All Purpose Evangelion Fanfiction Thread

Yet another far-off question for SCE, but not that far-off as the previous one.

So... I've been struggling for quite a long while over how to handle the crazy acceleration of the local Wunder expy. Specifically, it's supposed to have Super-Speed compared to everything else due to mounting an experimental engine that works as a ramscoop-ion drive hybrid. At full throttle, the ship can robotech like a goddamn fighter despite being an 800-meter cruiser and literally run rings around other ships while punching way above its own weight class.

Problem is, I never quite realized just how fast this thing has to be to pull that off.

I originally planned for the narrative to state that it can cross the Earth-Mars distance in weeks, instead of the months for everything else. With some online calculations, I realized less than an hour ago that at 1 g acceleration and no fuel limits, you could cross the Earth-Sun distance in less than three days and the Sun-Uranus distance in just over three weeks. That is massively faster than what I counted on, but I still have a lot of time to figure out the narrative changes.

The bigger problem is the crew. Since the ship doesn't have artificial gravity, it normally operates in microgravity - but if it were to start accelerating, everyone would walk on the rear walls as if they were standing on the ground for as long as the drives are burning. SCE's techbase theoretically doesn't exclude the possibility of extrapolating inertial dampening from existing tech (and I'll likely do it anyway), but that kind of rearward pull would be a major problem in battle for damage control crews trying to get from the aft to the front.

So... what to do?

• Nerf the acceleration. I'd rather not do that.
• Bullshit up an excuse with the inertial dampening to maintain zero gee during acceleration. Possible because the closest thing seen in the non-Eva techbase can cancel out 1 g just fine and appears to be resistant to forces trying to affect the momentum of stuff inside it (basically, stuff tossed into it freefloat in slow motion), which I could use in the narrative by having some characters hate the feeling even though they know it's either that, LCL or getting multiple bones broken the second Sumire steps on the gas.
• Orient the ship's decks front-to-aft instead of top-to-bottom and have everyone use the rear wall as the floor while the engines are burning. This is already used in scifi (Mass Effect mentions it) but the issue with this is that if the ship enters atmosphere, the gravity's going to be 90° off and it's going to be really hard to enter or exit the bridge.

Recent discussion of "what if the pilots were young adults instead of teens" made me think.

How much would it change cast dynamics if Rei's biological age matched her chronological one, ie. prepubescent? No change in personality, just age, still goes to the same class as the others (hey, if Asuka could do college by 14, why couldn't Rei do middle school by 10?).

A lot. For one, Asuka, being The Perfectionist, would feel greatly demeaned by the fact that a girl several years younger than her is her intellectual equal if not outright superior; this would logically drive her to make even greater efforts than in canon to assert her superiority, which means that much greater chances of her choosing a more reckless course of action than whatever it is she chose to do in canon... maybe even actively hinder any attempts by others to help her when she's in a bind.

For example, in Episode 10, she might snap at Shinji throwing his prog-knife to her in Episode 10 and actually slap it away in a rage, only to end up nearly killed by Sandalphon before Shinji finally snaps himself and dives into the magma unprotected earlier than in canon, with Eva-01 going berserk in response to both his Unstoppable Rage and the threat posed by the extremely hostile environment he just threw himself into (compounded by the Angel's presence and homefield advantage, of course).

Assuming you're talking about NGE rather than SCE... because Asuka is a German citizen and thus can benefit from grade-skipping within the German education system, whereas Japan staunchly rejects the very concept of grade-skipping because the Tall Poppy Syndrome is so deeply entrenched and pervasive in Japanese culture it's reflected in their education system.

edited 18th Mar '18 2:14:27 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Of course I'm talking about NGE.

And I don't think Rei went to elementary school to begin with, so her going to middle school at all is still closer to the system.

No, it wouldn't work. There's a reason why Asuka had to go to middle school while in Japan even though she already has a college degree from Germany: the Japanese system doesn't give a rat's ass about what academic qualifications you have from anywhere else, you will attend the education level that you're supposed to attend according to your age, period.

Yes, there is the matter that canon!Rei must the growth-accelerated kind of Artificial Human, simply because there's no way she'd look like she's 14 years old within the mere 5 years between Rei I's death and Rei II's first on-screen appearance in the 2015 time frame. But I'm guessing that it's far easier for Gendou to forge legal documents "proving" that 14-year-old-seeming Rei II had attended some elementary school than it is for him to do the same for your 10-year-old-in-2015 Rei, because the former perfectly fits the way the Japanese system operates, while the latter is just flat-out impossible by the simple virtue of it being blatantly illegal under said system.

... On a different note, anyone interested in joining me on the Questionable Questing forum for an "All-Purpose Evangelion Lemon Fanfiction Thread"?

edited 19th Mar '18 12:37:17 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

And NERV has no reason to give a rat's ass about the Japanese education system.

Come on, when you have NERV's authority and the UN's backing, you're seriously going to care what the law says? NERV is already violating international law with UN approval by using child soldiers, you think they're going to care about Japan's laws in particular? Nuh uh. If the Japanese authorities raise a fuss about it, Gendo can simply point out that Rei is a vital asset to humanity's survival and NO cultural expectations supersede global security, so they can politely fuck right off because they're not, in fact, the center of the world.

Tall Poppy Syndrome works both ways. Especially once the Angels start attacking Japan in particular.

edited 19th Mar '18 3:54:12 PM by amitakartok

At this point the Japanese government would rightfully question how would putting 10-year-old Rei in elementary school, alongside her actual age peers, would negatively impact her ability to pilot the Evangelion. In fact, one could raise a very strong argument that putting her alongside actual middle schoolers would cause undue stress to her from not fitting in (intellectual gifted or not, she should still have a child's level of psycho-emotional development), as well as have a strong likelihood of her becoming an easy target for bullying from those who are several years older than her.

Also, Gendo never exhibited such overt (ab)use of his power as supreme commander of Nerv in canon, even in situations where you'd think he would if he could (e.g. competition from Jet Alone); instead, he had to rely on subterfuge to convince people that his way is the best way. Whether it's because he doesn't have as much power as fans believe he does to begin with, or because Seele (who control the UN when it comes to Nerv's backing) would get so suspicious of him they'd actively meddle in his/Nerv's affairs or even actually decide he's so dangerous he's outlived his usefulness if he exercises such power, is unknown, but the end result is the same.

edited 19th Mar '18 8:13:41 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

On a different note... as we all should know, the Ayanami clones are canonically finite in number (for a specific number, I count at least 38 in this composite image◊, and that's only in the Reiquarium). However, I'm trying to think of a way to justify a scenario where the clones somehow can rapidly increase their numbers (possibly without limit), which can act as a prelude to them using their sheer numbers (and whatever superpowers they may possess/gain) to do anything from causing The End of the World as We Know It, overthrowing Gendo and installing Rei/Shinji as the new Supreme Commander of Nerv, or simply exploring the world outside the Dummy Plug Plant and indulge in all the new experiences that most people take for granted... and perhaps act on osmotically imprinted sexual attraction to Shinji and/or annoyance towards Asuka/Ritsuko (not necessarily leading to their deaths or torture, though; they might decide to humiliate them in comedic, non-traumatizing ways).

For the record, I would appreciate it if you could observe the following when giving suggestions:

• It doesn't need to involve the clones gaining actual souls of their own. In fact, I prefer if it doesn't; I personally like exploring the scenario of Rei clones gaining sapience and sentience (albeit possibly very disconnected from human norms) despite being soulless.
• No, you can't use Lilith. Making her an Explosive Breeder of Rei clones is too easy.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I actually had an idea to this effect once, and discussed it on the NSFW Evangelion thread at Questionable Questing.

Really? I'm actually slowly archive-binging said thread — well, I'm assuming that we're talking about the same thread. The title has "Evangelion Story Ideas" in it, right?

Also, I think I got a good idea for my aforementioned question: The same "gestalt intelligence" principle behind the geth from Mass Effect ascending to sentience during their servitude to the quarians, only applied to aggregations of biological cells (i.e. each clone's body as a single connected entity) instead of networked collectives of AI programs, and with the added benefit of an already existing central nervous system giving each clone a minimum baseline for their intelligence level (namely, human level).

edited 30th Mar '18 12:07:03 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Yep. How far along are you?

Can't discuss the idea here for obvious reasons, but if you want to talk about it in that thread, feel free to tag me or quote my post or something.

edited 30th Mar '18 8:30:35 PM by EvaUnit01

Page 4. Getting distracted a lot... and I wanted to read some of the stories that were name-dropped in the first few page, too, because the titles and premises are so damn interesting.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Ah. I believe I came into the thread around page 10-11.

There's this plot bunny of sorts that refuses to leave me alone. Basically, imagine an RTS game in which one of the playable factions has Rei's myriad clones as the rank and file of its military forces, with various Evangelion characters as Hero Units whose equipment and abilities are character-appropiate... and of those Hero Units, Rei is a One-Man Army Super-Soldier on par with the Command And Conquer series' Soviet Volkov (when he's not ultra-nerfed into being basically a reskinned Tanya).

My idea for a story-mode campaign: Due to a joke from Misato that was predictably taken way too seriously by its intended target, Rei is out to crown her Love Interest Shinji as Supreme Holy God-Emperor of Mankind... and somehow got her hands on a AT Field hax-powered device that essentially insta-(re)trains the subject into whichever occupation they want, which Ritsuko had cobbled together while on a Misato-induced late-night bender. She used it to turn some of her clones into Gadgeteer Genius Mad Scientists, who proceed under her direction to construct even more such devices as well other forms of AT Field hax-powered wonder tech, such a clone-mass-producing machine, and a system of nanofactories to rapidly build all the weapons and other equipment that Rei's growing army will need.

Mari eagerly volunteered herself for Rei's cause because she'll get to kick ass and blow shit up. Misato and Ritsuko get "voluntarily conscripted" after one misunderstanding leads to the other and the two ultimately find themselves facing the prospect of getting arrested by the UN and facing life sentences for major crimes against international law. Asuka initially protests... then immediately caves in when Rei promises her untold fame and hero worship by the masses that Rei's army would liberate from the incompetent/corrupt regimes under whose heels said masses currently live under if she'd just become an Ace Pilot for this awesome super-mecha that Rei's clone-sisters have just rolled out of the factory, and isn't the red paintjob so shiny and cool-looking? (What's that? Bribing her with a lifetime supply of uncensored pictures of Kaji and Shinji while they're showering? Perish the thought.)

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Something that's been crawling around in my head today.

I once proposed an idea of giving Evangelion the magical girl treatment, although with a Body Horror Bio Punk flavor. What I thought of now is something different: a more conventional magical girl story where the girls' power originate from a Cosmic Keystone that arrived to Earth while the girls were still in the womb. The Angels got their power in the same way and are now swarming to Earth to acquire the source for themselves.

Thing is, the Cosmic Keystone is not just hidden somewhere, but is actually embedded into Shinji. As a consequence, Shinji's raw power is through the fucking roof to begin with and keeps growing until the end, by which point she's literally omnipotent. And I don't mean that metaphorically: she can literally remake reality with a thought.

But that doesn't mean much: the Angels are immortal and keep coming back again and again, dragging themselves through the dirt with sweat and blood to keep fighting for the artifact because all the suffering they went through to get it would be meaningless if they failed.

In the end, Shinji concludes that with all the crap everyone went through to control the artifact, everyone would be better off if it never existed and erases it from existence along with herself, since she was so closely tied to it as its host that removing and destroying it without killing her was impossible. And it would not be treated as a noble and heroic Face Death with Dignity: Shinji very much does not want to die and would behave just like any other young girl about to die due to circumstances outside their control.

... You really needed to go the Urobutcher route, didn't you?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I don't, actually. But handing someone absolute power and letting them keep it without consequences is boring.

In case you hadn't realized it yet, my fear of ending of writing a Mary Sue overrides all reason and sensibility.

Seems like a perfectly good premise to me.

In that case I dare say you have a case of Mary Sue-phobia, or whatever is the proper term.

... And we might have widely differing definitions of what constitutes as "without consequences" and/or "boring". I mean, how does merely having Shinji survive the ordeal (albeit going back to being a mundane human) automatically count as "she didn't suffer any consequences for possessing that absolute power"?

edited 28th Apr '18 4:09:04 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

One mental image I had was of Shinji's final form.

Old Evangelion stories often had the Evas have translucent orange energy wings as a Super Mode, yes? What Shinji would have instead is a million wings painted in a constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of colors that hurts the eye just to look at and is impossible to tell where one wing ends and another begins because the very fabric of reality is twisting around them. The whole thing would have a very surreal and confusing style to it; instead of something saintly or divine, she'd look more like a Humanoid Abomination with the wings, signifying her gradually losing her grip on her physical humanity as her power transcends the boundaries of reality...

...and it scares the shit out of her because she knows she can't stop it.

And then what, have her live an ordinary life? I considered the option that she manages to depower herself, but the others keep their powers and keep fighting without her. It didn't feel decisive enough of an ending for me. More like "no FLAWLESS VICTORY, but no guts to actually have any lasting consequences either".

edited 28th Apr '18 4:19:53 PM by amitakartok

Maybe she just gets depowered, but almost everyone else starts to resent her for it, thinking she took the coward's way out?

Slept one on this idea.

Now I'm thinking this: the artifact that empowered everyone has already done this to several planets before, resulting in a repeating pattern.

• Artifact passes near planet A and empowers a bunch of people against their will.
• Team A discover that although they're now immortal, prolonged isolation from the artifact will cause lethal withdrawal.
• Team A discover that the artifact recently passed by planet B.
• They attack planet B in order to acquire the artifact and survive but are fought off by local empowereds. Both sides are immortal but since team B's exposure was more recent, they last longer than team A who eventually die from withdrawal.
• Team B realize that they're going to die too and attack planet C, who similarly go on to attack planet D, who attack planet E, who attack planet F, etc. ad infinitum.

Earth is just the most recent planet this cycle has happened to and the Angels were the previous one. Wherever the artifact goes, death and destruction will follow due to how the people empowered by it are dependent on it. What differentiates this time from the rest is that Shinji is in a unique position to destroy the artifact and end the cycle for good - but doing so will kill both the Angels and her friends. If she doesn't destroy it, however, she will make Earth a target for everyone aware of the artifact's power.

I can see where your ending comes from.

edited 29th Apr '18 9:20:57 AM by EvaUnit01

Sounds like Senki Zesshou Symphogear to me.

Watch Symphogear

I watched the first season of Symphogear back in the day, but it wasn't an inspiration this time.

If anything, the primary inspiration for that story idea was binging through the TV Tropes page for Avengers: Infinity War.