Line #47 Fanfic/StealingDreams


1	-> Being a hero is a beautiful madness.
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3	[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14446794/chapters/33371001 Stealing Dreams]] is a ''VideoGame/Persona5'' and ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' (with elements of other ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'' games, especially ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'') FusionFic by [=Leliel12=], with some elements from ''TabletopGame/{{Aeon}}''.
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5	Life has not gone well for eight Japanese teenagers, outcast from society. By definition, it can't have, given how each of them has ended up [[AlienAbduction taken from their mundane lives]] and [[MadeASlave forced into hard service]] in the strange wilds of [[WorldOfChaos Arcadia]], homeland of TheFairFolk - a service that eventually made them a bit [[TouchedByVorlons fae]] themselves. More fae than their masters would have liked, since they promptly used that newly fae nature and access to [[BargainWithHeaven Contracts]] to escape.
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7	Unfortunately for them, the [[CrapsackWorld Earth]] they came back to is still the GothicPunk mess of hidden factions that is the New World of Darkness, with the True Fae only one part of a [[FantasyKitchenSink much stranger world]] that humanity [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade very loudly ignores]]. Once you're [[WelcomedToTheMasquerade part of that world]], it ''[[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive refuses]]'' to leave you alone, so (with a little push from a [[TheChooserOfTheOne strange long-nosed man]] who they met on the way back), they join together for mutual protection - and to make sure anyone who tries to spoil their freedom [[TheDogBitesBack soon regrets trying]].
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9	Which is good, because as it turns out, if [[AncientConspiracy an ancient sect of sorcerers have their way]], it won't be just ''their'' freedom on the line...
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11	Note that unmarked spoilers on the identity of the main villains are beneath this line.
12	----
13	!!''Stealing Dreams'' provides examples of:
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15	* AcquaintedInRealLife: The Phantoms encounter a masked changeling they dub Dog Head, and are later horrified to learn Dog Head saw their faces and recognized them, meaning they're someone the team knows. Unfortunately, with glamours at play, there's no way to easily identify who Dog Head is, [[spoiler:though it's implied to be Akechi]].
16	* AdaptationalBadass: Quite a few, as many unpowered characters are varieties of esohuman:
17	** Ichiko Ohya, Yohei Kiritani, and [[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth Hikari]] are three of the four Seasonal Monarchs of the Freehold the Phantoms are part of.
18	** Both Sadayo Kawakami and Yuuki Mishima are both [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil hunters]]; for Mishima, it's downplayed, because as a member of [[NonActionGuy Network Zero]] he's more interested in cataloguing the monsters than hunting them, but Kawakami is [[HalfHumanHybrid part-demon]] and can [[OneWingedAngel become a hulking oni outright]].
19	** [[spoiler:Shiho Suzui, normally a victim of Kamoshida, ends up [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers Awakening]] as an Acanthus mage and proves vital to Kamoshida's defeat.]]
20	** [[spoiler:Kamoshida is actually downplayed; while he is a member of the Seers of the Throne, it turns out he was only a ''provisional'' member, as his powers were on loan from the Seers; they turn out to be [[SuperpowerMeltdown harder to control]] than a true mage's, and a pissed-off Kobayakawa [[YouHaveFailedMe takes them back]] after the coach's maiming.]]
21	** [[spoiler:Shinya Oda, a normal kid who happens to be good at gun games in the original, is here an [[TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse ancient mummy]], thousands of years old, with Eldritch powers even the Phantoms can barely comprehend.]]
22	** [[spoiler:Sumire Yoshizawa is an experienced [[TabletopGame/DeviantTheRenegades Deviant]] and is the MonsterLord of a group of Coalition clones.]]
23	* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Albeit one that makes sense, but due to Makoto being put through the wringer ''hard'' in her Durance, Makoto's self-esteem plummeted and she exhibits what's strongly implied to be a case of PTSD and explicitly a case of Dissociative Identity Disorder. On ''good'' days, she's a ShrinkingViolet in stark contrast to the serious woman she was in canon. We currently don't know all of the details regarding Makoto's Durance, but one-shots set in the universe indicate [[spoiler:it may very well have been repeated abuse and even rape.]]
24	* AdaptationalSpeciesChange: Morgana was ([[InsistentTerminology not]]) a cat [[spoiler:and a creation of the Velvet Room]] in canon. Here, he's a changeling KidHero who everyone can tell was originally human.
25	* AdaptationalNationality: While Morgana has amnesia, he suspects he's originally Irish due to being able to speak English and Gaelic.
26	* AdaptationalNameChange:
27	** Joker / the Persona 5 protagonist, usually called Akira Kurusu or Ren Amamiya, is named Shinobu Hattori.
28	** The Phantom Thieves of Hearts instead call themselves the Phantoms of Arcadia.
29	** The Black Mask is referred to as Dog Head due to the creator feeling it fit the setting better. The mask they wear also resembles a jackal's head.
30	* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: While Personas do not exist in the Chronicles of Darkness, all the Phantoms are changelings.
31	** [[WordOfGod Word of God]] states that most of [[VideoGame/Persona3 SEES]] were Sin-Eaters, with Aigis being an Unfleshed Promethean.
32	* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Downplayed. Sumire is a member of the [[TheRival Get of Typhon]] and TheMole, but she has no ill will towards the Phantoms and was mostly trying to avoid accidentally causing a RightHandVersusLeftHand situation. Day to day, she prefers to be a NiceGirl.]]
33	* BreakTheCutie: Happens to changelings as a matter of course, but Makoto has suffered the worst of it, having become a ShrinkingViolet with a SplitPersonality due to her mistreatment.
34	* DoNotAdjustYourSet: [[spoiler:Because the Phantoms [[AdaptationalSuperpowerChange can't steal Kamoshida's heart]], they end up broadcasting his sins to a teacher meeting, using a digital mascot called Lord Sek (voiced by Morgana).]]
35	* DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals: The supernatural folk of the Chronicles of Darkness, specifically the ones who can pretend to be normal humans for a long period of time, are called "esohumans," with WordOfGod saying it was stolen from the Mage Chronicler's Guide. [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Seers of the Throne]] also tend to call non-mage esohumans "Fallspawn" or "terats", both {{Fantastic Slur}}s.
36	* DrivesLikeCrazy: [[spoiler:Haru, just as in canon - which, when combined with the [[EldritchLocation Hedge]], results in some ''outright impossible'' stunts, as the Hedge warped into a [[AlienGeometries tesseract]] when she became accidental getaway driver.]]
37	* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Thanks to her hybridization with a [[MonsterProgenitor Coalition progenitor]], Sumire has a naturally strong maternal instinct towards Coalition clones and considers herself their mother - that, along with avenging Kasumi, is why she is a VigilanteWoman seeking to kill every Seer associated with her mutation, as she knows they were intended to be SlaveMooks for the Seers.]]
38	* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Trying to stop Kamoshida's harassment of Shujin students ends up revealing the existence of [[AncientConspiracy Seers of the Throne]], due to him helping to run a recruitment network for Shujin students via scholarships.
39	* MythologyGag: When meeting Akechi at the TV studio, he brings up pancakes. [[spoiler:Though, unlike in the game, Shinobu doesn't instantly realize something's wrong]].
40	* NebulousEvilOrganization: The Seers of the Throne, who Ann nicknames the magical mafia.
41	* OhCrap: The group has this reaction upon learning [[spoiler:Dog Head has seen their faces, and even worse, ''recognized'' them]].
42	* PokeInTheThirdEye: [[spoiler:Dog Head discovers Kawakami's kuda-gitsune, and makes it their own spying mechanism by using a Contract to view everything the creature has seen in the past month. Which unfortunately, includes the Phantoms' faces]].
43	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Seers have a noted tendency to look down on non-mage esohumans, even more so than [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper mundanes]]. [[spoiler:Shido goes out of his way to bully Makoto and Morgana when he recognizes them as changelings.]]
44	* RockMonster: What little can be glimpsed of Dog Head beneath the suit is onyx-like skin. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the Phantoms can't use that unique skin to identify them, since with a glamour they could be anyone]].
45	* RunningGag: Futaba repeatedly [[TotallyNotAWerewolf misidentifies people as vampires]].
46	* {{Shipping}}: As the tags note, Futaba and Shinobu, Makoto and Haru, and Ann and Shiho are all couples. [[spoiler:Along with Orthus/Dog Head and Sumire.]]
47	* WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt: [[spoiler:Kaneshiro's "Project Medea" was named to contrast the larger Project Helios - the Seer plan to clone Coalition troops. As mentioned by several characters, naming your SuperSoldier project [[Theater/{{Medea}} after a woman best known for how total her revenge against against her abuse was]] is not a smart idea if you plan on not using volunteers. True to form, Sumire broke out after being converted into a progenitor hybrid and is now helping seek revenge against the Seers.]]

Context Fanfic / StealingDreams