Ayanami-sama's first real scene in Kenosis. Until the later portion of the story, it's actually hard to imagine she's the heart of the plot. My goal was always to make the changes I intend believable, even by hard-core fans, so again, you'll notice very little 'rocking of the character boat' this early. I seem to eat those words in regard to Shinji in this part, however, as my brother pointed he actually stands up to Asuka for once. I thought this worked, because he's been through so much by this point (the entire series and movies right up to the end), that a little attitude toward Asuka wasn't totally out of character. You'll notice he rarely does it again... As I've said before, I find Asuka highly aggravating, so there are several times where her wings get clipped or at least rustled (case in point here). Since Rei was my focus, I was willing to sacrifice a bit of Shinji's personality to get the job done. The escalator switching direction is intended as a bit of comedy more than a believable measure taken by Commander Ikari, I'm not sure how well that turned out.
The introduction of Cirus. His rather odd behavior in the 'meeting' is explained near the end of this rather massive story, so I won't bother filling it in here. To be honest, Cirus is a self-insert character, but to such an idealized extent that I can't really dare claim he's like me. Always a fan of the 'mysterious loner' archetype, I put a great deal of effort into keeping him as 'odd' as possible, especially in these early scenes. Wearing sunglasses even in the dark is a big one *smirk*. (And yes, I do own the outfit he's wearing...) My only pang of regret in this scene is Asuka's blatant 'crush' being so... blatant. I figured his vaguely 'exotic' nature would attract along similar veins to Kaji-san. Asuka fans likely find this sequence heavy-handed. Be warned for the rest of the story...
There was really no purpose to the scene with Misato and the pilots other than realistic character interaction. The conspicuousness of not mentioning Cirus yet is simply an aspect of that goal, not the real heart of the scene with some secret significance. Filler, but it's filler that makes a story what it is.
Rei and Cirus' first real interaction. Again, I make a point of not breaking Rei's character. While I hope this reassures hard-core fans that I intend to do this right (the hard way), it was not for them that I did it. I wanted it done the right way more than anyone else. I also keep up Cirus' 'odd' nature. So little is known about him, but he keeps popping up. What's up? At least I hope that's the impression. The rest of the sequence is simply character interaction while acknowledging the progress of the series (and establishing Misato is well, awake, and aware of Cirus). Asuka is aware of her mother, Rei is stable with her Eva in the repair shop, and Shinji is much more at ease. Originally the number was quite a bit higher, but my brother suggested a more reasonable but still high amount. In hind-sight, he was very right.
Ever notice how often Fuyutsuki and Ikari's chatter is interrupted by Angels? Just ripping off the anime even *more* bluntly than normal for a fan-fic. Remember, know everything, say nothing. Only rule to know when doing Eva dialogue for the 'powers that be'.
The 18th Angel, Guriel. I chose the name specifically, but I now forget the meaning of it. Really just giving the audience some much-needed activity, establishing that the Angels are still coming, and letting Ayanami-sama kick some more butt in a fight... without angering other character-fans too much. Probably the most sincere response out of Cirus we've seen so far is his 'raised eyebrows' when Misato tells him to shut up. He's quite honestly backing off. He's not a liar, just distant, so seeing some emotion is moderately interesting. If you care at all about him, that is. The most I hope for from other fans of the series is that they don't hate him so far.
The arrival of Unit 14 (mass-produced Evas were all 13, the ships were numbered otherwise) is little more than introducing the Eva itself, but there is some surprisingly important foreshadowing in Cirus' dialogue. His relationship to his Eva is... unique, even for Evangelion. Misato's phrase is one I grew up hearing as a joke, and decided to have it actually get used. And, naturally, we get a bit more insight into this new character everyone is squinting at warily.
The synch-lab issue is little more than establishing the fact that Cirus has a very high synch-ratio with his Eva. Naturally, I use any excuse for character interaction, and I like the Misato-Ritusko dynamic, but this scene is pretty straight-forward.
Ah, I so enjoyed writing this scene. The first one-on-one between Cirus and Rei. Again, I keep Rei very much in-character, but we finally see a chink in the new kid's armor. I'd love to know each person's first impression of him actually blushing. And yes, he uses the same plug-suit Toji wore.
This is about as blunt as story-telling gets. Behold the 'plot status bat' (tm). You just got whacked with it. NERV is back to 'normal', Angels are the main problem... but Ikari is no longer aware of everything ever thought of...