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

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Rosalie_A: Oct 30, 2011

Gun Jam posted:

(also, a bit late, but about getting angry at the actor selling his own species - have you considered he's being lied to? For all he knows, Visser 3 is the good guy)

The great thing about this series being about a bunch of teenagers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time is that a whole lot of stuff is plausibly excused as kids being dumb teenagers.

# ? Nov 9, 2020 10:15

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 22:29

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

Yeah, Visser Three was dangling the carrot of we make you a REAL star in front of him. It's The Sharing in a nutshell - promise exactly what they want in exchange for just one small thing.

# ? Nov 9, 2020 10:18

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

The scene on the boat seems clearly influenced by the old "deal with the devil" type story, even to the extent of the evil radiating off Visser Three in his human form. It's even got "Sell me your soul and I will give you what you most desire."

# ? Nov 9, 2020 14:44

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

"You won't say no" is a great villain line.

# ? Nov 9, 2020 19:35

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:

It�s mentioned later that the Yeerks think Ax is akin to a flag or mascot or something, a deliberate point of Andalite pride to keep one member of the fighting warband in Andalite form.

I think they also spitball the idea that maybe Ax is their leader since he always does the talking for them. But by that point Visser One and a lot of the smarter Yeerk higher-ups have begun to guess the truth, and it's only Visser Three's obstinacy that means the "Andalite bandits" theory is still the generally accepted one.

# ? Nov 9, 2020 22:38

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 12: The Reaction-Chapter 23

quote:

I saw a flash of teeth.

And then I saw a flash of gray.

A bushy tail and tiny hands and big brown eyes went rocketing past.

<Cassie!>

The gray squirrel leapt over the toilet stall door, flew through the air, landed on the crocodile�s ancient dinosaur head and started scrabbling at its big slitted eyes.

The croc went nuts. It forgot about me, and began thrashing insanely in an attempt to throw off the squirrel.

And someone chose that very moment to try to get into the bathroom.

�I can�t find another bathroom! I have to get in!� a woman said.

The crocodile thrashed its tail.

I lunged down at the crocodile, swiping with a paw the size of a canned ham.

And we all hit the bathroom door.

WHAM-BOOOM!

The door exploded from its hinges! Out rushed a crocodile with a squirrel on its head, and a grizzly bear.

�AHHHHHHH!� the woman screamed. I think she found another bathroom after that.

I don't think she needed to find another bathroom after that.

quote:

I tripped over the crocodile. I hit the floor. The croc was on me in a flash.

I tried to get up on all fours, but man, that crocodile was fast! With no time to get up, I could only power my way down the hall by clawing. I sunk six-inch claws into the walls and propelled myself, scooting along on my back, like some weird out-of-control grizzly skateboarder.

I scooted in terror, ripping the walls apart as I went. The croc scooted after me, snapping at the air just millimeters from my hind legs.

Cassie had almost been thrown. She was holding on to the croc�s neck with all her strength, but she couldn�t reach his eyes anymore.

And then, still scooting, I ran out of the hallway. With one last push I scooted on my back out into the backstage area, trailing a huge crocodile and a chittering, manic squirrel.

People standing around off the set began to notice us.

�Ahhhhhh!�

�Help! Help!�

�Run! Run! Ruuuuun!�

Suddenly, crocodile jaws caught my leg.

HhhhhoooRRRAAWWRRR! I bellowed in pain.

A llama broke free of a trainer�s hand and rushed with insane courage at the crocodile. There was absolutely nothing Marco could do, but he tried anyway. And it didn�t take a lot of time before he was thrown clear. But he scrambled right up, and came back for more.

�Get those animals out of here!� the clipboard woman screamed.

�They�re not my animals! They�re not my animals!� Bart Jacobs yammered as he ran to hide. �I don�t know where they came from!�

The croc started thrashing, grinding the bones in my leg. It was literally trying to tear my leg off!

And it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

ROOOWWWWR!

�Oh, no! The show will be ruined!�

�Should we go to commercial?�

�Who cares? Run! Ahhhhh!�

So to sum up the chapter, you've got a grizzly bear and a llama fighting a crocodile while a squirrel tries to blind it.

Chapter 24

quote:

Maybe it was the sight of the brave-but-insane charge of the llama. Or maybe it was the fact that Cassie was once more scrabbling at the crocodile�s eyes. But he opened his jaws just an inch. Just enough.

I yanked my crushed leg out of the croc�s mouth and tried to get far enough away that I could turn and fight head-on. Like that would work.

Unfortunately, this move ended up dragging the entire battle - grizzly bear, squirrel, llama, and crocodile - out onto the set.
Out to where Barry and Cindy Sue were gamely trying to interview Jeremy Jason McCole.

Out to where Jeremy Jason McCole was just starting to say, �Barry and Cindy Sue, I�m involved with this group that I think is really a wonderful organization. I think-�

Out to where brilliant lights illuminated our snarling, snapping, slashing, chittering, roaring ball of fur, claws, tails, scales, and teeth.

Barry leapt out of his chair and backed away at amazing speed.

Cindy Sue was cool. She just kept saying, �Can we get Bart Jacobs to come out here and remove his animals?�

Of course Bart knew better than to get involved in a fight between a crocodile and a bear. �They aren�t my animals, you silly twit!� he yelled at Cindy Sue.

It was Jeremy Jason who was most surprising. He didn�t run away. He didn�t scream. He froze.

He froze as stiff as a statue. The only thing that moved was his eyes. They kept growing larger.

That�s when I noticed an Andalite had emerged, though he kept himself beyond the range of the cameras. And he carefully stayed there. It was Ax!

<What does it take to stop this thing?> Cassie asked me desperately, as she tried to rake over the croc�s eyes.

<More than any of us has,> I said grimly.

Suddenly, the crocodile jerked its entire body with incredible violence. I was in grizzly bear morph, and I never would have believed anything was that much stronger than a grizzly. But when the crocodile thrashed, we all knew it.

Cassie had been thrown. Much farther than Marco. I lost sight of her as she was flying through the air, squirrel tail flapping like the tail on a kite.
And now there was nothing between me and the crocodile.

This was an animal that fed by dragging full-grown wildebeests and impalas into the river. I was bigger than its normal meals. But this crocodile had a grudge against me. It had started to chow down and I�d gotten away. And it didn�t like that.It came for me. And let me tell you something: You do not ever, ever, ever want a crocodile looking at you for dinner.

Was I scared? Oh, yes. If I stood and fought, I�d lose. Period.

<Okay, that does it,> Jake said. <We are out of here!>

Jake. He�d caught up to us. And he didn�t sound happy.

Then in my head I heard Cassie�s thought-speak voice. <I�m at the light switches! I think I can turn off the lights! Get ready to run!>

<What?>

<When the lights go down, everyone bail!> Cassie cried.

<I�m ready,> Marco said.

And that�s when fate intervened. Marco was climbing to his llama feet. His hooves splayed suddenly on the waxed floor and he plowed into the back of Jeremy Jason�s seat.

The actor - or the Yeerk in his head - was still frozen in horror. And he stayed frozen as he fell from the chair and landed directly in front of the crocodile.

That could solve their Yeerk problem.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 03:53

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Epicurius posted:

quote:
A llama broke free of a trainer�s hand and rushed with insane courage at the crocodile. There was absolutely nothing Marco could do, but he tried anyway.

gently caress, yeah, Marco!

# ? Nov 10, 2020 04:45

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

This was an animal that fed by dragging full-grown wildebeests and impalas into the river.

Am I mistaken or didn't she say it was a saltwater crocodile before?

# ? Nov 10, 2020 05:53

GodFish: Oct 10, 2012; We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Are... are crocodiles really that much tougher than a bear?

# ? Nov 10, 2020 08:47

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

freebooter posted:

Am I mistaken or didn't she say it was a saltwater crocodile before?

I don't see anything about saltwater in the text.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 09:07

Khizan: Jul 30, 2013

Saltwater crocs are most commonly found in saltwater, but they can handle freshwater and can be found in rivers.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 09:16

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

GodFish posted:

Are... are crocodiles really that much tougher than a bear?

They've been basically unchanged since the time of dinos. Yes, they are that much tougher. They're about as close as it gets to a perfect ambush predator.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 09:20

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

The croc-grizzly horror from the previous chapter immediately reminded me of Zoofights. Hoping no one turns into a Swanmass at any point in this series.

Don't crocs have almost no jaw opening strength? So if they got it in a position where its mouth was stuck shut, it would almost be helpless (or as helpless as a 25 foot croc could be)? Or am I thinking of alligators? This is one of those weird distinctions I never really bothered to learn or internalize, despite my total obsession with animals and this series. Plus it would feel like a very Animorphs climax to find some way to clamp the animal's mouth shut by llama Marco stepping on it or whatever. Not that we're not winding up for a total Animorphs climax here anyway.

I really love the complete chaos and terror of the morph allergy contrasted with the goofy teen celebrity crush local news stuff.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 09:41

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Don't crocs have almost no jaw opening strength? So if they got it in a position where its mouth was stuck shut, it would almost be helpless (or as helpless as a 25 foot croc could be)? Or am I thinking of alligators?

Crocs (and alligators, and you and me and most things with jaws) do have really weak jaw opening strength. So, you probably could hold his jaw shut. Unfortunately, for that, they're also really strong and, if they want, can knock you off them or roll over on you pretty easily.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 15:13

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

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

They've been basically unchanged since the time of dinos. Yes, they are that much tougher. They're about as close as it gets to a perfect ambush predator.

Yeah. When this thread was going over 'what would your favorite battle morph be?,' I picked the saltwater crocodile for a reason. Twenty feet of muscle and armor, an excellent swimmer, and shockingly stealthy in its preferred environment. They've killed a non-trivial number of people in recorded human history.

# ? Nov 10, 2020 17:54

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

Don't crocs have almost no jaw opening strength? So if they got it in a position where its mouth was stuck shut, it would almost be helpless (or as helpless as a 25 foot croc could be)?

This is something I heard a lot as a kid. What they didn't mention is that crocs love rolling around and around, potentially disorienting or maiming their captured prey. So good luck holding on to the jaws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLy-Iiy_Zp4

# ? Nov 10, 2020 18:48

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

Cythereal posted:

Yeah. When this thread was going over 'what would your favorite battle morph be?,' I picked the saltwater crocodile for a reason. Twenty feet of muscle and armor, an excellent swimmer, and shockingly stealthy in its preferred environment. They've killed a non-trivial number of people in recorded human history.

Think I would go with hippo for the humor/terror ratio. Have you ever seen what one of those fuckers can do to a whole watermelon? Rhino would also be cool, i just got to the rhino book and it's a real uh, blast.

If Rachel was honest about all of this, maybe Cassie could have just brought a roll of duct tape with her to the show, taped the croc up before it fully sloshed out of Rachel, and been done with it. Not that she knew she would go critical then, but hey.

E:

Bobulus posted:

This is something I heard a lot as a kid. What they didn't mention is that crocs love rolling around and around, potentially disorienting or maiming their captured prey. So good luck holding on to the jaws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLy-Iiy_Zp4

# ? Nov 10, 2020 19:35

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

This thread should watch Crocodile Hunter, because holy poo poo him diving on crocs and flinging his arms around them while giggling and laughing was just loving nuts

# ? Nov 10, 2020 20:54

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Khizan posted:

Saltwater crocs are most commonly found in saltwater, but they can handle freshwater and can be found in rivers.

But they're a different species (a larger species, though you don't want to gently caress with either) from Nile crocodiles, which I guess is what this one is based on Rachel's prey description. Niles live in Africa, salties live in Australia and historically all over SE Asia, though they've been mostly wiped out in that range.

Nile crocodile fun fact: they dig burrows up to 12 metres deep, the deepest of any animal!

Saltwater crocodile fun fact: they mostly live in estuaries but can swim in the ocean and travel huge distances, even popping up as far away as Fiji:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/6/100607-science-animals-crocodiles-hunter-surfing/

Bobulus posted:

This is something I heard a lot as a kid. What they didn't mention is that crocs love rolling around and around, potentially disorienting or maiming their captured prey. So good luck holding on to the jaws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLy-Iiy_Zp4

Particularly because they're river's edge ambush predators and drag the prey underwater while they do it. Here's Val Plumwood's account of surviving a crocodile's death roll:

quote:

Few of those who have experienced the crocodile's death roll have lived to describe it. It is, essentially, an experience beyond words of total terror. The crocodile's breathing and heart metabolism are not suited to prolonged struggle, so the roll is an intense burst of power designed to overcome the victim's resistance quickly. The crocodile then holds the feebly struggling prey underwater until it drowns. The roll was a centrifuge of boiling blackness that lasted for an eternity, beyond endurance, but when I seemed all but finished, the rolling suddenly stopped. My feet touched bottom, my head broke the surface, and, coughing, I sucked at air, amazed to be alive. The crocodile still had me in its pincer grip between the legs. I had just begun to weep for the prospects of my mangled body when the crocodile pitched me suddenly into a second death roll.

When the whirling terror stopped again I surfaced again, still in the crocodile's grip next to a stout branch of a large sandpaper fig growing in the water. I grabbed the branch, vowing to let the crocodile tear me apart rather than throw me again into that spinning, suffocating hell.

https://www.utne.com/arts/being-prey

# ? Nov 10, 2020 22:58

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

This thread should watch Crocodile Hunter, because holy poo poo him diving on crocs and flinging his arms around them while giggling and laughing was just loving nuts

Steve Irwin then becomes Visser Three's #1 infestation target.

(It was the 90s, he was still with us :rip:

)

# ? Nov 10, 2020 23:40

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

Steve Irwin dives on the back of some horfific giant beast while yelling THIS IS SO DANGEROUS

# ? Nov 11, 2020 00:27

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 12: The Reaction-Chapter 25

quote:

The audience screamed in renewed horror.

Cindy Sue finally broke and ran.

Barry was yelling ridiculous directions in total panic. �Get a stapler! Get a stapler!�

I think that�s what he was saying, anyway. I was a little distracted.

Jeremy Jason was no longer frozen. �Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh! Save me! Save me! Get it off me!�

And with my dim bear vision, I could have sworn I saw something slimy and gray come crawling out of Jeremy Jason�s ear.

I always love it when Yeerks nope out.

quote:

And that�s when the lights went out.

<Okay, run for it!> Cassie cried.

Sudden darkness! Not pitch-black, but too dark for cameras or the audience to see.

Total pandemonium in the audience. It�s one thing to see wild animals up on a set. It�s a whole different feeling, sitting in the dark and not knowing whether those wild animals are going to come rampaging into the audience.

The entire studio was nothing but screams. Screams and animal roars. And above it all, the shrill, horrified scream of Jeremy Jason.

�Save me! Save me!�

I saw a rush of movement from offstage.

Suddenly an Andalite was leaping through the air. It landed directly on the crocodile�s back. The Andalite tail flashed.

Flashed!

Flashed!

Flashed!

And suddenly the crocodile let go of Jeremy Jason.

<Ax?> I asked.

<Yes,> he said, sounding grim.

I knew Andalites are tougher than they look. I�d fought alongside Ax before. But nothing ever impressed me as much as that. That crocodile was a tank. It was unstoppable!

And now it was stopped.

<Where�s the Yeerk?> I asked Ax.

<I saw the Yeerk leave this human a few seconds ago.>

So I had seen a slug crawling out of Jeremy Jason! The Yeerk had panicked. It didn�t want to be swallowed up along with its host body.
It was crawling around on the dark stage like a snail without its shell.

<Everyone okay?> Jake asked.

<Yeah,> I answered.

<Alive,> Marco said. <Not happy, but alive.>

<Then let�s get out of here!> Jake yelled.

<Definitely,> I agreed fervently. I looked down at the stilled crocodile head. You know, even dead, it just scared the pee out of me.

Possibly because it was still very close to a yelling, screaming, cursing, hysterical Jeremy Jason McCole.

I bailed. I ran for the far side of the stage. But as I ran, I felt one of my massive bear paws step on something.

Something warm and squishy.

Something that felt like a slug.

<I don�t think the Yeerk made it too far,> I said.

RIP Yertak 142. Anyway, in all seriousness, lets talk a little bit about Andalites. First of, Ax is a teenager. Ax also managed to slaughter a crocodile with his tail blade. We've seen him, in the past, amputate limbs. The big difference between Andalites and the Animorphs when it comes to morphing is that the Animorphs use their morphing to fight. Andalites use it for scouting and espionage. They don't use it to fight because they don't have to. If anything, the biggest clue that these aren't Andalites but humans is that they fight in morph. But Visser Three, partly because he loves the abilities morphing gives him so much, can't see that.

Chapter 26

quote:

We demorphed in the ladies� room. Ax did the opposite, morphing into his human form.

But we had lost Cassie.

�I�ll find her,� I said. �You guys get out of here. I�m supposed to be here. But we can�t explain why you�re here.�

I headed back toward the set area. It was still dark. Whatever Cassie had done to the lights, it was taking a while to fix them.

There was an awful lot of shouting going on. A lot of unpleasant language was being used.

I turned a corner and practically plowed into the back of a man who was standing there. He didn�t even turn around. He was staring intently at a person standing just in front of him.

I heard a voice say, �Yeah, can you believe my luck?�

The voice seemed strange and familiar at the same time. Like I had heard it before, but not quite this way.

Then I realized.

�I mean, I fall in a crocodile pit, my house falls down on me, and now this.�

I raised up on tiptoes and looked over the man�s shoulder. What I saw was me. Me.

Actually Cassie, morphed into me.

The man she was talking to was one of the show�s producers.

�You�re a very unlucky girl,� the man said.

�That�s what I keep telling people,� Cassie said. �They keep saying how lucky I am to survive. I keep saying, like, not!�

He nodded. �You know, for a moment there I wondered about you � ,� he said, letting the sentence trail off. Then he shrugged. �But the crocodile has been destroyed. And yet here you are.�

I flattened myself back against the wall. If he turned and saw me he�d definitely flip. And what if he was a Controller? I couldn�t take that chance.

�Yeah, I�m glad it didn�t get me,� Cassie said. �I�m getting out of here. I have to find my dad. He�s here somewhere. It would help if someone would like, you know, get things organized.�

Cassie pushed past the man. I turned my face away, not wanting to surprise her.

�Andalite!� the man snapped.
My heart stopped. He was testing Cassie. Waiting to see if she would react. If she would recognize the word. If Cassie hesitated or stopped he would know.

He would know.

I shouldn�t even have worried.

When he rapped out the word �Andalite!� she kept walking and without hesitation said, �Yeah, a light would be helpful, too.�

Cassie ain't dumb.

quote:

The man made a snorting, dismissive sound and turned away.

I fell into step behind Cassie. �Nice job, sister,� I said.

�Oh, good, you�re back,� she said. �It�s a good thing. I�m having the worst time trying to control this morph!�

�You�re having trouble being me? What could be hard about that?�

She raised an eyebrow in a way that looked as much like Cassie as it did like me. �This brain of yours. It keeps trying to get me to do really dumb things.�

Paramedics came rushing past us, shoving us apart. When we were alone again I said, �Hey, I said we were going to improvise, right? And look how well it all turned out. We�re all alive. Jeremy Jason probably won�t be endorsing anything for a while, let alone The Sharing. Plus, I stepped on the Yeerk.�

�Jake will still kill you.�

I laughed. �Cassie, if I were Jake, I�d kill me, too. Say � I don�t suppose you�d want to stay in my body a while longer ��

�Nope.�

�Coward.�

�Yep.�

So, fortunately, Cassie was Rachel...maybe a better Rachel than Rachel.

Chapter 27

quote:

Two days later, we sat around watching TV up in my hotel room. It would be another week at least till my house was rebuilt.

In the meantime, there was room service. And cable TV.

We lounged around, eating pie. The Animorphs. Cassie, the ecology nut, animal girl; Marco, who thought everything was a joke; and our fearless yet modest leader, Jake.

There was also a disturbingly pretty boy named Ax - a boy who was actually an Andalite when he wasn�t in human morph. Ax�s entire face was covered with pie. Ax doesn�t have a mouth in his normal body, and the sense of taste totally overwhelms him when he morphs human. The boy is
dangerous around food.

Great image, btw.

quote:

And standing on the windowsill there was a fierce red-tailed hawk.

Tobias didn�t want pie.

Followed by a completely shattering one.

quote:

We watched TV and picked at remnants of pie crust as familiar theme music started to play.

Marco invented his own lyrics and sang along. �Entertainment Tonight, we�re so glib and so light. Entertainment Tonight, we got stars all right! We�ll entertain you and drain you of all your thoughts tonight, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah!�

Jake threw a pillow and hit Marco in the back of his head.

�Shh,� Cassie said. �Here it comes.�

The male announcer said, �You�ll all remember the story we reported yesterday of the incredible melee during the broadcasting of the Barry and Cindy Sue Show. Wild animals brought to the show by Bart Jacobs broke loose and created a terrible scene, during which Jeremy Jason McCole, the young star of the hit television series Power House, was nearly eaten by a crocodile.

�Well, today we have an update. Jeremy Jason McCole is out of the hospital. Doctors say he�ll be fine. But in an amazing development, his agent says Jeremy Jason is quitting Power House and leaving the country. McCole�s agent refuses to divulge the young actor�s whereabouts, but sources say he has been spotted in Uzbekistan, a small central Asian nation.�

<Uzbekistan?> Tobias repeated.

�I guess that was as far as he could get from the Yeerks and the media,� I suggested.

�I wonder if they have crocodiles in Uzbekistan?� Marco wondered.

�I�m guessing no,� I said. �I don�t think Jeremy Jason McCole will ever get within a thousand miles of a crocodile again.�

�Or a Yeerk. At least if he can help it,� Jake said.

Cassie sighed loudly.

�What is it, Cassie?� Jake asked.

She sighed again. �It�s just a pity. He really was cute.�

�Mmmm,� I agreed. �Those dimples.�

�That hair.�

�Those eyes.�

�Those lips.�

�Ax,� Marco said. �You should have let the crocodile eat him.�

I ignored Marco, as I usually do. �He was, without a doubt, the cutest guy ever.�

�That does it,� Jake said. �Marco? Change the channel. Put on Baywatch.�

I reached over and tried to snatch the remote away from Marco, but he was too quick. He flipped through the channels and then said, �Ah, there we go.�
I looked up, expecting to see red bathing suits. Instead, I saw swords and leather boots.

Xena: Warrior Princess. My kind of girl.

Marco winked at me.

�Well, okay,� I said. �This we can watch.�

That last chapter was sweet. Actually, I liked this whole book, and better than I thought it was. We don't learn a lot about the characters, and it doesn't really develop the story at all. To a large extent, really, it's just a book about Rachel and Cassie. The other Animorphs aren't really in the book. But it's fun, It goes into the idea of celebrity crushes, and the whole sort of parasocial relationship you have with somebody who you don't even know. Plus, the whole studio scene is just funny, from Rachel trying to control herself in front of the jerky hairstylist, to the woman who really has to use the bathroom, to Marco being overly proud of being on TV, to the fact that Cassie's first instinct when it comes to confronting a crocodile is to become a squirrel. So, I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was fun.

Tomorrow, I hope you're sick of the main characters and the 90s, because we start The Andalite Chronicles.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 02:34

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

While I am not sick of either of those things, I am very excited about the Andalite Chronicles.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 02:39

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

Andalite Chronicles is one of the high points of the series IMO. The chronicles and Visser are all fantastic.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:05

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

Tomorrow, I hope you're sick of the main characters and the 90s, because we start The Andalite Chronicles.

Oh wow, I didn't realise that came this early in the series.

That line about the stapler stuck in my head through the years. I could never figure out what he was actually meant to be saying.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:11

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

quote:

When he rapped out the word “Andalite!” she kept walking and without hesitation said, “Yeah, a light would be helpful, too.”

I always liked this bit.

Epicurius posted:

That last chapter was sweet. Actually, I liked this whole book, and better than I thought it was. We don't learn a lot about the characters, and it doesn't really develop the story at all. To a large extent, really, it's just a book about Rachel and Cassie. The other Animorphs aren't really in the book. But it's fun, It goes into the idea of celebrity crushes, and the whole sort of parasocial relationship you have with somebody who you don't even know. Plus, the whole studio scene is just funny, from Rachel trying to control herself in front of the jerky hairstylist, to the woman who really has to use the bathroom, to Marco being overly proud of being on TV, to the fact that Cassie's first instinct when it comes to confronting a crocodile is to become a squirrel. So, I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was fun.
.

Agreed. I feel like I've enjoyed this one more now than when I was a kid.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:18

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

quote:

We lounged around, eating pie. The Animorphs. Cassie, the ecology nut, animal girl; Marco, who thought everything was a joke; and our fearless yet modest leader, Jake.

There was also a disturbingly pretty boy named Ax - a boy who was actually an Andalite when he wasn�t in human morph.

Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club

Looking forward to those Chronicles!

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:20

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

ALLORAN DID NOTHING WRONG

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:27

Soup du Jour: Sep 8, 2011; I always knew I'd die with a headache.

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

ALLORAN DID NOTHING WRONG

Toby frowns disapprovingly

# ? Nov 11, 2020 03:38

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

ALLORAN DID NOTHING WRONG

# ? Nov 11, 2020 04:41

Remalle: Feb 12, 2020

Epicurius posted:

When he rapped out the word �Andalite!� she kept walking and without hesitation said, �Yeah, a light would be helpful, too.�

This stood out to me more than anything else when I read this series as a kid. Cassie is so cool.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 05:00

Tulul: Oct 23, 2013; THAT SOUND WILL FOLLOW ME TO HELL.

Epicurius posted:

That last chapter was sweet. Actually, I liked this whole book, and better than I thought it was. We don't learn a lot about the characters, and it doesn't really develop the story at all. To a large extent, really, it's just a book about Rachel and Cassie. The other Animorphs aren't really in the book. But it's fun, It goes into the idea of celebrity crushes, and the whole sort of parasocial relationship you have with somebody who you don't even know. Plus, the whole studio scene is just funny, from Rachel trying to control herself in front of the jerky hairstylist, to the woman who really has to use the bathroom, to Marco being overly proud of being on TV, to the fact that Cassie's first instinct when it comes to confronting a crocodile is to become a squirrel. So, I really enjoyed the whole thing. It was fun.

Yeah, this is a fun book, which surprised me a little bit. My hazy memories of the plot kind of stuck it together with the more gimmicky books that make up a decent chunk of the middle of the series and are of more mixed quality.

I also completely forgot the Andalite Chronicles were this early. I would have figured they came late in the series. Major spoilers: Tobias' moment with Elfangor in the construction yard had me wondering if Applegate had planned Tobias' relation to Elfangor from the start. I guess that means yes, she had.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 05:20

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling
1-800-GAMBLER; Ultra Carp

HisMajestyBOB posted:

Agreed. I feel like I've enjoyed this one more now than when I was a kid.

Yeah, same. It helped that compared to most of the other books we've gone through so far, the ~yeerk plot of the week~ wasn't the main focus�the morphing allergy was. That allowed the book to go in some slightly different directions than what we're already used to, and to bring out some really nice character moments (Especially between Rachel and Cassie). And, of course, every Marco moment was pure gold.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 05:42

SSJ_naruto_2003: Oct 12, 2012

I just had a horrifying thought. If Cassie had tried to acquire Rachel and ended up allergic, she would have ended up popping out a genetically identical Rachel, but without any memories.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 07:42

Khizan: Jul 30, 2013

SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:

I just had a horrifying thought. If Cassie had tried to acquire Rachel and ended up allergic, she would have ended up popping out a genetically identical Rachel, but without any memories.

I'd guess that you can't be allergic to your own species. A human allergic to human DNA is going to have problems.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 08:57

Shwoo: Jul 21, 2011

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

ALLORAN DID NOTHING WRONG

Alloran did at least one thing wrong, maybe more. Poor guy, though.

I always thought of the Andalite Chronicles as coming after book 13 in the series, but I think that's just something arbitrary I latched onto. They were published in the same month.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 11:21

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

What did he do wrong

# ? Nov 11, 2020 11:34

McTimmy: Feb 29, 2008

Oh yes. The Andalite Chronicles are some goooood readin'.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 11:37

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

What did he do wrong

Something something, _{_{organ-liquefying genocide virus}}

# ? Nov 11, 2020 11:44

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 22:29

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Tulul posted:

I also completely forgot the Andalite Chronicles were this early. I would have figured they came late in the series. Major spoilers: Tobias' moment with Elfangor in the construction yard had me wondering if Applegate had planned Tobias' relation to Elfangor from the start. I guess that means yes, she had.

She said she hadn't.

# ? Nov 11, 2020 12:22

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

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