you're the only reason I check ao3 anymore lol, but anyway, what was your inspiration for writing a spy kids inspired fanfic??
Oh my goodness, high praise!! I’m honored!!!
As for your question… oh boy. This is gonna be long. Here’s my thought process- hopefully it answers the question lol.
So several things went into the creation of the Spy Kids AU. The first is of course the popular headcanon that Killerwatt is Krupp and Purse’s son, which sprung up from Killerwatt’s introduction and Purse and Krupp’s deletion in the revised Bochum show. Sometime last year @phopollo (hiiiiii pho, you’re getting dragged into this) developed a Pokemon AU, where Purse and Krupp worked for a version of Electra, and Wrench was their daughter. So, that was how the ideas of the two of them being children of Krupp and Purse existed.
A little while later, I began writing a Danger Kontrolle (Bochum Joule x Wembley Wrench) fic called “this is sailed across the sea, and cried out to the shore”- it focuses on Mermaid!Joule and Scientist!Wrench, but got darker than I anticipated early on (I love angst, it’s just so… angsty. And gets out of control very fast.). Krupp and Purse featured in this one as pretty obvious bad guys, which made me sad because again, it got dark, and in another universe they were her dads…
So I wanted to write something not sad, about Purse and Krupp being fathers. And you know what’s funnier than one kid? Two kids!! So I bundled Killerwatt into the idea as well.
But, there was a glaring issue: I don’t like kid fics, and, like Joule and Volta, I don’t like kids. And I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy writing a slice of life story about a random family- what would that even look like when the original characters are trains, anyways? So now what?
I can’t remember exactly why Spy Kids came to mind (I was on a Fall of the House of Usher kick, so maybe that was it? Maybe it was Evita????)but once it did, it made perfect sense. The core theme of the Spy Kids franchise is family, which I felt was appropriate for this little family in a myriad of ways. I had already decided that some form of the Bochum Electrics would be extended family, and it was Joule and Volta who ended up placed in the Machete role, while Wrench is something else entirely.
I decided for this AU to really only write the scenes I was most interested in seeing fleshed out, rather than another long fic, so I don’t put pressure on myself to create more of a story than I want to. Thats why the two fics in the series right now are just little stories of Krupp and Purse’s initial meeting of their kids, and Joule and Volta, nine years later, seeing them again.
It’s also (as it was to you anon) probably very clear to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the movies that this is not a very faithful adaptation: when I say ‘inspired by’ I really mean it. The idea started with how Krupp and Purse’s are called out of retirement for a mission that goes south and ends up with their kids saving them and becoming spies, along with discovering more family than they realized they had. From there I worked backwards: determining how Wrench and Killerwatt came into their care was the first step, which led to the reason why Joule and Volta were no contact with them, and also helped established the mission and problem that Purse and Krupp had been called out of retirement to help with. It’s allllllll connected lol.
So that’s the very long answer to your question! There’s actually a lot more to this AU than I’ve written (I’m planning on having the rest of the Wembley crew make an appearance, with Wembley Joule and Volta taking on the narrative role similar to Gary and Gerti Giggles), and there is of course the actual establishment of the Spy Kids program, and who would fill those ranks (I suspect Director McCoy might have a few ideas). I’m not sure when I’ll get around to writing the next installment of the series, but it’s most likely going to focus on Wrench and Killerwatt, and what exactly happened after they fled Auntie Joule and Aunt Volta’s house. They need to get to their dads, and the clock is ticking….
One last thing: As a little reward for those of you that bothered to read this whole post, I have one quick question that miiiiiight be relevant in the next installment: there are two children alluded to in the story who were not rescued in the Commission raid, and are still part of the juvenile asset program. One of them is mentioned by name, and one of them is only hinted at. Who are they?
areudirty
titsay
prguitarman
