#like one of those animorph book covers

[inswidam]

My fursona I guess

I never draw antro characters, but I think this turned out good?? (This is like that time I did warm ups by drawing pokemon and my drawing of Lucario turned out a little too good like where did I learn that???)

Anyway here's the original drawing I made back in July and also as alway the prompt list -

[axjake]

I love when friends that know you’re into animorphs send you one of those parody book covers with random shit on it. It’s like… oh honey… I appreciate you thinking of me. This is not relevent to the series and therefore holds 0 interest for me but I love you

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

What if all the yeerks suddenly died? AU

Part 3.5; Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 are here. All you need to know from earlier parts is that all the yeerks disappeared at once after the events of #19, and that the Animorphs and ex-controllers have been trying to resume a normal life ever since.

• Hedrick Chapman wanted to be an ecologist when he grew up.  Or a veterinarian.  Barring that, he’d have settled for being rich.  At no point did he ever want to be a vice principal of a criminally underfunded public high school.  That had been a yeerk decision, not his.  Certainly not his.  And yet, here he is.

• Then again, Chapman reflects as he watches Andy Mitchell vomit into the potted plant on his desk, this job has recently involved far more working with wild animals than he initially anticipated.

“It was horrible,” Andy sobs.  “Her f-face, it… it split open.  I could see bones under the—”  He cuts off, retching more.

Probably in shock, Chapman thinks.  A perfectly understandable reaction to having seen someone morph for the first time.  “What did she turn into?”

“What?”  Andy lifts his head.  Milk-pale, except for those red-rimmed eyes.  Definitely in shock.  “What do you mean?”

“Rachel.”  Chapman didn’t get a name, but that description could only apply to so many students.  “What did she morph?”

“I don’t know,” Andy wails.  “Her face got all baggy and horrible, like the skin was coming off, and it…”  He makes a pulling motion, away from his own mouth.

“So she turned into an elephant.”  Chapman notes that down.  “Then what?”

“You don’t understand,” Andy says.  “She… she… her body was melting!”

Chapman sets down the pen, looking him in the eye.  “I believe you.  You saw her turn into an elephant.  Did she try to attack you, once she was done?”

“I don’t know!  I ran for it.”

“Smart choice.”  Chapman massages his left temple, which is where his Rachel-shaped headache seems to have taken up full-time residence in Iniss 226’s absence. “I figured as much, since we’re not having this conversation in the hospital.”

“It was horrible,” Andy says again.

“And what did you say to Tobias Fangor that precipitated this incident?”

Andy blinks.  His color looks a little better, anyway.  “How did you know that?”

Chapman does not roll his eyes.  Because he’s an adult, and in control of his own body.  “I just so happen to be fluent in English, Mr. Mitchell.  Which is, by enormous coincidence, the language used to write your disciplinary file.  I’m also capable of basic pattern recognition.”

“What are you going to do to her?” Andy asks.  “Rachel.  What happens to her?”

An excellent question.  Bringing a deadly weapon to school results in a ten-day suspension.  But if Chapman applies that statute in this case, then he’d be forced to suspend all five Animorphs for the rest of eternity.  Threatening a classmate can result in expulsion, though it sounds like no actual threats were issued.  There isn’t a rule on the books for showing a classmate something so disturbing his brain tries to turn itself inside-out from sheer horror, although in light of recent developments there really should be.

“Not your concern,” Chapman says.  “Thank you for telling me.  Back to class.”

Andy takes several more minutes to collect himself before he goes.  Chapman uses that time to catch up on paperwork, though he does offer the young man a tissue.  And a breath mint.

• Andy is barely out Chapman’s door when it swings open again and Tom Berenson strides in.  “You have to tell my parents it’s not Jake’s fault,” he announces.

I am not your therapist, Chapman would dearly like to say.  I am not your best friend.  I am not, regardless of Iniss 226’s relationship with Temrash 114, your fucking subordinate.  I do not ‘have to’ do anything.

Not being snippy with vulnerable teenagers is probably one of those things they’d cover M.Ed. programs, if Chapman had ever actually been to school for this job.  “Why don’t you take a deep breath and explain from the beginning.”  There.  That sounds like something a vice principal would say.

“Jake.”  Tom sits down.  “My parents keep forcing him to go to school.  They think he’s, like, being a moody teenager.  Or faking it.”

Chapman may not be a therapist, or even a college graduate, but he does recognize that Jake’s entitled to as many sick days as he feels like taking, for the rest of eternity.  However, “That’s between your parents and your brother.”

“You can’t do anything?” Tom asks.  “You have the ability to give kids permanent excuses for made-up medical conditions— Iniss did it all the time—”

“I am not,” Chapman says severely, “Iniss 226.”

Tom stiffens.  “I just meant…”

“I recognize it is not your fault you have entirely too much information about the administration of this school.”  Chapman tries to soften his tone.  “But if you can do without using the Krav Maga or ability to home-assemble a working handgun that you also didn’t choose to receive, you can do without that.”

“But— Jake.  They don’t get it.”

“I will speak with your parents.  I’ll express these concerns to them,” Chapman says.  “In the meantime, might I suggest you focus on your own grades?  Thanks to Iniss, you’ve missed far too much school already.  If you want to have any hope of graduating on time, you need to catch up.”

“Why?”

He says it so simply.  It’s a question Chapman’s been asked before: Why bother?  Of all the kids who’ve asked him, only Marco Santiago has been more entitled to ask.  Why, indeed, bother with school?  Why care about Civics and Algebra when the world itself has already ended around you? 

A real vice principal would make a speech about learning being its own reward, or the importance of insuring one’s future.  “Because,” Chapman says, “when I speak to Coach Lu about letting you back on the basketball team, he’ll point out that student athletes need a minimum two-point-oh GPA.”

Tom’s whole face lights up.  Suddenly looking years younger.  Looking like a kid, for the first time in months.  “You’d do that for me?”

That M.Ed. program no doubt would have advised against bribes.  “No skin off my butt,” Chapman says.  “Now go do your homework.  And let the adults worry about your brother.”

“Yes sir!”  And he’s off like a shot.  Possibly even, miracle of miracles, off to work on that backlog of English essays.

• The first time Jake called a meeting in Cassie’s barn, even though they don’t really have a reason to meet anymore, it was to discuss what they can do to help the hork-bajir—taxxon alliance.  The second time, it was to make a plan to help Tobias get caught up in school.  The third time, he doesn’t even make an excuse.

Rachel complains about the press hounding them for a statement.  Marco complains about his parents making out on the couch while he’s in the house.  Tobias complains about Ms. Paloma’s workload, and about the hork-bajir constitution negotiations.  Jake complains about his dad’s horrifying questions about how morphing affects puberty.  Ax complains about Alloran’s frequent, extremely snobby, emails.  Cassie complains about her parents constantly asking her to morph their patients to figure out what’s wrong with them.

It’s silly.  It’s fun.  It’s playing at being teenagers with teenage problems.

“This time next week,” Jake announces, at the end.  “And if there are any major developments in the meantime, keep the rest of us posted.”

• “Tobias Fangor’s aunt called again,” Principal Walsh says, when Chapman gets to the office on a Tuesday morning.  “Don’t you think we should at least speak to her, see what she wants?”

“No,” Chapman says.  “I don’t.”

“His uncle.  This…”  She glances at the paperwork.  “Axel Mili-Esgarrouth.  Didn’t show up for last parent-teacher conference.”

Small mercies.  Chapman doesn’t explain Tobias’s living situation.  Doesn’t reveal that he owes the kid’s parents the kind of debt that cannot be repaid in an entire lifetime of favors.  Doesn’t deign to find out if Maggie Walsh knows what an andalite is.

“Tobias Fangor,” he says, “is part of the one-tenth of one percent of students who are, somehow, attending this high school because they want to be here.  If you give him reason to transfer out, I will resign.”

• There are reasons that Chapman stays in this job, despite being stashed here against his will.  Not the pay.  Not the sullen ingratitude from the teens he helps.  Certainly not the parents.  It’s because he’s needed here, now more than ever.

• He stays for the times Loren’s kid comes skittering into his office, wild-eyed and muttering, “Sorry, I just, sorry, I’ll be out of your hair soon, I promise…”  Chapman knows to open the window, when that happens, knows to shove a chair already well-deformed with talon marks out from behind his desk.

•  He stays for the kids who on paper had straight As, perfect attendance, promising gigs at The Sharing — and overnight became failing wrecks with insomnia and dozens of unexplained absences.  He can explain to their teachers, to their parents, in a way that someone who hasn’t been there will never be able to understand.

•  He stays for the way Eva Santiago clasps his hand and says, “You will look out for him.”  Half-supplication, half-command.

•  He even, despite himself, stays for Tom.  Who showed up at school the day after Aegas 1909 died, trying to pretend like nothing had happened.  Who is a truly godawful actor — he took one look at Chapman, went dead-white, and ran for it.  Who was backing away even as Chapman cornered him in the parking lot.  “Wait!” Chapman had said.  “Wait! Iniss is dead too.”  And Tom had burst into tears.

•  No one else would understand them.  No one else would know why nearly every one of the seventy-three ex-hosts in this school has been sent to his office for not paying attention, for sleeping in class, for allegedly being stoned during school hours.  No one else would overlook the absolute illegal mess of Tobias’s paperwork, or give Rachel a fortieth second chance after she has yet another hair-trigger reaction to being bumped in the hall.

•  But there’s one reason above all others that he stays in this job.

“You don’t mind?” Melissa says, every single time he offers her a ride to school.  As if he’s doing her a favor, letting her take up space in the car he’s already driving that way.  As if it’s a chore to get to spend time with his daughter and hear about her day.

“You sure you don’t mind?” he always answers, smiling, and she always runs to get her bag.

It takes so little — a smile, a nod, an offer to feed the damn cat, sometimes even just a glance her way — to get her to light up with gratitude.  It breaks his fucking heart to know the reason why.

He drives her every day.  He helps her with homework every night, and cooks her dinner afterward.  He drops more than he can afford on leg-warmers and Lisa Frank and Limited Too.  He’s every parenting cliché: on a trial separation from Alison, spoiling their kid rotten because of the guilt.

Anyway, time with Melissa is worth a hell of a lot more than mere money.  And it’s almost enough to make up for dealing with parents.  Almost.

•  “But Cassie’s a good kid,” Michelle Logan says.  “She’s always been responsible, and she’s always taken care of herself.  There has to be some kind of mistake.”

Chapman looks at the good kid sitting between her parents.  Thinks of watching her rip a hork-bajir’s throat out, taking an innocent life along with the guilty one.  Trusts that she had no choice in the matter, because if it was him she’d killed instead then he would have understood.

“I recognize that Cassie has had an overall clean record thus far,” Chapman says.  “However, the Rain Forest Café is filing charges against the school for the impersonation and theft of several live animals, and I don’t have other suspects.”

“Cassie would never,” Michelle said.  “She’s a good kid.  She just fell in with the wrong crowd, that’s all.”

“Of that,” Chapman says dryly, “I have no doubt.”

Cassie lifts her head then to look straight at him.  “I’m sorry,” she says, not sounding it.  “I was trying to help the parrots.”

I.  Yes, she’s a good kid.  “It’s admirable,” Chapman tells her, “that you’re covering for your friends.”  Probably also on the list of things a real vice principal wouldn’t say.  “But there is no way that you could have acted alone.”

“Can you prove that?” Cassie asks.

“Can you even prove it was her?” Michelle says.  “What about Marco, or Rachel?  They morph.  Isn’t Tobias a bird quite often?  Who says it wasn’t him?”

Cassie and Chapman make eye contact.  Marco is one incident away from being expelled.  Rachel is about negative eight incidents away, and Chapman can only do so much to protect her.  Tobias isn’t supposed to be at this school at all, which the board will surely notice if he comes to their attention.  Cassie confessed, because Cassie can take the heat.  And Chapman’s letting her take that fall.

“It’s okay,” Cassie tells the adults.  “It’s only a week of detention.”

Because that was the lowest sentence he could propose, while still avoiding a legal proceeding.  She really is a good kid.

•  “Where you going?” Jake asks, not looking up from his Spanish homework, when Tom unlocks the front door at 8:00 PM on a Sunday.

“Sharing meeting,” Tom says casually.  “Wanna come?”

Jake sets down his pen.  He looks at his brother.

Tom stares back, smirking.

“Where are you actually going?” Jake says.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”  And with that, Tom walks out the door.

Despite himself, Jake follows.

 • It’s an under-21 nightclub that Jake vaguely recognizes as being a front for The Sharing, but the crowd spilling onto the lawn around it is truly all ages.  There’s a giggling pair of 10-year-olds standing too close to the beer keg for his comfort, a middle-aged guy handing out glow sticks, and a woman with gray hair and a hand-knit sweater smoking a joint on the curb.

“Tommy-boy!” That’s the guy standing next to the door, an ex-controller Jake thinks is named Bill.  He throws out his arms and, before Jake can react, has grabbed Tom, spun him around, dipped him, and kissed him on the mouth.

“Hands off, asshole,” Tom says, laughing as he pulls loose.  “You are so fucking drunk.”

“Sssshhhhhh,” Bill says, not disconfirming the accusation.  He points to the Employees Only printed on the door.  “Just meat-puppets tonight.  Ditch the tagalong.”

“Oh, come on.”  Tom gestures at Jake.  “The kid was a controller for a hot second last November.”

Bill squints at Jake.  “Wait, really?”

Jake shrugs.  He doesn’t want to talk about it.  “Yeah.”

“Well all right, then.”  Bill ruffles Jake’s hair, Tom slaps Bill on the ass, and they shoulder their way inside.

• The club is jammed full of bodies, most of them sweaty and partway naked.  Jake retreats until his back is against the nearest wall, looking over the mess of dancing humans.  Tom has split off, chest-bumping with some other guy Jake doesn’t know and stealing a drag off his cigarette.  None of them are acting remotely like controllers, which is reassuring, and now he’s wondering if it’d be rude to leave without Tom about 10 seconds after having arrived.

 No one would notice if he turned into a bug, he decides after about an hour of this.  Seriously.  This crowd would not notice, and it’s not like they’d care if they did.  Tom can find his own way home.

A small form sidles up next to him.  “Hi, Jake.”

“Melissa!” he says too loudly, glad to see a familiar face.  “Hi.”

“You want some drink?”  She holds up a clear plastic cup, three-quarters full of liquid.  “There’s plenty more over…”  She points to the punchbowl behind her.

“Drink?” Jake asks.

Melissa shrugs.  “From the empty bottles, it’s mostly beer and tequila, with a little bit of Bloody Mary mix.  Which is probably why it…”  She grimaces down at her cup.  “Looks, smells, and tastes like urine.”

“Um.”  Jake peers at her cup; her assessment isn’t wrong.  “I think I’ll pass, thanks.”

“Cool.  There’s also a guy around here with E, if that’s more your speed.”

“Gee.”  Jake looks back over the crowd, which includes several couples openly pawing at each other, a group of four with hands inside each other’s clothes, and Tom apparently attempting to eat some woman’s tongue before she can eat his.  “There’s ecstasy here?  I never would’ve guessed.”

“People are just glad the war’s over,” Melissa says.  “And your brother’s a really good kisser.”

It’s official: this is worse than the gathering of alien slugs plotting Earth’s destruction that Jake expected to find.  It’s not even a proper orgy, just a whole crapton of giddy ex-hosts hugging each other and then getting too enthusiastic about the hugs.

“Look,” Jake says.  “This has been nice, but I have school tomorrow, so…”

•  Which is when the commotion breaks out near the door.

“Gatecrasher!”  That’s Bill, brandishing a mason jar as he continues to yell.  “We have a gatecrasher!”

Several people crowd around him to get a better look, someone holding up a glow stick to reveal that, sure enough, the jar in his hands contains a single wolf spider.  Among this crowd, animals that act strange or aren’t native to California don’t go without notice.

«I’m innocent!  And even if I’m not you can’t prove anything,» the spider says.  «Maybe I just wandered by accidentally, and this is all a big misunderstanding.»

“This thing’s for full members only,” Tom says, straight-faced.  “There’s a sign on the door, can’t miss it.”

«Maybe I want to join the Sharing?» the spider suggests.

This gets him several unamused looks.  “Toss him out,” Li says.  “And let’s get back to the keg stands.”

“Nah, let him stay!”  That’s Koko, piping up from the back.  “God knows every person in this bar owes the Animorphs a drink.”

Looking between them, Bill turns back to the jar.  Finally he lifts it up to eye level, starting at the spider’s middle two eyes.  “Repeat after me,” Bill intones.

«Uh-huh.»

“What your mom doesn’t know…”

«What my mom doesn’t know…»

“Will not hurt her.”

«Dude, I wouldn’t narc on you!  What do you take me for?»

“A chip off the old block,” Tom mutters.

��Repeat it,” Bill says severely.

«What my mom doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.»

“Great!”  Bill unscrews the lid of the jar, dumping it out on the ground.  “Welcome to the Sharing.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Melissa says to a slowly-demorphing Marco, “I got the same speech.”

“It really does.”  He presses a hand over his heart.  “Now, someone mentioned buying me a drink?”

•  A small nightclub on the outskirts of the city burns to the ground, shortly after having every piece of its furniture and glassware smashed in a pile in the middle of the floor.  The local police force, over 30% of whom were controllers three months ago, elects to ignore this development.

•  Chapman loathes paperwork to the absolute depths of his soul.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, is worse than filing paperwork to get permission to file paperwork, and yet here he is.  The state of California cannot possibly need this many copies of Ashley Shawn’s transcript.  This has to be a torment invented by an evil god to punish him for everything he did aboard the Jahar.  There is no other explanation.

So when Ms. Hanna comes skidding into his office and announces “Science wing! There’s a brawl!” his first thought is, oh thank god.

His second thought is to wonder why she came to get him, skipping the security officer and Principal Walsh, but they’re already running by the time that occurs to him.

When they get there the press of screaming-chanting bodies fills the hall from end to end, but kids still find room to crowd out of the way when they see Chapman coming.  The circle of spectators breaks long enough to reveal the melee at the center, and—

Oh hell.  Chapman can tell exactly why Ms. Hanna got him first.

Fiona Aherne has one hand fisted in the collar of Tom Berenson’s shirt, and is punching him repeatedly in the face.  Joe Lassen catches her around the middle and rips her off Tom, tossing her to the floor, only to be caught in a side-tackle by Li Saren.  Beyond them, Hailey Ng and Bill Renaldi are hanging onto Asher Reed, until Asher suddenly rolls forward and body-slams Bill to the floor.

Chapman winces — so much for not using that Krav Maga. He's knocked aside as Jake shoves past him and dives in to the fray.

Principal Walsh is across the battlefield, staring in bafflement.  Shouting ineffectually for everyone to stop.  She doesn’t know, of course, what Tom and Joe and Asher all have in common.  What Bill and Li and Fiona and Hailey do.

Li has Tom by the throat from behind, which is why Jake throws himself onto Li with the gracelessness typical of a high-schooler.  Li head-butts Jake, only to have Jake, snarling, bite him in the face.

“Stop!” Chapman bellows.  “ALL OF YOU!  STOP!”

Jake drops off Li.  Hailey drops Asher.  Slowly the others lower their fists, glaring.

Good to know everyone’s fear of Iniss 226 is still good for something.

“Everyone in the Biology classroom,” Chapman barks, pointing at the door.  “Bill’s lot near the windows, Tom and the others by the door.  Move it!”

Principal Walsh stares at Chapman in confusion, which deepens when everyone obeys him without question.  He beckons first to Ms. Hanna, then to Mr. Tidwell, pointing them into the room as well.  They also take their places without question, Mr. Tidwell supervising the voluntary half of the room as Ms. Hanna covers the involuntaries.

Pausing in the doorway, Chapman turns at last to face Maggie Walsh.  His boss.  Who has the ability to fire him, if she misunderstands the situation.  “It’s about yeerks,” he settles for telling her.

Her look of bafflement doesn’t fade.  “How?”

Chapman opens his mouth. Hunts for words.

“Jake had nothing to do with this.”

Chapman doesn’t have to turn his head to know who spoke from the involuntary side of the room.  What a surprise, a Berenson kid running his mouth.

“Thank you for your input, Thomas.”  He spins around.  “That isn’t your call.”

Tom crosses his arms.  Between the fingernail marks down his cheek and the broken knuckles of his right hand, he looks the very picture of delinquency.

“He’s right,” Joe says, from the voluntary side of the room.  “It’s nothing to do with Jake.”  In Chapman’s peripheral vision, Maggie Walsh blinks several times.  He’ll explain later.  Or try to.

“Fine,” Chapman says.  “Jake, get back to class.”

Jake lifts his chin, blood striping the lower half of his face.  “I chose to get involved,” he says.  “I’ll take my punishment.”

“Oh yeah?” Tom says.  “Then what was the fight about?”

Jake looks from one side of the room to the other.  Both sides have ninth graders, twelfth graders, jocks and nerds, white and Black and brown kids.  Jake’s probably smart enough to identify several ex-controllers, and to guess at the rest, but unable to tell how or why they sorted themselves like they did.  Nonetheless, after a second he opens his mouth.

“That’s what I thought,” Chapman cuts him off.  “Anyway, if I suspend you then Marco and Rachel will have burned down the school within a week.  Fix your nose, then back to class.”

Knowing when he’s beat, Jake leaves.  Chapman makes a note he’ll also have to explain to Maggie how morphing works, and that he didn’t just order a 14-year-old to hand-set a broken nose.

“The involuntaries started it,” Bill announces, the moment Jake is gone.

“Yeah,” Tom snaps, “and the voluntaries are the ones who—”

“Who were lied to, instead of being coerced?” Mr. Tidwell suggests.

Tom shuts his mouth.

“Asher called me a traitor.”  Li points a finger across the room.

“Six months ago Li told me,” Asher says quietly, “that I should really join the Sharing.”

“And so,” Chapman drawls, “you had no choice but to punch each other in the face.  Is that correct?”

Tom mutters something under his breath that Chapman chooses not to catch.  He can’t threaten them, not this crowd.  Most of them have survived worse hells than the Geneva Convention ever dreamed of.  Detention means nothing.

Fine.  Persuasion it’ll have to be.  Fuck his life.  Chapman raises his voice to address the involuntaries.  “They—” He points to the voluntary side of the room.  “Are not the enemy.  The yeerks are the enemy, and the yeerks are dead.  Don’t start doing their work for them, you hear me?”

There’s a long silence.  Asher scuffs the toe of his shoe on the floor.

“Yeah,” Tom says at last.  “We hear you.”

“Everyone get checked at the nurse’s office,” Chapman tells the room at large.  “You’re all suspended for the rest of the week.”

Maggie Walsh takes a seat next to Chapman, even as the kids all file out.  Yeah.  He owes her an explanation.  Taking a deep breath, he tries to sum up what just happened.  Hopefully in a thousand words or less.

Don Tidwell, coward, takes that opportunity to slip out the door.

•  “Does anyone have anything to report?”  Jake looks around Cassie’s barn.  It’s still odd to see Ax and Tobias sitting out of morph and in the open.  There was a brief collective panic when Cassie’s mom poked her head in earlier to ask if they want any lemonade or feeder mice.

“I have,” Marco says grandly, “a date… with Destiny!”

«Oh, you mean Destiny Trembull in tenth grade?»  Tobias immediately undercuts this, because of course.  «She seems nice.»

“And we don’t even have to spend the next three days following her around,” Rachel comments, which gets Marco to lob a horse comb at her head.

«I have accessed one-hundred twenty-three additional channels on my television,» Ax adds.

Cassie and Jake exchange a glance.  “How’s it going, getting a ride home?” Cassie asks.  “Any word on that?”

Ax shrugs — he isn’t even going to fit in on the andalite homeworld anymore when he does finally get there — and looks away.  «I’ve been told that there are more important priorities concerning the Navy.»

«Their gratitude,» Tobias drawls, «is overwhelming.»

•  Chapman explains to Jake’s parents that Jake needs a therapist, and also permission to miss school if he needs to.  Chapman explains the Yeerk Empire and how exactly they recruit humans to Li Saren’s parents for the third, then the fourth, then the fifth time, until they are in tears and begging their son’s forgiveness for doubting him.  Chapman explains to the district that he has no idea how the school ended up with a staircase leading from a supply closet to the alien sinkhole, but that he wants it sealed up posthaste.  Chapman explains himself to Naomi Berenson, and then he does his best to explain Rachel as well.

• "No," Chapman tells the officious-looking little man sitting across his desk. "I don't know of anyone like that. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more help."

The man — he's probably a real detective, he has a badge — leans across the desk to push the photo array a little closer to Chapman. "You're sure? None of these individuals is a..." He glances at his notes. "Voluntary controller."

Chapman looks at the array, which includes images of nearly 100 students. Some of whom weren't controllers at all — that's Tobias Fangor in the upper left corner. Some of whom were lied to by the Sharing, and then lied to by the Yeerk Empire. Some of whom, like Bill Renaldi and his absolutely debilitating major depression, felt they had no choice but to give up their bodies. "Sorry," Chapman says. "None of these individuals appear to be voluntary controllers to the best of my knowledge."

The detective stares at Chapman, waiting for more information. Chapman stares back, waiting for the detective to get bored. He can do this all day, literal hours of silence if that's what it takes. He doubts any mere civilian can say the same.

Sure enough, the detective breaks first. "You see," he says, "we know for a fact that some of these individuals did, in fact, collude with the Yeerk Empire. And we have CCTV footage indicating that you might have been one of those colluders yourself. So anything you can do to help us out..."

Chapman lets the silence go for another minute, long enough for the detective to shift in place. "You're mistaken," he says at last. "About what it means to be a voluntary controller. Or an involuntary one, for that matter. The distinction you're seeking does not exist."

"I'm sorry." The guy has his notepad out now, pen moving. "You're saying... there's functionally no difference between the voluntary hosts and the involuntary ones?"

"Yes," Chapman says, unaware of the hell he's about to unleash. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

•  “Ms. Paloma’s being a butt,” Melissa says, spinning her chair with a toe on the floor.  “I told her that I have a French test the same day as the Bio one, but she just said that means I have to learn to manage my time.”

She just walked into his office.  Without knocking.  Without asking if he’s busy, if he minds, if he’s sure.  Without apologizing for her existence.  She walked in, she sat down uninvited, and now here she is complaining to him like any normal teenager.

“That sounds stressful.”  Chapman is choosing his words with infinite care.  He’s six years old again, holding a butterfly cupped in his palms and knowing that even a millimeter’s clumsiness will crush this precious living jewel.  Thinking this.  This is what I want.  “I’m sorry to hear that,” he says.

She came in unprompted.  She just walked right in.

“I hate French.”  Melissa spins the chair again.  “It’s all those lists of vocab words, and I can’t even say half of them correctly…”

“Do you want me to help you study?” Chapman asks.

Her head pops up with the force of her surprised, pleased smile.  “You’d do that?”

That’s it, then.  He’s never leaving this job.  Paperwork and all.

[cloverpatches]

Sometimes having chronic pain means feeling like one of those 50% transformed designs from Animorph book covers

[tunashei]

First impressions of Animoprhs!

I'm listening to the Animorphs series while I work, through Animorphs Aloud - a fan made reading of the series. Here are my first impressions/random thoughts about them! Spoilers below if you haven't read them.

Book 7: The Stranger

I often think how you'd REALLY react if you were faced with something paranormal or magical, because it wouldn't just be the monster or ghost or superhero you have to contend with - but your entire knowledge of the universe flipping on it's head. Legit consider how insane you'd go if you found out monsters were *really* real. And they do this to a random person in the start of most books! Ha.

Kind of surprised they consider a human-alien relationship with any sort of seriousness. How progressive. But then there's been a few hints towards Rachel liking Tobias and he's...a bird. Rachel is very open minded.

Somehow I have my doubts Rachel will move away. The clue is the 47 books that come after this.

Man I feel for Tobias, having to spend the rest of his life as a hawk while potentially watching his friends move on. It's not like he can make new friends. Also how long does he even live? Does he have a hawk lifespan now of 10-15 years?

Rachel wants more firepower and she skips the POLAR BEARS? GIRL. Those things are fucking terrifying! Though I did do a bit of research and turns out when Polar Bears and Grizzlies compete for food it's usually the Polar Bears that leave.

Also I have a hard time believing a bear has more 'firepower' than an elephant. Bit easier to move around and get into places as a bear though.

Still can't get over the frequent use of the slang 'hooked up' to mean meeting. Very different meaning nowadays.

The mental image of them fitting pretty much a centaur into a dressing room is very funny.

Wow. Stopping time definitely blindsided me. This Ellimist is like a god?? Was not expecting that.

The descriptions when the Ellimist is showing off the beauty of earth make me very sad I will likely not get to experience it. It's so sad to know coral reefs exist out there, beauty unparalleled, and you can't simply go and see them. Not without money. It's a cruel joke that we're placed on such an amazing planet and yet how little of it we'll see.

Man this is a genuinely tough decision. I really like Cassie's perspective, that humans are now the endangered animals potentially rejecting the one thing that could save them. Honestly if what seemed like a literal god told me the fight is unwinnable I'd probably give in and tell them to take me to a new planet.

Aaaand now the kids are getting eaten alive. I LOVE the amount of traumatising scenarios in these books. Main reason I started em. Feel a bit bad for the Taxon, imagine eating some innocuous snack and it swells up and bursts you from the inside.

Ax has a thing for cutting off people's arms.

You're the second largest carnivore on land Rachel, Polar Bears got you beat.

Also Rachel totally just murdered a bunch of human people.

Now...time travel? Hm not a big fan of time travel.

Damn the Yeerks invested in free, superfast and wide-covering public transport? I'd vote for them.

This is why I don't like time travel. Is it deterministic? Can it be changed? Boggles the mind. The implication is they refuse the Ellimist's offer and stay and fight, and lose, and Rachel becomes a controller. But why would Ax being there mean the future has changed? Did future-Rachel lie about there being six humans to Visser-Three? Why?

PFFFF I'm sorry but as horrifying as the idea of them killing and consuming Tobias after being infected and turned into controllers is, it's also like Disney-level villainy.

If this is the future and it can be changed, why can't Visser-Three kill them? Sure he wouldn't have controller Rachel so the future would be different but the goal of invading would work?

Well this is looking bleak.

I wonder who is keeping Ellimists in check that they even need rules.

Surprisingly quick and efficient mission! And that's the end of that one. A bit confusing, but I wonder if the Ellimist stuff will get clearer later on.

[nobodysdaydreams]

I have not check my uquiz inbox in several months. The quiz results auto delete every 30 days, but thank goodness I logged in just in time for this gem:

Anon, idk if you’re on this website, but boy do I have an MBS AU for you.

The one thing the AU doesn’t include is the animorphs aspect. I never read those books, but a few observations about this wonderful feedback:

I know Animorphs is about kids turning into animals (from the cover art). This quiz is about which animal you’d be, but nothing references the kids transforming specifically. But okay Anon. Speak your truth.

I like how anon says they “gotta” murder, like they need to. Also, was murder a thing??? In animorphs?? The children’s series??? Like they had the kids doing the murders? As a good or normal thing?

Perhaps more concerning than the “gotta murder” part is the phrase “at least one civilian”. Civilian? So not Curtain, not a bad guy, just a poor random guy living his life? What did he do?

Why does the fandom want to make Reynie specifically a villain? I also love the way anon phrases things. “Get to go against”. “Get to” as if Reynie has waited his whole life for the opportunity.

Given the feedback, I anticipated this user getting a result like “the polar bears that ate Constance’s parents”. Instead they got Seymour, the orphanage cat, which is the most popular result.

[abuddyforeveryseason]

This is the Buddy for March 18th. It's an Animorph. The Animorphs book series is infamous for its creepy covers. I know the series was pretty popular, but I've always felt those covers were a real turn-off which kept me from even trying out the series. I was a Goosebumps guy, first and foremost.

Of course nostalgic fans now say Animorphs was a better series. More mature and better written, with a more interesting plot which evolved from book to book. And with more didatic elements.

And if the covers were creepy, that's cause the writing inside them was creepy too. The description of the morphing scenes were pretty gross, and there was a lot of heavy stuff going on. For instance, this passage from book 5:

"I saw Rachel, too. She had a dark look in her eyes. Like she hadn’t slept. Like something was really wrong.

Even Cassie seemed grim. It had gotten to all of us. It’s not so easy to just forget terror. It’s not easy to just ignore the memory of your leg being ripped off.

Of being dismembered. Torn apart.

One of these days, I thought, one of us is going to go crazy. Totally, lock-me-up-in-a-rubber-room nutso. It was too much. This wasn’t how life was supposed to be.

One of us would snap. One of us would lose it. It could happen, even to strong people.

I knew. It had happened to my father. I used to think nothing could ever destroy him. But my mom’s death had."

Jesus Christ, did I pick up a copy of Johnny Got His Gun instead of a kid's book by accident?

Still, I never read them when I was a kid, and, as an adult, they don't hold a lot of interest. It's kind of unpleasant to revisit stuff you loved as a child once you're older, because it can feel rather empty and small. And checking out the stuff you weren't interested in when growing up is even worse. There's no bittersweet memories there, just nonsense aimed at an audience you're no longer a part of.

Which is kind of why nostalgia is kind of a dumb thing. Sure, I could say the books and movies of my childhood were the best ones in the world, but only the ones I actually happened to check out. If I missed a movie in theaters when I was a kid and only see it twenty years later, I might not be too impressed. No good memories of it, after all.

That's not to say there isn't quality work being done, even in the baloney-factory that is kids' entertainment. It's just that nostalgia goggles can make even stuff that's unmemorable feel a lot more interesting, and not having nostalgic feelings for something can make it seem bland and hollow, just because you're no longer the target audience.

And it's a pity because, the Animorphs books aren't bad by themselves. They're just not interesting when the person reading them is an adult who knew nothing about the series other than "that thing with the creepy covers I saw in libraries when I was a kid".

Which just goes to show one should never judge a book by its cover. Or, to put it another way, publishers need to be careful when choosing covers for their books. Can you imagine a What If world where the Animorphs covers were painted by Tim Jacobus? Would look amazing.

Speaking of the covers themselves, today's Buddy was traced from this book's:

It features Marco, the most Buddy-like of the Animorphs. I originally made a mistake in the background that made it looks like this:

I think it looks better, even if it was an accident, but it breaks my rule of only using three colors, so I had to make a quick fix. Oops.

[thebest-medicine]

Day 7: Flustered

Tickletober 2023 - RELIC - Smash & Grab - lee!Simon

[see my other tickletober 2023 fics]

[read on AO3]

A/N: I am going to inflict my recently read cute sweet weird little dinosaur shapeshifting punk x paleontologist romance novels upon you. (Youuuuu should read Smash & Grab by Maz Maddox. It’s narrated excellently by Kirt Graves and reads like a fanfiction in a novel. Also there’s some dinosaur animorphers lmao. The book is 1st person POV that switches between the main characters so I decided to try my hand at it.) Me over here changing up how one of the scenes played out - adding some tickles, classic. Enjoy.

Words: 1.1k

—

SIMON

What the hell? Within a few days my world had shifted and flipped upside down, and now, if the being-on-the-run damsel-in-distress role wasn’t enough, my forced traveling companion slash savior slash crush had just climbed into bed with me. Arms wrapped around my middle and I jumped, hissing out, “Dalton.”

“I’m cold, won’t you cuddle with me?” Dalton mused, pulling his body closer to mine under the covers. Damn this one bed safehouse.

“No- what? I- I’m going to sleep!” I argued - it sounded better in my head. “Get off!” 

“Come onnnnn.” Dalton sing-songed. His hands pulled me closer to him and wrapped around my middle. He squeezed a little where his hands rested along my sides.

I knew I was in trouble when my mind caught up a few seconds later and realized the loud, squeaking sound that suddenly lit up the room had come from me. 

“Oh… Simon.” His voice sounded honey-sweet. Why did it also sound so scary? 

Fingers curled against my left side, scribbling curiously. Shit. What the fuck was this guy doing?! I snarled - well, I tried to, but it came out a little breathless. “W-What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?”

There was a snort in reply. “What do you think I’m doing?” 

And then the hands wrapped around me from behind wiggled against the same spot again, this time on both sides. Shit. It really fucking tickled. Already. Shit. I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat along with the laughter starting to bubble up in my gut. I knew he could feel me tense and squirm with how fucking close he was lying to me. 

“D-Dalton..” I tried to wiggle forward, out of his embrace that I wasn’t entirely sure yet if I wanted out of, and nearly got to the edge of the mattress. 

“Heh. Ticklish? That’s pretty damn cute, Sugarbear.” Dalton’s smirk came through clearly in his tone. He chased after me with a few wriggles of his own and then nuzzled into my neck. Tingles shot down my spine as I gasped in a breath - I could feel the burn of a laugh trying to escape. 

“No-” It came out as a wheeze, and I couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer as Dalton kept squeezing at my damn sides. “Ahaha n-nohohoho don’t! Wait- heheh wait!” I tried to shake my head just as little bubbles of laughter started to climb their way out. 

“Don’t wait?” He teased. “Okay.” And then his hands started squeezing at my hips and I buckled forward, almost lurching off the bed.

“Nohoho- hehehee Dahahhalton! C-Cut it out!” I reached wildly toward his hands on instinct, trying to grab his wrists and pry them away. All I really managed was to hold on to them as he began tickling up and down the length of my sides. God, it- it didn’t do anything to deter him. He was… much stronger than me - which I did not have the mental energy to think about right now. In fact, I was quickly losing the mental energy to think about anything.

DALTON

Be still my beating fucking heart. This sexy, handsome, adorable, nerdy paleontologist- he was going to be the death of me. I nuzzled in against the side of his neck to get a little closer to those adorable little giggles - and to try and catch a glimpse of that smile of his. 

“You have the cutest fucking laugh.” I teased as Simon grabbed onto my wrists. I pushed my nose gently into the skin behind his ear. I kissed there too, and felt his back shiver. “Fucking adorable.”

“Dalton! C-Cut it out!” Simon cried out, joy evident on his face and in his voice. His legs started to kick, sometimes knocking against my own legs. I wrangled my leg around to secure over his thighs, keeping still enough to wiggle but not kick. 

“Cut what out? The tickling?” I wiggled my fingers up toward his lower ribs, earning a cackle. “Or the teasing?” I grinned. I placed all ten finger tips against his sides through the shirt he wore - his little sliver of protection. Then I spider-walked them in front to his stomach. 

Simon shrieked and started squirming harder. His hands gave up on grabbing mine and instead moved to try and block as much of his belly as possible. It was cute. Everything he did was cute. 

Simon’s cheeks nearly matched my hair as he giggled and squirmed. I whispered more teases and musings and compliments, and Simon’s pretty pink started turning red. 

“Hey.” I patted his shoulder as he sighed and caught his breath.  “Now I know a great way to pass the time while we’re waiting things out in this safehouse.”

Simon let out a tired little giggle at that. 

“You… Pink menace.” He accused with no venom, smiling as he closed his eyes.

“You’re pretty damn pink yourself right now.” I smirked. Simon grumbled in response before I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in close to be my little spoon. My cute, ticklish, dorky little spoon. Simon came willingly, tuckered out from laughing so hard. 

Maybe another night, he might even seek out a little revenge? I remembered the feeling from several romantic encounters- the electricity of it, the bubbly lightness afterward. It was an interesting sensation to say the least, mammals were interesting - especially these strange hairless apes. 

I stopped thinking about it too hard and refocused on Simon’s slowing breath in front of me. I nuzzled into his neck again, feeling him tense up a bit. 

“Heh- no- no more tickling- I’m exhausted.” Another tired laugh. 

“Yes, yes, but we can cuddle?” I asked, wondering genuinely, but also enjoying teasing him a little.

Simon let out a quiet little sound of distress. He sounded a bit tormented when he said, “Yeah, well, I guess we- we already are so..”

I hummed and answered, “Goodnight, Sugarbear,” as I felt him slowly relax into my arms. Butterflies danced in my stomach as though I had just been the one to be made kicking and giggling.

[forest-of-stories]

Throwback Thursday, Fandom Edition: "You're from way, way out of state."

One of my favorite podcasts, The Worst Bestsellers, recently released an episode on books 20-21 of Animorphs, aka the "David arc." (They carefully stated at the beginning why they don't consider those books to fall under the category of "worst"). At one point, their guest remarked that she'd once had a crush on Ax, the young Andalite refugee who struggled to understand human society, and had self-insert fantasies in which she dated him.

To which I can only reply, "SAME."

Like many of my peers, I had Very Intense Feelings about Animorphs when I was growing up in the late 90s. I've shared posts about it from time to time, and I've seen seen plenty of other people – on Tumblr and elsewhere – reflect on how well the series explored the emotional toll of having to save the world in secret while still attending middle school. Often, these discussions include sentiments like "I was expecting cute adventures about shapeshifting kids and instead I got body horror and war crimes!"

I never actually finished reading the series; my interest started to fade shortly after the very books discussed in that episode, and I found out how the story unfolded – including many of the horrors that those Tumblr posts described – more or less entirely through cultural osmosis. But for about a year before I stopped following them, each book was an automatic purchase, the foundation of a constant obsession, and the reason why I later used HTML brackets to indicate telepathic conversation in my unrelated fanfiction. Ax was my favorite character, partly because I also sometimes felt like I'd come from another planet and struggled to understand humans. (My crush on a fictional alien did not exactly help me feel less alone.)

The Alien, the eighth book in the series and the first one that Ax narrates entirely, might have been the one that I reread the most, and that Older Sister and I quoted to each other just as frequently. Consequently, she bought a poster of that book's cover art from the original artist, David Mattingly, and gave it to me for my 36th birthday in 2021. I took this awkward selfie shortly after I brought it home.

The poster, now framed, sits in the living room of the apartment that I share with two other Millennial nerds. If you're like me, and regretfully gave away your copies, at least some of the original books may be available digitally from your local library; you can check their Overdrive/Libby collections if you're curious. If I wrote down any of my own self-insert stories about my fictional alien boyfriend, I no longer have access to them, but I am still delighted every time I read a blog post, or hear a comment on a podcast, that suggests that I wasn't alone in my feelings after all.

[everdenss]

The lively tapestry of Alderheart's marketplace weaves through the exposed roots of the Great Tree with ease, the rich and colorful awnings of storefronts blending in naturally. Here, the Humblefolk appear to be doing business as usual. Among the gaggle of anthropomorphic animals: a gecko dons their spectacles and bends low to consider the price tag of a turquoise suit on display, a fox in a flower patterned dress attempts to haggle a pigeon shopkeep (and from the wrinkle of her snout, it doesn't appear to be going well), a cat on all fours leisurely stalks the street searching for the source of the smell of baked goods wafting through the air, and a frog and hedgehog child are racing each other to their favorite toyshop. One figure, however, seems to be far away from the boisterous and spice-fragranced streets. They stand with their eyes towards the sky, considering the light filtering through the leaves of the Great Tree. Somewhere in the upper boughs, King Cyrus and the Council are meeting, perhaps debriefing about the escalation of The Bandit Coalition. The figure's eyes snap towards some swift movement - the children racing each other, weaving in and out of the crowd with glee, laughter dancing on the wind. A paw drifts up towards the strap holding the cylindrical container on their back, and they detachedly wonder what it would sound like to see the streets of Alderheart ablaze. They shake themselves awake, and proceed down the street. Not yet, but soon.

Hi there! I'm Alice (she/they; 25), and I'm going to be running a new campaign spanning level 1-20 soon - a modified Humblewood inspired by Guardians of Ga'hoole, Redwall, Warriorcats, Watership Down, D20's Burrow's End, and Animorphs (kind of)! I have a handful of friends lined up as players, but I'm looking for 1-2 more to add in before we start.

🌳 Setting:

Everden isn't like your typical fantasy world; devoid of the presence of humans, elves, dwarves, or other typical fantasy races, Everden is entirely populated with anthropomorphic animal people called Humblefolk. Cats, bats, rabbits, birds, hedgehogs, frogs, foxes, coyotes, owls, snakes, eagles, ravens, otters, you name it! These creatures can speak, walk upright, wear clothes, use magic, and utilize medieval technology.

They also retain some of their animalistic charm and abilities. Birdfolk can fly, and therefore rely on their nimble feet in lieu of hands. Nonflying birdfolk, such as chickens, have evolved to have hands at the end of their wings. Additionally, being 3 feet tall in Everden is roughly the equivalent of 5 feet tall here - meaning there is a slightly realistic approach to animal sizes relative to each other. There are some exceptions, for the purpose of D&D rules and proportions; the mice in Everden might be particularly tall, and the herons might be particularly short, for instance. However, due to this, animals that are taller than a fox are not playable (i.e. no deer, wolves, goats, tigers, lions, etc.).

🌟 Campaign Premise:

It's been 20 years since the end of The War of Iron and Claw threatened to cause another Great Calamity; since then, Everden has returned to normalcy. However, as Humblefolk prepare to celebrate the anniversary of this peace, something restless stirs in the shadows. An evil power is soon to emerge, threatening the fate of Everden itself.

This game is a modified version of Humblewood from Hit Point Press - homebrewed and modified to fit a larger scale and campaign.

Ideally this will have the vibe of a YA novel that's surprisingly deeper than what you were anticipating. You know those books from elementary or middle school that you picked up because there was a cool animal on the cover and so you read it, only to find out it was about the horrors of war? That's what I'm trying to go for!

While we'll have moments of lighthearted fun, I'm hoping for an overall serious tone and good story to be told in this campaign.

⚔️ The Game:

I'm intending for a level 1 - 20 adventure lasting at least several years.

5e D&D, with homebrew races (based on animals); no druids (since I think wildshape will take away from the fun of being critters already), but will have alternative homebrewed subclasses.

We use Roll20 as the VTT and Discord for voice chat.

Time negotiable currently, but most of us live in PST.

Ideally, this game is a weekly commitment, with us picking a day and time to meet and playing then once a week. While we get things happen, if you are unable to reliably meet once a week this might not be the game for you.

The game is anticipated to start sometime late March or April.

🍃 About Your Tale-Weaver and Their Table:

Hiya! I've been playing D&D for 10 years now, and DMing for 8 of those. This campaign has been a bit of a pet project for me in the past few years, and as my current campaign wraps up, we're looking to move forward with this one (which I'm very excited about :3).

I'm pretty dedicated to the campaigns I'm in - making playlists, Pinterest boards, things like that. I'll read poetry and be like "that reminds me of one of my PCs" like that's a normal thing to do. My players and I also like to goof around about the campaign by sending and making memes and stuff outside of session.

I plan (a lot), but improv is the name of the game. I love working with players to incorporate things from their backstory / the story they want to tell through their character into the world I have already. I also love the party leaving their mark on the world. The setting is dynamic, and your actions as the players will have consequences - for better or for worse.

I'm a firm believer that the players are the main characters of the campaign - and that means all members of the party! While I have no qualms with (and love!) making character arcs or character-specific quests or story moments, I try to do so with everyone.

The table is also beginner friendly.

🐾 The Ideal Adventurer:

18+. We are all adults (specifically 21+), and would like to play with our age range!

Respectful & Kind. All of my players and I are some manner of LGBT, and any kind of bigotry or hated will not be tolerated at this table. Additionally, we'd ideally find someone chill to hang with even outside of sessions from time to time. We also are friendly to BIPOC, people with disabilities, and women. Yeehaw!

Lovers of Roleplay and Story. We're here to forge a great tale first and foremost (well, and have fun - but that's interchangeable for us!). We're looking for players who try to get in their character's mindset, love character development, and are also able to differentiate between in-character thoughts and feelings from out-of-character ones!

Active & Curious Explorers. We want people who get involved! Chase down plot threads! Be determined to solve that puzzle! Make those conspiracy theories! Take those detailed notes! Ask questions of the NPCs! So on and so forth.

Collaborative Team Players. You are not the only main character here - involve everyone else as well! Be mindful of the spotlight. Sometimes your PC will be the focus, sometimes they'll be supporting cast members as another PC gets time in the limelight.

Dedicated. We are looking to play this game once a week for at least the next few years. This campaign is intended to be a level 1 to 20 adventure, so that will take a while to tell! We want people who think this premise is cool, who are excited about playing this campaign, who want to have fun playing D&D with us, and are interested in their character and others'.

Know that D&D is a Dice Game. You roll dice in D&D. Sometimes your character will fail, as is the nature of probability. That's okay! If you're not a huge fan of the possibility that rolls will not always be in your favor, this is not the game for you.

🌱 Application:

Here is the link to apply!

My players and I will read over applications slowly over the course of the next few weeks. Then, if we decide to move forward with your application, I'll be contacting you on Discord to set up an interview. Please make sure you are accepting friend requests and that your Discord username is accurate! Additionally, if you'd like to apply as partners, apply separately please!

Thank you for reading! Have a great day! :>

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

124. Animorphs #1: The Invasion by Katherine Applegate--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've somehow gone my whole life without reading an ANIMORPHS book, even though I used to watch this show when I was a kid.

I have to say that I was so pleasantly surprised with this book. From the beginning, I was hooked. The simple writing cut to the chase and held my interest. I also like how this isn't like those MGLit older series where you get one different story per book. It seems like you definitely have to read this in order and I'm excited for it.

Also, these villains are hella creepy. I don't know how my generation didn't have more nightmares as kids. Especially with the retro covers of this series.

___

125. Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The way this book had a chokehold on me when I first started it and realized how much I was going to enjoy it.

I've been meaning to pick up INDIGO RIDGE because I read another book by Perry and while it wasn't a favourite, it was still a pretty enjoyable read. INDIGO RIDGE, however, was a whole other experience.

I loved the small town aspect of it and how humble and kind this family is. I also loved this enemies to lovers with a heavy dose of sexual tension trope. Ugh, I'm putty for this kind of romance because I'm just waiting for one of them to cave. I'm torn on whether I love or feel eh about how the author didn't do smutty until about mid-book (like there were many fade to black scenes until more detailed scenes were introduced.)

The intriguing part of this book was the mystery at the core of the story. I don't read a lot of romantic thrillers and I was pleasantly surprised to actually really enjoy this sub-genre. I wanted the MC to prove everyone wrong with her skills.

Anyway, this was a great start to the series and I'm loving it so far! Such a pleasant surprise!

___

126. The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE GIRL IN THE LAKE is definitely a young reader's horror book, but it was strangely adorable, too? Especially with the twist. But there were definitely creepy moments. With a cover like that, I would expect nothing less.

One of the shining stars in this book, however, is the commentary on the history of racism and the stereotypes (rooted in racism) that have plagued the Black community for decades--like the belief that "Black people can't swim". When one explores the history behind this one particular stereotype, they'll find some pretty eye-opening and heartbreaking truths. The exploration of this generational trauma made this book all the more special.

I really enjoyed this one and if you have a little reader who likes a good horror story with a dose of life lessons and historical lessons and commentary on racism, then I highly recommend THE GIRL IN THE LAKE.

___

127. Juniper Hill by Devney Perry--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Okay, this one hitttt. I am such a sucker for these single parent tropes, especially when theres a gruff someone who can't help but fall for the parent and the baby.

While I thought the romance was a little too quick in this one, I did love how the MMC was with the FMC. He assured her and remained her strong support system. One of the things I love about these books is the communication that happens between the couples. That alone has me coming back for more.

There were definitely some allusions to the main suspenseful twist in this book. I loved all of it, as twisted as that sounds--it was so fascinating and had me hooked. Maybe I need to read more romantic suspense books...

This was great and I devoured it! Can't recommend this series enough!!

___

128. I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a fun and quick little read.

Sharks scare the living crap out of me, but I've always been so fascinated by them. I knew that a lot of the fears we have of sharks now are based on the events of the 1916 attacks (which spawned the JAWS book and then, the movie).

While I've seen a lot of shows about the attacks and read various allusions to the attacks, it was still interesting and entertaining to read the story from the (fictional) perspective of a child living in that time.

Straight to the point and quick, this was enjoyable and I definitely want to read more of the books in this series!

___

129. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've been wanting to read this book since a clock app reviewer mentioned how at the end of the series Gregor is covered in scars that will follow him for the rest of his life. The reason why this grabbed me was because you don't always see these middle grade fantasy books where the realities of the trauma faced by these children follows them into the real world and have real world consequences.

From the get-go, I knew I was going to enjoy this book because the MC, Gregor, has such a jaded perspective on the world because of his father's disappearance. This is definitely one of those characters who would fit perfectly in a YA novel because of the way he views the world. His character is complex and I'm curious to see how he evolves as a character as the series progresses.

I loved the addition of his baby sister. She was stinking adorable and listening to the audiobook added to her adorableness. I just wanted to protect her with my life. Such a cute and great little addition to a story full of adventure and a situation that, to be completely honest, would probably be too much for a regular pre-teen.

While it wasn't a favourite, it was a pretty great read full of surprisingly dark themes and imagery. I'm definitely going to have to check out the sequel!

___

130. Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I never expected to find a story that was so cute!! This had so much going for it: Great communication between friends, healthy af relationships with said friends, and an MC with a passion for something that even though she wasn't a pro, she still wanted to learn.

The {fake} relationship was so cute and even I forgot at times that it was fake. The chemistry between the characters was great and I couldn't help but cheer them on. I just wanted the best for them. Even though they had some rocky moments, I loved seeing them grow together and help each other out.

I want only the best for this couple and their adorable selves. Wouldn't mind reading another book set in this school!

___

131. The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Big TW for anyone who wants to read this book--the author does a wonderful job of explaining the title of the book at the beginning of the book!

I was a huge fan of Reyes's debut novel, so when I saw this new book, I knew I had to pick it up. Much like the debut, this one didn't disappoint!

This was a heartbreakingly honest and raw portrayal of a teenager who has just experienced a sexual assault. This already traumatic experience is made even more heartbreaking when you learn that she is autistic and has a hard time communicating with those around her. The powerlessness and the confusion surrounding the guilt she feels made me want to reach through the pages and absolutely destroy Luis Ortega.

I think that while the budding sapphic relationship between the MC and her love interest was sweet, and her growing friendships of the other girls who were also survivors of Luis Ortega's predatory assaults, the strongest message (for me) is what goes through the MC's mind after her rape. The guilt. the downplaying, the questioning, the denial--readers who may have experienced something similar, or may have had that mindset at one point in their lives may be able to relate.

This was an incredibly heavy book and it really hits you with those emotional punches, but it's also so incredibly important. It's also a perfect example that SAs can happen to any one, no matter the age--the devastation and the violation has no age.

I highly recommend this book, but please proceed with care.

___

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

___

Happy reading!

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

What if dragon beams look like flashlights on purpose so that if they’re found there’s an easy explanation, and the lowest power setting is so harmless it can actually be used as a flashlight so it can be demonstrated if it ever comes up?

Yeah, I've said before that I really like the flashlight-looking dracon beams from AniTV, so much so that I kept them for my own Animorphs fics despite them not being canon for the book series. We don't know a ton about the dracon beams from the books, other than that a) Jake immediately recognizes one as "a gun" the first time he sees one in MM4, b) Tobias has to use get his talon around a trigger guard to shoot one in #3, and c) Rachel quickly figures out how to use a dial to get to the low-power "stun" setting on one in #17.

Near as I can tell, the only official art of that design is a tiny subset of the #34 cover insert, showing a few hork-bajir-controllers firing them.

Other than that we get a few drawings of them in the comics, which look cool (and at least more alien than the gun design) but again not that comfortable for a variety of hands.

Anyway, I like the flashlight-style dracon beams from the show much better than the ray-gun-style ones from the books, because they seem both more stealthy and also more broadly ergonomic. My personal headcanon is that they're like those big bulky old-school flashlights even more so than the slender little ones from the show; those would be easier for gedds than humans to hold, which in my mind fits the bill.

That pistol-like design is a little too well-fitted for human hands for my taste; I like how much easier a flashlight-like design would be for tiny taxxon hands and giant hork-bajir hands and clumsy gedd hands to wield. It's a recurring theme in the books that Bug fighters are just awkward for humans to use; they're set up to accommodate up to three taxxons or hork-bajir, and so some features (chairs, ten-finger keyboard setups) had to be sacrificed to that goal. If a dracon beam's a big clumsy tube with maybe two buttons for a trigger and a power setting, then it feels more alien than a laser pistol does.

[uniformbravo]

i have obtained ITEMS.......

so here's the rundown (short version):

1. BOY. SON BOY. IN MY POSSESSION. i fuckigng have him hes my son & hes REAL i can hold him in my hands right at this very moment waaaaaAAA i saw him on the shelf and yoinked him so fast aughgughgh....,.,.,..,, they had the two others in the set (a sensei and a little fox) but they were $15 each and i couldn't be dropping $45 like that 😭 but it's ok bc i got a fuckign real life natsume in my home i cannot fucking believe it HE'S SO CUTE. HE IS SO SMALL. SCREAMS

(kind of want to sculpt a tiny sensei for which to enplace beside him at his side..... right in the path of the leg that's abt to kick forward-)

2. BOOKE......... vol 22 of natsuyuu & holy shit what a GORGEOUS cover i wanna do a redraw of it so bad now that i FINALLY have it hsmgnsghj absolutely my fave cover in the series TBH. also this is a big deal bc it's one of the last few volumes i need to complete the series and it's SERIOUSLY hard to find rn (i will get into this more below but just know it's basically a miracle i have this 🙏)

3. ANIMORPHS WAAAAAA so the store i went to had a bunch of different shit including both manga & normal books (i see no difference love is love) so ofc i HAD to check the children's section and they had these two animorphs books for a few bucks each!! i honestly didn't really even pay attention to which ones they were beyond checking the numbers to make sure i didn't already have them but as soon as i got home i got a good look at them AND THEY ARE??? BOTH BANGERS????? YOOOOOOOOOO

#19 The Departure (butterfly book) is the one where cassie cheats death thru a bullshit morphing rules loophole and it's GREAT and oh yeah a lot of philosophical "see from the enemy's pov" gray morality stuff which goes so much harder than im making it sound.... it's always been one that stood out to me as a special one so i am Thrilled to have it

as for #33 The Illusion i fucken lost it when i recognized the cover IT'S THE BIRD TORTURE BOOK aka book where they are so so fucking mean to tobias #458283049 THEY ARE SO MEAN TO HIM LEAVE MY SON ALONE i love this book A LOT i cannot believe what these two books turned out to be w/o me even realizing it, and they were the only two animorphs books they had like??? god favors me

ok that was the short version now here's my saga:

SO FUNNY STORY LOL i've been rly into manga collecting videos on yt which frequently dip into manga shopping vlogs right. they go to stores & film the shelves & it's a lot of fun to see all the stuff they have but Most Importantly whenever they get to the N section my eyes ZOOM TF IN lookin for those natsuyuu spines bc i'm on the fuckin hunt and i'm obsessed i NEED to see what they have (which is why i always die inside whenever they skip over the entire naruto section bc natsuyuu is usually RIGHT after it and EVERYBODY MISSES IT slams fist on the ground)

the main thing i look for is volumes i don't have which is a dangerous game bc if i DID see smth i needed and was unable to obtain it i would simply perish and wither away on the spot because these last 3 volumes i need are SO IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND they are not ANYWHERE online except on ebay for like $150 which SUCKS so if i knew they were out there existing on a shelf completely out of my reach i wouldn't make it

anyway i was watchin a shopping vlog & this guy's like we're going to the book-off in this exact location and im like wowie that's near me maybe i should check it out sometime and he's like here's the manga section and im like 👁👁 bc ofc i am and it's not like he's showing every shelf in detail, doesn't even really look at the N section BUT what do i see with my Combat Trained Eagle Eyes

👀

(this is zoomed tf in on like the corner of the screen BUT IT'S VOLUME FUCKEN 22 BABEY DO U SEE IT UUAAHGH) (so bizarre to look at that screenshot now knowing that that book on the shelf is MY specific copy that i now own like god. i really did just reach into the screen and YOINK)

so i immediately check the video's upload date & it's only been a Week but also that portion of the video had been filmed a week prior to the rest of the footage and on top of that there's no telling how much time passed between filming and uploading so we have at LEAST 2 weeks definitely more on the docket so im like ooohhgh but also like i mentioned before. these books are fucken IMPOSSIBLE to find for a reasonable price online rn so i have absolutely nothing to lose ok

i call the place & ask abt it and they're like ya we have it forrr $7.99 and i scream in my head so so loud bc that's $2 below retail and like $75 below the asking price on ebay (some fucking goon is selling a goddamn raw unrestored library copy for over $80 hello?????? absolute clown behavior SMH meanwhile this below retail copy is in Wonderful condition it's BEAUTIFUL)

ik i said earlier that i was "nearby" the location in the video but that was a lie it's a fucking hour drive which is Small Price To Pay for Natsume's Book of Friends Vol 22 by Yuki Midorikawa in MY mind but since i don't drive i had to find someone who agreed w/ me lmfao. the store does not ship either to ur home or to a closer location so i had literally no other option and on top of that they only do same day holds on items, to stress out Me Specifically (joking tho they were so so nice. the person i spoke to was like "well this series doesn't sell v often and we've had it for a while, so there's a good chance it'll still be here whenever you can come out" like 😭 they didn't have to reassure me like that but they did and it helped me make it thru the week goddamnit)

so luckily i was able to get out there the very same weekend and like bro. they have so much shit it's a rly cool store... i believe they have new items but their whole thing is resale & second-hand stuff so u can find some rly neat stuff there... i spent so long in the merch section oh my god. they have this entire aisle that's just pins & buttons & charms and it's absolute madness, like This Shit (different location but same idea)

and good god u would not BELIEVE the sheer amt of ososan stuff they had there, i genuinely believe a flat 50% of it was just ososan AT LEAST (even in this pic i can see a kara on that second shelf there gksdngskdf 2nd to last row on the far right), i think i would have died if i'd gone there during the height of my obsession bc holy shit. why did they have so much osomatsu san. it was bananas (i might've gotten smth if i found one i liked but it was mostly like official art lookin stuff & that style doesn't rly appeal to me so rip. there were a LOT of karas & ichis tho)

anywayyyyy i shouldn't have spent so much time going thru all that but among the sea of buttons & pins were those rubber character charms here and there which i WAS interested in, specifically bc one of the kimi to boku sets i want so dearly is the rubber charms like LOOK at them.........

i am not only screaming & crying but ALSO throwing up LOOK AT THEMMMMM i would die for all 5 of them. anyway they didn't have any of em as far as i could see which wasn't that surprising since it's not a very well-known series but also i saw a million guys i'd never seen in my life in that section so IT WAS POSSIBLE..........

i wandered around the books section for a while bc i wasn't ready for the manga yet (busy aisle) & that's where i found the animorphs WHICH btw are in SUCH good condition like obvs the pages are yellowed but the covers & spines are clean af and both of the cover illustrations underneath are intact so i'm super happy abt that!! i looked around for a few other things just for fun, like they had a few deltora quest books, neither of the ones i need but it was still neat to see. o they also had a copy of wayward son (simon snow book 2) which was rly fun bc hey i know those guys!!! need to get back to reading their shit rly bad but uh u know!!!!! i will

the manga section wasn't super big, just like. one aisle, both sides. they had alphabetical markers to organize them but man things were pretty out of order within each section so i hope i didn't miss anything gskdnkfdg.... it's not like i was planning on buying a whole lot but i did have a list of things to keep an eye out for and if they happened to be a good price then,,,

i didn't find anything tho rip. i rly wanted to check out some japanese manga too but it didn't look like they had any so i was like oh well but fuckin. i'm SO mad at myself, the next morning i found out that APPARENTLY all the jpn manga's in the dollar outlet version of the store they had upstairs, which i KNEW existed but didn't end up checking out gjgaughagjsdgj i'd even thought about asking one of the employees if they had any but i DIDN't and now im DYING oh my god. i'll never be able to get out there again, not any time soon, this was like a One Time Thing i'm so OTL

(i was gonna look for like, natsuyuu fanbooks, some of midorikawa's other works, maybe some monthly magazines like the one natsuyuu gets published in if they even had that sort of thing.... oogh im lying down)

anyway i pretty much checked out after that, they had my book at the counter bc i had called ahead to place a hold JUST TO BE SAFE..... who knows how many other people watched that guy's video and paused obsessively over that one part bc they caught a glimpse of natsuyuu spines in the bg and spotted the elusive vol 22 sitting Right There for all the world to see and immediately started planning how to get out there asap before it disappeared like a dream evaporating into mist as soon as you wake up

anyway that's where the book shopping saga ends but the last magical thing that happened was the mall had a somisomi aka taiyaki babeeyyyyyyy (v exciting bc the one at my local mall is GONE) so i got some w the taro filling (taro my beloved) and it was THE BEST

somisomi's main thing is like, ice cream taiyaki (left) but i always just get the regular kind (right) bc hmnmgnhm i like the it

so that concludes my funny lil weekend trip, even if i missed the outlet store i still got some super gr8 stuff & i'm v happy about it ;v;

---

ok addendum (i didn't know where else to put this): i realized in the middle of writing this that getting the lil natsume meant i could actually fuckin update my myfigurecollection page for the first time since making an acct gkjgskndgkd so i did that but it was a CURSE bc I GUESS there's a new natsume figure that i didn't know about and it's SO FUCKING CUTE IM IN AGONY

HE'S SO CUTE AAAAAAHHGHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭 I'M HAVING AN ANEURYSM OOOOGHHHH HE'S WEARING THE HAT i adore that hat and his scarf & coat & the way he's stumbling? running?? AND SENSEI'S LIL OUTFIT STOPPPPPPPPPPPP my life is fucking over i cant take this goodbye. farewell. sora death noise.mp3

ok this is really the end thank u for ur time o)-<

[chansaw]

I'm so so curious and excited about the yj animorphs au but I'm not sure what to ask because my animorphs knowledge is a bit fuzzy. Without necessarily spoiling anything, are there any moments/themes/scenes/pairings (romantic or otherwise) that you're excited to explore in the story, or anything that you've already written that you can't wait to share? Thanks!

HI ANON sorry it took me a while to answer this... ive just been on SUCH a writing kick lately and im hoping to have chapter 1 up and running by the end of the month if not earlier!!!

i reread some of the animorphs books shortly before s2 starting airing and i was really struck by how many of the themes present in animorphs resonated with yellowjackets:

how does trauma transform you - mentally and physically? how do you cope with the new person (or animal...) you have become? how much of yourself and your humanity are you willing to sacrifice in order to survive? what is the price you are willing to pay for victory? and will any of it have been worth it when all is said and done? i'm excited to explore how the yellowjackets dont need the wilderness to become creatures of the wild.

i am BURSTING at the seams to share this story because i genuinely feel like these two stories work SO well in conversation with one another but i dont want to give away any of the plotttttt

(side note: @thejakeformerlyknownasprince wrote an immaculate what if for the OTHER side of this equation: what if the animorphs kids crashed in the wilderness? so haunting and perfectly matches the tone of both canons in a way i can only hope to emulate)

anyways, i'm going to do my best to make sure that the au is accessible for those who already know and love animorphs and those who, like you, may be fuzzy on the details or dont know about the animorphs verse at all.

if you only know the books from those silly 90s-ass covers, hoo boy are you in for a TREAT

[necarion]

It always amuses me when a series of books with a progressive (that is, changing and evolving) narrative makes sure to remind you of certain basic premises each time.

And I know why they do it - series get picked up randomly, in any order, by folks and the writers have to account for that. (A lot of times, they also fail to include information like “BOOK 7 OF SERIES” on the cover.

But it gives you stuff that’s the equivalent of [completely made up example] “And then Harry drew his wand, a magical stick of wood about 10″ long that was the channel for all his magical abilities” every entry.

This obviously matters a great deal more the larger the meta-narrative is relative to the individual books’.  Wheel of Time tries for a couple books, as does Harry Potter, before utterly giving up under the weight of what it has to cover.  (I think toward the end, WoT even gives up recapping the previous book, even if HP doesn’t go quite that far.) Because at a certain point, those become stories where the books are adventures within the meta-narrative.

Whereas, for series like Invisible Library, the story is much closer to adventures + meta-narrative + characters who undergo punctuated growth. (Animorphs is sort of in between.  I honestly can’t remember how much they recap morphing each book because it’s been over 20 years since I’ve read any of them, and I wasn’t meta-literate enough to pay attention to that sort of thing when I stopped around book 30 in the series.)

I suppose the core question is one of repeat customers vs the need to draw in new customers. I suspect the number of folks who picked up Book 12 of WoT and did anything other than “feel confused” is...not high.

[scattered-winter]

BOOK ASKS!!!! 1, 4, 7, 11, 17, 20 <3333

book you’ve reread the most times?

ooh...probably either the six of crows duology by leigh bardugo (I have the whole thing practically memorized at this point...) or pjo/hoo.....theyre sooo <33

4. what sections of a bookstore do you browse?

YA, usually, just because that's generally where the authors I like are, but I'm SUPER picky about which YA books I actually read because well. *gestures at most of them*

7. is there a series/book that got you into reading?

I've been an eager reader for LITERALLY as long as I can remember (the way my mom tells it, I literally taught myself to read which tbh I don't remember enough to dispute that fact and it makes me sound cool so I'll take it) HOWEVER as a kid I was a huge fan of the magic treehouse and bailey school kids series. idk if they were the first ones I ever read tho

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

oooh ok ok so when I was a kid my parents had a whole STACK of these nonfiction books for kids called "I wonder why" and each one had like. a different theme. my favorite one was "I wonder why triceratops had horns (and other questions about dinosaurs)" and the whole book was about dinosaurs and answering different "questions" that kids might ask about them. and bro I ate that shit UP. I think my family had about 15 to 20 of these books, in a range of topics from extinct animals to ancient egypt to reptiles to plants, and I used to stack them all in a big pile on my bedroom floor and just read each one, cover to cover, one by one. I must've read those books at LEAST 7 times each, and I loved them soooo much. a lot of the topics are STILL interesting to me (like dinosaurs and extinct animals and ecosystems) and it was so funny because the other day my mom was talking about all the old books the family used to have and she offhandedly mentioned those ones and said something like "yeah none of the kids liked them so they just sat on the shelf :(" and I had to tell her that I actually had them mostly memorized at one point lmao

the series had a revamp pretty recently so most of the search results are the new covers but here's one of the old ones that I used to have :]

17. top 5 children’s books?

the "I wonder why" series (as seen above, because autistic kids deserve a fun little treat :]), magic treehouse (fun historic adventures !!! ALSO a fun lil autistic treat :]), the bailey school kids (THEE OG DETECTIVE GANG), animorphs (war crimes <3), and warriors (more war crimes <3)

20. what are things you look for in a book?

mostly I just look for a good time !!! I loooove complicated/fascinating worldbuilding, like with six of crows, and I also want to be reading about characters who I like/connect with !! if the book is romance-centric I'm less inclined to want to read it UNLESS it's very well written (six of crows is largely about romance but they're all sooooo well crafted that I just ??? love them all ???? and it's also balanced out by the platonic dynamics and overall worldbuilding and plot so they're very enjoyable to me even though the romance plays a big part in it) BUT OVERALL I just wanna have a good time yknow

book asks!!