Let’s talk about Crowfeather by Jes

Jes shares their opinion on Crowfeather.

So I see this a lot, and when I say a lot I mean A LOT, but people seem to think that Crowfeather was abusive towards Leafpool, Nightcloud and Breezepelt. Which is completely and utterly false.

Let’s start with Leafpool and Crowfeather- let’s all agree, their romance was forced and stupid. There was no actual love or interactions between them! The authors forced it, yet it does have a bit of reason for existing; back when they got together, Leafpool was feeling left out by her clanmates. She had spent a few days at RiverClan to help her girlfriend out with medicine cat duties, and when she came back she found that Brightheart had almost completely replaced her- but not really, that’s just how Leafpool saw it. Meanwhile, Crowfeather had just lost his girlfriend and his whole clan was on edge with the whole Mudclaw and Onewhisker drama- he was in a harsh place… and what happens when two broken, love-seeking young adults find others like them? Boom, love and babies. Well, kinda, I guess. They were basically just there for each other when they needed it, ending in a rushed and stupid romance.

But people call Crowfeather abusive towards Leafpool for 1: guilt tripping her into running away with him. I admit, Crowfeather should have realized that he was pressuring her- but Leafpool WANTED to run away with him, but she just wasn’t sure, and she was basically like “oh yes soon”. So both were somewhat in the wrong here; Leafpool wanted to but was hesitant and instead of talking about it like a normal sane person, she just kinda shrugged and said “later haha” while Crowfeather didn’t want to step off.

People also say that Crowfeather is abusive for being upset with Leafpool when she wanted to stay with ThunderClan. Well, DUH he was upset! Wouldn’t you be upset too if after months of cancelling plans, your lover and you finally leave on your well deserved vacation but then she’s like “oh sorry nvm i wanna go home”. Yes, Leafpool had good reason to stay in ThunderClan, but she also- in a very none delicate way- broke Crowfeather’s slowly healing heart. But really, that wasn’t a situation where one or the other was in the wrong, it was more of a very emotional situation for both of them and neither of them knew how to deal with it, especially with the pressure of their respective clans on them.

Crowfeather seemed to clearly be unhappy in WindClan. Why? I have no idea and I don’t think it was ever stated, but clearly he was not happy about being in his clan and he was unhappy without Feathertail- he fell in love with Leafpool *cough*notreally*cough* and wanted to finally be happy, but then that all went down the drain.

Now, people also say he was abusive and neglectful towards Nightcloud and Breezepelt… which is completely false. Go watch this video by Moonkitti who explains a lot of Breezepelt’s behaviour throughout the series and his relationship with is parents. It’s long, but it’s worth the watch; Here it is.

And you know, I actually relate a lot to Breezepelt, because my own dad is a lot like Crowfeather. My dad loves me, but he doesn’t know how, so much that sometimes I think he doesn’t really love me at all, but he does. My dad is a weird dude, and I won’t go into details but he doesn’t really know how to love anyone but himself. Now, I’m not saying Crowfeather is a narcissist, but I think that Crowfeather just doesn’t know how to love properly. I mean, all his other romances have been short lived and ended in heartbreak- obviously he’s not sure on how to handle his new family properly. It’s frustrating for Nightcloud and Breezepelt and the readers seeing their relationship from the outside, but what can ya do?

It also explains some stuff about Nightcloud, but not as much- you see, Nightcloud didn’t love Crowfeather much. She was just scared she was never going to get laid and have babies. Crowfeather needed a way to prove he was loyal to WindClan and Nightcloud wanted a mate. Boom. Even though people think there isn’t a LOT of love between them, Nightcloud and Crowfeather do love each other, which is proven by the fact that they are still together, right now, long after the reveal of Crowfeather and Leafpool’s affair. They are still mates and love each other, the only reason the audience is fooled into thinking they don’t is because we never see them interact through their own eyes. We don’t know EXACTLY how Crowfeather and Nightcloud feel about each other, but I would assume they do still have feelings for one another since they are still together to this day. Of course, the Erins say that they don’t like each other, but I call that a joke, Erins. Stop ruining everything with your teenage love stuff and let characters move on.

We only ever really see Nightcloud and Crowfeather interact through the eyes of Lionblaze, Jayfeather and a bit of Dovewing and Hollyleaf’s eyes, and it normally ends with Leafpool showing up and being all like “Crowfeather I still love you haha” which obviously would make Nightcloud upset. If anything, Nightcloud seems much more aggressive towards Crowfeather than Crowfeather ever was to her, speaking for him whenever they confront someone who talks about the three ThunderClan kits that Crowfeather sired and such… Crowfeather does get upset with her, but nothing ever physical.

Anyway, yes I also want Mothwing and Leafpool to get together but we can achieve that without making Crowfeather look like an jerk- and while he is not the nicest character, he is not abusive, maybe a little emotionally negligent, but we haven’t have drama with him for a while now so maybe he’s trying. He’s a strict father and a rather closed-off person in general, but that doesn’t. make. him. abusive.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Feel free to add your own thoughts and additions to this. I’m not here to pick fights, I’m just putting in my point of view on these characters as someone who can relate to them.

And honestly? I just hope Crowfeather’s Trial will be good and that it will show that he loves Nightcloud and their trash son instead of still being like “omg i still love leafpool n feathertail owo”