GrayXMillie: Why you should re-think hating it! by Sparktooth

Sparktooth defends Graystripe and Millie.

Artwork by Vialir

Hey bloggers! Sparktooth here! This is my first article and I’m going to be discussing, analysing, defending, and sharing my opinion on one of the most unpopular ships (but one of my favorites): Graystripe and Millie! I kept wondering why people hated this ship and Millie herself. Let’s see if you judge GrayXMillie or even Millie as harshly after reading this.

I’ll start where it all began, when the two cats met. If you remember at this time, Graystripe had recently been captured by Twolegs, and taken away from his home in Thunderclan. In the manga, it does a brilliant job of showing how lost and confused he feels. He dreams of being back in the forest, while he’s trapped in an unfamiliar Twoleg nest, alone and all his exits blocked. When he finally gets out to explore and was beaten by Duke, Graystripe was depressed and thought he was losing his warrior instincts.
Then Millie came along, the first kittypet who had been nice to him. She shows him a forest that brings back memories of Thunderclan, and seemed eager to learn more about clan life. The two become inseparable training out there everyday. Remember, it was Millie’s suggestion that influenced Graystripe to find Thunderclan. Silverstream even visited him in a dream saying she approved of the two of them. Millie gave up the life she knew to be with him. In my opinion, that alone showed more devotion and love for Graystripe than Silverstream showed.

Some people get mad because Graystripe chose a former kittypet as a new mate; and some people get mad because he chose a new mate in the first place. People (or in this case, cats), have different ways of moving on. Graystripe was practically torn apart when Silverstream died, and he needed someone to show him love again. Plus, former kittypets aren’t bad; like Stormcloud or Firestar, who happens to be Graystripe’s best friend. Just think about that.

One thing that really bothers me about people who complain about them, is they get mad at Millie for not choosing a warrior name. Names don’t show loyalty or courage. I honestly admired Millie for the independence she had to ask to keep her old name. She even vowed she would remain loyal to Thunderclan until the day she joined Starclan, but was always known as Millie and wanted to keep it that way. Plus, Boulder did this same exact thing years before Millie, and I don’t hear many people complaining about him! Both of them helped their clans, and fought for them, isn’t that what matters?

Now to one of the major reasons, people claiming Millie ‘neglects Bumblestripe and Blossomfall.’ Let’s look at it in her view. When Firestar got his nine lives, the life Brindleface gave him was to protect his clan like a mother protects her kits. Firestar expected it to be soft and sweet, but it was like burning fire, ready to fight to the death to protect anyone of his clanmates. Now, when Millie and Graystripe had kits, Millie just wanted to protect them like any caring mother. So imagine how frantic she felt when Briarlight’s legs were crushed under the tree. It made her blind to everything else. All a mother wants is for her kits to be safe.
This also comes into play when Millie yells at Blossomfall when she and Ivypool almost die in the tunnels. Already one her Millie’s kits almost died, so having another so close to death must’ve been like horror. Another example to add is when Millie snaps at Bramblestar saying if Briarlight isn’t saved in time, she would never forgive him. C’mon people, don’t act like you’ve never gotten angry and snapped at someone, saying things you didn’t mean. Keep in mind one of her kit’s lives was in danger at the moment. I’m pretty sure if Briarlight had died, Millie would’ve been devastated, but eventually she would’ve forgiven Bramblestar. She’s just a protective mother, even if it’s a little more ‘tough love’ than we see some of the other queens treat their kits.

One last thing before I conclude. I just feel like GrayXMillie was a lot more planned and thought-out than GrayXSilver. Here’s how: Millie and Graystripe’s relationship developed over the course of several books (like Firestar and Sandstorm). Where Silverstream and Graystripe met, fell in love, and had kits in two books. It was too rushed and unrealistically fast. Plus, it’s no secret Graystripe has the same feelings for Millie. He fell in love with Silverstream as a young warrior. Even though I’m sure he still cares for her, that doesn’t mean he’s still in love after years. People in real life get remarried all the time, and Graystripe has Millie now. I have nothing against GrayXSilver or Silverstream herself; I just feel like Millie’s a more interesting character all around. She’s a great member to the clan, and completes Graystripe well; and that’s how I’ll always think of her.

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49 comments

  • OMSC(starclan),YESSSSSSSSS
    yes yes yes yes I’m not alone
    ok time for me to actually talk
    *Clears throat*kay,here goes!
    So,I always figured Millie was silverstream 2.0 to graystripe,but he loved her enough to have kits with her and while yes Milllie wasn’t a great/good mom and Silverstream would’ve been,Milie all in all was a good cat(and she had like the only other female dark forest cat!).
    sooooo yeah It was probs short to you guys but that’s LONG for me!
    BYYYYYEEEE!
    -lots of love,Beepaw,your friendly medicine cat apprentice!

  • I absolutely luv Millie, she has a great personality. Even though she is a little overprotective, and worries too much about her kits, I know that everything comes from the bottom of her heart. ♥️ all she wants is for her kits to be safe.
    ♥️🐱♥️

    Echomoon♥️

    • Oh, I’ve read plenty of anti Gray X Silver stuff, and I still love them.
      You sit and weave your lies, like a fox trots through the night.

    • Not really 😛
      You sit and weave your lies, like a fox trots through the night.

  • Agreed! I love Millie. I don’t think she loves Briarlight more than her other kits even if she might sometimes favor her due to her injury. The manga series “Graystripe’s Adventure” is why I like Millie, so if you haven’t read it, that’s probably a big reason why you might hate Millie.
    SilverXGray is ridiculous. I hate how Silverstream is usually referred to as “beautiful” and not much else. Okay, I guess Silver’s sweet, but I feel like MillieXGraystripe had WAYYYYY more development!
    Of course, just my opinion. 🙂

  • Okay, this article is much better than your 2nd one, and I admit that I like Millie a little more, but in defense of Silverstream, she did not give up more than her! What was Millie leaving behind?! Silverstream was disobeying her father, her clan, AND the warrior code to be with Graystripe! Millie was just leaving her home behind, that’s it! Also, Silverstream DIED giving birth to GRAYSTRIPE’S kits, that was a very high price in being with him. And again… Millie DIDN’T KNOW that Blossomfall was even in the tunnels! So she wasn’t scared for her at all, just annoyed and angry at her. I mean, it wasn’t Blossomfall’s fault that Briarlight got injured! And what I still don’t like Millie for (I’m just throwing this in bc it isn’t very important) is that she didn’t change her name. Like srsly, she could have kept her kittypet name, just turned it into more warrior-like sounding, like Milliestripe (no, I didn’t do “stripe” bc that’s what Graystripe’s name ends with)