History VisualNovel / ParasiteInLove

"Parasite in Love" is a VisualNovel created by [=NiAsobu=] for [[https://itch.io/jam/spooktober-vn-jam-2022 Spooktober VN Jam 2022]]. You play as Marlowe who becomes infected by a brain-eating amoeba after taking a swim in a lake and has 10 days to rid herself of the parasite before it kills her. The catch? The parasite has taken the form of a handsome guy in her hallucinations and won't let her call for help.

* {{Yandere}}: Niall latches onto Marlowe because of how "warm" she felt during her swim in the lake and essentially holds her hostage, not allowing her to call for help to get rid of him. He can also kill her if he gets too upset, though he only does so unintentionally.

"Parasite in Love" is a VisualNovel created by NiAsobu for [[https://itch.io/jam/spooktober-vn-jam-2022 Spooktober VN Jam 2022]]. You play as Marlowe who becomes infected by a brain-eating amoeba after taking a swim in a lake and has 10 days to rid herself of the parasite before it kills her. The catch? The parasite has taken the form of a handsome guy in her hallucinations and won't let her call for help.

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* ShownTheirWork: Naegleria Fowleri? Yeah, it does [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri exist in real life,]] and while the MoeAnthropomorphism is a case of artistic license, the method in which Marlowe was infected, her subsequent symptoms of infection, and the timeframe of progression do match up with real life infections. Though ten days is the '‘optimistic'' timeline.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Seemingly of MoeAnthropomorphism dating sims. Rather than being something cute and harmless, Niall is a deadly brain-eating amoeba [[ShownTheirWork whose effect on the player character mirrors the real-life symptoms of the infection]]. His controlling nature also is played completely seriously, and Marlowe doesn't fall for him no matter how "kind" he is to her, being completely aware of the gravity of her situation from the beginning and wanting to escape before he kills her.

* {{Bishounen}}: The parasite's human form resembles one with glowing blue skin and white hair.

* StockholmSyndrome: {{Subverted|trope}}. The game makes it clear through Marlowe's internal dialogue that she has no love for the parasite regardless of how "kindly" he treats her. This stays true even if the player has Marlowe play along with his "house" scenario.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Marlowe's strong desire for a family is partially the reason Niall attached himself to her in the first place, as he projected his own need to multiply onto her because of it.

* BittersweetEnding: The "Good Ending" can be interpreted as one. Marlowe rids herself of Niall but she's no doubt traumatized by the experience. It's also likely that the infection will have lasting effects on her physical health, as her body is described as being "infection ravaged" and "on the verge of collapse".
* BodyHorror: Niall and Marlowe's "baby". Also, Niall gains multiple extra eyes in the ending where he accidentally kills Marlowe in a fit of rage.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: While it's debatable how "evil" Niall actually is, he does seem to genuinely care about Marlowe and their children in his own deluded way. Marlowe even points the former out after he attempts to cheer her up with a light show.
* FlatWhat: He does this whenever Marlowe says something he doesn't like.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Niall claims that he wants to give Marlowe the life and family she wanted, but it becomes clear that he's mainly acting out of self-preservation without fully taking into consideration how it affects her and their "children". In order to get the "Good Ending", the player needs to have Marlowe point his selfishness out to him, which will make him insecure enough to be manipulated into reconsidering his decision.
* LackOfEmpathy: {{Downplayed|trope}}. He's aware of the effect his presence has on Marlowe and tries to "help" by lessening her symptoms from time to time, but he won't let her call for help [[{{Hypocrite}} because it'll kill him in the process]] and he will worsen her symptoms to keep her under his control. It's also implied in the final two days that he feels guilty about what he's doing to her but he doesn't relent and will only free Marlowe if she successfully uses reverse psychology on him.

** To get the "Good Ending", the player needs to have Marlowe behave kindly to Niall up to their conversation about his capabilities as a parent, and then have her call him out on not being a good father for what he's willing to allow to happen to their "children". She'll convince him that in order for their children to survive and for them to have more time together, he'll need to let her recover. Once convinced, Niall will allow Marlowe to go back to the lake where they first "met" and release him and their children only on the promise that she'll return to them someday. After they part, Marlowe escapes and makes it clear that she has no intention of coming back to the cabin or that lake ever again.

* NoNameGiven: The amoeba has no actual name, only mentioning that humans call him "Naegleria Fowleri", which is the scientific term for its species. However, he allows Marlowe to call him "Niall", which was the name of her old unrequited university crush.

* TooDumbToLive: Marlowe, who decides to have a dip in the lake after watching a news report about the brain-eating parasites at the beginning of the game. While it's rare to be infected by them, one would think she would be too paranoid to risk it. The player can also make Marlowe this by making her behave coldly to Niall, knowing he has the ability to harm her just by getting upset. If the player keeps choosing "mean" options up to day 10, Niall will snap and accidentally kill her.

* WouldHitAGirl: Niall is perfectly fine with using his amoeba "powers" to cause Marlowe pain if she tries to defy him, making it difficult for her to just escape while he's distracted.

* AffablyEvil: While he's not quite "evil", or at least not intentionally, Niall is quite "nice" when Marlowe allows him to get his way. He also claims, and to a point seems, to genuinely love her and their children.

* {{Bishounen}}: The parasites human form resembles one with glowing blue skin and white hair.
* BittersweetEnding: The "Good Ending" can be interpreted as one. Marlowe rids herself of Niall but she's no doubt traumatized by the experience. As well, it's also likely that the infection had lasting effects on her physical health, as her body is described as being "infection ravaged" and "on the verge of collapse".
* BodyHorror: Niall and Marlowe's "baby". Also, Niall gains multiple extra eyes in the ending where he accidentally kills Marlowe in a rage.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Seemingly of MoeAnthropomorphism dating sims. Rather than being something cute and harmless, Niall is a deadly brain-eating amoeba [[ShownTheirWork whose effect on the player character mirrors the real-life symptoms of the infection]]. His controlling nature also is played completely seriously, and Marlowe doesn't fall for him no matter how "kind" he is to her, being completely aware of the gravity of her situation from the beginning and wanting to escape before it kills her.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Niall claims that he wants to give Marlowe the life and family she wanted, but it becomes clear that he's mainly acting out of his own need to survive without considering how it affects her or their "children". In order to get the "Good Ending", the player needs to have Marlowe point his selfishness out to him, which will make him insecure and reconsider his decision.
* LackOfEmpathy: {{Downplayed|trope}}. He's aware of the effect his presence has on Marlowe and tries to "help" by lessening her symptoms from time to time, but he won't let her call for help [[{{Hypocrite}} because it'll kill him in the process]]. It's also implied in the final two days that he feels guilty about what he's doing to her but he doesn't relent and will only free Marlowe if she successfully uses reverse psychology on him.

** Behaving coldly to Niall from the first interaction onward will lead to him giving Marlowe a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, unintentionally killing her in the process.

* NoNameGiven: The amoeba has no actual name, only mentioning that humans call him "Naegleria Fowleri", which is the scientific term for its species. However, he allows Marlowe to call him "Niall", which was the name of her old university crush.

* TooDumbToLive: Marlowe, who decides to have a dip in the lake after watching a news report about the brain-eating parasites at the beginning of the game. The player can also make Marlowe this by making her behave coldly to Niall, knowing he has the ability to harm her just by getting upset. If the player keeps choosing "mean" options up to day 10, Niall will snap and accidentally kill her.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The player never learns what became of the mother and child who were also swimming in the lake at the beginning of the game. [[FridgeHorror Maybe they got infected too]]...

* {{Yandere}}: Niall latches onto Marlowe because of how "warm" she felt during her swim in the lake and essentially holds her hostage, not allowing her to call for help to get rid of him.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Seemingly of MoeAnthromorphism dating sims. Rather than being something cute and harmless, Niall is a deadly brain-eating amoeba [[ShownTheirWork whose effect on the player character mirrors the real-life symptoms of the infection]]. His controlling nature also is played completely seriously, and Marlowe doesn't fall for him no matter how "kind" he is to her, being completely aware of the gravity of her situation from the beginning and wanting to escape before it kills her.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Marlowe's strong desire for a family is partially the reason Niall attached himself to her in the first place, as he projected his own need to multiply onto her.

* BodyHorror: Niall and Marlowe's "baby". Also, Niall gains multiple extra eyes in the ending, where he accidentally kills Marlowe in a rage.

* NoNameGiven: The amoeba has no actual name, only mentioning that humans call him "Naegleria Fowleri", which is the scientific term for its species. However, he allows Marlowe to call him "Niall", which was the name of her old crush.

* TooDumbToLive: Marlowe, who decides to have a dip in the lake after watching a news report about the brain-eating parasites at the beginning of the game.

"Parasite in Love" is a VisualNovel created by NiAsobu for [[https://itch.io/jam/spooktober-vn-jam-2022 Spooktober VN Jam 2022]]. You play as Marlowe who becomes infected by a brain eating amoeba after taking a swim in a lake and has 10 days to rid herself of the parasite before it kills her. The catch? The parasite has taken the form of a handsome guy in her hallucinations and won't let her call for help.

* BodyHorror: Niall and Marlowe's "baby". Also, Niall himself gains multiple extra eyes in the ending where he accidentally kills Marlowe in a fit of rage.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Niall claims that he wants to give Marlowe the life and family she wanted, but it becomes clear that he's mainly acting out of his own need to multiply without considering how it affects her or their "children". In order to get the "Good Ending", the player needs to have Marlowe point his selfishness out to him in the form of calling him a "bad father" for "murdering" their children by allowing her to die with him, which will make him feel insecure and reconsider his decision.
* LackOfEmpathy: {{Downplayed|trope}}. He's aware of the effect his presence has on Marlowe and tries to "help" by lessening her symptoms from time to time, but he won't let her call for help [[{{Hypocrite}} because it'll kill him in the process]]. It's also implied in the final two days that he feels guilty about what he's doing to her but he doesn't relent regardless and will only free Marlowe if she convinces him to by using his love for his "family" against him.

** To get the "Good Ending", the player needs to have Marlowe behave kindly to Niall up to their conversation about his capabilities as a parent, and then have her call him out on not being a good father for what he's willing to allow to happen to their "children". She'll convince him that in order for their children to survive and for them to have more time together, he'll need to let her recover. Once convinced, Niall will allow Marlowe to go back to the lake where they first "met" and release him and their children only on the promise that she'll return to them someday. After they part, Marlowe will escape and makes it clear that she has no intention of coming back to the cabin or that lake ever again.

* {{Yandere}}: A variant. Niall latches onto Marlowe because of how "warm" she felt during her swim in the lake and essentially holds her hostage, not allowing her to call for help to get rid of him. His ultimate goal is to have them die together when she succumbs to his effect on her, whether she wants to or not.