- "bastard."
"The Shadows Overseeing Fate" is an interesting AU Fan Fic of Neon Genesis Evangelion focussing on "What If? Gendo built an EVA from the remains of all the other discarded ones, playing God like usual and making an artifical soul?"
Takes place before EVA Canon and focusses on sleepy badass Kazuki Ikaruga who is bitter about his mother's death. He doesn't take pity well, but is like a moth to a flame when it comes to praise.
Be prepared for confusion at the ending. Seriously.
Tropes included in this work:
- A Boy and His X: Features mainly on Kazuki Ikaruga and his slowly decaying giant robot.
- Artificial Human: Or "soul". UMBRA Unit has this. In the end, this is decontructed because, similar to Unit 00's berserk incident, upon learning that it's going to be melted down. This maims Kazuki in the process.
- Ax-Crazy: Kazuki becomes this after his mind deterioration.
- Berserk Button: Has mommy issues. And he hates pity because he doesn't really think he deserves it.
- Break the Cutie: Poor Kazuki. [[spoiler: Mikuru too becomes this after she overhears Gendo talking and is mindraped until her mind is in such disrepair that she can't recognise Kazuki's face or voice.
- Catchphrase: "BASTARD!" Kazuki yells this at Fuyutsuki, Gendo (frequently), Kaji, Ritsuko, even Misato and Rei at different points. Be glad he never met Asuka.
- Delinquents: Kazuki is perceived as one by Misato. She's wrong. He actually bleached his hair because he couldn't stand looking like his drunken dad anymore. It was also an act of rebellion against his dad.
- Downer Ending: After the UMBRA Unit has gone totally berserk, ruining Kazuki's psyche further, he is ejected after being maimed while the Unit is being destroyed and he is left, lying on the floor of NERV, in intense pain while he cringes in pain after asking Gendo, simply, why he was drafted into NERV if it was for that. Gendo basically replies "Fun" at which point, Kazuki spews "Bastard!" weakly as he supposedly dies. It's not explicitly mentioned he does.
Word of God says that it's likely he did, but she'd come to love Kazuki so much that she couldn't bear to kill him, so she left it ambiguous.
