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please-help-this-little-lesbian · 2 months

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So, I recently started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. The politics of the show are very interesting to me, especially considering I just finished reading The Animorphs series. Now, I know they aren’t directly comparable, what with being two different mediums (books vs a cartoon), being created at different times (Animorphs the 1990s, ATLA 2005-2008), and (slightly) different age ranges (ATLA 7+, Animorphs middle grade (specifically 9-12, though I’d argue it generally skews older.)) But both are very anti-war and anti-imperialism. Animorphs was the first series in that age range I encountered that truly goes “hard” with its themes. It asked a LOT of tough questions, and its protagonists were truly morally gray in the end. One of my favorite scenes in the series is where the villain is on trial for war crimes, and his lawyers bring up that the protagonist is ALSO a war criminal. The protagonist is acquitted by The Hague because it was self-defense. Incredible. But, back to ATLA.

An episode that really stood out to me was “The Puppet Master,” particularly Hana’s fate. Now, if I’m being completely honest, I was never afraid of Hama, and honestly, I didn’t blame her. I’m not saying she was RIGHT, she was torturing innocent people who had nothing to do with her original imprisonment, but I could understand how she’d operate on all Fire Nation citizens being a monolith. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that her arc ended with her being locked up again, the very same thing that drove her to blood-bending in the first place.

It really made me think about “justice,” particularly the western view of it. I feel like the west, particularly America (ATLA, though inspired by Asian culture, is an American made-TV show), justice is viewed as a punitive and retributive thing, where the ultimate goal is to punish the fact that a crime was committed, rather than address why, how, and the humanity at the heart of the situation. Wim Laven says, in an article for LAProgressive, “No criminal trial is motivated by healing or truth. Trials are about fact finding and fact exclusion,” (2021). Healing is a part of my problem with Hama’s story. She is someone who has suffered from immense trauma in being kidnapped, imprisoned, (probably) tortured, and lost not only her home but everyone she knew. Yes, continuing the cycle of violence doesn’t help you heal from it, but sometimes it feels like it’s the only option. Again, I’m not saying what Hama did was RIGHT, but to her it was something, something to deal with the pain and anger. And putting her back in the very same conditions that fueled this pain and anger doesn’t feel like justice to me.

Let’s take it back to Animorphs since I brought it up for a reason. There is actually a similar situation portrayed in the series. In book 20, The Discovery, we’re introduced to a character named David. He recently began attending the same school as the protagonists, and came across a piece of technology he shouldn’t have. This leads to him being targeted by the villains of the series and triggers a fight between the protagonists and antagonists. In this fight, David’s parents are captured by the villains, and his home is destroyed, leaving him at the mercy of the protagonists. They debate whether to leave David to be captured by the antagonists or induct him into their group. (The villains are parasitic slugs who can crawl into people's brains and take them over, and the protagonists can morph into any animal whose DNA they acquire. Because they take over brains, you have no way of knowing who is and isn’t actually a parasitic slug, so the protagonists must keep their powers a secret from everyone they know. Yes, IK Animorphs is weird. The point is, the slugs know everything about you, so either way David is a risk.) They ultimately decide to give him the power to morph and induct him into the group, but this ultimately ends up being a mistake. David repeatedly endangers the group, breaks their rules, almost betrays them to the villains, and tries to kill multiple of the protagonists. The group has no choice but to do something with David, but what? They don’t want to kill him, so they do something that’s honestly far worse. They trap him in rat morph (you can only stay in morph for two hours before it becomes permanent) and drop him off on a secluded island in the middle of nowhere. This haunts the protagonists for the rest of their lives. Later, through fever dream plot reasons, David comes back and begs to be killed. We never find out if he is or not. A key part of David’s story is that at the end of the day, he was just a traumatized, troubled kid whose life was turned upside down, and EVERYONE ended up suffering for it. Animorphs does a really good job of exploring the tragedy of war, and it's because of the focus on how war creates conditions where violence is the only option because it is easier to commit to a cycle of revenge than work to improve conditions so that war doesn't have to be inevitable.

I'm not saying Avatar: The Last Airbender doesn't talk about this, or that it has to! It's for a younger audience, I don't expect or need the protagonists to commit atrocities! But it's interesting that they introduced a character that is villainized for this, and disappointing to me. The situation isn't black or white, Hama is sympathetic, and we understand why she's doing this, but the writing presents the only solution as punishing Hama for the harm she caused instead of allowing her to redeem herself.

I'm not saying that's an easy answer, either. The gaang are kids, in Fire Nation territory where they're subjected to Fire Nation laws, and just freed her victims. With the upcoming invasion, they couldn't just take Hama back to the Southern Water Tribe. But why is locking her away the only solution? Why didn't they at least consider the route where they prevented her from committing further harm by taking her out of the situation? Maybe they ask her to join the invasion with the promise she'll stop blood-bending. Maybe they promise to break her out later. I'm not saying everything would be perfect, but letting Hama return to her home, surrounded by people who would help her heal, takes away the desire to do harm, does it not? This is a situation where punitive justice is NOT the only answer, yet it's presented as if it is. I wouldn't even be as upset at her fate if the narrative addressed this wasn't the only way, and the tragedy of this being their only option at the moment. But it doesn't because it sees it as right.

This also frustrating because Zuko IS given the benefit of tragedy and restorative justice. Now, I haven't finished the show yet (I just finished 3x11), but from what I've seen so far, I'm assuming Zuko redeems himself by not only working to heal HIS trauma but the trauma he caused OTHERS. And that's GREAT! I LOVE Zuko, he's my favorite character. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a redemption arc. He DOES. But it's frustrating that he, a member of the royal family of an imperialist nation, who's directly harmed the gaang amongst other crimes, is given this opportunity while Hama, a victim of said imperialist nation, isn't. Yes, you can chalk it up to Hama admittedly committing far worse a crime than Zuko has, and Zuko being a child while Hama is an old woman, my main concern is still the optics here.

ATLA has a philosophy of actions defining character, and while this is fine, and I agree with it, I don't think it's given quite the amount of nuance it needs. Motivations for actions are just as important. Hama's arc is messy and nuanced, but that isn't explored nearly enough.

If we can all agree that Zuko is a victim who deserves a second chance, then why isn't Hama?

#atla #avatar the last airbender #animorphs #atla hama #david animorphs #L's analysis

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mando-of-esverr · 5 months

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Nostalgia reading and the subsequent brain worms XP

//SO! Since I've had the animorphs!brain rot going on, I'm gonna put down what would be the verse!story if I made Darius a proper veres for it.

//Ok, so it's kind of dark and when it comes to Animorphs there's a lot of psychological torture you just don't pick up on when you're a kid

//and reading it now it's like "Whoa, okay hold up what about--" and now Darius is aaaaall caught up in the middle of it as a Controller/Host for a Yeerk (a parasitic brain slug that takes over its host's body)

//The guy is basically the walking personal computer of a yeerk leader looking at the Animorphs like "Sorry, wrong password. access denied."

//He's figured out that he has his dad's emotional depth, where he feels everything deeply and intensely and has just learned how to live and function with it.

//But when he was first made into a Controller, he discovered not everyone can handle what he handles every day. So he lets it all loose, first the glorious joy and euphoria, filling their sails with billows of excitement and wonder before shredding that balloon with a spear of his grief and emotional anguish over being a prisoner and separated from his family.

//With how intensely he makes and focuses his emotions, it's a very effective method of overwhelming the yeerks in his head and wresting control from them.

//This was literally Darius @ all the Yeerks that went into his head

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//He actually discovered this ability to overwhelm his yeerk with his first handler, Kilzar4113, who was just breaking him in as a host. Kilzar had a mean streak, a cruel streak, and even though it was against orders, he actually threatened Darius's family

//Which led Darius to absolutely EXPLODE with emotion

//all of his pent up, wound up emotions just BURST right out of him and into Kilzar. It was so intense that Kilzar actually went into shock and attempted to escape, only to get squished as soon as he was out of Darius's head.

//Darius's folks learned then what was going on with Darius, why he was acting so violently, and about the Yeerks. With a bit of help, his parents (Baribus, who was retired army, and Vienna his wife) & his brother (Mathafew) were able to move into the countryside closer to the center states away from where the known Yeerk pools were.

//However, Darius didn't make his flight out. He was recaptured after it was discovered Kilzar hadn't reported in like he was supposed to. His folks got out though, and that was all that mattered to him. From that point on, Darius figured out and honed his emotional attacks, realizing that Yeerks can not only control his body but also feel his emotions and read his thoughts. Which meant he had to work fast in dislodging them or they'd know what was coming.

//He went through about 5 yeerks, all of them still writhing from the psychic damage he was doing to them via emotional overload.

//Then came Tassir

//He was a Sub-Visser, 53 I think (If I remember, Yeerk numbers are their rankings and double didgets made them sub-vissers/just under generals, while Vissers are single digit ranks).

//anyway, he had been studying the effect of whatever Darius had been doing, getting first-hand accounts from the yeerks who survived Darius's attempts to kill them. (force 'em out and squish them)

//So when Tassir-53 came onto the scene, Darius did all of his stuff - empathy, wonder, joy, euphoria, every good and wonderful memory, everything amazing about the world! Sight! Sound! Smell! The best tastes!

//And then blew it out of the water with the exact opposite Hurt, betrayal, loss, grief, agony, Losing his buddies in war, the attempt on his family, grief at losing his older brother, agony at his first struggle in being trapped in his own body--

//Everything would be forced up into to Tassir //Who took it all in stride //and laughed at Darius's efforts.

//Unfortunately, Tassir had had many hosts, human and alien alike. He cycled through hosts regularly though he has a few hand picked favorites he keeps primed for himself. With what he knew of Darius, Tassir figured he would simply have to use Darius's own human limitations against him - and did.

//Utilizing all that he knew of humans and how to keep them functioning in high-stress situations (because you need that if you're going to war. You can't go to war with when your human-vehicle is breaking down), he managed to breathe through all of it, grounding himself even through the euphoria and despair - extreme emotions he himself experienced on his own when in his various hosts.

//See, Darius was counting on other Yeerks not experiencing feelings as intensely as he could

//Tassir, unfortunately, was one of those who could.

//Naturally, Darius fought, striking again and again with his emotions at Tassir.

//But Tassir excelled at utilizing grounding techniques and used them regularly and constantly with Darius. He would apply techniques to calm the parasympathetic nerve system so that even if Darius was trying to rile himself up, Tassir would counter him by physically calming the body down, thus undercutting the stronger effect of Darius's attacks.

//This brought Darius to a breaking point

//his only weapon, his only means of defense and attack against this invader, made useless

//and Tassir made it worse. Tassir told Darius that he knew where his parents were, knew who was around them and could have them rounded up and killed or brought back.

//It was like Spirit meeting his match except Darius didn't rally

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//Darius broke and told Tassir he would do anything to keep his family safe. Tassir agreed to this plea and would use this as leverage each time Darius ever thought about objecting or making a ruckus about whatever they were doing.

//unfortunately, Darius had to oblige Tassir. He couldn't risk disrespecting him lest Tassir order the round-up of his family. So he obeyed. He did his best and became so valuable that Tassir made him his primary host.

//This would prove useful, as Darius was a natural strategist and was quick to explore and establish plans and scenarios for Tassir, utilizing everything he'd learned from his father and from his time in the military.

//Basically, Darius was a host that made Tassir's job 100% easier bc Darius would do the calculations anyway to figure out other people's(the yeerks) plans in order to counter them. This also had a very unfortunate side effect.

//Because of the way Tassir was training him (because he was training him. He was training Darius very thoroughly to ensure his compliance even when Tassir was in the Yeerk pool) Darius began closing off certain parts of himself, emotional parts, parts that made him hurt at the thought of what he was doing to other people under Tassir's control.

//It was like being an owlet of the Pure Ones or St. Aggies where his metaphorical gizzard goes still, locked away, and he takes his orders as they're given.

//He becomes Tassir's "perfected host", a human extension of Tassir.

//it was in the middle of the time he and Tassir were developing plans to establish yeerk pools in big cities like LA, Memphis, and NYC that something happened and the Animorphs managed to infiltrate the Yeerk pool and rescue him by accident, using him as an unwitting host to get out of Dodge

//When they realized just WHO they grabbed, they immediately wanted to get him out

//But Darius wasn't having ANY OF IT

//He wolloped the Imposter like he did his first invader!

//Granted they were able to get him out and captured as pt much a POW, but like

//the man is changed by this point and the kids know he's got VERY important information and they NEED it but he won't tell them. He's refusing to tell them even under threats

//he just smiles at them like Tassir would and is like, "You think you can do anything worse to me than what has already been done? Please."

//But what really gets him

//Is when they learn his name

//Because up to that point, he hadn't given his name.

//he'd refused.

//But when they found out who he was, they bring two people they believe can break through the yeerk mold he's been made into (bc thanks to Tassir, he does in fact, act and think more like a Yeerk than a human).

//They bring back his parents

//and they break through to him.

//When he was infested by one of the animorphs in Yeerk morph, they saw that his mind not only thinks in strategy but feels in color and that the color started draining out of his personality when Tassir first became his "handler", his Yeerk, until he became what they saw and rescued: a human mirror of Tassir.

//But now, with his family reconnecting with him, he begins to slowly regain bits of his previously lost humanity

//Even better is that his joining the crew leads to more organized plans, greater strategic strikes against the Yeerks

//Which means certain casualties in canon might no longer be needed by the end of it.

#ooc || outofbeskar #darius #nostalgia reading #long post cw #animorphs based ideas #//Look I know it's a kids series but like it was a really good series and I really enjoyed it as a kiddo #//besides - the angst in this plot really just scratches that brain bug itch y'know?#//anyways can't say if I'm going to do anything with this but figured I might share it anyway.#Youtube

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themakeupbrush · 2 years

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Iris van Herpen Fall 2022 Couture

#iris van herpen #iris van herpen fall 2022 couture #im sorry #all i can think of is the parasite slugs from animorphs #yeerks?

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caw4brandon · 3 years

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My Fragmented Nostalgia Over Animorphs

The late 1990s is a rather odd decade for kids and teens.

Everything is groovy and has a rather trippy taste to it when you look at things as children of the 2000s. Its strange how not too long ago, there was a trend where the internet was looking back at what was great and what wasn’t and I would argue, most of us here on Tumblr think very fondly about the 1990s.

We are after all, the kids who lived in-between that age.

Where computers start to lose weight and get thinner, where phones changed from buttons to screens and where camera films become memory cards, so on and so on...

As a child with relatively young parents, I would catch on with media through my parents about shows and movies from the 90s while the rest of the world moves forward. It happens from time to time but Its always good to look at things from simpler days. When your diary is but a book with a locket instead of a website blog or that your daily activities involve bike riding, game arcades, bowling and libraries.

The things we consume as kids, teens or college students can sometimes be time sensitive and very personal. Sometimes, nonsensical to kids of today and today’s topic is of such. Let’s talk about Katherine Alice Applegate’s hit children's book series;

- Everyone is in really Big Trouble -

Yeah. Even you.

Classified as the third most successful series of all time. <Animorphs> follows five main characters; Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias and an alien; Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (Ax for short). These kids (and the alien) have the ability to transform into any animal they acquire. Calling themselves "Animorphs" (a made up word for "animal morphers")

As a group, the team goes on various missions, battling a parasitic race of alien slugs called; Yeerks that can take any living creature as a host by entering and merging with their brain lead by their ruthless leader; Visser Three.

In case if you need a visual, this is what the covers look like.

From Top left to bottom right: Jake, Marco, Tobais, Rachel, Cassie and Ax.

The cover will show one of the members of Animorphs morphing into a particular animal which when flipped will show a full scene.

In total, the series consists of 54 books and includes 10 companion books (the Animorphs Chronicles and Megamorphs books), and 2 gamebooks, not fitting into the continuity (the Alternamorphs books).

For a series that is about kicking alien slug ass, becoming animals and everyday teen stuff on the side like school, family/siblings, crushes and gadgets. The series also contains many heavy themes and like; dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, leadership, horror, war, freedom, family, and growing up.

You know, ole edgy teen stuff.

- Join The Fight -

Join The Sanctuary...We are gathering...

Personal history, I first got into <Animorphs> When I was about twelve. A dumb bright eyed kid who likes to visit his local school library and be surrounded by old books and quiet people. The first book I found was #The Discovery in my school library. At the time, I thought the cover looked creepy and cool at the same time. With help from the internet, I managed to find the complete list of the series as well as some history regarding the series.

A nasty habit of mine is that, I like to binge and because the series as a whole has a linear progression. I had to find the whole collection, start from the first and so on. Here’s the problem, it was very scattered and incomplete with a bunch of heavily skipped parts that made absolutely no sense for a newcomer like me.

Thankfully, I managed to find the earliest books in vintage book stores, buy them and read them in fragments. In fact, here’s my personal collection that I manage to get. See? Fragments...

While not completely understanding some of the more “time sensitive” pop culture references, (although, I do sort of knew some later) It was an absolute blast reading about the adventures that the kids get into. Deep sea traveling, going underground, joining online forums of people who are aware of the Yeerks, fighting other aliens aside from the slugs, alternative universes and so on.

Lots of strange concepts and plots, which to each to its own. Still very fun and very interesting. I also remember searching for websites and early fan pages where I would find these minigames about flying Tobais; The red-tailed hawk (long story) to rescue the team and stuff like that.

While my experience is, still incomplete. I was able to assemble the pieces in forums like, the Animorphs Facebook Page by reading up on fan theories, discussions and memes.

In these groups, I’ve made some “kinda...sorta...” friends while learning a lot more about the fandom itself and fandom culture in general. I also get to catch on to what the writer, Mrs. Applegate is up to. Official updates and all. The best part was, I get to interact with people from all walks of life with different interest aside from just <Animorphs> Though I never went as far as to add them, I do engage under the comments and it was the easiest conversation I had.

- It’s All in Your Hands -

There's only US...

You know, I’m kind of glad that the memories of <Animorphs> still live inside of me despite having not read the books after I went to college. Aside from their rather strange concepts and compelling characters. The series has some very clever alien designs. Creatures like The Andalites, The Taxxons, The Hork-Bajir, The Chee and many more. At the time, these aliens looked unique rather than creepy and it certainly was one reason why the series peaked my interest.

While reading some of my own collection, I was also made aware that there was an attempt by Nickelodeon for a live-action show under the same name with the same characters that ran from 1998 to 1999.

Starring; Shawn Ashmore (Yes, X-Men’s Iceman) as Jake, Nadia-Leigh Nascimento as Cassie, Boris Cabrera as Marco, Brooke Nevin as Rachel and Christopher Ralph as Tobais.

While short lived, it was a monumental moment for the fandom. Very recently, (wait, nevermind. It was in 2020) there was a graphic novel illustrated based on the first book; The Invasion and talks about adapting the others in the future.

Officially made work aside, some of the members from within the group are super talented and they made up some of my early internet experiences by posting fan-made trailers of the thing. Here’s one right here...[Animorphs 300]

There are also fanfictions and fan art to keep the fandom burning and murmurs of a potential second attempt of rekindling the series with updates. There’s also this looming hope that some producer out there will find the merits of this series and adapt it into a film, a show or anything aside from just being a book because it truly deserves more recognition.

Of course, any fandom would wish for their favorite series to be made on the big screen or even on the small screens but, seeing how they adapted stuff like <Percy Jackson> and <Artemis Fowl>. You see where I’m getting at? No?

Look, I’m going to level with you. I hope they DON’T do it because it functions best as a book series. the various narratives is one of the strengths of the series and adapting that into a show/movie would be highly difficult. But, with the right person in charge. Anything is possible.

As a fan who experienced the series in fragments. I would say its a series that I can still pick up to this day and enjoy. Some of the themes still hold up to today’s age and I highly recommend <Animorphs> for anyone who is looking for some good ole angsty teen stuff with saving the planet on the side.

Good news, the series is getting updated and it truly is an exciting time to be an Animorph fan. With that said, I’ll end with handing over the bright blue morphing cube and say this to you...

“It’s all in YOUR hands~”

Thanks for Reading

- B -

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tfw-no-tennis · 3 years

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animorphs!!!

ok I read animorphs when I was 10 or 11 I think? and I only read it once, along w/the spinoffs and stuff, and I've always meant to revisit it...SO HERE I AM....

and oh MAN I forgot how good this series is. like I knew it was good but some things from your childhood don't hold up yknow? especially books aimed at younger audiences

but oh boy does animorphs hold up. they're easy to read and perfectly balance the line between dark/adult topics and more kid-friendly lessons. excellent

so yeah I'm loving it so far. I forgot how fast some stuff happens lmao, like I forgot that tobias gets trapped as a bird in the FIRST BOOK

also I just adore how realistically disorganized/confused the animorphs are. like, they got the elevator pitch version of the conflict from elfangor before my mans got eaten, and also they're middle schoolers. of course they’re always just like ‘wtf do we even do’

so like...their plans mostly don't work. and even when planning they run into tons of logistical issues w/morphing, traveling, communicating etc.

and I love how they clearly need to maintain their normal lives as well in order not to raise any suspicion

and I like the little details like them not spending all their time together at school because they didn’t before so that would be suspicious

oh man and I love the different family dynamics in the series. you have jake, whose family seems pretty normal until we find out that tom is a controller, and rachel, whose parents are divorced, and who has to deal w/the complications of that. and then cassie, who is an only child (I like that we have a mix, with rachel and jake having siblings), and of course marco...

iirc marco was one of my favs (if not my fav, but its hard to choose) back in the day, and I forgot how reluctant he was to participate in the animorphs thing...and the fact that he was about to quit the team and then runs into visser 1.....

another fucked up little moment I liked - when they morphed dolphin and marco had to morph back to human bc he gets injured and he was like ‘I cant swim, and my mom drowned, I don't want to die like she did’ I was like oooof

also on that topic I adore how little the animorphs know about how anything works. like they once wondered if there's a limit to how many morphs they can acquire and they were basically like ‘idk guess we’ll find out’

and then when marco got injured as a dolphin and they were like ‘morph back I guess and hopefully you'll be okay?’ like damn luckily that worked

basically these books do The Most Excellent Job showing that these are just kids. like they're literally in jr high which is 90s speak for middle school....they're like 13???? at most???

and the narrative reflects that perfectly!! all of them, even rachel who is pretty much the most gung-ho about fighting and stuff, have nightmares and all these terrible experiences bc they don't have basically any guidance

and even with ax, it’s immediately obvious that he’s also just a kid, even though he’s this deadly alien....

also oh mannnn I love so much how we’re introduced to the andalites as this heroic race and how that slowly changes over the course of the story

like, when elfangor introduces himself as ‘prince’ you assume he’s part of the andalite monarchy - but later we find out that ‘prince’ is a military rank, and the andalites are a lot more militaristic than we would assume at the beginning

its so fantastic how it starts off as a fairly black and white conflict of andalites = good guy aliens and yeerks = bad guy aliens

and you even have some background stuff going on w/the taxxons being controllers by choice, and the hork-bajir being enslaved

but as the story goes on, all of those lines get blurred in different ways...

also ooof the poor hork-bajir. I always felt so bad for them. it’s crazy that even in the first book, the animorphs are killing their enemies - at least I inferred that in book 1, but it becomes way more overt later on...the tough situation of them knowing that the hork-bajir are unwilling hosts but that they’re so dangerous that not killing them could be fatal to the good guys

and ngl this time around I have a lot more sympathy for the yeerks, even tho they don't really deserve it (at least in the early parts of the story where I am rn)

like...they're just these blind helpless slug creatures, but they're also fully sentient and intelligent? like, that's so fucked up. imagine yourself as you are now, but you're just a sensory deprived slug swimming in a pool. that's pretty fucked. and then the fact that the yeerks are biologically made to be parasites...its kinda no wonder that they ended up the way they are (and it also makes stuff like the yeerk peace movement really compelling)

also wow I kinda forgot about all the body horror w/the morphing. like ik that's one of the things that animorphs is known for but like. I forgot how much it happens and how creative the horrifying descriptions are. I love it

and omfg so when I first read this series the ellimist stuff confused me a lot bc I didn't read the books That closely (I mostly wanted to see what would happen next) but I loooove time travel bullshit so I’m really enjoying it so far

even tho tbh I think even if I had paid more attention as a 10 yr old I still would've been confused bc the ellimist stuff is kinda just inherently confusing lmao

ok and I just love the characters,,,I love that the books switch perspectives, and KAA did such a masterful job of portraying differing and realistic reactions to their situation....like, all the animorphs react so differently to their circumstances, but their reactions are all so grounded in realism and also their personalities

like man I love rachel. she was one of my favs as a kid too bc I always loved female characters and she was just so cool. and she still is, and so excellently written too

liiiike the fact that even though she’s so tough and brave, she’s still a kid and has plenty of moments when she’s scared or uncertain...

and I just really like the fact that she out of all of them is the one who’s tough and loves to fight...and the fact that she also unapologetically loves shopping and stuff like that...its about the multifaced characters

just like how marco is the ‘funny guy’ but they make it very clear from the beginning that this is his way of coping w/shit like his family falling apart, and then alien BS

and also marco is really smart? I kinda forgot abt that (sorry marco) but I like that bc that's uncommon to see with ‘funny’ characters

oh mannnn and ax. I love ax. I forgot a whole bunch about the early stuff w/him and how conflicted he was w/keeping secrets from the other animorphs

KAA did such a fantastic job w/ax - he really comes across as the perfect mix of ‘fish out of water alien’ and ‘young teen/tween’ and ‘alien from a strict militaristic society who is in training to become a soldier like his famous older brother’

n that was so sad n fucked up when he called the andalite home world and had to tell everyone (including his parents) that elfangor died, and then the elders or w/e forced ax to take blame for elfangor breaking their laws in order to preserve elfangor’s postmortem reputation, even at the cost of ax’s career/life :(

and man I loved the part where ax is like ‘well, we didn't help the hork-bajir even tho we could have and now they're all enslaved. I'm not letting that happen to the humans’ and the council or w/e is like ‘well you should let it happen, don't interfere’ and ax basically realizes oh shit sometimes adults are wrong

basically I love the conflict there, where the andalites are the ones who gave the yeerks the technology that led to them spreading across the galaxy like a disease, and now fight to stop them due to their guilt, but also refuse to directly help the less advanced species who are being invaded by the yeerks for fear of making a similar mistake like w/the yeerks....

ooooof and the part where ax is like ‘guess I have to go fight visser 3 and die’ :( he’s just a babyyyy

and augh when alloran asks them to kill him....geeeez there’s so much fucked up stuff already and I'm not even in the double digits yet

oh my god and the brutally awful fact that any freed controller will just get tracked down by the yeerks and murdered so the secret invasion stays secret...and the animorphs think that by destroying the kandrona they've freed a bunch of controllers but really they just signed their death warrants - what a catch 22

oh and I love how even early on the yeerks aren't a completely unified force - we have the obvious rivalry w/visser 1 and visser 3, with visser 1 even arranging the animorphs release from visser 3′s prison bc of this, and that yeerk who told ax where to find visser 3 because he was pissed that his yeerk gf got killed by visser 3 - even though the reason she was killed was due to kandrona rationing, which was caused by the animorphs...i love the layers

ok what else. oh yeah I love tobias sm, he was one of my favs as a kid too, his whole story is so deeply tragic but also interesting and we haven't even gotten into all the stuff w/his parents yet

the part where he’s freaking out as a hawk and he’s gonna fly into the windows even tho he knows it’ll probably kill him...christttt

also tobias and rachel are so romance aughhhh

ok also jake - he was never my favorite when I was younger bc I felt like he had Basic Protag Man Syndrome but now I can appreciate his character a lot more. like, he basically got elected the leader and he’s kinda like ‘guess I have to do this now.’ and that of course ends up fucking him up majorly in the long run bc even tho he’s more serious and responsible, he’s still just a kid too

and I loooove the horror of finding out that tom is a controller, and jake having to contend w/the fact that it’s very likely that he’ll have to fight and/or kill his brother someday

also the book where jake gets infested w/a yeerk was one of my favs and still is. so fucked up and interesting. the fact that that yeerk was previously tom’s made it even more fucked, w/the yeerk taunting jake the whole time

and then the yeerk dying in jakes head...so messed up

omg and cassie too. I love cassie. I didn't appreciate her as much when I was younger bc I was a straightforward kid who liked action, and cassie is all about pacifism when possible and compassion, which I love a lot now that I Get it more.

cassie being such a gentle person but still fighting in this fucked up war bc doing nothing would be worse is super compelling. plus the conflicts with her having to figure out where she and humanity fit in the circle of life and whatnot is great

I loved the contrast of her being very aware of how nature works bc of working w/her parents and all these injured animals, but also being so compassionate that it still bothers her to see death and especially participate in it

like her feeling awful about killing the termite queen even tho its ‘just a bug’ and stuff

basically what makes the series great isn't that it’s got all these fucked up moments and horror elements and is overall quite dark - it’s that all of it comes together to make the point that war is hell, and child soldiers are gonna end up traumatized pretty much no matter what happens

it’s a very strong message, and the story never feels like it’s being dark just for the sake of being dark, but rather never letting the reader forget how awful things are

TL;DR: anirmorphs is to the YA genre what hunter x hunter is to the shounen genre

in animorphs, the heroes of the story are kids who get cool powers and get to fight aliens - in any other YA story they would have a bunch of fun adventures and come out on top most/all the time - things might get darker towards the end, but good would prevail. the evil yeerks would be stopped, and the main couples would get married and have kids and live happily ever after.

however, war isn't like that, especially when the soldiers are kids. so instead we get animorphs, and it’s brutally realistic. they barely ever get to enjoy their powers - on the rare occasion that they get to, something usually goes horribly wrong

compare to hxh - it seems like a regular shounen story about kids participating in a fantastical mostly-adult world and being able to match the adults bc they're Special - but as the story wears on it becomes clear that the kids are just very traumatized. this all leads to gon’s berserker collapse in the chimera ant arc, which is led up to masterfully w/a bunch of adults treating gon as an adult even though he’s a child.

essentially the same thing happens in animorphs - with jake being shoved into the leader role and becoming a military general as a kid, which leads to him committing horrific war crimes because he’s been put in a position no child should ever have to be in

similarly, kurapika has what would be a very straightforward revenge plotline in any other story - but this is hxh, so the bad guys aren't just 2-dimensional evil caricatures, and the road to revenge just leads kurapika to ruin. we root for kurapika to win bc they’re a character we like, but it becomes clearer and clearer as the story goes on that getting revenge is not the path kurapika should be taking

nothing is ever as straightforward as we want it to be, basically. and the same applies to animorphs. so many times they're faced with conflicts that seem to have an obvious answer, only for it to be revealed later that the choices they made led to other unforeseen awful consequences

ok i need to stop rambling this is already super long. basically: animorphs good. I’ll probably do another post like this semi-soon as I continue reading (I'm partway thru book 10 now)

#not me doing another liveblog that i probably wont finish #animorphs #lj reads animorphs

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peachdoxie · 5 years

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Have you ever read Animorphs? Bc if not I assure you, being a Controller (i.e. having a yeerk in your head) is nothing like symbiosis. It's slavery and is compared to r@pe multiple times in the series bc there is NOTHING the host can do to prevent the yeerk from seeing every thought and memory they've ever had and using it against them (1/2)

Even with the voluntary controllers in the series, the yeerk can take control at any time, and when Cassie morphs a yeerk to go into a voluntary's head, she has to STRUGGLE to give the host control bc she keeps taking it back by accident. Yeerks as a race aren't inherently evil, but the Yeerk Empire is and their infestation is slavery, even if it's "voluntary" (bc even if it starts voluntary, the yeerk says whether it stays that way or not). It's not good fam

Maybe I’m a Yeerk apologist, but I feel like this take is fairly reductive of the actual situation described in the books.

Yes, the Yeerk Empire is bad. Forced infestation is bad. Enslaving unwilling Controllers is bad. I agree on all of those points. But as you said yourself, Yeerks as a race aren’t inherently evil. For the most part, they’re blind, deaf, nearly senseless slugs with full capacity for sapience trapped in some primordial sludge without which they’d die. I can’t blame them for wanting more out of life than that, and practically the only way they can do so is by becoming a Controller.

The way this ask frames the Yeerks contradicts the idea that Yeerks aren’t inherently evil and limits the possibilities of a harmonious Yeerk/human relationship. It is true that the host can’t prevent the Yeerk from seeing their thoughts and memories and using it against them. It is true that when Cassie morphed a Yeerk, she struggled to give the host control. And it is also true that the voluntary nature of the host is determined by the Yeerk (at least in part). But, additionally, this ask seems to be claiming that, regardless of the situation, the Yeerk will always maintain control at the expense of the host.

But don’t you get it, anon? That’s what so interesting about the Yeerks from a speculative fiction standpoint! Maybe, yeah, Yeerks struggle not to take control of their hosts, but no where does it say that a Yeerk can’t act in accordance with its host, that a Yeerk can’t follow what the host would like to do. If a Yeerk has access to every thought that its host has, then couldn’t that Yeerk also follow the thoughts that the host has? It’s a fascinating line of inquiry, to imagine a situation where a Yeerk and its host work together. There’s a lot of material to imagine regarding the trust and dependency a Yeerk would have to have with its host in order for a non-parasitic relationship to occur, and the potential for that is incredible to contemplate.

You ask me, anon, if I’ve read the Animorphs books, but I ask in return: have you? Do you recall Aftran 942? Essam 293? Illim? Mr. Tidwell? The Yeerk Peace Movement? The Yeerks and their hosts who decided that involuntary infestation is wrong? That it’s possible for a Yeerk and host to form a voluntary partnership and not only work together, but choose to stay together? What about the Iskoort, the combination of the Isk and the Yoork after both species modified themselves into obligate symbionts, which the Ellimist sent the Animorphs to see in order for them to know there are alternatives to forced infestation.

That’s one of the great things about Animorphs, in my opinion: that the issue of how the Yeerks relate to their human hosts is varied and explored from many different angles and perspectives. It shows that the opinion on how Yeerks should interact with their hosts is divided and how different Yeerks infest Controllers for different reasons, but most importantly, it shows that forcible domination of hosts is not the only way that Yeerks can live beyond being senseless slugs. Is it fair to the Yeerks to leave them in their pools when there are alternatives to forced control?

So forgive me, anon, if I don’t think that the situation with the Yeerks is either as simple and harmful as you do. I’ve spent the last eight years since I read the main Animorphs series in full contemplating the possibilities that the Yeerks - and other examples - represent in a speculative fiction context, and I think there’s a lot more to the situation than it being just a form of slavery.

#animorphs #Anonymous

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little-droid · 5 years

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LittleDroid's Long Overdue Animorphs Re-Read: Book 1 – The Invasion - Part 1

My name is Jake. That's my first name, obviously. I can't tell you my last name. It would be too dangerous. The Controllers are everywhere. Everywhere. And if they knew my full name, they could find me and my friends, and then . . . well, let's just say I don't want them to find me. What they do to people who resist them is too horrible to think about.

If there's one thing that sticks in my mind about the Animorphs books, it's this framing device. Each book is written in the first person, from the point of view of one of the main characters telling us how they can't give away too many details, in case the bad guys find them. Each one opens with one character giving their name and telling you it's far too dangerous to give you any more identifying information. As a kid reading these, it was compelling. A little part of me always wondered if the stories were true, and the books were a convenient ploy on behalf of the Animorphs to get the word out.

Jake tells us he can't reveal who he is, or where he lives, and that his life was normal up to one Friday night at the mall.

The book introduces the main cast quickly, and doesn't waste any time toying around establishing their characters. Everyone jumps off the pages right from the get go. There's Marco, Jake's cynical and sarcastic best friend who thinks he's suaver than he really is. There's Tobias, a bit of a dreamer who gets bullied at school for being weird and having a rough home life. There's Rachel, Jake's cousin, who's fashionable, tough and an amateur gymnast. There's Cassie, who's quiet, earthy and an animal lover (and who Jake has a crush on that he refuses to do anything about!).

We don't get a huge sense of who Jake is as a person just yet. Part of that is these books are short and this one has a lot of introductory material to cover. Part of it is Jake falls into the standard 'everyman' character trope. He's serious, dependable, and we find out he recently didn't make the basketball team. Aww.

Before we get into the story properly, I want to say I'm impressed with the cast diversity in this series. Cassie is black. Marco is Hispanic. We find out later that Jake is Jewish. And while there's no explicitly queer characters on paper (there are two characters later who are confirmed by Word of God to be in a queer relationship), I imagine this has more to do with the limitations of children's publishing in the late nineties rather than a lack of intent on the part of the authors.

Especially in a sci-fi series, it's too easy to fall into the trope of space adventures being a thing for cishet white boys. Kudos to Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant for writing something a wide range of kids could recognise themselves in.

Our characters decide to walk home together from the mall and take a short cut through an abandoned construction site they've all been told they're not allowed inside. They banter back and forth, Rachel teasing Jake for implying the girls need looking after on the way home, Cassie smoothing things over. Tobias spots a brilliant light shooting across the sky.

I looked at Tobias and he looked back at me. We both knew what we thought it was, but we didn't want to say it. Marco and Rachel would have laughed, we figured.

But Cassie just blurted it right out. "It's a flying saucer!"

The kids stand stunned. They nervously debate just what the hell is going on and whether they should run before they find up, right up until the ship lands ten feet away from them. The ship is described as "about three or four times as big as our minivan" and has structural damage as if it's been in a fight.

It's Tobias who attempts to communicate first, and everyone receives a response they can only hear in their minds.

Tobias tried again. "Please, come out. We won't hurt you."

‹I know.›

Telepathic aliens? Nine year old me thought this was amazing. Heck, thirty year old me still thinks this is amazing. I blame nostalgia.

The spacecraft opens and we get our first glimpse of an Andalite. These are our 'good guy' aliens, and look like a blue and tan deer centaur with a scythe bladed scorpion tail, no mouth and an extra set of eyes on stalks on top of their heads. Five stars for quality alien design. No Star Trek style rubber foreheads here.

This did also contribute to the nightmare of costume design that was the not-anywhere-near-stellar Nickelodeon adaptation, but we don't talk about that.

The next section is fairly exposition heavy, which is to be expected. This is the introductory book in a long series. There's a lot of groundwork to lay before the real meat of the plot gets going.

The Andalite is dying, and explains that he's here because Earth is in the midst of a covert invasion by a parasitic race called the Yeerks. Grey slug aliens that crawl into the heads of other sapient creatures and take over control of their brains. Evil space cordyceps. The Andalites have been fighting back against them and their takeover, but they were massively outgunned and lost the battle in orbit. They were able to get a message back to their home planet for reinforcements, but those could take over a year to arrive.

Without anyone else to turn to, the Andalite asks Jake to retrieve a blue box from his ship. Jake also finds a little holographic picture of the Andalite's family in his ship and contemplates how sad it is he's dying so far from home, which upset nine year old me greatly.

The Andalite offers to give the kids a piece of technology to help them hold out against the Yeerk invasion until help arrives: the power to physically transform into any animal they can touch.

No one is thrilled about this. Marco points out “this whole thing is nuts”, which becomes a bit of a catchphrase for him over the rest of the series. He's who you count on to point out when things are getting ridiculous. It's Cassie who agrees first, but before the others can get on board, Yeerk ships appear overhead.

Out of time, they each touch one side of the blue box.

‹Go now,› the Andalite said. ‹Only remember this - never remain in animal form for more than two of your Earth hours. Never! That is the greatest danger of the morphing! If you stay longer than two hours you will be trapped, unable to return to human form.›

Aside from the antagonists, the two hour time limit becomes one of the main sources of tension in the series. Having a countdown on being forced to morph back to human complicates their missions and adds a layer of logistics that ramps up the tension in almost every book to come.

Speaking of antagonists, it's at this point we're introduced to our main villain: Visser Three. The only Andalite to ever be taken over by a Yeerk, and the only enemy also capable of morphing.

I would like to go on record here to say I adore Visser Three. He's a first class graduate of the Disney school of maniacal villainy, with honours in pompousness and chewing the scenery. He's the epitome of petty, vicious egomaniacs. He's Darth Vader on deer legs.

Enemy ships descend. The kids flee and hide. Tobias lingers for a moment beside the dying Andalite before being sent running. The rest of the plot exposition happens while the kids are crouched behind a half-built wall, praying they don't breath loud enough to get caught.

Visser Three disembarks from his Blade ship along with his hordes of underlings. We're introduced to two more alien species, both controlled by the Yeerks. Hork-Bajir: huge bipedal raptor-esque creatures covered in blades from top to toe. And Taxxons: ten foot long centipedes with jelly-like, red eyes, and a voracious appetite for any living thing they can devour.

From the get go, you get the sense this isn't ever going to be a series where the odds are on our protagonists' side. The Yeerk forces are overwhelming and relentless. No-one is considering making a dashing stand against evil and hoping good will save the day. The kids are terrified. It's all they can do to stay hidden and hope they'll get out alive.

Visser Three gloats over the fallen Andalite, taunting him about how his ship has been completely destroyed and no-one else is left. We learn the good Andalite's name, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, and that he's a Prince, some kind of military hero. He doesn't rise to Visser Three's taunting, and we're treated to the first of the Visser's many classic villain speeches.

‹What do you want with these Humans?› the Andalite asked. ‹You have your Taxxon allies. You have your Hork-Bajir slaves. And other slaves from other worlds. Why these people?›

‹Because there are so many, and they are so weak,› Visser Three sneered. ‹Billions of bodies! And they have no idea what's happening. With this many hosts we can spread throughout the universe, unstoppable! Billions of us. We'll have to build a thousand new Yeerk pools just to raise Yeerks for half this number of bodies. Face it, Andalite, you have fought well and bravely. But you have lost.›

Elfangor's response to this is to whack Visser Three with his tail blade and gouge a chunk out of his shoulder, and honestly? Good for him. Unfortunately Visser Three retaliates by having his ship disintegrate Elfangor's space pod, morphs into a monster that can only be described as a gargantuan mouth on tree trunk legs and eats Elfangor alive.

Yep, you read that right. See, up until this point, nine year old me was still convinced they were somehow going to save the alien and have an alien friend to go with them on space adventures. That's how adventure books work, right? Nine year old me quickly had to learn this series wasn't going to pull its punches. At all. Nine year old me had some growing up to do.

Nerves get the better of Marco after listening to psychic screams of an alien he just met being chewed into kibble, and he throws up, inadvertently giving away their hiding spot. Cue searchlights and armed soldiers. The kids run, splitting up to scrape a marginally better change of some of them getting away. Jake stumbles into an empty building and only manages to escape by literally tripping over a homeless man who the Yeerks murder in his stead. It's not explicit in the text, and Jake hopes the man gets away, but the Yeerks are bringing the heads back for identification. I think it's safe to say that guy is dead.

Jake keeps running and doesn't look back.

#animorphs #little-droid's animorphs reread #the invasion #k a applegate #michael grant

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my-chemical-rot · 3 years

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personally i’d love to hear about animorphs! i have no clue what they are but i’m fascinated by the blue one.

Omg anon ily

The blue guy is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (Ax my beloved ♡) and he’s an Andalite, an alien species that can “morph” (shapeshift into any animal that they acquire the DNA of). The power comes from the Escafil device, Andalites are known for their really advanced technology. Legally speaking no species other than Andalite should be able to morph (the Law of Seerow’s Kindness forbids Andalites from sharing their technology) but in the first book Ax’s older brother, Prince Elfangor, gave the the series’ main characters (Rachel, Marco, Jake, Cassie, Tobias) the power to morph before he was killed so they could help the Andalites in their war against the Yeerks (a species of parasitic slugs who are trying to enslave humanity, the main villains of the series). While living on earth, to blend in with humans, Ax acquired Rachel, Marco, Jake, and Cassie’s DNA and put em all together to create a human morph (using multiple sets of DNA to create a single morph is called the Frolis Maneuver)— and since Andalites don’t have mouths & can’t experience taste, when he’s in human morph he’s obsessed with food & eating anything he can, including cinnamon buns and cigarette butts which I think is hilarious & adorable & iconic. He’s just a lil guy! that wants to eat cigarette butts!! Classic “nonhuman pretending to be human” type shenanigans ensue. Also for Andalites the title of “prince” is less of a royalty thing and more of a military rank so Ax constantly refers to Jake (the leader of the Animorphs) as “Prince Jake” despite Jake’s insistence against it. Ax & Marco are probably boyfriends. Other than human, Ax can morph into a cheetah or a cobra, but generally in combat he stays as an Andalite since Andalites are well equipped for combat (they’re fast & agile and they’ve got tails with blades at the end like a fucking scorpion, their whole design is very cool)

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ligbi · 7 years

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Animorphs Liveblog #1

I borrowed Animorphs from some friends and liveblogged my thoughts for them. I thought some tumblr folks may enjoy them as well. Animorph content warning for fucked up shit. For kids!

The Invasion 1996 Jake is a Lizard, and this weird CG render of him in a shoe is actually pretty damn good for the time. I forgot about the flipbook corners.

Everything I tell you is a lie, but you have to believe me The Andalites promised they'd rescue us, and knowing what I know I do not believe that a smidge Marco and Jake already already friends, Tobias is a new, awkward guy, Rachel is Jake's tall cool cousin, and Cassie is black and 'mythical' So begins the heteros Tell me more about Jake's brother Tom and how you two have become distant Cool one sentence into each girl and I love them both already. Fuck the patriarchy! But also being a girl in public is scary Ha. Ax murderers.at the construction site. Ax. They're 13 right? Babies but also I call bullshit on towns with walking distance malls Marco was right Jake the idiot Shit wait which one dies how bad will I regret reading this? I get Tobias man. Looking at that sky. Also Cassie just "ufo" Marco is looking to make a buck off a ufo sighting. Okay Jake is a dweeb so says Marco Oh no baby bird you're clearly the best dude curse eager bird men We all just stood there like fools Hey the ship is burned and some of it has been melted! Also blue lights because all technology has glowing blue lights Jake's family has a minivan (oh god these are small children), and Marco wants to be on Letterman. Letterman Oh god right it's '96 you have to Go Somewhere to Call Someone. Wow 96 was I was 5 I just turned 27 Technology Rachel wants to Solve the spaceship and Cassie points out Star Trek is monolinguistic. As with all series, Girls. Blue deer-taur with no real mouth and extra eyes on stalks with scorpion tail. I've been meaning to re-read Wrinkle in Time, but I think when I first read that at like, 10, I pictured those blind creatures like this Please note, I recall fully reading one (1) of these books ever to completion. Rachel turned into a squid in that one Yes Ax does look like he can kill. I assume he does at some point Jake is almost crying upon seeing Ax, who already feels like a friend. Due to time travel and reincarnation, I am scared to find out why this is Yes I Am Dying. Oh aliens. This is not Ax, is it? Whoops Cassie's family are vets. And she's ready to jump into helping Hey whoever you are, just saying, it sounds like you're implying literally every other alien in the universe wants to kill us. Which is fair but Yeerks. Rat sized gray-green slug parasites ...How does this Andalite (right?) know none of them are controlled by a Yeerk right now? Marco is a bit of a pragmatist Oh jeez lingo uh let's see: Yeerks have Bug Fighters, a Blade Ship, Dracon Beams which destroy things to a molecular level, Andalites have a Dome Ship and Z-Space is a thing Expected Yeerk takeover time: A year or less Yikes Hey Jake fuck you get the box Ugh so straight Got the cube and hey look a hologram of their family WOW MEAN Ok so most (all?) Andlaties have a morph power to Alteans! blend in and hide also we acknowledge they are young Cassie and Tobias for best kids right now Two red streaks for Yeerks Bug fighters these are He looks at Tobias and feels weird like a chill. Normally I'd call Gay but predestination/time-travel/something is up ...How do they know how long two Earth hours are? Oh shit Visser Three. And he can Morph that's uh legit concerning? How'd he get that and what horrible things have he done? Has? Have or has? Also, what WILL he do? Third black ship, and what's his alien touched Tobias' head and did/conveyed Something Oh cool construction equipment just pfffff'd out because a giant battleaxe ship with scimitar wings Was this ship designed by the Hork-Bajir, who have blades on their wrists elbows knees and tails, and t-rex feet and falcon-beaked snake heads with three horns. Who are good people but all (?) controlled Taxxons are Big centipedes with lobster claw hands, jello eyes, and a top mouth that's a pointy circle Again, I demand quick satisfaction as to the positive vibes they get from Andalite1 Ah Visser Three is a controller of an Andaltie. Who was that Andalite? Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul is a mouthful So if he takes over enough places, Visser will become One. Who's the current One? Oh cool we're being targeted because we're over-populated compared to other species Humans behind the Visser? Is it ya'll? Please be ya'll I love me time-travel angst Now V3 is a big Monster and we're blowing up ships and I know this is a construction site but where is anyone else? Aw Jake you wanted to help. That's dumb but aw Death count: 1 Are Taxxons the ever-hungry aliens I've heard about? Or do the Yeerks just think it's fun to eat a dead guy? Oh cool those were Human Controllers and Jake seems to know one. I assume it's big bro? Most people are crying and Macro pukes I HEAR THAT FRIENDS Split up? Jinkies Rachel knows bad words. WHAT ARE THE WORDS K.A.APPLEGATE. TELL ME THE FORBIDDEN LANGUAGE (I assume Son of a Bitch from context but shout out to Rachel if it's Fucker) They can kind of speak English? Ghafrash? Hobo man: maybe dead? Probably dead Jake's strongest real memory is of aliens smiling at him. Get it boy-you're a child get nothing please So you're not close with Tobias, but you know he has a cat named Dude. Also: Cat is named Dude I love it BTW Jake, noticing another dude is Glowing? ;) Oh dang so Tobias doesn't know his Dad, Mom just left him around ten, and we're on a coast, with his aunt living on the other because his uncle is on this one How long does it take to morph? This sounds like a concerning amount of time Multiple minutes. Alright. Nightmareish. Side note: semi-crouching warped human with long butt and stubbed feet stage of morphing in the corner here Watching someone morph into a cat is giggle inducing. I will cherish these times won't I Telepathy is a good, easy answer to lots of questions about weird powers and communication Two year old string in a messy room. Boy Ha naked. Also the cat instincts mean ...oh dear this is gonna cause problems Why does Tobias get to decide Jake is the leader also why Jake? Not why like bleh why him but plot-wise something is the pre-meditated choice Homer the dog. You watch The Simpsons boy? Taking the dna puts the animal in a trance and it doesn't hurt to morph Bones feel like they should hurt yeah that sounds right Scrapping sounds are wonderful Right you're not just A Dog you're The Dog you took from Awww you're not a bad dog Jake. And Tobias is a good kid. And damn it I did not want to right about the brother. Cassie has a farm and big brother Tom is in a club called the Sharing He's obviously a Controller, but also "It's just sports" I'm pro-anti-sports but anti-cult clubs UGH WE HAVE TO RECYCLE Jake pls Wildlife rehabilitation. Convenient to touch wild animals also a cow Plus zoo mom so let's all be giraffes Dang kids with their fireworks, taking over humanity and making cops somehow worse Marco is scared and picky and right poor kid Who also has reasons? Tell me more Mom body was never found, Dad can't be around people. Ouch Cassie is not only cool enough to have clothes, but can control the morph enough to play centaur "We want them real bad" jesus yeerk cop, tone it down will ya? Hey you look like your brother- come to our yeerk cult Help endangered species? You mean like *eyebrow waggle* Is Tobias/Rachel a thing? CD game we were going to play on my computer. Wow Hey not-Tom, why would these kids have read anything in a newspaper? Wow this is shamelessly manipulative and creepy and thanks Applegate for teaching kids to be reasonably creeper out by overly forceful and manipulative folks Jake honey Marco is right please stop living in denial Let's remind Tobias, who is already a hawk, about the time limit Feathers made of wax. This boy is going to fly too long in the sun And then he was naked because boys don't care about that too much I guess? So as long as the DNA isn't bad for any reason, the state of the animal doesn't matter. What about dead animals? Let Tobias be superman. Poor kid Yeerk pools have Kandrona rays, and Yeerks have to go back into a pool every three days. Yeerk home sun particles Protect this child who can't fight for himself but will fight for the world Time to infiltrate I guess? Gotta sneak into this night volleyball game They live near a beach I suspect this is Cali, like all kid lit about young teens unless it's from the UK Can you grab a morph from a friend if they've changed into a whatever? Kids and Adults? Smidge weird Poor actual Tom trying to protect Jake They Would notice a horse wouldn't they? Tobias hun no please don't make excuses I know being human sucks but come on Oh course the Assistant Principal is a big bad Convert or kill. Yeesh Evil cops also Cassie being Black makes vague threats uhhh worse Let Jake be a dog! Ok but just pet all the animals? Lizard yes but deer? Wolf? Buzzards? Wildcat? I just climbed into my locker all cool like playing it chill because everyone climbs into lockers all the time This is a very small lizard The animal brains being way more in control is fucked up Cool so you just almost was stepped on, lost a body part, and have a still semi-alive spider inside your body after having seen an alien be eaten and knowing your brother is alive but controlled and may be sent to kill you. For kids! And of course the brain slug pool is under the school Do ya'll remember that Nick show about the bully who like, was about to die or was cursed, and he was a dog and only one kid could hear him and no one remembered him and he had to do a bunch of good stuff to be human again? Locking children into animal forms is a special kind of 90's torture I think Rachel/Tobias is a hard thing and good because someone needs to love this kid my word I appreciate Marco though. Hey shit head this is a dumb plan but you're my best friend so I'm in or what fucking ever. Asshole I liked Cassie's little speech about Mother Earth Marco named the band. Marco is a good shit, but what does it even mean that Jake's always been a Lizard? Are you calling him cold-blooded? Flaky? A bug eater? No family guest passes for the zoo? I don't know what Bush Gardens are but is this that? Roller Coasters and Monkeys Big Jim the gentle gorilla. Also bless Jake for riling Marco up Let's drive! hits wall Go right says Jake. Marco goes left You had a chance at a rhino Marco has a dark and tanned face Male siberian tiger. I assume if you turn into THAT animal, you can be a boy turning into a girl hyena or a girl becoming a boy turtle right? He's majestic and doesn't seem like he cares about you as long as you don't run Lol ya'll almost died from a tiger? Sure you did Jake's mom is a writer who is opposed to any TV but her own. Dad is a jokester. Is it Jake's mom who dies? I know a mom dies Dad is a doctor Cassie where are you did you get home from the zoo are you okay? Okay Rachel and Tobias are just a thing already ok. Oh cool the cop has Cassie I fear for her We are Controllers. We are here to... Kandrona, Please give us the girl for... evil? Great plan If you're so advanced, why don't you have elevators- me at Akio So large underground city, small pool, cages 10 people per, aliens, construction equipment Can Tobias communicate with Cassie from where they are? Yeahhhh people volunteering to be controlled by evil alien slugs sounds sadly right. And hey, you get to watch TV Poor Tom. And Rachel is ready to fuck shit up. One alien of each two kinds dead, and a human controller flung somewhere to maybe live? Elephant and Tiger time And Marco is a gorilla Later you would think about this moment WHY WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN TOM'S FREE AND WE'RE SAVING CASSIE RIGHT? Can horses stairs? V3 thinks they're Andalites. Ouch. Also where's Ax? 8 legs and 8 arms with 3 fingered claws, and 8 heads, tall as a tree. Vriska's aliensona Oh good and it shoots fireballs from its mouth Mouths Jesus Marco just twisted a guy in half and his guts spilled out. Alien guy but still Gotta love half morphed elephant ladies with shriveled trunk faces Something happened to the cop, and Cassie won't say what. Hum Tom is captured again. But you all saves One (1) human woman. It's a fucking start kids. And Tobias done fucked up. Wonderful. End Book #1.

Oh cool now I can finally start listening to Morph Club, an Animorph pocast by some cool kids

#animorphs #liveblog #the invasion

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 8 years

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Could you do 1 or 54, please?

Short opinion: Anyone who says that this series became dark over time has clearly not reread the first book in a while.

Long opinion:

While it is true that there are lighter books (#14, #35, #44, #51) and there are darker books (#6, #22, #30, #33, #52) I’m not convinced that the series gets darker as it goes. Sure, the kids become more violent, more competent, and more morally compromised. Yes, the yeerks gradually win the war all the way up through #52 at which point they start losing. No, the protagonists do not grow as people over the course of the story so much as they fall apart as people over the course of the story. However, right from the start K.A. Applegate makes no bones about the fact that this is a war, one in which there will be no nice neat simple answers, so you’d better strap in, kids, because these depictions of trauma are not for the faint of heart.

This book is about its protagonists fighting a major battle which they lose. It contains a scene with Marco extracting a promise from Jake that Jake will kill him before letting him become a controller. It heavily implies that Cassie is the first person on the team to become a murderer, because she doesn’t have another way to stop the controller-cop from telling the other yeerks she was morphing. It features a battle in which the “good guys” suffer casualties (Tobias is trapped in morph; several human hosts get killed) while also accomplishing almost nothing to advance the war effort (they free one human? Maybe?), giving us the sense that Marco was probably right that they should have stayed home. It lovingly describes pieces of Elfangor’s body falling from Visser Three’s jaws so that the hungry taxxons below can devour them.

The series also doesn’t magically become lighter from there. The arc of #2 hinges on the horrifying realization that, as awful as Melissa Chapman’s life has become living with neglectful and emotionally abusive parents, the alternative is infinitely worse because those same parents are allowing their conscious willpower to be destroyed in order to shield her from slavery. #3 builds up to and then graphically describes a scene in which its narrator attempts to commit suicide. Although #4 is lighter overall, it explores the impact Marco’s death would have on everyone from Peter to Cassie. #5 has The Scene With The Ants. So on and so forth. But that’s what makes this series so freaking good: it is always horrifying, it’s always funny, it’s always heartwarming, it’s always tense, and it always features a clever balance of plot and character driving one another forward. K.A. Applegate is a grand master wizard when it comes to emotional flow, one who does far better than most series writers I’ve ever encountered (JKR, Cornelia Funke, Jonathan Stroud, JRRT, Jeff Lindsay: take notes) at imbuing her tragedy with comedy and her comedy with tragedy without ever mocking her characters’ real pain or overdramatizing her more ridiculous plots.

Anyway, this book doesn’t spend any time at all messing around before it launches the characters on their adventure. The narration fulfills the promise on the back of the book (“everyone is in really big trouble. Yeah, even you.”) right from the start by giving us enough details to make the Animorphs’ hometown vivid and individuated while also making it feel like Anywheresville, USA. Jake’s got the most “typical” (according to fiction, anyway) life of anyone on the team: married parents, golden retriever, one sibling, big suburban house, home computer, swingset in the backyard. And it turns out that not only are there aliens invading, there are aliens that have already invaded his house. Jake’s been surrounded on all sides by the war for weeks if not months, and he was just pleasantly clueless enough to avoid realizing that fact until Elfangor came along and woke that boy up. Of course Jake’s apple-pie life is the exception not the rule on this team, but the fact remains that he’s the “everyman” on the team… and he’s also under the most immediate threat of infestation. Jake punches Marco in the head for implying that Tom’s a controller (as Cates mentioned, Jake’s a heck of a lot less practical about the whole aliens-have-your-family bit than Marco is) and we can’t even necessarily blame him—he has the most to lose in this war of anyone on the team. The call knows where he lives; he doesn’t even have the option of refusal.

The plot wastes no time at all in having the kids encounter an alien and end up on the run for their lives, but also gives us tons of characterization along the way. Rachel thinks Jake’s an idiot for thinking he can protect her and Cassie from anything, but agrees to walk home with him and Marco so that Cassie can have a chance to talk to him. Jake really is kind of an idiot, since he’s apparently in the habit of climbing abandoned construction equipment in his spare time. Marco’s a fairly brilliant video game player and all-around more mature than Jake, not that you’d know it from all his irreverent jokes throughout this plot. Jake is adorably baffled by Rachel’s response to Tobias, because he thinks of his cousin as the kind of person who eats men for breakfast and totally fails to consider that maybe she’s got a crush like any other teenager on the planet. Tobias goes from “it’s a flying saucer” to “we find the yeerk pool, and when we do we blow it up and kill every one of those evil slugs” in about .03 seconds flat, and to some extent drags everyone else (especially Marco) into the war kicking and screaming. Cassie’s more than a little starry-eyed at the idea of becoming a horse, and in some ways she’s almost as naive as Jake about where this war is going. (Marco, by contrast, figures it out a lot faster: “You sure this is just the yeerk pool?… I see a guy with horns and a pitchfork and I’m outta here.”)

Given the immediacy and scale of the acute tension here—the planet is being taken over by parasitic aliens!—the chronic tension seems sort of silly. Jake didn’t make the basketball team, boo-hoo. However, he only wanted to make the basketball team so badly because he was hoping it would make Tom want to hang out with him again. Because Tom’s been acting distant toward his whole family recently, to the point where Jake’s parents are mildly concerned. Because Tom’s been wrapped up with this new organization, The Sharing. Because The Sharing seems to have some really strange effects on its “full members”… Because the planet is being taken over by parasitic aliens. I love the subtlety with which everything in Jake’s life comes around. The war has already started reshaping his school, his town, his family, and his whole life, well before he starts turning into animals and killing aliens. This book is scary, because not only is the invasion moving quickly but also because the Animorphs’ early attempts to fight back are like spitting on a forest fire. Anyone could be a controller. None of the other Animorphs know for sure about their own families until #49. These kids can’t even ask their own families and friends for help.

As scary as this book is, it still has room for a lot of wonder. Cassie compares them to ancient warriors tapping mystical animal spirits for help in protecting the Earth. Tobias reacts like every one of us sci fi fans would to finding out that aliens exist. Jake insists that there’s hope for the planet no matter what just as long as the andalites are out there. Right from the moment the Animorphs lose their first battle, both on a personal scale (they don’t save Tom, and lose Tobias) and on a cosmic one (they find out that Visser Three is a lot better at morphing than they are) this series sends the message: buckle up, because it’s going to be a hell of a ride. But as scary as it’s going to be, there’s still space for Marco’s awful driving, Cassie’s wondering fascination with dolphins and horses, Tobias’s crazy eagerness to embrace the bizarre, Rachel’s joyful exploration of her inner elephant, and Jake’s heartbreaking willingness to walk into hell in order to try and protect his big brother.

#asks #answers #animorphs #anonymous #animorphs reviews #the invasion #1 #i'll have to come back to 54

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jwslw · 5 years

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Animorph d20 Modern part2 the Yeerks

I made the Iskoort plants based on an off hand comment from a Reddit forum on how ethical the choice to create them actually was

Yeerk

"Yeerks are parasites. A Yeerk enters a host through the ear canal, flattens itself out on the brain, and takes over completely. The host creature can't scratch an itch unless the Yeerk wants it to. We call a being who has been taken over that way a Controller. You must be thinking the Yeerks are pure evil. But let me tell you what it's like to be a Yeerk who isn't in a host. Yeerks are basically gray slugs. No hands, no legs, no eyes, no ears. If a Yeerk wants to be free, free to really move, free to see the beauty of the world around it, free to hear music or even the sound of rain on leaves, if a Yeerk wants that, it has to have a host. If a Yeerk wants to be free, it has to make another living creature a slave. Not an easy choice, is it?"―Cassie

Species Traits

Creature Type (Ex): Yeerks are considered Outsiders with the Native and Aquatic subtypes.

Blindsight (Ex): Yeerk are blind but can ascertain all creatures and objects within 120 feet by non-visual means, while completely submerged in water or Yeerk pool liquid. Beyond that range or when not submerged, all targets have total concealment with respect to the Yeerk.

Kandrona Dependance (Ex): Yeerks do not require normal sustenance, how ever they must absorb Kandrona radiation from their native star (or suitable artificial source), this radiation must be filtered through a Yeerk Pool (a liquid substance with a similar viscosity and color to syrup), If a Yeerk does not spend at least 1 hour in a Yeerk pool every 72 hours they will begin tosuffer the normal effects of starvation and eventually die. A dead Yeerk will be expelled if currently possessing a host.

Abnormal Weakness (Ex): Maple or Ginger Instant Oatmeal can some how simulate the effects of Kandrona radiation when a Yeerk is possessing a host, however, consuming Plain Instant oatmeal comes with a High addiction chance, and prolonged consumption will cause the Yeerk to permanently fuse with the host's brain, dealing 2d6 points of Intelligence drain to the Yeerk.

Host (Su): If it succeeds at a melee touch attack roll against a restrained or willing living creature at least one size category larger than the Yeerk (and with a minimum Intelligence of 2), it can enter the creature’s body through an exposed orifice (usually the ears). The target gets a Will save (DC 10 + Yeerk's Hit Dice + its Charisma modifier) to keep the Yeerk from entering and taking control of its body. If the save fails or the potential host chooses to willingly fail the save, the Yeerk seizes control of the creature’s body. A remove curse spell can expel a Yeerk from a creature’s body, but the caster must succeed at a level check (1d20 + caster level) or the spell fails (DC 10 + Yeerk's Hit Dice + its Charisma modifier). If the host drops to 0 or fewer hit points, the Yeer inside will typically “emerge” from the host ears, and attempt to flee if possible. While possessing a creature, Yeerks cannot be physically attacked directly, however they are still subject to effects such as falling damage and some FX effects. If a Yeerk takes a non-sentient (Int 2) Host, it must make a Will save each day it remains in the host or suffer 1d4 points of temporary cha damage, if the Yeerks Cha is reduced to 0 it is expelled from the host, the Charisma damage will only restore at the normal rate if it takes a sentient host.

Combined Challenge Rating: The Challenge Rating of a Yeerk with a host is equal to the host’s Challenge Rating +1.

Host Protection (Ex): An attached Yeerk uses its host’s base saving throw bonuses if they’re better than its own. Effects that target Outsiders can’t affect a Yeerk possessing a non-outsider host.

Immunities: Yeerks are immune to mind-influencing effects. This ability is conferred upon the puppeteer’s host as well.

Resistance to Massive Damage(Ex): Like Vermin Yeerk gain a +5 species bonus on Fortitude saves to negate the effects of massive damage. This ability does not benefit the host.

Shared abilities: The Yeerk retains its skills and feats when it takes a host (Except Hide and Swim), and also has access to all Skills, Feats, Special Qualities and Talents available to the host. If both the Yeerk and Host share a skill, the Yeerk may use which ever skill has the higher value with a +2 circumstance bonus.

Typical Yeerk CR. Tiny Outsider (Aquatic, Native) HD:3d8-9.HP4. Mas5. Init:+4. Spd: 5ft, swim20ft. Defense:17, Touch16, FF13(+2size, +4dex,+1Nat). Bab+3. Grapl-8. Atk/Full Atk:+2melee touch(None, initiates Host). FS:2.5ftx2.5ft. R:0ft. SQ: Outsider, Aquatic, Blindsight, Kandrona Dependance, Abnormal Weakness, Host, Host Protection, Immunities, Resistance to Massive Damage, Shared abilities. AL:.Sv Frt+0,Ref+7,Wil+3. AP:0. Rep+0. Str5, Dex18, Con5, Int14, Wis11, Cha14.

Skills: Bluff+7, Drive+9, Hide+12*, Intimidate+7, Listen+2, Pilot+9, Read/Write/Speak (Yeerk), Sense Motive+5, Spot+2, Swim+5*

Feats: Alertness, Simple Weapons Proficiency

Advancement: None

*Does not benefit from Shared abilities

Gedd

"Over time, the Gedds evolved. They were a sort of... like a monkey, I suppose. We were in the Gedds till the Andalites first came. Some of our people still have nothing better than Gedds for hosts."―Temrash 114 to Jake

Species Traits

Humanoid type: Gedds are considered humanoids with the Gedd subtype.

Bumbling (Ex): Gedds suffer a -2 species penalties to all Strength and dexterity based skills.

Gedd CR1/2. Small Humanoid (Gedd) HD:2d8. HP9. Mas11. Init:+2. Spd 20ft. Defense:15, Touch13,FF13(+1size, +2dex,+2Nat). Bab+1. Grapl-4. Atk/Full Atk:+melee(1d3-1 bite) or +ranged (1d4-1 RI;10ft, thrown rock). FS:5ftx5ft. R:5ft. SQ: Bumbling. AL: Tribe or Yeerk Empire. Sv Frt+0, Ref+2,Wil+3. AP. Rep+.Str9, Dex14, Con11, Int6, Wis7, Cha6.

Skills: Climb-2, Hide+4, Listen+0, Speak (tribal dialect), Spot+0.

Feats: Simple Weapons Proficiency, Weapon Focus (Bite)

Possessions: None

Advancement 3-4HD (Small)

Vanarx

"Where the Andalite head had been, there was now a long, thick tube. There was an opening like some horrible mouth at the end of the tube. The thing was purple, but translucent. You could almost see through it, although I wasn't sure if that was because it was a hologram, or if the animal itself was that way. The hologram Visser lowered the tube-mouth toward Chapman's head. The mouth opened, revealing hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny suckers, each dripping slime."―Rachel

Species Traits

Magical Beast (Ex): Vanarx have all traits common to magical beast.

Darkvision: Vanarx have Darkvision out to a range of 60ft

Scent (Ex): This ability allows a Vanarx to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. It can also identify a Yeerk controller within 30ft.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a Vanarx must hit an opponent of its size or smaller with both claw attacks. If it gets a hold, it may initiate a grapple attempt as a free action. If the grapple check succeeds it will attempt to draw the Yeerk out of a target on the next round

Feed (Su): A Vanarx that begins the turn with a grappled Yeerk controller, it may attempt to draw out the Yeerk and devour it as a full round action. The Vanarx makes a Grapple check opposed by the Yeerk's Will save, if the save fails, the Yeerk is drawn out and consumed by the Vanarx, if the Will save succeeds the Yerk may make a grapple attempt, on a success break free, on a failure, they are still grappled and the Vanarx can attempt to draw out the Yeerk again on the next round.

Vanarx CR3. Medium Magical Beast HD:3d10+9. HP25. Mas17. Init:+2. Spd 60ft. Defense:,Touch,FF(+2dex,+5Nat). Bab+3. Grapl+7. Atk:+7melee(1d3+4 claw). Full Atk:+2melee(1d3+4, 2 claws). FS:5ftx5ft. R:5ft. SQ: Magical Beast traits, Scent, Improved Grab, Feed. AL: None or Pack. Sv Frt+6, Ref+5,Wil+2. AP: N/A. Rep+0. Str19, Dex15, Con17, Int2, Wis12, Cha10.

Skills: Hide+11, Jump+13, Listen+11, Spot+11, Survival+9.

Feats: None

Advancement: 5-8HD(large), 9-12HD(huge)

Iskoort

"The Isk were true symbiotes. The Isk cannot live without the Yoort. And to ensure that this symbiosis would be real, the Yoort, too, were modified. Now Yoort cannot live without Isk and Isk cannot live without Yoort. They are one creature with two parts." "Oh, my God. Of course. It's the way. The only way. Parasite becomes symbiote. No more infestation. They create the next step in their own evolution and become true symbiotes." "No more war. No more need to conquer new species, to infest and enslave." "The Yeerksdon't know about this. Even the Yeerks who want peace cannot imagine a way out, a way to end the cycle of conquest.""These Yoort could be related to the Yeerks. They may be the same species, somehow separated long ago, perhaps carried from the Yeerk home worldby some forgotten race."―Guide, Cassie, Erek King and Ax

Culture

The Iskoort are a strange, capitalistic race that deal in a variety of goods in services. To manage all these aspects of trade, they are divided into castes which are organized into guilds, each created to monitor and handle a specific service.

Guild of Traders

Criminal Guild

Warmaker Guild

Servant Guild

Shopper Guild

Worker Guild

News, Gossip, and Speculation Guild

Superstition and Magic Guild

Species Traits

Plant Type: Iskoorts have all traits common to plants.

Low-light vision (Ex): Iskoort can see twice as far as humans in poor light conditions

Bonus Feats: An Iskoort's bonus Hit dice grant it feats like an Outsider

Skills: An Iskoort's bonus Hit dice grant it Skill points like an Outsider

Kandrona Dependance (Ex): Like their probable Yeerk cousins, every 72 hours a Iskoort must seperate into its component Isk and Yoort parts so that the Yoort may absorb Kandrona radiation, while separated the Isk loses access to all skills and feats and its mental abilities change to (Int---, Wis11, Cha1), While outside of its assigned Isk, a Yoort is statistically identical to a Yeerk. If prevented from absorbing Kandrona radiation for more than 72 hours, a Yoort will begin starving and eventually die, if a Isk remains separated from a Yoort for more than 24 hours it will suffer 1 point of Con damage every hour until it is re connected or reduced to 0 Con (at which point it dies).

Iskoort CR6. Medium Plant HD:5d8+15. HP37. Mas16. Init:-1. Spd 20ft. Defense:19, Touch9, FF19(-1dex,+10Nat). Bab+3. Grapl+7. Atk: +7melee(1d6+4 slam) or +2ranged. Full Atk:+1melee(1d6+4, 2 slams). FS:5ftx5ft. R:5ft. SQ: Plant traits, Low-light vision, Kandrona Dependance. AL: Yoort Empire. Sv Frt+7, Ref+0, Wil+1. AP: N/A. Rep+0. Str18, Dex9, Con16, Int14, Wis11, Cha14.

Skills: Bluff+7, Drive+4, Hide+4, Intimidate+7, Listen+7, Pilot+4, Read/Write/Speak (Yoort), Sense Motive+5, Spot+7, Swim+9

Feats: Alertness, Simple Weapons Proficiency

Possessions: Various gear and personal possessions.

Advancement: By Character class

#dnd #homebrew #Aliens #scholastic

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