#WK Guardianship AU

[littlecrittereli]

Have you thought about a situation where CPS has almost taken Chris away? The angst potential for this AU is good

If they were ever close, Chris would have never known about it...

Also shout out to the anon who suggested I call this AU Guardianship AU!! It now has a name YIPPEEEEE

I'm gonna lore dump about it real quick bc I have ideas and if I do not say them I will forget them.

Martin is 9 years older than Chris. Their parents died when Martin was 17 and Chris was 8. Martin got emancipated and was able to take custody of Chris but like all government branches... it's a really long process that basically drags out for Chris' entire childhood. Martin graduates high school early, gets a full-ride scholarship at Duke University while maintaining various jobs and internships. Sounds like a lot? yEAH bro is TIRED. But he's willing to put in the work if it means a better future for his bro.

Of course eventually he becomes apart of the Tortuga crew and things get a lot easier for them both. CPS is still riding his ass about taking Chris with him on these cross-country expeditions but he's been dealing with them for so long at that point it's not as scary.

[littlecrittereli]

ougghhh guysssssss

Thinking about this AU idea again

(Dont worry I'm not done with Reprogrammed yet BUT THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IT HAS NOT LEFT MY BRAIN)

I can smell the dramatic "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD!!!" exclamation from here

[littlecrittereli]

just one of those days man...

THIS IS SO LOW QUALITY HELP LOL

ignore that I can't draw very well rn I'm very focused on school so not much time to doodle

[littlecrittereli]

14 year olds are so mean :(

[littlecrittereli]

I’m gonna need to come up with a name for this AU eventually

But consider: The Creature Power Belt

Aka the precursor to the power suit and original prototype of the vest. It only provides the most prominent creature powers and is wayyy more prone to malfunctions.

Of course Aviva would never give Chris her old unstable technology…. Which is why he took it without asking

[littlecrittereli]

Protective!big bro!Martin and hurt!little bro!Chris is my lifeblood 🥲 any sketchy of that would make me happy!

Conversely, though...protective!little bro!Chris going feral in defense of his hurt!big bro!Martin would also be fun to see 🥲

TW BLOOD / INJURY!!!

This one was so good I just had to do both... (and I went overboard.... again.....)

Im already getting so many ideas for if I ever decide to write something about this....

[littlecrittereli]

Okay I gotta say your art + story have gotten my fanfic engines a churning and now I'm picturing AU with the bros starting out in the wildlife game but with Martin as an 18-19 year old and Chris as this 14 year old and it's more "panicked older brother trying to keep his baby bro safe" while they encounter poachers/dangers.

OKOK HEAR ME OUT....

Martin has legal guardianship over Chris (uhh parents gotta die for this i am so sorry mom and dad kratt but it's for the fanfiction so please forgive me) Which is why a 14 year old is able to join their research team. Martin is technically "homeschooling" him, (i mean technically he's learning on creature adventures so...)

Martin was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the Tortuga research program and Chris didn't want to be the reason that Martin held back on his dreams. So, Chris was basically like take me with you, I'll be good and stay out of trouble I promise. So basically Martin is trying to do his job while simultaneously juggling the responsibility of raising Chris. And the rest of the team helps out as well so they all become a little family and go on these adventures.

The rest of the team would step into older sibling roles as well: Aviva would teach Chris about programming and engineering, Koki would show him how the Tortuga runs and how to make small tune-ups, and Jimmy would teach him how to bake and play video games with him. JUST IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES

I don't think Aviva would make a CPS for him, Martin would lose his mind if she did. Chris was already a handful, he does NOT need to be running around as a gecko. Maybe she could make a less extreme version of the suit for him? Like a partial creature power suit, where it can give him traits of animals. Instead of turning into the whole leopard, it just gives him leopard claw gloves and a tail for balance. So a little kiddy version of the CPS. IDk it's just an idea.

[littlecrittereli]

I like young Chris so much lol

I thought maybe Chris could skateboard and play guitar like all the other teenagers :P

THIS IS SO CUTE!!!!

I can totally see Martin teaching him the stuff from his own childhood, like how to skate/ride a bike, play the guitar (though Martin prefers acoustic), and just making sure that amidst their crazy life full of travel and adventure, Chris has time to just be a kid.

[littlecrittereli]

Guardianship au

Did any villains try and black mail Chris with treats of calling cps in order to get animals

Actually, I don't think the villains would be knowledgeable enough about their situation to blackmail them.

They probably wouldn't go around advertising that their parents are dead. From an outside perspective, it's just Martin going on these creature adventures and occasionally bringing his little brother along. And I mean... it's public information, any of them could look up death certificates if they really wanted to, but Martin being Chris' legal guardian probably just isn't their first assumption upon seeing them.

Considering Zach knew the Kratts as kids, it is possible that he knows. (Because you know how you kinda keep in touch with your childhood friend's major life events even if you don't talk to them anymore?) Their parents dying would probably be something Zach heard about, at least in passing.

And even then, Zach is kind of ignorant, he probably doesn't know about the legal battle that Martin had to go through in order to get emancipated and have custody of Chris. If he ever captures Chris it's not to purposely try and get Martin a child endangerment charge, it's just because he hates them and wants to distract Martin from his schemes.

[littlecrittereli]

I saw your guardianship au and I was

bewitched, body and soul (I’m a sucker for family dynamics)!

i feel like Chris would be conflicted between hiding it and showing it to Martin (he knows martin would get mad but is also really excited abt it [+aviva would probably tell him anyways])

THIS IS SO CUTEEEEEE

HES SO HAPPY TO HAVE A SUIT OUGHHH HE JUST WANTS TO BE INCLUDED SO BAD

Aviva folded and built it just to have a moment of silence, I see you Aviva, I understand.....

[littlecrittereli]

I love the age gap au, and have a simple headcannon (because I did this) he so makes oc's or draws himself with the creature suit like- he imagines himself just like his brother running around with epic animal abilities and is secretly obsessed and probably wants to ask so many questions like-

"What does it feel like?" "Does it hurt?" "Can you smell me from- uh- this far?" *stands like ten feet away*

I just see him as a total dork about it and trying to play it off as if "what? Nah whatever" when he wants to Squeal at how cool it is.

I bet he's a low-key furry, too. (Wild kratts was my furry awakening, lol)

Guardianship AU Chris is Martin's biggest fan and simultaneously his biggest critic.

I think Martin would miss the days when Chris was younger and wasn't as embarrassed about how open he was about Martin being his hero.

Chris still looks up to him, but is too cool to be singing his older brothers praise all day. (So instead he just fixates on the suits and would do literally anything to prove himself to his brother)

[littlecrittereli]

Hi, first of all I want to thank you because thanks to you and your art I have fallen in love with the WK series again. I didn't know there was a fandom and I'm glad I'm not the only one who still loves this series.

Your two AUs are great, and the Guardianship AU has got me quite interested. And it has generated a question for me, one of my favorite episodes is the Platypus episode since it shows a really worried Martin for his brother and I have wondered what it would be like in this AU, would it be the same or would some things change?

And how would Chris' interaction with all the villains in general be? I can imagine him telling Donita jokes about how she's already too old or stuff like that hehehehehe.

Thank you so much!!! It genuinely always makes my day when people tell me they're falling back into Wild Kratts <333 like yessss come join meeee

As for your question:

Chris would definitely be a bit more of a bratt when it comes to the villains. he lacks a filter and only really interacts with them occasionally (when they've decided to capture him to try and mess with Martin) So he's basically making fun of them the whole time.

I feel like he could probably make Zach cry if he tried hard enough...

The villains would often dismiss Chris as just Martin's kid brother, which would really annoy him. They don't really see him as a threat like they do the rest of the Tortuga Crew.

[littlecrittereli]

Hello, me again, your Guardianship AU has latched onto my brain and won’t let go so I have more questions

First, how much does Chris know about the CPS hounding Martin? Does he understand that there’s a real possibility he could be removed from his brother’s custody? In the comic you made, when they were younger, Chris was pretty oblivious about it all (mostly cause Martin didn’t wanna worry him and didn’t tell him any details) but now that he’s a bit older, has he picked up on certain things? ‘Cause you’ve also mentioned that the AU has decent resemblance to Lilo & Stitch, but in that movie Lilo seems very aware of their situation which isn’t the case for Martin and Chris, especially because Martin’s personality is pretty opposite to Nani.

Second, and I totally get it if you don’t know, I’m just an over-thinker, but how would the parents have died in your AU? Because I can see the cause of death being pretty traumatizing depending on what it is, especially for Martin who was old enough to understand what was going on followed by the responsibility of raising his younger brother who is basically the only family he has left. Maybe even for Chris, though as you mention he was too young and doesn’t remember them much anymore.

Once again, love your AUs, Guardianship AU is clearly my favorite but I’m a sucker for sibling dynamics, especially the trope “brothers-against-the-world”.

Chris is definitely more aware of Child Protective Services than he was when he was a kid. They aren’t AS much of a threat anymore which is why Chris isn’t really worried about them. Martin has custody of him, and he just gets evaluated every so often to make sure he’s taking care of Chris and providing him a healthy and stable environment. (CPS is very concerned about chris traveling in the Tortuga but mostly leave them alone now) Martin definitely gets hella stressed when these evaluations come along, but he’s been doing this dance with CPS for so long by that point he’s not as worried. When he was 17, and freshly emancipated he was fightin for his life in those courtrooms 💀

Chris knows about it now, but in his eyes, Martin is the best guardian ever? He cannot fathom the idea of Martin being an “unfit guardian” so he can’t even imagine a situation where CPS would have a reason to take him. Which is also a small point of tension for them? Because on one hand Martin is glad his brother isn’t worried and trusts him, but also feels frustrated by Chris not taking it seriously or understanding the weight of it like he does.

But Chris is honestly more worried about Martin getting sick of having to drag him around and giving up custody of him. But those are repressed emotions to unpack for another day.

And I don’t actually have a reassonnn for the parents death yet. In the hypothetical fanfiction that I have not written yet, I don’t want to explicitly state it. Its something they dont like to talk about. And they probably get really nervous/jittery around any subjects related to the cause. I’m leaning more towards something like a car accident. Something that could happen to anyone, but also very tragic. It’s technically not decided for sure though! So im open to any suggestions at the moment.

[littlecrittereli]

Hello Hello!

I figured It was probably time to make an intro for my page so let's go!

You can call me Critter! (they/them)

This is a Wild Kratts fanblog where I post art/writing/headcanons or just whatever thought is bouncing around in my brain like a screensaver.

Current Stories:

Reprogrammed

Summary: The Creature Power Suits were a brilliant and powerful attribution to science. They also had the potential to be an even greater weapon. Aviva always took steps to ensure they would never fall into the wrong hands, but no one could ever have predicted this.

Basically a Villain Chris against his will.

New chapters get posted on Saturdays!

I also post art about this sporadically under the tag #WK Reprogrammed AU

Guardianship AU

Summary: age gap AU where Chris is 14, Martin is 23, and Martin has received legal guardianship over Chris after their parents died 6 years prior. Now Martin and the rest of the Tortuga crew are saving the environment from dangerous poachers while having the additional responsibility of raising Chris

It's a mix of fluff found family moments and teenage angst that comes along with being 14 and being raised by your older brother. (or rather being 23 and raising your 14 year old brother)

This one doesn't have a fanfiction (yet) but I do sometimes post about it and share artwork under the tag, #WK Guardianship AU

My Askbox is also open if anyone has any questions/theories/headcanons/comments about the AUs! I'm always happy to answer, and sometimes will make a lil comic about it!