what the fuck did bramblestar do i havent read warriors since dotc why does everyone hate him now
*cracks knuckles* ALRIGHT. SO. the short answer is “he’s a boring character and a bad leader and he’s been around forever and everyone is just kinda sick of him.”
the LONG answer is that that he’s been an increasingly bad husband to his mate Squirrelflight, and in a recent super edition abt Squirrelflight, he basically bullied, undermined, and threatened her the entire book. Despite her being his mate and deputy, he didn’t listen to anything she said and guilt tripped her into agreeing with everything he said. To me, it made the book incredibly uncomfortable, and i never really liked him but this made me actively dislike him.
Someone then made a video about how his treatment of Squirrelflight has mirrored the cycle of abuse since the 2nd arc, meaning that the two have tension, they fight (which usually results in Squirrel being treated like a child by Bramble), and then Bramble says how sorry he is and how much he loves her, and then things are calm again before it starts all over again.
Lots of people who read warriors watched this video and it launched the fandom into debate, but i think most people came away from it thinking “yeah, this guy fucking sucks”. The abuse was / is probably unintentional, which, to me, makes it even more uncomfortable.
One of the authors was then questioned about this, asking if they thought that Bramble was an abuser, to which they responded something like “Bramblestar? of course not! he loves Squirrelflight, he would never hurt her” which genuinely deeply disturbed me bc.. she’s been writing an abusive relationship and is obviously unaware, which makes me genuinely concerned for her lmaooo so. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight’s relationship is.. horrible, and I want him to die and stay dead so i never have to read abt him again
