User blog comment:Yewberry/Let's talk about Ashfur/@comment-34764491-20190526133752

The problem with the treatment of characters like Ashfur and Thistleclaw is that it isn’t clear enough to the primarily young fan base that these character’s actions and relationship to love is wrong. (The same can be said for Mapleshade and all of her defenders but it’s a different situation, that’d be an interesting “let’s talk about” actually :0).

Moonkitti’s video on Spottedleaf’s Heart is actually a good resource on the whole topic and she says pretty much everything I want to say about Thistleclaw, so I recommend you check it out! I know she mainly does funny videos on YouTube but she handles the serious topic really respectfully I think.

But anyways, with Ashfur, a lot of the same criticisms of Thistleclaw’s writing apply (albeit slightly less darker because the victim, Squirrelflight, isn’t a kid in this situation but spottedpaw was literally a child). He was manipulative, possessive, entitled, and cruel to Squirrelflight and her kits. Yes, you could argue she “used” him to make Brambleclaw jealous, but they obviously ended up together anyways and it was clear that Ashfur and Squirrelflight could not be a couple. However, neither Squirrelflight nor Brambleclaw were ever hostile to Ashfur and always treated him respectfully. But Ashfur still attacked Squirrelflight and her kits, as he felt entitled to her love and affection, as if it was something she owed him and that it was a right.

I think what a lot of people don’t understand is why Ashfur attacked them. He didn’t do it because he wanted to confEd’s his love for Squirrelflight, or make her feel bad, or test the kits, or anything well intended. He did it because he was angry and used the chaotic moment of the fire as a chance to hurt her and put her in danger as “revenge.” He explained his motives during this scene but admittedly it is pretty confusing with Squirrelflight’s reveal.

I think the problem with the authors is that they established this scene as though Squirrelflight was the villain. She couldn’t save her kits, she denied Ashfur’s romantic advances, and then use this as a chance to reveal that Squirrelflight was lying to them the whole time. Squirrelflight not wanting to marry someone she doesn’t truly love, coupled with all of the flaws revealed in her at this scene, can confuse a lot of young readers into thinking that Squirrelflight is in the wrong here and Ashfur’s attacks were her fault.

I honestly believe a villain like Ashfur would be interesting to the story, but the authors needed to take the time to properly establish him beforehand, which they couldn’t do because these books are written in about 4 months with no planning. They needed to take the time to explain that Ashfur was cruel and unfair to Squirrelflight and men are not entitled to women, and that unrequited love isn’t anybody’s fault, and it’s not okay to act violently upon it. And I do think Ashfur’s murder attempt, and his murder, could have been used to incorporate the reveal of Squirrelflight’s lies, the true parents of the Three, and Hollyleaf’s descent. But the authors needed to spend time THINKING about it, and being respectful, and using it as a tool to educate and potentially help their preteen and teen fan base. But the authors don’t have the time to put any care into this, but they needed to keep the story going, so instead used it for a shocking reveal and to show how much violence they can get away with, without ever going into detail or treating the sensitive subject with care.