Jagged Peak xRainswept Flower: Why I despise it by Ivystone

Ivystone shares their opinion on Jagged Peak and Rainswept Flower. Spoilers for DOTC and AVOS!

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Okay, as most of you know, I despise the Rainswept Flower and Jagged Peak pairing. But I’ve never really went into detail as to why, only complaining about how sucky/stupid it is. Well, I’m going to list and explain why I hate this pairing so much. Feel free to disagree with me, but be respectful of my opinions and keep in mind that I’m not going to change my mind, so you might as well not even bother debating tbh because I’m as stubborn as a mule when it comes to my opinions, let’s just leave it there.

Reason Number 1- Nothing romantic was ever implied
Now, I get crack ships and friendships to romance, but nothing was ever implied that they would become a couple. All they had was a friendship, if you ask me. And yet this ship is popular, because they had a close friendship and apparently that equals romance and romantic build up?? It doesn’t. Humans of different genders can be just friends, ya know. And besides, they only had “build up” in Thunder Rising. That’s it, and even then it was a select few scenes. But still, nothing romantic was implied at all. And even then, it felt like Rainswept Flower’s entire point was to just be nice to Jagged Peak. THAT’S IT.

Reason Number 2- It barely had development
This is completely my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. The only screentime these two got was in Thunder Rising, and all it was was just Rainswept being clingy to Jagged and never leaving him alone. If you’re a JaggedxRain shipper, obviously you’d say something along the lines of these scenes being cute and/or meaningful. I only have one thing to say: cute interactions do not equal good development. This is the same case with Finleap and Twigbranch, with their “development” in Darkest Night being only cute interactions and the such. Then in the next book it isn’t developed at all, and then in the former’s case they die and in the latter’s case Finleap becomes a complete jerk for the entirety of The Raging Storm, two books after Darkest Night. The major difference being that neither Rainswept or Jagged had a crush on each other, despite being handled just as poorly.

Reason Number 3- Rainswept was overly attached to Jagged
Fight me on this one if you dare, but you can’t deny that most of the time Rainswept was hanging around Jagged and wouldn’t leave him alone unless someone told her to. She never let Jagged Peak really do his own thing or actually try to slowly push himself to get better despite his disabilities, she only coddled him. Holly actually does this, and this actually gives him a confidence boost and helps him with his disabilities, and even though it may have boosted it too much, it’s much better then him sulking in camp. Here are some scenes that show that’s she’s clingy to Jagged Peak, even when it’s obvious that he needs to be alone for a bit:

“It was only a suggestion.” Jagged Peak climbed stiffly down from the boulder and headed into the darkness.

Rainswept Flower began to follow him, but Gray Wing raised his tail to stop her. “I know you want to help, but I think it’s best to let him be for now,” he advised. “He needs some time alone.”

The tabby she-cat looked as if she would have liked to argue, but after a moment she dipped her head politely. “Whatever you say, Gray Wing.”

Somehow, her deference disturbed Gray Wing. He turned away from her, only to realize that the other cats were crowding around him, talking excitedly among themselves.

From the bolded parts, we can tell that Rainswept Flower is constantly trying to be around Jagged Peak. While she does care, she’s constantly around him and never leaving him alone, even when he makes it clear that he needs alone time. (Thunder Rising)

“What are you doing here?” Gray Wing asked his brother.

“He’s being helpful,” Rainswept Flower replied before Jagged Peak had a chance to speak. There was an edge to her tone. “Aren’t you happy that the kits are being looked after and we’re all pulling together?”

“Uh . . . sure,” Gray Wing responded. “I didn’t mean to criticize.”

“That’s okay.” Jagged Peak sounded more content than he had since being cast out of Clear Sky’s group.

Rainswept Flower gave a last pat to the fresh moss. “We could do with some more of that,” she mewed, more like her cheerful self again. “Jagged Peak, come and help me collect it. We don’t want to crowd Turtle Tail.”

As we can tell, Rainswept Flower is getting overly defensive over Jagged Peak, even when Gray Wing didn’t mean to criticize. He only had simple surprise to see Jagged Peak there, and yet Rainswept Flower gets all defensive as if he’s about to say something demeaning to Jagged Peak. Jagged Peak is actually okay with it, and yet Rainswept Flower is getting defensive over practically nothing. To put it simply, she’s over attached to him at this point in the book. (Thunder Rising)

Reason Number 4- The kind of awkward age gap
Okay, okay. I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for this, but hear me out. It is mentioned that Rainswept Flower and Clear Sky grew up together as kits. Multiple times. Now I don’t know about you, but is a bit strange to acknowledge the fact that if this were to happen, Jagged Peak would be with someone who’s about as old as his previous leader (Clear Sky) and brothers. I get the fact that they’re cats, but honestly this is just my opinion and it bugs me. For those who don’t believe me, here’s the main quote(s) that say it all:

Turtle Tail narrowed her eyes. “You fool, Clear Sky,” she hissed. “When did you forget where you came from?” She glanced over her shoulder at Rainswept Flower. “When did you decide it was okay to kill the cats you were raised beside?”

(The First Battle)

They knew each other since they were both kits, Thunder thought, revulsion welling up inside him.

Then he heard his father’s voice, a low, grief-stricken murmur. “I’m so sorry.”

Clear Sky was truly mourning his dead friend.

The guilt will hurt him more than any cat’s claw ever could.

(The First Battle)

Reason Number 5- Their relationship/dynamic
Don’t get me wrong, their friendship is alright. But the thing is, the only thing it ever was is a friendship. And their dynamic with one another doesn’t really seem to fit well for a romantic relationship. Let me explain. From the looks of things, you could either see it as four different things. You can see Rainswept and Jagged’s relationship as a friendship and nothing more. Like it should’ve been by the fandom. You could see it as possible romance, although there’s nothing to suggest anything romantic between the two of them that can be seen more of friendship. You can also see it as a brother-sister bond as well. And lastly, you could see it as a motherly relationship on Rainswept Flower’s end, with her always looking out and being defensive of Jagged Peak; a queen as to her kit. The thing is, only three of these actually seem plausible with the content we’re given. Like stated earlier, no romance was hinted at all in both Thunder Rising and The First Battle, and even then it was only “developed” in Thunder Rising. And again, different gendered characters can be just friends you know; not everything that involves two close friends of different genders means it’s romantic, implying to be romantic, or even later romance. Sometimes it means just friendship. As for the other way of seeing it as in you see it in a motherly/sibling bond instead, I imagine it would be kind of weird to see this motherly/sibling like friendship turn into romance. Not saying that there’s anything wrong with it, but it is pretty off putting, for me at least.

And those are my 5 reasons why I hate JaggedxRainswept, unless you want to count the reason that I think it’s just a really dumb pairing in general. 😛 But anyways, feel free to disagree but just know that I will forever hate JaggedxRainswept, guys…because I still think it really sucks and that JaggedxHolly is waaaaaaaaay better in comparison.

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