#yeerk control

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

I'm reading Ghost in the Shell right now and Tom just mentioned the lengths the yeerks had to go to in order to keep morph-capable controllers in line during feedings. I know you went into this in more detail during the last fic in the series as well, but I wanted to ask: is there a canon reason the yeerks couldn't just have fewer hosts than yeerks, and stick a 'temp' yeerk in the host's brain while the usual one is feeding?

I can think of some plausible reasons (host's brain needs time off to recover, yeerks can't switch hosts very often without difficulty, cultural objections to sharing bodies with their fellow slugs) and also meta reasons (more angst potential, more interesting this way). But I'm curious what your take on this is. I can't remember if they ever addressed it in-series

Oooooohh. I like this idea, and I would love to see it explored. If Yeerk One inches sloooowly out of the left ear as Yeerk Two inches into the right, then you're right that there could be almost no lag time at all between yeerks. For the morpher hosts especially, that would be dead useful.

Doylist (out-of-universe) speaking, I think we don't see this in canon because we need to see the horror of what the yeerks are doing to their hosts. And if hosts have 0m0s of ability to express what's going on with them, then it runs the risk of seeming like no big deal. Or like there's no meaningful difference between the voluntary hosts and the involuntary ones.

Watsonian (in-universe) speaking, I assume it's not used because of issues of privacy and — let's be honest — corruption. If Eeek 1234 is inside Alloran for a few minutes every time Visser Three needs to feed, then suddenly some random yeerk knows every one of Visser Three's secrets that Alloran knows. Eva knowing about Edriss's human kids gives her tremendous power over Visser One, and Eva's knowledge of the Empire later proves instrumental in the Animorphs winning the war. If some other yeerk is inside of Eva, then that yeerk has that level of intel and power over Visser One too.

[somesecretpie]

I am looking for a human host!

Are you bored?

Are you lonely and bored?

Do you have a lot of time on your hands?

Do you have hands?

I’m offering you a proposal, with potential financial compensation for your troubles. It may sound off putting at first blush, but hear me out. I am looking for a human host. And I mean a “willing” human host who might be willing to give up some of their time to help out an odd fellow that doesn’t have hands or blood.

Am I asking to control your body? Yes. Sometimes. You’ll still be there, but taking the backseat. Now you’re probably thinking “That sounds no fun! I don’t want to spend all my time riding shotgun.”

And that’s valid.

But you all spend about half of the day unconscious anyway. Your body is just there, doing nothing—a complete waste. As for me, I don’t sleep (haha), so we could have it so that during the day, I will graciously let you do fun human things, and at night, I’ll do whatever. And by whatever, I mean perfectly safe, perfectly reasonable activities.

I don’t drink, and I rarely go outside.

I enjoy baking, I look at pictures of birds online, I’ve been getting into neuroscience lately. Very interesting stuff. You’re all very interesting.

And maybe you’re still thinking “Hey now, I don’t want some random mind-controlling thingy hauling my body around in my sleep, “Weekend at Bernie’s Style” to which I say, you’re no fun and you’re not the kind of person I want to live with anyway.

“But I’m a light sleeper!” you say.

Don’t worry! I can isolate your somatosensory cortex so you can’t feel anything.

“But my family will think it’s weird!” you say.

Don’t worry! You don’t have to tell them.

Actually, I would prefer that you don’t tell anyone. Please.

And should anyone question me, I’m not bad at impressions. I’ll get really good at a “you” impression, it’ll be the first thing I do!

I know this all sounds very strange and potentially unpleasant, but remember the financial compensation that may or may not be happening. Hell, I’ll even do some of your chores if you like, while you sleep. You can wake up and the dishes will be done, laundry folded and coffee made. Doesn’t that sound nice? And then you open the fridge and oh, what’s this? Someone baked banana bread last night (that was me, I baked banana bread last night.)

Now I should say, I don’t have a lot of standards, I really don’t. But I do (unfortunately) have some, so let’s just get them out of the way before I waste your time.

Please do not contact me if you have any of the following:

- Anemia: Sorry, it’s just not going to work out. I can pay for iron supplements, but I can’t work miracles.

-A weak immune system: I don’t like getting sick, I’m sorry. It’s gross, sick people are gross. I mean I know it’s not your fault, but healthy folks only please.

-A strong immune system: Yes, I know what I just said, but I also don’t want to be attacked by your immune system. So maybe you’re not the picture of health, but you’re just kind of okay. I’m looking for someone who is just kind of okay.

-A penchant for alcohol: It makes me feel strange…

-A name that starts with a P: I’m not the greatest at “speaking.” It’s hard, moving air through your throat and moving your tongue and your mouth at the same time. You all do it so easy—can’t say I’m not envious! I’m the worst at making the “P” sound.

I intentionally avoid any "p word" in conversation, and get by well enough, but I’ll look pretty foolish if I’m cavorting about, pretending to be you, and I can’t even say your name!

Those are my standards, but really, other than that, I’ll take anyone.

I don’t care if you’re male or female or anything in between.

I don’t care if you’re gay.

I don’t care if you’re smart.

I don’t care if you don’t have a lawyer.

There are so many things that I don’t care about.

Now, I’ve specified all the ways in which I could compensate you and how our relationship will be not in any way problematic, but I want to stress that, above all things, I am looking for a friend.

Someone I can spend quiet evenings with.

If you want to hang out with me during the day, that’s great! I can give you fun hallucinations. Or you could have hallucinations the normal way, like by reading, like what you’re doing now. I love to read! I love doing funny voices. I wonder what you think I sound like?

I hope I sound nice.

And one of the best things about me is I’m very quiet. No one else will be able to hear me except you. I’ll be like your own personal friend that only you know. Like a secret friend. And you don’t even have to talk to me because I can read your thoughts.

I suppose I should tell you a bit more about myself, since you’re still reading.

I was born in the Everglades, I think. It’s been awhile.

But I remember being so cold…

And so alone...

But then I met this sweaty man in a colorful tee-shirt, with a camera, and half a granola bar, and with blood so hot.

So yeah, he was my first host, and I’ll admit, we weren’t the best of friends. It was a confusing time for both of us. I was confused. He was confused. What happened was really both of our faults, you could say…

He was a bird watcher, if I recall correctly. Just watched birds all the time. I thought it might have been out of jealousy—watching those little things flying around makes you feel kind of stuck. I felt stuck.

So I decided to be a bird for a while to see if it was really all it’s cracked up to be. Squished myself into the body of this lovely American crow. We settled down, built a nest, and laid several nice, healthy eggs with a man-bird by the name of “Richard Baxter.”

He was a very proud bird, very large. And he gave me so many wonderful gifts. Like children, and also small pieces of plastic.

I still have all of them.

The plastic, not the children.

I’d never been so happy, all these hormones had me consumed in the joy of motherhood, but the crow’s health was failing. I could not sustain myself—it’s pathetic little heart beat weaker and weaker.

I tried starving, I tried everything I could, I wanted to be a bird so bad. But it just wasn’t working out.

The bird stopped working.

The other crows held a funeral service for me, even though I was still alive. I tried to tell them, but I’m not good at speaking, you remember.

It was all just a big mess.

I haven't seen Baxter since, but I still think about him a lot.

Is that weird?

I’m totally over it though, haha.

After that incident, I got kind of depressed... I possessed a lot of trash animals—gulls, racoons, and salespeople. I did what I could to survive. That’s kind of where I am now.

I am currently living in Miami florida—been body surfing almost every day (haha). Right now I’m using a library computer and a librarian. She does not like being possessed, boy howdy are these fingers twitching. But you can thank her for my halfway decent grammar.

I’m tired of feeling like a parasite.

I want to try a different approach.

I want to be friends? Like with Richard Baxter except I also live in your brain and drink your blood sometimes. But I’ll make you bread in your sleep, so it’s okay.

It’s been really hard finding someone willing to put up with me.

I’ve tried everything.

So I thought I would put up an advertisement online, why not?

Can’t say the P word in real life, but you can hear it in your head loud enough I hope.

I know I kept saying that I would compensate you financially, but I’m going to be real with you, I don’t have much. I’ve got like twenty bucks, some small pieces of plastic and a book about...finance....

But I’m a real hoot! ;D

So,

(P)lease,

If you are interested, leave your comments below. I would love to get to know you :)

I need to go now, the library is closing soon, but I’ll get back as soon as I can.

[that-jack-kline-bestie]

alternate version

[church-of-crayak]

got really into the idea of miku being an andalite text-to-thoughtspeak software mascot!! here is a deeply y2k andalite hatsune miku

[justnoodlefishthings]

new animorphs character idea: average american dad named something like Mike Johnson is rendered brain dead in an accident, a Yeerk takes the body as a host. Though the original mind is dead and gone the Yeerk can still access memories and stuff. Yeerk becomes incredibly attached to his wife and three kids and learns to be an all American dad in the 90s and basically ignored the entire invasion thing because just wants to raise his family and get the promotion at work over that jerk Henry Fitzgerald

[bethanythebogwitch]

The mind-controlling alien slug entering my brain and reading my thoughts for the first time: damn, bitch, you live like this?

[cairavende]

You know, I get that The Sharing is the cool hip thing and it's what all the kids want to do these days, but have the Yeerks considered starting a megachurch?

I'm not saying they don't have an okay strategy, I'm just saying that all they had to do was snag a few evangelicals and they could have gone to town. Hell, probably even better to brain worm some exvangelicals - we usually even know how the parts you aren't supposed to notice work.

I get it was the 90's and megachurches weren't quite as wide spread as they are now, but they definitely were still there. Visser One supposedly did all this scouting and learning about humans to help start the invasion, but did they just . . . like not notice religion? Even a not-megachurch would still do great.

Churches will build their own buildings - easy Yeerk pool access right there, no need to hide doors in a school or a McDonalds. People start acting weird, change their priorities, quit their hobbies, after joining Yeerk Church? They found religion at some bonkers new church, their friends and family would be more confused if they DIDN'T start acting weird. Need money? You don't even have to do the ear worm boogie with all the members, many will just give you cash anyway. Oops someone accidentally said something in an alien language that sounds like gibberish to most humans? We speaking in tongues now! A host fights back against their mind snail, starts spasming and falls over? Shit son, look who is getting slain in the spirit! You want teenagers for some reason (I dunno, The Sharing seems to try and recruit from kids a lot)? I've got 40 of them whose parents will not only let you lock them inside the church overnight, but want you to. Easy picking for some brain bugs. Cops? Already looking the other way. Government oversight? Ha! Free up so many resources by not having to worry about putting some living head hummus in various IRS agents or whatnot. Want to get a new town? Well then lets go church planting! Send a few members over, use cash reserves to get some land, start with a small building with a tiny pool in the basement, and bam - before you can say Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is your uncle - you've got a whole new crop of humans ready for your evil escargots.

Let me lead the Yeerks and I could have had half of America eating out of their squishy little slug fingertips in 6 months, and I'm not even good at this!

[lizord-lord]

haha i should really catch up on the muppet joker lore-

why are there yeerks now.

[saienby]

How long do you think it took the Yeerks to start just straight jorkin it in their new host bodies

[ot3]

THIS IS SO SAD LET HIM PLAY DOOM

[ofekma]

"how can you be an animorphs fan and support Israel?"

I don't know, how CAN I be the fan of a book series talking about kids being forced to grow up too fast due to being a part of a war that has been going on for longer than they're alive, trying to defend their home against an invading force?

Seeing how this situation affects their mental state, world view and relationships with each other? Not being able to fully trust anyone else because they can turn out to secretly wish for your demise?

How can I be the fan of a series that mirrors the way I grew up, of feeling scared and lost and small but knowing that you have to keep going because there's no other way?

Knowing that the other side has people who are like you, who never really wanted to hurt anyone but are being forced to fight too, who were brainwashed from birth to not see people like you as people?

Knowing that innocents die in war, that cruel, messed up, unjust things happen in wars but not seeing another way forward?

Wanting to save your loved ones who are now being kept hostages?

YEAH I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I, AN ISRAELI PERSON, BE AN ANIMORPHS FAN?

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

how much would it change things if Visser 3 was loved by yeerks and not just feared?

Oh lord. Humanity would lose.

Someone would persuade V3 maybe in #1, definitely in #4, to look into human morphers. From there they'd probably find Cassie first — she's one of very few suburbanites who can easily touch a red-tailed hawk — and then it's bye-bye Animorphs.

V3 would either get carte blanche to take humanity his way, or use his loyal followers to go rogue. Ax mentions in #46 that the yeerks could blow up Earth if they chose. So. Maybe V3 demands the world governments give him 10,000 bodies apiece in exchange for not blowing up Earth (and lbr the U.S. would). Maybe he just lands Pool ships near football stadiums and grabs their contents before blowing up the planet. Either way, the Yeerk Empire gets the roughly 1 million bodies it needs and then annihilates the other 99.9% of humanity.

[that-jack-kline-bestie]

I made a meme

[all-seeing-ifer]

CHEERING AND HOLLERING. ETC.

[misscaptainbear]

This is a weird fucking take but Pixar's Ratatouille is Yeerk manufactured consent propaganda and I will not be taking further questions at this time.

[littlecrazyhelmacron]

Googly Eye

(This would be the human that petted the Yeerk before btw, he is a Controller, these two do this a lot.)