You could try actually you know, supporting your point rather than "lol no you're wrong."
I was actually busy eating dinner and then checking up on my Quests and also reading threads and the like, apologies that I didn't drop everything to write a several hundred word argument for the whims of a random internet forum from someone defending C:TD of all things.
So, let us examine the claim.
"In the Lost, you're basically abused children who escaped their tormentors and are desperately afraid of going back. It's a stronger personal horror, but it's not a compelling reason to actually do anything, other than stay as far away from the supernatural as possible."
The main meat of this claim rests on the idea that there is no compelling reason to do anything at all except stay away from the supernatural. This fails on several different levels.
First, the existence of organizations which actually protect and promote Changeling interests. Put simply, running away and staying far away from the supernatural is likely to feel--and in fact be--a very good way to be completely vulnerable, isolated, and helpless should something go after you, which there is a good chance to do so.
Second, the existence of the Fetch provides an immediate and obvious reason to wish to band together with others, or B) Go it alone, in which case there you have a game going where you try to find a way to murder someone on your own using magic powers while they have an 'Echo' of them and use all of their resources to survive your onslaught, which would mean, congrats, you actually have compelling story, and I'd play the shit out of a cat-and-mouse, one-on-one Fetch v. Changeling social-and-later-physical contest.
But more seriously, in the interest of self-defense at the very least, and likely more reasons than that, Changelings congregate in groups. The Motley is often used because of course it's the PC Party thing, but even getting together with a Mentor or two can help to learn what to avoid and what to get involved in, how to be ready if the Keeper comes after them, or the Loyalists who would *love* to find an isolated Changeling and just drag them back.
So, now you have social groups. And social groups mean bonds, Pledges, obligations. Ties. Friendships. Politics and Policies and Philosophy and art and everything else.
And that opens up a huge vista of potential plot-hooks. Are you an artist? You can, in fact, make magical art. You are part of a group, and as such you will have things that are expected of you and things that aren't. Friends that can get in trouble and get you in trouble and help you out of trouble, and I'm not actually going to sit here and explain the Seasonal Courts for you or anyone else like we're running a lesson rather than me responding to this.
But needless to say, the very *existence* of social groups means the existence of conflict, and the existence of conflict necessary drives and defines plots.
But what about the magic? Even if you join a Freehold, why not just never use Glamour and hide in an attic and eat rats all day?
Well, first, in what way is it assumed that even a fraction of a percent of *anyone* could or would accept that. Most people want to live their lives, and most people have ambitions and hopes and dreams, and so reclaiming their lives is central to their being, and magic has been made central by their time in Arcadia. They literally are glamour, and feel drained and sorta 'blah' when they don't have any in their system.
And, for many people, magic seems cool and useful. Pledges can get them money, can get them power, and Tokens can allow them to fulfill their mortal wishes and desires, in addition to of course the desire for self-defense.
And more than that, magic is wonderous. For all of the talk of banality or whatnot, there's no reason why individual Changelings *wouldn't* be fascinated by magic. Look at all of the people on the internet saying, "If I had superpowers, I would--"
Put simply, the supernatural is a lure all its own, and the Hedge, for instance, holds much of power and value, and for those who are curious, eager, or hungry, there rests a way to get involved.
So, being engaged in the act of reclaiming your life, being a member of a Freehold or at least a smaller social group, fulfilling and pursuing mortal ambitions and also related ambitions (who is to say that the businessman who learns about the Goblin Market *wouldn't* be interested if what they really love in life is business?), the very fact that magic itself serves as its own lure, the complicated skein of loyalties that form between Courts, Motleys, and individuals, the existence of *outside* threats to make all of the previous options seem a lot more tempting, there is actually plenty to hook someone.
Which also comes down to character types. Yes, if you want to make a character concept that involves hiding in an attic and not doing anything, you're welcome to do so or at least imagine that they exist somewhere in the world, but there are enough inducements to get involved that it is absurd to say they lack motivations.
Finally--
Oh, look, I've been Darkling'd. Let's see what the other person says.
@hyzmarca is correct in the most technical way and contrary to popular belief being technically correct is not the best kind of correct. Rather its the most pedantic, unhelpful kind and their motives in polishing C:tD to a spit-shine with their tongue are about as transparent as a square of saran wrap.
So...yeah they're right (sorta) about the PC's basically being an abuse victim. They're wrong (definitely) about the PC's having no real motivation to do anything but cool their heels and try to duck the supernatural. A fair number of pages within the core book are given over to the
major factions within the Changeling freeholds that are largely characterized on what the proper role of Changelings in the Fallen World is. And what Court you belong to (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, et. al.) has a fairly big impact on your character since a. Changeling society is all about wheeling and dealing and intrigue. And b. it helps codify what particular flavor of emotion a character feeds off of. What emotions they try to incite in others. Wrath for Summer for instance. Or Sorrow for Winter.
And as I said each of the Courts are divided on what should be done now that you're safe ("safe"). Spring Court believes in enjoying their second chance at life to the fullest and filling the world with things of beauty. Summer believes in being ready to fight the agents of the Fae wherever they may be. Autumn in researching and developing the mysteries and magics of the Gentry. Winter in the conduction of espionage against enemies of the freeholds and ferreting out Loyalists and Privateers.
You'll notice that all these are proactive to a degree and while it's true that Changelings are by and large going to be more adverse to doing things that draw direct attention to themselves, there's enemies on the other side as well and their own new needs (cultivating emotion, giving outlets to their Fae sides)
means that just curling up in the corner and hoping it all goes away isn't really an option.
And the whole time you're wrestling with the knock on effects of being an abuse victim. That paranoia. That mistrust. The learned, self-destructive behaviors. The fact that abused can become abusers in turn and how much sympathy and empathy can you weigh against the need for order and discipline. And beyond that the fact that you're overlooked, unseen, that you can't go back to the life you had because you've been
replaced.
Changeling: The Lost is basically "Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you" The Game. Changeling: The Dreaming makes basic calculus into a potent anti-Fae weapon because nuuuuu my childlike wonder.
Talking up Banality as being some apocalyptic force is pretty lel considering that it's just shit like, to pull from the wiki, "doubt, rationality, cynicism, disillusionment, realism and a general unwillingness to embrace the fantastic".
So basically the MC's of C:tD are under dire threat from the
scientific method which is about the point that I go "well fuck 'em anyway".
I mostly agree with all of this! Still, I spent time writing my little spiel and talking about ambition and coping and the like (though I tried to avoid talking too much about the four Courts), and so I'm going to post it anyways.
*****
There,
@notthepenguins , am I now not some horrible person going 'lol, you're wrong' for taking a little while to write out a long essay of my reasoning when I was trying to settle in, eat dinner, and get someone to give me a vote tally for one of my Quests. Which they've done, so I will now begin to write.
How will Granny Goblin move her garden about to get the best sunlight now?! Or Arturo, how will his Mobile Art Palace get from place to place to sell his beautiful creations, and set up to help build and design Beautiful Hollows! 
