IN GENERAL:
- cast full of gay: kacey is bisexual, karuko is pansexual, and nabila, yannika, cassidy and teigan are lesbians.
- consistent clothing style: the main trio (and teigan) are perfect examples of this. kacey's main style is white and pastel sportswear, karuko's is bright colours (mainly yellow) and lots of denim, nabila's is muted colours and blazers, and teigan's is hot pink, glitter, and barbie or bratz-esque patterns.
- dramedy: it has its equal amounts of comedy and drama, though it's technically neither.
- high school
- no dress code: downplayed. the school has your average dress code, but is definitely more lenient when it comes to crop tops, low cleavage, short skirts and the like.
- teen drama
- what do you mean, it's for kids?
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the trio:
- comic trio: kacey is the self-appointed leader, karuko is the agent of chaos, and nabila is the voice of reason.
- coordinated clothes: every wednesday, they wear outfits in matching colours/patterns.
- nice, mean, and in-between: kacey is friendly, optimistic, upbeat and cheerful, nabila is snarky and vicious, and karuko is neutral but wacky and unpredictable.
- power trio: well, they are the main characters.
- red oni, blue oni: kacey and karuko are more hot-tempered and outgoing, while nabila is calm and authoritative.
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kacey langford:
- acrofatic: she is the biggest of the girls, and easily the most agile and athletic.
- badass adorable: she's charming, lovable and will absolutely destroy you in a game of tennis.
- bisexual
- bittersweet 17: the first episode takes place on her seventeenth birthday.
- character tics: when focused, she sticks her tongue out in concentration. she also tends to bite her nails when she is nervous and blush when she is embarrassed. if something interests her, she will cock her head like a puppy.
- competition freak: sometimes kacey can be driven to this territory, and will treat everything as a contest.
- curtains match the window: kacey has light brown hair and light brown eyes.
- dyslexia
- foe romance subtext: kacey never stops thinking about yannika, she always checks her posts on social media, and she gets flustered whenever they interact with one another. but it's because she hates her, i swear!
- good is not soft: she's a kind-hearted person but she will not let you take advantage of her or her friends.
- inferiority superiority complex: the reason kacey holds such a high opinion of herself --sometimes-- is because she always got (and still gets) brushed over by her parents and overshadowed as the middle child, so she does whatever it takes to get people to appreciate her and give her approval.
- the leader: kacey is a charismatic and headstrong leader.
- nice girl: kacey is friendly, sweet and amicable.
- only known by their nickname: it's kacey, not kacela (that never seemed to stop yannika though).
- passionate sports girl: she loves tennis with her life, and is shown to be exceptionally good at badminton, ping-pong and squash.
- plucky girl: no matter how many times anxiety and intrusive thoughts get to her, kacey isn't the type to give up.
- "well done, daughter!" girl: she was brought up in a neglectful household, where she had to work extra hard to gain her parents' attention. in fact, most of her negative traits are picked up from her father.
- youthful freckles: even though she's not the youngest, kacey is childlike and optimistic. she has light brown freckles dotted on her nose and cheeks.
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nabila chan:
- alpha bitch: definitely fit this trope when she was younger, but now she's more of a lovable alpha bitch.
- asian and nerdy: nabila is chinese and acts as the brains of the group. played with, because she is more persuasive and articulate than intellectual. played straight, however, because she has a 3.8 gpa.
- badass bookworm: she may enjoy reading books in her spare time, but she can shatter your ego with a mere sentence.
- brainy brunette: nabila has dark hair and is the smartest in the trio.
- deadpan snarker: and how. nearly everything that comes out of her mouth is a bitter remark, a sarcastic quip, or a backhanded compliment.
- defrosting ice queen: throughout the seasons, she softens up a bit more and we see her more vulnerable side. however, she is still an ice queen.
- former teen rebel: before converting to islam, nabila (previously known as meihui) frequently drank, smoked and was a notorious party girl.
- freudian excuse: the reason nabila acts cynical and feels the need to 'correct' everything is because her parents fought a lot when she was younger, and she felt like she had to fix their relationship.
- lesbian
- lethal chef: nabila is shown to be absolutely terrible at cooking, once setting the kitchen on fire while trying to make soup.
- never bareheaded: for obvious reasons.
- not so stoic: see defrosting ice queen above. nabila seems to greatly care about her friends and family, and even goes so far as to weep over
karuko's comatose body in the hospital. - only sane woman: she fits this trope to a 't'. as the only level-headed and rational one, nabila is like a mother figure to kacey and karuko.
- platonic life partners: with her best friend, teigan. the two are inseparable and even though they're both lesbians, they have explicitly stated they have no romantic feelings for one another.
- smart people wear glasses: due to reading so much, nabila occasionally wears a pair of black-rimmed reading glasses.
- tall, dark and handsome/tall, dark and snarky: nabila is 5'9", has black hair (covered in a black hijab) and is the most conventionally attractive one in the trio. as well as this, she rarely has a nice word to say about anyone.
- teen genius: she's eighteen years old and has the second-highest grade point average in the school. it also helps that she has an iq of 143.
- the tell: being more psychologically aware than her peers, nabila finds it easy to tell a person's innermost feelings by the slightest change in expression or habit.
- twofer token minority: she's lesbian and muslim.
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karuko masae:
- chaotic neutral/the hedonist: karuko is somewhat unhinged; she does whatever likes with little to no thought about the consequences of her actions. why? because she wants to.
- death seeker: downplayed. karuko harbours suicidal thoughts and deliberately puts herself in life-threatening situations.
- driven to suicide: at the halloween party, karuko
stands in the middle of the road and lets herself get hit by a car. luckily,she survives. - the fool: not the brightest one in the trio, and generally
seeminglyhas no awareness for her own safety. - the gadfly: karuko's jokes always elicit a groan from the other girls, and she jokingly with nabila to piss her off.
- pansexual
- precision f-strike: when telling kacey to not be so hard on herself.
- sad clown: karuko is completely insecure at heart and suppresses the "sad" side of her as deeply as possible because she's worried that people would like her less if they knew her true emotions.
- self-deprecation: the main theme of karuko's humour. if she isn't cracking inappropriate or sexual jokes, she's taking jabs at herself.
- self-harm: karuko sometimes picks and scratches at her arms, and she covers it up with bandages and blames it on her narcolepsy.
- sibling yin-yang: karuko is extroverted and talkative while her younger sister, kinuko, is introverted and withdrawn.
- stepford smiler: see sad clown above. karuko uses her outgoing funny personality to cover up her depression and crippling insecurity.
- straight man, wise guy: the wise guy to nabila's straight (wo)man.
- surprisingly similar characters: a funny, happy-go-lucky asian teenager who loves to joke around. in reality, she experiences a lot of expectations at home regarding her future; she feels like she won't be able to live up to them because she thinks that her friends have their lives together. due to her incredibly low self-esteem, she dispenses random meme humour since she's afraid to express her innermost fears. karuko or akarsha?
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other students:
yannika harding:
- autism
- belligerent sexual tension: 𝘣between her and kacey. despite the obvious flirting-disguised-as-insults, they seem to be irresistibly drawn to one another and can't help commenting on every little thing the other person does.
- character development: slowly but surely, yannika realises it's better to let her feelings out than to bottle them up, and she becomes a lot less antagonistic. she even forms a romance with kacey!
- enemy mine: when the big tennis game against the rival school comes up, the tennis coach doesn't think yannika can lead on her own, so she pairs her up with kacey and the two (begrudgingly) become temporary co-captains.
- ensemble dark horse: her piercing green eyes, scathing attitude and large ego are just some of the reasons fans love her. in fact, she was originally meant to be a minor antagonist but she received such good reception from the fandom that the writers decided to keep her.
- foe yay shipping: she and kacey share moments which can come off as... emotionally charged, to say the least.
- hidden depths: the reason yannika seems to be a mega-bitch is because is treated horribly by her foster parents and she feels that the tennis court is the only place where she feels in control of herself. she is also incredibly studious and caring for her siblings, with a knack for problem-solving.
- lesbian
- locked in a room: she and kacey get locked in the equipment storage room for the whole episode, and they learn some new information about one another.
- not so different: she and kacey are both outgoing, determined and extremely competitive when it comes to tennis.
- sour outside, sad inside/stepford snarker: yannika puts up a bitchy front because she is subjected to abuse by her foster mothers.
- the rival: she is kacey's main competition and tries to one-up her any chance she gets. this isn't helped by the fact that yannika is the captain of the girls' tennis team and equally as good as kacey, possibly even better.
- technicolour eyes: yannika always wears green contact lenses.
- transgender
- worthy opponent: overtime, yannika grows to appreciate kacey's methods of practising tennis and even compliments her sometimes, much to the latter's annoyance.
- you gotta have blue hair: many of her wigs are unnatural hair colours, and her most common one is white.
teigan alexandra
- abusive parent: her mother was verbally, physically and emotionally abusive to teigan in her childhood, so much so that she developed ptsd and dissociative identity disorder.
- bare your midriff: the majority of teigan's outfits are crop tops.
- brainy brunette: teigan has brown hair and is the smartest person in the school.
- childhood friends: and best friends with nabila. these two are practically joined at the hip and when nabila isn't hanging out with kacey and/or karuko, she's with teigan.
- daddy's girl: she has a very close and loving relationship with her dads.
- dissociative identity disorder
- the fashionista: to a 't'. teigan is well-known throughout the school for having the nicest fashion sense.
- has two daddies: three, actually. after her mum walked out on her, teigan's father entered a polyamorous relationship and they are all happily married, living together.
- high school hustler: downplayed. because her fathers are very rich and high on the social ladder, teigan sometimes uses her influence to make sure things go her way. in fact, she was the one who convinced the principal to remove the dress code.
- lipstick lesbian: her favourite colour is pink, she enjoys conventionally feminine things, and she's attracted to women.
- smarter than you look: at first glance, teigan seems like a popular girly girl but on deeper inspection, she has the highest gpa in the school and is in a lot of honours classes.
- trauma button: for teigan, it's anything to do with mothers or mother figures.
- unlimited wardrobe: every character has this, but teigan is the most prominent character when it comes to this trope.