Best Parents?

[zielonaofwildwood]

Of course it is all these cats' first time parenting. I have to cut them some slack.

But I'm going to analyze their parenting based on my own views about parenting, their dialogue, and how their kits are turning out.

First is Lainey and Spark. I would consider these cats very mature. They seem immature at first but go through so much character growth, and when they are in a rival marriage you have to have 4 stars with them, which means they went through their character development already. Lux and Aurora are really cute and kind and I like how their different personalities show up nicely, they have a good sibling bond, and clearly like their parents. Lainey and Spark do not strike me as strict parents, which is usually good.

Spark and Lainey have a great relationship, which really helps in raising kits. And they seem to be active and fun parents, as shown by this dialogue from Spark: "Lainey and I certainly have our hands full now that we're parents! But I don't mind. / Playing tag is way more fun when there's four of you instead of two!"

And this dialogue from Lux just captures my heart: "Aurora and I get to choose what we do with our time. It's nice. / Not all kittens get to choose what they want to do with their time like we do." Lux is such a mature, friendly, and happy kitten. Aurora is more of a pawful but Spark and Lainey don't seem to mind, or give any twin special treatment over the other. They also seem to understand that their kittens are two separate cats, not one unit.

This dialogue from Aurora shows that Spark and Lainey are not strict, but make sure their kits become good cats: "We only have one rule in our den. That is to treat other cats the way that you want to be treated. That is why I am so nice to everyone. / I try to be friends with every cat in (colony). I am good at talking to everyone, even the cats that scare me a little bit." And clearly the kits are given lots of independence in this dialogue from Aurora: "Today is a big day because Spark said that we are old enough to go hunting. I don't know what I will catch first."

Aurora's dialogue is more telling than Lux's about how great their parents are (probably because they talk more). For example, "I have the best parents in (colony). They trust me and Lux. We can go wherever we want and we don't have to even tell them. / They let us explore and be ourselves. I think that is why I am so good at talking. I talk to everyone. You are one of my favorite cats to talk to (Player). / You are just as easy to talk to as my parents. But I am closer with my parents. I tell them everything. They let me talk as much as I want. They are great parents." Lux and Aurora are also BEST siblings! ))

Overall, 9.7/10 parents. They are not strict at all but it's clearly working!

(I will add the rest later in separate replies, I have to sleep)

[zielonaofwildwood]

Alabaster and Fliss. This might be controversial...
I think they are good parents in theory. And they try to be good parents. As Fliss has said, "The thing that I want most for Salem is that they grow up with the same kind of loving family that I had when I was a kid. / I'm doing everything I can to provide that for them." It seems like their priorities are right. Fliss is definitely a loving parent, like their sibling Lainey.
However, with Alabaster, I notice their dialogue about Salem only includes this:
"I think I saw Salem running away from the garden with something in their mouth. Did you happen to see what they had? / I did a full inventory but nothing seems to be missing. How strange." Obviously, dialogue doesn't mean everything, but it's the only glimpse we really get into the lives of these families. And considering Alabaster is very talkative, it's strange how he doesn't say much about being a parent or trying his best to raise Salem. Like really, Alabaster?!
I think Alabaster and Fliss are not raising a good kit. (Salem is very ungrateful and he doesn't respect other cats.) I also think I could get a better insight by looking at Salem's dialogue because most of it will be about Alabaster and Fliss.
By looking at Salem's gift tastes and buddy traits, he appears to like harvesting plants. (Maybe not gardening.) But he also says, "Alabaster is always trying to teach me about plants. I don't think there is much to them to be honest. They just heal you and stuff. / Valerian: makes you go fast but tastes bad. Peppermint: covers your smell but tastes bad. Marigold: heals you but smells AND tastes bad. / See? They're all the same." I think some of Alabaster's teaching is rubbing off on Salem, but Salem still doesn't like gardening (which is okay). As for Fliss, they try to teach Salem many things, but he doesn't like or appreciate it: "Lainey is more fun than Fliss. Fliss tries to make learning fun, but learning is never fun. It's silly and useless." That's kind of sad, to be honest. Of course, it's cool that they think Lainey is fun, but they don't seem to care about Fliss and only care about them being fun.
My opinion is that Alabaster and Fliss are almost all work and almost no play with Salem, so he gravitates toward more "fun" families (like Lainey and Spark).
I would say that Alabaster needs to try harder. He seems to only use Salem for garden work. Alabaster is a good cat but he needs to pay more attention to what Salem wants to do. Alabaster is good at teaching Salem (even if Salem won't admit it), but they are not very close.
Fliss tries very hard but they don't know what Salem likes, or what Salem wants to do. They try to be close to Salem, but they don't get it right. A problem with both parents is they don't seem to let Salem have a lot of fun (although Salem does have friends they hang out with), and that makes Salem prone to bending and breaking rules to have "fun".
Overall 6/10 parents. They're trying, it's not working. But there are some great things about them as parents and they clearly have good values. They are the kind of cats that would be great parents if they were closer to their kit. The takeaway here is they need to change their approach but keep the same values like responsibility and learning.
Also, the whole thing about Salem feeling hungry all the time. That's bad. Their parents tell them they can have some licorice, but Salem doesn't like licorice, and it's not like an "eat your veggies" thing. Since cats are cats, having prey is better than plants (for food). For better nutrition, Salem might want to eat prey. In fact, there are prey stockpiles, too. Why can't Salem use those? The whole thing seemed strange to me. Am I overthinking this?

[zielonaofwildwood]

In Beau's 1-star dialogue, they say: "Yesterday I got really sad so I went and found Buttercup and sat with them for a bit. / We didn't talk or say anything, but it was every bit as comforting as I needed it to be." Remember this is 1 star. Usually kits don't really say anything like that at that point, so Buttercup must be really emotionally attuned to their kits. And also, Bob cares about the safety of their kits, as shown in Beau's dialogue: "Bob told me not to wander off too far from town. Something about scary shadow cats that'll attack if you wander off on your own." This shows that Buttercup and Bob look out for their kits well. Beau doesn't really have anything nice to say about their siblings until their 4 star dialogue: "Used to not be able to stand either of my two siblings. But I think as I'm growing up I'm finding that I want to hang around them more and more." Beau also loves their family, even though it is huge and they are more introverted.
As for Basil, they seem to be more enthusiastic about spending time with their family: "Bob makes funny faces and I laugh and laugh and laugh. Buttercup says I laugh loud." This shows that Bob and Buttercup play games to entertain their kits, and Basil is clearly happy in the colony. ("When you were a little small kitten like me, did you have any friends? What were they like? / I have lots of friends! Plus I have Bubby and Beau, though they don't really count since they're my siblings. But I still think they're good friends.") Basil is very close to Buttercup: ""I look a lot like Buttercup. / I like that I look a lot like Buttercup because I love Buttercup. They are the best parent a kitten like me could ask for." Also, Bob looks out for Basil by teaching them about how the colony works.
As for Bubby, they watch a LOT of TV, but they also love their family clearly. I don't have much time to write this so I'll finish by saying Buttercup and Bob are great parents, 9/10, and they manage their large family well. I wouldn't say they're as great as Lainey and Spark, but they’re good.

[zielonaofwildwood]

OH SHOOT I DIDN'T INCLUDE THE FIRST PARAGRAPH IN MY THIRD ANALYSIS
(It was basically about how Bob and Buttercup have a great relationship and I had a good impression about them)

[zielonaofwildwood]

Also here is just a reminder that no one is perfect, even video game parents, and also I'm not a parent so my analysis might be a little judgy. I really don't mean to come off like that, though.