Loving and Defending Twigbranch by Moonpaw

Moonpaw shares their love for Twigbranch.

Hi! It’s Moonpaw here with my second article, and today you’ll see why I love Twigbranch, my favourite character (yes, an unpopular opinion, I know).

Before we start, in case there are any other Moonpaws out there, I’m Moonpaw/leaf. Just to clear anything up!
Please note that I have read up to Sky of A Starless Clan. I don’t know anything about Twigbranch in Shadow and onwards.

Let’s get on with the article!

A General Look at Twigbranch
Twigbranch is a kind, thoughtful, and peace-loving she-cat who has a tendency to dream her life away and who has, let’s call it questionable, taste in possible mates. Due to her unsteady kithood, she has a particular longing to find a sense of belonging and family. She served three apprenticeships, under Ivypool, Sandynose, and Sparkpelt. Her mother died when she was a kit and her father was separated from her at the same time. She has one sister, Violetshine, who she at first felt the need to be very close to. Her mate is Finleap and she is a part of ThunderClan.

Family
Twigbranch’s family went through a really rough time. Hawkwing lost his mate and kits to a Twoleg, and soon after that, Twigkit and Violetkit lost their mother. From this, we can understand that Twigbranch feels a real need to connect with a family. At a young age, she does this through her sister Violetkit, then Violetpaw, but Violetpaw takes their situation in a very different way. She feels the need to make her own way in the world, not wanting much to do with Twigpaw. We may not agree with Twigpaw/branch’s obsession with family, but we can at least understand it.
As she gets older, when she goes on the quest to find SkyClan, and meets her father, she can’t decide whether to be a part of the family she’s always wanted, or the family that has raised her.

Clan
Twigpaw goes through not one, not two, but three apprenticeships. This is because of her indecision over which Clan she wants to be a part of. This in my eyes is very understandable. Wanting the family she’s longed for her whole life battles with wanting to have some loyalty to the cats who shaped her life. It’s a really hard decision for her, and by the end of all this she has experienced so much training and different views that she is very confused and all in a blur. In the end she decides to stay in ThunderClan, which I believe is the right choice.

Now, I’m going to go into why I love her, and why I think you should too! This will all be drawing from the previous sections.

Why I love her!
I love Twigbranch because she goes through so much, but still works hard and chooses to be kind to everyone. I think the fact that she finds it hard to decide which clan to stay in shows that she wants to please all, and that she has a deep sense of where she should belong. She’s thoughtful, too, and takes time to think about her actions. I also relate to her massively, but this is specific to me.

Defending her
Twigbranch is not petty, spoiled, or insensitive, not at all.
Your argument:
Twigbranch is SO petty and makes such a big deal over a small matter. Like, why can’t she be happy with the cats who raised her?
Countering:
As a kit, Twigbranch is a kit. Yes, read that sentence again. She can’t have a complex understanding of emotions or situations, and having a family is all she wants. This is completely okay. No one can expect a kit or young apprentice to just have the difficult feelings of accepting she belongs where she doesn’t have family.
As an apprentice who wants to be close to her sister, the only family member she has left, Twigpaw feels super hurt when Violetpaw attacks her and joins the Kin. The last time she saw Violetpaw, as kits, Violetkit wanted to be close to Twigkit too. She isn’t making a big deal – Violetpaw is the only cat she’s known her whole life, and she’s surprised and upset when Violetpaw hurts her.
Now, I’m going to speak about another part of Twigbranch’s life – her mate, Finleap. Okay, so before we start, I majorly shipped FinpawXTwigpaw, but I certainly don’t ship FinleapXTwigbranch. Finpaw and Twigpaw are so cute together – especially when Twigpaw is the only cat that Finpaw will even talk to.
As a warrior, Twigbranch fell in love with Finleap, who came back with her to ThunderClan. Finleap wanted to have kits with Twigbranch – but Twigbranch wasn’t ready. Finleap was saying that Twigbranch didn’t love him enough, pressuring her. But it is ultimately Twigbranch’s decision, and if she’s not ready, Finleap should respect that.
Your argument:
Twigbranch is super spoiled and pampered, she never had to go through what Violetshine had to go through! She doesn’t care a bit about Violetshine or Hawkwing’s feelings.
Countering:
Just because the sisters grew up in different environments doesn’t mean that one is immediately whiny and spoiled. In fact, ShadowClan specifically want Violetkit – and then with no reason whatsoever, all start being horrible to Violetkit/paw just so that we as readers feel sorry for her. I actually really like Violetshine – but some of the way she’s written bothers me. Twigbranch is not spoiled at all – a strong will in a slightly quieter cat might be mistaken for this, but she is allowed to be impulsive *cough* like Violetshine *cough*. It’s just a part of her personality, and last time I checked, spoilt is not a personality trait.
She also cares deeply about Violetshine and Hawkwing’s feelings – the decision to change her Clan was rooted in caring about and wanting to be with the aforementioned cats, and wanting to pave her own path and thank ThunderClan.

Overall, Twigbranch is an amazing character who has flaws such as getting lost in fantasy or indecision (but for valid reasons) but is also strong, kind, and a great character.

I hope this has changed some of you guys’s opinions on Twigbranch.
Thank you for reading.
-Moonpaw out