Fangirling 24/7

It's been such a long time since I posted something since life's been hella busy. But I got hyperfixated on TADC and while planning a TADC fic based on a tumblr post I saw, I came up with another idea. Figured it may not even come out for a long time or I'll get writer's block and lose motivation, so I'm just gonna post the idea here and see how it goes.

Without further ado-

Welcome, everyone, to Christine's Toy Box AU!

(It's kinda just a dump cause I wrote all of my thoughts down. If y'all want, in a future post, I can sort it out and make it more coherent)

So basically the Amazing Digital Circus project was never meant to be malicious and trap people in the game like how it is at the moment

If you noticed the C&A logo around and saw the Caine and Abel on the pistol, welp, here we have Caine and Abel (Kinger). Two brothers who own C&A and helped to create the project

It was actually meant to be a fun world for Caine's daughter, Christine (Pomni), when she was a child because she was sick and couldn't go out much

She wasn't bedridden, but she couldn't exert herself that much without having attacks and getting sick easily

This meant that she didn't really have any friends at all since she couldn't attend school with other kids

To make up for it, she had a bunch and I mean a bunch of toys to play with. She named them all, though she had favorites (one being a purple bunny plushie :) )

Though sickly, she did her hardest to make her family laugh with silly tricks, hence, they called her their little sweet jester

Caine, Abel, and Abel's wife doted and cherished Christine a ton

To allow her to enjoy action packed adventures, they all begin to work on programming TADC

They had a few investors and a small team and a few investors to fund and work on the project.

Welp, during the testing phase, Abel and his wife decided to be the ones to test the system, but something went wrong

They disappear and while they couldn't locate the exact problem, they knew it had something to do with the program

With how dangerous the project seemed to be, both the company and the project got shut down

Caine was too depressed to continue running the company, especially alone. At this point, no answers, appearances, or signs of his brother and his sister in law, it's assumed they're probably dead

All Christine knows is that her favorite uncle and aunt couldn't visit anymore. She's just a child, so death was sort of a foreign topic to her and Caine wanted to protect her innocence a little longer. Only later when she was older she managed to weasel out of her dad that something went wrong with the project.

Well, turns out the project wasn't exactly shut down. One of the investors saw the potential in profits if the project succeed, so he decided to continue it.

To test the program, he would test it on strangers/victims. With each person added to TADC, the team he hires discover new character files that seemed to manifest in the program files. To their surprise, they can't exactly modify or do anything to those files. All they could do is modify the C.A.I.N.E. AI and other assets, but not character files. The best they can do is just block the character's identity, but that's it.

That doesn't mean they don't try to bypass and learn how

It didn't affect the other parts of the code, so they ignore it. If anything, they study it and the changes that seems to occur in the game

Eventually, due to modern technology and medicinal evolution, Christine was able to overcome the sickness and got better

She was able to venture out without much issues, but if she pushes herself, she could get an attack

She could also get flares where her body will act up

She moves on in life, becomes an accountant, explores abandoned building, etc. She enjoyed it a lot since she never got to do anything like this back then.

Though the fact she was stuck at home for years does cause her to have anxiety and get overwhelmed pretty easily

Eventually, she wants to investigate her uncle and aunt's disappearance and so she goes to the source, the old 'abandoned' C&A company building.

She doesn't tell her dad exactly where she's going exactly. He still gets depressed when the topic gets brought up. He's okay with her exploring. She's an adult. He can't stop her. If anything, he makes her share her location with him in case anything happens. Though if he checks and she's here, he'll probably have a huge meltdown.

She comes across the headset and the research. She hacks into their system (because of course her dad would've taught her a few things about coding and computer security stuff) and realizes what's going on. She finds the documents detailing the findings

Before she could think clearly to send these information to her dad, she tries to put a stop to it all and gets captured

To stop her from snitching and exposing their crimes, the investor put the headset on her, sending her into the game as well as setting a block to her memories.

She doesn't remember a lot when joining the game due to the developers' interference. She remember the general things like her job working as an accountant at the supermarket and some basic info, but a lot of her memories from childhood and anything relating to C&A including her dad, uncle, and aunt is currently blocked

Plot

The actual story might start off focusing on something else and be a bit misleading. It'll take place after episode 6 and maybe Pomni is working on trying to break down Jax's wall, especially since it seems he's not okay. So, the story seems to be about them and their friendship (funnybunny later down the line)

During all these chapters in the fic, she's beginning to get flashes, or hints of memories, but she doesn't know it yet. Maybe glimpse in dreams, but she ignores them, focusing on life in the circus and surviving with her sanity intact

It's not until she sees a tiny purple bunny plushie (probably during an adventure) which triggers a bigger memory and she realizes something is up.

So yeah, if I could write this fic properly, it starts off pretty subtle and maybe the big reveal when a major memory gets triggered/unlocked (though me writing all my ideas down here ruins that subtlety lol)

Fun Facts about this AU

Kinger's and Queenie's design are the king and queen chess pieces because they taught Christine how to play and it would be one of the things they would do when Able and his wife visits

Christine had a huge influence on the game, even when it was hijacked by the investor. She had a lot of toys so a lot of npc/character designs were made with all her toys in mind.

In other words, the casts' designs they end up with when joining TADC are based on her toys she used to play with a lot

C.A.I.N.E. actually has a softer spot of Pomni though it's not too obvious at first

If she were to request anything, he'll more likely to oblige her. This was cause one of the first things Caine and Abel did was program him to listen to Christine. The program was, after all, made for her specifically in mind.

For some reason, when she joined TADC, her sickness followed. While it usually wasn't prominent, she did occasionally get flares or attacks from running and screaming too much. Even though the program was originally made to prevent this, Caine and Abel never actually got to that part yet

And that's pretty much all I thought of. Actually, I came up with some stuff as I wrote this too. Hopefully it sounds interesting. I kinda like it, so once I finish all my art projects or have some spare time, I might start typing some things up.

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

I can pick a hurt comfort or a slow burn or an angst with a happy ending.

I can remove the tags I don’t want to see, I can check word count,check if it’s finished and it’s so much easier than books

I know these characters and I see them in my mind so they can pull me on journey into a world I love, unless it’s au universes

I may have a few :)

Boom heavily stepped into the role of the “sunshine kid” growing up and placed a lot of his self worth on whether he could make others smile. He felt very dejected and useless when Branch went grey and he could even get him to smile

Ablaze heavily blames himself for not being able to get to the stage on time to stop Branch from being turned into a rock zombie and carries that guilt with him even once they meet up again

Despite Trickee’s extroverted personality, he still let his paranoia get the best of him and he ran away, and now he feels the guilt of abandoning Ablaze, who dropped everything to bring him far away from the Bergens just to make him feel better

Hype decided to be the oldest brother because he didn’t want any kids growing up alone. He really connected with Branch, considering he’d also been abandoned and left behind by his family as a kid, and he didn’t want Branch to feel as alone as he did

Part 1, Part 2(You are here!)

Alright, here's what I'm thinking about what our 4 boys do once they have to leave Branch behind with promises to be back with BroZone.

Hype is the one to point out they have no idea what John Dory even looks like. Boom says he probably looks like Branch. Trickee says they can just ask other people on the trail.

They talk to both giants and other trolls and every single one seems to either know of John Dory or know someone who does. They each make him out to be some feral mountain man.

“Are we sure we need him?” -Hype

“Yes.” -Trickee

“Then how do we find him?” -Boom

“Maybe if we play BroZone on full volume he’ll appear.” -Ablaze

Ten minutes later, sitting on a hill top, Boom cranks a boom box to full volume and plays ‘Perfect’

“It was a joke.” It works.

Rhonda comes bursting out of the bushes, scaring Kismet, and almost destroys the boom box in her excitement to get to it. John throws the door open, ignoring the 4 trolls who had tackled each other to get out of the way, and and loudly shouts he’s here and who is playing BroZone?

"Wow he does look like Branch."

Part 1(You are here!), Part 2,

——-

- Branch is taken for being a part of Kismet, which means Kismet gets the letters and sneak in through the ducts only to find a pissed off Branch stuck in a perfume bottle.

- They make fun of him for about 5 mins before trying to break it/unscrew the top to let him out.

- It quickly becomes clear they can’t get him out, panic starts especially when Branch tells them what Velvet and Veener are using him for, and why they got those letters.

- That makes them panic more.

- Branch mumbles that there is something that can break diamond, it takes Kismet asking 3 times before he finally admits that if they can find his brothers and get them to sing together, there may be a chance, a small, tiny, chance they could do the perfect family harmony and break the diamond.

- Kismet had no idea he had brothers. They have questions.

- Branch tells them that last he heard John Dory was in the Neverglade Trail, but that was 20ish years ago and he doesn’t know if he’s still there.

Felix slid into his seat next to Dupain-Cheng, wondering what would happen today. 

It seemed that her new policy of dealing with Lila’s lies and the simultaneous ire of the class was to say whatever crazy thing popped into her head whenever they accused her of something. It had been rather entertaining, to say the least. 

The first time she’d done it, their faces had been so comical that it had made Felix wish he’d brought his camera to school. 

“Marinette! How could you shove Lila into the lockers?” Kim had stood in front of the crowd, his arms crossed in what was clearly meant to be an intimidating pose. 

Marinette had looked up with a blank expression. 

“I couldn’t have, I was playing hopscotch with Hawkmoth. He’s a really bad loser, so I had to leave before he had a full-on temper tantrum.” She had said it with the blandest tone he’d ever heard her use, which only added to the effect. 

Everyone’s mouths had opened and closed like a fish’s, trying to figure out how to respond to her answer. It was obviously not true, but how did someone respond to that?

She’d held Kim’s gaze, no trace of amusement on her face. 

It had worked exactly how he suspected she intended; they hadn’t managed to come up with anything before Bustier had come back in the room, breezily instructing everyone to turn to page 294 in their textbooks. 

The next time, it seemed that they had come a little better prepared, allowing Alix to lead the charge. She was notorious for having a witty retort to everything, so it made sense. Unfortunately, Marinette had also come with a plan. 

“Marinette! Care to tell us why you sabotaged Lila’s project in the art room?”

Marinette had held up a finger, digging in her backpack. The class had watched with interest, as this was the first reaction that hadn’t been outright hostile or bland. 

She’d pulled out her tablet and typed something before turning it around. 

Can’t talk. I lost my voice after too much yelling at the heavy metal concert I went to last night. 

Alix had blinked at the idea of sugar-sweet Marinette attending a heavy metal concert, but recovered quickly. “Ok, so type out why you destroyed her project!”

Some more typing, then a response. Couldn’t have, I was helping scientists extract DNA from mosquitoes in amber to make dinosaurs.

“That’s the plot of Jurassic Park!”

Where do you think they got the idea from?

Alix had stared for a moment more before throwing up her hands. “This is useless, she’s clearly gone off the deep end!” She’d stormed out, leaving the rest of the class behind, unsure of what to do now that they’d lost their ringer.

Again, Bustier had made the decision of what to do for them, coming in with a reminder of the worksheet they had due at the end of class. 

Needless to say, Felix believed that this was a very good use of her creative mind. Watching her outsmart the idiots of the class in her own way was endlessly amusing and had quickly become his favorite part of the day. 

Today, before the daily confrontation, Bustier had assigned them a project, a partner project with their deskmate. For Felix, that was Marinette. Since they’d been working on the project all day, Lila hadn’t had the chance to leave and lie about anything, pushing the confrontation to likely after the lunch break. Felix could hardly wait to see what she said this time. Maybe this project would allow him to get to know and understand her better.

“So for the project I was thinking that we make a PowerPoint-” Marinette cut herself off, staring at him with a puzzled expression. “You’re almost smiling at me. Are you feeling alright?”

Felix immediately wiped his expression, mildly mortified that he’d outwardly shown his amusement, but forged ahead. “I see you got your voice back. Was the heavy metal worth it?”

“What? Oh, that. I’m fine.”

“Oh, I know. Your recent interactions with the class have been thoroughly entertaining.” 

“Glad you’ve been enjoying it. Confusion is certainly better than outright hostility.” She sighed, suddenly looking very tired. 

“It’s about time that you started retaliating, even if it’s just by scrambling the two collective brain cells they have left. I don’t know that I could’ve put up with Rossi’s bullshit for as long as you have with the patience you’ve had.”

Her eyes snapped to him. “You know she’s lying?”

He scoffed. “Please, don’t insult my intelligence like that. Of course I know she’s lying.”

Marinette was silent. He could almost see the burden on her shoulders getting lighter with the realization she wasn’t alone in knowing Rossi was a liar and was about to comment further on it when Marinette smiled. It was a mischievous smile that promised trouble, which immediately intrigued Felix. He hadn’t seen much of her troublemaker side except for the few glimpses from her last interactions with the class, but he had a feeling there was one hell of a wicked streak somewhere underneath that cotton candy. 

“You wanna help?”

He considered for a moment. Was it worth getting involved in? On one hand, it was enjoyable to just be merely a spectator. On the other hand, he wanted to know more about this side of Marinette and it was always enjoyable to see idiots put in their place. 

“I’m in.”

- - - - - -

After school, Felix and Marinette were at their desk, waiting for the confrontation. 

And like a bad penny, the class came back to try again. It seemed that they were shuffling who was leading the ‘Marinette how dare you’ brigade, and this time they had chosen Adrien. Felix knew about her crush on him, so he supposed that it was a rather strategic move on their part, if he wasn’t able to see the barely hidden disdain for the boy on her face. 

“Marinette, you know that it wasn’t kind of you to throw Lila’s backpack down the stairs while she was in the cafeteria. That’s not the everyday Ladybug we all know and love.” 

Ah, the guilt trip method. Usually foolproof on someone as empathetic as Marinette, rendered useless by Marinette’s developing apathy towards the class.

“It must’ve been someone else. I spent the lunch break teaching Mr. Ramier’s pigeons how to moonwalk. I wouldn’t have gotten back in time if Felix hadn’t realized the time and dragged me back.”

“Now, Marinette, don’t lie about it.”

“I’m not. Felix?”

Felix nodded, pulling up a video on his phone and showing it to the class. In it, Marinette stood next to some pigeons, clearly demonstrating how to moonwalk. The pigeons looked on curiously, occasionally pecking at her shoes and awkwardly waddling backwards. Mr. Ramier sat in the background, alternately cheering or throwing birdseed to the pigeons. The video clearly had the timestamp of about ten minutes before their break ended, so they would’ve had to rush to get back to class. There was no way they could’ve done anything.

Marinette looked back at Adrien and folded her arms. “Well? I’ll take my apology now.”

Felix snorted at the flabbergasted expression on Adrien’s face, casually putting his arm over Marinette’s shoulders. He didn’t really know why he did it, only that it felt right. Apparently she didn’t mind, since she just readjusted to be a bit more comfortable. “Give him a minute, he’s rebooting.”

“Wait, are the two of you dating?” He blurted out, then immediately looked like he regretted it. 

This time, Marinette snorted. “Because the only reason he’d support me was if he was my boyfriend? No, that’s what friends are meant to do, Adrien.” The last sentence was laden with poison that Felix didn’t know the context for, but Adrien did, because he flinched. 

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, turning away. 

As soon as the class turned away, her head fell on his shoulder, her face crumpling in pain. He didn’t know what to do but hug her shoulders tighter. He’d seen that her love language was physical touch, so maybe it would help? After a while, her face smoothed and she lifted her head, seemingly doing better. 

“Hey, thanks for backing me up.”

Felix shrugged. “It was fun.”

She turned to look at him. “No, I’m serious. It’s been a long time since anyone’s had my back, even if it’s just to mess with someone. Thank you.”

Why did he suddenly feel all warm inside? “So what’s the next plan?”

Marinette looked surprised. “You want to be involved in the next one?”

“Sure, why not?”

She looked away, her cheeks turning a light pink. “Maybe we could, well, I don’t know, I don’t want you thinking that I’m just saying this because Adrien said it because I promise I’m really not, but maybe we could, um, discuss it on a date?”

“But we hardly know each other.” What did she see in him that she liked? Sure, he’d helped her once, but that was hardly grounds for someone liking someone, was it?

“That’s the point of the date. To get to know someone. Besides, I want to see if you’re as nice as I suspect you are under that prickly exterior.” She was looking at him again, cheeks now a bright red, but with determination in her eyes. 

Love Square Animatic with Chat Blanc <3