diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7ae78d4..a620bf2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ This is a work-in-progress general purpose optimization library for pytorch. We
 
 Most optimizers are modular, meaning you can chain them like this:
 ```py
-optimizer = torchzero.optim.ModularOptimizer(model.parameters(), [*list of modules*])`
+optimizer = torchzero.optim.Modular(model.parameters(), [*list of modules*])`
 ```
 For example you might use `[ClipNorm(4), LR(1e-3), NesterovMomentum(0.9)]` for standard SGD with gradient clipping and nesterov momentum. Move `ClipNorm` to the end to clip the update instead of the gradients. If you don't have access to gradients, add a `RandomizedFDM()` at the beginning to approximate them via randomized finite differences. 
 
diff --git a/src/torchzero/modules/adaptive/adaptive.py b/src/torchzero/modules/adaptive/adaptive.py
index 9f34a08..4717812 100644
--- a/src/torchzero/modules/adaptive/adaptive.py
+++ b/src/torchzero/modules/adaptive/adaptive.py
@@ -53,13 +53,7 @@ def _update(self, state, ascent):
             ascent *= fmask
 
             if self.mode == 'grad':
-                print(f'before {ascent = }')
-                print(f'{grad = }')
-                print(f'{mask = }')
-                print(f'{grad * mask.logical_not() = }')
                 ascent += grad * mask.logical_not_()
-                print(f'after {ascent = }')
-                print()
 
             return ascent
 
diff --git a/src/torchzero/modules/meta/grafting.py b/src/torchzero/modules/meta/grafting.py
index cfbfba3..748e673 100644
--- a/src/torchzero/modules/meta/grafting.py
+++ b/src/torchzero/modules/meta/grafting.py
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ class IntermoduleCautious(OptimizerModule):
             main module or sequence of modules to chain, which update will be used with a consistency mask applied.
         compare_module (OptimizerModule | Iterable[OptimizerModule]):
             module or sequence of modules to chain, which update will be used to compute a consistency mask.
+            Can also be set to `ascent` to compare to update that is passed `main_module`, or `grad` to compare
+            to gradients.
         normalize (bool, optional):
             renormalize update after masking.
             only has effect when mode is 'zero'. Defaults to False.
@@ -143,18 +145,21 @@ class IntermoduleCautious(OptimizerModule):
     def __init__(
         self,
         main_module: OptimizerModule | Iterable[OptimizerModule],
-        compare_module: OptimizerModule | Iterable[OptimizerModule],
+        compare_module: OptimizerModule | Iterable[OptimizerModule] | Literal['ascent', 'grad'],
         normalize=False,
         eps=1e-6,
-        mode: Literal["zero", "grad", "negate", "compare_module"] = "zero",
+        mode: Literal["zero", "grad", "backtrack", "compare_module"] = "zero",
     ):
         super().__init__({})
 
         self._set_child_('main', Chain(main_module, ReturnAscent()))
-        self._set_child_('compare', Chain(compare_module, ReturnAscent()))
+        if isinstance(compare_module, str): self.compare_mode = compare_module
+        else:
+            self._set_child_('compare', Chain(compare_module, ReturnAscent()))
+            self.compare_mode = 'module'
         self.eps = eps
         self.normalize = normalize
-        self.mode: Literal["zero", "grad", "negate", "compare_module"]  = mode
+        self.mode: Literal["zero", "grad", "backtrack", "compare_module"]  = mode
 
     @torch.no_grad
     def step(self, state):
@@ -163,13 +168,18 @@ def step(self, state):
         ascent: TensorList = self.children['main'].step(state_copy) # type:ignore
         state.update_attrs_(state_copy)
 
-        compare: TensorList = self.children['compare'].step(state) # type:ignore
+        if self.compare_mode == 'module': compare: TensorList = self.children['compare'].step(state) # type:ignore
+        else:
+            params = self.get_params()
+            if self.compare_mode == 'ascent': compare: TensorList = state.maybe_use_grad_(params)
+            elif self.compare_mode == 'grad': compare: TensorList = state.maybe_compute_grad_(params)
+            else: raise ValueError(f'Invalid compare_module: {self.compare_mode}')
 
         # mask will be > 0 for parameters where both signs are the same
         mask = (ascent * compare) > 0
 
-        if self.mode == 'negate':
-            ascent -= ascent.mul(2).mul_(mask)
+        if self.mode == 'backtrack':
+            ascent -= ascent.mul(2).mul_(mask.logical_not_())
 
         else:
             # normalize if mode is `zero`
@@ -191,3 +201,4 @@ def step(self, state):
 
         state.ascent = ascent
         return self._update_params_or_step_with_next(state, params)
+
diff --git a/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/adamw.py b/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/adamw.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/cautious.py b/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/cautious.py
index 4a56dcc..c852c30 100644
--- a/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/cautious.py
+++ b/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/cautious.py
@@ -18,14 +18,13 @@ def __init__(
         eps: float = 1e-8,
         amsgrad=False,
         c_eps = 1e-6,
-        normalize = True,
+        normalize = False,
         mode: typing.Literal['zero', 'grad', 'backtrack'] = 'zero'
     ):
         modules: list[OptimizerModule] = [
-            Adam(lr = 1 if mode == 'grad' else lr, beta1 = beta1, beta2 = beta2, eps = eps, amsgrad = amsgrad),
+            Adam(lr = lr, beta1 = beta1, beta2 = beta2, eps = eps, amsgrad = amsgrad),
             Cautious(normalize = normalize, eps = c_eps, mode = mode),
         ]
-        if mode == 'grad': modules.append(LR(lr))
 
         super().__init__(params, modules)
 
@@ -44,10 +43,9 @@ def __init__(
         mode: typing.Literal['zero', 'grad', 'backtrack'] = 'zero'
     ):
         modules: list[OptimizerModule] = [
-            SGD(lr = 1 if mode == 'grad' else lr, momentum = momentum, dampening = dampening, weight_decay = weight_decay, nesterov = nesterov),
+            SGD(lr = lr, momentum = momentum, dampening = dampening, weight_decay = weight_decay, nesterov = nesterov),
             Cautious(normalize = normalize, eps = c_eps, mode = mode),
         ]
-        if mode == 'grad': modules.append(LR(lr))
 
         super().__init__(params, modules)
 
diff --git a/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/rprop.py b/src/torchzero/optim/first_order/rprop.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/tests/test_against_reference.py b/tests/test_against_reference.py
index 091ad56..f649077 100644
--- a/tests/test_against_reference.py
+++ b/tests/test_against_reference.py
@@ -136,3 +136,17 @@ def test_adagrad(lr, lr_decay, initial_accumulator_value, eps):
         lambda p: tz.optim.Modular(p, tz.m.Adagrad(lr, lr_decay, initial_accumulator_value, eps)),
         lambda p: torch.optim.Adagrad(p, lr, lr_decay, initial_accumulator_value = initial_accumulator_value, eps = eps), # type:ignore
     )
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('lr', [1e-1])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('compare', ['ascent', 'grad', tz.m.Mul(1)])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('normalize', [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('mode', ['zero', 'grad', 'backtrack'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('modular', [True, False])
+def test_cautious_vs_intermodule(lr, compare,normalize, mode,modular):
+    """tests IntermoduleCautious"""
+    if modular: opt1 = lambda p: tz.optim.Modular(p, tz.m.Adam(lr), tz.m.Cautious(normalize=normalize, mode=mode))
+    else: opt1 = lambda p: tz.optim.CautiousAdam(p, lr, normalize=normalize, mode=mode)
+    _test_against_reference(
+        opt1,
+        lambda p: tz.optim.Modular(p, tz.m.IntermoduleCautious(tz.m.Adam(lr), compare, normalize=normalize, mode=mode)), # type:ignore
+    )
\ No newline at end of file