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Epicurius posted:So they'd write a detailed outline and plot summary, send it to the ghostwriter, get it back, usually do extensive edits and rewrites, (in the case of one book, I think they were so unhappy, they rewrote it from scratch) and send it to Scholastic. So it wasn't a fun experience for anyone I'd also assume that aside from ghostwriters themselves differing in quality, there were probably differences in any given month with how much time or effort the Applegates had to spare for both an outline and an edit. Rochallor posted:Then there are also some not-so-successful authors: Laura Battyanyi-Weiss wrote Rachel turns into a squid, Tom tries to murk his father with a Nazi knife, and a buffalo turns into Cassie, none of which really had anything to do with their characters. I'd argue both the Jake/Tom/Dad book and buffa-human book were very tied to their respective character arcs, namely Jake's struggle with having a Controller in the family and Cassie's struggle with the ethics of how sentient animals are and whether it's OK to morph them; they just aren't executed very well. Ironically I think Rachel Squid is a great book because it's just a banger of a plot, even though it has nothing to do with anyone's arc and easily could've been told by any of them. (The obvious choices would be either Marco because of his ongoing association with the Chee, or Tobias because of his claustrophobia as a bird in water, but even those are weak.) Overall though I think most of the ghostwriters did a decent job. I never realised they were ghostwritten as a kid, and although now I can see differences in basic dialogue and character writing quality between e.g. the Chronicles/Megamorphs books and most of the main series it's minimal. (Though I think I do also remember noticing a quality uptick in 53 and 54, the final two books in the series which the Applegates came back to write themselves.)
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# ? Sep 27, 2022 08:50 |
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# ? May 27, 2024 22:06 |
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Fuschia tude posted:Also, IIRC some of the ghostwriters are just like, their babysitter, or their neighbor. I get the feeling for a while there they were so overwhelmed they were just offering writing jobs to anyone who was interested in banging out a story in a month or so based on a prewritten outline. This "just recruit anyone" is even how Grant got involved: Applegate started ghostwriting, took on too much, and told her husband "hey, I need you to write one of these, pick an outline."
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# ? Sep 27, 2022 12:20 |
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Book 49-The Diversion Chapter 1 quote:My name is Tobias. And I was one hungry bird. So, honestly, not a lot in this chapter. Just going over the metaplot, basically, as well food delivery from Rachel. Chapter 2 quote:Rachel drifted over the meadow, her profile stark against the sun. She spiraled down and dropped the McDonald’s bag in the grass under my tree. This chapter I like, because it's just a little slice of life thing about sitting under a tree with your girlfriend eating lunch.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 03:13 |
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Epicurius posted:This chapter I like, because it's just a little slice of life thing about sitting under a tree with your girlfriend eating lunch. While being a bird.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 04:58 |
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So what happens if a host has like, a heart attack or an aneurism or something? Is the Yeerk inside just hosed? If it happens at the host's work or commute or something does the Yeerk have an obligation to go down with the ship, since slithering out could risk exposure?
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 07:19 |
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The McDonald's sponsorship is a bit odd but the scene is very sweet. Definitely has that ring of "calm before the storm." TCE posted:So what happens if a host has like, a heart attack or an aneurism or something? Is the Yeerk inside just hosed? If it happens at the host's work or commute or something does the Yeerk have an obligation to go down with the ship, since slithering out could risk exposure?
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 07:27 |
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TCE posted:So what happens if a host has like, a heart attack or an aneurism or something? Is the Yeerk inside just hosed? If it happens at the host's work or commute or something does the Yeerk have an obligation to go down with the ship, since slithering out could risk exposure? This has been brought up before. Host death usually = Yeerk death as well unless the Yeerk is incredibly on the ball and able to bail out quickly enough. More often than not the shock and trauma of the host's death also dooms the puppeteer Yeerk, even if they manage to disconnect and escape the body in time.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 08:11 |
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I can only imagine what it would be like for a Yeerk to operate undercover because of just how dull going through the monotony of human society is.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 09:08 |
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Epicurius posted:This chapter I like, because it's just a little slice of life thing about sitting under a tree with your girlfriend eating lunch. Agreed, it's not quite the same as the scene last book with Rachel's mum/sisters and domestic life, but it is really nice to stop and appreciate the status quo when we know the end is looming Star Man posted:I can only imagine what it would be like for a Yeerk to operate undercover because of just how dull going through the monotony of human society is. I prefer to imagine that - compared to the monotony of life as a slug - they are just absolutely stoked to be showing up to an insurance firm and filling out spreadsheets all day. Bagged lunch, neatly knotted tie, huge cheerful hello to all the other office drones in the elevator
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 10:18 |
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Epicurius posted:This chapter I like, because it's just a little slice of life thing about sitting under a tree with your girlfriend eating lunch. I've always liked it, I mentioned it earlier in the thread IIRC, but I'd forgotten that it came at the start of this book.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 12:01 |
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freebooter posted:Agreed, it's not quite the same as the scene last book with Rachel's mum/sisters and domestic life, but it is really nice to stop and appreciate the status quo when we know the end is looming Also Yeerks love bureaucracy and procedure. It's been proven time and again. Office work would be like heaven for them.
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 15:39 |
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And yeerk senses are rubbish. Having decent eyes and ears- it'd be ax-in-the-foodcourt all over again
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# ? Sep 28, 2022 23:47 |
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Chapter 3quote:“Let me get this straight.” Marco shredded a piece of hay. “They wanted blood samples. Not cash. Not drugs. Blood.” Honestly, it's about time, given all the slipups the Animorphs have made. It's basically just luck and Visser One's stubbornness that they haven't been caught before. Chapter 4 quote:They. As in Visser One. "The former Visser-One had figured out we were human...." I mean, Chapman had a pretty good idea that the Animorphs were Human as far back as Book 5 or something. He and Tom's first Yeerk had a conversation about it and decided not to tell the then Visser Three because he'd probably kill them for suggesting it. It is a good plan to figure out the place they can't hack into would be the likely Yeerk location.
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# ? Sep 29, 2022 03:09 |
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Oh man. I just remembered what book this is.
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# ? Sep 29, 2022 07:43 |
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Vandar posted:Oh man. I just remembered what book this is. I never got this far into the series- love seeing comments like this. It's so cool to finally be in the end game, where stuff matters!
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# ? Sep 29, 2022 09:21 |
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Yeah I've got that yawning feeling in my stomach, like getting to the top of a hill on a roller coaster. Looking very much forward to end game.
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# ? Sep 29, 2022 14:16 |
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Wasn't there an earlier mention of blood tests potentially outing them? Also, here's an idea: What would happen if they morphed each other and then got the blood tests?
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# ? Sep 29, 2022 19:20 |
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Chapter 5quote:I figured Ax and Marco would find the blood bank, Jake would call another meeting, we’d infiltrate the place and destroy any incriminating information. Only one chapter tonight. But maybe Tobias will get his revenge on the snake!
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 03:15 |
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There's an interesting point about Tobias' pride in his independence comes from his pre-Animorph life, viewing being a hawk as just another way he has to provide for himself because no one else is going to. Except that the Animorphs are happy to do so, but help feels like pity. And it probably is a bit of pity, to be honest. But Jake gave him leftovers for a human, probably out of guilt that he got a team member trapped under his command. And Rachel... well, she wants to care for him, because that what you do for people you care about. Interestingly, I don't remember Cassie ever giving him any special treatment or free meals. I don't think we've ever had any significant scenes with the two of them, but there's no way she'd avoid helping him if he needed it. Maybe she just respects the natural cycle a bit more than the others that it doesn't seem like as bad a deal as to the others?
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 03:48 |
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I remember her dragging him for eating one of the skunk kids or something? Besides that they haven't really had many interactions that I can recall.
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 08:29 |
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Yeah, there's definitely a few relationships that are really threadbare. Cassie-Tobias, Rachel-Ax, and Marco-Cassie just don't get a lot of focus or real connective tissue. Having said that, the last few books do massively expand on one of those pairs in an interesting way.
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 08:36 |
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I understand Rachel/Ax and Marco/Cassie not being close based on their personalities, but I would figure that Tobias and Cassie have some similarities as, erm characters (wanted to say people but one's a hawk). In book 4 they had that shared vision of Ax, and in book 9 they had to work out an arrangement where Tobias would watch out for the skunk babies after eating one. But I can't think of many scenes since then.
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 09:14 |
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There are very few Rachel-Ax interactions but I love every single on of them. Wish we had more.
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# ? Sep 30, 2022 16:22 |
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Chapter 6quote:Saturday morning. You think Yeerks take wekends off? I also like that Ax collects pinups of candy. Chapter 7 quote:I caught a nice thermal over the freeway and soared high in the sky. Marco, in osprey morph, stayed behind me, lower and to the side. Ax, the northern harrier, swept back and forth above the rooftops. it's really convenient the circus is in town right next to the Yeerk research lab.
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# ? Oct 1, 2022 03:29 |
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Ax, Marco, and Tobias loving around on the internet is one of my favorite bits, and I wish that it happened more in the last arc of the series
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# ? Oct 1, 2022 03:34 |
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Epicurius posted:Chapter 7 When I was younger, being around animals always made me nervous. I was always worried about the inhuman mind inside of them. Who knew what they could be thinking? Maybe dogs were just playing along and desperately wanted to bite you Maybe birds would try to dive bomb your carr of the road. I outgrew it, of course, but imagine being a Yeerk and wondering, "is that a real bird or a deadly Andalites assassin?" It's ironic, in a way' that morphing turns the paranoia of the Yeerk invasion against them.
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# ? Oct 1, 2022 05:20 |
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Capfalcon posted:When I was younger, being around animals always made me nervous. I was always worried about the inhuman mind inside of them. Who knew what they could be thinking? Maybe dogs were just playing along and desperately wanted to bite you Maybe birds would try to dive bomb your carr of the road. Animorphs to this day makes me feel uneasy about squashing bugs thanks to the mutiple horrifying almost deaths they have in insect morph sticking with me
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# ? Oct 1, 2022 05:33 |
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Zore posted:Animorphs to this day makes me feel uneasy about squashing bugs thanks to the mutiple horrifying almost deaths they have in insect morph sticking with me The obvious solution to your anxiety here is to briefly pretend you are Visser One in some gigantic morph. Be sure to bellow "fools!!" mid-squash.
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# ? Oct 1, 2022 05:58 |
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Chapter 8quote:“Andalite!” Remember when the original plan was NOT to make a big deal about this infiltration or destroy the computer? Chapter 9 quote:Jake strode toward the guard. He pushed the end of the Dracon beam away and pointed at the door. Hey, we might get to see Loren again! But, no, this is bad news, especially if the Yeerks have an offsite backup.
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# ? Oct 2, 2022 03:40 |
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Epicurius posted:Chapter 9 Well, guess that answers my question about what would happen if they morphed each other. Also, yet again we get a great example of why morphing is the best spy tool in the universe, sans maybe the actual telepathy of the Leerans. It also reminds me of a story my uncle told me about being in the Army and guarding an explosives stockpile. His boss told him something along the lines of, "I don't care if the President himself drives up to this gate. If they don't have a valid badge, you turn them right back around and tell them to start driving the other direction until you can't see them anymore, at gunpoint if nessicary."
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# ? Oct 2, 2022 04:03 |
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Soup du Jour posted:LOREN
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# ? Oct 2, 2022 13:02 |
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Chapter 10quote:“You can’t escape. So, do us all a favor and don’t even try.” Just one chapter today, but I figured it's better to end it on a cliffhanger. Also, as Grannie Yeerk reminds us, anybody can be a Controller.
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# ? Oct 3, 2022 04:14 |
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This is one of those pieces of body horror seared into my mind. Marco's beak being torn off completely is just horrifying.
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# ? Oct 3, 2022 04:32 |
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Is Marco at the most near deaths at this point, or is it Rachel or maybe even Jake who did literally die twice? feels like it's definitely not Tobias, Ax, or Cassie. I'm morbidly curious which kid has been through the meat grinder the most at this point.
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# ? Oct 3, 2022 07:20 |
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Soup du Jour posted:Ax, Marco, and Tobias loving around on the internet is one of my favorite bits, and I wish that it happened more in the last arc of the series For the first time the joking here actually feels like genuinely good-natured banter between old friends who care about each other; in the past it felt like when the jokes had hidden barbs, Marco and Tobias actually meant to be mean to each other. Might just be my imagination, but it feels right for this point in the series. QuickbreathFinisher posted:Is Marco at the most near deaths at this point, or is it Rachel or maybe even Jake who did literally die twice? feels like it's definitely not Tobias, Ax, or Cassie. I'm morbidly curious which kid has been through the meat grinder the most at this point. Off the top of my head the closest to death we've had in terms of actually almost bleeding out is: - Marco as dolphin early on - Jake as a fly on the plane There's other "near death" stuff like Tobias almost getting drowned by the racoon which is terrifying but not starting-to-fade-away level of gore. And I think all the stuff from the time travel Megamorphs doesn't count, either for us as readers or them as individuals. Did Jake even remember getting shot in the head?
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# ? Oct 3, 2022 11:49 |
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Marco is also near death and only saved by the Chee in the book where they're introduced (which is why he's unconscious when a reprogrammed Erek murders every Yeerk controller in an office building).
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# ? Oct 3, 2022 13:37 |
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Trying harder to catch up with the thread. I can really only read like this in spurts. David. I liked the Animorph premise and the cast. But David is what really hooked.me something serious. What a dark plot.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 01:01 |
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JFC ripped his loving beak off, and on balance Marco is one of the more adjusted kids
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 02:02 |
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Epicurius posted:Marco is also near death and only saved by the Chee in the book where they're introduced (which is why he's unconscious when a reprogrammed Erek murders every Yeerk controller in an office building). Pretty sure they explicitly said he died and Erek needed to restart his ape heart.
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# ? Oct 4, 2022 02:05 |
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# ? May 27, 2024 22:06 |
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Let's count some of the worst stuff that's happened to all of them so far ignoring all the big events where everyone got hosed up like constant morphing so they didn't freeze to death in the arctic; Jake; Infested by a Yeerk then had to go through it dying in his head Got pasted as a fly and almost bled out on a plane Was about to kill his brother to stop him from killing their dad Rachel; Stayed to watch David become a nothlit Killed him or brought him back to his own personal hell later Got literally cut in half Tobias Horribly tortured by a deranged Yeerk "involuntary" nothlit Everything about his family situation is insane Cassie Became a caterpillar nothlit Aldrea possessed her and almost took over her body Killed a dude back in book 1 Marco Most severe injuries I can remember (this one, dying as a Gorilla and having Erik restart his heart, that time he got rabies and almost died) Had to deal with his mother being the host for Visser 1 Ax Got infested by a yeerk while delirious Met other Andalites 3-4 times, betrayed by at least some of them literally every time Zore fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Oct 4, 2022 |
# ? Oct 4, 2022 02:17 |