Forging Bonds: Timeless Ties!

[Diovani Bressan]

A new Forging Bonds event is here!

The stars of this Forging Bonds Event are Shinon, Ilyana, Jill and Gatrie, the new Heroes from the "Despair and Hope" banner.

In Forging Bonds, SP and Hero Merit earned in battle are doubled, so use this opportunity to train your most needed units.

I hope you enjoy the new stories featured by these Heroes!

[Mercakete]

Finally! =D (Heh, I'm already quite a ways into this...)

Main story

Spoiler

It's cool that they're bringing up Shinon's concerns with Ike becoming the commander here. They're well thought-through and totally reasonable. I mean, why risk your life on the orders of someone you don't trust to lead you well? I always found that to be a fun train of thought to explore.

Ilyana

Spoiler

Goodness, Askr's seeming more and more like a school with various clubs... I enjoy it, but it does seem a bit silly.

Gatrie

Spoiler

Oh man dude's adorable. X3 He's so clueless and earnest, awww! LOVING his conversations! Also, hehe, nice one, Valbar: "Brothers in armors."

Shinon

Spoiler

I was so happy when Python showed up. I kept wondering how well these two would get along. This is kind of turning into "Shinon fixes everyone's bows" though. XD;

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Mercakete

[kradeelav]

Jill's conversations are feelsy, oh my goodness. I've only gotten the first two, but they're already so worth it.

I also love how you can clearly tell this is her PoR self vs RD self - given her main arc in PoR was either about the laguz or her father, it's nice to see these talks fill in the blanks.

[SockPuppet]

Jill's wig lol

 

Anyway, Ilyana meeting Spooky Ilyana is already Top 5 Forging Bonds moments EVER. I loved it so much!

[Jave]

Mist: "Finally! All the Greil Mercenaries are here!"

Boyd: *Cries all the way back in Tellius*

[kradeelav]

12 minutes ago, Jave said:

Mist: "Finally! All the Greil Mercenaries are here!"

Boyd: *Cries all the way back in Tellius*

LOL won't it be amazing if they incorporate that in whenever he gets a Forging Bonds moment ...

[Sunwoo]

This Forging Bonds is generally good, but ...

Man. I didn't notice how annoying Shinon gets when you have him repeat his hatred of Ike like ... every other conversation. Yeah, he's more complex than that, I know, but "Ike only gets to be commander because he showed up first. I gotta show him up because he's going to mess everything up" got really old the second time I heard it.

It's like there are other people here besides Ike and the Greil Mercenaries, Shinon.

[bottlegnomes]

1 hour ago, kradeelav said:

LOL won't it be amazing if they incorporate that in whenever he gets a Forging Bonds moment ...

Given Mist and Boyd's love/hate relationship, it'd actually be pretty in character.

So far Gatrie's is my favorite, but I've only gotten one of Jill's. Ilyana's is cute, but a little dull, and Shinon's is just him being a tsundere. The main plot is fairly good, and I loved Ilyana's little speech—was not expecting that from her of all people—but overall, this is probably one of the weaker FB's for me so far.

[Sunwoo]

In all fairness, Ilyana can have surprisingly deep introspections despite being one of the shallower Tellius characters so it feels pretty in-character for her.

I'm not too big on the Greil Mercenaries' interactions with Shinon at the end. Even ignoring that his dislike for Ike comes off as somewhat entitled and self-absorbed ("I loved Greil more than you did!"), Shinon is genuinely not a good person. I acknowledge that he and Titania are the two most skilled members of the Greil Mercenaries back at the start and the mercenaries consider themselves family, but ... just, I'm not sure if there's a point in trying to negotiate with awful people.

(Side note: I think Shinon is a great character. He's well-written and sadly realistic. I just also think he's overall not a good person.)

[bottlegnomes]

@Sunwoo Never did read much of her supports so I suppose I'm not doing her justice. I'll have to read them.

And yeah, Shinon is a great character, but he is still a prick. It's a part of what makes him great and his reasons for having reservations about Ike are reasonable, but he was still a complete prick about it and I highly doubt Titania would just let him go on like that.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Ilyana's supports are by far my least favorite of this bunch. Gatrie's is kinda dull, and Shinon being Shinon. Jill definitely takes the cake here.

As for the main story...yeah, Shinon being Shinon. Meh. I guess since Shinon isn't a character I like, I can't get invested as much.

[Sentinel07]

Fairly standard FB. Nothing extraordinary, but still entertaining. 

Certainly a little more focused on comedy this time. Ilyana and Gatrie were mostly for giggles (not like they had much character development in the Tellius games either), Shinon doing his thing, and Jill naturally having the more character-focused ones. All in all, it's pretty close to how they were in Path of Radiance.

Though, I did get a good laugh at Thrasir taking Gatrie's words to heart...and then thinking about Alfonse. 😄

[Mercakete]

7 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

Though, I did get a good laugh at Thrasir taking Gatrie's words to heart...and then thinking about Alfonse. 😄

I just finished Gatrie's myself! Ahh, I feel so bad for him! He really is a good guy and has the sweetest, purest desires! (Wanting a girlfriend so he can get to know who she is and talk to her and bond legitimately.) He's just graceless so people get the wrong message. Poor guy.

And yeah, that bit about Veronica, too, though it does make sense with book 3 and its events. Plus, I think Thrasir likes Lif (that, or she's not interested in romance at all and is just concerned with Askr and Embla's wellbeing), so... Sorry Gatrie. She's taken (either by another guy or by her job). Still, she's being such a jerk! Gatrie's being so faithful to his promise -- she could AT LEAST explain herself to him so he can make peace with it and move on.

[Jave]

Gatrie was born in the wrong FE Universe. He would have been right at home in Ylesse, Hoshido or Nohr.

[Othin]

On 9/18/2020 at 10:15 PM, Fire Emblem Fan said:

Ilyana's supports are by far my least favorite of this bunch. Gatrie's is kinda dull, and Shinon being Shinon. Jill definitely takes the cake here.

As for the main story...yeah, Shinon being Shinon. Meh. I guess since Shinon isn't a character I like, I can't get invested as much.

These are pretty much my feelings, although I didn't mind Shinon's stuff.

I found most of Gatrie's to be pretty grating, but the ending was fun.

[Mercakete]

Just finished the main story here. Ahhh, my heart was so filled with its sweetness! X3 ❤️ I LOVE that ending!! The only thing that makes it kind of sad, though is...well, Boyd's not here yet, so it's not exactly like everyone's actually all together yet. Still looking forward to that, though! X3

Edit: Just finished Shinon's supports. The ending was so gosh darn sweet! Awww, I love that Rolf got to talk to Shinon like that! X3 And hehe- what a twist at the end! X3 Heh, poor Shinon... Indeed, Rolf is honest and straightforward! A hard worker, too.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Mercakete

[Sunwoo]

6 hours ago, Othin said:

These are pretty much my feelings, although I didn't mind Shinon's stuff.

I found most of Gatrie's to be pretty grating, but the ending was fun.

It would've been nice if they could've focused on other aspects of Gatrie besides his women thing. Even if he ultimately means well, his persistence towards women who don't want to have anything to do with him (such as following Thrasir around just to get a glimpse of her) comes off as pretty disrespectful towards their boundaries.

[Othin]

8 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

It would've been nice if they could've focused on other aspects of Gatrie besides his women thing. Even if he ultimately means well, his persistence towards women who don't want to have anything to do with him (such as following Thrasir around just to get a glimpse of her) comes off as pretty disrespectful towards their boundaries.

Yeah, I was not a fan of that.