Hated Cats – Article One: Blossomfall by Sky

Sky starts off a series of defense articles by talking about Blossomfall.

Art by Snowy-Owl-Of-Dawn

Hello BlogClan! I’m making a defense article series in defense of some hated cats – both the ones commonly hated and the ones more liked than hated. This is article number one, where I defend Blossomfall. I’ve chosen her because she seems to get her fair share of almost every emotion available to a warriors fan. Along with those emotions is hate.

NOTE: When I say “many people,” I mean many people who hate her, not the majority of the fandom.

Blossomfall. This cat is part of the core the reason as to why I dislike Millie. Many people hate her because she was “irresponsible, whiny, unappreciative, and a brat.” However, I don’t see her in this light. Let’s look at two major reasons as to why people hate her and my responses to those reasons.

1 – “She was so irresponsible, dragging Ivypool into the tunnels. Whitewing didn’t yell at Ivypool because Ivypool didn’t want to go. Plus, Millie had every right to yell at her – Millie was concerned! Also, don’t your parents yell at you sometimes? Do you hate them? No. So Millie was justified and Blossomfall shouldn’t have been so sensitive and went to train with Dark Forest cats.”

MY RESPONSE: No, she was curious. This was a sometimes negative attribute in her genetic makeup! Also, did Whitewing know that Ivypool was the one who got convinced into it? Nope, she didn’t. For all Whitewing could’ve known, it was – or could have been – Ivypool who initiated the adventure. I also have to add that Ivypool went along with it, so obviously she did want to go a bit. There’s another scene in the books that reveals that Millie was actually not concerned about her ending up like Briarlight – sick and unable to fully be a warrior. In one of the books, Hazeltail calls to Millie saying that Blossomfall had a cough in leafbare. In that cold season, even a small cough is something to be concerned about. But what does Millie do? She mews a small “Okay” to Hazeltail’s words as if she didn’t hear them(and she probably didn’t) and goes off to give prey to Briarlight, who probably doesn’t even WANT all the attention Millie pours on her. This was just breaking another straw in the sparse haystack of Blossomfall’s hope for her mother’s attention. I highly suspect that the scene after Ivypool and Blossomfall go into the tunnels was one of the last straws. “Where did the other straws go?” you may ask. Well, it’s showed multiple times that Millie snaps at Blossomfall and Bumblestripe. So I think that those snaps slowly broke all of the other straws. Now, I know what you’re thinking – “Why didn’t Bumblestripe run off to the Dark Forest?” Because EVERY CAT is DIFFERENT. Bumblestripe is more independent and understanding than Blossomfall, who seeks love and attention. This might make her sound clingy, as most parents in the first series barely interacted with their kids after they become warriors, but that was because, in the first series, most parents were dead or the Erins didn’t even know that they’d become parents! In all future books, we see relationships between parent and child, most much better than the one between Millie and her children. If I grew up and my only interactions with my mom after my sister got injured were her snapping at me and yelling at me, I’d start feeling terrible. Call Blossomfall sensitive if you’d like, but sensitive people tend to need more positive nurturing care, something Blossomfall didn’t have. (By the way, this is psychological. The higher-reactive you are, emotional-wise, you really do tend to need more caring and kind care from an older figure as higher-reactive people are more sensitive.) Graystripe ignored his second litter and Millie was always snapping, so Blossomfall wanted some cat to appreciate and nurture her. This is what the Dark Forest gave her. Support.

In addition, I consider the sister part a large part as to why Blossomfall reacted so strongly, especially in comparison to Bumblestripe. So I’m not being sexist, but siblings of the same gender tend to get along better, feel a stronger connection, and turn to each other more than two siblings of opposite genders. This is pretty much a given in my opinion. Siblings of the same gender ALSO tend to expect the same treatment. So since Briarlight got so much attention, Blossomfall only expected the same treatment! Bumblestripe, as a cat of another gender, doesn’t really expect that in the same way.

2 – “Blossomfall knew that the Dark Forest was where evil cats went, yet she still trained there. Plus, she hates her sister – what kind of a cat is she?”

MY RESPONSE: She trained there because she wanted attention. That sounds weird, I guess, but it’s true. It probably seems bad because other most of the other trainees didn’t know that the DF was evil, other than the evil trainees. The thing is is that I see Blossomfall as a Bramblestar case. She believes that the cats in the DF can help her, and it probably helps the DF cats that Blossomfall wants attention, so it’s a package deal for her – training and attention together! Like Bramblestar, she knew that her trainers were bad cats, but she stayed not because she wanted to be evil, but because they offered her almost everything that she wanted in her life then. In response to the hating sister part, she said that she hated her sister for getting injured. She never said that she outright hated her sister! I take it that she hates her sister’s injury and indirectly hates that her sister got herself injured. She hates the ACT of her sister getting injured and that her sister let herself get injured, not entirely her sister herself. I think that that’s okay. Plus, Millie wasn’t being helpful. In fact, Blossomfall probably would never have said or thought that had Millie been a good mom. You see, Briarlight getting injured caused Millie to treat her other kits horribly. Therefore, even if Briarlight had gotten injured but Millie treated her kits well, Blossomfall would have nothing to hate about the injury other than the fact that her sister was hurt.

I’ve covered the two main reasons as to why people hate Blossomfall. Hopefully this has altered your view to a more positive one of Blossomfall!

~ Sky

P.S. – Please trust me on the psychology thing. Not making it up, promise. I went through a lot of psychology audiobooks in the car with my mom…

Next Article: Dovewing

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36 comments

  • Wait people hate on Blossomfall?! WHAT?!?!?! Anyways, great points I AGREE WITH THEM ALL. Blossomfall doesn’t hate her sister! I mean, multiple times she states and acts in a good manner towards Briarlight. Keep making these articles they are amazing! Would you mind doing one on like Crowfeather or Ferncloud or Daisy??? One of those would be cool! You don’t have to of course, I was just suggesting 🙂 Again, good article! Like Rainie said, you’re very good at getting evidence and debating!

  • Yeah! This was awesome! Blossomfall was a good choice for this & I totally agree with you Sky! Can’t wait for the next one of Dovewing!Great job!☺️😊🙌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👌🏻

  • I agree with you. Most fans misunderstand Blossomfall’s character. Blossomfall doesn’t want to be treated like a kit, she wants to be loved like a clanmate/family member. All people need to be noticed loved, even adults. Most psychologists would agree that love is a basic need. Millie just jumped to the conclusion that Blossomfall wasted the whole day. Since she was in camp there was no way she could have known what Blossomfall and Ivypool were doing most of the day.

  • I completely agree. Ivypool made her own choice to go into the tunnels, Blossomfall grab her by the scruff and drag her down there. Lionblaze and Jayfeather also explored the tunnels even thought it was against the rules. Niether, Millie nor Whitewing were aware that there daughters had been in the tunnels. Many fans ignore the fact that Millie had no way of knowing her daughter was in the tunnels. All either were aware of was that their daughters went on patrol and came home hurt.

    Nothing in what Millie says to Blossomfall displays concern. If anything her words and actions display a lack of concern “Her tail-tip was twitching in annoyance….’Where have you been?’ Millie snapped. ‘You’ve wasted a whole morning when you could have been hunting!’ Glancing back at Briarlight,…she added. ‘Your sister would give anything to help feed the Clan! It’s time you grew up, Blossomfall, and started to behave like a proper warrior.’…’There’s no harm done,’ Brackenfur meowed, blinking at Blossomfall in concern. ‘Both cats are home safe, and that is the main thing, isn’t it?’ ‘Is it?’ Millie drew her lips back in a snarl. Her eyes were full of bitterness…”(Hunter 254-255).-Warriors: Omen of the stars: Sign of the Moon.

    We see that Millie degrades her daughter. From her words it seems like she sees Blossomfall as a parasite. She speaks to Blossomfall the way Uncle Vernon speaks to Harry Potter. If she was concerned, she would have noticed that Blossomfall is injured and tried to get her medical attention. Millie’s response is irrational. Who yells at a person who came home injured? If Millie was concerned, she would have recalled that Hazeltail told her that Blossomfall was ill earlier that morning and taken that into account. I don’t think anything justifies Millie verbally abusing her daughter. Bringing up Briarlight’s condition was cruel, especial since Blossomfall is already sad about her sister “I can’t bear seeing her suffer and I know Briarlight would give anything to be better and whole again.”(Hunter 246).-Warriors: Omen of the Stars: Sign of the Moon. It was also insensitive to Briarlight for Millie to bring up her condition. Poor Briarlight must have felt awful to hear her mother use her condition against her sister.

    People who hate Blossomfall say she needs to grow up. However, Millie is the one who needs to grow up. She should learn not to take her grief out on everyone, especially not her other children. When Bluestar was taking her grief out on her clan mates as an apprentice, Sunstar told her to stop because she was hurting the cats around her. In Crookedstar’s promise, when Crookedstar is neglecting Silverkit out of grief, his brother Oakheart calls him out on his behavior. I think that is what needs to happen with Millie. When I was in my early twenties, my grandmother died of cancer. I had a few relatives who acted like Millie and took their grief out on the rest of the family. They added so much unnecessary stress to a situation that was already painful for the whole family.

    I would argue that Bumblestripe got more support than Blossomfall. When he was afraid of getting into trouble with Millie for taking Briarlight out of camp, Lionblaze and Cinderheart reassure him. Briarlight even says she won’t let her brother get into trouble and lies to Millie to protect him.

    People who hate Blossomfall often argue that she still has her clan mates to get attention from, but none of her clan mates seem to care. No one stood up for her when Millie snapped at her. No one reached out to her after Millie humiliated her. Graystripe is distant from his children. When she asked Bumblestripe to train with her, he chose to train with Dovewing instead. It is no wonder she felt alone.

    Cats don’t choose the Dark Forest, the Dark Forest chooses them. They go to sleep and wake up there. They have no control over it. Just because Blossomfall trained in the Dark Forest doesn’t mean she is an evil cat. Lots of good cats trained in the Dark Forest: Crookedstar, Bramblestar, Lionblaze, Thornclaw, Birchfall, Mousewhisker, Ivypool, etc…

  • People who hate Blossomfall often use the argument that she is an adult an should be able to cope. However, they ignore the facts that Briarlight is an adult too and that being an adult doesn’t mean that a person no longer has emotional needs. Expecting Blossomfall and Bumblestripe to just be strong and cope for Millie’s sake is not only unfair but, unrealistic and emotionally unhealthy.

    In Inside out, Riley has an emotional break down from trying to be happy for her parents’ sake and bottling her feelings. Inside out paints a picture of what really happens when people try to bottle feelings. It is no wonder that after a while Blossomfall felt worn down. I think Bumblestripe was more emotionally worn down then the books showed.

    The clan is also to blame for Blossomfall and Bumblestripe’s emotional needs going neglected. Firestar and Graystripe were both in camp when Millie degraded her daughter, and both of them should have stepped in to defuse the situation. Firestar as clan leader had the authority to silence Millie or to send her out of camp until she calmed down. Graystripe as a father and a mate should have stepped in. He could have attempted to calm Millie down or comforted Blossomfall afterwards. For the whole Clan to stand there in silence giving Blossomfall nothing but apologetic looks was neglectful. Firestar could have had one of the queens look after Blossomfall or given her some time off from warrior duties to cope with her emotions. He also could have talked to Millie about finding ways to handle and express her grief without hurting others. It is important to express emotions, but it is also important to express them in ways that do not cause harm(emotional or physical) to other people. Both Ferncloud and Sorreltail have experience with grief and could have talked to Millie about how to handle it.

  • Many Millie fans argue that Briarlight needs all the attention Millie gives her. However, I have to disagree. In Warriors:Omen of the Stars: Fading echoes, we see that Briarlight is capable of dragging herself around camp. She even insists that she can get her own prey. It isn’t until Millie starts to interfere with Jayfeather taking care of her that she starts to become depressed. As the books go on Briarlight becomes more dependent, in Dovewing’s Silence she demands feathers for her nest. I think all the attention Millie gave her caused her to become dependent and a little spoilt. Sort of like Colin in The Secret Garden. Plus seeing her mother snap at Jayfeather, Blossomfall. Bumblestripe. and Bramblestar can’t be good for her emotional well being.

    Millie caused a emotional harm to both her daughters, and I think Bumblestripe is more effected than the books mention.

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