I have to know what other media you have considered sticking Buddycrew into. Consider Cookie Run or Undertale. For the funny
cookie run: I haven't considered it but it does not particularly interest me
undertale: surprise funfact but I have a personal hatred and loathing of undertale aus I genuinely cannot stand them even mentioned in passing. no
media that HAS been considered: non-exhaustive list because I've probably forgotten some
look outside: [post about this au] like pressure au, they're gestalt thing but slightly to the left
pressure: [post about this au] gestalt thing. a buddycrew who love each other so fiercely they share a body about it. one of the buddycrew aus that's been at the forefront of my mind more recently
pokémon: [post about this au] the human crew are sent into ultraspace/normal space to scavenge scrap from abandoned stations, and try not to get killed by pokémon on the way. buddy is a nihilego
umamusume: ok this one's kind of a crack au. like deeply unserious. they're horsepeople who run races and gordion is like hardcore into making horsepeople run for entertainment instead of sending them to death in space. I mean gordion's still running these people to death because of the physical strain but
runaway to the stars: [post about this au] theyre swag aliens
among us: not pondered much but the thought of it exists. very little changes except the whole buddycrew story takes place allllll in a spaceship rather than on and off moons.
the upturned: also kinda a crack au. takes place in a scenario where buddycrew Genuinely Die and go to the upturned afterlife. they have a crisis over whether masked have souls and then it crawls very scary out of the bushes and everything's fine
slay the princess: LIKE ONLY THOUGHT ABOUT ONCE OR TWICE but p much everything's the same except buddy is essentially The Long Quiet with different facets of its personhood being its "Voices" (along the lines of: Voice of the Hunter, Voice of the Fleshly, Voice of the Loyal, Voice of the Bestial (mask hornet), Voice of the Crowd))
(solving counting sheep is an EXCELLENT minecraft youtuber fanfiction that changed my brain chemistry and STRONGLY influenced buddy's characterization. it's really good. read it even if you don't know anything about any of the characters)
swap au where buddy is the only human in a crew with three masked
au where everything's the same but some or all of the human crew are werecreatures. company life makes living like this hell. (seven - werewolf, five - peltless selkie, fifteen - vampire)
au where everything's the same except buddy (and masked in general) is buggier. has the little leggies and is just buggier and that's it
au where everything's the same except masked grow wings. every brainrot needs an angel with a shotgun amv au. YES its crew preen its feathers and it has the loveliest softest wings
mouthwashing CROSSOVER!!! where buddycrew's ship receives the tulpar's distress call and find the state it's in. they bring curly into their ship and curly just passively witnesses this hellhole of a crew while they detour to the nearest moon to drop him off for medical care. I cannot stress enough how much of a horrible fever dream curly is having in this