This may seem like it's overdue, but based on a comment I recently received elsewhere, apparently the fact that there will be spoilers to both the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and the events of various games in the Persona Series (including but not limited to Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Persona 5) wasn't made clear just by how the plot has unveiled.
So I'm placing a sticky post for this message: if you have not watched the original Evangelion anime, or if you have not played the Persona games — especially P3, P4, P5, and their updated re-releases — then take note that this story contains spoilers to all of them. Read at your own risk.
The next sequence of lives were rather unlucky in terms of where and when Yu Narukami manifested: namely, in timelines where Second Impact occurred, yet too young and remote to actually get into a position of influence within NERV.
However, it did enable him to cross-reference some of his older memories and come to a particular hypothesis regarding when the memories of his past lives would manifest.
Amidst a crowded warehouse, surrounded by hundreds of people, Yu quietly wrote with a ballpoint pen.
- Hypothesis: past memories don't manifest until all of the following conditions are met, in order—(1) I've attained the age of reason; (2) I've encountered a Social Link from my first life that I hadn't previously met in the current life.
- Rationale: As far as I can recall, for every single life, my memories only manifested once I met, saw, or read about someone that had previously been an S-Link.
- However, there were some lives where I knew one or more S-Links before awakening to my memories. (Most common case is where they were friends from the time I was a young child.) Why didn't they awaken my memories?
- Reason: They were present in my cognition prior to the age of reason. As such, they were 'expected', and 'normal.' There was no 'shock' or 'impact' to jostle my past memories into awakening.
- However, once I attained the age of reason, and was able to differentiate between myself and others in my own mind, awakening to past memories is possible.
- There may be other explanations as to why, but this is the simplest explanation I can think of going by what's known.
- Corollary: this implies that there may have been lives
He paused, wondering what to put down next.
(For some reason, writing in code felt...superfluous. Something momentous was about to happen. He could feel it.)
"What'cha writin'?" asked Kensuke Aida, sitting to his left.
"Private stuff," remarked Yu, not even looking up from his notebook.
"Yu-kun is a rather deep thinker," remarked Yukiko Amagi (introduced this time around in their first year of middle school. Had been best friends ever since) from the other side. "But personally, I think he's writing ghost stories!"
Yukiko smiled with excitement. "Well, he has a talent for saying really insightful stuff that freaks out a lot of our classmates. I'd say that means he writes stories about the Angels, but that would probably be in bad taste given...well, everything that's happened over the past several months. So what's the next best horror topic to write about after giant monsters? Ghosts!"
"...I guess that's logical...?" murmured Toji Suzuhara with a confused blink, clinging tightly to a crutch.
Hard to believe it's all come down to this, mused Yu.
Shortly before the end of 2015 in his current life (born in 2001), Tokyo-3 had been evacuated. Despite the media blackout, it hadn't been difficult to find out that the cause had been due to a massive explosion that wiped out most of the city, forcing the civilian populace to flee for Saitama and Nagano Prefectures. By sheer happenstance, Kensuke, Hikari, and Toji had been among those who evacuated to Tokyo-2.
(When Yukiko had insisted they meet the evacuees from Tokyo-3 — "Maybe they've seen an Evangelion in person!" she had exclaimed at the time — he had tried his damnedest to hide his shock at the sight of his former 'students.' The lack of any Evangelion Pilots amongst their number, the fact that Pen-Pen was in the care of the Horakis, and Toji lacking a left leg entirely carried bad omens.)
The implications of what had happened in Tokyo-3 in the interim...weren't pretty. The Eva Pilots had been relatively successful in a prior timeline up through the Eleventh Angel. What happened afterwards...?
(Ironically, this was the furthest he had ever made it into an Impact timeline, and it was the one timeline where he didn't have the capacity to get to Tokyo-3!)
(There's some irony there...and a possible lesson for you.)
Now, barely into 2016, the civilian populace of Tokyo-2 had been ordered into shelters and quarantine zones by the military, 'as a safety precaution' for some upcoming military operation. (It had to deal with Tokyo-3, somehow. Or an Angel. Or...it honestly could have been any number of things. He didn't have enough information!)
Fortunately, he had successfully persuaded his and Yukiko's parents to let them shelter with their 'new friends' from Tokyo-3 (because he had been their teacher for quite some time in a prior life; there was a connection there, even if the impulse to act like a mentor was still rather strong). If nothing else, they were familiar faces in an unfamiliar situation. (Plus, given Yukiko's interest in hearing of their experiences, it had allowed him to gain some additional details...awful details.)
(And you think you would've been able to stop those events from happening?)
(He had no way of knowing.)
Yu briefly gazed back over some of his old notes, this time written in French. (Because why not?)
- [Toji selected as Fourth Child. Deployment in Evangelion was hindered by Angel corruption. Shinji stopped him with great violence.]
- [Asuka mentally attacked by an 'Angel of light'. Went into depressive spiral?]
- [Rei Ayanami blew up??]
- [Kaji apparently died, if the rumors Aida heard had been true.]
- [Overall relationships amongst the Pilots and NERV staff degraded immensely.]
(It sounded like everything had gone tumbling down, near the end. Was this a constant?)
"...is it strange, feeling like the end of the world is coming?" wondered Kensuke with a nervous expression. "It just...I don't know. We've dealt with evacuations and sheltering in place...but this feels different."
"Well, this has been the first time we've ever had to deal with evacuations, so it's honestly kind of exciting." Yukiko immediately condemned herself. "Um, sorry. I know it sounds rude...but I can't help it-"
"It's okay, Amagi-san," quietly said Hikari, hugging more tightly onto Pen-Pen. "It's...not your fault."
Toji simply rested a hand on the bandaged and bound knub where his left leg had once been. "...it all went to hell. That's really all there is to it..."
At that moment, a clamor arose from the doorways, as the military police began backing away out of sheer fright. "It's a giant...it's a giant...!"
As if compelled from within, Yu immediately rose to his feet. The cries of Yukiko and the others were ignored, as he slipped through the throngs trying to get further inside. The warnings of the guards were ignored, and he gazed skyward...
...what the hell am I looking at...?
The sheer scale was almost hard to comprehend. (Ameno-sagiri had been big. Izanami and Izanami-no-Okami had been bigger. Hi-no-Kagutsuchi and Mikuratana-no-Kami had been literal titans. The Evangelions and most of the Angels had been utterly gargantuan. This...)
(You are but a mere ant in the grand scheme of things. You always have been.)
A black sphere floated above the horizon, looking like a moon; a white giant (literally white, colored like paste or glue) was cradling the sphere between her hands, and purple wings spanned beyond the horizon. And those red eyes, staring blankly at the black moon...it struck a chord.
Yet the sheer scale rendered the feminine figure difficult to recognize, at first. It...looks like Ayanami...but that can't be...what's going on...?!
As red lights began to sparkle around the floating sphere, the sound of splashing liquid echoed behind him. Yu turned, gazing with detached bewilderment as the whole warehouse trickled with orange water (no, not orange water, LCL!)...and floating above the newly-formed pond, one for each soul that had been present, were specters of Rei Ayanami. "...what's going on...?"
Suddenly, another flashed in front of his eyes, staring at him with utter befuddlement and outrage. "Why do you keep appearing...?" Her very appearance morphed and shifted with each passing moment, transitioning between those he had bonded with over the years, Social Link or otherwise (Naoto, Chie, Rise, Yosuke, Kanji, Yukiko, Nanako, Yumi, Ayane, Ai, Misato, Naoko, Ritsuko, so many others that they all blended together beneath the visage of an increasingly outraged blunette!). "Have you truly become so bored?! Was defeating me and ADAM not enough for you, that you would descend to this level of pettiness?! To toy with the life where my choice damned us all?!"
(What was she talking about?) The utter fury coming from someone who was normally so stoic and aloof caught Yu flat-footed. "Now hold on a second-!"
"Even now...your soul is screaming at me, so utterly unlike the rest of humankind...has your ascension to the Throne changed you so much? Or did you decide to start rubbing it in my face on a whim?!"
What is she talking about?! "Ayanami-"
"Just stop," she wailed, speaking with the voice of a legion. "You already won...I've not lifted a finger against you since...so please...just let me suffer in solitude until my existence finally ends...!"
Yu couldn't even muster a confused retort before an Anti-A.T. Field covered the globe; all he saw was a rapidly-encroaching tide of crimson light and green crosses-!
xxxx
/April 17, 1994/
OBSERVATIONS:
- This is my seventy-first life. My seventieth life ended at the hands of Rei Ayanami doing 'something'. Friends found: Yukiko.
- Important Events: Second Impact, etc. Possible world-ending cataclysm at the hands of a white giant in early 2016.
- I don't even know where to begin.
(The defeat of her and ADAM? A choice that damned everyone? Something about a Throne?)
(You've always been a mere fish in a great lake...now you see that you've always been but a minnow in the ocean.)
(And what were those words about his soul, being utterly unlike the rest of humankind?)
(Yet another question on a list that keeps growing...will you ever find rest...?)
Maybe it was because back then, that time as a child had such a heavy impact in her. Right now I'm wondering just who did she think she was talking to?
hm... What are Yu's characteristics that could be mistaken
gray hair - Tabris
wild card - any Persona Protag (including 1+2) and some antagonists
persona Izanagi - any angel? not sure
Ouch. Poor Ritsuko and Naoko. Finally had a timeline where they were both happy and learning to be a family again and Rei went and ruined it. And then Rei promptly murdered Yu again in the next timeline. I bet she is going to be feeling pretty guilty once she realizes she is murdering the wrong person multiple times. Gendo probably thinks it's hilarious though.
Ouch. Poor Ritsuko and Naoko. Finally had a timeline where they were both happy and learning to be a family again and Rei went and ruined it. And then Rei promptly murdered Yu again in the next timeline. I bet she is going to be feeling pretty guilty once she realizes she is murdering the wrong person multiple times. Gendo probably thinks it's hilarious though.
I certainly wouldn't mind a story like that either. I don't suppose we could get your idea of what happened after Yu was killed? Kind of a small glimpse like when Yu learned from Gendo what happens with Misato after he died. I am quite curious.
I certainly wouldn't mind a story like that either. I don't suppose we could get your idea of what happened after Yu was killed? Kind of a small glimpse like when Yu learned from Gendo what happens with Misato after he died. I am quite curious.
It was more than clear to Yu Narukami that Rei Ayanami had greater knowledge of other timelines than she had let on.
(Who to pursue? Ayanami, or Kaji?)
(Perhaps you could strongarm Gendo Ikari into being more honest.)
(He doubted that Ikari would be so forthcoming.)
There were another few non-Impact timelines to go through, and several more Impact timelines where circumstances kept him away from NERV or Tokyo-3. (It was a rather depressing commentary that he had been nuked in Old Tokyo more often than he had died by drowning due to Impact-induced flooding.)
(How long will this obsession drive you?)
(He had to find the truth.)
(How long will you live so halfheartedly, waiting for the 'right' timeline, as untold experiences pass you by?)
(He had to find the truth.)
At last: during his eighty-second life (born in 1988), once Second Impact occurred, Yu resolved to ensure a future position with NERV. Focusing on a double major in computer science and bioengineering, Yu Narukami graduated from the New Imperial University in Tokyo-2 in 2011.
(There were times when walking around campus that he caught glimpses of Katsuragi, Kaji, and Akagi. However, being two years behind them, and given how his double major added onto his academic workload, he had never been able to find a time where his path would reasonably intersect theirs.)
(You're thinking too circuitously. Just go introduce yourself to them.)
(He would run into all three of them eventually in Tokyo-3.)
(Now you're letting 'future' knowledge dictate your actions. Is that any way to live?)
After sending out his résumé to numerous private and governmental institutions, Yu went to the trouble of interviewing with several before finally accepting a job offer from NERV.
It felt like deja vu, sitting inside Gendo Ikari's office once more.
"A bit younger this time, hm?" remarked Gendo, hands folded in front of his face.
"In a manner of speaking," calmly answered Yu, looking at the man with some measure of suspicion.
"It's been so many timelines since I last saw you, that I wondered if you had given up."
"Circumstances have kept me away from here."
"It's fascinating, how variable your existence is, even in timelines where other events largely stay the same."
(It was time to play a brief gamble.) "I guess I'm something of a Wild Card." Gendo showed no reaction to that term. (Best not to play any other hands, then.) "The last timeline I joined NERV is one where I was in a relationship with Naoko Akagi."
"...ah," murmured Gendo, after spending a few moments in recollection. "That was...over twenty lifetimes ago."
(Like he needed a reminder of how much he had endured.) "I fell to my death thanks to Rei Ayanami. What happened afterwards?"
Gendo's smirk emerged like a wretched snake, peering from its lair to devour a hapless rodent. "Naoko Akagi's affection for you was...deeper than even I had believed possible. She broke Ayanami's neck in a fit of rage. Then the MAGI executed Special Order 582."
"...which means...?"
"A self-destruct mechanism." Ignoring Yu's alarm, Gendo continued, "the entirety of the facility — from Terminal Dogma on up — is wired with high-yield explosives. In the event of an Angel infiltrating Headquarters, they are meant to detonate as a method of last resort, to prevent Third Impact from happening. To stop such a self-destruct mechanism from being turned against our own staff by foreign hackers, it was deemed necessary for the MAGI to give a unanimous consensus in order for the detonation to proceed. Given their unique construction, it was the safest means by which we could still destroy the base in the event of total operational loss." The man lightly clapped, which echoed like a hollow drum in the cavernous office. "Apparently, the MAGI shared Naoko's sentiments, because they detonated the entire base moments after Naoko killed Ayanami."
Yu honestly had no words.
"Bravo: you destroyed NERV years before the Angels returned. A truly stunning turn of events."
(Yu felt his disgust increase, ever so slightly.) "...were you not in the base that day?"
"I was in Tokyo-2, finalizing the terms of GEHIRN's pending reorganization into NERV. A necessary step, given the transition from a special organization focused on R&D to an NGO tasked with being the last line of defense against the Angels. The MAGI transmitted their final data logs to our secondary facility in Matsushiro, which is how I learned of what happened after the fact."
(Somehow, he doubted that was purely coincidence.) "...and what happens to Naoko normally?"
"She ends up choking Rei Ayanami in a fit of rage for an entirely different reason," admitted Gendo. "A very strange constant, wouldn't you say?"
(Now his disgust increased by three sizes.) "...it's a shame," Yu muttered, staring stoically at Gendo. "Despite our philosophical differences...Naoko was a brilliant scientist, an encouraging mother...and a good woman."
The intentional reference to the triune aspects of the MAGI was completely ignored. "Your point?"
Deciding to change the subject before he could get angrier, Yu asked, "there's one other thing I'd like to ask about...though I never joined NERV or made it to Tokyo-3 in my seventieth life, I met a few students in Tokyo-2 after they had evacuated in December of 2015. Then, on New Year's Day of 2016...I saw a white giant with immense wings, looming over the Earth. Then I saw Rei Ayanami...and then I died." Gendo's grin was all the answer he needed. "What was that?"
"The end of the world, Narukami. It is how this timeline always ends."
"Why did the giant look like Rei? Why does she seem to despise me? And the terms she used: about how I 'defeated' her and ADAM, about my supposed 'ascension' to some 'Throne'; what was she referring to?"
Gendo leaned back in his chair, his eyes hidden by the reflected light on his orange shades. "It is a mystery, I'm afraid; Rei tends to avoid me if possible during non-Impact timelines. If she is convinced as to your culpability in some alleged event, you'll have to ask her yourself as to why she believes that."
(How spectacularly unhelpful.) "I'm afraid she'd just as soon kill me again."
"Then I'll phrase it as an order."
"Would that be enough?"
"In this timeline, Rei is rather...particular. She professes a desire to suffer as penance for her sins. Living this life over and over, according to how events originally happened...that is how she chooses to live. As such, she will follow my orders, for the most part."
(Did that imply this Impact timeline was the 'original' one? The 'real' one?) "But why?"
"As I said: you'll have to ask her yourself."
"...you suck," stated Yu.
The heartfelt words were so petty and unexpectedly juvenile that Gendo impulsively laughed.
xx
As it turned out, Yu was assigned to the Technical Branch, under the supervision of Ritsuko Akagi. (This time, she was blonde, bearing red lipstick and the fake beauty mark. What a shame, that she had felt the need to cover up her natural beauty with synthetic allure.)
"Your CV was rather impressive on paper, but we'll see if that translates to practical experience."
Yu nodded. "I understand, Dr. Akagi."
"...what's with that stare?" asked Ritsuko, lowering her clipboard.
"I mean, you're not exactly fooling anyone with the hair dye, but why leave your eyebrows uncolored? At least if you tinted them a similar shade, it'd be enough to make people second-guess themselves."
The nearby technicians all stared in dumbfounded silence at his utter gall. Flatly, Dr. Akagi replied, "give me a reason why I shouldn't fire you right now."
"Because it would make me sad. And you'd have to spend time going through the hiring process again."
"Valid points. Not enough."
"I will call you senpai at all times."
Ritsuko was unimpressed, looking back down at his curriculum vitae. "...I'm unconvinced that this CV belongs to you."
"You're just as entitled to make fun of my hair if you so desire. It's only fair."
"...let's just put you through your paces first."
xx
Much to Dr. Akagi's disappointment, Yu was, in fact, good at his job.
"How are the MAGI responding so well to your maintenance?" remarked Ritsuko, peering into the confines of the mainframes.
Yu, typing away at a terminal inside CASPER, remarked, "maybe the MAGI just needed someone to talk to." Running a hand against a coiled cable full of coolant, he added, "isn't that right, CASPER? I bet you're just lonely."
Ritsuko's expression of utter befuddlement, exasperation, and disbelief perfectly displayed her irritation. "Are you for real?"
"No, I'm Yu." Typing away at the terminal, he said, "don't worry CASPER, Akagi-senpai doesn't mean it. I'm sure she'd be willing to hang out with you if you asked politely."
"...I don't know if you're taking the piss or not, and that scares me," she grumbled.
"Could it be both?"
"They're mutually exclusive."
"Not necessarily."
xx
The first time Yu met Rei Ayanami this time around was when she emerged from Terminal Dogma in 2012, to perform some Sync Tests.
Within the Pribnow Box, Yu stared through the window at a Simulation Body, suspended by water and tethered to the wall by numerous cables. "Is there a reason why they were left without a head? Or limbs?"
"They were salvaged from failed Evangelions, Narukami," muttered Ritsuko, typing away at her terminal. "We want to iron out all possible issues before putting Ayanami into Unit-00 for a true test; this way, she can get used to the action of 'synchronizing' using the Simulation Body as a medium to reach Unit-00."
"So the Simulation Body is like a firewall."
"A relatively accurate analogy."
(Perhaps NERV was trying to avoid a repeat of Yui Ikari's Contact Experiment?) Leaning over towards a microphone, Yu said, "okay Ayanami-san, we're ready to begin when you are. Do you copy?" There was no answer. "Ayanami-san?" Still nothing.
Sighing, Ritsuko turned on the microphone on her terminal. "Ayanami, respond."
"I am ready, Dr. Akagi."
Rei's voice, despite its stoicism, still came off as clipped. "What did you do to tick off Ayanami?"
"Not sure, Akagi-senpai," honestly answered Yu. "Today's the first time we've met." In a manner of speaking...
"...I'd chalk it up to a fear of men, if I didn't know of her relationship with the Commander. Maybe she's just intolerant of strangers...?" Shaking her head, Ritsuko said, "just leave any communication to me. Focus on monitoring her vitals and the relevant data."
"Copy that." (At least silence was preferable to getting immediately murdered.)
Through 2013, more staff joined NERV. Among their number was a young woman named Maya Ibuki. (The name rang few bells; perhaps Misato or Ritsuko had mentioned her offhand at some point, in a prior life?)
"It's strange, being the only civvie among the junior staff," remarked Yu, eyeing the various individuals in NERV's khaki uniforms, with clips over the left breast pocket bearing signs of rank and insignia. By comparison, he looked rather casual in his jeans, yellow button-up shirt, and white lab coat.
"Well, I wasn't exactly in combat myself," admitted the relatively shy newcomer (who, based on her personnel file, had been born in 1991; that put him right between Akagi and Ibuki in terms of age). "Most of my duties involved software engineering...Narukami-senpai, was it?"
(Been a while since you were called senpai.) "Enough for you to become a Second Lieutenant, at any rate."
"Given NERV's mission statement, I'm surprised you have no prior military experience. I mean, if you don't mind my asking!"
Yu shook his head. "No, it's fair enough. Considered military work a few times, but I decided it wasn't for me. I was hired here right out of university."
"Try not to intimidate the new girl Narukami-san," lightly admonished Ritsuko, watching as some technicians went about fixing the wiring for the holographic displays. "She passed her interviews with flying colors."
"But did she pass the final examination?" he asked.
Maya blinked, suddenly looking nervous. "Um...a final exam...?"
Looking at her with stern eyes, Yu asked, "Second Lieutenant Maya Ibuki...do you like cats?"
"...yes?" she said with a confused stutter.
"Excellent. You pass." Yu glanced towards Ritsuko. "Akagi-senpai, I humbly request permission for Ibuki-san to be your new gofer, as is tradition."
"Gofer?!"
"Request denied," bluntly retorted Ritsuko.
Yu frowned. "It would only be fair for the new girl to have to go to the surface to check on Randall. At least your apartment would see more variety."
"R-Randall? Apartment?" sputtered Maya.
"First of all, Randall's an orange tabby," said Ritsuko to Maya. "And secondly," she added, turning back towards Yu, "his name's not Randall. It's Momo!"
"That's awfully harsh of you. Randall wishes you would stop calling him such awful names."
"Momo's the name I gave him."
"So rude, ignoring Randall's personal desires."
Maya didn't know what to think. "Um..."
"Oh, and word of advice," he added (swerving to a completely different tangent), "the chairs in the Command Center are...less than pleasant." He opened a hidden drawer underneath his terminal, revealing a gray cushion in the shape of a chibi penguin. "I recommend bringing your own."
"...right..." nervously muttered Ibuki.
xx
The very next day, Yu looked tellingly at Maya as she sat on a pink cat pillow.
"...please don't make fun of me," she whispered, scooting her chair further towards her terminal.
"I all but advised you to bring something to sit on," replied Yu. "That would be akin to making fun of myself, and I believe that self-love is important."
(Well that's a certifiable lie.)
(He actually believed that.)
(...fine, then you're a gigantic hypocrite. Who would subject themselves to this sort of endless repetition for the reasons you've chosen?)
(A fair enough retort.)
"...right." Maya nodded, seemingly taking his words in stride.
"Oh, and one more thing." He pulled out a packet of nicotine gum from his shirt pocket, handing it to her. "I've been trying to keep Akagi-senpai from relapsing. If you see her try to sneak in a cigarette when I'm not around, please give her a piece."
"...I think I can do that," said Maya with a nod, taking the packet of nicotine gum from him.
"Good. Even though kouhai are expected to learn from their senpai, it's also our duty to look after their welfare." He held out his fist towards her. "Will you accept this mission with me?"
"...you're strange, Narukami-senpai." Maya nonetheless gave him a fist bump. "But the Akagis' revolutionary work with the MAGI computers are why I joined NERV to begin with...so I'll do my best!"
(Maya was honestly the most enthusiastic individual he had met in quite a while. It was truly endearing.) "For senpai."
"For senpai!"
As Dr. Akagi walked back into the Command Center with a steaming cup of coffee in hand, she stared flatly at their fist bump. "I sense a plot against me..."
"You sense wisely, Akagi-senpai," ominously said Yu. "A plot to be the best assistants ever."
Ritsuko rolled her eyes, unable to help the small smile that came to her face. "Just get back to work, you two."
(Thus far, he had forged a relatively good working relationship with Ritsuko, and Maya seemed a rather well-adjusted individual with a sunny disposition. The path to friendship — and only friendship — was wide open!)
(You're asking too much of yourself.)
xx
One more year had passed, and it was now 2014. Yu Narukami was at Ritsuko Akagi's apartment on the surface...and he wasn't alone.
(You KNEW you were asking too much.)
(He didn't understand. Honestly.)
(Of course you don't.)
Sandwiched between Ritsuko and Maya on Akagi's bed, Yu stared stoically at the ceiling. Why is it so difficult to just be friends...?
(Oh, what a truly existential dilemma you're suffering.)
(Surely this amounted to unprofessional nepotism, or inappropriate fraternization. How many workplace regulations did this violate!?)
(Like NERV, or Gendo Ikari specifically, ever seemed to care about that.)
(...he couldn't refute that.)
The sound of a cat demanding food echoed from outside the bedroom.
"Not now Randall, I'm having a moment," he whispered.
"...t'name is Momo," sleepily murmured Ritsuko.
"Of course, senpai..." he muttered, impulsively tightening his arms around both women. At least her apartment doesn't smell like cigarettes anymore...
xxxx
/Slice of Life chapters featuring New Game+ Yu swagging his way through Neon Genesis Evangelion
//is way too addictive
///help
////meanwhile
/////have a completely unrelated meme
//////
///////and a somewhat thematically-related meme
////////
Seriously, is Yu subconsciously trying to bed every woman at NERV? At this rate he might achieve some sort of harem ending with one of these timelines, if he hasn't already.
Seriously, is Yu subconsciously trying to bed every woman at NERV? At this rate he might achieve some sort of harem ending with one of these timelines, if he hasn't already.
Does this mean that Gendo is mostly living a similar life each time? He does mention non-impact timelines, but if he is "Gendo Ikari" in each timeline without much change, then I can see how he started growing increasingly unhinged. The repeating timelines suck, but at least there is enough diversity that the wild cards don't feel like they are living the same life over and over again.
Yu accomplished what Strega and others could only dream of and doomed humanity to extinction and all it took was seducing the right women and ai. The Angels should be taking notes.
If Yu starts giving Shinji some lessons like Ren is currently doing, I am going to be disappointed if Shinj's charisma doesn't bump up to the next level just by being taught by Yu.
Does this mean that Gendo is mostly living a similar life each time? He does mention non-impact timelines, but if he is "Gendo Ikari" in each timeline without much change, then I can see how he started growing increasingly unhinged. The repeating timelines suck, but at least there is enough diversity that the wild cards don't feel like they are living the same life over and over again.
Mostly variable in the sense that, whenever an Impact Timeline occurs, the same people should be manifesting in the same place at the same time. In other words, in a timeline where Second Impact occurs, Gendo always recruits Fuyutsuki to join GEHIRN; Misato, Ritsuko, and Kaji all go to the same university; Sachiel always arrives at the same time; and so on.
Yu Narukami, however, is manifesting in different times and places (and, it would seem, those who are far removed from the events around Hakone/Tokyo-3 — such as Yu's Social Links — exhibit some variability as well).
The closer one gets towards the canonical plot of NGE, the more 'fixed' things are, which is why Gendo is so fascinated by how Narukami alone (at least from his perspective) is able to monkey around with the order of events just by Chad'ing it up.
But Gendo does have some variety in the non-Impact timelines.
/but as we've seen from the main plot
//he eventually lost his contentment with that
///the catalyst for his downward spiral
////has yet to be unveiled
He is a completionist. An Achivement-Hunter.
Yu Narukami won't ever settle for anything less than the golden ending.
...he has yet to properly talk to Rei in this life.
