#I call him a coward but I can't deny he captured why an alien would PREFER Catholicism over the other options

[lilacnothlit]

The Hunt by Flaks314. Rachel loses her family to the Yeerks and it escalates from there. These three fanworks after book 23 have the writing style dead-on (the author said someplace that Animorphs were the only books he read in English), while still having unfathomably gripping tension. Erek lets Rachel experience her own death, and Cassie reassures her parents "It's just ketamine!"

Sacred Host and The Parallel by Qoheleth. The author thinks I'm going to hell for at least seven reasons, but annoyingly, the stories are really really good. In the former, a yeerk host tells her cagemate about her lord and savior Jesus Christ and gives multiple aliens really well-written religious grapples in alien terms. In the latter, a parallel universe Animorphs, "The Morph Force" end up in the Canon timeline and our main character is tempted to leave the war and stay as a civilian in her counterpart's place. It's some of the most intelligent fiction I've ever read, period, and I'm not sure if I mean that as an insult. Everyone should give it a shot. The worldbuilding alone. Yeerks apparently have martial arts in slug form.

It's gone from the internet but Wayback Machine should still have Cinnamonbunzuh.blogspot.com and Ifi's magical fic, "six days the Animorphs were idiots," which starts as "the clouds on the book covers are Marco's pot smoke" and ends with them solving the whole war in a week. Esplin and Edriss have a lousy date and Esplin becomes a depressed cat hoarder. The tone is a fantastic Cerebus rollercoaster. Always save your favorite fanfics! They can disappear anytime. Wayback doesn't have the sequels where we explore the backstories of Visser 5 and her host, and it's a loss. Rachel is forced to go to chee therapy. Jake is forced to negotiate with the Andalites while drunk.

And ceruleanshane's Animorphs Redux, one of the most compelling ones I've ever read. Sadly, it ends like two chapters into its own finale, but you can process the rest. Time resets back to book 20, with only certain people remembering the original - and Melissa Chapman finds the cube.

It's worth it for her alone. Her anxious, nerd-filled narrative voice, her crazy dynamic with absolutely everyone. But there's too many amazing parts. Wait till the Veleek shows up. Or when Jake's andalite morph is so sexy and female, Ax and Marco are paralyzed by "I haven't seen a girl in two years." Or the Helmacrons. Or Melissa's battle morph. You have no idea how much tragedy and comedy gold I'm avoiding spoilers for. Ax's reaction to learning Tobias' paternity remains probably the best version of that scene I've ever read.

And, for a crack palate cleanser, Morphcatcher - in which the members of a Kpop girl group are college students who find Elfangor in the woods, and his nearby sister the snarky battle lesbian. It's tricky sometimes - I don't know this band from Eve, much less who's older and younger, so sometimes the dongsang and eonni get confusing - but the authorial voice fizzles like champagne, and it tickles my brain just right. Andalite Oxygen is different from earth oxygen because it's blue.

What animorphs fics would you recommend by yourself or others, for people who haven't read any of them yet?

Anything by Poetry/@featherquillpen! I've read a bunch of their crossovers and enjoyed every one. They're masterful at capturing the goofy-yet-horrifying tone of Animorphs, and with unexpected crossovers. Though I haven't gotten around to reading Daemorphing, I've head good things and can recommend by proxy. That's my single biggest author rec. Fic recs:

Elfangor's Folly by Kim Hoppy is an excellent longfic series retelling. The premise is exactly what the name suggests — Elfangor survives the first book and stays on Earth. My favorite part of this one is the author's ability to capture the subtly-unreliable narration of Animorphs with Elfangor's voice.

Take Me Out by neinlives is a delightful piece about the Animorphs grown up and going to college, half crack half sweetness.

The Wheel by L. Emmist is the reason my date once asked me "Why do you have a picture of a yeerk in a condom on your window?" and that's all you need to know about it.

Animorphs: Facebook News Feed Edition by Ember Nickel is exactly what the title suggests; never have I laughed so hard about Tom's death.

Speaking of which, The Tocsin by tptigger is a brilliant speculative story about Tom becoming reluctant host to a member of the Yeerk Peace Movement, and thus an even more reluctant Auxiliary Animorph.

I know I'm forgetting a bunch — I'm terrible at remembering to bookmark — so other people please weigh in with recs!