#declared dead au

[bojackandherb]

Do you really think Bojack would be gay or at least bisexual? We never really see him pursue relationships that weren’t straight but maybe that’s because his toxic upbringing prevented him from really exploring that side of himself. How would Crackerjack feel when Bojack came out to him?

I headcanon Bojack as bisexual, yeah. Both of his parents were homophobic and he grew up in a deeply homophobic era so I can easily see him heavily repressing that side of himself. There’s little things like how when Dr champ is like “name one other handsome Brad” and bojack says “Bradley cooper” with 0 hesitation. I mean sure it’s not like straight guys can’t notice when other guys are objectively hot but like idk he didn’t even need to think about it. Also there’s his unnecessary long his with Mr Peanutbutter (he could have given him a one second kiss? It did not need to last that long?) and also there’s the everything about his relationship with Herb.

Sure, all of that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s queer, he was probably written to be straight, but for me it is very easy to headcanon him as bisexual.

Also there’s the fact that when Herb came out to him, Bojack excitedly asked about gay orgies and said that if he was gay he would be participating in them all the time. Which. Doesn’t seem like a very straight thing to say idk.

Also it’s my aus so I can do whatever I want regardless of whether it’s actually canon or not lol

Anyway. Crackerjack would be very supportive when Bojack comes out to him, and fee touched and happy that Bojack trusts him with this. Because my version of crackerjack is asexual and gay. Because I said so lol. Is there anything in canon that points to this? No, but when fleshing out crackerjack for my au it just sort of happened lol.

Anyway. Crackerjack is someone who, despite growing up in an even more homophobic than Bojack, has never really understood homophobia—not that he would ever admit it back then, for fear of standing out and facing judgment. Crackerjack himself has sort of always felt a bit different than everyone, but couldn’t figure out why, and also repressed parts of himself that didn’t fit into what he thought was expected of him. Sure, he seems happy go lucky in canon, but feel like the weight of being the perfect heir to his father did rest heavily on him. Sure, he did little things his father didn’t like—like hanging out with his friends too much, being too focused on frivolous things like piano and having fun instead of worrying about punctuality, as opposed to his workaholic father— little things that his father probably lightly got on his case about at times. But crackerjack would never want to do anything that his father seriously disapproved of. I feel like him joining the army—besides just being something that he wanted to do to serve his country, being heavily influenced by propaganda—may have sort of been his attempt to find himself, see who he is outside of just his father’s heir. He wanted to be a hero, see the world, etc. Experience life outside of the perfect little bubble he grew up in.

I think a couple years back when I was first researching for this au, I’m pretty sure read that there wasn’t a draft at the time when CJ went (1944), so that means CJ went there entirely of his own free will.

Considering how terrible and traumatic his experience in the war was… had he not gotten separated from his troop, mistakenly declaring dead, resulting in his mother getting lobotomized and causing him to lose all respect from his father when he got home because of that…

Had he survived and just returned home normally, without being declared dead, without his mother getting lobotomized, I feel he would have fell into being a perfect heir to an unhealthy degree. Since his attempt at finding himself went so poorly, he would instead lean into being what his father wanted him to be so heavily thay he would end up losing himself, and being miserable. Though of course, he would still act like his cheery and kind and friendly self—he would just secretly be deeply unsatisfied with his life.

Anyway, going back to my declared dead au—crackerjack would probably try to repress his queer side—never wanting to stand out too much, at least in that aspect—but I feel he’d end up being accepting of queer people in general. Feeling a sort of kinship with them that he never allows himself to think about too hard. Also, in this au, he ends up rejecting all of his father’s teachings heavily—so the fact that his father is most certainly extremely homophobic, would encourage him to be more accepting out of spite.

[sansblues2]

" After he retires, he also starts painting. And gardening. He’s not as good at it (kills a lot of plants at first whoops) but he still enjoys it."

First thing that came to mind.

[declared-dead-crackerjack]

The camera on this device sure is easier to use than my film camera! Here’s a picture of me!

[the-land-of-dreams]

So I drew some art for my pal @thepossumsaretakingover 's Declared Dead AU! The basic premise is that CrackerJack got taken prisoner, was declared dead, but managed to come home (but not without quite a few physical and mental scars). Unfortunately, all the Stuff That Happens In Canon with the Sugarmans still happens while he's away which is...not fun. What is significantly more fun is that he ends up adopting BoJack years later, so yay!

[that-faerie-in-the-corner]

crappy screenshot redraw based of @thepossumsaretakingover ’s Declared Dead AU (aka CJ lives and ends up adopting BJ haha)

[bojackandherb]

How would Crackerjack interact with the rest of the main cast? Would Hollyhock still be born in your DDAU?

Yeah, hollyhock would still be born. Beatrice would actually go to Crackerjack for comfort when she finds out butterscotch got another woman pregnant. CJ is probably the only person she feels comfortable breaking down around. As cynical as she is, I think it did hurt Beatrice, regardless of how many affairs he’d already had at this point.

I think with CJ’s influence, perhaps Hollyhock would end up having a more open adoption. Still gets adopted by her 8 gay dads, but knows who her mother is and talks to her and stuff.

Anyway, as for how CJ would interact with the rest of the main cast… he’s a pretty likeable guy, he’d probably be like. A grandpa figure to everyone

[bojackandherb]

Concept,,,,

Declared dead crackerjack singing “love like you” to little Bojack,,,

[sansblues2]

What could have been

Not long ago I saw a post by @thepossumsaretakingover showing a redrawing they made of a scene from "The View from Halfway Down" between Bojack and Crackerjack. At first, I was a little confused about why Crackerjack was beside a young Bojack, so I read the description and it talked about their Au where Crackerjack doesn't die and later on adopts Bojack(Declared Dead Au), and the moment I read that I was like, "tell me more" so I read every post about it and I really liked the idea, especially because lately I've been into aus where the horse isn't miserable and actually has a chance to be happy without the possibility of him ruining everything in the process. 

I also like it because of all the new possibilities it brings, in this case I think it is more about Crackerjack than Bojack. How does he relate to his family now? How does the rest of the family react to knowing he is alive? I imagine his father would be happy, saying things like "Our family is finally complete again" and "We must celebrate'', make a big party, and invite everyone but he wouldn't talk about what happened with honey, and when Crackerjack asks about it he barely explains it before changing the subject, and when he finally tells the truth is that scene of him explaining to Beatrice all over again. 

Talking about Beatrice, I think she would be angry at him, she would be happy to see him again but she would also be angry even if she knew Crackerjack didn't mean to stay away for so long. If Beatrice comes to become that bitter lady she later turns to, I can easily see her blaming him for their mother's lobotomy and maybe even to an extent for her becoming this kind of person.

But anyway, these are just some of my thoughts. For Crackerjack's design, more specifically his scars, I took some from @the-land-of-dreams' drawing and added some more. 

I was having difficulty thinking what type of scars he would have, I ended up just going for the most basic ones, bruises on his knuckles, more cuts on his face, defensive cuts in his arms and I think the most drastic one(after the burns), a big rip in his left ear, all from fights he got into in his time as a prisoner.

So, that's it. See you tomorrow.