AN: Heyo! here's my entry for IF. Seems I meandered off the theme a bit but eh~ here's what I have.
A Paragon of His Kind
-----------
It would not be wrong to say that she was a smart woman.
Much too smart for her own good.
She shined like Polaris guiding lost men at sea towards the right path. With science she would guide the human race to the optimal end point.
She paved the way and to show it could be done, she walked ahead of everyone else.
She was not one of those thinkers who could only dream of what was possible, she rewrote what was possible.
It was, as such, quite believable that she would be much admired for her imagination, much loved for her drive, much adored for her dreams.
Much hated for her success.
But she never wavered from her path, always chasing after the impossible dream of a better humanity.
Where all people from all over the world would unite and achieve something glorious.
Where everyone would have a place, where everyone could be free of pain and hate and fear.
Where people were better than they what was possible.
It was a glorious dream, where all of humanity came together in harmony to sing a song that would rewrite the core principles of the world.
A human instrumentality of sorts.
--------
It would be wrong to say that he was a fearless.
He was a boy forgotten by the world, who did not even dream.
His was a purposeless existence, never living only surviving.
He did not have it within him to be like heroes of old who could face their fear.
He only ever knew how to run away.
It is no exaggeration to say that he is but one of the may specks of earth.
But he has to fight, in giant contraptions that only ever cause him pain.
He does not like this pain that he has to bear.
He hates and fears and fights.
But, he lives.
-----
She is loved by the man.
He is a man that frightens others and is hated by others.
He is a man that has been hurt by the people he stretches his hand out towards.
And he is impossibly easy to predict and manipulate.
He is a sweet man hiding beneath a veneer of roughness, and he is a useful man.
So she marries him because he would be the best person to help her achieve her dream.
So she shares with him her grand dream.
Of removing the flaws of humanity.
She will remake humanity with the gift of knowledge.
With her science, she will create a human race without flaws.
A great future.
A bright future.
-----
He is not brilliant genius like his mother.
He is not a shrewd and opportunistic bastard like his father.
He is a simple boy with simple desires and simple abilities.
He is a boy forever stuck in the past, never able to even conceive of a future.
But inside his Evangelion, even he is strong.
He steps are those that resound through the world and his actions are those the reverberate through the universe.
His light of the soul is one that can carry the weight of God.
With his Evangelion, he is immortal.
But that is not to say that he likes it.
He still fights only because he is told to fight.
He fights as if he is hero because there is no other way for him to live.
----------
She is afraid now.
Not because she is responsible for causing the death of untold millions.
All great things come with great sacrifice, she knows that.
She is afraid now because she has a weakness now.
Her son, so frail and light.
Her beautiful son.
HeÆs going to ruin her dream, she knows it.
But, even knowing all that, she cannot find it in her to sacrifice him.
Even if it would be for a grand and glorious future where humanity will be able to scream out in the wild unknown that WE ARE HERE, she cannot help but love her beautiful boy.
ThereÆs only one thing she can do.
---------
He misses his mother.
He cannot even remember her face or her voice but he still misses her.
He misses her presence.
He misses her smile.
He misses the fact that he too, once had a family.
It would be accurate to say that he misses the fact that he had a mother than actually missing his mother.
But it would be completely true to say that he misses his mother.
------
This is the only way, she consoles herself.
Even though it is before what she actually planned, she has to do it now.
While she still has her resolve.
She has to carry through while she can.
She has to show her beautiful, lovely son the glorious future she saw.
Before her love for him overwhelms and she canÆt even go forward with her plans.
What good is sacrifice, if you canÆt even achieve what you sacrificed for.
-------
What good is this pain, if you donÆt even gain anything.
Even though he fights without wanting to, he at least hoped to gain something.
He fights and fights and fights but he canÆt even protect what he wanted so desperately to protect.
He fights but he canÆt even save his friends.
He is a boy capable of fighting Gods on their turf but canÆt even save a single person.
What good is this human race, if they are willing to sacrifice everything for their survival.
What does it even mean to be human, if there is nothing of humanity in them.
This monster of science has only ever brought suffering.
-------
Hers is the gift of knowledge.
She knows, knows how things are supposed to be.
This is the right course.
She believes in it with all her heart.
And to prove it, sheÆs going to be the first to redefine what it means to be human.
Humanity will be what she makes of it.
Whether the humans want it or not.
-----------
He has no particular gift.
He is a broken doll, dancing to the strings of his father, hoping to someday be a boy.
But, he knows that this is not what humanity is supposed to be.
They are not supposed to be people crawling around trying to kill each other.
They are not supposed to be animals tearing apart their own flesh and blood.
They are supposed to be a great and noble existence.
If this is what humans are, then he would rather not be one.
He would rather remove himself from this sludge of humanity and be forever alone than be a part of this disgusting existence.
He would choose pain over this every time.
And humanity would have to give up this heaven that they built on the corpses of their children for the same life of pain and misery.
Whether they want it or not.
Because it is the right thing to do.
--------
It would not be wrong to say that Yui Ikari advanced the field of biology and metabiology by leaps and bounds.
It would be wrong to say that Yui Ikari was a paragon of humanity that she wanted to become.
It was true that she did what humanity was defined by; she sacrificed others in her quest for a better future, she was hurt and others, she loved and was loved by others.
But her dream was still too flawed to be considered heaven.
Her dream decided that humanity was flawed and thus, had to be rewritten. As a better existence. With her gift of knowledge, with which she rewrote the concept of a soul, she still could only see starting over as the only option.
And she was willing to sacrifice all of what was good in humanity to do it.
--------
It would be wrong to say that Shinji Ikari was a hero. He frequently fought and killed monsters that defied human comprehension for the sake of protecting others even at cost to himself, but he still fought only because others told him to.
It would not be wrong to say that Shinji Ikari was a paragon of humanity.
He hurt others and was hurt by others. He fought and killed and saved and sacrificed. He crawled around in the muck of dirt and suffering known as life. He was a coward that could not even save those he loved because he could not step forward.
He was a coward, murdered, betrayer. He embodied everything that was worst in humanity.
But his dream of humanity was a pure one.
Even though he was drowning in the happiness of others, he rejected it because he could not bear the thought of such an existence being what humanity was supposed to be.
He did not consider himself the best of humanity, but he still chose to reject that existence.
Because he understood one thing.
That even though humanity was covered in the filth, blood and tears of others it was still not all that humanity was.
He understood that sacrificing a peaceful and unchanging world where there was no pain or sadness for a painful one filled with misery and suffering was the right thing to do.
Because humans could still walk forward, carrying the burden of their past sins.
Because humans could still reach a better tomorrow without sacrificing everything that made them human.
-----------------------------------------------
A Paragon of His Kind
-----------
It would not be wrong to say that she was a smart woman.
Much too smart for her own good.
She shined like Polaris guiding lost men at sea towards the right path. With science she would guide the human race to the optimal end point.
She paved the way and to show it could be done, she walked ahead of everyone else.
She was not one of those thinkers who could only dream of what was possible, she rewrote what was possible.
It was, as such, quite believable that she would be much admired for her imagination, much loved for her drive, much adored for her dreams.
Much hated for her success.
But she never wavered from her path, always chasing after the impossible dream of a better humanity.
Where all people from all over the world would unite and achieve something glorious.
Where everyone would have a place, where everyone could be free of pain and hate and fear.
Where people were better than they what was possible.
It was a glorious dream, where all of humanity came together in harmony to sing a song that would rewrite the core principles of the world.
A human instrumentality of sorts.
--------
It would be wrong to say that he was a fearless.
He was a boy forgotten by the world, who did not even dream.
His was a purposeless existence, never living only surviving.
He did not have it within him to be like heroes of old who could face their fear.
He only ever knew how to run away.
It is no exaggeration to say that he is but one of the may specks of earth.
But he has to fight, in giant contraptions that only ever cause him pain.
He does not like this pain that he has to bear.
He hates and fears and fights.
But, he lives.
-----
She is loved by the man.
He is a man that frightens others and is hated by others.
He is a man that has been hurt by the people he stretches his hand out towards.
And he is impossibly easy to predict and manipulate.
He is a sweet man hiding beneath a veneer of roughness, and he is a useful man.
So she marries him because he would be the best person to help her achieve her dream.
So she shares with him her grand dream.
Of removing the flaws of humanity.
She will remake humanity with the gift of knowledge.
With her science, she will create a human race without flaws.
A great future.
A bright future.
-----
He is not brilliant genius like his mother.
He is not a shrewd and opportunistic bastard like his father.
He is a simple boy with simple desires and simple abilities.
He is a boy forever stuck in the past, never able to even conceive of a future.
But inside his Evangelion, even he is strong.
He steps are those that resound through the world and his actions are those the reverberate through the universe.
His light of the soul is one that can carry the weight of God.
With his Evangelion, he is immortal.
But that is not to say that he likes it.
He still fights only because he is told to fight.
He fights as if he is hero because there is no other way for him to live.
----------
She is afraid now.
Not because she is responsible for causing the death of untold millions.
All great things come with great sacrifice, she knows that.
She is afraid now because she has a weakness now.
Her son, so frail and light.
Her beautiful son.
HeÆs going to ruin her dream, she knows it.
But, even knowing all that, she cannot find it in her to sacrifice him.
Even if it would be for a grand and glorious future where humanity will be able to scream out in the wild unknown that WE ARE HERE, she cannot help but love her beautiful boy.
ThereÆs only one thing she can do.
---------
He misses his mother.
He cannot even remember her face or her voice but he still misses her.
He misses her presence.
He misses her smile.
He misses the fact that he too, once had a family.
It would be accurate to say that he misses the fact that he had a mother than actually missing his mother.
But it would be completely true to say that he misses his mother.
------
This is the only way, she consoles herself.
Even though it is before what she actually planned, she has to do it now.
While she still has her resolve.
She has to carry through while she can.
She has to show her beautiful, lovely son the glorious future she saw.
Before her love for him overwhelms and she canÆt even go forward with her plans.
What good is sacrifice, if you canÆt even achieve what you sacrificed for.
-------
What good is this pain, if you donÆt even gain anything.
Even though he fights without wanting to, he at least hoped to gain something.
He fights and fights and fights but he canÆt even protect what he wanted so desperately to protect.
He fights but he canÆt even save his friends.
He is a boy capable of fighting Gods on their turf but canÆt even save a single person.
What good is this human race, if they are willing to sacrifice everything for their survival.
What does it even mean to be human, if there is nothing of humanity in them.
This monster of science has only ever brought suffering.
-------
Hers is the gift of knowledge.
She knows, knows how things are supposed to be.
This is the right course.
She believes in it with all her heart.
And to prove it, sheÆs going to be the first to redefine what it means to be human.
Humanity will be what she makes of it.
Whether the humans want it or not.
-----------
He has no particular gift.
He is a broken doll, dancing to the strings of his father, hoping to someday be a boy.
But, he knows that this is not what humanity is supposed to be.
They are not supposed to be people crawling around trying to kill each other.
They are not supposed to be animals tearing apart their own flesh and blood.
They are supposed to be a great and noble existence.
If this is what humans are, then he would rather not be one.
He would rather remove himself from this sludge of humanity and be forever alone than be a part of this disgusting existence.
He would choose pain over this every time.
And humanity would have to give up this heaven that they built on the corpses of their children for the same life of pain and misery.
Whether they want it or not.
Because it is the right thing to do.
--------
It would not be wrong to say that Yui Ikari advanced the field of biology and metabiology by leaps and bounds.
It would be wrong to say that Yui Ikari was a paragon of humanity that she wanted to become.
It was true that she did what humanity was defined by; she sacrificed others in her quest for a better future, she was hurt and others, she loved and was loved by others.
But her dream was still too flawed to be considered heaven.
Her dream decided that humanity was flawed and thus, had to be rewritten. As a better existence. With her gift of knowledge, with which she rewrote the concept of a soul, she still could only see starting over as the only option.
And she was willing to sacrifice all of what was good in humanity to do it.
--------
It would be wrong to say that Shinji Ikari was a hero. He frequently fought and killed monsters that defied human comprehension for the sake of protecting others even at cost to himself, but he still fought only because others told him to.
It would not be wrong to say that Shinji Ikari was a paragon of humanity.
He hurt others and was hurt by others. He fought and killed and saved and sacrificed. He crawled around in the muck of dirt and suffering known as life. He was a coward that could not even save those he loved because he could not step forward.
He was a coward, murdered, betrayer. He embodied everything that was worst in humanity.
But his dream of humanity was a pure one.
Even though he was drowning in the happiness of others, he rejected it because he could not bear the thought of such an existence being what humanity was supposed to be.
He did not consider himself the best of humanity, but he still chose to reject that existence.
Because he understood one thing.
That even though humanity was covered in the filth, blood and tears of others it was still not all that humanity was.
He understood that sacrificing a peaceful and unchanging world where there was no pain or sadness for a painful one filled with misery and suffering was the right thing to do.
Because humans could still walk forward, carrying the burden of their past sins.
Because humans could still reach a better tomorrow without sacrificing everything that made them human.
-----------------------------------------------
