This was written in 1998, back in the early period of NGE fanfiction. It's one of fics that one feels to be underrated by the general Eva audience and one is thus obliged to dredge from the mists of the past.

'Damnation' is a darkfic. There aren't many good Eva darkfics as opposed to, say, parody Eva fics. Probably there is some sort of fanfic law of equal and opposite reaction at work here. The reason why it is a darkfic is because Shinji descends into madness as the fic progresses. And there are repeated suicide attempts.

Darkfics (and lots of Eva fics) then to get swallowed up by the angst of the characters. Writers then lose control of the plot and the fic collapses into a mass of codswallop. 'Damnation' is disorientating, incoherent and confusing at times BUT it is all part of the author's design, the flow of the words creating the effect (usually of how Shinji must be feeling at the time) that he wants to achieve. Even the formating of the text is press ganged to achieve the author's ends.

Daniel Snyder maintains disciplined control of his work through out. He knows what he is talking about why mental illness and their various treatments are brought up. And incorporates work from other sources, like Shakespeare.

The resulting work is a little uneven but overall, still definitely worth your time to read and ponder over. Why I still reread this fic after two odd years is that it just has these *moments* - which really scare you, when you really do *believe*. The key? Wide reading. Control. Discipline. Attention to detail.