#and andalite-controllers

[ramonahblog]

I never got the Animorphs books going “andalites are impossible to sneak up” when they describe the eyes as two where you would expect on a human and two moveable stalk eyes. Unless they conveniently forgot to mention the two human-looking eyes can see in opposite directions at once.  But going by their actual description, there’s at least always one direction the andalite can never see. The only way they could do all four directions if they had eyes like cows or goats or horses or sheep or any herd animal. The face-eyes would see left and right at the same time, one stalk-eye forward and one stalk-eye backward would equal impossible to sneak up on when awake.  But as they have it - two human-positioned eyes (one direction), two moveable stalk-eyes (two positions)...That only equals three positions covered at once. Potentially difficult depending on your sneaking levels but not impossible. 

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Hi, here's an easy question for you that I can't find online for some reason. How exactly was Alloran enslaved? Every wiki article seems to gloss over this and it's been far too long since I've read the books to remember.

Also, what's your take on it? I remember always feeling vaguely disappointed because I couldn't figure how a yeerk would overpower an andalite, but do you think it works within the narrative, or is it just kind of a plot device to create The Abomination?

Compared to how things go down with Alloran, I think Aldrea's dramatic capture in Hork-Bajir Chronicles is way cooler. Esplin 9466 being ecstatic about finally being inside an andalite mind, only to have his abandoned host body attack him and rescue Aldrea, is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

But yeah, how it happens with Alloran (Andalite Chronicles p. 174 - 180) is deliberately obscured. Elfangor brings Esplin 9466 onboard the Jahar as a hostage, inside a hork-bajir. He gets distracted driving the ship, but returns to that hork-bajir to toss him out the door. Alloran tells Elfangor to flush the Pool ship, killing 1000s of defenseless yeerks. Elfangor refuses. They argue. They're interrupted "Chapman" punching Alloran and knocking him over/out. Elfangor thanks Chapman and starts to fly the Jahar back to get the Time Matrix, only to be shot at by "Loren."

At that point Elfangor realizes Chapman, Loren, and Alloran are all controllers — Chapman put yeerks in his own and Loren's heads as part of his bargain, and Esplin 9644 escaped his hork-bajir host, into the body that "Chapman" conveniently placed ear-down on the ground for him. Elfangor realizes he can't win against three controllers. He dumps Alloran/Esplin on the planet and flies off with the two humans locked in a back room to starve out their yeerks.

[church-of-crayak]

got really into the idea of miku being an andalite text-to-thoughtspeak software mascot!! here is a deeply y2k andalite hatsune miku

[saxophone-siphonophore]

I've been getting into the Animorphs series and every book is like this.

[gretchensinister]

So the yeerks, at a basic level, are motivated to infest other species in order to gain access to better senses and have mobility outside the yeerk pools. They're parasites and that's how they work.

Now, it's wrong for them to enslave species such as humans, hork-bajir, andalites, taxxons, etc.

But I also think it would be wrong to consider morphing technology as a solution (that is, having yeerks go permanent morph as a different species to have senses and mobility). That would essentially be telling yeerks to voluntarily have their species go extinct because it sucks, and that's questionable to say the least.

So my question is, are there any species on Earth that would be suitable as an alternative yeerk host? Like is there any species that the able-to-talk-to-each-other species would be cool with yeerks generally infesting? The animal would have to be one with a large enough brain for the yeerk to live, and there would have to be lots of them/potential for lots of them, and also able to communicate with the other talk-to-each-other species in some way.

Would, like...racoons work for this? Would we be cool with racoons being controlled by intelligent brain slugs? Are racoons big enough? As for communication I think racoons have hands/arms that are capable of sign language so that's just an ordinary translation issue.

[cluelessrebel1988]

If I Ran The Zoo (or how I would plot out an Animorphs TV/streaming series if I had the time/ability/resources)

So this is something I've been kicking around in my head on-again, off-again for a couple years now, and I thought I'd put it out there, just for the lols (do people still say that?)

My thought process is for a 5 season arc, with each season being somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-15 episodes long, give or take. There would be a few changes with the order of things, and a few minor characters would play a bigger role. I'm not going to go episode by episode, but just sort of outline the big arcs for each season. I'm not in any way suggesting that this is the best way to do it, just that this is how I would do it.

Season 1

This season obviously would start the events of The Invasion and would primarily incorporate events/plot points from the first 10 books, including finding Ax in his crashed ship (though I would move that to either take place in the first episode, or in the second half of the two-part premiere), Tobais getting stuck in his hawk form (and getting an episode or two dedicated to him coming to terms with that), and introducing Erik and the Chee (Erik would be introduced as a friend of Marco's early in the season, with his identity as a Chee being revealed in the second half of the season).

The only major plot point from that run of the series I wouldn't put into play just yet is the reveal of Marco's mother as Visser One (although I would be very much establishing her through flashbacks, dreams, etc., so people will recognize her when Visser One does show up).

The main arc of the season would involve the Kandrona Ray and the events of The Stranger, with the team meeting the Ellimist and learning about the ray and its significance and plotting to take it down to try to end/expose the invasion. Erik and Ax tagteam providing info about the ray and its use, but it's the vision from the Ellimist that gives Rachel the final clue, again, as in the book, with that occuring at the end of the penultimate episode. The season finale is solely focused on devising and executing the plan to destroy the ray. The plan would succeed, which would prompt Visser One's return, revealing her host to be Marco's mother as the cliffhanger for the season.

Obviously, we would be exploring the kid's home lives more, with the relationship with their families and friends and the whole 'work-life balance' thing that comes with fighting a guerilla war against an alien invasion. Not to the point where they're having to fake illnesses to skip school every episode, but enough to show that it's putting a strain on their relationships. I would also explore Rachel's relationship with Melissa Chapman more and have Melissa be a bigger supporting character in the show. We'd also introduce Karen and Aftran in this season, revealing her to be a controller early on, but something that Cassie doesn't find out until the end of the season

Season 2

Season 2 would pick up a few weeks after season 1, as The Alien did with The Stranger. The kids learn that their hope that the invasion would reveal itself with the Kandrona ray destroyed were in vain and that Ax knew that. The premiere would largely follow the plot of that book, with the Animorphs attempting to integrate Ax into society and attempting to take the fight to Visser Three with the help of a Yeerk traitor, and Ax telling the others about the Law of Seerow's Kindness. Ax would get a lot of development this season, with the events of The Deception coming into play.

Tobias would help free the Hork-Bajir as in The Change and get his human form back as a morph, and the reveal that he is Elfangor's son would be included in this season as well (Obviously we're tapping into the Andalite Chronicles for flashbacks in at least one episode this season to help set that up).

Marco's main character arc would revolve around learning that his mother is Visser One, keeping it a secret, only to have the others find out later, thus incorporating The Predator and The Escape. Also Visser One is the big bad for the season, delving more into her conflict with Visser Three. The season would end with her supposed death following the Animorphs' thwarting of her plans

For Cassie, we cover the utilize adapted versions of The Departure and set up for The Sickness, with Karen/Aftran and Cassie perhaps getting trapped somewhere and forced to work together to get out of it, laying the groundwork for Aftran to be captured by Visser Three. The season finale would also center around the efforts to rescue Aftran.

Jake and Rachel will have arcs and roles to play in each of these stories as they each start to fall into their respective roles as leader and fighter, respectively. If they get their own arc, it would be around trying to save Tom specifically.

Additionally, Melissa is still around in her expanded role, but with a new friend: David, who would be introduced fairly early in the season in a recurring role (Melissa is also recurring at this point). She and David will have a B-plot where they become friends and are together when David finds the morphing cube, the discovery of which also occurs in the finale.

Season 3

Obviously, the primary source for the main arc of season 3 is the David Trilogy, with The Discovery in particular serving as the source for the season premiere. It plays out mostly the same, with the Animorphs learning that David and Melissa have the cube and plans to sell it online. They try to retrieve the cube before the two of them can attract the attention of the Yeerks, but ultimately fail, leading to the battle at David's house. They manage to get Melissa and David out of the house before they can be captured, and are forced to reveal themselves and tell them what's happening, essentially recruiting them into the Animorphs.

The events of the rest of the trilogy, with the threat to the UN summit or some similar event involving world leaders as a target that they have to keep the Yeerks from taking advantage of -- as well as with David and Melissa's reactions to being Animorphs -- would take up the majority of the plot this season. Obviously Melissa becoming an Animorph opens up some new potential for her arc, especially around her relationship with her dad and trying to come to terms with him being a controller (and the fact that Rachel has been keeping this a secret all along). She and David would have similar arcs around their parents being controllers, but while David ultimately turns against the Animorphs, Melissa does not (although David tries to convince her to). The season ends with the gang trapping David in a rat morph, as the books do.

One of Melissa's major character traits is her interest in technology, something she used to bond with her father over (working together to take things apart and then put them back together before be became a Controller to try to keep her safe) and I imagine her and Ax developing something of an awkward friendship as she tries to ask him about the morphing technology and other Andalite technology, with him being reluctant to share due to the Law of Seerow's Kindness. But, as he's grown closer with the Animorphs, he would eventually acquiesce and they would begin to bond. The two big relationships (Rachel and Tobias, and Cassie and Jake) also take major steps this season

The other major arc for the season involves other Andalites, incorporating The Arrival and The Other, with the reveal that other Andalites are on earth and some are there to help...or are they? The season would also end with Tobias getting captured by the Yeerks to begin the laying of the groundwork for the discovery that the Animorphs are not, in fact, Andalite bandits.

Season 4

The events of The Illusion and The Test would be adapted for the season premiere, including the introduction of the Yeerk resistance (led in this series by Karen/Aftran) and Tobias's capture and torture, with the main difference being that it is Tom (who has largely been a secondary or tertiary villain thus far) being the one who conducts the torture. During the interrogation, Tobias lets something slip that most of the controllers in the room don't pick up on, but Tom does, leading him to investigate and setting up for the finale, which would be largely and adaptation of The Diversion, with the race against time to save their families taking up the majority of the episode. Melissa is able to save her parents, her father proving to be an asset in the final season with his knowledge of how Yeerk technology works.

This season as a whole would focus on escalating the war between the Animorphs and the Yeerks. The stakes become higher, as are tensions following David's betrayal. Visser One returns, learning that Marco is one of the Animorphs and we incorporate the events of Visser, seeing the Animorphs rescue her.

Following Tobias's capture and torture, Rachel becomes more angry and vengeful, setting up for her arc over the final season (we've seen hints of her violent streak over the series up to this point, but it gets more intense this season).

Season 5

With their secret out, the Animorphs regroup in the Hork-Bajir valley and try to figure out their next move. The final arc of the series would play out largely how it does over the course of the final books, with the team recruiting more Animorphs to help them with their mission, and even trying to recruit government and military officials to aid in the fight. Tom gets the morphing cube, adding controllers with the ability to morph (other than the newly appointed Visser One) to the threat against the Animorphs. The final battle would be a multi-pronged attack, with the bombing of the Yeerk Pool being part of the final assault and not a separate battle.

Rachel gets aboard the blade ship and kills Tom before being killed herself. In an effort to make up for the harm he caused, Hedrick Chapman sacrifices himself to both ensure the Yeerk Pool bomb goes off and to save Melissa one final time (the pair of them were in charge of building/detonating it, along with Ax), and Jake orders the flushing of the Yeerk Pool on the the Pool ship, alienating Erek and the rest of the Chee going forward. All of this is in the penultimate episode.

The series finale follows the aftermath of the war in The Beginning, and, as the books did, the series would end with Jake, Tobias, and Marco (and probably Melissa) being recruited to help save Ax from an as-yet unknown threat.

And there you have it, my outline for how an Animorphs series could/should play out. As I said at the start, this is just my idea and others might have different thoughts about what order the arcs should go in and what significant changes (if any) would be made. Please be kind with any criticisms, and if you'd like to share your thoughts with me, my inbox is open. I also did a fancast for the series a few years ago if anyone's curious about who would play who

[morphseagull]

me crying on the floor watching elfangor’s usual jaded cadence emerge from his child narration after (massive animorphs 12.5 the andalite chronicles spoilers) causing his war prince to become the first andalite controller through his entirely preventable actions. that’s it. there’s our boy. I’ll never be the same again

[sarifel-corrisafid-ilxhel]

I am now thinking more about the Jurassic Park/World - Animorphs crossover AU (Dinomorphs?). It has stuck in my head like a bad song and I can't get it out.

InGen and any of the other companies involved with making the dinosaurs would be taken over by the Yeerks almost as soon as the Yeerks arrive. These companies have biological engineering capabilities approaching the level of the Arn, but on a much better planet. The Yeerks would be salivating over that.

Following on from this: Hybrid dinosaurs like the Indo-series Rex and Raptor or the Stegoceratops from the video games are probably Yeerk projects. The Yeerks are looking for ways to create more shock troops to unleash on the Andalites.

Similarly, we could expect to see even more interesting hybrids involving alien DNA. Velocihorks and Pterotaxxons and Geddosaurs. I imagine most of these hybrid projects would be failures that illustrate the depravity and utter inhumanity of the Yeerks, like the failed Aquatic Hork-Bajir project.

Dinosaur-controllers, mostly with medium-sized dinosaurs that can function as guards or shock-troops but aren't too big to fit inside of Yeerk ships. As much as Visser Three would love to have Tyrannosaur-Controllers on the payroll, they're just too big and their arms too tiny to be useful to the Empire on a day to day basis. (I imagine this is the same reason the Yeerks can't deploy the giant monsters on the Hork-Bajir homeworld to other planets - their spaceships just can't hold the critters, there's not enough room.)

Visser Three, of course, would have all the big dinosaur morphs. He can bypass the "too big to fit" limitation thanks to Alloran's morphing ability.

Because the Yeerks have to use smaller dinosaurs in their ships and Yeerk Pools, the Animorphs could still use their regular battle morphs (or in Ax's case, his normal Andalite body) for a lot of the fighting, if they aren't able to acquire dinosaurs themselves. And if Visser Three turns into something too big for them to handle, they can do what they usually do and run.

If the dinosaurs have escaped into the wild before the Animorphs get into the war, then smaller dinosaur morphs could be acquired at Cassie's barn.

Following on from the last point - if Cassie has any mid-size theropods at the Barn, or if there are any at The Gardens, then Tobias definitely gets stuck as one of those instead of a hawk.

How would the chimeric DNA of the dinosaurs affect morphing allergies? What if Rachel burps up a Baryonyx or an Ankylosaurus because it has the part of the crocodile DNA that she's allergic to in it? Is this how we find out Jake is allergic to Tree Frog DNA?

Toby and the Free Hork-Bajir adopt a dinosaur early on. I don't know what kind yet.

[kooldewd123]

this scene really stuck out to me in book 6. ax and jake agree not to kill a human-controller since he might have family, and then less than two pages later jake decides to boil a hundred yeerks alive without hesitation, offering them none of the same consideration. he's been fighting this war for, what, a month or two by now and he's already so cold-blooded? elfangor couldn't bring himself to kill yeerk prisoners in the andalite chronicles and he had been training for years by that point. so early into the series, and our heroes are already more ruthless than the famed war-prince who set them on this path.

[tomberensonsghost]

> be me

> controller

> andalites attack

> destruction site (ha ha)

> get sqaurshed flat from the ribs down by falling debris

> yeerk evacuates

> not a controller any more but now flat stanley

> preparing to die

> tiger appears!

> would normally shit my pants but I no longer have intestines

> reach out hand

> pet big kitty

> die happy

[ellimisms]

Concept: D&D homebrew oneshot based off Animorphs where you each play as one of the main characters of the Animorphs series.

The morphing system would be a modified Wild Shape mechanic, altered to two ends: first, to better fit the book's lore, and second, to make class factor into it more so each character is more unique. Probably each character would be able to use some of their class actions (just for an example, Action Surge for fighters or Rage for barbarians) while in morph, and morphing would restore hit points to 100%.

There would be a skill check associated with morphing--it'd be a Wisdom-based skill that you could gain proficiency in. Roll at advantage when using a familiar morph or becoming another human, disadvantage for things you're scared of or morphing while badly injured. Do a morphing check whenever you're in a new morph for the first time to see if you can get control of it; the actual number to beat is up to the GM based on what the animal is.

Also there would have to be some sort of mechanic to prevent TPKs--the main crew has a LOT of plot armor in the books because they can't die (until the end), so there'd need to be something to keep the PCs alive. Maybe if you "die" you don't actually perish, but instead something very bad happens to the party (you get infested, maybe?)

Infestation would be another new mechanic, though a pretty simple one; if a PC gets infested, the GM just starts controlling that character as the yeerk. The player can try to interrupt what the yeerk's doing, but has to roll a nat 20 with disadvantage (no bonuses from skill proficiencies)--it's supposed to be nearly impossible in the books so that's fairly lore-consistent.

In terms of the actual characters you can play:

Jake: Fighter, probably Battle Master subclass as that's more strategically focused. Not much else to say to be honest--I think he'd be proficient in persuasion, since he's supposed to be a good leader.

Marco: Rogue, maybe? Frankly his strengths don't match up with a specific class--maybe multiclass rogue/bard or fighter/bard because I know for a FACT he can and does cast vicious mockery.

Rachel: Barbarian for SURE, probably the Berserker subclass though I find the idea of her being a Wildheart pretty funny and thematically accurate.

Cassie: Probably a Druid or Beast Master ranger--I'm not sure where I stand on allowing caster classes since that doesn't exist in the real world but neither does morphing. Which one she is just depends on that.

Tobias: Who even KNOWS with this guy. Since he's stuck in morph it matters less, but I'd actually go with warlock--his patron is the Ellimist, since he's the one who seems to be able to argue with the Ellimist the most. It's either that or sorcerer, but he doesn't really gain any powers from his andalite bloodline so that seems less accurate.

Ax: Fighter, but it'd be different because he is an andalite. Just off the top of my head I'd make him be able to deal slashing damage on an unarmed attack (maybe just make his unarmed attack count as a sword attack) and increase his movement speed.

A group could also choose to discard these characters and play as a bunch of original characters if they so chose.

Anyways I'm probably the only person in the world that cares enough about both Animorphs and D&D to create this but oh well have fun.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

How would things change if the time limits switched? Yeerks need kadrona every two hours (so way more portable generators or have them installed in yeerk run building bathrooms maybe? ) But the Animorphs can stay in morph for up to three days (way more surveillance opportunities/longer battles...)

I think that in a world where yeerks need kandrona every two hours, the invasion can't happen like in canon. We know a kandrona generator is "the size of a small car" and that yeerk pools don't work without it (#7). The yeerks might have to take a few decades and improve kandrona technology (i.e. #41) and then invade Earth, because an invasion would be too risky without that tech.

That said, the yeerks are fleeing the andalites as much as they are colonizing planets — the andalites control their homeworld, part of why they're stealing everyone else's. So maybe the yeerks try to make do, for lack of time. Probably they'd equip humans with thermoses of kandrona à la AniTV, and then help controllers create excuses to slip out every two hours. The thermoses might have to be refilled often, but there's a system for that in canon.

However, as anyone who's ever raised an infant can tell you, humans do not function well if their sleep is constantly interrupted every two hours. So lots of tired/confused controllers. And all kinds of other issues — work shifts with an "on" component, long tests, driving really far, needing a security team 24/7, being in hospital, etc. It'd preclude taking most important people as hosts, including anyone who regularly flies on airplanes. Animorphs can go for weeks without morphing, and can pop briefly out of morph in a pinch (even underwater and in the yeerk pool as needed). Yeerks literally die without kandrona, and they can't leave their hosts unattended for even a second; Mr. Pardue gets like 10 seconds of freedom in #8 makes a huge mess.

Ergo, I don't think they could pull off an invasion. There are too many humans with too much weaponry to launch an open attack from Day 1, but a quiet attack won't be able to get those with social power. And it'd run up against a thousand instances of (for instance) Jean and Steve taking Tom to deprogramming therapy because he hasn't been sleeping and has been carrying a thermos everywhere for weeks so clearly SOMETHING is wrong. So the yeerks are already quite underpowered, before we touch the issue of the andalites being wildly overpowered in this universe.

[auntphibian]

I'm reading The Animorphs and it's SUCH a sad book series.

Spoilers below.

In The Departure, one of the animorphs is done fighting the war. She's gone numb and wants out. Well as she decides this she get's followed by a human girl (pictured above) that is being controlled by a Yeerk. Through some occurances they end up lost in the woods together. The girl controlled by the Yeerk is injured and the yeerk outside her host would just be a normal slug looking creature. The animorph girl helps get them back to civilization dispite the fact this yeerk living would mean the animorph's identities are revealed. The animorph girl tries to befriend the yeerk and kinda succeeds. We learn yeerks just want to experience the good things in life, like nature and bright colors. But to do that they must take a host. The yeerk compares this to humans eating domesticated animals but according to the yeerk their hosts atleast get to live. The yeerk describes earth as paradise so why wouldn't they want to experience it. However taking a host enslaves the host so both the animorphs and the Andalites (aliens that made the animorphs the animorphs) arevtrying to stop the yeerks. At this point the yeerks can only keep expanding or return to a mud pit home to live their exsistance as sightless lowly slugs. The Andalites won't let them have a middle ground since the Andalites gave them the ability to get off their mud planet.

The book ends with the yeerk telling the animorph she'll forever live her life as a sightless lowly slug if the animorph girl does the same, handing her a catapillar. She morphs into the bug and stays there long enough that she could never return to human. When the other animorphs find them the yeerk girl is holding the bug on a leaf crying, saying she told her last minute to morph back but she didn't listen. The yeerk promises to forever live in the mud puddle yeerks come from, never taking a host again.

Ultinately the animorph turns into a butterfly which allows her to morph back, but the book messed me up man. I just spent the last 19 books hating these things now I feel bad for them.

[denzartriste]

MY FAVOURITES!!!! THEM!!! THEY ARE THE FIRST I DREW AND THE BEST ONES!!

Fundy's text: Fundy (animorpher), still can't control instincts very well, half morphs into a fox at work, Who needs testosterone when you have fur, [notes to myself: This under half+fluff, this bang shape]. Pin saying "this man hates purple."

Purple's text: Purpled (alien), Species physically adapts very quick. Very suited for combat+camouflage, Knife in pocket, Purple parts in hair are antennas, very few of them alive at a time (used to be much more). Skin cannot be broken or harmed - it acts as an armour and can be peeled at knuckles+chest. Dies and is reborn every 5-10 years to strenghen protected skin <- takes a couple of months to fully relearn english. How skin peels - antenna's are not skin and can't be peeled - They can be damaged normally though. [he also has a pin on his bag that says "This bitch loves purple", a joke gift from tommy]

Charlie my BOY I LOVE HIM (Quackity's also here i guess /silly)

Quackity: Quackity (guy), Just some guy, bit of a dumbass, Gets preformative/dramatic when feeling any sort of negative emotion. Hides hair in beanie [note: I'm canadian i say tuque i wrote tuque at first but then i decided to conform pensive face /j] - glass eye+gold teeth -Fancy fucking shoe haver

Charlie: Charlie (guy...?), Mimics people to look more "human" <- the world is his moodboard! Gooby goo! Zoopkeeper mainly. "Normal self", Socks+ sandal inspo from Fundy, Eye accessory from Sam, nose like Foolish's, Hair from Q, Hoodie inspo from Purpled+Fundy. Sad edition (ft. hoodie), Totally real Big Q

Sam's design is so much of a work in progress you dont understand im hindered by the skill im at i cannot draw his body. I just gave him a fucking cloak, anyway-

Sam: Sam (Hork-Bajir), Janitor+Tech guy, former controller (he got better)(and is on the run), Purpled+Fundy think he's currently a controller (previously Foolish too), Eyes on sides of his head, Herbavour, [arrow pointing towards flat teeth] ?maybe, Body/posture, Blade like body (farming scythe specifically), Cloak to hide body, leaning forward on arms, gas mask constantly letting out smoke

Foolish: Foolish (Andalite), Complains about his body - Fundy just thinks he's trans, Doesn't understand fashion but he tries! (Fundy just think's he's trans), Had a book 6 plot w/ Sam, Uses stalk eyes to keep an eye on dangers, About to trip

Pardon me for all the text lmao i just wanted to make sure people understood the notes. Gonna talk more about them in the reblog :]

[halogenwarrior]

I posted this as a reply to someone else's post but I want to make it its own post because the original didn't get any likes or reflags, maybe because it didn't show up in the tags.

My take on the hate for Cassie Animorphs that you see a lot is that the perception is that Cassie makes decisions that are questionable or flawed but always turns out to be right in the end because of author fiat/favoritism, which I don't think is accurate when you analyze things deeply though I can see why people say so.

The thing is, how it usually works when the Animorphs are having an argument about morality is that the "failure mode" (the consequences of the action if it doesn't work out) of Cassie's suggestion or decision is that the war is completely lost and all of humanity is enslaved or killed by the Andalites, while the "success mode" is that a small amount of beings are saved and/or there will be a long-term ripple effect that leads to benefits for a lot of beings, both in terms of making the war more winnable and benefits that extent outside the war entirely. For example, letting Tom have the blue box would have led to the loss of the war if the gamble didn't pay off, and does have negative consequences for the war that could have easily led to them losing, but its positive impact is in both Yeerk and Taxxon defectors helping the Animorphs in the war and in, from a "humanitarian" perspective, Yeerks and Taxxons being offered a better choice besides war and conquest or the personal consequences of having to live in their standard bodies.

Meanwhile the "failure mode" of following the plan of someone like Marco can also sometimes be that the Animorphs will just lose the war, or sometimes that they will be back where they started (which is still a difficult and hopeless position with the Yeerks' greater numbers and more advanced technology), while the "success mode" is that they get that much closer to winning the war, such that if they continually forego opportunities like this they will have no chances of winning at all.

And for this reason, it is true that generally, when the others decide to go with Cassie's decision despite those risks, or Cassie acts on her beliefs anyway without the permission of the others, she turns out to be right and they don't all get killed or become Controllers. The plot armor and narrative conventions that they can't have the main characters just lose there, which is usually what will happen if they listen to Cassie and she is wrong. BUT the narrative shows the balance between Cassie's perspective and someone like Marco's both having their places in a different way; by showing the situations where the others don't go through with Cassie's plan, and Cassie is unable or unwilling to do her own thing or sabotage them. Such as blowing up the Yeerk pool in #52, which she explicitly opposes morally. But the others don't agree with Cassie and do it anyway, and it works, and it's clear they would have just lost the war there if they had sided with Cassie. Due to the restraints of the narrative, Cassie being wrong is usually indicated not by the others listening to Cassie or failing to stop her from taking action and her failing, but of them doing the opposite of what Cassie wants and succeeding. It's not as flashy and obvious, the other Animorphs don't sit there and say "wow we are so glad we didn't listen to Cassie or we would all be dead and humanity would be enslaved, isn't she dumb", but it's clear from the consequences of the narrative that she was wrong in that case.

The only exception where they were able to illustrate Cassie being wrong in the opposite way, where they take her side and do what Cassie wants and it's wrong, is with regards to throwing away the device to reprogram the Chee (initially what Cassie wanted and the others did not). This leads to consequences in the last book where it forces Jake to get the Chee's participation by threats and force instead, leading directly to Rachel and Tom's death and the escape of Tom's ship. And this comes down to the consequences happening in the last book of the series, meaning that while it doesn't lose them the war the narrative isn't as restricted to keeping all the main characters alive that it can't demonstrate permanent consequences to following Cassie's idea. But in other cases, Cassie isn't always right but her being wrong is demonstrated by the implications of what would have happened if they listened to her rather than what did happen when they did.

Overall I think her character is treated in a pretty balanced way between her perspective being right and wrong, although the narrative framing (out of necessity due to having to write within the constraints of not having the main characters lose and be killed/enslaved) drawing more attention to the times when she is right makes it look otherwise!

[tunashei]

First Impressions of Animorphs!

I'm listening to the Animorphs series while I work, through Animorphs Aloud - a fan made reading of the series. Here are my first impressions/random thoughts about them! Spoilers below if you haven't read them.

Book 12.5: The Andalite Chronicles (Part 1)

Elfangor POV! Wasn't expecting that. And he's been on Earth before, and maybe did time travel, and created Visser Three? I am intrigued, and looking forward to more Andalite lore

So far young Elfangor seems a little stuck up and superior, and yet not all that talented which is a surprise. Quite realistically immature

Voted to allow more children...so Anadalites have some form of strict population control. Interesting

New alien! Skirt Na. Their life cycle is pretty neat with having two different forms, although there's little description to work off for the Na. Based on their behaviour I think we can blame them for all the alien abduction stories on Earth

Case in point, two abducted humans! The voice acting for Loren makes her sound slightly flirtatious with Elfangor

I love that humans not having tails is a big deal to alien life. You know how in some sci-fi shows, all aliens are just humans with slightly different features? And often, humans are the most average, boring, nothing special about them of all the races? I like that it's not the case here. Humans are the weird ones for walking on two legs, unlike every other sapient species

Chapman?? Ok uh. Chapman origin story I guess. Gonna have a hard time imagining him as a kid and not a middle aged man

PFFF when your guest comes to your house and starts ripping their own foot off o-o I really love the alien Andalite perspective

Alloran...THAT'S VISSER THREE'S ANDALITE. Right?? It makes sense he'd turn up since Elfangor said in the beginning he created Visser Three. I am very curious how it will transpire, and quite excited to learn more about Alloran

Chapman doesn't read well as an actual person, he's like laughably evil and talks like a bully from some Disney show

IS Loren flirting with Elfangor?? Unusual tastes girl. But I won't judge

A time machine is definitely one of the most powerful weapons you could have, but we've seen time travel before with the Sario Rip? I wonder why they haven't tried using that as a weapon more

Oh so Elfangor IS a super duper amazing fighter when it really matters. Bit lame, always found naturally expert fighters dull myself

Elfangor: We can't kill these Yeerks they're helpless!

Jake:

Hype to see Taxxon's being morphed! The way their ceaseless hunger is described is graphically horrifying, I actually feel kind of bad for them now, they seem to be essentially always starving. Being unable to stop yourself cannibalising someone...eugh.

Oh man when Elfangor resisted eating the Taxxon I knew it'd be noticed as unusual, did Arbron and Alloran stay and eat and that's how they got separated?

Elfangor is being eaten alive now. Ah, Animorphs Nightmare Fuel

Chapman...why...why did you think this was a good idea? Why are you so cartoonishly evil? You disappoint me

Bit shorter than usual but this book is long and has parts, so I will separate them