I was reflecting on the fact that Warriors backed themselves into such a corner with StarClan’s over-involvement that the writers have had to contrive ways for the past three arcs to cut-off StarClan connection— just so that the story they wanted to tell with the living characters could work, and the answers to the plot wouldn’t just be: “go to the Moonpool and ask StarClan what is going on/what to do.” Even at baseline, medicine cats traditionally meeting at each half-moon feels like a lot. Does StarClan really offer so much guidance that medicine cats have to commune with their ancestors twice a month? They don't even talk to the other cats in the living Clans that frequently! And on top of it, the Moonpool/Moonstone is otherwise theoretically accessible any other night, as long as the moon is out (so it’s not cloudy, or the night of the new moon.)
But as I was thinking about this, I realized there is actually a very straightforward solution here— make it the inverse. Make it so that the Clans could only access StarClan when it was nighttime, and there was no moon above. (As in: only on the night of the new moon.)
It solves a lot of problems since StarClan goes from being theoretically accessible 28.5 out of 29.5 nights (assuming good weather) to 1 out of 29.5 nights. Suddenly cats can’t just go ask StarClan for help whenever they want, so the solution to the plot always being “ask StarClan what is going on/what to do” now is much easier said than done. And if the writers wanted to prevent the cats from speaking with StarClan for longer than a single month, it’s simple enough to come up with single bad storm during the new moon, or something else that could reasonably keep the cats away from the Moonstone/Moonpool (or "Starstone/Starpool?") for an additional month. That would feel less contrived to me than yet another “oh no, some big thing is yet again threatening to cut off the Clan(s) from StarClan.”
It also makes great potential for conflict around things like leadership. Like, once the old leader dies, the leader-in-waiting may have to wait weeks before they could get their name and nine lives— this could open the possibilities for coups and assassinations like we see with Mudclaw’s rebellion or in A Starless Clan, but at a much greater frequency.
strong agree, and to add to this, I think another reason StarClan's over-involvement/overaccessibility is more of a problem than it ever was is how the Erins have lost track of how demanding travel between territories is. Bluestar's trip with Tigerclaw and the apprentices to Highstones was a whole fucking ordeal --- they needed travelling herbs. They needed to find places to stop and shelter and hunt.
Now we've got Tawnypelt traipsing to and fro various Clans' territory with no sense of how long this takes or what kind of toll it takes on her. Visiting other Clans' camps (and the Moonpool) is an easy jaunt that can be performed on a whim.
