The flagship series of Mister Eighty Six, which he swears will be on TV one day.
Stardust Celestial is a former adventurer, whose enormous family have been solving people's problems (at a nominal fee) for centuries. After spending his formative years traveling the world and battling villains, Stardust is forced to settle down when his policeman father gets a steady job in Sylville, the so-called "City on the Coast". Not only that, he has to attend high school as well. Having been exposed to (and in many ways experienced) more media than is generally healthy, he goes into it expecting to be picked on by teachers and classmates alike. Then he beats the ever-loving snot out of the school bully on the first day, and it all snowballs from there.
Stardust's acquired Genre Savvy results in just about every high school trope being subverted, averted, lampshaded or outright defied. Sylville Academy's social systems quickly begin to crumble when faced with his vehement refusal to be labeled. Along the way, he encounters the vast array of personalities at Sylville Academy, from the aforementioned bully (who happens to wield a chainsaw), to a Wholesome Crossdresser ninja, to the very nosy (and very French) who runs a school tabloid. Through it all, Stardust somehow manages to turn a punk, a pervert, an outcast and an ice queen into a circle of friends with a style all their own.
Prepare to have every one of your preconceptions about high school dramedy, anthropomorphic animals, and media in general thrown out the window and set on fire. Because at Sylville Academy, we don't DO "normal".
Also has a character page.
Sylville Academy contains examples of:
- Academy of Adventure: Though at first glance, it appears to be a Sucky School.
- Action Girl: Nearly every female character in the cast in one way or another.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted. The majority of the adults are sensible and give heartfelt (if sometimes misguided) advice.
- An Aesop: Stardust generally tries to invoke one of these at the end of every episode by asking the others what they learned that day. He's known for asking this even when it would be silly or outright dangerous.
- Battle of Wits: Stardust engages Buzz in one of these, only to finish by hitting him in the face.
- Clue, Evidence, and a Smoking Gun: Stardust uses this to break down Gumford's Sherlock Scan on him, as well as to subtly express skepticism at Ferdy's proclamations of deductive ability.
- Come to Gawk: Mz. Blanco accuses the students of this when they begin gossiping after Stardust and Buzz's fight.
- Cool Car: Stardust's convertible, which his mother won't let him drive because he doesn't have a license.
- Cool Teacher: Several.
- Crash-Into Hello: Stardust and Nycto first meet when they collide as Nycto is fleeing a mob of angry cheerleaders.
- Disapproving Look: Stardust and Arista are both very fond of these. Arista's even has "jii~" in the background as she gives it.
- Divided States of America: Takes place in Cascadia, consisting of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California, in an alternate universe where they seceded out of anger at not being given proper attention by the more easterly Ottawa and DC.
- Dodgeball Is Hell: Not taken to the physical extreme, but the students tend to take it more seriously than they should.
- Dope Slap: Stardust's mother slaps him in the back of the head for putting his feet up on the dashboard while she's driving.
- Flat "What"
- Furry Reminder: More common than you'd think.
- Gang of Bullies: Pollen is part of this at first, though she leaves early on and is replaced by Passion.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Mostly.
- Genre Throwback: To 90s high-school movies.
- Give Geeks a Chance
- Greek Chorus: Sylville Academy has its very own Greek Chorus Club, dedicated mainly to providing commentary on events and backup for spur-of-the-moment musical numbers.
- Hands-Off Parenting
- Hidden Depths: Every character who has an impact on the plot has at least some of the depth of their character expanded upon.
- High-School Dance: The entire third act of Homecoming revolves around a mid-October homecoming dance (hence the name).
- Hippie Parents: Pollen's parents, Honey and Comb.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: All five of the main cast tend to act high and mighty due to personal insecurities.
- Insult Backfire: Arista's attempts to tear down Stardust often fail because he's well aware of his shortcomings.
- Ironic Echo: "One day, that mouth of yours is gonna get you killed."
- It's a Costume Party, I Swear!: Played with. Stardust dresses in a replica of Prince's costume in the music video of "Partyman", subsequently arranging a reference to said music video for his entrance.
- Lampshade Hanging: EVERYWHERE.
- Macho Disaster Expedition: Completely averted. Both sides thrive fairly well (for their extremely limited camping experience). Still, they eventually decide to enjoy their trip as a group instead of turning it into a sexist contest.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: Invoked by Stardust.
- Mundane Fantastic
- Nerds Are Sexy: Mentioned by name, though not actually used.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: Defied by Stardust when he insists that Nycto talk to the girls instead of spying on them.
- Pac Man Fever: Justified - Jiggly's arcade specializes in games from the 80s and 90s.
- Photographic Memory: Gumford specifically states that his memory is eidetic, then explains why he believes so. Stardust quickly points out that he's actually describing hyperthemesia.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Reference Overdosed: Several of the references are very obscure, referencing episodes nobody remembers from shows nobody watched.
- Sadist Teacher: Averted.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Mz. Blanco can seemingly make her glasses do this at will.
- School Bullying Is Harmless: Blatantly averted. Several students are clearly fearful of Buzz, and even after Stardust completely humiliates him in front of several students, Buzz continues his violent behavior.
- School Play: The entire plot of Bushy Tale Theater, which in itself is a blatant reference to Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Invoked and referred to by name.
- Sparing the Aces: Mz. Blanco chooses not to report Stardust getting into a brawl even when she has full authority to.
- Later done by Principal Morpheus, when he chooses not to expel the cast.
- Spontaneous Choreography: The main job of the Greek Chorus Club. Somehow, they always know where and when they're needed, and can perform any song-and-dance number as if they'd been doing it their whole lives. To date, nobody knows how they do it, but as Choral Grief establishes, the school's composure goes downhill fast should they ever stop.
- What's more, the ending of Djinn and Tonic implies that it happens on impulse.
- Stern Teacher: Mz. Blanco, at least on the surface. Deep down she's actually very kind and fair to her students.
- Stuffed into a Locker: Lampshaded.
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: Lampshaded and defied - Stardust refuses to allow anything so contrived, particularly since it's also his Pet-Peeve Trope.
- This Is Reality: "No it isn't. It's just something that passes for reality."
- This Loser Is You: Lampshaded.
- Traitor Shot: Lampshaded.
- True Companions: Lampshaded. Arista even refers to it by its Japanese name of nakama.
- Verbal Judo: Stardust is a master of this, but it happens several times by different characters.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Taro.
- Wild Teen Party: In Home Is Where the Party At.
- Will They or Won't They?: Stardust and Pollen.
- Women Are Wiser: Averted The girls tend to fare no better than the guys at common sense.
- Wondrous Ladies Room: Played with in Where No Man Has Gone Before. The girls' bathrooms have little perks like full-length mirrors and potted plants, but they're usually left in far worse condition because "teenage girls are much messier than they think they are".
