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1in response to blue-eyed anon: I like your idea and this isn't to replaced it, but you gave me an idea too! for a different culture, maybe, than the luckiness one. Kits are born with blue eyes and they change colour as they get older. this isn't so much superstition as just stereotype but maybe cats with blue eyes are seen as, like, more childish?
2Popular words for describing certain cat eye-colours are “amber” (a yellow-gold), “hazel” (a green-brown), and “copper” (an orange-brown). How many specific words do the cats have in regard to eye-colour and eye-shape, and why these words in particular? Are there any beliefs about what kind of eyes are “the best” or “most attractive”; or any superstitions about certain types of eyes? 
3Although the word “horoscope” refers to the time of birth, the combination of the eyes changing from blue to another colour, unpredictable eye-colouration in each litter, and the season (or other time-frame) might make for an interesting basis for clan ‘personality divination’, in the same vein as the Chinese zodiac or Western sun sign astrology. 
4Around the world, colours are given symbolic meanings and are associated with particular concepts. These meanings can vary hugely between cultures, as the meanings that colours are given often interweave with the specific environment and history of the people. After you’ve decided how your cats perceive colour, you may want to consider how the clans’ cultures interpret and assign symbolism to colours. Do your cats have favourite colours or would the concept of a “favourite colour” make no sense to them? 
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8All around the world, human cultures have developed customs around the loss of deciduous teeth. In some countries, children are encouraged to believe that a fantastical being of some description–the tooth fairy in English-speaking countries; or a mouse in Italy, France, and Belgium, for example–will take the lost away and replace it with a coin. In other countries, the popular custom involves throwing the tooth (at the sun, from a roof, into a tree, or other places besides, depending on the country in question) and using it to make a wish or ask for the blessing of a new, better tooth to replace it. Given that the loss of milk teeth highlights the start of adolescence for clan cats, are there any beliefs, customs, and/or superstitions the clans have about the event? 
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12At six months of age, a cat is approximately the equivalent of an 8-to-13 year old human child, depending on how you make the comparison. You may want to consider how you will portray cats at this age–are apprentices the teenagers of the clan? Physically speaking, six months is a decent time for a kitten to begin to train to become a warrior, as they are approaching adult size and will likely be craving the freedom and excitement of warrior life. How does the leader judge when young cats are ready to begin their apprenticeships? Is it as simple as being older than six moons, or are there other expectations that have to be met as well? Do apprenticeship ceremonies take place at a certain time each month, or are they scheduled whenever the leader decides to announce a kitten’s change in rank?
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16A lot of play for real kittens involves play-fighting and tussling, pouncing on things that move (including other kittens and the tails of older cats), batting items around (such as leaves or spiders), running around, and chasing each other. However, since the cats are anthropomorphised, you may want to consider also adding in cat-versions of other kinds of games, such as word games, memory games, and guessing games, as well as organised active games. For example, games such as “I spy”, “I packed my bag”, “What’s the time, Mr Wolf”, “Duck, duck, goose”, “Button, button, who’s got the button?”, “Hide-and-seek”, “Capture the flag”, and “Treasure hunt” might be popular among kittens (and maybe among adolescent and adult cats as well).
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20If kittens are typically self-sufficient from three months of age, do nursery cats need to remain in the nursery until the kittens become apprentices or do they take up their warrior duties before then? How long are nursery cats actually considered “nursery cats” for, once the kittens are weaned and able to eat meat? In colonies, there is often one or two dominant female cats who are essentially matriarchs over the whole clowder: is it possible that your clan (or clans) have one or two experienced, senior cats who fulfill a similar role by being permanent nursery cats and act as guardian–or perhaps grand-guardian, if older–to all kittens? Are apprentices ever shifted to work as helpers or babysitters around the nursery, so that the adults can resume or partially resume their warrior duties?
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24In reality, kittens are shown how to hunt by their mother, sometimes from as early as two-and-a-half months of age. In the clans, however, all training appears to be handled by a kitten’s assigned mentor, after the kitten in question has turned six months old and has become an apprentice. How will you approach this divergence in your canon? Do kittens start killing prey before they are six months old or must they wait until they are officially recognised as apprentices before training of any kind can begin? Kittens are very curious and eager to explore their surroundings. Are kittens ever allowed to leave the campsite–and what happens if they do? 
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29Is there simple ways to make an evil leader that no one knows is evil?
30I think the best thing to keep in mind here is that you really shouldn’t have a self-awarely evil leader. Very few people actually think they’re evil in real life – everyone’s the hero of their own story. An evil leader does evil things because they think what they’re doing is best – for their clan or for themselves. So there are several ways to keep people in the dark about how evil a leader is. One is to make them agree with the evil leader’s goals (say, making the clan great again or something like that) and ignore any qualms with their methods. Another is for the evil leader to conceal the evil things they do in pursuit of their goals. I’m sure there are others, but this is all I can think up atm
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32Would  have still turned out “evil,” even if - trains her herself to prevent Thistleclaw from having a bad influence on him? Perhaps Bluefur’s arrogance and selfishness is what Tigerpaw learns from her. Or perhaps Bluefur’s competitive clashing with Thistleclaw absorbs so much of her attention that she’s negligent and Tigerpaw needed a decent role model, and she wasn’t there to guide him away from the dark path he was travelling down. Maybe Bluestar, a version of her who is flawed but truly has good intentions, doesn’t neglect Tigerpaw, and trains him to be a noble and kind warrior–but she never had enough time to give to Whitepaw, and instead he was influenced by his father, Thistleclaw. So much possibility here!
33One of the most concerned things to me about Bluestar is that she gives Ravenpaw, who is a notably timid and self-conscious young cat, to Tigerclaw, a stern and often cruel warrior. That combination of personalities was not healthy for Ravenpaw at all, but Bluestar did nothing. I’ve always wondered: did she not notice? Or did she notice and decide not to interfere? Did she think Ravenpaw needed to get tougher, the hard way? Or maybe did she not want to risk angering and humiliating Tigerclaw by taking his apprentice away from him? Sometimes when I think of this, it frightens me a little that she was Thunderclan’s leader. 
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35Bluestar’s story could have been a fascinating Tragic Hero-descends-to-villainy sort of spiral, getting a (self-fulfilling) prophecy from Goosefeather and plunging into this almost obsessive hatred of Thistleclaw, overcome by her own ambition but unable to see it in herself because she validates all her actions as “stopping Thistleclaw’s dreadful ambition” - and all of her faults acknowledged and laid out for the reader, rather than brushed aside because she’s a “good leader” or some such toss.
36It could be deliciously ironic and sad and morally complex and really, really badass. I live for that kind of thing, I don’t mind telling you.
37As for Yellowfang, I have a huge soft spot for hardcore old ladies who Get Things Done and Don’t Give A Fuck, so there’s always this wistful twinge in my heart when I look at how badly canon treated Yellowfang. She was made for better things than that. She could have been the Granny Weatherwax of cats. 
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41In a situation where, for some reason, a queen with kits were to die but her kits survive, what do you think the Clan would do with the kits given there were no other queens and the kits are still too young to eat solid food? Since it's part of the Warrior Code to protect kits, do you think another Clan would be willing to take in kits who had no mother to nurse?
42I think this would be a very difficult situation for everyone. It’s possible–maybe even likely, depending on the situation and the cats involved–that another clan would take in the kits, but that’s just the start of the problems, really. 
43The original clan wouldn’t want to give the kittens to the other clan, because that requires them to trust the other clan, and it opens up all kinds of troubles–which clan do the kittens belong to? Which clan will the kittens feel loyalty to? What’s going to happen when the clans go to war with each other? When will the kittens’ original clan get to see them? What kind of discrimination will the kittens face in the new clan? What threat will the kittens be to each clan’s cultural boundaries? 
44The original clan might even see the giving of kittens as similar to a hostage situation, since the other clan now has power over them through those kittens. The original clan might have to entirely sever their emotional ties to the kittens when they send them away, just to be able to bear it. Like I said, a real dilemma in every direction. 
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48I just imagine some poor cat named Darkheart or Blackheart being the world's nicest guy but all the kittypets think they're evil because they keep misinterpreting the name
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52do you think an apprentice would aim for a specific suffix? like maybe little flypaw is like "wow i hope one day i earn the claw suffix" and just work at it, or would that not really happen due to how not one suffix is favored over another in a clan setting, and that they all have value, so aiming for a name isnt really something fostered in the culture? i hope this makes sense
53I understand what you mean, Ruddles, and I’d say it’s up to you and how you want to create the clan culture. Either way is valid, I think, because it’s really dependent on your individual style of writing, both in terms of world-building and characterisation. I think you should do what feels right to you in the context of your story. 
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57Etymologically, “holiday” comes from “holy day”, and typically has a religious and/or commemorative origin. For the clans, that would mean the concept of a “holiday” would likely stem from their religious beliefs and customs or from significant events in their history. 
58I’d say there’s two main forms of holiday as well: celebratory and solemn. Celebratory holidays tend to be the ones that involve a lot of feasting and partying and spending time with people you care about. Solemn holidays have a more sacred element to them, because they are observed as an act of serious faith or because they are a memorial for some kind of tragedy. Both types of holidays can be “rest days” (days where work is stopped, or else, a leisure day of some kind).
59For the clans, I imagine holidays will have to take into account the realities of surviving: they can’t just take a day off, and expect to have something to eat anyway. Likewise, because the cats have to catch their own prey, preparing for a feast day will require a lot of work on behalf of the clan. That said, I don’t think it’s unlikely for the clans to have occasions like like–although I doubt they would appreciate us calling them “holidays”, given the English connotation of leisure. 
60I think one of the possible clan events (one that would exist in any clan) might be a feast day after apprentices become warriors. During and after a night vigil (or whatever the clan’s solemn period for new warriors is), the new warriors might be expected to fast for a while and/or partake in certain customs around the campsite–perhaps getting blessed by the elders, or spending a day with the medicine cat or leader. In the meantime, the rest of the clan hunts intensely to get enough prey, and once the waiting time is up, the clan shares a feast together to complete the welcome of the new warriors into their new role. This tradition would combine solemn elements (the new warriors’ waiting time and rituals) with celebratory elements (the naming ceremony chanting and a feast), and I imagine it’s something that would be considered very important and special for new warriors. Their whole clan working together to honour them specifically would be an amazing experience, I would think.
61Quite possibly, similar events would take place around every naming ceremony. The announcing of newborn kittens’ names could be cause for celebration, or the awarding of a name-change name. 
62Another popular holiday cause is the changing of the seasons, especially for communities that experience harsh weather or hardship. I would be very surprised if the clans didn’t have some sort of yearly festival when winter ended, or perhaps when any season starts and ends. Of course, because they don’t use calendar dates, I would imagine the festivals would be set in accordance with their natural landscape–for example, when the last snow disappears, when a certain type of flower blooms, so on.
63I would think that there’d be some holidays that all the clans participate in but separately (such as the feast for new warriors), some holidays that each clan has that’s specifically theirs (maybe about famous battles they’d won or lost, or famous cats), and maybe even some holidays that the clans might participate in simultaneously–it might be a day or two of clan-wide peace, or a day in honour of medicine cats in a gathering-type setting. 
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67there are multiple Clans with different cultures, would apprentices be taught the basics about other Clans cultures so they don't offend them at Gatherings? Would their mentor teach them this, or would one cat simply "lecture" a group of apprentices?
68It’s actually not a case of ‘if’. Every clan would have its own culture, because the clans are separate social groups nearly all of the time. 
69I don’t think there’s harm in educating apprentices about respecting other clans’ cultures, but of course there’s a few hurdles with this. How many details would each clan actually share with the other clans about their culture? I doubt clans would have a thorough knowledge of all the ins-and-outs of other clans’ customs and beliefs, so the best they can do is point out The Big Mistakes to Avoid, I think. The basics of diplomacy, as you said.
70As for who does the teaching, every apprentice is going to learn from their mentor simply by being around them so much and discussing other clans, but I think it could be worthwhile for the deputy to also address the apprentices now and then and give a talk about how not to disgrace yourself at gatherings. 
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74If a clan were to have a system of gods, is there any trait/set of traits they'd value over the others, or does it depend on the culture? I can see a common theme being survival, strategy (supernaturally, future-vision?), redemption (or something like resurrection/coming back from the brink of death), and luck just because they're predators and live in a dangerous world that they're Small in. ((also, should the worldbuilding questions be strictly Clan-related or is cats in general fine??)
75I would say that this is definitely a subjective decision and the religious world-building is totally dependent on what the writer wants to write (and can validate within the setting). What kinds of gods exist, what they represent, how the belief system formed, and how the clans feel about them is in your hands, Ruddles. 
76Pantheons of gods are birthed from the culture they belong to. They’re like monsters like that. They typically reflect the anxieties and needs of the people they belong to. So my advice, if anyone else is thinking of god things, is that maybe the best way to decide on a pantheon of gods is to look at the world and culture around the cats you’re focusing on, and ask yourself, “What is valuable to them? What are they afraid of? Who would they pray to?” and I think that will provide you with the core components of who, or what, the gods would be.
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80You’ve said (further down) that these clans aren’t “different enough”, but these clans are hugely different already. Just having a monogamy/polyamory cultural split between clans is a big thing, and something that’s going to have sprawling repercussions for both clans, their interclan relations, and the structure of their systems of belief. 
81I think you’ve gotten stuck in the thought of culture as a sort of tick-a-box thing, where you cross off what clans do or don’t do, and that’s not a bad way to create a broad overview of differences and similarities, but there’s so much more to a culture than that. Things like events and ceremonies are important, but try thinking on more grassroots level of everyday interactions and activities as well.  I’ll use what you’ve mentioned as examples of what I mean. You’ve listed “very human things”, but let’s say I disagree with that, and I argue they can just as easily be “very clan cat things”.
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83The way people dress becomes the way cats use adornment/body art, and let’s say BClan with their monogamous views holds an official ceremony to celebrate when cats commit to one another, and part of that is after committing to someone, cats go out of their way to ‘wear’ the scent of a certain plant and perhaps that has connections to an event in clan-history or special symbolism in clan-lore.
84The way people dress can also become the way cats use body language, and let’s say in TClan it is a sign of deep disrespect to talk to a superior and look them in the eyes, whereas in BClan it is considered disrespectful not to meet the eyes of your superiors when they’re talking to you; or perhaps in BClan part of an apprentice’s training is passing their war posturing exam, wherein they must use physical but no-contact intimidation to make a rival back off, but TClan has no similar exam and instead views ‘war posturing’ as a form of interpretive dance and has developed their own culture of, for lack of a better term, performance art as entertainment.
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86Government becomes the way the clan is run, and that’s got endless possibilities for difference once you stop taking things for granted and start questioning why things are the way the way, or how they could be different. For example, TClan might consider it acceptable for leader, deputies, and medicine cats to have kittens, but BClan might consider that forbidden. BClan might lean towards a democratic choice of deputy, wherein the leader must consult and take a vote with the clan elders, whereas TClan might believe it’s the leader’s holy duty to make the choice outright. Pretty much every element of how the clan is run is open to new interpretations. 
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88The cuisine becomes the way cats eat, and what if TClan considers it bad luck to eat a creature you share a prefix with, but BClan considers that ‘suspicious nonsense’. What if BClan believes all food must be blessed before it’s eaten, and TClan doesn’t. Perhaps TClan and BClan each have respective taboos about the right and wrong way to eat things–if you’re eating a bird you can’t eat both eyes, someone else has to eat the other eye; if you’re eating a small mammal, it’s expected that you offer to share with whoever you’re next to and they’re obliged to decline; if you’re eating fish, you have to take the tail fin and throw it back into the water when you’re done; so on and so forth. 
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90All I can think of is to add rituals that only that Clan does, different views on mates (either poly or mono), and who they find attractive. For example:
91BClan thinks gingers are hot; TClan thinks brown cats are.
92The thing about this is societal expectations of beauty don’t come from nowhere; they tend to have a history and an agenda, and a lot of the time they’re unknowingly internalized and perpetuated by people. So pelt colour is one aspect of what’s considered conventionally attractive in the clan, but where did this belief originate? Consider how stereotypes about blonde hair (especially for ladies) have developed throughout Western pop culture. 
93There are other aspects targeted by beauty standards too: body shape, paws, ears, teeth, eye colour, eye shape, tail type, voice, etc. Any part of a cat is a potential site for expectations. 
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95BClan believes in monogamy; TClan are polygamous. 
96The path of least intra- and inter-clan drama would be polyamory is considered normal for all clan cats. Not necessarily “the norm”, but not something that indicates a lapse in morals or anything like that. Some cats might decide to have monogamous (or relatively monogamous) relationships, and some cats might decide to have polyamorous relationships, and no-one would be bothered by it unless it starts causing clan disharmony–unhealthy levels of jealousy or aggressive behaviour, for example. Whether the majority of cats prefer monogamy or polyamory is up to you. 
97The path of more intra-clan drama would be polyamory considered the norm for all clan cats. For the most part, it would be as above, but monogamous relationships would be considered strange and somewhat unacceptable. That would be potentially discriminatory against cats who do prefer monogamous relationships, and because these cats are anthropomorphised, there would definitely be some of those cats in every clan. I can’t recommend this approach to world-building.
98The path of a lot of inter-clan drama would be polyamory is considered normal for some clans, and not for others. It’s an interesting clash, but I can’t really recommend this one either, because at its heart, it means one (or more) of the clans has developed some very unnatural and harmful expectations of its clan members and that concerns me and strikes me as relatively unlikely. But I suppose it has potential as as a plot basis? I can’t say it sits well with me, though.
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100BClan have a ceremony which welcomes newleaf; TClan have a very specific death ritual. 
101Big rituals like these are definitely an important part of a clan’s culture, but there’s lots of smaller, less obvious rituals people undertake. The ways they greet each other, the ways they share with one another, the ways they celebrate with each other, even the ways they talk to each other have a ritualistic aspect to them, and every clan is going to be unique with these things. 
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105I am very much a fan of the one-on-one mentoring approach, and I think it’s a valuable practice for the clan. 
106I think it’s much more manageable for each apprentice to be the responsibility of a specific adult warrior, rather than expecting one or two cats to be responsible for every apprentice in the clan. 
107I also feel that a mentor-apprentice buddy system would increase clan-bonding, rather than detract from it. Apprentices mingle with each other anyway because they share a den, and warriors are the same with other warriors, and there’s a camaraderie that comes from both situations. Apprentices can compare their mentors with each other (I’m not saying it’s always like I Bet My Mentor Could Beat Your Mentor In A Fight, but I’m not saying that wouldn’t be a favourite conversation topic–especially at gathering with apprentices from other clans), and warriors can commiserate and seek guidance from one another about how best to teach their apprentices and Be The Best Mentor There Ever Was.
108By splitting up the training into pairs, I feel that there’d be a lot of diversity in the teaching methods, and that would be good for any cats who learn in particular ways. For example, Acornpaw might learn best by listening to explanations, and Frostpaw might learn best by physically doing things. By giving each cat a mentor of their own, they aren’t expected to be learning their skills the same way at the same time and there’d be less, “Wow, Acornpaw, you’re shit at this kind of hunting,” and less, “Seriously, Frostpaw, you can’t even remember that?” taunting among the apprentices (I’d hope, anyway). Shoving all apprentices into the same ‘class’ will mean each apprentice gets less one-on-one time and attention with their teacher, which could be detrimental. 
109I’m certain that mentor and apprentice teams would often train and practice together, for fun and for experience, but having the option of training alone is important. Some apprentices are going to be shy, or self-conscious, or easily distracted by others, and will greatly benefit from being able to practice their skills with their mentor only. 
110An apprentice should be able to trust their mentor. It’s a relationship based around being comfortable with each other and being able to communicate with each other. I feel like it would be a lot harder to attain that in a group situation, because apprentices may feel they can’t ask questions or be themselves without being picked on by other apprentices–after all, they’re all still maturing and figuring themselves out, and it’s a rough time. It’s hard growing up.  
111I have to say I’m strongly One-On-One Mentoring, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to other ideas! It’s just that I haven’t heard of any other mentoring models I’ve liked as much as this one I’ve just spoken of.
112As for whether I’d write differently from canon, I think I would. I like the one-on-one approach in canon, but like most canon things, I feel a lot of aspects of it get glossed over and that makes me sad. I’d like to read about baffled mentors trying to understand the new apprentice in-joke and occasionally trying to be Hip and With It to the utter embarrassment of their apprentices, I’d like to read about apprentices growing up to become mentors and realizing how interconnected they are with the whole web of the clan, I’d like to read about the different facets of mentor-apprentice relationships in general, really. I enjoy that sort of thing).
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116Assuming that you don’t want Starclan to be real in that way, you can’t explain the nine lives thing. You can, however, reinterpret the nine lives thing: for example, maybe it doesn’t mean coming back from the dead - could it be that a leader is gifted with the ‘life-experience’ of nine past cats? It’s a lot harder to prove one way or the other than coming back to life, and that ambiguity is going to be necessary to tell a good story, I suspect. Especially since the leader doesn’t even know if it’s true or not, and so will start taking their intuitive feelings very seriously. There’s potential there to have some fun, I think.
117Alternatively, you could just throw the nine lives thing out entirely. In fact, you can throw nearly everything about canon Starclan out and start from the ground up, which is what I personally think is the wisest choice. Canon Starclan is a hot mess, at best, and it’s clear Erin Hunter didn’t really think any of it through at all, and that is a terrible shame.
118If you’re going to do that, my advice is:
119- set boundaries (what can Starclan actually do).
120- set cultural expectations (what do the cats believe Starclan can do, and why do they believe that).
121- set moral spectrum (what cats get to go to Starclan, what cats don’t, how does Starclan decide, where do the bad cats go, how do the clans feel about this, how does it affect the choices cats make).
122- invent cultural customs (what do the cats do to venerate Starclan, what are the beliefs, what are the different religious groups, how do the clans differ in their spiritual beliefs and habits, how does superstition impact the clans, so on, basically: the fun stuff).
123Personally, I think they’re best done in that order, since they tend to feed into each other a lot and it’s nice for consistency’s sake. Besides that, though, I don’t think I can offer much guidance. I wish you luck with your writing!
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127do you think it's plausible that a clan might have an unofficial (or perhaps even official) burying squad? cats that go with the close relatives and aid with the burying? i imagine they'd be quiet hardworking cats who were able to hide their feelings well
128If you wanted the clan to, then sure. I don’t think that would be an issue, and could definitely be an interesting aspect to the clan’s culture. 
129I personally find it perplexing to think of cats digging to bury their dead (with the exception of kittens), so my personal headcanons for the clans’ funerary rites and rituals don’t involve any digging whatsoever.
130My belief is that every clan would have their own unique approach to this sort of thing, so you can definitely get creative and make a burying squad if you want
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134do you think a Clan that has never been in contact with the main five (SkyClan counts as an important Clan, I think?) would have different naming traditions due to the differing culture that'd probably go along with it? I don't think that's technically traditionalism, but I've been RPing in multiple fan-made Clans for a good while now and I just can't see a cat hundreds of miles away from TC getting what the "heart" suffix means without ever talking to TC.
135Oh, absolutely. This particular branch of traditionalism is to do with the canon clans, so it uses a lot of canon suffixes, but for clans that have nothing to do with canon, you’re completely free from that shadow and can do whatever you like (although, I do recommend being reasonable about that). 
136I’m certain that other clans would have developed their own naming systems and customs and culture over time, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s really interesting and fun, and one of the best things about fan-clans
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140You want something to be different, but the most important thing is to ask why are they different? What changed? Why did the culture evolve in that way in particular?
141Look at the concept of multiple medicine cats, for instance. What would have needed to happen in order for a clan to take two medicine cat apprentices at the same time? Some kind of widespread sickness? Or do the two young cats have equally prestigious ability? Or are they both unable to become warriors (perhaps due to injury) but can still work just fine as medicine cats? And what would have happened, socially and politically (as in, within the clan, and between the other clans), if both apprentices became medicine cats? What would the other clans say? Would there be fights about it? Does it break the warrior code - and if it doesn’t, would another clan try to amend the warrior code so that it wasn’t allowed? What would happen when the two medicine cats needed to take apprentices - would they each take one? How can the clan afford to have so many medicine cats, anyway - what has changed so that they don’t need so many cats to hunt or fight? What about the medicine cats having kittens - is the clan worried that they might run out of kittens, since the warrior code bans medicine cats having relationships like that? Are they worried that the gene pool might become too small? Does the clan scrap the idea of medicine cats not being allowed to take mates, since there’s so many medicine cats now? How do the other clans react to that? How does the multiple-medicine cat clan react - does it shake their faith in Starclan? Do they fear Starclan’s wrath, or are they beginning to think that Starclan doesn’t care about those earthly things? Does every medicine cat connect to Starclan? Is their a ranking system among the medicine cats now, from most senior to the youngest? Does medicine become just another part of warrior training? How does the clan deal with that? Is the sacredness of the medicine cat traditional destroyed? Who goes to the Moonstone/Moonpool/Moonthing? Do they take turns? Do they just not attend any more? 
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145Do you think it would be possible for cats or a culture in a clan be brought up in a way where skills are more attractive than looks? Like let's say a cat is a very good hunter and that would be considered attractive because he/she is very swift and greatly provides for the clan and that's admirable. Same for a good fighter. Maybe a belief that traits like this could be passed down would support this also? "This cat is really strong so their kits would be strong too."
146Yes? That would be every clan - or at least, that’s how I write Ailuronymy. That’s why it goes skills first. Because skills are the most important thing to recognise in a cat, followed by personality, and then appearance.
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150 The original arc is supposedly set in England, but that becomes North America as the books progress. There is no logical reason for rearranging the entire planet to tell a story about cats. It’s as silly as saying, “The aliens did it!” when you can’t think of a conclusion to the mystery; it’s lazy, it’s a cop-out to readers (they know when you’re just being convenient to yourself), and it’s not as though it was necessary either. If it were my call, Warriors would be set solely in England, and there would be a lot more about the plant-life. The plant-life is fascinating and beautiful, with names like charms, and it makes for really wonderful description. Not only that, but it makes for feline description – cats, or so I like to think, are going to take more notice of the plants in their habitat than people usually do. I’d also like to keep some consistent fauna.
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154I would love for Warriors to have a non-human language involved, a conlang for cats, which adds another layer to their culture and their non-humanness. I would love for there to be feline concepts and phrases interwoven through the books, and even when speaking English, I would love for each clan to have a distinctive way of speaking – a clan identity that sets them apart from one another (I’ll come back to this shortly). I believe that the inclusion of a feline language would also solve all problems that exist within the traditional naming system, and would make names so much better than they already are. For example, I believe that it would be possible to distinguish the difference between Maplewhisker* (named after the bark, therefore a brown tabby cat) and Maplewhisker** (named after the maple flowers, therefore a fluffy golden-coloured cat); it would be as simple as having a differentiation in the feline name. Maplewhisker* - Athanhtiar’a (meaning ‘maple [bark] whisker’). Maplewhisker** - Athanhniar’a (meaning ‘maple [flower] whisker’). It would work flawlessly.
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158In Warriors, the clans live separately for no adequately explained reason besides the allocation of territory and prey. The problem with this is that these clan cats are supposed to have a rich culture, but they don’t. All clans are basically the same, and not only is that boring, it’s unrealistic. Living in isolated, or even semi-isolated, groups has a social effect. Every clan should, by rights, speak in a particular way, with their own phrases and terms for things, and accents (however slight); they should have diverging beliefs – they might all believe in Starclan, but there is so much more to living a life-style than that, and it should be these differences in beliefs and values that keep the clans so strictly apart; there should be far less emphasis on Shadowclan being “the bad guys”, because I hate that; and there should be particular things that each clan has and does that is special to them, and I’d like to know more about that (as a reader). I also feel that there should be a heavier focus on in-world story-telling, since that would play a vital part in every clan’s culture, as a means to pass on history, moral teachings, lore and legends, and entertainment. 
159I’d love to see the whole “lions, leopards, and tigers, oh my” scrapped entirely, because I don’t see why feral cats would know anything about them; in its place, I’d adore some Aesop-esque fables about dead cats and their exploits, the great battles, the infamous and notorious leaders, all that fun stuff.
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163I dislike Starclan. Immensely. Originally, it was supposed to be mystical and mysterious; now they’re fighting wars, or something? I don’t know, I’m not masochistic enough to read the new series. I like mystical and mysterious; I like the concepts of religion and spirituality and mythology of afterlives and doubt. I like doubt a lot, it makes things so interesting. I would write Starclan as being impossible to prove one way or the other – you just have to have faith that it’s real, and that your family is waiting for you. I would love to have incidents in the books where it seems the only explanation is Starclan, only to have it shown that it could possibly be just some freak accident or coincidence; I would like to see the cats’ faith waiver occasionally, and maybe even have those that outright do not believe in their ancestors’ ghosts – it’s done in canon, but it’s pointlessly done. Starclan absolutely exists, and so it doesn’t matter if you believe or not. Starclan exists, so really, nothing matters. I’d love for leaders not to have nine actual lives; there is no magic, you don’t get a second chance after you’re struck down. But I’d want for them to have nine lives in the sense that, when they become leader and commune with their ancestors, they are given nine lives of experience from the dead – in other words, they have the knowledge of ten cats, but not on command. Leaders get brief flashes of memories from the dead, visions of things they never saw, knowledge that seems to come inexplicably from the air itself; not enough to convince everyone of Starclan, but enough to give the leader wisdom enough to avoid the mistakes of fallen clan-members.  I think that ties in so much better with the concept of a cat’s nine lives anyway, and it makes for such great plot possibilities. 
164I would like for cats to have a fear of being forgotten. That’s why they tell stories of their exploits and others’, even long after they are dead. Because they fear that, if they don’t continue to talk about a fallen comrade, that cat will cease to exist; in telling stories, cats breathe life into the dead. This is partially to do with my in-world theory that cats have a shorter memory than humans and are quick to move on after grief, and partially because it makes sense for the context of Warriors. So many things about warrior life are about clinging to an identity – the clan itself and loyalty to it, every cat’s name, the rituals and ceremonies. It seems likely that every cat would try to leave a legacy during their lifetime, so that they would live on after death, because cats who are forgotten vanish from Starclan and are never seen again. That belief would be borne from the fact that some Starclan cats would still walk in the dreams of the living occasionally, but it’s impossible to tell if they’re real spirits visiting, or just dreams. Again, from a plot point of view, that could make all kind of fun havoc.
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168 I want to read about how their senses change the perception of the world – the visceral smells and sounds and see the world through a cat’s eyes – and I want to read about what makes sense to a cat, because I’m sure some human things make no sense to cats and vice versa. I’d like for the damn cats to be nocturnal as well, since Erin Hunter forgot that cats usually sleep during the day and hunt at night; what a dumb thing to forget. 
169Something I would really, really love is for mother cats to actually act like mother cats, and not some moronic Victorian-era concept of fainting femininity. That would be great. Erin Hunter writes bile about how, by some witchcraft, having kittens makes queens soft and nice and saccharine and it’s enough to make me want to spit up. Female cats are not like that. At all. Even slightly. Becoming a mother turns a she-cat into a monster, in the best kind of way, because she’ll rip anything to shreds if her babies are threatened. Mother cats are brutal as fuck. From my experience, even the nicest pet cats can go sour if they think you’re dangerous to their kittens - I once had to retrieve a stolen kitten from a (normally) lovely old Siamese (desexed) she-cat once, and she went for me like you wouldn’t believe, and it wasn’t even her baby. You don’t mess with queens. And yet, Erin Hunter writes them as these bland, simpering things more often than not, which is especially a shame when their pre-kitten personality was an attempt at being feisty (or something). From that, I can only assume that’s Erin Hunter’s anthropomorphism – which says a lot about what Erin Hunter thinks of human females. Remember what I said about being a good role model to children and changing the world? Erin Hunter’s a good example of what not to do. So yeah, she-cats who act like she-cats would be awesome; toms should be barred from the nursery at all times, with the exception of the medicine cat (who is celibate, because that makes him less threatening).  Since I tend to gravitate towards brutal, cruel, or otherwise unpleasant things, I like the thought of queens eating their own kittens if extraordinarily stressed, which is why the clans tread so very carefully around new mothers and don’t upset the applecart. Some people might think that’s too dark for children’s literature, but children’s literature can be very dark sometimes, and it’s all about how you write it.
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173I think Warriors has a lot of potential for rad sub-plots within the overarching plot lines. And by rad, I mean varied and engaging and not about “omg you cheated on me I though you liked me you said it yourself I hate you”. Because that is mind-numbing. I would really enjoy some mysteries thrown in all over the place because a good mystery is hard to beat, and a little inter-clan sneakiness is good too, as is the constant shifting and shuffling of alliances and betrayals, and given that Warriors has so many characters, and so many possibilities for individual stories within the clan narrative, I think it could actually benefit from multiple protagonists. It would definitely give the reader a wider scope of vision into the world of the clans, and would mean that you could have about four stories going at once, which means there shouldn’t ever be a dull moment.
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177Joining a clan means renouncing the cat’s former life (especially if their former life was strictly against the warrior code in some way), so to keep their name - or even a part of their name - could very easily give the impression of clinging onto that past life and the clan wouldn’t like that. It would seem that the cat wasn’t trustworthy or committed to clan-life. 
178This would be especially true in the case of non-prefix names (such as kittypet names like John or Ruby), because it would be blatantly saying that the cat values their previous life and kittypet roots more than they value to clan’s traditions and culture. Very bad move. 
179But it’s possible that some clans wouldn’t have a problem with it, especially if the cat joining the clan could put forward a good argument as to why their name is all right as a prefix. For example, if a pale ginger cat named Rose joined the clan, it probably wouldn’t cause a riot if that cat kept rose- as a prefix. 
180It’s even possible (although unlikely) that a cat with a prefix the clan hadn’t discovered before might get to keep it. Maybe a bright ginger cat called Chrysanthemum joins the clan, explains what chrysanthemums are and how they came from a place with a garden full of them, and the clan like the name so much they let it stay. Generations down the track, it’s possible that chrysanthemum- is an accept prefix for a ginger cat, even though none of the clan cats have ever seen the plant themselves. 
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184One. An opposition. 
185You can’t have just one clan. There must be more than one, and they must be separate (for the most part). Alliances are only semi-permanent and conflicts are equally as fluid. The requirement of more than one clan is because it is this separation of beliefs and lifestyles that shapes the unique and complicated culture of the cats. 
186Two. A series of sacred customs.
187Without this, they are just groups of rogues living together for mutual benefit. This doesn’t mean they need to believe in some form of religion or afterlife, but they do need to have their own rituals and beliefs. They need to have a code of conduct. They need to have the comradeship and loyalty of a family unit. 
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191I've always wondered - why is that in some writings, outside kits - be they rogue, loner or kittypet (or some other faction), who have been raised and therefor grow up in a clan for their entire lives, are often still picked on and rejected by some fellow clanmates ; particularly other cats of the same age? Why wouldn't those cats who were born around or after the same time as the adopted kits see them as equals?
192I think there’s a few possible answers to this, depending on your stance. 
193The Doylist explanation for it could be: it’s an easy way to create drama and conflict, and it’s an easy way to make some cats look morally inferior/less intelligent/[some negative trait] compared to certain others. 
194The Watsonian explanation for it could be: young cats inherit the prejudice of the adults in their lives through mimicry and therefore if the adults are prejudiced against the young cat who was adopted into the clan, then the other young cats are likely to also have that prejudice and act in discriminatory ways. Just because they’ve grown up together doesn’t mean the young cats are immune from picking up on–and internalising–the prejudice of the older clan-members. That’s how prejudice is perpetuated through generations in real life, after all. 
195However, the real question, I think, is what is the basis of the adults’ prejudice, not the basis of the young cats’ prejudice. The young cats are just copying their older role models. 
196I believe one of the key features of the general clan cat’s identity is Not Being A Non-Clan Cat. I know that sounds obvious, but I suspect the clans feel the need to have strict boundaries between themselves and all other factions of cats as a means of ‘protecting’ their way of life, which is something I mentioned here v
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198The warrior code is what separates clan cats from being just groups of rogues. Rogues don’t follow a structured moral code and typically lack a cultural history, and in comparison, the clans consider themselves superior and, for lack of a better term, more civilised than most other non-clan cats. That’s a key part of clan identity: they are defined by what they won’t do, on moral grounds. 
199They won’t harm kittens, even if they belong to another clan. They won’t abandon clan-mates who have disabilities. They won’t abandon old cats who can no longer fend for themselves. They will give their lives for their clan-mates if they have to. And they won’t murder cats, even in other clans. 
200As a result, their lives are likely more difficult than those of rogues. It’s harder to survive when you’re caring for others, and not just yourself. But the clans find their lifestyle worthwhile and valuable to them, and so they protect it. 
201The warrior code–the code that all clans must follow–exists as a way of maintaining stability between the clans. It acts as a kind of rules of engagement, as well as cultural, political, and ethical commandments. It creates expectations, and therefore something that can be enforced to keep the peace as much as possible. 
202The reason no clan kills other clans’ kittens is because no clan wants their kittens to be murdered. The reason no clan kicks out their old or sick is because no cat wants to be kicked out if they get sick or old. By not-doing, the clans can hold each other to their standards. 
203And the reason murder on the battlefield is forbidden is because no-one wants to die. Warriors will give up their lives for their clan if they have to, but this rule means there’s a lot less chance of actually having to in the first place. Violence is typically how the clans resolve issues that can’t be sorted out with verbal negotiation, but I think one of the best metaphors to describe inter-clans battles is an arm-wrestle. 
204By having the “no murder” rule, the battle is an arm-wrestle match. The warriors turn up, they fight, the aim of each cat is to hurt their opponent enough that the opponent goes, “Fuck this shit, I’m out,” and runs home or is somehow incapacitated and surrenders. This is why you want lots of strong warriors, by the way: they are the clan’s ‘muscle’ by which to push over the other clan’s arm. To murder a cat on the battlefield would be like sitting at a table, arm-wrestling, and then pulling a knife and gutting your opponent. It’s just plain-and-simple Against The Rules. You would be thrown out of arm-wrestle club for life, and also sent to prison.
205The idea of fighting between clans shouldn’t be about who can kill off the other side. In reality, fighting to the death isn’t a common phenomenon among animals. That’s a very human thing. Lots of animals have developed elaborate courting dances or threatening posturing or non-contact shows of strength to avoid having to fight: once it’s obvious who is stronger, the loser gives up and backs off to avoid further conflict. 
206Those are my thoughts on the matter. As for how they lose so many cats, there’s a lot of ways cats can die when they have to fend for themselves and have limited access to human medicine. 
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208Therefore, any cat that threatens that boundary would be viewed–consciously, or subconsciously–as a threat to the clan: after all, if a cat who was a rogue can become a warrior, what is a true warrior? Is a warrior still ‘better’ than a rogue? There’s a lot of potentially uncomfortable identity crisis/moral crisis type questions that would arise from the event, I think. 
209So I imagine that’s why some clan cats would have some form of prejudice against cats who are adopted into the clan from non-clan backgrounds, and I think stories that consider the ways in which these prejudices are formed, perpetuated, and challenged would be particularly interesting.
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213Are there any pelt colors that are more common to certain settings Usually I see lighter-colored pelts in fan-clans that live in meadows or open areas in general and black/dark-colored pelts in clans alongside rivers and in forests, or sometimes there's no real pattern to the pelts and there's a whole mixture. I'm wondering if there's a pattern that should go with the setting of the clan. I feel like there should be but I'm not too sure.
214I don’t think there would be any exceptional lean one way or the other for most clans, but I do think that some pelt types would be more common than others - both because of what genetics are being mixed in the clan, and also because of what kinds of pelts are at a disadvantage. Pure white cats are usually at a heavy disadvantage in many settings, since they stand out so much - prey see them coming, and they’re easier for predators to find. That’s not to say, however, that some pure white cats can’t live a good life as a warrior; it may just be a bit more difficult and dangerous for them
215I think black cats would stand out a lot on moors and other open areas - but thankfully, only during the day, and since cats are mostly nocturnal (hunt at night), that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
216Patched cats (white with patches of another colour) may have a better chance against fish or other types of swimming prey, as the irregular pattern of their pelt may help break up their shape when they sit at the water banks (just as long as they’re careful not to let their shadow cast across the water).
217Tabbies and tortoiseshells are going to have the best advantage in forests, because their colours and patterns are so uneven; with all the dappled light and thickets of sticks and whatever else, it would be hard for prey to make out what’s a cat and what’s not. That’s why tigers are striped; it helps break up their outline and helps them hide.
218Every pelt type has positive and negative attributes, and overall, there’s not going to be an obvious representation of any type of pelt in any one clan. That’s not to say, of course, that the clan itself won’t have a perception of what is beautiful or valuable.
219Every clan is probably going to have a different idea of the “ideal” cat; the “ideal” cat is going to be the type of cat that embodies what the clan values and what best suits the territory they’re in. So if you’re making a clan, you might what to think about what constitutes the -face suffix in that clan’s belief system.
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221I always wondered about this but was too lazy to ask, but, lets say a leader, we'll call him Magpiestar, is attracted to light grey cats, so more light-grey mollies would be gettin' -face than -fur, -pelt, and -stripe. Wouldn't this be something to pay attention to when making warrior kitties?
222Yes, it would. It’s actually a very good point and I’m glad you brought it up. What’s attractive in a culture is deemed by that culture. In other words, the kind of cat that we, as humans, think is a “good-looking” cat may not be the same thing that the clans think is good-looking.
223They might think angular faces are weird, and like cats with hellaciously broad shoulders, round domed heads, little ears and big front paws. That might be their version of an “ideal” cat. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this notion of what an attractive cat was different in each clan, as each clan would favour something different to the others. Maybe Shadowclan cats think enormous ears are a wonderful quality, whereas Thunderclan cats prefer small ears.
224Overall, the territory would have a reasonable influence, as would the general psyche of the clan. The leader would also have some input, but only so far as its personal opinion went with the cultural norms of what was attractive.
225If two cats, a ginger cat and a grey cat, both had attractive features according to the clan’s mentality, they would both get -face. 
226If a ginger cat had those features, and the grey cat did not, only the ginger cat would be given the suffix -face (because even though the leader likes grey pelts, the cat isn’t the clan’s version).
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230They have their own rich and elaborate histories, and just because they come from the same root does not mean they have the same beliefs. Their ways of life are drastically different.
231Now, I’m not sure if you ever had the dubious pleasure of reading how the clans were formed but each group of cats split into groups by what kind of hunting technique they were best at, and what kind of prey suited them. Cats are naturally territorial and would find comfort in having a specific location to guard.
232As well as this, there is a certain amount of control that can be exerted over a small group far easier than a large group. Large groups are almost impossible to organise, or be familiar with. The clan relies on loyalty and duty to survive; all cats must feel a strong connection to their clan and to each other in order to feel the need to defend and protect them. If there was just one clan, there would be many cats that would not know each other very well (and subsequently, wouldn’t trust or help each other) and they would be a very weakly structured community.
233In short, the clans need separation to be a clan. Without that, they’re just rogues hanging around the same forest.
234Erin Hunter writes the bare minimum for cultural world-building, and I personally find that disgraceful. That doesn’t mean that we, as fans, have to do the same, however. I strongly recommend that all writers of Warriors stories aim to do better than canon, and develop the beliefs and culture of each clan in their writing. That way, not only will our writing be so much more interesting, but it will be clear as to why the clans live separately. 
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238Canon strongly pushes hetero-monogamy, plus kits, so I’ll call that branch the Warriors’ ‘nuclear’ approach. 
239You say you imagine a sort of polyandry (for many mollies, anyway), which more closely resembles the lives of real cats, and so I’ll call that branch the ‘realist’ approach.
240But the thing is, even in a clan where either of these is the dominant cultural norm, there are going to be exceptions and different forms of living. You noted that, but I think it’s sort of relevant to unravel it a bit for anyone else that might be interested in this topic.
241There are going to be ‘nuclear’ clan cats who don’t settle down into some sort of faithful romantic relationship, and instead just pick whoever - and might not tell anyone who they picked. In the very early canon, it’s actually said that a she-cat has no obligation to tell anyone the father of the kits: something that got thrown out the window, pretty much, once Erin Hunter got their claws into all this romance-and-children plotting and now it’s oh so very important who a cat’s parents are. 
242(Additionally, some cats in ‘nuclear’ clans are going to be polyamorous, because some people are, and the cats are anthropomorphised. If cats can fall in love in Warriors, that means all kinds of love. Not just hetero or monogamous. That’s a given).
243And in clans that have a ‘realist’ approach to lifestyle, there are going to be cats who honestly do become devoted to each other and don’t want anyone else, even if that’s not the most sensible choice. That’s because feelings are weird and typically uncontrollable and sometimes very unreasonable, and these cats are anthropomorphised enough to experience those feelings. Which means even if most cats are totally down with the ‘realist’ approach, there’s going to be some whose feelings make things difficult for them.
244But even within those two camps of clan world-building, there’s going to be so many little twisty branches. 
245For example, in the ‘realist’ approach, does the clan believe in partible paternity, or do they believe in superfecundation? I suspect that the clan’s beliefs in regards to this would have some effect on how the mother’s partners typically interact with the kits, or at least impact the thinking of the various parents. (Remembering also that all the cats involved are individuals with their own perspectives and personalities, as if things weren’t already twisty enough).
246As well as that, what are the clan’s beliefs and expectations for genetic parents? Are they expected to play a role in the kits upbringing, or not - and if so, what are they expected to do? Is it usual for a cat to contribute to making kittens but has no sense of parental responsibility to those kittens, because the kittens have a mother (and plenty of other nursery cats) to raise them until apprentice age? What about if the mother of the kittens already has a romantic partner, but for some reason chose to have a different genetic donor for her kittens, and decides not to tell those kits about their other genetic parent? Is that unfair to the unknown genetic parent, or is that normal for the clan? And on that note, are kittens entitled to know who their genetic parents, or is it that genetic ancestry is considered irrelevant by the clan (with perhaps some exceptions)? 
247This is just a handful of the questions worth asking yourself about your clans’ world-building, I feel, and sort of what I was talking about when I said it’s incredible to me that the canon clans seem to have the same beliefs and structure almost exactly. When you consider that all it would take to change the structure and perspective of a clan quite significantly would be answering even one of those questions listed above differently than the others, you can see why I am amazed and baffled by canon sometimes, I’m sure.
248The warrior code says nothing about these kinds of issues, either, which means this is where that highly contentious ‘leader’s word is law’ rule comes in. The leader’s word is literally the cultural law: that’s the leader’s job. They’re the cultural guidance for the clan, along with the medicine cat, and part of that is keeping the customs and solving the inter- and intra-clan issues that inevitably arise from time to time. 
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252Some of Erin Hunter’s misogyny stems directly from bad writing. Most of the characters are subjected to that, male and female, but in cases of female cats, it tends to follow misogynistic stereotypes in particular. For example, there are (arguably) three main character types for she-cats in clans: the “spunky” girl (such as Sandstorm and Squirrelflight), the “motherly” queen (such as Goldenflower and Ferncloud), and the “tough” veteran (such as Bluestar and Yellowfang). 
253I don’t like to melt characters down to an archetype, it sits against my better judgement, but I feel it’s worthwhile pointing out that cats who fall into the “spunky” category tend to lose a lot of the fire in their personalities once they become mothers, the cats from the “tough” category have been dragged through some kind of horrible trauma in their past to do with their children, and the “motherly” cats never seem to get a lot of character development. It’s a concerning trend. That said, I can’t speak on this in-depth, since it’s been a very long time since I’ve read the books and I feel like I can’t do this justice without re-reading them and making notes (which, at the moment, I just don’t have the time to do, I’m afraid). 
254Some of Erin Hunter’s misogyny, however, stems directly from purposefully channeling sexist views. Part of that is definitely the unsaid ‘rule’ of No Kits For Female Leaders and Deputies, which is sexist nonsense. Another example is the trend of age-gaps in canon hetero relationships, but it’s almost invariably an older tom with a younger molly (for example, Ferncloud and Dustpelt, and Leopardfoot and Pinestar).  There’s also several instances of Erin Hunter hurting, humiliating, or outright killing female characters (’fridging’), with no such male counterparts: most notably, Spottedleaf, Rosetail, Feathertail, and Silverstream (arguably also Lostface/Brightheart, and others). 
255Erin Hunter’s misogyny also works to favour male characters in many instances, excusing their bad behaviour. The most obvious examples of this would be Ashfur and Crowfeather, who are ‘reprieved’ in canon despite doing nothing to deserve it. In comparison, female characters tend to be blamed for more than their fair share and are often narratively punished in some way.
256Another thing that makes my skin crawl about Erin Hunter’s writing is how eagerly some parts of the fandom wholeheartedly believe and perpetuate “hate” of female characters, such as Ferncloud, Nightcloud, and Daisy. As I’ve said before, there’s misogyny in every fandom, and misogynists who are determined to be misogynists will find any way to vent their hatred regardless of how feminist a piece of work is. But that doesn’t mean Erin Hunter is off the hook for what is, basically, encouraging misogyny in a children’s series. That’s gross and I’m disappointed in them.
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260First of all, just because cats can get pregnant at four months old does not mean they should be getting pregnant at four months old. There are significant health risks involved, and medicine cats exist to minimise those risks: sometimes the best way to minimise a risk is to out-right ban it. 
261Secondly, these cats are anthropomorphised. That is important to note, because at four months of age, a clan cat is the equivalent of eight years old (approximately, by my rough estimate). That, in and of itself, is plenty of reason why four months old is completely and unquestionably unacceptable age for a clan cat to be pregnant. 
262A warrior apprenticeship in most clans starts at six months of age, and I would say the age-equivalent of that is about twelve-to-thirteen, judging from the general behaviour of canon characters. I don’t believe there’s any set time-limit for how long an apprenticeship takes to complete (since everyone is different and learns at different rates), but I suspect that the maximum would be six months of training before passing their trial. To be certain, I’d have to go back over the books and make a note of the average apprenticeship length, but for the time being, let’s say that six months training is average. 
263A clan cat who is about a year old would be the age-equivalent of eighteen or so, I’d say. Perhaps a fraction older at most. 
264Completing an apprenticeship is a sign of maturity: it’s a rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood, in the same way starting an apprenticeship is a rite of passage from childhood to adolescence. Until a cat has completed their apprenticeship (some lenience about medicine cats, of course), they are not an adult and are not considered as such. 
265Thus, when you frame it that way, there are three distinct age-groups in every clan: kit (child), apprentice (adolescent), warrior (adult). 
266Two of those age-groups cannot consent. Kittens cannot consent, they are children. Apprentices cannot consent, they are minors, and the clans clearly define minors as ‘any cat who has not yet earned a warrior name in ceremony’. Even canon is really clear on this: apprentices do not get pregnant, and they do not have kits. They might only wait until the day after their warrior ceremony to jump someone’s bones, but they wait because, in the clans, not waiting is illegal and there would be repercussions. There would be no excuses. 
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270Kits spend approximately six months in the nursery before they’re allowed to become apprentices and move into the apprentice den. Six months of age would be roughly the equivalent of twelve or thirteen years of age, for a human. 
271Something that happens a lot in the nursery is cats being pregnant and giving birth, as well as feeding their kittens milk. These things aren’t considered taboo. The clan isn’t going to have a moral panic because kittens know where kittens come from. It’s a part of life, and it’s really no big deal. 
272As such, by the time they become apprentices, all young cats are going to know what pregnancy is, how pregnancy happens, what sex is, so on and so forth. They’re going to pick up that knowledge just by being around nursery cats, and they’re also going to hit a point (probably about three months of age or a bit older) where anything they’re not sure about, they’re going to ask–for example, “You said Rosefur was pregnant, how?” or “Will I have kits too one day?”
273After young cats become apprentices, they get a mentor, and as well as being a teacher and role-model, their mentor is also a sort of supervisor in regards to their interactions with other apprentices (and older cats). Mentors would be expected to be approachable for their apprentices, as someone to talk to about problems the apprentice might be having or general questions they might have about various adolescent/clan-life things, and would be expected to look out for any shenanigans that their apprentice might be getting up to. 
274So between clan-life in general, and having a mentor (or parents, or relatives, or older warriors, whoever the young cat feels comfortable talking to) to ask questions to, sex wouldn’t be particularly mysterious or concerning. 
275The medicine cat might choose to talk to apprentices about it (although probably not in all in group, one-on-one conversations would probably be preferable), or apprentices might want to approach the medicine cat with complicated questions that other cats don’t know the answers to, but I sincerely doubt clan sex-ed would be anything like the uncomfortable high school sex education classes that human students get put through. 
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279Let's say this one clan's territory can only support a maximum of 40 animals at best, and the clan has had a prosperous year and has ballooned very near to that max. The nursery has a sudden explosion of pregnant and nursing queens, and soon enough there's enough kits to provide a resources problem. What might the clan do in this situation? I'm quite confused as what might happen, aside from territory expansion or just willingly letting a few cats starve, which is unlikely, no?
280The clan’s going to do whatever the can to prevent as many deaths as possible. Every cat in the clan is someone’s kid, someone’s friend, someone’s sibling, someone’s someone, and because of that, no-one will be considered expendable. 
281So they’re going to need to find new resources for food if they want to survive, which may mean stealing from pet cats, raiding human settlements (scavenging in bins, killing chickens, so on), challenging other clans for more territory, stealing prey from other clans, and honestly any other idea that anyone has that might help feed the clan. 
282Even so, cats will probably die. If everyone’s only just getting enough, those who are in poor health will be at much greater risk of starving. Likewise, cats who are using a lot of energy providing food for others will be at risk of exhaustion, and if cats who are nursing kittens don’t get enough food, it’s possible their milk will stop and the kittens will starve if there’s no-one else to feed them. 
283Like I said, a bad place to be at. It’s best to avoid overpopulation before it hits this point, if possible.
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287In my clans, I decided that it would be taboo to have kittens during leaf-fall or leafbare and most kittens are born during early/late newleaf and it is extremely looked down upon to have kittens in any season other than newleaf. This is due to about 75% of kittens in a litter dying in leafbare of hypothermia and later starvation. The leafbares are so harsh in the setting, many clan cats starve. So over generations it is the norm to have kittens during newleaf only
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291While many of the rules of the code are fairly sensible and sound in their reasoning, some of them are definitely problematic and it’s debatable as to whether or not they should be considered rules at all. The most obvious example of that is the ‘leader’s word is law’ rule, I would say. It’s certainly a useful rule, and it doesn’t surprise me that it exists, but it can be very easily abused.
292When a leader’s sorting out intra-clan arguments, it’s handy to be able to say, “I’ve heard both your sides of the story and I’ve decided that it’s Crowfang’s rock, so give it back and I don’t want to hear any more whinging about this!” and that’s the last word, because leader’s word is law. And since the leader is cultural leader as well as political leader, it’s certainly a help to have that kind of accepted authority when you’re trying to sort out problems that arise in customs or rites–for example, when someone says, “You can’t change X!” but the leader believes it is necessary that X is changed for the good of the clan and culture.
293However, if a leader becomes obsessed with controlling others, with abusing their position of power, or is negligent or otherwise incompetent as leader, then the ‘leader’s word is law’ rule can have terrible ramifications. If the leader says, “I want [atrocious act] committed,” then the clan is obliged by the ‘leader’s word is law’ rule to obey that command. If the leader says, “From now on, I decree apprentices begin their training at two moons of age,” then that’s breaking the warrior code, except that the leader’s word is the warrior code. The clan is obliged to follow both rules, and obviously, that can’t be done.
294So I would say that’s a major flaw in the composition of the warrior code. That’s not to say I believe the ‘leader’s word is law’ rule should be scrapped entirely, though. I think it has benefits to the clan when used responsibly. What I do think could possibly limit the potential danger this rule presents, however, is language that states when and under what circumstances the rule can be invoked: in other words, a sort of small-print to stop it enabling the leader with total omnipotence. I don’t know what this wording should be–and I’m sure there’d be loopholes that someone clever and sinister could work around–but I do think that the ‘leader’s word is law’ rule needs some sort of restriction placed on it at least as a precautionary measure. 
295Another rule I consider dubious is the “warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet” rule, because quite often that means “don’t steal food from pet cats” and honestly, if my clan is starving from a lack of prey, I’m going to be telling everyone to steal food from pet cats rather than watch them die trying to protect their misplaced sense of pride. Again, I’m not surprised this is rule–the clans are very proud of themselves and their lifestyle and also very disparaging of pet cats–but I do think it’s a ‘sometimes’ rule and I can’t really accept it as a good reason to avoid making the most of all the clan’s potential resources when there’s a crisis going on. 
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299MORNINGSTAR IN PARTICULAR
300it’s pathetic to suggest that cats aren’t allowed to raise kittens while being in a leadership position. 
301That said, I do think it would be more difficult to juggle the two simultaneously, but I’m certain that there’d be a lot of cats who could do it - especially when you take into consideration the fact that the nursery cats actively care for each other’s young anyway. So if the leader or deputy has kittens, I’m positive that someone - or multiple someones - would be very eager to play nanny whenever necessary. 
302Just think about it: you’d get the favour of the leader or future leader, and you’d have the loyalty of that cat’s kits to a certain degree as well. That’s a lot of power, and a lot of leverage. Even cats who don’t like kits much could see the sense in being the leader or deputy’s kits’ favourite uncle/aunt/adoptive relative.
303Add to that the fact that there’s bound to be at least one apprentice hoping for the -flower suffix who is extremely keen to prove
304their worth as a guardian; the leader or deputy would never have to worry about their kits getting into trouble, because you can be sure as hell that one apprentice is going to be all over that like ants in a sugar-pot.
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308The clans jealously guard their resources (prey, and medicine), and in times of scarcity, those things are bargaining chips that could be used for trade or otherwise controlling the allegiance or motives of other clans. 
309For example, if one clan has a lot of one medicinal plant that’s in high demand, that clan is in a position to barter–and furthermore, get the most advantageous results from said bartering. You can see how that would appeal to the clan. 
310Of course, if the clans all shared their resources, that kind of bartering wouldn’t exist. Everyone would have equal access to the plants, and while that sounds like a good idea (after all, no-one wants to be the clan having to beg another clan for resources), there’s a few major pitfalls in the plan. 
311The first is: can you trust the other clans not to steal the plants? If everyone puts their stores in the same place, they have to trust that–no matter how bad or desperate things might get–no-one will take the whole store for themselves. That’s a lot to ask, and I’m fairly convinced that every attempt to do this will result in something called the Prisoner’s Dilemma. 
312In short, the dilemma is, “I can’t trust the other clans not to steal these plants, and I don’t want to lose access to these plants, what do I do?” For many, the answer is: steal them yourself. And if every clan is thinking the same thing, you can see how this situation would spiral. 
313The second is: what happens when there’s not enough for everyone? When times are good, it’s not going to be a big deal to share resources and I doubt anyone would care too much, but when you actually need the resources, no-one’s going to want to give them up to someone else when they’ve barely got enough for their own clan. It’s easy to be generous when you don’t need what you’re giving away, and I think that’s going to put a real squeeze on the whole idea of clan-wide resource-sharing. 
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317what do you think would happen if both a clan's leader and deputy died at the same time/very soon after one another, especially if story-wise, StarClan is ambiguous? without the oh-so-magical guidance of StarClan, said clan would be left floundering for leadership or fighting over the position(s). Of course, every cat would have a different opinion on who should lead, but whose opinion should carry more weight?
318I imagine the cats whose opinions would be most valued in this situation would be elders’, since they’ve got years of life experience to back them up and are the most likely cats to have anything resembling wisdom in regards to How To Survive Through Rough Times. Getting to old age is not easy for a feral cat, even in a clan, and so the elders would basically be hardcore as hell, as a given.
319However, because of their age, it’s possible that if a younger cat (especially one with strong supporters) wanted to challenge their decision through brute strength, it’s possible you could end up with a Brokenstar leadership. 
320Brokenstar had a group of powerful warriors supporting him. That was the main problem. 
321It wasn’t Brokenstar versus the entirety of Shadowclan. If it was just him trying to enforce his unethical decisions, the clan could have mutinied and kicked him out before things got so bad. 
322But what was actually happening was Broken and his big, strong, loyal collection of militant-style warriors versus the elders, apprentices, and other less physically able cats of Shadowclan. 
323That was the problem. It wasn’t a matter of respecting Brokenstar too much to disobey him: it was a matter of not wanting to be murdered by their own clan-mates. 
324You’ve got to look at the structures of power. A leader is only as powerful as the clan believes them to be, because that belief is what gives the leader authority. 
325If you’ve got some massive, mean-looking warriors flexing aggressively behind you whenever you make your unethical announcements to the clan, you’re going to look pretty damn powerful - especially if you back it up with demonstrations of violence whenever someone tries to call your bluff. 
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329Healer + Seer: instead of just a medicine cat, there is one cat who is a healer (who may use herbs or not, along with cleaning wounds, comforting cats, doing aroma therapy, and using conversation and emotional support for cats with extra mental or emotional needs) and one cat who is a seer who focuses solely on signs, advising, and interpreting of the higher powers.
330Patrollers + guardians: patrollers patrol and hunt out and about like the average warrior; guardians are those cats more comfortable with staying and guarding the camp, tending dens, teaching kits, helping the medicine cat, advising the leader, etc and are thought to be chosen by the spirits but must willingly agree to become such honored cats.
331Sentinels: guard the camp, advise the leader, deal with camp chores, teach apprentices history and culture; tend to be the most senior warriors and sometimes replace the elder rank.
332Hunters + Battlers: the hunters are smaller, lither cats that hunt for the clan and scout and track. The battlers are larger, stronger cats and guard the camp and patrol territory. Apprentices are trained jointly, and when they become adults are elected to be either a hunter or a battler based on the abilities they have shown.
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336I feel like this would be as subjective as any cat wanting to switch clans. The political climate, the current leader, the overall attitude of the clan, the current weather/situation, the relationship with the other clan, omens from Whoever-is-in-the-Sky, etc– all of these things will combine to make this seen as more or less negative.
337I can see some cats considering these elders traitors for wanting to abandon their clan and take their wisdom to another, enemy clan. I can see some cats feeling that the elders have given so much already that they deserve to choose what they wish. I can see some clans being utterly ashamed of this, and some clans finding this a common thing. Perhaps even the clan that often has elders move out also often has a big intake of young loners or rogues from nearby clowders, and so feels they at least are keeping up population well– or maybe this makes them even more resentful of the elders leaving because they aren’t there to teach the new cats.
338So, Foxthroat is a RiverClan elder and she’s sick and tired of the flooding and constant wet because it makes her bones ache and she feels sick a lot. She wants to move to ThunderClan, because it’s drier there– except RiverClan and ThunderClan have a lot of historical fighting. So, maybe not so go.
339However, RiverClan and ShadowClan, generally speaking, are pretty chill with each other. So perhaps she could move there. Or, if they’re at the lake, RiverClan and ThunderClan don’t border each other anymore, so moving to ThunderClan then might not be seen as so traitorous.
340Whatever way it goes, I feel ultimately I can’t give you a ‘right’ answer so much as throw out possibilities and say that it is a very complicated answer no matter what you pick. There’s so many nit-picky things that could go on on all sides there, that there’s not just one reasoning for anything. However, it would make an awesomely wonderful short story to mull over. Since I desire to try playing with some of Sparrowminder’s writing prompts this month, in the evenings after I’ve finished studying and need to wind down, if I run across one that seems to suit, perhaps I’ll try writing a story of this?
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344How do you suppose a Clan would react to a kit deciding that they didn't like their prefix and saying they want a new prefix? Adderkit isn't happy being called Adderkit because Adderkit hates adders with a burning passion/is terrified of them and thus Adderkit wants to be called, I don't know, Wimbrelkit.
345However, if Adderkit had a traumatic expereience with an Adder, say, xir littermate Foxkit got killed by one in front of them, and now being called Adderkit is impacting their emotional and mental well-being negatively, I cans see something being done about it. Note, that this would certainly only apply if the kit’s name was genuinely impacting their health. So, if little Foxkit decides she doesn’t want to be Foxkit, she wants to be Firekit because it sounds tougher, that’s a no-go.
346But your example sounds like Adderkit is going to be very badly impacted by having to remain Adderkit. So, possibly the medicine cat might advise the leader/parents/whoever names the kits in the clan that a name-change could be in order.
347Or, it could be that the clan doesn’t hold with such name-changes, and instead Adderkit’s parents and the medicine cat and elders work with them to change their perspective of their name, that it’s not named for adders, but just for their color, and it isn’t saying you’re like an adder, and there is no need to fear your name, etc. I’m not sure of the success rate of that, but it’s another possible option.
348Still, since the clan needs to thrive as one, I feel they’d be very sensitive to the mental and emotional health of everyone, and if Adderkit is really suffering from their name due to trauma or the like, then Adderkit is going to probably get a name change so xe can not have to cope with that issue.
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352If a kitten was found in the woods and a clan decided to take it in, what are some of the hurdles that the story would have to get over before it was believable to let the kitten into the nursery? And what kind of personality would be required for two older cats (two warriors that were promoted too early because of nepotism) to kind of bully the new kitten. (after she gets older and is about to be made an apprentice.)
353To be honest, I don’t see there being many hurdles to get a found kit into the nursery. Were I a clan leader, I’d be /thrilled/ to snap up any randomly abandoned kits because that’s more cats for my clan, and they’re arguably better than taking in an adult in some ways, because they’ll grow up around clan ways and not have as tough a transitioning period.
354Now, it sounds like /possibly/ your kit is on the older side, for 4-6 moons? In that case, there plausibly could be /some/ arguments about keeping it, but overall I don’t see too many hurdles there. If there’s a cat available to nurse it, they’ll take it. If it’s old enough to not need nursing, then they’ll take it– and if there isn’t really a cat in the nursery at the time (and the kit does not need milk) then surely there are -flower cats, or -flower aiming apprentices or elders or someone who loves kits who’d be thrilled to adopt it.
355So, overall, if it’s a kit, the clan is going to want it, because it’s a gain for them– and not to mention the warrior code insists they must help kits in neglect or danger, and I can certainly see there being that one or so cats who are very adherent to the code and so advocate for the kit on that base. 
356That said, however, I can’t see bullying being tolerated in a clan– especially two /warriors/ bullying a kit, whether she’s about to be made an apprentice or not. Bullying fractures relationships and clan solidarity, so that’s not going to fly. Someone is going to put them in their place, be it the deputy, the medicine cat(s), the elders, older warriors– and the queens are certainly going to come down on them like a ton of bricks.
357Because, the thing about taking in an outside cat (or an outsider in any situation, and this is something I have never understood in fiction), the whole point is, you want them loyal to /you/ and /your group/. You want them to like you, and feel like this is the one and only place for them, and that doesn’t happen if they’re bullied and teased. They feel out of place, they get resentful, they become insecure, and things go down the toilet.
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361First off, let’s consider /why/ it is so darn important they pick a deputy quickly. Life isn’t /safe/ in the warriors world. You die from pretty much anything, and if you’re a new leader, or you just lost your back-up leader– you need a new backup darn fast! This is to ensure the continued security and cohesion of the clan. Because if you delay, then you’re putting the clan at risk, and yourself at risk, because you don’t have a backup, and that uncertainty is going to trickle down through the clan and cause some pretty dangerous anxiety.
362If the leader is incapable of picking a deputy (if they’re sick or something that’s one thing, but if they’re otherwise fine I do question /why/ they are leader), someone else is going to have to.
363Among my own clans, many of them have the elders, being the wisest and most experienced cats (who likely have seen many deputies and advised past leaders and so know what goes and what doesn’t) pick some candidates and have the leader make the final choice. Barring that, the elders themselves might vote on it.
364Or perhaps the clan as a whole votes on the deputy, or votes for a couple, and then the leader makes final pick. Or the medicine cat could indeed pick a deputy. Or perhaps, in a world where solid and directed spirituality was a thing, a sign is immediately sent down as to who should be the next deputy.
365There are plenty of directions you could take this, and I’d say definitely try them out, or test even multiple ones among several different clans in the same world. By no means does the leader have to have the sole decision-making on picking a deputy, and perhaps its best they don’t, so that a slightly more unbiased choice might be made, and also to avoid any of these silly, sticky situations such as with Bluestar and Firestar.
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3692. Or perhaps you like the Catholic First Communion/baptism/how religions introduce their young members to be ‘full’ members. So, how could you create similar ceremonies in clans?
370You could have apprentices be taken to their clan’s sacred spot to bring an offering of prey to ‘share it with StarClan’. Or perhaps they go to their sacred spot and share dreams with StarClan. Or maybe they sleep under the stars after their warrior ceremony to connect with their ancestors.
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3743. Or consider how different clans view family. Perhaps one clan follows a more western-thinking another follows a multi-generational family style and has detailed names for their grandparents, cousins, great-aunts, nephews-twice-removed, etc.
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378I know this isn’t a lot, but it’s mostly just to show a snippet that you can be /inspired/ by other cultures– because when you write and create worlds and characters and cultures, you are drawing inspiration from what you know. But you don’t have to copy a culture– and you shouldn’t. Instead, decide what it is you like about something– the methods of address, the fact that a springtime festival revolves around family, the idea of what have you– and then take that seed and create your own version of it. Create, don’t appropriate. Make it new, make it interesting, and make it real– but make sure it’s /yours/.
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382A good start, is to have them maybe not fall in love right away. They need a bigger goal than that. Perhaps they are bored of this life and want to experience something new. Perhaps (since they’re showcats) the molly misses the kits she’s had in the past and wants to search for them. Perhaps they hate being showcats and want to escape. So maybe they’re side by side in cages and they get to talking. And maybe one of them knows how to open cages, and so manages to escape theirs and free the other cat.
383Now, you have to introduce the possibility of /failure/. That will up the stakes and make your story much more interesting, because then readers will be cheering for your cats and worrying that they might not get what they want! So maybe they have to sneak by a lot of people, or get out of a door that only opens at the same time humans are using it. Or perhaps they take a wrong turn and now they’re being chased…
384And then, as they’re spending time journeying together and having to figure out how to survive together (because that’s going to be A Big Deal to these cats because of their former life) they can start falling for each other because they’ll have developed more of a relationship, and at the same time, so will your readers be /wanting/ them to fall in love, or at least be keener for it.
385So the key is to make things tough for them, up the stakes, and give them a bigger goal than just love. Then, as a secondary plot, you can have them falling in love as they’re trying to survive and then they find a clan and perhaps have achieved their dreams?
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389No, I don’t think it’s realistic for cats to have such battles. They are animals, and live in the wild with very little in the way of ‘medicine’. Like all wild animals, their survival depends on fitness and health, which means they can’t afford to have unnecessarily wounded cats. And any physical fight, unless they are absolutely /forced/ into it, is going to be ‘unnecessary’. I certainly think confrontations are going to mostly be screaming matches, posturing, etc. I expect -claw cats would be exceptionally proficient in this/especially intimidating at it. Canon isn’t very realistic with anything, and this is certainly a glaring example that quiet frankly irks me.
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393There are endless ways a clan might honor a fallen apprentice.
394Certainly there are some parameters you could establish, for example, a clan might have a slightly different ceremony based on the age (just apprenticed, almost a warrior) or the cause of death (illness, wounds, murder).
395So perhaps if an apprentice dies of illness, some leaves are buried with them to symbolize healing in Starclan. Or maybe if an apprentice is very close to being a warrior, and dies in battle or from wounds, they are given a warrior name at their burial. Maybe they are buried with certain things, like their nest, or feathers, or flowers, or pebbles, or prey bones that are meant so symbolize certain things like blessings, protection, fruitfulness, healing, strength, etc. in the clan’s mind.
396Or maybe they are buried very no-frills because the clan thinks that they won’t travel to Starclan but will instead be reborn again. Or perhaps they don’t go directly to Starclan but linger on as ghosts or protective spirits, and so the clan regularly brings offerings of prey bones or other items to their graves.
397While apprentices are technically the lowest rank in the clan from a standpoint of being cared for, they are extremely vital to the clan because they are a sign of strength and continued growth, very similar to the way kits are.
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401I do agree 100-percent that the failure to grasp the awesome potential of Gatherings is pretty sad and very annoying. Just think–
4021. Gatherings have world-building potential. 
403Say my main focus is Beaverpaw of Marshclan. Don’t get to hear much about these other clans, but at a Gathering, I can world-build, say by dropping mention of Islandclan believing in a Cat Fish Spirit living in their lake. And I can show what the other clans think of this by their remarks ‘Oh, have you ever heard anything so hare-brained?’ ‘I’d be terrified if I had to live in the MIDDLE of a lake with a giant SPIRIT in it!!’
4042. Gatherings have character potential.
405I have an important character in another clan that Beaverpaw just has to meet? Well, what better place than at the Gathering! He can run into brash-talking Birchpaw of Forestclan, or that healer, Crowpaw of Roamingclan he just has to meet for a plot-point…
4063. Gatherings have plot potential.
407Need an info-dump of how Cloudsky of Hillclan and Burntsky of Roamingclan have FINALLY buried the hatchet between their clans? Have one of them announce it– or maybe Beaverpaw overhears someone talking about it. Need to drop forshadowing of a Dog Attack? Have someone mention a lot of dog-scent or seeing a loose dog! Need to catch a bit of interclan gossip? Have Beaverpaw listen to the elders. Need to have Beaverpaw be utterly tongue-tied by the glory of Lilyclaw of Islandclan? Have him run into his hero! Etc.
4084. Gatherings have ‘down-time’ potential.
409In between action and excitement, you need to have a ‘rest’ for your characters and audience that draws them into letting their guard down or just recovering from reeling from that Super Big Horrible Thing that happened in the prior chapter. Chilling at a Gathering and enjoying character rapports and calm while being subtly fed info and character development is perfect.
410I personally find it very disappointing that the Gathering basically becomes a place for people to announce zilch of any importance unless it’s more drama seasoned with some drama and a side of drama. Like anything else, they have great potential as tools when used properly; I’m sure there is a lot more than just these four things I’ve listed. I certainly plan to expand on Gathering uses in my own worlds, and I definitely think it’s a good thing for others to see– the true potential of the poor, glossed-over Gathering.
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414What you think of the idea of childhood mythical figures for clans? Not that a clans' kits have to believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny- but maybe things/figures that are in the same vein?
415I  see a predominant amount of mythical figures being more of the ‘monster’ variety– like the boogeyman to make kits and apprentices less-inclined to wander off. Warriors Redux has some good examples. For my own clans, Mountainclan has Hungry Jaws, an indeterminate large, dark predator with yellow eyes who devours the spirits of those who break the code and also gobbles up wandering kits and apprentices to state her appetite between nabbing villains. Marshclan has Lurker, a creature that slithers through pools and mud and sucks you into a dark part of the Under World. Islandclan tells tales of the Blind Fish, a cat with scales instead of fur and seemingly blind, bulging eyes who creeps around the edges of the islands at daybreak, seeking for any kits and apprentices who are creeping out when they shouldn’t be.
416Of course, there is also the possibility of more benevolent figures! Forestclan has Flower Bringer, a cat said to be splattered with petal-like patches of calico and who creeps around in the midday when everyone is asleep at the beginning of spring in order to wake the blossoms and renew the trees; its tradition for young warriors and apprentices to try to spot her if they can, and if they find a flower petal on the ground during this time, they’ll have good luck and a blessing from her to flourish just like the flowers. Islandclan speaks of Ripple Maker, a cat whose long pelt ripples like the lake itself during wind and who weaves the dreams of sleepers and supposedly sometimes gives glimpses of the future.
417So definitely play around with this and have fun! Maybe consider some to be ‘universal’ to all clans, and some that have specific ties to certain clans for certain reasons (because of environment, beliefs, values, etc.)
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421 you absolutely should consider holidays; every culture of humans has some sort of holidays that have evolved over time based on their religious beliefs, their history, and their principles, so certainly I feel the clans would have some too. They might all share some, and then some of them may have individual ones, but they’re going to be there.
422holidays are fairly important for morale. They bring a change of scenery from the daily grind of life if nothing else, and nowhere else is life a daily grind then among the warrior cat clans. So actually, it’s kind of sad to think that not only do the Canon clans have nothing to look forward to during certain parts of the year, but most fanclans do too.
423This is another good point; clan morale is extremely important, and holidays oftentimes center around ‘being together’– a very good thing to highlight in say, late leafbare when your clan is really feeling the drag from harsh times.
424It also can be an official mark to the passage of time; i.e. ‘after every new moon we celebrate the return of Moonclan to the sky’, or ‘whenever the first trees start blooming we celebrate the coming of newleaf and make an offering to the tree spirits’.
425one thing I’d suggest is looking not at the commercialized versions (which I utterly loathe), but at the origins.  For example, Halloween derrives from Samhain, a Celtic festival to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. Perhaps just before the winter, the clan holds a ‘purification festival’ that guards them from bad luck and external harm going into the harshest season.
426Arbor Day is about celebrating the importance of trees; maybe the cats don’t plant trees, but they believe in tree spirits. Perhaps they believe that dead cats go into trees and so bring offerings to a graveyard where they buried cats and honor their spirits in the trees there. So Arbor Day of the Dead; it’s what I have one of my own clans, Forestclan doing. They bring prey bones and bury them around each tree, so that the dead prey animal will come back to life in the afterlife and feed their dead kin.
427Or look at just small traits, like Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan– times of fasting. Perhaps sometime the warriors fast for a day or two in the summer to remind them of what they sacrifice for the clan during harsher times, and then at the end of the fast they eat a great feast with the whole clan representing the rewards of discipline and self-sacrifice.
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429The Spring/Newleaf holiday is about birth and growth. Kits are being born, the clan has survived thru the coldest and leanest months, theirs new plant growth everywhere and prey is beginning to be abundant again. And the best months of the year are still ahead. This is definitely the holiday where the Queens and their contribution to the clans are revered and the kits in general are spoiled rotten by anybody who can get their paws on them.
430The Summer/Greenleaf holiday is about the clans putting aside their rivalries, show casing their best and brightest and partaking in friendly competition and cooperation in general. (Yes I am taking a huge nod from Canon here, I know many consider the “daylight gathering” from the third series to have been a weird idea, but I love the idea of the clans putting aside their differences for one day and instead of struggling against one another, they embrace each other and reap the benefits of the bounty of summer together.)
431Moreover, I love how you mentioned ‘cooperation in general’, because one of the fundamental things that makes a clan a clan is how they support each other and really work together. Having a holiday that brings them all together and reminds them that they can get along for a day, that as culturally different as they are, they do share things in common, etc. is a very good thing. It also would strengthen the clans against ‘outsiders’ by serving as a reminder that ‘we have the same roots even if we’ve grown into different trees’.
432The Autumn/Leaf-Fall holiday is about the dead and remembering them. Since I’ve never like the Dark Forest as a thing (And I’m not so hot on StarClan either), I’ve gotten really big into the clans using remembrance as a way to keep their ancestors “alive” and their enemies “dead”. Stories are told of great legends and family members alike, offerings of prey are placed in the clan burial site and perhaps apprentices and their mentors go looking for wandering spirits while the elders tell the kits spooky stories back at camp. (Yes this is my most developed holiday, I’ll admit my bias- I just love autumn as a time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday.)
433I also like how this ties into what the clans believe in when it comes to ancestors and the dead. The development here is great and I think it definitely makes your clans more unique and your world-building quite interesting.
434And finally, the Winter/Leaf-Bare holiday is about the clan coming together and being thankful for one another and of life in a clan in general. This holiday is the exact opposite of the Summer holiday- the clans stick within their own territories and use the day to reaffirm their bond as clanmates. Naturally, in keeping with many holidays that take place in winter, theirs also a huge feast during it.
435 It lets you explore your clans’ cultures, and maybe even their history through what they celebrate and why they celebrate it and how they celebrate it. And maybe all the clans shared a holiday but for each one it has evolved into something very different even though it has the same roots. They create more interest for your story, because you don’t have to feel like you have big gaps of nothing in between events; create a holiday and expand on culture while maybe working on character rapport!
436
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438
439the best way around a heavy-handed Starclan-oriented name-giving would be to conduct a medicine cat ceremony in the same way as warrior ceremonies.
440The senior medicine cat and leader would discuss the matter together before the event, and decide on a suffix that suits the cat, just as the leader and respective mentor do for other apprentices. Whether the medicine cat or leader actually does the announcing and awarding of suffix might vary between clans, depending on the clan’s beliefs about which is more appropriate.
441As for place, I think there’s a lot to be said for the ceremony being witnessed by the cat in question’s clan-members rather than conducting it privately in a sacred location. While spiritual connection and spiritual guidance are considered (at least in some clans) a very important aspect of the medicine cat’s role, the medicine cat’s foremost duties is being the medicine cat and healing their clan-members. As such, I feel like an emphasis on community through the witnessing of a naming ceremony would be a good thing.
442Of course, it depends on the clan’s specific culture, and there’s definitely room for different interpretations, but I do like the idea of medicine cats going through basically the same process as warriors when it comes to naming customs.
443
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445
446If four clans follow one religion that’s essentially the same, why does the fifth clan (and only the fifth clan) follow something different? How did those separate belief sytems come into being–did the fifth clan always have a different religion, or did they convert to another religion sometime later, or did they make their own denomination of sorts as a branch off the old religion?
447If it’s a matter of splitting off from the rest of the clans, or else making a new religion to replace the old one, what was the process there? What were the key events that made this happen? If you’re stuck on this part, I recommend looking into history for inspiration. Sometimes it’s a charismatic leader or visionary or philosopher that starts these kinds of changes. Sometimes it’s kicked off by a tragedy that causes a crisis of faith. Sometimes it’s because of scientific advancement or new discoveries that result in people engaging more critically with their previous religious beliefs, or denouncing them entirely, or reworking their understanding of faith within the new framework. Typically, though, these things are the straw that breaks the camel’s back: discontentment and doubt tend to already be there in some form and these things are just catalysts for change. 
448As well as this, what has kept the other four clans from changing their religious beliefs and/or diverging from each other over time? Is it possible that all clans technically follow different denominations of the same religion, but the fifth clan is the most significantly different from the rest? If so, how does this variation of belief affect how the clans interact with each other, especially at gatherings?
449Also, the word I like to use when discussing fiction is “plausible.” As you say, “realistic” doesn’t exactly work, and frankly “believable” isn’t a great measuring stick, because belief is so subjective–and reality is often hardly believable anyway! But “plausible” is something that can be argued. As a word, it’s about being persuasive and convincing, and that’s what’s crucial for any story. You need to write a story in a way that persuades people to care and convinces them to keep reading. So you aim to write a plausible story, and how you do that is what becomes your style as a writer.
450
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452
453this naming system doesn’t use sun- or moon- because of Starclan. The stars are considered sacred to the clans, and -star is exclusively the leader’s suffix, awarded by the ancestors. 
454I find it difficult to believe that the stars could be considered sacred, but not the moon or sun in some way. Perhaps not to the same magnitude as the stars, given that the stars presumably represent the ancestors themselves, but given that the ancestors are believed to use the moon as a method of communicating with the world, I think it’s sacred by association. The existence of the moonstone (and other artifacts) and the importance of the moon at gatherings as the representation of Starclan’s will make me think that it would be considered inappropriate to name a kitten after the moon. It’s kind of a big deal for the clans! I think it’d be about borderline heretical or worse to do something like that.
455The sun has less of a role in the canon belief system, but as the counterpart to the moon and as the greatest source of light, warmth, and, therefore, life in the clans’ worldview, I feel like it too is kind of a big deal and not something anyone should be named after. There’s a godliness about the sun (at least, I suspect so) that the clans–and probably any cat religion–would acknowledge, so I put in the sacred box along with the stars and the moon.
456
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458
459- ambiguity. Not only should the clans be dubious about Starclan’s existence, but so should the reader. It’s no fun reading a story where you know all the answers, and the existence of Starclan really ruins the ‘anyone can die’ policy of Warriors. It’s sort of like the authors are having their cake and eating it too - “beware, readers, beware, your favourite character could die at any moment… but don’t worry, because they’re not really dead; they’re just in the afterlife waiting-room, until some later chapter when we feel like making them relevant again.” The death of a character doesn’t hurt until it’s permanent, so it becomes really farcical to have a confirmed afterlife, I feel. The trials and terror of trying to survive in a harsh world are completely undermined if you know that, no matter what, everything’s going to be okay in the end.
460
461- no magic. Starclan magic is the most painfully ludicrous thing. In canon, there’s absolutely no consistency when it comes to the abilities of Starclan cats - the clans believe that Starclan controls the weather enough to cloud the moon and Mudclaw’s death by lightning strike is considered “a sign”, and yet Bluestar and Lionheart say that Starclan has no power over the living world. Apparently Spottedleaf and Silverstream both do weird corporeal shit in Firestar’s Quest too. I’d put it down to each individual cat’s interpretation, except for the fact that it’s obvious Erin Hunter doesn’t know either and is making it up as they go along. 
462So yeah, I’d scrap the concept of Starclan having any magic power. Starclan can’t change the weather or curse cats or do anything at all. They can only watch the world, but that doesn’t mean the mortal clans don’t believe that Starclan has power. They believe that Starclan can do these kinds of things, and fear and revere their power because of it, but the fact is that they’re wrong. Imagine how the mortal cats would feel when bad things happened - why does Starclan do this to them? Imagine how Starclan cats would feel watching their loved ones believing that they’re the ones who are hurting them. What heavenly despair.
463
464- tenuous connections to the living. In other words, it should be uncertain whether cats who have “deep connections” with Starclan actually do have deep connections with Starclan, or just believe they do, or are lying outright, or can’t explain how they know things and thus think it must be because of some kind of divinity, so on and so forth. That means leaders shouldn’t have literally nine lives and some weird regeneration shit going on. It also means that the prophetic dreams that some cats have should be as likely to be explained by good intuition/latent observations/subconscious realisations as they are by spirit cats; they shouldn’t be straightforward answers either, but puzzling and cryptic, and not always neatly solved.
465I like to imagine - in cases where Starclan does actually exist - walking in dreams and communicating with the living is very difficult, and quite dangerous. That’s because deceased cat spirits do not last forever; they are kept alive by the stories the clans tell of them, and the times they are remembered by the living. Without that, cats are forgotten and fade into nothingness, or next-to-nothingness. However, actually walking in the dreams of a living cat has a physically deteriorating effect on the spirit cat, as they are more or less within the mind and imagination of the living, and that can do them a lot of harm and distort them in irreparable ways. That’s why spirit cats only walk in the dreams of the living in times of great need - because there’s a chance it might destroy them, or damage them badly in some way.
466
467- cats change in Starclan. In canon, if a kitten dies, it stays a kitten forever - and for most cats, injuries obtained in life don’t heal (the exception being Cinderpelt, because she’s “oh so special”, I guess). Old cats stay old. There are even ghost fleas or something. That is the lamest afterlife ever. So that can go. Regardless of whether Starclan truly exists or not, the living should believe it’s something awesome. If Starclan does exist, I think it should be something mysterious and mystic and strange, even for those who dwell there. Something unexpected and dream-like about it, because otherwise Starclan would have all the answers all the time - and like I said, that’s no fun. If death was the end, and everything that followed was wonderful bliss, why would Starclan try to intervene when disaster approaches the living clans? The worst that could happen is that they would die and end up in wonderful bliss. They must have a reason for interfering. 
468
469- unaffiliated spirits.  It always seemed odd to me that, once the cats died, they all went to Starclan, regardless of their loyalty. That’s okay, but it makes me wonder a lot about the dynamics of Starclan’s interactions. What happens when one clan is the looming threat for the other clan/s - whose side is Starclan on? I’d love to see this explored, and since there’s so many different ways it could be, I’m not going to elaborate any more than that.
470
471- no judgment. Starclan doesn’t get to say who is allowed, and who is not. There is no Dark Forest. Dark Forest and Starclan might as well be one in the same, depending on your point of view. But that doesn’t mean the spirit cats can’t fight if they hate each other. They just can’t deem anyone as “good” or “bad” - which is good news for the cats who break the warrior code during their lives.
472I kind of like the idea that each cat has their own “Starclan”, in the sense that what they experience is actually created by their own mind and subconscious beliefs. You might have a dozen cats together, but each one perceives the world around them differently. That could be neat. I imagine that the personality traits of spirit cats become greatly exacerbated after death, and that they all struggle with questions of identity.
473
474- Starclan is not eternal. No cat lasts forever. Some last longer, because stories are told about them and they are remembered, but in the end, everyone fades. Perhaps that’s why Starclan cares about the living. Not because they don’t want them to die, but because they want them to live and remember them, thus preventing the spirits from dying. Who knows?
475
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477
478 I would write Starclan as being impossible to prove one way or the other – you just have to have faith that it’s real, and that your family is waiting for you. I would love to have incidents in the books where it seems the only explanation is Starclan, only to have it shown that it could possibly be just some freak accident or coincidence; I would like to see the cats’ faith waiver occasionally, and maybe even have those that outright do not believe in their ancestors’ ghosts – it’s done in canon, but it’s pointlessly done. Starclan absolutely exists, and so it doesn’t matter if you believe or not. Starclan exists, so really, nothing matters. I’d love for leaders not to have nine actual lives; there is no magic, you don’t get a second chance after you’re struck down. But I’d want for them to have nine lives in the sense that, when they become leader and commune with their ancestors, they are given nine lives of experience from the dead – in other words, they have the knowledge of ten cats, but not on command. Leaders get brief flashes of memories from the dead, visions of things they never saw, knowledge that seems to come inexplicably from the air itself; not enough to convince everyone of Starclan, but enough to give the leader wisdom enough to avoid the mistakes of fallen clan-members.  I think that ties in so much better with the concept of a cat’s nine lives anyway, and it makes for such great plot possibilities. 
479I would like for cats to have a fear of being forgotten. That’s why they tell stories of their exploits and others’, even long after they are dead. Because they fear that, if they don’t continue to talk about a fallen comrade, that cat will cease to exist; in telling stories, cats breathe life into the dead. This is partially to do with my in-world theory that cats have a shorter memory than humans and are quick to move on after grief, and partially because it makes sense for the context of Warriors. So many things about warrior life are about clinging to an identity – the clan itself and loyalty to it, every cat’s name, the rituals and ceremonies. It seems likely that every cat would try to leave a legacy during their lifetime, so that they would live on after death, because cats who are forgotten vanish from Starclan and are never seen again. That belief would be borne from the fact that some Starclan cats would still walk in the dreams of the living occasionally, but it’s impossible to tell if they’re real spirits visiting, or just dreams. Again, from a plot point of view, that could make all kind of fun havoc.
480
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482
483apprentices go to the Moonpool to recieve a blessing from StarClan before their assessments. Oftentimes, a StarClan cat will talk to the apprentice and give advice and comfort, and maybe share their own stories. What do you think?
484I think this is an interesting bit of world-building for sure. It’s similar to canon (initially) having apprentices travel to the Moonstone, and I really do like the concept because it’s a way to deeper introduce the apprentices to the spirituality of their clans.
485In your case here, it serves further to be a coming-of-age marker which is pretty neat, and the fact that they have the chance to gain wisdom and insight from their ancestors is definitely going to be a big moment for them. I like this a lot; I think it adds more depth to clan spirituality and religion, and adds another facet to StarClan and the Moonpool.
486I do wonder though, is this ceremony slightly different for each clan?
487
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489
4901. Ghost cats are an alternative to the Dark Forest.
491I’ve seen some fanfictions/fanclans that have, rather than cats going to the Dark Forest, they simply ‘fade away’ when they die and end up ‘nowhere’ basically. I’m purposing that they basically end up in a sort of ‘limbo’ ‘ghost-world’, where they can’t go to Starclan, and they can’t really go anywhere—they’re basically walking around the real world, and can see everything, but no one can see them, no one can interact with them, they can’t really touch anything, they’re always hungry and thirsty and can’t eat, they’re always suffering from whatever state they were in when they died…
492And they’re stuck that way until everyone forgets about them.
493Then they become nothing at all. They’re just gone. Of course, if they are remembered, they’ll be suffering forever…
494
4952. Ghost cats are the spirits of non-clan cats.
496Maybe ‘outsiders’ believe in a another ‘world’ where their spirits come to reside after death. Perhaps it is just like the world they live in, only they are safe from harm, never hunger, and can live on forever, at peace, watching over their loved ones from among them.
497
4983. Ghost cats are the vengeful spirits of those who died violent deaths.
499Those who are murdered arise as ghosts, unable to reach Starclan until they either have revenge or are appeased. This is what led to the tradition of the clans giving a tribute of prey to the clan of a cat killed in battle, in order to appease the angry spirit.
500
5014. Ghost cats are the spirits of those who lived a ‘gray life’.
502They have done enough wrong, or perhaps lurked enough among questionable choices they can’t reach Starclan, but they are not so evil as to be banished outright to the Dark Forest. Rather, they have the chance to redeem themselves through subtle actions and guiding others, and if they manage to do good, they can move on to Starclan. But should they error further, they enter the Dark Forest.
503
5045. Ghost cats are the spirits of those who are very important/remembered.
505Perhaps way back when the clans first got formed, there were some super-important cats: like the founders, or maybe a trickster, or a super-great fighter. Browsing Warriors Redux and seeing their posts like this and this, made me think of ‘what if ancient and powerful cats still walked the earth?
506The way this might work is that once a cat is in Starclan/the afterlife, they are cut off from the Living World. They can’t interact with living cats, and they can’t guide them. So some cats, especially those considered important or very clever/useful/knowledgeable, will remain in the Living World as ghosts that freely wander. They have no need to eat or sleep, and can appear to guide others, like seers/medicine cats/leaders. Of course, some may be more mischief-making, and some could be quite dangerous, which is why only those with experience and wisdom seek any of them out, due to the risk.
507
5081. Who can see them?
509This is a pretty big thing. Can only medicine cats/seers see ghosts? Can leaders see ghosts? Is it a ‘lottery’ where any cat has a chance of having the ability to see ghosts? Can anyone see ghosts, but only when the ghosts want to be seen? Can ghosts be seen only at night? Or, alternately, only during the day? 
510Let me give three examples:
511- Roseheart is a ghost cat of the # 1 variety. She murdered a fellow warrior for discovering her inter-clan affair, and then murdered an apprentice who witnessed it. But now she’s trapped, alone forever. No one can see her, but she can see all the Living. And since she’s still fresh in their minds, her torment continues.
512- Hickorytail is a ghost cat of the #3 variety. Killed in battle, she now stalks her killer’s dreams, demanding retribution for her clan or else she will seek her own justice. She cannot be reasoned with, like all ghosts of her type; the clan simply must give over prey as an offering to her clan to appease her spirit, and then she will move on. But only the killer, the medicine cats, and the leaders can see her, for the killer can always seen the Slain, and the medicine cats and leaders– being in touch with Starclan– are gifted with Sight.
513- Foxstep is a ghost cat of the #5 variety. Clever and mischief-making, he was renowned for getting the ancient cats out of trouble– and for playing pranks and spinning wild stories for both entertainment and as a joke. Now he remains as a ghost, wandering around, sometimes deigning to dispense helpful advice to any cat– for any can see him– the key being they have to play his game and ‘catch’ him first (by jumping through him).
514
5152. How can they interact with the living?
516Can they speak to them? Can they only arrange leaves/sticks/stones to create ‘signs’? Can they see them, or are they in another world entirely? Can they only interact with the cats who have a strong connection to Starclan? Who do they seek out?
517Following with the same examples above:
518- Roseheart can’t be seen by anyone or interact with anyone. She can see the living cats, but she can’t create signs or communicate with them in any way.
519- Hickorytail can only communicate with those with a strong spiritual connection, and the cat who killed her. She can manifest in a ‘physical’ form and speak to them.
520- Foxstep appears to anyone he feels so inclined to; apprentices and young warriors are his favorite because of their higher energy and inclination to enjoy his mischief rather than being annoyed. He can appear in a ‘physical’ form, talk to them, and arrange small sticks/stones/leaves to create ‘signs’ if he so chooses.
521
5223. Are there any myths/legends about them?
523Are there whispers of an evil cat who roams the plains and is always seeking to cause harm? Are there stories of a mischief-making ‘fox-cat’ who hides in the forest, and that you’d better give him a pretty leaf or stone to play with or he’ll trick you? Are there tales of a whole clan of dead cats who live in the Haunted Hollow, and that they were killed long ago by an avalanche?
524Examples:
525- Roseheart has no myths or legends; as she fades from the minds of the living, she fades away completely and might well have never existed.
526- Hickorytail is a short-lived ghost, passing on the moment she’s appeased by prey given to her clan; ghosts in this world don’t linger, and stories are told about their time alive, not their pain of death.
527- Foxstep has many stories, myths, and legends about him– half of which he probably spun himself while alive and which have still kept hold of generations upon generations– and because he’s always interacting with others still, even more stories continue and so he remains well-remembered.
528
5294. Why do the ghosts remain?
530Are they trapped as punishment? Are they watching over their kin? Are they there to guide others? Are they bored with the idea of Starclan? Can they only guide others as ghosts and not in Starclan? Are they still around because they are remembered by so many ‘in spirit’ if not in name? Are they seeking to correct some wrong?
531- Roseheart is trapped as punishment. This is the most ‘afterlife’ she’ll ever get due to her crimes.
532- Hickorytail is trapped because she’s not yet appeased. Her rage and pain at her unnecessary death fuels her to remain, bitter, until she sees her clan will get repariations and that she has done them some good even in death.
533- Foxstep doesn’t like to be away from the action. He couldn’t imagine ‘sitting on his tail up in Starclan’, where he wouldn’t be able to interact with the living, ever– because this world’s Starclan can’t speak with the living, not even seers or medicine cats. So he remains
534
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536
537what do you think of a villain who, for his whole life, believes that he is doing the right thing and the "will of StarClan", but after his death is devastated to find out that he has been sentenced to the Dark Forest instead? 
538I love them because they are much better-developed than just the ‘har har I’m EVIL’ type that crops up in poor writing. Rather, they sincerely believe they are doing what is right. And in a way, that makes them far more frightening, because they consider themselves to be following true morals/the will of the higher powers/the righteous path/etc.– so they truly feel any terrible things they do are justified, and others around them might begin to see it that way as well.
539I hate them for practically the same reasons I love them. They can be utterly appalling people/cats, because they are so firmly convinced that ‘StarClan has called me to do this and I must because it is their will’ or ‘the only way to ensure safety/survival/be kind is to do this, so it is the right thing’. And again, they are quite unsettling because they challenge you by making you realize that villains and ‘evil’ don’t necessarily (and typically won’t in their minds) see themselves as evil. They may realize they are doing questionable things, but they’ll still see it as ‘right’.
540So I do quite like your idea here. I can certainly imagine it would be a shock to this cat to realize that they were acting so wrongly if they’re so convinced they’re right.
541One thing to note here is that, depending on exactly what they do, they will be perceived as more or less evil (obviously). Basically, if you want them to be viewed as horrible, then have them kill a whole litter of kits because they ‘read a sign’ that the kits were ‘destined to destroy the clan’ or something– not kill a kit because of an actual prophecy that the kit might be a threat.
542
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544
545Deciding what type of religion your clan(s) ha(ve) is vital, as it helps set the parameters for what sort of superstitions and rituals a clan might have, their morality, their laws, the stories/myths, and their afterlife. While a Starclan/StarClan is the given ‘norm’ for most fanclans I’ve seen, and of course is what exists in the books, it’s certainly not the only way you can do things.
546There are four broad categories of clan religion you might start with: ancestral (Starclan-type), monotheistic (one main deity or power-figure believed in, possibly with ancestors ranking below that), polytheistic/pantheon (several deities or power-figures believed in, possibly with ancestors ranking below that), and disbeliever.
547A N C E S T R A L
548The afterlife plays a huge role in clan belief. Ancestors are thought to watch over the clan. Now, the level to which those ancestors can actually interact with the living cats is wholly up to you. It can range from them only being able to watch, to maybe them being able to manipulate signs but not actually appear, all the way up to the magical shenanigans in the books. Whatever floats best with you, go for it. The important thing, however, is creating consistency.
549Starclan in the books could have been great, but the lack of consistency and failure to clarify what Starclan could or couldn’t do ruined it.  If Starclan can appear in dreams and talk with living cats, and you’re planning a murder story, you might want to rethink that, since you’re going to have gaping plothole in why the murdered cat can’t just show up and tell everyone what happened. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Redtail-Tigerclaw-Fireheart mess.)
550- Magical Starclan: this variety of Starclan follows the book version. They send dreams and signs, communicate with the clans frequently, and give leaders nine lives. They also have an inclination for prophecies. Overall, they are well-meaning, but tend to be indecisive and divisive on important matters. They may or may not have ‘real power’ over weather and the like. They can appear in spirit form.
551- Intermediate Starclan: this variety of Starclan interacts with the clans to some degree, possibly through manipulated signs or some dreams. May or may not give nine lives, and probably don’t offer prophecies and advice as often.
552- Aloof Starclan: this variety of Starclan rarely interacts with the clans, either because there is a set barrier/limit on them, they believe the clans should survive alone, or there is simply no ‘real power’ or magic within the setting and therefore the cats just remain in their afterlife.
553How can you twist each of these for your own world?
554With magical Starclan, perhaps they do give prophecies, but they’re very detailed and specific, and everything is truly set in stone so there is no avoiding fate because it keeps rewriting itself back to the same path. Or maybe while they give nine lives, they’ll only do so to cats they deem worthy—therefore a good possibility for conflict, and a better explanation to why some cats do get lives and some don’t. Maybe only a handful of cats are actually helpful, because the rest are always squabbling over how to help and who to help—after all, since cats of each clan are in Starclan, and they’re only cats after all, maybe they all want to help their own clan the most.
555With intermediate Starclan, perhaps they can leave signs in nature, through leaves or water or cloud patterns, so medicine cats spend a lot of time training to interpret these, but of course these would be very open to debates on interpretation, and perhaps some cats twist them to their own devices.
556With aloof Starclan, perhaps they believe that the living have to make their own choices and decisions and therefore don’t offer them help for fear of them becoming too reliant. Or maybe they desperately wish to help their former clanmates but the limits of their power keep them helpless to do so and forced to watch.
557Something that applies to all possible routes:
558- How is it decided a cat gets to join Starclan?
559- If a cat doesn’t believe in Starclan/is voted out/was evil, where do they go?
560- Do different clans have different degrees of belief, or possibly different Starclans altogether?
561- What decides the ‘norm’ in Starclan beliefs? What is generally accepted by nearly everyone and what is debated?
562- Are there any beliefs specific to one clan that are highly contradictory to another?
563- How does Starclan and the concept of an afterlife relate to kittypets/loners/rogues?
564What is Starclan, the place itself, like? Is it a distant world of its own, located on the moon or in a dream world? Or do the cats inhabit the exact same territories and live in their camps and perhaps even walk among their living clanmates continuously, only the living cannot see them, and they cannot interact with the living (that would be pretty torturous!). Do they need to eat and sleep?
565M O N O T H E I S T I C
566- Deity aloof, Starclan primary: in this case, the deity that created the cats/caused the clans to form/whatever you decide is very withdrawn from its creations. Maybe it lost interest in them, or it wants them to function on their own. Either way, the deity itself, while it is believed in, does little to actually interact with the clans anymore; possibly it was more active in the past (or believed to have been). Instead, the ancestors of the living cats are seen as the go-betweens of the deity.
567- Deity in charge, sub Starclan: in this case the deity is very active in clan life and basically functions the way of Magical Starclan, only its one cat/creature. Starclan does exist, but it’s just a chill afterlife, and Starclan doesn’t really interact with the clans much.
568- Deity and Starclan separate: in this case, the deity basically runs two worlds; one where the dead cats live, and one where the living cats live (this would be the route I’ve chosen with some of my own fanclans). The Starclan cats cannot travel to see the living cats, so the deity is the primary interactor and sends signs and such, but nothing overt.
569No matter how you play it, I see interesting potential with this, as it’s quite likely each clan ends up developing their own personal perspective of the deity (which might be wholly incompatible with the views of other clans). Maybe it’s something often debated at Gatherings, or maybe the subject is considered taboo to speak of at such times.
570Another thing to consider is the mythology of the clans. If they all believe in a deity, they’re going to have a lot of stories, beliefs, legends, and the like built up about the deity and things it has done and ways it has affected the clans and such. The fact that these tales are all going to be passed down through oral tradition means they might have been warped or embellish over time, so you might want to note down what the truth of the matters are, and then consider how those events have been changed over time to form what stories they are currently.
571More things to think about:
572- How did the deity come to be? Is there a story to that, or did they always exist?
573- Why/when/where/how did they come to create the cats?
574- Is the deity credited with the creation of the clans? Did it sort all the cats from the beginning or did it lump them together to figure things out or did it help guide them to the distinct groups they are today?
575- Do the clans believe the deity has set down taboos or rituals for them to preform?
576- What sort of afterlife is connected with the deity? Does the deity judge who gets to go to Starclan, and if so, how? What if a cat did something morally ambiguous with good intentions?
577P O L Y T H E I S T I C
578a pretty interesting way to incorporate actual history with religious figures (something that did and does occur in many cultures in real life):
579- Founders: in this case, the founding leaders of the clans are considered as deities. Cats might seek their founder’s blessing for new kits, and each founder might send signs/prophecies/dispense nine lives/etc, depending on the level of magic and interaction between the deities and the clans you want.
580- Founders and support: in this case, the founding leaders, deputies, and medicine cats are all considered as deities, each to their own clan. Basically the same as the above, but with a larger pantheon and more potential for conflict, should you choose to play it that way, as each clan would basically have three deities, and of course they might not all get along, not to mention interactions between all the deities.
581- Unrelated: in this case, the deities are not founding cats at all, but more like the creatures/cats/beings who created the cats/the world/etc. They can of course run the gambit from aloof to the clans to constantly interacting with them; perhaps some deities are one and some are the other.
582- Lost: in this case, there once were deities, and maybe they were founders and maybe they weren’t, but either case, they’re all destroyed now, and the clans have to get by on their own, or perhaps have found new things/beings to put their faith in.
583With this pathway, there’s a lot you could play with in figuring out how the clans were originally formed and how those real events have transcended generations to become myths and stories that continue the clans’ faith in their pantheon. I’d recommend looking at real-life pantheons, like the Greek, Norse, Roman, Japanese, Egyptian, Aztecan, Mayan, etc. to get ideas for tropes used there, and things you might want to consider incorporating or avoiding.  
584One thing to bear in mind is that you don’t need a ‘bad deity’. In all honesty, if each clan has a slightly different deity or looks to a different founder/founders, they’re likely to view their own as the ‘good ones’, and the other clans’ as the enemy/opposition. Now certainly there can be conflict between these deities, but I think it’d be an interesting route where while many are in a gray area of ‘good and evil’, none are really pure or really evil, but rather, especially if they’re based off real figures in the clans’ history, have strengths, weaknesses, and flaws just as any other cat, albeit with more power (potentially, they don’t need to have actual power if you don’t want; after all, it’s your world that you’re building, so go with what you prefer.)
585This situation could also lead to the possibility of some cats insisting they are descended from the founders/deities. What might that lead to? Mostly, it’s up to you. Maybe cats of that descent are more likely to receive prophecies. Or maybe they’re no different. Maybe they’re lying and there’s no way to tell for sure, and they just hope to gain more respect and/or power. Maybe there’s a distinctive trait that the founders/deities carried that does crop up.
586D I S B E L I E V E R
587- Dead: I’d honestly say this approach would be best for darker settings. Basically, there was an active deity/deities/Starclan, but now it no longer has communications with the clans. They’re essentially abandoned by their gods/ancestors. Maybe they aren’t really, it’s just that for some reason the great ones are choosing to stay out of clan affairs, or maybe they were all killed (in some event like the Norse Ragnarok). In any case, this could offer interesting conflict and crisis (so really, this might be a better approach for a story than a whole world) with some clans holding on to faith and some clans forsaking it completely and some transferring their faith to other things.
588- Skeptics: To me, this might be the best approach when working out just-started clans (providing, of course, they didn’t already come from a larger clan and therefore have a base background of religious beliefs). In this case, the cats are mostly certain of an afterlife and maybe have some stories or tales they’re building, but everything is in an early stage and perhaps things conflict and some cats have more faith than others and the whole thing is really just beginning to grow and blossom. In this way, their basic ideas could twist to support a Starclan-centered thing, or hold one or more deities, or all of the above.
589So on the whole I view these as starting points, ending points, or story ideas. They’re not as solidly built or fleshed simply because I think they’re best off as shaky foundations or disintegrating establishments. Since the existence and belief in Starclan/a religion in general seems a pretty core thing with clans, I feel that a clan lacking that is either in a just-starting stage, a dwindling stage, or has an interesting twist to it, and likely would have a lot of complex building to it (the latter, because it seems that, apart from the naming style, laws, and care for one another, the belief in a religion is what seems to really distinguish a clan from just a group of cohabiting rogues/loners.)
590This is certainly just a starting point with clan religion, something to lay out a few possibilities and maybe help kick-start ideas or questions that could lead to thorough world-building. I’m certainly willing to make more and more focused posts on this subject, and take whatever asks about it come my way, should that be of any interest to anyone. I feel like establishing what sort of religion the clan/each clan chooses to follow is the necessary base for then moving on to building taboos, superstitions, rituals, and other beliefs or festivals they might have or share.
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594Whether Starclan, a Pantheon, or a single deity is the ultimate power in your world, if you’re planning to have a designated spot for medicine cats to meet and dream themselves into the next world, there a certainly things to consider.
595In canon, there are two places cats meet Starclan: the Moonstone, the Moonpool. While canon Starclan and prophecies annoy me, I do like the general idea of the Moonstone and Moonpool (the latter of which actually had a tiny bit of history to it, I think.) All cultures are going to have sacred places, and a place to communicate with the Powers That Be will be top of the list.
596However, is there any way you can make your sacred spot more unique? Absolutely!
5971. Think of whether all of your clans meet at the same place. Do two perhaps believe in a different sacred spot? Does one have a sacred spot right near their camp? Different clans will have different beliefs and traditions, even if they all believe in the same power. Just consider the astounding variation of religion in our world!
5982. Think about your habitat and how that will affect what your sacred spot could be. The Moonstone was, I believe, in a quarry. The Moonpool was just up on the moors. Perhaps your heavily forested clans have a special clearing with a lightning struck tree. Perhaps your marsh-dwelling clan has a sacred pool. Perhaps your desert clan travels to a giant rock pillar. Basically, make your sacred spot really fit into the area it’s in.
5993. Think outside the Moonstone and Moonpool. I’m not saying to never use those. There’s nothing wrong with them at all. But since you have the freedom of choice, why lock yourself into just two options when you have only the limits of your imagination and your world? It could be a cliff face, the burial ground, a waterfall, a tree, a pond, a river, a stone, a clearing, a hollow, a hill, an island, a pillar, etc.
6004.  Think of a physical reason for why this place is connected to Starclan/the deity. Is that giant rock pillar in the desert actually a stairway to the sky? Is that sacred pool in the marsh actually the gateway to the afterlife beneath the earth? Is that lightning struck tree a sign sent by Starclan to tell the clans where to settle? Make it more connected than just spirituality. And maybe different clans have different interpretations. Could this lead to debates on ‘who’s right’?
6015.  Think of a name for it. You don’t have to follow the formula moon-. If your clan doesn’t view the moon as sacred perhaps they call their sacred waterfall the Starfalls. Perhaps that desert pillar is the Sky Pillar. Perhaps it’s named after the one who discovered it: Nightleaf’s Hollow. Perhaps it resembles something else, like a fox, and the myth is that Starclan turned the fox into a rock: Fox Rock, where the clans could communicate with them.
6026. Think of what rituals and traditions form around traveling to the sacred place. What time do they visit the sacred place: Sunhigh? Full moon? New moon? Do they fast? Do they bring an offering of prey? Are their special prayers said? Do they need to groom themselves a certain way before traveling there? Do they eat certain herbs?
6037. Think of whether there are multiple sacred places. Does each clan have a different sacred place? Do they all share one, and then each have their own? Is there a place in the medicine den or leaders’ den where cats can connect with Starclan? If there are several deities, do they have to visit a different place to contact each one?
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607I absolutely think that cats would have proverbs and sayings! That’s a thing that really feeds into a culture, language, and dialect! Every clan, group, clowder, etc. is going to develop their own sayings, and while some might be exchanged easily (like your excellent example of “no use wailing over wasted prey” others, like my Mountainclan’s ‘you think like the Fox-’ referencing the cleverness of their past hero Foxstorm and her clever and manipulative plots, aren’t going to be as transferable– simply because it’s a very culture-sensitive one rather than something that is easily applicable to all cats without having to know the background).
608
609Some I’ve just thought up off the top of my head:
610Tail over whiskers/rump over muzzle – head over heels
611Like Fox- like Fire- – Mountainclan’s saying similar to ‘thick as theives referencing Foxstorm and Fireclaw always getting into things together
612More bees in their head than a honey-hive! – they’re completely scatterbrained!
613Don’t judge a cat until you hunt with their claws – don’t judge someone til you walk a mile in their shoes
614You make a nest, you sleep in it. – make your bed and lay in it.
615Check the river’s depth before you swim. – water-based clan version of ‘look before you leap’.
616Don’t climb trees you can’t jump from. – don’t bite off more than you can chew.
617If the frog croaks, listen. – heed the warnings of what’s around you
618Best cure for fleas is rolling in mud - a irritating problem can have a simple solution
619A cat without claws still has their teeth! – beware a seemingly harmless enemy/situation
620The fox runs, the badger fights, the cat does what they must to survive. - pick your battles/use your head
621A dog barks but a wolf bites – beware the quiet enemy rather than the talkative braggart 
622to grow a longer tail – to get to big for their britches; because cats ‘puff up and stand tall to be more dominant, ‘growing a longer tail’ would indicate trying to assert dominance and importance when the cat isn’t worthy of it
623Chasing bees/a caught bee stings/eating thistles – doing a foolish activity that will end poorly
624Who bit their tail? – who spit in their tea?
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628I think a coming-of-age story (also called a bildungsroman which is probably one of the strangest words I’ve ever encountered) is a great idea. It lets you really explore your character’s depth– and the culture of your clan and its world.
629I know some people might think this a ‘boring’ type of story because there’s no villain, but really it can be a very interesting read. Some key things to incorporate to make it strong are:
6301. Make your character relatable. I’d imagine most warriors coming-of-age stories are going to document the cat growing from a new apprentice to a warrior. So consider your character to be going through their teen years. If you have been or are a teen yourself, think of how you felt going through that transition. Think of how you felt going through any major life transition. And consider how to incorporate those feelings for your character.
6312. Your character needs to really, truly grow through the story. Maybe they’re a young apprentice who is very reckless and naive. Or maybe they’re extremely shy, or maybe they are easily led astray. The point is, they have flaws and struggles and they need to grow through those as the story progresses.
6323. Really introduce your clan culture! Your character is growing up here, and as they grow, they’re going to explore more and more of who they are through their clan. Drop in bits of your culture, have celebrations, have ceremonies, mention some past legends or rules or what have you. Make the setting vibrant, you’ll draw the reader in even more.
6334. Relationships with other characters are very important. I don’t mean a romantic fling; what I mean is that without some big ‘event’ occurring for a ‘hero’, the main focus is on how the protagonist goes about their life. And in a clan setting, their connections with those around them are going to be vital. So how do they get along with their parents? Their siblings? Aunts? Uncles? Grandparents? Friends? Leader? Mentor? Any other relationship you can think of? The better rapport you establish between characters, the more readers will love them. Consider it like character pin-ball: the more balls you get bouncing around off of each other and other things, the more exciting it is.
6345.Never fail to consider how ‘everyday events’ are important. A storm, a minor border skirmish, catching prey, squabbling with a friend, learning a new technique, listening to the elders’ stories, getting a lecture from the clan leader, experiencing a flood– all of these things are important, because they and how your character handles them hammer out who your character is growing into. And any of these things can be exciting, written well.
6356. Have your character make mistakes. Make them break a rule. Make them get in a fight. Make them have an outburst when they shouldn’t have. Make them make some mistake that fits their personality and track-record of actions. Get them in trouble. Make them look silly. Embarrass them. This is what makes characters empathetic and real. Not heaps of tragedy, but that ‘deep stuff’ that we’ve all been through in one way or another.
6367. Know that ‘no villain’ doesn’t mean you can’t have some sort of antagonist. Little Sparrowpaw wants to show off for his mum but his brother Wrenpaw caught a bigger mouse? Wrenpaw’s an antagonist! Heathertail is in love with Roseface, but so is Eaglefoot? Eaglefoot’s an antagonist? That fox that just stole Yarrowpelt’s prey? Antagonist! That bratty little Daisykit who keeps following Oakfur around and won’t leave him alone? Antagonist! ‘Antagonist’ boils down to ‘someone who your protagonist is competing with/someone stopping the protagonist from getting what they want’. Your story could have a dozen antagonists. Even your character themselves could be an antagonist towards themselves if their behavior prevents them from reaching a goal.
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640what would your thoughts be on a group of Ancients" living in one of Bastets' temples in very far back Egypt?
641I think your idea sounds like a base for fascinating world-building. I’d definitely advise researching into it, but absolutely that setup could be a very neat thing to experiment with and write about.
642You’d probably need to research prefixes quite a bit, but that would be quite fun I imagine. The interactions with humans would probably be very different than modern day clans set in Europe/North America.
643So absolutely go for this! I’d be very interested to see the world-building and story development for such a setting. 
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647- There are ‘black’ genes (black, brown, gray, chocolate, cinnamon, fawn, lilac) and there are ‘red’ genes (red, cream). Color is sex-linked in cats. Toms get their color from their mother. Mollies get their color from both parents.
648- So if you want a red molly, both her parents have to be ‘red’. If you want a brown tabby tom, his mum needs to be either a tortoiseshell or a ‘black’ color.
649- Two solid-colored cats can’t have a tabby kitten. But two tabby cats could have a solid kitten, because they could carry solid.
650- Grey and cream are recessive; they’re dilute. So to have a gray kitten, both parents need to either be or carry the gray color.
651- Tortie toms are very rare and tend to have a lot of health problems; I’d steer away from those.
652- When it comes to fantasy markings, I think so long as one parent has markings of the same nature, you can incorporate that into your genetics. The key is just be consistent, and it becomes much more believable– especially when combined with ‘real’ genetics.
653- Regarding your cream cat with black rings; definitely have one parent have the rings. The parents themselves can’t be brown– unless you have a cream tom kitten and the brown parent is the dad. So, let’s go with what you have: the white cat with black markings could be the mom, and she’d be cream underneath (think of white as like a second coat of paint hiding the cat’s ‘true’ color) and the dad would be a brown cat and have no effect on the kitten besides having to carry that ‘dilute’ gene to let the kit be cream. This is just an example and I hope it helps.
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657  see a predominant amount of mythical figures being more of the ‘monster’ variety– like the boogeyman to make kits and apprentices less-inclined to wander off. Warriors Redux has some good examples. For my own clans, Mountainclan has Hungry Jaws, an indeterminate large, dark predator with yellow eyes who devours the spirits of those who break the code and also gobbles up wandering kits and apprentices to state her appetite between nabbing villains. Marshclan has Lurker, a creature that slithers through pools and mud and sucks you into a dark part of the Under World. Islandclan tells tales of the Blind Fish, a cat with scales instead of fur and seemingly blind, bulging eyes who creeps around the edges of the islands at daybreak, seeking for any kits and apprentices who are creeping out when they shouldn’t be.
658Of course, there is also the possibility of more benevolent figures! Forestclan has Flower Bringer, a cat said to be splattered with petal-like patches of calico and who creeps around in the midday when everyone is asleep at the beginning of spring in order to wake the blossoms and renew the trees; its tradition for young warriors and apprentices to try to spot her if they can, and if they find a flower petal on the ground during this time, they’ll have good luck and a blessing from her to flourish just like the flowers. Islandclan speaks of Ripple Maker, a cat whose long pelt ripples like the lake itself during wind and who weaves the dreams of sleepers and supposedly sometimes gives glimpses of the future.
659So definitely play around with this and have fun! Maybe consider some to be ‘universal’ to all clans, and some that have specific ties to certain clans for certain reasons (because of environment, beliefs, values, etc.) 
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663- Let’s say you have a desert clan. They might be renowned for being able to go longer without food and water than their neighboring clan on the American Great Plains.
664- Let’s say you have a clan who lives in a series of canyons with rivers in them; they might be great at both swimming and climbing due to their territory.
665- Let’s say you have a clan who lives in a place that gets a lot of snow in the winter (Scotland, Northern United States, Southern Canada) they might be bigger than ‘normal’ cats, with much thicker fur, and they might have unusually large paws to help them traverse the snow easily (consider the lynx as a good example).
666- Let’s say you have a clan in a forest with a lot of big, tall trees but very little ground cover (because all those big trees block out the light). The clan might be very good at climbing, jumping, and hunting in trees, while their neighboring scrub-forest clan might be better at stalking and running on the ground.
667- Let’s say you have a clan where it’s very cold at night but warmer during the day. They might have actually adapted to be more diurnal, rather than the normal nocturnal setting of cats, in order to be out hunting and the like when it isn’t so cold.
668- Alternately, that desert clan at the beginning is absolutely going to be nocturnal due to the heat, and will certainly have great night vision– and possibly very large, wide paws for traversing sand easily.
669So really, you can make of it what you will, Anon. I’d suggest considering what setting you want to put your clan(s) in, and then look at that habitat and see if you can come up with a ‘specialty’ for a clan.
670For my own clans:
671Ivyclan: they live in a very thick forest, overgrown with kudzu, near a human city. They specialize in both climbing and in stalking through thick undergrowth, and so are lean, shorthaired, sleek cats with are very agile and with superb balance.
672Islandclan: they live on a series of islands near the shores of a lake. They are superb swimmers and fishers. They’ve developed to be bigger, longhaired cats with water-resistant pelts, and shorter tails so their tails don’t drag behind them in the water and create resistance. 
673Ridgeclan: they live on some big ridges and lightly forested hills and lower mountain slopes. Because it can be quite cold in the winter and fall months, they are bigger cats with thicker fur; they don’t climb so much as they run for endurance hunting by wearing prey (like rabbits) down over time rather than ambush hunting or quick bursts of speed. They also have very big paws for easier traversing snow.
674Marshclan: they live in a marsh. They’ve develop big paws and a thick, water-resistant coat for their environment. They tend to be on the very large side, and so the other clans consider them to be the strongest fighters because of their innate size and strength. They themselves consider to specialize in adapting and dealing with whatever comes; changes don’t faze them and any threat they deal with without mercy.
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678Do you think it’s possible for different Clans to have different traditions for how a cat would ask someone to be their mate? If so, have any ideas?
679I absolutely think it’s possible clans would have different traditions for asking a cat to be their mate. While I feel the cats on the whole aren’t going to care who is picking who as a mate, they’re certainly going to build up some sort of traditions for it, because that’s a special moment of strengthening the whole clan there by two cats forming a close bond.
680And because clans are building up separately, it would be silly to imagine them all having the same traditions. Even if they started out as one group and trickled off to different corners, over time, things are going to change.
681For example, among my own clans:
682Islandclan: One cat will usually invite the other over to a small island near the main island, which is considered a sacred place for their cat-fish deity. There, they’ll ask the other cat to be their mate, following the belief that if they do this before the deity, they’re ensured that they’ll be blessed to stay together for a long time and be very happy.
683Marshclan: A cat will either hunt a piece of prey/bring some ‘special’ nesting and exchange this in front of the rest of the clan as a ‘formal request’ to become mates (if it’s a piece of prey, it’s always donated to the queens/elders, because it’s more symbolic and stems from the tradition of a loner tom bringing prey to a rogue molly to prove he’s skilled at survival and healthy). If accepted, they then tear their old nests apart and form a new one that they share in the warriors’ den.
684Ivyclan: A cat will collect a leaf and a thorn branch and bring them both to their intended mate; plants hold a lot of symbolism for Ivyclan, the leaf represents growth together and ‘new leaves’ in the form of potential kits, while the thorn branch represents fierceness in defending one another, strengthening of their clan. The both together represents sticking together through easy times and hardship.
685Lakeclan: Follow a simple ritual of bringing prey to your intended mate, sharing it with them, and then asking to become mates in indulging in some ritual grooming before maybe sneaking off to have a little ‘fun’.
686
687For your second question: I’m also curious to see if you think different Clans might have different ways of announcing the birth of kits 
688In Marshclan: the medicine cat announces the kits’ names from the moment they’re named, which is generally right after they’re born. Everyone cheers for the kits and the mother.
689In Ridgeclan: the clan doesn’t learn the kits’ names until they’re two moons old and can move into the nursery proper. The mother is cheered, and then when the kits move to the nursery, they are slowly introduced to the clan who cheers their names.
690In Islandclan: they have a ‘feast’ of prey to celebrate the strengthening of the clan. The kits names are cheered, the mother’s name is cheered, and the clan name is cheered.
691In Ivyclan: they hold a communal ritual grooming. There is no cheering, just acceptance of the names and strengthening of bonds.
692Further:
693In Marshclan: the father, if known, is ritually teased by others and he’s expected to answer back in kind. 
694In Islandclan: the medicine cat goes around camp and conducts special blessings to drive away illness and threats to the new kits.
695In Mountainclan and Ivyclan: special pebbles or leaves/branches are place around the birthing den as a ‘ward’ and a blessing “may the kits be like little pebbles that can start a landslide”– so a blessing for strength; “may they flourish like new trees”– so a blessing for health.
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699In Islandclan, for instance, cats would presumably know that if someone invites you to X location, they want to ask you to be their mate. What if the invited one wants to refuse? Do they not come or..? Same thing for the other Clans; how would refusals go about? What happens if two mates decide not to be mates anymore? If there are kits, would the father not be able to call them his kits and they’d be called just the mother’s kits (would there ever be a reverse of the situation?) or would he still say they’re his kits as well?
700Hello, Lightningnose! You have some great questions here! ^_^
701Personally, the way I see relationships in the clan is that cats already know when the other wants to be mates. They spend time together, and they really build up their relationship. The final ‘asking’ portion to me is a way for them to ‘officially’ confirm it, more of asking a blessing than anything, or being a more- or less- private ‘celebration’ of ‘our clan has been strengthened by our bonds strengthening’. I’m not really a fan of dramatic ‘x goes to y and asks to be mates but y turns them down’ stuff, and honestly I just don’t see it happening, because the cats are going to, if they’re interested in mates, naturally ‘court’ one another a while, and once it’s solid, get a blessing and move on. So I don’t see refusals happening at this point, simply because the cat wouldn’t ask in the first place unless both parties were expecting the ask and were going to say yes. Consider it the icing on the cake, more of a tradition that’s build up to celebrate this moment than a necessity.
702That said, I do still find the answer intriguing. Emotionally, it might be better for the unwilling cat to gently and privately explain to the asker that they just aren’t interested. Alternately, they could refuse right there; I feel that this would ultimately be a personality thing, though I imagine it would be expected in terms of politeness to step out of camp and then explain the situation. It would definitely be rough for the asker, and this is why I feel such situations wouldn’t arise really, because no one is going to be leading others on or getting involved with someone who doesn’t reciprocate their feelings.
703If two mates ‘broke up’, I doubt it would be considered a huge deal, unless they were actively conflicting and causing trouble in the clan through that. I feel like the characters being cats, the whole deal with relationships is going to be fluid for them, and they aren’t going to dramatize it as much as we humans do– they just can’t afford that (though certainly the local gossip committee might have a spree). Perhaps they might return to the place where they sought their blessing and ask that they be freed to go their separate paths. Perhaps they tear their shared nest apart and create two new nests.
704Regarding kits, I feel like the father would likely still be considered the father, though he may not be as welcome around the nursery, depending on the world-building and whether the queen views him as a threat to the kits or not. The only time I can see only one parent being acknowledged is if the other dies, and in the case of the mother dying, another queen will absolutely adopt the kits and become their mother, regardless of whether their parents are mates.
705Honestly, there is also the possibility of cats have multiple mates, perhaps a queen bearing kits from several fathers– in such a case all the fathers might play a role in parenting. And a tom might be the father of kits from three different litters in the nursery.
706So there is a lot of possibility here. I imagine relationships in more realistic clans are always shifting and changing because cats could have multiple mates, and everyone might be shuffling around. Within my own clans, I heavily try to avoid dramatizing relationships, because nothing irks me more in stories than everyone’s relationship being dramatic and ‘oh x refused y! and y and z both love x’ and all that. That’s another thing that really annoyed me in canon, and in my headcanon of clans, relationships are not played for drama because the clan has better things to attend to.
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