Fire Emblem Awakening: Invisible Ties
is a Fire Emblem Fan Fic written by metallover.
The fic is a loose adaptation of Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Note: This article assumes that you've already played through Fire Emblem: Awakening. Therefore, all spoilers related to the game's plot will be unmarked. Proceed with caution.
Fire Emblem Awakening: Invisible Ties contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Noire reveals her father is actually Henry, he eventually starts laughing and wonders if he should just give Tharja the ring now.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Gangrel is considerably more monstrous here, and lacks the Freudian Excuse of his game counterpart. Perhaps his worst moment is during the final battle, when it's revealed he hung the corpses of Commander Phila, Duke Aerir, and Duke Themis, the last of whom is Maribelle's father, on the castle gates and openly gloats to Chrom about how enjoyed making them beg for death.
- Validar's crimes are greatly expanded, making him an even bigger monster. He abused and trained Robin to make him the perfect vessel for Grima up until his wife spirited his son away, resulting in Validar eventually finding and murdering her for this reason. Throughout the course of the story, Validar exerts Mind Control over Robin to point he fragmented his mind in one attempt to kill him and later has Robin almost kill Chrom to claim the Fire Emblem, almost pushing Robin to despair. After ripping Donnel's heart out, he controls Morgon, his own granddaughter, to have her facilitate the revival of Grima and use as leverage against Robin.
- All Men Are Perverts: In chapter 3, Robin involuntarily drools at the sight of Cordelia, leading to this:Robin: [thinking] If the concentration of attractive women around here remains so high, I could definitely see myself hanging around for a while.
- Alternate Universe Fic: In the opening of the first chapter, the author notes that the fic is a "hybrid" between an AU and adaptation of Fire Emblem: Awakening.
- Annoying Arrows: Averted; in chapter 7, Sumia is shot non-fatally with several arrows. When Robin finds her, she outright says they "really, really hurt," and Robin removing them causes her no small amount of pain.
- Bastard Bastard: Gangrel is the bastard son of Plegia's previous king. At one point, Chrom calls him a "blackhearted whore-son wretch."
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted in chapter 8; during the Hostage Situation, Maribelle is noted to have a swollen face from an injury, as well as being covered in dirt and dried blood.
- Bedmate Reveal: Played for Laughs; on more than one occasion, Robin wakes up to find Panne laying next to him. Panne explains that this is because Taguel share body heat at night.
- Bitch Alert: In chapter 3, Maribelle's prissy, snobby attitude does not make a good first impression with Robin.Robin: [thinking] Yep. Definitely don't like her.
- The Cameo: Fae makes an appearance in Chapter 18, as does Nagi.
- Cast from Lifespan: How Dark Magic works; in-battle the caster can get around this by having the spells drain from their target, but outside of it they have no choice but to pull from their own life force.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everyone, but especially Robin.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: In chapter 15, Chrom gives Gangrel a Last-Second Chance to surrender peacefully, out of respect for Emmeryn's ideals. Gangrel turns him down flat, and gets his head chopped off as a result.
- Due to the Dead:
- In chapter 4, when the Shepherds come across victims of a Risen massacre, Chrom insists that they give them a funeral pyre.
- In chapter 21, it's revealed that Chrom went so far as to give Gangrel a proper burial after beheading him, in order to honor Emmeryn's legacy. Robin admits to Lucina that after everything Gangrel did, none of the other Shepherds would have done the same; he himself would have gladly mounted Gangrel's head on a pike and paraded it through Ylisstol.
- Duels Decide Everything: Chrom duels General Mustafa one-on-one in Chapter 14 for the right his army to flee the battlefield safely.
- Everyone Can See It: Chrom and Sumia are not subtle about their affections for each other; it only takes two days of watching them for Robin to get annoyed by all the lingering sexual tension in the air.
- Forced to Watch: Late in the fic, Validar makes Morgan watch as he rips Donnel's heart out and feeds it to a Risen.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Emmeryn gravely underestimates Gangrel's insanity and bloodlust, thinking that he'll eventually see reason if she keeps trying diplomacy. It isn't until Gangrel kidnaps Maribelle and tries to ransom her for the Fire Emblem that Emmeryn is forced to acknowledge that there's no reasoning with him.
- Good Is Not Soft: Robin is generally pleasant and easy to get along with, but on the battlefield, he shows no mercy. Case in point: he admits to Lucina in chapter 21 that after all of the atrocities Gangrel committed against Ylisse, if he were in Chrom's shoes, he would have gladly mounted the Mad King's head on a pike and paraded it through the streets of Ylisstol.
- He Who Fights Monsters: After Emmeryn's death, Chrom comes dangerously close to crossing this line during his fight with Mustafa, literally beating him to a bloody pulp with his bare hands before trying to finish him off. He's only able to stop himself when he sees the looks of horror on not only the faces of the Plegians, but those of his own friends and loved ones as well.
- Head-in-the-Sand Management: In chapter 7, Chrom calls Emmeryn out on constantly focusing on diplomacy while Gangrel freely sends raiding parties into Ylisse to cause chaos, and finally takes the initiative to confront the raiders himself when she won't listen to him. It takes Gangrel kidnapping Maribelle and trying to ransom her for the Fire Emblem for Emmeryn to finally get it through her thick skull that no, Gangrel won't listen to reason and has to be stopped by force.
- Heroic BSoD: Chrom spends half of Chapter 15 in one, after Emmeryn's death.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In Chapter 24, Gregor offers to stay behind on the Valmese ships to Hold the Line against the reinforcements, so the rest of the Shepherds can escape and the fleet can burn. Robin flat-out rejects the idea, but unfortunately, Gregor doesn't give him a choice.
- Horrible Judge of Character: In chapter 7, Emmeryn genuinely believes that Gangrel, the Ax-Crazy king of Plegia who completely despises Ylisse and wants nothing but its destruction, will listen to reason. It isn't until Maribelle is taken hostage that she is forced to accept he won't.
- Kissing Under the Influence: In chapter 28, Robin and Say'ri get drunk and have sex.
- Lethally Stupid: In chapter 7, Chrom outright accuses Emmeryn of being such, pointing out that while she continues to focus on a diplomatic solution, Gangrel is sending raiding parties into Ylisse to destroy them, and Emmeryn just can't seem to realize it.
- Manipulative Bastard: Robin shows signs of this, such as using Panne's hatred of humans to manipulate her into joining the army; however, he's firmly a good guy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Chrom's reaction once he snaps out of his rage and notices how brutally he beat Mustafa.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Chrom delivers a thoroughly vicious one to Mustafa at the end of their duel, and it's not until he looks up and sees the horror on the rest of the Shepherd's faces that he realizes just what he did.
- Off with His Head!: How Chrom kills Gangrel in chapter 15.
- Oh, My Gods!: Several characters exclaim "Oh, Naga!" or "Thank Naga!" on more than one occasion.
- Psychic Nosebleed: Robin's nose starts bleeding whenever he over-exerts himself magically.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Chrom. Best shown in chapter 7; when Emmeryn repeatedly refuses to see the threat Gangrel and the Plegians pose, Chrom decides he's had enough and personally leads the Shepherds to fight off an incoming Plegian raiding party.
- Sanity Has Advantages: It's noted in chapter 15 that Gangrel was once an accomplished swordsman, but his madness has sapped him of his skills; as a result, his fight with Chrom is a Single-Stroke Battle that costs him his head.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In chapter 7, after getting fed up with Emmeryn's insistence on a diplomatic solution with Gangrel, Chrom takes matters into his own hands and leads the Shepherds to face the incoming Plegian hordes himself.
- Ship Sinking: The appearance of Noire sinks Robin/Tharja, as she confirms Henry's her father, not Robin.
- Ship Tease: Robin gets a fair amount with Cordelia and Tharja in the first Arc, and a little bit with Lucina and Panne; in the second Arc, Lucina and Say'ri become the prominent focus of the tease. Lucina wins.
- Shipper on Deck: Robin's a hardcore Chrom/Sumia shipper, as are the rest of the Shepherds.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: The Shepherds lightly tease Chrom and Sumia about their "cutesy" behavior.
- Spared by the Adaptation: General Mustafa survives his face-off with Chrom, and later cuts off Gangrel's escape route in chapter 15.
- Throw 'Em to the Wolves: A variation occurs in chapter 15; having seen Gangrel for the Ax-Crazy tyrant he really is, General Mustafa deliberately blocks off his escape route when the Mad King attempts a Villain: Exit, Stage Left, giving Chrom free rein to fight him and chop his head off.
- Walking the Earth: Robin spends the two-year Time Skip doing this with Virion and Tharja, looking for a way to recover his memories. He does not succeed.
- Wedding Episode: Chapter 16 details Chrom and Sumia's wedding.
- When She Smiles: Lucina is noted to be truly beautiful whenever she smiles or laugh, which isn't often.
