Memes aside, this is something to keep in mind, otherwise when I write my own Eva fic i'll end up hiding from character death and it'll come out weak and lacking in progression. Though not wholly necessary, sometimes death has to happen to push the story and characters forward.
I mean, have you ever heard of an Eva fic where nobody dies? Preposterous. Unthinkable! Genuine ask from someone who's never managed to read ND: Does that title promise actually carry through the whole thing?
I mean, have you ever heard of an Eva fic where nobody dies? Preposterous. Unthinkable! Genuine ask from someone who's never managed to read ND: Does that title promise actually carry through the whole thing?
Kyu's not bad. Ichi wouldn't be either (Rei being 0, Ichi being 1, it's nothing if not logical). What other belieingly adorable nicknames can we give this (hopefully temporary) terminator-esque Nephelim? Only time will tell, I supose.
You know, with how we're all getting attached to Rei's dark copy/potential sister before contact has even happened, its going to be a real gut punch if she ends up either dying or being 100% unsolvably hostile.
The latter is unlikely - Rei IV is jacked into Lilith the same way Rei III is, they partially share the same soul. Even if she can't be reasoned with, she can be incapacitated and have all the memories of Lilith and partial memories of Rei uploaded into her, at which point she could go free and live out her own life.
The latter is unlikely - Rei IV is jacked into Lilith the same way Rei III is, they partially share the same soul. Even if she can't be reasoned with, she can be incapacitated and have all the memories of Lilith and partial memories of Rei uploaded into her, at which point she could go free and live out her own life.
Yes. This is good. Keep giving me false hope. It will keep our fires warm and our lanterns lit in the dark times yet to come. This or something similar would be the best outcome, but I trust that whatever Stryp's plan is will be compelling no matter what.
Worst case scenario is that she gets whacked and there happens some tearjerking near-collapse moment for Kaworu. Her getting whacked is not THAT bad all things considered, because Lilith bullshit prevents the loss of the soul and could still allow her to be brought back to life.
Either way, things will be fine. Kaworu and Shinji might get severe PTSD, Asuka may lose an eye, Rei might have to reincarnate herself again and then reincarnate ReiQ, but things will work out. Worst I can imagine is actually Misato dying or Ritsuko dying or Kaji dying or etc, that would be harder to reverse/ameliorate
If nothing else, BS FAR space magic always* pulls through. *Your mileage may vary.
A: *glances at Rei*
R: "I can't promise anything. Lilith is its own being, after all."
A: "Still. If we can stop another you from being a doll, it's almost as good as kicking Commander Shitwit in the nuts. Almost."
R: "Depending on what happens next, we may very well get the chance."
You know, with how we're all getting attached to Rei's dark copy/potential sister before contact has even happened, its going to be a real gut punch if she ends up either dying or being 100% unsolvably hostile.
Something something I wasn't expecting that...but I wasn't expecting anything anyways so I wasn't surprised at all so there something something probably quoted it wrong something...
This is why I say "F**k Canon" in regards to Evangelion. Heck, in one of the ideas that I've come up with, both Mayumi AND Mari would wind up with Ken (Israfel Special). Although they first need to un-tang Ken and May.
Can I just say how much this is tempting me to just go and write my fic ideas for Eva? Because, like, I had this one (admittesly vague and not that developed) idea of Asuka, who's mellowed out from both Post-Impact world and actually working through things ans being together with Shinji, getting Peggy Sued back in time to a good bit before the show starts, specifically she's sent back in the last week or so of Misato's care for her, so she tries to at least better her relationship with the woman and then Kaji. And I only really imagined up to when she meets Shinji and she knows he also jumped back in time too because of how he's acting, and we get a cute, heartwarming scene of them where they reunite properly in private on the Over the Rainbow where they promise to fight together and do their best against all the stuff afterwards. Aaaand...that's as far as I thought of.
This idea mostly popped up because I like Unbroken but as far as I can tell it's pretty much dead and wanted another Asuka centric Peggy Sue fic (as I haven't found any and am too lazy/distracted to look right now ).
But then my want to at least see the original TV show to get a feel for the characters stops me from continuing.
That and seeing all these Eva fics where there's like military knowledge, political intrigue and scientific know-how of varying degrees kinda intimidates me.
Yeah I know research can be done but still. Intimidating. and also my experience with research is that it tends to get reeeeeally long especially if it's something i don't even know how to start looking into and sometimes i just wanna WRITE damnit instead of research.
also also just the feeling of "hey why write your idea when other peopke can do it and do it better than you?" so yeah
I had a few cursed Scenarios play through my head where Gendo abandons the idea of Instrumentalizing everyone, but his way of doing so is to force Kaworu and Rei on a suicide mission to SEELE HQ, keeping ReiQ as a failsafe and leaving Shinji and Asuka to guard the base against the imminent invasion by JSSDF and MPEs.
That and seeing all these Eva fics where there's like military knowledge, political intrigue and scientific know-how of varying degrees kinda intimidates me.
Dont worry, the big brains interested in fanfic writing and Anime on the side still have people they are terrified of in their primary disciplines. We live in a world where people like Ed Witten exist.
You know, with how we're all getting attached to Rei's dark copy/potential sister before contact has even happened, its going to be a real gut punch if she ends up either dying or being 100% unsolvably hostile.
Yes. This is good. Keep giving me false hope. It will keep our fires warm and our lanterns lit in the dark times yet to come. This or something similar would be the best outcome, but I trust that whatever Stryp's plan is will be compelling no matter what.
Can I just say how much this is tempting me to just go and write my fic ideas for Eva? Because, like, I had this one (admittesly vague and not that developed) idea of Asuka, who's mellowed out from both Post-Impact world and actually working through things ans being together with Shinji, getting Peggy Sued back in time to a good bit before the show starts, specifically she's sent back in the last week or so of Misato's care for her, so she tries to at least better her relationship with the woman and then Kaji. And I only really imagined up to when she meets Shinji and she knows he also jumped back in time too because of how he's acting, and we get a cute, heartwarming scene of them where they reunite properly in private on the Over the Rainbow where they promise to fight together and do their best against all the stuff afterwards. Aaaand...that's as far as I thought of.
This idea mostly popped up because I like Unbroken but as far as I can tell it's pretty much dead and wanted another Asuka centric Peggy Sue fic (as I haven't found any and am too lazy/distracted to look right now ).
But then my want to at least see the original TV show to get a feel for the characters stops me from continuing.
That and seeing all these Eva fics where there's like military knowledge, political intrigue and scientific know-how of varying degrees kinda intimidates me.
...Why don't you do something like adding other Eva media? Like Asuka can merge with her Eva to make her ANIMA Eva? Or stop Shinji from being brought back and just have Asuka try to hook him up with Rei(as she herself is an adult in a girls body).
In theory, a fun transformation (at least narratively, as i'm sure that'd be massively traumatizing). In practice... ...Eeeeeeeh... WHY DID THEY MAKE HER MENTALLY REGRESS THAT'S SUCH A CREPPY CHOICE!
The temptation is real. My solution is that I posted a draft for the intro to it and am now just fleshing out some ideas in my head and not speaking about it until it is planned out fully and I have enough drafts to work with. I will delete this post within a few days and make no responses to it or ever mention this until its in working order.
That and seeing all these Eva fics where there's like military knowledge, political intrigue and scientific know-how of varying degrees kinda intimidates me.
Everyone has something in their lives that they can leverage to make their Eva fic more compelling to read, whether it's a skill, a lived experience, another media work they've consumed, ...
In theory, a fun transformation (at least narratively, as i'm sure that'd be massively traumatizing). In practice... ...Eeeeeeeh... WHY DID THEY MAKE HER MENTALLY REGRESS THAT'S SUCH A CREPPY CHOICE!
Everyone has something in their lives that they can leverage to make their Eva fic more compelling to read, whether it's a skill, a lived experience, another media work they've consumed, ...
Second Impact, caused by the destructive fancies of King Oberon; dearest Titania, Queen of the Faeries, keen on giving man a sporting chance, casts her benevolence upon humanity...and 'lo, the Fae Court turns its eyes to the strange and twisted workings of NERV and SEELE...surely, chaos shall be afoot!
/Meanwhile/
Kaji blinked slowly. "...so...Puck, right?"
"Yes?"
"...why do you look like my ex's pet penguin?"
Pen-Pen warbled with amusement. "Trust me, this was the LEAST conspicuous form I could've taken. If only you've seen the stories about this strange little bird..."
....I swear, I didn't mean to go this long. I just finished the last Aki-Chan's Life Chronicles, and that took weeks to get through since I have maybe 4 hours a week to be on my laptop these days. So... I just skipped from page 1944 to here to do this.
It's taken me literally months to find time and energy to get scenes together. This is partly because we're at a point where things start to happen fast in the story and I have to work out some intricate, overlapping scenes to make sure everyone's in their proper places for things to happen. Partly because I just have long shifts at new job and time at home is split between sleep, cleaning, cooking, and Imps, with adult responsibilities slivered in between, and 'time to write/SV' coming in tenth and last.
But it's go time.
To make up a bit for the delay, here's a large one, 3000 words. Have a good night.
Art!
Chapter 12.4 Götterdämmerung
+++
"This is stupid. I hate this."
"You're going to have to be a lot more specific, Asuka my love."
"Ok, number one, good on you for answering that way. Two, I love that you did. Three, I'm talking about how you're having to stay here." Shinji began to open his mouth, but before he could say a word, she waved her hand. "I know, I know it's for perfectly logical medical reasons. Doctor Dye-Job's orders, blah blah blah. I know, and I still hate it. We're going to be sitting in Test Plugs, for Gott's sake. Not full-on combat. And a long bath in LCL should help, if anything!"
When she stopped, almost panting from her rant, Shinji weakly chuckled. "Well, that is more specific." He sighed. "I still feel pretty weak, Asuka. A day of bed rest will be good for me, and I'll be right back next to you. And-"
"You are going to stay on that bed rest, right? No getting up to clean or cook dinner? We're doing takeout tonight! You rest!" Asuka interrupted. "I know what you're probably planning."
Shinji did look slightly guilty. "I was only going to have Kensuke and his girlfriends help me out. I'd only be directing things."
She shook her head, imperiously crossing her arms. "Nope. You sleep or park on the couch and watch Childrens' Crusade discs or something. No exerting yourself. I'll do this stupid test and have all of us back here as soon as we can. Now go rest. I want you healed and back with me soon."
Shinji sighed again, but smiled. "Fine, fine, I promise no house cleaning or heavy kitchen work. Now go." He pulled her close and gave her one more kiss before stepping back inside over the threshold to the apartment. "Have a good day at work, honey!" he said in a joking tone.
Asuka's eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped. Shinji matched her a second later as what he'd said caught up to the rest of his brain.
"I… I mean…" he stammered weakly, "I… shouldn't have said that."
Asuka shook herself and shook her head like she was trying to throw off a dark thought. "No, you're… you're fine, Shinji. We just… we need to talk about the Evangelion in the room we've both been avoiding, since, well… you know I've had thoughts in that area too. So… just… don't panic, and we'll make ourselves face that conversation tonight, okay? When we can just be alone in our room?"
"Y… yeah."
Asuka hugged him once more and quietly murmured an 'I love you' into his neck before turning and walking away very fast, not looking back.
Misato was waiting for her at the door to the elevator, her eyebrow raised. "Did I just-"
"I don't want to talk about it right now, Misato. Wait until we're in the car," Asuka muttered, staring firmly at the door to the elevator.
Misato let the silence hang until they were underway in her Renault. Kaworu, sensing the tension, had needed only a single nod from Misato to get into one of the Section 2 sedans escorting them and let them have what privacy they could.
"Asuka?" she prodded.
A grunt.
"Asuka, we're going to be in the Geofront for hours. The time we've got in my car is our last chance to speak freely until this evening. So whatever happened back there that's got you both looking so freaked out, now is the time to get it off your chest, or it's going to be eating at you the entire synch test. And that's before we even get into what our next move versus SEELE and Commander Ikari's plans will be. Talk. What just happened there?"
"He scared me."
Misato was startled enough to take her eyes off the road for a second and stare at Asuka. "What? I… Asuka, Shinji practically worships you. How the hell did he scare you?"
At Misato's rather insistently pointed silence, Asuka sighed again and said, "Misato, for most of my life I've been painfully convinced no one wanted me. My mother was gone, my father schtupping someone else before her body was cold, everyone just interested in me because I was the Second Child… And then I meet Shinji. And I'm so terrified of letting anyone close, I act like a huge bitch to him because I'm screamingly insecure and have no idea how to handle being that attracted to someone. A peer! Someone who didn't care about either of us being Eva Pilots, just… someone who loves me."
She rubbed her face with both hands, covering it like a mask. "And now I don't know anymore what frightens me more; the nightmares about losing him in a fight and going back to being alone… or the idea that he might really love me so much he'd give his life to me. You want to know how he scared me, Misato? Right before we left he said 'Have a good day at work, honey!' Like it was a regular routine, like we were…"
"Ah," Misato said gently. "I see."
Asuka kept staring at her lap. "I'm so fucked up."
"Asuka, I kind of get it, you know. Or did you miss it when I lied to the man I was falling in love with and ran away like a coward for eight years? Hell, the only reason he and I are," she ducked her head slightly, "er, together now is… well, watching you two. I mean, even before he… asked me."
Asuka finally raised her head. "You love him, right?"
This forced Misato to blink. "Um, yes? Why else would I have er… proposed, accidentally?"
"But you loved him back then too, right? Why did you run away then?"
Misato's lips flattened into a line. "Because I was scared and stupid. Right. Well, like I told you before, don't be stupid like I was. You're not stupid."
"I'm not so sure about that some days," the redhead muttered.
"Are you going to lie to him tonight, tell him there's someone else, and run away?" At Asuka's dirty look, Misato shrugged. "Then you're still doing better than I did."
"We've talked around it, kind of," Asuka said quietly. "Made stupid lovey-dovey promises like 'together, forever and always' and 'until the end of the world, you and me.' But it's not the same as confronting it when it's so… so real like that. The idea of living it. But we've thought about it. I just hate this sensation of being afraid of something I want so much."
She picked at her student uniform's skirt. "I feel sick."
"You're a certified genius, top flight Pilot, and you've got the best boyfriend a girl could ask for, Asuka," Misato assured her. "You'll be alright. Want me to give you two the apartment to yourselves for a bit tonight? I can have Kaji take me out or something."
Asuka wobbled her head through some combination of a shrug and a nod. "I guess. It won't be the end of the world if you're there. You and Rei will probably be the first two people to know, whatever we come up with in the end."
+++
Asuka frowned as she closed her locker and stared at the empty space where Rei should have been standing. The locker room felt surprisingly empty without her friend silently getting changed behind her.
'Plus, Rei is kind of nice to watch move,' she thought. She snorted. "Never thought I'd let that cross my mind."
The door to the locker room beeped and slid open, breaking her reverie. A tired looking Fourth Child perked up on sighting her friend. "Asuka!"
Asuka smiled back. "Hey, Hikari. Good to see you. I take the fact you're here means your favorite jock finally woke up?"
The brunette nodded, popping open her own locker and getting out the fresh plastic-wrapped plugsuit. "Yes! I'm a little stiff from sleeping in a chair by his bed, but it was so worth it to be there when he woke up!" She began stripping off her rather wrinkled uniform and carefully hanging it in the locker.
It wasn't nearly as interesting to watch for Asuka. "How is he?"
"Weak. He said his head still hurt a lot, but he remembers everything that happened." She sighed, sounding relieved. "I'm so glad Doctor Akagi could heal him like that. I was afraid he'd be unconscious for weeks! Months, maybe!"
Asuka frowned again at the mention of her least favorite NERV scientist. "And what about you? My toe still aches, and Shinji's still recovering. You feeling up to this? I'm kind of surprised they dragged you in, really. I'd have thought you'd be getting another day or two like Shinji."
Hikari shrugged, shaking her head as she pulled the rubbery plugsuit up over her hips and worked her arms into the floppy sleeves. "I wouldn't have minded being able to stay with Touji, or even just go home and see my dad and sisters, but Doctor Akagi and the Section 2 guards were very clear that I had to be here. Is it because I'm the, ah…" She almost managed to avoid a small flicker of a glance at the ceiling surveillance camera in the corner of the room. "The best Pilot for Unit-03? I mean, Nagisa-kun is still here too, right? So who goes first?"
"That's a very good question," Asuka agreed. She narrowed her eyes. "And what about Rei? They've got her down in Doctor Bi- ah… the Doctor's lab for something right now, but she doesn't even have an Eva anymore. Are they going to try sticking her back in Unit-01 until my Shinji is fit for duty?"
Hikari sealed her suit up and pressed the wrist button. The plugsuit hissed as it snapped from loose and floppy to skintight. "I hope Major Katsuragi can tell us. I kind of like being able to, er, sit in my Eva, you know?"
Asuka nodded, understanding Hikari's real reason. "Let's go get some answers out of her. And I hope Rei can join us once she's done with whatever mad science is going on down there."
+++
Shinji cradled his head in his hands, trying to blink away another wave of fatigue and mental fuzziness. "I'm sorry, Miki-san. Could you say that again?"
"Not saying we'd want it soon, but if we asked nice, you could do a special-occasion piece of music again like you did for Soryu-san's birthday, right?" Sayaka asked again, as sweetly as she could.
Kensuke had shown up on the apartment's doorstep right on time, the unusual punctuality possibly helped by the accompanying presence of Sayaka and Kyoko. The dyed-bluenette at least was pretty good at being on time, and dragged her paramours with her. Their arrival had been a welcome distraction from the funk Asuka's abrupt departure had left him in. He shouldn't have made that joke...
Shinji had been forced to take his time getting to the door to let them in. At least he wasn't dragging the IV bag and stand along anymore. He'd run out of the supply of LCL-alike liquid Doctor Akagi had given them earlier. He still felt very drained and weak, and it was hard to focus. So he'd missed the question, and the chain of thought that led up to it. "A spec-... wait, you mean a new composition? An original piece?"
"Yeah! The one you did for her was beautiful!" Kyoko bounced at her spot next to the living room's low table. "I know it's probably a lot of work, but it would be really cool if we had one for us too!"
Shinji rubbed his forehead and took another deep drink of the orange Juice Asuka had gotten out as an amusing match to the medicine. "'One for you too'?" he echoed. "A song? For what, a birthday?"
Kyoko grabbed Sayaka's hand and grinned wildly at her girlfriend's look of curiosity in response. "I wanna tell him about Plan Crazy! Can we?"
Sayaka looked nervous. Kensuke paled. "Er, is… is that a good idea, Kyoko? I mean…" He looked at Shinji for a second. "We barely start- um… that's the kind of thing I thought we wanted to keep really quiet for a long while, I thought."
"I want to yell about you two to the whole world, like Asuka got to," the dyed-redhead said eagerly. "I know why we can't and it's a bad idea, so I don't. But can't we tell at least people who already know about us? We know Rei knows how to keep secrets, right?"
'You have no idea, Sakura-san,' Shinji thought wryly.
Kensuke dropped his head and shook it slowly. "Rei would love it, yes. She loves this kind of romantic stuff, for some reason."
Shinji felt his eyes nearly cross as he tried to combine 'Rei Ayanami' and 'romance fan' in his head. "She...does?"
Sayaka and Kyoko nodded in unison. "She used to talk about you and Asuka a lot, for one thing. And she seems to like watching couples at lunch," Sayaka told him. She looked down at where Kyoko still held her hand and considered. "I kind of get what she's saying. I want to tell everyone about the ones I love, but…" she sighed and looked at Kensuke. "What do you say, lover? You're probably a good bit more paranoid and security-conscious than little miss 'poor impulse control' here."
"Fuck you, bitch."
"Later." Sayaka cocked her head. "To be fair, I'm in favor of telling him, too."
"Oh come on!" Kyoko complained, and tried to pull Sayaka's hand to her mouth and bite her.
Kensuke looked back and forth between his playfully struggling ladies, and eventually sighed. "Yeah, go ahead. Shinji won't tell anyone but Asuka, I think."
Kyoko left off trying to sink her teeth into Sayaka's hand and grinned at Shinji, fang winking. "I'm keepin' 'em! Both! Mine mine mine! Ahahahahah!"
Shinji blinked and looked at Sayaka for a translation.
The dyed-bluenette blushed and looked aside. "Ahh… yesterday we more or less asked Kensuke to… stay with us. Together. For the long run."
Shinji stared at her.
Kensuke looked away and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Um. It was kind of a proposal. I mean… yes and no, that kind. More like a… uh… promise that we'd stay together until we were old enough to get away with it, if we wanted to. No matter what our dads thought." At Shinji's disbelieving stare he blurted, "Don't look at me like that!"
Shinji vaguely shook his head. "But… that's crazy."
"Hence the name!" Kyoko exclaimed cheerily. "I am a genius at names!" She abandoned trying to bite Sayaka's fingers and resorted to simply pulling her girlfriend off-balance and on top of her. "Come here, you! I'mma control your impulse!" In practice, this involved kissing Sayaka furiously. She did not seem to object.
Shinji's disbelieving stare shifted back to Kensuke. "You're serious? Kensuke, we're fifteen. I think I'm the oldest one in our group, and I'm still a couple months short of sixteen. Proposals? That's…"
Kyoko pried her lips off Sayaka's for one second. "Crazy!" she cried happily. She went back to her task that was no chore at all.
Kensuke flushed slightly and flushed himself. "Come on, Shinji, you can't blame me. I mean, look at you two. How long after you two got together did you start having thoughts like that about the Red Demon, huh? Everyone can see how you two are, you have to be."
Asuka's face at the door this morning flashed across his mind and Shinji felt the same cold jolt run down his spine. "I… it's complicated, Kensuke. I… we… I want to be with her until the end of the world, but it's hard for us to…" He hesitated. "It scares us, to make it so… real like that. We've both kind of, um, talked around it but…" He trailed off and shrugged helplessly.
Kensuke opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to process his friend's uncomfortable revelation. "I uh… sorry, man. I'd totally have thought it would be easy for you two. You're like, really obviously in love with each other, so… sorry."
"Nothing's ever easy for us, Kensuke. Not even the good stuff," Shinji said with a sad, weak smile. "I've thought about it, but neither of us is… there yet." 'Yet.' A vision of an older Asuka coming in the door flickered across his mind. She was dressed for some office job, smiling as he came out of the kitchen to greet her, just another day together. Everything felt so warm, so whole… It made him ache, to almost feel it as a possibility.
Sayaka and Kyoko had stopped trying to suck each other's tonsils out and sat up, eyeing the Eva Pilot with concern. "That's sad to hear, Ikari-san. You all already have to deal with enough crazy stuff. Feels like you'd deserve something like this to be easier," Kyoko said carefully.
Sayaka perked up. "You know what can break up the awkward? A distraction!" She looked to Kensuke. "Tell him about the thing!"
"Thing?" her boyfriend repeated blankly. He snapped his fingers and turned back to Shinji. "Oh! Right! When I went to Sayaka's place yesterday, her dad wasn't home. She said he'd gotten called away on a 'sudden unscheduled drill', which is the exact same thing they said before the first Angel attacked here. And he didn't take some specific military gear he would if it was really a drill. I think something's up, and wanted to pass it to Major Katsuragi. I didn't want to try calling last night, so I figured I'd tell you today."
The distraction did oddly make Shinji feel a bit better. It at least got his mind off the awful memory of Asuka's face flashing shock and fear, or thinking about how much the mere idea of hurting her made his heart clench. And what Kensuke was telling him did seem suspicious. He nodded. "I'll send her a message. She and Kaji-san might know already, but better to tell her anyway," he said, pulling out his phone.
Well... to be honest, my first reaction (once I stopped laughing at the bad-even-for-2009 CGI Rei Head) was "We waited 7 years for this?" The ending was a great meta-commentary on the whole franchise... and utter shit for it's own story. Mari is in her 50s or maybe even 60s, and has spoken less than 100 words to Shinji in 15 years. They've had less than 30 minutes of conversation in their lives. Shinji running off into the sunlight with her is... uh, ok, then.
So if anything, Backstage!Mari is in for some angry Asuka. A&T... may have an Eva pick up the JMSDF Makinami and throw it into Fuji-San.
Well... to be honest, my first reaction (once I stopped laughing at the bad-even-for-2009 CGI Rei Head) was "We waited 7 years for this?" The ending was a great meta-commentary on the whole franchise... and utter shit for it's own story. Mari is in her 50s and has spoken less than 100 words to Shinji in 15 years. Shinji running off into the sunlight with her is... uh, ok, then.
So if anything, Backstage!Mari is in for some angry Asuka. A&T... may have an Eva pick up the JMSDF Makinami and throw it into Fuji-San.
My first A&T live chapter! I'm positively thrilled! That was a nice solid read, and a nice way to ease us back into what's going on after a long break.
Also, your reaction to the fourth rebuild movie mirrored my own. Yeah, I get it. Thematically, it's spot on for what Anno wants. That doesn't make it a good story, and honestly, it's a shit conclusion given the years of build-up. Honestly, the only part of that finale that was legitimately satisfying were Village Rei (and that ended horribly, and yet so predictably), and Shinji finally having his long overdue talk with Gendo. Aside from that, the movie was one giant disappointment from beginning to end, and I went in with amazingly low expectations after 3.0. Seriously, how is this a 4 part series? Its like the first two are from one continuity, and the last two are from a completely different one and someone got the prints mixed up when compiling the boxed sets for both.
A lovely chapter update, indeed! A little bit of focus on our other poly, the M&M (Magical Girls & Mechanical Nerd) never hurt, and we get a very bracing realization that following through on the promises they've made, taking the Next Great Plunge, as a grandparent says, can be a very scary thing, indeed.
And at this point, concerning the broader story, the tension's thick enough to balance on a knife's edge. Once this lights off... it's going to be spectacular.
Even if - feeling her eyeball exploding would be the worst that'll happen to her. Shinji won't care if her face melts off, as long as she is still there.
