#i didnt want kelsi and sharpay's swap to be boring

[transgendertroybolton]

okay so. i saw this post a couple days ago and i have been BRAINSTORMING.

some roles i have swapped more than others, some swap personalities more than roles, and the story itself would be swapped too - instead of coming together over musical theatre, troy and gabriella learn to follow their own passions and hearts despite pressure wanting them to both perform. thats not to say they don't enjoy singing, they just want it to be a casual hobby.

as for swaps: TROY <--> GABRIELLA, CHAD <--> TAYLOR, SHARPAY <--> KELSI, RYAN <--> MARTHA, ZEKE <--> JASON

i also changed the sport from basketball to football (soccer not american football) just so it wouldnt be exactly the same.

all my ideas for every character (in the first movie at least) is under the cutoff. i have no idea how this would work for the second movie especially but its fine its an au for a reason

troy: the shy, nerdy new kid who just transferred schools. rather than parents transferring companies, his father got hired at east high to be a drama teacher (more on that later) and he thought it would make sense to transfer troy too, as he's always had trouble socialising and fitting in at school and perhaps a bit of parental support at school could help. (yes, i know in high school this would be absolutely MORTIFYING but we all know mr bolton isn't the greatest at these things.)

his dad's always pressured him to pursue singing and/or acting as he missed his chance to debut big on broadway, and while troy does enjoy singing, he much prefers to sing to himself quietly in his room and has absolutely no desire or will to perform, and desperately wants to let his dad know that. his true passion lies in academia, he's an absolute brainiac and he's trying to work his way into the decathlon team.

also yes, he does have glasses.

gabriella: part of east high's football team, very popular, absolutely beloved by everyone and a genuinely really sweet girl, coached by darbus. however, when she entered high school, she went in focusing on performing arts rather than sports. she'd always been told she had an amazing voice, she wasn't afraid of crowds, so naturally she should be a performer, right... but after signing up for football on a whim in sophomore year, she found she's far more passionate about playing sports in front of a crowd, not singing!

she longs to be the captain in senior year, but drama responsibilities can sometimes keep her away from her true passion. at this point she feels its too late to quit, she's already come this far, but with a new drama teacher arriving, could this be her chance to escape? not if a certain diva has anything to say about it, and not the one you'd expect...

sharpay: a meek, shy performer who's completely at the whims of the composer/choreographer duo, kelsi and martha. (more about them a bit later.) sharpay has star power on her own, and everyone knows it... except her. she's content sitting on the sidelines, playing small roles and being overshadowed by everyone else, despite a clear talent for acting and a powerful voice.

ryan: a talented, more open performer than his twin sister, but that's just the thing - thats not what he wants to do. he wants to choreograph and work behind the scenes, he doesn't want to act! but much like sharpay, he's completely at the whims of kelsi and martha, and this new drama teacher seems to adore them... is he stuck right where he is? martha rarely listens to suggestions, but she also seems to be at the beck and call of kelsi...

chad: captain of the decathlon team, and a bit of a snob about it. he's the type to come into school every day wearing a perfectly styled suit and tie, hair tied back (think izzy daniels in the training scenes of 'jump in' specifically, but if you haven't seen that, chad's hairstyle in 'i dont dance').

he's immediately intrigued by troy, as he seems to be an absolute whizz. he finishes work in class before anyone else, asks for extra worksheets, reads academic books in his spare time... but with troy also being a part of the drama club, chad fears there won't be a place for him on the team.

taylor: gabriella's best friend for their whole lives and another member of the football team. she wants the best for gabriella, and is under the impression she enjoys drama as much as football, encouraging her to keep going. she's loved being in front of a crowd her entire life, and as her best friend, it's her duty to encourage her to follow her passion! ignore the fact drama and singing is no longer her passion, but gabriella feels it's gone on too long to tell her best friend...

kelsi: the cut-throat composer and president of the drama club. she may not have much stage acting talent, which she's very aware of, but what she does have is a talent for music creation and bossing people around. she is the drama club's diva, taking charge of every production, every actor following her directions to the letter, even if they don't want to, and expecting that to happen in general school life too.

the only issue with that is the average student doesn't really care who composed the songs, only who's performing them, even if in this case the composer also acts as the unofficial director. she's got something to learn about taking a back seat and letting her music speak for itself, but seems unwilling to learn that at the moment...

zeke: zeke and jason not having big roles in the movies is CRIMINAL i want more zeke. as such their swaps are pretty surface level. zeke is school smart but not street smart, a member of the decathlon team but not known for his smarts other than that. also he likes to bake i could not strip the away from him. i havent thought about where he would fit into the major story yet.

jason: another member of the decathlon team, but his ultimate passion is movie making. chad is a fierce leader though, and he's gotta follow his lead, right?

martha: much like kelsi, she knows she doesn't have star power... or so she thinks. so, she's the choreographer for kelsi's shows, making sure everyone follows her directions to the letter. if she took a second to step back, she'd realise she has plenty of star power and could be a kind and fun director instead of a choreographer, but being under kelsi's rule for so long makes that hard to see...

coach bolton: becoming a dad at a young age meant he lost out on his chance to make it big on broadway, so now he's a single dad and living vicariously through his only child. he gets hired at east high to be the new drama teacher after winter break and troy is moved there too. perfect chance for him to become the star at one of the top schools in the state, right?

darbus: previously playing women's football, as she gets older she's turned her focus to the newest generation. she's the absolute life of the team and is always there to support them, especially gabriella, who seems to be going through a lot...

I was thinking role reversal au?

The obvious swap would be Troy and Gabriella. So Troy, the new shy kid, a bit of a nerd and Gabriella, super cool sports girl. This would lead to Chad being on the scholastic decathlon team and Taylor playing basketball with Gabriella, but then what about Sharpay and Ryan? It doesn't make much sense to swap them with eachother. Other people could be fitted in anywhere. Jason and Zeke follow the boys and Martha the girls. Again, that leaves Kelsi in the drama club without any change.

So could this be swapped even FURTHER? The thing is, the roles of Gabriella and Troy are someone who falls in love, so it depends what pairings are to happen. Also, with Sharpay and Ryan being siblings, it would be weird for one of them to meet someone at karaoke and then keeping it a secret?