A piece I'm working on, Slice of Life meets Alice Allusion and just general Bizarro Fiction, with perhaps way too many references to other works (mostly anime).
Please note: As this is currently being written, most of what is spoiler-marked is likely what I haven't worked on just yet. Also, some tropes listed reference character art for the story.
Now with a Character sheet!
Provides examples of:
- Adorkable: Kathrine Allister, between her clunky Nerd Glasses and Adorably Precocious Child tendencies.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Ben.
- Bizarro Fiction: The story at least has shades of this.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: It's pretty much Ben's Trademark Favorite Food, as her raiding people's refrigerators and cleaning out whole bottles of hot sauce is a Running Gag in-story. And she drinks it right out the bottle.
- Blind Without 'Em: Al; however, unlike most examples, she's drawn with very big, brown, bishie eyes when her glasses are off. This makes her even more adorable when she's lost and crying
- Boyish Short Hair: Ben; she has a very short Tomboyish Ponytail tied in the back.
- Brainy Brunette: Kathrine Allister
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: This conversation, complete with Ben Comically Missing the Point:Al: Make any new friends last year?Ben: ...Al: You're kidding, right?Ben: Hey shut up! I did make a couple of buds, it's just...well, one moved away, one broke it off with me, and one of them died in a fireAl: *stares at Ben in disbelief*Ben: No, broke it off wasn't it. Uh, they're not friends with me anymore.Al: What about the one who di-Ben: It was a completely platonic relationship! No, we hate each other. So it's hatonic! A hatonic relationship!Al: That's...not what...ugh, forget it.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the first chapter no less.
- The Bully: David Knight, who starts picking on Al before she's even on the bus! He gets better, though.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Julie Anne Bennington all the freakin' way!
- Allister herself is hardly free of this, she's just weird in more...shall we say, subtle ways. Like being a Covert Pervert and secret Occidental Otaku.
- Deadpan Snarker: Allister, again.
- Expressive Mask: Al's glasses have this quality when they're Opaque Lenses. In more serious situations, the lenses simply become transparent so her eyes are visible.
- Fiery Redhead: Ben establishes herself as one in her very first appearance.
- Genki Girl: Ben.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: A variant of this trope; straight, raven-haired Kathrine Allister and messy, short-cropped redheaded Julie Anne Bennington.
- Jerk Jock: The tall guy Ben walks into is heavily implied to be this. Turns out he's anything but
- Large Ham: Ben...dear lord, just Ben!
- Last-Name Basis/Tomboyish Name: Both Kathrine and Julie go by shortened versions of their surnames, which come out as "Al" and "Ben", respectively. The narrator has to clarify that Ben is really a girl just to avoid Viewer Gender Confusion.
- Lemony Narrator: The narrator has been known to set up scenes in such a way as to create Mind Screw, only to reveal it's just Al without her glasses or something. There are also times where the narrator breaks off in the middle of the scene to explain something to the reader.
- And this gem:
To clarify, Ben's full name is Julie Anne Bennington, but she tends to go by her last name with her friends...Gilligan Cut to Al and Ben's dialogue where the former asks "Make any new friends last year?"...except she didn't have too many friends. - Lovable Nerd: Allister, again.
- Only Sane Man: Allister.
- Opaque Lenses: Al's glasses are on and off with this, depending on the situation. In more mundane/silly scenes, she simply has these with Expressive Mask properties, while in more serious situations (where her expression needs more emphasis), the lenses become transparent. Occasionally, one lens will stay opaque to give the impression of winking.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ben (red) and Al (blue). Even their hair says so!
- Saw It in a Movie Once: Bennington's stunts usually consist of something she saw (or read), and have variable results. So far, she's tried hand-cuffing herself to a person, spinning a top to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and pulling a Big Damn Heroes moment with the use of "a giant frickin' frisbee".
- Shout-Out: Benny insisting that she's the main character. She even said she was The Hero. Sound familiar?
- Totally Radical: Bennington seems to talk this way a lot, with the words 'freakin', 'dude', 'totally', 'bro' and 'broski' almost being her Verbal Tics. It's even cuter when she combines it with Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness.
- Waif-Fu: Benny is a considerably more realistic depiction of this trope; she is shown with some muscle on her, and has a lot more stamina than Al, but on the whole is something of a Glass Cannon combat-wise.