Animorfic writer

[edorielle]

[edorielle]

The new chapter is here! Sorry it took so long. Andalite politics… it's complicated.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Summary : Erkis and Lena have arrived on Andarise, one of the planets of the Andalite world, where the trial initiated by Elfangor is set to take place. But before she can take part in it, Erkis finds herself compelled to undergo a ritual she never expected.

The Andalite looked down at me. She stepped around Safogir's unconscious body and descended into the hollow of the scoop. I raised my dagger in warning, but she stopped well out of reach. She bent her knees in a respectful greeting. < My name is Sarinia. > "I know." < You know me? > she asked, surprised. "Sarinia-Istil-Corrath," I recited. "Leader of an activist group in rebellion against the Electorate. Your authorities consider you a terrorist. Your organization stands accused of disseminating false information on a massive scale with the aim of undermining troop morale and causing public unrest." < We only tell the truth! > Sarinia protested. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "You helped Elfangor with his investigation and enabled him to discover who on the civilian side was involved in the Ongachic affair." < You're well informed. > "It's my job to be." For several moments, Sarinia said nothing. She was studying me with new eyes now, apparently realizing that I might not be as harmless as she'd assumed. Whatever she'd expected from me, I seemed to be making her uneasy. < Our group is called Bark-Eshir. > "An interesting name." < It's Hork-Bajir. But you already know that, don't you? Bark means truth, in the sense of what is real or literal. Esh means to see; with the nominal suffix -ir, it becomes something that is seen. > "Which could be very roughly translated as 'seeing what is real' or 'seeing the truth.'" < We chose that name after discovering the scale of the genocide committed against the Hork-Bajir people. > "Your group fought to expose the truth. But your government succeeded in portraying you as liars manipulated by our agents." < We never managed to obtain justice. The High Command stood by Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. They preserved his military status and concealed his crimes from our people. But we did convince a number of our fellow citizens that the Electorate is lying about the war. Since then, we've worked tirelessly to find the truth amid the propaganda, whether military or political. > I nearly laughed. A "number of fellow citizens" probably meant a few hundred Andalites, perhaps a thousand at most. Hardly enough to threaten their government.

[edorielle]

Say, what’re your thoughts on the Animorphs: The Movement fic?

I've been following this fic faithfully every Sunday since the very first chapters, and I really enjoy it! I especially love how well it captures the '90s atmosphere <3

Having talked a bit with the author, we seem to be more or less on the same wavelength regarding the ending of Animorphs and the issues surrounding it (by the way, the post he made on r/Animorphs about Jake's fascistic attitude in the last two books is interesting; whether you agree with it or not, it's thoughtful and well-argued).

I'm really, really curious to see what direction this fic is going to take, given the similarities with my own fic. I think The Movement is going to lean toward a more revolutionary theme, and personally, that's not necessarily what I plan to focus on. So I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes :)

[edorielle]

Good news: I recently finished writing Chapter 36 of Visser Two. That means Chapter 35 should be posted soon (as soon as I get around to translating it)

Bad news: This morning I completely cracked up. So, instead of making progress, I came up with… this.

Don’t ask me where this idea came from. I really have no idea. Maybe it’s my Yirk Créa messing with my brain again (I hate her, really T_T)

Anyway, I hope this at least puts a smile back on your face if you’ve had a bad day.

*Vague=Wave in French

[ametat-arts]

War Prince alloran

Commissioned fanart by alloran9466 on reddit, drawn by me

[edorielle]

#ohwow

[andalitez]

SUPER old yeerk sculpture i made

it was made with kiln fire clay and acrylic paints :3 i made it about a yeer-k ago

you can shit on me for the pun.

[edorielle]

The sinking game

The warmth of the substrate enveloped me. If I could have shouted with joy, I would have. Riaami hadn’t lied. It was thick and clay-like, with a vegetal aftertaste. I could sense notes of grass and tree bark.

I used my sonar. There were a lot of people around me. Far too many. I wasn’t used to such close proximity anymore.

I moved away from the dock, only to sense someone charging straight at me before colliding with me deliberately.

« Well? » Riaami asked in the tactile-ultrasonic language we used in the Pools.

« I like it, » I replied.

« Het Simplat is a thousand times better—you’ll see. »

She could have swum off after that, going her own way. But she stayed close to me, and I didn’t try to move away.

Under our natural forms, touch, along with sonar, became the most important of all our senses. Unlike humans, or sexual creatures in general, physical contact was not a particular sign of intimacy for us. However, in some cases, it could symbolize mutual respect and trust.

« Game on! » Riaami suddenly exclaimed before darting away, disappearing into the mass of Yeerks swarming around us.

Game on? She wanted to play?

I tried to follow her, but there were far too many Yeerks around me. I couldn’t move more than a few inches without having to dodge someone.

Suddenly, a mass collided with me, sending me plummeting several inches in the depths of the pool. It vanished again before I could react.

The sinking game. Was that what she wanted to play? Oh, fine then!

I knew this game inside and out. I mastered it to perfection. My siblings on Tanxoga had long since stopped challenging me. They’d learned I’d always remain unbeatable!

Except for Sendish. He’d managed to beat me once. Just once. Since then, he’d kept trying, over and over…

The goal was simple: force your opponent to touch the bottom of the pool to win.

Riaami came charging at me again, colliding head-on to push me downward. She was using the same clumsy, unsubtle technique as my siblings.

I let her do it, sometimes dodging, sometimes pretending to struggle upward, just enough so she wouldn’t feel manipulated.

The bottom of the pool drew dangerously close, but that was exactly what I wanted. It was now only a few palps below me.

Her next attack would be decisive. I had to be ready and calculate my move carefully. The substrate here was thicker than on Tanxoga, offering more resistance. I’d need to move faster and use more force.

Riaami dived at me from behind. I veered aside, and she collided with my flank, sending me rolling onto my back in the sludge. She was carried forward by her own momentum and was now slightly below me, to my left.

I lunged at her. But instead of ramming into her head-on as she had done to me, I stretched my body out lengthwise, as I did when entering a host, and wrapped myself around her. Then I swam with all my might toward the bottom of the pool.

She struggled. But couldn’t break free.

« Game over! » I exclaimed.

I released her and swam away, rising half-way up in the pool.

Moments later, she joined me, swimming alongside me.

« You’re sneaky, » she said.

« I like to surprise. »

Once again, she pressed herself against me. We lay belly to belly, our bodies touching end to end.

They say that when they touch, some Yeerks can connect with each other in the same way they connect to the brains of their hosts. That the neurons making up their bodies can communicate, allowing them to share a unique, mind-to-mind link.

They say that’s what happens during the reproductive fusion. That’s what they say... Young Yeerks flee from such contact, terrified by the idea. Older Yeerks, however, tend to seek it out.

Riaami’s lower palps brushed lightly against mine, very gently, almost timidly.

I froze, shocked by her audacity. That was an intimate gesture.

Too intimate for me.

« What do you want from me, Riaami? We can’t be friends! »

I pulled away and walked off, disappearing into the crowd of our fellow Yirks and heading straight for the reinfestation docks.

No, we couldn’t be friends. Not in this life, anyway. Not as long as she remained a convict sentenced to hard labor and I her jailer.

-- Visser Two, chapter 13

[edorielle]

Since I love getting sidetracked, I put aside the illustration I started the other day (The Living Hive) to jump into a new one.

Well… I have mixed feelings about the result. Let’s just say I still have plenty of room for improvement 😅 Texturing and lighting in 3D are seriously COMPLICATED, and I’m going to have to get a much better handle on them if I want to tackle more complex scenes.

That said, I’m pretty happy with my little Yeerk. The first attempts I made a few months ago were… pretty disastrous, but I’ve finally found a design I like.

I hope you like it too :)

-----

The sinking game

Blender & Photoshop

[edorielle]

The sinking game

The warmth of the substrate enveloped me. If I could have shouted with joy, I would have. Riaami hadn’t lied. It was thick and clay-like, with a vegetal aftertaste. I could sense notes of grass and tree bark.

I used my sonar. There were a lot of people around me. Far too many. I wasn’t used to such close proximity anymore.

I moved away from the dock, only to sense someone charging straight at me before colliding with me deliberately.

« Well? » Riaami asked in the tactile-ultrasonic language we used in the Pools.

« I like it, » I replied.

« Het Simplat is a thousand times better—you’ll see. »

She could have swum off after that, going her own way. But she stayed close to me, and I didn’t try to move away.

Under our natural forms, touch, along with sonar, became the most important of all our senses. Unlike humans, or sexual creatures in general, physical contact was not a particular sign of intimacy for us. However, in some cases, it could symbolize mutual respect and trust.

« Game on! » Riaami suddenly exclaimed before darting away, disappearing into the mass of Yeerks swarming around us.

Game on? She wanted to play?

I tried to follow her, but there were far too many Yeerks around me. I couldn’t move more than a few inches without having to dodge someone.

Suddenly, a mass collided with me, sending me plummeting several inches in the depths of the pool. It vanished again before I could react.

The sinking game. Was that what she wanted to play? Oh, fine then!

I knew this game inside and out. I mastered it to perfection. My siblings on Tanxoga had long since stopped challenging me. They’d learned I’d always remain unbeatable!

Except for Sendish. He’d managed to beat me once. Just once. Since then, he’d kept trying, over and over…

The goal was simple: force your opponent to touch the bottom of the pool to win.

Riaami came charging at me again, colliding head-on to push me downward. She was using the same clumsy, unsubtle technique as my siblings.

I let her do it, sometimes dodging, sometimes pretending to struggle upward, just enough so she wouldn’t feel manipulated.

The bottom of the pool drew dangerously close, but that was exactly what I wanted. It was now only a few palps below me.

Her next attack would be decisive. I had to be ready and calculate my move carefully. The substrate here was thicker than on Tanxoga, offering more resistance. I’d need to move faster and use more force.

Riaami dived at me from behind. I veered aside, and she collided with my flank, sending me rolling onto my back in the sludge. She was carried forward by her own momentum and was now slightly below me, to my left.

I lunged at her. But instead of ramming into her head-on as she had done to me, I stretched my body out lengthwise, as I did when entering a host, and wrapped myself around her. Then I swam with all my might toward the bottom of the pool.

She struggled. But couldn’t break free.

« Game over! » I exclaimed.

I released her and swam away, rising half-way up in the pool.

Moments later, she joined me, swimming alongside me.

« You’re sneaky, » she said.

« I like to surprise. »

Once again, she pressed herself against me. We lay belly to belly, our bodies touching end to end.

They say that when they touch, some Yeerks can connect with each other in the same way they connect to the brains of their hosts. That the neurons making up their bodies can communicate, allowing them to share a unique, mind-to-mind link.

They say that’s what happens during the reproductive fusion. That’s what they say... Young Yeerks flee from such contact, terrified by the idea. Older Yeerks, however, tend to seek it out.

Riaami’s lower palps brushed lightly against mine, very gently, almost timidly.

I froze, shocked by her audacity. That was an intimate gesture.

Too intimate for me.

« What do you want from me, Riaami? We can’t be friends! »

I pulled away and walked off, disappearing into the crowd of our fellow Yirks and heading straight for the reinfestation docks.

No, we couldn’t be friends. Not in this life, anyway. Not as long as she remained a convict sentenced to hard labor and I her jailer.

-- Visser Two, chapter 13

[edorielle]

The Living Hive Project [WIP]

Well. It’s been two months now, and I still can’t seem to make any progress on the next chapter of Visser Two. It’s not like I don’t have the scenes in mind, it’s just… I don’t know, I’ve hit some kind of block when it comes to tackling Andalite society.

So, to clear my head a bit, I switched to another creative project I’ve wanted to try for a loooong time: illustrating certain scenes (in 3D, using Blender).

I’d already made a first attempt in 2D with Photoshop, and it wasn’t great. I have a bit of trouble with spatial representation, and honestly, working directly in 3D helps me a lot.

The problem, of course, is that I have to learn how to use the software first.

The scene I want to illustrate takes place in Chapter 3 of Visser Two: Erkis and Lena are carried off by rebel Taxxons and wake up at the foot of the Living Hive, where they come face to face with Arbron.

For now, I’ve only started modeling a Taxxon (which should become Arbron in the scene). Next step: the Hive, and then the cave.

Honestly, I have no idea how long this will take, or even if I’ll manage to see it through… But hey, at least I’ve already had a lot of fun working on this Taxxon :)

[edorielle]

The reason I prefer the chronicles and Visser in the whole series :

Aldrea - The Hork-Bajir Chronicles (chp6)

Edriss - Visser (chp2)

... The details.

Especially the ones that seem insignificant but say a lot.

[moonkent]

Ever wonder what character from Animorphs you were? Did you identify with Rachel's fierce spirit or Cassie's gentle nature more? Are you mor

I took an Animorphs personality quiz, and it says that I am Jake! Which is exactly what I've always felt and who I most identify with, so I'd say this is a fairly accurate quiz.

Your Result: Jake You're a natural leader. Part of that is that you genuinely aren't in it for the power. People just trust you and you don't let want to let them down. Your charm and humility doesn't mean you can't make hard choices sometimes and when pushed, you can be truly ruthless. You just wish you didn't have to be.

[edorielle]

Tobias

You're a quiet, sensitive soul. Thoughtful and romantic, you've been through a lot in life, which often tests your endurance. But despite the frequent temptation to give up, you keep hoping. You're also a lot tougher than you look and possess an uncommonly adaptive nature. Just be careful you don't lose sight of who you really are.

Am I surprised? Mm-mm, I don't think so. ^^

[edorielle]

Yeerk & Andalite idioms

For anyone interested, Chapter 34 of Visser Two is up [here]. (Unfortunately, now that I’ve caught up with all the chapters I had written in advance, the publishing gaps are probably going to get a bit longer.)

In this chapter, I really struggled with a few expressions. I write in French first, then translate into English. Unfortunately, since I am very, VERY far from being bilingual, I don’t know all the expressions and nuances of the English language and that sometimes forces me to make sacrifices.

For example, I was proud of this little witty line in French

“D’autres soldats nous attendaient. Ils avaient l’air vraiment, vraiment sur les dents. Ou plutôt sur les lames, vu qu’ils n’ont pas de bouche ni de dents…” (“Other soldiers were waiting for us. They looked really, really on their teeth. Or rather on their blades, since they have neither mouths nor teeth…”)

But unfortunately… that absolutely does not work in English.

Same problem with the expression “La curiosité est un vilain défaut”. In English, the equivalent would be “Curiosity killed the cat,” but in the context of a human-Controller speaking to an Andalite, it’s a little trickier to use.

One little trick I sometimes use is to work around the issue by inventing Yeerk, or even Andalite idioms.

Here’s a small selection of the ones I’ve managed to sneak in so far (yes, I actually kept notes along the way so I could try to reuse them from time to time 😄):

----

On the Yeerk side:

• Tirer les vers du nez (To worm information out of someone) → To go fetch someone from inside the skull

• Caresser quelqu’un dans le sens du poil (To butter someone up) → Turn the Kandrona toward someone

• Va te faire voir ! (Go th hell!) → Get out of the pool! (Lena version: Go drown in your own pool!)

• Mettre les pieds dans le plat (To put one’s foot in one’s mouth) → Slip one’s palps into someone’s ear

• Avoir le cerveau retourné (To be completely thrown off) → Be turned upside down inside the skull

----

On the Andalite side:

• Perdre son sang-froid (to lose it) → Get one’s tail stuck in a tree

----

What about you? Can you think of any Yeerk or Andalite idioms? I’d love to hear your ideas!

[featherquillpen]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill & Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul Characters: Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Pre-Canon, Post-Canon, Andalites (Animorphs), Drabble Sequence, Angst, Brothers, Loren Haunts the Narrative Summary:

Or: five things Aximili didn’t understand about his big brother, and one thing he did.

[edorielle]

OMG, the “+1” is horrifying. I had never made the connection between the two orders, but-

[edorielle]

Few days ago, I stumbled across some “Cinnamon Roll” flavored syrup.

Did I buy it? Yes. Have I tasted it? No, not yet.

I have to admit, I’m a little scared of what it’s going to taste like 😅

[aniquotes]

“'She called me a war criminal,’ I said.

‘She’s wrong,’ Cassie said.

‘Did what you had to do, man,’ Marco said. 'We all did.

<Jake, it was I who pointed out the possibilities to you,> Ax said. <I pointed out that the Yeerk pool aboard the ship could be drained.>

'Yeah, but I made the call. I pulled the plug. So why don’t you tell me: How is that prosecutor wrong? How is Visser One evil and I’m not? I’d really like to know that.’ I had intended it to be a rhetorical question. I hadn’t mean to sound so plaintive.

Cassie took it seriously. 'Jake, I’ve thought a lot about this.’

Marco rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, we know.’

'I’ve had to think about it because I’ve done the same things you’ve done, Jake. You were the leader, but if you’re a war criminal then so are we for following you.’ She shivered. It was cold and the breeze was gusting. 'I’ve had to make my own peace with things I’ve done.’

Despite myself I was hanging on her words. And despite myself I was remembering kissing her.

'Jake, you can’t…’ She took a deep breath. 'You can’t equate the victim and the perpetrator.’

'So as long as you’re playing defense it’s not possible to commit a war crime?’ I asked. 'That’s pretty close to just saying that the winner makes the rules because it’s the winner who writes the history.’

She grabbed my arm and searched for my eyes, forcing me to look at her. 'No, Jake, it isn’t. There are a lot of close calls in history, lots of wars where the blame is evenly split between the sides. This isn’t one of them. Before they came to Earth no human ever attacked a Yeerk. No human ever harmed a Yeerk. This one is clear: We are the victims. They made war on us.'”

- Book #54: The Beginning (Jake), pg. 90 (by K.A. Applegate)

[edorielle]

Sure, Cassie. Flawless logic.

**Aftran voice on** You humans have been waging war against animals for millennia. You slaughter them by the millions, destroy their habitats, raise them in horrific conditions. So if one day animals decide to fight back, what would you do? If pigs suddenly decided to round up powerless humans and exterminate them on a whim, the way Jake did, would you call that legitimate, or would you call it a crime? **Aftran voice off**

Sarcasm aside, this scene is one of the reasons why the ending of the series makes me cringe. If those words had come from Rachel, it would’ve made sense (RIP). But Cassie?

In truth, I pity her, because it’s clear in the rest of the chapter that she’s deep in cognitive dissonance.

[pyrochord]

chapter distribution in megamorphs books!

okay just some background. the megamorphs books consist of four companion books to the main animorphs series, and unlike most of the main series, in which each book is told from the perspective of one of the animorphs, megamorphs books are told from the perspectives of all of them. each of them get a few chapters in each book to tell their side of the story.

in the main series, there's a "narration cycle," in which the perspective characters' books go in a specific order. Jake -> Rachel -> Tobias/Ax -> Cassie -> Marco. this is true for most of the series. megamorphs books don't have a narration cycle; rather, the person most relevant to the story at that time is the one to narrate it. it's definitely a smart way to write it. it also leads to unequal perspective distribution, which I'm not dunking on at all — I actually think that in some cases it's funny.

percentages/statistics of each book's character distribution (and with all four books together) under the cut!

MEGAMORPHS 1: THE ANDALITE'S GIFT

42 chapters in total.

Jake: 7 chapters

Rachel: 12 chapters

Tobias: 3 chapters

Ax: 5 chapters

Cassie: 6 chapters

Marco: 9 chapters

ok. looks like rachel was REALLY talkative. and tobias was sleeping. honestly? good for him! heeeere's a pie chart to put that into perspective:

MEGAMORPHS 2: IN THE TIME OF DINOSAURS

37 chapters in total.

Jake: 7 chapters

Rachel: 6 chapters

Tobias: 8 chapters

Ax: 4 chapters

Cassie: 7 chapters

Marco: 5 chapters

note that this isn't counting the little afterword at the end, which tobias narrates, but tobias DOES get his time to shine here! go tobias! makes up for mm1 for sure.

pie chart:

MEGAMORPHS 3: ELFANGOR'S SECRET

41 chapters in total.

Jake: 4 chapters

Rachel: 7 chapters

Tobias: 8 chapters

Ax: 5 chapters

Cassie: 11 chapters

Marco: 6 chapters

jake with the least amount of chapters here! to be fair, he was killed off halfway through the book.

pie chart:

MEGAMORPHS 4: BACK TO BEFORE

30 chapters in total.

Jake: 9 chapters

Rachel: 3 chapters

Tobias: 6 chapters

Ax(imili): 6 chapters

Cassie: 5 chapters

Marco: 1 chapter

MARCO. GETS. ONE. CHAPTER. AND THEN HE STRAIGHT UP DIES. i know I'm talking in all caps here but i'm not by any means mad! i actually think this is very funny — and it's the reason I did this whole thing in the first place! on my first read of this book, i was noticing the lack of marco chapters — i notice the lack of marco everywhere, actually, considering that he's my favourite character — and wondered if he was the one with the least amount of chapters in ANY megamorphs book. hence these statistics.

but we'll find that out soon. for now, the pie chart:

okay. now that we've done each book individually ... let's put them all together, shall we?

MEGAMORPHS

150 chapters in total.

Jake: 27 chapters

Rachel: 28 chapters

Tobias: 25 chapters

Ax: 20 chapters

Cassie: 29 chapters

Marco: 21 chapters

and there you have it! Marco is NOT in fact the animorph with the least amount of megamorphs chapters in total; ax is! and cassie's got the most.

in a way, these percentages really make a lot of sense when you think about it. i'd always noticed that the ax chapters seem to come a lot later in the books than most of the others. and three out of four megamorphs books have something to do with time fuckery; it makes sense that cassie's involved a lot! despite nap time, tobias is saved by dino infodumping in mm2, among other things. rachel's not particularly prominent in most of the books, but she's got TWELVE WHOLE CHAPTERS in mm1! Marco got his time to shine in mm1 with his awesome driving skills and didn't really get many chapters in the books after that, and Jake was going pretty steadily until he got shot in mm3. just goes to show: you might get a chance to narrate some more chapters if you just don't die 🤷

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

What if the Animorphs were in Europe?

Only non-U.S. place I've lived is London, which... [checks notes] doesn't count anymore(?).

Any European Animorphs fans out there have ideas?

[edorielle]

Can’t resist such a call :p

If Animorphs were set in Europe, honestly, I don’t think it would change that much.

But imagining the nationality of our heroes based on their personalities — that could lead to some funny things:

Jake would be the proud German general — fair, disciplined, and inflexible.

Rachel: Norwegian, with a deep passion for axe throwing. Obviously the descendant of a long, proud line of Vikings.

Tobias: Just like the British were tempted by the promise of freedom that Brexit represented, he became a nothlit and is searching for his own identity. He is no longer European in fact, but he remains European at heart.

Cassie: the Belgian of the group. Quiet, often overlooked, but always ahead of everyone else when it comes to fighting for progressive laws like marriage equality, assisted reproduction, or legal gender change for trans people.

Marco: the Portuguese complainer. A bon vivant, resourceful, and brutally honest no matter the situation.

Ax: He’s not French, but he really wishes he were. What better country to adopt than one where people eat snails and frog legs — and where they literally fight over what to call this pastry?

(Warning: it’s a chocolatine. Anyone who dares call it a pain au chocolat in front of ME deserves to be eaten by a Taxxon.)