#Maybe I'll take a look at the Beaker people nearby for inspiration

[bonefall]

Screaming crying throwing up at the Thunder spoiler thread because

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-THUNDER SPOILERS-

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Frostpaw coming to the realization that the Park Cats have a culture that she likes better than the culture of the clans, and wanting to bring elements of it back home with her? That COULD be an actually good use of a traveling book, and it WOULD be an actually nice change to see the clans do any kind of self-reflection on the violence of their culture. Unfortunately, I don’t trust the Erins even a little bit to follow through in any kind of satisfactory way on that plot thread, so I worry it’s going to result in the Clans once again looking at an outside culture and taking a very xenophobic lesson away from interacting with it.

I'm still trying to work out my feelings on the return of the Park Cats... overall, I think I'm feeling pretty frustrated, and it's coloring my perception of them

I also really disliked Riverstar's Home, though. I hated the traveling, I didn't find the Park very interesting in practice, was annoyed by a ton of small things. It felt like the book only got good once we were back in the forest, so, maybe I'm still tasting my sour introduction to the Park cats.

I also don't have any faith in the authors to handle Waffle and Wasp well, or any of the practices Frostpaw is planning to bring home. At this point I'm expecting it. What's really on my mind is... why?

Why did they create a whole little unchanging cultural bubble, a group under glass, exactly the same as it was during the dawn of the clans... when they were just going to blast Frostpaw with The Avatar State anyway?

She can talk to Riverstar whenever. And every ancestor who served under him. And you don't even have to waste 6 chapters on travelling. Could we not have learned about meditation from Riverstar, if the Erins are soooo eager to shove the ancestors into this and write him as her spirit guide?

Like, all this time dedicated to a culture whose one trait is meditating. I have frustrations with the Sisters and Tribe, but they're interesting concepts, with their own spiritual beliefs, government, and customs. So far, the neo-Park has been bland.

Like Guardians, a bare-bones group that showed up once in an SE and just existed to serve the Clan cats for a while, and send Tigerheart back with new characters.

But like, back to the Lesson of the Park Cats, whatever thing Frostpaw could bring home

I just... man, I go off about Clan Culture and its violence literally all the time, but this arc has been ridiculously peaceful. We are 4/6ths of the way through and there was one major battle, at the end of a book, which was bloodless. All the fighting has been arguments.

What exactly is Frostpaw going to learn from the Park cats? How to be passive? Is that going to help RiverClan get rid of the occupying army? Will the power of mindfulness help them un-forget all of their battle training and remind them how to do their own laundry?

If (if.) The Erins have planned all this out, then what they're going to do next is have Frostpaw take what she's learned, and use it to help un-divide RiverClan.

Which TO BE CLEAR would be good for Frostpaw as a character!

But that's not addressing the violence of clan culture or even leaning into it. That wouldn't really be a cultural change, so much as Frostpaw having learned leadership skills... which, again, makes me wonder what the point of a culture frozen in time really was, when they blasted her with this super strong, unprecedented magic connection to StarClan.

Idk. Just, generally not vibing with this book if the spoiler thread is to be believed.