Is This Anything?

John Rogers is the creator of two of my favorite things:

Leverage and Leverage: Redemption, show(s) about criminals who team up to punish billionaires and corporations who take advantage of regular people in ways that the law won't punish. It's a great heist show, it's hilarious, it's satisfying in a vengeance sort of way, it's deeply nerdy in sometimes subtle ways (criminals using aliases from Doctor Who, anyone?), and seeing the characters and relationships develop is really nice, too.

Mr Rogers: Be kind

Steve Rogers: Do the right thing

It's a lot, for books aimed at eleven year olds who want to read about kids turning into fun animals.

On the podcast, the two (American) hosts happened to get onto the topic of the post-9/11 Iraq War and their reactions to it. They were both children at the time and as such could not be expected to have particularly nuanced views of US military policy. The person who hadn't read Animorphs was unsurprised by the declaration of war; that's what you did. Someone attacks America, America goes to war. That's how a country protects itself, through military revenge. The Animorphs fan, about the same age, had been devastated and against the war from the start. War was a Big Deal and, while sometimes unavoidable, should be a last resort; a lot of people were going to die, and a lot more were going to get hurt, and no matter how the war shook out it was still going to be horrible. They attributed this perspective, of course, to the series that had taught them about the horrors endemic to war in an engaging way at such a young age -- to Animorphs.

Kaz and Chase developing a mind link after the events of LR vs MM. Something with the brain-switching machine made them able to communicate telepathically. Maybe they has each other's brains too long, maybe something went wrong, but whatever happened, they can talk to each other through their brains.

Matt: I don't know. Pass me that saxophone and I'll find out.

Matt: *blows sax loudly*

India, from another room: WHO IS PLAYING THE SAXOPHONE AT 2AM?

India: Yes, Willie?

Willie: mine just says ‘no’

Sylvia Ash and Gabriel Glass of The Glass Library series

But in truth. Jason's the sun, and Tim's the moon. Jason's got this anger that burns brighter than anything Tim's ever seen, his desire for justice heated and all consuming. But he has his soft moments, like a gentle summer day, where he calms and warms Tim's heart.

And Tim's not the bright star people think of him as, it's just a mask. Just his attempt to mirror what people want him to be, almost like how the moon reflects the sun's light. He's colder than you'd think, always hiding his darker parts behind a smile and quick wit. He's mysterious, even though people don't always notice right away, because they're blinded by how bright he pretends to be. But he has his peaceful moments too. He calms the fire in Jason, gives him sanctuary in the night when it feels like his world is burning down.