GoukaRyuu
Shadow Cabal Made Man
- Location
- New Jersey
Hell, in some ways that would fit because it was Shinji himself, with his birth, that got her to leave the SEELE party-line of Instrumentality in the first place.
Advice and Trust [NGE]
Hell, in some ways that would fit because it was Shinji himself, with his birth, that got her to leave the SEELE party-line of Instrumentality in the first place.
Matt R
Giant Robot Pilot
- Location
- North Dakota
Another interesting notion would be trying to use an 3rd Impact already set in motion to actually repair some or all of the ecological damage done by 2nd Impact. Whether this is even possible probably depends on how much of the damage from 2nd Impact came from Adam's Anti-AT field vs Adam's self-destruction afterwards, and whether 3rd Impact would necessarily involve another explosion. (If Adam's explosion was caused either by a runaway reaction triggered by the Katsuragi Expedition's experiment, or by the Expedition's subsequent attempt to stop Adam by re-inserting the Lance, then another catastrophic explosion might be avoidable, leaving only the AT-shenanigans, which might be controlled to positive effect.)
Related is whether this would Tang some or all of the Humans on Earth, at least temporarily. That could get messy. You could potentially save everyone by Tanging everybody, but keeping their souls separate, and reconstituting everyone once things have kinetically settled down, but the infrastructure damage could be considerable. (Planes falling out of the sky, cars going suddenly driverless, etc.)
For that matter, the sort of fine steering of an Impact in progress necessary to repair the planet would be tricky in itself, even combining Yui's knowledge and Rei's FAR memories. Mistakes would be bound to happen, even beyond everyone showing up naked on top of their clothes afterwards...
Shinji: "Rei, we're glad you and Mom were able to fix the damage to the biosphere caused by Second Impact..."
Rei: "I sense a 'but' coming on..."
Hikari: "Were you trying to bring back the dinosaurs in the process, or was that an accident?"
Rei: "I thought everyone loved dinosaurs!"
Asuka: "Be careful where you go if you travel to the United States. Half the country wants to sue you for reintroducing Tyrannosaurus Rex to North America, and the other half wants to buy you a beer for the same reason."
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
America in a nutshell.
Because, let's face it. That is exactly what would happen.
- Location
- Brazil
Well, I'm pretty sure kids all over the world would love her and start worshipping her for it.
Saint Rei, or, if one has leans more toward paganism, Rei the Goddess; that's how children all over the world would call her then.
Saint Rei, or, if one has leans more toward paganism, Rei the Goddess; that's how children all over the world would call her then.
Really? Now that's scraping the bottom of the barrel as puns go.
- Location
- Altamonte Springs, FL
Evangelion meets Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.... that's a good idea for a fanfic. I'll read it! Where do I sign?
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
Matt R
Giant Robot Pilot
- Location
- North Dakota
I'll admit I probably fall on the "beer!" side of that divide.
"And in other news, sales of titles in the Monster Hunter game series and .50 BMG rifles continue their unprecedented rise..."
TsukikoHime
CEO of yuri
- Location
- that one gay idol magical girl show
Kyubey- and by extension your post- gets hugs. Specifically, tight ones. Around the general neck vicinity.
akrasiel23
A wraith no more
- Location
- Peru
I would expect you would send it arrows considering your avatar.
- Location
- Australia, mate
For Third Impact to completely fix what Second Impact broke with the environment, it would also have to fix the axial tilt that Earth suffered.
Hang on, didn't that same tilt end up making a massive chunk of Russia much more habitable? Or was that purely a fanfic thing?
Hang on, didn't that same tilt end up making a massive chunk of Russia much more habitable? Or was that purely a fanfic thing?
Ranma-sensei
Sorcerer
- Location
- Citrix Receiver
- Pronouns
- Weatherdependent
Fanfic, I think - but it makes sense. And that's why canon wouldn't tell.
Comedy Omake #82 - Laserdisc Chronicles Genesis 0:12
BG_Character_592
The Fisherman
- Location
- Australia
Time for more chronicles! More problems with those damn foreign discs, more problems with those damn off planet conspiracies, and Rei gets tired of being upset.
"1990-037B?"
"Hubble Space Telescope. Ostensibly it was scuttled by the Americans after Second Impact."
"...And you want me to hack into it."
"Yes." Misato bluntly stated. "Kaji did it with a TV satellite and a terminal, you should be able to do it too."
Ritsuko rolled her eyes and snuffed out her cigarette. "Forgetting the fact you think I can just simply hack into anything with a computer in it, is there a reason why we need a space telescope?"
Misato whispered into the subcommander's ear.
"...You're fucking joking."
She handed her a file, in UNOC flair. Ritsuko looked through it.
"By the Gods you aren't. How?"
"Current leading theory is teleportation through a Dirac Sea, but we needed new satellites to test it."
"...So thats what you got Massachusetts doing. But you still haven't answered why we need Hubble when Kaji already got these images."
"Last night, Kaji and I were watching the night skies"
"Not just watching I imagine." She muttered under her breath.
"and we noticed something odd. The morning star was out. At midnight."
Ritsuko thought, and looked up something on her terminal. "It wasn't Venus. I'll see what I can do." She bemused.
"Thanks Rits, I owe you and Maya dinner." She made her leave.
"It better be at that good steak place Misato." She sighed, and typed a few things into her terminal.
Maya almost collided with Misato as she left. "Sempai! I got you lunch!" She was carrying a bag with cafeteria box noodle, for the both of them.
Ritsuko gave a warm smile. Such a great partner. "Thank you Maya." She started on the dainty food, continuing to type.
The Major looked over Ritsuko's shoulder. "A satellite? I don't recognise that serial."
"That's cause its not ours. Its the Americans." She flippantly explained. "Apparently it's a telescope."
"Ooh, like Hubble? I didn't know they put other telescopes up in space after Second Impact."
"It is Hubble."
"Ehh? Didn't they scuttle it after Second Impact?"
Ritsuko shrugged. "Obviously not, or-"
The terminal beeped.
"That seemed quick." The Kohai bemused.
"Not like a satellite would have much security anyway." Ritsuko attempted to interact with the satellite. "We don't have any of the documentation." Head met keyboard.
"Can't the Magi just assume direct control of it?"
"...great Scott you're right." Fingers began rapid firing on the terminal as the Magi began doing their thing.
Maya knew best than to disturb a programmer in their natural habitat, so she returned to her own terminal and box noodle, to see how that video was going. It appeared to be done, so she attempted to open it. But there were a few problems with doing that.
One, attempting to watch the video on her terminal would result in a Halt and Catch Fire due to the resource drain.
Two, the portable terminals only had a screen resolution of 640x480, and with the Magi identifying the potential resolution of the video as an absurd number, that wasn't gonna cut it.
Three, the portable terminals used a bicolour LCD; LCL orange and slightly less orange. Not suitable for video at all.
Four, her specific portable terminal used a command line, with little to no graphics at all.
All these reasons and more meant when she attempted to open the video, her terminal did exactly that: Halt and Catch Fire. Quite literally.
"Your terminal on fire again Maya?" Ritsuko mused after hearing the commotion, not even lifting her eyes from her screen.
"Maybe." She meeped, going for the fire extinguisher and draining it onto the former terminal. "Damn it that's the 3rd one this week. Requisitions is not gonna be happy."
"The video again?"
"Yeah. Do you know what the highest resolution monitor we have?"
"...should be 1024x768, we don't have too many of them around though. Why d'ya ask?"
"The Magi report the foreign disc video as being a resolution of 1920x1080."
Ritsuko did some quick mental math. "1.78... 16:9? That's an odd aspect ratio, even for a theatre."
"Do we even have a monitor that can do that?"
"Of course we don't. Why would we need anything other than 4:3?" She indignantly stated and sighed. "Although it should be easy enough for us to manufacture a tube to those specifications. It's just 4:3 squared."
"Ritsuko, if you thought the ultraviolet radiation from our disc reader was bad, just wait till we get the x-ray radiation from whatever abomination of a CRT we have to make."
The sempai shrugged. "We'll radiate that bridge when we get to it." The terminal beeped. "This is done at least."
"That was quick. Again." Maya went over to her Sempai's terminal. "So what planet are we looking at?"
"Mars seems like a good start. It was out last night, and it's relatively close to Earth."
The command was sent, and the waiting game began as the ancient telescope slowly oriented itself taking the photo and, over an almost unbearable 5 minute period, beaming it down.
"...Mars shouldn't look like that, right?"
~
The gathered council gasped at this image. Murmurs about Impacts, near misses and SEELE filled the virtual room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, order please." The American commanded. "This is indeed concerning, but we are disciplined enough to not let it go to our heads." He opened the floor for debate.
"Chances are they annihilated themselves." The Austrian speculated. "You can see hints of their infrastructure deep in what I assume is LCL."
"If we were able to survive Second Impact, then there's always the chance they could." The Russian representative made his presence known. The Kremlin official thrived after Second Impact, with the melting of Siberia and the opening of new farmland, helping to usher in prosperity for the nation. "We cannot simply assume our problem is solved due to this."
"I agree." Said Kaji. "We can even see evidence of an ocean. I wouldn't be surprised if they planned an Impact level event so as to terraform the planet for their own purposes."
"Another Earth they could rule? Maybe they're homesick, or they gave up on Earth proper." Another, monolithic member of the council mused. Yet another benefactor, known to be a prominent Scientologist.
"SEELE is too determined to just give up on Earth like that though. Is the Commander of NERV Tokyo-3 here?"
She stood to attention.
"Do we know of the location of the Lance of Longinus?"
"Lunar orbit, it ended up there when NERV used it to neutralise the 15th Angel. May I ask the reason for the question?"
The American mused. "I have an idea of what they plan on doing. I will discuss it at our next meeting once I've investigated it further with my constituents, but it involves retrieving the Lance. Is this acceptable Commander Katsuragi?"
"Conditionally. There will be logistical issues involved in retrieving such an object from such a distance."
"As I said, I will develop this further. However your encouragement is appreciated Commander."
"Thank you 02." She bowed.
"Do we have anything further to discuss?"
Silence.
"The meeting is concluded. We will discuss any ideas next time."
The various bodies and monoliths faded and the meeting room deactivated, leaving Kaji and Misato alone.
"Y'know, even though these guys aren't SEELE, it's still weird being in this room."
Kaji shrugged. "You get used to it."
~
"Shinji," his other began, "Whatcha brooding about now?"
"Something got me thinking. You know how Armisael went in our world right?"
She nodded. "How it went so badly..."
"How much worse could it have been?"
"...you're thinking about the discs aren't you?"
He nodded.
"...you shouldn't let it occupy your mind, Shinji. We don't know what's gonna happen because things are so different now. So there's not really a point in brooding over it, right Shinji?"
"..I guess. I was mainly worried about Rei though."
"...yeah, these last couple of episodes really fucked her emotionally, haven't they? Seeing herself... die, if it happens. I probably wouldn't be able to handle it if I was her, in all honesty. And she's already had to deal with seeing herself..."
"...guess we'll just have to be there for her then. Hug her and give her comfort." He sighed, and took station beside Asuka. "I think we will be needing comforting as well, after the next two episodes."
"Knowing how much they like to fuck us, and not in the good way." She fell into Shinji's lap. "Honestly though, I'm kinda dreading seeing myself in the next few episodes... My psyche would've been completely shattered at that point."
"...do you think-"
She shushed him. "...I think I would. My life would've had no purpose at that point..."
Shinji wrapped her up.
They stayed like that for a while.
"...I don't like being melancholic."
~
"Okay. We're almost done with this God forsaken series about us." Misato had beer on hand. "Rei, I know how much shit this has piled on you the past couple of days, so if anyone doesn't want to watch it now, we can wait however long you want."
"I should be fine Misato. As long as I have you all to comfort me during my inevitable breakdown."
"...surely it won't be that bad Rei."
"..considering how the next Angel went in our world, I fear what will happen."
"...I do too." Kaworu added on, holding Rei's hand. "Armisael, and his aftermath. That was one of the lowest points in my life."
"We can always watch this disc over a few days, like we did last time." Kaji added on. "If it gets too much for us."
"..It wouldn't be preferable, but it may be necessary if my.. our emotional states collapse like yesterday."
"...do you want a beer Rei?"
She shook her head. "I don't want any drugs of any kind. I hate having my mind diminished..."
"...Even if it lessens the pain?"
"Yes. Even so. I don't want to become who I once was..."
"..that's fair enough Rei."
~
"Wow. Commander Asshole fucked both Akagis and then fucked both Akagis. Y'know what? Screw shitting on his grave. I'm gonna shit on his fucking corpse."
"I'm sure I could charge for such a business." Misato deadpanned. "Or on his desk."
"You don't shit on his desk, Misato. You'd fuck on it."
"I know for a fact we've already done it on his old desk." Kaji suggested, to a glare.
"Who hasn't? Half of NERV's snuck into his old office to do it."
"And I'm guessing you know from experience Asuka." Misato kept her deadpan.
"You'd think Shinji and I would sneak off into his old office and do it on his desk like rabbits as a form of revenge?" She piously asked.
"Yes."
"As the Americans say, I plead the 5th."
Misato rolled her eyes as Shinji laughed. "What about you two? Did you get some revenge on the old commander too?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny Kaworu and I may or may not have copulated on or around his desk for hours at a time." She methodically answered, to Kaworu's blush and her own giggling.
"Great, so everyone here has gotten revenge on Gendo by using his desk."
"Well, it's not like we can crush him with our Evangelion. I wouldn't mind grabbing him in Unit-02's hands and crushing him like a bug."
"..Honestly, I'd rather just leave him to rot somewhere dark, with the knowledge he will never get what he wants and I would be happier without him." Shinji muttered.
"Well, a coffin is like that I guess." Misato finished off her drink. "I'm guessing you guys want to get into each other's arms after that shitshow."
"I think that would be preferable." Rei replied. "While Kaworu and I have recovered from earlier, I think we could use some... extended recuperation."
Kaworu nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I wouldn't mind a break myself, if it's not an inconvenience."
"Not at all Kaworu." Misato emphasised. "Your emotional states should come first. Get some rest and hopefully we can watch the next episode tomorrow, alright?"
"Thanks Misato." Kaworu gave a shallow bow. "Shall we take our leave Rei?"
"Lets."
They hugged everyone and made their leave. Misato turned off the player for the night. "You guys going to bed?"
Asuka shrugged. "We might as well. Not really much else to do. And we could use some of that 'extended recuperation', as Rei called it." Asuka finished off her beer.
"Don't be too loud you two."
She choked on her beer. "Coming from you Misato, Miss 'Week Straight'."
"I know you'd do it if you could, Asuka."
"Yeah I would, but I am actually a responsible person and don't let matters like that come before my job or education." She turned to Shinji, "Even though I wouldn't mind Shinji~" Asuka amorously muttered, to his blush.
"Didn't you just imply you did it on Gendo's desk?"
"Imply, not confirm like Kaji did!"
She rolled her eyes. "Since you like competition, how about this? You scream tonight, and you get to buy us all ramen for dinner tomorrow. I scream, and I'll buy you all ramen."
"Deal." They shook on it.
Both males were in varying states of shock at the fact their respective partners not only outright said to each other that they were gonna do it with them, right after they confided Misato was like a mother to them, but that they were making competition out of it.
"A-ASUK-mmpfm!" He was hushed with a kiss.
"Come on my baka Shinji, let's go to our room~"
He could only nod, his incandescence glowing.
She dragged him away. "I am gonna be so quiet tonight."
Leaving the other pair alone.
"So. I would think this was inappropriate considering what Rei and Kaworu went through today."
"You'd think, but we had a good couple hours to calm down from that event, and they also seem to have recovered from it. Plus, no point lamenting over it for a third day in a row."
He shrugged. "When you put it that way."
~
Kaworu sighed. "Man, these episodes are really fu-"
Rei threw herself into him and started kissing. Shock turned to eager acceptance as he held onto her, tumbling to the floor with Rei on top. Eventually they needed to breath again, so she took the opportunity to speak. "Kaworu. I am tired of being upset. I have spent the past three days now crying in your arms over this show. I do not want to wallow in my own misery and depression anymore."
"..I agree Rei. I tire of being melancholic."
"Therefore, I would like to become one with you, Kaworu."
"In what senses of the phrase?"
"All." She lowered her field. "Become one with me, darling mine."
Kaworu would've been an idiot to deny such a request.
~
Asuka sighed, resting on Shinji's chest. "There, that helped us feel a bit better, didn't it?" She whispered to him, still in the running.
He chuckled. "It beats brooding over our own sadness."
"Of course it does Shinji! Brooding is pointless and leads to unhappiness." She thought. "Plus, we've been brooding over this gottverdammt show for close to three days. Straight. I'm tired of being upset." She unknowingly echoed.
"...I can see that. Eventually it gets to the point where the stuff this show throws on us gets so absurd, it's almost hilarious. I say almost because it's still us, and it keeps reminding me how trash things could've turned out."
"You really think a botched kiss between us would've resulted in all that? I mean sure, maybe I would have been devastated and hating your guts, but I would've thought that was you being as dense as a neutron star."
"I mean, it did take you kissing me for me to get the hint that you like me." He gave a innocuous titter.
"Just like bashing your head against a brick wall, eventually you get through." She gently knocked his head. "Still though. It kinda puts into perspective how lucky we are, considering how we thought we went through some shit."
That got Shinji thinking. "I wonder how many other universes there are of us."
"Infinite. Literally uncountable, considering how many choices happen daily."
"Fair enough, but what about changes to specific events in our lives? Like, what if... our parents didn't get sucked into their Evangelions?"
"...it definitely would've changed things. I'd hope for the better, but knowing how much the universe seems to hate us, things would end up completely fucked one way or another."
"I don't doubt it. My hope would be that... we'd still end up together in those other universes."
She gave a soft smile. "My baka Shinji being all sentimental? Must be counting your lucky stars you ended up in a universe where you're loved by me."
"Every day since the day we got together, Asuka."
Their lips met.
Their second wind was rudely interrupted by a... pleasured yelp, followed by a loud expletive. Asuka cackled to herself. "YOU LOSE MISATO! YOU OWE US DINNER!" A second, louder expletive, only slightly muffled through the thin walls.
"Guess you don't have to be quiet anymore Asuka."
~
The PA sparked to life, the subcommander's voice on the other end. "Attention NERV personnel. R&D Sections 11, 12 and 14 will be undergoing a scheduled power outage from 1400 to 1500 hours, for equipment testing purposes. There may also be dangerous levels of X-Ray radiation in Section 13 of R&D at the aforementioned time. Please plan accordingly."
Ritsuko groaned at the next memorandum. "In addition, NERV personnel are reminded that.. use of the former Commander Gendo Ikari's desk for.. carnal purposes is prohibited, unless one has obtained written permission from the Commander. If NERV personnel do use his desk for such purposes without obtaining permission, please clean up after yourself, or you will be identified and named in our biweekly newsletter." "Why do I have to do this Misatoooo." She whined as head met desk.
"Because if you didn't, it'd be your name and Maya's in the newsletter."
Maya simply groaned as she hid her incandescence in her hands. "How did this happen, we're smarter than this."
~
"I'm guessing our discussion of his desk resulted in that announcement, right Misato?"
"Well that, and the fact I caught Ritsuko and Maya doing just that."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "I thought they were smarter than that."
"Apparently not."
"I thought their lab has a lockable door for privacy." Rei mused.
"Ah but it's the thrill of revenge and doing it in a place like that. There are a lot of people at NERV who would desire even a microcosm of vengeance against him."
"Plus, i'm sure we can all agree that it's a great way of doing it." Kaji added on after the Nephilim.
"Yeah, of course you'd say that Kaji. Also by the sounds of it, everyone got some action last night."
"Yeah. I grew exhausted of being upset for the third day in a row. Kaworu was exhausted of it as well."
"That kinda sounds like what we did too." Asuka chuckled.
"So you made yourselves happy by doing it?"
"Yes. It's almost like that's what intercourse does."
"Although if we kept doing that every time we wanted to be upset by this show, my pelvis would be broken." Kaworu mused. "Though it's preferable to wallowing in sorrow, I must admit."
Misato rolled her eyes. "Lets just watch the show. Last episode before the finales, so we should expect some emotion."
"...My poor pelvis."
~
"...Rei?"
She was holding onto Kaworu like her life depended on him. "I- I'm not crying. Why am I not crying?" She bemused, melancholic.
Kaworu ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe cause you're tired of crying. Or maybe because I'm here. You know for a fact I'm not gone, like in the show."
"...maybe. But it still felt confronting..."
"It would. That was how I most recall meeting my end, from timelines gone by or timelines to come."
"...you went through it too Nagisa?" Kaji muttered.
"Not as vividly as Rei. But yes. Due to my... ability to sense what happened in other timelines."
"...do you recall going through a timeline like our one Kaworu?"
"...I don't actually."
"Well, you should feel lucky! The cosmos finally decided to cut you a break and let you be happy for once!" Asuka exclaimed, raising the atmosphere significantly as everyone laughed.
"Judging from these episodes, the cosmos gave everyone here a break." Misato deadpanned. The mood being raised, she continued. "Alright, we only have the finales left. But they're formatted on the discs weirdly."
"Yeah, usually it'd be sequential episodes on either side of the disc. The next two discs don't have a single episode, but two single episodes."
Everyone else was confused by the wording.
Asuka rolled her eyes. "As in," She held up the next disc. "Episode 25: A world that's ending. Episode 25 apostrophe, Air."
Acknowledgements in the crowd. "That would imply the next disc is like that too." Rei speculated.
"Correct." Misato said. "So here's what I'm thinking: watch episodes 25 and 26 back to back, then we watch the other episodes 25 and 26, the apostrophised ones. My thinking is they made two finales."
"...I still don't know why they would make two finales to a show?" Shinji bemused.
"Maybe they're both concurrent, and they had to split the finale up between two periods to explain things better, so to speak." Kaworu theorised.
"Or, maybe they ran out of money or time, rushed the first finale out, then when the fanbase threatened to kill the director, they made a proper one to wrap things up better."
"That's a bit of a pessimistic view on it Asuka."
"Knowing this damn show, it's what happened."
"Alright, it's settled then. Tomorrow, we watch the last two non apostrophe ones. Then, the next day, provided nothing happens: we stock up on beer, we get all settled, then we see how this shitshow known as our lives ends."
"It's probably gonna end with the deaths of everyone we know and love." Kaji pessimistically mused.
"Probably. But honestly we should expect that by now. So you might wanna prepare emotionally for such a thing."
"Considering the recent episodes, that would be wise. And probably impossible, considering we don't know what happens."
Misato shrugged at Kaworu's comment.
~
"So this is why they call it 'Happy to be alive sex'."
"Well, it's more like I'm happy you're alive, Kaworu."
Rei was resting on his chest, feeling his gentle breathing. Her description was accurate; she had spent the past few hours... appreciating the fact he was alive. In her own special way.
"It's better than crying, isn't it?"
"Much better. Less depressing for us as well." She sighed. "Still though. It was.. distressing, seeing how you died."
"As it naturally would be. I'm sure everyone was distressed at seeing not only my death, but Asuka's catatonia and Shinji's trauma."
"...yeah. That was a bit upsetting. Throughout this whole show actually. Asuka and Shinji were the first people I had I could consider friends. They helped me through my struggles. Same as you, Kaworu.
To see them all bought low in the show like that, even you were brought low Kaworu. It's hard."
"I know..." He ran a hand over her back. "We persist though, don't we?"
"Yeah. I think it helps I've accepted that it's not us. They may look like us, and sound like us. But they aren't."
"I imagine it also helps you've grown weary of being upset about it."
"Nearly three days, Kaworu. I confided in you how I'm just tired of being upset. I don't like being upset. So now, when I feel upset, I will do the things that make me happy to abolish those thoughts from my mind."
"Which is why you've spent the past couple hours abusing my pelvis."
"Not just your pelvis you dumb fish." She poked. "Though can you really break us when we can pretty much meld into each other at whim?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. What even is our biology anyway?"
She giggled. "Compatible. That's all we need to know~"
She dived down again, but Kaworu was definitely not complaining.
~
"...Is it weird I'm still finding it difficult to feel upset about what's going on in the show anymore?"
"...I kinda feel the same way, Asuka. We've just been dog piled with so much trauma that we can barely process it."
"I mean, it helps we've now been taking a day to process the events of the episode."
"And to brood over it."
"Yeah, we're both guilty of that ain't we Shinji?"
"I thought I was the one who brooded."
She giggled. "I can brood when I want to baka mine. I just don't like doing it. What's done is done. No use holding onto it. Heh, i'm sure a past me would gawk at that train of thought."
"Most of our past selves would, I imagine. Though it helps we've managed to solve some of our problems."
"It probably does help we got together though." Asuka confided, holding her other. "Apart we're pretty broken excuses for a human, but together, we form one whole." She looked into his eyes with a cheeky look. "And not just because we're female and male, you pervert."
"W- well I wasn't thinking of that until you suggested it!"
"It worked then~" She gave a devilish giggle before kissing him. "What say you we become one whole then?"
"Am I really gonna deny that?"
"Only if you were an idiot~" She returned to his lips.
~
Asuka was resting on Shinji's chest, basking in the afterglow.
"Y'know. Considering all the emotional shit we went though, you'd think this would be the last thing we'd do."
"You'd think. This is one of our special ways of making us happy though, ain't it?"
He nodded. "Beats being sad."
"Of course it does." She snuggled into him. "It sucks being upset all the time. I wasn't surprised if Rei and Kaworu were tired of being upset, considering all they've been through."
"At least we have our ways of raising our spirits. Unlike our shows counterparts..."
She boped him on the nose. "No more brooding about what didn't happen mister. Or do I have to give you an incentive."
"Will this be an incentive I like?"
"Well, consider the fact that we're both in bed together, we're not wearing much at all, and you seem to have your stamina back."
He looked down. "Is it ramen?" He teased.
"...FUCK. Misato was meant to buy us dinner today."
~
"Hubble Space Telescope. Ostensibly it was scuttled by the Americans after Second Impact."
"...And you want me to hack into it."
"Yes." Misato bluntly stated. "Kaji did it with a TV satellite and a terminal, you should be able to do it too."
Ritsuko rolled her eyes and snuffed out her cigarette. "Forgetting the fact you think I can just simply hack into anything with a computer in it, is there a reason why we need a space telescope?"
Misato whispered into the subcommander's ear.
"...You're fucking joking."
She handed her a file, in UNOC flair. Ritsuko looked through it.
"By the Gods you aren't. How?"
"Current leading theory is teleportation through a Dirac Sea, but we needed new satellites to test it."
"...So thats what you got Massachusetts doing. But you still haven't answered why we need Hubble when Kaji already got these images."
"Last night, Kaji and I were watching the night skies"
"Not just watching I imagine." She muttered under her breath.
"and we noticed something odd. The morning star was out. At midnight."
Ritsuko thought, and looked up something on her terminal. "It wasn't Venus. I'll see what I can do." She bemused.
"Thanks Rits, I owe you and Maya dinner." She made her leave.
"It better be at that good steak place Misato." She sighed, and typed a few things into her terminal.
Maya almost collided with Misato as she left. "Sempai! I got you lunch!" She was carrying a bag with cafeteria box noodle, for the both of them.
Ritsuko gave a warm smile. Such a great partner. "Thank you Maya." She started on the dainty food, continuing to type.
The Major looked over Ritsuko's shoulder. "A satellite? I don't recognise that serial."
"That's cause its not ours. Its the Americans." She flippantly explained. "Apparently it's a telescope."
"Ooh, like Hubble? I didn't know they put other telescopes up in space after Second Impact."
"It is Hubble."
"Ehh? Didn't they scuttle it after Second Impact?"
Ritsuko shrugged. "Obviously not, or-"
The terminal beeped.
"That seemed quick." The Kohai bemused.
"Not like a satellite would have much security anyway." Ritsuko attempted to interact with the satellite. "We don't have any of the documentation." Head met keyboard.
"Can't the Magi just assume direct control of it?"
"...great Scott you're right." Fingers began rapid firing on the terminal as the Magi began doing their thing.
Maya knew best than to disturb a programmer in their natural habitat, so she returned to her own terminal and box noodle, to see how that video was going. It appeared to be done, so she attempted to open it. But there were a few problems with doing that.
One, attempting to watch the video on her terminal would result in a Halt and Catch Fire due to the resource drain.
Two, the portable terminals only had a screen resolution of 640x480, and with the Magi identifying the potential resolution of the video as an absurd number, that wasn't gonna cut it.
Three, the portable terminals used a bicolour LCD; LCL orange and slightly less orange. Not suitable for video at all.
Four, her specific portable terminal used a command line, with little to no graphics at all.
All these reasons and more meant when she attempted to open the video, her terminal did exactly that: Halt and Catch Fire. Quite literally.
"Your terminal on fire again Maya?" Ritsuko mused after hearing the commotion, not even lifting her eyes from her screen.
"Maybe." She meeped, going for the fire extinguisher and draining it onto the former terminal. "Damn it that's the 3rd one this week. Requisitions is not gonna be happy."
"The video again?"
"Yeah. Do you know what the highest resolution monitor we have?"
"...should be 1024x768, we don't have too many of them around though. Why d'ya ask?"
"The Magi report the foreign disc video as being a resolution of 1920x1080."
Ritsuko did some quick mental math. "1.78... 16:9? That's an odd aspect ratio, even for a theatre."
"Do we even have a monitor that can do that?"
"Of course we don't. Why would we need anything other than 4:3?" She indignantly stated and sighed. "Although it should be easy enough for us to manufacture a tube to those specifications. It's just 4:3 squared."
"Ritsuko, if you thought the ultraviolet radiation from our disc reader was bad, just wait till we get the x-ray radiation from whatever abomination of a CRT we have to make."
The sempai shrugged. "We'll radiate that bridge when we get to it." The terminal beeped. "This is done at least."
"That was quick. Again." Maya went over to her Sempai's terminal. "So what planet are we looking at?"
"Mars seems like a good start. It was out last night, and it's relatively close to Earth."
The command was sent, and the waiting game began as the ancient telescope slowly oriented itself taking the photo and, over an almost unbearable 5 minute period, beaming it down.
"...Mars shouldn't look like that, right?"
~
The gathered council gasped at this image. Murmurs about Impacts, near misses and SEELE filled the virtual room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, order please." The American commanded. "This is indeed concerning, but we are disciplined enough to not let it go to our heads." He opened the floor for debate.
"Chances are they annihilated themselves." The Austrian speculated. "You can see hints of their infrastructure deep in what I assume is LCL."
"If we were able to survive Second Impact, then there's always the chance they could." The Russian representative made his presence known. The Kremlin official thrived after Second Impact, with the melting of Siberia and the opening of new farmland, helping to usher in prosperity for the nation. "We cannot simply assume our problem is solved due to this."
"I agree." Said Kaji. "We can even see evidence of an ocean. I wouldn't be surprised if they planned an Impact level event so as to terraform the planet for their own purposes."
"Another Earth they could rule? Maybe they're homesick, or they gave up on Earth proper." Another, monolithic member of the council mused. Yet another benefactor, known to be a prominent Scientologist.
"SEELE is too determined to just give up on Earth like that though. Is the Commander of NERV Tokyo-3 here?"
She stood to attention.
"Do we know of the location of the Lance of Longinus?"
"Lunar orbit, it ended up there when NERV used it to neutralise the 15th Angel. May I ask the reason for the question?"
The American mused. "I have an idea of what they plan on doing. I will discuss it at our next meeting once I've investigated it further with my constituents, but it involves retrieving the Lance. Is this acceptable Commander Katsuragi?"
"Conditionally. There will be logistical issues involved in retrieving such an object from such a distance."
"As I said, I will develop this further. However your encouragement is appreciated Commander."
"Thank you 02." She bowed.
"Do we have anything further to discuss?"
Silence.
"The meeting is concluded. We will discuss any ideas next time."
The various bodies and monoliths faded and the meeting room deactivated, leaving Kaji and Misato alone.
"Y'know, even though these guys aren't SEELE, it's still weird being in this room."
Kaji shrugged. "You get used to it."
~
"Shinji," his other began, "Whatcha brooding about now?"
"Something got me thinking. You know how Armisael went in our world right?"
She nodded. "How it went so badly..."
"How much worse could it have been?"
"...you're thinking about the discs aren't you?"
He nodded.
"...you shouldn't let it occupy your mind, Shinji. We don't know what's gonna happen because things are so different now. So there's not really a point in brooding over it, right Shinji?"
"..I guess. I was mainly worried about Rei though."
"...yeah, these last couple of episodes really fucked her emotionally, haven't they? Seeing herself... die, if it happens. I probably wouldn't be able to handle it if I was her, in all honesty. And she's already had to deal with seeing herself..."
"...guess we'll just have to be there for her then. Hug her and give her comfort." He sighed, and took station beside Asuka. "I think we will be needing comforting as well, after the next two episodes."
"Knowing how much they like to fuck us, and not in the good way." She fell into Shinji's lap. "Honestly though, I'm kinda dreading seeing myself in the next few episodes... My psyche would've been completely shattered at that point."
"...do you think-"
She shushed him. "...I think I would. My life would've had no purpose at that point..."
Shinji wrapped her up.
They stayed like that for a while.
"...I don't like being melancholic."
~
"Okay. We're almost done with this God forsaken series about us." Misato had beer on hand. "Rei, I know how much shit this has piled on you the past couple of days, so if anyone doesn't want to watch it now, we can wait however long you want."
"I should be fine Misato. As long as I have you all to comfort me during my inevitable breakdown."
"...surely it won't be that bad Rei."
"..considering how the next Angel went in our world, I fear what will happen."
"...I do too." Kaworu added on, holding Rei's hand. "Armisael, and his aftermath. That was one of the lowest points in my life."
"We can always watch this disc over a few days, like we did last time." Kaji added on. "If it gets too much for us."
"..It wouldn't be preferable, but it may be necessary if my.. our emotional states collapse like yesterday."
"...do you want a beer Rei?"
She shook her head. "I don't want any drugs of any kind. I hate having my mind diminished..."
"...Even if it lessens the pain?"
"Yes. Even so. I don't want to become who I once was..."
"..that's fair enough Rei."
~
Swan Song
M: "God damn it Kaji..."
Kaw: "...Not even you were safe from this Misato." He quietly lamented. He wasn't there for Kaji's end, but he picked up the implication.
Kaj: "...it sounds like something I would do. It's just like me to not let you know when I get going."
A: "..you wouldn't do it now though, right Kaji?"
Kaj: "..I hope I don't have to."
~
Depression
A: "Poor Hikari, having to put up with me like that..."
S: "She would be your only friend at this point, right?"
A: "Yeah.. I would've alienated everyone else.. And ashamed to show my face at NERV after my defeats. This would've been the only place I could've gone."
M: "...I can see why you would run away, with a home like that."
A: "I wouldn't ever think of it now. I like you all too much. Her though..." She winced as Hikari spoke. "Hikari, why would you say that..."
R: "Knowing you, Asuka, that would have destroyed you."
A: "...It would." She murmured. "After all I did and all I failed, being told I did my best? I honestly think I would want to end it all at that point." She didn't have to wait for Shinji to wrap his arms around her, cause she did just that to him.
M: "...And no one gives a damn. God damn it Ritsuko..."
Kaj: "...The title is a bit on the nose."
~
Grilling
Kaw: "I knew it. He's getting spitroasted."
Quiet.
Shinji whispered to Asuka. "Should I tell him?"
A: "No, let Rei tell him."
R: "You do know that word is innuendo?"
Kaw: "What's the innuendo?" He innocuously asked.
R: "Think about it for a second Kaworu."
He did.
Head met table, to laughter.
R: "And no, we are not trying it Nagisa."
M: "Gendo must've had balls of steel to ignore SEELE like that."
Kaj: "It helps there was a good reason, like an Angel."
Halo
A: "Why won't that motherfucker unfreeze Unit-01? He's ruining everything by not letting Shinji do shit!"
S: "At this rate, Unit-00 will be the only Evangelion going up against Armisael."
R: "And we all know how events happened when we had four deployed."
A: "Wait, they're still sending me up as bait? I'm in no condition to pilot."
M: "It wouldn't have been great bait anyway, considering Rei was already on combat duty."
~
Infected
R: "...this is like how it happened in our world."
S: "..you don't think that'll happen again, right?"
R: "...I don't know anymore."
A: "...you're being violated again."
R: "...I'd say that's accurate."
Kaworu held her tight.
R: "You were also violated by Armisael Kaworu."
Kaw: "..yeah. Why am I not there..."
A: "...oh God. Fuck not being in the right condition to pilot, I can't pilot..."
S: "Asuka..."
A: "I couldn't do anything..."
Shinji held her tighter.
~
Communication
Rei was trembling.
Kaw: "..Rei?"
R: "..this was the same as well. It contacted me."
A: "..told you about its loneliness?"
R: "Yeah... How an Angel is destined to a life of one. It didn't know of this feeling until I described it to Armisael."
S: "...Now he sends me out, when it's already this far gone..."
A: "He sends you out for her, but not for me... das Arschloch..."
R: "...I was already this far gone when I decided..."
~
One With Me
R: "No... this is too much like what happened."
A: "...This is what you did for us? Rei..."
Rei hid in Kaworu's chest as the scene played out.
Kaworu held her tight against himself, watching what happened.
Tears began falling onto her hair. "...why was this the same?"
"...because this show hates us." Rei choked out. "that's my conclusion."
Misato paused the video, downtrodden like everyone else, leaning on Kaji for support.
"...I couldn't do anything..." Asuka murmured, Shinji holding her tight, mirroring everyone else.
"...I.. I would like some time alone... with Kaworu." Rei mumbled. "I- I..."
"Shh... it's alright Rei. We'll wait up for you." Misato affirmed.
"...thank you Misato." She gave a begging look to Kaworu. They took their leave, leaving the room in silence.
"...this is the third day in a row this fucking show did this to us..." Misato took to her beer in an attempt at some comfort. "I'm getting sick of it."
Asuka meanwhile found she couldn't bring herself to drink her own beer. She instead elected to bury herself in Shinji, at least his warmth could give her some comfort.
~
"...Rei."
"..i am so close to breaking down again. This is the third day this show has brought me low... K-Kaworu?"
He was looking on at her, misty eyed and quaking. "I thought I lost you Rei..."
There was a silence as Rei realised just how much it affected him, seeing her death at the hands of Armisael.
He held her tight and broke down into her shoulder. Now they were alone, he could let down his walls.
The rain started on Rei's end as well, bought on by Kaworu's breakdown.
It was a while before they both calmed down again.
~
Asuka was asleep, resting on Shinji's shoulder. Misato was also resting on Kaji, who in lieu of not being allowed to smoke indoors, had acquired a drink.
They had been like this for a few hours at this point, when Kaworu and Rei reappeared. "We're back." A weary fish spoke, Rei continuing to lean on him for support.
Misato looked towards them. "Heya guys... how you feeling?"
"...drained. I think that's the best word to describe how I feel." Rei spoke quietly.
"Three days in a row of going through that shit would do that to you." Kaji spoke.
Asuka stirred. "ehoh, you're back guys." She gave a gentle smile. "Feeling alright?"
"...better than we were, I suppose." Kaworu replied, sitting down on the couch with Rei.
"You guys still wanna continue watching?" Shinji queried. "After all that?"
"We... will persevere. I feel emotionally drained, so does Kaworu. I doubt we will have a breakdown like that again, for today at least."
The cast look downtrodden. "...do you guys want to watch the next episode tomorrow then?"
"...I think that would be preferable." Rei admitted. "All I desire at this point is comfort."
"I can understand that." Misato conceded. The episode continued.
~
Annihilated
Kaworu winced at the destroyed entry plug. Rei replied by running a hand over his face. "It's okay Kaworu."
Kaw: "...And now it's almost time for my appearance it seems."
S: "..What do they mean by another sacrifice?"
A: "...Maybe they mean doing what they did to this Fuyutsuki to someone else."
M: "Man I hope not... at least I'm trying to comfort Shinji I guess."
~
Comfort
Misato gagged on her drink as she realised what her show's counterpart was attempting to do. "What the actual fuck is wrong with me?"
A: "...I can't even yell at you Misato, for wanting to do such a thing."
S: "Given how fucked up we all are at this point, I can understand why you'd want to do that."
M: "But that's disgusting! Why the hell would I do that to someone who is essentially my child?!" She continued admonishing her show's self, before realising what she said and going red in embarrassment.
S: "..you consider us your children Misato?"
M: "...Of course I do Shinji. For one I'm your guardian, and I genuinely care for all your wellbeing. I... I really struggled myself when I thought we lost Rei. It... it did feel like losing a child to me."
A: "...We discussed it a few days ago, when we left you two alone for a bit. We all consider you a mother to us too, Misato."
M: "...what about your actual mothers?"
S: "We went without them for over a decade, and they're both stuck in our Evangelions. It's difficult for them to be mothers to us when the only interaction we have with them is through our Eva."
A: "You've been more of a mother to all us than anyone else has been."
Tears started welling up in Misato's eyes. "You sure know how to make a girl feel old." She teased through her emotion.
Asuka went up to give their guardian a warm hug. Which she returned in kind.
Kaj: "Are you guys gonna join in?"
The other pilots didn't need much more incentive.
~
Software Version 3.0
S: "We thought this was completely miraculous when you ended up alive Rei."
Kaw: "Indeed. I think it kept me from ending it all."
R: "...But then you realised I forgot everything about us."
Kaw: "Yes... That wasn't pleasant... but it's in the past now." He held onto her.
R: "...it's still a bit distant to me, honestly. Echoes of... my past life. But the feeling was still there."
A: "And you remembered eventually, didn't ya?"
R: "...yeah. With all your help."
~
Offering
M: "Oh you utter son of a fuck, Gendo Ikari." Misato angrily muttered.
A: "Fucking perverted old men... I don't like Ritsuko, but she shouldn't have to go through that shit."
R: "He sent her as a substitute to me?"
M: "Not that I know of, and I would know, because I would've cut off his manhood and fed it to the goats."
Kaw: "...We don't have any goats."
M: "Well I'll make do then!"
Kaj: "I wouldn't doubt it."
A: "Only reason she hasn't gelded you Kaji, is cause she likes ya."
M: "And cause I'm emotionally dependent on him."
A: "Join the club. I'm sure a therapist would classify our relationships as 'dangerously codependent'," She mocked, "but fuck them I love Shinji."
~
Returned
M: "...I think those bastards did something to her."
A: "She looks a bit tense. I wouldn't be surprised if the revelation Gendo gave her away like some object went to her head."
R: "Did she really need to be naked for that though?"
A: "No, and that's one of the reasons why SEELE are a bunch of perverted old men."
Kaj: "Even if they weren't punished for being perverted, that would be the least of their worries, considering their crimes pretty much guaranteed them a front row seat to the firing squad."
A: "Which I'm guessing they faced."
Kaj: "The ones we've caught at least. Of course there's the whole 'due process' we have to follow, even though everyone knows it."
Kaw: "Ah, but its those processes that separate us from them, even if the result is obvious."
~
Restraint
S: "I wonder why Ritsuko would do that."
M: "Obviously so you could see something, I imagine."
A: "Ooh, and you're gonna see it too Misato."
Misato sighed. "I can't believe our friendship would get to the point where I'm holding her at gunpoint to find out something... And with Shinji watching too..."
R: "Have you ever been down there Misato?"
M: "To an extent. After the whole SEELE shit, and on us becoming commander and subcommander, Ritsuko showed me just about everything."
Kaj: "I assume it was a much more civil affair than what's being depicted."
M: "In the fact that I didn't have to hold her at gunpoint, yes it was much more civil."
R: "...I remember that room. Vaguely."
A: "It looks even more dilapidated than your old apartment Rei."
R: "...I don't remember liking it that well."
~
Graveyard
A: "Well that's horrifying."
M: "The prototype graveyard, yeah it was pretty sickening."
Kaw: "So you just dumped them as deep as you could?"
Misato shrugged. "What else were we to do with them? It takes a lot of effort to make an Eva, failures were and still are expected."
S: "...Mother disappeared there?"
M: "Oh God, I think she has gone mental. Not Ritsuko too... what did she do?"
A: "Other than be in bed with Gendo?"
M: "...okay, maybe that Ritsuko. Not our Ritsuko though... Okay, maybe our Ritsuko for a bit. But not to that extent."
~
Tank Girl
Asuka gagged. "Oh my God, is that the Rei tank I heard of?"
R: "...Yes. It is. I wouldn't have expected it to have lasted this long."
Kaj: "That's horrifying. That's you Rei."
R: "Not me. Or more accurately, the thing that makes me me. They don't have a soul. My soul."
Kaw: "...so that's what a dummy plug is. Wait, does that mean the MP-Evangelion use clones of me?" He thought.
Asuka shivered. "...Literally mindless dolls... I always wondered why you didn't tell us about this earlier Rei..."
R: "I don't like to think about it, honestly."
S: "I can see why... it would be a reminder of expendability, wouldn't it?"
R: "Exactly. While its destruction was an inconvenience, I don't miss it. Not at all."
M: "...It wasn't Ritsuko who destroyed it though."
R: "...no. I can understand her thinking though."
Kaw: "...a soulless body. You can see how people would think of them abominations."
R: "Still... it's confronting seeing what are essentially clones of yourself die. But honestly? I don't feel much. Not after the recent episodes. Not even compared to the start of this episode."
A: "...it's cause they're not you, Rei."
R: "...that could be it. Or maybe I just tire of being upset."
Kaw: "I can relate with that."
~
M: "God damn it Kaji..."
Kaw: "...Not even you were safe from this Misato." He quietly lamented. He wasn't there for Kaji's end, but he picked up the implication.
Kaj: "...it sounds like something I would do. It's just like me to not let you know when I get going."
A: "..you wouldn't do it now though, right Kaji?"
Kaj: "..I hope I don't have to."
~
Depression
A: "Poor Hikari, having to put up with me like that..."
S: "She would be your only friend at this point, right?"
A: "Yeah.. I would've alienated everyone else.. And ashamed to show my face at NERV after my defeats. This would've been the only place I could've gone."
M: "...I can see why you would run away, with a home like that."
A: "I wouldn't ever think of it now. I like you all too much. Her though..." She winced as Hikari spoke. "Hikari, why would you say that..."
R: "Knowing you, Asuka, that would have destroyed you."
A: "...It would." She murmured. "After all I did and all I failed, being told I did my best? I honestly think I would want to end it all at that point." She didn't have to wait for Shinji to wrap his arms around her, cause she did just that to him.
M: "...And no one gives a damn. God damn it Ritsuko..."
Kaj: "...The title is a bit on the nose."
~
Grilling
Kaw: "I knew it. He's getting spitroasted."
Quiet.
Shinji whispered to Asuka. "Should I tell him?"
A: "No, let Rei tell him."
R: "You do know that word is innuendo?"
Kaw: "What's the innuendo?" He innocuously asked.
R: "Think about it for a second Kaworu."
He did.
Head met table, to laughter.
R: "And no, we are not trying it Nagisa."
M: "Gendo must've had balls of steel to ignore SEELE like that."
Kaj: "It helps there was a good reason, like an Angel."
Halo
A: "Why won't that motherfucker unfreeze Unit-01? He's ruining everything by not letting Shinji do shit!"
S: "At this rate, Unit-00 will be the only Evangelion going up against Armisael."
R: "And we all know how events happened when we had four deployed."
A: "Wait, they're still sending me up as bait? I'm in no condition to pilot."
M: "It wouldn't have been great bait anyway, considering Rei was already on combat duty."
~
Infected
R: "...this is like how it happened in our world."
S: "..you don't think that'll happen again, right?"
R: "...I don't know anymore."
A: "...you're being violated again."
R: "...I'd say that's accurate."
Kaworu held her tight.
R: "You were also violated by Armisael Kaworu."
Kaw: "..yeah. Why am I not there..."
A: "...oh God. Fuck not being in the right condition to pilot, I can't pilot..."
S: "Asuka..."
A: "I couldn't do anything..."
Shinji held her tighter.
~
Communication
Rei was trembling.
Kaw: "..Rei?"
R: "..this was the same as well. It contacted me."
A: "..told you about its loneliness?"
R: "Yeah... How an Angel is destined to a life of one. It didn't know of this feeling until I described it to Armisael."
S: "...Now he sends me out, when it's already this far gone..."
A: "He sends you out for her, but not for me... das Arschloch..."
R: "...I was already this far gone when I decided..."
~
One With Me
R: "No... this is too much like what happened."
A: "...This is what you did for us? Rei..."
Rei hid in Kaworu's chest as the scene played out.
Kaworu held her tight against himself, watching what happened.
Tears began falling onto her hair. "...why was this the same?"
"...because this show hates us." Rei choked out. "that's my conclusion."
Misato paused the video, downtrodden like everyone else, leaning on Kaji for support.
"...I couldn't do anything..." Asuka murmured, Shinji holding her tight, mirroring everyone else.
"...I.. I would like some time alone... with Kaworu." Rei mumbled. "I- I..."
"Shh... it's alright Rei. We'll wait up for you." Misato affirmed.
"...thank you Misato." She gave a begging look to Kaworu. They took their leave, leaving the room in silence.
"...this is the third day in a row this fucking show did this to us..." Misato took to her beer in an attempt at some comfort. "I'm getting sick of it."
Asuka meanwhile found she couldn't bring herself to drink her own beer. She instead elected to bury herself in Shinji, at least his warmth could give her some comfort.
~
"...Rei."
"..i am so close to breaking down again. This is the third day this show has brought me low... K-Kaworu?"
He was looking on at her, misty eyed and quaking. "I thought I lost you Rei..."
There was a silence as Rei realised just how much it affected him, seeing her death at the hands of Armisael.
He held her tight and broke down into her shoulder. Now they were alone, he could let down his walls.
The rain started on Rei's end as well, bought on by Kaworu's breakdown.
It was a while before they both calmed down again.
~
Asuka was asleep, resting on Shinji's shoulder. Misato was also resting on Kaji, who in lieu of not being allowed to smoke indoors, had acquired a drink.
They had been like this for a few hours at this point, when Kaworu and Rei reappeared. "We're back." A weary fish spoke, Rei continuing to lean on him for support.
Misato looked towards them. "Heya guys... how you feeling?"
"...drained. I think that's the best word to describe how I feel." Rei spoke quietly.
"Three days in a row of going through that shit would do that to you." Kaji spoke.
Asuka stirred. "ehoh, you're back guys." She gave a gentle smile. "Feeling alright?"
"...better than we were, I suppose." Kaworu replied, sitting down on the couch with Rei.
"You guys still wanna continue watching?" Shinji queried. "After all that?"
"We... will persevere. I feel emotionally drained, so does Kaworu. I doubt we will have a breakdown like that again, for today at least."
The cast look downtrodden. "...do you guys want to watch the next episode tomorrow then?"
"...I think that would be preferable." Rei admitted. "All I desire at this point is comfort."
"I can understand that." Misato conceded. The episode continued.
~
Annihilated
Kaworu winced at the destroyed entry plug. Rei replied by running a hand over his face. "It's okay Kaworu."
Kaw: "...And now it's almost time for my appearance it seems."
S: "..What do they mean by another sacrifice?"
A: "...Maybe they mean doing what they did to this Fuyutsuki to someone else."
M: "Man I hope not... at least I'm trying to comfort Shinji I guess."
~
Comfort
Misato gagged on her drink as she realised what her show's counterpart was attempting to do. "What the actual fuck is wrong with me?"
A: "...I can't even yell at you Misato, for wanting to do such a thing."
S: "Given how fucked up we all are at this point, I can understand why you'd want to do that."
M: "But that's disgusting! Why the hell would I do that to someone who is essentially my child?!" She continued admonishing her show's self, before realising what she said and going red in embarrassment.
S: "..you consider us your children Misato?"
M: "...Of course I do Shinji. For one I'm your guardian, and I genuinely care for all your wellbeing. I... I really struggled myself when I thought we lost Rei. It... it did feel like losing a child to me."
A: "...We discussed it a few days ago, when we left you two alone for a bit. We all consider you a mother to us too, Misato."
M: "...what about your actual mothers?"
S: "We went without them for over a decade, and they're both stuck in our Evangelions. It's difficult for them to be mothers to us when the only interaction we have with them is through our Eva."
A: "You've been more of a mother to all us than anyone else has been."
Tears started welling up in Misato's eyes. "You sure know how to make a girl feel old." She teased through her emotion.
Asuka went up to give their guardian a warm hug. Which she returned in kind.
Kaj: "Are you guys gonna join in?"
The other pilots didn't need much more incentive.
~
Software Version 3.0
S: "We thought this was completely miraculous when you ended up alive Rei."
Kaw: "Indeed. I think it kept me from ending it all."
R: "...But then you realised I forgot everything about us."
Kaw: "Yes... That wasn't pleasant... but it's in the past now." He held onto her.
R: "...it's still a bit distant to me, honestly. Echoes of... my past life. But the feeling was still there."
A: "And you remembered eventually, didn't ya?"
R: "...yeah. With all your help."
~
Offering
M: "Oh you utter son of a fuck, Gendo Ikari." Misato angrily muttered.
A: "Fucking perverted old men... I don't like Ritsuko, but she shouldn't have to go through that shit."
R: "He sent her as a substitute to me?"
M: "Not that I know of, and I would know, because I would've cut off his manhood and fed it to the goats."
Kaw: "...We don't have any goats."
M: "Well I'll make do then!"
Kaj: "I wouldn't doubt it."
A: "Only reason she hasn't gelded you Kaji, is cause she likes ya."
M: "And cause I'm emotionally dependent on him."
A: "Join the club. I'm sure a therapist would classify our relationships as 'dangerously codependent'," She mocked, "but fuck them I love Shinji."
~
Returned
M: "...I think those bastards did something to her."
A: "She looks a bit tense. I wouldn't be surprised if the revelation Gendo gave her away like some object went to her head."
R: "Did she really need to be naked for that though?"
A: "No, and that's one of the reasons why SEELE are a bunch of perverted old men."
Kaj: "Even if they weren't punished for being perverted, that would be the least of their worries, considering their crimes pretty much guaranteed them a front row seat to the firing squad."
A: "Which I'm guessing they faced."
Kaj: "The ones we've caught at least. Of course there's the whole 'due process' we have to follow, even though everyone knows it."
Kaw: "Ah, but its those processes that separate us from them, even if the result is obvious."
~
Restraint
S: "I wonder why Ritsuko would do that."
M: "Obviously so you could see something, I imagine."
A: "Ooh, and you're gonna see it too Misato."
Misato sighed. "I can't believe our friendship would get to the point where I'm holding her at gunpoint to find out something... And with Shinji watching too..."
R: "Have you ever been down there Misato?"
M: "To an extent. After the whole SEELE shit, and on us becoming commander and subcommander, Ritsuko showed me just about everything."
Kaj: "I assume it was a much more civil affair than what's being depicted."
M: "In the fact that I didn't have to hold her at gunpoint, yes it was much more civil."
R: "...I remember that room. Vaguely."
A: "It looks even more dilapidated than your old apartment Rei."
R: "...I don't remember liking it that well."
~
Graveyard
A: "Well that's horrifying."
M: "The prototype graveyard, yeah it was pretty sickening."
Kaw: "So you just dumped them as deep as you could?"
Misato shrugged. "What else were we to do with them? It takes a lot of effort to make an Eva, failures were and still are expected."
S: "...Mother disappeared there?"
M: "Oh God, I think she has gone mental. Not Ritsuko too... what did she do?"
A: "Other than be in bed with Gendo?"
M: "...okay, maybe that Ritsuko. Not our Ritsuko though... Okay, maybe our Ritsuko for a bit. But not to that extent."
~
Tank Girl
Asuka gagged. "Oh my God, is that the Rei tank I heard of?"
R: "...Yes. It is. I wouldn't have expected it to have lasted this long."
Kaj: "That's horrifying. That's you Rei."
R: "Not me. Or more accurately, the thing that makes me me. They don't have a soul. My soul."
Kaw: "...so that's what a dummy plug is. Wait, does that mean the MP-Evangelion use clones of me?" He thought.
Asuka shivered. "...Literally mindless dolls... I always wondered why you didn't tell us about this earlier Rei..."
R: "I don't like to think about it, honestly."
S: "I can see why... it would be a reminder of expendability, wouldn't it?"
R: "Exactly. While its destruction was an inconvenience, I don't miss it. Not at all."
M: "...It wasn't Ritsuko who destroyed it though."
R: "...no. I can understand her thinking though."
Kaw: "...a soulless body. You can see how people would think of them abominations."
R: "Still... it's confronting seeing what are essentially clones of yourself die. But honestly? I don't feel much. Not after the recent episodes. Not even compared to the start of this episode."
A: "...it's cause they're not you, Rei."
R: "...that could be it. Or maybe I just tire of being upset."
Kaw: "I can relate with that."
~
"Wow. Commander Asshole fucked both Akagis and then fucked both Akagis. Y'know what? Screw shitting on his grave. I'm gonna shit on his fucking corpse."
"I'm sure I could charge for such a business." Misato deadpanned. "Or on his desk."
"You don't shit on his desk, Misato. You'd fuck on it."
"I know for a fact we've already done it on his old desk." Kaji suggested, to a glare.
"Who hasn't? Half of NERV's snuck into his old office to do it."
"And I'm guessing you know from experience Asuka." Misato kept her deadpan.
"You'd think Shinji and I would sneak off into his old office and do it on his desk like rabbits as a form of revenge?" She piously asked.
"Yes."
"As the Americans say, I plead the 5th."
Misato rolled her eyes as Shinji laughed. "What about you two? Did you get some revenge on the old commander too?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny Kaworu and I may or may not have copulated on or around his desk for hours at a time." She methodically answered, to Kaworu's blush and her own giggling.
"Great, so everyone here has gotten revenge on Gendo by using his desk."
"Well, it's not like we can crush him with our Evangelion. I wouldn't mind grabbing him in Unit-02's hands and crushing him like a bug."
"..Honestly, I'd rather just leave him to rot somewhere dark, with the knowledge he will never get what he wants and I would be happier without him." Shinji muttered.
"Well, a coffin is like that I guess." Misato finished off her drink. "I'm guessing you guys want to get into each other's arms after that shitshow."
"I think that would be preferable." Rei replied. "While Kaworu and I have recovered from earlier, I think we could use some... extended recuperation."
Kaworu nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I wouldn't mind a break myself, if it's not an inconvenience."
"Not at all Kaworu." Misato emphasised. "Your emotional states should come first. Get some rest and hopefully we can watch the next episode tomorrow, alright?"
"Thanks Misato." Kaworu gave a shallow bow. "Shall we take our leave Rei?"
"Lets."
They hugged everyone and made their leave. Misato turned off the player for the night. "You guys going to bed?"
Asuka shrugged. "We might as well. Not really much else to do. And we could use some of that 'extended recuperation', as Rei called it." Asuka finished off her beer.
"Don't be too loud you two."
She choked on her beer. "Coming from you Misato, Miss 'Week Straight'."
"I know you'd do it if you could, Asuka."
"Yeah I would, but I am actually a responsible person and don't let matters like that come before my job or education." She turned to Shinji, "Even though I wouldn't mind Shinji~" Asuka amorously muttered, to his blush.
"Didn't you just imply you did it on Gendo's desk?"
"Imply, not confirm like Kaji did!"
She rolled her eyes. "Since you like competition, how about this? You scream tonight, and you get to buy us all ramen for dinner tomorrow. I scream, and I'll buy you all ramen."
"Deal." They shook on it.
Both males were in varying states of shock at the fact their respective partners not only outright said to each other that they were gonna do it with them, right after they confided Misato was like a mother to them, but that they were making competition out of it.
"A-ASUK-mmpfm!" He was hushed with a kiss.
"Come on my baka Shinji, let's go to our room~"
He could only nod, his incandescence glowing.
She dragged him away. "I am gonna be so quiet tonight."
Leaving the other pair alone.
"So. I would think this was inappropriate considering what Rei and Kaworu went through today."
"You'd think, but we had a good couple hours to calm down from that event, and they also seem to have recovered from it. Plus, no point lamenting over it for a third day in a row."
He shrugged. "When you put it that way."
~
Kaworu sighed. "Man, these episodes are really fu-"
Rei threw herself into him and started kissing. Shock turned to eager acceptance as he held onto her, tumbling to the floor with Rei on top. Eventually they needed to breath again, so she took the opportunity to speak. "Kaworu. I am tired of being upset. I have spent the past three days now crying in your arms over this show. I do not want to wallow in my own misery and depression anymore."
"..I agree Rei. I tire of being melancholic."
"Therefore, I would like to become one with you, Kaworu."
"In what senses of the phrase?"
"All." She lowered her field. "Become one with me, darling mine."
Kaworu would've been an idiot to deny such a request.
~
Asuka sighed, resting on Shinji's chest. "There, that helped us feel a bit better, didn't it?" She whispered to him, still in the running.
He chuckled. "It beats brooding over our own sadness."
"Of course it does Shinji! Brooding is pointless and leads to unhappiness." She thought. "Plus, we've been brooding over this gottverdammt show for close to three days. Straight. I'm tired of being upset." She unknowingly echoed.
"...I can see that. Eventually it gets to the point where the stuff this show throws on us gets so absurd, it's almost hilarious. I say almost because it's still us, and it keeps reminding me how trash things could've turned out."
"You really think a botched kiss between us would've resulted in all that? I mean sure, maybe I would have been devastated and hating your guts, but I would've thought that was you being as dense as a neutron star."
"I mean, it did take you kissing me for me to get the hint that you like me." He gave a innocuous titter.
"Just like bashing your head against a brick wall, eventually you get through." She gently knocked his head. "Still though. It kinda puts into perspective how lucky we are, considering how we thought we went through some shit."
That got Shinji thinking. "I wonder how many other universes there are of us."
"Infinite. Literally uncountable, considering how many choices happen daily."
"Fair enough, but what about changes to specific events in our lives? Like, what if... our parents didn't get sucked into their Evangelions?"
"...it definitely would've changed things. I'd hope for the better, but knowing how much the universe seems to hate us, things would end up completely fucked one way or another."
"I don't doubt it. My hope would be that... we'd still end up together in those other universes."
She gave a soft smile. "My baka Shinji being all sentimental? Must be counting your lucky stars you ended up in a universe where you're loved by me."
"Every day since the day we got together, Asuka."
Their lips met.
Their second wind was rudely interrupted by a... pleasured yelp, followed by a loud expletive. Asuka cackled to herself. "YOU LOSE MISATO! YOU OWE US DINNER!" A second, louder expletive, only slightly muffled through the thin walls.
"Guess you don't have to be quiet anymore Asuka."
~
The PA sparked to life, the subcommander's voice on the other end. "Attention NERV personnel. R&D Sections 11, 12 and 14 will be undergoing a scheduled power outage from 1400 to 1500 hours, for equipment testing purposes. There may also be dangerous levels of X-Ray radiation in Section 13 of R&D at the aforementioned time. Please plan accordingly."
Ritsuko groaned at the next memorandum. "In addition, NERV personnel are reminded that.. use of the former Commander Gendo Ikari's desk for.. carnal purposes is prohibited, unless one has obtained written permission from the Commander. If NERV personnel do use his desk for such purposes without obtaining permission, please clean up after yourself, or you will be identified and named in our biweekly newsletter." "Why do I have to do this Misatoooo." She whined as head met desk.
"Because if you didn't, it'd be your name and Maya's in the newsletter."
Maya simply groaned as she hid her incandescence in her hands. "How did this happen, we're smarter than this."
~
"I'm guessing our discussion of his desk resulted in that announcement, right Misato?"
"Well that, and the fact I caught Ritsuko and Maya doing just that."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "I thought they were smarter than that."
"Apparently not."
"I thought their lab has a lockable door for privacy." Rei mused.
"Ah but it's the thrill of revenge and doing it in a place like that. There are a lot of people at NERV who would desire even a microcosm of vengeance against him."
"Plus, i'm sure we can all agree that it's a great way of doing it." Kaji added on after the Nephilim.
"Yeah, of course you'd say that Kaji. Also by the sounds of it, everyone got some action last night."
"Yeah. I grew exhausted of being upset for the third day in a row. Kaworu was exhausted of it as well."
"That kinda sounds like what we did too." Asuka chuckled.
"So you made yourselves happy by doing it?"
"Yes. It's almost like that's what intercourse does."
"Although if we kept doing that every time we wanted to be upset by this show, my pelvis would be broken." Kaworu mused. "Though it's preferable to wallowing in sorrow, I must admit."
Misato rolled her eyes. "Lets just watch the show. Last episode before the finales, so we should expect some emotion."
"...My poor pelvis."
~
Gutpunch
A: "Oh no... no no no no no."
S: "Asuka?"
A: "I remember this... this is when I found her..." She choked on her words as the scene played out.
Shocked silence.
M: "...God. You.. found her like that?"
She meekly nodded, eyes welling, clearly not enjoying the memory.
M: "...i'm so sorry Asuka..."
The show continued beating her down.
R: "Finding out about Kaji would've devastated you further, at this point."
A: "...am I.. doing what I think I'm doing..?" She looked on as her other self laid catatonic.
S: "..Asuka.. is that.. blood?"
A: "...I think so."
Shinji held her tight.
A: "...i can't even imagine myself doing that now... but i can see how she would want to."
He ran his hand over her head to give her comfort. "That's not you Asuka..."
A: "...why does this show hate me?"
She sobbed meekly into his chest.
~
Imprisoned
R: "Sounds like you finally get to make an appearance Kaworu."
Kaw: "Won't be a great one this late into the scenario."
M: "Poor Ritsuko... She's been pretty shafted in this show."
A: "...everyone's been shafted Misato." Asuka was still timid, after that gut punch of a start.
Kaj: "Us all more than anyone."
M: "You can't get more shafted than dead, Kaji."
Kaj: "And this is why we fight SEELE. Because they seek to destroy everything we know and love."
~
5th Child
M: "Man, even after the destruction of Armisael, I don't remember Tokyo-3 being this run down."
S: "It looks like it turn all of Tokyo-3 into a lake."
M: "Obviously not our apartments. Still though, I'm not surprised no one is there anymore. Who would want to live there?"
A: "...we had to. If you could call it living at this point."
S: "...Especially when it sounds like we've all been alienated from one another.. for one reason or another."
R: "...I can understand how your show's self can think that about me, Shinji."
S: "I don't think that."
Kaj: "Well would you look at that. The show's almost done and Nagisa's finally there."
Kaw: "My thoughts exactly. Although I anticipated this."
M: "Isn't it kinda revealing you calling us 'Lilim'?"
Kaw: "You'd think, but not too many people would pick up on it. And if they did, you could always pass it off as another language like German or English."
M: "Unless they happened to know both."
A: "...At least you're friendly with Shinji this far into the show, Kaworu. You better not betray him later."
Kaworu was quiet. "I don't know exactly what he would do at this point. But I already fear the worse. Please don't be mad at me if it happens."
A: "...I can't be mad at you honestly." She murmured. "Even if you do hurt Shinji. You two would be so different at this point in time, you might as well be separate people."
Kaw: "Indeed. That applies to everyone in this show, after the show diverged."
~
Harmonic
Asuka sighed, her emotional state slowly improving with the help of Shinji's warmth. "Can't believe I'm this far gone, having to get Kaworu to use my Unit."
Kaw: "You can understand why they got me at least."
A: "...yeah. She can't pilot anymore. No use keeping someone that useless..."
Shinji kept hugging her. "You're not useless Asuka."
R: "...I wonder what Unit i'm being tested on, considering Unit-00 is destroyed."
M: "I would say Unit-01, but considering in this reality, Unit-01 rejects you because of what Gendo did, that wouldn't happen."
Kaw: "This is a harmonics test though. It sounds like NERV makes a distinction between Sync and Harmonics."
Misato thought. "Synchronisation uses Evangelion. Maybe harmonics doesn't?"
A: "..You don't know? You're the damn commander, how do you not know?" Her incredulity shined through her melancholy.
M: "The specifics of the Evangelion are lost to me. That's more Ritsuko's line of knowledge."
Kaj: "Still though, it seems odd Nagisa has such a high harmonics rate."
Kaw: "Not odd at all. With my.. unique biology, I can control any of Adam's children myself. I don't elect to do this however.
A: "Because the resident souls of the Eva don't like being possessed?"
Kaw: "Something like that."
M: "...Hang on Kaworu, does that mean you can potentially control a coreless Evangelion?"
Kaw: "Potentially, if it's one of Adam's children and not Lilith's children. Although I fear I could merge with it, which will not be good."
M: "...so that leaves two potential Evangelions you could use."
R: "At least some things don't change. I still had an... odd, reaction to your presence. At least initially.
Kaw: "At least I wasn't bounced against a tree this time." He mused.
~
Home Alone
M: "...man, our family pretty much collapsed, didn't it?"
S: "With all the shit they're going through, I'm not surprised."
A: "Especially with how they don't communicate with anyone at all."
R: "At least Kaworu is being nice to Shinji in this scenario."
A: "Yeah. A small bit of happiness in this fucked up world."
M: "Maybe more than a small bit of happiness."
A: "...Kaworu Nagisa, you sly dog." She gave a chuckle. "You two might as well be dating at this point."
Shinji and Kaworu were spluttering, to a rare bit of laughter at this point in the show.
M: "I didn't know you swung both ways Kaworu." She said cheekily.
Kaw: "A- w- well, I believe that anyone can love anyone equally, no matter what. Same as I love all of you, for differing reasons."
S: "A-and at this stage, I probably would've accepted any love I could get."
Kaj: "Damn Kaworu, you're really coming onto poor Shinji." He chuckled.
A: "If I was this forthcoming with you in this show Shinji, things would've ended up like they are today."
Shinji and Kaworu's collective incandescence could outshine the moon.
M: "And you're inadvertently showing him your stuff. Good going Kaworu."
R: "And confessing your love to him. Good going Kaworu."
Kaj: "Forgetting the yaoi bait for a minute, this is gonna completely destroy Shinji if you fall to your instincts Kaworu."
The atmosphere of the room suddenly shifted.
Kaw: "...I hope it doesn't come to pass. It may be a vain hope though."
~
Malfeasance
M: "So they decided to invade NERV this early..."
Kaj: "It makes sense to them. They felt NERV was getting too powerful. Not theirs to control anymore."
S: "Makes sense, considering what happened in the past few episodes."
A: "Especially considering he's still doing it at this point, talking to your Eva like that."
Kaw: "Obviously talking to the soul inside, though whether or not she can understand him is anyone's guess."
Kaworu winced at the sight of Adam, but he was able to power through it. He did it once before. He could do it again.
A: "So thats what Gendo did, what the fuck is wrong with him?"
Kaj: "Ohhhh, god damn it I should've known he'd pull something like that."
M: "Bastard, kept Adam close to him so it could stay safe."
S: "...That's why he was wearing gloves all the time."
~
Existential
R: "...I don't remember being this existential after I was reborn."
Kaw: "After all that happened, I can see why you'd be thinking that."
R: "...At least here, when I was reborn, I had Asuka and Shinji to continue living for. Until I remembered you again, Kaworu."
Kaw: "Now you have them and me."
R: "Yes. Life is worth living with all of you."
M: "...not even Pen-Pen is safe from being apart from his family.. I can see why you wouldn't want to live in that broken home anymore Shinji."
S: "There would be nothing there for me... and with how Kaworu made the me of the show feel, I can see how i'd feel more comfortable with him."
~
Born to Meet You
A: "No offence or anything Kaworu, but I find it completely stupid that the you of the show managed to get so close with Shinji whereas Shinji and I in the show completely alienated each other."
Kaw: "No offence taken Asuka. I find it odd too, considering it took me a while to get that close with Rei."
R: "I find it a bit odd too, seeing you with someone else other than me, but I should expect something like that considering how different this universe has become from ours."
M: "..It's almost like the director wanted to pair the two together."
Kaw: "Even though we've only been together for at most a few days so far."
M: "You must consider though, girls love yaoi pairings."
A: "...so it's fanservice?"
M: "Possibly, just speculation though, considering this show has definitely come from another universe."
A: "With how much it likes to show us naked, I would've imagined all the women watching this show would've been turned away in disgust."
S: "Well, you're not exactly an otaku are you Asuka?"
A: "Not at all, this show is the only exception, and it's a pretty justified exception because it's literally us. Well, at one point it was at least."
~
Meeting
Kaj: "Hang on a minute, how the hell are they doing that? I thought they were holograms."
Kaw: "I suspect it's a form of Angelic power, in being able to communicate with them from afar. Though I don't know for certain because I've never used such a power, and I don't know for certain if I even have such a power."
R: "Considering all the powers we do have, I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe the monoliths are visual representations of this power."
A: "So more artistic license then?"
M: "Asuka, we can't even tell artistic license from reality anymore, with how far things have diverged."
A: "Fair enough. But does this mean Kaworu will do what other Angels tried to do?"
Kaw: "...I think so."
M: "Maybe it was a power, considering my show's self didn't have a reaction to any monolith."
Kaw: "I can see why you'd be spying on me, considering my situation."
M: "We did suspect a few shady things about you when you first got here, but they were kinda forgotten when Rei decided to take a liking to you. If Rei out of all people could grow to trust you, then surely we could too."
Kaw: "I must thank you for another thing then, Rei."
R: "..you're welcome?"
~
Suspicion
M: "Man, I can't believe I would be that manipulative to Makoto."
Kaj: "Seems you were playing off his like for you."
M: "Probably. Honestly I shouldn't be surprised how much my mentality has changed after you.. got killed."
Kaj: "...I'm mainly glad you would've kept up the fight, had I made that decision. Honestly if it wasn't for you lot, I'd probably make that decision on my own general principle."
R: "Your relations with us kept you here?"
Kaj: "Exactly."
S: "That could apply to everyone here, in all honesty. We're all so dangerously codependent on on another I wouldn't be surprised if we all kept each other tethered to this world."
A: "Not that you mind though."
S: "Yeah. Codependence is alright, just gotta make sure nothing bad happens to anyone."
~
Final Messenger
Kaworu closed his eyes and sighed as he saw his other self succumb. "You idiot..."
R: "...Shinji couldn't keep you tethered enough to not fall to your call?"
Kaw: "Evidently not."
A: "Oh my God, I actually am fucking catatonic..." She fell into Shinji's arms. "You better not hurt Mama Kaworu."
Kaw: "Had I known, I wouldn't have done it."
S: "...this is gonna destroy me."
Kaw: "...this is what SEELE wanted. But I refused. I would not succumb to my call, because that would've meant the destruction of all I loved."
M: "You had Shinji in this show. But even then that did not stop you."
Kaw: "...The call is strong. I'd liken myself to a docked ship. If a ship was attached to the dock by a single rope, and it breaks, it will certainly drift away. With many ropes however, it has a higher chance to stay tethered. This is how our relationships work."
S: "...I knew it. Gods damn it, even the only person in this show who gives me love backstabs me. Not you Kaworu."
Kaw: "I know. I'd hate myself too if I did something like that."
A: "...damn Shinji, that really angered you."
Kaw: "I think I was the only person who told him that I love him. Of course he'd be angry, you'd feel betrayed."
S: "...If it did happen like that. But it didn't."
~
Light of the Soul
A: "Wait, Mama shut herself away from me? I... can understand, after what happened with Arael..."
S: "You couldn't have known at the time Asuka." He comforted her.
Kaj: "...so we have an AT field too?"
Kaw: "Any creature with a soul has an AT field. It's the light of your soul, a sacred barrier where none may pass. For Lilith's offspring though, their AT field is weak, imperceivable to the eye."
R: "Nephilim and Angels can create AT fields however. And we can perceive the AT fields of others. That's how we can see your lights shine around others."
M: "...does that mean you know when we're doing it?"
Kaw: "...not intentionally."
~
Heaven's Door
M: "Honestly, if all signals were cut off like that, we probably would've self destructed."
Kaw: "I can understand why."
A: "We all can. Better than Third Impact. At least we don't have to worry too much about it anymore."
S: "I don't remember going this deep into Terminal Dogma."
A: "I did, but I don't think it counts cause it was hastily censored by Ritsuko."
Kaw: "So... I won. But it would've been in vain anyway, because it's not Adam down in Terminal Dogma."
A: "..Rei? You put up that AT field?"
R: "...It appears so. As a Nephilim of Lillith, I would have done anything in my power to stop an Angel from getting down there." She looked down in melancholy. "You understand, right Kaworu?"
Kaw: "Of course I do. I was the one who entrusted you to destroy me if I fell."
R: "...although it looks like Shinji will be the one to do it."
S: "...why would you make me do it?"
Kaw: "...at this stage I would've been glad it was you taking my life Shinji. And for the survival of your kind as well."
M: "...even though it would completely devastate Shinji."
S: "I honestly don't think I'd want to live after that."
A: "...man, everyone by the end of this shit is either suicidal or borderline. We've had so much shit thrown on us I'm honestly surprised at how much they seem to hate us. I don't think it could get much worse."
Kaw: "The ultimate event that could happen would be Third Impact and Instrumentality you realise."
S: "...so you're saying it can get worse."
Kaw: "Would the you of the show complain if that were to happen?"
S: "...I don't know anymore."
~
Pause
Kaw: "...you're hesitating."
A: "They're running out of money more like."
S: "I would hesitate in this situation..."
Kaw: "...I'm sorry Shinji."
S: "...It's not you, Kaworu. There's no need to apologise."
Rei choked at the visceral sound, and of the splash of his head. Kaworu simply wrapped her up in his arms and closed his eyes, contemplative.
A: "...that's brutal."
S: "...I was right. It did destroy me..."
M: "...and I couldn't do much..."
~
A: "Oh no... no no no no no."
S: "Asuka?"
A: "I remember this... this is when I found her..." She choked on her words as the scene played out.
Shocked silence.
M: "...God. You.. found her like that?"
She meekly nodded, eyes welling, clearly not enjoying the memory.
M: "...i'm so sorry Asuka..."
The show continued beating her down.
R: "Finding out about Kaji would've devastated you further, at this point."
A: "...am I.. doing what I think I'm doing..?" She looked on as her other self laid catatonic.
S: "..Asuka.. is that.. blood?"
A: "...I think so."
Shinji held her tight.
A: "...i can't even imagine myself doing that now... but i can see how she would want to."
He ran his hand over her head to give her comfort. "That's not you Asuka..."
A: "...why does this show hate me?"
She sobbed meekly into his chest.
~
Imprisoned
R: "Sounds like you finally get to make an appearance Kaworu."
Kaw: "Won't be a great one this late into the scenario."
M: "Poor Ritsuko... She's been pretty shafted in this show."
A: "...everyone's been shafted Misato." Asuka was still timid, after that gut punch of a start.
Kaj: "Us all more than anyone."
M: "You can't get more shafted than dead, Kaji."
Kaj: "And this is why we fight SEELE. Because they seek to destroy everything we know and love."
~
5th Child
M: "Man, even after the destruction of Armisael, I don't remember Tokyo-3 being this run down."
S: "It looks like it turn all of Tokyo-3 into a lake."
M: "Obviously not our apartments. Still though, I'm not surprised no one is there anymore. Who would want to live there?"
A: "...we had to. If you could call it living at this point."
S: "...Especially when it sounds like we've all been alienated from one another.. for one reason or another."
R: "...I can understand how your show's self can think that about me, Shinji."
S: "I don't think that."
Kaj: "Well would you look at that. The show's almost done and Nagisa's finally there."
Kaw: "My thoughts exactly. Although I anticipated this."
M: "Isn't it kinda revealing you calling us 'Lilim'?"
Kaw: "You'd think, but not too many people would pick up on it. And if they did, you could always pass it off as another language like German or English."
M: "Unless they happened to know both."
A: "...At least you're friendly with Shinji this far into the show, Kaworu. You better not betray him later."
Kaworu was quiet. "I don't know exactly what he would do at this point. But I already fear the worse. Please don't be mad at me if it happens."
A: "...I can't be mad at you honestly." She murmured. "Even if you do hurt Shinji. You two would be so different at this point in time, you might as well be separate people."
Kaw: "Indeed. That applies to everyone in this show, after the show diverged."
~
Harmonic
Asuka sighed, her emotional state slowly improving with the help of Shinji's warmth. "Can't believe I'm this far gone, having to get Kaworu to use my Unit."
Kaw: "You can understand why they got me at least."
A: "...yeah. She can't pilot anymore. No use keeping someone that useless..."
Shinji kept hugging her. "You're not useless Asuka."
R: "...I wonder what Unit i'm being tested on, considering Unit-00 is destroyed."
M: "I would say Unit-01, but considering in this reality, Unit-01 rejects you because of what Gendo did, that wouldn't happen."
Kaw: "This is a harmonics test though. It sounds like NERV makes a distinction between Sync and Harmonics."
Misato thought. "Synchronisation uses Evangelion. Maybe harmonics doesn't?"
A: "..You don't know? You're the damn commander, how do you not know?" Her incredulity shined through her melancholy.
M: "The specifics of the Evangelion are lost to me. That's more Ritsuko's line of knowledge."
Kaj: "Still though, it seems odd Nagisa has such a high harmonics rate."
Kaw: "Not odd at all. With my.. unique biology, I can control any of Adam's children myself. I don't elect to do this however.
A: "Because the resident souls of the Eva don't like being possessed?"
Kaw: "Something like that."
M: "...Hang on Kaworu, does that mean you can potentially control a coreless Evangelion?"
Kaw: "Potentially, if it's one of Adam's children and not Lilith's children. Although I fear I could merge with it, which will not be good."
M: "...so that leaves two potential Evangelions you could use."
R: "At least some things don't change. I still had an... odd, reaction to your presence. At least initially.
Kaw: "At least I wasn't bounced against a tree this time." He mused.
~
Home Alone
M: "...man, our family pretty much collapsed, didn't it?"
S: "With all the shit they're going through, I'm not surprised."
A: "Especially with how they don't communicate with anyone at all."
R: "At least Kaworu is being nice to Shinji in this scenario."
A: "Yeah. A small bit of happiness in this fucked up world."
M: "Maybe more than a small bit of happiness."
A: "...Kaworu Nagisa, you sly dog." She gave a chuckle. "You two might as well be dating at this point."
Shinji and Kaworu were spluttering, to a rare bit of laughter at this point in the show.
M: "I didn't know you swung both ways Kaworu." She said cheekily.
Kaw: "A- w- well, I believe that anyone can love anyone equally, no matter what. Same as I love all of you, for differing reasons."
S: "A-and at this stage, I probably would've accepted any love I could get."
Kaj: "Damn Kaworu, you're really coming onto poor Shinji." He chuckled.
A: "If I was this forthcoming with you in this show Shinji, things would've ended up like they are today."
Shinji and Kaworu's collective incandescence could outshine the moon.
M: "And you're inadvertently showing him your stuff. Good going Kaworu."
R: "And confessing your love to him. Good going Kaworu."
Kaj: "Forgetting the yaoi bait for a minute, this is gonna completely destroy Shinji if you fall to your instincts Kaworu."
The atmosphere of the room suddenly shifted.
Kaw: "...I hope it doesn't come to pass. It may be a vain hope though."
~
Malfeasance
M: "So they decided to invade NERV this early..."
Kaj: "It makes sense to them. They felt NERV was getting too powerful. Not theirs to control anymore."
S: "Makes sense, considering what happened in the past few episodes."
A: "Especially considering he's still doing it at this point, talking to your Eva like that."
Kaw: "Obviously talking to the soul inside, though whether or not she can understand him is anyone's guess."
Kaworu winced at the sight of Adam, but he was able to power through it. He did it once before. He could do it again.
A: "So thats what Gendo did, what the fuck is wrong with him?"
Kaj: "Ohhhh, god damn it I should've known he'd pull something like that."
M: "Bastard, kept Adam close to him so it could stay safe."
S: "...That's why he was wearing gloves all the time."
~
Existential
R: "...I don't remember being this existential after I was reborn."
Kaw: "After all that happened, I can see why you'd be thinking that."
R: "...At least here, when I was reborn, I had Asuka and Shinji to continue living for. Until I remembered you again, Kaworu."
Kaw: "Now you have them and me."
R: "Yes. Life is worth living with all of you."
M: "...not even Pen-Pen is safe from being apart from his family.. I can see why you wouldn't want to live in that broken home anymore Shinji."
S: "There would be nothing there for me... and with how Kaworu made the me of the show feel, I can see how i'd feel more comfortable with him."
~
Born to Meet You
A: "No offence or anything Kaworu, but I find it completely stupid that the you of the show managed to get so close with Shinji whereas Shinji and I in the show completely alienated each other."
Kaw: "No offence taken Asuka. I find it odd too, considering it took me a while to get that close with Rei."
R: "I find it a bit odd too, seeing you with someone else other than me, but I should expect something like that considering how different this universe has become from ours."
M: "..It's almost like the director wanted to pair the two together."
Kaw: "Even though we've only been together for at most a few days so far."
M: "You must consider though, girls love yaoi pairings."
A: "...so it's fanservice?"
M: "Possibly, just speculation though, considering this show has definitely come from another universe."
A: "With how much it likes to show us naked, I would've imagined all the women watching this show would've been turned away in disgust."
S: "Well, you're not exactly an otaku are you Asuka?"
A: "Not at all, this show is the only exception, and it's a pretty justified exception because it's literally us. Well, at one point it was at least."
~
Meeting
Kaj: "Hang on a minute, how the hell are they doing that? I thought they were holograms."
Kaw: "I suspect it's a form of Angelic power, in being able to communicate with them from afar. Though I don't know for certain because I've never used such a power, and I don't know for certain if I even have such a power."
R: "Considering all the powers we do have, I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe the monoliths are visual representations of this power."
A: "So more artistic license then?"
M: "Asuka, we can't even tell artistic license from reality anymore, with how far things have diverged."
A: "Fair enough. But does this mean Kaworu will do what other Angels tried to do?"
Kaw: "...I think so."
M: "Maybe it was a power, considering my show's self didn't have a reaction to any monolith."
Kaw: "I can see why you'd be spying on me, considering my situation."
M: "We did suspect a few shady things about you when you first got here, but they were kinda forgotten when Rei decided to take a liking to you. If Rei out of all people could grow to trust you, then surely we could too."
Kaw: "I must thank you for another thing then, Rei."
R: "..you're welcome?"
~
Suspicion
M: "Man, I can't believe I would be that manipulative to Makoto."
Kaj: "Seems you were playing off his like for you."
M: "Probably. Honestly I shouldn't be surprised how much my mentality has changed after you.. got killed."
Kaj: "...I'm mainly glad you would've kept up the fight, had I made that decision. Honestly if it wasn't for you lot, I'd probably make that decision on my own general principle."
R: "Your relations with us kept you here?"
Kaj: "Exactly."
S: "That could apply to everyone here, in all honesty. We're all so dangerously codependent on on another I wouldn't be surprised if we all kept each other tethered to this world."
A: "Not that you mind though."
S: "Yeah. Codependence is alright, just gotta make sure nothing bad happens to anyone."
~
Final Messenger
Kaworu closed his eyes and sighed as he saw his other self succumb. "You idiot..."
R: "...Shinji couldn't keep you tethered enough to not fall to your call?"
Kaw: "Evidently not."
A: "Oh my God, I actually am fucking catatonic..." She fell into Shinji's arms. "You better not hurt Mama Kaworu."
Kaw: "Had I known, I wouldn't have done it."
S: "...this is gonna destroy me."
Kaw: "...this is what SEELE wanted. But I refused. I would not succumb to my call, because that would've meant the destruction of all I loved."
M: "You had Shinji in this show. But even then that did not stop you."
Kaw: "...The call is strong. I'd liken myself to a docked ship. If a ship was attached to the dock by a single rope, and it breaks, it will certainly drift away. With many ropes however, it has a higher chance to stay tethered. This is how our relationships work."
S: "...I knew it. Gods damn it, even the only person in this show who gives me love backstabs me. Not you Kaworu."
Kaw: "I know. I'd hate myself too if I did something like that."
A: "...damn Shinji, that really angered you."
Kaw: "I think I was the only person who told him that I love him. Of course he'd be angry, you'd feel betrayed."
S: "...If it did happen like that. But it didn't."
~
Light of the Soul
A: "Wait, Mama shut herself away from me? I... can understand, after what happened with Arael..."
S: "You couldn't have known at the time Asuka." He comforted her.
Kaj: "...so we have an AT field too?"
Kaw: "Any creature with a soul has an AT field. It's the light of your soul, a sacred barrier where none may pass. For Lilith's offspring though, their AT field is weak, imperceivable to the eye."
R: "Nephilim and Angels can create AT fields however. And we can perceive the AT fields of others. That's how we can see your lights shine around others."
M: "...does that mean you know when we're doing it?"
Kaw: "...not intentionally."
~
Heaven's Door
M: "Honestly, if all signals were cut off like that, we probably would've self destructed."
Kaw: "I can understand why."
A: "We all can. Better than Third Impact. At least we don't have to worry too much about it anymore."
S: "I don't remember going this deep into Terminal Dogma."
A: "I did, but I don't think it counts cause it was hastily censored by Ritsuko."
Kaw: "So... I won. But it would've been in vain anyway, because it's not Adam down in Terminal Dogma."
A: "..Rei? You put up that AT field?"
R: "...It appears so. As a Nephilim of Lillith, I would have done anything in my power to stop an Angel from getting down there." She looked down in melancholy. "You understand, right Kaworu?"
Kaw: "Of course I do. I was the one who entrusted you to destroy me if I fell."
R: "...although it looks like Shinji will be the one to do it."
S: "...why would you make me do it?"
Kaw: "...at this stage I would've been glad it was you taking my life Shinji. And for the survival of your kind as well."
M: "...even though it would completely devastate Shinji."
S: "I honestly don't think I'd want to live after that."
A: "...man, everyone by the end of this shit is either suicidal or borderline. We've had so much shit thrown on us I'm honestly surprised at how much they seem to hate us. I don't think it could get much worse."
Kaw: "The ultimate event that could happen would be Third Impact and Instrumentality you realise."
S: "...so you're saying it can get worse."
Kaw: "Would the you of the show complain if that were to happen?"
S: "...I don't know anymore."
~
Pause
Kaw: "...you're hesitating."
A: "They're running out of money more like."
S: "I would hesitate in this situation..."
Kaw: "...I'm sorry Shinji."
S: "...It's not you, Kaworu. There's no need to apologise."
Rei choked at the visceral sound, and of the splash of his head. Kaworu simply wrapped her up in his arms and closed his eyes, contemplative.
A: "...that's brutal."
S: "...I was right. It did destroy me..."
M: "...and I couldn't do much..."
~
"...Rei?"
She was holding onto Kaworu like her life depended on him. "I- I'm not crying. Why am I not crying?" She bemused, melancholic.
Kaworu ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe cause you're tired of crying. Or maybe because I'm here. You know for a fact I'm not gone, like in the show."
"...maybe. But it still felt confronting..."
"It would. That was how I most recall meeting my end, from timelines gone by or timelines to come."
"...you went through it too Nagisa?" Kaji muttered.
"Not as vividly as Rei. But yes. Due to my... ability to sense what happened in other timelines."
"...do you recall going through a timeline like our one Kaworu?"
"...I don't actually."
"Well, you should feel lucky! The cosmos finally decided to cut you a break and let you be happy for once!" Asuka exclaimed, raising the atmosphere significantly as everyone laughed.
"Judging from these episodes, the cosmos gave everyone here a break." Misato deadpanned. The mood being raised, she continued. "Alright, we only have the finales left. But they're formatted on the discs weirdly."
"Yeah, usually it'd be sequential episodes on either side of the disc. The next two discs don't have a single episode, but two single episodes."
Everyone else was confused by the wording.
Asuka rolled her eyes. "As in," She held up the next disc. "Episode 25: A world that's ending. Episode 25 apostrophe, Air."
Acknowledgements in the crowd. "That would imply the next disc is like that too." Rei speculated.
"Correct." Misato said. "So here's what I'm thinking: watch episodes 25 and 26 back to back, then we watch the other episodes 25 and 26, the apostrophised ones. My thinking is they made two finales."
"...I still don't know why they would make two finales to a show?" Shinji bemused.
"Maybe they're both concurrent, and they had to split the finale up between two periods to explain things better, so to speak." Kaworu theorised.
"Or, maybe they ran out of money or time, rushed the first finale out, then when the fanbase threatened to kill the director, they made a proper one to wrap things up better."
"That's a bit of a pessimistic view on it Asuka."
"Knowing this damn show, it's what happened."
"Alright, it's settled then. Tomorrow, we watch the last two non apostrophe ones. Then, the next day, provided nothing happens: we stock up on beer, we get all settled, then we see how this shitshow known as our lives ends."
"It's probably gonna end with the deaths of everyone we know and love." Kaji pessimistically mused.
"Probably. But honestly we should expect that by now. So you might wanna prepare emotionally for such a thing."
"Considering the recent episodes, that would be wise. And probably impossible, considering we don't know what happens."
Misato shrugged at Kaworu's comment.
~
"So this is why they call it 'Happy to be alive sex'."
"Well, it's more like I'm happy you're alive, Kaworu."
Rei was resting on his chest, feeling his gentle breathing. Her description was accurate; she had spent the past few hours... appreciating the fact he was alive. In her own special way.
"It's better than crying, isn't it?"
"Much better. Less depressing for us as well." She sighed. "Still though. It was.. distressing, seeing how you died."
"As it naturally would be. I'm sure everyone was distressed at seeing not only my death, but Asuka's catatonia and Shinji's trauma."
"...yeah. That was a bit upsetting. Throughout this whole show actually. Asuka and Shinji were the first people I had I could consider friends. They helped me through my struggles. Same as you, Kaworu.
To see them all bought low in the show like that, even you were brought low Kaworu. It's hard."
"I know..." He ran a hand over her back. "We persist though, don't we?"
"Yeah. I think it helps I've accepted that it's not us. They may look like us, and sound like us. But they aren't."
"I imagine it also helps you've grown weary of being upset about it."
"Nearly three days, Kaworu. I confided in you how I'm just tired of being upset. I don't like being upset. So now, when I feel upset, I will do the things that make me happy to abolish those thoughts from my mind."
"Which is why you've spent the past couple hours abusing my pelvis."
"Not just your pelvis you dumb fish." She poked. "Though can you really break us when we can pretty much meld into each other at whim?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. What even is our biology anyway?"
She giggled. "Compatible. That's all we need to know~"
She dived down again, but Kaworu was definitely not complaining.
~
"...Is it weird I'm still finding it difficult to feel upset about what's going on in the show anymore?"
"...I kinda feel the same way, Asuka. We've just been dog piled with so much trauma that we can barely process it."
"I mean, it helps we've now been taking a day to process the events of the episode."
"And to brood over it."
"Yeah, we're both guilty of that ain't we Shinji?"
"I thought I was the one who brooded."
She giggled. "I can brood when I want to baka mine. I just don't like doing it. What's done is done. No use holding onto it. Heh, i'm sure a past me would gawk at that train of thought."
"Most of our past selves would, I imagine. Though it helps we've managed to solve some of our problems."
"It probably does help we got together though." Asuka confided, holding her other. "Apart we're pretty broken excuses for a human, but together, we form one whole." She looked into his eyes with a cheeky look. "And not just because we're female and male, you pervert."
"W- well I wasn't thinking of that until you suggested it!"
"It worked then~" She gave a devilish giggle before kissing him. "What say you we become one whole then?"
"Am I really gonna deny that?"
"Only if you were an idiot~" She returned to his lips.
~
Asuka was resting on Shinji's chest, basking in the afterglow.
"Y'know. Considering all the emotional shit we went though, you'd think this would be the last thing we'd do."
"You'd think. This is one of our special ways of making us happy though, ain't it?"
He nodded. "Beats being sad."
"Of course it does." She snuggled into him. "It sucks being upset all the time. I wasn't surprised if Rei and Kaworu were tired of being upset, considering all they've been through."
"At least we have our ways of raising our spirits. Unlike our shows counterparts..."
She boped him on the nose. "No more brooding about what didn't happen mister. Or do I have to give you an incentive."
"Will this be an incentive I like?"
"Well, consider the fact that we're both in bed together, we're not wearing much at all, and you seem to have your stamina back."
He looked down. "Is it ramen?" He teased.
"...FUCK. Misato was meant to buy us dinner today."
~
Most of the cast at this point are getting sick of all this trauma. So what better way to stop the sadness than with some action
More plot thickener is being applied as well. Let's see what happens
We're almost done with the show, then it's EoE. That's gonna be fun. I plan to do the Rebuilds afterwards as well (when the mad scientists finally realise what those discs are). If they thought the show diverged massively, just wait til they see how 2.0 ends
Also another thing I noticed about writing, the mobile editor is quite a bit slow when there's over 9000 words written down
More plot thickener is being applied as well. Let's see what happens
We're almost done with the show, then it's EoE. That's gonna be fun. I plan to do the Rebuilds afterwards as well (when the mad scientists finally realise what those discs are). If they thought the show diverged massively, just wait til they see how 2.0 ends
Also another thing I noticed about writing, the mobile editor is quite a bit slow when there's over 9000 words written down
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grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
I'm pleasantly surprised that it didn't HCFAlso another thing I noticed about writing, the mobile editor is quite a bit slow when there's over 9000 words written down
I like the SEELE stuff and how the story outside of watching the discs is becoming more complicated.
I think we need to define exactly what an Impact event is if we're going to get traction on the technical details. It almost seems automatic, a natural phenomenon. A combination of Black and White beings into something new (Gray Moon?), which may be so powerful that the establishment of its "Self" is so powerful as to obliterate all life on a planetary scale. Possibly wider.
Canon Rei 3 handed the wheel to Shinji, which I find interesting. Is that because of mechanical limitations, or because she's still ultimately so conditioned to subservience that she -wouldn't- assume control? Both make sense for different reasons. Limitations because Gendo is a paranoid slimeball, who would want to ensure total control. The second because you don't just shrug off a lifetime of psychological fuckery.
Ultimately, Eva is a character drama. These things happen the way they do in service to that drama.
If the EoE scene happens as per usual, I'd think Rei could use Lilith's AT-Field to sever Gendo's Adam hand and just not deal in the first place.
Canon Rei 3 handed the wheel to Shinji, which I find interesting. Is that because of mechanical limitations, or because she's still ultimately so conditioned to subservience that she -wouldn't- assume control? Both make sense for different reasons. Limitations because Gendo is a paranoid slimeball, who would want to ensure total control. The second because you don't just shrug off a lifetime of psychological fuckery.
Ultimately, Eva is a character drama. These things happen the way they do in service to that drama.
If the EoE scene happens as per usual, I'd think Rei could use Lilith's AT-Field to sever Gendo's Adam hand and just not deal in the first place.
Ranma-sensei
Sorcerer
- Location
- Citrix Receiver
- Pronouns
- Weatherdependent
Just a reminder: She has already become Lillith as per Ariel, and it didn't change much. Mostly because from the soul viewpoint, she is and always was.
BG_Character_592
The Fisherman
- Location
- Australia
Thanks
gotta add something other than the MST3K to keep the people entertained (even though it's probably overshadowing the MST3K at this point, whoops )The show barely defines what an Impact event is anyway. I'd liken it to formatting a hard drive with a new format, like from FAT to NTFS, but the mechanics on how this can be caused though are a bit confusing. We have Second Impact, which was caused by the Katsuragi expedition awakening Adam (and was either the result of removing the Lance or the aftermath of using the Lance to mitigate it, I'm kinda fuzzy on the details).
Then we have Third Impact in EoE which was caused by the combination of Adam and Lilith (which is what the general fear was throughout the whole show, even though canon Kaworu revealed that Lilith wasn't what he was looking for), although with Third Impact and how it's depicted in EoE, it can be difficult to differentiate between what's a part of Third Impact in general and what's a part of Instrumentality.
If we include the Rebuilds into the mix, the definition of an Impact event gets even more fuzzy, cause then you get events like Near-3I, which was caused by an overly angry Shinji trying to rescue Rei from Zeruel, seemingly without a Lilith catalyst (although we may be able to count Rei as a catalyst, though i'm not sure of her Lilithian heritage in the Rebuilds). Then we have whatever the hell caused 4th Impact or whatever the hell it's called in 3.0.
So the most consistent aspect of an Impact event (imo) is that it's caused (somehow) by the combination of an Adam and a Lilith. But depending on how broad you interpret an Adam and a Lilith, Kaworu eating a cheese sandwich could cause an Impact event. So how about just Adam and Lilith? Makes sense, but then the Angel's quest wouldn't make sense, so ostensibly it's any Angel with a progenitor, or progenitor with progenitor (possibly using a vessel as in EoE). This still leaves Second Impact as an outlier though.
Therefore, an Impact event (at least in anime canon) is ostensibly any catastrophic, planet formatting combination of a progenitor and a progenitor, or a progenitor and their children, or the awakening of a progenitor through the removal of a disabling Lance.
I believe she handed control to Shinji because he was the only person she considered a close friend, due to her memories from Rei-2. And she sure wasn't gonna let Gendo get control. She believed that Shinji would make the right decision because of this.
The only problem was, Shinji was so mentally fucked up by this point, not only after killing the only person who said they loved him (Kaworu), but after witnessing the two most important people in his life (Misato and Asuka) die, without doing or being able to do anything, he was already dead inside.
So he took the whole world with him.
TsukikoHime
CEO of yuri
- Location
- that one gay idol magical girl show
Rei: "Rainbow Trout?"
Kaworu: "Yes?"
Rei: "What are you eating?"
Kaworu: "A delicious Lilim invention, known as 'grilled cheese'. I must remember to share this discovery with Shinji and Asuka."
Rei: "And why are there a bunch of red and white rings over your head, everyone in the school is LCL, and Lilith is floating out of the Geofront behind you?"
Kaworu: *looks up* *looks behind him* "Uhhhhh..."
Rei: *fishslap* "Cheese is a product of cows. Cows are life descended from Lilith. Now go get Adam under control and fix everything."
Kaworu: "...can I finish lunch first?"
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
we need adamite cows
I AM. BESSY. : P
I AM. BESSY. : P
You have a strange definition of 'fun'
- Location
- supernatural
Well to be fair Asuka I find it silly that your personality can change 180 after getting into a relationship for a few months and also with Rei developing a personality/changing after being drugged all her life for a few months.
- Location
- Texas
Forgive my offtopicness. Maybe I should spoiler for those who don't care about Darling in the Franxx?
My take as well, or possibly "Power of Lust". I felt Eureka Seven ran on "Power of Love". I did note that rather than the bond being mother-child it's girlfriend-boyfriend. And although the Nirvash developed a tandem cockpit so Eureka and Renton could pilot together... yeah...
It does look like the female of the pair becomes the "soul" of the mecha and it takes on her features. I haven't watched it yet, only read the recap on The Other Wiki, but I'm curious. I see similarities to the return of FLCL. Power of Adolescent Angst maybe?
And from what I've heard there is cross-synching, but only after a couple "goes out of sync" and switches partners. The main character couldn't even sync with his original partner, it took 02 showing up just to get the show started.
My take as well, or possibly "Power of Lust". I felt Eureka Seven ran on "Power of Love". I did note that rather than the bond being mother-child it's girlfriend-boyfriend. And although the Nirvash developed a tandem cockpit so Eureka and Renton could pilot together... yeah...
It does look like the female of the pair becomes the "soul" of the mecha and it takes on her features. I haven't watched it yet, only read the recap on The Other Wiki, but I'm curious. I see similarities to the return of FLCL. Power of Adolescent Angst maybe?
And from what I've heard there is cross-synching, but only after a couple "goes out of sync" and switches partners. The main character couldn't even sync with his original partner, it took 02 showing up just to get the show started.
Schpoonman
They call me the Bord of Lays
- Location
- United States
Asuka was always capable of acting sweetly (see: her constantly fawning over Kaji), and she's still fiery, but now that she's not so desperately alone she can relax more.Well to be fair Asuka I find it silly that your personality can change 180 after getting into a relationship for a few months and also with Rei developing a personality/changing after being drugged all her life for a few months.
Really, it's about the same for Rei. She's still largely the same person (very quiet, reserved, poker face for days), but the generally more positive environment in which she's found herself allows her to safely express and emote. The text format hides it, but any time she is face-to-face with Gendo she shuts down just like in the animated canon.
Strype really killed it with the character development.
Ultra Sonic 007
Trying to keep things simple~
- Location
- Colorado