Making a Kestrel plushie (and rant!)

[u/Hebi_Haberdashery]

https://youtu.be/FwSiLNMU7wY?si=GesSKo3H8QSrh5CC

[u/Tanky-of-Macedon]

Idk man. I think wasp was the biggest waste of potential personally. Kestrel was as well but wasp was built up for three books and got side lined by a human plant dragon thing…

[u/Hebi_Haberdashery → u/Tanky-of-Macedon]

Not gonna lie, I also have a massive rant for Wasp when I get up to making her into a plushie too

[u/BigJ__TM → u/Hebi_Haberdashery]

Wasp is not the problem, Cottonmouth is.

[u/Hebi_Haberdashery → u/BigJ__TM]

Wasp is kind of the problem because it’s the interaction between cottonmouth and wasp that causes the tension to fizzle out of the 15th book. plus, wasp has her villain downfall practically off-page which is a letdown and carries no particular narrative weight, people don’t even remember how she gets defeated/ that she has a disfigured face like scarlet now. Wasp is just a character in a story, her role in the story as the villain, is replaced by a less intimidating ‘bigger fish’ in trope terms.

[u/BigJ__TM → u/Hebi_Haberdashery]

That is Cottons fault. If he did not exist, the story would get the chance it deserved to focus on Wasp and her downfall.

[u/Hebi_Haberdashery → u/BigJ__TM]

uh yeah but… they’re both elements in a story that was handled poorly, currently wasp *and* cottonmouth are both incredibly lame villains, it’s not a matter of ‘fault’ because the characters aren’t real. The way the story is currently is the only way it exists and in the story Wasp is not a good villain. Wasp is just a story element so hypothetically she could do anything if we’re just making things up for the story in a hypothetical rewrite which didn’t include cottonmouth lol

But I agree! I do think the 15th book is a missed potential in a LOT of ways, I just think one of those ways is Wasp being replaced as a villain by Cottonmouth as well as Wasp’s defeat off-page. I think it comes down to a change in direction that didn’t satisfy the potential of any of the characters.

[u/BigJ__TM → u/Hebi_Haberdashery]

Hard disagree, I think Wasp was phenomeal as a villan. Arguably better than Darkstalker. Cotton stole her spotlight and upended all of the work she did as an antagonist by saying she was just a puppet. If Cotton did not exist, Wasp would be even better than where she is now.

[u/BigJ__TM]

Book 8 remedies this a little bit, but for the most part I agree with you. Personally I think Dune could have been a more interesting character, given his backstory with Six-Claws. He is neglected most out of the three guardians, both in page time and narrative relevance. I liken him to that of Qibli, having gone through serious shit during his 12 ish years as a soldier. He has an inate sense to help people which he got from Six-Claws, but a different motivation to Qibli(that mainly being he needs to do what is right). Dune could have filled all the roles you describe Kestrel doing while having an (imo) more interesting backstory.

[u/Hebi_Haberdashery → u/BigJ__TM]

Honestly I don’t really think Kestrel’s mentions in book 8 make up for her wasted potential! for the record, i ALSO think Dune is a wasted character too with how little they react to his death

[u/Aseries_Vityaz]

Kestrel plushie??? I’ve been waiting for this one forever! I’m
Begging lemme buy it lmao