KASU

[DeadlyNightshade]

I already made this post in the quick questions thread, but I think it'll feel more at home here.

I have no idea if this has been asked before, and I can't be bothered reading through every single post.
Nor am I sure that I should be posting it in this thread ^_^

I'm reading Book 6 right now, and Jake is currently a controller.
When he tries to escape using the ant morph, I get confused.
Visser 3 says, in Book 3 I think, that it's a pity the cat's brain is too small to be infested.
The Yeerk isn't a part of Jake, and therefore shouldn't be able to morph into something as small as an ant.
I imagine the Yeerk would be smushed, or forced out or something of the sort.
I had the same thought at the end of the series when Tom morphs the Snake, surely the snake's brain is too small for infestation.
I think somewhere (though I may be wrong) there's mention of small morphs not being useful for a Yeerk with a morph capable host.
But if I'm wrong, how exactly does this whole morph capable controller morphing into something smaller than the Yeerk in it's brain possible?

It confuses me is all.

[Chad32]

I think the idea is that the Yeerk gets pushed into Z-Space and controls the host from there. I asked this question regarding Visser Three's multiheaded morph. I asked why Alloran wouldn't just take control of the other seven heads and bite the eighth one off.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Yeah, the Yeerk would have to morph with the host for any of that to make sense. If you can morph an ugly spandex morphing outfit, you ought to be able to morph an alien slug in your brain.

[DeadlyNightshade]

But the Yeerk has a different DNA pattern to the morpher.
Spandex is just Spandex lol.
Though, I don't see how they'd be able to morph that either, even if it's not living.
The entire thing just confuses me.

[arzwlf]

LOL, im willing to bet the spandex had no scientific rationale, but simply was there to avoid the inevitable embarrassing scenes as 5 adolescent kids morphed around each other. would have gotten old and repetitive.

the yeerk thing is very interesting, it may be a KASU, it may be a "i want morphing yeerks, to heck with the laws of physics i have already defined" it isnt a KASU if its a conscious choice to ignore her own arbitrary scientific laws.

[Chad32]

The spandex thing is willing suspension of disbelief. At least it was minimal, instead of morphing coats and stuff.

They did it easily on the TV show, but that's obviously justifiable.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

LOL, im willing to bet the spandex had no scientific rationale, but simply was there to avoid the inevitable embarrassing scenes as 5 adolescent kids morphed around each other. would have gotten old and repetitive.

the yeerk thing is very interesting, it may be a KASU, it may be a "i want morphing yeerks, to heck with the laws of physics i have already defined" it isnt a KASU if its a conscious choice to ignore her own arbitrary scientific laws.

I wouldn't say it's ignoring the standing laws of Animorphs physics. Let's face it, basically everything we know about the morphing technology itself is speculation based on what we've observed, and I can't recall any time we're given direct evidence that morphing a Yeerk shouldn't work. Let's face it, Visser 3'd been doing it the entire series by that point, including the occasional smaller morph. It just adds another variable to the equation of the morphing technology.

[DeadlyNightshade]

I always assumed that the Yeerk would have to rearrange itself to fit around the morphed brain.

[arzwlf]

I always assumed that the Yeerk would have to rearrange itself to fit around the morphed brain.

im sure that would wpork for alot of the larger animals, but something like an insect? that would require something a little more interesting.....i like the yeerk in Z-Space remote controling the host concept.....

[DeadlyNightshade]

Yeah that's why I never understood how it worked.
I'll accept the Z-space thing lol.

I vaguely remember a yeerk trying to morph something too small and feeling very uncomfortable during the shrinking process and having to give up though..but I don't know where from.
Maybe I imagined it.

[Shenmue654]

I actually never even thought about this before you mentioned it here! XD

But then again, my suspension of disbelief abilities are quite strong. I:

(1). Watch children's movies. As in a whole lot of them; I prefer interesting world settings. Watch sci-fi movies and liked Animorphs for nearly the same reason. So I need one hell of a cliche-ignoring and disbelief-suspending part of my brain. ^^;;;

(2). Have LARPed easily and effectively even into my middle school years. And I did it with Tara too...and do it in some fashion when my friend comes over for sleepovers. This requires a huge suspension of disbelief to work, and a powerful imagination. And okay, no shame. x3

So I just kind of passed Visser Three morphing and still being able to control Alloran as something the villain had to do to be formidable. The science of it never even occurred to me. I personally think us grumpy adults overthink things too much, fun as it can be. :3

[Alic]

I feel like suuuuch a kid cause I haven't picked the book apart and thought too much about it.
I still read the series and happily accept it for what it is.

You guys make my poor  brain hurt.

[Myitt]

I think since it is pretty much explained that morphed mass is extruded (there's a nice image..xD) into z-space, the Yeerk's mass, along with the human (or Andalite, or whatever) brain it is wrapped around, is also sent to z-space, where it continues controlling the ant or the eight-headed monster or whatever other implausibly un-Yeerkish morph.  Like what Chad had said.

Another justification: Why would a Yeerk morph itself to death?  It's the one controlling the morph, it's thinking about morphing its host body, and it is paper-thin (cell-thin?) around the brain, so it's pretty clear that it just gets sent along with the rest of the morphed mass. 

Now here's a thought.  What if the host had the power to morph, and somehow fought the Yeerk for control, and started to morph something small for just long enough that the Yeerk couldn't stop the process?  Then I think they would both die from squished-Yeerk-out-the-skull, but it's pretty unlikely that a Yeerk would allow that to happen.

[Shenmue654]

Yeah but then there's the fact that when the Animorphs saw what the mass in Z-Space actually looked like, it wasn't pretty. I guess the brain would have to survive that intact in order for the morphing process to work as it does. However, it was never fully explained why that worked and yet the body was a half inside out mess.

I think we're just overthinking it. Visser Three's the badguy, so by ancient trope laws he has to either have equal/better opposite powers to the heroes or the same powers but more badass. The latter is what appears in Animorphs, and I just never really even thought about it too much. Though I did think quite a bit about the Visser back when he was actually really evil. ; )

Curse you villain decay! D<

[Myitt]

Yeah, the z-space mass is presumably all sloshy in its z-space bag of holding, but it must be still functioning and intact, otherwise they wouldn't be alive in morph.  They were inside-out and messed up when their bodies themselves were directly transported out into raw z-space.  I think the Yeerk would still be wrapped around the brain, both of them whole, in z-space with the rest of the mass. 

If the Controller morpher wasn't morphing something tiny like an ant, but just small enough that say, half of its mass was sent to z-space, at what point would the Yeerk get shifted to z-space with the host brain?  As soon as the host brain is changed enough that it's no longer the normal host brain anymore?  Or does the brain shift first, since it's in control?

Can a Yeerk ever directly leave a morphed host body, or is it just flatout impossible?  Can Visser Three leave his human morph directly?  I'd vote for impossible, because we know that morphed Controllers no longer have a vulnerability to Kandrona starvation (I'm thinking about the Yeerk-hawk that Ax lets go in....52?  53?)...and on top of that, it just doesn't make sense, the morpher's brain (along with the host's brain) should be the first thing sent to z-space for protective purposes.

And speaking of brains, now my head really is gonna explode x3