User blog comment:Neetaku/A (Better) Rewrite of Attack on Titan/@comment-30473998-20181009225701/@comment-24407809-20181009230728

The main reason I brought back Franz and Hannah is because I thought having one of them (I chose Franz) die because of Eren disobeying orders and attacking Liberio would open the door for more compelling in-fighting amongst the original 104th trainees. Sure, Connie and Sasha were good friends, but I think it would be much easier to empathize with a character like Hannah if her significant other, who she has been with since the beginning of the series, is killed. I do agree, though, that I don't like their over the top lovey-dovey relationship. It's why I sent them off to the Garrison where they couldn't bother me for a while.

I initially considered having Connie simply resign from the Survey Corps, but I decided that it would ultimately be better for his character if he died while trying to get his revenge against the Beast Titan. The main series seems to have forgotten about that grudge, and unless Zeke really does double cross Paradis, that is a plot point that is going to remain unfinished. This way it can be wrapped up nicely.

I'm really glad you liked my addition of Dieter to the main cast. Bringing him over from the anime was an idea I had last night (and was part of the reason I decided to right this), and the more I wrote about what his story arc would be in the context of the larger story, the more I enjoyed it. I think that's part of why he plays such a major part in Uprising and RtS in my version. Originally he was just going to be the Moblit Berner of Squad Levi, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he could play an actual role in the story.