Fanfic / NiGHTS: Quatro Facets of Dreams

NiGHTS: Quatro Facets of Dreams is an Massive Multiplayer Crossover Continuation fanfic, majorly featuring the universe of NiGHTS into Dreams… and Nights Journey Of Dreams while mixing in Coraline, Spooky Month, Gravity Falls and Undertale, created by Minecraft Fan 11 (known on Archive of Our Own as ArtyMyella).

Once again, the free-spirited Nightmaren NiGHTS and the wise Owl are on a battle with Wizeman the Wicked, trying to stop him from using the Ideyas of children gifted with the fabled Ideya of Courage for his nefarious plans, and scouting said children with these Ideyas, bonding with them while defeating Wizeman's forces. However, unlike the previous times, they are not only two kids, but six kids, and all of them, already used to this sort of weirdness.

• Coraline, who is unable to trust any friendly nonhuman being after adventuring the Other World.
• Skid and Pump, who refuse to come out of their Spooky Month shenanigans comfort zone to deal with their broken families.
• Dipper and Mabel, who respectively is trusting anyone outside his family/friends less, and hating herself for her selfishness.
• And Frisk, who feels guilty for being unable to save some people from Mt. Ebott.

Together with the two guardians of Nightopia, they must seek their missing Ideya, overcome their flaws, and stop Wizeman's plans.

Keep in note that there will be unmarked spoilers of the mentioned franchises.

Tropes in NiGHTS: Quatro Facets of Dreams include:

A to F

• Ambadassador: A Reluctant Warrior variation with Frisk: they are the ambassador of Mt. Ebott's monsters, and also very skilled at dodging, talking instead of fighting, and has accepted Wizeman will have to be beaten, unlike his creations.
• An Aesop:
  • One, two, or more events being done in your life, no matter how grandiose and/or extensive it was, doesn't automatically mean Happily Ever After. Life still moves on, and you'll still have work to do.
  • Even if bad things may be happening in your life, wherever it's your internal troubles or external threats, you can still try to overcome them and hopefully succeed.
• The Atoner: Mabel regrets so much how she behaved during the summer in Gravity Falls, that she's taking steps to try and grow out of her fantasies and her unwittingly selfish behavior, along with sacrificing her own safety for Dipper's sake just like how he did to her multiple times.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: Retroactive example to one of the works featured in the story. Nights Journey Of Dreams, which so far is the last NiGHTS game in a possible chronology, has a Bittersweet Ending in that Wizeman finally is Killed Off for Real, saving Nightopia, but at the cost of NiGHTS dying or never being able to see their human friends again. Here, it's hinted Wizeman's death there was temporary, which at least spares NiGHTS.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Combined a bit with Adaptational Sympathy depending on how you interpret her, but Mabel here feels very guilty over spending her summer in Gravity Falls as an attention-hogging, exploitive and selfish sister towards Dipper. So much that, even if Dipper never holds it against her, she begins to make more selfless-looking choices in an attempt to redeem herself.
  • Skid and Pump also gain a darker side, with the implications that they partially use their Spooky Month escapades to cope with, respectively, a Disappeared Dad and absent parents.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. Owl is still a Non-Action Guy Mr. Exposition, but he is much more active in the battles with the Nightmarens, using Teleport Spam to quickly bring NiGHTS and the Visitors to safety, or actively sabotage the Nightmarens' concentration.
• Art Course: Downplayed, and overlapped with Level Ate. Sugar Donut is themed around sweets and art tools, symbolizing Mabel's old fantasies.
• Astral Checkerboard Decor: Clarinet Chess has this kind of floor.
• Ascended Extra: Jackle, a one-shot boss of the original NiGHTS, becomes one of Wizeman's Co-Dragons along with Reala.
• Affably Evil: The skeleton couple, Kunzite, and all the Nightmarens that Frisk face are some of the only genuinely friendly Nightmaren along with NiGHTS, treating their foes courteously. They even get an Alas, Poor Villain moment when Wizeman comes in.
• Adaptation Expansion: With a bit of deviation as well. The Unconscious Space was simply the alternate name of the last level in NiGHTS' sequel. Here, it's recontextualized as the dream mirroring near perfectly the real world that happens before the kids properly enter Nightopia. It is formed by two Ideyas instead of one like the Nightopia worlds, and dreamers rarely leave it or come back to it, since Nightmarens can easily enter it to scare off the Visitors. The kids do the former first, and must do the latter to save NiGHTS.
• Adaptational Explanation: Owl mysteriously vanishes in the endgame of Nights Journey Of Dreams without a proper explanation. In the finale of the first four arcs, it is explained Owl is too frail to risk directly facing the Big Bad, so he decides to stick in Nightopia to keep it safe while the kids rescue NiGHTS.
• Adaptational Gender Identity: In their respective canons, NiGHTS is nonbinary, Frisk is ambiguous but implied to be nonbinary, and Pump is a cis boy. In the fic, NiGHTS and Frisk are demigirls, while Pump is a demiboy.
• All-Loving Hero: Frisk is usually patient and kind with everyone, even if they are enemies.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Downplayed. NiGHTS and Owl's conflict is mostly a dispute of All Work vs. All Play, but that doesn't affect their ability to cooperate with each other to protect the dreamers. NiGHTS even leaves the dreamers to Owl's care right before being kidnapped, showing the trust they share.
• Arc Number: 12. This is the number of Nightopia worlds the kids visit, the number of Nightmarens they face-off (counting the duos as solo units), and the number of locks NiGHTS' prison in the Unconscious Space has. It's Numerological Motifs, harmony and completeness, fit with the Gotta Catch Them All goal of the NiGHTS franchise.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Pump asks one to Dipper and Mabel, which helps them realize that not only NiGHTS is not evil simply for being a Nightmaren, but extremely similar to a certain figure of their adventure in Gravity Falls..
  Didn't you guys say you trusted another liar? ...What if they were a friend too?
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • The order in which versions of Nightopia NiGHTS and Owl hop back and forward through to scout their respective dreamers is unclear.
  • It's also unknown how at least Reala and Jackle are aware of the kid's adventures. It's possible it's either an innate telepathic ability or Wizeman informed them.
• Animal Species Accent: Owl tends to add "Hoot" onto his sentences, mainly when starting them.
• And the Adventure Continues: The last chapter shows two instances of this. First, the kids will keep in contact with each other and remain friends, implying that they have high chances of sharing adventures together. Then, NiGHTS and Owl prepare to take into their wing another troubled Visitor... Steven Universe.
• All Up to You: Owl puts himself out of the game to protect Nightopia (and due to his fragility), but not before wishing luck for the kids to rescue NiGHTS in the Unconscious Space.
• Big Bad: Wizeman the Wicked, the evil lord of nightmares that wants the heroes' Ideya to fuel his plans.
• Badass Boast: Coraline gives one to try and get Reala to give her Ideya of Hope back.
  If that's one of my Ideyas... you better give it back! I bested an eye-stealing witch, and I know this Wizeman you obey will be defeated, just like her!
• Broken Bird:
  • Played literally with the last Nightmarens that Frisk faces off; a pair of birds that are best friends, and were separated and gaslighted by Wizeman for no good reason other than possibly to increase their combat efficiency. Fairbairn plays the trope in the more traditional sense, lashing out about it with bitterness and self-hatred.
  • Coraline initially refuses to accept that NiGHTS and Owl are her friends, but it's because she thinks they will manipulate her to their own interests just like the Other Mother, her biggest trauma source.
• Bad Boss: Wizeman shows no tolerance to his creation's failures, intentionally separated two of them and blamed them for each other's separation so they could become more aggressive at the cost of their mental health, and has a subtle Abusive Parent vibe when talking with NiGHTS.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Partially Played for Laughs, because unlike the rest of the kids that run into the light as soon as it comes, Skid and Pump remain curious about the Nightmarens disguised as Skid's father and Pump's parents, which makes NiGHTS pull both boys into the light before they get into serious trouble.
  • Many happen in the last arc before the final battle.
    • Coraline helps Skid and Pump keep their Courage out of Wizeman's hands.
    • Frisk saves Dipper and Mabel from Wizeman's assault by tanking the blast of Wizeman's hand with their soul.
    • The six Kid Heroes go on a Roaring Rampage of Rescue through the Unconscious Space to save NiGHTS, then come to her rescue again once Reala and Jackle start to gain the upper hand in the two-on-one fight.
• Big Damn Reunion: One happens between the six Kid Heroes and NiGHTS at the start of "[Finale ~ 3] Theme of a Tragedic Revenge" as the kids realize they all know each other and they finally free NiGHTS. Reala and Jackle, unfortunately, interrupt it as they come back for revenge.
• Breather Episode:
  • Skid and Pump's arc follows their native series' usual spirit, ending up much goofier and comedy based than the rest. While it has its scary moments and tragic implications too, the boys handle their internal troubles and enemies in a much more cheerful (if not naive) way than the rest of the kids.
  • Downplayed with Frisk's arc. Frisk's weighted down by a mistake of the past, but manages to get through it with a smile, learns to cope with it much quicker, and essentially does a Pacifist Run with the Nightmarens she faces to get the Ideyas back from.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • All the endings of the works featured in it (minus Spooky Month, which was incomplete by the time this fic was made and concluded) become these in retrospect, as while the heroes triumphed against the evils they had to face after a lot of struggle, they sustained emotional scars thanks to the experiences. And Wizeman hasn't given up yet.
  • The story itself has one. Wizeman's form has been destroyed for now, but he will eventually come back as long as the beings of the waking world have nightmares, making the heroes' victory a temporary one. Plus, the highly frequent visits to the Night Dimension are over for the Kid Heroes, as they in practice have no need to go there anymore. But NiGHTS and Owl will also never give up on protecting Nightopia from Wizeman and on guiding young Visitors to balance their hearts, shown when they get right back on their self-imposed duty at the end of the epilogue, Reala and Jackle are mentioned to be considering doing a Heel–Face Turn, Wizeman will take longer to regenerate due to having to tank the might of six dreamers, and thanks to meeting each other in the dream world, the kids became friends in the waking world too, with minor hints that they will share adventures together.
• Broken Hero: NiGHTS, Skid and Pump, and Frisk all can qualify for it. NiGHTS is constantly being attacked by her own kind, Skid and Pump's families are fractured and they have to quickly wake up to how actually dangerous the world is, Frisk harbors guilt for being unable to get the Dreemurr children out of Mt. Ebott, but besides some minor breakdowns, they remain pretty optimistic.
• Badass in Distress: NiGHTS, the most physically powerful of the heroes, is always a target of kidnapping. Downplayed in that it happens less often than in their origin games, and when it does happen, it's after the Visitors are forced away from their worlds or after NiGHTS is somehow incapacitated.
• Blue Is Heroic: Coraline has dyed blue hair, Frisk wears a striped shirt that is blue with purple, NiGHTS has blue eyes, and the kids recover the marine blue Ideya of Intelligence.
• Born Lucky: Lighter in comparison to Spooky Month (mostly because the beings of the Night Dimension are not used to the types of antics that this webtoon series breathes and lives on), but still present with Skid and Pump to a degree. Coraline and Frisk provide the exact type of help they need once they cross paths, and as soon as they start actively weaponizing the Spooky Month Dance, not even Jackle (mind you, a powerful 2nd level Nightmaren originally planned as a 1st level) is immune to it amongst the Nightmarens.
• Butt-Monkey: Downplayed. Owl still suffers some instances of comedic beatdown and lack of respect (mainly from the central Nightmarens), along with being a Distressed Dude occasionally, but it's balanced out with his more pronounced role as the Team Dad and The Mentor.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Downplayed with the Spooky Month boys. Although Skid and Pump get terrified of Wizeman, get smarter and more serious, are shocked once NiGHTS is kidnapped, and are hinted to have incomplete families, their spirits are never completely broken, and they remain cheerful all the way through.
  • Mabel already got fractured thanks to her offscreen Jerkass Realization and the amount of guilt she acquired, but relieving one of the moments that probably she retroactively has seen as an example of her selfishness (the climax of Not What He Seems), only now with NiGHTS as the morally ambiguous one, makes it clear how guilty she feels over her mistakes. Even choosing over her brother unlike the last time is not enough to resolve her guilt complex.
• Crossover: The protagonists of Coraline, Spooky Month, Gravity Falls and Undertale reach the Night Dimension of the NiGHTS into Dreams… franchise after the events of their canonical works.
• Continuation: It takes place after the canonical events of their featured works (or, in Spooky Month case, after the latest episode by the time the story began, "Unwanted Guest"), majorly exploring the possibility of the Kid Heroes sustaining emotional/psychological issues after their adventures.
• Cliffhanger: The first arcs end with the kids hopping out of the Dream Gate with the intent of going back to the Unconscious Space to save NiGHTS, and hopefully get their Ideyas of Hope back as well, ending up in the darkness.
• The Cameo: Steven Universe appears in the Dream Gate at the end of the last chapter.
• Cheerful Child: As always, Skid and Pump. Played for Drama in a way, since before their Nightopia adventure, they rather get in Spooky Month fun than face how utterly broken their families and lives are.
• Character Development:
  • Coraline genuinely starts to love and trust NiGHTS and Owl gradually, while growing a bit more courageous.
  • Skid and Pump decide they are Dumbass No More, grow spines to recognize the Nightmarens as actually dangerous, and start to use their quirks more strategically, while still remaining cheerful. Fittingly, this development kicks in after they recover their blue Ideyas (the ones that symbolize Intelligence).
  • Dipper begins to trust NiGHTS and Owl from the bottom of his heart and apologizes for mistrusting them, and Mabel not only apologizes to them too, but begins to forgive herself for her past mistakes.
  • Frisk comes to terms with her guilt, realizing the ones she so desperately wanted to save just need to rest now.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: To a small degree, Frisk has this, prioritizing everyone's emotional wellbeing, and always trying to find a way to solve things peacefully. Although they do accept even if bitterly that there is someone they won't be able to pacify with words, and later has a Self-Care Epiphany related to their guilt.
• Conscience Makes You Go Back: Dipper and Mabel abandon NiGHTS and Owl to Jackle's mercy after finding out the former is a Nightmaren. But as soon as they find out thanks to Skid and Pump that NiGHTS was Good All Along, they do their best to come back to their allies.
• Circus of Fear: Downplayed at first; it's more a Circus of Sadness (implied to represent the absence Pump feels in his heart when it comes to his parents), but Pumpkin Circus looks abandoned and somewhat scary, which is not helped by the Nightmarens infesting the world. Then, it's Subverted when, as NiGHTS takes flight around the circus, it lights up and the rides become active.
• Charm Person: Heavily implied that Skid and Pump are this, as when they shout "It's a Spooky Month" and do their iconic dance, they can compel others to do this. Even Nightmaren; which is something they weaponize.
• Central Theme: Not everything in your life is tied up after one or a couple more adventures and/or big events. The kids still have problems (mostly of the emotional/psychological kind) in their lives after their adventures, and Wizeman didn't give up yet on his conquest of Nightopia, even after being bested two times.
• Crossover Villain-in-Chief: Wizeman and his Nightmarens are the main and sole antagonists here. Justified since the villains actually willing to kill the kids died, with most of the remaining ones being bullies (in Skid and Pump's case) and redeemed/befriended antagonists (in Skid and Pump, Dipper, and Mabel, and Frisk's case).
• Canon Welding: Most of it is on the sidelines in favor of focusing on the Night Dimension, but all the works featured in this fic are implied to share the same universe, due to NiGHTS and Owl reacting with dread and familiarity over Skid and Pump mentioning the Eyes of the Universe and Dipper mentioning about a certain "triangle guy", and Reala and Jackle casually mentioning some of the events in the kid's adventures.
• City with No Name: Skid and Pump's town, and the human-monster town that Frisk lives in. The latter just gets the moniker of "the town at the feet of Mt. Ebott".
• The Dreaded: Wizeman's mere voice is enough to instinct fear on the dreamer heroes and remind them of their worse experiences (Justified in a way since he's the God of Nightmares). Even Skid and Pump, who are friends with an Eldritch Abomination themselves, treat Wizeman as one of the few genuinely scary things they ever saw.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: The six younger protagonists deconstruct to varying degrees the different types of Kid Hero they embody in their original works.
  • Coraline, Dipper, and Mabel, being witty and brave children that fought against supernatural threats and their manipulative charms, and grew thanks to living in a different place than their birth one (the difference mainly that the Pink Palace is Coraline's definitive new home while Dipper and Mabel just stayed in Gravity Falls' Mystery Shack for the summer), might've learned positive things and became heroes, but also got traumatized by what they faced and learned (demonstrated better by Coraline's prejudice against magic beings and Mabel's guilt-driven self-hatred). It's their Character Development to try and overcome these traumas.
  • Skid and Pump, the Halloween-loving boys that pass life with a cheerful smile, and never take anything seriously (as in, analyze the dangerous situations with brainpower), either have to be warned multiple times about the scariness and seriousness of the situation by NiGHTS and Owl or have their lack of maliciousness and wit exploited (or attempted to) by Jackle. Even more concerningly, it's hinted that part of it is a mask to keep themselves from going mad over how broken their families are. After they first meet Wizeman (by voice) and they get their Ideyas of Intelligence back, they start to take things more seriously, even if remaining their cherry selves.
  • A lighter case compared to the rest, but Frisk, being an All-Loving Hero who tries their best to help as many people and monsters as possible, suffers from Samaritan Syndrome due to being unable to find a way to revive Chara and Asriel so the Dreemurr family can be fully happy. Her pacifist ways work on the Nightmarens she faces because they are miserable and in need of compassion; otherwise, she knows she'll have to fight Wizeman and not hold back. Reala even says that Frisk being a people-loving pacifist is "foolish".
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Right after the kids recover their Ideyas of Wisdom, Wizeman gets fed up with the heroes' streak of success and kidnaps NiGHTS.
• Dénouement Episode: The epilogue takes place five years after the battle against Wizeman, showing the kids have grown up and met in the waking world.
• Death Dealer: Jackle uses tarot cards as offensive means.
• Distant Finale: Downplayed; the epilogue takes place five years later, when the characters are teenagers and they're able to encounter each other in an event at the human-monster town Frisk lives in.
• Dream Land: The main setting of the story is the Night Dimension, composed of:
  • Nightopia, the good half that reflects people's hearts to create beautiful worlds where the Nightopians live in.
  • Nightmare, the evil half where the Nightmarens come from, and where their leader, Wizeman the Wicked, resides.
  • The Unconscious Space, a mirror of wherever the current dreamer treats like a home.
• Decon-Recon Switch: It deconstructs in a way the Angst? What Angst? trope in stories featuring Kid Heroes as protagonists, and the idea of a couple of adventures being enough to get rid of all issues, by showing the kids still have issues after their magical and bizarre adventures (either because they were already there and the adventures didn't do anything to make them properly confront them, or the adventures made those issues in the first place), and NiGHTS and Owl are still facing Wizeman because he just doesn't back down from the idea of destroying Nightopia. It still shows that the kids can rise to overcome those issues and any others that appear in their life, and NiGHTS and Owl are also not willing to back down from protecting Nightopia and guiding dreamers.
• Defiant to the End: NiGHTS doesn't panic when Wizeman appears in the third dream(s) to kidnap her. Since she already suspected he was growing tired of the defiance and the continued streak of success, she just worries about pushing the kids to safety, knowing that Owl will give them the solution to rescue her. Even when Wizeman gets her and drags her to the Unconscious Space, she valiantly struggles.
• Deal with the Devil: Reala tries to offer one to Coraline after shattering her minimal trust in NiGHTS, wanting her Ideya of Courage as payment, but she's too heartbroken to listen and runs away. By the time he catches up, Coraline already forgave NiGHTS, and they dualize to fight him.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Practically, all of the Kid Heroes (excluding Coraline) debut this way in the chapters within the first arc before being properly introduced in their own arcs (Skid and Pump appear near the end of "Keen Eye Klinge", Dipper and Mabel appear in the middle of "Zero Degree Zoo, the Home", and Frisk appear between "Memory Museum, the Departure" and "Baba Yaga's Witchcraft").
• Empowered Badass Normal: The Kid Heroes become this at the end. Previously, they faced mankind-threatening abominations with nothing but their wits/luck, but in the finale, their completed set of Ideyas gives them Flight and a multicolored aura that Wizeman can barely tank before (temporarily) dying.
• Evil Counterpart: Reala and Jackle both work as counterparts to NiGHTS, but in different ways. Reala matches NiGHTS in power and appearance, but instead of being mischievous but golden-hearted, he's serious but cruel. Jackle is also jester-like (just with the jester cowl pointed upwards instead of backward) and is playful as well. Although he is a bit bigger, and he has a different brand of playful than NiGHTS' (more details for both are in Foil below).
• Evil Duo: Reala and Jackle, who appear in the kid's dreams to stop them, capture NiGHTS, and/or even send them to be beaten by a second-level Nightmaren. Both are quite cruel, but Reala is more serious while Jackle is a jokester.
• Easily Forgiven: Compared to how Coraline and the Mystery Twins react to the information of NiGHTS being a Nightmaren, Skid, Pump, and Frisk let them off the hook quite easily. Justified thanks to their respective personalities.
• 11th-Hour Superpower:
  • The kids gain the same power of Flight as NiGHTS after realizing through speeches their own courage. Later, in the final showdown with Reala and Jackle, they also regain their yellow Ideyas of Hope, which gives them a powerful aura that NiGHTS uses to put an end to Wizeman.
  • NiGHTS dualizes with the six kids to take down Wizeman.
• Evil Is Bigger: The Nightmarens and Wizeman, like in the original NiGHTS games, tower over the shorter protagonists. Even Wizeman's hands are able to make his creations seem smaller. Downplayed with Jackle, who is bigger than NiGHTS but not by much, and Reala, who matches NiGHTS' height.
• Evil Is Not Pacifist: Played straight for most of Wizeman's forces, but averted with Kunzite, and basically all the Nightmarens that Frisk faces. The former challenges the heroes to a giant-sized mole hammer game and happily accepts defeat, while Frisk manages to convince the latter to give the Ideyas in a pacific way by bonding with them instead of beating them up.
• Evil Virtues: Wizeman, Reala, and Jackle possess Determination, as all of them keep on pushing forward to achieve their goals even when trumped multiple times by the heroes in combat and speeches. Reala and Jackle also still Love NiGHTS deep down, refusing to accept she hates both of them and will never work with them again. Faux has Respect for the heroes and Knows When To Fold Em when he can't beat them. Kunzite is Kind and Respects the heroes' victory to the point of being a Graceful Loser. All the Nightmarens that Frisk faces express Gratitude when the determination-fueled All-Loving Hero offers them kindness, giving them their Ideya when they reach out to them.
• Foil:
  • Most of the Kid Heroes contrast in how they treat NiGHTS and Owl, and how they react to the reveal that the former is a Nightmaren.
    • Coraline mistrusts them, scared of repeating her mistake with the Other World. Skid and Pump immediately receive them as friends with open arms. Dipper and Mabel decide to ally with them, even though the former is suffering from mistrust. Frisk decides to trust them, although they enter the truce expecting disappointment.
    • Coraline feels like her fears came true once she receives The Reveal, and yet is heartbroken. Skid and Pump don't get NiGHTS could have been dangerous, and forgive them immediately. Dipper and Mabel panic because they feel as if they're reliving the events of Not What He Seems. Frisk, who had to deal with monsters with Dark Secrets before, simply and quietly accepts it.
  • NiGHTS has two evil ones, in the form of Reala and Jackle.
    • NiGHTS and Reala are both very humanoid jesters of similar height and power, who are a bit difficult to affect emotionally (respectively, due to a carefree and cheerful nature and due to a serious, calculated nature), refuse to back down from their goals easily, and were both meant to be Wizeman's most powerful creations. NiGHTS seeks freedom, is mischievous, bold, and playful, but knows when to be serious and has a good heart. Reala obeys Wizeman without question, appears more mature and practical, but is very cruel, and turns out to be bottling his extreme misery over NiGHTS' betrayal.
    • NiGHTS and Jackle are both humanoid jesters with an extroverted temperament, who appear to be Perpetual Smilers that have no regrets until it turns out they do have regrets and a serious side. NiGHTS is close enough to a human's appearance (only without a neck and wrists), is a mischievous but harmless trickster with a heart of gold that knows the time to be serious, and was one of Wizeman's most perfect creations. Jackle has an invisible body that makes him more visibly inhuman, is a Large Ham Ax-Crazy Laughably Evil nutso that is not afraid of the idea of tapping the heartstrings, but turns out to miss the times NiGHTS worked for Wizeman, and according to the NiGHTS into Dreams... Japanese manual was meant to be more powerful but came out as a failure.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Either NiGHTS or Owl explains to the kids in their third dream that one of the Ideyas can't simply be recovered with ease like the others. It essentially must feel its Visitor is worth coming back to. It's the yellow Ideya of Hope, symbolizing in a certain way Hope Springs Eternal when the kids aren't able to recover it at first sight, but don't give up on it.
  • Pump's Occult Blue Eyes activate in the presence of NiGHTS. It could possibly have been a way of foretelling him and Skid that NiGHTS could have been dangerous, if not for their Heel–Face Turn.
  • Reala and Jackle drop light hints of which Nightmaren the Visitors will face next before heading off (for example, Reala hints at Klinge's claws by warning against opposing him, least Coraline and NiGHTS will get "sliced to bits", and Jackle mentions Faux's Sinister Scythe in Skid and Pump's first dream).
  • The epilogue's name, "Always Have Work To Do", is part of what Steven Universe said near the end of Steven Universe: The Movie in response to Spinel's regret. It ties into the fic's Central Theme, but also hints at Steven's cameo at the end.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Downplayed. Coraline feels forgiving NiGHTS and Owl for keeping her out of the loop is out of the question, but she understands why they did it and she genuinely begins to like them.
• Fusion Dance: Dualization, a technique in which NiGHTS touches a Visitor's palm, and they both share the former's body, allowing the former especially to escape imprisonment.
  • Notably, Dipper is the only one of the protagonists to not Dualize with NiGHTS until the very end. It is justified, though, since there's trauma behind it, and when he chooses to dualize with NiGHTS in the end, it's a step to outgrow it.
• Fair-Play Villain: Kunzite, along with being friendly, offers a whack-a-mole game instead of attacking the Mystery Twins, NiGHTS, and Owl. When they win, she accepts the loss with grace and gives them the Ideyas she guards without any ill intent.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: The little detail that can give away Bill Cipher is not back is the fact Dipper and Mabel's dream's scenery doesn't get a monochrome palette.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • Coraline (Choleric): Snarker, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, mistrusts magic/weird stuff easily thanks to the Other World.
  • Skid and Pump (Sanguine): Rambiculous, bizarrely goofy and naive (to the point of being unable to tell who's an ally and who's a foe), so used to the weird/scary they think it's normal.
  • Dipper and Mabel (Melancholic): Wrecked by their experience in Gravity Falls (in their own ways), respectively fears strangers and hates herself, used to dealing with magic/weird stuff but still have their traumas.
  • Frisk (Phlegmatic): Patient, kind, encouraging, focus on another's wellbeing indifferent of their humanity or lack of it due to already showing unrelenting kindness to a whole race of magic-driven beings.

G to P

• Gotta Catch Them All: The dreamers only have the Ideya of Courage by the time they reach Nightopia, and must find their four remaining Ideyas to prevent Wizeman from using them to his goals, and recover the balance in their hearts and their Nightopia worlds.
• Guile Hero: Frisk's style of solving conflicts. Instead of beating up the Nightmarens like the others, Frisk bonds with them and listens to their troubles to get them to give back their Ideyas nonviolently. Even if it means dodging tons of projectiles.
• Green Hill Zone: Moonlight Field, a meadow perpetually in the nighttime period with giant flowers and trees. Also, it's the first Nightopia world seen in the story, fulfilling the trope in a videogame sense as well.
• Halloweentown: Appropriately enough, Skid and Pump's last Nightopia world is Scary Swing, an area featuring spooky woods, and a giant castle.
• Humans by Any Other Name: Like in the NiGHTS series, in the Night Dimension, everyone refers to the human dreamers by the moniker "Visitor(s)".
• Happily Ever After: Deconstructed in a similar fashion to Steven Universe: The Movie. As in, just because the kids got rid of most threats endangering their lives or even the world, made changes to their circle's status quo, and even learned life lessons along the way, it doesn't mean that the kids don't have things to deal it (in their case, traumas, issues, regrets, and guilt). And the battle for Nightopia's peace is not over either, as Wizeman is still trying to collect Ideyas.
• Happy Ending Override: Zig-Zagged, but this work does this to a degree to the works featured in it. Wizeman is still kicking and trying to take over Nightopia (possibly also the real world), and the kids still have emotional/psychological problems in their lives after their adventures.
• Heel Realization: NiGHTS implies in the epilogue that Reala and Jackle are considering what she and Frisk said, which Owl wonders if it means a future Heel–Face Turn from both. NiGHTS hopes it does.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Mabel acquired this in between the ending of Gravity Falls and the start of this fic, due to the regret of how she behaved during the summer and how she treated Dipper.
• Hope Springs Eternal: The kids are unable to recover their Ideya of Hope at first sight, and NiGHTS is kidnapped at the end of the arcs... but they just grow more determined to get them back.
• His Story Repeats Itself:
  • Coraline's situation parallels in a way her adventure in the Other World. She enters a strange world that is able to suit itself for her needs and meets a mysterious duo that acts as her friends and guardians, guiding her through this strange world while hiding a secret from her. In her third visit to this world, she learns about said secret behind one of the guardians, losing her trust in them. This time, Coraline realizes NiGHTS is very much unlike the Other Mother (in fact, they are more like Other Wybie, as one of the Big Bads free-willed creations that eventually chose to protect the Kid Hero instead of harming them), and manages to rekindle not only her friendship with them but get rid of her judgment that all magical beings are evil, generated thanks to her trauma in the Other World.
  • There are also slightly more subtle parallels with Dipper and Mabel and their adventure in Gravity Falls. A quirky but ultimately good figure takes them in inside a weird place, protecting them from as much danger as they can. Mabel quickly warms up, while Dipper takes a longer time. However, later they learn their guardian's darkest secret, which nearly shatters their trust in them. The scene where they find out NiGHTS is a Nightmaren even has parallels from Not What He Seems, with NiGHTS trying to attest innocence, Dipper feeling betrayed, and the last choice hanging on Mabel's shoulders. And unlike last time, she sides with Dipper... which turns out to be the wrong choice in the long path, but allows him to find out his sister's guilt.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Skid and Pump still have this problem, as they treat Jackle and most of the Nightmarens they meet as friends. Downplayed after they meet Wizeman and acquire their Ideyas of Intelligence and become smarter: they recognize the Nightmarens as dangerous, but act like a Friendly Enemy to them.
• Involuntary Dance: Skid and Pump use the "Spooky Month" dance this way after the 13th chapter, to keep their opponents distracted.
• Internal Reveal: The fact NiGHTS is a rebellious Nightmaren that had a Heel–Face Turn and decided to fight against Wizeman is a frequently mentioned part of NiGHTS into Dreams... lore. The kids don't learn about it until much later, and it has varied but significant impact on their relationship with them.
• I Surrender, Suckers: In Sugar Donut, Jackle tricks Owl, NiGHTS, and the twins by apparently handing them two Ideyas of Intelligence after being beaten in a chase... only for them to turn out to be mashed blue cards. Owl, who suspected of the ploy, is hit before he can teleport everyone to safety, and they are sent to face another Nightmaren.
• Just Eat Gilligan: Frisk never uses the power to save and load in the story, both because it takes place in a dream world, and because it'd make things unfair for the villains. It's just in the end that Frisk's red SOUL becomes more significant, as it shields Dipper and Mabel from a blast of Wizeman and picks itself back together thanks to Frisk's determination to protect her friends.
• Kid Hero: Just like in their original works, Coraline, Skid and Pump, Dipper and Mabel, and Frisk count.
  • Kid Hero All Grown-Up: Downplayed; in the finale, they're shown as teenagers.
• Level Ate: Downplayed, and overlapped with Art Course. Sugar Donut is themed around sweets and art tools, symbolizing Mabel's old fantasies.
• Logical Latecomer: Almost all major characters in the Night Dimension react like this to Skid and Pump, whose adventures in comparison are definitely Denser and Wackier. Owl is constantly baffled and nearly fails in bringing logic to the boys' minds, NiGHTS (who is childlike her/themself) looks rational when put at their side, and Jackle is constantly on his wits' end when dealing with them because they're Too Dumb to Fool and treat him like a friend instead of a menace. Wizeman treats them not much different than the other dreamers, but he does call them both "foolish, idiotic children".
• Locked Out of the Loop: The kids are initially unaware of NiGHTS' reasons for helping them recover their Ideyas. In the long run, it makes Wizeman's Co-Dragons have a bigger chance at manipulating them against the purple jester, but it's also justified in that it'd be hard for a kid to trust a being capable of inducing nightmares, even post-Heel–Face Turn.
• Mr. Exposition: Owl is responsible for explaining the critical information of the Night Dimension to the kids.
• Mellow Fellow: Frisk's characterization in this fic; sometimes excitable, but usually a patient, calm, and easygoing Nice Girl. Downplayed when the beginning of her arc reveals her guilt over being unable to save the Dreemurrs' children.
• Magical Flutist: NiGHTS is a mystic character with a mysterious vibe in spite of the cheerful personality and plays an invisible flute.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Coraline's first dream shows the Pink Palace and its surrounding area, eventually ending in the well. The Zero Degree Zoo is also a giant version of the snow globe from Detroit Zoo, where her parents were trapped in.
  • Owl homages the "brave, tricky, and strong" speech of the original Coraline book at the end of said character's arc.
  • Coraline yells at Wizeman that she and Skid and Pump are not scared of him while she helps them keep ahold of their Ideyas of Courage, while calling him a monster. She did the same to the Other Mother when she found Other Wybie's hanging coat, only she called her a witch.
  • The start of Skid and Pump's first dream in the Night Dimension is basically a Spooky Month episode eventually going off the rails. The name of their last world, Scary Swing, is also the name of their erratic piano theme in their native series, only with an "s" missing.
  • The Eyes of the Universe and Bill Cipher are mentioned in an indirect way by the kids that met them. NiGHTS and Owl show familiarity and horror when they are mentioned, suggesting they either heard about them or even met them somehow.
  • Skid and Pump are not surprised by the Skeleton Couple's Raised Hand of Survival introduction because Pump already pulled that trick before. ^{To be specific...} In Spooky Month's third episode, "Unwanted Guest", as part of the series' Running Gag of Pump coming to Skid in absurd ways.
  • Wizeman is one of the rare beings that manage to make Skid and Pump terrified enough to consider him "not spooky, but a scary".
  • Frisk is aware of the idea of good people hiding their secrets to protect others, and seemingly monsters turning out to be good or tragic people. This is an indirect reference to how everyone in Undertale has Hidden Depths that are addressed eventually, and how its ultimate Big Bad, Flowey, is more miserable than he appears to be.
  • Dipper and Mabel relieve what they felt in Not What He Seems when The Reveal happens, complete with Mabel deciding whether or not she trusts the one with the Dark Secret... and this time, she doesn't. There's also a minor homage to Dipper and Mabel Vs The Future, in that NiGHTS pleads the twins to come back after saying the wrong words, and they end up doomed.
  • Frisk is the ambassador of monsters and lives with Toriel, two of the possible choices in the True Pacifist Route's ending. When Chara appears, their last dialogue also homages the ending of the Genocide Route.
  • Owl notes that along with the Ideya's power, Frisk has a sixth one he can't tell what is, but understands its integral to her. It is the power of Determination, which Frisk herself and the narration allude to in important moments. It also allows Frisk to survive a Taking the Bullet moment after she tanks an attack from Wizeman in Dipper and Mabel's place. She notes that it's been a while since she had to use so much Determination as she did for that maneuver.
  • When Skid and the rest find NiGHTS in the Unconscious Space, he promises he'll get them "the hell out of here" just like he said in "The Stars" in response to Susie almost catching him and Pump in her room. This time, though, he means it metaphorically.
  • Almost all the chapter names of the last arc are pulled from the NiGHTS duo-logy soundtrack. "Growing Wings" and "Cruising Together" are the last level's songs (the latter, the second one after a triumphant return of the Nights Journey Of Dreams dreamers), "Theme of a Tragedic Revenge" is Reala's alternate theme, and "D'Force Master" is Wizeman's theme.
• My Greatest Failure:
  • For Coraline, ever trusting the Other Mother's charm. It is the root of her prejudices.
  • For Mabel, the way she behaved during summer, regretting it for how much it damaged everyone around her.
  • For Frisk, being unable to save the Dreemurr siblings from their tragic fate to give them back the life they had.
• Mistaken Identity: When Skid, Pump, NiGHTS, and Owl confront Faux.
  Skid and Pump: (excited) Holy Moley... it's the Grim Reaper!
  NiGHTS: Actually, this creep's name is just Faux.
• Meaningful Name: The names of the Nightopia worlds, that go by unmentioned in the story itself but are featured in the chapter's titles.
  • Moonlight Field is a field of trees and flowers perpetually in nighttime.
  • Zero Degree Zoo is a zoo covered in snow.
  • Memory Museum is a museum containing the memories of its dreamer (Coraline).
  • Clarinet Chess' floor looks like a chess table.
  • Pumpkin Circus is a circus which one of its main colors is orange, the color of a pumpkin.
  • Scary Swing is a stereotypical Halloween-themed land.
  • Revolution Rune is a rune with technological motifs.
  • Sugar Donut is a world partially themed after sweets.
  • Pine Woods is a forest of pine trees, albeit ones with multicolored leaves. Also, it is the last world of the Pines twins.
  • Tricky Toyland is a giant kindergarten room full of giant toys.
  • Lonely Ruins are purple, abandoned ruins that were taken over by nature.
  • Golden Garden is a field full of flowers. Among them, there are golden flowers.
• Monster of the Week: The second-level Nightmarens, who are guarding the kid's Ideyas and must be fought to get them back.
• "No More Holding Back" Speech: Twice in the final arc.
  • As the kids fall into the Unconscious Space's darkness, they reflect on themselves and the struggles they had to face, making themselves realize the epiphany to unlock the true power of their Ideyas of Courage.
  • When Wizeman tries to deliver a "The Reason You Suck" Speech on NiGHTS and the six kids, they rebuke with one where they accept what they faced and learned and directly defy the God of Nightmares.
• Non P.O.V. Protagonist: Arguably, the story is as much about NiGHTS and Owl trying to stop Wizeman as it is about the kids dealing with their issues, but they don't get their own arc.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Caiman, the first Nightmaren that Dipper and Mabel face-off, is a dangerous, giant alligator.
• Original Generation: The twelve Nightmarens that NiGHTS and co. face-off are original creations.
• Once a Season: In the first four arcs, the kid heroes eventually learn from Reala/Jackle that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren just like them, and react to this information either with heartbreak and horror or acceptance. Also, Wizeman kidnaps NiGHTS at the end of these arcs, forcing the kids to hop back into the Unconscious Space to save her.
• Orcus on His Throne: Wizeman almost never intervenes, unless if it's to communicate with the heroes or to kidnap NiGHTS at the end of each arc. Reala and Jackle do most of Wizeman's dirty work.
• Prejudice Aesop: Coraline's arc contains one. It is understandable being traumatized after a near-death encounter with the Other Mother, and there are other magical beings with this kind of personality, but starting to believe all magical beings are manipulative backstabbers damages her ability to trust the genuinely helpful NiGHTS and Owl. Fittingly, the one who helps her finally let go of her trauma-induced prejudice is Frisk, the one kid who was Happily Adopted by and lives among Mt. Ebott's monsters.
• Parental Abandonment: Pump's parents are either neglectful, missing, or absent. Then it turns out it was confirmed canon by dialogue in Spooky Month's fourth episode.
• Plot Coupon: The Ideyas, crystalline orbs that symbolize a dreamer's traits (Courage, Purity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Hope). In particular, Courage is the rarest, the only one that most Nightmaren can't harvest, and it allows the kids to free NiGHTS from imprisonment.
• Poor Communication Kills: NiGHTS and Owl not telling about NiGHTS' species is what allows Reala/Jackle to weaponize it against them, and shatter the trust of at least three dreamers.
• Portal Crossroad World: The Dream Gate (referred to as "the courtyard"), where the doors each kid(s) use to access the Nightopia worlds reside.
  • As Owl explains at the end of the arcs, the Unconscious Space might be it as well. To be specific, it is a space that reflects a Visitor's home (or even a place they love), that can take one to Nightopia or Nightmare, and be easily influenced by either world.
• Past Experience Nightmare: How the Nightmarens attack the kids at first in the prologues. Coraline dreams that the Other Mother escaped the Other World by crawling over the well, Skid and Pump witness (presumably) respectively his father and his parents, Dipper and Mabel see visions of Bill Cipher everywhere in Gravity Falls, and Frisk witnesses the aftermath of a massacre in Mt. Ebott's town caused by Chara.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Played Straight with Coraline and the Mystery Twins, who briefly lose their faith in NiGHTS after finding out she is a Nightmaren just like all the ones they faced. Defied with Skid and Pump and Frisk, as the former two miss the point behind Jackle revealing it and find NiGHTS being "a spooky monster" cool, and Frisk already has the experience with well-meaning people hiding secrets for a good reason, and a high enough empathy to quickly understand.
• Painting the Medium: Wizeman's dialogue is in bold and italics, to represent the sheer power he has (mainly, how it shows through his voice). Most of Jackle's dialogue is randomly in Caps Lock to represent his Ax-Crazy, unpredictably violent nature.
• The Power of Friendship: Frisk claims this is the source of their determination. All the kids also reach the epiphany necessary to tap into the power of their Ideya of Courage by diving into the darkness to save NiGHTS.

R to Y

• Red Is Heroic: All the Kid Heroes possess the rare, powerful Ideya of Courage, which is red. There is also NiGHTS, who has splashes of red on their outfit and a red jewel on the chest, Dipper and Mabel, who use colors derived from red in their trademark outfits (salmon and hot pink), and Frisk, who has the red SOUL.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • NiGHTS, the excitable, courageous, mischievous, and childlike Red Oni, to Owl's grandfatherly, wise, Cowardly Lion esque Blue Oni.
  • Dipper and Mabel once again are the Blue and Red Oni for each other. Interestingly, now not only because of their usual personalities, but because of how they changed after Gravity Falls: Dipper closed his trust from everyone outside close friends and family, while Mabel began to put effort to outgrow her flaws out of guilt.
  • Downplayed with Skid and Pump, as both are cheerful, nearly-careless kids that see allies and threats alike as friends. Pump, however, has a bit more sensible moments before both get smarter.
  • Coraline and Frisk as well, as kids who specifically both entered an apparently idyllic and quirky magical world with a dark side behind them (although the latter's still genuinely friendly). The former is a light case of Knight in Sour Armor who is unable to trust magical beings anymore, the latter is an All-Loving Hero who lives among a race of magical beings (the Monsters).
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • The order in which the Ideyas are introduced/recovered is this (although the order was lifted from Journey of Dreams). The kids have demonstrated Courage in their works (even Skid and Pump... in their own way). They had their Purity threatened. They use Intelligence to learn the situation at hand (and a certain twist). They gained, and still keep gaining Wisdom. Finally, they spot Hope but are unable to recover it at first... but they don't give up on it either.
    • Also, while the development was gradually hinted, it's after Skid and Pump recover their Ideyas of Intelligence that they start to become smarter, worldly, and more aware of the dangers going around the world.
  • The Nightmarens that the kids face are, in subtle ways, reflections of the threats the kids had to face.
    • Klinge and Couper, being savage insects (a mantis and a wasp respectively), represent the creepiness the Other World truly had (alternatively, Klinge could represent the mantis robot the Other Father had), and Baba Yaga represents the Other Mother herself, being a witch with button eyes, made out of inhuman material, and connected with dolls.
    • Faux and the skeleton couple are the usual spooky fare Skid and Pump always seek and casually talk with, or even most obvious criminals that are nonetheless accepting of them, and Treetop could be considered a supernatural force tied with nature, not completely unlike the Eyes of the Universe (although Treetop is connected with flora, and Eyes with the stars).
    • Caiman and Kunzite represent two categories of weird creatures that the Mystery Twins had to face; respectively, the ones that couldn't be reasoned with/were tied to nature, and the ones they managed to befriend. Hexal is a hammy but dangerous living geometric shape with a Perpetual Smiler attitude, not unlike Bill Cipher.
    • Crescendo represents the monsters that could be befriended with ease by Frisk's kind words, while Aquamarine represents those that were pitied against Frisk due to circumstances involving their backstories, but after befriending Frisk and overcoming their sorrows, became protective of the kid. The bird duo is Asriel and Chara; two best friends who were tragically separated, that lashed out after realizing they'd never see their friend again.
  • Crescendo's room starts off dusty but then loses some of its dust after Frisk sings along with their tune, granting their wish of having someone appreciate their music. It makes their room an abandoned toy room once again being used by a new child after years, while Crescendo itself is a toy seeking a new child to play with.
  Crescendo's initially dusty arena looked a bit more cleaner, even if not by a whole lot. As if this was a toy room, unused by years, only for a new kid to come and reawaken the magic within.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Coraline and the Mystery Twins are the ones most heartbroken by the revelation of NiGHTS being a Nightmaren (as the former's fears seemingly become true and the latter felt old wounds being reopened). But, thanks to the support of (respectively) Frisk and Skid and Pump, they begin to love them again.
• Rule of Three: Each of the dreaming kids visit the Night Dimension three times: first the one where they reach Nightopia, learn about its rules and recover the Ideya of Purity, then the second one where they recover their Ideya of Intelligence, and the last where they find out NiGHTS is a Nightmaren, recover their Ideya of Wisdom, and set off to rescue NiGHTS from Wizeman and recover their Ideya of Hope.
• Reluctant Warrior: Frisk is still a pacifist that seeks the most absurd ways of sparing enemies. However, they bitterly accept that Wizeman the Wicked will be a different case. Reala thinks this style of solving conflicts is foolish.
• Simultaneous Arcs: All the arcs happen at the same time, evident when the kids start to cross into each other's paths.
• Self-Care Epiphany: Frisk has one when Owl explains one can't be blamed for trying everything to save their loved ones. It helps them overcome their guilt for not saving the Dreemurr's children and figuring out that they just need to rest after all they went through.
• Shapeshifter Guilt Trip:
  • The Nightmaren that terrorize Frisk in her prologue do this, specifically pretending to be the dust of dead monsters, and their killer (Chara) guilt-tripping Frisk for being "too lazy and selfish" to find a way to save the Dreemurr's children.
  • It's not clear, but the Nightmaren that terrorized the Spooky Month boys either wanted to do this trope, or lure the boys in a false sense of security. It's Subverted anyway thanks to NiGHTS saving them before they can get into trouble.
• Slaying Mantis: Klinge, the first giant Nightmaren seen both in Coraline's arc and on the story in general. They are a giant mantis with metal claws that they use to try and hit NiGHTS, Coraline and Owl.
• Say My Name: All the kids cry NiGHTS' name in anguish after Wizeman takes them away.
• Shout-Out:
  • NiGHTS calls Dipper and Mabel's Ideyas of Courage the first ticket to "a wonderful land of candy, jam, and ice cream!".
  • One of Hexal's abilities during his battle is to increase his maze's walls size by making blocks fall from the sky, which is compared by the narration as if it were a puzzle game with Eastern European music.
  • Mabel calls Reala and Jackle "wannabe Jokers" as she and the other kids beat them up for the Yellow Ideyas.
• Supporting Protagonist: NiGHTS is technically The Hero, as the major force opposing Wizeman. But the point of view of each arc and all the character development is spent on the just as important Kid Heroes.
• Samaritan Syndrome: The source of Frisk's nightmares is the guilt of being unable to save the children of the Dreemurrs and give them back the lives they had before their death. In particular, she fears Chara hates her for abandoning both of them. Later, she overcomes this by simply accepting that after everything they went through, they don't need their old lives back, but simply to rest and be left alone.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Frisk not only reacts with nonchalance and acceptance over Reala informing her that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren, but rebukes his attempts at manipulation and (unwittingly) breaks him.
  Frisk: Oh. So I guess it is true. I mean, you two look a bit too similar to be a coincidence. Like mirrors or the two sides of a coin.
  Reala: Huh... well, so you are at least smart! And NiGHTS actually always was by my-
  Frisk: Against your side... because I guess she had a pretty bad vendetta against your leader. And from what I heard about him... she is right in leaving him behind. But what about you?
  Reala: What?
  Frisk: Why do you stick with this Wizeman, even if it means being separated by NiGHTS? Does he have any good goals at all? Don't you... wanna be with your sibling at all?
• Teleport Cloak: Jackle sometimes leaves the scene by wrapping himself away in his mantle.
• Tragic Bigot: Downplayed and with a slice of Troubled Sympathetic Bigot, but Coraline is initially unable to believe NiGHTS and Owl genuinely want to help her with almost no strings attached, thanks to her near-death experience with the Other Mother. She gets better.
  Coraline: I... I never thought on that way. I just thought all magical creatures were evil.
• Team Dad: Owl is this along with being Mr. Exposition, acting in a grandfatherly way to the dreamers, and sometimes scolding NiGHTS' for not taking things seriously. Although part of the reason why he didn't tell the kids that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren is that he knows it'll make them mistrustful of her, even though she just wants to help them and be their friend.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The speech Jackle gives to the Mystery Twins when he drops the story's Drama Bomb has this flavor, as he chews out the twins for yet trusting again a sketchy, loosely good person.
  Jackle: See? A dirty little liar is what NiGHTS, and by extension the BALL OF FEATHERS, is! And you two? Are FOOLS! Always were, and always will be! You two chose to trust a sketchy guy and got your hearts cracked and your bond threatened as you deserved... AND YET YOU DID IT AGAIN! Come on, kid! Betray your brother again! Choose the sketchy person instead of the brother you GREW UP with! You're gonna choose wrong AGAIN, no matter what you do!
  • There's also the quip he lets out after teleporting Dipper and Mabel away.
  And this is WHY you should have NEVER betrayed us! Visitors DON'T stick with you. They stay until ANYONE says you are like me.
• Toy Time: Tricky Toyland, Frisk's first Nightopia world, is a world of pastel colors full of toys, and invoking the feeling of a kindergarten classroom.
• Tragic Villain:
  • Aquamarine is prone to damage-inducing tears all the time due to the bullying she received from her fellow Nightmarens and Wizeman's low expectations of her. She fights NiGHTS, Owl and Frisk clearly expecting them to put her out of her misery.
  • Fairbairn and Rose play it to Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds degree. They were separated from each other by a curse and misled by Wizeman that it was their own fault. They blame themselves and lash out with, respectively, feather-knives and anger, and seed-tears and sobbing until Frisk figures out how to break the curse.
• This Was His True Form: Wizeman becomes a dark purple blob of energy after tanking the heroes' final assault like in the normal ending of Journey of Dreams, and melts as he gives his As Long as There Is Evil speech.
• Unholy Matrimony: Mr. Bones and Ms. Femur behave like this, being two magic wizard skeletons with old time-y clothes that behave like a sweet couple, to themselves and to their foes. When both of them lose their weapons, they beg for Wizeman's mercy to no avail.
• Unexplained Recovery: Subverted. It initially looks like the Other Mother and Bill Cipher came back to haunt the kids they tried to kill before, but it's actually just Nightmarens using Voluntary Shapeshifting to get them to become vulnerable.
• Used to Be More Social: Downplayed. Dipper was never innately an extreme extrovert like his sister, but in Gravity Falls, he grew into a kid capable of making a Rousing Speech that could lift the spirits of apocalypse survivors. In this fic's timespan, now he has issues with trusting strangers.
• Villainous BSoD: Dipper and Frisk unwittingly invoke one on, respectively, Jackle and Reala, thanks to the latter two's attempts at deconstructing their sister/sibling, NiGHTS. It gives them a humanizing side, showing that deep down they still care for NiGHTS, and just hate the fact that she is against them now, refusing to accept it is permanent. Strangely, their reactions to being broken are the opposite of their respective personalities: Jackle is stunned into silence and quiet tears, and Reala weeps openly and angrily sends Frisk away.
• Villain Reveals the Secret: Reala/Jackle is responsible for telling the kids that NiGHTS is a Nightmaren as well. Although they try to twist the truth to set up the kids against NiGHTS and Owl, with varying degrees of success.
• You All Share My Story: All the kids stumble with each other in their adventures, hanging between "normal" chatting to aid and encouragement.
• You Have Failed Me: Wizeman still has these tendencies towards his creations that fail him. He crushes the skeleton couple under his palm even as they beg for mercy, Kunzite is pulled to the darkness to a probably not pleasant fate (she herself even says she probably will never appear again in another dream), and he's not pleased when Aquamarine essentially performs an Heroic Sacrifice to get Frisk and co. out of her domain (although in this one, it's left ambiguous if Aquamarine did or did not survive.)
• Zerg Rush: The six kids overwhelm Reala and Jackle in this fashion, with tugging, punches, kicks, and taunting to throw off their concentration so they can recover their Ideyas of Hope and NiGHTS can finish them off with two of Reala's balloons.

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