In my delusions of grandeur, I've cobbled together a bit of an EVA
fanfic guide, of sorts. It's not complete, but I've got a good portion of
it done, now. The HTML version is at
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/anime/fanfic/efguide.html

	Do please remember that, in the end, much of this is purely my
opinion, so take it as such: opinion. Admittedly, my upcoming rant on Neon
Exodus Evangelion is likely to tick off quite a few people, but it's still
just an opinion, no more or less valid than the opinions of others. (Whew!
My disclaimers are getting as long as the guide itself.) I also use other
people's fics as examples; if one is yours, and you don't want it listed,
do tell me, please. Finally...if my ego seems to be inflating too much,
notify me, and I'll get metaphorical hot compresses to reduce the
swelling. Now, then, enjoy.


The Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction Guide!

Before I begin, I should state the purpose of this: to classify and
somewhat analyze EVA fanfiction out there. Individual fics will only be
used as examples of types of genres and to illustrate certain points
that I make; I won't be analyzing them for the sake of having them
analyzed (except for specific sections)--such is more the purpose of my
spot in the Evangelion Fanfic Review Syndicate.

My credentials: EVA fanfic writer and reviewer; nonlurking member of the
EVA Mailing List. For more specific details, especially my written
pieces, visit my fanfic pages:
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/anime/fanfic/

Finally! The guide.

Fanfiction types:
  First, simple objective description of what they're about. The
analysis comes later, farther down.

  1) Original continuity: These are bits which could be inserted into
the given anime/manga continuity without affecting anything at all. They
can be either serious or humorous, usually depending on where it fits
in.

  2) Divergent continuity: At some point in the continuity, the author
changes events and the plot, splitting off from the original storyline. 
These are not to be considered alternate universes--the difference will
be indicated below.

  3) Alternate universe: There is some sort of change in the background
of the story before it begins, leading to a different continuity
entirely. The scope of the change is highly variable, depending on the
focus of the author. A special type is one which tells the story of that
alternate universe glimpsed in episode 26 of the series.

  4) Continuation: Telling of what happens after the end. There are
subtypes to these, depending on what ending the author uses as a start
from. a) TV Ending: life goes on much as usual for the rest of the
world, but the main characters usually have been deeply affected by the
HCP. Some of these deal with new Angels (which goes directly against the
canon of the series, as Anno has said that there are only 18 Angels,
with humanity being the 18th). Others do not have new Angels and cook up
new problems to deal with. b) Movie Ending: Humanity has been wiped from
the Earth, except for Shinji and Asuka. The story follows the two of
them in their barren world-- or some sort of changed world that the
writer builds from the wasted planet. c) Years Later: Taking off from a
good portion of time after either one of the above named endings--some
have dealt with a new generation of pilots, others have the original
folks still around, still having problems.  Most of these seem to go
from the TV Ending.

  5) Crossover: Some sort of interaction with another story, whether
anime or not. Again, there are subtypes: a) Straight Cross: EVA folks
interact with people from another series. b) Fusion: the characters of
one series are thrust into the plotline of another series.

  6) Lemon: Sex. Some of these have plots, some don't.

  Of course, some mix these together, aside from the mutually exclusive
ones (1, 2, and 3).

Type analysis:
  Note that I did not include types or subtypes like "dark" or
"spoofish"  or anything like that. This is because the genre of EVA
itself is not strictly humorous or strictly serious. There really is no
such thing as a "darkfic" when taken in the light of the original, which
could get pretty dark itself. These types strictly relate to plot
typing, not mood. Anyway, to the analysis--

  1) There are rather few of these--after all, people like to write
about things actually happening. That's right, these are essentially all
short character pieces, owing to the tightly defined continuity that
they have to be fit into. Examples: "Risen" by me, "Vacation" by RpM.

  2) These seem to be rather popular, actually. It's not surprising--one
should consider how a somewhat humorous and cheerful section of the
series (around episodes 7-15) turns very dark and depressing (just about
everything after that). A very popular point of divergence is with the
testing of Unit 03; many have stepped in there and prevented Touji from
getting hurt. These are often written to give the EVA universe a
continuingly lighter, more hopeful feel. But some change sooner, others
later...all up to the author. Examples: Everything so far by me except
"Risen", "It's Just Been One of Those Lives" by Mark Eymer

  3) Not as many of these as I thought might exist. It's difficult to
write a good one of these; you have to choose something interesting to
change in the past and go from there. Neon Exodus Evangelion is the only
notable example I can think of that has been published to raac as of
this writing, and I think it falls short of the goal--it has none of the
original intent in mind, that of making the reader think. But that's
just me, I guess; many don't seem to miss the introspective
cereberality. (I'm going to rant a bit about NXE later.) One other
example is Chris Angel's Age of Evangelion, which switches the sexes of
the young pilots. It looks far more promising in way of character study.
Oh, and one thing that I'm still waiting for is one on what I call the
26 Universe--about the non-Second Impact world imagined by Shinji during
episode 26, in the midst of the HCP. There have been a few starts at
that, but nothing substantial has been released that I've seen.

  4) No doubt about it, these can be very varied in intent and feel. 
Sometimes, people blatantly ignore how the series ended, in either TV or
Movie fashion, which I find to be a bit of a mistake (particularly those
which have new Angels). Unless they consciously alter continuity
themselves, and explain the change, they're guilty of lazy writing. They
should account for what is supposed to have happened and why it didn't
end up that way. Another mistake is in assuming too much of the TV
version HCP.  I've seen pieces where Rei is suddenly a completely normal
person, to be explained by way of the "mind-expanding" effects of the
HCP, which is a cop-out. Anyway--in the cases where they do show the
change, this can be highly successful. They're rare and difficult to do,
though. Examples:  Evangelion R, by a whole bunch of people....

  5) Crossovers are a little rare, since it is difficult to fit the EVA
universe in alongside with other anime continuities. Given what has
happened to the entire world, one can't imagine the characters from
other series, as they are in their native worlds, existing there. And
EVA world depends strongly on the time period it is in. Time travel has
been used by "A Better Future", sending Asuka back in time with a wish
from Skuld, to the Ranmaverse. The other option would be to take
characters from a series, have them survive the Second Impact, and
interact as their older selves.  Fusions are also somewhat difficult,
since the EVA character types are very difficult to fit to other
characters. It's been done, however. Adrian Wong's "Heart's Battlefield"
does an interesting job of putting Ranma characters into the roles of
the EVA universe.

  6) Blah. I only pay attention to lemons that have good plots, and
there really haven't been any for EVA. Yet.

Tips in writing EVA fiction
  There are, of course, universal standards of good writing, which I
can't get into here. However, I can cover some specifics important to
this series.

  To begin with, know what you're writing about. Watch as much of the
series as you can before you start. Really. To truly write it, you need
to get a feel for it. First of all, it's not your usual anime. It's
something else. It is intended to make you think and feel; it would be
an injustice to the anime to write a serious EVA fic that didn't at
least try to do the same. Secondly, as has been mentioned a few times,
this thing has a tightly defined continuity. It's not like Ranma, or
Sailor Moon, where the storyline is relatively long and rambling, and
you could fit things in rather loosely.  Not at all. In those two shows,
you can refer to certain plot points by a label of their occurrence. In
EVA, you refer to them by the episode.

  Then, when you start writing, have a clear intent in mind. If it's
going to be humorous, make it humorous. If it's serious, make it
serious. Don't try to combine the two too much. They don't mix too well. 
This is a difficult point to define, though. Take Evanjellydonut for
example: it is meant to be a spoof. However, I have inserted some
serious plot points and ideas to think about to the story, such as the
father-son relationship, and the potentially dangerous situation when
Bardiel infected Unit 02 and attacked Rei, in 00. Still, the feedback
about this, making a "spoof that is not a spoof", has been almost
entirely positive, so I must be doing something right. The important
thing is, among all this seriousness, I have remembered the jokes, the
quasi-non sequitur dialogues, that touch of silliness which carries the
humor through. The wrong way to do it is to have completely incongruent
sections--a scene that is all laughs, followed by one that holds no
humor in it in the least. This is particularly true if the humor is of a
parody type, rather than one that could fit in naturally along with a
more somber plot. I've seen this done a few times, and it really did
make the fic sort of mentally fuzzy. (I mention this specifically for
EVA because, for some reason, it lends itself to spoof-type fics as well
as serious, cereberal bits. It is probably due to the nature of the
anime, being so heady and "up-there", begging to be made fun of--one of
the prime reasons I wrote Evanjellydonut.)

  Next: be very careful. This is a show full of mysteries and secrets. 
If you're going to reveal one, make sure you know what you're doing. 
It's best to follow the canon, for the most part, in matters such as the
nature of the EVAs in respect to their relationships with the pilot. 
Know that in actuality, only Shinji was born nine months after the
Second Impact, despite what is said in the series--and know what that
entails. (I suppose this does somewhat fit in with the first paragraph.) 
And be prepared to explain things that you make up yourself, if you
decided to depart from the canonical storyline. It is easy to be lazy,
again, with this show; it is very intricate and twisty, and there is the
temptation to just put stuff down and not bother to elaborate. I myself
am guilty of this, I suppose; I use the manga characterization of Shinji
for some of my stories, and did not say so....

(More coming later.)

>From Andrew Huang, brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Mmmmm...Evanjellydonut...."
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
Harvard Anime Society, President