dropping some fanfic stuff below the cut
like the alternia high lineup is set:
cox Karkat (motivation, coaching, not afraid to yell at anyone)
8 Terezi (competitive, good technique, unyielding. re-ratios like DAMN)
7 Vriska (tall, high standards for herself and others, competitive af, the most badass stroke pair you'll ever row with)
6 Gamzee (tall, ridiculously strong, laid-back and provides a buffer between Vriska and the rest of the boat)
5 Equius (strong basically. he and gamzee are about 40 seconds faster than anyone on the team when it comes to 2ks)
4 Feferi (pulls hard as fuck. the foundation of the engine room and don't let anyone tell you differently.)
3 Eridan (wants to be 7-seat, everyone hates him. caught an ejector crab once)
2. Sollux (DUALITY, skinny and shortish, sarcastic and cynical, also this makes for one heck of a bow four. never looks at anything but terezi's oar and it's served him damn well.)
1. Aradia (on the smaller side, witty, fatalistic because she knows damn well she's gonna be the first under in a collision.)
nepeta comes in later. tavros and kanaya...im still deciding? I mean I wanna put Tavros as their manager but im thinking that would be hell to do in a wheelchair, plus he might get pushed around by vriska. kanaya would be good as part of the support organization - she sews the unis and mans the food tent and looks fabulous while doing it
tavros definitely is the one guy with a cowbell on shore. when gamzee isn't rowing, he has one of these fuckers and blows it encouragingly all the time. (based on a tru story)
their coaches are dragonmom and crabdad. sometimes aurthour substitute coaches and makes them do weird drills
but ive been having more trouble with sburbia lineups (and ugh I still need a better name for their high school)
cox: Caliborn initially, but it is soon revealed that his arrogance is far greater than his actual skill. everyone thought Calliope would be too nice and shy but Roxy convinced her to
8 and 7 are gonna be Dirk and Roxy because any combination of cherub + alpha derse kid is fantastic. but WHICH WHICH???? THEY'D BOTH BE GOOD AT TECHNIQUE? THEY'D BOTH BE COMPETITIVE? AND I CANT HAVE THEM SWITCH BECAUSE PORT AND STARBOARD???????? im leaning towards roxy at 8, dirk at 7 purely because roxy would be a lot more laid-back off the water which would be amusing, and dirk is more likely to be bitchy.
6. jade (because power. because tall jungle girl who owns the most colorful spandex in existence. hell yeah.)
5. rose (because 5-seat is required to be beautiful, because she would have the most fantastic muscles on the team and own 8 pairs of the same black-and-purple spandex a la Haruka Nanase, and because everyone worships her.)
4. dave (because he has to be next to Rose, and 4 is the forgetful seat, and he would bitch constantly about 'bow four ready row')
3. jake (because 3-seat. no need to say more)
2. john (because he's a goddamn ditz unless you know him, and he's a little short and chubbyish)
1. jane (she grits her teeth and carries through but also really wants to be seven-seat)
i just feel like it isn't as strong or cohesive and hurghghgghh. the trolls' one came together a lot better.
their coaches are Mom and Nanna (not-so-secret lesbians), and Grandpa Harley runs the food tent
influenced by this post, this post, and this post, but mostly based off my own experience.
they are all nerds this is a fundamental property of the AU. I dont mean like "omg my precious baby losers" I mean they are actually nerds and they go to an Anime Convention at one point maybe more
the teams originally meet at some regatta idk like they know OF each other but they dont KNOW each other until Dave wanders off with his camera and finds Terezi who has a sweatshirt and jeans on over her uni and asks her if he can photograph her and they get along brill and don't actually realize that they're rivals until like an hour later
oh man I have hella high school AU headcanons but ill spare y'all their exact ethnicities and nerdinesses and clubs/teams besides crew. here's the ships tho:
arasol before, solfef afterwards
davekarezi and YOU CAN'T STOP ME
brojade friends with benefits tbh