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Avalerion posted:It's weird how little actually happens book per book (presumably, but we are on chapter 18 and last book had 20 so I figure they get rescued/escape here but that's it for this one too). It works in thread format where we just move to the next one right away but I wonder how this was received back then, seems like it would be easy for kids to loose interest between books. Back when I was a kid, Scholastic's flyers were delivered to our classroom every month, and we a had a break in class to look them over and see what books you wanted to buy. Which kept me reading them all through elementary school.
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# ? May 6, 2020 19:11 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 06:03 |
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Right. These books came out an average of once a month, so the kids could get their regular animorphs fix.
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# ? May 6, 2020 19:46 |
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This thread is really bringing back the memories. Literally named my first cat Fluffer after reading book 2.
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# ? May 6, 2020 20:03 |
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I got them thanks to the Walmart that my dad went grocery shopping twice a month having a little kid's book section with the latest Animorphs right up front where I could always see it, so I'd sit down on the floor and just read while my dad went shopping and then he'd buy me the book.
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# ? May 6, 2020 20:16 |
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The books were coming out right as I was getting old enough to have my own card and visit the library by myself. I was the first person to check out the first book narrated by Axmili and I had a long internal debate about whether it was okay to detach the perforated bookmark since it wasn't my copy.
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# ? May 6, 2020 20:22 |
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wizzardstaff posted:The books were coming out right as I was getting old enough to have my own card and visit the library by myself. I was the first person to check out the first book narrated by Axmili and I had a long internal debate about whether it was okay to detach the perforated bookmark since it wasn't my copy. Did you do it
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# ? May 6, 2020 21:33 |
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QuickbreathFinisher posted:Did you do it That's between me and God. I did it
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# ? May 6, 2020 21:48 |
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wizzardstaff posted:That's between me and God. Hell yeah. I can't wait to read more of the Tobias book, I really love his character, way more as an adult than I did when I was a kid. I used to identify most strongly with Marco and Cassie because I liked the funny wisecracking characters but was also a huge tree hugger. Plus I think something about Marco did read as queer to my little gay boy brain so I probably latched onto him subconsciously for that reason as well. And of course I also loved the objectively best character who we will meet shortly. I remember being supremely disappointed by the TV series. I do think that, even though I loving hate reboot culture, this series deserves so much more than the low budget live-action series it got. Hopefully the graphic novels catch on and we get some movement.
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# ? May 6, 2020 22:13 |
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QuickbreathFinisher posted:I can't wait to read more of the Tobias book, I really love his character, way more as an adult than I did when I was a kid. I used to identify most strongly with Marco and Cassie because I liked the funny wisecracking characters but was also a huge tree hugger. Plus I think something about Marco did read as queer to my little gay boy brain so I probably latched onto him subconsciously for that reason as well. And of course I also loved the objectively best character who we will meet shortly. Pulling a kind of JK Rowling, Michael Grant has said that Marco is canonically bisexual.
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# ? May 6, 2020 22:15 |
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Epicurius posted:Pulling a kind of JK Rowling, Michael Grant has said that Marco is canonically bisexual. Yeah, I had read his statement about it a while ago and something about it does not feel anywhere near as forced as the JK Rowling stuff. Part of it is JK Rowling being who she is, compared to who Michael Grant and K.A. Applegate are and their respective relationships to the series and characters. I'm sure the total overload of Harry Potter crap is coloring my perspective on this as well, I really dislike the series now even though it was probably my second favorite book series after this growing up. Lot of that has to do with how bad the moral arc of Harry Potter is compared to how much the main themes of Animorphs still feel relevant. Plus, I think we get a lot more insight into Marco's character that just makes it ring more like something that was understood but maybe couldn't be published, compared to the whole Dumbledore thing which as far as I remember is a complete afterthought with no subtextual support whatsoever. I'm interested to reread his narrated books and see how much of that was just me projecting. Hell, even the first vs third person narration is probably a factor. I'm really interested to read what other queer folks (or just anyone) think about this as well, but to me it is nowhere near as egregious as JKR's stuff. E: vvvvvvvvvvvv woof, that Tupperware line and everything after it QuickbreathFinisher fucked around with this message at 22:39 on May 6, 2020 |
# ? May 6, 2020 22:31 |
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Ok. It's time to yell at our irresponsible hawk friends. The Encounter-Chapter 3 quote:Marco yelled for a while. Jake made us promise never to do something that stupid again. And Cassie, being Cassie, got everyone to make up and be friends again. I like these non action moments where the group just hang out and talk. They really do have a pretty good rapport. quote:Her dad runs the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in the barn on their family farm. The Center takes in wild animals that are sick or hurt and cares for them. That's kind of sad.
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# ? May 6, 2020 22:31 |
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QuickbreathFinisher posted:Yeah, I had read his statement about it a while ago and something about it does not feel anywhere near as forced as the JK Rowling stuff. Part of it is JK Rowling being who she is, compared to who Michael Grant and K.A. Applegate are and their respective relationships to the series and characters. I'm sure the total overload of Harry Potter crap is coloring my perspective on this as well, I really dislike the series now even though it was probably my second favorite book series after this growing up. Lot of that has to do with how bad the moral arc of Harry Potter is compared to how much the main themes of Animorphs still feel relevant. Marco I can super see being bisexual considering uhh everything with an upcoming character. Like even as a little kid I wondered and I was not gay. I thought it was cool though.
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# ? May 6, 2020 22:36 |
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De-railing into Harry Potter slightly, the Dumbledore being gay thing did actually have a fair bit of subtextual support, and I think at the time the general reaction from fans was something like "oh yeah, that makes sense", it's just everything else JKR has done since that's clearly made-up post hoc for ally points. I've read that a lot of trans Animorphs fans latched onto Tobias, and going into the re-read with that reading (and also Marco being Bi) in mind has been quite interesting.
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# ? May 6, 2020 23:31 |
cptn_dr posted:De-railing into Harry Potter slightly, the Dumbledore being gay thing did actually have a fair bit of subtextual support, and I think at the time the general reaction from fans was something like "oh yeah, that makes sense", it's just everything else JKR has done since that's clearly made-up post hoc for ally points. I was raised by a lesbian mother, so spent a lot of my formative years around her gay and lesbian friends, and I absolutely, 100% picked Dumbledore as gay. I figured it was never made explicit because it honestly isn't important for his character. He'd be who he is regardless of who he is into, but all the hints were there, particularly his relationship with Grindelwald.
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# ? May 7, 2020 02:10 |
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Yea not a fan of Rowling's political views but she had said that Dumbledore is gay all the way back in 2007 when someone asked her about it during a signing for the last book, it's not a recent thing she pulled out of her rear end to make herself seem more woke, as the narrative goes.
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# ? May 7, 2020 08:30 |
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It's really fun reading this thread, I loved the series when I was younger but didn't finish the series (I guess my mum stopped buying them for me) and I don't remember the point I reached. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the later books covered where some of the crazy stuff people have mentioned takes place. I distinctly remember Tobias being my favourite character, I think because his unique circumstances make him stand out more than the other Animorphs.
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# ? May 7, 2020 10:59 |
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Starsnostars posted:It's really fun reading this thread, I loved the series when I was younger but didn't finish the series (I guess my mum stopped buying them for me) and I don't remember the point I reached. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the later books covered where some of the crazy stuff people have mentioned takes place. My favorites were Marco and an unintroduced character who everyone likely knows who I mean. I saw a lot of myself in Marco as a kid, and the other character is just the best.
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# ? May 7, 2020 18:22 |
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wizzardstaff posted:The books were coming out right as I was getting old enough to have my own card and visit the library by myself. I was the first person to check out the first book narrated by Axmili and I had a long internal debate about whether it was okay to detach the perforated bookmark since it wasn't my copy. Man, I used that bookmark well into high school. The bite taken out of it was such a nice touch.
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# ? May 7, 2020 23:11 |
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For those who don't know or remember, each book had a page-flip animation in the bottom right corner, of the narrator morphing. Here they are for the first nine books: https://myanimorphscollection.tumblr.com/post/125760729808/animorphs-flipbook-gifs-for-the-morphs-on-the NOTE: Minor spoiler in the middle of the bottom row.
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# ? May 7, 2020 23:33 |
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The Encounter-Chapter 4quote:The next day I decided to go back to where I had seen - or not seen - the big thing in the sky. I had a feeling about it. A bad feeling. Again, we go back to the human mind vs the animal instincts. quote:I soared high above the city, over the area I'd been through the day before. But nothing. Nothing moved in the air above me. That's just kind of sad. quote:So. What was I going to do with my day? I'd been floating up here in the high air, just below the clouds, for a couple of hours. It was time to give it up and try again another time. Yep. Geese are horrible. quote:The geese were aimed straight for the disturbance. Oh, right, Yeerks! I had forgotten about those guys. Guess this book isn't just crazy hawk adventures. (There will be crazy hawk adventures). Epicurius fucked around with this message at 00:04 on May 8, 2020 |
# ? May 8, 2020 00:00 |
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The Mighty Moltres posted:For those who don't know or remember, each book had a page-flip animation in the bottom right corner, of the narrator morphing. It was always fun to flip through the book when you first got it to watch the morph happen but after that these always vaguely annoyed me as a kid because they show a smooth transitional morph and that is not accurate to the books at all.
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# ? May 8, 2020 00:19 |
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I realised I can't remember what happens in Book 3, probably because I never owned my own copy. This is weirdly exciting! A whole new golden-age animorphs book!
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# ? May 8, 2020 01:31 |
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Epicurius posted:Oh, right, Yeerks! I had forgotten about those guys. Guess this book isn't just crazy hawk adventures. (There will be crazy hawk adventures). Tree Bucket posted:I realised I can't remember what happens in Book 3, probably because I never owned my own copy. This is weirdly exciting! A whole new golden-age animorphs book! I don't think I've ever re-read a book as many times as I did with Tobias's first. I remember looking at the sky as just loving wishing I was a hawk, cruising on the thermals. Of course, I'd want to become human again, poor kid.
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# ? May 8, 2020 02:42 |
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My most-reads are probably either 18 (the one where they go to Leera), or 24 (the Helmacron one). Kid-me had no interest in angst, just fun desperate space adventures.
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:16 |
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Mine was #26, which combines space adventuring AND angst. Megamorphs 3 was similar, but for time travel/angst.
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# ? May 8, 2020 03:27 |
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This thread is great; thanks for making it! I definitely plan on following along as long as you keep doing it. I forget how far I got in the series as a kid. I know I didn't finish it, but I did read some of the side stort things like the Andalite Chronicles.Starsnostars posted:I distinctly remember Tobias being my favourite character, I think because his unique circumstances make him stand out more than the other Animorphs. Jake was my favorite for some reason. Maybe because I looked sort of like the kid who played Jake on the boom covers, except with glasses. QuickbreathFinisher posted:Did they morph ants and termites, and if so, why? Or am I misremembering? I thought the ant colony thing was in a Marco book but I'm pretty sure the termite thing is from Cassie's perspective. While I'm not sure of the book, one of my few vivid animorphs memories is of someone (I think Jake?) getting a leg (or legs) torn off as an ant. It's actually kinda interesting that the first insect morph is basically glossed over. I wonder if Jake will comment on it in his next book. Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 09:50 on May 8, 2020 |
# ? May 8, 2020 09:44 |
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nine-gear crow posted:A legitimate human/Yeerk cooperative alliance would be honest to god terrifying because they’re functional the same thing in their ability to just rip through stuff like a buzz saw in terms of expansion and cooption. Oh, and of course - the Isk and the Yoort, and The Ellimist's whole play to get the Yeerks to understand the value of cooperation by preserving them. I think the Yeerks could be satisfied running a ruthless galaxy-spanning merchant empire if they ever had reason to understand the concept. But they're a young race and when you compare everything the Isk homeworld implies, this whole region of space is kind of a backwater
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# ? May 8, 2020 22:08 |
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The Encounter-Chapter 5quote:"It figures," Marco said thoughtfully. "The Yeerks would have to have some kind of cloaking ability. Like 'stealth' technology, only much better." Just all the animals there, none of them trusting the others. quote:"Yeah, but every Yeerk ship we've ever dealt with has been either on the ground or about to land," Jake said. "Maybe the cloaking ability doesn't work when they get close to land. But if you think about it, Marco is right. They would have to be able to avoid being picked up by radar. Maybe they also have the ability to avoid being seen." Do you think she's pissed at him because of what he said, or do you think she's pissed at him because he's right? quote:<As of right now,> I said, <as of today, only one of us has been hurt. Me. But I'm not going to give up. I'm not anyone's leader. But what I am going to do is go to the mountains tomorrow morning. What the rest of you do is your business.> See, that's the thing about Marco. There's no doubt he's reluctant and that he complains, and thaat he thinks the entire thing is idiotic, but when it comes down to it, he's going to do what he has to do. quote:Jake raised an eyebrow. "Marco's right. After school." He looked at the others and nodded. It bothered me that Marco was right. But he was. Marco might be a pain in the butt. But he's a very smart guy. And that's the real question.
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# ? May 9, 2020 00:07 |
Getting side-eyed by a dove.
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# ? May 9, 2020 00:35 |
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I don't know what those geese did to deserve getting roadkilled by Visser Three, but I know they did something to deserve it
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# ? May 9, 2020 02:25 |
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This basically sums up Marco. Correct, even annoyingly so.
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# ? May 9, 2020 04:06 |
Radio Free Kobold posted:I don't know what those geese did to deserve getting roadkilled by Visser Three, but I know they did something to deserve it one tricked him into locking himself out of the blade ship, scared him into incinerating the wrong incompetent minion with a laser gun, then dragged his gardening tools into a lake
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# ? May 9, 2020 04:26 |
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Wonder if they'll get a first win here, third time's the charm they say.
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# ? May 9, 2020 06:33 |
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This re-read is making me appreciate Marco much more than I did when I initially read the books as a child.
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# ? May 9, 2020 16:19 |
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Starsnostars posted:This re-read is making me appreciate Marco much more than I did when I initially read the books as a child. Yeah, I liked Marco as the comic relief when I was in fourth grade or whatever, then as I got older, I liked him more because he's genuinely a well-written character in addition to the comic relief. Unlike (apparently) most in this thread, though, Cassie started as my least favorite and then I liked her even less every time I reread the series when I got older. I think she suffers far more than the others from the lower quality ghostwritten books.
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# ? May 9, 2020 16:42 |
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disaster pastor posted:Unlike (apparently) most in this thread, though, Cassie started as my least favorite and then I liked her even less every time I reread the series when I got older. I think she suffers far more than the others from the lower quality ghostwritten books. I liked Cassie and Jake a lot for being an interracial couple that no one batted an eyelash about. I grew up in the Deep South, and when I got old enough to start thinking about girls, my parents took me aside to warn me that I'd need to be careful if I liked a black girl: my parents were just fine, but my grand-parents, and many of my parents' friends, would lose their poo poo if they found out I was dating a black girl without some extensive prep work from my parents first.
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# ? May 9, 2020 16:51 |
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disaster pastor posted:Yeah, I liked Marco as the comic relief when I was in fourth grade or whatever, then as I got older, I liked him more because he's genuinely a well-written character in addition to the comic relief. I'd say she's my fourth favorite. Fifth? She's above Jake. But that isn't to say I ever really disliked her. I liked all of the kids. I feel like her perspective was somehow rarer than the others, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure only the new member and Tobias had that issue.
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# ? May 9, 2020 17:11 |
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Cythereal posted:I liked Cassie and Jake a lot for being an interracial couple that no one batted an eyelash about. I grew up in the Deep South, and when I got old enough to start thinking about girls, my parents took me aside to warn me that I'd need to be careful if I liked a black girl: my parents were just fine, but my grand-parents, and many of my parents' friends, would lose their poo poo if they found out I was dating a black girl without some extensive prep work from my parents first. This is legit and is one of the things I don't think gets oversimplified and run into the ground as her books go on. Kchama posted:I'd say she's my fourth favorite. Fifth? She's above Jake. I'd probably also have those two at the bottom of my rankings, and yeah, they're both... fine. I don't think it was that her perspective was rarer (as you point out, she gets the same number of books as Jake/Rachel/Marco), it's that she had a lot of IMO dull and similar books. You may be right that she's a better character than Jake, but I'd say Jake gets better books while Cassie tends to ride the "look, she loves animals!/look, she's highlighting an ethical dilemma!/look, she's highlighting an ethical dilemma about animals!" carousel, and while the others also revisit their own themes a lot, it somehow feels less tedious for them. Even her masterstroke at the end of the series is kind of dulled by this to me.
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# ? May 9, 2020 17:23 |
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Jake's big problem for me, at least, is that he doesn't really have that much personality compared to the rest of them and he doesn't really have a distinctive "voice". He's definitely the most family focused of the animorphs, and there's the him and Yeerked Tom thing going on, but I feel like, other than "liking sports" and "playing video games", I don't really know what Jake is like, outside of being the leader.
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# ? May 9, 2020 17:56 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 06:03 |
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Yes, Cassie is a perfectly interesting character and a necessary element in a group of people doing increasingly terrible things, but it also felt when I read as a kid that she was the one typically framed to have the 'right' perspective, which gets grating. As an adult, it's interesting in that on the surface she's least suited to being a child soldier of the 5 of them, yet she's not reluctant the way Marco is - she knows what she's fighting for basically instantly and is willing to kill for it even as early as book 1, while trying not to minimize the moral implications. That's cool!
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# ? May 9, 2020 17:58 |