Richard's Animorphs Forum

Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: TobiasMasonPark on February 02, 2011, 09:12:44 PM

Title: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: TobiasMasonPark on February 02, 2011, 09:12:44 PM
     This is a place to talk about all of the moments in the book series [and maybe even the television series, if you want a few chuckles] that make you think, "Let's just be reasonable, people".

     For example; the construction site--or, should I say ABANDONED construction site. Let's think rationally, people, would a small town like that actually keep an ABANDONED and potentially harmful place like that in their city? A place with rusted and used equipement that teenagers are frequently playing around, and a place that draws some bad elements? I mean, don't the Animorphs mention a few times that plenty of parents warn their kids about staying clear away from the place, and are FREQUENTLY complaining about it? Has anyone ACTUALLY heard about places that keep a construction site, despite the fact that construction has ceased, for whatever reason? I'm curious. I doubt it, though. The only logical--ha, logical and Animorphs, good one-- reason I can come up with is that the Ellimist had plans for the kids.

     Feel free to explain, answer, and list your own, "Lets think rationally, people" moments.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: LisaCharly on February 02, 2011, 10:06:51 PM
Yep. There was an abandoned construction site down the road from my house for years when I was younger. It wasn't really abandoned, but years passed without work being done on it because the construction company and the city were caught in a legal mess about cement or something. We played in it all the time. I don't think it's hugely uncommon for construction to be paused for long periods of time and then be mistaken for abandoned.

And yes, we did play Animorphs in there all the flipping time.

Also, the Anis can't live in that small a town if they have a theme park and megamall.

Great idea for a thread, though!
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: TobiasMasonPark on February 02, 2011, 10:10:26 PM
     Thanks. I had like two other ones this morning, but I can't remember what they were...Something to do with their school, I think...
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: BennyBoy on February 03, 2011, 12:07:00 AM
One thing I was thinking about the other day... If you can't acquire a morph (ie. Acquiring a person/Andalite in morph) why doesn't Visser 3 simply try and acquire a suspected Andalite bandit. Like in Book 2 when Rachel is captured it would be fairly easy for the Visser to try and acquire Rachel in morph and therefore know she was a morph. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Chad32 on February 03, 2011, 12:09:26 AM
Too subtle for V3.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Liz on February 03, 2011, 01:39:05 AM
But it's already apparent that they are in morph.  V3 knows that they aren't really cats or whatever, but trying to acquire them wouldn't reveal whether their natural forms are human or Andalite.  Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

Anyway, like Chad said, not his style.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: BennyBoy on February 03, 2011, 04:09:41 AM
Yeah I know what you mean about the Visser's subtlety and have to agree.

Just to clarify though, what I meant was in the cases where the Visser has captured an animal but didn't know whether it was a morph he could try acquiring it. I don't even recall if/how many times this happens... but since the Animorphs don't speak to the Visser while morphed if he captures a suspected Andalite a simple test would be to acquire it.

Anyway... moving on.

Since I've just reread this one, I don't like the fact that the Animorphs survival in Book 4# depends on psychic whales. I know there's the whole dolphin, sea connection thing but it just felt silly to me.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: NekojinCat on February 03, 2011, 05:25:44 AM
I always thought it was a little stupid of the Animorphs to go into battle with animal morphs and ONE unmorphed Andalite. Wouldn't this be suspicious, especially as Ax is clearly identifiable as a YOUNG Andalite? Presumably, Visser Three's access to Alloran's brain would also make him more than capable of telling Andalites apart. So he'd know he'd only ever seen the one youngster.

Just something that I always thought about.

In addition, something BennyBoy and I were discussing the other day - if you can use thoughtspeak in any morph, why must Ax revert to verbal communication when morphed to human? The Visser too. That makes about as much sense as the Animorphs being forced to communicate in birdsong! But that's perhaps more of an inconsistency than a rationality error. 
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: anijen21 on February 03, 2011, 05:38:31 AM
I think Ax just likes it. Visser Three, idk, it'd be weird if he was in public and had a bunch of underlings doing his bidding without hearing a single word.

To be fair, in book 33, Ax delivers the whole play-by-play of Tom's celebration dinner to the team in thought-speech while in human morph. When I first read it I was sure it was a mistake since it had already been established (in book 8, I think) that Ax can't use thought speech in human morph, even though, like you said, that makes no sense. I'm still not totally convinced it wasn't a mistake that just ended up totally serendipitous and more logical than the original rule, idk.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Liz on February 03, 2011, 05:32:03 PM
Just to clarify though, what I meant was in the cases where the Visser has captured an animal but didn't know whether it was a morph he could try acquiring it. I don't even recall if/how many times this happens... but since the Animorphs don't speak to the Visser while morphed if he captures a suspected Andalite a simple test would be to acquire it.

Ohh yeah, I forgot in that book he wasn't sure if she was really a cat.  My bad.

Maybe V3 overlooked the only-one-Andalite thing because he was so sure they couldn't be humans?  Like maybe it's one of those things where you don't pay attention at the time, but later you look back and think "oh, how could I have missed that."  V3 never noticed what V1 did in #30 either, that there were never any human deaths.
Anyway, I thought it was more stupid of Tobias to use his hawk form in battle most of the time.  I think that's been discussed before though.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: BennyBoy on February 03, 2011, 05:50:55 PM
He does question it at a few points. I remember him saying stuff to Ax about him being the only one not in morph. I'm sure there is something early in the series, possibly MM1, when he's thinking about it/talking to one of the Animorphs but something distracts him. So he does pick up on the strangeness of it but never puts two and two together. As you pointed out about V1, I think it's meant to demonstrate that V3 is fairly arrogant and unable to notice something. That being said, as others have pointed out, you'd think Alloran would have some thoughts on the matter.

Yeah, Tobias as a battle hawk didn't make a lot of sense. I don't know how many times he saves someone by raking the eyes of a Hork-Bajir. That's pretty much all he can do... not to mention the fact that his hawk body is so much frailer than any of the other battle morphs. Jake and the others can be hit by Dracon beams, slashed by Hork-Bajir and go on fighting. One hit and Tobias would be dead.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: RYTX on February 03, 2011, 07:37:27 PM
Okay I was just thinking: how is it that A hand held dracon beam can rip through a truck ship, sizzle a deer into nothing in midair, but can only singe fur or at most remove the limb of a person in morph?
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Chad32 on February 03, 2011, 07:42:22 PM
Kind of a weapon version of badass decay. It was changed over time to make the blasts weaker so the Anis could afford to actually get hit by one and not be totally disentegrated.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: AniDragon on February 04, 2011, 12:17:38 AM
I think they also had different settings. In a large battle, they probably didn't want to risk injuring a nearby controller if they missed, so better to have it on the "seriously injure" setting rather than the "dissintigrate" setting.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: BennyBoy on February 04, 2011, 01:02:13 AM
Yeah I think it's mentioned in the series. At least I seem to remember it being a multiple settings thing.

In conjunction with the above, another thought I had was that dracon beams might deteriorate over distances - the further away you are the less damage it does.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: DinosaurNothlit on February 04, 2011, 01:05:56 AM
On the subject of Dracons, doesn't the series mention the Animorphs "dodging" Dracon beams on occasion?  Logically, that should be impossible.  You can't dodge a beam of light.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: BennyBoy on February 04, 2011, 01:12:11 AM
Well they're meant to be laser/energy weapons... But it's true: even if it's no faster than a gun, a tiger can't dodge bullets.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Liz on February 04, 2011, 02:01:22 AM
Okay, a small thing that always bothered me about TAC was when they were experiencing time distortion from the Time Matrix and Loren's hair was growing so fast it was piled up on the ground.  Hair doesn't work like that...
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Blazing Angel on April 03, 2011, 11:36:49 PM
Actually there are a whole lot of abandoned lots around here.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: OrcaMorph on April 05, 2011, 02:38:10 PM
Okay, a small thing that always bothered me about TAC was when they were experiencing time distortion from the Time Matrix and Loren's hair was growing so fast it was piled up on the ground.  Hair doesn't work like that...

What do you mean?
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: TobiasMasonPark on April 07, 2011, 03:57:59 PM
Actually there are a whole lot of abandoned lots around here.

     Huh...I guess my city is just super motivated to actually FINISH their projects.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Blazing Angel on April 07, 2011, 11:42:24 PM
Or maybe my city is broke. And on the note of dodging lasers the way that I feel it would work is seeing a weapon being aimed at you then moving before they can target you again. The other way is that the dracon beams have a slight delay before letting the energy loose. Kind of like that sparta cannon in halo.
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: GalagaGuru on April 12, 2011, 03:00:24 PM
I'd like a good chuckle, so I'll mention episode 17 of the TV series (the one that was similar to MM4). Why would Tobias mention the invasion to anybody, much less Rachel, who he had last seen at the Sharing before he got dragged away for being suspicious?
Title: Re: Let's Think Rationally, People
Post by: Blazing Angel on April 13, 2011, 07:56:08 PM
ok whatever