Well, there's divine inspiration, and then there's... this.
It began with a piece of gag Xover fanart, whose punchline was: "Rei, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!"
But what the Xover worked a bit differently? What if Ritsuko Akagi, seeing what she was up against, called upon her old mentor Egon Spengler, one of the
world's foremost experts on wringing supernatural effects out of purely human technology....?
"Ugly big spud, isn't it?"
"Actually, it looks more like a giant floating 8-ball. And I think it can *hear* you, Misato."
Followed later by:
"Shinji? SHINJIIIII!"
"...he *slimed* me...."
"VAS!?!?! Hey! Nobody choosed anything! *I* didn't choose anything. Shinji, did you-- nevermind, consider the source. Misato? No? Gend-- no,
not even going to ask. Well, that only leaves... Vas in der hell did you CHOOSE, Rei?"
"...i tried to think of something comfortingly familiar from my childhood. Something harmless, trapped against the wall of Terminal Dogma with the Lance
of Longinus. Something that, even if we lost to it, would simply make us one with it in mind and body and we would continue existence in some minimal form
forever."
"Setting ASIDE the issue of 'just how screwed-up WAS your childhood, anyway?', just WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?"
THUD!
"Um, Asuka, you'd better look at this.."
"...the Stay-Pufft Marshmallow Lilith."
"HAH! Bet this this the last time you try to brain-rape a girl with a positron glider, eh?"
"...that's a big spear."
"--a combination of hallucinogenic chemicals. People think they're seeing Angels. Then these NERV jokers show up, put on a psychedelic lightshow,
and "kill" the creature. Mr. Prime Minister, I *demand* that you send the JSSDF to invade Tokyo-3 and destroy NERV in order to prevent them from
causing Third Impact! The fact that their commander called me 'dickless' has nothing to do with it."
"That's... a very... *interesting* argument, Mr. Kheel. Mr Ikari, is this true?"
"It's true, Mr. Prime Minister. This man has no-- actually, give the extent of his cybernetic replacements, I'm not sure *what* he has
left."
"Shinji, have you ever read the Dead Sea Scrolls?"
"Uh, no."
"...well, damn. This gag's going nowhere fast."
"Shinji, has it ocurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately, is because we really *are* on the brink of Armageddon?"
"...I'm going to go listen to my S-DAT player."
"Want some company? I've got a headphone splitter."
"Shinji has gone by-by, Wondergirl. What have YOU got left?"
"...i'm sorry, Sorhyu, but I've become terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."
"Okay, I've got an idea. We cross the streams."
"WHAT? But Spengler-sensei said crossing the streams would be BAD. More than bad, actually--"
"Oh shut up, Spineless. It'll work. It has to, this is the climax of the final episode and that's the only Forbidden Technique left that we
*haven't* used this season. Right, Wondergirl?"
"...there is definitely a very slim chance that we will survive."
"Um, Asuka? Even if *we* live, you'll be endangering my father. You know, the manipulative bastard who's responsible for all of us being in this
me-- I love this plan. I'm proud to be a part of it. Let's do it!"
And, just for one last crazy crossover element:
"What do you MEAN, 'Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Tokyo-3'!?!?" (with apologies to Leslie Fish)
It began with a piece of gag Xover fanart, whose punchline was: "Rei, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!"
But what the Xover worked a bit differently? What if Ritsuko Akagi, seeing what she was up against, called upon her old mentor Egon Spengler, one of the
world's foremost experts on wringing supernatural effects out of purely human technology....?
"Ugly big spud, isn't it?"
"Actually, it looks more like a giant floating 8-ball. And I think it can *hear* you, Misato."
Followed later by:
"Shinji? SHINJIIIII!"
"...he *slimed* me...."
"VAS!?!?! Hey! Nobody choosed anything! *I* didn't choose anything. Shinji, did you-- nevermind, consider the source. Misato? No? Gend-- no,
not even going to ask. Well, that only leaves... Vas in der hell did you CHOOSE, Rei?"
"...i tried to think of something comfortingly familiar from my childhood. Something harmless, trapped against the wall of Terminal Dogma with the Lance
of Longinus. Something that, even if we lost to it, would simply make us one with it in mind and body and we would continue existence in some minimal form
forever."
"Setting ASIDE the issue of 'just how screwed-up WAS your childhood, anyway?', just WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?"
THUD!
"Um, Asuka, you'd better look at this.."
"...the Stay-Pufft Marshmallow Lilith."
"HAH! Bet this this the last time you try to brain-rape a girl with a positron glider, eh?"
"...that's a big spear."
"--a combination of hallucinogenic chemicals. People think they're seeing Angels. Then these NERV jokers show up, put on a psychedelic lightshow,
and "kill" the creature. Mr. Prime Minister, I *demand* that you send the JSSDF to invade Tokyo-3 and destroy NERV in order to prevent them from
causing Third Impact! The fact that their commander called me 'dickless' has nothing to do with it."
"That's... a very... *interesting* argument, Mr. Kheel. Mr Ikari, is this true?"
"It's true, Mr. Prime Minister. This man has no-- actually, give the extent of his cybernetic replacements, I'm not sure *what* he has
left."
"Shinji, have you ever read the Dead Sea Scrolls?"
"Uh, no."
"...well, damn. This gag's going nowhere fast."
"Shinji, has it ocurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately, is because we really *are* on the brink of Armageddon?"
"...I'm going to go listen to my S-DAT player."
"Want some company? I've got a headphone splitter."
"Shinji has gone by-by, Wondergirl. What have YOU got left?"
"...i'm sorry, Sorhyu, but I've become terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."
"Okay, I've got an idea. We cross the streams."
"WHAT? But Spengler-sensei said crossing the streams would be BAD. More than bad, actually--"
"Oh shut up, Spineless. It'll work. It has to, this is the climax of the final episode and that's the only Forbidden Technique left that we
*haven't* used this season. Right, Wondergirl?"
"...there is definitely a very slim chance that we will survive."
"Um, Asuka? Even if *we* live, you'll be endangering my father. You know, the manipulative bastard who's responsible for all of us being in this
me-- I love this plan. I'm proud to be a part of it. Let's do it!"
And, just for one last crazy crossover element:
"What do you MEAN, 'Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Tokyo-3'!?!?" (with apologies to Leslie Fish)