#vb au asks

[mdverse]

hi!! i feel like you may have talked about this before but out of curiosity, could you explain/talk about your kurt’s tattoos? :3

hi yes ofc i would love to!! i did in fact talk about it ages ago but i am always happy to say more and u picked a great time to ask bc i've been reworking all of the vb au tats so this isn't just a repeat of my previous post about it (except i never finished my official redesign of kurt's sleeve yet so i can't actually show u my reference)

for his sleeve i went the floral route with flowers that represent the most important relationships in his life, so it's intertwined ivy leaves and forget-me-nots wrapping around his arm (whether or not they actually look like the flowers they're supposed to be is a whole other thing lmao i think i get sloppier the more i draw them)

ivy symbolises fidelity, marriage and friendship - obviously u have to ignore the marriage part here bc this one is for finn and santana (furtana best friends and siblings fr <3)

forget-me-nots symbolise true love and respect, as well as the promise that u will always keep someone in ur thoughts - i always see this one as being primarily for his mom, but i think it probably does eventually extend to the entire hudmelpez clan

i also originally gave him a lil sun on his forearm for burt as a lil nod to you are the sunshine of my life gcv, which is kinda visible in some of the older drawings that have his tattoo but. i recently realised that i chose a really stupid placement for it so im gonna move the sun to his shoulder once i actually update my reference sheets. that being said i am realising right now that i still included the sun on his forearm in yesterday's post and that's devastating to me personally so pls pretend it's not there

and then the newest addition to kurt's tattoos is a very "u have to know where to look for it otherwise i think it's easy to miss it" but i did slip it into yesterday's post so! furtana matching tattoos my beloved let's talk about that one too <33

i think that things are extremely tense between furtana during the earlier stages of burt and carole's relationship (especially between kurt and the other 2) (not gonna really get into this rn bc it's not super relevant lol) so to me they do end up connecting over music and it remains a really important common interest for them over time despite their different tastes (in the sense that like. idk i think as duos they have more interests in common but as a trio they probably don't so music is a big thing for them) (i wish i could articulate this better but hopefully u get it) etc etc so. had to sit down and imagine what each of them drawing an eigth note would look like based on their handwriting (as one does i guess?) and then i figured it would be neat if they each had all 3 notes instead of just the one they drew so. matching tats for the siblings :)

(here's part of my unfinished reference sheet for that lol i think i still need to adjust stuff for the size/placement of finn's and santana's but kurt's is already figured out) (for artistic purposes i did actually change it from my original placement, which was closer to his ear) (i just wanted it to be a bit more visible in drawings lol)

[mdverse]

In the vb au the girls are the protagonists obviously and Finn and Kurt have prominent roles as well, what about the other guys? Do they have some sort of relevance or are they just there to cheer for the girls?

some of them are relevant yeah! sam and mike both work with the team (sam is the assistant coach and mike is their physio) so they'll be around a bunch. blaine is also technically there in that he's dating kurt but i'm actually still not really sure what i'm doing with that storyline so that might get revised. oh and i assume u were talking mainly about the glee club boys but karofsky makes an appearance as well (back when i was actually in the mood to draft the fic i almost got to that part and then i got stuck on some of the stuff leading up to that lol)

for the others... artie and puck might get lil cameos if i can figure out the details of those bc i would like them to both appear at some point (they don't appear together but lowkey now that i'm thinking of it they could still know each other or sth. idk i'll think about it). elliott might also be included as a friend of kurt's? jesse might get mentioned as well? and i've promised bella a small wes cameo so he'll make an appearance eventually. but overall these guys don't have big roles at all

[mdverse]

How old are the characters? I feel like this is a college au of some sorts but I’m still slightly not sure

In canon glee Marley would be the youngest, Sugar would (probably) be a year older, Tina a year older than the previous, Santana, Finn, Britt and Quinn all a year older than Tina and Kurt is the oldest overall, does the same apply in the volley au? Or are they all the same age?

mm it's not technically a college au, no. some of the girls are technically still in college but it's not super plot-relevant. i have their ages at the beginning of the fic listed here + some additions here but essentially i do mostly stick to canon age differences i think?

quinn, britt, finn, kurt and mike (also rachel and theoretically mercedes if i ever decide what she's been up to lol) are all fresh out of college (santana would be too but she dropped out)

(i did also make kurt the youngest of that bunch bc sth about kurt being younger than finntana scratches a v specific itch in my mind) (at least for this au)

tina and sam would be in their senior year of college (tina is on a gap year for this tho)

sugar is a junior

marley and kitty are sophomores

and then there are like. extra ocs to fill out the rest of the team and their ages range from 18-24 i think?

[mdverse]

tbh i was gonna ask about the fic but i didnt know how to drop it in there without sounding pushy and i’d never want it to feel that way!! of course, always take your time, i’d rather wait until 2024 than have you try and force yourself to write it and then have it be low quality!! and yes! go back and edit it again! i’d love to try and notice the little differences you make, obviously, do it for yourself but i think i’d turn it into a fun lil game for myself :) - space

u are so kind dkfgj thank u 🥺 honestly i don't think i'd be bothered if u asked about the fic! sometimes people can sound pushy about it but i don't think it would sound like that coming from u since you've always been so enthusiastic when it comes to vb au, so feel free to check in whenever u want to! i'm always happy to see u in my inbox anyway :)

in theory i won't be super busy this summer so i'm really hoping i can get at least the first arc written and posted by like... end of august or mid-september? i think that might be doable if i regularly put aside some time to write/plan things and i think i've found a way to keep myself motivated for that (aka i'm gonna rewatch haikyuu lmao). anyway yeah that's my tentative timeline for now!

also. this is really stupid but it's not plot-relevant so it's sth i can share with u as we both wait for me to write stuff. last month i finally figured out what finn's stick & poke tattoo would be

[mdverse]

what wouldve been the vb au’s favourite stuffed animal as a kid? - space :)

Gonna spitball while sleep-deprived I think :)

Finn: baby blanket! He had one on the show right? Forgot its name if it had one but yeah

Kurt: I get stuffed bunny vibes from him

Santana: teddy bear <3

Brittany: I'm actually incapable of not associating britt with cats so a cat of some sort

Sugar: u know that pink poodle webkinz?? I'll put a photo of it below

Quinn: idk a friend of mine has this bunny baby blanket and I can kinda see that being a sentimental thing for her

Tina: a dog probably? I'm just thinking of webkinz now but I think webkinz wasn't even in existence when they would've been really small so feel free to ignore that

[mdverse]

okay, if the vb au played any instruments what would they be? bonus : what age did they start learning? - space :)

hmm i'd say that in vb au, furt do play the same instruments they play in canon (drums for finn, piano for kurt) and that they both started at a relatively young age (10 for finn, 6-7 for kurt). piano did eventually become less of a priority for kurt after middle school but he can still play decently.

for the others i guess it would be easy to just go with the instruments i gave them in orchestra au lol but i have some alternatives in mind. i actually really love the idea of santana playing guitar - more as a casual hobby, definitely not a priority in her life. i could see tina starting off with piano as a kid and then deciding to switch to sth like the harp in high school because it's a less commonly played instrument (gotta impress college admissions people!)

idk if i really see quinn, britt or sug learning an instrument unless they were forced to tbh. realistically neither brittany's or sugar's parents would force them to learn one so i'm gonna leave them out of this. i could see quinn's parents pushing her to learn one as a child so i'm thinking maybe piano? she played for a few years and then dropped it as soon as she took up volleyball in middle school

[mdverse]

Besides Brittana and Furtana, does VBAU have any other notable relationships/friendships? Like are teammates dating other canon characters? (Or other teammates? 👀)

oh idk if i'm the right person to ask about notable dynamics bc so many of them are very important to me lol but here are some of my fav friendships rn:

mopierce (mopierce day is on the 10th and i am Scrambling to pull some art together lmao it will be rushed but i can't just ignore it)

sugtana

quitt

that being said, 99% of the santana dynamics are very precious in my mind and i am doing my best to make sure all of the friendships - especially within the squad - get similar levels of attention and development!

in terms of relationships... they 👀... also sug def has a massive crush on someone but i haven't fully figured out where that goes bc of their dynamic haha. oh and klaine is in theory a thing but recently i've gotten more hesitant about that? not really sure what to do with that either rn so we'll see what happens i guess

[mdverse]

thoughts on middle blocker santana? <3

oh god i'm so sorry to that author but middle blocker santana is the worst glee volleyball take i've seen so far and maybe i just have strong feelings about which positions the glee kids would play but also. no. to quote bob the drag queen, "mama this is garbage". santana would not be a middle blocker and let me tell u all why i say that because i really need to get it out of my system.

the first glaring issue there is that santana is rather short. canonically, at least, she's about my height and while i may make them all slightly taller in my own fic, i don't think that's what ote's author did. and even when playing with a women's height net, I feel pathetically short when i'm up close to it, which middle blockers often are. i don't want to say for sure that she would be too short to be a good middle blocker, but being taller would certainly go a long way. especially because if you look at most teams, the tallest players there will most likely be MBs (and they can be huge). and sure, short people could probably still be decent middle blockers (ie hinata in haikyuu) but it just does not make sense to put a short person in that position. middle blockers, more than anyone else at the net, are constantly switching between offence and defence. you pretty much always have to be ready to block the ball, or to go in for a fast-paced spike. it's a very hectic position to be in and, because you're jumping more than anyone else, height is crucial in getting to blocks quickly. a short person could in theory keep up, as hinata does in hq, but they'd be using a whole lot more energy running around everywhere, they'd have to jump extra high and get the timing right, etc. it's a lot of hard work. and they'd probably be suited to other positions anyway. and i'm not saying santana couldn't do it - i'm sure she could if she really wanted to play MB. but that leads me into my second point.

santana would hate being a middle blocker. maybe i'm biased as someone who has played mb maybe once or twice in games and absolutely hated it lmao but also. i see santana as someone who has much more of an offensive playing style. girlie loves sending a good, strong spike right past the opposing block, and having the time to wind up to it. you don't really have that as a middle blocker because things can get so hectic in the middle of the court. she'd hate having to make that switch right at the net. i also reckon she wouldn't be a great blocker generally, y'know? like she's not a terrible blocker, but it's probably her least favourite play. not to mention middle blockers don't actually play in the back row - once they're done serving, they get swapped out and the libero plays defence in the back until they've rotated back to the front row, and then the MB comes back onto the court. and i just don't see santana liking that. if anything, she wants to spend as much time on the court as possible and she loves the opportunity to attack from the back row. she's great at receiving, too. being a middle blocker would just end up being really frustrating for her. honestly, if i didn't see santana as more of an offence-leaning player, i might've considered making her a libero. clearly that didn't happen but it is a possibility i'd be more inclined to think about than middle blocker santana.

for what it's worth, if i had to rank the positions based on how likely i'd be willing to give them to santana, i'd say:

outside hitter (left side)

opposite hitter (right side)

setter

libero

middle blocker

1-2 are interchangeable, and 3-4 might be as well. but either way middle blocker is always dead last. like i never even considered it for her because it's such a weird choice, so imagine my shock and horror when i found out that was the position she got in ote. so much disbelief and a lil bit of rage.

in conclusion, MB!santana is garbage and anyone who tries to tell me otherwise would need a really compelling argument bc based on both her physical attributes and her personality, i could never see her enjoying it. thank u for coming to my ted talk <3