Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
The barrage has only begun Whiskey. *cue All Quiet on the Western Front flashback*
That's... somewhere I can see Rei going, but I really hope she doesn't.
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Advice and Trust [NGE]
something something "STUPID DOLL" something something
But yeah, she always disliked Rei due to how she felt that she was competing with her for Gendo's attention. She actively dehumanized her in order to better justify that perspective as well.
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
To be fair, even Reznor himself said that Cash totally owned his song. Having listened to both versions, I agree with him.
- Location
- Out and About
There's a difference between disliking and dehumanizing somebody, and causing them actual harm. That doesn't excuse or justify Ritsuko's thoughts, but it does help to keep things in perspective.
I never said there wasn't.
But if you're going to judge a person by the value of their character then the intent is important, not just whether or not they actually acted upon it.
If someone held their hand back from committing mass murder only because it was inconvenient, not because it was wrong, does that make them any less of a monster?
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
It's much easier to cause harm to someone you're dehumanizing, though. That's the whole point of (intentionally) dehumanizing someone.
I too don't actually hate Ritsuko. Ignoring malevolence aside...Ritsuko is clinging to the things she can control right, and the one thing that makes her feel like she has worth, doing her damn job, the job that destroyed her. She isn't getting support from anywhere, all she can do is work, and try and take a little satisfaction in doing her work well. But in the back of her mind there's always this knowledge that she is being used, that Gendo doesn't actually want her in any way. And so yeah I can see her cracking, breaking and clinging to doing her job even more efficiently and brutally if that's all she has left, not healthy...but then Ritsuko hasn't been healthy emotionally in ever.
So yes Ritsuko has done evil and that's not something easily forgiven, but she's breaking, and I still empathize with that.
So yes Ritsuko has done evil and that's not something easily forgiven, but she's breaking, and I still empathize with that.
- Location
- Out and About
True.
I think Dolly Parton had a similar reaction when Whitney Houston covered one of her songs.
Which is the only fair way to judge her, really.
She's a horrible, evil human being. But she's still only just a human being.
You can't say that her situation isn't one she didn't help create, but it's still a damn pitiable one just the same.
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
So who's more of a doll, a little clockwork plaything for the higher-ups to set aside when the time is inconvenient?
At this point, the little puppet dancing to the tune of the music box is Ritsuko, not Rei.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Asuka should throw that at Ritsuko. It's not going to end well for either one of them, but it'd be something Asuka would say.
Better make sure Ritsuko's not carrying that snub-nose revolver on her person first...
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Colt Detective Special vs. Benelli M3, Debate!
In all seriousness though, that's why I said that declaration wouldn't end well for Rits or Asuka.
Yeah. But it's not the particular percentage of whom she's spiting at the time helps make her situation any less reprehensible.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
All you youngins missing the much better reference. (FWIW I enjoy both versions of Hurt. NINs and the Illustrious Mr. Cash's.)
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No thanks! I don't know about you but I have ZERO interest in Gendo Ikari's sloppy seconds
Schpoonman
They call me the Bord of Lays
- Location
- United States
I definitely felt a little sick reading this update. Does Ritsuko know that Rei has been shirking her medication? No. Does Ritsuko know the kind of anguish this will cause the Children? No. Does this mean that the increased dosage was done without malicious intent?
Fuck no.
All of Ritsuko's section she was bitching Rei out in her mind. Rei's been all-but-clean from the "medication" for at least a month at this point. How much shit did Ritsuko put in that syringe to instantly put Rei down?
Rei doesn't GET to feel emotions. She's not ALLOWED to be anything but a loyal doll. Add to that Ritsuko feeling hurt from Gendo's indirect rejection and Rei is fucked.
I wouldn't even give Ritsuko the benefit of saying "Well, even without the malice she'd increase the dosage to stabilize Rei for the sake of the Scenario." She's way too pissed and hurt and taking it out on someone who is not remotely responsible. Ritsuko is going to keep a MUCH closer eye on Rei to make sure she stays emotionally dead, and it's not because the scans are becoming more difficult due to Rei's changing brain waves.
Fuck no.
All of Ritsuko's section she was bitching Rei out in her mind. Rei's been all-but-clean from the "medication" for at least a month at this point. How much shit did Ritsuko put in that syringe to instantly put Rei down?
Rei doesn't GET to feel emotions. She's not ALLOWED to be anything but a loyal doll. Add to that Ritsuko feeling hurt from Gendo's indirect rejection and Rei is fucked.
I wouldn't even give Ritsuko the benefit of saying "Well, even without the malice she'd increase the dosage to stabilize Rei for the sake of the Scenario." She's way too pissed and hurt and taking it out on someone who is not remotely responsible. Ritsuko is going to keep a MUCH closer eye on Rei to make sure she stays emotionally dead, and it's not because the scans are becoming more difficult due to Rei's changing brain waves.
MarqFJA87
Proud member of Ala Iridia
- Location
- Saudi Arabia
Rephrehensible does not equate to irredeemable.
Anime!Ritsuko broke down after she pulled the plug on the Dummy Plug clones and begged Misato to kill her. Manga!Ritsuko backed down from her attempt to strangle Rei to death when she remembered how her mother did the same thing. I'd say that both instances indicate that Ritsuko has lines she will not normally cross. Combine that with what Ultimate Paragon said earlier about her lack of knowledge about certain critical changes in the "equation"...
... and what samdamandias said about her ironically being more of a doll than the one she's calling her such...
... and it should be easy to predict that Ritsuko may very well become appalled at what she had been doing if/when she has the truth revealed to her: Aiding the man she now has come to hate yet feels hopelessly entrapped by, by keeping his trump card under his control, all while said trump card had been secretly rebelling against said man's control for quite a while. In other words, all of her attempts to get back at Gendo indirectly backfired horribly by denying her a much better way at doing so (namely, assisting Rei in her desire to be her own person and not Gendo's little puppet). She's been sabotaging herself by her own hands and initiative, without any prompting or awareness from the man she's been playing into his hands all along. And all at the cost of basic human decency.
I can easily see her go nuts and pull the same stunt she did in EOE (rig the base to blow up via Magi) and then try to put a bullet in Gendo's head, with full intentions to blow her own brains afterwards. Not like she'd succeed, of course... unless she manages to be more like manga!Ritsuko and deal a killing shot to Gendo after he mortally wounded her.
- Location
- United States
Boy howdy, what an emotional roller coaster that was! I loved it! Every moment! My only grievance? That I can only 'hug' chapter 8, part 15 only once, and not continue to press the button until it breaks. Never have I felt such sorrow for Rei, and so much admiration for the willpower she has to fight through the drug haze.
To begin, I loved the quote from Comfortably Numb! Good one @Strypgia
My heart plummeted when Ritsuko approached with that syringe. I knew what was coming next, just as Rei did. A return to the haze and fog of being doped up, undoing all the progress made by weaning Rei off the drugs.
Then, we cut to Shinji and Asuka at school on Monday, and I'm just like...aw yeah Now comes the moment we've all been waiting for. The moment where the two of them officially stake their claim to one another publicly, in front of everyone. Asuka in particular has been waiting for this day, since Shinji has such active and persistent female fans. The chance to rub her conquest in all their faces has got to be beyond satisfying. However, Shinji speaking his mind during the exchange with Tanaka was slightly unexpected, but far from unwelcome. You tell 'em Shinji! You tell 'em theyve got as much of a shot with you as a snowball has of surviving 5 minutes of July in Pennsylvania.
Anyway, that was a fun interlude, and a moment I had been waiting for since I first started reading A&T. But then, the high spirits drop immediately again when Shinji turns to Rei, and...sees that none of whats happened has even registered, reminding us of what happened at the chapter's beginning.
Thankfully, beneath the drugged haze, is the Rei that remembers everything, and she's fighting to come back.
To A&T Rei, I say this
"Alongside Asuka and Shinji, we, the fans of this story, stand firmly with you in your ultimate quest to free yourself from the clutches of Gendo's control and Akagi's malice. We support you, and hope for your swift recovery. Every single one of us is waiting for the day when you can be free, whole, and happy."
To begin, I loved the quote from Comfortably Numb! Good one @Strypgia
My heart plummeted when Ritsuko approached with that syringe. I knew what was coming next, just as Rei did. A return to the haze and fog of being doped up, undoing all the progress made by weaning Rei off the drugs.
Then, we cut to Shinji and Asuka at school on Monday, and I'm just like...aw yeah
Now comes the moment we've all been waiting for. The moment where the two of them officially stake their claim to one another publicly, in front of everyone. Asuka in particular has been waiting for this day, since Shinji has such active and persistent female fans. The chance to rub her conquest in all their faces has got to be beyond satisfying. However, Shinji speaking his mind during the exchange with Tanaka was slightly unexpected, but far from unwelcome. You tell 'em Shinji! You tell 'em theyve got as much of a shot with you as a snowball has of surviving 5 minutes of July in Pennsylvania. Anyway, that was a fun interlude, and a moment I had been waiting for since I first started reading A&T. But then, the high spirits drop immediately again when Shinji turns to Rei, and...sees that none of whats happened has even registered, reminding us of what happened at the chapter's beginning.
Thankfully, beneath the drugged haze, is the Rei that remembers everything, and she's fighting to come back.
To A&T Rei, I say this
"Alongside Asuka and Shinji, we, the fans of this story, stand firmly with you in your ultimate quest to free yourself from the clutches of Gendo's control and Akagi's malice. We support you, and hope for your swift recovery. Every single one of us is waiting for the day when you can be free, whole, and happy."
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Another excellent update. Cheers hoss.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
Nah he;s got all the story posts together, then the character notes, then the omakes.
MarqFJA87
Proud member of Ala Iridia
- Location
- Saudi Arabia
You know, I just have a things to add on the topic of this old note by Stryp:
Yup. Unit-00 wasn't after Gendo (or Rei II the second time.). It was after Dr. Akagi. Rei I remembers who killed her, and apparently isn't too happy about it.
This is the POV of Unit-00 right before it attacks the observation box during the cross-Synch tests:
It's seeing Ritsuko, but with her mother's hair color. All the other details are correct, so it's not an animation error. Unit-00 wants to kill an Akagi, and may not know or care that it's not Naoko. Ritsuko even theorizes in dialogue that it was after her.
They never get into the details of exactly how they do it, but there's a few references to NERV and SEELE having the technology (derived from the Evas, presumably) to 'salvage' souls for at least a little while after death. That's how they collected Adam's to place it into Tabris. They also collected the fragment of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's that was still in her body when she hung herself, and placed that part in Unit-02 to go with the part that had been sucked in during her Contact Experiment. (This is why you hear two opposed voices when Asuka is hearing her mother as the JSSDF are depth charging her in the lake. One voice tells Asuka to live... and one wants Asuka to die with her. The part of Kyoko's soul that was left in her body after the Contact Experiment wasn't very sane by the end...)
Yup, which is my operating theory for at least part of why Rei's emotional reactions and human responses are so muted in the series (and here): She's literally missing a part of her soul. Which leaves the terrible missed opportunity: If Shinji had had the courage to try talking to Rei III, he'd have been talking to a Rei who was whole for the first time. But he was too frightened by how different she acted, and fled instead...
- What if what's in Unit-00 isn't a fragment of Rei's soul that carries Rei I's memories, but rather an imprint of Rei I's mind on either a "blank soul" or the Eva's Dummy Plug system? It would help explain why Rei apparently has relatively low synch scores compared to Shinji and Asuka, whose Evas have actual souls (and it's their respective moms, to boot).
- What if what's in Unit-00 is the soul of Naoko Akagi, but deliberately subjected by Gendou to overwriting with Rei I's mind? A confused mix of Naoko's and Rei I's memories would add a new dimension to the erratic nature of Unit-00's rampages.