Of Fan Fiction & Canonicity: Evangelion & Otherwise

Of Fan Fiction & Canonicity: Evangelion & Otherwise


Recently I've been posting some of my already "published" (On this blog.) anime fan fiction on the Fan Fiction dot net web site under the nom de plumage of C V Ford. One of the stories was Small Blue Ecstasy: A Tale of Third Impact.

I knew I would get reviews to my stories, some of them possibly "negative". That's the chance you take when you get on a "public forum" of some kind & I even welcome it. So it's not that my nose was bent out of  shape when I recieved these reviews as it is that I need some "filler" for this blog that I write this.

On the above mentioned story I got these:

A. Authors skill aside, this definitely doesn't belong in the Eva section. Blue furred red eyed cats are NOT Evangelion, regardless of how similar they might look to one of the characters.

 
B. ...Props to the author on their technical skills; the story is well written. The story is also slightly depressing...and the explosions/mind games/awesome Eva action I associate with "Third Impact" are surprisingly...absent. All the same, props to the author, though I can't help but feel like this doesn't belong in Eva fan fiction...just my opinion.

These got me to thinking about "canonicity" in anime fan fiction in general & in the Evangelion Franchise in particular.

1. As FAN fiction is not "official", one could doubt the "canonicity" of any of it. Especially with all the pairing, "shipping", what-ifs, unofficial characters, alternate timelines, crossovers, etc. Those Shinji/Kaworu fantasies, eh ... Yaoi fan girls ... Good grief!

2. I don't think an Eva story necessarily has to be about angst, plugsuits, giant robot fights (Yeah, I know ... They're NOT giant robots ... They're giant mommies ... With Rei/Lillith being the biggest MOTHER of them all!) or a redheaded nazi chick beating up on some poor schnook.

My story is about a suffering little girl finding some brief happiness in an apocalyptic situation. That situ being Third Impact/Instrumentality.

3. Owning/seeing the series & End of Evangelion, I understand Rei/Lillith to be able to take the form of ones' deepest desire/dread in order to facillitate assimilation. In the case of the drunken jerk, it was that of a deceased spouse/lover. For the little girl it was that of something very precious & lost to her, the missing kitten.

 The description of the feline (Blue fur, red eyes.) makes clear that this is Rei/Lillith manifesting her/itself to the girl, setting her up for Instrumentality. I did not feel there was a need to describe the kid going SPLAT! when she gloms onto the kitten. That was to be assumed from the outset.

I guess "canonicity" to be rather subjective to many. As we're not talking theology here (Though this IS Evangelion!), I'm not going to get too worked up about it.

Just sayin' ...


Small Blue Ecstasy: A Tale of Third Impact here.

C V Fords' anime fan fiction page here.

Fan Fiction dot net website here.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: OOOOO! Goodies In the Mail here.

End of Evangelion: This Is (Really) Disturbing here.

Third Impact (Where everyone goes SPLAT!) scene on You Tube in Japanese with English subtitles here.

Same in English here. Reduced video quality.


Go to Jays' Tee Vee blog main page here.