I cannot express to you how much I love this, this concept and this small exploration. Sometimes when we rec fics in this old ass yet enduring fandom, I think, like, did that person in 2009 expect their fic to still be shared? This is the sort of fic that girls in a future-Discord-whatever-it-may-be chat read and talk about together. It's a fic no one knew we desperately needed.
In the end, Aftran had still kept her promise, the one she made to me and Cassie that awful day in the forest: giving up a world in color in exchange for my freedom. Whales see in black and white.
This is such a MIC DROP LINE! GIRL!!!!!!
The earring/tattoo/hearing aid headcanon is so GOOD. I am still chewing on the aesthetics of it all. I love the idea of calligraphy tattoos that say "freedom" next to people's ears. I wonder if the side shave fad would have started earlier in a post-Yeerk world? Ex-hosts with tattoos and earrings and sides of their heads shaved just to showcase it. Bomb.
I love how patient Cassie and Aftran are with Karen. I love that this isn't some super easy conversation. I love how much pure GRAVITY is given to Karen's infestation period, even if it was for a short time, even if it was when she was very young. It's so respectful to real life traumatic events, how something can happen in ten minutes that becomes a permanent scar that you will always, always have. The descriptions of Karen's dissociative episodes are CHILLING. The idea of this poor CHILD being just terrified of seeing herself in the mirror playing with her hair is absolutely striking.
I also love how Aftran and Cassie are explored with Aftran as a whale. I've seen Aftran as a Yeerk, I've seen Aftran as a human, but raaaarely is the connection explored with the actual canon outcome. You know all my headcanons about what WhaleTran did and how she remained happy and sane while being the only (human defined) sentient whale in the whole big ocean, it's a believable scenario that no one explores. I love that they have matching morphs and play together and love each other. I love that no one hand waved away Aftran's canon choice because Girl Who Loves Her Whale is a hard concept.
This is just so very very sweet and good and I'm so happy you put it on AO3. You're a triple threat- amazing artist, amazing writer, and a sweet person. It's gross. I hate you.
AAaaaaaaa thank you dude, this is such a sweet comment. Also I'm like.. trying to write this reply but I keep getting distracted by your icon so thanks also for that.
"I love that no one hand waved away Aftran's canon choice" haaaaa yeah of course, who would do that, I say, shoving all of my AU art in a closet and trying to shut the door. The door won't close, there's too much stuff in there. But if Cassie can fall in love with an alien brain slug, she can love a weird sentient humpback whale, too. Girl Who Loves Her Whale is a very underrated take on this ship.
And omg, hell yea the side-shave trend is going Strong. I'm picturing some fashion-forward/extra-passionate people going full Natalie Dormer in Mockingjay. Honestly, the influence that ex-host culture, alien presence on Earth, and the Animorphs themselves would have on post-war fashion trends could be a fic all on its own. (Marco still has those good real-world-2004 frosted tips, though.)
And aaa thank you for all the other nice stuff that you said in here, about Karen in particular. I tried to write her as someone who's like, recovering from trauma in a realistic way. If I ever visit her again in the future, I'll get to touch on some other things I brainstormed about her life and what she's been up to, but I'm glad that this fic gives a good sense of her even without a lot of backstory.
Comment on Whale Watching
LilacSolanum Fri 16 Nov 2018 06:56AM UTC
Comment Actions
c_rowles Fri 16 Nov 2018 04:49PM UTC
Last Edited Fri 16 Nov 2018 05:09PM UTC
Comment Actions