Not really. She feels betrayed, very understandable.
Broken Wings [NGE]
- Thread starter Teen Spirit
- Start date
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
Considering the scale and depth of that betrayal, it's not that surprising.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Ouch. And now Shinji's guilt and still lingering low-self worth are going to beat him up for that. It's heartening that Asuka gets what he's thinking, and moves to block the downward spiral so quickly. They fit each other so well. I bet there have been times over the last many years that Shinji has even thought about getting back together with her, and then let his self-loathing talk him out of it.
Canis
Shoulder Puppy
- Location
- United States
More likely it's been Asuka wondering if the two might be able to make it work if they got back together, but not wanting to push while things between Shinji and Ria are so frost and Shinji himself is still struggling to get his shit together.
...though I wonder if Asuka's known all along that he was the one who - admittedly unknowingly - caused instrumentality or if that's a bomb he dropped and she's shelved for "later."
Edit:
To make it clearer, I don't think Shinji's ever been at a point where's entertained the idea that he could succeed at a relationship since the original one he had with Asuka imploded. At least not in this story. I could be wrong, but given what we've seen it doesn't feel that way to me.
Last edited:
- Location
- supernatural
I actually hope that Shinji and Asuka DON'T get back together and remind friends as I believe they have better chemistry as Amicable Exes.
NHO
Dumb is a state of existence
- Location
- ᓚᘏᗢ
Well, first you need to wake her up. And that's a problem of the century of itself. Then you need remind her that she can get annoyed and then actually annoy her.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's pretty much an open secret with her and Misato.
Heavy Fuel
Ask me for anything but time.
- Location
- 1123.6563.5321
Should you? It's one of Anno's first directorial works, and really prototyped a lot of Giant Robot tropes that spread everywhere. And there's definitely some DNA that found it's way into Eva: How about the redheaded female foreign mecha pilot who has a huge rep that appears 1/3rd of the way through the series, is kind of bitchy to start, but becomes a close part of the cast? Asuka, meet your anime ancestor, Jung Freud.
Yes, that's her name, (and boy is that another hint that Anno loves referencing psychoanalysis theories in his work) and despite the German name, she's Soviet Russian, thanks to this being made in the 1980s, when the USSR was seemingly eternal.
You can find the subbed 1st Ep on YouTube instantly, so give it a look.
Ok I will give it a try. Thanks.
- Location
- supernatural
Right now I am imagining what some of the Angels human form would be like for this fic and I came up with one for Gaghiel.
Fish on
Fish on
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Speaking of Angel's human forms. Here's pretty close to what my mental image of Okito is
An attack on titan reference in this fic? Shocking I know
An attack on titan reference in this fic? Shocking I know
- Location
- supernatural
I wonder what would the fic be like if instead you using canon Shinji and Asuka, you decidied that the cast of rebuild appearing in the Broken Wings (it would be set after the AA Wunder becomes active and Rebuild Shinji gets the bomb collar place on him, but before QRei 'rescues' him from Rebuild Wille.)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Actually one of this days I want to do an Omake or two about that.
I decided against choosing them for the main fic because well The Wunder itself would have caused considerable complications. And well, the conflicts Rebuild Shinji and Asuka would present don't really mesh well with what I have planned. I mean pretty much everyone would hate each other from the Start. Rebuild!WILLE would hate BW!WILLE and vice versa (BW!Misato would really REALLY hate her Rebuild counterparts treatment of Shinji) Rebuild!Asuka would really want nothing to do with Ria or Asuka. Seeing Mari interact with Broken Wings characters would be interesting.
Rebuild!Shinji would probably have a hard time at first once he realizes what he did, but the Broken Wings characters would give him the help he needs.
Also apologies for not posting anything this week. Next part is roughly 50% done but the heat here in Tucson and other personal stuff have kind of sapped my will to write. Hoping to get you guys something by early next week.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
Stay safe and hydrated and cool man. That stuff is nasty, even if its a dry heat.
- Location
- somewhere hot
I know your pain -- I'm in Phoenix. Take your time.
Chapter 7 Part 4
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The worst part of all this wasn't the betrayal or the threat to her family. It was what they were driving her to do.
For a brief, terrifying moment, Misato could see it all before her, laid out like a map: Where her fears would take her, the terrible things paranoia would do to her, the friendships it would ruin, the innocent people she would hurt. She was heading down a dark road with no end in sight. She could stop, turn back around. Nothing was stopping her.
Nothing but the knowledge of what would happen if she did. She hated it, but the dark road ahead was perhaps the only way to keep them safe.
Which made the situation before that much harder.
"You can't keep her locked up like this, you don't have the right!" Touji argued.
Touji was furious, Hikari was a wreck, barely able to keep her youngest child quiet in between bursts of uncontrolled sobbing. The strain of Okito's reveal had hollowed them both out, now Misato was keeping their only daughter in an interrogation room for fears she might be the same as her twin. Monstrous but Kodama did seem like the most likely suspect.
"I'm not arresting her, I'm just trying to confirm she isn't an Angel," Misato replied calmly.
"She isn't!" Touji about screamed. "She was just as shocked as we we were when Okito…"
He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
"And Okito acted plenty shocked when you found him after the first Angel attack. Before tonight I would have considered your kids above suspicion. Now, now I don't know who I can trust."
"Then why don't you have Shinji's kid in there?!" Touji blurted out.
"Because if she was an Angel, they would be dead already!" Misato shouted.
She'd given it thought, despite how much it sickened her to even consider the possibility. Ria had the most access to the Pilots, and was the only one in her age group who was ever alone with the Pilots. If she wanted them dead, they would be dead, simple as that.
Ria was now the only person born after Third Impact who Misato could trust completely.
/
Ria's mind wandered as she walked with Asuka, largely out of guilt. Finally being free of the lie was so liberating, having to retreat back to it, with a different version of the same person no less, was painful.
Her mind turned to her parentage. More specifically, how she ended up in this body. She had always assumed Adam specifically picked which body the Angels got for their reward. And that she had been given this one because she was best suited for protecting the Pilots. But if that was the case, why did he give Sachiel that body? Why would Adam place someone so dangerous so close to the pilots.
It didn't make sense. Perhaps Adam had no control of it. Adam was not omnipotent after all. But that meant she was here by luck, simple chance. Any of the other Angels had just as much chance of being in this body, of being Ria.
What would Sachiel have been like in this body, or Ramiel, or Arael? Would they be monsters or would they be pretty much the same as her?
What would she had been like if she wasn't Ria? Would she had given into madness like Sachiel?
Why was she alone? Part of her assumed it was her nature that kept her from madness, but that didn't ring completely true. But there had to be something different about her, something that had held on this path. She and Sachiel had very similar childhoods. He'd arguably had a better one. His parents had stayed together, he had siblings. So why did he falter so greatly?
Sachiel, Shamshel, Iruel, and Ramiel as well judging by Okito's comments. All had faltered, but they had served Adam just as faithfully as Zeruel had.
So what changed?
Ria forced the thoughts from her head as they entered the room.
It was a simple affair, two big puffy couches, some end tables, snacks, and a TV that took up most of the wall.
It seemed Misato expected them to be stuck here a while.
"How are you-" Shinji began.
Asuka cut him off. "Her best friend turned out to be a monster, how do you think she feels? We're not going to talk about it right now."
She grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV, bringing up a movie streaming service.
"What if she wants to talk about?" Shinji asked.
Asuka groaned, but paused and looked towards Ria.
"Honestly, I really don't," she replied.
Not with them anyways.
"Alright so you get to pick any movie you want," Asuka said as she handed her the remote. "Just don't pick anything weird."
Ria sat between Shinji and Asuka as she looked through the movies. Nothing really grabbing her interest.
"Wait wait wait, go back," Shinji asked in a surprised voice.
She scrolled back a few, coming across...oh no.
"Is that, me?" Asuka asked.
"And me?" Shinji added.
Oh course, they would have spotted this movie of all movies.
The movie was called 'Now and Then, Here and There'. It was a dramatic retelling of the last days leading up to Third Impact. And by dramatic retelling, she meant one of the biggest bits of propaganda Ria had ever known. It was far from the only movie about her parents, but it was probably the most famous.
The TV displayed three actors dressed up like Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, posing dramatically with CGI Evas behind them.
"Oh this I have to see," Asuka exclaimed.
"Are you sure? It's not very good," Ria said quietly.
Actually from an objective standpoint, it was alright. Historically it's about as accurate as a Monty Python movie, but she'd seen far worse in her day.
Watching it though was surreal at best, particularly since it began with Her/Zeruel's attack on NERV.
"Well I mean we don't have to," Asuka said, faking disinterest. "It's your choice after all.
"No, no, it's fine," Ria replied. "If you want to watch it, we can watch it."
She pressed play.
~~~
"You know what you need to do," the actress playing Rei said in a dry, sardonic matter. "Buy some Tampons. Drink a bit of Cranberry juice and contact your gynecologist. Because I think you're starting your first period."
"Gott in Himmel," Asuka muttered for at fifth time since the movie started.
Watching the two Pilots was proving far more interesting than the actual movie.
Thankfully the movie never got seriously uncomfortable or awkward. It just manly left the two Pilots utterly bewildered.
Shinji was portrayed as a larger than life heroic figure who was so hot-blooded it's amazing he didn't spit fire. Asuka was a calm, cool and collected genius who came up with just about every plan. Rei was incredibly sarcastic, and more than a little vulgar.
Naturally everything involving SEELE was hyped up to Cartoonishly evil levels. Gendo remaining a shadowy figure, not even appearing besides mentions.
"Why does this exist?" Shinji asked bluntly.
"I really don't know," Ria shook her head. "I mean, at least it's not insulting?"
"The hell it is!" Asuka shouted. "This actress sounds like she's gargling marbles when she speaks German. And she's wearing a wig! They couldn't get an actual German to play me?"
"Aren't you technically American?" Shinji asked.
"Besides the point!"
Asuka turned to Ria.
"Why didn't they sue over this?" she demanded.
"Fair use: Nobody was slandered, and it never claimed to be a documentary. Part of the profits went to helping rebuilding efforts and well…" Ria trailed off for a moment.
"The director may have given us all free movie passes...for life. Along with quite a few shares in the Studio behind the project," she admitted.
"Seriously?" Asuka stared at her.
"It's not like we used them to see the actual movie!" Ria defended herself.
"But they both have millions. Why do they need shares, or movie passes?"
"Hey free stuff is free stuff."
Asuka sighed and returned to the movie.
A moment later Unit-02 rose out of the depths of Tokyo-3, prepared to do battle Armisael. Asuka's Eva was for some reason armed with a shoulder mounted cannon and a polearm that had a chainsaw mounted on it.
Asuka threw her popcorn at the screen.
"Stupid anime scheiße..."
Shinji chuckled lightly.
Despite herself, Ria found that she was enjoying this. And for the next hour or so, she was able to push Okito out of her thoughts.
/
Maya found Misato as she was watching the Suzuhara girl being interviewed from behind a two way mirror.
"How is it going?" Ibuki asked.
Misato shook her head.
"Some of what she's told us is suspect, but nothing remotely concrete."
Maya sighed. This would be awkward, but she had no options.
"People are beginning to voice concerns about this Interview and suggesting we just let her go."
Misato turned to her, unsurprised, not even angry.
"Who?" she asked simply.
"Sub-Director Soryu, Hyuga, the head of public relations, Dr. Takao, Tama, and every member of Security."
Misato nodded. She had been expecting this.
"People are worried that this is the start of a trend. That you're going to start going after their families next."
In truth several members of Security were on the verge of quitting to protect their families. Misato didn't have evidence, didn't have any way of finding Angels without them revealing themselves. Some feared this was the beginning of a witch hunt.
"Kodama was it's twin. They shared a womb. They had plenty of time to conspire. She's the mostly likely suspect, no, the only real suspect we have right now?"
"So why didn't she join Sachiel's attack?" Maya questioned. "If she was Angel? Why wouldn't she have joined him? She'll be under suspicion for the rest of her life, what could an Angel gain by putting themselves into that kind of situation."
"I don't know." Misato admitted "But they fooled us for twenty years, I wouldn't put it past them to pull something that convoluted."
"Then why isn't Kensuke Suzhara being interviewed right now?" Maya pressed.
Misato stared at her with a horrified expression.
"He's barely more than a baby," she said quitely.
"You said everyone born after Third Impact was a suspect. Almost everything you said about Kodama applies to him as well."
Misato hesitated. "I can't do that. He's barely more than a baby."
"If he's an Angel what difference does that make?" Maya pressed.
Harsh but she needed to make her point.
Misato said nothing, but Maya could see what she was thinking.
"The General interrogating a baby would be a PR nightmare," Maya said.
"I'm trying to protect the Pilots, and my family," Misato said defensively.
"And if half the Security staff quits because they're scared their family might end up in that room we won't be able to protect them at all."
Misato was horrified.
"Okito's attack took us all off guard," Maya admitted. "But if the staff feels like you're a threat to their family then we've already lost. We'll keep the kids as far away as possible but you need to let them know you won't burn their families just to protect yours."
Misato was silent for a long while, mulling over what Maya said.
"Tell Toji he'll have his daughter back within the hour," Misato ordered softly. "I'm not willing to go this far quite yet."
/
Shinji woke up slowly, his body fighting him every step of the way in a desperate bid for five minutes more sleep.
His eyes opened to see a blurry Ria sitting next to him, dressed in a WILLE uniform.
That jarred him awake immediately.
He sat up straight, a brief surge of panic hitting him.
Ria looked up from her book.
"Hi," she said awkwardly.
"Hi," he replied, ashamed of his panic.
Silence filled the air.
Shinji searched his mind for something, anything to say.
"Why don't you hate me?" he asked.
Perhaps not the best conversation starter.
Ria smirked, but it was devoid of any humor.
"Funny, was about to ask you the same question," she said, her voice pained.
She looked down at her feet, doubt and fear gripping her.
"We both did our duty. I don't-I really don't know if I feel guilty over the things I did, but I'm happy I lost. I like being who I am, I like having hands and being able to think at a level beyond a really pissed off fifth grader. I don't know what victory would have brought me, even if I lived to see it I don't think I would enjoy it as much as I do the life I have now. Until Ok-, until Sachel's first attack, I had no regrets of note."
She paused, mulling over her words.
"I am sorry, for the pain I caused you, Mom, and Misato that day. I don't expect forgiveness-"
"You don't need it," Shinji stated.
Ria looked up, tears in her eyes.
"A lot of people got hurt, a lot of people died because of Zeruel. But you died as well. As far as I'm concerned that wipes the slate clean."
He believed it, or at least he wanted to believe it. If he held Ria responsible for all Zeruel did, he wouldn't be able to forgive her. Yet he didn't, even if he wanted to he just couldn't blame her for what happened.
Zeruel had died, they all had. Wasn't that punishment enough for their crimes?
"Death brings absolution?" Ria pondered. "Yeah I suppose that works. I...I-"
She moved her chair closer to him, nervously grabbing his good hand.
"Thank you. You're a good man, you don't deserve all the troubles this world gives you."
Shinji looked towards the TV, suddenly filled with shame and regret.
"I'm not so sure of that," he said sadly. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my time, far too many of them."
He looked back to see Ria staring straight at him, looking at him not with pity, but understanding.
"You need to forgive yourself, Dad," she said. "You were an angry, desperate boy given power at the worst possible moment. You made a mistake, you fixed it as best you could. You don't need to die to atone for it."
Shinji's eyes went alive.
"You knew?" he whispered.
She nodded. "From the start."
For a brief, terrifying moment, Misato could see it all before her, laid out like a map: Where her fears would take her, the terrible things paranoia would do to her, the friendships it would ruin, the innocent people she would hurt. She was heading down a dark road with no end in sight. She could stop, turn back around. Nothing was stopping her.
Nothing but the knowledge of what would happen if she did. She hated it, but the dark road ahead was perhaps the only way to keep them safe.
Which made the situation before that much harder.
"You can't keep her locked up like this, you don't have the right!" Touji argued.
Touji was furious, Hikari was a wreck, barely able to keep her youngest child quiet in between bursts of uncontrolled sobbing. The strain of Okito's reveal had hollowed them both out, now Misato was keeping their only daughter in an interrogation room for fears she might be the same as her twin. Monstrous but Kodama did seem like the most likely suspect.
"I'm not arresting her, I'm just trying to confirm she isn't an Angel," Misato replied calmly.
"She isn't!" Touji about screamed. "She was just as shocked as we we were when Okito…"
He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
"And Okito acted plenty shocked when you found him after the first Angel attack. Before tonight I would have considered your kids above suspicion. Now, now I don't know who I can trust."
"Then why don't you have Shinji's kid in there?!" Touji blurted out.
"Because if she was an Angel, they would be dead already!" Misato shouted.
She'd given it thought, despite how much it sickened her to even consider the possibility. Ria had the most access to the Pilots, and was the only one in her age group who was ever alone with the Pilots. If she wanted them dead, they would be dead, simple as that.
Ria was now the only person born after Third Impact who Misato could trust completely.
/
Ria's mind wandered as she walked with Asuka, largely out of guilt. Finally being free of the lie was so liberating, having to retreat back to it, with a different version of the same person no less, was painful.
Her mind turned to her parentage. More specifically, how she ended up in this body. She had always assumed Adam specifically picked which body the Angels got for their reward. And that she had been given this one because she was best suited for protecting the Pilots. But if that was the case, why did he give Sachiel that body? Why would Adam place someone so dangerous so close to the pilots.
It didn't make sense. Perhaps Adam had no control of it. Adam was not omnipotent after all. But that meant she was here by luck, simple chance. Any of the other Angels had just as much chance of being in this body, of being Ria.
What would Sachiel have been like in this body, or Ramiel, or Arael? Would they be monsters or would they be pretty much the same as her?
What would she had been like if she wasn't Ria? Would she had given into madness like Sachiel?
Why was she alone? Part of her assumed it was her nature that kept her from madness, but that didn't ring completely true. But there had to be something different about her, something that had held on this path. She and Sachiel had very similar childhoods. He'd arguably had a better one. His parents had stayed together, he had siblings. So why did he falter so greatly?
Sachiel, Shamshel, Iruel, and Ramiel as well judging by Okito's comments. All had faltered, but they had served Adam just as faithfully as Zeruel had.
So what changed?
Ria forced the thoughts from her head as they entered the room.
It was a simple affair, two big puffy couches, some end tables, snacks, and a TV that took up most of the wall.
It seemed Misato expected them to be stuck here a while.
"How are you-" Shinji began.
Asuka cut him off. "Her best friend turned out to be a monster, how do you think she feels? We're not going to talk about it right now."
She grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV, bringing up a movie streaming service.
"What if she wants to talk about?" Shinji asked.
Asuka groaned, but paused and looked towards Ria.
"Honestly, I really don't," she replied.
Not with them anyways.
"Alright so you get to pick any movie you want," Asuka said as she handed her the remote. "Just don't pick anything weird."
Ria sat between Shinji and Asuka as she looked through the movies. Nothing really grabbing her interest.
"Wait wait wait, go back," Shinji asked in a surprised voice.
She scrolled back a few, coming across...oh no.
"Is that, me?" Asuka asked.
"And me?" Shinji added.
Oh course, they would have spotted this movie of all movies.
The movie was called 'Now and Then, Here and There'. It was a dramatic retelling of the last days leading up to Third Impact. And by dramatic retelling, she meant one of the biggest bits of propaganda Ria had ever known. It was far from the only movie about her parents, but it was probably the most famous.
The TV displayed three actors dressed up like Shinji, Asuka, and Rei, posing dramatically with CGI Evas behind them.
"Oh this I have to see," Asuka exclaimed.
"Are you sure? It's not very good," Ria said quietly.
Actually from an objective standpoint, it was alright. Historically it's about as accurate as a Monty Python movie, but she'd seen far worse in her day.
Watching it though was surreal at best, particularly since it began with Her/Zeruel's attack on NERV.
"Well I mean we don't have to," Asuka said, faking disinterest. "It's your choice after all.
"No, no, it's fine," Ria replied. "If you want to watch it, we can watch it."
She pressed play.
~~~
"You know what you need to do," the actress playing Rei said in a dry, sardonic matter. "Buy some Tampons. Drink a bit of Cranberry juice and contact your gynecologist. Because I think you're starting your first period."
"Gott in Himmel," Asuka muttered for at fifth time since the movie started.
Watching the two Pilots was proving far more interesting than the actual movie.
Thankfully the movie never got seriously uncomfortable or awkward. It just manly left the two Pilots utterly bewildered.
Shinji was portrayed as a larger than life heroic figure who was so hot-blooded it's amazing he didn't spit fire. Asuka was a calm, cool and collected genius who came up with just about every plan. Rei was incredibly sarcastic, and more than a little vulgar.
Naturally everything involving SEELE was hyped up to Cartoonishly evil levels. Gendo remaining a shadowy figure, not even appearing besides mentions.
"Why does this exist?" Shinji asked bluntly.
"I really don't know," Ria shook her head. "I mean, at least it's not insulting?"
"The hell it is!" Asuka shouted. "This actress sounds like she's gargling marbles when she speaks German. And she's wearing a wig! They couldn't get an actual German to play me?"
"Aren't you technically American?" Shinji asked.
"Besides the point!"
Asuka turned to Ria.
"Why didn't they sue over this?" she demanded.
"Fair use: Nobody was slandered, and it never claimed to be a documentary. Part of the profits went to helping rebuilding efforts and well…" Ria trailed off for a moment.
"The director may have given us all free movie passes...for life. Along with quite a few shares in the Studio behind the project," she admitted.
"Seriously?" Asuka stared at her.
"It's not like we used them to see the actual movie!" Ria defended herself.
"But they both have millions. Why do they need shares, or movie passes?"
"Hey free stuff is free stuff."
Asuka sighed and returned to the movie.
A moment later Unit-02 rose out of the depths of Tokyo-3, prepared to do battle Armisael. Asuka's Eva was for some reason armed with a shoulder mounted cannon and a polearm that had a chainsaw mounted on it.
Asuka threw her popcorn at the screen.
"Stupid anime scheiße..."
Shinji chuckled lightly.
Despite herself, Ria found that she was enjoying this. And for the next hour or so, she was able to push Okito out of her thoughts.
/
Maya found Misato as she was watching the Suzuhara girl being interviewed from behind a two way mirror.
"How is it going?" Ibuki asked.
Misato shook her head.
"Some of what she's told us is suspect, but nothing remotely concrete."
Maya sighed. This would be awkward, but she had no options.
"People are beginning to voice concerns about this Interview and suggesting we just let her go."
Misato turned to her, unsurprised, not even angry.
"Who?" she asked simply.
"Sub-Director Soryu, Hyuga, the head of public relations, Dr. Takao, Tama, and every member of Security."
Misato nodded. She had been expecting this.
"People are worried that this is the start of a trend. That you're going to start going after their families next."
In truth several members of Security were on the verge of quitting to protect their families. Misato didn't have evidence, didn't have any way of finding Angels without them revealing themselves. Some feared this was the beginning of a witch hunt.
"Kodama was it's twin. They shared a womb. They had plenty of time to conspire. She's the mostly likely suspect, no, the only real suspect we have right now?"
"So why didn't she join Sachiel's attack?" Maya questioned. "If she was Angel? Why wouldn't she have joined him? She'll be under suspicion for the rest of her life, what could an Angel gain by putting themselves into that kind of situation."
"I don't know." Misato admitted "But they fooled us for twenty years, I wouldn't put it past them to pull something that convoluted."
"Then why isn't Kensuke Suzhara being interviewed right now?" Maya pressed.
Misato stared at her with a horrified expression.
"He's barely more than a baby," she said quitely.
"You said everyone born after Third Impact was a suspect. Almost everything you said about Kodama applies to him as well."
Misato hesitated. "I can't do that. He's barely more than a baby."
"If he's an Angel what difference does that make?" Maya pressed.
Harsh but she needed to make her point.
Misato said nothing, but Maya could see what she was thinking.
"The General interrogating a baby would be a PR nightmare," Maya said.
"I'm trying to protect the Pilots, and my family," Misato said defensively.
"And if half the Security staff quits because they're scared their family might end up in that room we won't be able to protect them at all."
Misato was horrified.
"Okito's attack took us all off guard," Maya admitted. "But if the staff feels like you're a threat to their family then we've already lost. We'll keep the kids as far away as possible but you need to let them know you won't burn their families just to protect yours."
Misato was silent for a long while, mulling over what Maya said.
"Tell Toji he'll have his daughter back within the hour," Misato ordered softly. "I'm not willing to go this far quite yet."
/
Shinji woke up slowly, his body fighting him every step of the way in a desperate bid for five minutes more sleep.
His eyes opened to see a blurry Ria sitting next to him, dressed in a WILLE uniform.
That jarred him awake immediately.
He sat up straight, a brief surge of panic hitting him.
Ria looked up from her book.
"Hi," she said awkwardly.
"Hi," he replied, ashamed of his panic.
Silence filled the air.
Shinji searched his mind for something, anything to say.
"Why don't you hate me?" he asked.
Perhaps not the best conversation starter.
Ria smirked, but it was devoid of any humor.
"Funny, was about to ask you the same question," she said, her voice pained.
She looked down at her feet, doubt and fear gripping her.
"We both did our duty. I don't-I really don't know if I feel guilty over the things I did, but I'm happy I lost. I like being who I am, I like having hands and being able to think at a level beyond a really pissed off fifth grader. I don't know what victory would have brought me, even if I lived to see it I don't think I would enjoy it as much as I do the life I have now. Until Ok-, until Sachel's first attack, I had no regrets of note."
She paused, mulling over her words.
"I am sorry, for the pain I caused you, Mom, and Misato that day. I don't expect forgiveness-"
"You don't need it," Shinji stated.
Ria looked up, tears in her eyes.
"A lot of people got hurt, a lot of people died because of Zeruel. But you died as well. As far as I'm concerned that wipes the slate clean."
He believed it, or at least he wanted to believe it. If he held Ria responsible for all Zeruel did, he wouldn't be able to forgive her. Yet he didn't, even if he wanted to he just couldn't blame her for what happened.
Zeruel had died, they all had. Wasn't that punishment enough for their crimes?
"Death brings absolution?" Ria pondered. "Yeah I suppose that works. I...I-"
She moved her chair closer to him, nervously grabbing his good hand.
"Thank you. You're a good man, you don't deserve all the troubles this world gives you."
Shinji looked towards the TV, suddenly filled with shame and regret.
"I'm not so sure of that," he said sadly. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my time, far too many of them."
He looked back to see Ria staring straight at him, looking at him not with pity, but understanding.
"You need to forgive yourself, Dad," she said. "You were an angry, desperate boy given power at the worst possible moment. You made a mistake, you fixed it as best you could. You don't need to die to atone for it."
Shinji's eyes went alive.
"You knew?" he whispered.
She nodded. "From the start."
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Is this the time to point out that multiple learned rabbis say that Life of Brian is the best depiction of Jerusalem under Roman occupation?
Quadhelix
Professional Windmill Hunter
For some reason, I can't help but think of Jean Anouilh's Antigone here: Misato wants to take the moral high road, but -- like Creon -- feels she has no choice but to take the darker path.So, the interesting bit about this is that none of this reasoning changes should Misato learn that Ria is Zeruel -- although the same rationalization that she applied with Kodama will likely blind her to this fact.
DRAMATIC IRONY
The double irony, of course, is that Misato is right, just for the wrong reasons.
Now that's an interesting connection -- maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems like she's treating her loyalty to the pilots/her parents as an aspect of her faithfulness to Adam.
On the one hand, you're right.
On the other hand, you yourself tried to destroy the world, so I'm not sure how much moral ground you have to stand on telling someone for, basically, succeeding where you failed.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
I really pity the Suzuharas right now...
Misato is going to explode when she learns the truth... and then feel doubly as betrayed by her own children for concealing it from her.
How have Asuka and Shinji managed not to see this movie in the last 20 years? Ria says it's the most famous one about the Angel War, so how did they never see it, even in passing?
You said it, Asuka. WTF? I'm just trying to picture what sort of scene in the movie required that line, and it's making my brain hurt.
Oddly, it's possible he could ask that same question for both 'I killed you during the War' and 'I just left you and your mother for 20 years because I had a mental breakdown and never felt worthy of coming back to really be a family again'.
Uh oh. No more hiding, Shinji. The secret you've let rule your life for 20 years, the one that broke up your relationship with the one woman you've ever loved, that drove you to walk away and leave your only child behind just like your father is no longer just in your head. Now you know your daughter knows... and always has.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's a line from one the EVA abridged series, the one where Rei is a massively sarcastic asshole. in the Abridged Series she was saying this to Shinji.You said it, Asuka. WTF? I'm just trying to picture what sort of scene in the movie required that line, and it's making my brain hurt.
Everyone's a critic.On the one hand, you're right.
On the other hand, you yourself tried to destroy the world, so I'm not sure how much moral ground you have to stand on telling someone for, basically, succeeding where you failed.
This is a real thing. It's not NGE.
Now and Then, Here and There - Wikipedia
It's been a while since I watched it, but I do recall enjoying it.
Rebuild Wings Part 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
And now for something a bit different
/
One moment, Ria was having the time of her life, playing and laughing with her friends as they made their way through Downtown, the next, she was struck by a horrifying sensation. Something clawing at the back of her mind, old instincts fighting to burst forth. For a second she thought she heard the call again, the call that had drawn all the angels to Adam.
But this wasn't it, this was something alien and strange.
Ria looked towards Okito, he nodded slightly, a pained expression across his face. He felt it too.
Then the Sky burst open, filling the sky with blinding light.
Kodama screamed in terror, as did many others, fearing it was an opening attack by some enemy nation.
Out of the light came a monster. That was the only word that Ria could think of, monster.
It was enormous, easily two kilometers in length, it's massive wings almost as long.
It hung over the city, floating above it in mocking defiance of gravity.
At first glance it looked to be a massive machine, a very strange and ungainly machine. Like someone had taken the fuselage of a massive plane, strapped two zeppelins to it, then added bird like wings and coated the most of the thing in a layer of armor. But even in the nighttime sky Ria could see that beneath the metal, the main body of the thing was made of bones.
Bones clearly pulled from an angel, an Angel Ria had never seen before.
She stared up at, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing. Finally she did the only thing her mind could think to do, run.
She grabbed Kodama, and along with Okito, they ran away as fast they could
/
Ten minutes after launch, everything went to hell.
Sad thing is that was the second time things had gone to hell since the AAA Wunder launched. Moments after it had launched, it had come under assault from a cluster of NERV Nemesis series Evangelions. Thankfully those had proven rather easy to deal with. This on the other hand…
Misato surveyed the sight before her. Wunder was floating above a city, a distinctly Japanese city. One that seemed completely untouched by Near-Third Impact. That should have been impossible. The only livable settlements she knew of were a fraction of the size of this thing.
Their support fleet was gone, having vanished when that light appeared.In a moment they had gone from Arctic morning to the dead of night above Japan, an unruined Japan at that.
This wasn't an attack by NERV, didn't fit their methods or what they were capable of, and if it was an illusion created by an angel the sensors would have picked it up by now.
"According to Magi Achiral, local geography and general layout fit Kyoto, Though 20% of the buildings don't fit Pre-Impact Records." Ristuko announced
Kyoto? That couldn't be possible, she'd seen the ruins of Kyoto up close shortly after Near-Third Impact. It was a mess, nothing could live there let alone rebuild.
She looked at the view screen, below them was a large glass pyramid, standing out like a sore thumb among all the modern skyscrapers and older, more traditional buildings.
"Sensors are picking up Several large turrets rising up around the city, and the Radar is picking up...Fighter jets?" the pink haired Kitakami announced with confusion
Definitely not NERV.
"Hold Fire." Misato ordered "This isn't the enemy we know. Let's figure out what is going on before we start firing. "
"Find a way to establish communications with whoever the hell is that Pyramid." She told Ristuko.
She nodded, quickly turning her attention to the task
Misato gritted her teeth, and here she thought dealing with Shinji would have been the hardest thing she dealt with today.
No Evas, no Angels had risen to attack them. Those turrets would likely do nothing more than annoy them. If this was some hidden city built by NERV it would have been far more defended.
Where were they? Had they traveled through time? No, Kyoto never had a pyramid like that.
"Connection established." Ristuko announced. "Bringing it up on Screen."
The image of Kyoto disappeared replaced with….
Beneath her glasses, Misato's eyes went wide in surprise.
Staring back at her was, herself. Perhaps a bit older but unmistakably Katsuragi, her Uniform even looked the same as hers, minus the hat and glasses.
"This is General Misato, Head of WILLE. Would someone explain to...me-" The Other Misato paused as she realized who she was looking at. "What the hell?"
The bridge was silent, all eyes on the screen.
"This is Captain Misato of the Wunder, also head of WILLE." She announced "I don't know how we got here but it appears something very odd has occurred tonight.
She could now see another Ristuko and Maya staring at them from behind the other Misato.
"What...who are you?" The other her questioned
"Tell whoever is operating those cannons to stand down." Misato said coldly "And then we can talk."
/
An hour and a half ago the biggest thing Shinji had to worry about was finding a job. Now he was preparing for what may be the strangest moment of his life, and that was saying a great deal.
He, Asuka, their daughter Ria, Misato and Ritsuko were all standing near one of the entrances to WILLE, waiting for this 'other' Misato and her crew to arrive. Details were sparse and frankly confusing. Near as they could tell this Misato and her abomination of an Airship came from some alternate universe. Naturally most everyone want the giant death ship out of the sky but the other Misato wanted to talk face to face first.
"Are you sure I should be here?" Shinji asked as they waited "I thought you said the meeting was just with senior staff, I don't even work here."
"Yes." Misato replied "But there's no harm in a little meet and greet beforehand."
"Not sure I want to meet anyone who flies around on the skeleton of an angel." Ria said.
It seems that the sudden appearance of this Wunder had put Ria on edge. He couldn't blame her, this all felt like the start of a bad Science fiction movie. Soon they would discover this people from another timeline were all possessed by aliens or angels or something.
"That is rather odd." Asuka admitted "But I'm sure there's a good explanation behind. Perhaps they were desperate."
Shinji looked down, his left shoe was untied. He leaned over to fix it. Tripping over his shoelaces at a meeting between universes, he would never be able to live that down
The door opened.
Shinji looked up as he tied. In front was Misato, a slightly younger looking Misato who's face was largely hidden by a huge pair of sunglasses and a large red hat, next to her was a pink haired lady he didn't recognize and Ristuko who looked almost exactly the same as the one standing to the right of him. Besides her was Maya Ibuki, who's only really difference was a beret and rather serious expression on her face
Next to her was...Asuka, and she didn't look a day over fourteen confusingly. More distressing, she had an eyepatch over her left eye. A large poofy black hat with buttons on it hide most of her hair, which was auburn brown instead of red. Beside her was a smirking girl with dark red glasses and brunette hair tied into two tails, she was wearing a pink plugsuit. So she must of have been a pilot, was she that universe's version of him? No they looked nothing alike.
He stood up, everyone from the other universe suddenly stared at him, as if they just realized he was there.
Suddenly Shinji found himself wishing he could be somewhere, anywhere else than right here at this moment. Almost all of them stared at him with hatred, the pink haired girl was shaking with fury, Maya looked like she was about to scream.
The other Misato pulled off her glasses, the look she gave him. He'd never seen Misato look at him like that, so full of loathing and contempt.
The other Asuka stepped towards him, a vacant, almost dead look in her eye.
In a few quick strides she was upon him, arm craned back preparing to deck him.
Ria dashed in front of Shinji, grabbing the other Asuka's arm, stopping the fist inches from his face.
Shinji froze in terror. These people, all of them, both the unknowns and the ones who looked like people he'd known for most of his life, they all hated him with a passion.
/
Not sure how much I'm going to do with this little sidestory. But the idea has been bouncing around my head for a few days.
/
One moment, Ria was having the time of her life, playing and laughing with her friends as they made their way through Downtown, the next, she was struck by a horrifying sensation. Something clawing at the back of her mind, old instincts fighting to burst forth. For a second she thought she heard the call again, the call that had drawn all the angels to Adam.
But this wasn't it, this was something alien and strange.
Ria looked towards Okito, he nodded slightly, a pained expression across his face. He felt it too.
Then the Sky burst open, filling the sky with blinding light.
Kodama screamed in terror, as did many others, fearing it was an opening attack by some enemy nation.
Out of the light came a monster. That was the only word that Ria could think of, monster.
It was enormous, easily two kilometers in length, it's massive wings almost as long.
It hung over the city, floating above it in mocking defiance of gravity.
At first glance it looked to be a massive machine, a very strange and ungainly machine. Like someone had taken the fuselage of a massive plane, strapped two zeppelins to it, then added bird like wings and coated the most of the thing in a layer of armor. But even in the nighttime sky Ria could see that beneath the metal, the main body of the thing was made of bones.
Bones clearly pulled from an angel, an Angel Ria had never seen before.
She stared up at, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing. Finally she did the only thing her mind could think to do, run.
She grabbed Kodama, and along with Okito, they ran away as fast they could
/
Ten minutes after launch, everything went to hell.
Sad thing is that was the second time things had gone to hell since the AAA Wunder launched. Moments after it had launched, it had come under assault from a cluster of NERV Nemesis series Evangelions. Thankfully those had proven rather easy to deal with. This on the other hand…
Misato surveyed the sight before her. Wunder was floating above a city, a distinctly Japanese city. One that seemed completely untouched by Near-Third Impact. That should have been impossible. The only livable settlements she knew of were a fraction of the size of this thing.
Their support fleet was gone, having vanished when that light appeared.In a moment they had gone from Arctic morning to the dead of night above Japan, an unruined Japan at that.
This wasn't an attack by NERV, didn't fit their methods or what they were capable of, and if it was an illusion created by an angel the sensors would have picked it up by now.
"According to Magi Achiral, local geography and general layout fit Kyoto, Though 20% of the buildings don't fit Pre-Impact Records." Ristuko announced
Kyoto? That couldn't be possible, she'd seen the ruins of Kyoto up close shortly after Near-Third Impact. It was a mess, nothing could live there let alone rebuild.
She looked at the view screen, below them was a large glass pyramid, standing out like a sore thumb among all the modern skyscrapers and older, more traditional buildings.
"Sensors are picking up Several large turrets rising up around the city, and the Radar is picking up...Fighter jets?" the pink haired Kitakami announced with confusion
Definitely not NERV.
"Hold Fire." Misato ordered "This isn't the enemy we know. Let's figure out what is going on before we start firing. "
"Find a way to establish communications with whoever the hell is that Pyramid." She told Ristuko.
She nodded, quickly turning her attention to the task
Misato gritted her teeth, and here she thought dealing with Shinji would have been the hardest thing she dealt with today.
No Evas, no Angels had risen to attack them. Those turrets would likely do nothing more than annoy them. If this was some hidden city built by NERV it would have been far more defended.
Where were they? Had they traveled through time? No, Kyoto never had a pyramid like that.
"Connection established." Ristuko announced. "Bringing it up on Screen."
The image of Kyoto disappeared replaced with….
Beneath her glasses, Misato's eyes went wide in surprise.
Staring back at her was, herself. Perhaps a bit older but unmistakably Katsuragi, her Uniform even looked the same as hers, minus the hat and glasses.
"This is General Misato, Head of WILLE. Would someone explain to...me-" The Other Misato paused as she realized who she was looking at. "What the hell?"
The bridge was silent, all eyes on the screen.
"This is Captain Misato of the Wunder, also head of WILLE." She announced "I don't know how we got here but it appears something very odd has occurred tonight.
She could now see another Ristuko and Maya staring at them from behind the other Misato.
"What...who are you?" The other her questioned
"Tell whoever is operating those cannons to stand down." Misato said coldly "And then we can talk."
/
An hour and a half ago the biggest thing Shinji had to worry about was finding a job. Now he was preparing for what may be the strangest moment of his life, and that was saying a great deal.
He, Asuka, their daughter Ria, Misato and Ritsuko were all standing near one of the entrances to WILLE, waiting for this 'other' Misato and her crew to arrive. Details were sparse and frankly confusing. Near as they could tell this Misato and her abomination of an Airship came from some alternate universe. Naturally most everyone want the giant death ship out of the sky but the other Misato wanted to talk face to face first.
"Are you sure I should be here?" Shinji asked as they waited "I thought you said the meeting was just with senior staff, I don't even work here."
"Yes." Misato replied "But there's no harm in a little meet and greet beforehand."
"Not sure I want to meet anyone who flies around on the skeleton of an angel." Ria said.
It seems that the sudden appearance of this Wunder had put Ria on edge. He couldn't blame her, this all felt like the start of a bad Science fiction movie. Soon they would discover this people from another timeline were all possessed by aliens or angels or something.
"That is rather odd." Asuka admitted "But I'm sure there's a good explanation behind. Perhaps they were desperate."
Shinji looked down, his left shoe was untied. He leaned over to fix it. Tripping over his shoelaces at a meeting between universes, he would never be able to live that down
The door opened.
Shinji looked up as he tied. In front was Misato, a slightly younger looking Misato who's face was largely hidden by a huge pair of sunglasses and a large red hat, next to her was a pink haired lady he didn't recognize and Ristuko who looked almost exactly the same as the one standing to the right of him. Besides her was Maya Ibuki, who's only really difference was a beret and rather serious expression on her face
Next to her was...Asuka, and she didn't look a day over fourteen confusingly. More distressing, she had an eyepatch over her left eye. A large poofy black hat with buttons on it hide most of her hair, which was auburn brown instead of red. Beside her was a smirking girl with dark red glasses and brunette hair tied into two tails, she was wearing a pink plugsuit. So she must of have been a pilot, was she that universe's version of him? No they looked nothing alike.
He stood up, everyone from the other universe suddenly stared at him, as if they just realized he was there.
Suddenly Shinji found himself wishing he could be somewhere, anywhere else than right here at this moment. Almost all of them stared at him with hatred, the pink haired girl was shaking with fury, Maya looked like she was about to scream.
The other Misato pulled off her glasses, the look she gave him. He'd never seen Misato look at him like that, so full of loathing and contempt.
The other Asuka stepped towards him, a vacant, almost dead look in her eye.
In a few quick strides she was upon him, arm craned back preparing to deck him.
Ria dashed in front of Shinji, grabbing the other Asuka's arm, stopping the fist inches from his face.
Shinji froze in terror. These people, all of them, both the unknowns and the ones who looked like people he'd known for most of his life, they all hated him with a passion.
/
Not sure how much I'm going to do with this little sidestory. But the idea has been bouncing around my head for a few days.
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