#i think bluefur specifically wouldve been the best choice because of how her parents relationship was

[iapislazuli]

my ultimate take on spottedleaf's heart is that I don't think hard topics are necessarily out of place in a children's story. unfortunately, many children will go through some bad shit in their lives. warrior cats already has really hard topics in it like imperialism, prejudice, murder, war, miscarriage, bullying, domestic abuse, and cheating, just to name a few. of course... it doesn't handle many of these well, because warrior cats is just... Like That, as we know. but in a hypothetical world where warrior cats approaches all of these tough topics with respect and care, i think that showing a creepy, predatory relationship like the one between spottedpaw and thistleclaw could actually be beneficial for young readers. spottedleaf's heart couldve been a story telling children "hey, if an adult acts like this to you, TELL SOMEBODY! IT'S NOT OKAY!" i think it couldve helped young readers in terrible, awful situations, to see a character going through what's happening to them, and to be told "this isn't okay. it doesn't matter who an adult is, if they are hurting you, it's not right, and you deserve to be safe. and if an adult ever acts like this, you should tell somebody you trust." i think that's like... a fine thing to tell kids, i don't consider that inappropriate. an alternate telling of spottedleaf's heart where bluefur, thrushpelt, sunstar, featherwhisker, adderfang, swiftbreeze, or any other adult in Spottedpaw's life sees what's happening to her and helps her, lets her know that it's not her fault? i think even if the topic is tough, that wouldve been a much better outcome for the story, and would be much more of a constructive message to give young readers who are going to relate to the protagonist who's their age. overall i just think the biggest issue is in execution and framing, making the overall message "spottedleaf was so foolish to fall in love with thistleclaw!!" instead of "spottedleaf was a victim of grooming, it's thistleclaw's fault for behaving inappropriately and hurting her because he's an adult"