History Literature / KillTimeOrDieTrying

** Several to TengenToppaGurrenLagann

The book follows a naive and nerdy freshman at the University of Witwatersrand. He is initially lost amongst the bureaucratic indifference of a large university, and finds a second home in the club-room of WARP. On his arrival at WARP, Jodi is (permanently) renamed to Brad by an older club-member, and initially acts as a passive observer to the antics of WARP, which turns out to be anything but a stereotypical group of timid nerds.

* TheAce: Douw is just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters. He's also one of few central characters to make it through university without failing at least one year. Interestingly, he's the TagAlongKid in the prequel.

* BerserkButton Don't mention Dylan's bald spot.

** Douw is this to some degree; not only is he the coolest guy in WARP, he has some degree of mainstream popularity

** Dylan's data-capture job in Senate House

--->'''Douw:''' Hey Brad, come with me to the uh…outside. We need to uh…go there.

** Dylan.
--->'''Nathan:''' Dylan's only interaction with reality is gravitational in nature.
** Douw attempts to pick up women at a bar while wearing a replica DragonBallZ scouter. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome He succeeds.]]

** Steve spending a whole scene assembling a triple-beam balance to count signup sheets by weighing them. Kevin counted the sheets in a few seconds while Steve was still busy.
** After a night's heavy drinking, Douw and Brad accidentally leave Ari locked inside Brad's house while they go to the university.

** Dylan has one when [[spoiler: the university takes away WARP's club-room. To be fair, for Dylan this verges on losing his home.]]
** James has one when someone points out that he hasn't really been noticeably more successful in life than Dylan.
* HotBlooded: Douw. Overly competitive, hyperactive and the originator of the groups crazier schemes.
* InSeriesNickname: The main character, Jodi, is called Brad by everyone at WARP. The name was chosen arbitrarily when he walked into the door. Kevin's real name is rarely mentioned in the book, it's implied that it's a typical Indian name. There are also instances of characters nicknamed for characteristics, such as Indy, which is short for indecisive.

* MacGuffin: Steve's lost character sheet.
* NoodleIncident: The time James called the cops on Nathan. And the time Steve called the cops on Nathan.

-->'''Douw:''' A man's stomach knows no limits!
-->'''Dylan:''' A true [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Necron]] never dies, even when he is killed!

''Kill time or die trying'' is an acerbic comedy by Neil T Stacey, based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus. It is notable as the first book to use the literary device of beginning each chapter with a facebook status from a main character. Stacey uses this ostensibly solidify chronology and conveniently establish characterisation, but mostly it's just a neat way of including jokes.

* BasedOnATrueStory: The authors estimate the book to be around 60% factual, with the remaining 40% being composite characters, condensed events, and things that ''should'' have happened. Notable also in that the authors happen to be characters in the book. A fun game for your first read is to try spot them without cheating and looking at the back material.

* ComedicSociopath: Most of the main cast in the prequel are somewhere between this and VitriolicBestBuds.
** Nathan stands out for his treatment of Tarryn, his treatment of first-years, and any number of cruel comments.
--->'''Nathan:''' "I punch above my weight. Which is to say, my wife is fat."

* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Averted. The Student Council is mostly impotent and ineffectual. In Part II it's revealed that WARP originally got its club-room by swinging a Student Council Election in favour of a candidate who was willing to make a deal with them. That's right, at a university of 25 000 students, a small group of nerds and geeks proved more influential than the Student Council. WordOfGod confirms that this really did happen. Apparently this was possible because only around five percent of the university's students bother to vote, because the Student Council has no real power and doesn't do much of anything.
* TheAce: Douw is a mild example, being just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters. He's also one of very few central characters to make it through university without failing at least one year. Interestingly, he's the TagAlongKid in the prequel.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Justified, since the authors were themselves present for most of the events of the book, some of which took place after they had started writing the book. As a result, later on in Part II the entire cast know that what they are doing could end up in the book. This great piece of dialogue sums it up:
--->'''Brad:''' Who is that?\\
'''[[spoiler: James]]:''' A girl Douw dated for a while. We can't use her real name, or we'll get sued for what Douw's about to call her.

** Dylan has one in Part I when [[spoiler: the university takes away WARP's club-room. To be fair, for Dylan this verges on losing his home.]]

** Johann has one when he finds out he may get kicked out of the university.

* InSeriesNickname: The main character of Part I, Jodi, is called Brad by everyone at WARP. The name was chosen arbitrarily when he walked into the door. Kevin's real name is rarely mentioned in the book, it's implied that it's a typical Indian name. There are also instances of characters nicknamed for characteristics, such as Indy, which is short for indecisive.

* OneOfUs: One of the more extreme examples. Aside from the fact that the book is entirely about geeks, one of the two authors, Neil T Stacey, claimed in one interview that he learnt how to write by reading TVTropes. He is also doing a Phd in Chemical Engineering and has played Magic the Gathering at a highly competitive level. This site is also mentioned by name in the book.
* OnlySaneMan: Brad in the first book. The prequel has no sane man.
* PrecisionFStrike: The book generally uses clean language, but there is one instance where an otherwise congenial character shouts one of the most descriptive and shocking new slurs. [[spoiler: the phrase is 'Three-prong cock-socket']].

** "Wait, who;s Melvyn?"

* SlasherSmile:
** The entire club-room will try this to freak out new members when they turn up for the first time.
** Nathan, inadvertently. It's just how he naturally smiles.
** James tries this, but fails to look anything but adorable.

* TheAce: Douw is a mild example, being just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters in the first book. He's also one of very few central characters to make it through university without failing at least one year. Interestingly, he's the TagAlongKid in the prequel.

* BigBad: The SRC (Student Representative Council) in the first book.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The prequel has a darker tone and less upbeat story than the first book. With a title like ''The How and Why of Hating Everyone'', no-one should be surprised.
* DeadpanSnarker: Many characters across both books; Johann, Nathan and Yesh stand out in particular.
* EnsembleDarkHorse: Ari. Despite being a minor side character who is typically only present by accident, he is possibly the most popular character.
* ForeShadowing: Done a great deal in Part I, since many of the characters from part II make brief cameo appearances, and incidents from Part II are often mentioned in Part I. Doubles as CallBack, since, chronologically, Part II happened before Part I.

* WorldOfSnark: The prequel offers a constant stream of sarcasm and abuse. The first book has elements of this.

The print version is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork currently not available outside of South Africa]], but an e-book release is pending. A prequel titled ‘‘The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’is also in development.

** By the end of teh first book, Brad is gradually turning into this. [[spoiler: He's president of WARP, he's gotten into good shape, he got the girl and he's one of the few WARP members to be legitimately likable to outsiders. He even brings up his academic performance quite considerably.]]

** Kerry seems to take a genuine interest in Nathan's well-being; if anything, this seems to offend and in return he treats her terribly.

** Nathan stands out for his treatment of Kerry, his treatment of first-years, and any number of cruel comments.

* SoapboxSadie: Kerry. In an odd twist, her favourite cause is men's rights.
-->'''James:''' You can help me with my right to a damn sandwich! Other than that, I think I'm good, thanks.

''Kill time or die trying'' is an acerbic comedy by Neil T Stacey, based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus.

The book follows Jodi, a naive and nerdy freshman at the University of Witwatersrand, who is initially lost amongst the bureaucratic indifference of a large university, and finds a second home in the club-room of WARP. On his arrival at WARP, Jodi is (permanently) renamed to Brad by an older club-member, and initially acts as a passive observer to the antics of WARP, which turns out to be anything but a stereotypical group of timid nerds.

A prequel titled ‘‘The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’is in development. It follows the far more cynical Johann through the early years of WARP. Whereas the cast of characters in the first book mostly conform to the stereotype of shy and reserved geeks, most of the cast of ‘‘The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’ straddle the line between DeadpanSnarker and ComedicSociopath.

Both books are written with an obvious fondness for the subject matter and the characters, which is to be expected considering the authors were members of WARP and were themselves present for some of the events of the book.

The print version is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork currently not available outside of South Africa]], but an e-book release is pending.

** Dylan. Oh God, Dylan.

* FiveManBand: Two separate examples from the two parts of the book.
** Part 1:
*** TheHero: Brad
*** TheLancer: Douw
*** TheSmartGuy: Steve
*** TheChick: Kevin
*** TheBigGuy: Dylan
*** CynicalMentor: James acts as this to Brad specifically. Nathan could also be considered to be this, but with more emphasis on the 'cynical' and less on the 'mentor'.
** Part 2:
*** TheHero: Johann
*** TheLancer: Allan
*** TheSmartGuy: Dave
*** TheChick: Mark
*** TheBigGuy: Gregg and Fuzzy are a mix of this and ThoseTwoGuys.

''Kill time or die trying'' is an acerbic comedy by Neil T Stacey, based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus. Initially a collaboration with Christopher Dean, the project went into DevelopmentHell as personal problems forced Dean to withdraw from the project. The book is currently not available outside of South Africa.

''Kill time or die trying'' is an acerbic comedy by Neil T Stacey, based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus. Initially a collaboration with Christopher Dean, the project went into DevelopmentHell as personal problems forced Dean to withdraw from the project.

** After losing at Guitar Hero, Brad announces that [[ThePrincessBride he is not left handed]], and switches hands in between songs. He is left-handed after all, so HilarityEnsues.

-->'''Ari:''' Try everything you can think of. When something happens, take credit.

* BrickJoke: Dylan's data-capture job in Senate House

* HeelRealization: Douw has one as a result of his issues with Kerry.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Although normally only seen in the form of FunnyBackgroundEvent, Little Matt seems to have experiences paralleling Brad's, with Nathan acting as the CynicalMentor, much as James does for Brad. This is often used to show that James isn't so bad after all by offering the contrast of Nathan's far harsher treatment of Little Matt.

* InSeriesNickname: The main character of Part I, Jodi, is called Brad by everyone at WARP. The name was chosen arbitrarily when he walked into the door. Kevin's real name is never even mentioned in the book, it's implied that it's a typical Indian name. There are also instances of characters nicknamed for characteristics, such as Indy, which is short for indecisive.

* OnlySaneMan: Brad in Part I. Part II has no sane man.

* RunningGag: Several, but most notable is Nathan giving people Ari's number instead of his own, which culminates when Nathan is in a potentially very messy situation after hooking up with a girl he shouldn't have. Nathan says to Brad the next day 'I think Ari is going to get some really awkward messages today'. WordOfGod: this really did happen, and Ari did indeed get an extremely personal message from a complete stranger.

-->'''Nathan:''' Try everything you can think of. When something happens, take credit.

* {{Defictionalization}}: The authors had several great ideas for the book which hadn't actually happened in real life, and contrived to '''make''' them happen. Also, the ending, which sees the [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding club lose its club-room]]]], was written months in advance of any sign of it actually happening.

* TheAce: Douw is a mild example, being just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters of Part I. He's also one of very few central characters to make it through university without failing at least one year. Interestingly, he's more of a TagAlongKid in Part II.

* BasedOnATrueStory: The authors estimate the book to be around 75% factual, with the remaining 25% being composite characters, condensed events, and things that ''should'' have happened. Notable also in that the authors happen to be characters in the book. A fun game for your first read is to try spot them without cheating and looking at the back material.

* BigBad: The SRC (Student Representative Council) in Part I. The rival War-Games club in Part II.
* BigManOnCampus: By the end of Part I, Brad is gradually turning into this. [[spoiler: He's president of WARP, he's gotten into good shape, he got the girl and he's one of the few WARP members to be legitimately likable to outsiders. He even brings up his academic performance quite considerably.]]

* BrickJoke: Kevin's data-capture job in Senate House

** In Part II, the group have one collectively in: 'Bad idea? How bad?'.

** Nathan has elements of this as well, when his ComedicSociopath tendencies are dormant. He occasionally hides in the (tiny) club-room fridge waiting for an opportunity to burst out and say something dramatic. He also has the 'Sweet Deal Eel' and the 'Free Meat Parakeet' as his equivalents to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. He also has a dog named Betamax as well as cats named Surplus and Nemesis.
* ComedicSociopath: Most of the main cast in Part II are somewhere between this and VitriolicBestBuds.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Part II has a darker tone and less upbeat story than Part I. With a title like ''The How and Why of Hating Everyone'', no-one should be surprised.
* DeadpanSnarker: Many characters, Johann, Nathan and Yesh stand out in particular.

* WorldOfSnark: Part II offers a constant stream of sarcasm and abuse. Part I has elements of this.

''Kill time or die trying'' is a two-part black comedy by Neil T Stacey, and is based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus. Initially a collaboration with Christopher Dean, the project went into DevelopmentHell as personal problems forced Dean to withdraw from the project.

The first book, which shares the title of the series as a whole, follows Jodi, a naive and nerdy freshman at the University of Witwatersrand, who is initially lost amongst the bureaucratic indifference of a large university, and finds a second home in the club-room of WARP. On his arrival at WARP, Jodi is (permanently) renamed to Brad by an older club-member, and initially acts as a passive observer to the antics of WARP, which turns out to be anything but a stereotypical group of timid nerds.

The second part, ‘‘The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’, acts as a prequel to the first part, and is very much darker and edgier, as it follows the far more cynical Johann through the early years of WARP. Whereas the cast of characters in the first book mostly conform to the stereotype of shy and reserved geeks, most of the cast of ‘’The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’ straddle the line between DeadpanSnarker and ComedicSociopath.

The print version is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork currently not available outside of South Africa]], but an e-book release of Part I is pending, with Part II to follow shortly.

* PrecisionFStrike: The book generally uses clean language, but there is one instance where an otherwise congenial character shouts one of the most descriptive and shocking new slurs this troper has ever seen. [[spoiler: the phrase is 'Three-prong cock-socket']].

* UnusualEuphemism: The use of the word 'vampire' as slang for a homosexual man is carried over from Neil T Stacey's other books. Since this book is BasedOnATrueStory, with the author himself a character in the book, this shows hilariously how Stacey tried, unsuccessfully, to force this piece of terminology in real life.

The second part, ‘‘The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’, acts as a prequel to the first part, and is very much darker and edgier, as it follows the far more cynical Johann through the early years of WARP. Whereas the cast of characters in ‘’The New Normal’’ mostly conform to the stereotype of shy and reserved geeks, most of the cast of ‘’The How and Why of Hating Everyone’’ straddle the line between DeadpanSnarker and ComedicSociopath.

** Kerry seems to take a genuine interest in Nathan's well-being, and in return is treated terribly.

* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Averted. The Student Council is mostly impotent and ineffectual. In Part II it's revealed that WARP originally got its club-room by swinging a Student Council Election in favour of a candidate who was willing to make a deal with them. That's right, at a university of 25 000 students, a small group of nerds and geeks proved more influential than the Student Council. WordOfGod confirms that this really did happen. Apparently this was possible because only around five percent of the university's students bother to vote, because the Student Council has no real power and doesn't really do anything.

** Dylan has one in Part I when [[spoiler: when the university takes away WARP's club-room. To be fair, for Dylan this verges on losing his home.]]

* InSeriesNickname: The main character of Part I, Jodi, is called Brad by everyone at WARP. The name was chosen arbitrarily when he walked into the door. Kevin's real name is never even mentioned in the book, it's implied that it's a typical Indian name. There are also instances of characters nicknamed for characteristics, such as Talk-Shout, so called because it's hard to tell which one he's doing, and Indy, which is short for indecisive.

* ThePlan: Elaborate schemes are a pastime of WARP. Perhaps the most insane is a scheme to steal a girl's urine for a pregnancy test. [[spoiler: WordOfGod says that in real life, this plan didn't work]].

''Kill time or die trying'' is a two-part black comedy by Neil T Stacey and Christopher L Dean, and is based on real events at a South African university. It is the chronicle of a society called WARP (War-games And Role-Play) which harbours the geeks and lunatics on campus.