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Getting a little dusty in here.
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 04:47 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 01:06 |
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God drat
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 04:58 |
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Just normal YA fiction things, like killing your mother.
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 06:36 |
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Really liking (well I hate it empathy-wise but love it storytelling-wise) the reversal in Marco’s realization that killing his mother would also kill something essential within him…followed immediately by V1 hitting him with the Dracon. Honestly this whole book has been stellar, even more so now than when I read it as a kid. Also wanted to share that since I’ve been following this thread, my phone/tablet always suggests “Andalite” when I’m trying to say “and.”
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 18:12 |
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I honestly think this book has some of the best writing we've seen so far in the series. There's been a tendency by Animorph fans to dismiss the ghostwritten books, and they are variable in quality. But some of the ghostwriters can nail it.
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 19:15 |
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Epicurius posted:I honestly think this book has some of the best writing we've seen so far in the series. There's been a tendency by Animorph fans to dismiss the ghostwritten books, and they are variable in quality. But some of the ghostwriters can nail it. 100%. I was at the edge of my seat. I know that they are eventually exposed as humans and become 24/7 underground fighters, but I don't know when. So I genuinely didn't know what would happen to Visser 1/Marco's Mom. I think it is super obvious that Jake and Cassie are a fake out, but there were so many possibilities for the fate of Visser 1. Does she escape with the knowledge that some of the Andalite bandits are actually humans, do they let her go with that knowledge, does Visser 3 kill her, does she make a deal with Visser 3, does Marco kill her, does Rachel kill her? In retrospect, it is clear that if she was going to die, it had to be by Visser 3 hands, or Marco's, since he would never have forgiven Rachel or anybody else. Also, is this the beginning of the Ax/Marco/Tobias power trio? Because I think that is the first time Tobias was ever actually nice to Marco.
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# ? Nov 1, 2021 19:58 |
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Chapter 29quote:I lunged. For all that Marco thought he could be objective, for all that he tried to convince himself.he can't help it. He loves her. Chapter 30 quote:I stayed in bed for most of the next week. Sick. At least that’s what I told my dad. One of the consistent things in this series is that Rachel and Marco don't really like each other very much. Of all the Animorph pairings, they get along the worst. But still, she was the one who looked for the body, and she was the one to come to comfort Marco There's something to that. So that bit of concentrated pain was The Reunion. Next up is book 31, The Conspiracy, written by Laura Battyanyi-Wiess, who we last met before as the author of book 27.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 03:47 |
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Epicurius posted:I honestly think this book has some of the best writing we've seen so far in the series. There's been a tendency by Animorph fans to dismiss the ghostwritten books, and they are variable in quality. But some of the ghostwriters can nail it. There's some significant dips in quality in some of the ghostwritten stuff at times, but yeah it's not like it's a total wash. Most of the final "arc" so to speak is ghostwritten and pretty good. This book is great! The next one, from memory, not so much.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 04:42 |
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Epicurius posted:One of the consistent things in this series is that Rachel and Marco don't really like each other very much. Of all the Animorph pairings, they get along the worst. But still, she was the one who looked for the body, and she was the one to come to comfort Marco There's something to that. Definitely. It goes to show that even the two of them who get along the least are still... not friends, but certainly family to each other, who 100% will always have each other's backs. I also really like how this echoes 15, where she's again the one who maybe saw his mum surviving and tells him about it. (I actually remembered this one ending with the two of them watching Xena... was that a different book?) I think Rachel's dad splitting with her mum and moving away isn't in the same league as what Marco's gone through, but still means she understands what it's like to "lose" a parent in a way that Jake and Cassie can't, which is why she feels compelled to step up here. (Yes, my parents got divorced when I was very young and these bits struck a chord with me.) e X posted:I know that they are eventually... Eep, spoilers!
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 09:23 |
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that book was excellent. we've definitely reached the point in the series where I only read random books and was not keeping up month to month. I don't think I read megamorphs 3 or 28-30 as a kid and picked back up with the next one, not for any specific reason just because I fell out of the habit. I wasn't a very discerning reader, especially with series I deeply loved like this one. I remember ignoring the megamorphs and chronicles books for a long time because they weren't "part of the real series" (I didn't understand how scifi or storytelling worked) so I had no clue how weird and awesome they got. I think I did end up reading Andalite, HB chronicles, and visser as well as the first two megamorphs. seeing some of the early ghostwriter books not be terrible is really great.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 20:03 |
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The only books we aren't doing are the two Alternamorphs gamebooks, for those who don't know. In these, you play as a kid who joins the animophs....like David if he wasn't a piece of crap. Every few pages, you're faced with obstacle and have a choice of three animals to morph into. If you morph the right animal, you continue. If its one of the wrong ones, you die horribly. .I'm skipping them mostly because, first, for choice gamebooks, they're really linear. Every book, you have something like five choice opportunities, and if you choose wrong, you lose instantly. Also, the choices are largely arbitrary. It never gives you any hints on what animal or type of animal is the best idea. So you're just making random choices. Finally, the books just aren't well written.
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# ? Nov 2, 2021 20:37 |
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Animorphs-Book 31-The Conspiracy Ghostwritten by Laura Battyanyi-Wiess, who we've met before Chapter 1 quote:My name is Jake. Starts with the normal "You can't know where I live" opening, but it ends on quite a cliffhanger. Chapter 2 quote:I came around the corner after school and saw a taxi parked out in front of my house. Obviously, it is an opportunity....get Tom away long enough for the Yeerk inside him to starve....well....
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 03:51 |
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I remember reading this one. If I recall correctly, this is an especially depressing one, even by the standards of this series and Jake books.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 04:25 |
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e X posted:100%. I was at the edge of my seat. I know that they are eventually
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 05:53 |
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I think this is the book I most remember virtually nothing about (even though I've definitely read it at last twice)
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 06:14 |
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Oh man, Jake doesn't realize that if Tom's Yeerk isn't important enough to rate one of those portable pools they'll either take one or both of Jake's parents to get him out of going or consider him burnt and kill Tom. They definitely wouldn't just leave the Yeerk to starve and let Tom live.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 06:21 |
Yeah, this is what I believe is known as a no-win scenario.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 06:40 |
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WrightOfWay posted:Oh man, Jake doesn't realize that if Tom's Yeerk isn't important enough to rate one of those portable pools they'll either take one or both of Jake's parents to get him out of going or consider him burnt and kill Tom. They definitely wouldn't just leave the Yeerk to starve and let Tom live. I have to think that either he or one of the others (Cassie or Marco?) figure this out soon. Right now he is just jumping at a possible chance. Also he will figure out that Tom can't actually be free for long. Unless they figure out a way to fake his death, he is getting reinfested asap.
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# ? Nov 3, 2021 14:14 |
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Chapter 3quote:Supper was awful. Reference there to the last Megamorphs. Also, leaving his dad and Tom alone together, not great. Chapter 4 quote:Silence. To think, if Tom had just pocketed the note instead of thrown it in the trash, Jake wouldn't have had any leads. I feel like this works well, considering the previous book. In the last book, Marco's personal relationships got in the way of his ability to complete his mission, and Jake ended up being the one to save him. Now, it's Jake who's too close to the situation, and Marco taking charge.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 03:40 |
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Something about the truncated, almost every sentence being a paragraph, airport thriller style of writing here is really grating to me. edit - and I just checked and this is the same ghostwriter as 27, the giant squid book, and I can't say I noticed it in that one. (And "supper"? I've never heard them call dinner that, is it some regionalism of the ghostwriter's that slipped through?)
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 03:52 |
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freebooter posted:(And "supper"? I've never heard them call dinner that, is it some regionalism of the ghostwriter's that slipped through?) Because I care, I looked it up, doing a word search through all the Animorph books, and you're right. This is the only book that uses the word supper. I didn't really notice, because I (east coast of the US) have heard supper and dinner used pretty much interchangeably. eta: I did a discord poll, and apparently, most people I asked don't use supper at all, and the person who mentioned having heard it used said that it was mostly used by old people .when he was young. Epicurius fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Nov 4, 2021 |
# ? Nov 4, 2021 04:15 |
This.... isn't what I remember of this book at all. I might be conflating a few of them in my head, but I guess this means I'm strapping in!!!
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 04:28 |
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Comrade Blyatlov posted:This.... isn't what I remember of this book at all. I might be conflating a few of them in my head, but I guess this means I'm strapping in!!! Yeah, same. I think I got this confused with the book that introduced Erek, where Tom goes on that retreat with the Sharing? This is firmly in iffy territory for me re: if I read it as a child.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 04:35 |
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The supper thing was really jarring to me also, and both Jake and Marco seem really out of character in their dialogue
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 05:09 |
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Supper isn't usual here (pnw) but I wouldn't blink if someone used it
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 06:28 |
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Supper is a very common word for the night time meal, it's interchangeable with dinner.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 07:42 |
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The only people who should be saying "supper" are the posh children in an Enid Blyton book circa 1910
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 08:19 |
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Epicurius posted:I didn't really notice, because I (east coast of the US) have heard supper and dinner used pretty much interchangeably. Yeah, that's my experience too. It's not weird, but it is unusual. I live on the east coast too though
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 08:26 |
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freebooter posted:Definitely. It goes to show that even the two of them who get along the least are still... not friends, but certainly family to each other, who 100% will always have each other's backs. I also really like how this echoes 15, where she's again the one who maybe saw his mum surviving and tells him about it. (I actually remembered this one ending with the two of them watching Xena... was that a different book?) I definitely remember that being an ending to a Rachel book and I'm guessing it might be the sea star book. I didn't get to read any other books past Megamorphs 3 so I'm fairly confident it's that one. Oh wait, I did also read the sea civilization book.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 10:28 |
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I'm glad that wasn't some half-remembered head canon! But I don't think it's that one because I remember that ending with Rachel and Tobias. If it hasn't already happened, it might be the end of the one where Rachel is left in charge while Jake is out of town and seriously fucks it up because she's too reckless and it's basically about how she's not cut out for leadership. Which is kind of nice because it's Marco coming to her rather than the other way round. I think even if they don't quite like each other, they definitely get each other.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 10:35 |
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Southerner here, 'supper' is what I grew up calling the meal most of the time. 'Dinner' is reserved for if you're doing something fancy for the evening meal.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 12:27 |
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3 generations of midwesterners here, and we all use supper and dinner interchangably. ... I saw this on my dash and was compelled to share it:
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 18:58 |
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Yeah, it was always "supper" in Southern Indiana too. Dinner was more of a "Sunday Best for Applebees" thing.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 20:06 |
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only people I remember saying "supper" in eastern Pennsylvania were some very religious friends of the family that I had dinner with once. I understood from context or maybe having heard it before but it was definitely not usual and I only really ever heard religious ppl using it, so it always had that association for some reason. e: vvvv that's right! QuickbreathFinisher fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Nov 5, 2021 |
# ? Nov 4, 2021 22:09 |
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The SA Forums > The Book Bran > Let's Read Animorphs! Book 31 - The Conspiracy: A discussion on the regional use of supper
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 22:19 |
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If this doesn't escalate to threats of violence and banning I'm gonna be real disappointed.
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# ? Nov 4, 2021 22:26 |
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Bobulus posted:I saw this on my dash and was compelled to share it: The cowards left the "andalite trousers" question unresolved
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# ? Nov 5, 2021 03:26 |
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Chapter 5quote:“Hello?” Sometimes knowing you're not alone is the best thing you can know. Also, what Erik is doing here is basic cell phone triangulation. which works pretty much the same way as GPS. Cell phones send radio signals to towers. By figuring out how long it takes for the signal to get to each tower, you can plot that and get a good idea of where the phone is. This is more accurate now than when the book was written. In fact, it became a problem and still sort of is. If you call 911 from a cell phone, and don't give a location, it's harder for them to narrow your actual location down. Things are, like I said, a lot better now, but they're still not perfect. Chapter 6 quote:Peregrine falcon. The fastest animal on Earth. In a dive I could hit two hundred miles an hour. But I was a sprinter, not a marathoner. To get to the north end of town I had to soar. Not easy in the evening when the sun has cooled and he concrete no longer steams the air to provide lift for a raptor’s wings. Again, Jake is too close to the situation. It's complicated also because he's used to being in charge, so having to listen to Marco is harder. The difference is, unlike the last book, Jake knows he can't be objective.
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# ? Nov 5, 2021 05:25 |
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quote:“Eliminate the auto-body shop,” Marco said. “That’d be noisy. Real noisy. If they’re open, that is. Well they're hardly going to be open after the suppering hour
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# ? Nov 5, 2021 06:06 |
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# ? May 28, 2024 01:06 |
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I like the conjunction of the last two books. I originally read them as they were released, a month apart, so I didn’t notice back then that we went straight from Marco’s mom to Jake’s dad. Not only that, but their parents are post-infestation and pre-infestation. It’s also nice to get the two best friends alone together; even though their friendship is explicitly mentioned all over the books, we very rarely get to see their dynamic outside of the group. Re: supper, I hear it sometimes but mostly from Olds. Iirc, dinner used to be the midday meal while supper was in the evening, but in agricultural settings the midday meal was the biggest meal of the day for farmworking reasons. Now we have the biggest meal of the day in the evening, but still call the biggest meal “dinner.” It’s me, I’m the one still serioussupperposting.
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# ? Nov 5, 2021 14:04 |