Stephan Sokolow's Blog

Since I had to cut back last week, here’s another list to make up for it.

One though that almost has to have occurred to anyone who’s seen the movie End of Evangelion is how the only way Shinji seems to be special is in his ability to remain an ordinary guy under all that pressue, yet still become an epic hero by befriending those who become titans. Some stories do touch on the oddity of that distinction, by having him return from 400% sync with harmless cosmetic modifications, but that’s not really satisfying.

So… here is my list of good stories which answer the question “What might be if something about Shinji’s biology were as extraordinary as his role in the story?”

(Also, just a heads up. These fics have a higher-than-usual tendency to mix in elements from EVA spin-offs, such as T•RIDEN•T.)

True Angel by Innortal

Length: 206,915 Words
Status: Incomplete (and not updated since 2008)

Yui Ikari used herself as the first test subject for Evangelion Unit 01, and Rei looks like Shinji because she was engineered using DNA from Yui. Heck, “Rei” is what Shinji would have been named, had he been born a girl. All of these are canon… so what if Gendo attempted to experiment on Shinji before deciding he was a failure and creating Rei?

Yes, this is a “Shinji, the Nephilim” fic where Shinji arrives in Tokyo-3, but it’s not just any such fic. This is a Shinji whose abilities and understanding of them leans more toward Tabris than Rei.

In other words, it’s one of those “give the hero a free boost” concepts which works because the author is skilled enough to recognize that, if you lessen the struggle in one way, you need to make up for that source of reader interest in another. (And Innortal does a good job of finding ways to make things different, rather than easier.)

From a plot standpoint, what makes this story so special is that Shinji is more than a mere Nephilim, and his presence starts to have interesting effects on those around him (both human and EVA) over time. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say that I love how Innortal has written the characters so they focus on the bigger picture as they become aware of it.

Given how often Evangelion fics focus exclusively on exploring fairly canonical characters, putting that kind of effort into well-done deviations from canon is refreshing and I especially love that this is one of those few stories that are both well-written and work to flesh out the nature of Adam and Lilith.

It was also an interesting choice to fuse in a coherent set of characters from Dual: Parallel Trouble Adventure when more were needed. (On that note, if you like Eva, check out Dual. It’s by the creator of Tenchi Muyo, it’s enjoyable, and, in hindsight, I now see that it has some interesting similarities to Eva that may be homages, such as both NERV and the organizations in Dual! being headed by academics turned warriors.)

As for the tone and focus, the story is mostly serious, but with the occasional bit of light-heartedness to it (such as the punchline for Pen-Pen’s reaction to Misato’s cooking) and it puts a fair bit of focus on Rei and her interactions with Shinji (and later, Tabris too)… something which I have a certain fondness for in Evangelion fanfiction.

The story is frustratingly close to being complete, having stopped updating part-way through its version of End of Evangelion, but, given how many stories die “right when things are getting good”, I’m not going to hold that against it. More content is more content and, all else being equal, that’s never a bad thing.

All in all, I’d say it wavers between 4.5 and 5 out of 5, depending on how much I’m willing to penalize it for my sense that a better balance between familiar and novel elements could have been struck. That said, it is still a story I’ve re-read and it definitely has that special something to it which I normally use to identify top-tier stories.

P.S. Don’t skip the omakes at the end of most of the earlier chapters. Innortal’s consistent use of them as “comedy outtakes” is beautiful, with my favourite ones being chapter 3’s, where Gendo’s Plan B for defeating Angels involves cloned Rabbits of Caerbannog, and chapter 17’s, where Innortal ran with the implications of typoing “Angel” and “Angle”.

Shinji’s Nightmare (FiMFiction.net) (Fanfiction.net) by Harry Leferts

Length: 67,877 Words
Status: Incomplete (and not updated since 2014)
Crossover: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Before you skip over this due to the crossover, bear in mind that Harry Leferts was the one whose writing managed to add MLP:FiM to the list of fandoms I follow via this and another fic. (The other fic being The Wizard and the Lonely Princess, which showed up in the Fanfiction.net faves list of an author whose taste I trust.)

Also, this story is effectively just an Evangelion story with an under-explored MLP character dropped in as a second main character. (If you listen to the excellent fan-songs The Moon Rises and Lullaby for a Princess, by ponyphonic, you’ll basically know everything relevant that was known about the character at the time. It’s up to fanfic authors to decide details such as whether Nightmare Moon was some kind of personality break, a possessing entity, etc.)

That said, on with the review.

This is another story with a similar abstract concept to True Angel. Shinji winds up more than human, the inability to keep it a secret provides interesting character interaction, and, with the resultant power, he enacts change for the better without fully understanding what he’s doing. That said, it’s significantly different in two ways: First, the primary relationship explored is different and, second, in this fic, Shinji isn’t merely “more than human”, he’s not human at all.

The divergence point for this story is the end of Shinji’s experience with 400% sync, when a freshly-defeated Nightmare Moon, floating in the aether, senses an opportunity to not only possess a body, but shape it as she wishes. The result? One Alicorn (winged unicorn) Shinji, complete with grippy hooves, pegasus magic, and instinctive levitation magic to drive Ritsuko to distraction, and a general physical inhumanity that Asuka does not take well… not that Shinji takes it very well at first either.

This is a very character-centric story. As in True Angel, it’s used as an opportunity to put more focus on Rei, her relationship with Shinji, and interactions between Shinji and Yui’s spirit within EVA-01. However, this does not happen to the exclusion of other characters, with Leferts not only finding screen time for Misato, Ritsuko, and various others around Shinji without it feeling unbalanced, but also having a knack for coming up with interesting and entertaining things for them to do and say.

In short, the story doesn’t forget what it’s about when allotting time. Shinji first, Nightmare Moon second… as is appropriate for such a recent and fundamental change, the story is still primarily focused on Shinji himself and his coming to terms with his new (and still evolving) circumstances.  Leferts just happens to be good at finding ways to make scenes do double or triple duty. (eg. Ritsuko teasing Maya… during a sync test with Shinji. Reforming a villain into a second mother figure… for Shinji. Shinji being forced to accept and use demigod-like powers to protect those around him. etc. etc. etc.)

…and, yes, that is part of how the story develops Nightmare Moon’s character. This story goes with the interpretation that the immortal sisters cannot have children, and the exiled fragment, created from social isolation, inadvertently accomplishes something they would envy her for in gaining a son.

I don’t want to give away too much else, so I’ll just say that I really enjoy Harry Leferts’s writing style, this is my third or fourth read-through of this fic. While the story arc isn’t as complete as True Angel’s, I’d still rate this as a solid 4.5 out of 5.

Alpha and Omega by Xed Alpha

Length: 222,719 Words
Crossover: Mass Effect
Status: Complete, with a sequel

Finally, let’s go for something a little different: A post-canon story.

In this Mass Effect crossover, EVA-01, winds up crashing into a cargo bay on Omega. Naturally, Aria T’loak is none too pleased when the human government flatly denies any association with it, despite the printed markings clearly indicating human origin and decides to claim it rather than letting them cart it away for research. Their poking and prodding at it then proceeds to wake up the fading remnant of Yui’s spirit and a half-angel Shinji, held in stasis within the EVA’s core since he reversed instrumentality at the cost of locking himself outside the universe… the last living remnant of many universes ago.

Now, first, let me be clear. I’ve never played the Mass Effect DLC that the author gives as the source for this characterization of Aria T’loak, so I don’t know how in-character she is here. That said, aside from that, I like how the story is written.

The story is a romance between Shinji and Aria and there’s a certain elegance in how Xed managed to draw parallels between Asuka and Aria, simply by showing Aria’s interactions with Shinji in appropriately chosen situations. Both of them with an interest in Shinji, both careful to not let anyone get close, and both with a dislike for weaklings. At the same time, it’s a story in which Shinji finally comes into his own, with Aria much more expertly finishing what Asuka sought to start.

This isn’t one of those stories where some adventure or exploration of a setting drives the narrative. This is a very character-centric story.  The main thing being explored is “Who is Aria T’loak?” and the primary adventure is Shinji adapting to his new surroundings and the slowly-emerging implications of his new demi-human status. (Leave the adventure for the sequel, which crosses over with what I believe to be Rebuild of Evangelion.)

That said, drama and adventure do start to come in about half-way through the second act… they’re just used as an authorial tool to develop the characters, rather than as the primary focus of the story. For example, at one point, Shinji gets kidnapped, which leads to this delightful quotable:

“Interesting…” said Liara thoughtfully, “In my experience it is usually the governments who enact sanctions on the criminals, not the other way around…”

Also, while I don’t want to spoil to much, I will say that a third main character is introduced at the mid-point of the story who is an interesting twist on the “they carried an echo of the past with them” concept I’ve seen in other fics (which either weren’t memorable enough to make the cut for this list or were more suited to a list of do-over/Peggy Sue fics).

Now, with all that said, I do feel like the initial meld between Shinji and Aria felt a little on the “rushed for plot convenience” side, but it’s not something that ruins the story as a whole and, during and after Shinji’s first evening in Afterlife, the quality picks up quite a bit. In fact, one of the conversations feels like a belated attempt at lampshading the somewhat rushed nature of what comes before.

Assuming this portrayal of Aria isn’t horrendously out of character, I’d give the story a solid 4.0 out of 5 overall and, like all of the other stories I’ve been pulling out of my review backlog, this isn’t my first time re-reading it.

Oh, and I almost forgot… the fic has some adult scenes in it. Just a heads-up.

I had a very busy week and didn’t quite get my planned review post done in time so, rather than leave you with something incomplete or nothing at all, I decided to try something that wouldn’t require me to re-read entire stories in order to make sure I have my facts straight… a generalized author recommendation.

Early in my time on Fanfiction.net, my main approach to finding new stories to read was to read more or less everything by an author I liked, then poke through their favourites lists and repeat the process. (A digital successor to my very conservative approach to trying new print authors back in my teen years and before.)

Two of the fics I discovered in that process which really stick in my memory to this day were A boy in the hand (a Ranma-Sailor Moon comedy where Hotaru decides to try and catch a boyfriend) and Glaring Problems (a comedy which starts everything off with Uzumaki Naruto decides that maybe the civilians of Konoha should know what it’s like to have countless pairs of eyes glaring down at you).

As a sample of said humour, here’s a paragraph from the latter story’s take on Team 7 meeting the Demon Brothers on their first real mission:

Team 7 crested a hill, only to find a pair of nin standing back to back in the center of the path, surrounded by an ungodly amount of orange squirrels who just stared at them unmoving.

Both of these fics are written by the same author: dogbertcarroll. …an author with a knack for creative ideas, and an amazing rate of output (despite, apparently, having trouble keeping volunteers willing to transcribe handwritten prose) …but “a bit of a problem completing stories” would be an understatement.

Even the automatic “96 stories” listing Fanfiction.net generates is misleading, since over 800,000 words of that is in nine “Fragments” stories… compilations of whatever new ideas for first (and sometimes, second, third, fourth, etc.) chapters come to dogbertcarroll’s mind… occasionally getting split out into their own stories if they get long enough.

That said, it’s not to say longer stories never get updates. For example, Walking in the shadows is over 70,000 words and still receives the occasional update. (In it, D’Hoffryn convinces Xander Harris to accept an interdimensional detour for his roadtrip and he picks up Sirius Black as a travelling buddy.)

The key to enjoying dogbertcarroll’s work is to treat it less like your novel of the week, and more like a newspaper comic strip or bathroom reader… A little, usually self-contained bit of entertainment of predictable character to receive in your inbox as a pleasant surprise every now and then. In other words, sort of like the Lone Traveler series of shorts by dunuelos (basically Quantum Leap, Harry Potter edition) or the multi-author Infinite Loops multiverse started by Innortal, but with less of a concrete theme to risk growing tired of.

On the other hand, dogbertcarroll does still update some longer fics on occasion. For example, Lex Marks The Spot, in which, Xander Harris wakes up as Lex Luthor and decides to fix as much as he can, while trolling the Justice League with his comics-originated knowledge of when and how they’re likely to spy on him.

In short, if you’re willing to try out high-quality funny fics with the caveat that they are likely to never be completed, I highly recommend dogbertcarroll.

Enjoy. 🙂

Today’s feature is “Hell is a Martial Artist” by Ozzallos, a Ranma ½ – Oh My Goddess! crossover, which is also a “Ranma-chan fic”.

Now, before you start to tune out at that last point, I want to point out something: I’m normally not a big fan of Ranma-chan fics, because authors almost universally write them badly. This is not the case. Ozzallos, for those unaware, is possibly the best author of believable Ranma-chan fics in the entire fandom. (See, for example, the abandoned Kunoification, which looked like it might actually get away with believably pairing up Ranma with Tatewaki Kuno.)

Also, for people unfamiliar with Oh My Goddess, I’ll provide a basic summary of the relevant points, since this is a fic that you can still enjoy if you only have first-hand knowledge of Ranma ½:

In Oh My Goddess, the story revolves around a guy who winds up with a Goddess for a girlfriend (Belldandy, who could be described as “Kasumi Tendo with more character depth”).  Belldandy’s older sister, Urd, is actually her half-sister, being the daughter of Kami-sama and Hild, the Daimakaicho (which roughly translates to “Grand Demoness”). In Oh My Goddess canon, this is used so that certain story arcs can have “my future mother-in-law is literally the devil and she’s bored again” as the driving element.

Now, with that said, let’s get on with the story. Hell is a Martial Artist is a tale of Ranma Saotome willingly becoming the adopted daughter of Hild. Does that sound interesting when paired with my assurance that it’s done well?

The story begins during the Ryu Kumon arc. Ranma has been sent flying by Akane after using her posessions for training and happens to crash-land next to a brewing spat between the Norns and Hild. Being Ranma, he proceeds to offer to help the young-looking girl (Hild) even the odds but his offer is turned down. However, he does manage to have enough of a foot-in-mouth moment to goad Urd into a fight. In the end, Urd recognizes the Hiryuu Shoten Ha a second too late, Hild’s interest is piqued, and Ranma wakes up in her office.

This is one of those stories which succeeds or fails entirely on how the plot points are implemented, so it doesn’t make sense to go into too much detail. This is a story about the slow development of a relationship between Ranma and Hild which could be seen as Hild corrupting Ranma, but could also be seen as two characters with less than ideal family situations finding long-denied companionship and understanding in each other.

What makes this story work so well is how Ozzallos uses and draws attention to the similarities between Ranma and Hild as portrayed in canon. Both are used to being misunderstood, both like to “harmlessly” take advantage of others (eg. Ranma-chan scamming extra treats off food vendors in canon, Hild having a history of bending the rules around her position), and both have big egos.

Hild masterfully “corrupts” Ranma as she gives “her” the sympathetic ear “she” desires, yet, at the same time, eventually getting caught by surprise by how much she’s grown to care for what began as merely an uncommonly entertaining mortal… Two individuals who keep surprising each other by continuing to give the benefit of the doubt. (With the backfiring of Urd’s attempts to warn Ranma being a nice seasoning on the mix.)

On a more specific level, I especially like how Ozzallos used this context and interactions with Hild to justify Ranma becoming increasingly comfortable with his female form. So many people forget that, by this point in the manga, Ranma’s main issues with the curse are the lack of control and its social implications. Take Ranma at his most disillusioned with his birth mother, a master manipulator like Hild who wants a daughter, “mother-daughter bonding” over activities Ranma has already shown a propensity for in canon, and a sequence of events that builds trust between them, and the eventual gift of control over the curse, and having Ranma come to enjoy spending time in female form is surprisingly plausible.

I also like the inherent nuance to how Hild is portrayed. Urd thinks Hild is dangerous and not to be trusted, while Ranma comes to see Hild as misunderstood… and they’re both right. (With the irony that Urd is possibly the only other person who could safely trust Hild and Ranma’s recognition of that is a not-insignificant part of why Urd’s attempt to “save Ranma” backfires.)

Now, I should caution that this story does not have a high opinion of the Tendo and Saotome families, and Nabiki in particular. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it qualifies as “bashing”, but Ozzallos definitely takes the opportunity for Hild to “take the blinders off” in order to turn Ranma away from them and, for Nabiki, let’s just say that Hubris is a very bad thing to have when the devil’s in town.

As for the technicals, there is the odd typo, such as “puissant” instead of “pissant”, “kawaii-kun” (cute, with a “-kun” honorific) instead of “kawaiikune” (uncute), or “mana” instead of “manna”, but they don’t show up often enough to be a significant issue.

Finally, don’t skip the author’s notes on this one. Ozzallos is in fine form when talking about the origins of the characterizations being used and how canon events play into the fic.

On the one hand, it’s incomplete, but, on the other, this is my second or third re-reading of it and I’d rate it somewhere between 4.7 and 5.0 out of 5. (And, judging by the author’s notes, it’s very close to complete, even if Ozzallos never does manage to find time to get back to it.)

Trigger Warning: This Harry Potter fic contains a infrequent appearances of a house elf who talks like the old stereotypes of slavery-era black women and the setup for a joke in chapter 30 makes it clear that the resemblance is intentional.

After mentioning it as a point of comparison last week, I realized that I’d never actually reviewed this, so, here you go.

I mentioned last week that A Black Comedy by nonjon was “the pinnacle of this genre” for me, with “the genre” referring to stories where Harry gets pulled into an alternate universe… so why was that?

The story is a mix of character comedy and adventure, which adds a more serious plot in the third act. While mostly a story about two frat-boy jokesters laughing their way through a new lease on life, it also does a beautiful job of underpinning it with well-considered elements and creatively novel details and twists. Perhaps most importantly, it’s complete too!

However, to be fair, I should acknowledge the apples-to-oranges nature of comparing across genres. I consider this the best of its type because I can’t think of anything less comedy-oriented which I hold in equivalent regard.

Anyway, let’s get started. The story begins post-canon with a Harry Potter who is now working in the Department of Mysteries, studying the Veil. Frustrated at his progress having stalled and working through lunch, he winds up getting pulled in after the safety measure for his newest test fails. As a perfect setup for the tone of the story, the prologue ends with his underwhelming last words in his home universe: “You can keep my sandwich.”

Upon arriving in the new universe (and getting the jump on the Unspeakables who want to interrogate him), he then proceeds to go out into the world and meet up with Sirius, who, it turns out, was stuck in the Veil until Harry accidentally uncorked it several months earlier.

What follows is the story of “The Lords Black” taking a laid-back attitude toward their new lease on life as they confuse the good guys and mock the establishment and the bad guys. What makes this work so well is that, despite its somewhat unfocused, slice-of-life nature in the first two acts, it lacks a certain sloppiness to the writing that seems to characterize so many stories. While the story doesn’t take itself all that seriously, there’s a strong sense that nonjon took the task of writing it very seriously.

For example, it makes sense that, if Voldemort spent two decades completely stalemated by a mysterious figure, he might come to refer to him as “that fucker”. Likewise, it makes sense that, if he did so, his followers might get a little confused about which particular fucker he’s ranting about after losing a duel with the Lords Black.

Unfortunately, I can’t give too many plot details, since the story has several plot twists and character reveals that I don’t want to spoil, but I will say that it includes some very entertaining bits, such as:

• Meeting with Dumbledore and the Potters and engaging in some entertaining banter and bullshitting.
• Deciding to strike up a career robbing Death Eaters and coming up with their own appropriately immature alternative to the Dark Mark to leave behind.
• Accidentally making the local Hermione Granger rediscover the appeal of a boring life after they meet her, drunk in a bar… because of a surprise trip to Egypt which ends in blunt-fruit trauma.

As for one-off jokes, one example would be when Harry and Sirius go to get new owls and Sirius winds up with an owl named Smokey which nobody else bought due to a flatulence problem, while Harry decided to name his owl by firing off random names until he gets a positive response… say hello to “Kid Killer McGee”.

Finally, the last act has some interesting serious character exploration which I don’t want to spoil.

All in all, it’s hard to give an accurate summation, specifically because it’s the way everything fits together that makes it stand out from the crowd, and because the feel varies, depending on which subplot or set of characters are being focused on.

What I can say is that, if you’re looking for a fun Harry Potter fic about two humorously immature guys and you don’t mind one racially insensitive joke within two novels worth of text, you owe it to yourself to at least try this. I’ve re-read it at least three times and I’d definitely give it a 5.0 out of 5 rating.

While I’ve been too busy making progress on my programming projects this week to give you a themed list, I don’t want to leave you with no fanfic review at all, so, this week, let’s talk about 0800-Rent-A-Hero by brainthief.

For those who are unaware, 0800 is one of the prefixes for toll-free numbers in the U.K., equivalent to 1-800 numbers in North America. Now, despite the somewhat flippant title, this is actually a fundamentally serious fic, with bits of wit included to keep the mood light.

The basic gist is that, having finished canon events, Harry Potter gets sucked through a tear in dimensions by a summoning, forced through a too-small hole, and nearly dies in the process. When he wakes up, permanently disfigured, he discovers that another reality’s Order of the Phoenix tore him from his friends and adopted family with no hope of return in a gamble to foist one Iris Potter’s prophecy off on him… naturally, he doesn’t take it too well but, legally, he’s a non-entity, so he has to pay lip service to Dumbledore’s machinations.

What makes this story most distinctive is the world-building the author put into an aspect of “Harry White”‘s cover story that he made up on the fly… that his best subject was divination. This is a story where we get to see Harry rediscovering “lost” means of practical divination because he’s the only one didn’t know they were supposed to be lost and did the bloody research. It’s also a story where he starts building interest in divination among the student body after, during a potential crisis, he looks like a badass when combing tea-leaf reading and a form of scrying to find and stop an imperioused student from causing harm.

At the same time, it’s also an interesting story about the developing familial relationship between Harry and Iris after she discovers that the Marauder’s Map says “Harry Potter”, and the friendship between Harry and Tonks after he eventually forgives her for her part in the initial ritual.

It’s another story that’s incomplete and unlikely to be completed, but I’d rate it at at least a “4.5 out of 5: Great”, which would probably have earned a 5.0 if it were complete. (or +1.5 on a more intuitive -2 to +2 scale where 0 is “I can’t point out any problems, but this is too boring to read.”)

It’s one of those rare stories where the world-building surrounding Iris and the divination feels skillful enough that I feel curious about them in their own right, rather than merely in the context of the plot. (This is one of the things that makes nonjon’s A Black Comedy the pinnacle of this genre for me. Among the other stories I’ve reviewed recently, I think Blue Magic by Tellur is the only other fic that pulls this off… not even Browncoat, Green Eyes, which is also by nonjon, manages.)

…and, as a bonus, let me suggest Potter vs. Paradox as an enjoyable story going in the opposite diection, with a 43-year-old Iris Potter attempting a desperate gamble to go back in time, and winding up a child allied with the Black family in a world which has reflowed itself into canon as a “known hazard” of the kind of advanced time meddling she, Hermione, and various others spent years putting together.