IT’S ABOUT THE PARALLELS. IT’S THE ORION/EL - EL/LIESEL PARALLELS.

It’s the bonefide, card-carrying hero crashing in your life when you’re busy being as selfish as possible to keep yourself alive, keeping your head down so school doesn’t kill you. It’s being utterly alone until someone comes around and gives you an excuse to start saving people. It’s having to be the sensible one in this relationship because your dumbass hero keeps trying to get themselves killed. It’s telling yourself you’re only being sensible when you’re really being very fucking selfless actually!!

Rachel and Cassie

So, I haven't been reading or posting about animorphs recently, but I have been reading the Scholomance trilogy, twice, and I think observing El and Liesel's dynamic has given me some insight into Rachel and Cassie's friendship.

My initial impression of their friendship was...I didn't buy it. I identify with Cassie a lot -- I've never worn shit-stained overalls to school, but my middle school aesthetic was noticeably closer to Cassie than Rachel. And personality too -- I cared deeply (still do) about concepts like peace and justice and compassion and making he world a better place. I was subscribed to Zoobooks and read them all. When I was in fifth grade, I tried to talk a friend and two of her friends that I thought might also be my friends into doing a class presentation on environmental issues. It didn't work, but I tell you this to illustrate where my head was around that age.

(Plus I very much had Cassie's conflict avoidance. Why can't we all just get along?)

And...my experiences with people who dressed like Rachel or had the interests Rachel has, were not positive ones. They ranged from being lightly pressured into things I did not want to do at best, and getting my shins kicked in the hallways between classes at worst.

So. It's hard for me to picture two people like Rachel and Cassie, at the age that they are, actually getting along.

But...it's possible my middle school perspective was distorted by my considerable lack of social skills -- if my Rachel-like peers were interested in things other than makeovers and playing truth or dare, I didn't know how to draw that out of them.

And Liesel. Liesel Scholomance. Drive, ambition, a terrifying intellect, and ruthless efficiency. And she puts effort into her looks -- as a part of that drive, ambition, terrifying intellect, and ruthless efficiency. I think Liesel and Rachel might have a lot on common -- not everything, I think Rachel is substantially better at having regular human interactions that are about something other than a 30 year vengeance plan, like I don't know, desiring connection or whatever. And Rachel does not have Liesel's gift for managing logistics.

But I think their approach to fashion etc might be about the same: that Rachel might hunt for sales at the mall largely as a way of feeling competent, because she knows she's good at it and doing things you are good at feels good. Having classy, put together outfits is a thing she knows the rules for.

And...maybe when she criticizes Cassie's clothing choices, maybe it's coming from that sort of place, the knowledge that she has a skillset that Cassie does not, that as a friend this is something she can help Cassie with, because at some point Cassie is going to need to give a speech at a fundraiser for the wildlife clinic or a medical school interview, and she'll be more successful at that if she has nice clothes. That fit. And do not have animal poop on them.

Maybe it's not judgement or rejection so much as just -- and Rachel says in her own narrative voice that she respects Cassie, Cassie's work ethic and her values and her intelligence -- maybe it's just, well, we're all human beings with different strengths and weaknesses, and maybe when you recognize that you're good at filing taxes and your friend isn't you offer to help your friend file their taxes, and if they need to move and can't get everything on their own but you're good at lifting and carrying things maybe you help with that, and maybe sometimes you're good at putting together the right look and your friend just isn't but it's an important thing to do in order to get what you want, so it's a thing you can help your friend with. When she needs that.

Maybe.