Posted 27 February 2012 - 09:45 PM
I feel I should clarify a few things.
1. Eliwood doesn't actually insult the Ilians, He's simply grief striken and tells Hector he'll pull out of the alliance if Hector goes through with it.
2. He mentions in his A Support with Roy in a Fiora game that he KNOWS he is not being rational, that he knows that Ilia isn't at fault for anything that happened to Fiora, it just hurt too damn much at the time for him because he's lost his father, his mother, and now his wife. During the Black Fang scenario? he had a drive to keep his mind off the grief. Now? There's no big evil. There's nothing to focus on, nothing to take his mind off the pain.
3. I don't want to do the funeral idea, specifically because of how Eliwood is being presented in this hack. I.E. 20 years have changed a man, and I still find it quite odd that you all act as if 20 years WOULDN'T change a man-
This of course does not mean you are not entitled to your opinions, you have clearly shown them and I understand your complaints, however-
Eliwood is a LOT more cynical, a lot less idealistic, and more prone to believe certain things are 'fate' rather than 'choice'. This is because Eliwood did NOT escape the Black Fang situation unchanged, he lost a lot more than his father there, losing his mother and his wife (he always loses his wife, the only difference is what way) afterwards only compounded the feelings growing. Eliwood is STILL a kind and gentle man who's prone to help whenever he can. He still rules Pherae with kindness and raises his son to know right from wrong, telling him of his own adventures as an aesop to keep going no matter what, because even if Eliwood doesn't believe it anymore, he still believes IN it.
The entire point of Eliwoods support conversations with Hector/Lyn/Sigune/Roy is facing those negative feelings and overcoming them, I said to multiple people suggesting returning characters (when I asked for them) "Not if they don't have anything to add" Hector of course has to face his fated destiny, he's going to die on the battlefield. No, saving him here does not mean Hector gets to go peacefully, even his ending states he was killed on the battlefield. He's taken the weight of Lycia on his shoulders and raised Lilina on his own (Hector gets the same disappearing act pulled on him) the difference is Hector had things to keep him occupied, so yes a major character change is Eliwood acted a lot more like Hector while Hector acted a lot more like Eliwood.
Lyn? Well Lyn's a whole other story considering 2/3 times she left her husband and children to return to Sacae, and 1/3 times her husband is just straight up killed by Zephiel. She's always been passionate, she's dealing with a lot of unchecked emotions as she fights a one woman war against Bern, while scorning and cursing shadows for what happened. In a sense, our three leads from FE7 have lost a lot, ironically because they would ALWAYS lose a lot, FE7 just doesn't point out that "Well Eliwood and Hector are doomed to lose their loved ones and Lyn's staring down being flat out killed"
4. Lastly and I require stating this, this is Fiora exclusive content, Eliwood does not interact, can not talk with, or have anything to do with Sigune if he married Ninian or Lyn. Therefore this content has to be tied to Fiora, Now the funeral idea works, but not with the way I was writing Eliwood.
I guess the massive problem You are all going to have is I focus on the negative aspects of FE7. I.E. PTSD, the loss of everyone you ever loved, having your beliefs shaken to the core, having to move on from that.
If this was only 5 years or even 10 years from the end of FE7? I wouldn't do things this drastic, but this has been 20 years. And you want me to not only accept, but write people exactly as they WERE 20 years ago? No. I refuse. I could never look at myself seriously as a writer again if I did. I'll concede that the execution is wrong, but not the concept. And really it's not like I've made up a bunch of events specifically to shit on the Lycian Lords. Loses his Wife, Loses His Mother, Lost His Father, is canon, the details on how he lost the former 2 are the only things shrouded in mystery (Answer? Died due to the air of Elibe killing her/killed/Walked out on him, Died due to illness)
Bartre is a changed man from FE7 to FE6, Karel is a changed man from FE7 to FE6, Hector from what we hear is a changed man, Zephiel is most definitely a changed man. So are you saying I should keep Eliwood exactly as he was 20 years ago?
Again, for the record, I'm not throwing out your complaints, I'm just struggling to understand why you expect characters to remain static over 20 years? Why you don't think Grief/Loss/Happiness/Peace/Betrayal/Acceptance can change the nature of a man?
I leave you with this
A Support (Fiora Mother)
Eliwood:... If this is about before, you might as spend your efforts on the battle at hand.
Roy: I'm not just commanding officer, father. I just want to know something about mother.
Eliwood: This is not the pla-
Roy: Why is this so hard to tell me about, I think I have a right to know about who my mother is!
Eliwood:... You're mother was a Pegasus Rider from Ilia, swift, loyal, stalwart. She came into my service as a mercenary and I just knew that I couldn't let her go.
Roy: Wait... Fiora, the Ilian Mercenary? The one from your stories?
Eliwood: Fiora... I haven't heard that name outside of my head in so long... It still sounds so smooth. I loved her, when I was hurting she supported me, she had the strength to carry on when it felt like the world was going to crush me.
Roy: So what happened... why did she leave us?
Eliwood: Fiora didn't leave... she was killed.
Roy:... What?
Eliwood: Hector needed someone to go negotiate with the Ilians, he was hoping we might be able to bring them into the Lycian Alliance, benefit the both of us if we gained their Pegasus Knights and they gained our resources.
Roy: So they decided to send Fiora because she was a native Ilian. I understand that much but why-
Eliwood: She became caught up in a battle between a squad of Pegasus Knights and a group of pirates they had been sent to bring down. They were flying into a trap, she was far too kind to simply ignore that, she flew in to warn them... and that was it.
Roy:...
*Roys eyes are closed, he's clearly trying to stop himself from crying*
Eliwood: She was brought back by a rider named Sigune. She tried consoling me but I was too stricken by grief to listen.
Roy: Is that why the alliance didn't go through?
Eliwood: Yes... I told Hector if he brought Ilia into the Alliance he had lost Pherae. I was too blinded by grief, I couldn't look past my hatred...
Roy: That's why the mercenaries you hired to work for me weren't from Ilia.
Eliwood: Right... Dieck I heard about from Pent... Even now I can't forgive those I know are not responsible for her death...
Roy: Mother...
Eliwood: I was the one who refused Ilia aid when they were under attack from Bern. Losing her was just too much Roy, it was like having a part of my soul cut out. I didn't feel alive. I didn't feel...
Roy: I'm sorry for making you remember.
Eliwood: No, Roy... you deserved to know. But I'm going to pass on advice a friend gave me, advice I haven't been able to follow but you must.
Roy: Yes?
Eliwood: Never forget kindness.
Roy: I see...
Yes, there are different versions of the A Support depending on mother.
@deranger. Because neither Etruria or Bern have actually offered an Alliance, and why would they? Bern's got it's Wyvern Knights, and Etruria would just do what they did to the Western Isles seeing as Ilia has no government we know of (Zealot is the First King of Ilia after all). They will sell their services but not their land to two nations who clearly don't care to much . Hector is proposing making them equal, giving them the food they need, and combining armies so they no long have to sell themselves into death. Why would they turn it down?
Also Boron, before you think I'm calling your idea bad, I'm not. Again for a game set earlier in the timeline I would be all over it, congratulating you like the rest. It's a strong solid piece of writing. But unfortunately it's not at all what I'm looking for with the characters. Because they are different from how they were
