Line #31 Literature/MillsCollegeAnimeClub


1	->''"I hope you guys had fun out there. And remember, anime is the tie that binds us. No matter who our friends are, or who our family is, we'll always have a medium that we will enjoy and that will never judge us."''
2	-->-- '''Renee Vega''', '''''without a hint of sarcasm.'''''
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4	''Mills College Anime Club'' is a WebOriginal novel written for National Novel Writing Month 2009 by Tropers/SirPsychoSexy. It tells the story of [[ExactlyWhatitSaysOnTheTin several members of the anime club at Mills College]], a fictional college in [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Millstown, USA]]. It's basically CastFullOfGay [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] OccidentalOtaku, with some RuleOfFunny thrown in for good measure.
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6	Characters include:
7	* [[spoiler: [[EmbarrassingFirstName Rodrigo]]]] '''"Randy" Alvarez''', a bisexual [[TwoferTokenMinority Latino]] {{Hentai}} fanboy who is fairly BookDumb and is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
8	* '''Renee Vega''', an {{Expy}} of [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Orihime Inoue]] who is [[NiceGirl sweeter than sugar]], a pre-law student and a Catholic.
9	* '''Alistair Howard''', a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} guy [[SmallNameBigEgo who has a huge ego]], worships [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Char Aznable]], and [[NewMediaAreEvil thinks that any anime made past 1995 is crap]], though he changes his mind later.
10	* '''Mike Bronson''', a [[TheBigGuy 6-foot-4, muscular]] StraightGay who is a pre-med major, studying to be a gynecologist [[WellDoneSonGuy in part to please]] his lesbian mothers. He is usually a NiceGuy / GentleGiant and the voice of reason, especially to his UnluckyChildhoodFriend Gracie. He loves {{Shounen}} and {{Bara}}.
11	* '''Gracie Wong''', Mike's FagHag and [[ExaggeratedTrope rabid]] YaoiFangirl. A {{Gonk}} with NerdGlasses who lives too much [[DaydreamBeliever inside of her own head]] and is oblivious to reality. Her [[TheGlassesGottaGo glasses come off]] later on.
12	* '''Lance La Rue''', a CampStraight KavorkaMan[=/=]TheCasanova {{Hentai}} fanboy who has a way of charming his way into the pants of many a YaoiFangirl.
13	* '''Melissa 'Missy' Kowalski''', a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} lesbian who just came back from studying abroad in Japan. Is fluent in Japanese, has seen pretty much every anime without subtitles, and rides a motorcycle. Gracie dates her for a short time, refusing to believe that she's a transwoman and not a {{Bishounen}}. They break up when Gracie finally gets it.
14	* '''Nina Steinbrenner''', one of the German students studying at Mills for her master's degree (in English). Nina is pretty much [[FieryRedhead the epitome of]] {{Tsundere}}, has a fairly flat chest and hazel eyes, and [[BerserkButton hates it]] when [[GermanicDepressives Americans]] [[AllGermansAreNazis stereotype Germans]]. Secretly likes MagicalGirl shows. Is also an outspoken fan of Music/{{Rammstein}} and other Neue Deutsche Härte bands. She and Liese are HeterosexualLifePartners ever since she saved Liese from bullies back in "high school" (more like ''Gymnasium'', but still).
15	* '''Liese Meyer''', the other student from Germany, doing graduate study at Mills (in comparative literature). A [[TheCutie cute]], short, blond LipstickLesbian with big breasts, her personality ranges between ShrinkingViolet and TheOjou. She [[CunningLinguist speaks five languages]], even though [[{{Malaproper}} her English is a bit off]]. Is [[InvertedTrope extremely attractive to men]] (thus earning her nickname of "[[{{Moe}} Moeblob]]"), even though it pains her that the girls don't want her. Liese is a YuriFan and a CovertPervert. She's been [[LesYay in love]] with Nina since the day they met, even though [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy she realizes]] [[IncompatibleOrientation Nina is straight]] and thinks that she's dating Randy for a while.
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17	It can be read [[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2736662/1/Mills_College_Anime_Club here]]. A review by Website/SomethingAwful can be found [[http://www.scribd.com/doc/79226017/Anime-is-the-Tie-that-Binds-Us here]].
18	----
19	!!'''Tropes in this novel include:'''
20	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: a variant- mostly unrequited, but the love that ''is'' requited turns out to be dysfunctional and leads to the couple breaking up.
21	%%* {{Animesque}}: Sort of.
22	* AuthorAppeal: The reason this novel exists: CastFullOfGay, {{anime}} and {{manga}} fandom, Germans and linguistics. It's safe to say that unless you're a troper, you will not enjoy this novel.
23	* CastFullOfGay: It's like [[FiveTokenBand the BK Kids]], but with different sexual orientations.
24	* CampGay: The Mills College LGBT Club is full of flamboyant gay stereotypes who refuse to let StraightGay Mike join the society because he looks and acts so manly he ''has'' to be heterosexual.
25	* CharacterFilibuster: Every so often the story will stop dead in its tracks so that one character can lecture another - usually either the hopelessly clueless StrawMisogynist [[ButtMonkey Gracie]] or a background character who exists solely to express an opinion the cast disagrees with - about sexuality, gender and the importance of tolerance.
26	* CosplayOtakuGirl: As well as some Cosplay Otaku ''Guys''. The most notable instance of this (besides Genki Con) is when Nina and Liese dress up as [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Yoko and Nia]] in order to attract customers to buy fund-raising chocolate.
27	** Each character's {{Cosplay}} somehow [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] their respective character traits.
28	* {{Expy}}: Frank N. Dick, an extreme {{Flanderization}} of voice actor Creator/VicMignogna.
29	* FanConvention: [=GenkiCon=]. No, it's not [[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird a murderfest hosted by a psychotic man in a cat suit]], despite how cool that premise would be.
30	* GermanicDepressives: Played with with Nina (she does laugh, but she's usually pretty stern; and subverted with Liese (she's as cute, sweet and happy as they come).
31	** The subversion is lampshaded (various characters note that Liese is German and a lesbian, though she acts like neither one).
32	* ObsessedWithFood: ''Everybody''. The cast spend as much time agonising over their take-out orders as they do at the titular Anime Club, and several chapters are devoted to the characters' attempts to sell candy bars.
33	* {{Otaku}}, OccidentalOtaku: Everyone. Even nameless background characters turn out to know exactly who [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Yoko Ritona]] is.
34	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Some of the situations in the novel are somewhat modified versions of things that have ''actually happened'' to the author at anime conventions and elsewhere in anime fandom.
35	* ShowWithinAShow: The {{Shounen}} MagicalGirl TournamentArc program, ''Gravy Fighter Haruhi'', and the BoysLove series, ''Stop It, My Butt Hurts!!''.
36	* ShoutOut: '''TONS''', including several to the creator's favorite anime, ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''; ''Creator/MontyPython''; ''Series/LittleBritain'' ([[spoiler: Alistair]]'s birth name), and a whole lot more.
37	%%* StrawCharacter: Gracie, hands down, even more so than everybody else.
38	* StrawFan: Gracie is a not-so-loving parody of [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi fangirls]]. Gracie is portrayed as unattractive, socially inept, [[StrawMisogynist shrilly misogynistic]] and totally wrong about just about everything. She mostly seems to be kept around so that the rest of the cast will have [[AuthorFilibuster someone to lecture]].
39	* StrawTraitor: Many people have joined the anime club because they were kicked out of their race/religion/sexual orientation group for [[InvokedTrope appearing to be one of these]] [[DiscussedTrope to the other race/religion/sexual orientation group members]].
40	* TranslationConvention: For the most part, except when the English-speaking characters are confused by foreign words.
41	* ViewersAreGeniuses You will find certain scenes funnier if you speak German or Japanese. Heck, most of the novel is an anime fandom in-joke.
42	* WholePlotReference: Randy's dream is one to the first few episodes of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''.

Context Literature / MillsCollegeAnimeClub