Maternal Programming is a Neon Genesis Evangelion Alternate Universe fanfiction written by DerpymanMT and originally posted on Fanfiction.net
A retelling of the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it's set in an alternate timeline in which Naoko Akagi adopts Shinji shortly after Yui Ikari's contact experiment.
The fanfic is mostly lighthearted with dark elements written in, mostly as the story continues later on. Family plays an important part in fanfic as Shinji himself is an Extremely Protective Child of his adoptive mother Naoko, which conflicts with others as the story progresses. Due to his different upbringing than in the original show, he is more confident, yet prone to anger, with it being mainly directed at his father.
Many of the other characters are dramatically different due to this single event, with Rei I being alive, Ritsuko never dying her hair blonde, and Asuka and Shinji meeting much earlier.
This is an AsuShin fanfic but with its focus more on the conflict and interpersonal relationships between Shinji and his family, friends, and ultimately his father.
The fanfic tends to sprinkle in references to pop culture and memes of the time it was written, which is rather evident in the prologue chapter.
Maternal Programming is also undergoing a rewrite as a separate story, as of writing this page it is still incomplete.
Maternal Programming could be read on both Fanfiction.net
and Archive of Our Own
Tropes:
- Apocalypse Cult: SEELE members make a much more prominent appearance in this story as one council member is given a background and name.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the final chapters, Gendo is almost able to make it up to Shinji but dies before he can. The siege occurs but Third Impact never happens and a good portion of NERV and the JSSDF is dead. It ends with SEELE exposed and the world trying to cope and move on. The epilogue shows the remaining living cast at the Battle of Tokyo-III memorial cemetery paying their respects to those who died, including Gendo.
- Extremely Protective Child: Shinji is extremely protective and defensive of Naoko as he sees her as a savior to him.
- Halloween Special: There is a chapter that is centered around a Halloween Party and was deliberately released on Halloween of 2022.
- The Siege: The final two chapters have the JSSDF forces to rush in to try and "Stop" NERV from starting Third Impact.
- So Proud of You: Gendo in the end tells Shinji how proud he is of him.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The Epilogue shows the remaining cast 5 years later at a memorial site paying their respects.
