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

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Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Capture-Chapter 13

quote:

We demorphed as quickly as we could. When my human eyesight returned, I saw Ax, standing calmly in his Andalite form. Against the far wall was a man in a white coat, holding a clip board. He was crumpled and unconscious, but alive.

<Knowing your brother is a Controller, I did not kill this creature,> Ax said. <I feared it might be him.>

"No. It's not. But that's a good instinct, Ax. Whoever this guy is, he's someone's brother or son or even father."

Like I think we've talked about in the past here, Jake is trying to minimize harm to the host here

quote:

I took a look first at my own body. I was barefoot, like I always was when I came out of a morph. And wearing only my silly-looking bike shorts and tight T-shirt. (Even Ax can't figure out how to morph anything more than the most minima! clothing.) But I seemed to have all my usual legs and arms.

Haven't really thought about it before, but "figure out how to morph clothing" probably isn't a priority for the Andalites, is it?

quote:

"You okay, Cassie?" I asked.

"I'm fine." She pointed at what had looked like a shiny superdome to us as flies. It was a stainless steel vat about eight feet across.

I laughed. "You know what this is? This is a whirlpool. A Jacuzzi. Someone just put a lid over it. Why would they have this in a hospital?"

"For therapy," Cassie said. "You know, for people with muscle strains or back problems."

I stepped to the side of the whirlpool. I grabbed the handles on the lid and lifted. It opened easily on hydraulic hinges. I looked inside. I recoiled.

The water was sludgy, brown, and viscous.

And roiling with slugs.

Yeerks. In their natural state.

"Well, well, well," I said.

<Yeerks,> Ax said, with that combination of disgust and pure hatred Andalites always showed.

<A portable Yeerk pool. There must be a small Kandrona nearby.>

Yeerks must leave their host bodies every three days to return to a Yeerk pool. In the Yeerk pool they feed by soaking up various nutrients, but especially Kandrona rays, which are like the rays of their home sun. Kandronas are artificial sources of Kandrona rays.

"Can they see us? Now, I mean?"

<No, Prince Jake. In their natural state they are blind.>

I walked slowly around the whirlpool. My foot hit something solid. The pump for the whirlpool action. It was disconnected, with a wire pulled out of the wall socket. The control panel had been ripped away, exposing bare wires.

"Ax? What do you think would happen to all those Yeerks in there if the temperature of the liquid suddenly went up to say, one hundred twenty degrees? And the liquid was all agitated?"

Ax looked puzzled. <I believe the heat and the agitation might destroy them.>

"Well. That would be a pity." I made a quick decision. "Ax? Watch the door to the hallway. Cassie? We may need you in some more dangerous morph. What have you got?"

"Wolf?"

"Perfect. But no howling."

"What are you going to do?" Cassie asked.

"We came here to stop this sick operation, right? Well, wiping out a hundred or so Yeerks might be a good way to start. I'm going to hook this thing back together, and Jacuzzi these filthy creeps to death."

There were no tools in the room. But I did find some tape and a pair of tweezers. That was all I needed. I began reconnecting wires, red to red, blue to blue, green to green. Without the switches, the settings would all automatically be at maximum. Maximum heat, maximum jets.

But all the while, in the back of my head, was this nagging feeling.

It couldn't be this easy.

I connected the last wire.

Cassie had finished the transformation into her wolf body. She stood by patiently, like a very big, very tough-looking dog.

"Okay. Time to boil some Yeerks."

I reached down and stuck the plug in the outlet.

It took a few seconds, then the boiling sound began. The familiar Jacuzzi bubbling.

So any takes on the morality of this? On the one hand, blind and pretty helpless creatures, who, in the pool, aren't a threat. On the other, waiting to get hosts and enslave humanity.

quote:

The door opened. A man and a woman, both wearing white lab coats. For a split second they just froze and stared.

"Andalite!" the woman yelped.

Cassie was on her in a flash. She leapt, hit the woman hard, and knocked her to the floor.

Ax moved toward the man, but the man was fast. He dodged, staying out of range of Ax's tail.

I was still behind the whirlpool, out of sight. I was trying to focus on morphing into tiger form for a fight.

But then, two more men, dressed in uniform as guards, came plowing into the room. The first one leveled a gun.

"Ax!" I shouted. "A gun!"

Ax's tail flashed.

"Aaaargghh!" the Controller screamed.

The hand that had been holding the gun was no longer attached to the man's arm.

They're not....entirely concerned with minimizing harm to hosts here.

quote:

"Get backup to the pool area! Andalites!" the second guard screamed into a walkie-talkie. Then he drew his gun.

BLAM! BLAM!

They told me later there was a third shot. But I didn't hear it.

A sledgehammer blow struck the side of my head. A ricochet. For a brief second I clung to consciousness. But then, I swooned. I fell.

Facedown in the whirlpool.

Facedown in the bubbling, boiling mass of dying Yeerks.

The temperature is, we're told, only 120 degrees, so probably won't cause burns. Still, has to be unpleasant.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 00:16

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# ? May 23, 2024 08:30

SardonicTyrant: Feb 26, 2016; BTICH IM A NEWT
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Comrade Blyatlov posted:

When do they do their first 'official' war crime? Book Seven?

It's actually this book.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 00:47

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

Epicurius posted:

The Capture-Chapter 13

So any takes on the morality of this? On the one hand, blind and pretty helpless creatures, who, in the pool, aren't a threat. On the other, waiting to get hosts and enslave humanity.

Knowing what they know now, it makes sense. I view it the same way as killing a soldier on a train on the way to battle.

I want to emphasise this is based on their current knowledge.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 00:56

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Epicurius posted:

So any takes on the morality of this? On the one hand, blind and pretty helpless creatures, who, in the pool, aren't a threat. On the other, waiting to get hosts and enslave humanity.

It's undisputed that the Yeerks are the aggressors in this war, so the kids, as resistance, have a liiiiittle bit of leeway here. But man.

As a general rule, the only guaranteed lawful way to kill an enemy combatant, especially pre-War on Terror, is during combat. But it's literally impossible to kill an unhosted Yeerk "during combat" (unless it's trying to escape from a dying host). So killing a Yeerk in combat always means killing a potentially innocent host. If you want to kill Yeerks without killing hosts, you have to kill a helpless Yeerk. If you want to prevent innocents from becoming hosts, you have to kill helpless Yeerks.

It's some supremely hosed moral calculus that middle schoolers should not be expected to have to do.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 01:43

Khizan: Jul 30, 2013

If they're in the pool at the hospital, then they're planning on taking over people. The fact that they haven't already taken over people is immaterial.

I view it sorta like... if you catch people preparing to ambush you, you're not ethically obligated to let them take the first shot.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 02:13

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

I don't think boiling them in the pool is immoral. It's not a war crime to ambush your enemy or bomb their barracks or kill them in their sleep, and since those are all acceptable I don't see why this wouldn't be. I guess you could equate the Yeerks in their own bodies to an enemy that's too wounded to indicate that they are surrendering but that feels like a stretch to me.

Both sides are going into it with open eyes that this is a "take no prisoners" type of war. If the Yeerks had a chance to take the Animorphs in their sleep they would do it without hesitating so that's another reason I don't think it's immoral to do the same in reverse.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 02:14

HIJK: Nov 25, 2012; in the room where you sleep

What's the alternative, waiting for them to possess innocent host bodies and wait for them to start shooting? Then the host gets hurt too.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 02:25

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

disaster pastor posted:

It's undisputed that the Yeerks are the aggressors in this war, so the kids, as resistance, have a liiiiittle bit of leeway here. But man.

As a general rule, the only guaranteed lawful way to kill an enemy combatant, especially pre-War on Terror, is during combat. But it's literally impossible to kill an unhosted Yeerk "during combat" (unless it's trying to escape from a dying host). So killing a Yeerk in combat always means killing a potentially innocent host. If you want to kill Yeerks without killing hosts, you have to kill a helpless Yeerk. If you want to prevent innocents from becoming hosts, you have to kill helpless Yeerks.

It's some supremely hosed moral calculus that middle schoolers should not be expected to have to do.

What I like is that Applegate and Grant are not only willing to address this, but that's an explicit goal of theirs. A lot of times in kid's media, characters will do supremely hosed up things that get glossed over, either because it was necessary or because it was just a joke, maaaan. Meanwhile, in Animorphs, the protagonists have to do super hosed up things from the start, and while I think a solid argument could be made that they have less culpability not only because of extreme and unusual situations current war crimes laws were not written to account for and the aggressive and difficult to combat nature of the yeerk invasion, but because of their age. But even with that, every horrific action they take does impact them, because it's impossible for it not to. Just because something is the only option you can live with at the time, it doesn't mean it's going to be healthy for you, and it doesn't mean it's good. It's just that there's not really good or healthy options presented right now.

Like, uuuuh... if they know about this plan and they do nothing, does that make them complicit? There's no option here for them to take the yeerks in the pool prisoner - they simply don't have the resources to get them out, a place to keep them, or the technology to feed them during that time, even if keeping them prisoners of war is probably the most ethical solution, since it'd keep the yeerks involved from taking new hosts and remove them from the war effort but not particularly harm them. But they're just a bunch of kids, they don't have that option.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 02:35

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

OctaviusBeaver posted:

I don't think boiling them in the pool is immoral. It's not a war crime to ambush your enemy or bomb their barracks or kill them in their sleep, and since those are all acceptable I don't see why this wouldn't be. I guess you could equate the Yeerks in their own bodies to an enemy that's too wounded to indicate that they are surrendering but that feels like a stretch to me.

Both sides are going into it with open eyes that this is a "take no prisoners" type of war. If the Yeerks had a chance to take the Animorphs in their sleep they would do it without hesitating so that's another reason I don't think it's immoral to do the same in reverse.

If they had the resources to take yeerks prisoner and keep them in a hidden pool or whatever that would be great, actually, since yeerks on their own are no threat at all as long as you don't collapse face-first into a pool full of them. But, well... not exactly an option. Maybe if they'd gone with Elfangor's plan of staking out powerful people to determine their yeerk-freeness and then informing them, abandoning their civilian lives in the process, but even then I doubt something like that would have been able to be set up so quickly, that's like late-war stuff.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 02:37

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..."

quote:

So any takes on the morality of this? On the one hand, blind and pretty helpless creatures, who, in the pool, aren't a threat. On the other, waiting to get hosts and enslave humanity.

They're Yeerks. gently caress 'em. Sure, it's ugly, but so is bodyjacking someone. I'm not about to feel empathy for a bunch of alien bodysnatchers; they'd do worse ~~to me~~ to our entire god-damned species without even a second thought.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 05:13

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

The only good yeerk is a dead yeerk!

# ? Jul 26, 2020 05:38

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

Mazerunner posted:

The only good yeerk is a dead yeerk!

...I forgot how wretched that cgi lizard was

# ? Jul 26, 2020 05:59

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Mazerunner posted:

The only good yeerk is a dead yeerk!

FWIW, the Yeerk homeworld is never named in-series but I've always just assumed that it's just Klendathu.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 06:05

Homora Gaykemi: Apr 30, 2020; by Fluffdaddy

Mazerunner posted:

The only good yeerk is a dead yeerk!

i can't tell you where i'm from, and i say kill 'em all!

# ? Jul 26, 2020 06:24

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

The rules of war earth nations adhere to have been written assuming war will be armed conflict between groups of people, not slug aliens taking over people's brains. Trying to apply it to evil body snatchers just doesn't work. Honestly this whole thing should not even be framed as a war, the kids and the yeerks aren't soldiers.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 11:32

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..."

Avalerion posted:

The rules of war earth nations adhere to have been written assuming war will be armed conflict between groups of people, not slug aliens taking over people's brains. Trying to apply it to evil body snatchers just doesn't work. Honestly this whole thing should not even be framed as a war, the kids and the yeerks aren't soldiers.

They're also written under the assumption that we're fighting over something relatively inconsequential, such as who gets money from who or whose flag flies over what clay. You know, conflicts where losing isn't nation-ending (let along apocalyptic). This? This is a struggle for the soul of mankind. We've already seen the other races the yeerks have subjugated, the hork bajir, the taxxons; mindless killing machines, all of them, presented as nothing more than a vessel for their controller. They are slaves to the brainslug and you can bet that the yeerks wouldn't have even bothered enslaving them if they weren't suitable hosts. That's what's on the line here, and that's why, when Jake boils a few hundred yeerks alive in their own sludge, I say "Good."

# ? Jul 26, 2020 14:20

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

I never realized the connection but in the very last Jake novel he makes the decision to flush tens of thousands of defenseless Yeerks into space and this contributes to his post-war depression. I think Visser 3 even specifically mentions that as being one of Jake's war crimes at the trial. Interesting to see that thread being developed even this early and also how these kinds of decisions start to both steel and wear on the characters.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 14:29

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..."

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

I never realized the connection but in the very last Jake novel he makes the decision to flush tens of thousands of defenseless Yeerks into space and this contributes to his post-war depression. I think Visser 3 even specifically mentions that as being one of Jake's war crimes at the trial. Interesting to see that thread being developed even this early and also how these kinds of decisions start to both steel and wear on the characters.

the idea of visser 3 putting anyone on trial, much less for warcrimes, is laughable.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 19:21

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

I feel like executing your subordinates because your own planning messed up is also a war crime, and that's just where Visser 3 starts.

# ? Jul 26, 2020 20:21

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The Capture-Chapter 14

quote:

Facedown, unconscious, in the superheating Yeerk pool.

I don't know for how long.

When I woke I had two terrifying, overwhelming feelings. One was suffocation. I had breathed in a lungful of the liquid from the pool.

I came to, gasping and hacking and gagging. I was alive, but I could hardly breathe. Each breath was a struggle. I coughed and I think at one point I threw up.

I will say that I hate that. Ever breath in liquid before? It's a terrible feeling.

quote:

The second feeling was of pain in my head. Pain like nothing I had ever even imagined before.

It was like someone was drilling a hole in my ear, drilling straight into my brain.

I wanted to scream, but I was still choking. I was on my knees on the floor of the hospital room, wanting to cry from the pain and gasping for every half-breath of air.

All the while, a battle raged. They were trying to get in the doorway. But it was too narrow for more than one or two human-Controllers at a time to attack. Ax's tail and Cassie's long wolf teeth were enough to hold them off.

BLAM! Another gunshot!

"Stop firing, you fool!" someone shouted. "The pool is in there! Visser Three will eat your guts!"

Yet again, Visser Three's management style saves them.

quote:

Even in my condition I could see that Ax and Cassie couldn't last. I needed to morph, to join the battle. But I could not seem to do it. The pain ... or maybe the lack of oxygen ... I couldn't concentrate. My brain was fuzzy, drifting ...

I heard a rumbling, pounding noise from the hallway outside. There were cries and screams of rage. Suddenly, into the room burst a huge black gorilla and a second wolf.

Marco and Rachel.

They had driven the attackers away, but only for a few seconds.

<Jake's hurt,> I heard Cassie say. <He fell in the Yeerk pool.>

<Marco, grab Jake,> Rachel ordered. <Get something to cover his face. Ax, Cassie, keep holding the door. I'm going to change morph. We need more firepower.>

I felt myself lifted up off the floor. A white cloth was wrapped around my head. One of the lab coats from an injured Controller, I guessed. I was cradled in the huge arms of a gorilla.

<Rock-a-bye baby,> Marco joked. <Hang in there, man. We're getting you out of here.>

I was still coughing and gasping, but my breathing was at least improving. Not enough to speak, but I could breathe enough to keep from passing out.
At the same time, something had happened to the pain in my head. It was diminishing. And yet, instead of feeling more clearheaded, I felt more confused.

"Get them!" a Controller was yelling outside the door. "Attack. Attack!"

<It doesn't look like I'm gonna fit through this doorway.> It was Rachel. <So I guess I'll have to make the door a little bigger.>

I caught just a glimpse through the fabric that hid my face. A flash of something huge and gray.

Rachel's elephant morph.

<Rachel?> a voice in my head wondered. The voice was surprised. <A human?>

BOOOM! WHUMP! CRRRUUUUNNCH!

<Now the door is plenty big,> Rachel said.

Wild screams! Panic! Cries of pain!

I was bounced and slammed against walls and even dropped at one point. I felt us go down a set of stairs. I felt hands grabbing at me and slipping away.

Finally, fresh air. We were running like mad for the shelter of a stand of trees that fronted the hospital.

<Cassie!> Marco said. <You have a horse morph, right? Quick. Before they figure out how to follow us.>

I was tossed onto the dirt.

The gorilla peeled back the coat that was over my face. <You alive? Man! That was intense. That is one hospital that's going to need some redecorating. We're gonna put you on Cassie. Then we'll try to cover your retreat.>

"My . . . head ..." I said.

<Headache? No surprise, dude.>

"Something . . . wrong ... I can't. . . think."

<Don't worry. Take a break. We have it under control. More or less.>

More or less.

quote:

<Unbelievable,> said a voice in my head. <Can it be? Humans?>

What was that voice? Where was it coming from?

Marco lifted me and slung me over a horse's back. Cassie.

<Cassie? A human, yes. And Rachel? The cousin? Human as well.>

My hand tried to pull the coat away from my face.

What was happening? There was a voice in side my head.

We were running now, running and running at full gallop, through trees, across lawns, down suburban streets where Cassie's hooves clattered loudly.
We jumped a fence. I flew through the air and landed hard on the dirt.

I felt pain, but it came from far away.

The coat was loose. I looked around. Trees, everywhere. A panting horse standing nearby.

I saw all this, but in a distant way, as if I were watching it all on TV. My eyes moved left, right.

They moved all on their own. Like someone else was focusing them.

Cassie. I tried to say her name. Cassie.

But no sound came from my mouth.

<Don't struggle, Jake, a voice in my head said. It's pointless.>

What? Who was saying that? What was . . . ?

Then, a laugh only I could hear. <Put that primitive human brain to work, Jake. Jake, the Animorph,> it sneered. <Jake, the servant of the Andalite filth!>

Then I knew.

I knew what the voice was.

A Yeerk!

A Yeerk in my own head.

I was a Controller.

So how many of you saw that coming?

# ? Jul 26, 2020 23:31

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

PLOT TWIST: The bullet caused massive brain trauma and the Yeerk is in control of a functionally paralyzed host

# ? Jul 27, 2020 03:37

Daikloktos: Jan 1, 2020; by Cyrano4747

Epicurius posted:

The Capture-Chapter 14

I will say that I hate that. Ever breath in liquid before? It's a terrible feeling.

Yet again, Visser Three's management style saves them.

More or less.

So how many of you saw that coming?

I missed Animorphs because I was way off beyond their reading level so it wasn't until they hit it big that I checked them out. I missed this one, Marco's earlier book, and a couple others; having the stuff introduced in these just show up casually in the middle books as I read out of order was a trip. That might actually be part of why I love this series because to me wild stuff would happen or get mentioned and everyone was rolling with it and I'd be like "hahah why not"

# ? Jul 27, 2020 04:15

chitoryu12: Apr 24, 2014

Radio Free Kobold posted:

They're also written under the assumption that we're fighting over something relatively inconsequential, such as who gets money from who or whose flag flies over what clay. You know, conflicts where losing isn't nation-ending (let along apocalyptic). This? This is a struggle for the soul of mankind. We've already seen the other races the yeerks have subjugated, the hork bajir, the taxxons; mindless killing machines, all of them, presented as nothing more than a vessel for their controller. They are slaves to the brainslug and you can bet that the yeerks wouldn't have even bothered enslaving them if they weren't suitable hosts. That's what's on the line here, and that's why, when Jake boils a few hundred yeerks alive in their own sludge, I say "Good."

At the same time, the life of any Yeerk is to be rendered blind, deaf, virtually senseless forever if they don't take a host. Their conquest was not born simply out of evil, but out of a desire to experience life. It's not just about acquiring resources like most conquering empires in fiction, but acquiring the ability to truly exist. If you were to ask a Yeerk why it did what it did, it would say that it's because otherwise existence is torture.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 05:00

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

chitoryu12 posted:

At the same time, the life of any Yeerk is to be rendered blind, deaf, virtually senseless forever if they don't take a host. Their conquest was not born simply out of evil, but out of a desire to experience life. It's not just about acquiring resources like most conquering empires in fiction, but acquiring the ability to truly exist. If you were to ask a Yeerk why it did what it did, it would say that it's because otherwise existence is torture.

This sort of comes up later on, but the odd thing is that the peaceful solution to this was there all along, and is in fact central to the series. But while the Taxxons all get to go chill as anacondas in Brazil, the Yeerk homeworld I think just gets barricaded by the Andalites. I guess at that point there's too much hatred, animosity and mistrust towards them to ever let future generations of them perma-morph into something less unbearable.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 05:15

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

chitoryu12 posted:

At the same time, the life of any Yeerk is to be rendered blind, deaf, virtually senseless forever if they don't take a host. Their conquest was not born simply out of evil, but out of a desire to experience life. It's not just about acquiring resources like most conquering empires in fiction, but acquiring the ability to truly exist. If you were to ask a Yeerk why it did what it did, it would say that it's because otherwise existence is torture.

Sure, but then that raises more questions. If my happiness is dependent on making you suffer, am I justified in seeking happiness? Every host of a Yeerk is a sentient creature who's being forced into slavery. The Yeerks have reasons for doing what they're doing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that what they're doing is right.

freebooter posted:

This sort of comes up later on, but the odd thing is that the peaceful solution to this was there all along, and is in fact central to the series. But while the Taxxons all get to go chill as anacondas in Brazil, the Yeerk homeworld I think just gets barricaded by the Andalites. I guess at that point there's too much hatred, animosity and mistrust towards them to ever let future generations of them perma-morph into something less unbearable.

Well, a few solutions for the Yeerks are out there. Book 26, The Attack, also sets up a possible, more benign long term solution. So does book 29

# ? Jul 27, 2020 05:33

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

chitoryu12 posted:

At the same time, the life of any Yeerk is to be rendered blind, deaf, virtually senseless forever if they don't take a host. Their conquest was not born simply out of evil, but out of a desire to experience life. It's not just about acquiring resources like most conquering empires in fiction, but acquiring the ability to truly exist. If you were to ask a Yeerk why it did what it did, it would say that it's because otherwise existence is torture.

They could be acquiring willing hosts only (which the taxons and aparently some humans are). If they conducted themselves cooperatively rather than dominating even more might be up for having a brain buddy. Or like, make a deal with humans to breed them up a bunch of animals of their choice.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 06:09

Daikloktos: Jan 1, 2020; by Cyrano4747

Epicurius posted:

Sure, but then that raises more questions. If my happiness is dependent on making you suffer, am I justified in seeking happiness?

# ? Jul 27, 2020 06:54

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Avalerion posted:

They could be acquiring willing hosts only (which the taxons and aparently some humans are). If they conducted themselves cooperatively rather than dominating even more might be up for having a brain buddy. Or like, make a deal with humans to breed them up a bunch of animals of their choice.

I can't remember. Are Yeerks able to control nonsentient animals?

# ? Jul 27, 2020 07:00

Avalerion: Oct 19, 2012

Fuschia tude posted:

I can't remember. Are Yeerks able to control nonsentient animals?

Probably, I remember Visser musing about how it's a shame cats are so small which makes me think the only limitation is size.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 07:56

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

They do need a specific kind of brain to infest. IIRC at one point they start trying to genetically modify sharks to make them viable hosts

# ? Jul 27, 2020 08:49

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

Jake is a controller so it's a great time for a completely unrelated question - we know skin tight clothing can be morphed, but what if the human in question has a piercing or a tattoo? I guess it kind of falls under the "haircut" rule where they can change their hair if they want to, I guess, shut up, I know DNA doesn't work that way, but it seems to be a different category to me. Not that it matters as our teens are not of inking/piercing age. I guess I'm just happy, for multiple reasons, that Elfangor didn't stumble upon a group of five mall goths.

QuickbreathFinisher fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Jul 27, 2020

# ? Jul 27, 2020 08:57

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Not that it matters as our teens are not of inking/piercing age. I guess I'm just happy, for multiple reasons, that Elfangor didn't stumble upon a group of five mall goths.

I just remembered there's a Megamorphs book that's an alternate universe story about what would've happened if they'd never gone through the construction site that night. I remember it being the bleakest and least fun of the whole series.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 10:26

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

freebooter posted:

I just remembered there's a Megamorphs book that's an alternate universe story about what would've happened if they'd never gone through the construction site that night. I remember it being the bleakest and least fun of the whole series.

If I recall correctly, it's also very good.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 10:29

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Spoilers for the finale.

freebooter posted:

This sort of comes up later on, but the odd thing is that the peaceful solution to this was there all along, and is in fact central to the series. But while the Taxxons all get to go chill as anacondas in Brazil, the Yeerk homeworld I think just gets barricaded by the Andalites. I guess at that point there's too much hatred, animosity and mistrust towards them to ever let future generations of them perma-morph into something less unbearable.

Note that this peaceful solution implicitly entails the extinction of the Yeerks as a sentient species. The Taxxons might have been cool with that all along, because their natural existence is a hive mind situation and independence means being overwhelmed by their hunger, but until they're no longer in a position to win, the Yeerks undoubtedly feel like continuation of their species is much more desirable on the grand scale even if individuals would be OK with being stuck in a morph.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 12:40

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..."

chitoryu12 posted:

At the same time, the life of any Yeerk is to be rendered blind, deaf, virtually senseless forever if they don't take a host. Their conquest was not born simply out of evil, but out of a desire to experience life. It's not just about acquiring resources like most conquering empires in fiction, but acquiring the ability to truly exist. If you were to ask a Yeerk why it did what it did, it would say that it's because otherwise existence is torture.

Yes, they need hosts to make existence worthwhile, but they choose to be conquerers and slavers. I might be okay with having a brain-buddy to do this whole 'life' thing with, but consent is very important.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 13:31

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Avalerion posted:

Probably, I remember Visser musing about how it's a shame cats are so small which makes me think the only limitation is size.

While I'll never stop finding Visser Three's love for cats adorable, remember that his body can morph, and I think when he's evaluating cats, he's doing so as a potential new morph. As far as I know, we never see the Yeerk infest anything nonsentient.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 13:34

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

And cats are a pretty loving good predator. Mister Visser definitely values that.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 13:42

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..."

Yeerk brain: The terran feline is a remarkable animal, a highly-refined hunter with cunning, tenacity, camoflauge and deadly natural weapons. Truly an admirable specimen!
Also Yeerk brain (but they will never admit it): hee hoo floofy kitty pspsps

# ? Jul 27, 2020 13:54

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I wanted to get people's thoughts on something. So far I've been posting a chapter a day. While I think that's going ok, I was wondering what people here thought about the pace. Am I going too slow? Too fast? I know these are short chapters, so do people want 2 chapters a day?

# ? Jul 27, 2020 14:43

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# ? May 23, 2024 08:30

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'm happy with the pace so far, but you do whatever's comfortable for you.

# ? Jul 27, 2020 15:04

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

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