#pickle wc

[ashthehybrid]

Kittypet Breezepelt AU stuff...

I like to think that Breezepelt, named Banshee by the housefolk, has become quite popular in the neighborhood. Local kittypets come by to hear stories about his warrior days, and Pickle becomes Banshee's new, better dad. Nightcloud and Pickle are married </3

[aiiria17]

That one kittypet named Pickle

Hi, I wanted to address probably one of my least favorite takes I've seen in the fandom because it makes me extremely mad every time I see it.

In Crowfeather's Trial there is a kittypet named Pickle with Nightcloud when she's lost. I've seen a lot of people say that Pickle was a great partner for Nightcloud and that she should have stayed with him but, um, NO!?

So the first notable line of dialogue Pickle has is when he tries to tell Nightcloud to not bother leaving and stay with him instead. She tells him as kindly as possible that she wants to go home, and he growls.

So our immediate characterization of him is that he's extremely possessive. Like it's gross.

That's backed up by his actions during her escape attempt, where he tries to stop her from leaving by getting the twolegs to pick her up. I want to reiterate that: Nightcloud tells him "hey sorry but I want to go home" and he is extremely aggressive and then tries to force her into staying against her will.

So that's the first thing I want to say: if you think he's some kind and sweet ideal partner for Nightcloud, you are wrong. Like it's an opinion or whatever but one so contrary to the text as presented that it's not worth taking seriously imo.

But what is the purpose of this scene and why do people get the impression that he's good?

Nightcloud, in spite of everything, actually does like Pickle. They share a nest and she invites him to join her in WindClan. Even after he tries to functionally kidnap her, she still apologizes while running off. That's where the misconception comes from, I think.

But why does she like him? I think the purpose of his character and the whole scene is to demonstrate how starved for affection Nightcloud is. Her only relationship ever has been with Crowfeather, and the book is entirely about how poorly he treated her and Breezepelt. So Pickle shows how Nightcloud desperately wants a connection with someone even though it's another unhealthy one (girl is 0-2).

It colors our perception of Nightcloud and also helps explain why she's close with Breezepelt, as he's not just her only son but also the person in WindClan she's closest to. So later on when Breezepelt starts to grow closer with Heathertail, Nightcloud letting go of him and being less obsessive is kind of tragic. They're still close but she's alone now, or she would be if not for her newfound friendship with Crowfeather.

Nightcloud is a wonderful character and there's so much more but I wanted to outline what the point of Pickle is so I could provide something other than a fandom hate post. Because there's more than enough of those. Crowfeather's Trial is a wonderful book and is often the most misread, in my opinion. I could make like 8 of these about just bad Crowfeather takes alone, but I won't because that's dumb

Lastly, I want to address the elephant in the room: this dude's name is PICKLE! How the fuck am I supposed to be dead serious while arguing that "oh yeah that one cat was a really awful and possessive partner for Nightcloud" "what was his name" "PICKLE"

[lemnnshark]

"Pickle is a plump, long haired, fluffy white tom with a squashed-in face."

[eggfeather]

pickle

[shallowbreeze]

Pickle

Pickle is a plump, long haired, fluffy white tom with a squashed-in face

[blimbo-buddy]

All Pickle saw was something circular around NightCloud's head like how some images portray angel halos

[warriorsbutnotreally]

I recently read Crowfeather's trial. And I found your Nightpickle art. Do you happen to have any thoughts about them?

I have a lot of love for Nightcloud and Pickle, both as a romantic couple and just platonic.

The fact that, despite her temper, he treated her nicely or that even after he tried to get her stay, she still only had kind words about him

even Crowfeather admitted that Pickle had treated her nicer than he ever had - which granted, he's a huge piece of shit so the bar was low

I don't think either would want to leave their lives behind - Nightcloud would always want to be a Warrior and Pickle was comfortable as a kittypet - sometimes I imagine an AU where he moved into the barn and Nightcloud would visit him often to just hang out and even maybe let Pickle complain about Smoky being a bit much to deal with

even if Nightcloud isn't the perfect cat, she deserves a lot better than how Crowfeather treated her.

[argentavis-paws]

I'm pretty sure this is old now but I did this thing, I think id switch Moonlight and Squilf if I could but other than that it's pretty accurate.