Taft Shooting and also Community · 4:10am Jan 11th, 2013
So, I live pretty close to Taft, California. In fact, I'm picking up a few of my final electives at the local college, and it's one of the best-paying areas for substitute teachers. Hell, my Mom teaches Kindergarten at a school there.
It's not as big of news as what happened in Connecticut--no one was killed, thankfully--but there was a shooting there this morning at Taft High School. A very brave, young teacher managed to talk down the assailant and saved potentially dozens of lives. (The shooter had 24 more shells in his pocket.)
I, fortunately, wasn't there. I could've been, easily. In a way, I wish I had, if only to meet the brave man who took it upon himself to break through to his wayward student and stop him before he could begin taking lives. I probably will meet him, at some point, actually; hell, maybe I'll even sub for him some day.
That's weird, right?
Not nearly as weird as all these shootings happening over and over across the country, of course. And the fact that no one was killed--though the wounded student is apparently in serious danger of losing use of his arm--is an absolute miracle, especially after Connecticut. I guess it's human nature that a tragedy on the opposite side of the country, despite being insanely horrific, doesn't quite jerk around my sense of reality as much as one happening in, essentially, my backyard. But it's a strange sensation when this kind of thing happens close to home and even closer to your family, even if they weren't really in harm's way.
Anyway. 'Nuff existential, depressing stuff.
I finally picked up seasons 2 and 3 of Community. I know I say this a lot, but holy crap, you guys. This show is amazing. I am currently trying to force all of my friends to watch it, as is my wont. It's probably annoying, but you know what? I've made more than my fair share of browncoats and bronies, and I like to think the service I'm providing to mankind outweighs my obnoxious fannishness.
As a brony and a (slacker) fanfic writer, I of course had to consider what a Community/MLP mashup would look like. And now I'm going to subject you to my results. (People who haven't seen Community can skip on down to the video. Or get the DVDs. Or watch it on Hulu Plus. No Netflix streaming, though, which is a tragedy.)
There are seven main characters in the study group, but only six mane ponies. Fortunately, after some consideration, I came up with the perfect match for the seventh member. So, without further ado...
Jeff Winger. the primary male lead, is an ex-lawyer. He's attractive and very vain about it, masks his massive insecurities under a facade of sarcastic disinterest, but almost always overcomes his self-absorption and narcissism to help his friends and save the day. Jeff, of course, would be Rarity.
Britta Perry is a slacker/political activist/New-Age hippie in her mid '20's. She gets very, very hung up on issues she considers important, even while she herself is plagued by self-doubt and feelings of worthlessness. She's always wrong and always makes things worse, but she genuinely means well--usually--and generally tries to live up to her own straightforward, black-and-white moral beliefs. Plus, her friendly hostility towards Jeff provides some of the show's funniest bits. After some consideration, and taking into account my pick of Rarity as Jeff, I've decided that Britta would have to be Applejack.
Annie Edison was very, very unpopular in high school, and ended up addicted to pills and being disinherited when she went to rehab instead of letting her parents sweep everything under the rug. Aside from Abed, she's the most book-smart of the group, the most focused student, and has the sweetest temperament. Obviously, she's Twilight Sparkle, though with one caveat: early on, the writers (and audience) noticed that Annie's actor, Alison Brie, was, to put it in the most polite way possible, totally stacked. Her (and others') growing realization of her hotness is a major part of her character as she evolves, and... well. Alison Brie is an extraordinarily attractive lady. Twilight is a cartoon pony. Just... makes me kinda uncomfortable, I guess.
Abed Nadir is Pinkie Pie. This should require no explanation.
Troy Barnes is Rainbow Dash. This one might require a little explanation. Troy was a huge jock in high school, captain of the football team and most popular guy on campus. When he got to college, he met Abed, his hetero soulmate, and heavily embraced his inner geeky weirdness. Dash... well. Dash could definitely evolve along a similar arc under certain circumstances.
Shirley Bennett is the mother of the group. She's very devout and generally soft-spoken, though she's got a steel core and is wickedly adept at wielding guilt and passive-aggressiveness as a weapon. Fluttershy, anyone?
Pierce Hawthorne, then, is the odd man out. He's significantly older than the rest of the group, with a set of morals and beliefs inherited from a bygone age. He doesn't really know how to interact with others or navigate the social norms of the modern world. Really, none of the Mane Six are even the tiniest bit like him. So which pony would claim his title?
Princess Luna, of course.
Kavonde, out. *drops mic*
EDIT: Oh, and right before I posted this, a new chapter of The Life and Times of a Winning Pony went up. Just FYI.
My parents watch Community, so I've seen bits and pieces of it. Not a lot, but enough to recognize that it's a pretty good show. I should really pick it up.
I don't know if it makes us bad people, but it always does seem to affect us more when it is close to home. My junior year of high school, a girl was stabbed at our school, thankfully she survived, (although with 29 stab wounds it was a VERY close call), and it did make all of us think about things, a lot. It isn't the same as a mass shooting, or a potential mass shooting... but it still affects you.
Thank god for that teacher, if you see him be sure to thank him, on behalf of everybody, that man deserves a medal.
(Man, I never realized it but violence in our schools is a HUGE and much more prevalent problem than we realize, now that I think about it, the next year at another school in our district the principal and another faculty member were both shot and killed by a student...something NEEDS to be done)
I bet this probably won't get as much news time as the shootings where the guy doesn't get stopped.
Awesome... Just awesome.
Wow. That...that is simultaneously insane and incredible Kavonde. Glad it worked out as well as it did.
And yes, Community is fantastic and needs to be spread. Oh, and your casting is pretty good as well.