#theres so far 1-9 (theres an 8.5) and theres also another one coming out this year (9.5)

[swans-chirping-in-the-distance]

a telepathic 12yo realizes she's not alone, albeit believing so her entire life. she discovers she's an elf, and there's a hidden community of people like her, hidden in places humans don't know exist in various parts of the world. she's forced to leave her family because they can never see her again. they're human. she's not. but the girl soon realizes that she's not just any average elf. she comes from secrecy. from rebellion. from an experiment. and she suddenly finds herself carrying a war on her shoulders that goes against everything she was told about elven society. she doesn't know if she can save everyone, but she's damn sure going to try.

Included but not limited to:

Sarcastic flirt who's extremely traumatized and hates himself

Nice Guy(TM) with difficult anger issues

The materialistic mean girl who's, at heart, neither of those things

Geek with pent-up anger who grows to be much softer than the start

The so-called "emo boy" who's literally just A Guy (with parental issues)

The "sweet" girl who can wipe out cities if she desired

You'll see a lot of different kinds of love, what with that between family (adoptive or biological), friends, or neither. You'll also see good rep of the effects of abuse on children.

what is kotlc?

[tskumoyuuma]

cause tumblrs a Bitch im remaking this post on my computer so ill be able to edit it later on, but this is basically a reference for how much time passes in each warriors book, primarily based on how many gatherings r shown. will add on later

into the wild: ~3 moons. evidence: firepaw joins the clan, the next night is a gathering (gathering 0). we get a timeskip, saying it’s been “more than two moons” since firepaw joined tc. this means there have been two gatherings not shown (gathering 1 + 2). a gathering soon happens after this timeskip (gathering 3), which means that a total of 3 moons have passed. this makes firepaw ~9 moons old at the end of the book, since it’s been stated he n graypaw barely saw six moons when they first met

fire n ice: ~3 or 4 moons. book starts off where last one ended, but a timeskip happens in the middle if the first chap. we learn that a gathering is happening (gathering 4), so around a moon has passed. at this gathering, the clans agree to bring windclan back, which they do. towards the end of the book we learn that a gathering (gathering 5) was canceled because of rain. fireheart meets onewhisker again after two moons at the gathering after that (gathering 6). in the first chapter of forest of secrets, we learn the last chapter of fire n ice takes place three days before the next gathering (gathering 7). almost 3 moons have passed, but if u count the beginning of the first chap almost 4 moons pass. this makes fireheart ~13 moons old at the end of the book

forest of secrets: ~1.5 moons. first chapter starts off with a gathering (gathering 7). many things happen and towards the end we have the next gathering (gathering 8) where its revealed to the clans that thunderclan has brokentail. silverstream has her kits n dies, then cinderpaw becomes a medicine cat apprentice by going to the moonstone during the half moon. the next day tigerclaw leads the attack on thunderclan w rogues, but is caught trying to kill bluestar n is banished. this means 1.5 moons pass, making fireheart ~14.5 moons old

rising storm: ~1.5 moons. a gathering happens (gathering 9) a few chapters in. the fire happens near the end of the book, then the gathering where tigerclaw is revealed to be shadowclans new leader happens (gathering 10), ending the book. around 1.5 moons pass, making fireheart ~16 moons old

a dangerous path: ~2 moons. begins with the tigerstar gathering (gathering 10). a half moon passes as cinderpelt goes to her first medicine cat meeting by herself. snowkit is taken away by the hawk, and the next gathering happens (gathering 11). swiftpaw dies n brightpaw is injured in the fight w dogs, and another gatherings occurs (gathering 12). its now been a year since fireheart joined thunderclan. they drive the dogs out, but bluestar dies in the process. 2 moons pass, making fireheart ~18 moons old

the darkest hour: ~1 moon. fireheart becomes firestar and makes whitestorm his deputy. the next gathering takes place (gathering 13) where tigerstar asks thunderclan and windclan to join the new tigerclan. stonefur is killed, tawnypaw joins tigerstar, n gorsepaw is killed. tallstar n firestar confront tigerstar. scourge appears, kills tigerstar, n gives the clans three days to decide if they fight bloodclan or not. they decide to fight, the clans win, and graystripe becomes the new deputy. only 1 moon passed n at the end of the prophecies begin arc firestar is ~19 moons old

time skips between arcs is a little tricky...

firestar’s quest: ~2 or 5 moons. this book begins in greenleaf. going by this timeline, the end of darkest hour would be the beginning of greenleaf, when it was actually leafbare in the canon book. looking at the canon books, this means its a half year timeskip in between the canon books. if we switch the seasons (darkest hour being set in greenleaf n this book in leafbare), it would make sense regarding this timeline. a time skip of a half year would also make sense regarding ages. the book opens w bramblepaw becoming a warrior. going w my assumption that a usual apprenticeship lasts around 6 moons, a half year would fit this perfectly. this is because bramblepaw is born somewhere around (gathering 7) in forest of secrets, making him a new apprentice in the darkest hour (gathering 13). so, when the first gathering is shown at the beginning of the book, this is (gathering 19). longtails eyes get scratched, willowpelt dies, n fire n sand start their journey to remake skyclan. when they arrive at the gorge, they wait to meet ‘moony’ during the full moon (technical gathering 20, makes me wanna kno what tc did that gathering when fire coudnt show up..). lots of cats join skyclan n they have their first real gathering (gathering 21, has a rumor spread thru the forest that fire is dead ? hasnt been spotted in two moons now). skyclan fights the rats, leafstar gets her nine lives, n fire n sand finally go back to tc. epilogue where squirrel n leaf r born happens three moons after returning, so (gatherings 22 to 24) have gone by. not including the epilogue, two moons pass in this book, but including it means five moons have passed. at the end of the book firestar is ~30 moons

midnight: ~1 moon. according to the wikia which is based off of the canon seasons, 18 moons have passed from darkest hour to this book. this makes sense to me regarding the ages so I'm keeping it that way, which means this book happens 7 moons after firestars quest, making the first gathering shown (gathering 31). the chosen meet up at the half moon. they then leave for their journey. a half moon med cat meeting is held shortly after they leave. the next gathering (gathering 32) occurs after tawnypelt gets her rat bite. the chosen cats meet midnight, the forest starts getting torn down, n the book ends. around a moon passes, so brambleclaw is ~25 moons old n squirrelpaw is ~8 moons

moonrise: ~ .5 moons. many chapters in we have a half moon meeting. this is around when stormfur is held prisoner in the tribe. lots of things happen, mainly that feathertail dies, then the book ends. only like, .5 moons pass n there are no gatherings. brambleclaw = 25.5 moons, squirrelpaw = 8.5 moons

dawn: ~ .5 moons ?? its... very hard to know how much time passes in this book because the forest is destroyed so they cant hold regular gatherings. but considering that leafpaw mentions to stoneteller towards the end of the book about gatherings, it can be safe to say that a gathering (gathering 33 ?) would have occurred then. since theres no other mention of the moons phase (that I can tell from the wikia chapter summaries cause I dont have this book), only .. .5 moons pass ?? maybe. brambleclaw = 26 moons, squirrelpaw = 9 moons (this is where the bramblesquirrel love confession happens ..... yike). will prob update this when / if I reread this book for more accurate info. so far this arc has had only .. 2 moons pass maybe. first arc had 8.5 moons pass by the end of book 3 for comparison

starlight: ~.5 moons. squirrelpaw becomes a warrior, tallstar dies, clans find their own territories. leafpaw finds the moonpool in time for the half moon, where she gets her full name. mudclaw leads his rebellion against onewhisker, but loses. so.. another book w around .5 moons passing ? brambleclaw = 26.5 moons, squirrelflight -= 9.5 moons (good to kno shes following in her fathers footsteps in becoming a warrior early)

twilight: ~1 moon. finally a real gathering (gathering 34) happens. they do it on the island. a little later another half moon meeting happens. leafpool feels left out from .. basically everything, so she runs away w crowfeather, but they come back when they find out badgers are attacking tc. just a moon passes, but hey its finally more than .5 moons. brambleclaw = 27.5 moons squirrelflight = 10.5 moons

sunset: ~1 moon. a half moon meeting happens. then the next gathering (gathering 35) happens. brambleclaw is made deputy when firestar finally accepts graystripe may never come back. another half moon meeting happens and leafpool helps guide willowpaw to starclan. hawkfrost traps firestar in the fox trap, but brambleclaw refuses to kill him and kills hawkfrost instead. 1 moon passes, making brambleclaw 28.5 moons n squirrelflight 11.5 moons, thus ending the new prophecy books. only 4.5 moons pass from midnight to this book, compared to the first arcs 13 moons

leafpools wish: no real time passes, but i wanna mention this book cause it takes place after sunset n leafpool gives birth to holly lion n jay. ill say this happens a half moon after sunset ends (around gathering 36) to make their ages rounded. the trio = 0 moons old

the sight: ~1 moon. a few chapters in the trio become apprentices, meaning 6 moons (gatherings 37 - 41) have passed since being born in leafpools wish. the trios first gathering (gathering 42) happens but jaypaw doesnt go as punishment for wandering onto wc territory. graystripe shows up w millie. hollypaw n jaypaw switch their duties. half moon meeting happens. another gathering happens (gathering 43). tc hosts a ‘daylight gathering’ but it ends w lionpaw n breezepaw trapped in a badger set, which jawpaw helps free them out of. 1 moon passes n the trio are 7 moons old

dark river: ~2 moons. first chap is the trio going to their first gathering all together (gathering 44) where tigerkits birth is announced. holly n cinder find out lion n heather have been meeting in secret. jay n leaf go the moonpool. jay finds The Stick. millie keeps her kittypet name n cinder breaks her leg. lion meets tigerstar n hawkfrost for the first time after a meeting w heather. next gathering (gathering 45) happens n all of rc is on the island. holly goes to rc to see what's the matter but becomes a prisoner instead. lion breaks up w heather. wc loses kits but the trio + heather n breeze find them n bring them back before tc n wc could fight. two moons pass n the trio are ~9 moons old

outcast: ~1 moon. few chapters in jaypaw goes to a half moon meeting where mothwing is sick. talon n night of the tribe arrive at tc asking for help w rouges. the trio plus the og journey cats go (oh yea also breezepaws there). then good ol purdy joins the group just until the mountains where he heads back. most of the tribe including stoneteller is convinced they will be destroyed by the attacking rouges but r convinced to fight anyways w the clan cats training the tribe cats. the final attack is scheduled for the full moon (gathering 46). they win the fight n cause lion is only covered in other cats blood w no injuries to himself, jay has to explain the prophecy to him n holly. a moon passes n the trio = 10 moons.

eclipse: ~1 moon. the clan cats return home w stormfur n brook staying behind. half moon meeting happens n willowpaw becomes willowshine. sol appears n says the suns gonna go out. wc attacks tc w rc, holly goes to recruit sc. battle ends cause eclipse happens. the trio go find sol cause hey maybe he can help w the prophecy, he agrees to mentor them all. theyr caught by a sc patrol n sol stays in sc. next gathering happens (gathering 47) n only blackstar n sol show up claiming sc isnt going to come anymore n doesnt believe in starclan. lion holly n cinder become warriors. another one moon book w the trio being ~11 moons (so close to them being made warriors at the right age ..)

long shadows: ~1 moon. jaypaw goes to the half moon meeting alone so leafpool can take care of the sick cats at home. the trio plus tawnypelts kits help trick sc into believing starclan again n blackstar kicks sol out. jay meets fallen leaves in the tunnels n when he exits the tunnels he becomes Jay's wing. after making sure the ancients go to the mountains, he wakes up. both leafpool n jaypaw go to the moonpool n he becomes jayfeather. the fire happens n its revealed that squirrelflight isnt the trios birth mother. tc leaves for the gathering (gathering 48) n finds ashfur dead. one moon passes yet again, trio = 12 moons.

sunrise: ~1 moon. tc thinks wc killed ashfur until ashfoot says she saw sol by where his body was. a patrol goes to find sol, brings both him n purdy back. sol wont tell anything n the other clan tell tc to get rid of him before next gathering. half moon meeting happens where jay realizes leaf is the trio's birth mom. lion releases sol so he would tell them who their birth father is, but that was a waste of time n they leave him for good when he starts talking about taking over all the clans. yellowfang then tells jay crowfeather is his birth father. next gathering (gathering 49) happens n hollyleaf reveals everything. she runs away into the tunnels which collapse n jay thinks the third cat could be either dove or ivy. one moon passes Again, trio = 13 moons. only 7 moons pass in this arc, but it's at least more than second arc

the fourth apprentice: ~2 moons. six moons have passed since sunrise cause dove n ivy are becoming apprentices, making the gathering in the first chapter (gathering 55). dove n ivy become apprentices. lionblaze n jayfeather figure out doves power n thats shes the third cat. another gathering (gathering 56) occurs n the plan for going upstream to find the source of the drought is devised. the patrol consisting of cats from every clan, including dove n lion, set out. the patrol reaches the dam n fights the beavers. they fail n rippletail dies. meanwhile breezepelt theatens to kill poppyfrost cause he hates jayfeather. round 2 of destroy the dam plan works n they all head home. two moons pass, ivy n dove r 7 moons old.

fading echoes: ~1 moon. leopardstar dies n mistyfoot gets her nine lives. dove n ivy go to windclan to see sedgewhisker but r instead called intruders n punished. firestar learns about the three. a gathering (gathering 57) happens where tigerheart asks dove to trust him when she confronts him about crossing the border. ivy begins training w hawkfrost. the tree falls on thunderclan camp, killing longtail n disabling briarpaw. jay goes to the moonpool for a half moon meeting. thunderclan n shadowclan fight over territory cause ivy followed hawkfrosts orders by making up a dream. lionblaze accidentally kills russetfur, firestar loses a life, n thunderclan wins the battle. around a moon passes, dove n ivy = 8 moons

night whispers: ~1 moon. first chapter starts from where last book left off. jay finds out ivy is training in the dark forest. cinderheart finds out about lionblaze being one of the three n somehow thinks that means they cant be together. jay goes to a half moon meeting where the meddie cats r told to stand alone. ivypaw gets captured by shadowclan when she goes confront dove n tigerheart. shes eventually traded back for some herbs. gathering (gathering 58) happens where dove n tigerheart argue. ivy finds out about the three n doves powers n is basically forced to spy on the dark forest. flametail drowns in the lake n ivy is almost forced to kill his ghost in the dark forest, but tigerheart stops them. 1 moon passes again, dove ivy r 9 moons old

sign of the moon: ~1 moon. dove n ivy become warriors. jay n lion figure out holly is still alive. a gathering (gathering 59) happens. jay demands to go to the mountains n dove comes w. antpelt dies n is now a spirit in the dark forest. jay goes back to ancient times again n once his duty is done he tells rock he wants to stay, but is forced to leave. ivy n blossomfall go exploring the caves but blossom gets hurt. theyr led out of the tunnels by gasp hollyleaf but we dont kno that its her quite yet. jay names the next stoneteller n the clan cats leave. 1 moon passes yet again, dove n ivy = 10 moons old

the forgotten warrior: ~2 moons. dove is having issues w her power. tigerheart tells her that dawnpelt thinks jay killed flametail. gathering (gathering 60) happens where dove tells ivy about the whole dawnpelt thing. sol is found by lion n brought to camp. sol tries to get wc n tc to fight. hollyleaf returns, sol disappears. cinderheart remembers cinderpelt. ivy kills antpelts ghost. another gathering (gathering 61) happens where dawnpelt announces her accusation for jay. wc n tc fight in the tunnels n sol talks about his hatred to the code. holly lets him go instead of killing him. 2 moons pass, dove ivy = 12 moons old

the last hope: ~1 moon. jay goes to moonpool meeting even tho he was told not to. he n mothwing try to unite the clans. dove n tiger r meeting again. a gathering (gathering 62) happens n jay doesnt go. jay finds flametail in starclan n by telling the truth of his death, unites the meddie cats. firestar is revealed to be the fourth cat. dove turns down tiger as a mate. cinderheart chooses lionblaze n being a warrior, thus letting go of cinderpelt. dark forest begins to attack. holly dies saving ivy from hawkfrost. lots o cats fight, lots o cats die. eventual show down of firestar vs og tigerstar. firestar kills tigerstar, but then dies like a min later. brambleclaw becomes bramblestar n squirrelflight his deputy. the end. 1 moon passes, dove ivy = 13 moons. overall, 7 moons pass in this arc. 

dovewing’s silence: ~1 moon. starts right after last hope. few chapters in we have first gathering after the great battle (gathering 63). 

crowfeather’s trial: ~3 moons. the book starts seemingly a little after the great battle. it is not right after because the first gathering shown is where blackstar starts listing off all the dead, which did not happen the first gathering after the great battle since no indication of it was made. its reasonable to say that this gathering happens a moon after that one, making it (gathering 64). towards the end of the book, (gathering 65) happens. then at the end of the book is (gathering 66).

bramblestar’s storm: ~2 moons, 8 if u include the manga section. its stated at the beginning of the book that six moons have passed since the great battle, making the first gathering in the book (gathering 68). its also stated that (gathering 67) was missed, probably due to poor weather. at the end of the book, (gathering 69) happens. the manga ending is when lionblaze n cinderhearts kits, who were not yet born in the last chapter, become apprentices, which means at least 6 moons have passed since the last chapter, making the manga take place around (gathering 75). squirrelflight finds out shes pregnant in this manga section.

the apprentice’s quest: ~2 moons. the book begins w the apprentice ceremony of squirrelflight n bramblestars kits, meaning at least 6 moons have passed, tho i’ll say 7 since squirrelflight only just figured out she was pregnant at the end of bramblestars storm, making the first gathering shown (gathering 82). next gathering (gathering 83) happens where violetkit n twigkit get separated. alderpaw = 7 moons, violet twig = 5 moons

thunder n shadow: ~3 moons. first gathering of the book is (gathering 84) n a little after violet n twig become apprentices, making them 6 moons. then another gathering (gathering 85) happens. and the last gathering of the book (gathering 86) happens. alderpaw = 10 moons, violet twig = 8 moons

[edge-lorde]

Relic and Relic II: Resurrection

by Jonathan Brookes

relic and its sequel (could be a part of a series?) are sci-fi books set in modern times where the american military, with aid from a contracted private company, have decided to start a program to clone neanderthals with the eventual goal to use them as soldiers. information leaks, military personnel gone rouge, and civilian meddling cause this plan to go awry.

but why do this thing in the first place? a few reasons. 1: the military assumes neanderthals won’t have human rights. theyll be able to completely control their ‘Thal population (yes they do use the term “’Thal”) and everything they do, including when they die, without violating human rights under the Geneva convention. 2: theyed be able to eventually replace all modern human soldiers with ‘Thal clones that would have no families back home and thus save “human” lives and prevent human suffering. 3: they could, through multiple generations, breed 'Thals to be the perfect soldiers, which they cant do with modern humans cause of human rights.  

believeability: 8.5. i think the authors reasons as to why the military would be interested in making a soldier class of clones they could have complete control of is sound. however, some of the finer points arent that believable, like that a pathologist at a morgue knows how to determine if DNA is neanderthal or not. 

idk because both books make jokes about how “this sounds like a crazy sci-fi plot!” but if your reading a sci-fi book you’re expecting that. its ok for the premise of a sci-fi story to be crazy as long as the science is explored, which i think it is. there are actual 'Thals in these books, though one of them has no lines and then dies and the other is a literal newborn baby who does little besides sleep. a baby who sleeps and eats? unbelievable! 

ive read a lot of neanderthal books now, and they come in 2 main flavors; prehistoric and sci-fi. the former speaks for itself. the latter usually has a plot where people are reacting to getting a hold of a live neanderthal, be that through cloning, time travel, or just discovering they never went extinct. relic definitely falls into that sphere, no doubt about it, what makes it unique is that it doesnt really explore those themes at all. the ‘Thal who dies? DNA saved for cloning and then cremated. no explanation as to how he even exists, he was just a college professor with no family ties or close friends who just *happens* to have enough neanderthal DNA to effect his appearance and has ‘Thal mitochondrial DNA. they just took samples of a few things and cremated him with out a second thought, zero calls to look into anything about him or save the body. the baby? treated as an asset to a company by both the “bad” military guys and the “good” civilians. the people with her best interest at heart wanted her to be raised as a normal child and essentially forgotten about by science, which i dont think ive ever seen before in this sub-genre. 

i actually think this makes the ‘Thals MORE believable, in a way... 

characterization: 9. like i said above, the neanderthals dont actually do much in the story, but when they are doing something its pretty human like. the baby does baby things. the college professor had autism, which has been proposed by real scientists to have some sort of neanderthal connection before, but is still up in the air as far as i can tell.

one of the civilian characters thinks that the reason ‘Thals would be better soldiers is that the military wouldn't have to feed them, they could just eat the enemies they were assigned to kill and generally terrorize the countryside. but he is the only character to bring that up so i dont think its reflective of the actual thal canon in this story. the baby isnt eating solid food yet though, so the jurys still out. at one point the military people decide the 'Thals will probably make better scientists than soldiers too. 

hybrids: 1.5. it acknowledges we interbred at some point so that counts for something. im going to count the college professor as a hybrid, and i guess the baby counts too. shes not an exact clone of a neanderthal specimen, shes got the profs mtDNA and test results said she was a 95% match for neanderthal DNA, so maybe theres some other stuff in that last 5%. 

interspecies sex: 1. in the broad sense, since we interbred. other than that, nothing. the prof didnt even have a girlfriend. 

accuracy: 7. this story is nothing if not researched, though still written by a layperson. most tidbits of information about 'Thals come from some published article. like the profs description, and the babys got red hair-- not accurate that all ‘Thals would have had red hair, mind you, but perhaps she is the clone of the specimen that is thought to have had red hair? passable. what is not passable is that the baby is said to look like a mixture of Asian and Caucasian, which, idk how your supposed to discern on a newborn in the first place, and second buys into a concept of race that would not have existed at the time neanderthals were around. shes also got blue eyes, which we currently dont think neanderthals had because our blue eye mutation happened after they went extinct, but it could be that the color will change as she grows, or 'Thals had their own blue eye mutation we dont know about yet. and there was something about the baby having pigmented sclera, though when it said her eyes were blue that didnt come up again so maybe the author dropped that. 

the baby was born a month premature but full size and healthy, could be an insinuation that neanderthal pregnancies were shorter, which i dont know if thats substantiated or not. she also needs to eat more than a normal baby and needs more protein and fat in her formula, but that one at least seems plausible. could be a glimpse of more voracious tendencies to come though, as the cannibal theory comes from danny vendramini’s body of work, no i wont link it. i dont think the author was going that way though. 

a lot of the actual science is glossed over too. like theres this one scene where a guy is trying to show a doctor how he knows the baby is a neanderthal and the book is like “he brought up some charts and talked seriously, then he brought up some other charts and compared the two.” 

OH and there was that whole deal with mitochondrial DNA. apparently the reason it was so important to get some from the prof is that mtDNA is harder to extract than nuclear DNA (i dont think thats true) and if you try to clone a neanderthal and give it modern human mtDNA it will age rapidly and die because the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell and modern human mtDNA doesnt tell the ‘Thal mitochondria to make enough energy. thats gotta be bullshit if i ever heard it. 

kind of hope the author writes another relic book. the second book was vastly better written than the first, so i can only hope the authors growth is exponential, and the second one ended on kind of a weird note.