Continuing NGE?

[DarkBluePhoenix]

So, I realize continuation fics are a dime a dozen. But, my question (no easy feat to answer, hence why I'm struggling with it) is how does on logically pick up from where ep. 24 ended in NGE ins such a way that carries the story forward AND is able to avoid the events of eps. 25 + 26/EoE, basically creating their own version of eps. 25 + 26 and carrying the story forward from there?

I guess there is a way to do it, Iike a few have said, just taking out a character on SEELe's side, or having a not dead Kaji kill them off, missing one or two, or have him sabotage the MP EVAs would be a good option. Althouh with the mystery timeline of the show (vague date references) you'd have to write events happening concurrently with episodes while interweaving the events in to tie it to your story.

I couldn't think of a viable way to do it a few months ago with my NGE: Legacy fic, as that was the original intention to just continue, but then an idea struck me. Write the (deep) backstory of the characters, make some changes to the main tory of the show, then write a continuation, keeping it true to the show, and add in a few twists in for fun.

I don't know if any of that helps... but good luck!

[DarkBluePhoenix]

That's fair.

Sad, but fair. The only thing that seems to save good fics from being forgotten forever is the TV Tropes recommendations page, but I wouldn't know how much that contributes to further reviews on completed works.

I've got a few on there and being honest I don't really notice much of an increase in reviews on my work. It does however give me a deep sense of pride that people think highly enough of some of my works to put them on there

Well, as jcmoorehead wrote, just getting a review is fantastic, and I don't expect everyone to review my story. I mean I put a note at the end of each chapter stating review or criticize, and I see my thread on here for the fic gets read enough, and posted to occasionally. I moved my work to AO3 as well on the recommendation of a friend and am going through a grammar rewrite to post it, but my fic is still new, and heck, maybe a few years from now when it's done and collecting some digital dust on ff.net it'll become popular.

Although, to Rommel's point, a quarter million words would be absolutely awful to write if there were no reviews or even likes going for the work.

Now, the more recent fics I've read about post 3.33 (pretty much jcmoorehead's fics on the matter) work pretty well on what a shit story comes from rebuild. Yes, harsh critism, but it is nowhere near as intricate or well done (animation excluded) as the original NGE. It seems more like a bad fanfiction (like the Cursed Child) and clearly Anno just doesn't have his heart and soul in the story anymore. Just like Law & Order, the original is, and will always be the best.

Besides there aren't that many ideas that haven't been done to death and Battleship Evamato--er, I mean, 3.0 isn't exactly my favorite so that restricts what can be done.

Also, kudos to you on that awesome reference sir. I Wunder if that was an inspiration for that half-dead, mechanized Angel/Lugia look alike.

[Glor]

Although, to Rommel's point, a quarter million words would be absolutely awful to write if there were no reviews or even likes going for the work.

I can only assume he's referencing Genocide which, while well known, has basically capped out on reviews and settled at a few hundred favs on FFN. Which is unfortunate considering it's one of the most thought-out works of Eva fanfic and receives so little recognition compared to other fics that don't bother to be as faithful to Eva's themes and characters.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

I can only assume he's referencing Genocide which, while well known, has basically capped out on reviews and settled at a few hundred favs on FFN. Which is unfortunate considering it's one of the most thought-out works of Eva fanfic and receives so little recognition compared to other fics that don't bother to be as faithful to Eva's themes and characters.

He most likely is, and I read that story all the way through, it was a fantastic read, and I re-read after he updated it. It was extremely faithful to all the characters and themes in NGE, and it should get more recognition, alas, many like shock value more than thought out, and consider older works not needing "more favorites."

[amitakartok]

I'm getting the impression that the current fandom generally disregards everything that deviates from canon further than Peggy Sue and/or isn't crack.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

I'm getting the impression that the current fandom generally disregards everything that deviates from canon further than Peggy Sue and/or isn't crack.

You are probably right. And some fics doing the whole Peggy Sue bit are good, but others just seem poorly executed and poorly thought out. I'll avoid a writing a Peggy Sue fic, as I've seen BTTF, and future knowledge and time travel are somewhat overused in fic writing at times.

I know my fic deviates the shit out of canon in places up to where I've written it, even though I try to saty "on track" to make the story my own, changes have to be made. I use the anime, manga, parts of rebuild (Mari is "the parts") and from the Shinji Ikari Raising Project (for the humor).

[amitakartok]

Heh. Sticking to canon is overrated. I mean, everyone already knows how that went down, so where's the novelty?

In my private opinion, the good fanfic writer isn't the one who sticks to canon like the gospel. It's the one who deviates from canon in ways that are internally consistent but the audience never saw coming.

[jcmoorehead]

Heh. Sticking to canon is overrated. I mean, everyone already knows how that went down, so where's the novelty?

In my private opinion, the good fanfic writer isn't the one who sticks to canon like the gospel. It's the one who deviates from canon in ways that are internally consistent but the audience never saw coming.

My stance generally is that if you can justify it and it works for your story then go for it. I mean... it's called Fan Fiction for a reason, part of that includes the what-ifs, the never-was and so much more. Hell my first ever big Evangelion story was an X Files style AU. For me the whole point of my writing fic was a way to relieve a bit of stress and do something else whilst I was in crunch at work, it was supposed to be fun not a serious exercise.

[DarkBluePhoenix]

Heh. Sticking to canon is overrated. I mean, everyone already knows how that went down, so where's the novelty?

In my private opinion, the good fanfic writer isn't the one who sticks to canon like the gospel. It's the one who deviates from canon in ways that are internally consistent but the audience never saw coming.

And that is the exact reason I started writing NGE: Legacy, to improve/modify the story in places and add as many plausible "WTF" moments as I could. Mainly for shits and giggles, but also so other people could enjoy it.

Best part of that statement was "sticking to cannon is overrated"

[silvermoonlight]

Heh. Sticking to canon is overrated. I mean, everyone already knows how that went down, so where's the novelty?

In my private opinion, the good fanfic writer isn't the one who sticks to canon like the gospel. It's the one who deviates from canon in ways that are internally consistent but the audience never saw coming.

I agree with that a hundred percent granted I know not everyone likes alternative universe but I think it allows for much more creativity and also allows a good author to deviate from canon in smart ways.

[gorgeousshutin]

I'm getting the impression that the current fandom generally disregards everything that deviates from canon further than Peggy Sue and/or isn't crack.

Having dabbled in NGE fic writing for the last couple of years, I've gained a little insight on how to cater to current fandom demographics. Supposing one wants to fic purely for a high review/fav count, the following suggestions may be of help IMHO:

1) Stick to ship fic - specifically, ship AsuShin on FFnet and Sufficient Velocity, and KawoShin on AO3. KawoShinAsu fic = cannot fail at getting attention
2) Romantic/Sexual melodrama over realistic drama - realistic dramatic moments can take many scenes to build up, which many of the current fic readers don't seem to have. Pack each and every chapter with melodrama that's centered on the ship pair(s), so fans of the ship can have something to gush over
3) Prominent SIs should be integral to ship's melodramatic entanglement and/or modified from canon background character
3) Maximize EVA action scenes - works especially well on FFnet
4) Don't be afraid of having Tokyo-3 exist in post 3I stories - I find that most fic readers don't care if post EoE Tokyo-3 don't make sense. In fact, many seem to prefer seeing the chars in familiar canon surroundings instead of some new author-created setting
5) If must write Xover, X NGE only with shows boasting huge and active fandoms in this day and age (yea, I have to remind myself of this now and then)
6) Sectioning story into shorter chapters - makes for more updates, which makes for more reviews. Keep updates over 2000 words min to avoid resembling spamfics though
7) A few more that I'm aware of, that eludes me at this moment

Re: Continuing NGE
I think you can always just deviate from canon after EP 24 in whatever way you're most comfy with. ie Wanna keep Tokyo-3? Write it so SEELE don`t get to bomb the GeoFront.

[Rommel]

I can only assume he's referencing Genocide which, while well known, has basically capped out on reviews and settled at a few hundred favs on FFN. Which is unfortunate considering it's one of the most thought-out works of Eva fanfic and receives so little recognition compared to other fics that don't bother to be as faithful to Eva's themes and characters.

Fun fact: Genocide is actually closer to 350,000 words. What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review. Hell, I have like a 20 page epilogue that I just haven't bothered with in a long time because of that. With limited time, I might as well just write porn.

[jcmoorehead]

Fun fact: Genocide is actually closer to 350,000 words. What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review. Hell, I have like a 20 page epilogue that I just haven't bothered with in a long time because of that. With limited time, I might as well just write porn.

I'd review it! Genocide was amazing, probably one of my favourite fics out there! I do know how you feel though, I get new favs/follows on my works a lot. It's especially jarring when I see the One Shots get loads of favs/follows but very few reviews.

I've had very few reviews on any of the porny stuff I've wrote tbh, plenty of Kudos although with that I don't really expect reviews. Not really sure what people could really say to it, although the few I have had have been very flattering :P

[DarkBluePhoenix]

Fun fact: Genocide is actually closer to 350,000 words. What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review. Hell, I have like a 20 page epilogue that I just haven't bothered with in a long time because of that. With limited time, I might as well just write porn.

You should post that epilouge though. If you do, I'll gladly review it, it'll give me something to do at work.

Actually, I'll have to check if I reviewed the rest of genocide or not, I may have, but it would've been before I got a proper ff.net account, so it may have been as a guest. So I guess it's an excuse to read it again and give it great reviews just because a good story does deserve a plethora of them

EDIT: this is also my 100th post, just thought I'd add this, as I'm a nerd and keep track of these kinds of things.

[amitakartok]

What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review.

That's happening to me too.

[Glor]

Fun fact: Genocide is actually closer to 350,000 words. What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review.

If only you'd written 350,000 words of WAFF/crack.

I might as well just write porn.

Rommel no, pls.

[gorgeousshutin]

What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review.

Reminds me of the plentiful kudos I've received back when Hedgehog's Dilemma had semi-regular updates on AO3. Fun times.

With longer works, I find that readers tend not to review every single update, but would rather binge read through large portions before reviewing. That said, whenever I PM-ed them back to thank them, they always take the initiative to offer further feedback on the prior chapters, in depth. None of that reflects on the review count, of course. My main project started in 2012. At 200988 words and 39 chapters counting, it only has 112 reviews over at FFnet (dismal by Eva standards, I know, but that's Utena ficcing for you). For me, though, it is the actual number of people actually caring about a project that keeps me laboring on despite my limited free time.

[y3k]

I'm getting the impression that the current fandom generally disregards everything that deviates from canon further than Peggy Sue and/or isn't crack.

Is Peggy Sue even still a thing in Eva fandom? Like, I remember like five or six years ago that genre underwent what I can only describe as an arms face as everyone tried to one up each other because everything that came before was quickly disregarded as played out. It was sort of like a fanfic singularity where everything got more and more impossibly deconstructionalist and/or meta in such a short time frame until it just...vanished.

I mean, I loved it for the sheer originality and absurdity, but it was unsustainable. And I haven't really seen any since.

[amitakartok]

There are multiple ongoing Peggy Sue fics on Sufficient Velocity.

[cyharding]

What really kills me is that everyday (no exaggeration there) it gets new follows/favs but none of those people ever review.

It's the same thing with mine. In fact, it does raise an interesting question for everyone: Is this the case for fics from relatively old franchises, such as Eva, or does it affect fanfics in general, regardless of genre or franchise?