based on what they actually wrote, it’s incredibly unclear.

“She’s Firestar’s daughter, you can’t exile her.” This line is one of my least favorite lines ever written in the history of Warriors. She can’t be exiled because she’s Firestar’s daughter? Is that the only reason? Graystripe saying this implies he only views her an extension of Firestar, it’s an implication that is sickening. She’s her own cat, the literal deputy of Thunderclan, not just a famous leader’s daughter.

Again, I want to strongly reiterate that her Clanmates just saw her be physically abused and yet they hardly react, they just start jumping to accuse her.

“They stared at her in disbelief.” Ok, so they don’t express shock when she is basically thrown off of a cliff by her mate, but they express shock when she is accused of being disloyal? That in itself is immoral.

“Her Clanmates seemed to hear Squirrelflight’s words as no more than spite in a cat whose mate had just rejected her.” …I don’t need words to express how strongly disappointed I am by this sentence.

Berrynose and Bumblestripe after watching their leader abuse Squirrelflight start jumping at the opportunity to replace her as deputy. It’s reminiscent of Darkstripe’s behavior towards Tigerstar, but I’m sure the Erin’s don’t want to entertain that idea, because while Berrynose dies later, Bumblestripe lives and has no consequences for his actions.

I am glad to see that Bristlefrost and this chapter frames this entire thing as being an injustice.

Despite it being framed as a wrong done to Squirrelflight, after the events of The Broken Code things return to normal. Squirrelflight is perfectly fine and happy to be back with her “perfect mate”. The clan stops being complete jerks and are now not immoral extremist cats. Her Clanmates received little to no consequences for their behavior against her.

Why make Squirrelstar leader over a clan that was so willing to disrespect and throw her out in seconds? Why make Squirrelstar suffer so much only to pretend she never went through so much in the end? Why show her getting physically abused and then gloss over it like it was normal? Why portray Brambleclaw as the “most” traumatized, abused, and cat deserving the most sympathy after the events of the arc were over?

I think that the accomplishments (or at least the sense of accomplishment) that comes with writing is sometimes what people desire the most about becoming a writer. And yes, it’s undeniably cool to get to say you’re a writer, or an author, or a poet and point to what you’ve written or accomplished.

To me, that is a perspective that will inevitably lead to burnout. You’re not always going to succeed. Most of the things you write will never see the light of day. But that’s okay because accomplishment is not the point of writing. Writing is the point of writing.

You have to love the process because the process is all there is.

I have spent a long time struggling with my feelings about S3. For me, it’s not about the ending, or at least, not only about the ending. It’s about what came before: the story with so many plotholes that it makes no sense; the drastic changes in characterization; the lack of nuance. Some of that can be explained by the season being cut to 90 minutes, but not all. There were lovely moments throughout, but without a cohesive narrative arc, so much of the movie felt to me like an AI-generated fever dream. The only part of the story I truly loved was the last five minutes, because it felt like an entirely separate entity reminiscent of human AU fanfics. I wish that I’d instead watched a 90-min movie based on that story, starting with the meet-cute and ending in the garden, and gotten all the in-between bits along the way.

But to me, the human AU ending with its lovely Asa/Anthony story has nothing to do with the film that came before it. The film that came before was so messy and riddled with continuity errors that suspension-of-disbelief never had a chance for me. Those who have known me for a long time know that I really dislike the idea of the Book of Life because it makes no sense. If it can be changed, then the present stops existing. If, say, you wipe Aziraphale from existence, then he couldn’t have given the flaming sword away, couldn’t have sheltered Crowley under his wing, couldn’t have lied to save Job’s children, etc. Who would Crowley be now if Aziraphale had never existed? What about the things they did together? Those things couldn’t have happened. Everything changes in ways that make the present entirely unrecognizable. The one thing that I didn’t want to happen in S3 was for it to be a Book of Life story. Then it was, and internal logic ceased to exist, and I felt betrayed by the writing itself.

The thing is, I know that many people who hated the finale would have loved it if the ending had been different. If Aziraphale and Crowley had properly communicated and found a way to put the world back without sacrificing themselves and everyone else, there wouldn’t be such a tear in the fandom. But for me? A happy ending would not have changed my feelings at all. My disappointment doesn’t hinge on the angel and demon getting their HEA, but on the poorly-plotted script. I can handle ambiguous endings and tragic endings. No, it’s not what I wanted for Aziracrow, but I can be satisfied – IF the story is written in a way to get us there properly. This story, this writing, didn’t fit the tone of the book or the former seasons, so the ending we got couldn’t change my thoughts on the show.

Take for example Eloise Bridgerton.