Walking in the Shadow of Dreams

The Angels are gone. Now What??

By Gregg Landsman, the author of Nobody Dies, Walking in the Shadow of Dreams once again takes Neon Genesis Evangelion and tweaks one or two things to make an interesting What If. Using a snippet by the creator of The Second Try as a launching point, Landsman takes us to a world where Third Impact was rejected in a stunning but well-written fashion, and we open with a Shinji and Gendo that actually have some common ground sparring as a lead-in to Gendo offering Shinji a job as NERV's Chief Inspector. His first assignment -- go fetch the new head of Project E.

Gendo being Gendo, even now, he neglects to tell his son the recruit is a certain red-head...and that their new head scientist is bringing her daughter...

As with a certain other fic linked above, Landsman uses NGE as a lens to explore family, dysfunction, and coping...but uses a Lighter and Softer touch than canon to do it. Still, one gets the impression from word one that this is a world where you must Earn Your Happy Ending.

It's also the fic that solidified Landsman's characterization of Lilith, and by extension Rei, as having a strong desire for babiesbabiesbabiesBABIESBABIESBABIES! to procreate.

Shadow seems to be on hold while Landsman works on its Troper Critical Massed cousin, but the sixteen chapters so far are worth the read.

Recently, Landsman posted the first six chapters of a rewrite of this fic, which will move more slowly, expand the plot, and has incorporated Mari Makinami and other characters which weren't in the original. The Space Battles.com forum thread about the rewrite is here.

""I am Auntie Rei," Rei Ayanami says, "And we must discuss your actions towards my niece.""
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Even though Gendo is shown like having been a bastard, Yui is portrayed how being just so bad.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Following the Second Angel War, monsters named Kaiju started showing up. Theories about why go from being attracted to Ramiel's corpse to divine punishment for the fact that Commander Ikari remarried. Entirely understandable.
 * The Atoner: Gendo is making a genuine effort to be this -- although Gendo being Gendo, his chosen avenues tend to be complex and questionable in nature.
 * Badass Boast: Rei: I am I am  And you are screwed."
 * Broken Bird: Asuka. Hoo Boy, where to start. The events of Instrumentality ripped her pride to shreds and left her an absolute wreak. While the rest of the cast began to pick up and move on with their lives, her bitterness, resentment, and sense of self worth steadily grew worse and worse, culminating in a violent meltdown 4 years later (see Freak-Out). She fled back to Germany after the breakdown and spent the next few years rebuilding her life and recovering from her ordeals. She's mellowed out considerably since then, but still rather bitter towards her old life, and convinced that everyone she knew back in Tokyo-3 hates her guts and/or sees her as a pitiful wreak of a human being.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: The Lilith part of Rei really wants Shinji to make her some babies.
 * Crossover: The changes in Instrumentality that form the backstory of Walking are a result of.
 * Break the Cutie: In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to let a jaded and cynical Shinji guest lecture about his experiences as an Eva pilot. It's quite an accomplishment to make an entire room of trained pilots break into tears.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Touji at the beginning of chapter 6 in the rewrite. Why? Because he's been left to deal with a really weird situation  while the rest of the cast have all decided to take unannounced trips to Berlin.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Since Rei is now, Asuka did just that during their Cat Fight. It is not known if it will happen again in the rewrite, though.
 * Everyone Can See It: During a conversation, Shinji tells nobody back in high school would have seen coming Asuka and him getting together. Touji replies EVERYONE saw it but the two of them.
 * Everyone Went to School Together:
 * Shinji, Toji, and Hikari not only shared the same classroom, they attended the same college.
 * In the rewrite, Touji went to a college in Kyoto rather than the one in Tokyo-3 that Shinji and Hikari attended.
 * Fiery Redhead: Even though she is calmer than before, Asuka still keeps her fiery temper.
 * For Want of a Nail: See Crossover above.
 * Freak-Out: Asuka had a massive meltdown about 8 years prior to the start of the story, which destroyed Misato's living room and put Shinji into a coma.
 * Guile Hero: Even more so than Nobody Dies, Gendo. Shinji has come to think that complex plans are just the way his dad works.
 * Heroes Want Redheads: It IS a Shinji/Asuka fic. Shinji bluntly states he had been waiting twelve years to fulfill his Asuka-related fantasies, and Gendo explained to Asuka all relationships his son had been on since college had failed because he kept comparing his girlfriends with Asuka and finding them wanting.
 * Karma Houdini: Do you remember the Third Impact? Gendo does not seem having faced legal consequences for abetting to commit global genocyde (Although technically everybody were restored. But still...). Moreover, he still is supreme commander of NERV, and since all SEELE members are dead, he can now make anything he wants without they interfiring or hindering him.
 * Love Dodecahedron: Chapter 6 of the rewrite has thrown a new monkey wrench into the works, as . This leads to the reveal that . As a result, it's a distinct possibility that . Gregg's not saying one way or the other.
 * And in the original story, Gendo previously threw another wrench when he revealed to Shinji that
 * Mama Bear/ Papa Wolf:
 * Do NOT threaten anyone the Ikaris consider family. This trait, in fact,
 * According to Greg this is the reason behind Asuka's initial hostility towards Shinji; she fears that geting involved with NERV again will destroy her daughter's life (as it did to her.).
 * And then there's Rei, who, besides trying for a family of her own, has taken a shine to Asuka's daughter Ariel.
 * And then there's Rei, who, besides trying for a family of her own, has taken a shine to Asuka's daughter Ariel.


 * Two hours of quality time follows.

""Get away from my son.""
 * Gendo lampshades it, blatantly stating it is embarrassing when he can be considered the best parent in the room.
 * And even though are disappointed with their offspring not following their wishes, they still can be scary when someone is threatening them:

"Asuka: You have fans. Don't you remember when you thought the whole world hated you? Shinji: I eventually figured out I was actually attractive for a kid my age. Asuka: It's the robot. Chicks dig giant robots."
 * Mismatched Eyes: Asuka has one red and one blue eye as a result of injuries sustained during the Battle of Tokyo-3. She wears a contact to cover up her red eye, but Shinji finds it attractive.
 * Mythology Gag: After, Kensuke asks for "orange juice and an IV drip". Kaji used the same line in a similar context in Nobody Dies.
 * Only Sane Man: Shinji has a tendency to be this.
 * Touji also has his moments, specially in the rewrite.
 * Other Me Annoys Me: In the rewrite
 * Reformed but Rejected: Asuka has to deal with this in the rewrite. She's cleaned up her act since her rather spectacular meltdown 8 years prior, but the majority of the cast (sans Shinji) don't believe she has changed, particularly Rei who makes it abundantly clear that she detests Asuka.
 * Robeast: Then Angels and the Kaiju. The later ones are easier to deal with since they have no deflector shield.
 * Running Gag: Along with WHUMPA and BABIES, there's Asuka punching Shinji just about every time they meet, and Shinji flagrantly abusing his unlimited expense account.
 * Sadistic Choice: In episode 7 of the first iteration, It looks like if they will be forced to  when Gendo orders
 * Scars Are Forever:
 * Asuka again, and once again Shinji finds her scars attractive.
 * Shinji has a scar on his chest from when the Lance entered Unit 01's core during Instrumentality.
 * Shout-Out: There's one standout line from the beginning of chapter 12.


 * Take That: In the first iteration of the fic, to the American Godzilla film. Identifying the Monster of the Week as an Expy of said version of Godzilla,
 * That Didn't Happen: Subverted in the rewrite..
 * There Are No Therapists: Averted (surprisingly enough). Word of God states that all the EVA pilots received therapy after the events of the Third Impact. It helped Shinji; Asuka, not so much.
 * This Is Wrong on So Many Levels: Asuka says this word for word when  Shinji wholeheartedly agrees.
 * Title Drop: In chapter 9.