Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win

diannaofthemyscira asked: When I was younger, I only read to book 13 of Animorphs before my mom told me that I should read more mature books and my school library didn't have past book 13 so I stopped but I found your blog and book overviews and now I'm reading it again and what the fuck. This is not for children, I mean, it is, but it's not. And I love all my children so much and I completely adore your Animorphs tag. I don't have time to read during the school year, so I'm trying to get as many books in

over the summer as I can, and I am just now caught up on #13, but I just wanted to say I love your blog and your thoughts on Animorphs so thanks so much. <3

Honestly bless?  I love this comment so much, I hope you don’t mind me publishing it so that I can keep it forever?  I’ve enjoyed watching you go through my Animorphs tag so much, tbqh, and I’m frankly honored to have dragged so many people into this series with me.  And you’re so right, these books are not for children, but they’re for kids, but also I would never be allowed to give them to a child.  (I would give them to a child, let’s be honest, I’m a mess of a child tender.  But those of my friends who would be the kid’s parents would probably stop me.)  

If you’re in the market for other Animorphs folks, my one-stop-shop is @chromatographic as well as @derinthemadscientist, also @incorrectmorpherquotes is fucking hilarious, trolling Chroma and Derin’s stuff can point you to other people (I say as I use familiar nicknames like I’ve ever exchanged more than a couple words with them I’m so sorry y’all).

Please feel free to always always come talk to me about Animorphs more at all times.  ESPECIALLY my sad bird boy.

Moran Rereads the Animorphs, Part 10

Book 10: The Android

AKA “Dogs are literally too good for this world, the first main character dies for a bit, and we learn about the motherfucking Chee”

Keep reading

Anonymous asked: Marco and the Terrible, Horrible. No Good, Very Bad Haircut™

Okay, I recommend the absolute hell out of Morph Club Cast, an Animorphs reread podcast, and in the episode for Book 10 I think they count a total of six mentions of Marco’s new haircut?  Eight?  Not sure.  A lot.

So basically… all puppers are Chee’s right?

…so…at some point all puppers were part Pemalite but also evolution exists and maybe not anymore but on the other hand the puppers respond intelligently to the Pemalite crystal but…only sort of?  Maybe?  But yes.

I realize that I just gave every answer possible to that question, but also.  Just roll with it.

I… don’t know how to feel about the Chee book. Just. Huh. Huh.

Same?  Same tbh?  It’s a weird book?  Like, Marco has some Bad Times, but ultimately it doesn’t seem to click as well as, say, the previous book, in which Cassie had Bad Times and the day was saved by bureaucracy and skunks?  Also, you just reminded me that I should post my recap of this book so that I can vent my Potentially Controversial Opinions about the Chee.  Look forward to that being the next thing in the queue.

(preview: WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK PLEASE HELP THESE SIX TRAUMATIZED TEENAGERS INSTEAD OF JUST BEING PROBLEM GENERATORS)

Anonymous asked: My boy, Jake

I’M NOT EVEN GOING TO PUT THIS ON ANOTHER POST BECAUSE JUST.  YES.  JAKE IS MY BOY.  HE’S THE BEST BOY.  HE’S DOING HIS VERY BEST AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE JAKE BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS HE TAKES DURING THE WAR, I DISAGREE BUT I RESPECT YOUR OPINION.  IF YOU DON’T LIKE JAKE BECAUSE YOU THINK HE’S INCOMPETENT AND/OR BORING, I INVITE YOU TO MEET ME BEHIND THE HAUNTED EX-DENNY’S AND WE CAN SETTLE THIS PROPERLY.

Anonymous asked: Welcome to the loony bin!

Oh God, listen, they get saved by the power of skunks and bureaucracy in this one and I’m SURE it’s because KA Applegate looked at that whole…termite thing and said to herself “I should go easy on them, where can we get some humor here” and I’m not even mad.  I love her for it.

Also it occurs to me that this ask IS in the middle of several asks about Animorphs #9 but I could be wrong, in which case…thanks?

We are sure to SMELL you coming…. My boy… Look at him… Such a good one liner. An icon truly… 

Anonymous asked: Great now I'm having emotions about the Hork-Bajir

OH BUDDY JUST YOU WAIT, THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE EMOTIONS TO HAVE ABOUT THE HORK-BAJIR

Ha, your tag “way past Romeo and Juliet” I get it now. *sighs* God do I love ships with angst

You have not known angst until you’ve sailed the good ship Rachel/Tobias.  Honestly this was super formative in terms of what ships I do and don’t like, and also what kind of ships I write, but even so: I’ve never come close.

Oh geez… I really like Marco and Rachel friendship….

Marco and Rachel have that excellent A-grade “Yeah we hate each other but also I’ll shank you if you so much as look at them crosseyed” banter dynamic and I love it.  Also they’re…kind of similar, in terms of terribleness, and I love the kind of unconscious alliance that springs up because they both have that ruthless cold-eyed clarity about What We Have To Do.

Anonymous asked: Oh no! He had to watch as they blew the ship apart.Oh geez this poor guy... I hope he does get to stab Vissier 3

*anguished keening*  Aaaaaax.

My poor blue trash boy, I love him, he had to watch the Dome ship burn and then he thinks he’s going to die alone at the bottom of a foreign ocean and then some aliens come to find him and tell him his hero brother (who Ax adores) is dead and THEN he joins a horrible horrible guerrilla war and tbh I’m dying over it always.

OH GOD It’s the Andalire SOCIEEEEETYYYYY

YEP.

YEP IT IS.

HONESTLY THE DEATH RITUAL IS VERY LOVELY BUT ALSO OH MY GOD AX YOU DON’T HAVE TO DIE IN BATTLE IN ORDER TO BE WORTH SOMETHING PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

MORE COMMENTS HERE

miraculoussparrow asked: For the ship grading, Elfangor and Loren?

Ship Grade: A+ (OTP) | A (I love it) | B (It’s really cute) | C (Not a bad ship) | D (I’m neutral on it) | E (I don’t really like it) | F (NOTP) | N/A (Don’t know it well enough)

Where do I even START with my affection for this ship.  Like, despite the unremitting horrors of war, this ship has it all.  Alien expressions of affection, Battle Couple shenanigans, Loren and everything she chooses to be in the face of not one but three alien abductions, cute flirting, comedy, tragedy, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS.  God, Animorphs can fucking deliver on the ships.  

But I think the thing I like the most about Loren and Elfangor is how much they learn from each other?  Like, okay, Loren learns about the universe, she learns about how big the galaxy is and how much there is to see, about science she could never have dreamed of and what it means to fight.  That’s obvious.  But Elfangor learns so much from her, too–the Andalites teach courage with a combination of formal education and shame culture, but Loren is the first person as far as I can tell who teaches Elfangor that feeling emotions isn’t in conflict with being brave.  

More than that, though, Loren brings a kind of brutally hard-headed, incredibly human pragmatism to combat that Elfangor seems to gravitate toward almost immediately.  Like, this is humanity’s Special Thing in Animorphs (in addition to our mastery of the sense of taste), it’s that we’re very clear-sighted about our goals (be they freedom from a Yeerk or victory over an enemy) and we care much more about achieving them than about anything else.  Plenty of people in the series talk about how strange humans are in their absolute willingness to fight against hopeless odds–everyone from Temrash 114 to Edriss, Visser One herself, mention it.  The Hork-Bajir bring up how much they agree with it, free or dead.  Taxxons, Andalites, the Arn, even the Ellimist. 

And Loren teaches Elfangor that brutal human practicality from the very first time they meet.  He meets her and she doesn’t know what he is or what’s going on, but she’s already eliminated the immediate threat to her safety and she is more than willing to take out this new potential threat as well.  Loren wants to get home, sure she does, but saving the universe takes priority, so okay, sure, she’ll go on a potentially life-threatening mission to make sure that happens.  Fighting Pre-Visser Three (actual Visser Three at that point?  Not sure) in the Time Matrix world, Loren doesn’t mess around with fancy forms, she throws rocks and beats things with a bat and does whatever works no matter how dishonorable or underhanded it might be.

And then Elfangor, after everything, when he’s returned to the timeline, what does he do to win a battle?

He rams a ship with his fighter, in the most graceless, unadorned, pragmatic battle tactic I’ve ever seen.  

I love these kids so much, y’all.  Does Loren/Legs art even exist, y’all, where is it.