AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to use this author's note to explain my vision of the NGE characters. This will probably be a long forward, but if you want to find out what I see, this is just about the only way.
Ikari Shinji is rather easy, in fact, he can be explained with a quote. "My only purpose in life is to die." Shinji believes that he exists for no reason, and that his existence relies on the Evangelion and the fact that he must pilot it. But during the Third Impact, Shinji discovers that he can, in fact, live without the EVA. This gives him the strength and sense of worth to continue living in the current universe.
Katsuragi Misato is a driven woman. Her mother left her father while Misato was very young after her father distanced himself from the family. Misato joined her father when she was about 5 on the Katsuragi Expedition to Antarctica, where Second Impact occured. Misato was the expedition's only survivor, and only because her father expended his last effort to get her to the survival pod. As a result, she is a mix of two distinct personalities. She is both the lost little girl, looking for companionship and comfort, and the driven avenger, determined to rid the world of the scourge that killed her father. When combined, this can cause a rather caustic drive to win at all costs.
Ikari Gendo is portrayed by the animated series as dark and unforgiving, but you really have to look closely to pick up the true distinctions of his character. Gendo has always been somewhat violent, and has never seemed kind to anyone but his wife, Yui. He was always highly focused on gaining his ends through almost any means, and uses whatever information he has obtained to his advantage, such as when he managed to flee Antarctica just prior to the Second Impact. He truly cares for his son, Shinji, but yet cannot manage to come close to him after the death/absorption of his wife. What really changed him was the death of his wife. However, he is not all cold and cruel. One only has to look at his interactions with Ayanami Rei to realize that he does care, at least sometimes. They smile, talk, and relate. She is almost more his daughter than Shinji is his son. Perhaps that is because she is the core of instrumentality, but perhaps it is because he expresses the love he cannot express to Shinji with her.
One could debate whether or not Ayanami Rei actually has a personality to discuss. She is an enigma, hampered by the fact that after every rebirth she loses all of her memories. But Rei II (the one I use), possibly because she is the longest alive of the three Rei in the series, seems to be the most human. Rei lacks the cold detachment that Gendo posesses (she couldn't fire on Suzuhara), but does not seem to have social skills to make up for this. Also, she has no idea how Gendo truly feels towards her - as far as she knows, she is only seen as a subordinate. Rei II is strongly loyal to Gendo, and refuses to listen to anything against him. But she also cares about Shinji, as evidenced by her willingness to sacrifice herself for him.
Out of all of the NGE characters, I would say that Asuka Langley Sohryu is the hardest to nail. Asuka is strong-willed, potentially violent, and dangerous in combat. One could say that she doesn't quite have all of her marbles at any one given moment, but yet she's not quite insane. She was traumatized at a young age by her mother's suicide, and never quite dealt with or recovered from it. Instead, she repressed it and tried to move on with her life. As a result, she fared rather badly when the 15th angel brought the repressed memories forward. The major problem with pegging Asuka is that she is separated into three distinctly different characters. Character A, the side you see in the anime, is a wild, dangerous, arrogant, and slightly nuts middle school girl. Character B, the side you see in the manga, is like a sister to Shinji. She acts like the disillusioned, sarcastic sister that Shinji never had. Character C, the side you see after the 15th Angel, is a lost little girl that would give nothing but to have her mother back and whole again. All together, the interplay of the three characters makes her a difficult person to portray. As such, I tend to concentrate on the side shown in the NGE manga. I think that overall, Asuka really is more like a sister to Shinji than anything else, and I believe that I can make this fanfic play out best using that character side.
I'm always welcome to tips about my character usage - you can discuss it with me in an email or over my AIM sn. Both can be found in my profile. Thanks for putting up with this extra-long Author's note. I wanted my audience to see what I saw in the characters, and I figured this was the best way. As a character comes into play in my story, I'll probably cover their description in a future note.
Enjoy!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISClAIMER: I don't own Evangelion. Nope, not one bit. I'm just some kid writing a fanfic because I love the series and REALLY WANT SOME OVAs! (GAINAX, I hope you're reading this!)
Also, please don't sue me. I'm broke.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 3: Synchronization
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The howl of an Evangelion transport filled the sky of Tokyo-3 as it taxied in for landing at the NERV-00 airbase. As it touched down, the small audience got a good look at its polished blue cargo, complete with the usual designation: "EVA 0 PROTO". The newly-rebuilt Evangelion 0 prototype had landed.
Rei watched impassively as work crews loaded the EVA into its cage deep in the bowels of NERV. She looked the EVA over critically. Other than the dual optical sensors (making it look somewhat like a blue EVA-03) and the absence of an umbilical jack on the spine plating, it was identical to the Evangelion unit she had self-destructed to eliminate the 16th Angel. Staring for a few moments longer, she turned on her heel and headed back towards her new quarters. She smiled slightly to herself, inwardly. She once again had a purpose.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chairman Keele. NERV has received a replacement EVA for the one that was destroyed in combat with the 15th Angel. They are building their forces, sir. We must accelerate the plan to deal with this buildup. They must be crushed before they can complete their EVA series!" Keele looked impassively at the panicked captain. He was in charge of the SEELE Experimental Genesis station, where Keele was currently located.
"We will continue with the plan as it is currently. The 18th will be released at the end of this week. There will be no further discussion on the timetable of the plan. Am I clear, Captain?" The Captain flinched at Keele's cold, uncaring voice. Nodding hurriedly, he backed his way carefully out of the room, not wanting to expose his back lest he find a knife buried in it.
When the Captain was gone, Keele allowed himself a small smile at his antics. Keele could wait a week for the 18th to be done properly - after all, when you survive the hell of Second Impact, a week is nothing. Not to mention that Keele wanted his revenge on NERV to be completed properly... it's not every day when you're bid for completion is destroyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~
**About a week later**
The skyline of Tokyo-3 lit suddenly before dawn as an explosion rocked the city. And over the roar of the blast, a harrowing sound that the city thought it had left behind began. The wailing of the Angel attack sirens filled the city streets, leaving the citizens to scramble to shelters as the city began to convert to battle mode.
On the NERV command deck, an atmosphere of barely restrained panic reigned. Maya looked frantically at her board. "Commander Ikari! Strong blue light signature detected! It's definitely an Angel!" Makoto looked at her, then down at his board. "But it appeared out of nowhere... we had no warning before it fired on the city."
Shigeru looked at his board, then up at Commander Ikari. "Sir, all three Evangelions can be readied for launch within 300 seconds. Do we proceed?" The response was swift and was coupled with a patented Ikari Smirkª. "Aa. Sortie all three EVA units immediately." The three lieutenants picked up phones and began calling the pilots.
~~~~~~~~~~~
**Approximately 240 seconds later**
"All right, you three. You will have pallet rifles, a positron cannon, halberds, an electromagnetic screen, and a progressive axe waiting for you at your emergence point. Ready?" Major Katsuragi's voice filtered through the plug speakers of the three teens to reach their ears. They each nodded and stated their readiness.
"Hai. EVA-00, standing by."
"EVA-01 standing by, Misato-san."
"Evangelion Unit 2 standing by for launch."
"All right, you three. Good luck. *LAUNCH!*" Crackles filled the cages as the electrified launch rails flung the three Evangelions toward the surface and the as-yet-unknown Angel.
Upon reaching the surface, an umbilical was fixed into Unit 2. EVA-00 and -01 powered up their S2 engines and all three units proceeded towards the weapons cache. Shinji picked up a pallet rifle, Rei picked up the positron cannon, and Asuka wielded a halberd in one hand and the axe in the other. Side by side, they marched in lockstep towards the location of the angel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, on NGE: Second Genesis:
The EVA team faces off against an angel that shouldn't even exist! Also, Touji returns to the Evangelion squadron with the newly-rebuilt Evangelion-03! Only on NGE: Second Genesis!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Note: I'm sorry for the obscenely huge Author's Note in the beginning of this chapter. However, I wanted everyone to understand where I'm coming from when it comes to writing the character dialog of the story. It's really frustrating, because I simply can't manage to nail Asuka's character. But I'm getting closer, and hopefully I'll have it in a few more days. Also, I'm sorry it took a while to post this update. It's not a good thing to fail Spanish, which means I have to do homework on occasion.
Please read and review!
Your loving author (still in need of another line)
Sithanas
Ikari Shinji is rather easy, in fact, he can be explained with a quote. "My only purpose in life is to die." Shinji believes that he exists for no reason, and that his existence relies on the Evangelion and the fact that he must pilot it. But during the Third Impact, Shinji discovers that he can, in fact, live without the EVA. This gives him the strength and sense of worth to continue living in the current universe.
Katsuragi Misato is a driven woman. Her mother left her father while Misato was very young after her father distanced himself from the family. Misato joined her father when she was about 5 on the Katsuragi Expedition to Antarctica, where Second Impact occured. Misato was the expedition's only survivor, and only because her father expended his last effort to get her to the survival pod. As a result, she is a mix of two distinct personalities. She is both the lost little girl, looking for companionship and comfort, and the driven avenger, determined to rid the world of the scourge that killed her father. When combined, this can cause a rather caustic drive to win at all costs.
Ikari Gendo is portrayed by the animated series as dark and unforgiving, but you really have to look closely to pick up the true distinctions of his character. Gendo has always been somewhat violent, and has never seemed kind to anyone but his wife, Yui. He was always highly focused on gaining his ends through almost any means, and uses whatever information he has obtained to his advantage, such as when he managed to flee Antarctica just prior to the Second Impact. He truly cares for his son, Shinji, but yet cannot manage to come close to him after the death/absorption of his wife. What really changed him was the death of his wife. However, he is not all cold and cruel. One only has to look at his interactions with Ayanami Rei to realize that he does care, at least sometimes. They smile, talk, and relate. She is almost more his daughter than Shinji is his son. Perhaps that is because she is the core of instrumentality, but perhaps it is because he expresses the love he cannot express to Shinji with her.
One could debate whether or not Ayanami Rei actually has a personality to discuss. She is an enigma, hampered by the fact that after every rebirth she loses all of her memories. But Rei II (the one I use), possibly because she is the longest alive of the three Rei in the series, seems to be the most human. Rei lacks the cold detachment that Gendo posesses (she couldn't fire on Suzuhara), but does not seem to have social skills to make up for this. Also, she has no idea how Gendo truly feels towards her - as far as she knows, she is only seen as a subordinate. Rei II is strongly loyal to Gendo, and refuses to listen to anything against him. But she also cares about Shinji, as evidenced by her willingness to sacrifice herself for him.
Out of all of the NGE characters, I would say that Asuka Langley Sohryu is the hardest to nail. Asuka is strong-willed, potentially violent, and dangerous in combat. One could say that she doesn't quite have all of her marbles at any one given moment, but yet she's not quite insane. She was traumatized at a young age by her mother's suicide, and never quite dealt with or recovered from it. Instead, she repressed it and tried to move on with her life. As a result, she fared rather badly when the 15th angel brought the repressed memories forward. The major problem with pegging Asuka is that she is separated into three distinctly different characters. Character A, the side you see in the anime, is a wild, dangerous, arrogant, and slightly nuts middle school girl. Character B, the side you see in the manga, is like a sister to Shinji. She acts like the disillusioned, sarcastic sister that Shinji never had. Character C, the side you see after the 15th Angel, is a lost little girl that would give nothing but to have her mother back and whole again. All together, the interplay of the three characters makes her a difficult person to portray. As such, I tend to concentrate on the side shown in the NGE manga. I think that overall, Asuka really is more like a sister to Shinji than anything else, and I believe that I can make this fanfic play out best using that character side.
I'm always welcome to tips about my character usage - you can discuss it with me in an email or over my AIM sn. Both can be found in my profile. Thanks for putting up with this extra-long Author's note. I wanted my audience to see what I saw in the characters, and I figured this was the best way. As a character comes into play in my story, I'll probably cover their description in a future note.
Enjoy!
Your loving author,
Sithanas
DISClAIMER: I don't own Evangelion. Nope, not one bit. I'm just some kid writing a fanfic because I love the series and REALLY WANT SOME OVAs! (GAINAX, I hope you're reading this!)
Also, please don't sue me. I'm broke.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Second Genesis
Chapter 3: Synchronization
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The howl of an Evangelion transport filled the sky of Tokyo-3 as it taxied in for landing at the NERV-00 airbase. As it touched down, the small audience got a good look at its polished blue cargo, complete with the usual designation: "EVA 0 PROTO". The newly-rebuilt Evangelion 0 prototype had landed.
Rei watched impassively as work crews loaded the EVA into its cage deep in the bowels of NERV. She looked the EVA over critically. Other than the dual optical sensors (making it look somewhat like a blue EVA-03) and the absence of an umbilical jack on the spine plating, it was identical to the Evangelion unit she had self-destructed to eliminate the 16th Angel. Staring for a few moments longer, she turned on her heel and headed back towards her new quarters. She smiled slightly to herself, inwardly. She once again had a purpose.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Chairman Keele. NERV has received a replacement EVA for the one that was destroyed in combat with the 15th Angel. They are building their forces, sir. We must accelerate the plan to deal with this buildup. They must be crushed before they can complete their EVA series!" Keele looked impassively at the panicked captain. He was in charge of the SEELE Experimental Genesis station, where Keele was currently located.
"We will continue with the plan as it is currently. The 18th will be released at the end of this week. There will be no further discussion on the timetable of the plan. Am I clear, Captain?" The Captain flinched at Keele's cold, uncaring voice. Nodding hurriedly, he backed his way carefully out of the room, not wanting to expose his back lest he find a knife buried in it.
When the Captain was gone, Keele allowed himself a small smile at his antics. Keele could wait a week for the 18th to be done properly - after all, when you survive the hell of Second Impact, a week is nothing. Not to mention that Keele wanted his revenge on NERV to be completed properly... it's not every day when you're bid for completion is destroyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~
**About a week later**
The skyline of Tokyo-3 lit suddenly before dawn as an explosion rocked the city. And over the roar of the blast, a harrowing sound that the city thought it had left behind began. The wailing of the Angel attack sirens filled the city streets, leaving the citizens to scramble to shelters as the city began to convert to battle mode.
On the NERV command deck, an atmosphere of barely restrained panic reigned. Maya looked frantically at her board. "Commander Ikari! Strong blue light signature detected! It's definitely an Angel!" Makoto looked at her, then down at his board. "But it appeared out of nowhere... we had no warning before it fired on the city."
Shigeru looked at his board, then up at Commander Ikari. "Sir, all three Evangelions can be readied for launch within 300 seconds. Do we proceed?" The response was swift and was coupled with a patented Ikari Smirkª. "Aa. Sortie all three EVA units immediately." The three lieutenants picked up phones and began calling the pilots.
~~~~~~~~~~~
**Approximately 240 seconds later**
"All right, you three. You will have pallet rifles, a positron cannon, halberds, an electromagnetic screen, and a progressive axe waiting for you at your emergence point. Ready?" Major Katsuragi's voice filtered through the plug speakers of the three teens to reach their ears. They each nodded and stated their readiness.
"Hai. EVA-00, standing by."
"EVA-01 standing by, Misato-san."
"Evangelion Unit 2 standing by for launch."
"All right, you three. Good luck. *LAUNCH!*" Crackles filled the cages as the electrified launch rails flung the three Evangelions toward the surface and the as-yet-unknown Angel.
Upon reaching the surface, an umbilical was fixed into Unit 2. EVA-00 and -01 powered up their S2 engines and all three units proceeded towards the weapons cache. Shinji picked up a pallet rifle, Rei picked up the positron cannon, and Asuka wielded a halberd in one hand and the axe in the other. Side by side, they marched in lockstep towards the location of the angel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, on NGE: Second Genesis:
The EVA team faces off against an angel that shouldn't even exist! Also, Touji returns to the Evangelion squadron with the newly-rebuilt Evangelion-03! Only on NGE: Second Genesis!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Note: I'm sorry for the obscenely huge Author's Note in the beginning of this chapter. However, I wanted everyone to understand where I'm coming from when it comes to writing the character dialog of the story. It's really frustrating, because I simply can't manage to nail Asuka's character. But I'm getting closer, and hopefully I'll have it in a few more days. Also, I'm sorry it took a while to post this update. It's not a good thing to fail Spanish, which means I have to do homework on occasion.
Please read and review!
Your loving author (still in need of another line)
Sithanas