FFIX Post-Game and Name Discussion

[zidane]

Item the first: Now that I have something almost resembling an outline, I'm starting to wonder if I won't be shooting part of my premise in the foot re: the living status of minor characters.



So. I'm basing the conflict in my story in part due to Burmecia's status after the end of the game. Where Lindblum and Alexandria are shown to progress to/make full recoveries, our only shot of a post-crisis Burmecia is the one shown in the ending between Freya and Fratley, and there has been no change: Burmecia looks just as battered as it did on Disc 1, minus the bodies littering the streets. I'm figuring that Burmecia was a relatively poor country before the war and would only be worse afterward. Related to this, and finally getting to my point:

What the heck happened to the King of Burmecia? Can it be assumed that he died when Brahne summoned Odin? Or is it likely he survived, like Oracle Kildea and (optionally) Quina?


Item the second: Something which has always confounded me is just what to do with Garnet/Dagger's name. Should I always refer to her as "Garnet," unless she is being spoken to as someone who would address her as "Dagger?" Is there an established convention for how to deal with characters who have aliases?

Comments

[lassarina]

If we're talking post-game, the Queen has (in my mind) reclaimed her Garnet identity and would be thought of as such, though in moments of intimacy the playable party would likely call her Dagger (minus Steiner, and I imagine Beatrix never unbends that far.)

As far as the King of Burmecia, I suppose it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. We do know that Puck lived, so Burmecia has the option of being rebuilt. And I think Freya had decided to do that, had she not? It might also be that they were in a part of the city that wasn't as important to rebuild right away.

[zidane]

Well, her identity as "Garnet" really went un-claimed: she introduces herself as such to Artania, Cid, and Hilda (or well, Hilda is implied, I suppose, since she can't actually speak at that point), but she's "Dagger" to Eiko. She has no reason to hide her identity from Eiko (and in fact doesn't, as Eiko asks "how come you got to be a princess?"). The only identity she well and truly lost is "Sarah." So I assume she thinks of herself as "Dagger" as much as she does "Garnet." The question is, what is the least confusing way to refer to her outside of dialogue? When writing third person limited with Zidane, it feels more natural to call her "Dagger" because that's how he thinks of her, but I also plan on alternating chapters from her perspective and possibly have her go undercover all over again.

So if I wrote how I felt was "in character" my chapters would end up something like:

Ch 1. (Zidane)
Dagger liked pie. "A splendid idea," said Cid. "Garnet has always preferred pecan!"
Ch 2. (Garnet)
Garnet liked pie. "What do you think, Dagger?" asked Zidane.
Ch 3. (Zidane)
Dagger liked pie. "How generous of Queen Garnet to share her pie with me," Steiner sobbed, moved beyond reason.
Ch 4. (Garnet, undercover again)
Dagger liked pie. She snuck up on the thieves, who snickered "Hehe, we took Garnet's last slice!"

To a fan of the game, I would assume that this is a non-issue, but as a style thing it's bothering me :\

As for Burmecia, I'm thinking a war-torn country with a dead monarch would be more unstable than one with a king who survived.