#bruce and clay having entire Moments while branch is ''?????????????a''

[amethyst-halo]

ive seen jd holding branch when he hatches and ive seen floyd but listen. listen. bruce being the first to meet lil baby branch. realizing he wants to be a dad one day

or clay being the first one to meet him and he was kinda dreading it n stuff but he sees branch and immediately is like "i'd protect this lil guy with my LIFE"

[bobbydagen24]

How I'd maybe change TBTs ending to try and make Bro zone less toxic.

Sorry I just had to get that meme out of my system don't take it personally I just want to keep things light hearted 😂😂😂😂

anyway I really feel like following the big argument and Poppy and Branch going off separate from Bro zone Branch should also get captured

I'd have him go down first by himself into the room where Floyd is, only to get taken by V and V before Poppy has to chance to come down from the air duct.

( remember Velvet was expecting Bro zone to come save Floyd so its not too hard to imagine she'd have a trap already prepared for when they arrived )

so afterwards she runs away after Branch tells her to realising she wouldn't be able to take V and V on by herself.

so she catches back up with Rhonda where the brothers were all going to go back to their homes since they figured Poppy and Branch would just save Floyd on their own and that they didn't want them involved anymore.

but after telling them that Branch was also captured obviously they all agree to put their petty crap to one side to go save the two youngest ( I'm not gonna write Bro zone as complete psychopaths 😂😂)

really its pretty simple this way the next handful of scenes can actually focus on the older Brothers aka the ones who frankly need the attention more than Poppy and Branch did.

since Poppy's arc was over after the scene directly following the argument so she and Branch didn't actually need any more screen time after that.

this way we can get a few more scenes of the older Brothers still struggling to work together despite their mutual goal of saving Floyd and Branch.

I'd have JD be the one to have the eureka moment of realising their family doesn't need to be perfect after overhearing Poppy

since ya know he was the one who actually had that problem making Branch have that realisation is kinda arsed backwards tbh.

I'd have one scene of Branch and Floyd being reunited only this time its while their both in separate prisons it can be nice and sweet but also have Branch nervously question him on why he never came back.

and maybe Floyd somewhat ashamed says that he went out on his own and tried to start his solo career but he failed very badly.

he wanted to prove he could maybe be his own person outside of his older brothers but he couldn't hack it and he was too embarrassed to face Branch and Grandma.

so he held off on coming back for a few years but when he did finally decide to by then the Trolls had already left so it was the same deal with JD Floyd saw the empty tree and their Grandma's empty pod.

and either thought that they were both dead or that they both had escaped together but either way he didn't think he'd ever see them again.

I'm not saying this is the perfect explanation for Floyd I'm just putting it fourth as one possible idea anyway back to Bro zone.

just before the climax I'd have one last scene briefly between JD Bruce and Clay where JD actually owns up to his wrongdoings and for causing the family to split apart with how he treated them.

and while they do say they appreciate JD finally acknowledging his behaviour they do also admit it isn't entirely on him as obviously they were just as quick to Break their family up both times.

anyway we head on to the climax this time while trapped Branch and Floyd actually get to witness their older bros all standing together to confront V and V.

and the climax can almost basically play out the same only this time after retrieving Branch's Diamond prison JD is the one who huddles everyone together to say the thing about them not needing to be perfect.

and him saying he'll step back and let someone else lead to which one of the other Bros reaction could be "" who are you? and what have you done with JD? "" lol.

anyway the Harmony goes as normal Floyd is saved as normal and after Floyd is back on his feet and Branch and Poppy have had their little moment.

then the Bro zone members have their moment with Branch and JD is the first to apologise given he feels the whole thing is his fault and he was the first one to walk away.

but Bruce and Clay and Floyd do step up to acknowledge their wrongdoings as well leaving the family altogether simply because they were angry with JD.

and also being so quick to want to walk away again in present day simply because it was easier than actually trying to deal with any of their problems and not actually taking his feelings into account.

To which Branch then does agree to give them one more chance and they promise not to let him down again.

anyway most of the ending scene with Kismet's introduction and what not can stay the same tho I would like to add in a small detail of Bro zone maybe doing something.

like they all excitedly try to go in for a big group hug beginning to playfully pull Branch in against his will only for him to look visibly uncomfortable before the bros kinda realise their mistake and backtrack.

saying sorry and that they forgot showing a bit of growth from their earlier interactions in the film and showing that they are actually trying to take things at a slower pace as per Branch's wishes.

anyway yeah that's just a few changes I'd make to the films third act to try and make it feel a little more complete as honestly having Bro zone getting captured for the third act literally does nothing

in terms of character arcs the film continued focusing on Poppy and Branch following the argument scene even tho their arcs were done Bro zone were the ones who needed that screen time.

so having them be captured and literally forced to do the Harmony in a life or death situation does nothing for their arcs nor the story overall.

it'd literally be better if they never showed up in the movie again as opposed to showing up only to be captured and then forced to compromise in order to save their own skin

and then playing happy families in the end acting like they had a complete arc and they deserved forgiveness when they really didn't.

This way the movie actually puts it on them to make the effort to fix the family rather than putting it on Branch who was ultimately the victim in the whole situation both times.

[decent0distraction]

Solo harmony au - part 1

I wrote an AU for Trolls: Band Together and um… I want to know what you think

Instead of John Dory leaving and Brozone breaking up and parting ways, the argument goes differently.

John turns to leave, but the sound of his brothers following suit one by one is slowly replaced by the harmonic humming of the youngest.

Branch, out of love for his family and the desire to keep them together, was able to harness his voice to create the perfect harmony entirely on his own. A feat that had never been achieved alone in the history of their family.

The brothers gather around Branch, listening to the melody and realizing a way for them to all get what they want.

John Dory becomes Branch’s manager and raises in stardom him as Baby, the doll of Troll Nation. Spruce starts off as security and advances to the MC of refreshments at all of Branch’s gigs and concerts. Clay handles all of the expenses and earnings, seeing that each performance runs smoothly. Floyd is the only one of them who enforces down time and sees that Branch is as happy and healthy as he is successful.

If Branch is tired of the constant spotlight and the responsibility of establishing and maintaining harmony while the Troll Kingdoms are basically at war and the Bergens are still on the hunt for any Troll they can get, he doesn’t let on. Not when his brothers have worked so hard and they’re so happy that they don’t have to perform anymore. Besides, he gets to do some good; insisting at least a good amount of their earnings go to aiding the kingdoms and villages, performing for Queen Viva’s army-

Oh, did I forget to mention that? Silly me. So Viva didn’t get separated when they left the Troll Tree.

When Poppy was 3 and Viva was 13, they escaped with their father and their people. Viva went on to raise an army, hid their kingdom in a secluded valley, and built defenses around their land.

18 years later, her 21 year old little sister is wild and adventurous, declaring they can and should claim victory over the Bergens once and for all, so that no Troll may ever again live in fear of being eaten.

That is, until the Rock Trolls attacked the Electronic Trolls. The threat was immediate and Viva knew something had to be done.

To teach her sister some responsibility and keep an eye on her she took her army across Troll Nation, aiding their allies, the Funk Trolls and Country Trolls, while siding with the weaker front of the Classical Trolls as they receive the worst from Rock Troll troops. Neutrals in the war act as resting places and emergency shelters for those simply trying to survive. Reggaeton Trolls are often the first responders of these groups, with K-Pop electing a space for Baby to perform for the supportive military troops.

It is at this performance that Princess Poppy and Baby accidentally meet.

Branch had convinced John Dory to let him have a moment to himself outside once he got one of Spruce’s drinks.

However, the Pop royal spare had a bad reputation to maintain and an overbearing sister to piss off so she downs a few of those drinks within two hours of the concert starting.

When push comes to shove, Branch is accidentally sent into the arms of Princess Charming, who is much more brazen and raunchy when drunk as Branch expected of a royal.

And Baby is reserved, polite, and modest, all things Poppy last thought a pop star would be.

I had this idea that while, idk, John Dory is meeting Viva to thank her for allowing the troops to come to the show and take time out of their responsibilities and busy schedules to see the sweetheart of Troll Nation, Poppy drunkenly says something that you do not say to someone who is wanted, loved, hated, and celebrated by the world. And Branch, wanting to keep his skin, calls to Spruce Bruce, asking for his help.

“Bruce? I need help,” the pop star requested, inching away from the princess, who swayed and smirked drunkenly.

“Coming, Baby,” Bruce called back causally, a little too causal as he set a bottle and glass down, motioned to a customer that he’d return shortly, and picked up the knife he had been cutting lemons with.

But when she turned around to come face to face with a large, intimidating Troll that looked like Branch only older, taller, larger, and wielding a knife.

Yeah, so I imagine from here, John Dory is interrupted by Floyd hitting him, freaking out about how there’s something wrong at the bar and that’s the last place he saw Branch.

Viva whistles, everyone goes still, and all eyes are Poppy, who is on the floor, fighting herself while Bruce keeps everyone at a safe distance.

However, the audience consists of soldiers that have watched and even helped raise Poppy, so there is a mix of smug amusement and angry disappointment in the faces of the crowd.

Floyd, shoving soldiers aside, finds Branch, who was hit in the complication and not only has a mark on his cheek, but a tiny cut under his eye.

Viva apologizes for her sister, declares the night over, and sends her soldiers to turn in for the night. Only then does she drag Poppy out to their tent.

Alone, the brothers fight. Or rather, Floyd and John Dory fight while Clay and Bruce clean up, Branch attempting to get them to stop arguing.

“You guys, I’m fine,” Branch insisted. “It’s really not a big deal-“

“-Go to our tent and wait for me there please,” Floyd told him patiently, sounding unnerved. “We’ll talk it about then. JD and I are having a discussion right now.”

Branch can feel the energy change and he knows the weight he feels in his chest is the harmony fading in and out like a flickering light bulb.

So he does the only thing he knows that will help anything. He sings.

“Can’t anybody find me somebody to~”

“Love,” Bruce and Clay sing, backing him up through the song.

While he sang, Branch danced around John Dory and Floyd, making them laugh as he acted out a droopy yawn and a clumsy stagger. “Each morning I get up, I die a little. Can barely stand on my feet.” He got Floyd to dance with him, but he wouldn’t sing. “Take a look at yourself in the mirror and cry-“

“-Lord, what you’re doing to me,” John Dory sang, his voice a little shaky from not using it.

But as Branch sang with him, he got more power back to his voice. “I have spent all my years in believing you, but I just can’t get no relief, Lord.”

“Somebody.”

“Somebody.”

Clay and Bruce joined in, spinning Branch around and dancing with the youngest brother. “Can anybody find me~”

All eyes turn to Floyd expectantly, but only Branch takes his hand, smiling to him to tell him that he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to.

But Floyd is comfortable enough to sing the trademark note of the song. “Somebody to~”

Branch sings with last part with him, glowing from the perfect harmony, but his brothers unaffected as usual. “~Love.”

The glow fades as Branch is reminded that still only he can harness the power of the perfect harmony. But his brothers embrace him joyously, ecstatic over his ability.

I can’t decide if I want to establish that the stronger Branch’s harmony becomes, the more it can do. Like for instance, at the beginning, the harmony brings feelings of peace and later, happiness, which he could use to end the problems between the Trolls and the Bergens. After the Somebody to Love sequence, maybe it isn’t until they get back to their tent that they realize the harmony can heal him.

With their brothers all in their own spaces and unwinding for the night, Floyd sighed in exhaustion as he followed Branch into the tent the five of them shared.

“Sit down and I’ll be right there to take a look at that cut,” Floyd told his little brother, who lingered.

“Floyd, you should just try to rest and relax. You’ve been defending my right to sit down all week. Take a break,” Branch requested.

Floyd smiled like he was trying not to cry when he hugged Branch. “I’m okay.” He pulled back to look him in the face. “Besides, it’ll take a while to reach the next town. We’ll have plenty of time for all of us to rest up then. Except for you, superstar. You need all the sleep you can get. You look like you’re ready to pass out right here.”

Branch watched his brother’s concerned face twist into confused features. “What’s wrong?”

Floyd stared at the place the cut had been on Branch’s cheek. “The cut is gone.” He thumbed the scar. “How could it have scarred and healed already?”

The brothers stared at each other silently before they both turned and called for John Dory in unison.

“What! What!” Frantic and convinced someone was bleeding or dying, the big brother came running to the two youngest, asking what was wrong. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Annnnd John Dory has no idea what to say or do because he didn’t even know the perfect harmony could do that???

Anyway, there’s more to this than what I have on this post, but I don’t want to make it longer than it already is. So yeah, there’ll probably be more posts about this AU.

[misscinnamonroll16]

Brozone diner au: the day John Dory took off part one

this au does not belong to me, it belongs to @bzjohndory its gonna have to be multiple parts bc i write too much apparently

Business was slow, it was a hard winter and most trolls didn't leave their pods unless they had to. Bruce was the one to suggest it, knowing his brother hadn't had a day off in seven years. They all had special days that they got off like birthdays or anniversaries, except for John Dory. He didn't take days off, he worked open to close seven days a week. Bruce brought it up with others, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere without back up from their younger brothers. Bruce talked with Clay in between orders on the line. “I'm just saying, we haven't been that busy these past few weeks so I think he can just take a day off at least. We're all responsible enough to take care of the diner while he's gone.” Bruce said as he pulled some fries out of the fryer, portioning them on a plate and passing it to Clay. “Yeah but how do you plan on making him? We've tried making him before and he literally spent the entire day in the diner, working on other stuff ." Clay wondered as he finished plating a couple burgers, putting them in the window to be ran. At that moment, Floyd came into the back and leaned against the wall. “You good Flo?" Clay asked as he worked on the next order. Floyd nodded and held up a thumbs up but they noticed how his hand shook. Bruce threw some fries on a plate and slid a milk crate over to Floyd. “Sit down and have a snack. And while you're back here I wanna talk to you about something." Bruce said, handing the plate of fries to Floyd as he sat on the milk crate. Floyd nodded and started eating the fries while still leaning with his back against the wall. After a few moments of no orders coming in, Bruce crouched down next to Floyd. “Feel better?" Bruce asked while rubbing his back. “Yeah, I skipped breakfast this morning so I started to get the shakes." Floyd chuckled, placing the empty plate on the floor. Clay grabbed some dirty dishes they had on the line and grabbed the plate for the floor, taking them to the dish room. “So before you go back up there, I wanna talk to you about this thought I had. Clay thinks I won't be able to do it. I won't be able to do it by myself, I'll need all of your guys' help." Bruce said nonchalantly, watching for JD to be walking around. “What's up? I'm sure I can help somehow." Floyd said as he pulled his money out of the pocket on his apron. “I wanna get JD to take a day off. He hasn't taken a day off since he got ownership of the diner. If he had his way, we'd still be open on Christmas, and he would totally run this entire place by himself if he had to. He deserves it, he's kept this place afloat, put each of us through college and is here every goddamn day. This isn't gonna be like the last time, he's not gonna be allowed back in here until the next day.” Bruce said, looking Floyd in the eyes telling that he is completely serious about this. Clay came back in with clean dishes and began setting them up on the line. “I think he's crazy if he thinks he's going to get John to do it. He practically lives here, I don't think I've actually seen his place.” Clay said, placing plates in their proper spots. "Yeah but if we work together, I'm sure John will listen to us. You guys don't see him on the floor as much as I do. He's constantly moving, like if he stops, he'll pass out. Sometimes he shakes too. And Bruce is right, he's more than earned a day off, heck a week, we'll be lucky if we get one day.” Floyd said as he sorted his money, putting it back into his book. "I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it or need it. I'm saying that we might have to actually tie him down to get him out of here. He's not going to like the idea.” Clay said, cleaning up their prep area.  "What are you guys talking about?” Branch said through the server window. Bruce stood up and motioned for Branch to come back there. Branch walked back onto the grill line, confused.

[mirrow-hamato]

Promised Crystal Clay AU headcanons + mostly spoilers to fanfic that I'll probably wouldn't be capable to finish

First thing first that i think is important to this au is "how would Viva will find Clay's brothers?".

I mean, of course we can just say "He told her about them". Right. Yea. But that unlikely would be enough.

So my things to everything is headcanon that Clay having a diary. With photos, some of his thoughts, some sad or angry moments he had, but also a good ones.

(honestly, i built my entire fanfic on this goddamn diary.)

Diary important because:

1. My personal reason is because in the beginning of my fanfic (hello spoilers for something that i haven't finished) is that after founding this diary once again in Clays small library, he'll get very emotional about how he a bit regrets that they split out and that he wasn't capable to do anything about them being eaten (that's what he thinks). So as soon as he sees Velvet and Veneer (that looking for new troll cuz old one escaped) he gets very determined to "finally do something important in his life" and save the other Putt-Putt trolls. And well..

2. He fails because his diary fell of his bag, which he instantly trying to get back. And of course he get himself caught.

3. Viva could use photos of Brozone so she can at least be sure of how they used to look like.

4. Clay would surely write about his brother's hobbies and about the day they split. So even if Viva could think that all his brothers could be eaten, she would give a try to looking at them.

5. Diary have photos! That would prove other brothers that Viva isn't just a stranger but actually someone who somewhat related to Clay.

6. After most of brothers still would much believe her (a bit wrong of saying. They just have some "reasons". Like: JD saying that it's useless for him because he knews that Clay or other brothers wouldn't want to see him. (If they're alive ofc). Bruce would just instantly call the police. Floyd would be terrible worried, but he also have a concert right now and he can't just cancel it (he will don't worry.). And Branch just probably wouldn't trust this and would think that Viva just steal it or find it somewhere in "trash.")

7. P-H-O-T-O-S. Photos are important.

Because every time when Viva will leave another brother after they somewhat rejected her, randomly there will be a photo that will still remind them of how good they were together one way or another and how they miss and worry about each other. (So yea each of brothers gonna have a photo. +Clay have one while he's in the bottle. Yes i love angst)

John Dory would instantly return to the troll tree (where he would find Branch and Poppy).

Bruce would warn Brandy about his leaving. Then he would took something like a bike (let me just imagine Bruce on bike, please.) and goes for the spot of Velvet and Veneer concert.

Floyd cancelled his concert right when he was about to start singing (while looking at photo, he apologised Infront of thousands trolls and leaves the stage. He leaves on limousine tho. Try change my mind.)

Then all of them meets up together in the same spot to save Clay all together.(and also Viva would be there.)

Honestly it's all what I've got. I hope it was somewhat interesting. Have a nice day and don't forget about self care!

[duchezss]

My favorite details/moments from Trolls Band Together because I have a problem.

Lemme just get this out of the way and say the soundtrack is a certified banger oh my god.

When brozone tries and hits the perfect family harmony the first time the colors that they get outlined in are all separate, the three colors don't blend at all.

Just Floyd comforting Branch....😭 😭

Branch's little hops when him and Floyd were talking about the bunker WAHHHH.

The real emotions of Branch missing his brothers while simultaneously not wanting to see them like???

"There goes my back" when JD was throwing Branch LMAOO.

The entire design of Mount Rageous is so whimsical and gorgeous I'm in love.

When the whole screen shakes when JD hits the counter eh oh el.

"If there was a brother I'd do this for...I'd be Floyd" WAHHHH.

The old MTV style music video Watch Me Work has.

Floyd singing with the posters of brozone floating around 😭

"Tiny, Poppy, Branch, and this random dude" I SPIT OUT MY DRINK LMAO.

"Are you a narc?" OH I LOST IT IM SO DEAD.

All of Branch's old hairstyles being references to Justin Timberlake's real hairstyles.

"Poppy seed" awwwww.

Branch's little "yay" is so cute.

The ongoing ring pop joke is actually so funny I'm sorry.

The way Bruce and JD just throw Branch on command.

Bruce still being considered the heart throb even though he's got a dad bod, a wife, and children 😭

THE BLEEPED OUT CURSE WORD I WAS IN TEARS.

The amount of songs they fit into Brozone's back is actually impressive, and the way they mesh so well together??? Legitness.

"That's not an idea, those are shoulder pads" I just can't...

When Floyd's hair started turning white and he was going transparent....WAHHH 😭 😭 WHEN I GET YOU VELVET AND VEENER WHEN I GET YOU......(But also the details to show how fast his health was declining? Someone cooked)

Branch's iconic clue board.

Bruce holding tiny diamond since he's also a dad.

Branch trying to be brave and talk to the clown but as soon as Viva came at him he backed up. That's such a real response I love is so much??

Clay's hair being green? Which kinda hints that JD or someone made him dye his hair yellow when he was younger.

Viva calling Clay "Mr. Clay" is actually the cutest thing everrr

Clay and Bruce's handshake, I also kinda like that it implies that they were really close, kinda like how Branch and Floyd were close. I think it really separates JD from them.

Also everyone's reaction to JD being super cold while everyone fawns over Branch.

Clay's so smart 😭 (and autistic) I love him so much.

All the brothers cute dancing in It Takes Two ❤️

The very real response of Viva not wanting to talk about her trauma and also not wanting Poppy to leave.

"I don't wanna lose my brother either" I feel like no one talks about how brave Clay is. He's in the same boat as Viva, he thinks Bergens still attack trolls, and he's going out into the world for the first time in who knows how's long. Just because he wants to help save Floyd, like that's so sweet???

Floyd's dead face was way funnier than it should've been.

"I thought ghosts just floated away" the delivery on this line is unmatched.

Floyd speaking one younger brother to Veener was so 😭, especially cause you know he felt like Veener did when Brozone was still active (on a lesser degree ofc) I can't.

We don't talk enough about how fire all of the choreos are, like they got professional dancers to make these dances, AND YOU CAN TELL OML.

JD's need for perfection constantly getting in the way of the greatness they all could achieve.

Branch being the voice for all younger siblings out there who will never be respected by their families hit me. But I also think there's something to say about the JD's of the world. The older siblings they took charge because they felt they had to. All parties end up getting hurt.

Also Branch actually wanting them to be a family so sweet. It really embodies the naive hope of wanting to stay together that youngest children have, but it's not unattainable. You can still be close with your siblings into adulthood, no matter how much time has passed, and that's what this movie represents as it's core.

"I didn't think we'd both find ourselves tied up on this honeymoon" WHATTTTT.

BRANCH AND FLOYD HUGGING THROUGH THE GLASS WAHHHHHHHH. Also Floyd being the only brother to respect that's he's grown....I just love them so much 😭

The whole interaction of all the brothers reuniting while in the diamonds is so funny for no reason lol.

Viva understanding she was wrong and striving to do better for her sister >>>

BRO THE ENTIRE CLIMAX IS SO GOOD??? THE TENSION?? THE MUSIC??? IT'S JUST PERFECTION. THE SONGS CHOICES WERE SO GOOD, AND THE WAY THEY REARRANGED WATCH ME WORK TO BE SO INTENSE IS BRILLIANT. THE SONG JUST KEEPS BUILDING AND THE STAKES GET HIGHER, IT'S WAY TO GOOD.

"Actually I've got two really brave sisters" When the message of this movie is that found family and blood family are just as important as each other, and that no matter what you get to pick who your family is >>> 😭

When Clay falls hard while in the diamond, Bruce and JD immediately check on him, meanwhile he's just focused on Floyd. The older brotherism... 😭

The message of this movie also being that perfection isn't important, but rather balance, harmony, and communication are key. ❤️

The acapella opening of Better Place....just.....wow.....

Clay's adlibs eating everyone up??? Kid Cudi I was not familiar with your game hold on.....

When they hit the perfect family harmony all their colors start mixing, showing their respect for individualism and also for the group.

The way Floyd eyes light up when they're all singing is just 😭

Branch building the bunker for all of them 💔, Floyd remembering the waterslide, all of them hugging?? Just peak filmmaking idk.

"Jail it is" also apparently someone did the math and in our world the twins would get over 6 life sentences for their crimes hello???

All of the boyband references are so funny idc.

Clay being excited to get to know Branch 😭 also JD reading a book in the back that presumably Clay recommended him?? That's so cute? He's really trying y'all, they're all trying, and that just warms my heart 😭

*NSYNC making their first song in over 20 years for this movie is actually the craziest thing ever I'm obsessed. Also they all designed their little trolls which I think is so cute.

The last songs....just bangers....I can't even, I sound like a broken record, why is every song in this movie so good.

Fav adlibs speedrun (from the last two songs): Floyd little "yeah yeah", Clay's "dohhh, ohhh," one of the nsync members "show the wayyy", Bruce's "so excited", Branch's "ohh" & "ayeee"

The layering when they all sing together is too good. It sounds so gorgeous and if you listen closely you can hear each persons vocals.

Also I just need to talk about the music production and mixing for a second. This movie has three version of Better Place, all of which are unique. The main one is the NSYNC version, which is notable for it's little rap section. The Family Harmony version use's the intro/pre-chorus as the main part of the song. It also lets the song slowly built, and adds instrumentals as the song progresses. The Reunion version doesn't use the intro/pre-chorus, but rather mainly focuses on the chorus. It also uses the bridge from the main song as the post-chorus/refrain. Just a very creative use of the song tbh. Also the instrumental differences between Watch Me Work and Mount Rageous? Like it's the same song, but the way they add more classical elements and more layers to build the tension and the song as a whole?? I have no words. Perfection.

Obsessed with this movie. If you haven't seen it pls go watch it.

[blade-that-was-broken]

Inside Voices

(An I'm Still Here au AU - Premise - JD's injuries are a bit more demanding sooner and they have to go to a hospital for treatment. The hospital calls JD's emergency contact.)

"I don't need that much painkillers," JD insisted. "It doesn't hurt that much, honest."

"I do not want to know what kind of life you have been living if this doesn't hurt that much," the nurse scoffed, ignoring him and letting the morphine flow into her patient. No hospital in the area had gotten many troll patience and so when JD revealed his heavily bleeding abdomen earlier, his brothers had to travel to the edge of a city near the Troll Kingdoms to find a doctor that could help him. Vacay island was just too far away at that point.

The surgery itself took a bit longer than expected but the procedure itself ended up being pretty simple. The brothers tried to give as much information as they could, both what kind of shape JD was in as well as the injuries he may have sustained when he was captured. Previous concussion, a few lacerations, cracked ribs, sprained ankle, the list felt endless. And that wasn't even including the other scars from years previous. There was also his weakness, malnourishment and the exhausting side effects of the talent-draining. The doctors didn't have a concrete answer on that but they believed as long as he worked at it, that would go away eventually.

They hadn't really been able to be near him in hours and it pretty much took all the pretty words and the brother's physical strength keeping Branch from going stir crazy. Not that anyone could really blame him; he thought JD had been dead for six years. In the end, it was mostly Poppy that kept him calm, assuring him that the doctors said his injuries would heal.

However, whenever any one of the doctors hesitated to say anything, Poppy was the one who got in their faces for answers. If the brothers didn't know any better, they'd almost think that Poppy was just as protective as Branch.

It felt like forever and eventually, evening turned into night and then into morning. By that time, JD was recovering in a room from the surgery and Poppy took her sister for some time together and to get some food dragging Tiny Diamond along with them. This left the boys in the room while JD struggled to stay awake. He was being weaned off the morphine and anesthesia and was growing more aware with every passing moment.

The boys talked a bit amongst each other with Branch and Floyd closest to JD, one on each side.

And then it happened.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

A female voice was ringing through the halls, loud and angry and frustrated. Branch and his brothers glanced towards the noise outside, although there was a curtain and door dividing them from seeing anything in particular.

"Ma'am," a nurse sighed from outside. "You need to quiet down. I understand you are..."

Her voice disappeared with in the myriad of others, but JD's brow furrowed, pensive and in thought. "I know that yell," he mumbled.

Bruce patted his hand, comfortingly. "It's nothing, John," he assured, plainly. "Probably some poor lady looking for her husband who got hurt doing something stupid."

The woman's voice got loud again, able to be heard above all others. Branch looked a little interested as well as a tad confused but they couldn't do anything but listen. "You're the one who called ME. I'm his emergency contact! And for a reason!"

"Definitely a pissed off wife," Floyd agreed.

JD shook his head. "No... no, I don't think...."

The doors burst open, the curtains almost ripping off the overhead bar. There was a loud slam, and everyone flinched. A woman - a troll woman - trampled through with large red hair, a plaid button down and four legs - hooves.

"JOHN DORY!"

All the brothers turned to look at their injured brother.

JD just grinned dopily. "Dancin' Delta, my girl! You here for the reunion!?" he cheered, trying to raise his arms. For what, none of them were entirely sure.

"You know her?" Clay asked.

"Who are all ya'll?" Delta demanded, looking around.

Bruce stood up, protectively.

"Delta?!" Branch yelped as he jumped a little, staring at her wide eyed.

Her eyes scanned to him and widened as well, surprised. "Branch?!"

JD laughed, happily. "AWww. you guys remember each other??"

"Remember?" Both of them echoed, looking over at them. JD just blinked blankly like he forgot what they were talking about.

"What is going on here?" Clay yelled, gesturing between the two of them before pointing towards the newcomer. "Who is that?! What is that?!"

"She's... Delta?" JD asked, confused as why one would ask.

"Who is she??"

"My best friend?" JD continued. "I don't get what is so confusing."

Delta just sighed, running a hand over her face. "And his emergency contact. You are high as a kite, ain't ya, John?"

He gave her a thumbs up. "Yeup!"

"And that's why you are so happy," she mumbled, shaking her head. She looked over at the rest of them, calmer now. The better question is who are all of you? And Branch, why are you here?"

"You know her?" Bruce asked him.

"She's the leader of the Country trolls," Branch replied to him and then turned to the mayor. "it's kind of a long story. JD is my brother."

Delta's brow furrowed, as she fell silent for a long moment, thinking about this. She shook her head again, like this wasn't manking much sense. She went down the line, naming off the brothers. "You don't.... okay wait, back up. We got Clay, the nerdy one yes? Floyd with the pink and Spruce..."

"Bruce."

"Bless you."

"What?"

"And..." she paused, something dawning over her. She stared at him as if seeing him an entirely new light, like she had never seen Branch before in her life. He shifted, a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "Wait. That can only mean..." she looked over at John. "Seriously?"

JD burst into uncontrollable tears. No one was entirely sure if they were happy tears or not. "I KNOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW."

"I shoulda known," Delta sighed again. "With the face and the goggles and you sing just like him...."

"I do?" Branch echoed.

"Is that a good thing?" Clay whispered.

"Granted, John said you were dead so I didn't even think to make the connection even though I knew you looked familiar," she explained, vaguely.

"You...know our brother?" Floyd reiterated.

"He's been living in Lonesome Flatts for several years now," Delta replied. "Been keeping that boy alive for pretty much that entire time. Or at least trying to. He dissapeared a couple months back. Nearly gave me a damn heart attack."

"It's not my fault!" JD whined. "That's not fair! The entire town was messed up and everyone was gone! I panicked."

"The Rock Apocalpyse?" Branch asked.

"The what?"

"The Rock Apocalypse," Delta agreed and then shouted a little, as if JD was hard of hearing. "Your boy saved music, John!"

"He SAveD music?!"

And there went the waterworks again.

[hostilemuppet]

Where did all the Bruce is trans come from? You're not the first who is using this headcanon. Is that because Brandy's voice actress is trans? Or because he changed his name?

P.S It's funny because I've seen a lot of fics on AO3 and there all the brothers were trans at least once! Mostly Bruce, Branch and Floyd???

Also Guy Diamond and Creek????

Even Viva and no Poppy

bruce being trans is a popular headcanon because of the name thing, yes, but specifically how jd keeps getting bruces name wrong, and clay angrily correcting him and bruce thanking him. a lot of people take it as an equivalent to family members not using your chosen name.

floyd is commonly hcd as trans bc hes Soft and Cute. branch is commonly hcd as trans bc hes the male protagonist, and poppy (and viva) isnt hcd as trans nearly as much because transmasc hcs tend to be more easily accepted while transfem hcs face a lot more pushback. on account of fandom transmisogyny (which isnt to say that theres no transphobia against transMASCS in fandom, just at this current moment transmasc hcs are more... easily digestible to cis people. you guys should work on that. our sisters deserve to have fun just like our brothers do)

guy diamond is hcd as trans because not only does he give birth on screen, he is the FIRST character to, and i believe the only male character in the entire franchise (unless it happens in trollstopia which i havent gotten to yet but i imagine if there was egg stuff in trollstopia i wouldve heard about it) so even though its generally agreed upon both sexes can have eggs, guy is the only... guy in canon to be pregnant. so it speaks for itself

creek is hcd as trans bc people think assigning marginalised identities on asshole villains justifies them liking the asshole villain. see: hcing him as indian when his Thing is hes a white guy culturally appropriating spiritual practices

[aquaaquila]

I constantly keep hearing about Branch giving his bros chances multiple times, but that never happened. Pretty much every time he came across his bros, except for Floyd, he was reluctant to be close with them. Branch pretty much didn't give them a chance until the very end he was only considering maybe giving his bros a chance through the entire movie, but he wasn't there yet and JD squashed it.

People really forget how the only reason Branch was as long as he was on that road trip was because Poppy nagged him to stay with his brothers. Not because he wanted to be near them. Branch liked the idea of being reunited with his whole family again, but it doesn't mean he suddenly forgives them before the argument.

Katara and Zuko while at odds, weren't really enemies when Zuko joined the gaang. She still however didn't trust him until Southern Raiders, but it didn't stop her from saving his life in the same episode despite still hating his guts. Her helping him wasn't her forgiving Zuko just yet, and Zuko bringing her father back in the previous episode also didn't warrant it despite being happy to be reunited with her dad again.

Another thing is about how there's a lot of missing context on how exactly Brozone supposedly broke Branch's heart. It wasn't intentional, it was collateral damage of Bruce, Clay, and JD having a feud. JD mocks the idea of them being reunited because JD can clearly see that they can't get along, no one wants to be there and the only reason they're coming together is just to save another brother from danger. Like Brozone figured there's no real point to being reunited and Branch was upset because he f#ckin wants to be reunited with them again.

Making Branch reject his bros only hurts Branch further, and not giving his bros any REAL chances will only prevent them from fixing what's broken. And all bros absolutely changed throughout those 20 years, what didn't change was their relationship and emotions tied to it, and that's precisely because they refused to be together, not giving their relationship a proper closure. Essentially all bros moved on with their lives, but they didn't move on from how everything went down, because they refused to face the music and would rather run away and leave it broken instead of trying to fix it.

It's not until Branch calls them out on how their petty fights deeply affected him that Brozone finally stopped for a moment to consider some things. Then the 3 bros swallowed just enough of their pride to go to Mount Rageous together, but they got caught because of JD's dumbassery. But when everything went down on Mount Rageous Branch enlightened his bros about how they don't need to be perfect which was the root of the problem, so they let go of arguments for a moment to harmonize and save Floyd. However, Floyd died. He was pretty dead for a moment and such an event would shake all of the bros to the core, that they almost lost another member of their family for good, in a way that Floyd just wouldn't be ok as he wouldn't be alive. I can imagine that after that, Brozone really would want to make things right because near-death experiences like those can cause bigger changes. After all, you realise how brittle your life and the lives of those around you are and how the time is running out fast in the end, everyone in the family wanted to be together, but their collective pride just didn't let them admit it.

And who's saying Barb was forgiven. Poppy may have forgiven her, but what about the leaders of other tribes? Not to mention the other tribes themselves? You can't really prove them being entirely cool with what Barb did, at most they can only appreciate Barb coming to her senses and helping them fix the mess she made.

Remorse in the moment of triumph is certainly fitting though. Like at that moment they were just overjoyed that Floyd was alive. Not the time to suddenly break down crying on how they failed Branch. They can do that later once they process it properly. And them coming together for the first time in 20 years is a start, even if not a pretty one, but no one said all beginnings are perfect and graceful. And we can't know if they started ignoring their problems again if they already solved them off-screen for all we know. Like, JD would've never complimented Branch like he did if he was still the control freak he was. Seriously people, hold your horses on accusing Brozone of things we're not even sure they did and only assume so because of our own projections.

Alright, but if Branch should be mad at anyone then it's Floyd, because he promised he'll come back yet he never did

But if he should forgive anyone then it's John Dory, because he DID come back but no one was there

I demand justice for my man

(I am NOT bashing Floyd! Just to be clear. I'm just stating facts)

[blade-that-was-broken]

Your Soldier On AU gives me brainworms! While re reading it I suddenly remembered this video clip of soldiers graduating and that they're NOT allowed to move at all unless someone taps them (usually family)

So I then imagine Soldier JD just standing there surrounded by people having family reunions while he just.... silently accepts that no one will show up.

To make it less sad, Delta (who probably graduated with him) decided to be the one to tap him out and give him a big hug. (He deserves it)

He knew no one was coming.

He really knew it but that didn’t stop his heart from wishing, having that tiny little wishful thinking that someone would find him. That someone would appear out of nowhere and come up to him.

It wouldn’t happen.

He should have expected it.

He hadn’t seen any of his brothers in years.

He wasn’t able to find any of his brothers. He thought perhaps, on his own, he could search and find them. But he is no detective and well, he was never as smart as Clay or as intuitive as Floyd or as charming as Bruce. He tried not to think about what kind of person Branch would be. A person he would probably never get to know.

Here he was in the very last moment. After this, he didn’t have anyone left.

There was nothing else.

John Dory stood in line with his graduating class, staring straight ahead, letting his eyes blur a little. He didn’t pay attention to the family members that were bringing their loved ones into a tight embrace. He couldn’t watch. He knew he’d be standing like this for the entire length of the ceremony.

He didn’t have anyone. There was no one left. He hadn’t had anyone in years. It was okay, he figured this would be the end anyways.

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again. He blinked blankly, finding one of his classmates stand in front of him. Most of the others had been tapped out, with their families, her included. She stood in front of him and it room everything he had not to let his face scrunch up in confusion.

“I’ve got you Dory,” she promised, seriously.

Delta Dawn was bound to be a masterful soldier, practically at the top of her class. She had the patience and the discipline and the strength. She was smart, tough and was great with a plan. No one would have expected her to befriend the bland, average and slightly scrappy idiot who had no where else to go. John didn’t know how it happened either. It just kind of did.

It would be no surprise if they were stationed together in the same place. They made each other better, somehow, and people noticed.

He hoped they were stationed in the same place.

She wasn’t supposed to be a soldier, her parents wanted her to follow her father’s footsteps as a politician but she was gone before they could blink.

Taking another breath, he was forced to have his vision full of her slate blue gray eyes and red hair pulled back under her cap. She stared at him, serious but still soft. She was tough as nails that one, tougher even, but for some reason John would probably never understand, she had a soft spot for him. Who was he to judge? He had a soft spot for her too. He’d probably do just about almost anything for her.

“I’ve got you John Dory,” she repeated, giving his shoulder a quick tap before grabbing his hand and pulling him in a tight hug. “It’s forever now, Dory,” she whispered.

John’s eyes filled with tears as he wrapped his arms back around her, squeezing tight. He knew Delta’s sister was nearby, probably the presence by his side that seemed to brush up against him.

“I know I’m not them,” Delta continued, right into the crook of his neck. “But you aren’t getting rid of me, Dory. During service and after. You can count on it.”

He took a breath.

“You can count on me, Dawn,” John Dory promised, quietly. “You can count on me.”

[blade-that-was-broken]

Soldier On AU Notes

For the person who asked for them... This is kinda what I got. Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of JD and Bruce stuff, I just... haven't written any of that down...

I told ya'll that Branch jumped out of the bushes and pushed his way in! What do you want me to do!?

John does eventually get a service dog - Rhonda - that is mostly a mobility and reach aid and does pressure therapy for his PTSD. Idk all the details yet. 

Branch never met his dad. Their parents had been separated when he was born but the divorce was not finalized until he was almost a year old. That is when John was forced to leave. 

Branch has vague memories that are actually of John. Calloused hands (JD used to play guitar), maybe goggles and a faint lullaby no one can tell where it came from. In reality, JD sang it to him constantly to get him to sleep. He wrote it. 

Their mother cut off everything and was extremely bitter. The divorce was ugly and she didn’t like anyone talking about John or their father. So, after a few years, no one did. It just built up until he was a distant memory, and no one really thought of him. 

Their dad wasn't much better but he was left with very little in the divorce anyways.

John on the other hand, wasn’t left with a lot. He was lonely and clung to the memory of his brothers with everything he had. Being away from them broke his heart, as he was close with all of them and took care of them. He was their big brother and close with them.

Bruce left home the moment he could when he turned 18. He tried to keep in contact with them, although his mother didn’t really like it. Clay felt betrayed. Bruce currently lives in Hawaii and owns a small resort with his native Hawaiian wife, and they have a couple of kids. 

Clay did one semester at the local college to stay close to home but when their mother died and Floyd and Branch moved in with Grandma, he went to another school further away, one he wanted. Clay has been in and out of school for many years and is working on idk, some kind of doctorate or masters or whatever. 

Floyd went to the local college for a while but then his music career started to pick up and now he does a fair bit of traveling. He is musically inclined and seriously started making music after his mother died. He plays an old guitar that he found in their house and just can’t let it go. He doesn’t actually know it was JD’s. There is a symbol on it that is actually initials. 

Bruce does try to call Clay when John is with him but Clay absolutely does not want to talk to him. He barely answers the phone and hangs up before JD could get a word in. 

Eventually JD just gets a plane ticket and flies out to the college to try and find him. Like this entirely blindsides Clay; he has zero clue. At this point JD is still struggling to get around and doesn’t have a lot of things… including a phone. So he just kind of disappears and well… Bruce panics a little. They are gonna haveta work on their communication a bit.

Branch is about 16 and lives with his grandmother. She likes to garden and they have an old dog named Gary. He is extremely smart and has a wealth of knowledge but people avoidant. He wants to go somewhere but he doesn’t want to be alone and he doesn’t know where. He’d like to do more outdoorsy things but his grandmother cannot and he doesn’t actually know much. 

This is partially how he and JD bond. He spends a while with them, showing up one day and helps Branch with the outdoorsy stuff, actually teaching him things like how to start a fire, pitch a tent, a lot of stuff dudes like to do. He even helps start teaching him to drive. Just a little. 

Rosiepuff does suggest JD just stay with them since Branch seems to really like him and he has difficulty actually having fun/getting friends/talking with people but by this time, JD has a place and responsibilities and can’t stay. Besides, he doesn’t want to burden his grandmother. 

Branch ends up spending at least a summer in Hawaii with JD by suggestion of their grandmother. It goes well. 

JD jokes about where his leg ended up. He thinks he left it back in Sudan but he’s not sure. He’ll tell everyone different stories on where it is. It’s kind of dark humor sometimes that… don’t always bode well with people. 

Delta is probably one of JD's squad. I'm not sure who else. In their free time, they make a pretty awesome singing group though

There will probably be more but idk

[bonewaryreblogs]

Part three introduces Clay and goes through Floyd's rescue, which I'm being vague about because I just don't feel like figuring it out rn. It's not super important how he gets out of Mount Rageous, just that he does lol. I might actually just skip it entirely and just show the aftermath lol, that would be kinda funny.

-12

The four exit Rhonda and Bruce mentions that this place looks like every True Crime podcast he’s ever heard. There’s an obvious entrance but John Dory decides to sneak in first to scope out the area; Poppy coos that he’s so brave for trying to protect them while Branch rolls his eyes and Bruce says John is just showing off. John Dory finds a tree that’s near enough to the wall surrounding the course, climbs it, then swings himself towards the wall with his hair, releasing at the apex so he lands lightly on top of the wall. He is then immediately grabbed with a yelp and the other three rush into the main entrance, only to be met with a spotlight and a loud, gravelly voice.

“Who goes there?!”

The voice crackles, seemingly coming from everywhere, as Branch jumps in front of Poppy protectively. Pillars of smoke erupt on either side of a giant clown head, a long tongue exiting a jagged, tooth filled mouth, giving a focus for their fear.

“L-look,” Bruce holds up his hands, shaking slightly. “We don’t want any… clown related trouble, ok? We’re just here looking for our brother, Clay.”

“You are… Trolls?”

“And you’re a clown,” Branch said, emboldened by the crackly clown’s hesitance. “So?”

After a moment of silence, a fuzzy, yellow ball is ejected from the clown’s mouth, rolling to the end of the tongue, before popping open to reveal… Another troll!

“Oh my gosh, heLLO!” the new troll squeals.

The trio is suddenly surrounded by more fuzzy balls that pop up into more trolls as the first one introduces herself as Viva, co-leader of the putt putt trolls. John Dory is unceremoniously thrown at them, caught by Poppy’s hair, while still shaking off his bonds as he was tied up immediately upon capture. Viva is a whirlwind of energy, offering them food before downing almost an entire Bergen-sized soda, saying she finally has some energy! Bruce mentions that the fries are good but he could really go for a burger.

The putt putts flee, screaming, and Viva mentions in a low voice that “burger” sounds too much like “bergen” and another troll approaches, staying in the shadows, saying they call them “beef patty sandwiches” instead.

“Mr. Clay!” Viva exclaims, rushing forwards to drag the lanky troll out of the shadows. “There you are! This is my co-leader, Mr. Clay; he takes care of all the boring stuff-”

“Guilty!” Clay raises his hand with a smirk.

“They said they’re your brothers!” Viva continued, bouncing on her toes. “Is that true? Is it real? We have to have a party! I’m gonna go do that, I’ll be right back!”

And with that, Viva was gone. Bruce recovered first.

“Clay!” he exclaimed, closing the gap as the two middle brothers did a special handshake.

“Spruce, my man!” Clay replied. “Dude, your hair is huge!”

“Yeah, I know,” Bruce laughed. “But I actually go by Bruce now.”

“Bruce, well, someone got fancy.”

“Clay!” John Dory held his arms out, obviously expecting just as warm of a reception as Bruce, but Clay just looked down his nose at his oldest brother.

“John,” he addressed him coldly, John’s face falling, but then Clay’s gaze fell on Branch, arms folded with a scowl, and Clay grinned nervously, his face almost a grimace. “H-hey, Bitty B, I’m so glad you’re alive!”

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Branch replied, just as coldly as Clay had addressed John. Clay cringed at the harsh tone but didn’t object.

Poppy mentions Branch wasn’t this cold to John Dory or Bruce, what happened? Branch replies that he found Clay at the Troll Tree the day before the Great Escape but was abandoned by Clay again when he woke up alone and couldn’t find him before everyone fled. Bruce and John Dory suddenly realize both brothers had been captured by bergens at some point, which had somehow not come up before, and Clay defends himself by saying he had gone out to find some food for breakfast and didn’t wanna wake Branch, but before he could get back to him Trollstice started early and everything went crazy and then he got separated from the main group with some other trolls and the bergens started rounding them up and-

And then Viva and her mom burst into the scene and saved the stragglers!

Viva interrupted Clay’s spiral as she recounted how her mom was leading a small group that happened to come across the digging bergens. They were about the flee the area when they realized trolls were being dug up and they leapt into action; Viva’s mom was mortally wounded but they saved quite a few trolls that day, having no idea until later that they were from the Troll Tree. They all traveled for a while until they found this old, abandoned minigolf course and turned it into a troll utopia!

And they’ve been living here ever since.

-13

With all of that out of the way, Viva says the party prep is in progress when suddenly Poppy’s hugtime bracelet goes off. “Hug Time!” she squealed, grabbing Branch in a spine-crushing hug as a chime went off from seemingly every direction, just like the clown voice had earlier. Viva immediately latches onto Clay for barely a full second before giving each brother a quick hug too, ending with Branch (who had only just been released by Poppy) followed by Poppy herself, who happily hugged Viva back, and Bruce laughs that “Are you two sure you aren’t related?”

It takes some conversation, and a revelation to Bruce and Clay, that Poppy’s dad is indeed the King (“I’ve been traveling with a Princess this whole time and had no idea!”) and revealing to everyone but Clay that Viva’s deceased mom was indeed the Queen, meaning that yes, Poppy and Viva were absolutely siblings! Viva says they were separated when Poppy was still an egg and Peppy got captured while holding her in his hair. Their mom had been planning a sting operation to get them out but had miscalculated when Trollstice was, and then the digging escape happened and the putt putts had collectively decided it just wasn’t safe to leave the golf course. Poppy had no idea she had a sister and Viva just kinda laughs like “wut? How could you not know you had a sister? Of course Dad would tell you about me, right? Like, there’s no way he’d just lie about the fact that he had another kid, right?”

Branch confirms that he’s never heard of Viva either, though he was kind of an outcast so why would anyone tell him anything, right?

Viva takes a minute to collect herself and says it’s not Poppy’s fault but she’d love to reconnect with her dad and have some… words with him. But for now, Mr. Clay could introduce her to all of his brothers!

But this wasn’t all of his brothers, where was Floyd?

-14

Floyd’s imprisonment is reintroduced and Clay nervously redirects Poppy to catch up with Viva, saying quietly to his brothers that there’s no way Viva and the other putt putts are going to let them leave so they’ll have to sneak out while they’re distracted with the welcome party. Clay shows them around until the party begins, conversation happening all the way. Everyone is bursting with questions but they don’t want to trigger the other brothers before they go save Floyd; they don’t want to risk pissing each other off until the final brother is safe.

They go to the party, Poppy and Viva having the time of their lives, and the bros biding their time. Branch doesn’t want to leave without Poppy, knowing she’d be super upset at being left behind, but is convinced it would be too dangerous to take her with them to Mount Rageous; besides, they’d have a better chance at sneaking in and out with a smaller group. They leave a note at Clay’s admin building, knowing the others would probably look for the bros there first.

I can’t decide if they get away cleanly or not. If they do, they’ll have hell to pay when they get back, if not, then I’ll have a confrontation similar to the movie. Whichever I choose, I can find ways to have Poppy stay or go but I think I’ll have her stay so it’s just the bros saving the final bro.

By midnight, the four brothers leave in Rhonda, heading for Mount Rageous.

-15

Spy Thriller: Operation “Find Floyd”

I haven’t super decided what exactly happens but it’d probably be better written out long form first rather than trying to summarize it. Insert your own heist cliché’s here.

Oh, also, Crimp is the mastermind who figured out how to suck a troll’s talent; she’s the one that found Velvet and Veneer, who were hungry enough for fame that they agreed to trade their morals for stardom.

-16

Spy Thriller: Operation “Get Out Alive”

… with a possible high speed chase sequence. Again, I haven’t super decided.

-17

Now in possession of Floyd’s bottle, the brothers brainstorm how to get him out. Branch and Clay, the more engineer-minded brothers, suggest a few ways to bypass the impenetrable nature of the diamond by using its crystalline structure to their advantage but they’d have to go back to Hole ‘n Fun for tools so it’s time to face the music, so to speak…

Branch reluctantly suggests they try the Harmony, just to see if it’ll work. Bruce asks if he’s sure; he remembers Poppy mentioning Branch doesn’t sing anymore. In general, no, Branch doesn’t sing, but he’ll make an exception to free Floyd. Just this once. But what song will they sing? What do they all know?

Well… they could try Perfect. JD had specifically written the song to invoke the Harmony, and it was seared into their muscle memory, having practiced it so much. And they did almost make it that last time, if they hadn’t gone off script and fallen apart. They all kinda cringe at the memories of rehearsal after rehearsal, the cheesy lyrics, the dated choreography…

Even JD is somewhat reluctant.

He quickly swallows his hesitation, trying to hype his brothers up like he used to, and they all decide to at least try it, alone in the woods outside Hole ‘n Fun, where nobody can hear them or see their embarrassment.

They manage to do a surprisingly good rendition of their old show but nothing happens, not even an inkling of the spark they felt before. Somewhere between disappointed and devastated, the brothers head back to the golf course to take their lumps and regroup.

-18

It’s finally dawn by the time the brothers reach Hole ‘n Fun. Both Viva and Poppy are furious at the four free brothers; Poppy for being left behind and Viva for the fact that Clay left at all. Both are ranting and raving over each other while the brothers just kinda take it; it’s not like the girls are wrong.

After eventually calming down, the sibling sets start testing the limits of the diamond bottle. They do manage to break the tip of the bottle off, but just as they have hope that it wasn't impenetrable, the bottle shimmers and the pieces are sucked back into place. Horrified, they realize that the only way to get Floyd out is to shatter the whole thing, all at once, and hope that the bottle either stays shattered or reforms without anyone in it.

This means that their only hope really is the Perfect Family Harmony, and pray that it’s enough to counter the bottle’s magic. Thankfully that magic does seem to be sustaining Floyd so they’ve got time to figure things out.

I finally have my own Trolls AU! :D

I'm basically reversing the movie order, so Branch has to go deal with family matters first by saving Floyd, then deal with the Rockpocalypse and foreign matters, and finally cement himself as Poppy's right hand man by saving everyone from the bergens.

I can't decide if I want to get rid of the vacaytioners or not, I didn't really care for them, but this is what I have up til then!

Also I made a poll asking for thoughts about the vacaytioners.

About 15 years after the pop trolls fled the Troll Tree, Branch (now 20) has decided his bunker is basically finished, it just needs to be stocked up, and accidentally lets this slip to Poppy. She decides this is a perfect opportunity to throw Branch a party and maybe get him to invest in the rest of the community now that his own place is set up and he can feel safe. We follow Poppy as she tries to get everyone excited for Branch’s accomplishment but no one seems terribly interested; we get flashbacks of some less-than-pleasant interactions the village has had with Branch over the years to explain their indifference.

Poppy’s group of friends (Creek 17, Guy Diamond 17, Biggie 16, Poppy 15, Satin and Chanille 15, DJ Suki 15, Cooper 14, and Smidge 13) are equally unsure, recognizing that Branch doesn’t like surprises, loud noises, sugary sweets, glitter… basically everything they associate with parties, but especially music. They try to convince Poppy to drop it but she refuses, deciding to throw him a party of two; she has gotten him to have some more-or-less friendly interactions when it’s just the two of them, so maybe this was for the best.

-

Poppy manages to track Branch down while he’s doing chores that require him to be out of the bunker; she would often just follow him around while he does these, and even help him sometimes, or at least listen while he explains what he’s doing and why. This time she convinces him to join her for a lunch picnic and we get to see that Branch isn’t quite how the villagers described him, at least not with Poppy.

Then her friends decide to show up, feeling bad for abandoning Poppy’s idea earlier, and all hell breaks loose as they try to throw a party the only way they know how. Branch chews them out and is about to storm off when a large critter bursts into the clearing, causing everyone but Branch to panic. Branch jumps in front of the group protectively before he leads the critter to a nearby trap he'd set (the one he’d been working on while Poppy was convincing him to have lunch) and everyone is super impressed.

Then, out of the critter pops another troll!

-

John Dory comes in like a wrecking ball, introducing himself as Branch’s big brother, which surprises everyone; they had no idea Branch had a brother! “Uh, yeah, Branch has four brothers; you never told your friends about us?” “We’re not exactly friends. And we’re not exactly family after you all abandoned me. How did you even find me?” JD says he’s been basically wandering around to different troll villages since he got Floyd’s note and was drawn by the sounds of a party. Which reminds him, Floyd is trapped and needs their help! John Dory shows Branch the note and tells the group how he went to Mount Rageous to scope the place out on his own and confirmed (among other things) that Floyd was indeed being held against his will, in a diamond container… And they both know there’s only one thing strong enough to shatter diamond.

The Perfect Family Harmony.

There are mixed feelings in the group as Branch frees Rhonda the Armadillo Bus (cousins of the caterbuses the pop trolls already use). If there was a brother Branch would be willing to save, it was Floyd; as much as he hated the idea of leaving the relative safety of Troll Village, he was going. Creek thought that leaving Troll Village was a terrible idea; they have no proof beyond this strange troll’s word, and being related to Branch isn’t exactly a good selling point. Poppy was absolutely going, and may have even if Branch wasn’t. The rest of the group hemmed and hawed, mostly agreeing with Creek that this seemed like something to leave to the adults, or some other kind of authority. The group of would-be adventurers is at least convinced to talk to King Peppy about it first, and rest overnight before getting back on the road.

Everyone piles into Rhonda and JD shows off while endearing himself to Poppy’s friends. Among other things, he reveals the brothers were in a band called BroZone, which only serves to annoy Branch further. Several of the friends recognize the name but are confused; Branch doesn’t sing so he must not have been in the band. Nope, Bitty B had the voice of an angel and a falsetto made of gold; an absolute natural on stage! “And yet it still wasn’t enough to keep you all around, so what does that say about the rest of me?” JD cringes hard at this, saved by another friend asking who wrote a few of their favorite songs. Creek decides that, if he annoys Branch this much, JD must be an ok troll, despite his earlier misgivings. This annoys Branch even more.

-

They eventually get to Peppy’s pod and Branch manages to keep Poppy’s friends out, leaving only him, JD, Princess Poppy, and King Peppy to talk. Once brought up to speed, Peppy offers whatever supplies Branch and John Dory think they might need to save their brother, but recognizes he couldn't risk the safety of any of his other subjects to help them more than that. He also forbids Poppy from going but she argues that she’s old enough to choose how to help her soon-to-be subjects, which still includes Branch, and eventually storms out.

JD happily stocks up on supplies, showing off Rhonda to everyone who would give him the time of day but also wouldn’t let Branch leave his side. The pair get some mixed responses, due to Branch’s reputation as well as mistrust for the large critter herself, but John Dory is nothing if not charismatic and with Peppy’s stamp of approval as well as hearing about Floyd, the villagers give the pair whatever they ask for.

-

Getting close to evening now, JD asks which pod is Branch’s, only to be told Branch doesn’t live in a pod; he lives in a bunker, away from the village. This concerns JD slightly but he hides it behind enthusiasm, wanting to see Branch’s bunker; it sounds impressive. Branch hesitates, at first telling JD he can just spend the night in Rhonda like he’s used to, but caves with some not-so-subtle praise; he really does want to show off what he’s made. He’s very proud of his bunker.

“Once it’s fully stocked, it’ll hold enough supplies to last me 10 years; 11 if I’m willing to store and drink my own sweat. Which I am! They all said I was crazy, huh? Well, when they find us, who’s going to be crazy? Me! Crazy prepared!” Branch starts going overboard, explaining the complex inventory system he’ll be using, what goes where and why, and John Dory is impressed, overwhelmed, and somewhat scared of how well thought out this plan is. “I’ll admit, I didn’t retain most of that, but it is damn impressive. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this.” Maybe a little too much thought…

JD tries to ask about Branch’s colors but chickens out when Branch bristles, instead saying he would actually like to sleep with Rhonda and he’ll see Branch in the morning. Branch doesn’t sleep well that night.

-

Morning comes and Branch is up bright and early, ready to brainstorm where their brothers might be. He knocks on the door of the sleeping armadillo bus, which opens to show a John Dory that hadn’t slept a wink, instead making a clue board with purple and green strings connecting various objects and scrawled notes. Appreciating the effort, Branch attentively listens as JD starts to explain his thought process but Branch quickly realizes the board is just as much of a mess as it looked. Branch takes over, going through things, asking what they were, when/where he found them, and eventually Branch finds a postcard among the mess; there’s no name, no return address, no note, just a picture of an island with “Wish you were here" written in neon lettering in the sky. JD is convinced it's from Spruce, living on an island somewhere. Branch is dubious but with nothing better to go on, they head for the coastline to find the pictured island while they think of other options.

JD tries to bring up Branch’s color again but gives up pretty quickly; it’s obviously a sore subject. instead, he starts telling tales about his travels just to fill the dead air and Poppy makes a comment. Suddenly realizing she’s there, both brothers freak out; it turns out she snuck into Rhonda while Branch was showing JD the bunker, hiding until she was sure they were well on their way (all three are now in the back of the living space while Rhonda is on a sort of auto pilot heading to the east coastline). They are both upset, Branch more than JD, but she begs them to not turn back; they’d lose a whole day of travel if they did and she really, really wants to go with them! JD is won over pretty easily but Branch is still salty. He goes up to the front just in time to see an island with the words “Wish you were here” floating in the sky above it. Exasperated, he tells the others.

Rhonda dives off a cliff into the water, swimming towards the island.

[aquaaquila]

Ok, now you're really pushing it, so how about I make the big finish about this whole thing.

Not condemning Brozone is not me applying toxic positivity from the first movie. Quite ironically, it's folks like you actually being toxic by being deadset on the whole "must criticize Brozone". In case you haven't noticed both Branch and Poppy were wrong in the first film. Poppy was too positive and Branch was too negative, just like you're being too negative. Rather than giving the shot to fix what's broken, you would rather reject altogether anything there is, and funnily enough, you give the benefit of the doubt to the wrong people while not cutting slack to those who actually deserve it.

You're going rough on Floyd assuming the worst of him while giving JD the benefit of the doubt despite him being the face and the cause of the whole Brozone toxicity because he did your bare minimum, which ironically could've ended far worse. It's even funnier when you consider the double standard on how Floyd, who was selfish ONE time in his entire existence is getting shit from you for it. At the same time, JD who was notoriously self-centered gets excused after ONE instance of maybe not thinking about himself. This reminds me too much of how people treat flawed female characters while excusing male characters who are utter shits, though kudos for at least not applying either sexism or some other form of discrimination, instead opting for "let's go for the fan fave while praising the controversial one".

I literally could not care less about those characters, they're fine to me but I have no passion for them whatsoever, and I will not allow the likes of you to trash them with your lies about how the situation actually is.

JD continuously proved to be the biggest asshole in the family by pushing everyone to ridiculously high standards without acknowledging how they truly feel (like literally, Floyd points out Branch is nervous and JD says that Branch isn't supposed to be nervous but perfect. And I'm supposed to believe he's the bro that cares more about Branch?) and dipping on them the moment they had enough of him. Kudos for coming back, but he never said why he tried to come back, which as far as we're concerned could still be for very selfish reasons. For all we know if JD did stick around, he might've become Branch's "dancing mom" as that's pretty much what the movie establishes as his core personality. Even when he comes back 20 years later, the first thing he does is harass Branch and not take accountability for actually leaving him behind. Which is even worse considering it's his departure and his behavior that drove THE ENTIRE family apart in the first place. And it's not like he was returning to his old habits the moment Bruce and Clay also came back, which they called him out on and it was JD himself who mocked the idea of them being reunited as family.

Meanwhile, Floyd's only crime is that he left Branch and didn't come back which really can be more of a matter of circumstances if JD found the tree empty, so could Floyd. And considering how the entire movie goes out of its way to show how compassionate and considering Floyd is, how am I supposed to believe that he willingly just abandoned his family when this literally doesn't align with his character. Floyd is no stranger to us. We know how he pretty much was the only brother who actively looked out for Branch in the past with both Clay and Spruce not even acknowledging Branch's existence and JD not caring about him being nervous. And out of all the bros, it was Floyd who actually had this fond serenade about his Bros, he's the one who points out how it would be a shame that they would miss all the fun together, whenever any of his bros tried to help him he would tell them to leave so they wouldn't get hurt, prioritising their safety over his own life which was at stake. He's also the only one to acknowledge how Branch grew up and he didn't have any problems with that. That's certainly more than JD ever showcased. And he constantly played the mediator between his bros because he ultimately cared deeply about his family. Him leaving one was him giving a chance for himself to be his own person, and supposedly he's the worst for this.

Am I supposed to believe that you would rather have Floyd deny his own dreams, deny his own chance at personhood just so he could be Branch's satellite character 24/7? Just to constantly take care of Branch's problems instead of his own? It sucks that Floyd wasn't there for Branch, but could've Floyd actually have helped this situation. Branch didn't even want to be found, he was in a hidden village far away from the troll tree and built himself a bunker that was even more hidden. How was Floyd supposed to even find him? I'm sorry but at some point, Floyd would think his family may be pretty dead and he would have to live on without them so he did, but he was still surprised to see JD and Branch and glad to see them.

That's the truth of this whole situation. JD sure is a complex character and he certainly cares deep down but he certainly sucks at showing it and it took him the end of the movie to finally get this right. Him being physically there doesn't fix the issue by itself as the issue was not just him not being physically there for Branch, but also emotionally as well. I can give JD the benefit of the doubt in the end as he did swallow his pride and instead became proud of Branch. As for Floyd, then despite not being a character in the movie he still showed promise and still showed that out of all the Brozone members, he's indeed the one that Branch would be willing to go through hell to save as what do you know, he is actually worth the trouble. Floyd never maliciously abandoned his family.

And here's a thing: we always want more, and we never have enough when it comes to stories, but just because we don't have enough doesn't mean that the story is suddenly bad or that the characters within it are suddenly evil people. I point out the hypocrisy in your posting as I did say I know who you really are and I know exactly what you did before and where your priorities truly lie.

The movie absolutely does acknowledge the mistakes they've made. Branch has every right to be mad at Brozone and calls them out on how Brozone hurt him and Brozone does in the end try to make up for it, starting with changing their attitude which was the core of all problems, and trust me, a family member changing attitude is probably the best "little" thing they can do for you if they wronged you.

Indeed we should expect better from people, so how about you apply your own lesson to yourself.

Alright, but if Branch should be mad at anyone then it's Floyd, because he promised he'll come back yet he never did

But if he should forgive anyone then it's John Dory, because he DID come back but no one was there

I demand justice for my man

(I am NOT bashing Floyd! Just to be clear. I'm just stating facts)