Tropedia

  • All unique and most-recently-edited pages, images and templates from Original Tropes and The True Tropes wikis have been copied to this wiki. The two source wikis have been redirected to this wiki. Please see the FAQ on the merge for more.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Farm-Fresh balanceYMMVTransmit blueRadarWikEd fancyquotesQuotes • (Emoticon happyFunnyHeartHeartwarmingSilk award star gold 3Awesome) • RefridgeratorFridgeGroupCharactersScript editFanfic RecsSkull0Nightmare FuelRsz 1rsz 2rsz 1shout-out iconShout OutMagnifierPlotGota iconoTear JerkerBug-silkHeadscratchersHelpTriviaWMGFilmRoll-smallRecapRainbowHo YayPhoto linkImage LinksNyan-Cat-OriginalMemesHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconicLibrary science symbol SourceSetting
The Traitor Game 1538

After being bullied, Michael changes schools. The incident - and his mother's inaction in face of it - makes it hard for him to trust in people again, but it all changes when he meets Francis. Francis is the cool and tall redhead who, instead of making fun on him, joins Michael in a game of make-believe, creating a fantasy land called Evgard and its capital, Arcaster. Both boys keep their world hidden safely in a locked box, in the form of maps and poems. Until, of course, Michael gets an anonymous note in his locker saying I KNOW WHERE ARCASTER IS. Fearing that Francis has betrayed him and their secret, Michael decides to take revenge. It gets worse.

The book intercales between Michael and Francis lifes in reality (in third person, in Michael's POV) and in the Evgard from Michael's imagination (in first person), where they're known as Argent and Columen, a slave and the Duke's son, involved in an ongoing war between their people.



This series provide examples of:[]

  • Annoying Younger Sibling - Luke, to disastrous consequences.
  • Black and Gray Morality
  • Break the Cutie
  • The Bully - Shipley.
  • Character Development
  • Coming of Age Story
  • Complete Monster - The Duke. Even his son sees it.
  • Con Lang - Together with Multilingual Bonus. Mereish language combines a multitude of words from different languages spelt weirdly. Also, lots of latin.
  • Conflicting Loyalty - Michael's devotion to Evgard and to Francis.
  • Cool Loser - Francis.
  • Crapsack World - Evgard, despite Michael's strong belief that Evgard is better than real life. As his imagination reflects the bullying he went through and his distrust of others, it's no wonder.
  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming - When the boys bond, specially in Evgard.
  • Depraved Bisexual - Once again, the Duke.
  • Despair Event Horizon - Argent, after helping his people destroy the home of his only friend, and then discovering they were exactly the same kind of evil he thought the Evgard were. Michael and Francis dance along it frequently, but Michael crosses it after he thinks Evgard's been burned and Francis seems to cross it after the beating by Shitley, and realizing Michael just watched.
  • Deus Angst Machina - Michael gets it bad, but Argent? Argent is captured and forced to watch all his friends get killed. He's raped, becomes the Duke's sex slave and is abused by everyone he knows. When he finally makes a friend in Columen, the Duke's son - who looks exactly like him - Argent betrays him to help his people… who turn out to be a bunch of bastards, as evil as the Duke, and who treat him as a traitor just because of his name. Even his childhood friend distrusts him… And then he dies.
  • Double Consciousness - Argent, due to being Mereish, but being friends with Columen, who's Evgard. His mother was also Evgard, giving him an Evgard name that makes the Mereish distrust him.
  • Dramatic Irony
  • Dysfunction Junction
  • Earn Your Happy Ending - What Michael and Francis have to go through. A Bittersweet Ending in case of Evgard, as Argent dies protecting Columen, but his death holds the significance that Francis is more important for Michael than Evgard is.
  • Embarrassing First Name - Benedick. The bullies call him "Bent Dick", and Michael's first reaction is ask what the hell his mother was thinking.
  • False-Flag Operation - How the Mereish enter Arcaster.
  • Fantastic Racism - The Mereish and the Evgard, about eachother. Argent gets the worst of it, because his name is Evgard, but he's Mereish.
  • Fantastic Slurs - Argent, because of his Mereish looks, is called "pisciculi albus", "vermiculus" and "color seminis". He says "there are more words for freak and weird and disgusting than I can translate".
  • Female Gaze - Micheal directs this at Francis constantly. Yeah.
  • A Friend in Need - Subverted. Michael not only causes Francis to get beaten by the school bullies, but also fails to help him.
  • Friendless Background: Michael.
Cquote1

 'Do you always hit people? Is that how you make friends?'

'I don't know. I don't have any.'

Cquote2
  1. It's right after Francis crosses the Despair Event Horizon, and the inciting incident for Michael to do the same