Subject: What is the definition of "Unnecessary High School AU"?
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Posted on: 2015-01-29 02:31:00 UTC
How does one discriminate between a high school AU-friendly continua and a high school AU-unfriendly continua? Are there any hard and fast rules? Or is it just: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it?"
Because I think there ought to be.
Here's a lovely little reason why: Salvation Sanctuary. It's (unsurprisingly) a High School AU...
For The Raid 2.
The. Raid. Two.
One of the most brutal, gonzo, glorious martial arts films ever made. I really mean ever. It has everything I love - an art that rarely gets any screen time, a plot that's a little bit crazy but still makes sense if you squint a bit, and (in Iko Uwais) a lead actor who could easily be the next Bruce Lee.
It turns key villain Uco from an unpredictable, shotgun-toting Jakartan crime warlord's son into, and I quote, "a high school rascal".
BOTHER THIS NONSENSE BOTHER IT WITH A RUSTY PITCHFORK-
How does one discriminate between a high school AU-friendly continua and a high school AU-unfriendly continua? Are there any hard and fast rules? Or is it just: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it?"
The division is very specific, but would still see a lot of action.
Shame Equestria Girls is a legitimate canon.
That silly little song Pinkie sang in a commercial a few years back? I did not really think of it as canon, but if it is, OK. Nothing really changed, in my view. It's not like it created a alternate universe made of humans, where every single Equestrian is in High School for some reason, and Twilight Sparkle gets flustered over some dude named Brad for no reason. That would just be stupid.
Seriously though, while EQG is stupid as all heck, I have to admit, the Dazzlings were not that bad. I mean, pony sirens? I'm down. And the songs were a lot better in Rainbow Rocks too. Do I like EQG? No. Are some parts done well? Yes. Do I think it should be considered canon. OH, Celestia, no. Sadly, I have to, for PPCing's sake. *grumble dumb Brad, ruining everything grumble*
But of course we couldn't have Miss Sparkle attend prom the Fall Formal without a date! Never mind that she shouldn't find humans attractive considering she's a pony and had never seen a human before. >_>
I still chortle whenever I see Vinyl Scratch's car transform into a little DJ stage. But I will agree, the songs in Rainbow Rocks were overall better.
I would rather see Blueblood again. Actually, I want to see Blueblood again! At least he has a character! And we could get an update on if he has matured any since we saw him last. Brad is just... Useless. Just a blank slate, made specifically for Twilight to fall for. (Not even kidding with that, by the way. Look at a color-wheel. What is the color opposite purple? Orange. What's Brad's color? Orange.)
Now, I know you think it's silly for Vinyl's car to turn into a set of turntables and speakers. But, think about it this way: Vinyl has befriended a Transformer. Now we're talking!
I think my favorite songs are Tricks up My Sleeve and Under our Spell. Trixie was robbed in the Battle, I tell you! Robbed!
Though I admit to having pegged the Dazzlings as sirens (and basically the plot) just on the basis of their designs a while back. =]
And, if you were curious as to what the Dazzlings look like in Equestria, here you go:
Cool, huh? There, I saved you about an hour of your life. Just listen to the two songs I posted, look at the cool siren designs, and you have the good parts of Rainbow Rocks!
Well, I somewhat lie. The animation is very good. But you can see that in the Under our Spell sequence. Best scene in the movie, bar none. So, yeah, about an hour saved. You're welcome.
Maybe it's because I was homeschooled and never experienced high school, but why would you even want to put characters from a non-high school setting into what you, the teenage author, probably experience every day? I mean, aside from inserting yourself more easily and acting out cathartic versions of events in your life . . . okay, that might be a reason for some of them.
I mean, it seems as if, in fanfic, the only kinds of schools in existence are Boarding schools or High Schools, the latter always being of the American variety. I've seen High School AU's for Harry Potter (unnessecary in and of itself, as Hogwarts is a school as well), written by pepople who, by virtue of geography, never set foot in one.
They're basically taking every cliché from fiction and take it for real.* So, for what it's worth, I would say such a Division could be fun. Perhaps in the Department of Improbbable AU's?
*Note: I have never lived in the US or went to an American High School, so in case all cliché's from fiction happen to be true, I retract my statement.
This exists.
That definitely applies. I'm as fond of interesting AUs in fanfic as the next depressing genderless person-impersonator, but high school ones generally ain't those. Unless it's Worm, in which case it's an excuse for warm fuzzies and Taylor, y'know, kind of needs that. The entire cast does. All of them. Hug them. Now.
(srsly skitter am precious bab i want like a bajillion)