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wizzardstaff posted:Really appreciating the parallel between the Andalite and Yeerk perspectives here. One wants to subjugate the planet and one wants to preserve it, but both are coming at it as outsider tourists. Neither Andalites nor Yeerks are interested in Earth for humanity's sake. It's because Andalites are also scum op (general later books spoiler) SirSamVimes fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Jul 10, 2020 |
# ? Jul 10, 2020 09:04 |
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# ? May 26, 2024 16:01 |
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How did Ax get the morphing power but never a single training morph, I forget. I know he was a stowaway but I thought he was finished with basic training (general later book spoilers)
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 09:53 |
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Daikloktos posted:How did Ax get the morphing power but never a single training morph, I forget. I know he was a stowaway but I thought he was finished with basic training (general later book spoilers) Ax has completed his formal academic learning and is an aristh, or cadet, in the Andalite military, which is, as far as I can tell, an apprenticeship where the aristh learns the things he needs to become an Andalite warrior, mostly by being ordered around by everybody, and I don't think Ax was very far along in it, so he doesn't have much practical knowledge. He was sent up to the dome to keep him safe and out of the way when the battle happened. The way it looks to me is that the Andalite military seems to derive from an older system where a prince gathers loyal warriors who are willing to obey him into a warband, and young men who want to become warriors join the warband as hangers on, being treated like servants while they learn from watching the warriors how to actually do the things a warrior does, until they're old enough and competent enough to be accepted by the group. The modern Andalite military is more formalized and professional than that, obviously, but that seems to be the basic structure that it derived from/
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 14:12 |
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Epicurius posted:Ax has completed his formal academic learning and is an aristh, or cadet, in the Andalite military, which is, as far as I can tell, an apprenticeship where the aristh learns the things he needs to become an Andalite warrior, mostly by being ordered around by everybody, and I don't think Ax was very far along in it, so he doesn't have much practical knowledge. He was sent up to the dome to keep him safe and out of the way when the battle happened. I think he's pretty on-point for an Age of Sail midshipman, including his age. He's learned his letters, so he's been sent off to sea to learn how to officer and sail under the supervision of the more experienced officers.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 14:28 |
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Cythereal posted:I think he's pretty on-point for an Age of Sail midshipman, including his age. He's learned his letters, so he's been sent off to sea to learn how to officer and sail under the supervision of the more experienced officers. That's probably true as well
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 14:45 |
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I think the Andalites are going to have a serious manpower crunch before long when they have only one cadet on the whole domes ship.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 15:54 |
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OctaviusBeaver posted:I think the Andalites are going to have a serious manpower crunch before long when they have only one cadet on the whole domes ship. We don't know that that dome ship was typical of Andalite ships in terms of staffing and such. It's also possible that there were more cadets and that Ax was the only one who made it to the dome.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 16:05 |
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Ax's brother was the Prince, remember. It's possible that all the other cadets were involved in the battle while an overprotective older brother sent Aximili, specifically, to go be somewhere safe.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 16:17 |
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OctaviusBeaver posted:I think the Andalites are going to have a serious manpower crunch before long when they have only one cadet on the whole domes ship. I believe later the books tell us that Andalite society is still organized into large grazing herds with only a few scattered cities. That probably suggests a much lower population density than humans plus they’ve been involved in a war for decades now.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 20:24 |
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ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:I believe later the books tell us that Andalite society is still organized into large grazing herds with only a few scattered cities. That probably suggests a much lower population density than humans plus they’ve been involved in a war for decades now. We find out in a later book that every intelligent species so far encountered in the galaxy has a lower population density than humanity. The reason this planet is such a priority for the Yeerks is because they've never found an intelligent species that numbers in the billions before.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 20:45 |
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The Predator-Chapter 16quote:A couple of dozen of the Hork-Bajir leaped down from the high wall of the quarry and surrounded us. They kept their Dracon beams leveled at us as the Blade ship landed on the quarry floor. Ouch. quote:<This is not looking good,> I said. I couldn't take the silence anymore. I guess if they are going out, this is a good thing to see at the end. And while we know they're not all doomed, because of all the other books, I think there is sort of a feeling of finality here in this chapter. quote:Then something different came into view, as the Blade ship rotated away from Earth. It is handy the author gave Ax an innate time sense. A lot less inconvenient than Tobias's watch. quote:<Yeah,> Tobias confirmed. <Not a lot of time for you guys. Maybe Rachel is right. Maybe we should just go out in a blaze of glory. Attack as soon as they open the door. At least we can let them know we were here.> This is just such an incredibly hard bit to even read, honestly. It's them realizing they're going to die, being terrified, and not really having any idea what to do or even if their efforts had any meaning. quote:Through the window we could see a lot of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and humans running around, racing to get somewhere. They were lining up. And now, I noticed, there were distinct kinds of uniforms, one red-and-black, the other gold-and-black. The brown uniforms were all around the edges, like they were less important. So anybody who's reading this for the first time see that coming?
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 22:14 |
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Epicurius posted:It is handy the author gave Ax an innate time sense. A lot less inconvenient than Tobias's watch
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 22:19 |
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I'm absolutely amazed at how well Applegate manages to write a feeling of dread at inevitable death in young adult friendly prose, in a way that feels like the realistic internal monologue of a thirteen year old boy. Also props to the description of the Pool Ship. SirSamVimes fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Jul 10, 2020 |
# ? Jul 10, 2020 22:26 |
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Epicurius posted:So anybody who's reading this for the first time see that coming? I'd be interested to see who says this was an out and out surprise to, give the almost assembly line pattern of "Dead Mom... Visser One.. Dead Mom... Visser One..." foreshadowing throughout the book leading up to this point.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 23:01 |
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now hearing "mother dead" "visser one's coming!" to the cadence of dental plan
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 23:08 |
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SirSamVimes posted:I'm absolutely amazed at how well Applegate manages to write a feeling of dread at inevitable death in young adult friendly prose, in a way that feels like the realistic internal monologue of a thirteen year old boy. I've got a strong feeling that this is more a Michael Grant book than a Katherine Applegate one. Marco was always his pet character of the cast and the themes and prose stylings so far have had a lot of his hallmarks as seen in later books like Gone.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 23:15 |
nine-gear crow posted:I'd be interested to see who says this was an out and out surprise to, give the almost assembly line pattern of "Dead Mom... Visser One.. Dead Mom... Visser One..." foreshadowing throughout the book leading up to this point. It was when I first read it.
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# ? Jul 10, 2020 23:37 |
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I knew she was a Controller. I wasn't expecting Visser One. IIRC, at the time I was wondering if Visser Three had been a smokescreen and Visser One had been so hyped up because they'd be the real villain of the series.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 01:53 |
She really, really is, though.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 02:17 |
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I am so hype for Visser One.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 03:05 |
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SirSamVimes posted:now hearing "mother dead" "visser one's coming!" to the cadence of dental plan
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 05:02 |
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The numbered Visser system is interesting; it means the high ranking dudes at least have no equals/colleagues- just losers lower on the ladder or targets higher up. Sort of guaranteed to create toxic relationships.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 11:27 |
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IIRC (yeerk hierarchy spoilers???) there is a "Council of Thirteen" above the Vissers (who may also be ranked in numbers, I don't think the book ever spells it out) and an emperor above them
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 12:17 |
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SirSamVimes posted:IIRC (yeerk hierarchy spoilers???) there is a "Council of Thirteen" above the Vissers (who may also be ranked in numbers, I don't think the book ever spells it out) and an emperor above them I think it's the Andalite Chronicles that mentions that the emperor is actually one of the Council of Thirteen, but nobody outside the Council knows which member of the Council is the emperor, both so they're shielded from assassination attempts and so the title doesn't go to their head.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 15:04 |
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disaster pastor posted:I think it's the Andalite Chronicles that mentions that the emperor is actually one of the Council of Thirteen, but nobody outside the Council knows which member of the Council is the emperor, both so they're shielded from assassination attempts and so the title doesn't go to their head. The Council is also democratically elected by popular vote among the Yeerk general population. The Emperor is then chosen via a quorum among the councilors to basically act as a House Speaker or Majority Leader because the position is basically meaningless and powerless outside the Council itself.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 20:22 |
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How are Vissers selected? Is that ever revealed?
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 22:44 |
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Tree Bucket posted:How are Vissers selected? Is that ever revealed? I'm pretty sure it's technically by the Council of Thirteen. But a lot more will be revealed about Yeerk hierarchy and how the Yeerks got to where they are now in future books.
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 22:52 |
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The Predator-Chapter 17quote:I sat down. Very suddenly. I'm sure it looked funny. A big, hairy gorilla simply falling down. I would have laughed if I'd seen it. Visser One's sheer contempt for Visser Three is a joy to see. quote:Visser Three's deadly Andalite tail twitched, as if he was going to stab my mom . . . Visser One. The red troops tensed up. The gold troops let their hands edge toward their weapons. In "The Little Prince", the author says, "What is essential is invisible to the eye." This is something I've mentioned before, and its been a major theme in the books so far; the whole idea of otherness and depersonalization. The person you're talking to looks like somebody you know, sounds like something you know, but is really not anymore. Part of the reason I think about this was that my grandmother, who had in a lot of ways, been like a second mother to me, died of Alzheimer's a few years ago, and until the last couple of months, she was physically relatively healthy. So for a long time, especially as the disease got worse, she'd be there and you'd talk to hr, and you'd remember the way she was, but that sense of self just wasn't there anymore. So it makes you think about things like that. quote:<Take it easy, Marco,> Jake said. <I know how it is. I know how much you want to do some thing. But now is not the time. They'd cut us down before we got two steps.> That's the trap that Visser Three puts himself in, and it's a good example of how what's good for the individual can differ from what's good for the group. It would be great for the Yeerks if more of them became Andalite-Controllers. It would improve their chances significantly. But, what gives Visser Three his power is that he's unique. So while it would be good for the Yeerks and the Yeerk war effort, it would be a disaster for him. quote:He seemed to think it over for a minute. Would he realize the truth? Would he figure out that the reason we remained silent was so he wouldn't guess that we were human? Would he figure out that's why we stayed in morph?
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# ? Jul 11, 2020 23:53 |
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Tree Bucket posted:How are Vissers selected? Is that ever revealed? i always thought it worked on klingon rules; you kill the guy and take his visser number
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 00:51 |
Radio Free Kobold posted:i always thought it worked on klingon rules; you kill the guy and take his visser number Its partly competence, and partly this, I think
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 02:19 |
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Epicurius posted:
Visser Three gets a lot of poo poo for not figuring out that they're human given all the evidence that seems to be in front of him and the fact that other Controllers suspect it very early on. But when you look at the evidence that actually is in front of him, he's not that dumb. He knows Andalite technical and ship superiority means the Yeerks can't be sure they caught all the Andalites who escaped the battle. He knows about the rescue mission to the wreckage of the Dome ship, so that's an additional survivor to reinforce that (and he probably knows this one's a kid). He knows (spoilers for book 8) the Andalites are supremely opposed to, and have a law against, sharing their technology with other species, to the point that if he dug into Alloran's memories Alloran would say it's unthinkable. And he knows the Andalites call him "abomination" and are steadfast in their willingness to die rather than give the Yeerks another Andalite host. Put that all together, without the context the Animorphs' POV provides, and Visser Three concludes that some Andalite veterans either survived the battle or were on the planet already, have acquired Earth morphs to support their mission, and recently rescued Ax, who hasn't had as much opportunity to acquire morphs and who, as a child, doesn't have the discipline the veterans have to ignore Visser Three's provocation. A perfectly logical conclusion that just happens to be mostly wrong. disaster pastor fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Jul 12, 2020 |
# ? Jul 12, 2020 02:28 |
It also makes sense tactically to have the youngest and weakest expose themselves as the spokesperson. If the others are only seen in morph, he can't be certain he has them all.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 02:48 |
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Pranking Visser Three by invading the Blade Ship morphed into greased piglets labeled 1, 2, 3 and 5.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 02:54 |
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Also now that Visser One has shown up alongside Visser Three this officially kicks off the series' long-running, unspoken, absence-induced gag of "Who/where is Visser Two?" to which I've personally come to assume that Visser Two is just a 1:1 analog to the drummer from Spinal Tap. There is a veritable assembly line of Visser Twos who last about a week before they're claimed by a hilarious improbable accident or happenstance, and the reason why Visser Three stays Visser Three is because Esplin knows that the rank of Visser Two is cursed so he wants to just jump right over it to Visser One.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 03:00 |
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nine-gear crow posted:Also now that Visser One has shown up alongside Visser Three this officially kicks off the series' long-running, unspoken, absence-induced gag of "Who/where is Visser Two?" to which I've personally come to assume that Visser Two is just a 1:1 analog to the drummer from Spinal Tap. There is a veritable assembly line of Visser Twos who last about a week before they're claimed by a hilarious improbable accident or happenstance, and the reason why Visser Three stays Visser Three is because Esplin knows that the rank of Visser Two is cursed so he wants to just jump right over it to Visser One. I think I remember an interview or something where KA Applegate joked about being the real Visser 2.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 05:02 |
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I would also like to encourage anyone to post more animorphs related shitposting/memes like earlier because those ruled and I want more
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 05:35 |
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Epicurius posted:So anybody who's reading this for the first time see that coming? Not like this. Honestly not sure if her being taken is better or worse than just running away.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 07:26 |
I guess she isn't Tobias then
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 09:38 |
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SirSamVimes posted:I would also like to encourage anyone to post more animorphs related shitposting/memes like earlier because those ruled and I want more I mostly want to know whether KAA is aware of andalitetruth.org and what she thinks of it.
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 09:42 |
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# ? May 26, 2024 16:01 |
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nine-gear crow posted:Also now that Visser One has shown up alongside Visser Three this officially kicks off the series' long-running, unspoken, absence-induced gag of "Who/where is Visser Two?" to which I've personally come to assume that Visser Two is just a 1:1 analog to the drummer from Spinal Tap. There is a veritable assembly line of Visser Twos who last about a week before they're claimed by a hilarious improbable accident or happenstance, and the reason why Visser Three stays Visser Three is because Esplin knows that the rank of Visser Two is cursed so he wants to just jump right over it to Visser One. I really need a Visser 2 Stupid Death Montage now
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# ? Jul 12, 2020 11:52 |