History Literature / BugmanGames

* BabiesEverAfter

* EarnYourHappyEnding

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

A webstory written by [[Tropers/BlackSol Solar Crimson]]. Completed since May 2009, and occasionally spruced up. [[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2481173/1/Bugman_Games Can be read here]] (though [=FictionPress=] messed with some of the formatting). It is the author's first completed serial story, as well as his first original story (he dabbled in fanfiction for several years beforehand).

It has a one-shot prequel story set some time before the events of the story called ''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2530192/1/The_Portal_Project The Portal Project]]'', chronicling another project by Melissa's father Edgar Cruz which does not work as expected; the story is rather old and slated to be rewritten to better fit with the author's current style. It also spawned a currently on-going spin-off called ''[[http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2688229/1/Hell_Manor Hell Manor]]'', which takes place a year after ''Bugman Games'' and in a different location; ''Hell Manor'''s Tina Yashiro takes Melissa's sadistic insanity and pumps it UpToEleven.

* KarmaHoudini: Lampshaded by Thomas in Chapter 38.

* LaughingMad: Melissa after being bested by Sayuko and Thomas.
* MadScientist: Edgar may qualify. Implied in the epilogue.

* NerdsAreVirgins: Thomas. [[spoiler:Until Gloria does something about it]].

* PunctuatedPounding: Jenna does this to Dawson in Chapter 12.

* InfantImmortality: 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.

* YourCheatingHeart: Bruce and [[spoiler:Claudia]], and, in [[spoiler:Claudia's case, inadvertently led to the events of the story]].

* AsianAndNerdy: Robbie, though not as much as his [[BlackBestFriend best friend Thomas]]. Robbie's girlfriend Kim also has shades of this.

%%* BlackBestFriend

* DomesticAbuser: In Chapter 38, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Jenna's father physically abuses her mother]].

* [[spoiler:BabiesEverAfter]]

%%* BlackBestFriend / SassyBlackWoman - Lauren to Melissa.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Happens during Robbie's and Dawson's conversation in Chapter 33.

* [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding]]

%%* GiantFootOfStomping / TrampledUnderfoot

* PunctuatedPounding - Jenna does this to Dawson in Chapter 12.

%%* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue / DistantFinale
* YourCheatingHeart - Bruce and [[spoiler:Claudia]], and, in [[spoiler:Claudia's case, inadvertently led to the events of the story]].

The story was written with the [[IncredibleShrinkingMan size]]-[[FetishFuel 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.

* FanDisservice: The portion of Sayuko's nightmare involving the giant homeless men in Chapter 28. [[FetishFuel Unless you're into that]].

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

----

* ActionGirl - Gloria.
* AsianAndNerdy - Robbie, though not as much as his [[BlackBestFriend best friend Thomas]]. Robbie's girlfriend Kim also has shades of this.
* AuthorAvatar - Thomas--in appearance (sans glasses), personality, and interests--could be seen as one for the author.

* BerserkButton - [[spoiler:After Melissa insults Sayuko's deceased family, Sayuko goes ballistic, assaults the shrunken Melissa, and pours out everything she's had to endure over the course of the story]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes - [[spoiler:Once Sayuko gets her hands on Melissa's Shrink Ray, the former puts the latter through hell, 1) to force the locks combination out of her so that she can rescue her brother, and 2) possibly as revenge for what she has put her through throughout the entire story.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing - Melissa.
* BlackAndNerdy - Thomas.
* BlackBestFriend / SassyBlackWoman - Lauren to Melissa.
* {{Blackmail}} - Melissa is forcing Sayuko to partake in her gruesome hobby by holding her brother Taro hostage, and regularly threatens to kill him if she refuses to obey her. When you consider that Taro is all the family that she has left in the world, and she's willing to do anything for his safety...
* BonusMaterial - "Thomas' E-Journal".
* BreakTheCutie - What Melissa is doing to Sayuko. [[spoiler:It eventually backfires in the worst way for Melissa.]]
* ColdBloodedTorture
* [[BreakingTheFourthWall Cracking The Fourth Wall]] - Happens during Robbie's and Dawson's conversation in Chapter 33.
* CurbStompBattle - Dawson and Matt's battle against Isaac and Garet (no, not [[VideoGame/GoldenSun those two]]).
* DaddysGirl - 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]].
* DomesticAbuser - In Chapter 38, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Jenna's father physically abuses her mother]].
* DreamSequence - The beginning of Chapters 7 and 15; the latter of which involves Thomas and Melissa having a Franchise/{{Pokemon}} battle, with them as the Pokemon.
** NightmareSequence - Happens a few times, the most significant of which was Sayuko's nightmare in Chapter 28, which made her [[SickEpisode physically ill]] afterwards.
*** CatapultNightmare
* DrivenToSuicide - The ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Ray]].

* FanDisservice - The portion of Sayuko's nightmare involving the giant homeless men in Chapter 28. [[FetishFuel Unless you're into that]].
* {{Flashback}} - 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.
* GiantFootOfStomping / TrampledUnderfoot
* GoneHorriblyWrong - What happens in the prequel story ''The Portal Project''.
* {{Gorn}}
* HeroicBSOD - Carlos suffers one after [[spoiler:hearing about Gloria's death. It also serves to change his personality in the process]].
* HeroicSacrifice - [[spoiler:Marcus pulls one to save Sheryl during the Refugee-Homeless battle.]]
* [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By Her Own Petard]]]] - [[spoiler:Though Melissa doesn't die]].
* IdiotSavant - Reagan. Also counts as a ChuckCunninghamSyndrome, as he is never spoken of again afterwards.
* IKissYourFoot - Either forced or voluntarily.
* ImAHumanitarian - Involuntary example: Melissa forces Sayuko to eat four of the small captives in Chapter 20.

* IncredibleShrinkingMan
* InfantImmortality - [[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]].
* {{Jerkass}} - Ray and Bruce.

* [[spoiler:KarmaHoudini]] - Lampshaded by Thomas in Chapter 38.
* KilledOffForReal - [[spoiler:Gloria, Matt, Marcus, and Bruce.]]
* LaughingMad - [[spoiler:Melissa after being bested by Sayuko and Thomas]].
* MadScientist - Edgar may qualify. Implied in the epilogue.
* MissingMom - Melissa tells Thomas that her mother ran out on her and her father when she was young. [[spoiler:Which is a lie; her mother is right inside of that very house, but shrunken and contained inside of a dollhouse in the basement, along with Melissa's half-sister]].
* NerdsAreVirgins - Thomas. [[spoiler:Until Gloria does something about it]].
* PrankDate - How Melissa traps Thomas, and assumably her other captives.
* {{Prequel}} - ''The Portal Project'' to this story, which is actually removed from the plot aside from some references.

* ScaryBlackMan - Bruce
* SequelHook
* ShoutOut - A couple:

* ShrinkingViolet - Sayuko is a shy young woman, and has been that way for her entire life.
* ShrinkRay - Melissa uses one to shrink her victims.
* SickEpisode - Chapter 29. Poor Sayuko... [[spoiler:[[FromBadToWorse And then Melissa makes the trip over to Sayuko's house]]]].
* SlobsVersusSnobs - Respectively, the Homeless and the Refugees. The Refugees are people who were lured to Melissa's house and shrunken; they are mostly young adults and mostly male, and they managed to escape from Melissa's closet and live inside of her house's walls ([[spoiler:for a while]]), hence their name. The Homeless are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what they sound like]]; they were captured directly from the streets under the cloak of night. The Refugees managed to escape from Melissa's closet and create some sort of interconnected network within Melissa's walls, while the Homeless were left trapped inside of the closet. The Refugees look down upon the Homeless, while the Homeless despise the Refugees' arrogance.
* SpinOff - The story ''Hell Manor''; its events are alluded to in the epilogue of ''Bugman Games''.
* StraightGay - Shawn.
* TheStoolPigeon - [[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]].
* SugarAndIcePersonality - Gloria.
* TurnCoat - [[spoiler:Ray, and later, Sheryl]].
* TheWarSequence - The majority of Chapter 31, which finally pits the Refugees and the Homeless against one another. [[spoiler:The Refugees win]].
* [[spoiler:WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue]] / [[spoiler:DistantFinale]]

<<|TroperWorks|>>

* FanDisservice - The portion of Sayuko's nightmare involving the giant homeless men in Chapter 28. [[RuleThirtySix Unless you're into that]].

The story begins with [[{{Geek}} geeky student]] Thomas Kirkland mustering up the courage to ask out the rather popular and [[BitchInSheepsClothing seemingly nice]] [[CompleteMonster 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, [[PrankDate 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.

* CompleteMonster - Melissa

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome - [[spoiler:Sayuko turning the tables on Melissa, as well as Thomas' and Melissa's brief fight]].
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming - [[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]].

* MoralEventHorizon - 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:
-->'''Melissa:''' You're nothing more than a bug now, an insignificant pest. I'm going to squish you.\\
'''Byron:''' Oh, hell no!!

* TheWoobie - Sayuko. She is a shy young woman who suffers the loss of her parents in a drunk driving accident, and is then brought to America to live with her brother. Then, he gets kidnapped and shrunken by Melissa, and held as a hostage to make Sayuko participate in Melissa's gruesome hobby (which she reluctantly participates in because she loves her brother very much). The whole ordeal takes its toll on her; she closes herself off from others, her grades at school drop, and she can barely sleep and when she does she tends to suffer from nightmares that physically make her ill afterwards. [[spoiler:Even worse, had she and Thomas not initiated their plan against Melissa, Sayuko would have been next on Melissa's shrink list, and would have been killed along with Taro]]. [[spoiler:Her attitude gets better slightly after she rescues Thomas, but the reader can finally breathe a sigh of relief for the girl when they finally end Melissa's sick games]].