sakura_no_miko

Title: On the Courting Rituals of Angels

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Shinji/Kaworu

Warnings: some homophobic language

Other notes: alternate universe, high school, get together

Length: 7k, plus sequels

Summary: In which the reader may observe the Angel Tabris in his efforts to attract a sad boyfriend that he can turn into a happy boyfriend. Put on your David Attenborough pants and marvel at this rite of nature.

Or: An Alternate Qniverse in which Shinji learns his lesson, everything is Kawoshin, and nothing hurts.

My thoughts:

Oh, shoot. This is another of my comfort fics, because — this one is, for the most part, completely chill, happy, and a little crack-y. It actually feels kind of weird to just read straight fluff. Well, not straight, but.

I'm sitting here with a grin and a slight giggle, and yet I can't think of what to write. Sure, I can write forever about ansgt or about porn, but fluff is challenging me.

I do actually write my fic recs in some semblance of order. So, as you can see, I was on a massive angsty EVA fic run, so coming to this at the end is just a nice palate cleanser. It’s definitely got some of those rom-com elements where, like, if this was happening in real life, I’d be a bit alarmed. It’s an ongoing joke that, not only does the entire class ship Kaworu and Shinji, they’ve got a fanblog. Which is kind like, wut. At the same time, compared to every universe where Angels are destroying the world and everyone is constantly in danger of dying, this universe almost seems quaint. I think I might have missed that the Angels even existed on my first read through — the author mentions it at points, but there’s never any violence, so it’s easy to forget.

There’s some nice, dry humor, like this passage:

Now, as with all those other instances, Shinji’s faculties seem to get overwhelmed; whichever part of the brain that receives and processes compliments has after all, in Shinji’s case, historically not ever been under much strain. Kaworu takes this opportunity to rub his nose affectionately against Shinji’s temple.

My poor Shinji. Though, isn’t that a great illustration of how depression and anxiety make you feel? Suspicious of any compliment, like that part of your brain just isn’t wired correctly. Someone says “great job” and you just go, “buh-wha?”

At the same time, that same dry, casual tone underlines just how wounded Kaworu is. He’s completely serene throughout most of the story, untouchable, unphaseable, but every now and then you get a piece like this:

Kaworu's aptitude for learning Lilin social niceties may be somewhat stunted in comparison to his aptitude for learning everything else, but given the magnitude of the latter, the former often goes underestimated.Well, that, and working his way into Shinji's heart provides Kaworu a very enticing incentive indeed to improve. And to someone who has died twice over now in the pursuit of that particular happiness, a little Lilin socialization becomes but the smallest of potatoes.

Just casually, understatedly mentioning that, oh, people just treat him like he’s airheaded or ignorant when he’s trying very hard to be “normal,” and also, yeah, he kind of died multiple times just to find this tiny moment of peace with Shinji. And then, you get to the very last part of the series, when Shinji finally opens up to him, and he almost starts crying, because he’s waited so long, and apparently he’s never even told anyone else about reincarnating and such. He may still be an Angel, but he’s terribly isolated.

So,yeah, this is fluff and crack, but there's just enough glimpses of the angsty underbelly for the reader to realize, ok, as weird and slightly-stalker-y as this life is, for Kaworu it’s still a dream come true.

Anyway, I think I’m good with Evangelion for now, but I’ve got several long fics to work through, so we’ll see where that goes.

(Looking for more fic recs?)
Originally crossposted on tumblr and pillowfort on 09/23/18