"Completely changing how a character acts and character development aren't the same thing. Genocide develops the characters... fics like 2nd Try and A&T offer immediate gratification with shallow impersonations of the characters. Just have Asuka shout "baka" every now and then, and have Shinji act a little timid so people will believe you've nailed all there is to their personalities."
This is a hilarously poor description of reality. It also seems to imply the writer either never read the fics in question or at most only skimmed them.
I suppose I could point out actual flaws in A&T this person completely failed to identify, but that'd spoil the review I'm gonna do when all is said and done.
During one of my routine trollings (ahem) patrols of /r/evangelion, I came across a thread called "recommended fanfics" or something along those lines. Within it, I found someone giving recommendations for Second Try and Advice and Trust. This is what they got back...
"The Second Try / Advice and Trust are great for people who like reading stories about characters-in-name-only."
Upon being queried as to why he thought that way, and whether or not he understood the concept of "character development", our detracting poster...well...
"Completely changing how a character acts and character development aren't the same thing. Genocide develops the characters... fics like 2nd Try and A&T offer immediate gratification with shallow impersonations of the characters. Just have Asuka shout "baka" every now and then, and have Shinji act a little timid so people will believe you've nailed all there is to their personalities."
Mocking laughter? Queries if they even read it?
One of my own peeves with Genocide is that it felt like it pretty much threw away all the character development of the late series in order to... do it all again? The 2nd Try spent a lot of time changing how they acted, and did it well, I felt. They had literally years together to become different from the series.
And here... well, if they think the cast is 'characters in name only', I can only shake my head and wonder where their conception of them flows from. Do they think the characters have to remain locked into memetic paralysis, only reciting precise lines and catchphrases from canon?
I'd guess that person hasn't watched the series in years, like a lot of us, and is going mostly on half remembered details and head-canon they forgot was head-canon.
Though I can kinda see where they're coming from with the "characters-in-name-only" thing. The change in behavior for Asuka and Shinji happens really fast in this fic, which can make it seem like the characters are just different people. I've never minded how quickly it all came together because I'm willing to stretch my suspension of disbelief pretty far for some good WAFF but also because the changes, while fast, believably extend from what we already know of the characters.
The speed at which Asuka and Shinji got happier is really just a personal difference in optimism for me. Namely, if I were writing this (ha, me writing something) it probably wouldn't have gone anywhere near as happily because I have a more pessimistic view of the characters and the world in general.
Gendo Ikari steepled his fingers, leaning forward on his elbows at his desk and peering into the darkness of his office, where a nervous messenger desperately wished he'd had a more solid meal before having to deliver this bit of news.
"Repeat that."
"Well, um, as per your orders and at the request of the British government, we sent Unit Zero to Northern Ireland to deal with the local infestation of supposedly Angelic material located there."
Gendo leaned forward even further, using the little movement to have his glasses glint a little bit more menacingly than usual. "Yes. I remember that. I ordered it."
"Yessir. In any case, the British government had already sent one of its agents as well. To liaise, as it were."
"As expected. What happened, then?"
"Well, according to the reports, the local mansion where the Angelic material was reported to be located was set on fire, exploded, and then the ashes set on fire again. We were unfortunately unable to recover any of the Angelic material for testing."
"...The Evangelion's power should not be understimated," Fuyutsuki muttered unhappily.
The messenger swallowed, bracing himself. "The Evangelion never left its hangar in Belfast, sir."
Gendo blinked, letting Fuyutsuki ask the bewildered "Wait, what?" he had at the forefront of his brain.
"According to the after-action report, Pilot Ayanami and the British liaison disappeared in the middle of the night into the area of operations. Local authorities then reported..." The messenger flipped open his voluminous binder, peering at the first few pages. "...'Repeated gunshots, manic laughter, screaming, groaning, and other assorted screams of mayhem and destruction'." He looked up to see Gendo still staring at him. "Also, you know, the massive explosion heard over the entire county. And fire. Fires, plural. Sorry."
Gendo continued to stare.
"Aaaaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaay," the messenger drew out, flipping over a few pages to avoid looking into those opaque glasses, " when our team and the British special forces moved onto the area of operations, the Child and British liaison had already moved on. We found them a few hundred miles south in the bar on the top floor of the Guinness Bewery in Dublin a few days later by following reports of, and I quote, 'a redcoated lunatic accompanied by a laughing pale child wearing a large floppy Victorian hat in the male fashion scaring fast-food employees and demanding hookers'."
The messenger looked up and, seeing Gendo speechless and Fuyutsuki staring at him in abject horror. Not realising this was not a sign to continue, he ploughed on.
"The Guinness Brewery and Dairy Queen are pressing charges, by the way. The latter are very annoyed at their post-Impact franchise expansion into Europe being delayed again, while the former is bringing sexual harassment charges for molestation of its employees. We're not quite sure who did what yet."
"Leave," Gendo said quietly.
"Yessir. I'll leave the binder here for your perusal, then?" He hefted the heavy binder uncomfortably in his arms. "The biggest part is the collateral damage report and lawsuits for repairs, by the way. So... Do I bring this over to your desk, or...?"
"I'll take it," Fuyutsuki said quickly. "Have a good day, young man. Well done."
"You're welcome." He met Fuyutsuki and handed it over. "Oh, by the way, the head of the British team in charge of this affair said she'd call soon. Something about getting an explanation?"
Fuyutsuki thanked him and turned around, seeing Gendo's fall flat to his desk as soon as the messenger disappeared through his door. His mouth was still open after his jaw had previously flopped over in sheer shock, a fact cunningly concealed by his steepled fingers.
At this exact same moment, the phone began to ring. The number had a British area code.
Gendo stared at the phone, then at Fuyutsuki (who quickly and desperately shook his head), again at the phone, and then hesitantly tapped the button. "Yes?"
"...I see you have one of that specimen of employee as well. My sympathies."
"Fifty-fifty on the collateral damage lawsuits?" he offered weakly.
"Add a casket of Japanese whiskey, and you've got yourself a deal."
Gendo Ikari steepled his fingers, leaning forward on his elbows at his desk and peering into the darkness of his office, where a nervous messenger desperately wished he'd had a more solid meal before having to deliver this bit of news.
"Repeat that."
"Well, um, as per your orders and at the request of the British government, we sent Unit Zero to Northern Ireland to deal with the local infestation of supposedly Angelic material located there."
Gendo leaned forward even further, using the little movement to have his glasses glint a little bit more menacingly than usual. "Yes. I remember that. I ordered it."
"Yessir. In any case, the British government had already sent one of its agents as well. To liaise, as it were."
"As expected. What happened, then?"
"Well, according to the reports, the local mansion where the Angelic material was reported to be located was set on fire, exploded, and then the ashes set on fire again. We were unfortunately unable to recover any of the Angelic material for testing."
"...The Evangelion's power should not be understimated," Fuyutsuki muttered unhappily.
The messenger swallowed, bracing himself. "The Evangelion never left its hangar in Belfast, sir."
Gendo blinked, letting Fuyutsuki ask the bewildered "Wait, what?" he had at the forefront of his brain.
"According to the after-action report, Pilot Ayanami and the British liaison disappeared in the middle of the night into the area of operations. Local authorities then reported..." The messenger flipped open his voluminous binder, peering at the first few pages. "...'Repeated gunshots, manic laughter, screaming, groaning, and other assorted screams of mayhem and destruction'." He looked up to see Gendo still staring at him. "Also, you know, the massive explosion heard over the entire county. And fire. Fires, plural. Sorry."
Gendo continued to stare.
"Aaaaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaay," the messenger drew out, flipping over a few pages to avoid looking into those opaque glasses, " when our team and the British special forces moved onto the area of operations, the Child and British liaison had already moved on. We found them a few hundred miles south in the bar on the top floor of the Guinness Bewery in Dublin a few days later by following reports of, and I quote, 'a redcoated lunatic accompanied by a laughing pale child wearing a large floppy Victorian hat in the male fashion scaring fast-food employees and demanding hookers'."
The messenger looked up and, seeing Gendo speechless and Fuyutsuki staring at him in abject horror. Not realising this was not a sign to continue, he ploughed on.
"The Guinness Brewery and Dairy Queen are pressing charges, by the way. The latter are very annoyed at their post-Impact franchise expansion into Europe being delayed again, while the former is bringing sexual harassment charges for molestation of its employees. We're not quite sure who did what yet."
"Leave," Gendo said quietly.
"Yessir. I'll leave the binder here for your perusal, then?" He hefted the heavy binder uncomfortably in his arms. "The biggest part is the collateral damage report and lawsuits for repairs, by the way. So... Do I bring this over to your desk, or...?"
"I'll take it," Fuyutsuki said quickly. "Have a good day, young man. Well done."
"You're welcome." He met Fuyutsuki and handed it over. "Oh, by the way, the head of the British team in charge of this affair said she'd call soon. Something about getting an explanation?"
Fuyutsuki thanked him and turned around, seeing Gendo's fall flat to his desk as soon as the messenger disappeared through his door. His mouth was still open after his jaw had previously flopped over in sheer shock, a fact cunningly concealed by his steepled fingers.
At this exact same moment, the phone began to ring. The number had a British area code.
Gendo stared at the phone, then at Fuyutsuki (who quickly and desperately shook his head), again at the phone, and then hesitantly tapped the button. "Yes?"
"...I see you have one of that specimen of employee as well. My sympathies."
"Fifty-fifty on the collateral damage lawsuits?" he offered weakly.
"Add a casket of Japanese whiskey, and you've got yourself a deal."
But yeah, that guy is probably just out for more darkfic where everyone dies and- oh no- this makes shinji sad!
[side note: I didn't realize at first that 'Genocide' was the title of a fic and i thought he was saying that Genocide (the action) was good for the character development]
[side note: I didn't realize at first that 'Genocide' was the title of a fic and i thought he was saying that Genocide (the action) was good for the character development]
The speed at which Asuka and Shinji got happier is really just a personal difference in optimism for me. Namely, if I were writing this (ha, me writing something) it probably wouldn't have gone anywhere near as happily because I have a more pessimistic view of the characters and the world in general.
I think some of the speed at which Asuka and Shinji got happier may come from how desperately they wanted to be happier beforehand. Suddenly having a longed-for-but-better-than-they-thought-could-actually-happen situation dropped into their laps where suddenly they do have someone who unconditionally loves and accepts them gave them an internal psychological excuse for what, at the time, might well have been ridiculous overoptimism. Happily for them (and for we crowd of WAFF junkies watching), the relationship has grown into something that justifies their optimism. Note that when Shinji finds his newfound happiness seriously threatened (the revelations from Yui, or Gendo's threat to separate him and Asuka), his newfound confidence seriously falters. I'm not sure if Asuka would react the same, but I don't think we've seen her threatened in this fic quite the same way.
Saying whether Rei is in or out of character is another matter, complicated by how Rei's always been a bit of a cypher, beyond "quiet, somewhat philosophical, and cute." (I suspect this is actually part of her widespread, enduring popularity for ~20 years now -- being so enigmatic makes her an easy character to project onto.)
Gendo Ikari steepled his fingers, leaning forward on his elbows at his desk and peering into the darkness of his office, where a nervous messenger desperately wished he'd had a more solid meal before having to deliver this bit of news.
"Repeat that."
"Well, um, as per your orders and at the request of the British government, we sent Unit Zero to Northern Ireland to deal with the local infestation of supposedly Angelic material located there."
Gendo leaned forward even further, using the little movement to have his glasses glint a little bit more menacingly than usual. "Yes. I remember that. I ordered it."
"Yessir. In any case, the British government had already sent one of its agents as well. To liaise, as it were."
"As expected. What happened, then?"
"Well, according to the reports, the local mansion where the Angelic material was reported to be located was set on fire, exploded, and then the ashes set on fire again. We were unfortunately unable to recover any of the Angelic material for testing."
"...The Evangelion's power should not be understimated," Fuyutsuki muttered unhappily.
The messenger swallowed, bracing himself. "The Evangelion never left its hangar in Belfast, sir."
Gendo blinked, letting Fuyutsuki ask the bewildered "Wait, what?" he had at the forefront of his brain.
"According to the after-action report, Pilot Ayanami and the British liaison disappeared in the middle of the night into the area of operations. Local authorities then reported..." The messenger flipped open his voluminous binder, peering at the first few pages. "...'Repeated gunshots, manic laughter, screaming, groaning, and other assorted screams of mayhem and destruction'." He looked up to see Gendo still staring at him. "Also, you know, the massive explosion heard over the entire county. And fire. Fires, plural. Sorry."
Gendo continued to stare.
"Aaaaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaay," the messenger drew out, flipping over a few pages to avoid looking into those opaque glasses, " when our team and the British special forces moved onto the area of operations, the Child and British liaison had already moved on. We found them a few hundred miles south in the bar on the top floor of the Guinness Bewery in Dublin a few days later by following reports of, and I quote, 'a redcoated lunatic accompanied by a laughing pale child wearing a large floppy Victorian hat in the male fashion scaring fast-food employees and demanding hookers'."
The messenger looked up and, seeing Gendo speechless and Fuyutsuki staring at him in abject horror. Not realising this was not a sign to continue, he ploughed on.
"The Guinness Brewery and Dairy Queen are pressing charges, by the way. The latter are very annoyed at their post-Impact franchise expansion into Europe being delayed again, while the former is bringing sexual harassment charges for molestation of its employees. We're not quite sure who did what yet."
"Leave," Gendo said quietly.
"Yessir. I'll leave the binder here for your perusal, then?" He hefted the heavy binder uncomfortably in his arms. "The biggest part is the collateral damage report and lawsuits for repairs, by the way. So... Do I bring this over to your desk, or...?"
"I'll take it," Fuyutsuki said quickly. "Have a good day, young man. Well done."
"You're welcome." He met Fuyutsuki and handed it over. "Oh, by the way, the head of the British team in charge of this affair said she'd call soon. Something about getting an explanation?"
Fuyutsuki thanked him and turned around, seeing Gendo's fall flat to his desk as soon as the messenger disappeared through his door. His mouth was still open after his jaw had previously flopped over in sheer shock, a fact cunningly concealed by his steepled fingers.
At this exact same moment, the phone began to ring. The number had a British area code.
Gendo stared at the phone, then at Fuyutsuki (who quickly and desperately shook his head), again at the phone, and then hesitantly tapped the button. "Yes?"
"...I see you have one of that specimen of employee as well. My sympathies."
"Fifty-fifty on the collateral damage lawsuits?" he offered weakly.
"Add a casket of Japanese whiskey, and you've got yourself a deal."
Something that occurs to me now... despite the superficial similarities in attitude (unrestrained superbeings who revel in their own power while crushing the enemies of humanity), there are contrasts that potentially make a meeting between the two interesting for more than just the explosions.
Alucard hints at regretting throwing away his own humanity. ND!Rei, on the other hand, was never properly human to begin with (as best I can tell, she's more an artificial Eldritch Abomination in usually human form who was socialized to approximately human norms by being utterly drowned in pop culture during her tender formative years) but seems to love humans nonetheless, at least many of those she actually meets and gets to know in person. And how she reacts to the prospect of losing someone she's grown close to suggests it's not just superficial. If she's ever considered herself alienated from humanity just because she's not technically human, she certainly doesn't show it. Humanity for her seems to be a state of mind. I wonder if meeting ND!Rei could actually have positive impact on Alucard's mindset.
Was there ever any sort of ending to either version of Nobody Dies, or did it just sort of fizzle out? In the absence of any proper ending, I have my own headcanon version of how that mad ride might have ended...
I would, but I have no way to have a believable set-up. Why on earth would a British para-military anti-terror agency (because that's what it is, in the end) have anything to do with Nerv?
The answer was stated a while back in this thread's past; Alucard's a walking, talking and breathing example of Instrumentality, which means that in a universe with Hellsing vamps they might have tried to make copies of them. Of course, we know what Alucard does to shoddy knock offs...
The answer was stated a while back in this thread's past; Alucard's a walking, talking and breathing example of Instrumentality, which means that in a universe with Hellsing vamps they might have tried to make copies of them. Of course, we know what Alucard does to shoddy knock offs...
Still, I wouldn't use him. Alucard is more of a plot device than a being: Look at how little time was devoted to the why, versus how much was to the what and how. One and a half chapters delved into the mind of the thing that once was Vlad. I'd rather use one or both of the leading ladies, as I feel you could get more mileage out of it.
Given how badly England would be boned in a combined timeline (MIllenium in Spring 2000, 2I in the Fall), the Monarchy would move off the Islands, most likely to Canada, which opens up the trans-pacific connection. Add in a suprisingly proactive Queen, and then your have a UN-appointed security detail of one vampire (with her boss and additional agents as an additional support structure) for the VIPest of VIP: the pilots upon which the fate of humanity rests.
Yeah, it basically comes down to personal interpretation of the characters for the PoD here. Stryp took a decidedly optimistic view of how this PoD would go, where I would probably go more pessimistic but still going in a positive direction. But Stryp's take on it is perfectly valid for the characters.
Saying whether Rei is in or out of character is another matter, complicated by how Rei's always been a bit of a cypher, beyond "quiet, somewhat philosophical, and cute." (I suspect this is actually part of her widespread, enduring popularity for ~20 years now -- being so enigmatic makes her an easy character to project onto.)
The thing with Rei is that she's so emotionally stunted in the show that you can make her pretty much anything in fanworks so long as you justify her becoming more "human"-like, such as having her be on heavy meds and then coming off of them.
They'd get the first four seasons at least, assuming it still came to be. You know, you'd think that Mako would be able to do a Japanese Aku, but they got Bunta Sugawara. But hey, the Japanese VO for motherfucking Raoh The Conqueror voiced Jack, so it can't be too bad.
All in all, it was a great show that I think the pilot corps would greatly appreciate.
They'd get the first four seasons at least, assuming it still came to be. You know, you'd think that Mako would be able to do a Japanese Aku, but they got Bunta Sugawara. But hey, the Japanese VO for motherfucking Raoh The Conqueror voiced Jack, so it can't be too bad.
All in all, it was a great show that I think the pilot corps would greatly appreciate.
After ending yesterday on page 913, I was visited by another EVA-tinted dream. I was on a date with an ex-girlfriend. How and why, that's a mystery. For some reason, we both had an old friend as a chaperone there. Then she went to the bathroom, and we were on a train, and then I'm suddenly in a building looking for Gendo. It was really important, apparently, because the building was on fire or there was an explosion and it could collapse. Out of nowhere, I got a text report that Gendo (under his 'maiden' name) was found - burned, legless, with one hand hanging literally on a thread. And then, as per tradition, the doorbell rang and woke me up.
In other news: How to get 'Komm, Süsser Tod' out of my head? ESPECIALLY THE CHORUS. I need to get rid of it. I was humming it at work. For my Creative Writing course, I'm writing a one-minute story (woulda made it larger, but such was the task) with sci-fi elements. Wanted to make a couple of references to Space Oddity by David Bowie, but GUESS WHAT'S CREEPING INTO IT NOW. The fact that it kind of fits the ending DOES NOT HELP AT ALL. And hell, I even thought of an encounter with a giant purple 'robot' as a part of alternate/rejected endings and bloopers reel that I want to add as an extra.
Around the early 800s, there was a discussion about what would happen if Shinji was eventually driven to suicide. And I thought about what would happen if Shinji actually jumped off that cliff in ep. 4 (hell, you know the symbolism of number four) but that evil part of my brain kept adding tumbling down tumbling down tumbling down.
