blade-that-was-broken

[blade-that-was-broken]

He's 19? Awwwww no potential hickdory unless you aged him up

Yeah, he's kind of young. It's how it worked out for the concept with specific parameters in mind.

I don't really ship Hickory and John anyways. Granted, I don't really do a lot of ships in this fandom at all LOL

Part of the reason that John and Dickory bond is that they have brothers with a similar age gap (Dick and Hickory and JD and Branch) and although JD doesn't have the tight relationship with his brother at that time, it is something they talk about and can kind of relate to a bit with one another. This isn't the only thing, of course, but just another extra thing that makes them relatable to one another a bit.

As a general rule, there isn't a lot of non-canon ships in my writing, alternate universe or not. It's generally platonic based so most of the ships you are going to see in my writing is PoppyxBranch and BrucexBrandy. Now, this isn't an end all, be all but more often than not, there aren't much in the way of ships/romantic relationships anyways. I'm more focused on the platonic stuffs.

#ask #soldier on au #sorry ya'll but that's just the way I roll

[blade-that-was-broken]

I saw that you said "Tres" to Tresillo.

"Tres" means "three" in Spanish.

I imagine someone says that to him and Tresillo simply can't hold back his laughter (Maybe JD and/or Dickory and that's why I teach them Spanish, idk)

I did? Huh, didn't even realize that.

That's funny tho. I feel like something like that could end up being a running joke. And I love running jokes.

Dickory picks up languages pretty well in general; he's already bilingual so might as well add another one right? JD took a bit of Spanish in school, like most American kids, but it was kind of a way for JD to bond with him since Tresillo had a bit of trouble adjusting to authority and discipline.

#ask #soldier on au #I freaking love JD and Tresillo in this tho #Also Dickory #He doesnt get enough love poor dude #So he's gonna get a bestie

[blade-that-was-broken]

You know DJ Suki from Trolls, right?

Do you think she will ever be back?

Honestly I’m not sure if she will ever be back as I heard that her voice actor is busy in real life or something.

What do you think what happened to her? I know in TrollsTopia, it showed where she went in the final but as we know it’s not canon to movies and she wasn’t seen in TWT. (Never liked Legsly, I’m surprised I never realized that until now that DJ Suki wasn’t in TWT-)

I’m not sure if she will be in next movie but I’m kind of hope The Snack Pack will get more attention like in Trolls, unlike TWT and TBT.

Yes of course they were awesome in TWT, like Cooper having the important role and have a backstory to his family, Yay! :D

I’m fine with Biggie except how he did was great, as we saw in the end of TWT and how he said that the good queen should be listening, he helped in good way even if I don’t like him.

But TBT… what happened? Where they are?! If Tiny have big role in then should Guy be? He’s Guy’s son after all! Poor Guy…. :(

I hope some missing members are back in too, I like Smidge, she’s the great character.

I actually kind of liked DJ Suki. I'm not sure if she will be back. I guess it depends on a lot of things, even if there ends up being another movie. Not that she had a ton of screen time in the movie anyways; it was mostly the show which I don't think is technically canon?

Cooper's backstory kind of came out of nowhere but it also kind of makes sense cause he was so different. When it comes to that, I kind of understand Poppy's point. Like, despite Cooper being so different, no one ever treated him like he was an outsider and his differences are fairly obvious.

Biggie kind of drives me nuts sometimes lol but it might be his voice. also, controversial opinion, Mr. Dinkles wigs me out.

TBT was very Branch- centric. Tiny was mostly there because kids love him and he's got that extra comedic effect. I understand why the snack pack isn't really involved. That would be WAY too big of a cast for kids to understand and handle - and the cast was already big to begin with for that movie. We have to remember, in the end, no matter what age people are watching - these movies primary audience is children. Sure, it's got some adult humor - it's kind of like shrek. Kids can watch and have fun but the parents also watching can be amused at the same time.

Anyway, I got a little off topic.

If they do another movie, I'm kind of hoping it might be a bit more Poppy-centric? As we all know I LOVE Branch and JD and the rest of the bros but I'd love to see a bit more Poppy-centric stuff too. Especially now that she has a sister by her side. Possibly.

I think we think of the Snack Pack as this huge thing because of the TV show mostly. In the end, the movies are very easily about Poppy and Branch. It's the characters the audience focus on and since it's mostly just them, it can be easier to digest for kids. The rotating cast of new characters invites new jokes, new toys and new interests for the kids who don't always remember some of the side characters of other movies.

This is something that I generally like to keep in mind, that some of the movies we love and watch are made for children a lot younger than us. So I take everything with a grain of salt and that in mind and it definitely helps my enjoyment. I don't expect questions to be answered or deep themes to be addressed. That's something I - and others - can do through fanfiction.

So yeah... my two cents lol

#ask #I also have the dream that Branch and JD will get along due to their similarities and such but that is FAR FAR hopes #JD was the butt of the joke in TBT so I expect if he's in anything else #they will continue to make him that way

[blade-that-was-broken]

Sketch dump!

I might properly color these in the future but for now they're just sketches. Also! A little sneak peek on mine and @blade-that-was-broken AU. We're still working on it but BOY do we have a lot of ideas for y'all heheh.

Also Sans LMAOO

#y’all have no idea it’s so cute #like it's a pretty open concept but it's so friggin cute #like these characters are just the sweetest #and JD gets to be the baby and he's got no idea what to do with that #cause like... he has no idea what that's even like #HE's GONNA FIND OUT #Also we have the sweetest husband wife funk troll couple that are just the literal best #endless did the country troll design for the most part and I LOVE him #dude is gonna have that fantastic deep deep country voice like hehe #I love this funky little characters that don't have names yet lol #one of these days we will find a name for the concept lol

[blade-that-was-broken]

This art is made by @endlesspaint, it got me laughing for 3 minutes straight.

https://www.tumblr.com/endlesspaint/748461317431640064?source=share

Isn’t that the legit funniest thing??? Omg it made me CACKLE

I’m Still Here!JD would find that funny like cmon. For this you were born!JD… he just needs more naps 😂

Endlesspaint has got quite the sense of humor and I love it hehehe

#ask #I’m still here au #for this you were born au

[blade-that-was-broken]

Ya'll have any idea how funny this is like WHOOOOOOOOOOOO I love it

I was CACKLING when I saw this. CACKLING.

When I saw the WIP, I was NOT expecting this to be what they were looking at.

I'm Still Here!JD would be like LOL this is hilarious. He's probably behind the gravestone, ready to give them all a heart attack. (Let’s face it, he would find it funny)

Except for For This You were Born!JD. He can panic but not about that and I don't think he can get heart attacks anymore. He'd be more like oh... I guess I have a chance then 😂 That dude is so tired and needs like a million more naps.

Also Not the Only One!JD looks friggin adorable.

I literally cannot wrap my head around that people like some of my aus so much. It literally boggles my mind. Andisjsnaaifkdosjd I’m so glad y’all like them thoooo hehe

DRAW YOUR FAVORITE AUS (but only John Dory) CHALLENGE!

Brotherhood AU by @0ketlyn-s & @tea0w0stache

World Tour AU by @year2000electronics

Not the Only One AU by @ryssbelle

Blast to The Past AU by @that-cool-guy

Im Still Here AU by @blade-that-was-broken

For This You Were Born AU by @blade-that-was-broken

Had fun coloring this but it took foreveeeeeerrrrrr because of school. As you can see from the "Im Still Here" AU, John Dory is just a tombstone 💀. It's because I made this before it was revealed that John Dory wasn't dead. I legit thought he was seriously dead so I did what I do best and use humor to cope LMAO.

(also-- Brotherhood!JD and NotTheOnlyOne! JD having the same pose makes me go 🧍🏻‍♂️So to cope, Imma just delude myself that this is the universal John Dory pose LMAOO)

#ftywb!JD is so ugly it's hilarios #the dude is beat up and tired TM #re;gafisgnlfmgpofnlnsd I'm so glad you like some of my aus it just makes my heart all warm and fuzzy #i had no idea my heart could even do such a thing what #this took so long I’m sorry #work has me legit swamped

[blade-that-was-broken]

John was sixteen when he figured out he was living alone.

He probably should have realized it sooner. Months since he left his brothers and moved up north with his father, but then suddenly, all he had was silence and free time. And not in a good way. His father suddenly had little interest in anything except his job and fishing. John could probably die in the woods one day and his father might not have even noticed.

Or maybe John just thought he wouldn't.

John is sixteen when he leaves home for the first time, spending weeks making his way back down to his mother's house - only to find it sold off and abandoned.

The whole trip took over a month but when he returned and was asked where he was, John didn't know what to tell his father. He said camping and it was accepted without fight or worry.

He wonders how long he could be gone at a time.

John is sixteen when he gets a job. It is just part time and doesn't pay a lot, but it is enough for him to get a bit of extra income to spend on the things he wants. His father's job pays well for the both of them to live but John doesn't really see any of it outside of basic bills he has to pay to keep the lights and heat on. He likes the movement and the work, and he gets to talk to people although John doesn't really say much. By this point, he's pretty used to the silence.

He is sixteen when he guts a fish for the first time. His father was gone for a week and there was little food in the house - with less money - but plenty of fishing poles and bait. He goes out, catches a fish and follows a video on how to gut and cook it. His father comes home irritated that his pole and some of his bait is missing but he calms down when he sees leftover fish on the stove. He doesn't apologize for the outburst, but John doesn't expect him to.

He is sixteen when he tries alcohol for the first time. He doesn't understand why his dad likes it.

He is sixteen when he gets lost in the woods for two weeks.

He is sixteen when his father disappears for almost an entire month. Considering John had done this himself; he doesn't say a word when his father trudges through the door looking for dinner.

He is sixteen when he breaks his first bone. It's only his finger but it still hurts. His father wraps it up so it would heal straight. John still isn't sure it did.

He is sixteen when he steps into that tiny hometown church and he leaves the service that day not certain God exists but if He does, maybe John isn't entirely alone.

He is sixteen when he makes a friend. It's not a person.

He is sixteen when he creates his clue board, trying to track down his brothers. He asks everyone; he gathers all of the evidence and intelligence he can. He spends weeks perfecting travel down to his hometown to try and investigate.

He is sixteen when he realizes no one knows anything. Fifteen years of being neighbors with the same people and no one knew where his mother took his brothers.

John is seventeen when he spends his birthday alone just outside a simple old cabin, huddled around a fire with a candle in a marshmallow. He only has one wish.

John is almost seventeen and a half when he can entirely live out in the wilderness by himself if he wanted.

He almost did.

John is seventeen and a half when he follows a girl from church to the recruitment office. They both have things they are running from and neither of them judge. Neither of them can. She stands by his side as they fill out paperwork and she asks him if he's okay. He hasn't been asked that for years.

John gives her a grin that's only partially fake and tells her never better.

John is seventeen and a half when he leaves home for the last time.

And then realizes it was never home at all.

#soldier on au #idk where this came from but it did #did a mini thing during work and then finished it up here #john gets real self sufficient real fast #he's got to in the environment he is in #so there is that #I'm still debating on timelines #cause yeah #JD looks for his brothers but idk if much would change if he did so after he becomes an adult sooooo i dunno

[blade-that-was-broken]

How old is Hickory in the soldier au

I had to try and think about this one a bit. I’m not great with ages cause it often sends me in a realism spiral so more often than not I avoid it lol. John is about 30 when he loses his leg. Dickory isn't much older, maybe a couple years? But one of the reasons why Dick and JD get along/understand each other a bit is because the age gap between them and their (youngest) brother is about the same. (I'm totally making this up as I go along)

So when JD is about 30 ish, Branch is about 15/16 so at this point, Hickory would be at least probably 19? Dickory has so far kept his brother out of the military as of yet, so he's in college, but it's a slippery slope. Those two are kinda tight.

Dickory wants to get his 20 years in with the military and then he's out - if only to try and keep Hickory out. It's not that he's bad mouthing being a soldier; he just wants to protect his brother - like all big brothers do and he knows Hickory has talents that are far better suited for something else.

So short answer - about 19 I think.

#ask #soldier on au #unless someone has better ideas about it lol #I'm open for em

[blade-that-was-broken]

I'm not Colombian but I know some of their language. Do you want some ideas of things Tresillo should say? (Like bad words, foods, etc., mainly insults, which is what I learned the most)

Dude, absolutely!!

#ask #I'm so down to know things #I want Tres to be a part of this a bit more but idk how it'll go #but the more I know the easier it will be so bring it on!! #soldier on au

[blade-that-was-broken]

Well there’s child that bites that’s Bruce jr I believe, there is the one that got stuck in the ketchup bottle that one is also real hyperactive so maybe HC those two as twins make em identical nightmare children. I saw a fanfic where one of Bruce’s kids was like super allergic and intolerant to practically everything which causes problems cause Bruce owns a restaurant. And of course there is anarchist daughter. You should definitely give Bruce and brandy at least one pair of twins or triplets to justify him eventually having like 8-9 kids by the time he’s like 40ish.

Thanks for the ideas! Since we basically know nothing about them and most of them I don't even think have names at this point (?) it can be kinda of difficult. Bruce was about 13 when their parents divorced and it has been about fifteen years so Bruce is only about 28 at this point. He's not done having kids but he's got several already.

"Those two are twins, Jr. likes to bite," Bruce grimaced a little as he showed John some pictures. Brandy insisted on driving back home, even though Bruce said he could do it. He wasn't sure what her game plan was but she wasn't taking no for an answer. John just silently looked at whatever Bruce showing him at any given time and didn't seem to mind the rant and chatter. "And his twin is really... hyperactive. I love them to death but wow, they are everywhere, you have no idea."

"I can probably fix the biting," John replied.

He'd been doing that, insisting he could help or fix things or whatever. Bruce really wasn't sure what to make of it. His first instinct had been thinking that John thought there was something wrong with his kid that needed to be fixed and that made him upset. Sure, Jr. shouldn't be biting and they would work on that but he wasn't some broken thing to be fixed.

John said everything so plainly and Bruce couldn't really determine his meaning.

But he kept telling himself that John wasn't exactly himself either. The doctors said he would probably come back to himself. He just didn't really know who his brother was anymore.

"Uh... this one is allergic to pretty much life in general, especially cats, for some reason?" he said, flipping through the photo. "Which is tough because out neighbor loves cats and well... he's been kind of taking a liking to them too."

"Feed him eggs from a farm with barn cats," John replied.

"Uh... what?"

John looked up at him and tilted his head a little. Bruce had to take a moment to take that in. Clay did the same thing. Geez, how was he going to tell everyone else? He'd figure that out later.

"Helps with allergies."

"Okay...? It can be difficult with the restaurant since there is a bunch of stuff he's allergic and intolerant of but we are working on a medication regiment. And he's not really supposed to be around the kitchen anyways," he continued, trying to keep things normal but his speech just kept getting quicker and more excited. "They are going to love you. They have always wanted an uncle living close by. I know technically you don't have to stay out here but it is the best and you have an in!"

"An... in?"

"Me!" Bruce nodded with a grin. "I can get you set up with a fantastic place when you are recovered, if you want. You can stay with us as long as you want, I just know a lot of people tend to be independent so I thought hey, maybe he'd want a little place on the beach or something instead but then again, we haven't really seen each other in..."

"Alright, honey," Brandy interrupted. "You are getting a little excited."

"Where else would he go? We are by far the most financially stable and it's Hawaii for heaven's sake. People would kill to live here. There can't possibly be anywhere better. He doesn't even have an address."

Brandy just shot him a slight glare in the rearview mirror.

"Uh, he's right... uhm about the address thing," John confessed. "If I needed to spend my leave off base, I usually just found a camping spot or stayed with one of my squad."

Brandy's face twisted into something interested and possibly mischievous. John wouldn't have been able to catch it but Bruce definitely could. "Oh! We would love to hear about them! You must be very close."

"We are," John shrugged, lightly. "Might as well be family at this point. Kinda curated an orphans, losers and runaways club. Or in my case, all three," he chuckled.

It was the first time Bruce heard any sound that could possibly be classified as vague amusement from John, although Bruce wasn't entirely sure if it was genuine. He knew one thing; he didn't really like the type of humor.

"Except for Chaz, he's just a fool," John snorted. "They wouldn't let me get rid of him."

"What about the others?"

"Dickory is one of the best. He's very cunning but you can count on him even in strange plans. Pete is retired, not that you'd ever know he was there in the first place. Barely said a word. We useta call him Growly Pete cause that's generally how he was."

Okay. Best friend. Crotchety old man. This was okay. This seemed normal.

"Tresillo... hasn't been with us long but he's shaping up to be a good kid. Needed some discipline but considering his parents weren't exactly in the picutre, I get where he's comin from. He's grown a lot in the time that he's been with us, we're really proud of him."

Brandy glanced at Bruce again. He knew what she was thinking.

He wasn't going to think about it.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

He listed off a few more. "And then... and then Delta."

"Oh! Who is Delta?" Brandy asked with a smile.

"She's mah girl."

His what?

"My partner in crime, the law, whatever you wanna call it," John replied, rubbing his arm and looking out the window. "Go-to gal, best friend, right hand man or I'm hers, whatever you got, it's us. By some miracle the military thought it best to keep us stationed together. She ain't crazy but probably a good choice on their part."

"So, I suppose we will be seeing her visit sometime?"

"I'll haveta call her sister and see what all happened after well, this," John shrugged. "But maybe. It used to be where you found one of us, you wouldn't find the other far behind. I dunno how that'll be now. Things are different, but uhm... I'm hopin' she''ll come around sometime.''

#ask #soldier on au #i lost a whole page sobs #so I don't really remember what JD said about Tresillo and Delta and had to start over #I'm really sad about it

[blade-that-was-broken]

Okay whoever had the ask about Tresillo and JD I love you lol

It’s gonna take some time to answer cause I don’t know what I’m all doing but you’re giving me the brain worms and I’m just like haha tears I love all of this.

So… fyi lol

#soldier on au

[blade-that-was-broken]

I don’t know why asking but I’m curious.

How did you first find out about Trolls? What did you think about Trolls? What were your favorite character?

About TBT

How did you think and feel about Branch when TBT first released? About fact he has four brothers? How do you feel about JD, Clay, Floyd and Bruce when you first saw them? Sure they have reasons why they left but they weren’t thinking straight, their reasons were stupid and worse they even decided to leave and BOOM! We know what happened in TBT.

(Poor Baby Branch being left in Trolls Tree in the middle of Bergen Town and poor JD…)

How did you think about bunker that it was the originally for his brothers as Branch built?

What’s your favorite member of BroZone, other than JD and Branch?

Where did you think Clay was after he left? There was a theory that he didn’t leave Trolls Tree but I’m not sure about that one.

Did you know that Branch was originally going to be kidnapped by Velvet and Veneer but that was changed to Floyd, that I heard about that. It would have been so much angst! :(

What do you think Trolls 4 going to be about if there’s one? (Idk why I’m asking that 😅)

Oh boy... I'm not sure about the first time I saw Trolls.

I have several younger siblings so I have watched a TON of animated movies over the course of my teenage and young adult years (I'm still a young adult, I'm not that old I promise lol) and several of my siblings do NOT shy away from the animated kids stuff. My guess is one of my sisters put it on and since most of us like the musical movies, it kind of worked out. Why I latched onto it for my hyperfixation a few months ago? I have ZERO idea.

My favorite character was Branch. Introvert, sarcastic, organizational nut, overthinking paranoid? Yeah, might as well be me with a little extra trauma and crazy. (After my fixation started, JD was added to that favorite. I'm sorry just that's how it is) I had watched movie one and two and whatever before but I didn't think much of it. And then the third movie came out and my sister watched it and I decided to rewatch the entire movie series - with most of the tv shows - as well because that is what I do.

I binge watch shows and movies and draw. I'm a big homebody and most of my time is spent drawing so that's kind of what worked. And then I watched the third movie and then watched it again and upon the second watching, zeroed in on John Dory's "thought you were dead" and "came back" parts and well, hyperfixation galore.

I didn't really watch anything as it was released; as I didn't really follow Trolls that closely. Like I said, my fixation isn't very old. So I didn't really care? Okay so when I watched TBT for the first time, my favorite character was Branch and the other brothers, I didn't have much opinion on? Except for Floyd who I LOATHED. The others leaving? Fine, whatever, I didn't really see it as much as child abandonment in the sense that others do at the time because he was left with his grandmother who, as the adult - should have been raising him anyways - so I guess I didn't see it the way some others did.

For my dislike of Floyd in the beginning, it was because of that promise. The others didn't promise to come back so I didn't really hold them to that standard but Floyd promised to return (there is also him telling Branch to take care of grandma which... I GET why he said that and it makes sense too for a kid but Branch... Branch probably didn't take it the way kids normally do) and he never did. Twenty years. Look, I get that the writers probably did not have that backstory when they were first writing the first trolls movie, I get it but AUGHHHHH

The second time I watched TBT, I got a bit more of a opinion on the brothers. Eventually my dislike of Floyd softened, mostly because I figure he's not as grudge-holding as some of the others. Trust me, I know how holding grudges can eat you up. Clay kind of annoyed me; like he felt so childish with the whole "I'm serious and boring thing" like dude, just chill. I like Brandy, don't get me wrong, but the whole giants/muppets thing threw me off guard and it kind of wigs me out just a bit. Idk, it's probably just me.

Also them getting so upset with JD when he slips up on Bruce's name in kind of a heated situation irritates the heck out of me. Don't ask my why, it just did.

Anyways, I don't have a good memory so idk on most of this stuff lol

I think it's really sweet that the bunker was built for his brothers too. I know Branch does that specific thing for Floyd, like, that's his favorite and whatever, but it's nice that everyone was included. It was kind of like that holding onto hope that they would at least come and visit or something; like they would always have a place with him. Which pisses me off more about none of them coming back. I'm not saying they had to stay but geez, they coulda called or whatever. This is mostly with Bruce and maybe Floyd. We don't really know what Floyd was up to so idk. Bruce literally just settled down and pretty much entirely forgot about his family point blank. Clay has a bit of an excuse, since Viva was protective and he had to lead people. John has a bit of an excuse too considering he thought Branch was dead.

I think the Clay one is kind of hard. I don't... I'm not sure if I think that Clay and Viva were friends before the escape. And I'm not sure if Clay stayed in the tree or not. Like, that's a hard one. Cause idk if that would be worse, if he was in the tree and never even visited Branch. I know the timeline between everything is SUPER sketchy and aging for Trolls seems to be... confusing at best (considering Branch is like a couple months old when he's performing?? Or something?? Idk) so who knows how much time passed between the band breakup and the escape.

My guess? Not a lot of time is between the two. I know Branch seems to "look" 5-6 or whatever in the first movie flashbacks but who even knows with Trolls; everything about them is wild and uncertain and the writers certainly don't seem to care about timelines/continuity that much. It's fine, I don't really mind, since it is a kids movie but whatever.

I did hear about Branch being the one to be captured once upon a time. I think that's a bit too much angst; the dude is literally full of angst. I'm kind of glad that it wasn't him but I'm also not entirely fond of how Floyd is treated as a character? Idk, I guess that is mostly up for interpretation. I think it would also be really hard to find John Dory, considering he travels a lot and thinks everyone is dead lol. Or at least, Branch. Well, up until after TWT. So... I'm not sure?

Trolls 4... hmmm. I'm curious on how long they are going to milk this. I'm a little worried if they do because if the brothers are in it, John's just going to be treated like the butt of the joke like in TBT and I'm not a huge fan of that, as much as I would love to see more of the bros. I'd like to think they'd do something either more world-wide centric with the other tribes or something a bit more Poppy-centric, since TBT is pretty much solely Branch-centric. Maybe some Viva and Poppy bonding.

#ask #shockingly not au related HAHA #this got kind of long #I usually have thoughts

[blade-that-was-broken]

#myart #bladedraws #luthiendraws #dark as a DCEU movie lol

[blade-that-was-broken]

“I knew you could write but wow… John, these are…”

“Depressing, I’m aware.”

“But beautiful,” Floyd insisted. “What my college professor would give to study this.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Floyd replied quickly. Introducing John to that can of worms was a whole other conversation. “You said something about listening to sad music while reading sad books?”

“I guess?”

“Maybe you could record some of these!”

“Do you want to?”

“What?”

“Sing some of them.”

Floyd hesitated. Oh, it was tempting for sure. With these lyrics and Floyd’s voice? It would be quite the combination. Floyd wasn’t a bad lyrcist but his strength was in his voice itself. John had always been able to write. Not that John had a bad voice, but his talent was in the music he wrote more than any other part.

#I’m still here au

[blade-that-was-broken]

HC for the soldier au, you know how kids in the US write those letters to soldiers overseas that the schools never like check before sending out so they say the most unhinged shit. Anyway a lot of the time they try to send those letters to squads of soldiers from the same state or area that the soldiers from the squad are from (this is not always the case but sometimes it is). Anyway basically one time one of branches letters made it to the front of a war that JD was fighting in and JD went feral trading and bribing people to get that letter cause branch actually signed that thing with his first and last name and it’s now one of jds prized possessions that he laminated and took with him everywhere.

Branch is touched but also super embarrassed when he finds this out because 3rd grader Branch was going through it and was a weird ass kinda emo 9 year old due to the family drama going down at the time so the letter says something like “thank you for being a soldier so smart kids like me don’t have to die in war” (this is a quote taken from a real unhinged soldier letter that a real soldier in Afghanistan actually received) with a crayon drawing of like a guy getting shot.

Headcanon no more! It's canon now. I love this so much

In the end, it was Dickory who got it.

John was pretty sure he stole it but he didn't care.

All of the guys - even that sheep's face, Chaz - knew about John's strange situation and the forced estrangement from the brothers he could not find. It was the one thing that John didn't really shut up about and most of them let it go, passing it off as sadness or grief or whatever, since he hadn't seen or heard from them in years. It was entirely possible he never would. And considering how John normally was - fairly quiet, kind of eerily still sometimes - they let it pass. Except for Chaz but well, no one cared what Chaz wanted.

Not every soldier in their platoon received a letter from a kid that day but a few did. And the moment John heard the name, he practically went feral.

Which, in hindsight, they all probably should have seen coming. He was practically raised in the woods. And if how John spoke about it was any indication, it was far in there.

"Yeah dude," someone said at another table. "Our squad got them too. Those kids are insane."

John, Dickory and Growly Pete were in a mess hall lunch room. Although John tended to avoid it, especially when Chaz was there, as fights were prone to break out for some reason, Dickory pretty much twisted his arm for it. Not that it was hard. JD and Dickory were pretty close, surprisingly so. It probably didn't help that John was a softie when it came to people he cared about. Which was most of his squad.

"What happened to normal names like Steve or Bethany? Parents are comin' up with crazy weird names these days!"

"I got a Dawn," another guy replied. "That's not too bad."

"Better than mine."

"What name was on yours?"

"Get this. Kid's name was Branch. Who does that?"

John went rigid within the moment and both Dickory and Pete noticed right away, glancing up from their food. "Nein," Dick grumbled with his nose wrinkling. "What is this? Why are you like this?"

He didn't respond, just stood up and whipped around to the other table. The others jumped, a little surprised at the sudden and slightly menacing presence. "Can we help you...?"

"Do you still have it?"

"Have what?"

"The letter."

"From the weirdo named kid?"

"Hmmmm."

The other soldiers glanced at one another. "Nw. One of the other squad guys found it hilarious and wanted it."

"Who?"

"What is your problem?"

"WHO?"

And that was how it started. John spent every spare minute tracking down that letter, which kept switching hands constantly. It was like John was chasing a butterfly in the wind. The squad quickly learned not to say anything about it or how John was acting. Of course Chaz decided not to listen.

He got pain for his troubles.

The rest of the platoon heard rumors and liked playing around. Suddenly it was kind of a game to keep it out of John's hands. It wasn't out of malice. If anyone knew who it was or what it meant, they wouldn't dare. Keeping a soldier from a loved one's communication was shameful and an unspoken rule.

Then one night Dickory hopped on John's bed, almost crushing his legs and shoved the paper in John's face. "Di-" John jumped and then sputtered. "What is this?"

"What do you think, you fool?" Dickory huffed. "I got it for you."

John stared at it. "Is this..."

"Ja," Dick nodded.

"Did you... dude, did you steal this?"

He shrugged. "Does it matter? You have it now and this foolish game can cease. I understand what it is even if these other idiots do not."

"Thanks man... this, this means..."

"A lot. I know. Are ya going to open it?"

John did so carefully and barked out a short laugh. "He's funny."

"Is it your brother?"

"Yeah," he sighed, wistfully. "He signed his full name. Do you want to read it?"

"I don't have to. I got it for you not for... what do they say? Giggles?"

John laughed lightly. "I think you'll like this."

"Dear Soldier,

Would you like to trade places with me? I think you could handle my stupid family better and I'd be okay with marching around and learning how to hold a gun.

My brothers are dumb, eat all the food in the house and always want to go out watching music. You listen to music, not watch it.

My teacher says I need to thank you so thanks for doing your marching and shooting so smart people like me don't have to. But really, if you want a break and like watching music - call me. I could use a break.

But I guess do the shooting. Don't get shot. I'm pretty sure that is your job anyway.

If there are any girls there marry her, get it over with before you get old and ugly when your done. Best to do it now. Unless you are already old and ugly well then sorry.

Have you ever fought a shark? Some soldiers are on boats so I thought maybe you have. Punch the nose. unless you are one of those in the woods. Don't run from a bear. It'll catch you. Good luck.

Branch

"Your brother is... random," Dickory noted, curiously. "Where did the wife and shark come in?"

"He's like, nine, Dick," John smiled. "He's just a kind."

"One day, John Dory, you're going to meet him again and I am entirely sure you will be best friends."

"One can only hope."

#soldier on au #ask #John Dory #Dickory #literally any pictures or things John has #he keeps them as prized possessions #this would be one of them #also he has written letters to his brothers over the years #obviously never sent them because he didn't know where they are #so this dude just has this random stack of letters he has written over the years that were never sent #sad thought of the day

[blade-that-was-broken]

As we know why Bruce changed from Spruce to Bruce to leave the whole band thing behind in the original (If I’m correct-)

But there’s some AUs of yours that the band doesn’t exist, but Spruce still did change his name to Bruce, why did he do that?

About Solder AU

For some reason I’m mad and disappointed in BroZone’s parents.

Do Mom really hates John Dory? Do Dad not care about his four young sons?

Why did they keep their sons away from seeing each other?

What they did was really stupid and worse. Divorced or not, having siblings separated isn’t great idea. Poor Branch…

(I know he doesn’t remember John Dory)

I’m glad that all brothers are finally going to reunite and Bruce and Clay giving John Dory a chance even if John Dory wasn’t sure if they want him back.

Alright!

This gets just a bitttt long.

For Bruce's name the short answer is I'm just kind of lazy lol.

In my other human au, Half Life, there is a notion that Spruce doesn't like his name. It has nothing to do with a band or an old identity, like in canon but it does kind of include him moving on. It's actually kind of the opposite a little bit of canon and the band thing? Like, in Half Life, Spruce moves on my owning his name and learning to like it. It's his and no one can take that away. Sure, it's kind of weird and yeah, his parents gave it to him - but it's something that he confronts and works through, kind of like a metaphor(?) for him confronting and working through his feelings on what he has been through.

In Soldier On, I was mostly just lazy. I didn't think about it. The whole concept was really just that little snippet and I wasn't planning on doing anything else at the time so I just wrote Bruce. So, idk, maybe he changed his name in this au or maybe he was born/named Bruce. You can decide lol

As for Soldier On Specifically in the other questions...

Luckily, none of the bros actually blame John for pretty much any of this. Granted, it would be hard to be upset at all considering what he has been through and also that they kinda forgot about HIM. John Dory has some feelings and some reservations about all this. He loves them but he knows he's not always easy to get along with and considering the last part of his upbringing, he's got some doubts, mostly in himself.

Branch doesn't remember JD but he remembers little things, feelings, mostly. He can hum/possibly sing an old song that no one knows how he knows. No one knows where it came from. Well, no one knows because it was JD who made it up and sung it to him as a baby. A lot. So, it's almost kind of engrained accidentally? They do end up getting along.

As for their parents...

The mom doesn't hate John and the dad does care about his other kids; it was just the tail end of an extremely long and drawn out fight where no one really won. The divorce was brutal, bitter and messy. I'm talking no holds barred nasty. Now, I do want to say, that the dad was not abusive; he didn't beat up his wife or make the whole thing traumatizing for her. They aren't divorcing because she's trying to get away from her crazy ex husband. That is NOT what happened. They were mean and cruel to each other but this is not one sided and the mom is not a victim of domestic violence. I'm not saying the dad is better than her but I do want to point that out.

The only - sort of - compromise that the two of them were ever able to make was the dad getting the oldest son, aka John. There are reasons for this, partially because John could live where their father was going to take him and not be super dependent, partially becomes lets face it, courts will favor the mother and if he fought her more over the kids, he was going to lose. Not because he's worse (they both kinda suck) but because that's the way things work.

The mom dealt with things by cutting out her ex husband. Instead of trying to work together for the sake of their kids, she shut down and didn't want to think of her ex husband at all. She literally tried to cut him out of her life and since John had to go with said ex husband, she put him in the same boat. She erased his memory, as if he was never there. She did a lot, moving away and didn't tell anyone, got new phones, erased phone numbers and contacts and call history. She did not want her ex husband to have any influence or thought in her life and since John was with him - that included him.

The dad kind of lost fight. He was able to have the company of one kid - the kid who liked the outdoorsy things - and knew the future would not include the others. He moved up north into a place that wasn't very populated. Lived a very, very simple life. More survived than lived. I'm talking probably a log cabin in the middle of the woods kind of living. He accepted what happened and just kind of stopped. He did things with John, mostly fishing, hunting, other outdoor-nature things and he didn't systematically destroy his son's memory like their mother. However, he didn't talk about them either and eventually come to prefer the company of the bottle or a smoke when the subject of his other sons come up. John became extremely self-sufficient very quickly.

There grew some resentment in JD, for sure. Neither parent dealt with any of this really well and in the end, it's not technically what killed them, it was definitely a contributing factor. Both parents died pretty young, although of different causes. The kids were really the ones who lost. In their fight against one another and trying to forget about one another, they brought that all on their kids instead.

While the younger boys lived a busy life with a semi struggling mother trying to drown out any memory or talk of their father and brother, John spent his teenage years in loneliness and virtual silence.

It shows.

#soldier on au #john dory #this got kinda deep lol

[blade-that-was-broken]

“Branch?”

John’s voice was soft and patient, almost a little hesitant like he was talking to a scared animal. Branch wasn’t sure if he should be offended or appreciate the quiet. He just stared ahead with a deepening frown, his oldest brother - wow, Bruce wasn’t his oldest brother - looking at him with all the calm in the world. He wasn’t bothered.

“You’re going to have to step of the brake if you want to go anywhere,” John continued, mildly amused.

He was sitting in the passenger seat of their grandma’s vehicle. There was no one else around. Branch was sixteen and was barely in the class to learn how to drive. His grandmother couldn’t drive very well, much less teach someone like Branch but then his oldest brother who he practically didn’t even know existed just showed up one day. Next thing Branch knew, said oldest brother offered to try start with him. To try and start teaching him a few of the basics. Their grandma jumped at the chance. Part of it was to give him a step up in learning how to drive. Part of it was probably because Branch didn’t have any friends or interact with anyone. So there Branch was, gripping the wheel with almost white knuckles and putting half his weight into the foot on the brake.

“I know.”

“Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m trying to control thousands of pounds of metal,” Branch muttered like it was obvious. Which it was. Cars were dangerous and he wasn’t looking forward to having to drive them. “I could hurt someone.”

He could see John’s soft smile in the corner of his eye. If nothing else, this was amusing to him but Branch didn’t seem to see it in a condescending way which was strange. “Buddy, we’re in an empty parking lot.”

“I know.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“No.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Branch paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Do you think I can?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“You sound so sure.”

That was kind of incredible. Branch and John barely knew each other and he had been so quick to have this kind of faith in him. He believed it too. There was something about the way he spoke about most things, with a confidence and assurance lost on Branch, that made the younger simply believe him.

“It someone like me can learn how to drive a tank, then you - who is leagues smarter than me or anyone I know - can drive this dinky little car. I promise.”

#soldier on au #do you understand how much I love them??? #like screaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmm #they’re very special to me #in pretty much all my aud #but like guyyyyyssssss #Augh I don’t have words #I just don’t #okay I’m done now #gotta go back to work lol