#also wouldn't be against meeting Absolution's cast in the game

[pausegame]

I hope the plotline in DA: Absolution crops up in Veilguard. Devs did say the world keeps moving regardless of Rook/the player so that could be a plotline in Tevinter the same way The Masked Empire was relevant to Inquisition, though not mandatory reading material. Really curious as to what precisely Meredith wants to do. Ressurect all the dead Templars in Tevinter and turn them red and then overthrow??? I am curious 👀

[kikitakite]

@fantasyfictionfables

I was going to reblog some of your posts because I wanted to discuss your takes on Mystra, but then I found out you're a Christian conservative who hates gay people.

No gay person thinks their sexual orientation is their identity, but it's absolutely PART of their identity, just as being straight is part of yours. You can claim otherwise, but it determines who you might love and marry and that person will one day become a part of you and your identity. It's inevitable. As a wife and mother of three, you should know that better than anyone.

But people from groups like yours shame gay people for exploring that part of themselves and that's why Pride Month exists. Pride isn't "propaganda". It's about marginalized people showing the world they exist and they're not ashamed of it. Parades are also a great way for gay people to meet each other. My bestie met her wife at a march 15 years ago and they've been together ever since. It's beautiful. They have two happy, gorgeous children who wouldn't exist without Pride, because their moms never would've met.

Pride also raises money to help gay teens who've been cast out of their homes and gay refugees who've had to flee their country because being gay is illegal there. It also provides support for gay people who need medical help, therapy for abuse, suicide prevention and more. It's a safe space for people who are often discriminated against and even KILLED just for being who they are. So sorry that seems to bother you.

Your take isn't brave, it's just ignorant and hateful. You didn't have to write that post. Nothing provoked it. You just WANTED to to air your allegiances. And then you turned off comments and reblogs lmfao. For the majority of the year, gay people survive just like us straights. They go about their day and don't even mention being gay. You picked the one month in the entire year that's dedicated to them to complain about their existence and call them "deranged". And then you have the audacity to say you "bear no ill will" towards them? Bullshit.

I can only assume the word "pride" scares you because you're a Christian and it's a sin, am I right? Well here's something ironic: lust is also a sin, yet your entire blog not only consists of Gale thirst posts, but you're also stealing Tim Downie's voice to make audio clips using AI. Hmmm, I wonder if God would approve of a married woman posting NSFW content and using a man's voice for her hedonistic writings without his consent. 🤔

And by the way, as a veteran DnD player I can tell you right now that Mystra has done some absolutely VILE shit to her followers. She's not perfect. None of the gods in DnD are. They're flawed and often cruel. I've seen you compare Mystra and Gale to stories in the Bible, but that almost feels blasphemous. Mystra has a history of evil deeds. She orchestrated Elminster's rape, made sure he had kids and never told him about them. She turned Volo into an anchor without his knowledge. She tortured a peasant because he refused to sleep with her, then killed his wife and punished him for crying about it. And don't even get me started on the "daughters" she created. The third Mystra (who has Mystra and Mystryl's memories) is cruel to Gale as well and the game gives so much context for that. Plus ALL the companions agree she's unreasonable and tell Gale to reject her, and if he does it leads to one of his most satisfying endings. He's happy, he's a teacher, he marries tav and everyone approves. Your way of playing isn't the only right way and people aren't wrong for criticizing Mystra. There's plenty about her that deserves to be criticized, as is the case with every god in the pantheon.

Speaking of, I have nothing against Christians, but I do when they use their faith to shame people and act like total hypocrites.

[shadyauthor]

My welcome home AU EXPLAINED

The "HeartStrings💕" AU

So basically short explanation, Giffany from Gravity Falls but Wally. But! Also DDLC but the cast of Welcome Home.

But the in depth explanation :

The AU itself is close to DDLC but Wally himself is more like Giffany, as in like his abilities!

But its not like the reader is IN the game no, the reader buys the game.

The plot of the AU itself is basically

Wally x Reader

Sally x Reader

Julie x Reader

Poppy, Barnaby, Frank, and Eddie are also in the game but are not romantically involved with the reader! The others will be considered as "route choices" but the book is truly just Wally x Reader.

This game is called: "Strings of their hearts". I don't know where I want to take this story yet, if I want the cast to have a good end or a bad end (as in like the ending in DDLC, where you are trapped with Monika forever till you delete her) or a "happy" ending, which I won't disclose since I already have that planned out and there is a possibility I could use it! I wouldn't want to spoil it nono! And I don't know if I want to end it at all, but I know that'd be impossible so an ending is inevitable

If you have questions please feel free to ask, as I might have not covered everything that I wanted to (curse my memory!) This is the basic covering of the AU itself.

Now onto the game!

The game will start by opening up to a screen (most of this will be described in the first chapter I will make when writing it all out) it is old and lagging but the reader persists! The game will go about the reader moving into a neighborhood and meeting all of their new friendly neighbors over the course of TWO DAYS. (Tbh I'm kinda just writing this out to remind myself the plot so I don't forget) meeting the "love interests" on the second day. You will have two months (in game) to get a date with one of the love interests!

You get to know each individual character to become friends or more (minus Poppy, Barnaby, Frank, and Eddie ofc) and that is all I can really say without spoiling the book!

The reader will be gender neutral throughout the ENTIRE story, as their gender is not needed for the book, I will try not to use pronouns at all but if I do they will be [They/Them], to try and be as inclusive as possible as I can.

This story will take place 2000-2005,[update: I changed it to be set in 2023 🤭] and the reader is an adult (this does not matter really as there will be ABSOLUTELY NO. NONE. ZERO. Nsft in this book, even if Clown changes their boundaries and opinions on it, the only reason they are an adult is because the cast are adults and this is a romance book)

If there is any questions please feel free to message me or comment I'll make sure to get to them whenever I can!

And of course, if I am going against ANY of Clowns boundaries PLEASE tell me and I'll fix or delete what I did immediately! We respect clowns boundaries in this household

NONE of this is Canon, this is an AU, and not at all affiliated with the original or Clown.

I will be posting the first chapter on here later today, I also have a tiktok account that will be dedicated to this AU and this AU alone

I will also be making drawings for this AU, like what the reader would look like IN game, Wallys outfit and basically the entire casts outfits, it will take time ofc! But it feels nice to see a visual representation.

Update: I've decided to take off Poppy Partridge x reader 💔

Heart Strings AU tiktok : wh_heartstringsau._

Where to message me : ꜱʜᴀᴅʏ 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞#4047 (I will change this if I change my username!)

So yeah, I'm nervous and I don't know if this will get attention at all, but I hope who ever decides to read this (or the chapter) I hope you enjoy!

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Haruka and Michiru as Aylin and Isobel. Y/N? I've never actually played BG3 but I'd love to know your thoughts.

I loved getting this ask right after seeing fanart of that very concept (but the other way around). And I love pondering stuff like this!

Certainly I've rolled this around in my brain as soon as people started calling Aylin and Isobel "the moon lesbians". I absolutely see the vision if it's a kind of more surface-level "cast the BG3 characters as senshi/the senshi as BG3 characters" or writing an AU/crossover in which case that's absolutely and without question the roles they'd get. But I think that going much deeper it starts to break down.

There's neat parallels, absolutely. That iconic romance! That all-consuming devotion! Beyond even death! And the whole dying-and-resurrecting thing, too! And a literal magical girl transformation that will forever be the best scene in the game. We sadly never get to see Aylin and Isobel in combat together the way we do Haruka and Michiru, but they'd make a really neat battle couple, I'm sure. Though their "I fight better when I know my beloved is safe" stuff might get in the way - a fun thing to explore.

And yes, one of them is loud and boisterous and tall and strong and sword-y and loves putting up a front and brushing her own feelings off as irrelevant even when she is suffering horribly. Also has the whole extreme dedication to duty thing going on, good ol' Being A Sword, while being brash and reckless and having a concerning disregard for personal safety. (You can't tell me Haruka wouldn't jump into 500 godawful fights a day, just plain facetanking everything, if she knew she couldn't die.) The other, meanwhile, is a way more subtle fancy princess lady type who seems to be calling a lot of the shots in the relationship.

My darling Isobel says we will stay allied at your side. I am pleased to hear it.

(Never fails to get me - Aylin, you already swore your sword and fealty to me 5 minutes ago, were you just going to dip if Isobel said so?)

She is also very insightful, is "the mage" and is capable of some excellent and on-point snark and verbal cuts, though I can't really see Isobel as being very ~ara (she's also a laughably horrible liar). Selûne actually has a lot of divination-related stuff in her portfolio and Isobel (who already uses mirrors in her iconic ritual we see in the game, and I love love love the setup she has there) doing some augury, scrying, and future-sensing via mirror-gazing would be super on brand.

(The moon, the tides, the sea... I could go places with this. But of course, now I've thought of Umberlee Cleric Michiru and The Seas Are Stormy, and that is a true delight.)

But the one place where it really breaks down for me is probably my very favourite thing to chew on with regards to Michiru, and that is that one iconic line, no matter how seriously you decide to take her words:

A world without Haruka isn't worth saving.

I cannot see Isobel saying anything like this, even as a joke, even as a taunt aimed at a defeated enemy.

Because we see Isobel go through exactly this: she wakes up in a world without Aylin. Against all odds, she is in the exact opposite of the situation they two with their mortal/immortal disparity have discussed and prepared for. She is told her unkillable demigod beloved is somehow dead and she believes this lie fully - we have no indication she ever doubted this. And what does Isobel do?

She makes a stand against the shadows, makes herself a beacon and protector, adamantly refuses to abandon any bit of her faith and her lifelong service to her goddess (even while expressing her dissatisfaction with Selûne's apparent laissez-faire approach there, if pressed), gives her all to set up a shelter and support the people mounting a resistance against her own father. "At any cost," she says, and it all clearly does cost her quite a bit - she is so very visibly exhausted and at the end of her tether when we meet her, but also chooses to be patient and to stay back and support and heal and all that. I feel like Michiru, in this situation, would rather march up to Moonrise and take on the entire army herself in a doomed last stand. Unless, I don't know, maybe a Jaheira-Setsuna situation could help?

All this actually makes me think Isobel has a lot of Hotaru vibes! The goth girl whose antagonist dad is part of leading an entire elaborate evil operation (she's the only thing he has left, she is an obsession, he will keep resurrecting her no matter the cost), being brought back from the dead by him in a weird way and suffering the various consequences of this. She even has an Ominous Cough going on, and her most prominent magical power is shielding and healing. Then, a tadpoled Isobel as a parallel to Mistress 9? You could go places with that.

Looking at the other halves of the couples, Haruka, when she thinks Michiru is dead:

You’re so unfair, Michiru, to leave for a world of your own. Don’t leave me here.

Aylin, in turn, seems to have dealt with Isobel's first death fairly... healthily. I mean, it's hard to say, when the one point of coping comparison we have is Ketheric. Certainly her grief is immense and when she says "I have mourned her these hundred years" it is the most believable thing. If Isobel dies again before they get reunited, we see a more subdued version of Aylin who is extremely duty-focused and determined to soldier on (her epilogue letter guts me) and who gives me that very I Will Never Love Again impression of kind of cutting herself off from the more mortal/human parts of her that Isobel seems very much a tether to (and you could go neat places with this being a parallel to the senshi dealing with having human identities, i.e. Haruka vs Uranus). But we do get some truly chilling stuff from Aylin if Isobel dies after their reunion (as well as a serving of some absolutely heartbreaking "I don't care what happens to me as long as Isobel is safe" right before that).

When I am free, I will destroy you! I will murder you, and your children, and their children beside! I will rip this world apart, plank and beam, until every iota of your being is scalded by my light.

So she is going to make very sure that a world without Isobel is also a world without you, traitor. And after that most thorough vengeance is done? I can't think of anything that bodes well, I'm afraid. But the senshi I could most easily see going down this particular dark route is, well, Michiru, and not Haruka.

Continuing this extremely self-indulgent thought exercise, it reminds me a bit of "every yuri couple is Utena and Anthy if you try hard and believe in yourself" and I'd say let's go for a twist: while they are absolutely nothing alike, Aylin sure makes an interesting Anthy because she's magically imprisoned for an unimaginably long time, has a thousand swords stuck in her over and over again, and she suffers because men objectify her and covet her for her power and what she represents and want to use her, and it seems to be a cycle she is doomed to repeat forever purely because of who she is. Meanwhile, Isobel is, uh, a car? I don't know how far I can stretch this, hahah.

In any case, thank you for this excuse to blather on! Always appreciated. Again, this is peak self-indulgence, and I love it.

[coarsely]

(art; x x)

Anti-Chronicles; a WIP introduction

Set between the warring states of Bronze Eden and Nod, Anti-Chronicles is a non-linear, non-chronological anthology of stories taking place in these respective lands, aiming to explore the culture, history, politics and society and how they have changed over the years. Bronze Eden is a heavily controlled theocratic state filled with forced surveillance and religious fervour, led by the Potentate Dynasty who have been ruling Eden for millennia. Nod is the neighbouring anarchist state, post-apocalyptic and is completely free of any organised government or laws, dealing with the fallout of a nuclear weapon that distorted local time and space dropped on them by Bronze Eden.

STATUS; 1st draft, lore-building.

P.O.V.; 3rd person limited, with occasional chapter-specific exceptions.

GENRES;

Fantasy

Steampunk fiction

Post-apocalyptic science fiction

THEMES;

Religion as a tool of survellience and power

The politics of monarchies vs anarchism

War's impact on citizens

Nuclear post-apocalypse

Time-travel

Human connection in spite of hardship, violence, and colonialism

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS;

Violence

Swearing and derogatory language

Sexuality

Religion and religious trauma, specifically Catholic based

Puritanism

Disordered eating

Child abuse

Cultural homophobia, misogyny, racism, etc

Death

Ableism

Potentially more which will be outlined when relevant.

INSPIRATIONS;

Love, Death + Robots

I, Robot by Issac Asimov

Æon Flux

Dishonored (video game series)

Bayonetta (video game series)

Akira

The Real and the Unreal by Ursula Le Guin

CHARACTERS;

by nature of being non-chronological and non-linear, we have a lot of characters! some are kept to their own corner of the world, others move around. here is a short list of the more familiar faces, but there are many more you'll meet as we develop. To meet the entire cast, please refer to this post!

The Potentate Dynasty, the rulers of Bronze Eden who are said to be descended from the Empyrean Itself. Currently ruled by the aged Potentate Magnus, who has fathered six children during his reign. Living in the floating palace in the center of Bronze Eden, they keep to themselves, but their power is absolute.

The Imperators are the divine soldiers of Bronze Eden, also with a link to the Empyrean who are trained from a young age to be the protectors of the Temple and of the Potenates and priests who live within.

Sal Soloman and Ed Edwards are two scientists in Bronze Eden, who's meeting and relationship is both legendary and tragic.

Nod's warriors are disorganised and many, but by far the most prolific is Ucalegon, a native of Old Rhapsody. She works with her own agenda in mind, but nontheless has Nod's best interests in mind... for the most part.

Lady Jezebel is a radio presenter, activist and DJ who's voice has become synonymous with the Land of Nod. She is a pillar of Nod culture and beliefs, hugely influential though nobody knows her face or who she is outside of her radio work. If you want to know of the latest news or listen to the blossoming music scene, her radio is who you tune in to.

Vítor Cadogan is a resident of Golden Glimpse, one of the cities in Nod. Known for running a youth center, he was once a vigilante detective who sought to fight the crime that grew in the golden city's underbelly. He's had a change of heart and has dedicated the remainder of his life to supporting the youths of Golden Glimpse, but many hold his crimefighting past against him.

Other names you'll want to remember are Saccade, Helene, Ive, Cerebellum, Hendrix, the Praeceptor family, and Niles Clarke.

Please feel free to ask in the replies, my inbox or my dm's if you would like to be added to the tag list. This means being tagged in snippets, character profiles, lore dumps and graphics, and anything else related in a major way! I will not tag you in ask games, picrew chains and the like, as I wouldn't consider these notable to the actual tangible lore. You can ask to be removed at any time.

[anonymeqaupdates]

What would the first years think of hunger games? And the cast being in the hunger games? I picture Rook dominated the games.

Yuu had strictly forbid them from watching those movies but with everyone in his world talking about the new prequel coming out they managed to convince one of his cousins (Louise) to lend them the movies. Once they were done watching the first years swore to do everything in their power to make sure Rook never watch it.

Meanwhile Rook and Vil got their hands on the movies months ago, had even read the books and had a long marathon session were they dissected the movies and nitpicked everything from the survival tactics to the quality of the adaptation. It's not like they disliked it, but it's so rare for their domain of expertise to meet like that that they overanalyzed the hell out of it. As a matter of fact at the same very moment the first years were making their oath and coming clean to Yuu, Vil and Rook were on a date in Yuu's world to see the prequel in theater.

Eventually they all end up watching the movies, and they all freak out about Rook potentially watching it. At one point though they catch Vil and Rook having a marathon night and after clearing thing up Vil is so annoyed at them.

Vil : IT'S A WORK OF FICTION!

Seriously Rook is eccentric but he knows what's acceptable or not.

And yes, Rook would stay a long time in the games but I don't think he would win. He wouldn't have it in him to sacrifice Vil or Epel or anyone really. So he would be among the last one to die. Lilia is also in the same case since he's experienced but would definitely sacrifice himself for his boys. If I were to be absolutely ruthless and in the spirit of the books then the Heartslabyul boys would be among the first ones to die, closely followed by Kalim, then I could see Ruggie and Jack biting it, then I guess this would be around the time Idia's lack of survival skills would bite him despite Ortho's best efforts to save him, and without his brother around Ortho is likely to either give up or go on a rampage. Anyway he would be next to go. then I can see Jamil and the Octatrio taking each other out. Rook would probably pass around that time, probably against Lilia. Epel would want revenge and Lilia wouldn't want to hurt a kid so... Then Sebek, Silver and Malleus would want revenge and Vil would still be pissed over Rook and Epel's death would the one push too many. I can see him injuring Silver and killing Sebek but Malleus would definitely kill him. Leona would try to use the occasion to kill Malleus then so show down between those two and then Malleus realize that Silver is the only left besides him. He can't kill Silver so he heal him and take himself out. That's it.

[asavt]

I wanna share more of the squad™ (Madeleine-Espresso-Latte-Almond-Roguefort with the addition of Creampuff and Walnut too) headcanons because.

-First of all, I gotta say that when I draw them I'll most likely start my music play with either "What's going on?" or "Life goes on" both from the P5 ost, idk, settles a good mood for them. (like right now, as I write this the latter is playing)

-As said before, none of Madeleine, Espresso nor Almond (nor the girls) know that Roguefort is Phantom Bleu, Madeleine and Espresso both see something suspicious about them, and Almond and Walnut, with who Roguefort spends the most time with, might or might not have seen a few similarities between the two, but the idea has never crossed their minds.

The only one that knows, as also said before, is Latte. Although she was a little wary of it at the beginning, is this what made her and Rogue good friends, she is the only one that knows (for now) after all. Roguefort is someone that can trusted it seems.

-As an addition to that, is not uncommon for Roguefort to come into Latte's atelier as Phantom bleu at night if they see she is still awake (is weird to happen, but sometimes it does). In those nights those two just talk, Latte asking about how the place where they all live in is like at night. And sometimes Roguefort might use their shapeshifting abilities to try and copy their friends and do bad impressions of them, both them and Latte laughing a lot afterwards.

-I do headcanon Walnut and Creampuff to be really good friends. For some reason the idea of Walnut asking Creampuff to be her crime-solving-partner when they grow up is cute to me...

-They all share a collective braincell, is Espresso, but it doesn't always works at it's fullest so they are all still idiots.

-Going back to Latte and Roguefort because their friendship is something I love. Latte once, early on when she had just found out about the secret, if they were keeping up an act to take advantage of the other. This Roguefort answered that ''that wouldn't be a fair game now, would it?''. Whatever Roguefort finds about the others that can be deemed as a weakness they don't use it against the others (useless is some kind of urgent scenario where they need one of the others to do something, but they try to avoid that at best). This is what proved to Latte that they can be trusted, as they also shapeshift into any of the others way less (especially espresso, they know they would be killed on sight if they do).

-More with Latte, from what it says in the game I think she helped Espresso in the development of coffee magic, so both have known each other for a long time. People often confuse them as siblings, truth is, they are not, they just act that way. Espresso may say that Latte is a bother, but he really appreciates his friendship with her, as well as he thinks of her as a great mage too.

-Espresso got to meet Creampuff in one of the meetings, before him and Madeleine started to date and before the group got to meet Roguefort. She seemed a little intimidated by him at the beginning, and Espresso had thought some of her movements at the moment to cast spells a bit clumsy, but he still saw some promising future in the young mage. Creampuff eventually started to stop begin intimidated by the coffee mage, she respects him greatly, and she warmed up a bit more after Madeleine was brought one afternoon when she was visiting Latte and Espresso and Madeleine came by.

-Madeleine tends to shower the young girls with gifts when he can (either small things like candy, something one or both of them might have said they wanted, or just take them to a shopping trip). Well, he tends to give gifts to every single one of the group if he has the chance (which is pretty often tbh). Each one of them must have at last ten gifts from him, if not more.

-The group was pretty surprised when once Almond brought with him not only Walnut, who wanted to meet with Creampuff in the atelier to then go walk around, but also Roguefort. It was a few weeks after a pretty bad night after work, the detective had been close to collapsing on the ground on his way home when Roguefort, who had been off work, saw him, approached and offered help, something the detective first rejected but had to accept as he almost tripped and fell face first. The thief was well aware of how tired Almond was half the time he saw him (it wasn't as much as they saw Walnut in the middle of a chase of crime scene, they mostly had seen him when they weren't dressing up in their cape and top hat), and they were also well aware of the danger it was to engage with the detective when in their normal self, but begin honest they were worried of Almond's well begin. The two of them started to see each other more after that small encounter, mostly because Roguefort decided to stop avoiding Almond when they were off work.

-Once, Almond arrived really really late at the meeting, Roguefort behind him saying "he got caught up in various cases today", and the detective looked absolutely exhausted. Just as he sat down his cellphone started to sound with an entering call. Roguefort frowned, Latte sighed, Espresso and Madeleine exchanged looks and just as Almond was about to answer Madeleine snatched his phone and answered the call with "Hello, this is Sir Madeleine Cookie of house Madeleine, Detective Almond was requested to help both me and the renowned coffee mage Espresso Cookie with an issue we have at the borders of the city, so, may I ask for you to not call useless there's a problem as big as a dragon attacking the place, thank you and good evening" and hung. Latte and Roguefort were laughing hard, Espresso was chuckling and Almond was looking at Madeleine in complete disbelief.

"You did not just did that"

"I did, and hey, I got you a day off, enjoy it"

[spacepanda7]

Second cast of Crows (maybe they're rivals with the first cast... 🤔):

Well, the image of sakuatsu as helnik (matthias helvar x nina zenik? I think?) wouldn't leave my head. Hate each other at first, warm up to each other, Sakusa/Matthias lets their guard down for the first time with Atsumu/Nina, who break their trust to save them, and when they meet again, Sakusa/Matthias absolutely hate Atsumu/Nina and hate that they still have feelings for them. Atsumu/Nina had been longing to see them again but when provoked, physically or otherwise, absolutely refuse to take that lying down and immediately fight back. Classic enemies to lovers to enemies to allied enemies to lovers. The basic staple of sakuatsu, really. 🤣

Now that I'm attached to sakuatsu helnik, might as well make it a national team (+friends) party. Hinata strikes me as the perfect Wylan, except maybe that Wylan was never that exuberant. But Hinata is so nice and friendly (unless you insult him) that he would be horrified by the cruelty and death that the Crows live with on a daily basis. But then, once he got used to it and started to really love and care for his friends/teammates, he would be the fiercest and most protective of all. Also, can you just imagine the national team looking at Hinata after he casually suggests murder a la Wylan, like, "oh my god, we've corrupted him," and then having a miniature crisis? Also, he starts with natural talent, albeit with an uncontrollable disadvantage that he then turns to his advantage, becoming better than anyone hoped he could be. Hinata had extreme athletic gifts, but the disadvantage of his small height. Wylan had dyslexia but also extreme intelligence and knowledge. Plus, everyone wants to be Hinata's dad, like how Kaz adopted Wylan. 😆

That would make Kageyama Jesper. They both have fantastic, utterly precise, superhuman (literally in Jesper's case) aim. Kageyama is definitely impulsive at times, but although I can totally see him gambling away all his money, I feel like that would be more because he had no idea what was going on and someone conned him into it, rather than Jesper's addiction. Their personalities are almost complete opposites, but they both come alive the most during high pressure situations (fights/games) and perform at their best in them. They can both be offensive, although Kageyama is mainly just blunt, while if Jesper is insulting, he's probably doing it on purpose. They both encouraged their counterparts in their own ways, and convinced them that they were valuable despite their perceived disadvantages. Kageyama was the first to treat Hinata as a serious opponent and rival, and to take him seriously. Jesper was one of the first to make Wylan feel like he was more than his inability to read and that he was, regardless of the disadvantage, incredibly smart and special. They both were condescending at first to Hinata/Wylan but grew to respect them and care for them.

I'm not sure who would be Kaz... no one on the national team really strikes me as scheming and manipulative enough to be him... Maybe Suna, but I like the idea of him as Inej. Inconspicuous at first, especially compared to their colleagues, underestimated, but very skilled. Plus, the whole Thief of Secrets thing really suits Suna's tendency for collecting blackmail. If anyone on the national team is collecting information to use against people to gain an advantage over them, it would probably be Suna. Ship-wise, that would make Osamu Kaz but... Osamu is not like Kaz in the slightest. He's all impulse and Kaz is all calculation. Personality wise, if we spread the candidate pool to be Japanese-born volleyball players at the Olympics, Oikawa would definitely be Kaz. Scheming, strategically turning his weaknesses into strengths, manipulating, thinking ahead, bringing out the strengths of his team, and very powerful and frightening in his own right. Ship wise though, I feel like Oikawa and Suna wouldn't last a day. They would probably destroy each other. Maybe Iwaizumi and Osamu are two of the Dregs that come along with the group, but don't participate in the actual heist, staying on the ship instead. There were a few of those in the book; I think Rotty and Dirix were supposed to go but one of them died when their decoy ship was attacked by Pekka Rollins. There were others but I forget who.

Komori can be Kuwei. I don't know how smart he is, but he doesn't have a prominent partner he's shipped with, and I can see him flirting with everyone for the fun of it and making everyone else really mad. He and Sakusa are probably not cousins in this AU.

I left out Hoshiumi, Ushijima, Hakuba, Yaku, Hyakuzawa, and Aran, which makes me sad, but I couldn't think of a role that would fit them well. Ushijima is (I think) their captain but he is way too himbo to be Kaz (@ him and Kageyama discussing gravity in South America). Hoshiumi would be a good Jesper but Hirugami Sachirou is too experienced and calm to be Wylan. Hyakuzawa could be Wylan, but he doesn't have an obvious partner, I don't remember very much about Hakuba except that he's huge, and Aran isn't calculating enough to be Kaz, stoic enough to be Matthias, outgoing and purposefully charming enough to be Nina or Jesper, or innocently inexperienced enough to be Wylan. I included Bokuto in the previous set of Crow volleyboy musings, so I won't count him here. Yaku is probably waiting at the Crow Club/Slat to take care of everyone when they get back and yell at them for being stupid and reckless.

Or, using a similar cast of characters, Atsumu and Osamu split up Kaz's character (Atsumu is the schemer and manipulator, Osamu handles the logistics of being a leader - he has his own business, he's used to records and numbers, plus it would probably have been very useful for Kaz to have a doppelganger to use as an alibi), Sakusa and Komori split up Kuwei's character (Komori is the chaos, Sakusa, the university graduate, is Kuwei's scientific prowess; they can be cousins here), Suna, Hinata, and Kageyama as Inej, Wylan, and Jesper, and Ushijima as Matthias. We'll bring Tendou on to be Nina: he is very out there and not afraid to be himself, and I can totally see him sacrificing his relationship with Ushijima to keep them both safe, and Ushijima being so hurt and confused by Tendou's betrayal that he keeps a distance when they're reunited and accidentally comes across as aggressive.

Anyway, if you've reached the end of my Six of Crows/Haikyuu!! rant, thank you for sticking around! A gold star for you! ⭐ I love the volleyboys and the Crows (the Dregs ones not the Karasuno ones, although I love them too) very much and they take up much of my mental real estate.

SIX OF CROWS HAIKYUU!! VERSION just slammed into my brain at top speed and refused to leave.

First version that came into my head was this: Kuroo as Kaz, scheming and always thinking several steps ahead and manipulating others, friends and enemies. Bokuto as Jesper, powerful and has a presence, loves the adrenaline of a fight (or facing a wall of three blockers, whatever), and loud and cheerful (most of the time). Oikawa and Iwaizumi as Nina and Matthias. I probably don't need to explain to you who is who and why. Matthiwaizumi, of course, lives to a ripe old age, happy and in love with Ninoikawa. That's what happens, yep.

I ran into an issue with Inej and Wylan. Because to me, Akaashi is quite similar to Inej, quiet but calculating and dangerous and threatening when they want to be. Independent and supportive and unfalteringly loyal, but also keeping their counterpart honest/humble/etc. And Kenma reminds me of Wylan in that he's not super dedicated to and in love with volleyball in the same way as the others are, like Wylan was not used to the life that the others led before Kaz pulled him in. Also, Kenma is very smart and good at thinking strategically. Wylan was very good at engineering and math, and I feel like Kenma's video game prowess would lend itself well to learning about technology systems. And Kenma is the least physically threatening out of these six, like Wylan was among the crows. But the way the ships work, Kenma should be Inej and Akaashi should be Wylan... well, it's an AU, anyway. Akaashinej can be pining after Bokutojesper. And after pulling him in, Kazuroo falls for Wylenma.

Terushima is Kuwei. Smart and flirtatious. Makes Kenma extremely angry by flirting with Kuroo excessively. Tried on Bokuto at first, but Akaashi and his knives put an end to that very quickly. Daishou would probably also work, plus, it would be hilarious to have him flirting incessantly with Kuroo.