To be honest, when I first started reading this fic I thought it was a comic piece. The opening could clearly belong to a 'bait-and-switch' fic, a style relatively easy to accomplish when our interpretation of what is occurring is totally at the mercy of an author's descriptions. It was only after getting far into my reading that with some shock I realized the writer was in fact tackling a very serious subject.

Assault.

Not in the sense of physical injury, but the hurt done to a person's very sense of self. Something done that makes a person feel less than what they once were. It's not a case of being weak --such assaults can happen to anyone-- but of becoming weak through fear and self-loathing afterwards.

The author is correct in his notes when pointing out that Asuka's mind rape from the TV series has often been used in fanfiction as a means to 'soften' her up. I agree with his connotation that some other authors have used this event as the only thing, not just a catalyst, to make her pliable. I'm always disgusted at people who say, "Asuka's a bitch and she got what she deserved." Asuka is a fourteen year old *child* who's had tragedies in her life and is trying to deal with them the best way she knows how. It might not be the most healthy method, but she's trying. I'm not arguing against the idea she might need some tough love, but there's nothing loving about what happened to her. That was an assault that strips away the very core of someone and leaves them unable to face themselves.

That's what this story is all about.

But it's not about Asuka.

This story is, and should be, disturbing. It's about obsession, terror, struggle, and desperation. It's also about showing the difference between someone slightly arrogant, and someone with a core of malevolence in their soul. Neon Genesis Evangelion has always wanted us to look deep into the characters and realize that the surface may not be indicative of what lies beneath. This fic also demands the same from you: on the surface it may be love or it may be hate, but what drives these individuals is what finally makes them good or evil.

The author himself describes the story as [quote] "[surfacing] in my mind much the way a corpse will rise to the surface, bloated and disgusting and utterly foul." [unquote] A good way to describe this story, but not enough credit for the author. He tackled this in a manner that is both compelling and just. It is a story that had to be written, and doesn't wallow in darkness simply for the sake of being dark. It has something to say, something very powerful and important. Remember it the next time you want to hurt characters for them being themselves.

Read this. Feel disturbed. Don't lose sleep over it, but do think about what you just read.