scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/6c9ffx.md

## [RT] [FF] Animorphs:the Reckoning, Interlude 9 and Chapter 26 (double update)

* Author: u/ketura  *Organizer**
* URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11090259/34/r-Animorphs-The-Reckoning
* Score: 53

* Created: 2017-05-20T08:52:58

### Post:

[Link to content](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11090259/34/r-Animorphs-The-Reckoning)

### Comments:

> **u/Agnoman** [+17]  (2 hours later)
> 
> We're back!
> 
> Ax's chapters seem much easier to read now that he isn't slowly going insane.
> 
> And the world is going absolutely crazy, as might be expected. The more I think about it, the scarier it becomes that humanity's survival depends on cooperation. Just getting all of the factions within a country to start pulling in the same direction would be an accomplishment of note, and that's *easy* compared to getting dozens and dozens of countries across the globe to agree on a single issue. Hooray for a unifying threat?
> 
> Along a similar-ish vein, Andalites seem really bad at updating. I'm wondering what the rules are here - when they accept new evidence/arguments and when they reject, given that each individual has the weight of an entire society pressing down on them. Clearly it's not impossible for the Path to redirect, or they would never have made it out of the stone age.
> 
> I enjoyed the "this is how to anticipate failure" lesson in there. If I didn't come into this story knowing the context of it as a rationalist story, I don't think I would have picked it as explicitly teaching (preaching?).  Ether way, I'll have to remember to use that one.
> 
> When I started this story, I didn't think I'd end up rooting for the yeerks to infest every human on earth, but there you go. Thanks Essak-and-Peter.
> 
> And there's the obvious bombshell at the end. Namely, the threatened *bombshell*. I have no idea how As should play this one. There's not really any good options. Telling the governments risks information leaking to V3 and him going to ground immediately (plus potentially​ sparking a brand new war, but that's actually small fry by comparison). Keeping the information private means having a week to kill V3 (or tricking the Andalites into thinking it happened?) which is soemthing of a tall order. Maybe just tell V3 and let him cut off whatever ship is sent to destroy Earth?
> 
> But things are looking pretty dark, even compared to how idyllic the story has been so far. And our newest sociopathic animorph has yet to have his turn to ruin everything forever, so there's still that to look forward to!

>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+8]  *Cheela Astronaut* (16 hours later)
>> 
>> > I enjoyed the "this is how to anticipate failure" lesson in there.
>> 
>> Yeah, I've heard this sort of concept be referred to as a "pre-mortem" on a productivity podcast I listen to, and I really like it. It's good to see it referenced in such a worthy medium!

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+5]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> Thanks for the long comment.  I didn't see much to respond to in particular, but <3 <3 <3 <3.
>> 
>> re: rooting for the Yeerks to infest everyone, we have mostly u/callmebrotherg to thank for that, just as we have u/ketura to thank for the character of Visser Three.

>> **u/DaystarEld** [+3]  *Pokémon Professor* (3 days later)
>> 
>> +1 on the "When I started this story, I didn't think I'd end up rooting for the yeerks to infest every human on earth, but there you go. Thanks Essak-and-Peter."

> **u/CouteauBleu** [+17]  *We are the Empire.* (3 hours later)
> 
> Alright, obsessively detailed review time!
> 
> * I'm choosing to believe that Interlude 9 is Marco talking to the factory guy. Which confirms it: he really is a one night stand kind of guy!
> 
> * I'm... not quite sure I agree with the general strategy of releasing superpowered people in the nature Cauldron-style and hope for the best, at least from a strategic standpoint. But it's pretty damn cool anyway.
> 
> * "U.S. leadership clearly compromised". You bet. Did they find out the Secreatry of State yet?
> 
> * Eight billion views? That sounds like *a lot*, even for such a world-breaking broadcast. Is that supposed to be millions?
> 
> * The looting starts at last. You can't have a world-wide invasion of body-snatchers compromising every authority figure in the world without *some* civil unrest. Honestly, I'd be almost more worried about the possible breakdown of society than any physical threat the Yeerks pose.
> 
> * I just realized that this is a universe where everyone on Reddit talks about Animorphs non stop, debates about Animorphs, theorize about what the Animorphs will do, etc. Shit, now I want to be there.
> 
> * I'm not sure if this is a deliberate theme of the story, or just something that pops up now and again, but the Animorphs are lapsing into "religious" thinking again. They're spending a lot of time assuming everything that ever goes wrong is V3's fault, and trying to predict him. Especially since there's probably not much overlap between what V3 is plotting and what they can observe or affect right now.
> 
> * By the way, what can V3 even do by now? He's basically lost his chance to control/recruit the human population long term. His invasion is no longer a secret, methods to detect controllers are spreading, and his own troops are increasingly wary of him.
> 
> * As a guy who is currently trying to impart some of the same concepts Ax talks about to my team (anticipating failure, not jumping to conclusions), I can empathize with his frustration. This shit is hard.
> 
> * Ax is being pretty arrogant and rude in this chapter, overall. "Humans, this is how you need to think. Do not interrupt each other." Ten minutes later: "Never mind, I figured it out, you can drop whatever you were talking about."
> 
> * Mhh... So Visser deliberately cut the information flow with the Andalites? Makes sense with his overall strategy. This makes me think of the way V3 spontaneously sent (what he claims to be) all of Telor's acquired humans. Does Telor have any humans left, or did they just start abducting new ones somewhere else? If they have no more humans, this is probably a deliberate move on V3's part, both to dumb Telor down and to make communications between Telor and Earth governments dependent on him.
> 
> * "we can peace treaty this bitch right out from under him" That made me chuckle.
> 
> * Did... did Tobias pat Ax's head? oO
> 
> * I like how Ax sounds less like an wise old master and more like a teenager as his melding progresses.
> 
> * I like the explanation that "Prince" is more than just a rank, it also describes a thought process. It's a bit less goofy than the idea than Ax just started calling Jake "General" after being isolated.
> 
> * The bit with the Chee reminds me of the ongoing "Charlie [tries to] recruits Wanda" in Erfworld. Bit of a "Aw craaaap" moment when you realize that your enemy can make the super-powerful ally you rely on a better offer than you. (though I'm not sure it'd really matter; on the long term, Humans as a group have way more resources than V3, and are more likely to care for dogs than him)
> 
> * So what's the status with the "real President, fake President" thing? I'm kind of wondering how they'd even keep it a secret, given that the entire world is looking for some assurance that the President *isn't* being mind-controlled right now. Did they just tell journalists "Relax, we have it under control, but please don't point a camera at the President for more than two hours in a row"?
> 
> * Interesting that the Essak and Temrash are pretending that the yeerks V3 killed were individuals. Makes sense; even if they want to cooperat, the existence of the coalescions is most definitely not their secret to let out in the open.
> 
> * There's that one xkcd where the guy says "To think the light of this star was emitted back when there still dinosaurs here" - "Actually, this one is six light-years away." - "Oh - well, to think the light of this star was emitted back during the previous presidential administration... yeah, that doesn't quite pack the same punch." One thing Animorphs (completely screwed up at first then) did great was avoiding the "We have been at was for thousands of years" cliché; the start of the Yeerks war in canon was after the Vietnam war. Somehow that seems much more realistic and grounded. I really like the idea that Humanity is threatened by a people that was still stuck in Stone Age during the previous Olympic Games.
> 
> * I like those bits of worldbuilding about how Yeerks don't invent tech, they just repurpose it. Yeerks are the badass cyberpunk junkers of the universe.
> 
> * Did you... what are you... NO. BAD AX. BAD. We went through this already! You *don't* lie to your allies to improvise your own little agenda that will inevitably blow up in your face five minutes later! Were you even listening?
> 
> * Minor nitpick: even if the Nasa techs examining the spaceship don't understand how it works, shouldn't they be capable of detecting that energy is being sent to the transmitters? Unless it doesn't produce heat or emit any detectable signal.
> 
> * "Oh yeah, the humans are too limited to understand the genius of my plan. They would not accept the infinite wisdom of sending the coordinates of their people to the guys with infinite nukes and itchy trigger fingers. I better hide this from them."
> 
> * Temrash is awfully casual about using the memory of an irresistible drug to batter Ax's mind into submission. I'm sure that won't cause any problems later. Also, it seems that the power dynamic is not as equal as Ax thought.
> 
> * Overall, I like Ax's internal conflicts. It's not as simple as him second-guessing himself, but it's not different people arguing either.
> 
> * Look, I've totally figured it out, Chancellor! You just need to stop whatever it is you're doing, and open peace negotiations with the Yeerks, in defiance of all previously established doctrine! I know it'll work because we've spent two days talking about it with a bunch of humans and also I'm a Controller.
> 
> * 49 minutes after the call is over, an aide comes talk to the Chancellor. "Sir, about that 'Slaughter 9 billion people to save our asses' plan you had... We can't actually do it. The whole sector is located in an impenetrable Z-space quicksand thing. We have no idea how Visser 3 and Elfangor could go through it. The next ship we send will arrive in... roughly five months. So... yeah."

>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+9]  (6 hours later)
>> 
>> > 49 minutes after the call is over, an aide comes talk to the Chancellor. "Actually, about that 'Slaughter 9 billion people to save our asses' plan you had... We can't actually do it. The whole sector is located in an impenetrable Z-space quicksand thing. We have no idea how Visser 3 and Elfangor could go through it. The next ship we send will arrive in... roughly five months. So... yeah.
>> 
>> Good catch, curious to see if they can do it in 7 cycles now.

>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+3]  (9 hours later)
>>> 
>>> It's entirely possible that another "coincidental" wormhole through the barrier will allow the weapon to cross, but they will be unable to abort if they need to.

>>>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+5]  (9 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> I agree, but what would the trade for that handy-dandy-coincidence be? Either E or C already has incurred a reciprocal move with that little David stunt...if we assume that the same party would be the one responsible for the conincidental shortcut, they're going to be owing the other party a BIG MOVE.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+7]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> Waheu!  Grateful as always.
>> 
>> Interlude 9 is intended to be factory guy, yeah, as well as a template for several-hundred-if-not-a-couple-thousand similar cases they intend to pull (and have already been pulling).  It is certainly a Questionable Strategy.
>> 
>> Nobody's found out about the Secretary of State yet.
>> 
>> Eight billion is high, I maybe should've gone with two billion, but I think definitely *not* just millions, at this point.  Also I guess I can pretend the article was hyperbolic, even though that's lame.
>> 
>> [What can V3 even do now](#s "Are you sure you want to ask that question?  I mean, REALLY sure?")
>> 
>> Part of the arrogance is meant to be bleedover from Andalite and Yeerk arrogance, and part of it is this bold new sort of hivemind actually taking itself seriously and realizing that it might *genuinely* know better, at least in some cases.  Clearly not *all* cases, as we saw.
>> 
>> [ ](#s "Should the Chee gambit be effective?  V3 trying to recruit them?  I'm open to ideas.")
>> 
>> My headcanon (hah) ((but no really it's just headcanon until it shows up in the text, even if it's me)) re: Presidents is that Paul Evans vetted the Secret Service immediately, and then looped all of them in, putting them in touch with both him and Tyagi and keeping very tight safety protocols on all of them.
>> 
>> Re: the communicator, my thought is that it either a) naturally gives off some energy the whole time, or b) as part of his subterfuge, Ax has it giving off energy some times and not others, even while it's being built ("tuning it," maybe).
>> 
>> [49 minutes after](#s "IIRC, neither the Andalites nor the Animorphs actually know what's up with the Z-space rift.  Elfangor clearly knew, which means Marco *might* have dug it out at some point, but basically he told them 'you got six months,' and they just took him at his word.  So no, the asteroid will not work, but unless they send someone along to *check,* the Andalites won't know this, and the Animorphs don't know it's an empty threat.")
>> 
>> FYI as mentioned below, a cycle is ~3.4 days, so seven cycles is a little over three weeks.  Tick tock.

>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+7]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Regarding The Chee, I'd expect them to at least be willing to negociate with Visser 3. It all depends on whether he can offer something that the Chee want and humanity hasn't (like the Arn's help to repopulate the Pemalites).

>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+7]  (a day later)
>>> 
>>> [](#s "I think V3 really could sway the Chee, but they'd probably go back to the Animorphs to get their opinion. Consider all the stuff from Essak-and-Peter's pro-symbiosis speech, but applied to dogs. Dogs that could communicate with humans via their Yeerks, humans that could be trained to understand dog needs better, and better health and happiness independent of humans. Sort of like the next step after domestication.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "The issue is that the Animorphs could make the exact same offer, if they thought about it. In fact, it would make more sense for them to offer it. V3 would be offering that as a concession (there's no way he'd want to commit troops to sitting inside dogs until his wars were all done), whereas the Animorphs would probably agree it was a great idea for animal welfare going forward.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "Beyond that, V3 has much greater bargaining ability. If he wins, he rules the planet, potentially the galaxy (or whatever scale the setting's tech permits). He could build a paradise planet for dogs, with controllers dedicated to their safekeeping. Essentially, he'd have free reign to satisfy the Chee utility function, or even bypass their programming limitations (though they may not be allowed to agree to that). By contrast, if the Animorphs win their end-game is essentially 'let the rest of humanity figure out how best to integrate Yeerks', with no guarantees as to dog safety or happiness.")
>>> 
>>> [](#s "All of that potential has to be weighed against the fact that V3 has really not shown himself to be trustworthy or empathetic. If the Chee hadn't been there, every dog in Ventura would have been obliterated. He wouldn't have so much as twitched an eye-stalk. Any abrupt change of mindset is going to come across as self-serving, which implies that he'll only care as long as there's a strategic advantage to him caring. On balance, I can't really see them going for it.")

>>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+4]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> Regarding the last point, Esplin could always make a "Tom Riddle speaks in parseltongue" deal with the Chee, where he precommits to making dog paradise for them.
>>>> 
>>>> (which open some interesting possibilities, like the Chee blackmailing V3 into precommiting to even more dog happiness or else they wreck his plan even harder than they have so far, though that might not actually be possible)

>>>> **u/DaystarEld** [+2]  *Pokémon Professor* (3 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> Hmm. This comment looks empty to me, and there's no edit history. Anyone else (not) seeing this?

>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+1]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (3 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> It's all spoiler-tagged.

>>>>>> **u/DaystarEld** [+3]  *Pokémon Professor* (3 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Ahh, "Source" is the key to this method. I figured it might be something like that, but some new tag that wasn't showing up on in my browser. Wasn't until you confirmed that there was actually something there that I remembered that button.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> It's interesting how many ways there are to hide text... I think this is like the 5th method I know of.

>>>>>>> **u/ZeroNihilist** [+4]  (3 days later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I think the issue is that this spoiler format relies on the subreddit's CSS, so viewing it with CSS disabled (or from a different page on reddit, e.g. inbox) will cause it to fail.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The nice thing there is that it fails by not showing. If it appeared in plain text it would spoil people unintentionally.

> **u/CouteauBleu** [+11]  *We are the Empire.* (an hour later)
> 
> Well. Someone fucked up.

> **u/kahb** [+11]  (16 hours later)
> 
> This chapter's release is the best thing that's happened in the past 24 hours! 
> 
> * Man, President Tiyagi is competent. Also Ax is being hella hypocritical right now. He's maybe ended up with a bit too much of Tom's human deception understanding.
> * The flyover thing seems like a *terrible* idea, for most of the reasons they mention in the chapter. Like what the hell are they even trying to convince people of that they don't already have evidence for. Seeing something that looks kind of like an alien spaceship fly above your city for a while proves... what, exactly? Is it really worth the massive risk? Highly suspecting that something is up with Tyagi, which makes it scarier that Ax just gave her his morph and a ton of information. Especially with her asking them to bring back David, she definitely has worrisome motives. 
> * Speaking of which, Jake said Tyagi wanted to do an acquire-check, but after acquiring him it doesn't look like she ever actually morphed him or anything before Ax started working on the fighter? 
> * Why would a news story about donations to animal shelters at all be given attention by the general public amidst the sea of other world-breaking news? Most people on reddit don't know anything about the Chee or their caniphilia, right? ("Victor Chee" is really funny, though.)
> * This fic has so many things going on at once now that it's very overwhelming, for the readers and the characters. I've read fiction before with the meme "don't let yourself get distracted by this petty problem, keep your eyes on the real enemy" but this fic has like 5 layers of that. I feel like they're constantly disregarding really important things because there are so many things to pay attention to.
> * /u/TK17Studios, do you have a little black box in the rest of life outside writing? One of my favorite things about this fic is how well the different internal experiences are represented.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+8]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (18 hours later)
>> 
>> I'm mixed on the flyover idea; I see flaws, but I also see it as the sort of thing real leaders actually do, and they don't always turn out terribly.  Of course, I could be saying this just to throw you off the trail, so ... \*shrug\*.
>> 
>> I'm assuming Tyagi did a morph-check offscreen.  I've gotten feedback that I maybe leave *too* much offscreen, but for small stuff like that I've got to drop it or each chapter will start topping 16000 words.
>> 
>> I think literal million-dollar donations to animal charities will catch the eye ... it's a feelgood heartwarming story, and in the middle of a chaotic, scary month, there are going to be stories like that that float to the top just because people want *something* positive to cling to.
>> 
>> Thanks for the ... compliment? ... about complexity/layers.  A part of what I want to show is that the Animorphs aren't and can't possibly be the only players, that other things are swirling around the edges.  They're central, they're important, but they're *not* the be-all-and-end-all.
>> 
>> I have absolutely zero little black box.  Jake is everything I'm not—I'm actually really bad at modeling other people and quite slow/low-resolution when it comes to empathy.  At least in part, r!Animorphs is practice.  Thanks for the kudos, though.  <3

>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+7]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Imma vote for "it's okay if things are offscreen". I mean, I'm obviously more invested in this fic than the average reader, so it might be easier for me to follow the going ons, but I like that the fic is not spending too much time justifying itself or explaining non-important details.
>>> 
>>> Given that by its nature as a rational fic, it already has a very high reflexion-to-decision ratio, the way it goes straight for the important parts feels like it maintains the pace.
>>> 
>>> Re - the flyover idea: I think it's a clever idea. Even if it's booby trapped, there's not much the ship can do that V3's cloaked ships can't (and it's not like he needs deception to perform orbital bombings). Random civilians taking potshots wouldn't be much of a concern, since they'd be more likely to hurt themselves than actually damage it. I'd be more worried about rogue military officers pulling an artillery barrage or sending a fighter jet at it.

>>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+6]  (18 hours later)
>>> 
>>> I am going to put a vote for leaving too much offscreen. The mentions about the factory thing made me wonder if I had missed a chapter or something. It would've been cool to see how Ax perceived the joining of Temrash and Essak in his head as well. 
>>> 
>>> Might I suggest splitting things into multiple shorter chapters that are from the same Animorph's POV?

>>> **u/philh** [+5]  (a day later)
>>> 
>>> >I think literal million-dollar donations to animal charities will catch the eye ... it's a feelgood heartwarming story, and in the middle of a chaotic, scary month, there are going to be stories like that that float to the top just because people want *something* positive to cling to.
>>> 
>>> Also, the Chee presumably keep a close eye on things like that. Even if it wasn't mentioned in the news at all, they could quite plausibly find out from the three charities' monthly newsletters or something (though that specifically would be a little too slow for current purposes).

>>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+3]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> Oh, *as if* the Chee don't have representatives in every dog shelter there is (assuming they have numbers). It would be like, the ultimate human job for them.

>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+5]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (a day later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Eh, except for the whole euthanasia thing...

>>>>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+6]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Come on! They have holograms. They clearly don't put the dogs down, they just show holograms of it happening, and take them into their underground pet paradise.

>>>>>> **u/Evan_Th** [+2]  *Sunshine Regiment* (5 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The Chee obviously pioneered the no-kill shelter movement.

>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+3]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> I think there's probably a bit of balance between "leave everything offscreen" as you're doing now (a touch too much IMO), and "explain everything in excruciating detail and have 16000 word chapters". 
>>> 
>>> Most of the solutions are inelegant, but they work. Have a character describe everything that happened off-screen, or allude to it in a very obvious way. For example, you could have chucked two lines in the "Ax fixes the fighter" scene with the human saying "was it weird to see her morph you", you could have people give "reports" about missions they ran, or heck, you could even somehow do a "yadda yadda" though it. You know, "and so, after Tyagi morphed Ax, he was escorted into the room to work on the bug fighter".
>>> 
>>> Like, I think you'd definitely be able to strike a balance between showing us everything and showing us not *quite* enough. I love the story and part of it is because I feel like I need to re-read a few chapters whenever a chapter gets released because there's *so much*, but that's also one of the problems in a way, you know?

>>> **u/None** [+3]  (9 days later)
>>> 
>>> > I think literal million-dollar donations to animal charities will catch the eye ... it's a feelgood heartwarming story, and in the middle of a chaotic, scary month, there are going to be stories like that that float to the top just because people want something positive to cling to.
>>> > 
>>> 
>>> I was also thinking that if the purpose was to have the chee awre of it v3 could have easily made sure it was reported on via infested journalists

>> **u/keeper52** [+4]  (4 days later)
>> 
>> > Why would a news story about donations to animal shelters at all be given attention by the general public amidst the sea of other world-breaking news?  
>> 
>> [Staff at small animal shelter 'blown away' by $275,000 gift](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/comments/6d3aye/staff_at_small_animal_shelter_blown_away_by/) is currently at 1730 karma and rising. And I expect that /r/UpliftingNews would be more popular under the circumstances than it is in reality, and the multiple $1M donations would be more attention-grabbing.

>>> **u/kahb** [+3]  (5 days later)
>>> 
>>> Fair enough.

> **u/LieGroupE8** [+12]  ** (5 hours later)
> 
> Yay, Animorphs is back! Well TK, I considered messaging you during the hiatus to ask what was up, but I figured that everyone would be doing the same thing, and I didn't want to bother you in your busy life. However, it would be *really* nice if there were a way for you post notes during a long hiatus without adding a chapter, just to say "Hey, I'm busy and can't update for a while, but here's what's going on with me." Otherwise I'm left wondering if today could be the day for a new update, or if you've abandoned the fic altogether. It messes with my emotions, man!
> 
> As for the chapter, I enjoyed it a lot, though the dominos that have been set up still haven't fallen yet. Ax's perspective is much easier to read now that he has a yeerk to help him communicate. I did have many of the same reactions as in CouteauBleu's detailed review. Namely, Visser 3 is not a god, and not everything that happens is all part of his plan. Sure, the Animorphs need to guard against the possibility, but it seems likely that he is just preoccupied right now. Probably with winning the Chee over to his side via dog appreciation and cloning the Pemalites or something.
> 
> Also, how on earth do the Andalites intend to bypass the Z-space barrier to implement their threat? Do they not know about it? Does this have something to do with that Z-space bridge V3 discovered? Is there an automated Andalite ship hiding in the solar system that can carry out instructions?
> 
> Another thing I noticed:
> 
> > “Can you do it, Ax?” Jake asked, leaning toward us and fixing us with a steady look. “Can you actually convince your people?”
> > “Forget that,” Tom bit out. “Can you actually build a transmitter at all?”
> 
> Once Tom says this, they actually *do* forget about Jake's very important question. A lesson in mindfulness.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+6]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (a day later)
>> 
>> Thanks for the long feedback!  I've had fun playing around with the Animorphs being spooked about Visser Three.
>> 
>> If I haven't screwed things up in previous chapters, the Andalite chain of command is completely oblivious to the fact that there's a Z-space rift around the system.  They'll set a rock up with a hyperdrive, wait 6.9 cycles, launch it, and not actually know that it got "stuck in the quicksand."
>> 
>> And yeah, mindfulness all around.  :)

>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+3]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> > and not actually know that it got "stuck in the quicksand."
>>> 
>>> Wait, really? That sounds extremely careless, when dealing with a threat so overwhelming they're jumping straight to the 'exterminate' option. Wouldn't they send a probe to check that the Yeerks didn't set up a space shield around the planet or something similar?

>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> I mean, they'll probably find out almost immediately *after* (e.g. by having a piece of tech on the rock that's constantly broadcasting a signal, and if it fails to *stop* sending that signal, they know the thing didn't detonate).  But if you're pressed on a dozen fronts, and you can't really convince yourself to spare a single ship, and you've got a bomb that costs $5 that has "get 'em *really* dead" written in the reviews ...
>>>> 
>>>> Given that they're pretty much literally just sticking a hyperdrive onto a rock, it's cheap to just throw it and check up later.

>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (9 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Surely it would need to be a pretty large rock to be effective? which means that zpace engines can cover far more than has previously been indicated.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Or do they have some way of accelerating the rock a lot? (I'm assuming for this that z-space works like a wormhole type thing, where the momentum of teh object is unchanged afterwards.)

>>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+1]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (9 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Can be a very small rock if it's moving fast enough.  Z-space travel does typically work like a wormhole, but if there are ways to drop it out of Z-space at high speed, problem solved.

> **u/TK17Studios** [+10]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (26 minutes later)
> 
> Always curious to see whether the things *I* think are bombshells are the same as the things *you* think are bombshells.

>> **u/kleind305** [+10]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> Personally, seeing David out and about is very stressful. 
>> 
>> Possibly more-so than the destruction of the planet, to be honest. That problem, at least, I expect them to deal with prior to anything really bad happening. 
>> 
>> I have [heard](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/200905/if-you-want-succeed-don-t-tell-anyone) that motivating oneself through external praise is less effective than not. My opinions of the piece haven't changed, and I provide this link purely for selfish reasons — my biggest fear is that you will go [Game of Champions](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7354757/1/The-Game-of-Champions) on us.

>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+6]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>>> 
>>> I'm not *wholly* motivating myself through external praise—the real reason to write r!Animorphs is because I want to be able to read it, and it looked like no one else was going to do it.
>>> 
>>> But!  External praise motivates me to write *now* as opposed to letting it languish in the queue of "Duncan projects to-be-finished-someday" (of which there are a bunch of super cool ones).

>>>> **u/kleind305** [+7]  (19 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> That would be embarrassing RE: ConteauBleu.
>>>> 
>>>> Yeah, not trying to lecture. The story is important enough to me that  your insistence that keeps me from enjoying via lurking.
>>>> 
>>>> One thing that potentially concerns me is how much explanation and back/forth we're getting from the story in these threads. The story is very dense in details, and it's easy to forget what people know and what they don't. It's easy to miss a sentence or two of necessary explanation/exposition, especially if it's stated in a thread. 
>>>> 
>>>> I haven't done a reread yet, so please don't take it as a direct accusation, it's just an easy pitfall to fall into. I want very much to be able to show this to people and have them be able to follow it. This is honestly one of the most ambitious pieces of fiction I have read, and you're handling all of it extraordinarily well. I'm just nervous watching the guy walk on the tightrope, you know?

>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+4]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (19 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Noted; appreciated.  I do my best to keep an eye on the spoil-o-meter, and it's my intention that everything I share on Reddit ultimately be explained and validated in-story.  As we zero in to the end (we're past the halfway mark, now, I think), I may ask you guys to help me curate a list of all the open parentheses waiting to be closed.

>>>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+3]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Okay, first off, it's spelled [Couteau](https://translate.google.fr/#fr/en/couteau). Like a knife. I am so not letting this become a running gag :p (wouldn't be the first time)
>>>>> 
>>>>> And really, I don't even send that much praise. I send some praise, and immense amounts of commentary, which is kinda different.

>>>>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+2]  *Cheela Astronaut* (2 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> *Ces sont des bons couteaux, Bule.*^[1](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/theyre-good-dogs-brent)

>>>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (3 days later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Actual lol.

>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+3]  *We are the Empire.* (14 hours later)
>>> 
>>> For a moment I thought you were quoting one of his own CFAR articles back at him :p

>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+3]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> I think everyone's in agreement that a giant rock is an effective bombshell...

>> **u/Brain_Blasted** [+3]  (10 hours later)
>> 
>> 7 cycles. Does that mean 7 days? 7 weeks? How does andalite time translate to earth time?

>>> **u/philh** [+10]  (12 hours later)
>>> 
>>> A seventh of a subcycle is 1.5 hours, so a subcycle is 10.5 hours. If (best guess) a cycle is 7 subcycles, then a cycle is just over 3 days and 7 cycles is three weeks. If (next guess) a cycle is 49 subcycles, then 7 cycles is 150 days which is five months, which feels too long for narrative purposes (but would mean the Chancellor knows about the Z-space quicksand thing already).

>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+9]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Philh for the win.  A cycle is ~3.4 Earth days, a subcycle is a seventh of that.  A seventh of a subcycle is their closest equivalent to one hour, and a subcycle is their closest equivalent to "a workday" or whatever.
>>>> 
>>>> So they have a little over three weeks on the deadline Lirem gave Ax.

>>>>> **u/Evan_Th** [+6]  *Sunshine Regiment* (19 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Re your note upthread about being sure to close open parentheses, I'd strongly recommend you state this explicitly in-story sometime soon.

>>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (20 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In-story, or in author's note?

>>>>>>> **u/Evan_Th** [+5]  *Sunshine Regiment* (20 hours later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Either one would be fine for the reader.  But if Ax isn't going to hide this (which would mark a huge change in his character), I think it'd make a lot of sense to say it in-story.

>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (9 days later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Is "cycle" meant to be their planets day length? If not it seems odd they would use a time system that didn't match that, since doing things at the same time every day is valuable

>>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+1]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (9 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Andalite day length, yes.

> **u/callmebrotherg** [+9]  *now posting as /u/callmesalticidae* (5 hours later)
> 
> Haha, I love the Hanson plan (and I love how it's actually a pretty good response to yeerk invasion). 
> 
> *Former* SecDef Mattis? Interesting. 
> 
> And yeah, this is a bombshell chapter.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+4]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> Well, Trump's clearly not president ...

>>> **u/callmebrotherg** [+7]  *now posting as /u/callmesalticidae* (17 hours later)
>>> 
>>> I figured that the story was an AU, not a future fic. 
>>> 
>>> Also, how'd I influence the Yeerks?

>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+8]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Painting a beautiful picture of Yeerk cooperation, artistry, life-coaching, etc.  That *was* you, right?  Am I mis-attributing?
>>>> 
>>>> It's half future, half AU.  Five minutes in the uncertain future kind of thing, maybe 2020, maybe alt 2016.

>>>>> **u/callmebrotherg** [+8]  *now posting as /u/callmesalticidae* (17 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> No, no, that was me. I guess I didn't remember that you read those stories. >.>

>>>>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+5]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Wait, *those* were your stories? The ones in second person? Most yeerks living in Germany? Those are probably the only animorphs fanfics I might dare confess I like more than The Reckoning (due to their flash-fiction style making them so easy to digest). So, uh, thank you for writing them!

>>>>>>> **u/callmebrotherg** [+5]  *now posting as /u/callmesalticidae* (a day later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Those were mine! I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed them.

>>>>>>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+7]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> This is like when you find out one of the other people in your improv class is a minor TV celebrity and you can never look at them the same way again and start trying to remember everything they've ever said to you about your acting in an attempt to try and make sure you squeezed every morsel out of their advice you possibly could.

>>>>>>>>> **u/callmebrotherg** [+4]  *now posting as /u/callmesalticidae* (a day later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Hahaha what? 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Well, at least it's easier to remember stuff when it's been logged by Reddit.

>>>>>>> **u/Evan_Th** [+5]  *Sunshine Regiment* (a day later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Links?  Please?  With that sort of rec...

>>>>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+6]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (a day later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> http://archiveofourown.org/series/200554

>>>>>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+4]  *We are the Empire.* (a day later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Oh, yeah, I forgot about those. They were totally awesome, by the way. You know, if you ever feel like writing more of them.

> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+8]  (6 hours later)
> 
> > “Those’re just the ones with over twenty thousand karma in the past twelve hours.”
> 
> I'd say tweak this to 'reddit karma' for those who might not be familiar with the site.
> 
> > We nodded, the human gesture this time deliberate.
> 
> How on earth does Ax nod? At the waist?
> 
> Oh shit. how long is 7 cycles?
> 
> So many things going on in this chapter...every faction doing their own thing right now, and Esplin is tweaking the strings of each one. I guess we'll see soon whether he can actually keep track of every one, or whether he's going to micromanage himself into a corner.
> 
> Now that I think about it, the Tom-*dain* from Temrash possibly explains what's going on with Esplin, with his shadow of Alloran...
> 
> Could Seerow's *dain* in Lirem be moved to perform yet another kindness?
> 
> Edit: Now that I've had the time to think over this for an hour...my overall feeling about this chapter is a sense of bleakness/hopelessness. It's the combination of a small group of humans facing 3 different forces all much greater than they are, combined with 'Ax, are you ever going to stop screwing up?' and 'are they ever going to catch a break?' If that was your intention to invoke that in the reader, nicely done. It's pretty darn encompassing.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+4]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> I agree with your point about reddit karma, but I think I want to leave it alone anyway—it's not *entirely* transparent, but I think it scans reasonably well, and it sounds better than "upvotes" to me.
>> 
>> We can bend our spines; Ax bends a bit at the waist and curves a bit higher.
>> 
>> 7 cycles = ~23 days (a cycle is ~3.4 days).
>> 
>> [The real question is](#s " is V3 actually tracking everything, or has he got a Gordian-knot strategy in the works?")
>> 
>> I wasn't going for *total* bleakness—I was hoping some people would be excited about the potential of hivemind Ax, as well as the idea that they can maybe pull the rug out from under the whole war effort.  But yeah, the end is a bit harsh.  Thanks for the compliment?  =P
>> 
>> (I was also hoping that maybe some readers of canon might start FREAKING OUT about hivemind Ax, but so far everyone seems down with it.)
>> 
>> Next chapter should be interesting.  For the record, I have a long string of relatively-set plot points starting like three or four chapters *from now,* and I'm now trying to figure out what kind of chaos gets us from here to there.

>>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+7]  (18 hours later)
>>> 
>>> So when you say hivemind Ax, do you mean the entity that comprises Temrash, Aximili, Tom-*dain* and Elfangor-*dain*? Or do you mean the entirety of the Andalite society's *eib* harmony? Because I gotta say, Andalite society from what I've seen so far ironically reminds me a lot of the Yeerk coalescions...
>>> 
>>> The hivemind part is cool, don't get me wrong. But so far it feels like a constant string of 1 step forward by the Animorphs, and 5 steps back thanks to the Andalites/Esplin/EC. I hope something good happens soon. Realistically, I realize that sometimes that's just the way life is - a stream of nonstop shit flying your way. But if I as a reader am starting to feel pretty darn depressed by how bleak this is, these characters who are in the thick of it must be feeling even worse. 
>>> 
>>> Finally, what's really hitting me hard is not only Lirem's ultimatum, it's Aximili betraying his team right after he realizes at the start of the chapter that they trust him, even with Temrash in his head. Fuck's sake, Ax.

>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+6]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (19 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Aw, geez.  Um.  I—um, it's gonna get worse before it gets better.  :/
>>>> 
>>>> I *do* plan for there to be progress, and I'm more confident than I was a year ago that we can make it to a happy ending.  But—
>>>> 
>>>> I dunno.  Fair warning.  The next ~8 chapters, things get *rough.*

>>>>> **u/KnickersInAKnit** [+5]  (20 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks for the warning, I will remember to curb my enthusiasm and save the new chapters for when I'm not having a bad day then.

>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (19 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Also, I meant Ax/Temrash/Elfangor/Tom/just-a-little-bit-o-Essak-and-Peter.

> **u/TK17Studios** [+7]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (18 hours later)
> 
> ALSO I JUST KIND OF WANTED EVERYONE HERE TO KNOW, TYAGI'S FIRST NAME MEANS "BRAVE" OR "COURAGEOUS."

>> **u/TheSreudianFlip** [+2]  (7 years later)
>> 
>> Incidentally, in a couple of Indian languages, her last name Tyagi means ‘sacrifice’ or ‘give something up’.
>> 
>> I’m getting to this fic many years too late, so just wanted to say thank you for writing it. I never read all the Animorphs books, but enough to feel a sense of nostalgia, joy at reading intelligent characters, and some chagrin that I’m clearly not bright enough to follow along without help.

>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (7 years later)
>>> 
>>> <3 <3 <3

> **u/Zephyr1011** [+6]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (5 hours later)
> 
> Great to see this updating again! And with such delightfully long chapters
> 
> How long is a cycle? Calling an hour and a half a seventh of a cycle seems to imply it's 10.5 hours, so Ax has 3 days to do anything?
> 
> I'm a bit confused by what the end goal of the approach in interlude is. Leaving people with morph capabilities seems most likely to end up with them getting captured by the Yeerks, which is a bad outcome. But by giving no clear direction to them, it seems unlikely that they'd achieve anything of us. Or get much experience actually fighting effectively for when the "time comes", whatever they're supposed to interpret that as meaning. A hostile Yeerk takeover?
> 
> Meanwhile, Ax you absolute idiot. If I've interpreted events correctly, his plan was to convince the Andalites that cooperation was the best path, in stark violation of their current doctrine. Of which the main evidence is his success in becoming a symbiote with Temrash, evidence he can't in any way say during the communication without them writing him off as compromise. And he informed no ally of this, and gave the Andalites the co-ordinates of the Earth. 
> 
> Though from the Andalites perspective, I can't say they acted incorrectly. A planet with vast resources, a vast empowerment to the Yeerks, which the Yeerks are far better placed to acquire than the Andalites (and frankly seem well on course to do so) is far more a threat than anything else, if their main value is the survival and prospering of the Andalite species.
> 
> I was unclear on what the mistake was when he said details of Earth and convinced the Andalites that this was a communication worth listening to though?  Apart from the general misguidedness of opening communications at all. Was his original plan to encourage co-operation without giving any details of the threat at Earth?

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+5]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> A cycle is ~3.4 days, so seven cycles is a little over three weeks.  Tick tock.  (A subcycle is a seventh of a cycle, and a seventh of a subcycle is around 100 minutes.)
>> 
>> The morphing upgrades they're giving out at random are sort of an insurance policy.  Remember, they were assuming that humans could *absolutely* beat back the Yeerks' current invasion force, if they actually bothered to coordinate/try.  They're adding some chaos to the mix, and making sure there are others out there to take up the mantle ~~when~~ if there's a total party kill.
>> 
>> The "mistake," as I saw it, was going straight to "No, really, they're a fucking *threat,*" when the goal was to try to convince the council to go for peace negotiations.  As a smaller mistake, they used "we" quite suspiciously a few times during their appeal, but Lirem seemed not to notice or care.

> **u/None** [+5]  (a day later)
> 
> I definitely like how this chapter, and all of the Ax chapters leading up to it, delved deeper into Andalite psychology. Before I felt a bit like Andalites were basically humans, but telepathic, and with better brains, and that kind of 'completely superior alien race' thing is something I learned to hate back when I was readung about the elves in Eragon. And it was also something I especially hated in science fiction; we know that our own evolution left 'holes' in our psychology, places where the human brain has quite caught up to the modern era, where base tribalism and irrational prejudice flourish. Why would an alien species, bar any genetic engineering, be any different?
> 
> But the Reckoning, especially after this last update, has gone out of its way to give it's aliens psychologies that are unique, different, and contrasting Superior to humans in some ways, yet inferior in others. 
> 
> I have yet to find this done well in other fiction (recommmendations) anyone, and for, in my opinion, actually attempting to write not just alien minds, but make the society around such minds make sense considering their psychologies, I salute you.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (a day later)
>> 
>> Thanks.  Some parts of r!Animorphs "write themselves," but that's an area where I've been trying *really* hard.

>>> **u/None** [+2]  (9 days later)
>>> 
>>> re the andalite psychology. How much indeoendence do they actually have? In this chapter it seemed ive the hive mind totally overrode the individual decision of the chancellor. Which seems to imply individual andalites are more like ants than humans. 
>>> 
>>> Though in previous chapters it seemed more like Ax was suffering in a similar way to humans who are socially isolated. But not that he had never worked as an individual before.

>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+1]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (9 days later)
>>>> 
>>>> More like, Andalites are always always *always* acting in concert/consensus/committee, with status playing an important role.  So Ax had worked as an individual before, but never *sans social context*.

> **u/None** [+5]  (6 hours later)
> 
> I was discounting the possibility that Marco's mom was Visser One in this fic but now I'm coming back around to that idea, given the meta-reference to the plot of the book where we learned this in canon.
> 
> Also Temrash ought to die in a fire after falling out of Aximili's head.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (18 hours later)
>> 
>> ó.O  Is ... is Temrash coming across as unsympathetic?

>>> **u/MagicWeasel** [+3]  *Cheela Astronaut* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Not to me, FWIW. Overall the Yeerks seem like pretty sympathetic creatures. V3 notsomuch.

>>> **u/Zephyr1011** [+3]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Temrash comes across as, while being someone who's done clearly evil things, someone who's done them for non evil and fairly understandable motives

>>> **u/None** [+3]  (a day later)
>>> 
>>> I'd say, looking at the long term, I sympathize with the yeerk dilemma in general and the dilemma of these yeerks in Aximili's and Peter's heads in particular, but medium to short term, I am highly suspicious when yeerks give andalites cinnamon buns or remind them about the existence of cinnamon buns. 
>>> 
>>> I basically read this chapter as Aximili's part of the hive mind being the narrator, insofar as that is possible. i.e. it seems to me that we still have more direct insight into Aximili's mind than we have into Temrash's mind. That may influence how I interpret things.

> **u/beetle_eater** [+3]  (a day later)
> 
> Hmm, I'm really torn on David's inclusion in the story. On the one hand, he's a fantastic villain - plausible backstory and personality, well-written, and creates tension on the meta-level (as someone else mentioned above, he scares me more than Z-space asteroid bombs). 
> 
> On the other hand, the way he was included just feels so *incredibly* unfair. It's a deus ex machina invoked to contrive a kind of [third-act misunderstanding](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThirdActMisunderstanding). Except that after David inevitably produces all manner of discord and mayhem, the only way I can see for Marco to be properly exonerated is for the culprit deity to show up and confess. Anyone else have thoughts on this? 
> 
> I want to temper this comment by saying that this is my favourite fanfic. I'm cautiously optimistic about TK17Studios' ability to use the abovementioned plot point effectively. I do wonder, though, if David could have been introduced in a plausible way given how effective the Animorphs are.

>> **u/ketura** [+5]  *Organizer* (2 days later)
>> 
>> Or maybe
>> 
>> *maybe*
>> 
>> It was the *ellimist* who did it. 
>> 
>> Maybe in the near future, humanity needs a sociopathic morpher to survive. 
>> 
>> Twists within twists.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (2 days later)
>> 
>> I mean, it was also incredibly unfair for them to survive Visser Three's meteor strike that he *so carefully and painstakingly prepared,* in advance, just like a good little thorough planner should ...
>> 
>> Some things are just baked into the source material.  I couldn't see any way for them to be "fooled" by David except interference.  And the gods have to interfere in *some* way.

>>> **u/kleind305** [+2]  (5 days later)
>>> 
>>> I am interested in how r!David will behave, though. 
>>> 
>>> He's coming in a lot "later" in the story than in canon, a lot of the things I remember that he wanted (being left to his own devices, betraying their human identities to the yeerks, killing animals, etc) are mostly irrelevant at this stage — the animorphs can let him get away without too much obvious danger, or at least, less danger than would exist by having him be around as an unhappy, unwilling participant. 
>>> 
>>> Also: I don't recall whether anyone acquired Cassie prior to Ventura, but it might behoove the group to loop her into their mind-meld at some point, especially w/regards to dealing with David. On that note, I'm not sure who is more dangerous: David, or David morphing into the Jake and having access to their memories and intuitions in a confrontation. (A believable handicap would be that it's not possible for the animorphs to handle morphing David, even once his nature is discovered due to his aggressive mental state (as suggested in an earlier thread))
>>> 
>>> Regardless it's a strange gambit with the intervention, since it seems like something that will have to come up soon, barring constant meddling.

> **u/4t0m** [+3]  *Chaos Legion* (6 hours later)
> 
> Typo Thread:
> 
> > We are winning,said that thought—

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+3]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (17 hours later)
>> 
>> Fixed.  Thanks, as always!  Weirdly, it was fine on the A03 version.

> **u/jeremyasteward** [+3]  (4 days later)
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/magazine/could-conjoined-twins-share-a-mind.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
> 
> I had to really dig into the archives to find this article from 2011, but this most recent chapter had me thinking about this the whole way through. A real example of shared consciousness

> **u/Zephyr1011** [+2]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (7 hours later)
> 
> What went on when Essak and Peter joined together with Ax? Sounded like an Andalite interaction thing, but with a yeerk in a human?

>> **u/ketura** [+5]  *Organizer* (8 hours later)
>> 
>> I think they just let Essak into Ax's head, giving him a chance to make an imprint.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+5]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (18 hours later)
>> 
>> Essak drained out of Peter's head and into Ax's, and in the process Ax was able to steal/record/preserve both a little bit of Essak and an even littler bit of Peter.
>> 
>> Remember that, with the *dain* and so forth, Andalite brains have structures specifically designed to mimic, model, and preserve other brain states/ways of thinking.

> **u/DaystarEld** [+2]  *Pokémon Professor* (3 days later)
> 
> Great chapter. Love how well it shows a character being wise, but still making internally consistent mistakes through arrogance.
> 
> To that end, a minor point of confusion: is what Ax forgot about the way his argument would get shouted down by those around Lirem *really* something he would forget? Wouldn't he be so used to the way his society works that he'd instinctively know that you're never just trying to convince one person, but rather everyone connected to them? It seems like that would be a basic part of their culture's dramas and media, an essential aspect of communication that would utterly change the ways stories form and conflicts are resolved. Has he just been spending too much time with humans?
> 
> If so, maybe mention that, or maybe Ax has a reason to assume that he is speaking to Lirem alone. Even something as simple as "I must speak with you about this urgent matter alone," causing more grumbling and browbeating by the Chancellor, who pretends to acquiesce and has an even better reason to act so demeaning to Ax's presumption above his station.
> 
> Loved the updates, back to waiting for more :)

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (3 days later)
>> 
>> Re: minor point of confusion ... Ax has never *tried* to sway someone before.  Like, the whole concept of "I know something you don't, now let me try to cause you to update" is alien to him, as a young cadet who's never really had unique knowledge all his own, and is something he's only really picked up since coming to Earth.  Prior to that, his growth and change and updating (and that of those around him) always took place *within* the harmony of the *eib,* as elaborations on extant themes.  So he would've first had to recognize, from the inside, that he was trying something new, and since *everything* feels new and strange to him right now, he didn't register that this was unusually unusual.  He was so focused on going home again for Thanksgiving in his first year of college that he didn't realize how different and discordant everything would feel.
>> 
>> At least, that was my take.

>>> **u/DaystarEld** [+4]  *Pokémon Professor* (3 days later)
>>> 
>>> Right, I figured he wouldn't have much first-hand experience with it, just envisioned it more as a baseline way of thinking due to the culture he grew up in. I don't know what andelite court systems or media looks like, but I'm kind of imagining a version of A Few Good Men where someone with military authority is using their influence in the *eib* among their subordinates to get each of them to hold onto secrets about some coverup, with an andelite Tom Cruise trying to interrogate not just an individual who he's trying to get to break their code of silence or convince it's the wrong thing to do, but the whole base they're part of that's reinforcing it.
>>> 
>>> Man, now I'm *really* curious about andelite media, and how it incorporates thought-speak/the *eib.* 
>>> 
>>> Anyway, this situation makes enough sense that he's disoriented or too used to being among humans that it would slip his memory, so it works either way :) Might be worth emphasizing it a bit if you ever do an edit though.

> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (8 days later)
> 
> NOTE: A fairly major edit/update has occurred on Archive Of Our Own, in the final section, and for some reason, it's violating some kind of permission on fanfiction.net and literally can't be included there.  Sooooooooo ... I guess the two versions diverge, now and forever?

>> **u/ketura** [+2]  *Organizer* (8 days later)
>> 
>> Link for the lazy?

>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (8 days later)
>>> 
>>> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5627803/chapters/24374979

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