Thoughts on the ending

[Hylian Dan]

Being here on this board, talking to people, has helped me understand KA Applegate better. I know I butt heads with people who enjoyed the ending, and I hope I didn't make too many of you bust a blood vessel because of it.

KA had a message, and that message has become increasingly clear since I came here. In the end, she chose that message over her readers. It has occured to me that there is a theme to some other children series, like in Mulan. That's and excellent example. The theme is staying true to one's heart, and that's what KA did. And because other people have encouraged this theme in children, then we can only respect her for that.

Does this mean I like the ending now? No. I'm just kind of apologizing for rubbing people wrong, and saying that I have always, and will always, respect KA as a writer. We have different opinions about her series. How it was done, how it should have been done, and how it could have been done. And though we may butt heads again in the future, we will always have respect for KA Applegate.

I enjoy these conversations. I think The Beginning is an incredible ending. It's not exactly an enjoyable read, and aspects of it can be frustrating as hell, but it is very, very moving and powerful. I don't set out to make people who hated it like it, but I will defend it from attacks. I hate when people gloss over Animorphs as fun trashy kids' books, and I hate when people gloss over the ending and go on about how terrible it is and what a hack KA is.

It happens a lot on random internet places. Someone will go, "Oh wow, I remember Animorphs! How did that end?" "Rachel kills Tom and then she dies and later all the Animorphs die and there's a cliffhanger." "Wow what a crappy ending lol."

I appreciate that 54 was a painful read. KA said that one of the big things Animorphs was about was transitions, and book 54 is another difficult transition. The magic is drained from the series and the characters go their separate ways as they move into adult life. As a kid, it was really hard to read that the group didn't stick together after the war, but as I've grown I've found that that's true to the way life works. There's the argument that Animorphs doesn't need to reflect reality and should simply function as entertainment, but that's one of the stances I wholeheartedly disagree with.

Uh, I think I'll start a new thread about that.

In summary, I love the ending, and it has a ton of valuable artistic merit that I don't think people should be so quick to dismiss.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

I hate when people gloss over Animorphs as fun trashy kids' books, and I hate when people gloss over the ending and go on about how terrible it is and what a hack KA is.

Bingo!  Exactly.  Now, sure, Animorphs isn't exactly high literature, I don't think any of us defending it as "more than just a kid's series" are saying that.  However, I do think people fail to realize just how incredible it is that this series even exists.  We're privileged to have grown up reading something so much more thought-provoking than the majority of children's books, something deeper, something more plausible.

Point being, right from the beginning Animorphs pushed boundaries, for what was deemed appropriate for a "Scholastic book".  It seems incongruous that people would expect it to end the same way as others, being that it was never like the others.  A major component of the series was always the "gray-area" idea, the lack of winners & losers, right & wrong, success & failure.  And doesn't the ending reflect that?  And reflect that exceptionally?

It's just a point to think about, for the detractors.  Yes, yes, it would be nice for Jake and Cassie to settle down together, Rachel to come out of the war and go straight into the army, Tobias to become human and be gifted by Toomin again with the morphing power, Marco to live out his entire life cracking jokes with Letterman, Ax becoming the manager of the first homeworld Cinnabon.

It really would.  But that, see, isn't Animorphs. 

[Chad32]

Lol at the homeworld Cinnabon. And don't forget television. He would find a way to broadcast These Messages and Saturday morning cartoons to the homeworld.

I didn't really mean for my thread to get merged with the ending thread. I meant to more of a statement that I do have fun here, and I am learning new things. That kind of stuff. But whatever.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

Stop being so reasonable.     That's not how this place works.

[Chad32]

Lol. You want me to parody that one guy that called KA a bad writer?

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

Well, hey, it'd give me ammunition.      

[Chad32]

She is so bad. Pushing her stupid phylisophical message on people that just want to read a book. If she's not pushing a message, she's going on and on for the millionth time on morphing descriptions.
We get the gist of how morphing a bird is, already. That's an obvious sign that she's just trying to make the books longer without having to think of new ideas. Total lapses in imagination and creativity. And what's with the ghostwriters? Not only does she have so many ghostwritten books, but she doesn't even remember enough about what she wrote to keep the GWs from screwing up the series even more than she already had.

And her aliens are totally uncreative. Ooh, a blue centaur. Ooh, a giant centipede. Ooh, a walking reptile with blades. Like the Lizard Man idea hasn't been done enough.

And...and...um...wh y did the two biggest villains of the series, Visser Three and Crayak, have to be so one dimensional? With all the work she put into her protagonists, you think she's work harder with her antagonists.

That's all the nitpicks for now. Have fun Chimi.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

See, look, I will hit you.  I'll reach through your computer monitor and flatten your nose with an angry knuckle of fist-y doom.

   Kapeesh?

[Chad32]

And the only good ones in the series were the Helmacron books like Magic School Bus, Atlantis, Australia, and the one with Buffa-Human. All the others suck.

[morfowt]

And the only good ones in the series were the Helmacron books like Magic School Bus, Atlantis, Australia, and the one with Buffa-Human. All the others suck.

those are the good ones? but didn't you once say you hated the australia book? or was that another person who didn't like cassie?

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

He'snotentirelyserious .  *groans*

[Chad32]

Psst...I'm lying. Joking around because Chimichanga wanted me to be less reasonable. Don't tell him, though. It's part of the game. I hope no one smites me for those last two posts.

[morfowt]

oh... ignore what I said then...

[Chad32]

Now I demand that you put forth some justification for the single demensionalism of V3 and Crayak, Chimi. Actually, that might be a legitimate question. I never thought too much about it, but she didn't really develop V3 beyond the Chronicle books.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

Single-dimensionalism?  You're saying you didn't think they were developed enough, or you're talking more literally in the dimensions the characters operate within?