#wild life experimentation au

[cutthroatcarnival]

Shadows Settle On The Place You Left

A story of how two becomes one.

Read it on AO3!

Warning for: Major Character Death

This fic will include many things that go hand-in-hand with being a lab/experimentation AU, such as: mentions of blood and needles, experimentation (unethical), cruelty (in form of tests, limiting food intake, sleep deprivation, beatings, electrocution, etc.), hallucinations.

Inspired by: Take My Wallet by Jack Stauber

Title from: Youth by Daughter

The Project X AU belongs to @gtwscratch! Go check her out to learn more about this super cool AU- I’ve got a few more fics lined up for this idea… [rubs hands together like a scheming villain]. Also this was written really early on in the AU, so any new things Scratch has posted will not be reflected here (in later ones, yes).

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Everyday was the same. The walls never changed, remaining devoid of anything but violent, ghastly white. Following the same routine over and over, listening to the same horrific screaming and wailing echoing from deeper in the facility. The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, in hopes of a different result, and by that definition, Impulse could call himself insane. Doing the same routine over and over, hoping for change, hoping for an escape, hoping for this clinical hell to be over. Trapped here in this room, chillingly empty without the presence of his cellmate- but hey, at least the beds had mattresses. Maybe if he focused on that, he could block out the pained screams of his cellmate coming from one of the labs.

Impulse stared at his hands, mesmerized and sickened by the swirling purple that traveled down his arms to his legs, twisting into and around scars. He could call himself lucky just as easily as he could call himself insane, but it felt horrifically unfair- yes, he was lucky, his new attributes could be easily hidden (they weren’t getting out of here. They’re trapped). If only he could stop hearing the sounds of his own wailing echoing and the sounds of the file roughly shaping his horns into sharp points, stop feeling phantom pains from restraints digging into him as he struggled and the panic felt as ghost needles stabbed into his arms. If only.

There were seventeen others trapped here with him, Impulse never quite learned what happened to one of them- Mumbo, a pale, lanky male with dark eyes and black hair, and a frankly glorious mustache- Mumbo and Scar had been dragged away one day for more testing, and only the latter had returned, trembling with haunted eyes, spattered with blood. Impulse wasn’t stupid, he knew what that meant. It had been months- or what Impulse thought was months, time was pointless when you didn’t have a clock- since Scar had talked again, but when he did, it lacked the cheerfulness they were all so used to. Their hope dwindled more after that.

One steady remainder of hope for Impulse was his cellmate, Skizz. The two of them were inseparable, fighting to keep some semblance of their identities and previous life. While it helped, it also became their weakness; if a scientist wanted something from Impulse or Skizz, all they had to do was threaten the other. When they couldn’t sleep, whether from the horrors of the day or fear of the other disappearing, Skizz would tell stories- weird, wacky stories that were a welcome distraction. One of Impulse’s favorites was the story of a giraffe lifting weights, it was so outlandish it had made Impulse forget the agony he was in from that particular test, laughing so hard his stomach hurt instead.

Impulse noticed early on that the scientists didn’t like Skizz. They were rougher with him- not that they were gentle Impulse or the others- dragging him behind, laughing as Skizz struggled to stand and follow- a failure, that’s what they called him. All Impulse could do was watch as his best friend returned each day with more and more injuries- deep bruises and lacerations and scars that added to the collection already decorating his body. They even started to lessen the amount of food Skizz was allowed, even when the amount they had regularly was too little, but Impulse happily shared his own with him. And even while suffering through all these extra tests, Skizz never showed signs of his powers manifesting- so in retaliation to their own failure, the scientists got crueler. Void, Impulse hated the sleep experiments the most, where Skizz would become so sleep-deprived he began to hallucinate and stare through Impulse, mumbling about how the Boogeyman was after him, a haunting purple in his peripheral, always just out of sight, refusing to leave Skizz alone until his blood was spilled.

Days had passed, from what Impulse could gather, and there was still no return of Skizz. An uneasy feeling was eating at him, usually people returned after a while, but his best friend was still missing. He could feel his mind drift to Mumbo, how it was unknown what had happened to the man. Impulse could piece things together easily- Scar’s haunted look, the blood, oh void, the blood- and the picture was not pretty. With no way of getting information, he would rather not be shocked for speaking out of turn to a scientist, Impulse went through his routine. Day after day, hour after hour, rinsing and repeating over and over. There was one small hiccup in his routine; none of them had been taken away for more tests. While not unusual, having a quiet period so soon after the previous one made his skin crawl. And the screams. No longer did they echo down the halls. All that filled them was an eerie quiet, interrupted only by the murmuring of the other patients as they were allowed to move about their designated common room.

No matter how early Impulse’s powers had appeared, he still couldn’t quite grasp them in full- teleportation was simple, so was the swapping, but that was all done when he could see. They wanted him to teleport to a place he couldn’t. When the test was demanded of him, Impulse was blindfolded with a thick wrapping of gauze, leaving him unaware and jumpy. Then there was the cold, sharp prod of something, something very clearly meant to hurt, coupled with a faint buzzing- every muscle in his body failed to keep him upright, he had collapsed in a panicked heap, tearing at the gauze and yelping when electricity coursed through him. What did they want from them? Was this entertainment?

The clank of a dish being set in front of him brought him back to the present, the grim memories leaving a sour taste in the back of his mouth. Humming in thanks at Scott, who gave Impulse a wobbly smile in return, like he had forgotten how to do so. Impulse dug into the bland oatmeal- if it could even be called that, lip lifting in a light sneer at the slop. A reaction that would normally be met with a snicker, yet the seat next to him was painfully cold, devoid of its occupant who had been unseen for probably what had been days, if not weeks.

An angry shout from a scientist sent Impulse into a panic, forcing him to drop his spoon with a clatter as he slipped under the table, watching as the others made themselves similarly sparse. Another voice joined, and no matter how hard Impulse strained he couldn’t hear the conversation. A sharp intake of breath snapped his attention to the table next to him, where one of the blondes- Martyn, he reminded himself- was hiding under, hands clenched over his ears. Martyn. Martyn could hear them. Impulse felt an unsettling chill creep up his spine as he watched horror slowly creep over the blonde’s face, and when his tears started to flow over, Impulse’s own nearly did too. Time seemed to freeze as haunted blue eyes locked with frightened brown, lips forming two simple words; I’m sorry, before Martyn curled in tighter on himself. Impulse was left to stare at the other’s shaking form, mind frozen as he processed the words. I’m sorry. He looked back at Martyn. The blonde’s lips were moving, repeating a phrase that Impulse couldn’t quite place. Martyn looked ill, as he rocked there under that table, hands that were once muffling his hearing now grabbing at his hair.

As the voices disappeared, Impulse shifted, starting to maneuver himself out from under the table- he only had so much time to eat- until a weight crashed into him. Taken by surprise, he tipped sideways out from under the table, narrowly missing one of the chairs with his head. On top of him was Martyn, and Impulse raised an inquisitive eyebrow, only to be met with a sob. There were words falling from the other’s lips, but even this close, Impulse couldn’t hear them. Martyn shuddered, fisting the fabric of Impulse’s gown tighter, before inhaling and exhaling, bringing himself from the brink of hyperventilating. Pained blue stared into brown, eyes telling a melancholy tale.

“Skizz is dead.” Martyn declared, in the smallest, most defeated voice Impulse had ever heard from the other.

What.

“What?” Impulse could hear how his own voice was so small, breathy with disbelief. Skizz was dead? His best friend was dead?

“They said he was a failure, too weak to handle the tests,” the grip on his gown loosened, “they wanted to give him wings, but his body couldn’t handle it.”

Murmuring rose from the other patients that had gathered, all in various stages of grief and disbelief. Impulse was frozen on the floor, eyes wide as he stared at Martyn. Skizz is dead. The words kept repeating in his mind, a mantra that infected his brain. His best friend couldn’t be dead. He wasn’t. He wasn’t. Impulse felt all sorts of conflicted, experiencing every emotion in the book and then some, all because of three simple words; Skizz is dead. The following information that Martyn poured out finally made its way into his brain- his body couldn’t handle it. Skizz is dead.

The world around him shattered.

“Is he… he’s gone?” The tile beneath Impulse felt colder than it ever had. Colder than the metal of the examination table. Colder than the scientists. Even his heart felt cold, frozen, even, as Impulse felt his heart shatter.

“He’s really gone?” Above him, Martyn nodded, and Impulse broke. The world around him disappeared as static and ringing sounded in his ears, drowning out the noise of his own sobs. Never again would he see Skizz, because Skizz was gone. His best friend was gone, and Impulse never got to say goodbye. And didn’t that sting? Didn’t that just twist the knife that had already cut his heart into ribbons? Impulse would never hear that infectious positivity and optimism, even in the face of horrific experimentation, because the scientists had taken it- had taken him away from Impulse. They called Skizz a failure, telling him he was too weak, and those were probably the last things Skizz heard, alone on a cold operating table- nothing but biting, burning remarks. So lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed Martyn roll off of him, or being helped up and guided to his cell. His empty, empty cell. One that would never be full again. And you know what they say about one; it’s the loneliest number you’ll ever know.

[gtwscratch]

I JUST HAD A REALLY COOL IDEA FOR AN AU BASED ON THE NEW WILD LIFE EPISODE. HEAVY(?) ANGST UP AHEAD AND ALSO SPOILERS TO SESSION 7 SO BE WARNED!

LIFE SERIES MEMBERS BUT THEY GOT THEIR POWERS FROM LAB EXPERIMENTATION!!!!!

Okay I'm switching to lowercase so I'm not just screaming at you guys haha

[EDIT] Guess who’s fully elaborating on this AU with Subject files and a fic? :3

Project X Master Post

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Imagine Martyn curled up in the corner of his cell, covering his ears bc he doesn't know how to block things out and everything is so loud.

Imagine Scott transforming from an aquatic creature back to his regular form, but he still has gills, and he panics when he can't breathe.

Imagine Jimmy turning in invisible for the first time and not knowing how to turn back, and he thinks he's stuck that way forever.

Imagine Ren transforming the first few times, but there's always something off about him. He looks eerie, like something from uncanny valley.

Imagine Scar not knowing his own strength and jokingly punching Mumbo, only to send him flying into the wall and causing his death.

Imagine Cleo trying so hard to get Mumbo and Skizz to act the way that they used to when she summons them, but it's never truly them. Something is always wrong.

Imagine BigB being terrified when he summons the creaking for the first time, not realizing they're on his side and thinking they'll attack him.

Imagine Gem astral projecting as an escapism, talking to Mumbo and Skizz and "leaving" the facility, but she can't truly leave.

Imagine Impulse and Tango nearly getting to escape with their powers, their friends cheering them on from inside their cells, and just when they're in the clear, Impulse gets tranquilized and falls unconscious. Tango can't bare to leave his buddy behind. They both get collars that block their abilities and heavy monitoring after that stunt.

Lizzie feels bad about her power. She's tried to escape as well, but when she realized the blindness affected her friends, it freaked her out so much that security was able to catch up to her and take her back to her cell.

Imagine Bdubs sleeping diligently through every night and dealing with nightmares of the hell they've all been put through so his friends don't.

Imagine Pearl wishing she could fly out in the open air, desperate for that kind of freedom that she knows she will never have.

Imagine Etho trying to bring down his mace to pretend to hit Bdubs, and when he move to the side to dodge, it actually puts him in the way of Etho's strike. The absolute terror that fills Etho is so bad that he never jokes like that again, even if it barely hurt him.

Imagine Joel looking around and analyzing the rooms, thinking of how he could scale the walls with his ability to escape through an air vent, but he can never bring himself to do it because he refuses to leave Lizzie.

Imagine Grian being physically and emotionally strained trying to learn everyone's powers and how to properly use them, wishing he just had one of his own instead.

Imagine Skizz and Mumbo both dying (Skizz due to the intense tests and Mumbo due to the effects the testing had on Scar) before they had a chance to gain powers of their own. Don't imagine those powers being just what the group needs to escape.

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I think I might write each of these as a one shot. That would certainly be a LOT of fun :) lmk what you guys think please!

[tangledinink]

edit: tag! fic!

ive spent a stupid amount of time recently thinking about a rottmnt au where circumstances allow splinter to figure out a way to get cloaking 'brooches' for himself and his children when they are still lil, giving him a chance to raise them as 'normal' kids. (normal kids who are genetically engineered mutant turtles, actually, and they're, like, SO good at sports, dude.)

surely nothing can break this idyllic illusion of a life that splinter has built. definitely nothing that rhymes with daron braxum.

i can only imagine this would work if the threat of both draxum and big mama were neutralized. i think in this universe, draxum's life of crime caught up to him much sooner than it does in canon, and he's imprisoned for his unethical experimentation when the turtles are still little-- raph maybe around six or seven, mikey around four or five. once splinter learns of this, he pulls every string he possibly can to 1) get cloaking crystals for himself and his family 2) cut a deal with big mama to ensure his children's safety.

after spending about a week or two in the sewers fucking drilling the cover story into the children's heads ("remember, mikey, what do you do if people start asking you too many questions?" "CRY!" "good boy!") he very nervously brings them up to the surface, armed with an elaborate story to explain his disappearance and new children and a shitton of forged documents. there was so much fucking paperwork, christ. (also, it turns out the blue one is biologically female? but he does not have the mental space to deal with that so they all just keep calling him leo, and he's totally fine with that. so.)

and he collects ALLLLLLL the royalties, babey.

(the kids are kids, and definitely slip up occasionally or do... weird shit. but, luckily, since they're small children, people pretty much just chalk it up as "oh, these kids have such wild imaginations.")

eventually, enough time passes that the brothers just kinda... forget that they were ever actually turtle mutants who lived in the sewers. coz, like, that's crazy, right? they're pretty sure they just imagined all that stuff. they weren't turtles, they were PRETENDING to be turtles... and people give them weird looks sometimes when they bring it up, so they don't.

overall, they THRIVE on the surface, to no one's surprise. they are, in fact, secretly genetically engineered super soldiers, actually. and they are crazy good at, like. so many things. especially martial arts! they compete at a national level on the regular, in addition to a shit ton of other extracurriculars (ballet, art, basketball, and cooking for mikey, swimming, basketball, gymnastics, and theatre for leo, dance, gymnastics, and swimming for donnie, not even to mention all his academic stuff, basketball, wrestling, and swimming for raph...)

they're still besties with april, obvs.

[luanarainbow]

Parallels that make me feral ~ Jayvik & Timebomb edition

(This post focuses on 2x07 because there are plenty of other parallels between these four characters in various combinations and iterations of themselves, but I just rewatched 2x07 and have a lot to say about this episode specifically.)

● AU Ekko doodles AU Powder, his lab and romantic partner, in his journal & Jayce doodles Viktor in his.

● AU Powder and AU Ekko work together to participate in the Innovators Competition & JayVik reminisce about their time at the same Competition in 1x09

● AU Powder offers her help to Ekko (and Heimerdinger) in their experimentation to build the anomaly & Viktor offers his help to Jayce to make Hextech in 1x02

● Ekko falls in love with AU Powder (and, by extension, with Powder/Jinx of his own timeline) while working with her & Jayce falls in love with Viktor while working with him (as we know, this happens in every timeline but this, since they're 💀💀 in this AU)

● Together, Ekko and AU Powder build the reversed anomaly & together, JayVik built (and are) the original anomaly (more on that in my Jayvik meta)

● "Can we just pretend like it's the first time?"

Ekko asks this before AU Powder kisses him because it's the first time for him, while it isn't for her (since AU Ekko and Powder were already together). Then the scene cuts to Jayce arriving at the top of the Hexgate tower, where another version of Viktor awaits. This is Jayce’s first time—seeing Mage Viktor’s face, realizing they’re in a loop of their own making, and experiencing it all—while it isn’t for Mage Viktor.

It’s a brilliant foreshadowing of the final JayVik revelation in 2x09, while also paralleling Jayce—who has finally reached his partner of another timeline, standing in what feels like an oasis of peace, separate and protected from the storm raging below—and Ekko, who finds his partner of another timeline in the oasis of peace that is the AU timeline.

● Ekko leaves AU Powder to return to his own timeline, leaving her with the AU version of himself & Jayce leaves Mage Viktor to return to his own timeline, leaving him with the original version of himself (again, see JayVik meta)

I kept this one for last because, so far, the character mirroring has been Ekko/Jayce and Powder/Viktor, but as I said earlier, there are many different parallels and combinations. This is relevant to this episode so I had to include it:

● Ekko gives the necklace to AU Powder & Mage Viktor gives the rune(s) to Jayce.

While Jayce always keeps the rune on himself for his entire life and makes Viktor his whole raison d'être, Powder places the necklace in her drawer alongside the Hextech crystals she has kept—a memento of "what could have been".

I've seen people interpret this scene as suggesting that Powder might become the future inventor of Hextech in this timeline because of Ekko’s influence, but I strongly disagree. She says it herself: "I like my life. I don't wanna lose what makes me 'me' chasing some wild dream."

She has no interest in pursuing this "wild dream" because she already has everything she needs: a support system. She has her dads, she has Ekko, she has her friends... she has love. She’s grieving her sister and always will, but she’s not doing it alone.

That’s the difference between her and Jayce. Powder already has the love she needs to survive, while for Jayce, the love he needs to survive will always come at the cost of dooming the world.

[thenerdykneazle]

The Nerdy Kneazle's Masterlist

Hogwarts Legacy fics featuring:

Ominis Gaunt Sebastian Sallow Garreth Weasley

Mostly x F!MC but a few others mixed in (M, GN, and silver trio).

Legend:

📈 = most popular fic for the character

Ominis Gaunt

The Scriptorium Omi x GN!MC | read on AO3

After a harrowing journey through Slytherin's Scriptorium, Ominis helps MC recover from being subjected to the torture curse. After all, he has personal experience dealing with its effects.

Amorous Tension Omi x F!MC | read on AO3

collab with @darch7995 Audios: Part 1 & Part 2 Two idiots in love brew amortentia together.

📈 Her Touch Omi x F!MC | read on AO3

Ominis had never been fond of being touched. Or, at least, he had few positive experiences with it. That changed with the arrival of the new fifth-year.

To Hold Omi x F!MC

A sequel to Her Touch. Ominis's wedding night with his new wife.

Left Behind Omi x F!MC x Seb | read on AO3

collab with @darch7995 | listen to the audio here Ominis is feeling forgotten when he discovers his partners have run off on yet another adventure without him. Can Sebastian and MC make amends with him when they return to the castle?

Sebastian Sallow

A Win Seb x F!MC | read on AO3

Sebastian has a creative interpretation of who won your last duel.

Slytherin Green Seb x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

Sebastian is none too pleased to discover you've borrowed Garreth's jumper after his experimental potion ruined your usual uniform. Your duelling practice threatens to turn into a falling out.

Fast Asleep Seb x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

(TW: non-consensual somnophilia) Sebastian finds himself unable to resist his curiosity when late nights fighting baddies cause the two of you to repeatedly spend the night in the Room of Requirement together.

Kindred Spirits Seb x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

32.8k words | Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 On the cusp of a promotion to Senior Auror, MC is sent by the DMLE to train with the most efficient law enforcement team in Europe. She’s quite excited until she discovers that the auror hosting her is none other than her ex, Sebastian Sallow. Modern wizarding world AU.

Sallow Soul Seb x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, 6 (additional epilogues likely) Seb's POV for Kindred Spirits. Starts earlier with Anne's funeral and goes past where KS left off. Makes more sense if you've read Kindred Spirits, but the first chapter (The Funeral, 3k) works as a stand-alone. AKA fate gives a heartbroken Sebastian a third chance (hopefully) with the witch he's loved since he was 15.

📈 Wild Ride Seb x M!MC | read on AO3

collab with @darch7995 Audios: Part 1 & Part 2 Seb is desperate to get you to let him back into your life. When he invites himself on your ingredient run, the simple errand turns out to be much more dangerous than either of you anticipated.

Garreth Weasley

Dear Diary Gar x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

You stumble across Garreth's rather scandalizing diary while waiting for him to meet up with you.

Sweet Dreams Gar x F!MC NSFW | read on AO3

Garreth wakes up painfully hard after spicy dreams about MC. Unfortunately, he's neither alone nor in his own bed when he instinctively tries to 'take care of it' himself.

📈 Marry You Gar x F!MC | read on AO3

Garreth proclaims to anyone and everyone, including you, that he is going to marry you one day – despite the fact that you haven’t even agreed to court him (not that he's asked). Pure fluff.

Yule Ball Gar x F!MC NSFW | Read on AO3

You realise last-minute that your boyfriend isn't planning on taking you to the Yule Ball. A simple misunderstanding leads to hurt feelings, but talking it out (and the makeup sex) is worth it.

[zodiacdragon334]

Ta da! New fic! This one is part of the fantastic Project X AU created by @gtwscratch, which is a lab experimentation Wild Life Session 7 AU. I got an idea for some of Impulse's story with his teleportation powers, and 6k words of pain and suffering happened.

READ THE TAGS ON THIS ONE.

I cannot stress that enough. Nothing of what's tagged is graphic, but it's definitely there. This is very much not a happy fic in the slightest.

[thatnonameuser]

I Adore your Yandere- Verse AU for the Twst world, Much so indeed! Awaken thoughts and Imagination into the void~

Question(s) Is there particularly a category of variety Yandere/ Darlings? Very Rare or Uncommon pairs that was recorded due it’s so bizarre, because as it default are seen Darlings are the lambs and the Yandere’s are Wolves. Either the lambs be clever to fit in,be served on a Silver platter. Wolves be caring in love as vicious to their prey lovers. Maybe in depends in different lands where they hail, due to historical means? Are these Darlings Shamed on, Adored like an extinct race or Taken in for status coded for benefits?

Ex. A Sado-masochist yet wild passionate Darling who sees opportunities Positives in Their Yandere. Experimental of all that could be used for Spicy activities and always anew entertaining each day. ( Maybe Addams family coded)

Ex. Perhaps a Darling who is Dangerously experienced who once military? Tall in structure yet Lonely. Their Yandere might be a Trickster, bubbly and be a vice. Height difference yet questionable of who is who in the relationship. Especially if Darling has the ability to stop their Yandere with a soft gaze.

Ex. A Darling who just adores Shocking their Yandere to be an odd anomaly. A Sleepy,Too Carefree, accidentally enables the other habits and role. A Rival that Challenges who can do their absolute worst of who can do the other to leave them speechless? The Daredevil Darling?

Ex. Maybe a complementary couple of who is the Strength or who is the Brains. The magnetic pull of opposites. With So many Romantic Shipping troupes the following be so terrifyingly trilling?

Would it be funny such.. Healthy relationships be odd?? When the Darling is over happily with their Yandere(s)?

In this world, there are three types of people.

The yanderes, the figurative, and sometimes literal, wolves. They hunt their prey ruthlessly desperate to fill that hunger in their hearts.

The darlings, the figurative, and again sometimes literal, lambs. They are the prey that either try to hide themselves under the pelts of wolves or waltz into their den, prepared to be devoured.

And those that aren't either, the other forest creatures, that watch the lambs get devoured in frenzied love.

But even with these three types, the two are divided into pieces. Wolves that thrive in the dark, or roll in fields with the lambs in the light. Lambs that hide in burrows to afraid to live, and the lambs that play with the wolves like the friends the wolves aren't.

So much difference. And yet in the end they're all the same.

Mostly, the idea of a darling and what their role should be is different in every nation, country and town.

But what about the weird darlings, the non-traditional ones. And the yanderes that seem so odd or strange that it never made sense that they were yanderes. But darlings can act like yanderes and still be darlings, and the yanderes can act like darlings and still be yanderes.

All darling and yandere relationships are fine, the yandere could be the victim in the relationship, and all would still be fine.

A sado-masochistic darling and a weakling yandere that allows her to be as cruel as she wants.

A stoic and cold-hearted darling and a jokester yandere that is horrified with violence, abuse and death.

A darling obsessed with defying life and death and a yandere that's terrified by death, and losing their darling, that's along for the ride.

Healthy relationships in the darling-yandere dynamic are so rare and barely sought after by yanderes. As many yanderes are under the belief that darlings need them to protect them so boundaries are hard to place in the relationships.

So because of that, some look down on the yanderes not taking charge and others see the relationship as fine. But it's completely legal so there's nothing to worry about.

[shadowriel]

2024 Fic Writer End of Year Roundup

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going!

Thanks to everyone who tagged me! I've been a bit out of touch with the fandom this year, but I always love this community we've made ourselves. If you see this or are mentioned below, consider yourself tagged!

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

Almost 22k

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

Just 1 (but it was a banger!)

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

I've started 3 new fics, adding to my ever growing list of WIPs

4. What was your favorite thing you wrote?

Whiskey Over Wine (aka the country Feysand AU I didn't know I needed). It's completely self-indulgent but also incredibly descriptive and well-written?? I'm currently drafting the Nessian instalment, and it's reminding me how much I love the setting.

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

Probably Until Sunrise, which was my gift exchange fic for @witchlingsandwyverns. I am normally a modern AU girlie, but I really thought the perfect gift would stray from that and incorporate the kind of emotions/dynamics that work better in a different setting. I'm so so happy with how it's turning out so far - I think it's a great combination of my typical banter with an added level of yearning!

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

is this what home feels like? which is the recent Feysand nanny/single dad AU I started. I've had this idea at the back of my mind for forever, and it really surprised me when all the bubbling thoughts finally clicked into place.

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

Maybe is this what home feels like? ... I was too anxious to make a Tumblr post about it, so it was a bit under the radar in terms of me talking about it

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

So, so many! @witchlingsandwyverns and @velidewrites come to mind, but I have a million pieces of fanart that live in my head rent-free. I don't know if they have Tumblr but @/flavie5dub on IG has me in the best kind of chokehold.

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

Can I just tag everyone for this??

@howlingcaptaincommando (@talons-and-teeth) directly helped contributed to the brain rot that is masked!Az in from the ghost of your lips (to the haunting of mine). I genuinely heard @tunaababee shrieking about Cowboy!Rhys as I wrote Whiskey Over Wine, so that was incredibly motivating.

And these people inspired me in so so many ways: @yourstarsmyscars @thesistersarcheron @foundress0fnothing @damedechance @wilde-knight @separatist-apologist @the-lonelybarricade @reverie-tales @bearbluebooks @witch-and-her-witcher @thelovelymadone @foreverinelysian (and genuinely everyone in UBC)

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

I'm pretty sure this is the first year I read a fic by @bibliophiliaxvignette , and I was lucky enough to have her as my secret Santa for the gift exchange! Our vibes match so well, so her writing has been an amazing discovery.

And @the-new-ribbon! Their gwynriel makes me such a giggling mess, and I love it!

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

None this year!

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

My proudest accomplishment is that I actually found joy in writing! 2024 was an incredibly challenging year for me and, for most of it, writing felt impossible, but I'm glad there were times that it provided a much needed escape.

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

It's an ongoing lesson, but I've been realizing more about how to make writing more sustainable for me. Like in many aspects of my life, I push myself too hard and that often leads to burnout. That's definitely something I'm working on.

14. Any advice you’d like to share with new or aspiring writers?

Above all else, have fun! Write the kind of fics you want to write, and try not to get lost in the struggles of writing "better" or producing more content.

15. What are your creative goals for 2025?

To not put too much pressure on myself!

I'd also really like to reprioritize all my old WIPs and give myself permission to abandon some (even if I feel myself attached to them). Beyond that, I've been dying to do a full re-write for the STEMinist fics (but that may be something for 2026)

[girlonthelasttrain]

I think it's also in the way we talk about it, isn't it? That fandom takes characters from a source material to put them in lower-stakes environments with little conflict is just what fandom does, I think. I've seen countless posts where this tendency was observed as... I don't know, a fact of life in fandom participation. With no judgment, just acknowledgment that people write and read flower shop AUs. Interestingly though, the opposite always happens when this subject comes up re:femslash. When it comes to femslash, fluff is a scourge. The reason why f/f is unreadable. The reason why everyone feels alienated from it. The reason why it's totally acceptable for someone to admit they wouldn't touch f/f with a ten foot pole.

You see what I'm getting at? This wild difference in standards?

And mind you fluff is not what I am generally looking for as a reader either! I understand the frustration of not getting to read what you want when there aren't as many stories to begin with! But making this out as the original sin of femslash is starting to look... a little extreme to me. Sure, there's a lot of fanfiction which is explicitly not in the same vein as the source material it is derived from. There is fluff, because it's fandom. And because the statistics are what they are, it feels like fics that privilege conflict and messy relationships are few and far between. They are! It's because overall less people are writing f/f!! It's not because people who are into femslash are dumber and less talented, which feels like it's the common undercurrent of these complaints, even when they come from other femslashers. Aren't the majority of us just... amateurs? Trying things out, writing for our own pleasure and fulfilment above all? This will mean different things for different people.

Trust me, I don't like everything that was ever written for my favorite f/f pairings, far from it. But there are also stories that I love and are exactly what I look for in fic. I don't know, if you are into complicated dynamics or experimental formats for f/f, wouldn't it be more useful to try and foster an environment that welcomes people writing that, and even encourages writers who have never tried that before to give it a spin and see how it goes? Rather than repeat this whole shtick about how awful fluff is and why is it the only thing that femslash fandom can write? I understand that this is much easier said than done but I feel like changing the way we talk about femslash in general, especially as femslashers, is also worth it, as a starting point.

[graphx]

brainrot on the apollo!ray au

AU credit to @just-like-playing-tag! (check out the apollo ray tag!)

I always thought it was a bit odd that the lambda kids were so adamant on hating demons but we don’t really see how they feel about the ratris or how that affects their views on adults/other humans

they were experimented on by human AND demon researchers

They were the first kids to find out the difference between wild demon intelligence/consciousness and ability to have morality but they still treat them all the same

TPN has crafted a narrative of humans vs demons but doesn’t acknowledge how much the children might hate/resent those who put them in this position

It’s probably because every human forced to sell out the kids is painted in a sympathetic light in some way (except Andrew)

Legirivima/Peter was seen as brainwashed by their own delusion about their glorious lineage/history and it was a problem of the indoctrination they grew up in and the expectations/mindsets that were pressured onto them

It was glossed over in Isabella’s death and lack of living to make up for what she put each of the kids though (ray specifically)

So it's kinda never adressed in canon how cruel the kids are willing to be to those who are somewhat responsible for putting them in this position regardless of if they are demon or not (as I've addressed here with goldy pond specifically)

I think apollo!ray’s attitude vs Norman’s regarding demons would be similar to how they treat adults by only seeing their enemies (no matter what/who they are) as monsters

Norman went out of his way to ensure he wouldn’t be rebuilding the freedom of the children on top of the ratri’s legacy by doing the same thing they did (subjecting future generations to cloning experimentation/inhumane treatment) even though that was an option he could have gone with when allying with Gleelan

He could have given live Ratris to Gleelan to prove he was willing to screw over adults in order for the children to live (which I imagine apollo!ray would be cruel enough to do in this AU) but this shows there is a line when it comes to Norman’s morality he won’t cross

This shows how much norman values humanity regardless of who they are, ratri or not

His plan was for the demons to destroy themselves but he had no plan for the ratris afterward and i think it shows much how much norman unconsciously took inspiration from emma

Norman thought humans wouldn’t hurt/be prejudiced against the children if the demons weren’t putting them in that situation in the first place (he believes in natural goodness to an extent when push doesn’t come down to shove)

I think it reflects on how different his relationship with Isabella was

He asked if she was happy. He does understand (not agree with) her perspective of lying so the kids have a happy life (which he did with Don and Gilda and continues to do with Lamba squad later)

Despite calling her a demon at the beginning (which you can clearly see Emma is more uncomfortable with, but accepts given their desperate situation)

they both (eventually) see her as a human forced into this situation doing the best with what she can

He doesn’t want to kill her but he will (reluctantly) to secure the safety of his family

HOWEVER

RAY IS NOT LIKE THAT

HE IS FULLY WILLING/READY/ABLE TO KILL

To be burdened in a way Norman never was

By taking demon AND human lives

I imagine apollo!Ray would actually enjoy the torture of demons because it’s a way to vent after all he went thru via Isabella

Straight out of Grace field and Ray is most concerned about what control he has in the situation because that’s what he learned from isabella

Causing the demons pain and being encouraged by the other lambda kids would probably turn that need for control into violent tendencies that he is willing to take out on the demons

The only humans Ray has ever seen survive were those willing to climb over corpses and without meeting yuugo/lucas or any other adult/escapees to disprove this he fully believes Emma is being unrealistic and unreasonable and doesn’t go on to adopt any of her positive worldviews like Norman does/strives to

[gamerbearmira]

Hello resident Evil AU person here! First You don't have to apologize for the long response time I understand that life gets pretty busy and I'm just appreciative that we are able to have a back and forth to begin with! Though I will never say no to artwork or little snippets speaking of For your snippet I will tell you that Mirabel did a mass experimentation on her family so they all got experimented on on the same night just different times in the night. That way there was no prolonged period of anxiety/fear for her family and having them question which one of them is going to be next.

Miranda did kidnap a good portion of villagers from the encanto the same night that she kidnapped the rest of the Madrigal family. Some of them were for experimentation a lot of them were to bolster the numbers in the village and to get rid of the inbreeding problem that was starting to form in the village because of Miranda not allowing new blood to enter the village by experimenting on every new person that came to the village. There are a lot of people that Mirabel recognizes from her childhood. she tries her best to make them feel comfortable and welcome but that's really hard to do with the cult environment that is the village so a lot of the villagers from The encanto just spend most of their time near mirabel and her family.

And once again you are correct Miranda has been watching the encanto since the triplets were 10 years old and had been making plans for them since then. Originally she was just going to observe the community and family for a little while and then was going to steal the candle and experiment on it but she changed her mind and instead chose to observe them to see if she could find a vessel for Eva in their family. she would make frequent trips back to the encanto from the village and had her own persona in the Encanto she was there for every gift celebration and was there when Mirabel's door faded away in fact it was at mirabel's gift celebration where her obsession began with mirabel. Not just because her door faded away and she was the only one who had that happen to her but because before Mirabel even got to her door her and Miranda ran into each other and had a little conversation. just a small little back and forth of little Mirabel apologizing for running into Miranda, Miranda saying that it's okay and then telling her to run along and enjoy her party, That little back and forth combined with the fact that her door faded away almost immediately after convinced Miranda that Mirabel was the black mold chosen vessel (large leap in logic I know but it's Miranda that we're talking about that's all she seems to do).

Speaking of the black mold yes at one point when Mirabel first got to the village she did think about her abuelo Pedro and if it would be possible to communicate with him/bring him back using the black mold she obviously didn't try to do that but there were a couple moments before her family got there that she did consider trying to communicate with him through the black mold because she was hoping that he might have a connection between himself and the miracle and that he would be able to tell her if her family was okay and maybe even get a message to them.

As always any artwork is appreciated!

WOOP WOOPPPPP I’M SO GLAD <333 I know I’ve been mad slow, it’s finals week but. I will be free soon <\3333 very happy I love being able to talk about this au. ALSO NOTED FOR THE SNIPPET. Very helpful, I was actually unsure. It does help, trust <333 Will be writing it and doing art 👹👹

ANYWAYYYYY. I do remember you mentioning it, lmao 😭 we’re 5e Guzman brought or did they stay in the Encanto?? Honestly just wondering, I mean Miranda just taking villagers like nothing, like they’re puppets or filler characters is wild 💀 And the fact that she’s been watching the Madrigals for so long. And becoming hyper focused on Miranel after her ceremony is. So creepy 🌚 like does Miranda truly have nothing better to do with her time??? It genuinely is freaky asl. And honestly her leap in logic does not phase me, I mean it!s Miranda, do we really expect any less???

W Mirabel for thinking of Pedro but not spiraling like somebody

THESE GUYS 💪💪💪 honestly I was gonna do Dolores anyway, And I wanted to draw Julieta’s infection. And Félix just somehow ended up here 🦈 we love it tho

[gaypiratebrainrot]

Hi! I have a question about wfu and specifically about the tags. I'm among those who have always read it exclusively as rpf (and I'm completely okay with it) and I was curious about what prompted you to tag it also as stede/ed. Was it just because of the names swapping? Or was it a choice to make it all meta-ish? I find it super interesting either way, and the fic itself is amazing

hi! thank you so much for this question and your kind words!

"is this rpf?" was always a central question of wfu, and one that i wrestled with a lot on my own while writing it. an intended part of the thought experiment was to publish it in a way where "is this rpf?" remained an open question for the reader to answer for themselves. my first beta had a strong knee-jerk reaction that the text was rpf, like, as early as the scene where they're having drinks on the back porch, leaving comments like "this is definitely rpf". at that point, i actually made a second doc where i swapped the names back and considered publishing it as regular rpf. instead, at the encouragement of my beta, i added two small additional meta scenes to the stede/ed version (the conversation with jim, wee john, and frenchie at the party, and then the bit at ed's house when ed and stede are crying on the couch and ed brings up fan fiction again), and gave that to a second beta.

my second beta had a strong knee-jerk reaction in the other direction, to the point where they didn't even think i needed to tag it rhys/taika. that was when i knew the thought experiment was going to work--it wasn't that either beta was right or wrong, but that every reader was going to have their own unique reaction to the text and whether it was rpf, an actor au, or some secret third thing. it was an extremely cool moment in my life and i will never forget it.

i decided to tag it as stede/ed, rhys/taika, RPF, and Actor AU, because i suspected as long as i did not definitively say what it was, there would be readers who would read it as just rpf or just an actor au. and this is exactly what happened, and continues to happen; there is a pretty wild diversity of interpretations and justifications for why wfu reads exclusively as either rpf or an au, in addition to everyone experiencing some secret third thing. it's really beautiful and i think there's a lot to be learned about how different people engage with and negotiate the relationship between fiction and reality.

and then there's also just the readers-finding-it-on-ao3 factor of tagging a fic: lots of people who never read rhys/taika love wfu as a stede/ed fic, and also if you love rhys/taika, you'd probably be happy to stumble across wfu in the rhys/taika tag. of course, there was also a small twitter wank when i published it from a few people who, it seems, did not engage with anything else about the fic beyond seeing the rpf tag and strapping into their moral superiority outrage pants. this too was beautiful, because what lovely experimental evidence of what incurious, reactionary morality will lead you to miss about all the vast murky gray of the world.

[deathgamegirl]

i started playing AITSF a few days ago and WOW what a wild ride :D iris is my fave so far! so naturally, i thought about a roleswap AU between iris and date (titled the A.Iris AU) :] there are a few more details under the cut! though i haven't finished the game just yet, so if any details seem off, you'll have to forgive me abfhdsbfd

the characters so far that have swapped roles are:

iris -> date

iris sagan is a detective fresh out of college who shows incredible promise. she's enamored by ABIS's existence, as she had always been fascinated by conspiracy theories and secret societies. her memory of her life before her graduation of high school is kinda spotty, but i'm sure it's nothing.

ota -> aiba

ota's name is short for Optical Technology Assistant. he's the first experimental sentient AI, though with him being the first of his kind, he's got quite a few… quirks in his programming. he has a lot of knowledge on various subjects, primarily with technology and otaku culture.

date -> ota

kaname date is a pretty average salaryman. when he's not working, he's cheering on his idol and (kinda) best friend, aiba, and often hangs out at her talent agency to support her streaming.

aiba -> iris

a vtuber affiliated with lemniscate. her avatar is a little chubby hamster character. she appreciates date's enthusiastic support, but finds herself overwhelmed by him frequently and often bickers with him.

"boss" & mizuki

i don't have much here yet but the idea of mizuki being ABIS's head and boss being in iris's care is very funny to me

[hibiscesque]

Fanfic Writer Interview

@chuuyaspinkmotorcycle16 tagged me (<3) and I almost tagged her wrong here because she has the audacity to use a different username than on Twt.

How many works do you have on AO3?

Nineteen visible, five hidden! Hoping to get a few more in before 2025 pray 4 me.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Just gonna do the SKK ones because no one on here follows me for DC Comics or THG.

Post-Coital Miss (4,237 words) Oneshot, M - A (nonexplicit) fic where Dazai is That Dormmate who keeps the rest of the ADA up with his loud sex shenanigans with Chuuya and Atsushi contemplates the merits of taking after his mentor and jumping into the river after being chosen to confront him.

Less Like You (22,909 words) Twoshot, E - My scar sex fic—both of their scars, not just Dazai's. I don't really know how to encapsulate it in a blurb but it's actually not about the sex at all it's all a front for the feelings. So many feelings. (Too many feelings). Transzai because I love Twitter user ardenistired.

Supersonic Boom (67,502) Multichap, T, Complete - High school AU except Chuuya is the dedicated "good girl" student and Dazai is a delinquent "bad boy" truant instead of the other way around because you can pry that iteration of them from my dead, cold hands. Featuring Dazai's dastardly schemes, ultimate badgood romcom wingman Albatross, homeless Chuuya, and illiterate-but-also-smarter-than-the-teachers Dazai.

Places of Worship (8,250 words) Oneshot, E - Praise kink but it's also lowkey trust kink because Dazai enacts a dastardly plan to get Chuuya to break up with him because he realizes he's falling in love with him. Once again the sexytimes are incidental (but also very steamy).

nothing, the wind, the sky (64,790 words) Multichap, M, Ongoing - Started writing this at a lowkey dark time in my life. It's really heavy and honestly I'm not sure I recommend it? It deals with themes of suicidality, CSA, empathy fatigue, suicide survivor (the loved one, not the suicidal person) trauma, financial trauma, human experimentation/medical trauma, trauma bonds, codependent relationships, forced mental health care, and that's just what I can remember. It was originally supposed to be four(?) chapters but it has a plot now that's actually related to the events in BSD.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! They make me so happy and I want to express my gratitude.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I actually don't usually write angsty endings. There's only one up that's not hidden right now, Deliver Us From Ev—. It's exactly what it says on the tin. A traumatized Dazai with no concept of healthy boundaries and consent manipulates Oda into having sex with him on his 18th birthday. It's non-explicit, non-sexy, lowkey kinda brutal, and I've been told by commenters that it left them genuinely upset and a little disturbed.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Supersonic Boom. It was SO soft and cheesy I didn't know if I was cringing or melting as I wrote it.

Do you write crossovers?

Anyone who thinks they can write a crossover after Magic and Mystery dropped is just kidding themselves. /lhj

(No, I don't haha).

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No real hate! One nasty comment once, though.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Porn as a vessel for complicated emotions to the point the porn is the tangential part. Next question.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

OMG Malaika reminded me about the thief website crisis of summer 2024 that was wild. So yes.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

She has a private Twitter account so I don't know if she'd want me sharing it, but a lovely individual translated my The More You Grow series of teen SKK shorts into Russian on Ficbook. Link to the original here and the translation here. <3

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I've done trades!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

The controversial trenchcoat man and the redhead he's definitely not in love with.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Right now, all of them. 🗿🗿🗿

What are your writing strengths?

I wasn't quite sure how to answer this one. I just write by applying what I learned through the osmosis of a childhood of reading books for 4+ hours every day in ways that make the brain termites happy lol there is no craft involved. I went back through some comments on my fics to see if there were any trends and the most common kind things people have said were "I like how you write the SKK relationship dynamic" and "I like your writing style".

What are your writing weaknesses?

Including enough description. I am a very, very dialogue and character-heavy writer because that's the part of writing I enjoy and honestly a lot of the time I forget I even have to set the scene.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I'm not opposed to it but I never feel confident in doing that unless it's a language I know myself. When reading other people's fics, I enjoy it when the writer is doing it on purpose to emphasize the lack of information or confusion their character is garnering from the words, but to be honest I get frustrated sometimes when there's a really emotional conversation going on between two characters and suddenly I can't understand what one of them is saying.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Don't laugh. Shenny The Big Bang Theory.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

No ❤️

Tags: @moonsmessyart, @monkey-banana41, @chupenguin, @oswinaltava, @neontoad

[wonderland-woe]

Just saw some awesome art of a Generation Loss x Warrior Cats AU

But now I’m thinking

Generation Loss x The Wolfquest Stream

Hear me out-

Generation Loss happened, but the cast were wolves

ShowFall has technology that can bring the dead back to life, so who’s to say that they don’t have technology to understand animals/wolves? They delayed the show by ~20 seconds (which is why the choices took so long) so that they could caption it in real time for the audience.

Rolf was a WolfDog (inspired by the many “dude, he’s basically just a dog that we found” jokes that Charlie/Slarf made), and ShowFall snagged him from his home/family (raised basically like a dog, but had good (and rich) owners so he had a lot of space to hunt and play and develop some of his wolf-ish instincts)

Beepis was a wild wolf that ShowFall took from the wild (which is why Beepis has more experience and skill than the other two)

Slarf was a wolf who was captured by ShowFall as a puppy (which explains why he has basically the same amount of experience/skill as Rolf, despite the Dog jokes only being about Rolf and not Slarf)

(In the Wolfquest stream, Charlie/Slarf briefly mentioned his backstory, which consisted of experimentation in a lab, which kind of lines up with gl!Charlie’s backstory)

Trauma bonding caused the Wolf Polycule (platonic or romantic (In AU/Wolfquest!!! Don’t be weird!!!) I have no idea how the puppies happened, and I’m not going to try to explain it. Maybe they were adopted)

The Wolf Polycule’s behavior changed immediately after the pups arrived because that’s when the fact that death was permanent finally sunk in. They had been so used to ShowFall bringing them back that they had been goofy reckless at first. The pup’s arrival helped sink in that death was permanent because the pups had never been brought back to life by ShowFall.

The mild reactions of Beepis and Slarf when Rolf Jr. (and Burp too, I guess) died was because their experiences at ShowFall had desensitized them. Death was something that was common with ShowFall

Slarf stole the collar from ShowFall as a last Fuck You before escaping with Rolf and Beepis

Stars, I have so many thoughts about this

[m00ntunaart]

Lore Dump for my CX-2/Tech AU

If you haven’t read my short 5 page comic I made for this AU, please do, I think this will make more sense if you do!

Anyways, LORE:

In this AU Tech is taken by Hemlock after plan 99 and goes through much experimentation and “programming” to be made into a CX trooper. But in this AU Tech isn’t the only one this happens to. The other four CX troopers are Cody, Fives, Tup and Kix. How is Fives, Tup and Tech still alive? In this version of the story the Zillobeast is being kept because it has hyper-regenerative properties (Wolverine-esc) and Hemlock has been experimenting for a while on how to take the genes from the Zillobeast and put them in dead clones to ‘bring them back’ basically. So Fives, Tup and Tech still die in this AU, they just get literally Frankensteined back to life. I really wanted to play with Hemlock’s ‘mad scientist’ aspect in this. Like, let’s exaggerate the man a lil, for fun.

So the CX troopers are being experimented on medically, being cyberneticlly enhanced, getting programmed and mind wiped. It’s messed up. I won’t get into now but I just really want the CX troopers to be this kinda horrific product of Hemlocks LITERAL human tinkering. Also just horror of (in Fives, Tup and Tech’s case) the fact that they weren’t even safe from Hemlock in death. I also think in this AU the CX troopers maybe die a few times earlier in season 3, but Hemlock just retrieves their bodies and revives them again. Like fixing a broken toy. 

I crave more Hemlock horror lol

But anyways, basically this comic is basically the kick off point of my CX-2/Tech AU. Mostly everything up until the Teth Base raid is the same to canon (from The Batch’s perspective at least). But in this comic we see CX-2 (Tech) get sent to terminate CX-1 (Cody) and retrieve Omega (I just don’t mention it in this comic for succinctness sake). I switched up some events here. CX-2 doesn’t blow up the base, instead Wolffe is sent to destroy the base and doesn’t know about the mission to get Omega, just knows they’re trying to wipe out rebels and a CX-1. So CX-2/Tech shows up to complete this mission. But sees CX-1’s face for the first time and gets some flashes of memories of Cody (I’m headcanoning that Cody knew The Batch when they were cadets so Tech specifically has some deeper rooted memories of Cody). It definitely freaks Tech out and he ends up not being able to terminate Cody, instead he disobeys orders and ends up dragging Cody back out to be taken back to Hemlock.

Oh! Also since Cody is CX-1 and gets captured by Rex and crew, you know the angst on Rex’s side is OFF THE CHARTS. The whole interaction scene with CX-1 is way more wild in this AU because Rex KNOWS Cody, Cody is HIS big brother. Rex just basically is WAY MORE invested in this AU because it’s no longer just ‘A Brother’, it’s ‘HIS Brother’.

From here the AU spirals, I won’t get into details but basically the CX-2/Tech AU is just Tech having more and more memories return, and he started to, behind the scenes, move ‘the chess pieces’ to try to tear down Hemlock. He starts talking to and changing Emerie’s mind and they start to work together. He starts to sneak to talk to Wolffe to get him to change is mind and get in contact with Rex (in this AU I kinda share Scorch’s role between him and Wolffe bcs I want Wolffe to be more involved in this, and also Scorch does nothing in the show anyways lol). Then he starts trying to slowly jog the memories of the other CX troopers and slowly erode their programming and mind wipes. But everything’s not so simple because they are all getting regular mind wipes from Hemlock, so Tech’s progress with the others is often erased. And along with that, the mind wipes still affect Tech. He still relapses back to ‘CX-2 mode’. So there are good chunks of time where Tech will not be ‘pretending to be CX-2’ and actually be CX-2. Though because of his defective nature/quick mind he’s able to remember things on his own more and more after the mind wipes, and he gets quicker and better at it as time goes on. Though it is affect him really badly. The constant whiplash of having his memories wiped then literally forcing his brain to drag his own consciousness back is definitely having negative physical and mental effects. But basically he starts to, with the help of Emerie and Wolffe (and sometimes the other CX troopers), prepare to escape and have the base ready for when Rex and crew show up. 

But yeah I have so many fun idea for this AU. I just thought the Tech/CX-2 theory was so fun and wanted to do my own take. I also just think Tech’s character as ‘the smart one’ would lend well to this set up of him trying to quietly maneuver everyone around him to make the best scenario for either Rex and crew save them, or to stage their own revolt.  I also just want Emerie and Wolffe to play more a part? I felt like both did not get the screen time or relevance they deserved, so they are part of Tech’s slow, secret revolt lol. Plus we deserved to see Wolffe leave the Empire and join Rex. Also Cody, Kix, Fives and Tup are very there and present in the story, I just didn’t talk about them a ton bcs Tech finds out pretty quickly that any help or progress he gets from them is short lived thanks to the mind wipes (they can’t as easily jump back from them like Tech), and in general they are more a mess than Tech during this time. Even when they do remember things their mind can’t process as fast as Tech’s enhanced brain can so they kinda just are mentally out of it or fucked up (which to be fair they deserve to be, and Tech would probably be the same but this entire AU is Tech being is Hustle Mode^TM)