Dagger (ff9)

canon divergent after the game

Trigger warnings:  nothing comes to mind.

Canon divergences / my portrayal

I'm replaying the game right now and I'm pre-Kuja's desert hideout, so bear with me as I might get some details wrong, but the idea is that:

After thinking Gidan died, and after all the traumas she endured/remembered, she loses her voice again AND breaks down. Her lack of blood connection to the queen comes to light, so Cid is forced to intervene by putting a relative on the throne. The people would have liked to keep the princess, but she's mute, depressed, and other nobles were objecting because she's not the real Garnet, so they accept the queen's cousin instead.
So, on the throne, you get princess Emerald, soon queen.
Unless you write one of them (in which case your muse may be excluded from this so that I won't godmod you), she moves to Lindblum with Vivi and Eiko, and joins Tantalus to earn her keep (she hates the idea of depending on others), learning how to do housekeeping since she has no voice to act with. 

When Gidan comes back, like I said, she's mute, and this is something that will come and go. It's psychological, and her emotions can decide for her. She'll communicate with a little blackboard, but always has paper and pencil with her too, just in case.
She'll learn how to defend herself with weapons since she can't rely on her voice.

If you want to write with her post-game, when she's an adultier adult, either she's still with Zidane or they broke up due to wanting different things from life (100% on her, she was too frustrated with her lack of a real passion that she was falling into depression again, and left even if she still loved him), depends on who I'm writing her with. BUT by then, regardless, now she's a treasure hunter, because she's not afraid of anything anymore and in any case she has eidolons (when she can talk) who can help. She is, in fact, retrieving more eidolons. She's still kind, but she's lost a LOT, and a good portion of her mood and friendliness will depend on whether or not Zidane is there (because he instantly cheers her up).  

Vivi is alive because I say so.

Added: June 21st 2026