curligurl0896

[curligurl0896]

This is the precise moment I went from casually shipping them to "Omg OTP" and going absolutely feral at the thought of them. Their love has been a permanent part of my psyche ever since

early edwin my beloved i’d forgotten how dear they are to me

[curligurl0896]

Pretty much sums up why I'm a tad feral over this fictional teenage boy

finally reading the fma manga and ed is the protagonist of all time. he’s the softest lil guy. he’s a rabid raccoon. he is the scourge of the military. everyone wants to adopt him. he’s a pacifist. he bites. he gets giddily happy at the birth of a child. his speech is punctuated with sarcastic hearts. he’s a generational talent. he will walk directly into a trap eyes open head empty. he is a foul mouthed little rat. he makes friends everywhere he goes. he’ll dig up any grave and turn over any stone and kick anyone’s ass to get his brother back. he refuses to believe his brother cares about him the same way. he makes this face:

[curligurl0896]

Yessss

Writing isn't the hobby. Being insane about little fake people is the hobby. Writing is just the only outlet i have for that

[curligurl0896]

Don't mind me just posting my ABC notes whenever I damn feel like it.

Our first Ax POV book! I liked that we got a glimpse of what Ax was up to before the events of the first book. Especially the interactions between him and Elfangor.

We also get to see that, as much as he adores and looks up to his older brother, Ax doesn't really like being overshadowed by him. To others, he's just Elfangor's little bro, but he wants to prove that he's more than that, he wants to prove himself a warrior in his own right.

Reading the bit where Elfangor says that Ax will get to fight with him one day, knowing that will never get to happen now.... OOF.

The Earth Diary bits are probably some of the best bits from this book. Ax's commentary on humans and Earth life is hilarious.

One fun thing about getting an alien's perspective on human life is the detailed descriptions of how normal everyday human actions are performed. Like sitting, for example. Never before have I given thought to how I would describe the concept of sitting down as a human to an alien.

Ax going nuts and eating food off the floor in the movie theater scene will never NOT be comedy GOLD. I was giggling the whole time at his antics.

This is just a nitpick, but there's this one bit that mentions that a certain alien species from Star Trek looks exactly like an actually existing alien species that Ax knows of. Which would be a neat detail, except, from what I know about Star Trek, all the aliens in it are essentially humans with different coloring and, in this case, weird forehead ridges. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I feel like if there's an alien species out there that looks almost exactly like humans then surely it would've been mentioned more, but as it is Ax makes it sound like humans aren't like any other creature he's met before coming to Earth. Idk it feels like a detail that was just thrown in and forgotten about.

So about the whole "Yeerks are killing the hosts of the Yeerks who starved to death" situation... like on one hand, yeah, Ax should have definitely said something. But also, it just goes to show how incredibly naive the others are at this point in the series. Like these kids really thought that the human hosts would be free and the Yeerks wouldn't do anything about it? Like Visser Three would let it slide that these humans are just walking around telling anyone who would listen that alien parasites are trying to enslave humanity? The same guy who would have his own people killed in a heartbeat if they fail to do what he wants? Idk I feel like if they were older and/or more experienced with the war at this point they would have immediately realized that the Yeerks would probably resort to killing freed hosts to prevent the truth from getting out to the wider human population.

I like how Ax's response to Tobias first breaching the question of how Ax eats without a mouth is 'Well, I have hooves, don't I?' Like it's so normal to him that it seems like it should be obvious. What, are you telling me absorbing nutrients through your hooves is a foreign concept on this planet?

There's like so many lines from this book that I want to put screenshots of solely bc they got a laugh out of me. Like this one, for example:

Also:

Cassie giving Edward Cullen energy years before the Twilight series was even a concept in Stephanie Meyer's head was not a detail I remembered being in this book

And then there's this:

AxMarco fans be like Imma pretend I didn't read that

Cassie having a picture of Jake in her locker makes it hurt just a little bit more that these to break up by the end. Like they're so friggin cute at the beginning here, I don't like to think about them not being together

Jake getting all mad at Ax for suggesting that he wouldn't have ordered the Kandrona destroyed if it meant Tom might have to die, saying Ax doesn't know shit about humans... but like, where's the lie though? Jake is far from being at the point of willing to sacrifice his brother to win the war. He totally would've hesitated at the very least.

After we get another hilarious scene: Ax taking Marco's insistence of, "Yes or no answers only" very literally. Giggled like mad throughout this scene too

The fact that Ax thinks of books as being more advanced than computers seems so weird and funny to me

Not Ax pushing human science ahead by like a century just from playing with what he thought was some sort of computer game.

The memory Ax describes of spending time with Elfangor is one I wanna write a whole fic about, partially because we really don't get to see their sibling dynamic, we get a glimpse of it in the prologue of this book but that's it. But also bc baby Ax would be the most adorable thing ever.

Can't help but wonder if Cassie ever told Jake about inviting Ax to have dinner at her house while morphed as him, or is he gonna show up to her house for dinner one day only for Cassie's dad to be like "I made my special chili just for you! I know how much you love it!" And he'll just be like, "Wait, what?"

Ax being especially concerned about Tobias seemingly just being okay with life as a hawk and not bothering to ask if he could ever be human again

That one Andalite thinking Earth was basically lost bc Ax said the Yeerks made thousands of humans into hosts already clearly has no idea just how many humans there are. It makes sense, since apparently having a population that numbers in the billions is pretty much unheard of anywhere else. But man their minds would be blown if they knew that "thousands" is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to the human population.

Poor Ax made this call just wanting to talk to his family and possibly get someone to pick him up and take him back home, but then he gets told to take the blame for his brother's actions, is only reminded by his father that he has to kill the guy that killed his brother, and also, he's not gonna get to go home anytime soon.

And then we get Yeerk lover boy, who also wants Visser Three dead, and is also the only reason the Animorphs saw any Yeerks starving to death at all.

One of the great things about this book is how we can totally sympathize with Ax and understand his reasoning while also being able to clearly recognize how absolutely valid the other Animorphs are in being pissed at him for it.

One last quote, because this:

Is probably the most metal way to end a chapter

You know, even knowing what Alloran has done, it's impossible not to feel really bad for him here. Like imagine having spent so long essentially stripped of your personhood that you forget your own NAME. Imagine that you spend the only moments of freedom you have begging for DEATH because the only other option is to be forced back into living a freaking nightmare. Imagine having Visser Three inside your head 24/7.

Really liked the ending. Ax finally coming clean only to find that the others don't hold the whole Seerow's kindness against him or his kind. Him deciding that he can't let his people's laws get in the way of doing what he must to protect humanity from the Yeerks. Him taking it as a compliment when Lirem says he's just like his brother-- because after all, his brother was a hero.

That's all for book 8, folks. Onto book 9!

[curligurl0896]

Pretty much my thoughts when listening to the audiobooks lol. Literally NO in between

Also really loving how all the different audiobook narrators do Ax’s voice. Jake makes him sound really smooth and sophisticated, Rachel makes him sound like data from star trek. Marco makes him sound like a 40-year-old businessman. Cassie makes him sound like Urkel.

[curligurl0896]

I'm starting this post before reading the whole thing this time. Hopefully, I won't be late again, lol. (Edit: Turned out to be super late, partially bc I was late finishing the book itself). Don't know why I haven't thought of making the post as I read, instead of after the fact, before now, but anyway. It's Megamorphs time!

To start off I wanna say that as a kid reading this series I only read the odd Megamorphs books-- aka this one and MM3. The "Rachel gets amnesia" plot line was the one I most distinctly remembered in regards to this particular book.

Speaking of Rachel getting amnesia, Tobias casually talking about seeing an eagle getting mobbed by jays, having NO CLUE that the eagle in question was Rachel.... what's the literary term? Dramatic irony? Yeah, that. It's killing me here.

Also shame on Marco for using flea powder to bribe Ax into busting into a party he was absolutely NOT invited to.

While I'd argue that putting a candy bar in a pool and making people think it's poop is not, in fact, beneath the maturity level of the average ten-year old boy, it isn't enough to make Darlene forgive you, Marco. Sorry.

Not Jake telling Cassie that Marco has gotten a little more mature since the incident, only for Marco to prove him horrendously wrong like two seconds later.

The sheer self absorption of Marco thought speaking his own name to Darlene bc he's mad that people aren't talking about him at a party he wasn't even invited to. Like maybe it's bc I'm so much older and more mature but I can't even muster up half the energy to care about whether or not people are saying things about me these days. I could never.

Speaking of poor Darlene, imagine her finding out after the war that her house got destroyed because Marco couldn't accept not being invited to a party. Like yeah, he didn't know that a living tornado would show up when he morphed but still. He literally wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.

I can't help but wonder if there was anyone who was reading these books as they came out who got to the point where we get the first glimpse of Ax's point of view in the series and promptly lost their minds. Kid me definitely would have-- in fact I'm pretty sure kid me had lost my mind upon discovering that there were books from Ax's point of view.

Ax seeing a bear and immediately being like "Rachel has a bear morph,that might be her" makes Tobias not recognizing her in eagle morph earlier just that much more egregious IMHO. Sure, Ax was specifically looking for Rachel and Tobias wasn't, but still. Here's his gf getting straight up mobbed and yet it never even occurs to him that it could possibly be her, let alone that maybe he should help her, he's just chilling on a thermal watching like "lawl sucks to be you bro". He doesn't even stick around long enough to see her try to demorph.

Ax feeling bad about feeling terror coming face to face with freaking Visser Three, like he ain't just a kid facing the guy who murdered his war hero older brother. Like he ain't just a lil baby. Ugh, it hurts.

Visser Three managed to capture one Andalite, and that's all the proof he needs that it's been Andalites this whole time. Those fools that think that humans are involved don't know what they're talking about. Obviously Andalites would NEVER stoop to working with lowly humans.

Really like that this thing's from Saturn, we don't really imagine life existing anywhere else in our solar system, with the exception of Mars, but it's interesting to think about what could exist on planets that we think of as otherwise inhospitable to life.

That moment when Marco makes a jab at Tobias but it actually ends up helping them figure out this thing's deal

ABC quote of the week bc this will never NOT be comedy gold:

Yayyy! Rachel's back!

So I guess the Veleek is like a Portuguese Man o' war, right? Technically many organisms buy functions as one?

You know, at some point I was like, "Man, is it just me or do we hardly get Tobias's pov at all in this book? I can't even remember the last time we had a Tobias chapter." And then came that part where it was revealed that Tobias was asleep for most of the action. LOL. It makes total sense that he wasn't nearly as involved, since his lack of ability to morph at this point makes him basically nonexistent as far as the Veleek is concerned.

And now, we finish off with the start of a new trend: the Animorphs solving their problems by throwing whales at them! (Well, specifically Cassie in whale morph, but you get the idea.)

Now if you'll excuse me guys, I'm gonna go try and read the next book and post about it before this week is up too.

[curligurl0896]

Especially late with this post. Should probably stop commenting on it bc it's probably gonna continue being a thing.

For this book, we're starting off with ecoterrorism! Enjoy it while it lasts, folks, bc these animal saving shenanigans sadly don't last forever

Love how Jake's already become the team dad at this point. Like that part where Cassie tells Rachel that Jake will "read her the riot act" gives the vibes of "If Dad finds out about this, we'll be grounded for life!"

Don't remember this bit before but Rachel commenting on Marco suddenly being a lot more eager to do Animorphs stuff. Like we know why the change in attitude, but I didn’t remember anyone else commenting on it besides Jake in the last book, who also knows the real reason behind it.

Aww yisss, the iconic grizzly morph has now been acquired! The "Bearenson" puns may now commence.

Oh no! Our brave Animorphs are about to be eaten in roach morph! They're stuck, with no way to escape! How are they ever going to survive this? Why, with a deus ex machina, of course!

A very literal deus ex machina, that is.

I made a post about it in the past, but I can't help but wonder if the way Tobias appears in this meeting with the Ellimist, fully human, was truly done intentionally by the Ellimist to manipulate them, or if it's possible that this is a reflection of Tobias's self-image, as he's human in this but a hawk during the meeting in book 26.

Is it still a deus ex machina if the Ellimist put them back in the same situation they were in before he stopped time? Like I guess he gave them the opportunity to figure a way out for themselves, but still.

Can someone explain how the fuck did they manage to demorph and remorph right smack dab in the middle of the Yeerk Pool without their secret getting exposed? Like it literally said they were in full view of Controllers when they bust out of that Taxxon? I mean maybe the Animorphs were so covered in Taxxon guts that the Controllers couldn't tell they were human, and/or somehow didn't see any morphing, but still. If I didn't know any better I'd think Ellimist shenanigans are involved here as well.

Poor Rachel having to deal with her dad dumping a huge decision on her along with everything else in her life. People have already pointed out that her dad sucks, so I won't say anything more about it, but yeah.

ABC quote of the week (like I've been doing that regularly and not just whenever) bc Ax has a point lol

Tobias was really done dirty in this alternate future. Like obviously he wouldn't have been able to be infested, so the Yeerks wouldn't have any use for him, but straight up roasting and eating him like chicken? With barbecue sauce? Real fucked up there man

Love how the Ellimist asks them to make their choice, but when they all decide yes, the Ellimist is like "lol NOPE!" And doesn't take them. Like it doesn't say but I feel like the Animorphs must've been at least a little bit pissed off after that.

Another quote? Only bc Ms. Paloma definitely wasn't prepared to be possessed by a god today:

Also, when I read this book as a kid, this was literally the first time I heard of the butterfly effect. Just a little random thing I feel like I should mention.

And just like that, we finish this book off with a smashed Kandrona, and that's all for this time! Next up, the first Megamorphs!

[curligurl0896]

Oh look, late on the ABC post again! Now for book 6!

We're starting off with cockroaches today, guys. Which I feel like I should mention that I was absolutely terrified of them growing up. And looking back, I feel like these books didn't exactly help. But yeah this is the book where they get that particular morph.

Loved Cassie chewing out Jake for trying out a new morph by himself in his house. And the little moment they shared. Like I said, stuff like this makes it that much more painful knowing things don't pan out for them as a couple.

Just about forgot Jake nearly dying to being poisoned in roach morph. Would've been a terrible way to go.

Also Marco being much more into being an Animorph due to a certain revelation in the last book. At least we know he gets there in the end.

It really is crazy just how much of the book is actually spent on Jake being infested. You'd think it was much longer with how big a deal it is.

Nothing quite like a little Temrash giving himself away over his hatred of Andalites. If not for that he would've gotten away with it probably

ABC quote of the week bc that foreshadowing:

Also Crayak foreshadowing. Right before the Ellimist book. Love to see it.

Well, that's all for this week!

[curligurl0896]

Late for the book club post again (edit: especially late bc I didn't realize this was still in my drafts and not posted), here's all my thoughts on book 5:

First off, one of the things I love about these first 5 books is how they give each Animorph a reason to fight the Yeerks. Jake wants to rescue Tom, Cassie wants to protect the environment, etc. And like, for Marco, it literally only could have been this. He was literally ready to leave. It was gonna be his last mission. The only way he would change his mind is if he happened to have some sort of personal stake in the matter-- oh, and would you look at that, it turns out he does!

The scene with Ax at the mall had me dying. Man, KA really nailed the vibes of "alien trying to be human" shenanigans with this one. Also wtf was going through his mind when he demorphed at the freaking mall?

The ant scene is still terrifying. Poor kids were traumatized for life after morphing ants. I don't blame them.

It was wild reading all the bits where Marco is talking about his mom being dead knowing that she's not--- especially the part just before he finds it out himself!

So, I've made a couple of posts about this before but, the fact that Visser One let them escape just to make Visser Three look bad will never not be hilarious to me. Like, he legit had them right there, it was game over for them! But then Edriss decided to free the very people threatening her pet project bc fuck this one guy in particular.

(To be fair the one guy in particular is the actual worst. But still. Her pettiness is unmatched).

Anyway, that's all for this book!

[curligurl0896]

Omg, late on the ABC post again!

Hmm, what do I wanna say this time? Besides the fact that this is the book where our favorite blue boy is introduced. Cracks me up how, when he asks who their "prince" is, they all immediately turn to look at Jake. And thus Jake got stuck spending the next few years of his life saying, "Don't call me prince" all to no avail.

Reading early series Cake kinda hurts knowing that things don't pan out for them in the end. Like, they are just so cute, they are relationship goals! Jake has a picture of Cassie giving a badger a pill, he tells her he'd rather shovel manure with her than do homework without her-- like this is peak middle school romance here.

ABC quote of the week (bc I'm just gonna be doing that, I guess) bc:

OOF.

This boy needs some hugs.

That's pretty much all I gotta say this time.

[curligurl0896]

Once again finished my audiobook at the last minute and am late in posting about it. Will try to avoid this for book 4 at least.

I'm gonna start this post with a goddamn vine (because vines are totally still relevant nowadays, they're definitely not ancient internet history what are you talking about). This one always gives me massive Tobias vibes even without the captions I added.

On a somewhat related note I feel I should point out the way that the others treat Tobias's nothlit status as sort of like... a disease or disability or something. And by that I mean that they seem to feel sorry for him to the point of walking on eggshells with him about the subject. Like there's this one bit where Cassie mentions helping care for an injured owl, and Marco jokingly asks Tobias if it's a friend of his, and the others look at him all like, "Marco, you can't just ask that!" Whereas Tobias is cool with it bc "Marco teases everyone". It's like people getting offended by someone teasing a kid with like, cancer or something. And then there's the bit where they're in the cave, before they morph fish, and they mention there being a mouse, and Tobias is jokingly like, "Chase it out, I'm hungry", you know, as if he didn't recently have a mental breakdown and try to unalive himself over the horror of slaughtering a living creature with his bare talons and the real possibility that he's losing his sense of self and humanity to the hawk. And of course, he's met with awkward silence. It's understandable, of course, but it's something I thought was interesting enough to mention.

Hmmm... what else? Something something, echoing @thejakeformerlyknownasprince 's sentiment of "this team needs an Ax" (seriously, only three books in and they were already SO CLOSE to being an "Oops! All Nothlits!" team). Something something, Tobias being dead wrong about Marco and him never being close... what else?

OH YEAH. The hawk him and Rachel went to the trouble of saving in the beginning of the book DIED. I forgot that happened. It made me sad. RIP Polly, you deserved better.

Yeah, that's all I really have to say for this one.

[curligurl0896]

I have an EdWin fic that I never published that has this exact premise

I am a WHORE for “the love is requited, they’re both just idiots”

[curligurl0896]

I wanted to make this exact joke in a post but instead of Hughes it's Mustang bc to him pushing Ed's buttons is one of his greatest joys in life

Happy 21st Anniversary to Fullmetal Alchemist.

[curligurl0896]

“Please, let him be soft. I know you made him with gunmetal bones and wolf’s teeth. I know you made him to be a warrior a soldier a hero. But even gunmetal can warp and even wolf’s teeth can dull and I do not want to see him break the way old and worn and overused things do. I do not want to see him go up in flames the way all heroes end up martyrs. I know that you will tell me that the world needs him. The world needs his heart and his faith and his courage and his strength and his bones and his teeth and his blood and his voice and his– The world needs anything he will give them. Damn the world, and damn you too. Damn anyone that ever asked anything of him, damn anyone that ever took anything from him, damn anyone that ever prayed to his name. You know that he will give them everything until there is nothing left of him but the imprint of dust where his feet once trod. You know that he will bear the world like Atlas until his shoulders collapse and his knees buckle and he is crushed by all he used to carry. Dear God, you have already made an Atlas. You have already made an Achilles and an Icarus and a Hercules. You have already made so many heroes, and you can make another again. You can have your pick of heroes. So please, I beg you– he is all that I have, and you have so many heroes and the world has so many more. Let him be soft, and let him be mine.”

— Please, let him be happy ( j.p. )

[curligurl0896]

Finished book 2 Saturday night, but was tired so I went to sleep afterwards. I meant to make my post the morning after but I got busy. So here it is. This time I'm just gonna put all my thoughts into one big post:

First off I feel I should preface this by saying that this is actually the first Animorphs book that I ever picked up. School classrooms and libraries often don't have all the books in a series. So I picked this one up first bc I couldn't find the first one, read a good part of the way through, then like a few weeks later I was finally able to get my hands on the first one. All that to say... I knew about Tobias getting stuck as a hawk before I actually read book 1.

I mention all this because speaking of, I LOVE that there's a few subtle nods to it before the whole "Tobias will always be a hawk" line. Like the bit about Tobias having "special reasons" to not like anyone who'd shoot at birds. Or the bit where they go back to where they left their clothes to demorph, and Rachel mentions that there's "four pairs of shoes for the five of us". It's like foreshadowing but for something that already happened/was revealed in canon, for the benefit of those who, like me, picked this book up without reading the first one first.

Ugh, that scene when Rachel partially morphs an elephant to scare off that creep... like on one hand it was SUPER risky, like this one thing could've easily gotten them found out-- in fact it almost DID, considering Chapman literally showed up like seconds afterwards. She just narrowly avoided a truly terrible fate for her AND her friends... but on the other hand I really can't fault her bc WHY WAS THIS DUDE HITTING ON A THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD? Like maybe he thought she was a little older than that bc of her height, but STILL. Even if she was a full-grown woman it's gross, as well as really scary when a dude refuses to take no for an answer, but the fact that she was THIRTEEN... like considering that part makes it just that much worse.

Onto a topic that's arguably also gross, just not in a morally bankrupt way... the bit where they talk about how morphing cockroaches is "too gross to even imagine" like little do they know they're gonna be doing exactly that like four books later.

So a while back I listened to this audiobook with someone, and upon hearing the name of Melissa's cat, proceeded to explain to me what the word "fluffer" meant in terms of, ahem, the adult film industry. Needless to say, I can never see the name Fluffer Mckitty the same way again. Before that I genuinely just thought of it as a cute name for a cat.

Melissa sobbing to "Fluffer" about how her "parents" don't love her anymore will never not be heartbreaking. Like this poor sweet girl has no idea what's going on, but she's suffering from it regardless.

The bit where Jake is telling Rachel that she shouldn't go back into Chapman's house without backup and Rachel says something like, "What are you gonna do, morph a flea and ride around on my back?" Like Jake's probably already thinking to himself, "Actually, Rachel, that's a great idea!"

The implication that having a Yeerk controlling you 24/7 causes a host to slowly forget how to control their own body is genuinely disturbing... and also realistic.

Anyway that's all I got. Will try to not be so late for book 3.

[curligurl0896]

Personally I always interpreted that line very literally. Obviously we never really get any info on how the Frolis thing works, but I always assumed that it meant you can choose which sex your morph is, and Ax specifically chose male, because, as he says, he is one. And wanted a body that reflects that.

Is Ax's human morph possibly trans? He says he chose male when he first morphed, but I can't recall him being described explicitly with male features. Instead, almost every description focuses on describing human-Ax as androgynous or feminine in appearance. It seems possible that he simply chose to identify with his own gender regardless of the morph's. I guess my question is: is Ax's human morph a trans man? Or is there evidence to contradict this headcanon?

I know the phrasing on this is probably not the best and that I am not well versed on how to talk about gender vs sex as a cis person.

My read has always been that human!Ax is an intersex person with male gender. Because he uses 50% DNA from Cassie and Rachel, 50% from Jake and Marco. Assuming for a second that those four are all cis, that means he's got 50% feminizing DNA and 50% masculinizing DNA, and is notably androgynous. That doesn't always mean an intersex kid — almost everyone has a parent of a different sex — but within the rules of morphing, it certainly could.

Ax also says "I chose to be male... because I am male" (p. 161, emphasis added). So I think dude's meant to have intersex sex, male gender. Some intersex people identify with "trans", some don't, the term as we know it didn't exist in 1996, so I'd say it's not not canon that he's trans.

[curligurl0896]

Yeah I'm definitely looking at this through the lens of my own experience as well, I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've gotten "How can you not like X thing?" (namely onions) and it's like... I just don't? I don't think I should have to justify it? I'm allowed to just not like a thing, there doesn't need to be a deeper reason for it beyond the food just not vibing with me

I developed intolerance to milk when I was like maybe 12 or 13 so I think this is autobiographical