Further, I made the mistake of reading the actual script (translated, of course) for the End of Evangelion film. All the �fascinating imagery� in the movie is basically just Freudian psychology handed to an art student. It�s all phallic and yonic symbolism, with disturbing details, specifically focused on things that happen to Ayanami-sama and those mimics of her that appear out of the mass-produced Eva units. Any respect I did have for the creator went out the window there. In fact, I have trouble remembering his name as I write this. I try not to think about it.
So, obviously, Kenosis is not for those who want to delve deeper into the understanding of the original anime. It contradicts and, in my view, �fixes� various �problems� in the anime which deeply bothered me. I liked the characters in Evangelion, not the story. And actually watching it enough to understand the story simply reduced my enjoyment further. While I may miss (read: don�t care about) details like where Shinji achieves each part of the Sephiroth prophecy, I do understand the core plot, for all its enigmatic Gnosticism, and if you want my input on the original anime, feel free to email me (cyrex_wingblade(at)hotmail(dot)com). Now, why did I watch the anime so much? Because Ayanami-sama is so intrinsically tied to the core plot by her existence, that in order to properly �fix� her story (you may call it �breaking believably� if you really support the original anime), I had to understand the story, or my fan-fic would fall into the ranks of the absurdly fantastic with no real grip. I needed it to be believable for my own satisfaction. I needed those plot-points destroyed directly and with punctuation (literally! *smirk*).
Of course, in order to give Rei her happy ending, I needed something to push her in a new direction, something she wasn�t used to. I, for admittedly selfish reasons, chose an original character for this task, someone who could vent my positive obsession with Eva, Ayanami-sama herself. Cirus Trent is the idealized match for Ayanami-sama, created specifically to help her find her own humanity, and provide her with someone she can actually count on in a personal, intimate manner. This is why, even to this day, the scene where she really starts to change, after the nightmare-attack by Traumifel when Cirus holds her in her terrified state, is so powerful for me. It doesn�t really matter who, she just needs someone to be there for her, and Cirus seems to be waiting nearby all the time.
All that said, Kenosis has it�s obvious problems. It lacks description for the cast, so anyone not familiar with the series on an intimate level would have a hard time seeing everyone as they should be. Also, the formulaic format of the overall story is a problem. Effectively, most of the plot is character interaction until I ran out of ideas, interrupted by Angel attacks. Very simplistic and not a strong point, certainly. I did give Asuka a very hard time throughout, and other fans of the series may challenge my view of Gendo being the real villain, or Fuyutsuki�s nobility as I present it. At the end of the day, like most fan-fiction, Kenosis is my personal fantasy, and will only, really, make me happy.
All I really hope for is that other Ayanami-sama fans will enjoy the story near to the same extent I do, and so far I have had some readers show a positive response. For more detailed views of various parts, see the respective commentaries, and if you have questions, email me, and I�ll do my best to answer.
Thank you for reading Kenosis. It was a pleasure to write.