#anakin ends up working with the yeerks willingly as a collaborator

[other-peoples-coats]

📚👀👀?

(for the daydream plot meme)

ANIMORPHS AU MY BELOVED

Ok, quick precis for those who are not familiar with animorphs: there are brain controlling alien slugs that are taking over the earth, and the only people who know about them is a bunch of kids who get the power to turn into animals (For A Time Limited Time) from a different alien (who is immediately eaten alive in front of them). It's baby's first exposure to horrific war crimes and ethical nightmares, y'know, a normal topic for preteens to read about. The books are all avalible online for free with the author's blessing, and the letter the author wrote to fans about the ending of the series (massive spoilers, obvs) is a brutally raw thing of beauty.

Ok? with me?

So. This is the one where Obi-wan (~16) is being fostered alongside anakin (~11) and ahsoka (~6) by Qui-gon, who is…honestly not, like, the greatest parent in the world, but he's trying, mostly. Obi-wan's got enough fucked up history in the system that having someone who is trying and, ok, failing sometimes, but not like, Actively Physically Abusing Him Or Worse is 100% the best option and he's going to make it work, even if that means sometimes lying to the foster agency about how much qui-gon is supervising them and how often anakin and ahsoka eat meals that obi-wan cooks because Qui-gon stayed late at work, again.

It's fine. It's fine. Obi-wan is going to get a scholarship, he's going to make something of himself, and if he kind of wishes that qui-gon would adopt him — less, admittedly, because qui-gon specifically, and more because it would be someone wanting him, would be a kind of stability he's never had, growing up in the system as he did, a guarantee that he wouldn't be unmoored again — well, like every foster kid wants to be adopted, he's not special.

One night, while cutting through the construction lot between school and home, he runs into some kids from school - quinlan vos, maybe, neild and cerasi, perhaps, whoever — and then they all watch as a fucking alien space ship lands and then, y'know, get the morphing powers, watch alien!jango fett get eaten alive, etc etc, don't tell anyone because the yeerks are everywhere.

Including, it turns out, in Obi-wan's own house. In qui-gon, who is being controlled by…well, visser maul is funny, isn't it.

Probably there is at least one horrible scene of obi-wan watching the yeerk leave qui-gon to feed and qui-gon being Incredibly Obvious about how much he is Not Willing, which is it's own horror, because obi-wan will have to kill him if it comes down to it, even though, y'know, qui-gon is innocent, because the yeerk inside him is not.

yada yada, horrific ethical nightmares and war crimes, anakin finds out about the yeerks and demands to be part of the animorphs, at some point "qui-gon" offers to adopt obi-wan (like he'd always wanted) and obi-wan has to say yes to keep his cover and hates it because 1)it's not qui-gon offering, it's literally his adoption like he'd dreamed about and it's not about obi-wan being wanted at all 2)he's just shackled himself to a yeerk.

also, eventually, anakin starts using his morphing powers For Selfish Reasons, which is it's own nightmare, because somehow obi-wan has become the boss of their little guerilla cell — including the local alien they picked up, one Cody fett, who is (??????) related to the alien who gave them morphing powers and who obi-wan definitely doesn't have feelings for because that would be one more crisis to handle right now so he's not thinking about it— and has to work out… on the one hand, anakin is his brother! on the other hand. they made those rules for a reason, and anakin is putting them all in danger.