"Beyond Eden's Shores", A Deranged Fan's Work-in-Progress

This page mostly just provides a pointless account and information about an NGE doujinshi I'm working on. I don't really expect too many people to be interested, though I'm putting this online in the extraordinary event that someone comes along who actually is. Just to warn you, there's a lot of text here -- introduction, overly intricate backstory, and a summary of what I have in mind for the actual story. Hopefully, in the very unlikely situation I actually finish this thing, nothing really noteworthy will have been "spoiled" for you by reading this page. In fact, soon as production officially begins, most of the content of this page is going offline (being as its sole purpose at the moment is to recruit potential interest while I'm in the conceptual stage).

Just in case you didn't know, a doujinshi is a fan-created magazine or manga, completely non-official, usually taking somebody else's characters and stories and, well, doing what fans do: Whatever the heck they bloody want, whether continuations, reinterpretations, side-stories, alternate universes, cross-overs, or putting together characters that, as far as canon is concerned, were never meant for one another. I don't know much about how copyright works in Japan but, far as I know, the execution and publication of doujinshi is an everyday occurence and perfectly legal. Too bad such expressions of fandom are only apt to get one sued here in the States.

Doujinshi and fanfics related to "Neon Genesis Evangelion" are certainly nothing new, though I like to think that perhaps my own imagination has something new to offer to the unofficial domain of Anno's famous mythos. Somewhere in 2001, I started getting ideas for a story in which the Angels and Evangelions, and not any of the show's human characters, would be the main focus. In the anime, Eva and Angel alike are given very little attention outside of an action-oriented or "mystical" context, and to this date GAINAX exploits their images almost solely as action figures, garage kits, and background elements in poster images of more popular characters. The fact that both Evangelion and Angel are sentient beings and fully human in the most crucial sense -- a point which the show only minimally touches upon -- seems to be consistently disregarded by both GAINAX and its troves of obsessed fans: The Evas are but "giant robots", the Angels "alien invaders".

Both are, in actuality, complete nonsense. (The Evangelions are fully organic creatures whose "robotic" appearance is only due to the mechanical "armor" used to control them; the Angels -- #3~16, anyway -- are indigenous to Earth and even began their existences as humanoid embryos.) Part of the "false advertising" might be due to the desire to keep some of the anime's "secrets" unspoiled for newbies, but, regardless, the proliference of the labels and their associated attitudes I find just a tad intolerable. I've long felt that these enigmatic entities deserve more attention than they've commonly been given, so I figured it might be interesting to dealve deeper and explore them as fully-developed characters. And so it began.

Before I go any further, it's important to keep in mind that this is just a work of fandom. I've attempted to build it from a fairly solid understanding of Anno's original work -- after all, it is important to know the "rules" before breaking them. However, in the end, I've reinterpreted or altered many things to satisfy my own purposes, even though, when viewed in light of the anime, such alterations might be seen as nothing short of "heresy". Unnecessarily, I think. I've fallen victim to the Plight of the Obsessed Fan and put a rather personalized spin on somebody else's creation, but, ultimately, I am trying to communicate a new story with new ideas -- that just happens to use a familiar medium.

So interpret "NGE" as you will; that's the beauty of it. This is just my own private interpretation -- with a helluva lotta add-ons. ::p

So, time to ask myself some questions: What, exactly, is this doujinshi all about? And what, precisely, am I setting out to do?

First of all, we could use something to call the bloody thing. "Holy Shito!" was my working title for a while. It's actually a (IMO rather clever) pun that most people are bound to misinterpet; I could try to explain the nifty wordplay, but it's a lot funnier if you just figure it out on your own. But, anyway, I came up with that title back when my doujinshi-thing was little more than an excuse to make fun of Zeruel's infamous "toilet-paper" arms. In light of the unexpected developments the story somehow took from those primordial origins, I've had to press my mind for a more fitting title. "Beyond Eden's Shores" is the best replacement I've been able to muster, and, actually, it's appropriate to the story in a nifty, multifaceted sort of way, so odds are it's going to stick to the very end. [At least "Holy Shito!" will be recycled for the omake portions of "BES" that I hope to eventually include.]

[BTW, as I introduce "key terms", I'll also link to their respective entries on the "Elements" page. Just as a little convenience. ;;>]

The story takes place after the events of "End of Evangelion" (1) but, as it goes, it occurs very far away from Earth. The setting? To borrow from and heavily corrupt the same body of theology that "NGE" did: Eden, which I have turned into the homeland of the angels, and there exist more angels than one could possibly imagine (and far more than I have any chance of individually designing anytime within the next fifty years ::P)! But Eden and its denizens are basically just there to provide the backdrop for a story that actually CAN, functionally, rotate around NGE's Angels and Evas (which, obviously, wouldn't be possible on Earth). Yes, somehow, the super-beings we know and love manage to transcend death and wind up reborn in this Eden place, courtesy of plot contrivances up the wazoo. (You thought NGE was notorious for those? You ain't seen NOTHING yet!) Unfortunately, though, it's impossible to comprehensively summarize anything that occurs in this convoluted story without explaining the fundamentals. And, yes, that requires reading me drawl on endlessly about Eden and angels and Sammael and Heled, though maybe it won't be as bad as I'm making it out to be.

While in "NGE", the angels were technically just a plot device (albeit a really, really nifty one), angels are actually the crux of "Beyond Eden's Shores" -- there is virtually nothing in the story that is not somehow connected to them. And since the story takes place almost entirely in Eden, we are dealing almost exclusively with angels (being as Eden, rather unlike Earth, is home to angels and angels alone). My version of Eden combines the ideas behind both Heaven (the place where angels traditionally hail from) and the Garden of Eden or Paradise (the final resting place for the souls of the pious). These angels do, indeed, serve a god -- whom I ended up calling Jahweh after thoroughly pillaging Judaic literature -- but, unlike the angels of lore, they are not messengers of any kind. There are no mortal creatures to guide via divine intervention. And this is where the Paradise likeness comes into play... Eden is a place where no one can die, and everyone is free to live their timeless existences as they desire [as long as one avoids the plight of "Angelic Sin", anyway]. There are no duties, no obligations, and the concept of "survival" is utterly foreign -- you do not live or die, you simply are. It is very different from the world we know.

Although Eden functions, in many ways, as a "Paradise" to its angelic inhabitants, it actually has a long and sordid history. [On a chronological scale, it predates Earth's formation considerably.] So I might as well go briefly into Eden's creation myth and its history, along with introducing the angelic hierarchy (which takes its cues from the angelic literature, though I've taken plenty of creative liberties).

...there was only Jahweh (natürlich -- you know how these creation myths go ;;p), who evidently got rather lonely, so He [technically J has no gender at all, but English has a glaring lack of pronouns, so whatever] called into existence the first seven angels. This was the first choir, the almighty seraphim, comprised of Raphael, Gabriel, Mikhael, Uriel, Barakiel, Zadkiel, and Sammael. Jahweh commanded His children to create Eden, an insular paradise in the midst of Akal'yam, a sea of nothingness, where He would "birthe" the angelic choirs to come -- and the seraphim would become archangels (a.k.a. elohim) to serve Jahweh and guide their younger, less powerful brethren in the ways of their lord-creator. First the seraphim created Heaven, where they planted the seed of the Tree of Life, and from the Tree grew Eden itself. As the roots spread outward, so did Eden; red soil that emanated from the Tree's roots formed the foundation upon which Eden would be built; the branches that towered upwards claimed the emptiness as space within which angels could safely dwell.

Over the eons, wave after wave of angel was born: Kerubim, tarshishim, aralim, ophanim, ishim, khashmallim, and marashim. Together with the seraphim, these choirs formed the Merkabah of Eden -- the original angels. Each of the seraphim was appointed archangel over one of the "lower" choirs, and, together, they watched over Eden and all of the angels within it. Eden began as a place of darkness and bloodshed but, as the Tree grew and more angels were born, a sense of order gradually emerged and Eden became the paradise Jahweh had envisioned. However, no sooner had the mandorlas for a ninth choir begun to form that Jahweh inexplicably fell silent.

Order in Eden had been maintained around reverence for the Creator. With their god issuing not a word to the archangels or anyone else -- and the largest choir yet on the horizon -- things began to dissolve quickly. Whatever had been keeping the angels united and happy until then was gone. Waves of dissent spread from choir to choir... starting with the unruly kerubim, who had, historically, never been nearly as content as other choirs, never been truly awed or pacified by the glory of their lord-creator. One voice among them, a kerub named Satan, began to speak against the archangels, claiming that Eden was but a prison, a false paradise, and that far greater things existed beyond Eden's shores [hey, gotta reference the title somewhere]. It was not long before he had accumulated a large number of followers, the so-called satanim -- primarily kerubim, but there were rebelling angels from all non-seraphic choirs -- and the archangels finally decided that this posed a genuine problem.

At this point, Satan finally revealed himself to be Sammael -- none other than the elohah set over kerubim. Once his followers got over the fact that they were being led by one of the very angels they had been rallying against -- i.e., an archangel -- they marched onto Heaven for a final confrontation with the remaining six seraphim. However, they failed to secure "liberation" for all angels, as they had hoped. Instead, they received precisely what their impudent behavior had been "asking for" -- exile.

Sammael and his followers were purged from Eden, never to return. After such a catastrophic event, any remaining turmoil in Eden quickly silenced itself, and the archangels set about making preparations for the ninth, and final, choir -- the shinnanim. An individual was selected to become Sammael's replacement, except he would be set over the newly-borns. [The kerubim remaining in Eden no longer had an archangel watching over them, but they had become so few this was not an issue.] His original identity remains a mystery, but, soon as he took on the duty of archangel, it no longer mattered -- he became Metatron, and his duties to Jahweh and the angels were his only concern.

Eden was not the same after the rebellion. Jahweh went from being "silent" to, essentially, "dying" -- the reasons for which are clouded in eons of angelic mysticism. The shinnanim hatched from their mandorlas without any awareness of their lord-creator and, the archangels maintain, they suffered for it. Metatron did his best to guide them, but such efforts ultimately proved futile. Jahweh was never forgotten by the Merkabah, but the flood of ignorant, unenlightened shinnanim only served to slowly degrade Eden's magnificence.

As if things weren't bad enough... The seraphim had been keeping an eye on their brother Sammael -- he was out of sight, but not necessarily out of mind. And his exile, while it had been "a good idea at the time", had ultimately backfired on them. Sammael had made his way into a domain very distant from Eden, but posing incredible dangers as far as the archangels were concerned -- Heled, where, unbeknowst to Eden's masses, a force even greater than the seraphim lurked in its darkest depths.

What does any of this have to do with NGE (aside from the "angel stuff")? Good question. Here's the answer: "Heled" is none other than our own universe. More specifically, the archangels use the term to refer to the only place in our universe that really matters to them: Earth.

Of course, it's not my place to explain how Sammael fits into all this, because that will all be covered in BES as timely exposition demands ;;>. All I can say at the moment is that, outrageous as the idea seems, he played a major role in "NGE" [as I interpret the anime for "BES", remember] -- from First Impact to Third. (2) And, for reasons that aren't likely to become clear for some time (if at all), his activities prompted the involvement of the archangels. Resourceful as they are, they managed to intervene without taking one step out of Eden. Instead, right after Adam had finished bearing the mandorlas of her children on Earth, the elohim used their Phenomenal Cosmic Powers™ to summon the souls of the unborn Apostles (or limmudim) (3), who were still biding their time inside their black chrysalis things for whatever reason, to Eden.

In Eden, the Apostles took physical form for the first time -- looking exactly the way we all know them. After being there for a little while and coming to think of Eden as home (and themselves as members of the shinnanim), the time finally came to send them back to Earth. The archangels summoned the Apostles to Heaven and broke the tough news to them. "Sorry, kids, you're actually not shinnanim. In fact, you're not native to Eden at all! It's time for you to go back home -- but, er, there are a few things we'd like you to do for us as soon as you get there..." Namely, rejoin with Adam and wipe out humanity -- all that fun stuff. Of course, things didn't go the archangels' way -- some of the Apostles simply acted upon their own whims (such as Arael and Armisael), and most of the ones who at least attempted doing as the archangels asked ended up making complete arses of themselves in the end. One by one, they died off on the planet of their genesis -- only to remanifest in Eden one by one, perfectly intact, memories and all.

However, when it came Bardiel's turn to croak, something bizarre happened. During his time on Earth, Bardiel had taken over the body of one of the Apostle's sole adversaries: A kasahn ("Covered One"), an artificial entity created by Lilim science from angelic flesh, within which a Lilim soul (4) had been placed -- perhaps better known to us as an Evangelion. The Apostle had bonded himself to the Eva and, resultantly, her death was the only way to defeat him. The two of them died intertwined, and, against all expectations, the Eva's soul followed Bardiel's back to Eden -- EVA-03 was reborn, fully restored to her original form. Similarly, EVA-00 accompanied Armisael to Eden following her self-destruction. But it did not end there. Even after the death of Armisael -- marking the last Apostle's return -- ten more Evangelions appeared, having met their earthly demises.

Precisely how to start BES is something I've been having some trouble with, though, by all indications, it will start rather quietly. Yes: It will be completely (at least, ALMOST completely) devoid of gratuitous action sequences and as a result be mind-numbingly boring to most (though if you've managed to read this far, you probably don't apply). I'll be focusing on the thing for which I originally created BES -- characterization, getting the audience accomodated to some of the central characters and their relationship to a setting as bizarre as Eden. Without spoiling too many things, here's the gist of what's going on...

The loveable limmud Sachiel starts things off (he's the first Apostle we meet in the anime, so why not the same here?), exposing us to the mundane humdrum of angelic life (well, it's mundane once one gets past its novelties, anyway). He wanders about Eden (accompanied by his sibling Shamshel), contemplating the mission he was once sent upon by the archangels and what the hell he's going to do with the eternal life in Eden all angels are destined to have (himself included). He's confused about his existence, but not exactly discontent -- unlike his battle-hardened brother Zeruel, with whom he and Shamshel share an abode (the angels' version of the private residence).

Zeruel is notoriously proud and confident but infernally discontent. Anything that doesn't outright piss him off (which is just about everything) is at least worth casually berating (his lanky green sibling included). Despite being such an intensely negative personality, Zeruel somehow manages to be strangely charismatic, which has earned him the devotion of a small band of shinnanim followers (headed by Ingethel) and his siblings' unconditional tolerance. He's a total badass, albeit a broken one, only saved from total breakdown by regular visits to his sister Arael (whose particular gifts make her as capable of healing the mind as utterly ravishing it).

One of the items creating conflict between Sachiel and Zeruel is how they view the Evangelions, the mysterious entities (so similar to themselves, yet so different) with whom they were forced to fiercely battle to the death on Earth. At the onset of BES, twelve of the fourteen Evangelions are present in Eden -- nine in the temporary custody of the ophanim (angels of healing and knowledge), the other three mingling freely with Eden's denizens. Zeruel had dealt with three Evas on Earth; he happily degrades the two whom he had massacred, but he avoids the subject of the third with edgy disdain, as the one known in Eden as Regellah (better known to us as EVA-01) is the cause of Zeruel's most unpleasant memories. Sachiel himself had dealt with Regellah, and Regellah alone, but he regards her with curiosity rather than hatred. Eventually, Sachiel seeks to break the barrier between limmud and kasahn. Nine are currently unreachable, Sharsheret (who has had a brief cameo by this point) has rendered herself inaccessible, which leaves Sachiel's hopes restricted to a mere two.

After asking around a bit, Sachiel receives word that two Evas are being sighted at the "bar" of an ish called Alkhoel. However, they end up being Khevelha and Tehorah (5) (neither Regellah, as Sachiel had hoped). It turns out the duo regularly meets there to "talk Eva" over several drinks (their favorites being the ones which produce mildly intoxicating effects similar to the alcohol back home), chatting avidly in Japanese and English (whilst illuminating, otherwise neither Eva could understand the other) about things no one else in Eden (save possibly the other Evas) could possibly relate to, including their previous lives as the Lilim Akagi Naoko and Barbara Caraway (6). Barb soberly informs Sachiel that Regellah never made it to Eden, and the disappointed Apostle skulks off, not to be seen again by either Eva for some time.

Barbara Caraway as the soul of EVA-03 is entirely my creation, and it is through her conversations with Naoko that we begin to learn about her. Like Naoko, she was once a MAGI programmer -- something that prompts both of them to ask each other, "What are you doing inside an Eva?!" --, common ground that initially draws them together. When she reached Eden, Naoko had thoroughly despised her continued existence (wishing time and time again that Armisael really had been the end of her), though after meeting Barb, Naoko finds herself looking forward to their periodic chats. There is a world of difference between the two of them -- Barbara is a liberated, uplifting personality with no dark and dirty secrets to hide, while Naoko, inhibited and stuffy by nature, attempts to conceal a lifetime of regret and vice from her sole source of solace -- but they greatly enjoy the other's company regardless. Barb reveals rather early on that she had been a lesbian, which Naoko accepts ... only after explicitly stating her own inclinations. (In other words, �u�F��̓v��g�j�b�N��A�o��o��N�B�v Or something like that -- my Japanese might be off. ::p)

Meantime, Sachiel and Zeruel continue to bear their own struggles, which begin to worsen for the latter. Zeruel suffers from the most intense incarnation yet of a recurring nightmare that has haunted him since his rebirth: His doomed battle with Regellah, distorted into something even more disturbing and grotesque. Only, this time it ends not with his death, but with a frighteningly surreal vision of Regellah lying on the Moon, the split Spear of Longinus nearby. This is, in fact, Regellah's exact current state, and the setting shifts to Heled, where she has lain, completely inert, on Earth's satellite since Third Impact expelled her from the planet proper. Something stirs her from her slumber, a voice within that questions her identity and the true nature of her fate. You know, a total mind trip, following good NGE tradition. ;;> I can predict the dialogue already:

OTHER VOICE (playing devil's advocate): Who are you?
YUI: I am the human Ikari Yui. Mother of Ikari Shinji. Wife of Ikari Gendou. Scientist of GEHIRN.
OTHER VOICE: All of those things are no more.
YUI: It is still the identity I harbor in my heart.
OTHER VOICE: What of this body?
YUI: It is Evangelion Shogouki, within whose core Ikari Yui dwells.
OTHER VOICE: Are you not one and the same?
YUI: Eva was created incomplete, and I completed her.
OTHER VOICE: You sacrificed one existence for another. You are Eva.

Erm, you get the idea... Eventually, Yui is coerced into action, mYsTeRiOuS (and just downright weird) things happen, and Yui and the Spear vanish off the face of the Moon -- only to appear over the branches of the Tree of Life and descend at lightning speeds towards Eden. Arael, incidentally, is the first to come in contact with the "invader" (and deal with whatever "berserk" angst poor Yui has to offer after uncounted millennia of slumber). The news of Regellah's arrival spreads quickly, and, by the time Zeruel hears about it, she is well on her way to becoming a naturalized citizen of Eden. Sachiel is rather agog, but Zeruel, predictably, couldn't be more miserable.

Our dear Yui has scarcely enough time to come to grips with this recent unprecedented change in her lifestyle before the archangels summon her for a personal chat. Evidently, her arrival has a meaning of incredible significance to the Edenites -- she managed to play "god" to a race as decrepit as the Lilim, and now, the archangels tell her, she is destined to serve as a saviour of sorts to the angels of Eden. But a saviour against what? The rot and corruption that's been, slowly but surely, spreading throughout this would-be Paradise -- er, naturally. Ultimately, the decision to lend her abilities to Eden's well-being is one she is allowed to make, but Yui, being the good-natured gal she is, decides to go along with it. The archangels lend her the aid of their Tsaphim, the grigori, who watch over Eden and report everything to the elohim, whose duty will now double to inform Regellah of angels committing the sort of vice she is to stop. Additionally, if Regellah can convince her Evangelion sisters to help out, she doesn't have to go about this insane mission completely alone.

Yui begins to accomodate herself to Eden's environment whilst keeping her senses alert for her fellow Evas. She bumps into Sachiel early on (not knowing that he has been actively seeking her) and greets him with the warm familiarity of an old acquaintance (despite the fact that, last they met, she would have been his slayer had he not opted to blow himself up at the last moment!). In Eden, the animosity she had to harbor towards the angels to attain her goals is gone, to Sachiel's pleasant surprise. Yui asks him to show her some of the corners of Eden she has yet to see, and he happily complies. They get some good conversation in, and Yui even feels comfortable enough with Sachiel to tell him her "soul name" (so he can stop calling her "Regellah" ;;>), although things don't get incredibly personal beyond that. (Sachiel does start to talk about his life in Eden, though Yui interrupts him with avid questions as soon as Zeruel's name comes up. Very curious...) As soon as the tidbit about Khevelha and Tehorah slips out, Yui breaks off the tour prematurely -- with apologies -- to pursue her higher prerogative. Regardless, Sachiel is positively smitten with her (for reasons he can't adequately explain, even to himself).

Naoko isn't particularly happy to see Yui again, but her companion takes to Yui with open arms. They get that unpleasant "dummy plug" business out of the way almost immediately and talk up a storm (throughout which Naoko says as little as possible), and the matter with the elohim soon comes up. Barb quickly takes to the idea of the Evas forming a "crime-busting sorority" and convinces "Nao-chan" (whom Barb has, by the this point, considerable influence over) that it's a great idea, too (even though Naoko, despite being a good sport about it all, makes her distaste for Yui tactlessly clear). They plan for a follow-up meeting and Yui runs off to seek the other Evas... while Barb attempts to tackle the pressing issue of her friend's antagonism towards Yui, anchored heavily in Naoko's shadowy past.

The nine "Mass Production Model" Evas had since been released by the ophanim, and, despite the fact that her palms still bear the stigmata they had given her, Yui attempts to recruit them. However, it becomes disastrously clear that they are useless for the planned "sorority" -- they have no memory of their Lilim lives and operate as one disturbing, grotesque collective, unable to regard Yui or the other Evas as peers.

Yui turns her attentions to finding Kyoko -- Sharsheret --, equipped with a warning from Barbara to expect hostility. The blue-blood has been, up until this point, lying low and wallowing in her own seemingly irreparable angst, hoping desparately to avoid the attentions of Eva and Apostle alike -- though she has no trouble attracting the attentions of the Tsaphim, with whose aid Yui eventually manages to locate her sister. Kyoko is not happy about being tailed by the grigori yet again, but she seems to appreciate Yui's intrusion into her life even less, and she rejects the thought of working under Yui outright. However, after Yui works her charm to the maximum (rather cleverly appealing to Kyoko's ego, even at her own expense) and the grigori prod Sharsheret a bit, they get the Eva to hesitantly agree to attend the follow-up meeting, if only to declare to the other Evas that she won't participate in "this ridiculous farce".

Kyoko, wonder of wonders, shows up but is openly hostile to both Yui and Barb (and, curiously, treats Naoko with such indifference as to scarcely recognize her presence), but Yui plays the part of sycophant, while somehow retaining her authority, so well that Kyoko can't hate her quite enough to make her final answer a loud, resounding "NEIN!". Yui promises Kyoko the rank of Second-in-Command -- which, with only four Evas in the group, doesn't count for much, but at least it sounds good -- and the freedom to act independently much of the time, and neither Barb nor Naoko complain. Barbara is appointed the advisor on Edenic matters, as it becomes clear she is the most "street smart" of the four. Naoko doesn't receive any special duties except to be Barbara's "assistant" (in a professional and entirely PLATONIC manner, of course ;;p), and this is fine with her. The first meeting is a success that ends with the official formation of the Akhoth -- "sisterhood".

The section of the story that follows is still a fuzzy one for me. Essentially, the Evas stay occupied for some time hunting down the significant committors of "angelic vice" -- a concept the Evas cannot directly relate to, being as it's tied intimately to the local Jahweh-centered religious dogma, though they manage, as they have the grigori telling them who's being "naughty". In some ways, the early Akhoth days will be an homage to the episodes of the anime where the Evas were used cooperatively to kick angel butt (before things turned dark and the Evas started getting their butts kicked instead) -- except, well, there are no pesky Lilim interfering this time, and the bonds of teamwork and sisterhood form directly between the Evas themselves.

Yes, perhaps this phase of BES could be considered lamentable "filler", just an excuse to have cool battles between the Evas (decked out in nifty "body armor" provided by grigori "helpers" temporarily bonding with the Evas; think Venom and Carnage and their alien symbiotes from "Spider-Man") and angels I have yet to design (though some familiar faces may show up, as well...). But, at the same time, it's scheduled to be a time of critical character-building, when the relationships that form the basis of everything later on initially develop. Barb continues to pry, gently, into Naoko's sordid past, and through the resultant chaos they grow increasingly close (to the point that, yes, Naoko gets to swallow her words about the "platonic" stuff). Kyoko remains a loner but begins to mellow out a bit, establishing, in the very least, a sense of "purely professional" comradery with her fellow Evas (and an uneasy bond of mutual respect with her faithful leader). Yui and Barb treat each other as well-loved sisters, and, with Barb's help, Naoko starts to get over her "Yui problems". And, during her off hours, Yui confides her deepest thoughts to her entrusted friend Arael.

Things seem to be going well... Well, until a cult of angels emerges and starts to babble incessantly about the "Advent of Sammael" or some such thing. (The archangels really don't like the sound of this, though they pray that their kasahn-minions have the power to prevent it.) This is soon followed up by an organized theft at one of Eden's "artifact museums" (a place where Yui's kousokugu -- or what was left of them -- have been on display) of none other than the Lancea Longini (known to the Edenites as Dam'romakh). Kyoko manages to intercept just as the thief is getting away, but her attempt at pursuit fails. She stumbles instead into Sachiel and mistakes him for her target, as he, unfortunately, bears the slightest resemblance to the angel Kyoko had only gotten a fleeting glimpse of. With trademark brutality (which the Tsaphim can't harass her for anymore, so long as she's in the line of duty), she beats the living shiznat out of Sachiel for not satisfactorily answering her questions (so she says, anyway), but, rather uncharacteristically, becomes quite embarassed when she figures out he's the wrong guy. The angels behind the theft, and the Spear itself, remain irritatingly elusive after that, though these "neo-satanim", incidentally, get increasingly louder.

The situation degrades further. Via a twisted series of events (primarily involving the mischievous dysfunction of something called an "Ichijo's Gland"), Naoko discovers that, against all odds, she is ... pregnant?! Indeed, she has been since moments before her explosive death on Earth, it's all Armisael's fault, and the fact that the Evangelion reproductive system seems to work in rather strange ways [the Evas are dumbfounded that it works at all!] has kept her from knowing about it until now. To make matters worse, it is not long before Naoko's girth prevents her from doing her job properly, and Yui gives Naoko maternity leave. By this point, Barb could be considered Naoko's spouse, so Yui cuts Barb's workload in half -- and down to nil when the birth eventually seems eminent. This leaves Yui and Kyoko severely overworked, but the situation brightens quickly.

Yui inadventantly eavesdrops on a few angels one day, and what should they be discussing but the fate of the mysterious "Fifth Daughter", Abedah -- better known to us as EVA-04. Yui and the others knew that there was a Yongouki, but they never knew what happened to her -- she didn't die, evidently, so what? After doing some detective work, Yui discovers that her lost sister, evidently, wound up in the same pocket dimension that Yui herself had once been trapped within: The Dirac Sea. She tracks down Leliel and persuades her to lend her assistance, and Kyoko takes it upon herself to go into the Sea and fish out the long-lost Eva. The operation is successful, but Abedah ends up being utterly comatose -- not too surprising, considering she had been in an environment deprive of stimulae far longer than Yui's not-quite-as-boring lunar residence -- and Yui, despite her existing duties, takes full responsibility for her sister's recuperation. With the help of the ophanim, Abedah eventually regains consciousness. Upon having enough semblance of mind to tell us that her soul name is E. Diana Ischariot [her first name is evidently too embarassing to disclose], Abedah's Akhoth "training" begins.

As if recovering EVA-04 wasn't extraordinary enough... Around this time, one of the nine eyeless Evas -- more specifically, EVA-11, known in Eden as Mardani -- finally has the revelation, "Wow, I actually had another life before this?!". As a matter of fact, she was once a red-headed Brit named Emilie Mantell who had lived in Cardiff before Second Impact left the city completely inundated and, over a decade later, made the wonderful life decision of working for the small U.K. subset of Nerv. But, anyway... Soon as Emilie feels relatively well-informed about herself, she decides that she wants to help the Akhoth out. This is fine with Yui, and she is more than happy to give the Eva a chance to prove her worth. For her second-in-command, however, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen -- Kyoko hates Emilie and her kind passionately, and not entirely without justification.

Yui, however, isn't about to let Kyoko's prejudices -- based entirely on Emilie's behavior, on Earth, under the influence of a dummy plug (which isn't necessarily a good indication of her actual personality) -- keep her from adding another Eva to the ranks. So, quite ingeniously, she gives Kyoko the assignment of taking Emilie on a couple of training runs. Her second-in-command, naturally, reviles the very thought, but she is eventually persuaded to comply. And, in the end, it isn't nearly as bad as Kyoko had convinced herself it would be. Emilie isn't as physically powerful as the other Evas, but she makes up for that with dogged determination and resolve. And, her twisted visage aside, Emilie turns out to be quite a sweetie. ;;>

Not long after both Diana and Emilie become effective members of the Akhoth, Naoko's pregnancy finally ends. Rather than giving birth to some sort of frightening demon, as she had been fearing, the child is... an Eva. [Still, that might be the same thing as a "frightening demon", depending on who you ask.] Naoko doesn't get to name her own daughter, unfortunately, but the kid's angelic appellation is fine with her: Zukori, the First Scion (or "First Yaliyd", in angel talk). Despite the unusual circumstances of her genesis, the child is not unlike a human tot -- Zukori is slow to develop, exponentially demanding of her care-takers, and so cute that the trouble Naoko and Barbara are in for will ultimately be worth it.

Strange as the thought of a baby Eva is, stranger things begin to happen in Eden. One day, every angel (Apostle and Eva included) in the bloody place suddenly turns into a Lilim. As far as the angels are concerned, this is an unimaginably horrible phenomenon -- in a land where infinite diversity had been a way of life, everyone is suddenly trapped within the same type of body. For the Evas, this isn't all that bad: Whatever the reason for this phenomenon -- this "Shift" (7) -- it recognized the impressions of their original Lilim bodies the Evas carry within their minds, and such are the forms within which they once again find themselves. While the archangels struggle to make sense of the event and keep their people from going ballistic, they tell the Evas to remain uninvolved (as far as their Akhoth duties go). This is a tad suspicious, from the Evas' collective point of view, but they comply nonetheless.

Yui takes advantage of the confusion to "pull the moves" on an angel she's had her eyes on for a while -- none other than Zeruel, the Apostle whom she had so brutally defeated on Earth and whose left arm and S2 kikan [the biomass from them, anyway] continue to form part of her body. She cannot explain the reason she feels drawn to him, though, erm, perhaps being celibate for such a ridiculously long time has something to do with it... (And it doesn't help that Zeruel, as a Lilim, is rather attractive, despite looking a bit like a jock.) Kyoko, on the other hand, runs into Sachiel -- who is as scrawny, cute, and ridiculously broad-shouldered as before, but even more clueless-looking -- while he is searching for his two siblings. Since the mistaken identity incident by which they first met, Sachiel and Kyoko had become, if nothing more, friendly acquaintances (nonetheless extraordinary, given Kyoko treats virtually no one with anything resembling friendliness), and Kyoko proposes that they retreat to her abode to get away from the madness prevalent all over Eden. Sachiel, despite failing to locate Shamshel or Zeruel, decides to go along with it. Meantime, Barb and Naoko have their own interesting confrontations -- Barb has a run-in with a familiar face, and Zukori finally gets to meet her "father".

Before anyone knows it -- or after the equivalent of approximately two "Earth days", anyway -- things inexplicably return to normal. (In Zeruel's case, this couldn't have happened at a better time, but ::cough:: nevermind that...) Of course, they don't stay that way. Being Lilim for even such a brief period of time was rotten enough, but worse things manage to happen. Namely... Sammael finally shows up.

If Yui's arrival is what originally gets the plot of "BES" going, the Advent of Sammael marks the turning point. Although there have been plenty of serious moments up until this point, Sammael's appearance starts to take things into darker directions. Sammael reveals himself to be a manipulative, conniving, overly proud bastard who will get his way, "no matter what"; he is so extremely confident that he never tells a lie, although he, like all great villains, only reveals as much of the truth as he sees fit. Being the Devil and all, he becomes our primary antagonist (at least, that's what I want you to think ;;>), although precisely how "evil" he truly is is something that is unveiled, with all of the requisite ambiguity, over time.

Sammael's plans for Eden rely heavily upon the Evangelions, and he sets his sights initially on their most powerful member, Yui, who has, he claims, already helped him achieve so much. He is almost successful in "wooing" her to his side, but, through a dreadful (and somewhat uncharacteristic) miscalculation on his part, Sammael basically screws himself over and makes Yui completely convinced that he is a force to oppose with everything they have. This does not, however, stop Sammael from putting Yui's character on the line. Nothing has threatened her calm, collected, loveable demeanor up until now, but Sammael makes it a point to change that and put the girl face-to-face with revelations that really make her question everything she's been doing up to this point (her Lilim past included).

This phase of the story is essentially about the Akhoth dealing with Sammael and his "neo-satanim" forces, most notably his primary lackies, the rather confusingly-named kerubim, Azazel, Azzael, and Azza. They make for some great battles with our heroines (some hopefully as epic as the best "NGE" offered), especially between Kyoko and Azazel, who become bitter rivals during this time. (And, at the same time, Yui finishes her "courtship" of Zeruel, and the poor Apostle finally succumbs to her irresistable charms.) Sammael initiates his revised plan to finish what he started in eons past, which eventually results in a grand confrontation between him and the Evas in Heaven. A bit of a false ending on my part, really, since this is merely where things start to heat up. Inevitably, Sammael's plan once again backfires on him, with the result that both he and the Akhoth members are expelled from Eden.

Here, the story shifts temporarily from Eden to Tebel, that "true paradise" Sammael had been babbling about for so long, where we eventually are unexpectedly reunited with our favorite super-entities from "NGE", Lilith and Adam. Lilith has become very different from what we remember, having put her days as the mortal Rei completely aside and reverted to something more primordial and truly frightening. She now seems to now have an agenda of her own, and reacts somewhat antagonistically to seeing her "daughter" Regellah in Tebel -- but she reacts even more badly to Sammael. Adam, on the other hand, is the antithesis of the embittered white goddess -- an innocent child, full of life and love, reborn in Tebel from Lilith and being treated as her own.

After much enigmatic exposition that seems to create far more questions than it answers (as all great exposition does ;;>), the Evas find themselves back in Eden, although Sammael's whereabouts remain, for a time, unknown. The Akhoth is immediately disbanded by the elohim for reasons unknown. Second Shift starts and, after certain critical events occur, ends, upon which the story enters its "Emergence of the Yaliyd" phase. Yui completes a pregnancy that began in Tebel (somewhat delayed from the original time of conception) and gives birth to her daughter Yorkami, undertaking "Yorki's" rearing with the assistance of her sisters Naoko and Barb, along with -- of course -- Zeruel.

At the same time, Kyoko's various personal issues have built up to the point of no return. She goes into hiding to conceal a pregnancy she is less than proud of and soon after gives birth to the Third Yaliyd, Azrael, who is, against all probability, a fully functional male. Azrael differs from the other two Yaliyd in another critical way -- he matures with devastating speed, rampaging through a childhood in which he is isolated from the rest of Eden. Kyoko has absolutely no time to prepare for his advent into adulthood, through which he becomes much more than Kyoko can handle alone, and the two part on less than the best of terms. As Azrael wanders Eden, watching the other Evas from a distance and trying to find his place in the world, Barbara continues the deluge of Yaliyd and gives birth to the twins Kaddasah and Irah. As if on cue, Diana puts the icing on the cake with the delivery of Kayin, the sixth and final Scion.

Where do things go from there? That's for me to know and for you to find out someday. Maybe.

So... yeah... that's "Beyond Eden's Shores". Wish me luck. Or just e-mail me and tell me how much of a weirdo you think I am. In any case, I love constructive or well-written feedback of any kind, and suggestions are especially welcome while I'm still in the conceptualization phase for BES (where this project will most likely remain for some time).

1: If you want to get chronological, at least a couple of millennia have passed on Earth since Third Impact. You know, just to make sure all of the characters most NGE fans prefer are REALLY good and dead. ;;D Well, actually, it just sort of ended up that way, don't ask me why. There is a huge discrepancy between the passage of time in Helad and the passage of time in Eden, which I haven't determined in exact terms, though what feels like "at least a couple of millennia" on Earth translates into "about a year or so" in Eden terms.

2: Surprisingly enough, I did not pull this Sammael business entirely out of my arse. In case you didn't already know, Sammael actually appears in the opening of NGE! According to the literature, Sammael was a seraphim who was so great he had twice the normal number of wings -- in other words, twelve, the same number as the stylized angelic entity in the intro. Of course, that's not a whole lot to base a positive identification upon, though I believe it's generally accepted that this is a portrayal of "Lucifer" (i.e., Sammael ;;>). Now, what always irritated me is that Sammael is pretty much the only thing in the intro that didn't eventually appear in the anime -- what's the deal with that? [Spookily, though, the 12-winged motif does appear -- Shogouki is shown sprouting twelve wings in the intro and, much later on in EoE, both Lilith and EVA-01 are sporting them.] Fortunately, simply by altering a couple of details in the anime [mostly details I never cared too much for ;;P], Sammael's presence -- or, erm, lack thereof? -- can be worked in rather neatly...

Oh, and speaking of "Impacts", if you look at the "Elements" page, you'll see that I added a fourth one that those rascally Lilim somehow forgot to mention. At least NOW we have an "Impact" that we can blame the K-T Boundary extinction on, though. ^_^;

3: This is my term for "Angels"/shito #3-16 -- it's actually just the literal translation of shito. (Limmudim is the Cool Hebrew Version, which I looked up because it seemed odd to have a group of angels whose name DIDN'T end in -im. ;;> So we can call them both "Apostles" and "limmudim", and everybody's happy.) Tabris, a.k.a. Kaworu, does not actually belong with the ranks of the Apostles proper, being, well, a Lilim vessel containing the soul of Adam placed within a Lilim vessel who was evidently created at the time of Second Impact (now how the hell did that work?). At one point, I had some interesting ideas which made Tabris out to be a unique entity, but, since I know better now, all of my plans for "Tabris" as a character in BES have been officially axed. It eliminates a lot of problems and creates a few minor ones, but nothing I can't work around.

⁴: For "BES", I came up with a little convention that the only souls suitable for placement into an Eva were those of Lilim women who had experienced motherhood. You know, sort of a little ritualistic sacrifice that goes into making each Eva "functional". It's a neat, tidy scheme that suits my purposes here, and I've blatantly ignored those pesky matters of pilot synchronization factors and all that fun stuff, so the souls for Evas 03 and up are just "random chicks who happened to be working for NERV". See more under footnote 6...

⁵: Khevelha, Tehorah, Sharsheret, etc., are the Evas' "angelic names", which they all get after being reborn into Eden (or, in Yui's case, simply as a result of being so talked-about ;;D). The Edenites do not recognize the Evas' original Lilim, or "soul", names, but that doesn't stop the Evas from using them, at least between themselves. Anyway, these names are some examples of what happens when I attempt to extract "cool-sounding words" for use as vaguely-symbolic names from a language I don't know the first thing about. Namely, Hebrew. If you do speak Hebrew and my rotten attempt at plundering your language for my own questionable purposes offends you -- my sincerest apologies. ^_^;

⁶: Okay, a bit of a disclaimer... I know that, in the anime, EVA-00 has the soul of Rei-001 and EVA-03 has the soul of Touji's mum. And if you don't believe that, try to advocate otherwise at AnimeNation's NGE forum and prepare to lose your argument miserably. The problem is, I started work on BES long before much of the anime made complete sense to me, including the way pilot synchronization works (which I still don't really "get"), which is where my flawed ideas about the soul of Eva "needing to be a mom, any mom will do, but if it's the designated pilot's mom that's always a plus" originally came from. Going by the anime, it's complete nonsense, though the pilot stuff is so remote to the happenings in BES -- not to mention there are so many other details in BES that diverge heavily from the anime -- hopefully these "problems" can be overlooked. It's really not that important whether or not Caraway is someone Touji could have synchronized with, or likewise with Naoko and Rei; dealing with the theoretical dynamics of the Evas as actual characters is what interests me, and Barb and Naoko are just who these particular characters have ended up being.

Looking back, sure, there's no good reason why I CAN'T be using the character of Touji's mother for EVA-03 here, except that Barb's role is so integral to the story dynamics that to replace her would destroy a lot. Actually, I think I prefer having Barb, an American, instead of yet another Japanese woman as EVA-03 -- gives us a little more variety with the Evas' personalities, not to mention the fact that I'm personally American makes Barb a little easier to convincingly write for. As for EVA-00, if I had gone with the Rei-001 premise, I'd be deprived of the Zerogouki character completely (but that's a bit complicated, so I won't get into that) -- Naoko, IMO, is much better than nothing at all. On a final note, there is a very good possibility in the anime that EVA-04 did not even have a soul at the time of her "accident", so, yet again, E. Diana Ischariot is a creative liberty. For that matter, so are the nine unique souls I give the individual "harpies". But give me a break -- this is just fanfiction, after all.

7: First Shift is sheer madness, though, from a characterization point of view, it looks to be plenty of fun. Though it will be a bit scandalous to draw -- everyone is, well, buck-naked! This is no different from the ways things have been in BES all along, though this will no doubt unnerve many Lilim. Still, I look forward to the challenge of portraying nudity with 100% objectivity -- I'm just going to show it as it is. Doesn't quite qualify as "Service, service!", though I'm sure some folks will react as if it were.

Neon Genesis Evangelion and everything originally from it are the copyright © of Studio GAINAX/Project Eva and intellectual property of Hideaki ANNO. All rights reserved.
[I am but a pitiful fan who utterly respects that ownership.]

''Beyond Eden's Shores'' Run-Down page created April 04 2002. Last modified December 11 2003.
All original content © 1996-2004 Rachel K. Clark (rachel.k.clark@comcast.net).
"Evangelion" copyright © GAINAX /Project Eva. All Rights Reserved.

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