This isn't so much a story as a plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone; since the Evangelion...
[ONESHOT] End of End of Evangelion
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This isn't so much a story as a plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone; since the Evangelion general thread seems to be locked, I didn't want to get in trouble posting my fiction there. The question I set myself was this: Given my own artistic and philosophical predilections, how would I have written (or rewritten, to be fair) the closing scene of EoE? The format, therefore, is in the form of a screenplay excerpt. Of note is that screenplays, at least in their early stages, do not require a painstaking list of every camera shot to be used, merely indicating the most important; also that "beat" is script-talk for a pause in conversation or action. (And if you haven't seen NGE or EoE, you really shouldn't be here, as it will be HOLY SHIT SPOILERIFFIC.)
————
EXT. THE WRECKAGE OF TOKYO-3 - NIGHT
The red sea of LCL. The buildings, bone-white in the cold light. Lilith's shattered face, a different but equally cold white, smiles blankly upward into the sky, at the red streak across the face of the painfully bright moon.
We move over the devastation of the city. Imagine a dozen Kobe earthquakes at once and you have it; it's a miracle the buildings are still standing, and by the look of things that will be merely temporary in some cases.
Cracked and broken pavement of an abandoned road. We examine a crack closely and find a spot of green, impossibly bright. A tuft of grass is growing in the crack. A shadow falls across it; the person (whose face we do not see) bends to pluck it up, careful to remove it by the roots.
He holds it before his face, examining it. It is Shinji -- his hair perhaps a quarter-inch longer and greasy, his shirt partly orange from old LCL stains and partly scuffed and dirty brown from God only knows what. He smiles in approval before putting the tuft of grass in his shirt pocket.
The beach. Red water, white sand. Shinji observes from the place where the pavement meets the sand. He turns and we see that above the tide line, he has constructed a large mound of sand and dirt.
A close look at a stake pounded into the top of the mound: hanging from it on a nail is Misato's cross necklace. Shinji takes the tuft of grass, crouches and embeds it in the sand before the grave; there are other transplanted bits of grass present, beginning to form an arc around it.
A distant splashing can be detected now above the hiss and rumble of the waves. Hearing it, Shinji turns around.
Some way down the beach, a figure in something red is wading up out of the water. Slowly, as if greatly fatigued, it stumbles up above the tide line, falls to its knees, flips over and sprawls on its back.
Shinji stands stunned for a moment, then takes off running. He dashes toward the person, then slows as he realizes who it is. A look of mixed relief and fear comes over his face.
At his feet lies Asuka. One arm of her plugsuit is torn off at the shoulder. There is an LCL-soaked bandage wrapped around her head, obscuring her eye. The other eye stares blindly, almost lifelessly, into the empty sky. She does not show any awareness of his presence, let alone acknowledge it.
Something makes him look up. Out on the water, glowing faintly in the distance, stands Rei Ayanami, exactly as in the mirage or vision he saw the day of his arrival. He blinks. The vision is gone, and we see empty ocean.
He looks down. Asuka has still not moved.
SHINJI
[hesitant]
...Asuka?
[beat]
Is that you?
No response at all. His eyes narrow.
SHINJI [CONT.]
...Are you in there?
[a beat; more harshly:]
Are you in there?
He drops to his knees straddling her waist, and looks her in the eye. No one, nothing looks back.
SHINJI [CONT.]
[harsher, louder]
Are you in there?
He grabs her by the shoulders and shakes.
SHINJI [CONT.]
[loud]
Are you in there?!
A split second beat. Still no response. We hear a faint whimper from Shinji, followed by shouting as he puts his hands around her throat and begins to strangle her:
SHINJI [CONT.]
[oncoming hysteria]
Are you in there?! ARE YOU
IN THERE?! ARE YOU--
Asuka's eye suddenly focuses on him. Her hands shoot up and grab his wrists, and she struggles to break his grip.
ASUKA
[hoarse shout]
Yes!! Yes! Stop it! It's
me, Shinji! It's me!
Her hand comes up and cups his cheek, and he instantly freezes.
ASUKA [CONT.]
[softer]
...It's me.
He remains frozen for several seconds. Then, slowly, he peels his fingers away from her neck. We move back from him as he leans back, totters to one side, and collapses on his back to Asuka's right. He puts his hands to his face and we hear the loud, hitching breaths that indicate he is about to cry.
ASUKA
[too tired to be cross]
Oh, gross... Don't start
that again.
SHINJI
[muffled]
I'm sorry--
Asuka gets up on one elbow and looks at him:
ASUKA
[sharply]
Don't start that again
either! You're always
sorry. You apologize for
every little thing, it
doesn't even mean
anything anymore--
Shinji sits up. His face is equal parts anger and melancholy.
SHINJI
Well, I do mean it this
time, all right?! I. Am.
Sorry.
Asuka looks thoughtfully at him; he can't bring himself to look at her. A long beat... She nods, accepting.
ASUKA
[softly]
...Yeah. All right.
She sits up next to him. They each plant their hands in the sand either side. Close look at Asuka's right hand and Shinji's left, close to each other. Asuka lifts her hand, very slowly -- we can see the hesitation -- and places it on Shinji's. Shinji stiffens, then relaxes his posture.
We look at them from behind as they sit on the beach, staring out at Lilith's titanic profile rising above the horizon; the waves hissing up on the shore, a faint breeze blowing, are the only sounds audible. A long beat. When they speak again, their voices are low, exhausted, drained of emotion.
ASUKA
I feel a little sick.
[beat]
SHINJI
Me too.
[long beat]
ASUKA
So... what do we do now?
[very long beat,
perhaps 10-12 seconds]
SHINJI
[sighs]
...I don't know.
[long beat, @7 seconds]
...I guess we'll think
of something.
Tableau from behind, at a greater distance, of the two Children alone on the beach. Wind and waves, and the dead face of Lilith smiling at the stars. Hold this view for about fifteen seconds... then
CUT TO BLACK.
————
EXT. THE WRECKAGE OF TOKYO-3 - NIGHT
The red sea of LCL. The buildings, bone-white in the cold light. Lilith's shattered face, a different but equally cold white, smiles blankly upward into the sky, at the red streak across the face of the painfully bright moon.
We move over the devastation of the city. Imagine a dozen Kobe earthquakes at once and you have it; it's a miracle the buildings are still standing, and by the look of things that will be merely temporary in some cases.
Cracked and broken pavement of an abandoned road. We examine a crack closely and find a spot of green, impossibly bright. A tuft of grass is growing in the crack. A shadow falls across it; the person (whose face we do not see) bends to pluck it up, careful to remove it by the roots.
He holds it before his face, examining it. It is Shinji -- his hair perhaps a quarter-inch longer and greasy, his shirt partly orange from old LCL stains and partly scuffed and dirty brown from God only knows what. He smiles in approval before putting the tuft of grass in his shirt pocket.
The beach. Red water, white sand. Shinji observes from the place where the pavement meets the sand. He turns and we see that above the tide line, he has constructed a large mound of sand and dirt.
A close look at a stake pounded into the top of the mound: hanging from it on a nail is Misato's cross necklace. Shinji takes the tuft of grass, crouches and embeds it in the sand before the grave; there are other transplanted bits of grass present, beginning to form an arc around it.
A distant splashing can be detected now above the hiss and rumble of the waves. Hearing it, Shinji turns around.
Some way down the beach, a figure in something red is wading up out of the water. Slowly, as if greatly fatigued, it stumbles up above the tide line, falls to its knees, flips over and sprawls on its back.
Shinji stands stunned for a moment, then takes off running. He dashes toward the person, then slows as he realizes who it is. A look of mixed relief and fear comes over his face.
At his feet lies Asuka. One arm of her plugsuit is torn off at the shoulder. There is an LCL-soaked bandage wrapped around her head, obscuring her eye. The other eye stares blindly, almost lifelessly, into the empty sky. She does not show any awareness of his presence, let alone acknowledge it.
Something makes him look up. Out on the water, glowing faintly in the distance, stands Rei Ayanami, exactly as in the mirage or vision he saw the day of his arrival. He blinks. The vision is gone, and we see empty ocean.
He looks down. Asuka has still not moved.
SHINJI
[hesitant]
...Asuka?
[beat]
Is that you?
No response at all. His eyes narrow.
SHINJI [CONT.]
...Are you in there?
[a beat; more harshly:]
Are you in there?
He drops to his knees straddling her waist, and looks her in the eye. No one, nothing looks back.
SHINJI [CONT.]
[harsher, louder]
Are you in there?
He grabs her by the shoulders and shakes.
SHINJI [CONT.]
[loud]
Are you in there?!
A split second beat. Still no response. We hear a faint whimper from Shinji, followed by shouting as he puts his hands around her throat and begins to strangle her:
SHINJI [CONT.]
[oncoming hysteria]
Are you in there?! ARE YOU
IN THERE?! ARE YOU--
Asuka's eye suddenly focuses on him. Her hands shoot up and grab his wrists, and she struggles to break his grip.
ASUKA
[hoarse shout]
Yes!! Yes! Stop it! It's
me, Shinji! It's me!
Her hand comes up and cups his cheek, and he instantly freezes.
ASUKA [CONT.]
[softer]
...It's me.
He remains frozen for several seconds. Then, slowly, he peels his fingers away from her neck. We move back from him as he leans back, totters to one side, and collapses on his back to Asuka's right. He puts his hands to his face and we hear the loud, hitching breaths that indicate he is about to cry.
ASUKA
[too tired to be cross]
Oh, gross... Don't start
that again.
SHINJI
[muffled]
I'm sorry--
Asuka gets up on one elbow and looks at him:
ASUKA
[sharply]
Don't start that again
either! You're always
sorry. You apologize for
every little thing, it
doesn't even mean
anything anymore--
Shinji sits up. His face is equal parts anger and melancholy.
SHINJI
Well, I do mean it this
time, all right?! I. Am.
Sorry.
Asuka looks thoughtfully at him; he can't bring himself to look at her. A long beat... She nods, accepting.
ASUKA
[softly]
...Yeah. All right.
She sits up next to him. They each plant their hands in the sand either side. Close look at Asuka's right hand and Shinji's left, close to each other. Asuka lifts her hand, very slowly -- we can see the hesitation -- and places it on Shinji's. Shinji stiffens, then relaxes his posture.
We look at them from behind as they sit on the beach, staring out at Lilith's titanic profile rising above the horizon; the waves hissing up on the shore, a faint breeze blowing, are the only sounds audible. A long beat. When they speak again, their voices are low, exhausted, drained of emotion.
ASUKA
I feel a little sick.
[beat]
SHINJI
Me too.
[long beat]
ASUKA
So... what do we do now?
[very long beat,
perhaps 10-12 seconds]
SHINJI
[sighs]
...I don't know.
[long beat, @7 seconds]
...I guess we'll think
of something.
Tableau from behind, at a greater distance, of the two Children alone on the beach. Wind and waves, and the dead face of Lilith smiling at the stars. Hold this view for about fifteen seconds... then
CUT TO BLACK.
Last edited:
Ranma-sensei
Sorcerer
- Location
- Citrix Receiver
- Pronouns
- Weatherdependent
Interesting script.
Wish Anno had gone this route. Yet, I feel the need to point out how it is very western, and therefore doesn't really fit Evangelion.
No chance there will be more of it?
Wish Anno had gone this route. Yet, I feel the need to point out how it is very western, and therefore doesn't really fit Evangelion.
No chance there will be more of it?