The Rebuild of Nobody Dies is a rewriting of Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfic Nobody Dies, written by Gregg Landsman.
By and large, it starts off roughly the same—17 years after Second Impact, sixteen year old Shinji Ikari is called to NERV by his parents to shut up and get in the giant robot. Only, instead of a lime green monster rampaging around the city, the Angel attacking Tokyo-3 is Iblis.
Which Shinji kicks, in his giant robot, like a soccer ball. Things keep changing from there.
It can be read in in FF.Net and Spacebattles. The second thread is here, and the first thread is here.
Updates stopped in 2014, though, and as with the original Nobody Dies, this fic died when Gregg Landsman deleted his notes for both fics.
This fic contains examples of the following:
- Alternate Universe: Similar to how Rebuild of Evangelion was one to its original counterpart.
- Arc Words: I AM. This might be a reference to what Shinji said in the original ending for Evangelion, since the first thing Iblis said is I AM I.
- Aroused by Their Voice: Probably the fact he was woken up at 2 AM, but Shinji finds Asuka's voice to be this when she calls him.
- Badass Boast: The Angels are at it again, starting with Iblis.I AM I
Through license of he who is named "I AM" I have come.
Though my feet must drag upon this Base Earth on this blessed quest, I have come.
I am the second of the messengers,
Tested against the might of those who profane the glory.
Your might shall be tested,
Measured,
And found wanting before us,
And you shall be washed away like debris against the stream.
I am the Sword of God,
Angel of Pride.
I am Iblis.
I have come. - Berserk Button: Don't break Asuka's laptop. Or mistake Kei for Rei. Or threaten Shinji's life if Rei is even remotely present. If excessive force is available, it will be utilized.
- Cassandra Truth: After a glitched MAGI warns that a sandwich, a dog, the planet Neptune, Maya, and Yui are all confirmed angels. Ritsuko is not in the mood for it declaring Humanity as the 18th Angel
- Character Catchphrase: Shinji has one when distraught: "Oh what the fuck?!" And the majority of the cast? Anything referring to "giant robot", but usually "Shut up and get into the giant robot!"
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Asuka in this one. She winds up torching dinner while talking to Shinji on the phone.
- Dead Fic: The last update was 2014 and all notes for it were deleted.
- Deadpan Snarker: Shinji is this big time compared to his counterpart in the original fic. It also helps that he's the Only Sane Man here. He apparently learned a lot of it from his aunt, and has this trait in common with his not-exactly-adopted-sister, Kei.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Shinji has a bad habit of voicing his inner monologue. Apparently, the chances of him speaking his thoughts aloud are directly proportional to how embarrassing it would be to reveal them to another person. Later, after mind-linking with Shinji in the Entry Plug, Hikari develops the same problem.
- Dynamic Entry: Mari does this early on with Shinji. Except she's twelve, and she winds up standing on Shinji's chest. Rei also performs an Evangelion-sized one that is suitably epic.
- Eldritch Abomination: All of the angels count, really, but special credit goes to Gaghiel: a writhing mass of tentacles, eyeballs, harpoons, egg sacs for cherubim, and mountains of flesh and valleys of organs—so large that it blankets the sea floor for kilometers on end. As Misato put it, "Ah shit. It is the sea floor."
- Electronic Telepathy: As stated below, Shinji, Kensuke, Touji, and Hikari have this when they're all connected to each other in Unit-01's entry plug.
- Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Shinji, Kensuke, Touji, and Hikari all start doing this when they all get linked together in the Entry Plug.
- Lampshade Hanging: Shinji in the third chapter asks a rather sensible question on why the Evangelions would need the Square-Cube Law in the first place.
- Mythology Gag: Shinji saw a picture of Unit-01 wearing a birthday hat.
- Only Sane Man: In many cases, Shinji and Hikari. However, plenty of other characters have their moments as well. Rei, on the other hand...
- Rewrite: Of the original Nobody Dies, due to the backlash on retconning the fourth season in the original fic and the author putting it in hibernation.
- Running Gag: Several character say the term "giant robot" many, many times, almost to the point of Overly Long Gag.
- A lot of characters make reference to Shinji's passive-aggressive commentary.
- "My god, it's 2012 all over again."
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Hikari and Shinji become an item after they are linked up in the Entry Plug. They break up later.
- Shout-Out:
- The first chapter references the quote, almost-word-for-word from the first Skyrim trailer, in a conversation between Gendo, Fuyutsuki, and the others.
- Chapter 2: Chicks dig giant robots
- Also in Chapter 2, the opening runs a slightly modified version of the start of EvAbridged's 2nd episode
- Chapter 4 has one to Pacific Rim on Synchronization. Even what Shinji went through the first time is vastly similar to the one in the film.Synchronization is two souls linking together through experiences, memories and thoughts to control the body of a weapon. The deeper the bond, the better you fight.
- Iti Ayanami's quirky manner of speaking is unmistakably based on Mordin Solus, of the Mass Effect series, complete with short breathes before capping off her observations.
- The MAGI system is revealed to not have the voice of Naoko Akagi, but, instead, has a meek British personality that isn't the smartest computer in the network.
- Like the Mythology Gag above, the image of Eva-01 wearing a birthday hat references another fanfic.
- During a power outage, Shinji jokingly asks Kei if she can see in the dark. Her answer is no, and she can't make her eyes glow either.
- Slasher Smile: Shinji briefly saw an image of her mother pulling that off when they met Kyoko in the seventh chapter. Needless to say, it creeped him out.
- Squee: Rei tends to get very excited about piloting her Eva, and becomes even more so when whatever she's fighting does something cool, like becoming a Transformer.