Bugman Games: Difference between revisions

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The story begins with [[Geek|geeky student]] Thomas Kirkland mustering up the courage to ask out the rather popular and [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|seemingly nice]] [[Complete Monster|Melissa Cruz]]. She miraculously agrees, and the following Saturday Thomas travels to her house to pick her up. Little does he know that she has no intentions of letting him leave. Turns out, [[Prank Date|she only accepted his date request for more sinister purposes]]; brandishing a shrink ray, she shrinks Thomas and throw him inside of her closet with other captives. However, he is rescued by a rival faction of captives who also managed to escape from her closet and lives a rather hostile life within the house's walls. Their leader, the arrogant Bruce Black, promised a way out of the house and to freedom, but so far he has made no strides towards that goal.

 

 

Thomas must work with his comrades, and later Sayuko, to bring an end to Melissa's "games" and escape with their lives. The path to their goal will be filled with blood, sweat, and tears, but mostly blood.

The story was written with the [[Incredible Shrinking Man|size]]-[[Fetish Fuel|changing]] crowd in mind, but the author believes that the story has enough literary merit to stand on its own. Whether those outside the original target audience agrees is up in the air.

 

 

* [[Action Girl]] - Gloria.

* [[Asian and Nerdy]] - Robbie, though not as much as his [[Black Best Friend|best friend Thomas]]. Robbie's girlfriend Kim also has shades of this.

* [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] - {{spoiler|Sayuko turning the tables on Melissa, as well as Thomas' and Melissa's brief fight}}.

* [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] - {{spoiler|Thomas and Sayuko hugging after stopping Melissa and saving the captives that were still alive. "Thomas' E-Journal" also has one for its Christmas entry}}.

* [[Daddy's Girl]] - Melissa adores her father. {{spoiler|Much moreso than her mother, whom she lies about to others that she abandoned her or that she is dead}}.

* [[Domestic Abuser]] - In Chapter 38, it's revealed that {{spoiler|Jenna's father physically abuses her mother}}.

** [[Nightmare Sequence]] - Happens a few times, the most significant of which was Sayuko's nightmare in Chapter 28, which made her [[Sick Episode|physically ill]] afterwards.

*** [[Catapult Nightmare]]

* [[Driven to Suicide]] - The ultimate fate of {{spoiler|Ray}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Earn Your Happy Ending]]}}

* [[Flash Back]] - Several times over the course of the story (in order: Dawson, Claudia, Bruce, Sayuko, and Thomas). The flashbacks are also told from the viewpoint of the person narrating them.

* [[Foot Focus]] - In addition, both Dawson and Robbie have foot fetishes. Though Robbie's is more mild.

* [[Heroic BSOD]] - Carlos suffers one after {{spoiler|hearing about Gloria's death. It also serves to change his personality in the process}}.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]] - {{spoiler|Marcus pulls one to save Sheryl during the Refugee-Homeless battle.}}

* [[Idiot Savant]] - Reagan. Also counts as a [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]], as he is never spoken of again afterwards.

* [[I Kiss Your Foot]] - Either forced or voluntarily.

* [[Incredible Shrinking Man]]

* [[Infant Immortality]] - {{spoiler|In a show of mercy, Melissa can not bring herself to slaughter the newborn child of one of her prisoners, and instead takes it to an orphanage. The kicker? She DOES kill the mother, and lies to her that she did kill her child. The woman believes her, and dies thinking that she will see her child in the afterlife}}.

** Starting with Ray, {{spoiler|he, after one of the other captives gave birth to a child, told Melissa about it and caused the prisoner in question to be killed (though her child was placed in an adoption agency, unknown to the parent), and then laughed at the whole situation. He also led the rest of his group back into the waiting hands of Melissa, under the pretense that he was leading them to freedom, and was rewarded by being set free.}}

** In Bruce's case, {{spoiler|he self-appointed himself the leader of the Refugees, but despite promising to lead them to freedom, he actually has no plans to do such a thing. He spends most of his time in the basement of Melissa's house with her mother, who convinced her to not kill him, and is using her for both sex and potential freedom. He is also prejudiced against Asians, which led to Sayuko's brother Taro not being rescued when Melissa captured him and Sayuko becoming involved with Melissa.}}

* [[Moral Event Horizon]] - Melissa crossed this a long time ago. Specifically, {{spoiler|when she shrunk both her mother and sister and kept them prisoner in the basement. To make it worse, she would have had both of them killed had Thomas and Sayuko had not initiated their plan to take her down when they did. She is also willing to shrink and even kill her best friend Lauren should she find out about her secret, as noted in Chapters 23 and 38.}}

* [[Narm]] - One instance in Chapter 28: Before Melissa kills Byron:

'''Byron:''' Oh, hell no!! }}

* [[Nerds Are Virgins]] - Thomas. {{spoiler|Until Gloria does something about it}}.

* [[Scary Black Man]] - Bruce

* [[Sequel Hook]]

** The very final scene (and perhaps the scene before it) of the story is a reference to the cliffhanger ending of ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem [Blazing Sword]]]''.

* [[Shrinking Violet]] - Sayuko is a shy young woman, and has been that way for her entire life.

* [[Shrink Ray]] - Melissa uses one to shrink her victims.

* [[Sick Episode]] - Chapter 29. Poor Sayuko... {{spoiler|[[It Got Worse|And then Melissa makes the trip over to Sayuko's house]]}}.

* [[Spin-Off]] - The story ''Hell Manor''; its events are alluded to in the epilogue of ''Bugman Games''.

* [[The Stool Pigeon]] - {{spoiler|Ray, who tells Melissa about the Refugees and then leads them right into Melissa's waiting hands, doing so by playing on their strong desire of escaping}}.

* [[Sugar and Ice Personality]] - Gloria.