A vampire!Tron AU is actually obscenely simple to conceptualize that I’m baffled it’s not a genuine thing yet (unless I’m just missing it, in which case please please link me I love vampire aus). Anyway:
-Tron Uprising where it’s pretty much all exactly the same but instead of rewriting Tron’s code so that he needs to take a bath in a pure source of energy every other day to keep from becoming cubes, Dyson makes it so that he has to instead consume that energy from other programs
-It’s like the whole “oh vampires can’t drink dead blood” except it’s “oh a program can’t consume dormant energy, it needs to have been processed through another program’s system”
-It’s such a perfect angst tool because not only does it force Tron, Emperor of the Fine I’ll Do It Myself gang, to be dependent on other programs, but it also introduces the absolutely devastating possibility that going too long without it will turn him into the equivalent of a ghoul (or in this case, the closest approximation in the Tron universe would be a Stray? Except instead of amnesia, this feral program is hunting down other programs to suck their energy out with the strength of a pissed off Tron to back it up)
-Also, since it’s vampire aesthetic: inherently sexy? Check. Who doesn’t love a good vampire angstily fighting the urge to feed, or his closest loved ones being like *hand to forehead* “Feed from ME” and they do that thing where they bare their neck all dramatically
-But speaking of, would vampire programs necessarily need to do the whole bite-suck thing? I like my programs uncanny, so my vote is no. I think it’s entirely a touch/proximity thing (like touching another program’s circuits, for example). Programs around Tron too long inexplicably begin to feel worn out, their circuits flickering dully. It adds fantastically to his general loner demeanor. The fact it could make a hug, or a kiss something painful? *chef kiss*
-Tron purposefully putting as few light lines as possible on his Rinzler-esque disguise because even while fighting others he doesn’t want to risk draining them completely of their energy
-The extra oomph it could add to the Scars situation when he picks up Dyson by the throat. I can totally imagine Tron looking him right in the eyes as Dyson starts to feel the energy getting sucked from his very programming, and Tron’s scar beginning to heal right in front of his face
-You just know his eyes glow all Rinzler orange when he’s going full vampire mode, sucking up some energy. That’s a given.
-Idk if I want him to have preferences (is it possible for energy to taste different?) but I do like the idea that he has to fight harder to feed from certain programs. Clenched jaw, hand in a shaking fist, maybe he even does that thing where as soon as they leave the room he grasps part of a wall and it gets all cracked from the sheer force of him holding back