Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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Patrick Spens: Jul 21, 2006; "Every quarterback says they've got guts, But how many have actually seen 'em?"; Pillbug

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 19:11

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# ? May 24, 2024 02:50

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Right. These books came out an average of once a month, so the kids could get their regular animorphs fix.

# ? May 6, 2020 19:46

Kaiju15: Jul 25, 2013

This thread is really bringing back the memories. Literally named my first cat Fluffer after reading book 2.

# ? May 6, 2020 20:03

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 20:16

wizzardstaff: Apr 6, 2018; Zorch! Splat! Pow!

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 20:22

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

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

# ? May 6, 2020 21:33

wizzardstaff: Apr 6, 2018; Zorch! Splat! Pow!

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Did you do it

That's between me and God.

I did it

# ? May 6, 2020 21:48

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

wizzardstaff posted:

That's between me and God.

I did it

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 22:13

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 22:15

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

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 :qq:

QuickbreathFinisher fucked around with this message at 22:39 on May 6, 2020

# ? May 6, 2020 22:31

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

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.

"We aren't supposed to be rescuing animals," Marco said. "We're supposed to be rescuing the entire human race from being enslaved by the Yeerks."

<I thought you didn't want to save the world, Marco,> I pointed out.

He scowled at me. But there's no point in scowling at me. With my face I can out-scowl anyone.

"You're right," Marco said. "But since all of you guys think you have to save the world, and since you're all my friends, more or less, I figure someone has to keep you from being total idiots."

Marco is the most reluctant of the Animorphs. Although actually he's the one who came up with the word "Animorph." And he's been in with us from the start. Marco just thinks we should look out for ourselves and our own families.

Marco and I will probably never be very close. He's a typical smart-aleck kind of guy. Always confident. Always has some funny or sarcastic thing to say. He's short, or at least he's not very tall. I guess girls think he's cute because he has this long brown hair and dark eyes.

Jake grinned at Marco. "So you're the one who has to rescue all of us from being idiots?"

"Boy, if Marco's the sensible one, we're all in serious trouble," Rachel said.

Everyone laughed.

Jake gave Marco an affectionate punch in the shoulder. "Just the same, it's nice of you to want to save us all. It's almost sweet"

Marco made a face and grabbed one of Rachel's pillows to throw at Jake.

Marco and Jake are absolute opposites, although they've been buds forever. Jake is big. Not football-player big, but solid. Jake is one of those people who are natural leaders. If you were ever trapped in a burning building, you would turn to Jake and ask, "What do we do?" And he would have an answer, too.

You can tell he and Rachel are cousins. They're both kind of determined people.

"I have to get going," Cassie said. "I have horses to feed and birdcages to clean."

"Don't say the word 'cage' around Tobias," Marco said. "He'll do some guerrilla-commando-Ninja-SWAT-team-hawk-from-hell attack on the Center. And he'll talk Rachel into stomping your house flat."

Everyone laughed, because we all knew why Cassie had birdcages. Her father and mother are both veterinarians. Her mom works for The Gardens, which is this huge zoo and amusement park.

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.

The cages Cassie had to get home to clean were filled with sparrows with broken wings and eagles who'd been shot and seagulls who'd gotten tangled in trash.

Cassie is our expert on animals. She also gets us access to animals to morph. She's a gentle person. She can also morph better than any of us.

Everyone stood up and started to go.

"You coming, Tobias?" Jake asked me.

<No, not right away. I think I'll fly around. It's a nice night>

"Cool," he said. "I'll put some food up in your attic for you in case you get home late. I don't want anything getting at it, though. Can you open one of those Rubbermaid things?"

I saw the way the others kind of looked away when Jake mentioned the attic. They feel sorry for me.

<I can get it open,> I said. <Just be careful. You know - Tom.>

Tom is Jake's big brother. Tom is one of them.

Everyone said good night. I saw Cassie and Jake touch their hands together in a way that could almost have been accidental. Then they were all gone. All but me and Rachel.

"I don't like thinking of you living in a cold attic," Rachel said.

<I'm okay,> I said. I wondered if I should tell her what I had seen, the darkness within darkness, the hole in the sky. But the truth was, even I didn't know what it was.

It would just worry her. And she worried about me too much.

<Good night,> I said.

"Yeah. Take care of yourself, Tobias."

I flew out through her window into the night. Rachel's sad eyes seemed to follow me. I hated the way they all felt sorry for me. All they could see was that I was not what I used to be. All they saw was that I had no home.

But they didn't really understand. I hadn't had a real home since my parents died. I was used to being alone. ' And I had the sky.

That's kind of sad.

# ? May 6, 2020 22:31

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

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.

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 think about this as well, but to me it is nowhere near as egregious as JKR's stuff.

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 22:36

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

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.

# ? May 6, 2020 23:31

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

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'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.

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 02:10

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 08:30

Starsnostars: Jan 17, 2009; The Master of Magnetism

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 10:59

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

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.

I distinctly remember Tobias being my favourite character, I think because his unique circumstances make him stand out more than the other Animorphs.

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 18:22

The Mighty Moltres: Dec 21, 2012; Come! We must fly!

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 23:11

The Mighty Moltres: Dec 21, 2012; Come! We must fly!

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.

# ? May 7, 2020 23:33

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Encounter-Chapter 4

quote:

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.

I flew up over the same area, rising as high as I could on the thermals.

Hawks are not quite as good at soaring as eagles or some buzzards are. (Man, you should see the way a turkey buzzard can work those thermals! Awesome.) And actually, the red-tail hawk in my head would be just as happy perched patiently on the branch of a tree, waiting to see its next meal go scurrying past.

But I didn't eat like a hawk. I ate food that Jake gave me. I didn't hunt. Although sometimes the urge to hunt was pretty strong.

I could just hear Marco making some smart crack about me eating mice. Or roadkill.

When you're in a morph, it's hard to resist the animal's instincts. Jake found that out when he became a lizard. He glomped down a live spider before he got control of the lizard's instincts.

I hadn't done that. Yet. I was afraid if I did it once, I'd never be able to stop.

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.

Then it occurred to me: Whatever it was, maybe it only happened at certain times of day. It had been almost sunset when I'd felt its presence last.

I decided to come back around sunset. Which meant I had the whole day ahead of me with nothing special to do. This did not make me happy. See, the
fact is, a hawk spends almost all its time hunting food.

As for me, Tobias, when I hadn't been in school, I used to spend most of my free time watching TV, hanging out at the mall, doing homework, reading . . . all things it was difficult for me to do, now.

I missed school. Even though I had constantly been picked on by bullies. I didn't really miss my home, though. See, when my parents died, there was no one who really wanted me. I ended up getting shunted back and forth between an uncle here and an aunt across the country.

Neither of them really cared about me. I don't think they even missed me. I had arranged for Jake to leave a message with my uncle. We told him I had gone to stay with my aunt. Each of them, my uncle and my aunt, thought I was staying with the other.

I had no idea how long that trick would hold up before one of them figured out I wasn't in either place.

I guess when they realize it they'll call the cops and report me as a runaway. Or maybe they won't even bother.

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.

I tilted my wings and adjusted my tail, turning toward Rachel's house. Maybe she would be hanging around the house, bored.
Then it happened.

A mile or more above me, the ripple passed through the air. An emptiness, a hole where no hole could be.

I reacted instantly. I had to get closer.

I flapped till my chest and shoulders were sore. But it was moving too fast, and it was too high.

It pulled away from me, a wave of air, a rippling of the fabric of the sky. It was moving in a different direction, though. It was moving toward the mountains.

Then . . . a flight of geese on the move in a tight V-formation.

There were maybe a dozen of the big, determined geese, moving along at an amazing rate, powering their way through the air like they always do. Geese always seem to be on a mission. Like, "Get out of our way, we're geese and we're coming through."

Yep. Geese are horrible.

quote:

The geese were aimed straight for the disturbance.

Suddenly, the lead goose folded like it had been hit by a truck. Its wings collapsed. But it did not fall.

The crippled goose slid through the air. It slid horizontally, rolling and flopping like it was passing over the top of a racing train.

Most of the other geese suffered the same fate. One or two peeled away in time, but geese are not real agile.

The invisible wave smacked into the flight, and the geese were crushed. They were rolling and sliding along some unseen but solid surface.

And everywhere the geese hit, I could catch little glimpses of steel-gray metal.

The wave passed by. The geese fell in its wake, dead or crippled.

It flew on, unconcerned. But then, why should the Yeerks care about a handful of geese?

And that's what they were, I was certain. Yeerks.

What I had seen, or not quite seen, was a Yeerk ship.

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

King of Foolians: Mar 16, 2006; Long live the King!

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.
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.

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.

# ? May 8, 2020 00:19

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

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!

# ? May 8, 2020 01:31

The Mighty Moltres: Dec 21, 2012; Come! We must fly!

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.

# ? May 8, 2020 02:42

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

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.

# ? May 8, 2020 03:16

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

Mine was #26, which combines space adventuring AND angst. Megamorphs 3 was similar, but for time travel/angst.

# ? May 8, 2020 03:27

Ytlaya: Nov 13, 2005

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

Daikloktos: Jan 1, 2020; by Cyrano4747

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.

This ties back into when Visser 1 crawls into a human brain and is shocked they have almost a bicameral mind. Every other species lives their lives with a single personality and will in their interior experience except humans and Yeerks.

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

# ? May 8, 2020 22:08

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Encounter-Chapter 5

quote:

"It figures," Marco said thoughtfully. "The Yeerks would have to have some kind of cloaking ability. Like 'stealth' technology, only much better."

We are all in Cassie's barn. Her dad was away for the afternoon. And it's one of the few places where I can go and not look out of place. "

It's a regular old-fashioned barn, but with rows of clean cages and fluorescent lights. There are partitions keeping the birds away from the horses, and more partitions keeping the raccoons and opossums and the occasional coyote away from the skittish horses. The floor of the barn is usually strewn with hoses and buckets and scattered hay. There are charts on each cage showing the condition of the animal and what treatment it's getting.

It's usually a pretty noisy place, what with various birds chirping or cooing, horses snuffling, and raccoons fussing with their food.

I looked over a little nervously at a pair of wolves, one male, one female. One had been shot. The other had eaten poison left out by a farmer. Wolves were new in the area. Wildlife experts had brought some back to the nearby forest.

Wolves make hawks a little edgy.

"We were always able to see Yeerk ships," Rachel pointed out. "We saw the Bug fighters and the Blade ship." She was leaning against a cage that housed an injured mourning dove. The dove was watching me suspiciously.

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."

<It was a Yeerk ship,> I said flatly.

"How can you be so sure?" Cassie asked. She was working as we talked, cleaning an empty cage with a brush and a bucket of sudsy water.

<It just was,> I said stubbornly. <I . . . I just got this feeling from it. Also, it seemed huge. Far bigger than even the biggest jet. This was huge. More like a real ship, you know, like an ocean liner.>

"The question is, what do we do about it?" Jake asked. Of course, I knew he'd already made up his mind to do something. But Jake doesn't like to act like the one in charge, even though that's how I think of him. He lets everyone have their say first.

<I want to find out what it's doing,> I said. <The first time, I had the feeling it was heading away from the mountains. The second time, it was doing just the opposite. It was flying too low to make it over the mountains. So I'm guessing it was doing something in the mountains.>

Rachel nodded. "That makes sense."

Marco rolled his eyes. "The mountains? Have you suburb-dwellers ever been to the mountains? We're talking about a large area. No matter how big this ship is, it could hide in a thousand places in the mountains."

"Then we'd better start looking right away," Rachel said brightly.

Jake looked at Cassie. "Cass? What do you think?"

Cassie shrugged. "I halfway feel like we've done enough. You know? We attacked the Yeerk pool. We barely got out alive. We infiltrated Chapman's house and Rachel was captured. Again, we barely got out alive. I guess the question is, how many risks are we going to take? How many more times are we going to barely escape?"

I could see that Marco was surprised. Suddenly it sounded like Cassie was on his side. "Exactly! Exactly! Just what I've been saying. Why is it our job to get killed?"

But then Cassie went and blew it all for him.

"I mean, as far as I'm concerned, I can't just do nothing while people are enslaved by the Yeerks." Cassie said. "Maybe it's just me . . ." She shrugged. "The thing is, I have these powers." She shrugged again. "I can't just do nothing."

"Look, these aren't people we know," Marco argued. "They aren't my friends. Or my family." He shot a guilty look at Jake. "And we did everything we could for Tom. So why should I get killed for strangers? We can't stay lucky forever. Don't you people understand that? Sooner or later, we'll slip up. Sooner or later we'll be standing around here crying because Jake or Rachel or Cassie or Tobias is gone."

"You know something?" Rachel exploded. "I'm tired of trying to talk you into this, Marco. You want out? Fine, you're OUT!"

"Hey, Rachel, you're not just doing this to help save the human race," Marco yelled back. "You get off on the danger. That's why you went with Tobias to free that bird. That wasn't about saving the world. That was about rescuing some stupid bird."

Marco realized he'd gone too far. He fell silent. The others all looked guiltily at me. Rachel shot Marco a look of pure anger.

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.>

"I'll be with you," Rachel said instantly.

Cassie nodded.

Jake made a wry smile. "You say you're not a leader, but I'll go with you."

Marco shook his head. "No," he said.

"Your choice," Rachel said.

"That's not what I meant," Marco said angrily. "I meant no, not in the morning. Tomorrow's a school day. If all of us skip school on the same day and later there's some trouble with the Yeerks, don't you think Chapman might put two and two together?"

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.

It worried me a little. It made me wonder. Was he right about other things as well?

How many risks could we take before we lost? How long till the five of us were four? Or two? Or none?

And that's the real question.

# ? May 9, 2020 00:07

chitoryu12: Apr 24, 2014

Getting side-eyed by a dove.

# ? May 9, 2020 00:35

Radio Free Kobold: Aug 11, 2012; "Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."

I don't know what those geese did to deserve getting roadkilled by Visser Three, but I know they did something to deserve it

# ? May 9, 2020 02:25

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

This basically sums up Marco. Correct, even annoyingly so.

# ? May 9, 2020 04:06

President Ark: May 16, 2010

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

# ? May 9, 2020 04:26

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

Wonder if they'll get a first win here, third time's the charm they say.

# ? May 9, 2020 06:33

Starsnostars: Jan 17, 2009; The Master of Magnetism

This re-read is making me appreciate Marco much more than I did when I initially read the books as a child.

# ? May 9, 2020 16:19

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

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.

# ? May 9, 2020 16:42

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

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.

# ? May 9, 2020 16:51

Kchama: Jul 25, 2007

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.

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'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.

# ? May 9, 2020 17:11

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

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.

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.

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.

# ? May 9, 2020 17:23

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

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.

# ? May 9, 2020 17:56

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# ? May 24, 2024 02:50

PetraCore: Jul 20, 2017; 👁️🔥👁️👁️👁️BE NOT👄AFRAID👁️👁️👁️🔥👁️

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!

# ? May 9, 2020 17:58

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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