As of this week we are down to the more normal numbers that will occur for this series of threads. I would also like to remind you that I am not accepting votes on the regular poll around Tainted Cube... unless you would like to see a particular thread spun off, in which case I insist that you specify which one.
Poll Results
Code Geass
|
4
(25%)
|
Haruhi
|
0
(0%)
|
Love Hina
|
0
(0%)
|
Neon Genesis Evangelion
|
9
(56%)
|
Rosario +Vampire
|
3
(18%)
|
Urusei Yatsura
|
0
(0%)
|
Where are they now?
Code Geass: Lelouch has just acquired his Geass, and is about to encounter Villetta.Haruhi Suzumiya: Kyon has just met Haruhi for the first time (from his perspective, but let's not get into the John Smith mess quite yet).
Love Hina: Keitaro was heading in to meet his grandmother. Has yet to take a bath to help himself relax.
Ranma 1/2: Kasumi has become the Warrior of Love and Beauty, Sailor V! It is her duty to purify those possessed by monsters that take advantage of a person's sexual hangups to control them. Her very first encounter involves her youngest sister, Akane, who is purified of her hatred of immature perverted boys alongside the monster. Upon recovery, Akane and Ranma are engaged.
Rosario + Vampire: Tsukune had just arrived at the school, and was about to be crashed into by a certain cute vampire.
Sailor Moon: Usagi had just saved Naru in her first night as Sailor Moon.
Urusei Yatsura: Ataru was on his way home. On arriving he will find out about the aliens and the tag race.
Removed From the Poll
As
the rather undisputed winner of this week's poll, Neon Genesis Evangelion will be removed for three
weeks.
Sailor Moon:1
Ranma 1/2: 2
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3
Ranma 1/2: 2
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3
Discussion of Latest Update
I think the most rational approach to take here is to take the second option: Gendo becomes a reaonable person. This changes around rather a lot within the setting - or at least the part we're paying attention to - because a lot of it was set in place by him being a manipulative ass.So what changes? For starters, the way he talks Shinji into becoming a pilot. If we're going with a retroactive alteration then their relationship is almost certainly improved upon as well. I also thought it might be interesting if - rather than having her staying by herself - Rei was sent to stay with Misato. Which creates a very interesting living situation when Shinji and then Asuka move in as well.
Now, I know what many people with common sense are thinking (probably) about that. Having all the pilots in one place with the tactical officer? Spells trouble in capital letters, huh? Well then, they'd better consider splitting up that certain classroom filled with potential pilots while they're at it because that seems like an even bigger security problem. I only mentioned this because I was struck by how anyone actually concerned with the pilot's safety would keep them living sepearately, then realised the argument didn't apparently matter at all.
Beyond that? I'm not sure. Do you have any suggestions for this before I start to write it?
Considering Section 2 seemed to have quite a bit of trouble keeping track of the Children despite being herded together with the other candidates at school and two of them living with Major Katsuragi, splitting them up further also seems hazardous to me in its own way. But your point is well taken.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it seems like a good basis for the episode to me. I don't have a huge preference on the change being retroactive or an epiphany (or a retroactive epiphany), but it would presumably arouse a fair amount of suspicion if Gendo's whole disposition shifts dramatically with little to no warning. So that's a point probably worth considering either way.
An option is that he would have been an asshole to Shinji but Yui says something to him just before she enters Unit 01 that forces him to treat him better out of duty and/or guilt. He still may not win any Father of the Year awards but he at least makes an effort of not being a stranger; calling every once and a while, actually talking to him at Yui's grave, visiting on his birthday, giving him some clue as to what he would be doing when he came to NERV as opposed to just telling him to come. As a result Shinji is not scared shitless of his dad.
ReplyDeleteIf this kindness extends to Rei and she ends up living with Misato for an extended period of time before the series it'd be interesting. There wouldn't be as many "what should I do/feel in this situation" moments, at the very least. Does that mean wild, party Rei? No, I don't think so, but having her become a reclusive girl as opposed to a robot/doll seems plausible. Ritsuko should also chill the fuck out regarding Rei given that her best friend is more or less raising her.
It also means that Gendo wouldn't do the "have the half-dead girl fight the giant monster" thing from episode 1 to guilt Shinji so other methods would have to be taken to make Shinji pilot Unit 01. I mean it's not like Gendo being nice would make Rei's synch test any less painfu-
Wait.
Didn't Rei's synch ratios go up as a result of her attachment to Shinji (and therefore humanity)? So no berserking, head-smashing Unit 02 prior to Shinji's arrival. So then, yeah, I guess nicer Gendo would mean no battered Rei. At least in theory.
But then that would mean that Rei could fight Sachiel and Shinji might go "Well looks like she's got the whole fighting city smashing monsters thing down. I guess you won't be needing me afterall. I'll just see myself out."
A way around that would be that Gendo held off in calling Shinji to fight Sachiel and only called him after it self-destructed and put Unit 02 out of commission. In which case a not half dead Rei gives him a, sort of, pep talk that convinces him to enter the fight for all of humanity. Though that means that Shinji's first fight is with Shamshel without any training (or, more logically, Shinji got called in immediately after Sachiel's defeat so he did get some training in). It also means that Shinji's meeting with Kensuke and Toji would be different since Shinji wouldn't be responsible for Toji's sister getting hurt.
ARGH!! Is anything that I'm saying helping you or at the very least making sense?!
(As a last side note, it could go far to show this Rei's humanity if Toji's sister was hurt during her fight with Sachiel and she spends an afternoon visiting her at the hospital.)
Or…even if her synch ratio were higher, the activation test still might have been a disaster anyway. Perhaps it still wouldn't have been high enough. Unit 00 has issues, after all.
DeleteThat would require considerably less revising of the whole "scenario." Alternatively, Rei first fights Sachiel on her own, but simply loses and her plug gets ejected. EVA-00 still ends up out of commission for a while, Rei's injured, and they have to send Shinji out to finish the job. Then they both are in the hospital. And if you want to have her her encounter Toji's little sister, that could still work too.
For those who haven't heard (I already mentioned it to Lumitiel), Toji's little sister has a canon name now beyond "Toji's little sister." Or at least she does in Rebuild of Evangelion, which is close enough for me. She's Sakura! No need to make up names for her in stories anymore.
Wait not Unit 02, I meant Unit 00, my mistake.
ReplyDeleteI've made a decent start on this, but I've run into a bit of a wall. There's supposed to be some sort of a perverted twist to the alteration, but the nature of it currently eludes me. I'm looking for suggestions in that vein.
ReplyDeleteShinji being less of a wuss means he's actually something of a player?
DeleteRei being more social has her express an interest in sex?
Gendo wishing to take some of the burden off Shinji has a number of backup pilots prepared, most of whom happen to be girls Shinji's age (Mari, Mana, Hikari, Mayumi, etc.)?
Shinji gets his own personal Section 2 bodyguard who just happens to be an attractive woman?
Shinji being penpals with Rei and Asuka with the two girls developing a crush on him?
Deciding to give Shinji more freedom, Gendo has the pilots legaly declared as adults?
Sexy Angels??? (Different Dead Sea Scroll prophecy that has to do with Shinji, thus a nicer Gendo?)
I had considered the first one, but decided it was a little too close to what I was planning for Asuka WP. I guess it could work here as well, but I did have a rather odd (and twisted) thought that I'd like to test out.
DeleteSee, this nicer Gendo looks at the whole "Pilots feel the pain of the Evangelion" thing, and decides there simply has to be a way around that. The canon version gives no shits about that sort of thing, but the nicer one... well, he's able to work something out.
They try it out on Rei with the Unit 00 test, but find that it works a little too well. Let's just say, that's not pain from injuries causing her to gasp. Quite the opposite, in fact.
But I might be able to combine the two ideas. Make Shinji a player. Sort of like father like son, in that respect. That would probably change him just enough to make the resulting options quite fascinating to behold.
Conditioning one to feel pleasure when their Eva take damage? Frankly that sounds like a terrible idea to be honest. Though I agree that a nicer Gendo would install some form of mental buffer to distance the pain, maybe make the pilot feel a strong tingle/heat/itch where the Eva has taken damage instead, noticable and a little unpleasant but not at "AAAARGHH!!! MY ORGANS!!!" level.
Delete