History Fanfic / Asleep

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Gregor, Vaike, Anna, Flavia...]] However, meeting [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Matthew]], who came back thanks to his great deeds in life]] has Cameron wondering whether this trope can be subverted.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Saving Emmeryn might have seemed like the morally righteous thing to do (and Cameron lists off several reasons it would be helpful in the long run rather than acting ForTheGreaterGood), but it definitely had negative consequences, as several people who weren't meant to die did due to Gangrel's army being larger than in canon (due to not suffering quite the level of desertion her sacrifice inspired). Julian also seriously starts wondering whether Emmeryn being in charge would be a good thing regarding the war with Valm, after seeing how aggrieved she is by the casualties of the Ylisse/Plegia conflict.]]

* [[spoiler: CrazyPrepared: Future!Cameron, with plans detailing the location of every time-displaced children in a "In case of giant genocidal demon-dragon with horde of undead, break glass." bookcase. Sadly, Lucien showed up one day...]]

* AlternateTimeline: These are mentioned to exist, and it comes into play when we meet [[spoiler:Malcom - who is Cameron and Anna's son from the BadFuture timeline, and exists despite Anna dying.]]
** It's also mentioned that Cameron was present in the original timeline - Tom implies that he became a paraplegic because of an injury he got fighting the Risen the first time (in this fic, the early attack is noticeably ''not'' a result of Lucina time-travelling), and became quartermaster to the Shepherds as a result in order to be useful. In the main story, Lucina found him and healed him with Falchion, thus causing a divergence. [[spoiler:All of the future children - including [[OriginalCharacter Mal, Noel, Mark]] and his [[AntagonisticOffspring indoctrinated-into-evil daughter]] Fire - are from the timeline where he was handicapped.]]
** [[spoiler: Now with the arrival of Eiryss, a third timeline almost identical to the original one is thrown into the mix, considering that she's actually a version of Fire, Mal's sister - whose last appearance in the story was travelling with '' Lucien''.]]
** As of Chapter 48, [[spoiler:the D&N timeline is confirmed to exist as well, since Cameron entered it - or at least a version of it - when Tom sent him there after he almost died against Lucien, so that he can LevelGrind a little more.]]

* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: Played straight. To bring Cameron and Julian to this world, the Old Man had to bring in two others - opposite to them in many ways. When Jaclyn arrives, she brings with her a third Alternate.
** [[JustifiedTrope Plausibly subverted]] by [[spoiler:Fire/Eiryss - she ''does'' need an Alternate created so that she can enter the main timeline (rather than going back in time to her own one), but because she's already a skilled fighter she doesn't enhance herself; as such, her Alternate is simply a brutishly-strong {{Gonk}} of a man, who is evenly-matched with her and is killed reasonably fast. Though he still gives her severe injuries during their confrontation, she recovers and no longer has to worry about him the way the main trio do with their counterparts.]]

* TheMultiverse: Tom/[[spoiler:Xane]] is just one of many people assigned to watch over a portion of reality - and on top of ''that'' each reality has some uncounted number of individual possible (and existing) timelines. For instance, there would be (according to Tom): at least one in which Lucina did not heal Cameron; one in which he didn't end up with Anna; one in which [[spoiler:either Fire or Malcolm, neither, or both were taken by Lucien]]...
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Cameron's original reasoning for leaving Emmeryn to her fate - in canon, her sacrifice inspires mass desertion from the Plegian Army, minimising overall casualties on both sides as well as ensuring the Ylisse/Ferox alliance has more able-bodied soldiers when Valm attacks in two years' time. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh]], and because Emmeryn would try to [[ThisIsGonnaSuck diplomacy]] ''[[SocialDarwinist Walhart]]''.

* ShipperOnDeck: Cameron - being a Fire Emblem fan - is one. Particularly the Robin/Lucina ship.
** His friends in the Shepherds - that is Stahl, Vaike, Kellam, Lon'qu and Gaius - all support his relationship with Anna. It's also mentioned that some people initially assumed that he'd hook up with Maribelle, given that she seemed to be {{Tsundere}} for him - given that Maribelle is like this with everyone, though, this was obviously not the case and nothing came of it.
* ShoutOut: [[spoiler: Anna's son - Malcom "Mal" Yriel is captain of a ship called Serenity. Sound familiar?]]

** Chapter 43, but in a very...strange way.

* ObliviousToLove: Sweet ''Naga'', Chrom. Cue CrowningMomentOfFunny... or a few.

One day, Cameron, average everyman, has somehow woken up in the world of Akaneia. Strangely, despite having hand-eye coordination problems and no fighting experience whatsoever, he finds himself quite the fighter with a sword and his [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe nigh-unbreakable shield]]. Joining with the Shepherds, he goes through the events of the game... with a slight twist.

He eventually finds that he is an Outsider, a man from our realm who has forged a contract with the gods to become an idealized version of himself. To balance this, an EvilCounterpart called an Alternate has been created to oppose him. Cameron and the other Outsiders, alongside the rest of the game's heroes, must find a way to save the world, standing up to the machinations of gods.

* FiveManBand: Cameron and his close friends among the Shepherds (see the [[Characters/{{Asleep}} character sheet]]). Later on, the organisation "Swordwind", in rough recruitment order too:
** TheLeader - [[spoiler:Cameron]]
** TheHero - [[spoiler:Cynthia]]
** TheLancer - [[spoiler:Matthew]]
** TheSmartGuy - [[spoiler:Maugen]]
** TheChick - [[spoiler:Fire/Eiryss]]
** TheBigGuy - [[spoiler:Owain]]
** SixthRanger - [[spoiler:Norrin]]

* GenreSavvy: Cameron, somewhat.

One day, Cameron wakes up underwater with no clue how he got there and even less clue as to how he's become a competent fighter seemingly overnight. Also, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck he's being stalked by a dangerous individual not in the original game.]] This leads to...interesting changes.

* RealitySubtext: Around late 2013 and early 2014, the fanfic started to get rather dark tonally. Around this time, the author started to experience depression and attempted suicide at least two times, only not going through with it because his friends helped support him - this is echoed by Cameron (in the story) developing some DeathSeeker elements as a result of [[spoiler:losing Anna due to the war intensifying, and being unjustly blamed by his son Mal for it]].
** WordOfGod says this was always planned, it just had really convenient timing.