I also think there's a thing where Cassie isn't fully aware that she is manipulating people, and that's why she's good at it. Like, lying is something she has to do consciously, and it makes her break out in hives. She can't improv. But when she's manipulating someone, it usually comes from a place of believing that what she wants is the best course of action for the situation. So she behaves like of course this person is going to do the thing she wants them to do, because it is The Correct Thing, and she announces it so whole-heartedly that then they kind of just...agree. Manipulation via manifestation. She's not consciously plotting a manipulation, the way Marco or Jake or Rachel would. She's describing what she believes is the right thing for them to do, and her genuine belief that she's right is what sells it and ultimately manifests the influence.
And we see this from her incredibly early -- she does it to Jake in book 1, when he's scared to go into Elfangor's ship to get the morphing cube, and Cassie deadass looks him in his face and tells him he's not scared, and he's like "...okay." And like, genuinely, in that moment, I don't think Cassie even noticed that she straight-up dictated Jake's emotions. That's some Jedi mind trick shit. So much of her arc is about discovering that she has this power and being subsequently horrified not only by the responsibility that it bestows upon her, but also by what it says about her that she doesn't even know when she's doing it.
was thinking about the differences in how well the animorphs can lie and considering the different levels of contradicting capability cassie demonstrates and then came to the very funny realization that what it is is she's canonically 1. terrible at stating things that are not true and 2. excellent at gaslighting people
This is a remake of a book I made almost exactly two years ago. That was the 11th book I ever made and this one is the 50th (!) I asked K.A. Applegate to sign the book while it was still in sheets, so I only had one chance to get it right.
🐅 Animorphs 20-22 was the first serialized arc in the 90s book series.
🐅 The heroes recruit a new kid to their guerilla team and grant him morphing powers, only for his selfish and sociopathic tendencies to jeopardize their fight against the alien invasion.
🐅 Young readers were challenged by this subversion of the "new kid" trope and the moral dilemma that developed. Do they kill a fellow teammate? How else can they neutralize him?
🐅 ALSO: Can these middle schoolers crash the G7 Summit and save Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton, and other heads of state from infestation?
Foil Quill on Verona bookcloth, with iridescent calligraphy ink edges. I wanted to give this trilogy the special edition it deserves.
it's always "why did you eat cigarette butts Ax" and "engine oil is bad for you Ax" and never How were the inedible objects The toxic compounds looked tasty Did the carcinogens taste good