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

[Chuckman]

Nobody Dies and Wreckage spring to mind.

[Gob Hobblin]

Not to toot my own horn, but I like to think I did, too.

Then again, most of the characters in that story have deviated WILDLY from their origins, so...meh....

[Bagheera]

In context of this story, what if Kyoko is a talented soldier who was left holding the bag for her and Asuka due to a deadbeat dad? He leaves because he can't stand being married to a soldier who seems to put her career first (something that is as old as the profession of soldiering). Asuka thinks this is something she did wrong, which isn't helped by Kyoko juggling soldiering with raising a daughter. They drift apart.

Replace "soldier" with "scientist" here and I'm with you. All of the supplemental material paints Kyoko as a scientist par excellence, so I'm not sure why you're make her a soldier.

[Gob Hobblin]

I was following an inference in an earlier posting on this thread.

[Kendrix]

"Kyoko is/was a bitch" is one of those fanon things whose origin I can't understand. Kyoko pre-accident is a totally blank slate. For all we know she adored Asuka and devoted every waking moment outside her job to her daughter and husband.

Nope. Literally the only thing we're told about Kyoko is "She always neglected her daughter over her work." (That, and a random funeral visitor calling her "the experiment's strongest proponent". )



Given the situation, he might've been lying, but it's literally the only thing we're given, no counterpoint, nothing like that "happy Yui photograph" from ep 16 to suggest there were ever happy times.
It makes a lot of sense that Asuka's attention-starved personality ("Don't ignore me, mommy! Please look at me!") would have been in the making even before the experiment went awry and exaggerated it to metaphorical extremes, with Kyoko's previous neglect influencing how little Asuka interpreted/percieved the whole going nuts event - as yet more ignoring.


She can't have completely not cared about Asuka since we have this whole sequence in EoE (also, complete monsters are boring as fuck) but we should be aware that what we see in eva 02 isn't necesserily representative/only the "best" parts of her regular self.

Also, there's also the reasonable interpolation that Asuka's mom would... well, resemble Asuka in terms of wiring, who was also a very overly ambitious and putting her 'career' as a pilot before everyone in her life.

So she probably technically loved Asuka just as Asuka technically cares about her flatmates, or like Gendo and Misato's old man weren't completely apathetic about their offspring, probably more a lack of skill than good will.

It has been pointed out that working on a project to proserve humanity might be Kyoko's way of protecting her daughter, but she really Is a blank slate in that respect - She could be anything from a sort of anti-heroine striving to protect her kid in the only way she knows how to (mirroring Yui, in a way) or simply out for scientific prestige and attention, possibly having similar flaws issues to her daughter.

You've got a lot of free wiggling room there, personality wise, but 3D human being is definitely the way to go... 3D human being is always the way to go, but "perfect saintly devoted mother" is simply not on the menu.

[Gob Hobblin]

As I pointed out earlier, when children are ignored or neglected, or things go wrong with the adults around them, they perceive this as somehow being their fault. Asuka being attention-starved would definitely be a direct response to her mother ignoring her, thinking she wasn't doing the right things to get attention.

This tends to happen with kids who get ignored by parents (even well-meaning parents who are just 'too busy.')

[Bagheera]

She can't have completely not cared about Asuka since we have this whole sequence in EoE (also, complete monsters are boring as fuck) but we should be aware that what we see in eva 02 isn't necesserily representative/only the "best" parts of her regular self.

True. It's entirely possible that she was the workaholic sort who thought, like many others in the main cast, that the ends would ultimately justify the means. Yes, she loved her daughter dearly, but her work was important! Everything would work out in the end, just you wait!

And in the meantime Asuka suffers, because she's, like, five and she doesn't understand (not that anyone would, mind).

Also, there's also the reasonable interpolation that Asuka's mom would... well, resemble Asuka in terms of wiring, who was also a very overly ambitious and putting her 'career' as a pilot before everyone in her life.

I'm not sure she did. I mean, do we ever see her obsessing over being a pilot? Putting in extra hours to become better at her job? Going the extra mile? Nope. She's in it for the status, nothing more. I don't think she thought far enough ahead to become the obsessive Kyoko seems to have been in that regard.

It has been pointed out that working on a project to proserve humanity might be Kyoko's way of protecting her daughter, but she really Is a blank slate in that respect - She could be anything from a sort of anti-heroine striving to protect her kid in the only way she knows how to (mirroring Yui, in a way) or simply out for scientific prestige and attention, possibly having similar flaws issues to her daughter.

I don't think it's something that banal, if only because none of the cast seem to have such base motivations.

This tends to happen with kids who get ignored by parents (even well-meaning parents who are just 'too busy.')

That's Kyoko in a nutshell, IMO.

[Chuckman]

Well, this is the fanfic thread, so I can say that Kyoko-as-workaholic is one of those places where Eva lays it on a little thick and there's no reason not to change it.

An opportunity was missed there anyway. A loving Kyoko broken by the experiment is infinitely more sad.

[Bagheera]

Well, this is the fanfic thread, so I can say that Kyoko-as-workaholic is one of those places where Eva lays it on a little thick and there's no reason not to change it.

An opportunity was missed there anyway. A loving Kyoko broken by the experiment is infinitely more sad.

But that's what happened . . .

[Chuckman]

Which part? Kendrix just posted a textual reference that paints her as a neglectful workaholic and I'm saying it's cool to ignore that to tell a more interesting story.

Anyway, the big thing is that people tend to lazily paint Kyoko as an older Asuka.

[Bagheera]

Which part? Kendrix just posted a textual reference that paints her as a neglectful workaholic and I'm saying it's cool to ignore that to tell a more interesting story.

Anyway, the big thing is that people tend to lazily paint Kyoko as an older Asuka.

Loving Kyoko broken by experiment. Although workaholic might have a hand in there as well, it all amounts to the same thing in the end . . .

And same as Asuka? Weird. I've never seen her that way. Like, ever.

[Gob Hobblin]

They portray her that way in fanfics. It tends to be a lazier go-to way of characterizing Kyoko (since so little of her is actually shown in the series). I think a lot of fan fic writers (especially new ones) get jumpy at the idea of creating what is essentially an OC.

[Chuckman]

Note that I say all this while my one in depth portrayal of her is pretty bitchy.

[Bagheera]

They portray her that way in fanfics. It tends to be a lazier go-to way of characterizing Kyoko (since so little of her is actually shown in the series). I think a lot of fan fic writers (especially new ones) get jumpy at the idea of creating what is essentially an OC.

I've only ever seen Kyoko show up once or twice, and those were in an Random1377 fic and Throne of Bayonets. So, I guess my experience is limited.

Also ISRP, but that surely doesn't count.

[Gob Hobblin]

Which is a shame, because she (and all of the adults) could be so interesting to look at. It's easy to focus on the kids, as they are the focus of the show. But that ground has been covered. A lot.

What about Gendo? Or Yui? Or, hell, even Keel (what made him what he is)?

I'd love to see a good, solid story about Kyoko and Asuka.

...that's going on my 'to-do' list.

[Chuckman]

The adults definitely need more focus.

I had a blast writing a complete backstory for Keel in Age of Marvels. [/spoiler]

[Monk Ed]

*takes notes*

So people really are interested in the adults. That's one worry off my shoulders.

[Bagheera]

Which is a shame, because she (and all of the adults) could be so interesting to look at. It's easy to focus on the kids, as they are the focus of the show. But that ground has been covered. A lot.

What about Gendo? Or Yui? Or, hell, even Keel (what made him what he is)?

I'd love to see a good, solid story about Kyoko and Asuka.

...that's going on my 'to-do' list.

Post-3I, dude. That's where it's at.

Yes, I know I should put my money where my mouth is. Patience, padawans.

[StarShaper7]

Possible title: The Incredible Shinji or The Tokyo-3 Project

Summary: "You won't like me when I'm in existential despair!" Shinji Ikari is the motherfucking Hulk. The brilliant, but frail and lonely, Dr. Ikari invents the Evangelion bomb, an experimental upgrade to the N2 bomb, to use in the fight against the monstrous angels. But the Eva-bomb ultimately transforms Shinji into a rampaging beast.

The first angel arrives, creating the perfect opportunity to launch the weapon. But Shinji sees a blue-haired woman standing in the city ruins below his bomb-guarded observation site. Shinji dashes out to save her. But when he gets there, the girl has disappeared. Confused, Shinji stands there like a fool while the Eva-bomb goes off. The blast should have killed him. But it only makes him the strongest one of all! Shinji SMASH!

After the Eva-bomb creature tears the angel apart, the NERV personnel move in, only to find Dr. Ikari passed out. Naked save for his inexplicably purple, torn-up pants, Shinji is taken in, detained with chains that will set off N2 mines if he breaks them. Dr. Asuka Langley Soryu arrives to study the subject, looking for a cure. But Ritsuko Akagi, serving Gendo Ikari and, unbeknownst to her, the secret Seele society, is secretly using her research to develop a mass production serum. It is to be first used on Rei Ayanami. And then, if it works, all the other Rei Ayanamis!

Notes: I had fun coming up with this.

[Chuckman]

*takes notes*

So people really are interested in the adults. That's one worry off my shoulders.

Outside of Gendo, Yui, and to a lesser degree Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki, they're all a blank slate but with tantalizing hints at who they might be.

Except Aoba. Fuck him.