#sootfang

[dingle-dee]

So Warrior cats eh?

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen memes cause why not

[residents-of-the-darkforest]

Dark Forest Resident: Pitchfang

Aliases / Nicknames: Pitch, Badger-Cat

Gender: tom

Sexuality: bisexual, aromantic

Family: unnamed mother, unnamed father

Other Relations: Sootfang, unnamed apprentice

Clan: Shadowclan

Rank: deputy

Characteristics: kills warriors of Clans threatening his own, brings bodies near their camps

Number of Victims: 3

Number of Murders: 3

Murder Method: snapping necks

Known Victims: Gingerwhisker, Shellfrost, Elmbreeze

Cause of Death: fall, blunt force trauma, killed by Cedarnose

Cautionary Tale: ??

Story: 

He was a Half-Clan kit, which of course put some contempt onto his existence. His mother got together with a loner, and didn’t bother hiding it. She was the kind that was unapologetic about that kind of stuff. It was her own life, and that. What would the leader do? Throw out a perfectly good warrior carrying a future perfectly good warrior?

In spite of the stares and comments, most didn’t take their dislike of the situation over the kit. There were even a few of the warriors that chose to play with him out of sympathy, or perhaps wanting to show their Clanmates that he was just like the rest of them.

Pitchkit felt cared for enough to love his Clan, and rejected enough to feel a need to prove himself more than the other kits.

Sootfang, one of the warriors who often played with him, and who became his mentor. He supported Pitchpaw’s resolve to work as hard as he could, reminding him every now and again to take a break.

Pitchpaw was about to change the elder’s bedding when he overhead them discussing him, saying how with his loner blood, he would run away at the first sign of danger, among other heartbreaking things.

He ran off into the woods until his legs were too tired to move anymore. Sootfang caught up with him, leading to a long, heart-to-heart. Sootfang revealed that he, too, was Half-Clan. In fact, hardly Clan at all, according to what they said when he was Pitchpaw’s age. His mother was a loner who became sick while expectant with him, and sought out the Clan’s aid. She died shortly after he was born, and the Clan took him in.

Pitchpaw had been shocked, and part of him felt broken to now the Clan he loved could be so cruel to those who were different. The other part felt warm and comforted, knowing he wasn’t alone and that there were those that did love him in spite of knowing his origin.

In addition, Sootfang was now one of the most respected cats in the Clan because of how hard he worked and trained. Pitchpaw’s resolve returned. He would do it too.

And he was rewarded. He became respected, admired, deputy.

The bitter hurt of early rejection was forever present, but distant now, as though it had happened to someone else. He truly did love his Clan, every warrior and every piece of territory it protected. He was reasonably angry when Riverclan threatened war. 

They were in a drought and needed more territory for food, but the territory they wanted was home to medicine Shadowclan needed, with five of its warriors sick.

Shadowclan could not afford a battle right now. It was stretching itself weak as it was, with warriors needing to go out, in, and right back out on patrols. Everyone was either too sick or too tired. There was no way the battle could not result in serious injury, possibly even death.

They needed to be scared off, but how?

The first time wasn’t calculated, a slip of anger. A Riverclan warrior was taunting him and his patrol. They got into a fight with one of his younger warriors. He was hurting them. In an attempt to separate them, Pitchfang had accidently snapped the Riverclanner’s neck.

The patrol was in panic, but Pitchfang felt oddly calm. He stared at the body as solutions fit together in his mind like a puzzle, becoming clearer and clearer.

He made the patrol calm down. Then he ordered them to help him carry the body. They weren’t exactly eager to do so, but Pitchfang managed to convince them. 

Riverclan needed to now what Shadowclan was capable of. Anyone could kill a lone warrior at the border. Only a truly dangerous warrior could bring the body right to its camp!

The warriors still weren’t eager, but Pitchfang made a good case. They couldn’t revive the dead, the least they could do was make sure his death was not in vain, and that no one else would have to die in the Riverclan-Shadowclan feud. 

Even though he expected it, Pitchfang couldn’t help but feel surprised that it had worked. Riverclan had suddenly stopped their threats, even patrolling the Shadowclan border.

The cats kept quiet. No one else knew why Riverclan stopped their threats, but they wouldn’t question it.

One of the warriors, Cedarnose came close to caving in after the next gathering, where Riverclan announced the cat, Shellfrost, would be greatly missed by his friends and family. It made it too real for them, to know that the cat they dragged was someone who would be missed.

Pitchfang made him ponder what was worse, someone you don’t know dying and knowing their family, who you also don’t know or see, are mourning, or have your own beloved Clanmates die and have the Clanmates you do know and care about mourn? 

It had to be done.

It would be done again.

Twice again, he killed warriors who wandered alone by the borders. Elmbreeze, who was one of many Thunderclan perpetrators stealing prey from Shadowclan during leaf-bare, passing the strip of land that belonged to Skyclan. And Gingerwhisker of said Skyclan, who was padding too close for comfort to the border.

It was the third one that was the final straw for Cedarnose. Maybe Elmbreeze and Shellfrost’s deaths could be justified-- although he still felt guilty for both-- but Gingerwhisker hadn’t even passed the border!

Pitchfang was more than enraged when Cedarnose told him that he would tell everyone. He chased him through the trees, zigzagging, running into unfamiliar territory, passing dense bush, and down a steep fall.

Additional Information:

--Cedarnose deliberately lead him to the cliff, turning sometime in the bushes.

--Although cats don’t exactly have fall damage, the fall itself had a bunch of jagged rocks on the way down.

--Cat maker: https://meiker.io/play/14330/online.html

[dingle-dee]

A bunch of pretty tests for environments to practice for portfolio season feature Sootfang my WC oc I hope to make a fully planned out piece soon, as these take me maybe half an hour for a fully done one

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Cannot BELIEVE that Sootfang, a character who is briefly a threat to Jack and Sally, ends up being brought out of Christmas Town and welcomed into Halloween Town straight away.

AND NOT MR. MYZER?? THE GOTH ELF WHO ACTUALLY ASKED TO GO TO HALLOWEEN TOWN?

#JUSTICEFORMRMYZER

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Sally's Lament Review

Here is my complete review of the newly-released Disney Twisted Tales book, Sally's Lament. I will be making some comparisons to the TNBC sequel novel, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, as well as other Nightmare adaptations and Twisted Tales books I've read thus far. This book, however, will be treated as it is - a 'Twisted' Alternate-Universe take to the movie's storyline.

Spoilers below!

Overall, I loved this book, and had such a blast reading it that I ended up binging it all in one day. It is an interesting Alternate take to the question - What if Sally was the one who discovered Christmas Town? I'm so glad Nightmare was chosen to be in the Disney Twisted Tale Series, as I've always adored AU takes to my favorite film of all time - Sally's Lament being no exception.

As I usually do in my reviews, I'll be breaking it into segments, starting with:

The Writing

Mari is a wonderful writer, and I enjoyed the dialogue and characterizations in here. There is a lot of playful/friendly banter between Jack & Sally, and I actually laughed at a few scenes in this book! The comedy is on-point and the Halloween Town-like dialect from Jack and Sally is nailed to a tee. There is a great comparison you can grasp between their world and customs versus Christmas Town's.

This book does follow something similar to Shea Ernshaw's Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, where the text describes Jack Skellington having 'dark eyes' rather than eye sockets...which is a valid literary choice and all I guess, but one that still catches me off guard, nonetheless.

I've been reading a few other Disney Twisted Tales books, and the three I have read were all around 500 pages. Sally's Lament, however, only came to 352. And I think it could've benefited from another hundred or so pages - as I feel like there could've been more exploration and drama at the end to give a much more satisfying conclusion to the conflict. (More on this later, under 'Story')

Characters

Sally's Lament introduces some new characters from Christmas Town, a few minor, but here are the new major ones - Abigail, Mr. Jingles, and Sootfang.

Abigail is a porcelain doll Sally meets during her first visit to Christmas Town, one of the Christmas toys who competes in a talent show in hopes of winning a spot on Santa's sleigh to be delivered to a child. (A little bit of referencing to Rudolph with the whole 'misfit toys', I imagine!) She quickly becomes Sally's friend and aids her throughout the story.

--While reading the Twisted Tales books, it's a common trope for a new side character to come in the picture who aids our protagonist in the story. Abigail fulfills this role, even relating to Sally as a fellow doll who has an imperfection. I honestly did not think much of Abigail, but she gets an absolutely-sweet ending in the Epilogue thanks to Santa, and I thought that was nice.

Mr. Jingles is the antagonist, who serves as the Supreme Court Judge and Executioner of Christmas Town, appointed by Santa Claus himself, to sort the 'nice' and 'naughty' residents of Christmas Town. Honestly? He's not as good of a villain as Oogie Boogie is (i mean, who COULD be?), but he does serve his purpose on hunting Sally down and enforcing order in the Town. The ending to his story is pretty quick, as he is exiled from Christmas Town, and I can't really say much about his character beyond that he served his job enforcing the 'Naughty VS Nice' enforcement on the Town.

And, finally, there's Sootfang, who is a large, 'scary' charcoal creature who holds the naughty prisoners for Mr. Jingles. His true character gets revealed pretty quickly, as he is an outcast in Christmas Town for being too 'scary' and was mistreated/judged for his looks and behaviors. He relates to Jack and Sally, as well as Halloween Town, where he ends up going to and living in after the story's events. (An ending Mr. Myzer in Zero's Journey COULD HAVE gotten, but I digress..!!! *Frustrated grumbling*)

...I now realize, writing this review, that none of these characters particularly latched onto me and I almost quickly forgot two of their names after reading the book. But they serve their purpose for the story, and I'm glad to see Sally meeting and getting a new friend like Abigail. And, as always, I'm sooo open to seeing new villains in the TNBC unvierse that aren't a resurrected-Oogie Boogie.

Story

The beginning, of course, follows the movie's events up until the scene where Jack Laments in the graveyard. Here, we finally see the drastic moment that changes everything and sets in-motion this alternate-universe:

Sally leans too far against a tombstone, and reveals herself while Jack is lamenting. He sees her. She tells him she knows he feels. They have an honest conversation on the Spiral Hill, and the story ensues..! Because Sally talks with him and gets to know Jack's feelings, he doesn't end up wandering into the Hinterlands - and instead retreats back into Town. Instead, Sally gets a different premonition, and gets pulled into a game with Zero, who lures her into the Hinterlands Forest and brings her to the circle of trees.

(AKA, Zero is the catalyst of the story! You devil dog, you! <3)

We learn that the 'twisted' take on the story is during Sally's first visit into Christmas town, where the residents are forced to be 'nice' to each other at all times no matter how they feel, as they are constantly being watched/monitored/listened to. They punish any residents who make it on the naughty list, where they are taken into a bag and never heard from again.

--We later learn they are being sent to a prison to be kept under watch by the charcoal monster, Sootfang. And here's where my key criticism comes into play:

When Jack & Sally eventually make it to the cave they are trapped in, near the ending of the book, they find the place...completely bland, where everything is painted white and there is nothing there but the prisoners. They explain that the bleakness is the 'point' of the prison, to lower the Christmas spirit of the elves/creatures in there, but this just seems like...a missed opportunity to me..? Considering that -

(i.e. in the Beauty & the Beast Twisted Tale, Belle is imprisoned at some point and finds other prisoners who are being physically beaten/tortured and brutally tested on. If something like THAT can make it into the Twisted Tale Series, then I think there could've been a much bigger punishment for the 'Naughty' prisoners..?)

I feel like there wasn't much 'Twisted' or dark content in this book like there are in others of this Series. Not a single swear-word they could've slipped in. Now, before this released, I and other fans were speculating that Krampus was going to be part of the 'dark' take of this story, physically punishing the bad children and serving as the antagonist. And, honestly, he could've easily replaced Mr. Jingles in here - enforcing their expectations of the children onto their own people, and getting carried away with it. I don't know if Mari wasn't allowed to use Krampus or something -- but I think, as a known Christmas legend, he would've fit perfectly into this role, and introduced some true 'twisted' physical punishments of these people..!

(Abigail could've gotten off waaaaay worse than a crack in her leg...just think of the twisted opportunities!)

Another thing that took me out of the story was how quickly Sootfang's true character is revealed and how he immediately becomes an ally to Jack & Sally. He has very little time to serve as an actual threat to the prisoners + our protagonists, and instead he's offered an immediate redemption and shelter in Halloween Town. Mr. Jingles' ending comes pretty quickly, too, as their revolt is Sally climbing to a tree and encouraging the Christmas Town residents to free themselves. I just feel like all of this...Jack & Sally's exploration of the prison, finding some difficulty in freeing the prisoners + fighting Sootfang, bringing Mr. Jingles out of power...could've been way more detailed and twisted than it was. This is where I think an extra 100 pages could've brought us more to this conflict.

Otherwise, the story was delightful, and I will go into an explanation as to why below:

Jack X Sally

Alright. Yes. Here we go.

I have both positive and negative criticism here - but mostly good things, as this book gives us more scenes and time spent between Jack Skellington and Sally as they go on an adventure to Christmas Town together. Their friendship + chemistry develops more, they share WAY more conversations, and there is some implied mutual crushing in here.

Let me get some of my issues out of the way here first - Sally's characterization in here is quite...different, and therefore makes her interactions with Jack a little different, too. She doesn't appear to be as shy in here as we see in the movie, where Sally struggles to be around him for very long without hiding or running away from him. In here, she apparently gets super comfortable enough to start joking with Jack right away, saying things like "What makes you think I think highly of you, Jack Skellington?", etc. etc.

Now, see, I wouldn't have a problem with this if the book establishes that Jack and Sally are already good friends and have some history together. But this is kind of cancelled out when Sally meets Abigail in Christmas Town, who she says is her "very first friend". And not Jack Skellington? Who she shared a deeply personal talk and joked around with? It just doesn't seem in-character to me that Sally would be so open with someone without already knowing and feeling comfortable enough around them. This would make a lot of sense with Jack, if the book just...treated them as prior friends before they adventure out to Christmas Town together. I don't see her being this flirtatious and jokey with someone she doesn't know very well. It makes this interaction feel a little OOC to me.

I've made a post early comparing a certain line in the book to the movie, where Sally initially denies any feelings for Jack and insists she doesn't want to be with him when Abigail brings it up. Yes, she's lying to Abigail because Jack is within earshot and in the conversation she confesses she think she's in love with him, but I should reiterate that I've always seen Sally as a dreamer and a romantic, who sings about her feelings for Jack and picks forget-me-nots to see if he loves her back. She's come to terms with her love for him by the point of the movie, so for her initial reaction to be a STRONG denial of feelings for him reads a bit OOC to me. I think she would be shy about it, but not something she'd deny right away, because Jack is arguably a big part of her daydreaming and the driving force behind some of her actions. She yearns for him to reciprocate her feelings! But this is probably just a personal nitpick of mine.

So, with that out of the way, the rest of their interactions are wonderful to read through, they clearly progress more in their relationship and get comfortable with each other. The joking and flirting makes more sense as time goes on, where they share an equal liking for each other and bond over doing things in Christmas Town. I LOVED the scenes in the vents, the chimney, the eggnog quicksand, where they are forced to be close together and Jack cares for Sally and vice versa. I just love reading them adventuring and spending so much time together, as they clearly get along so well and the fact that they both understand what they're going through and could use something new in their lives (to find each other through it) is just the cherry on top of it all.

I would definitely re-read this book just for these interactions again, we aren't gifted enough with stories where Jack and Sally legitimately spend more time together, as friends or a couple. So this was a wonderful gift to receive in that direction - I just wish Sally had her shyness and romantic nature in this book. I think the two of them coming to terms with their feelings for each other and getting together in the middle of their Christmas Town adventure would have probably been good for the story. I've always felt let down with the Disney Twisted Tales books treating romance as a secondary, last-minute thing...we can surely have Jack and Sally being together AND adventuring + taking down Mr. Jingles coexisting at the same time...

I will be releasing a brief post soon elaborating more about my qualms with Sally's characterization in here. So we'll put a hold on that for now.

Summary

Overall, I enjoyed my reading of Sally's Lament. As someone who has chosen to let go of my firm headcanons + beliefs in TNBC, I'm glad I can approach an AU like this with an open mind, knowing that things will be different and authors will make literary choices that I don't agree with. This book just misses the mark on writing Sally true to her character in the movie.

But the story was a fun read and I am just glad to see Jack and Sally together for a full adventure for once, instead of favoring one or the other. Just as I was happy to see them married and being royalty in LLTPQ. Jack was the focus for video games and the movie - and Sally for recent books and comic books, but we've finally gotten something that combines them together, and it's such a wonderful thing that I wonder why most media chooses not to do it.

Ultimately, I recommend reading this if you're looking for exactly what I described above - to read Jack and Sally on an adventure together, and if you don't mind her being different from how you saw her in the movie. I don't hate this book by any means, I enjoyed my read and what it offered to me, but I do wish Sally's Lament had been longer, had a better climax + resolution, and that the lead was written as the shy, romantic dreamer that she is instead of a default Disney Princess.

What did you guys think of the book? Feel free to tell me in my Inbox, or in a reblog/reply below!