From Your Lips to the Author's Ears: Story Ideas

[LordThaeon]

Here's an idea:

Shinji and Rei separately encounter a monolith (2001: A Space Odyssey) which has a small, but gradually important affect on their agency and personalities.

[ChaddyManPrime]

@ Mecha

Do it, us Asushin lovers needs more Lemons.

[amitakartok]

A fic idea that came to me this afternoon: Asuka's dad knocks Kyoko up on the latter's hospital bed (and Asuka witnesses it, but that's beside the point). When Kyoko hangs herself, she's not resuscitated in time to prevent her from becoming a brain-dead vegetable but the doctors choose to keep her body on life support until she gives birth (something which already happened in real life, not so long ago).

What butterflies can arise from this? Could Asuka form an attachment to her sibling by interpreting the latter's birth as one last gift from mommy? Being an older sister / pseudo-mommy figure could result in Asuka growing up a bit more stable, due to not living purely for herself this time around. There could be some hidden resentment, of course, but her sibling would still love her, meaning that Asuka wouldn't feel so alone. Plus it would present an additional unspoken motivation NERV could use to keep her in line: pilot the Eva or we'll put your sibling in there.

[Mike Mars]

I don't think it's a bad idea, but I just don't see Asuka not openly hating her would be sibling in the beginning. Perhaps she could grow an attachment to them over time and therefore become a little bit more stable, but it would require a lot of work getting to that point.

Overall though, it does sound like an interesting idea and might be worth exploring.

[NemZ]

You're also discounting the fact that Asuka may very well have half-siblings in canon that just aren't mentioned. Dad moved on, whose to say he and doctor-chan haven't had a kid or two in the meantime?

[amitakartok]

Yeah, but Asuka would have zero reason to like those kids. She already hates doctor-chan as it is, why would it be different towards her offsprings?

[StarShaper7]

An Eva fanfic where Shinji does not exist. I came up with this after imagining how an Asuka x Rei fic would go. A one-sided hatred becomes a relationship of true love. And then Hikari would join them, as a friend, pilot and more. You know what? Let's put everybody in a gay threeway.

Toji x Kensuke x Kaworu, Ritsuko x Maya x Misato, Fuyu x Gendo x Kaji

SECOND IMPACT MADE EVERYBODY GAY

[mechashiva]

@ Mecha

Do it, us Asushin lovers needs more Lemons.

I've thought about doing it seriously (or semi-seriously) and I'm not sure if I'm going to write it or maybe make some kind of fan comic because I imagine more in pictures than words and more animation than still images but doing it would be kind of daunting because so much of what I image would be harder to convey without the benefit of audible sound effects and animation, like I really wasn't going to SHOW anything too explicit but maybe do what Anno did and sort of focus on something in the foreground and convey the *noises* going on just out of frame.

buuut I'll see if I can whip something up.

[Gob Hobblin]

I will write Asushin every chance I get, but lemons are something I'm just not comfortable with (especially with these characters).

Erotic is one thing, but too explicit it just seems clunky to me. The mind can always think of better scenes and what can be written: I feel it's better to guide a reader into thinking of the scenes themselves then describing them in detail. But then there are these characters: even when I write them as adults, the fact that they were 14 years old always lingers in my mind somewhere. Then, I just have no desire to continue on with that tract of plotting.

[ChaddyManPrime]

^
When did you discover Evangelion Good Sir?

@ Mecha

Go all out Good Mam

[Gob Hobblin]

College. Didn't really get into it until a few years ago, though (at the insistence of my wife).

[mechashiva]

Yeah, the ages of the characters made me want to do it more as kind of semi-realistic for two teenagers who might not have had any sex before. From my other fandom, the fics I did end up writing and finishing were were funny but a bit smutty (plus the participants were adults most of the time) hence the humor deriving from Shinji being nervous about screwing things up too much and Asuka browbeating him and telling him what to do on the pretense of "helping" him because he's so awkward. So it would be semi-lemon.

[Gob Hobblin]

Here's the thing about lemons and all that, at least in regards to these characters: sexuality between teenagers is a thing...that exists. It happens, and a good writer should not be afraid to address to that. A lot of really good writers do so, because it is life. It is something real teenagers have to deal with, and fiction is a safe place for them to explore and understand that sort of thing.

So, a certain amount of eroticism (I don't know if that's the right word in this context, but...oh, well) is not something I would ever say "I'm not doing." Human sexuality is human sexuality, it might as well be addressed in one way, shape, or form. And, in some cases, it can be cathartic and enjoyable. I like it as much as the next person.

Going into detail about it is just something I don't see myself doing, but especially with the kids as...kids. That's a line too far for me, and something I see as inappropriate. Even aging them up...that's less of an issue, but it still stands as a big NO GO in my brain. So I don't go.

That being said, what you describe, mechashiva, sounds like a great scenario or setup. Depending on how far you went, I might be inclined to read and enjoy that!

[Mike Mars]

Even aging them up...that's less of an issue, but it still stands as a big NO GO in my brain

Tell me about it. I had to age both of them up to seventeen just to feel comfortable enough to even insinuate that they have sex... Even then, I still feel awkward when it comes to writing those scenes. Writing those scenes for me is almost akin to hearing about a younger sibling's sex life. Sure, they may be old enough and mature enough for it, but they're still ingrained as kids in your mind. Not only that, but it's an aspect of their life that you just don't want to know about.

[amitakartok]

To each his own.

For me, lemon involving the Eva kids only gets uncomfortable if there's a significant age gap involved. Or when it's not entirely consensual for one of the parties involved.

[Nuclear Lunchbox]

I remember being younger and enjoying Evangelion lemons because I happened to be the same age as the characters, and it didn't feel creepy to me (much in the same way that it's totally chill when little kids want to wife the characters from Magic School Bus, but a little creepier when it's an adult.) Now, as far as writing it goes, Gob touched on the fact that sex does indeed happen in between people that are under the age of consent. It's one of the bigger "well, duh" things that can be hard to face for parents or anybody in general uncomfortable with anything happening below the magical age of 18 (depending on where you live. In my state, it's 18.) Do I see anything wrong with writing Evangelion characters having sex? None whatsoever, really. They're 14; that places them as freshmen in high school, and god only knows how much third base and full-blown nookie is going on there.

Addressing kids, though... I don't think I would feel comfortable writing erotic material about anybody under the age of 13, which seems young, but I justify it internally because it's the lowest age of consent in a first world country (Japan.) If I have to address the topic of sex between two consenting individuals but in a non-erotic manner, I'd probably just run down the line of my own experiences to figure out when I first started thinking about it myself IRL, and use that as the cutoff point. If we're talking about rape, then there are obviously not age limitations because it can happen to anybody at any age (and is awful whenever it does) and should NOT be written as an attempt to titillate. (There are people who do. I don't judge, but you don't see me reading it, buying it, or supporting it.)

Untz.

[ChaddyManPrime]

@ Gob

Yeah I was a 12-13 year old kid who discovered the wonders of boobies in EoE so the erotica stuff just kinda stuck with me as I grew up, not to mention my first foray into the Evaverse was through lemon Eva fanfics.

I could see why it would creep out a guy who was in college when he discovered it though.

[Gob Hobblin]

Well, I'm okay with stories that address sex (some of the best young adult books I've ever read have been very frank and open about it...which is as it should be). there is a definite line, however, that is essentially porn, despite being text. The age of the individuals matters very much to me in those circumstances, simply because it goes from examining, addressing, and dare I say living vicariously through the characters (nostalgia, wish fulfillment whatever), to something very base, and in my mind wrong.

[MisterHalt]

My rather lame idea (more like daydream I've been trying to build on for a few months while I'm in bed waiting for sleep to claim me), is this. Spoilered for length and the fact that it's a pretty rough "draft" with all sorts of things potentially wrong with it. I'm not a writer, so forgive me if this all ends up being utter crap.

SPOILER: Show

Third Impact happened, people came back (no SEELE or Gendo though), Angels (or something) still coming etc. However, Shinji has shut himself off from everyone else. He refuses to speak to anyone, but for some unfathomable reason he still gets in the damn robot. Whenever he walks anywhere, like to school, he only looks down, not even bothering to check for traffic. This makes Asuka pull him out of the way of danger at least once, and forces her to practically babysit him whenever they're out of the apartment.

Shinji has also becoming increasingly reckless while piloting, ignoring orders to hold back, charging the enemy and not even caring about defending himself. Almost like a berserker, but without the Eva being the one causing it.

He shows no emotion during this entire period, with a "zombie" look similar to how he was at the end of Q. Eventually, after the...let's say fourth new Angel, he gets horribly injured when it explodes or self-destructs and a spike (or similar large pointy thing) goes through his entry plug, nearly bisecting him. This, combined with his abnormally high synch ratio during the fight and Unit-01's injuries, means he's very close to death.

At this point, after the smoke clears (and perhaps some EMP to temporarily knock out communication), Rei and Asuka are trying to contact him to see if he's still alive. Shinji "wakes up" (both from the "zombie" state and unconsciousness after the hit). I'm not really sure how to describe his tone in the conversation, but he sounds tired, or tipsy or something, and he's basically saying "Oh me? I'm fine. Are you okay?" while he's sitting there with a giant spike through where his lower body used to be. Scientific techno-babble (the Eva, LCL, his plugsuit, whatever) is preventing him from dying right away from blood loss, and after some talking, with Rei and Asuka upset at his condition (they can actually see the spike in his stomach) and him acting like he'd just bumped his noggin or something, he passes out and is eventually extracted and put into a tank similar to the bacta tanks from Star Wars to try to keep him alive.

During his time in the tank (I don't know how much time would be appropriate, could be days or even weeks), Asuka, Rei and Misato are trying to work out what in the hell is wrong with Shinji, besides the obvious "he started Third Impact". Misato reveals what she discovered about Yui and Unit-01, and Gendo's attitude towards Shinji after her death. Rei claims that shortly after Third Impact, some more techno-babble about how she was temporarily Lilith meant that she could almost read Shinji's mind for about a week after the event when near him, and felt nothing but immense grief and guilt emanating from him. Insert speculation about what exactly Shinji went through during Instrumentality, with not even Rei able to precisely determine what happened, for unknown reasons.

Eventually, Shinji gets stabilized and moved to a bed, where Asuka tends to stay. She says it's because she wants to give him an earful as soon as he wakes up. I'm an A/S person, however, so ever since Third Impact she's been trying to understand him more and get him to "wake up". This however isn't being helped by Shinji's demeanour, and she's almost as angry towards him as before, just barely stopping herself from physically lashing out at him by remembering what he's been through and how it mirrors her life, etc.

Shinji finally wakes up one day, and just as Asuka is about to verbally rip into him, he says something to the effect of "Damnit, I'm still alive. What do I have to do before I'm allowed to die?" Finally it all clicks in Asuka's head why Shinji was so reckless and careless. He was seeking death as a means of...payback for his part in Third Impact.

They start talking, and it's revealed that Shinji spent a few days, perhaps a week, alone before everyone started returning, and he had nightmares so terrible that he broke into a pharmacy and stole as many sleeping pills as he could carry, which were now hidden in his room. Of course, since he just grabbed whatever pill bottles mentioned sleep, he has no clue what they might have physically done to his system. His actual attitude isn't part of it though, that was all him (probably. I don't know what side effects sleeping pills can cause). Without the pills, every night when he falls asleep, he hears the screams of three billion people dying, and gives an exact numerical figure for how many people died, to Asuka's horror.

This is the point where I can't continue, as I have no idea how to "write" my daydream/idea any further. My mind drifts off-topic far too easily even when I'm trying to focus on the daydream, and there's nothing I can do about it. There are gaping holes in the story, like how the command staff would react to Shinji's disobedience (my only theory is "he's a loose cannon but he gets results!"), what is actually in the "bacta" tank that saves Shinji's life, what Misato is doing during Shinji's downward spiral, etc.

[Squigsquasher]

Cruel Weed's Thesis  SPOILER: Show

Misato, deciding Shinji is too tense for his own good, supplies him with a roll-up set and a bag of weed. Top lel ensues.

Bigger is better...or is it?  SPOILER: Show

Shinji is growing very close to Rei. Asuka is jealous and confronts Shinji, asking why he prefers "that stupid doll" over her. Shinji replies (as tactfully as possible) that Rei is more gentle, kind, caring, and also has bigger breasts. Asuka decides, therefore, to get breast implants. This goes about as well as you might imagine.

Bittersweet Transvestite  SPOILER: Show

Shinji loses a bet to Asuka and has to spend an entire week in girl's clothing (although she is at least kind enough to supply him with a fairly large and good-looking wardrobe). This has the amusing effect of causing everyone- male or female- to have a crush on him.

Bathtime Bonding  SPOILER: Show

Set in the bath scene at the end of Magma Diver...on the female side of the wall. Just what were Asuka and Misato doing that gave Shinji an embarassing case of thermal expansion?

Attack of the 80-metre Asuka  SPOILER: Show

Through a freak accident, Asuka ends up Evangelion-sized. She's not too happy about it either.

Unconventional Treatment  SPOILER: Show

Hikari vists Touji in hospital. Lovemaking and character development somehow ensues.

Campstrumentality  SPOILER: Show

Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Misato go camping. Can they overcome cooking mishaps, the weather, a bear and their own inexperience?