Drive

Matt Stuart Age: 19 Profession: Student, Entrepreneur, and Angel Investor Hometown: San Luis Obispo, CA Current Residence: Tokyo, Japan Relationship Status: Single (Open to multi-ship by AU) Matt Stuart, here. If you did not reach me directly, please leave a message. I'm happy to return your inquiries. [This is an independent OC RP blog.]

[differentblognow-deactivated202]

every time I go on reddit I'm reminded why I hate it

[mrmattstuart]

Ugh… there are so many other possibilities that make a lot more sense, even in the original series timeline. These sorts of proposals have no sense of reality.

[mrmattstuart]

@thesafaribaggirl-returns , @evapilled , time for a Kensuke’s Otaku Corner segment: Ward “Mooch” Carrol’s interview with the project manager behind the Ford Class aircraft carrier!

[differentblognow-deactivated202]

bitches be like "comfort character" and it's a character who's never had comfort in their entire life

[mrmattstuart]

Am I the only one that when I see Toji, I instantly think “Lieutenant DAAAN!”?

[echidna-auxiliatrix]

Doesn’t Kaji sleep around a bunch though?

Nope. If you look at the scenes where him + Misato have sex he doesn’t really seem all that into it. Not a stretch to speculate that he has a low libido, for whatever reason. 

Kaji is definitely inspired by the “sexy spy” trope. But he subverts it in that he’s a man and that he’s not actually that promiscuous, lol.

Here’s a comprehensive list of people he flirted with throughout the series:

1. Misato (should be obvious why)

2. Ritsuko (to annoy Misato)

3. Maya, while drunk, as a joke

4. Shinji, while drunk, as a joke

Also: he took Misato’s flimsy excuse of “there’s another man” at face value and never questioned it. Take that how you will in terms of how he operates in relationships of all kinds.

[mrmattstuart]

The genius twist with Kaji is that it isn’t anything he did that broke off the relationship, despite how Misato behaves. In reality, it’s Misato putting up a front, and the real reason is that she was afraid of falling into the same situation as her mother with her father, while Kaji, seemingly dispassionate at points, is simply trying to give Misato the space she needs to come to her eventual realizations.

Kaji is a decent guy who plays the trope of a roguish womanizer, in order to avoid the judgment of others on his real personality. In a way, all the characters are like Shinji, and adopting different coping strategies for the Hedgehog Dilemma.

[mrmattstuart]

// have to disagree with some of your eva thoughts, one I thought Misato worked perfectly in the tradition of Gainax’s mentor characters for pushing Shinji forward on his path to taking control of instrumentality and two my understanding was Yui ‘died’ only because she wanted to cheat death

That’s a possibility, but there are far smarter ways to mentor someone than putting them in as many embarrassing, harmful, or traumatic situations.

Besides that, any adult who can’t clearly tell they’re working for a Bond level supervillain in a base reminiscent of the Legion of Doom really needs to reconsider their decision making paradigm.

[differentblognow-deactivated202]

sick of evangelion fans exaggerating how confusing it is and only talking about that aspect. "evangelion will give you depression and you will DIE after watching it" stfu all you're doing is driving people away from the show and leaving anyone who actually watches it underwhelmed

[mrmattstuart]

I think the problems come down to two points:

1) Japan’s culture of “grudging acceptance” of community duty as portrayed in anime, and taken so far as the society becoming a death cult during WWII.

2) The “ineffectual solution” that most anime protagonists have to “grudgingly accept” rather than the Western belief of the rights of the individual and that “one man can make a difference”.

EVA epitomizes this, between Yui going along with her engineered death, Gendo sacrificing the world to get back together with Yui, Shinji constantly taking orders without regard to his existence, and even Asuka fighting a hopeless battle because of “someone else’s problem”.

Not once do you have an adult in an authority role make more than a passing comment or boilerplate mention about the Children’s lives and sanity, where 2 seconds later they’re back to figuring out the best way to exploit underage minors.

EVA is not that complicated. A lot of the complexity it supposedly has is the same thing you see in Star Wars and Star Trek: ad-hoc style choices that became part of the world building of the story by coincidentally ringing the bells the audience wanted.

I’ll argue this point every day: what the Children needed was a guardian who would advocate for their safety and needs on the Operations staff. Split Misato into two characters, much like the Kiyone/Mihoshi dynamic. One would be a proper guardian pushing for the pilots’ best interests, while the Ops Director would be hell bent on her mission of vengeance.

[ask-poisonivy-pamelaisley]

Question, Doctor:

I’m curious about your opinion of sustainability and new technologies we could apply to improve the quality of all life on Earth.

I’ve heard good things about graphene and have some ideas how to make fuel cells more profitable and feasible. However, any solution has to avoid stripping carbon dioxide away from Earth’s plant life.

I guess I could use a second opinion how to build a self-governing energy industry that complements rather than overrides the natural order of things.

Pamela: well there’s plenty that could be done to secure a more sustainable future such as recycling or using less fuel that would pollute the air but I think you may have mixed with someone who cares about the preservation of human life.

[mrmattstuart]

I appreciate the feedback, Doctor Isley, though I cannot agree with the disdain for human life.

Now, if we’re talking about Uploaded Intelligence in robots powered by propane and propane accessories, I tell ya h’what…

[mrmattstuart]

@reivelation , some more great stuff on aircraft carriers. “Mooch” is a former Tomcat RIO, and his “Punk’s War” trilogy are an incredibly compelling read.

[mrmattstuart]

@thesafaribaggirl-returns , the one movie that if I were rewriting EVA, one of the NERV senior officers would sit Shinji down and make him watch: “The Cowboys”(1972):

Also including @reivelation , as it might prove inspirational for writing.

“Hurry up, we’re burning daylight!”

[mrmattstuart]

Can someone please explain to me in today’s society which way is up? I’m starting to feel like Mandela in “The Forever War”.

[mrmattstuart]

Question: do I come back as Matt Stuart, or, dare I say, attempt a Misato Katsuragi or Toji Suzahara character?

[mrmattstuart]

Because #nerdlordizumi hasn’t seen “The Wounded”, and it’s a good example of character development.

[cosmictuesdays]

#i think anyone who calls o'brien racist or whatever for being wary of cardassians in ds9 should see this#even ignoring that anti-cardassian sentiment (though not unprovoked violence obviously) among bajorans is one hundred percent justified#and that o'brien never ever acts on being wary of them#and even lies (albeit ineffectively) to rugal about how he feels so as not to hurt his feelings#i think it’s important to remember that o'brien’s mistrust comes from ptsd not narrow-mindedness [source]

[mrmattstuart]

Agreed. I wanted to see more reminiscing between him and Kira, or Ensign Ro.

[mrmattstuart]

RP Starter:“Independent Study”

[ask-asuka-x-shinji]

Complacency? How could anyone consider Asuka complacent? Wasn’t eighth grade when you were still allowed to be complacent, anyway?

He waited in the hall, watching the redhead run off. Sure enough, a few moments passed, and a security officer in fatigues returned with the keys.

Stuart felt along the ragged, brass shape, palming it, kneading it in his grip.

“Asuka,” he started, “how would you like to be the only junior high kid to drive a muscle car to school?”

While certainly part of her thinks that Matt is only offering, because she hadn’t excorsied more control over her outburst. She still would enjoy driving an American car like one of his.. there of course isn’t anything in Japan compreable to the autobahn but it would be so exhilarating. 

“well, i’m more of a BMW R Series Girl, but i can’t say it wouldn’t be fun to impress a few of my dull school mates.” She was grinning genuinely at the thought. 

[mrmattstuart]

“Bikes are fun, but... I don’t see you as a street type.” Matt raised an eyebrow. “Maybe a small displacement dualsport or commuter, not a big bore touring bike.”

The Chevelle wasn’t something he should’ve let anyone borrow, even sitting in the passenger seat, supervising. But, if Soryu could handle a giant robot, shouldn’t she be trusted with a monster rat rod?

Walking with her to the A-Body, he propped the driver side door open for her.

“Just do me a favor?” he asked. “Use a light foot on the pedal?”

[mrmattstuart]

RP Starter:“Independent Study”

[ask-asuka-x-shinji]

“I wasn’t trespassing,” Stuart answered. “You know how hard it is to try and drive in this city?” Matt slumped in the chair, staring down at his sneakers. “What I don’t understand is how your Section Two can miss a rare American muscle car making almost 90 decibels of exhaust noise for over an hour. I wound up passing the same weapons pylon at least three times before someone flagged me down!”

But the redhead didn’t care, already teasing him, already trying to make the conversation about her. Tilting his head to one side, he studied her reactions, the odd look she gave him, partly flirting, partly teasing. Did she know how it was coming off?

“I was fully expecting some random red shirt, not someone I knew,” he stated, shrugging. “But, since it is you, Katsuragi wanted me to remind you about the homework you missed. It was confiscated when they picked me up, but I’m sure we can make a special trip to Horaki’s for spares.”

Asuka rolls her eyes in a manner which might make someone question if anyone rolling their eyes was expressing something genuine or not. Before giving a small annoyed huff and putting one hand on her hip before she responded. 

“8th grade literature homework is boring and useless. What am i ever going to need this repeat of middle school for anyway? I shouldn’t need to bother Hikari over something that stupid. It’s not like i’m in disguise. i’m enrolled under my real name.” Okay of course, this wasn’t a repeat of middle school, she had tested out the 8th grade she hadn’t ever actually been in a school before she semester, but the point was still there, she had passed the college exams in Germany, no real need to do it again here. Whether or not Shinji should actually be in the 8th grade wasn’t debatable to her, but if Misato needed her enrolled in school so people wouldn’t think she was an eva pilot, they should have done it under an alias. It’s not like even if she hadn’t said so no one would know who she was. 

“But if you want to feel like you’re helping, i doubt she’d mind too much if i actually went and got a copy.” Of course she’d get two lectures if she didn’t do the work, one form Misato.. and one from Hikari.. and she wanted to sit through neither of those. 

[mrmattstuart]

“Eighth grade literature?” Matt asked. “What’s on the reading list?” Stuart rose, starting down the hall. Maybe it wouldn’t be that difficult to get his car out of impound.

“So, wait… Misato is making you attend junior high even though you’ve passed college?” Sighing, he held his forehead, suppressing the stress headache. “Isn’t the point of life to reward exceptionalism and be more lazy if you can afford it?”

[ask-asuka-x-shinji]

“The point of my life is to avoid complacency! I’m not going to sit around and rest while there’s a chance I could get even a little soft and start conceding my title of top pilot to someone like Baka Shinji! If it got to the point where Wonder Girl was coming close to giving me a run for my money I wouldn’t ever forgive myself! Even if i was picked originally because of how amazing I am i need to keep going and make myself even more of the best!” The speech was well rehearsed in her head. She had to keep telling herself that, because the temptation of spending her time relaxing and resting on her current level was plenty of times overwhelming. But she couldn’t let herself get too lulled into that. 

“I’ll go ask for your car back. How could security resist a request from a super cute defender of humanity? It’ll be easy.” And with that her emotions had done a 180 back to flirty, while the.. the outburst was necessary… she wasn’t entirely sure how she had looked. 

[mrmattstuart]

Complacency? How could anyone consider Asuka complacent? Wasn’t eighth grade when you were still allowed to be complacent, anyway?

He waited in the hall, watching the redhead run off. Sure enough, a few moments passed, and a security officer in fatigues returned with the keys.

Stuart felt along the ragged, brass shape, palming it, kneading it in his grip.

“Asuka,” he started, “how would you like to be the only junior high kid to drive a musclecar to school?”

[mrmattstuart]

RP Starter:“Independent Study”

[ask-asuka-x-shinji]

“I wasn’t trespassing,” Stuart answered. “You know how hard it is to try and drive in this city?” Matt slumped in the chair, staring down at his sneakers. “What I don’t understand is how your Section Two can miss a rare American muscle car making almost 90 decibels of exhaust noise for over an hour. I wound up passing the same weapons pylon at least three times before someone flagged me down!”

But the redhead didn’t care, already teasing him, already trying to make the conversation about her. Tilting his head to one side, he studied her reactions, the odd look she gave him, partly flirting, partly teasing. Did she know how it was coming off?

“I was fully expecting some random red shirt, not someone I knew,” he stated, shrugging. “But, since it is you, Katsuragi wanted me to remind you about the homework you missed. It was confiscated when they picked me up, but I’m sure we can make a special trip to Horaki’s for spares.”

Asuka rolls her eyes in a manner which might make someone question if anyone rolling their eyes was expressing something genuine or not. Before giving a small annoyed huff and putting one hand on her hip before she responded. 

“8th grade literature homework is boring and useless. What am i ever going to need this repeat of middle school for anyway? I shouldn’t need to bother Hikari over something that stupid. It’s not like i’m in disguise. i’m enrolled under my real name.” Okay of course, this wasn’t a repeat of middle school, she had tested out the 8th grade she hadn’t ever actually been in a school before she semester, but the point was still there, she had passed the college exams in Germany, no real need to do it again here. Whether or not Shinji should actually be in the 8th grade wasn’t debatable to her, but if Misato needed her enrolled in school so people wouldn’t think she was an eva pilot, they should have done it under an alias. It’s not like even if she hadn’t said so no one would know who she was. 

“But if you want to feel like you’re helping, i doubt she’d mind too much if i actually went and got a copy.” Of course she’d get two lectures if she didn’t do the work, one form Misato.. and one from Hikari.. and she wanted to sit through neither of those. 

[mrmattstuart]

“Eighth grade literature?” Matt asked. “What’s on the reading list?” Stuart rose, starting down the hall. Maybe it wouldn’t be that difficult to get his car out of impound.

“So, wait... Misato is making you attend junior high even though you’ve passed college?” Sighing, he held his forehead, suppressing the stress headache. “Isn’t the point of life to reward exceptionalism and be more lazy if you can afford it?”

[mrmattstuart]

RP Starter:“Independent Study”

Stuart stared ahead at the blank, off-white plaster of the corridor. The “interview” went more or less as expected. Section Two field operators never asked questions directly with non-NERV personnel. It jeopardized their anonymity. Instead, the civilian liaison conducted the questions, making sure the U.S. Embassy’s representative was temporarily delayed until after the session.

Now, he expected, Katsuragi would be contacted. Civilian neighbors and friends of the head of NERV’s operations team were rare enough, but the fact he somehow became an emergency contact for the Ikari kid was, well, outright bizarre. It reflected poorly on the organization’s internal security.

Glancing down one direction of the hall, he noticed someone familiar.

“Please, don’t even start,” he grumbled.

[ask-asuka-x-shinji]

Confused wasn’t quite enough. An American civilian was standing inside what was still a nominally Japanese controlled UN Government Base, no that wasn’t the part that was confusing. She could remember the ease of his step father letting friends and so forth walk around, but Commander Ikari was much more terrifying than Langley was.. not even Misato would risk letting someone like Matt around here without any need.. so.. Asuka had no idea why they were running into each other in this hallway. Even if it was the hallway out. 

“I wouldn’t have expected you to be trespassing out here. If you wanted to walk in and take a few peaks shouldn’t you have at least found an American uniform someplace, it’s not like you could pass for much of anything dressed like that.” Asuka teases as she gets closer. 

“What? You were expecting Baka Shinji to walk down this hallway? You’re not okay with being in my presence?” 

[mrmattstuart]

“I wasn’t trespassing,” Stuart answered. “You know how hard it is to try and drive in this city?” Matt slumped in the chair, staring down at his sneakers. “What I don’t understand is how your Section Two can miss a rare American muscle car making almost 90 decibels of exhaust noise for over an hour. I wound up passing the same weapons pylon at least three times before someone flagged me down!”

But the redhead didn’t care, already teasing him, already trying to make the conversation about her. Tilting his head to one side, he studied her reactions, the odd look she gave him, partly flirting, partly teasing. Did she know how it was coming off?

“I was fully expecting some random red shirt, not someone I knew,” he stated, shrugging. “But, since it is you, Katsuragi wanted me to remind you about the homework you missed. It was confiscated when they picked me up, but I’m sure we can make a special trip to Horaki’s for spares.”

[mrmattstuart]

RP Starter:“Independent Study”

Stuart stared ahead at the blank, off-white plaster of the corridor. The “interview” went more or less as expected. Section Two field operators never asked questions directly with non-NERV personnel. It jeopardized their anonymity. Instead, the civilian liaison conducted the questions, making sure the U.S. Embassy’s representative was temporarily delayed until after the session.

Now, he expected, Katsuragi would be contacted. Civilian neighbors and friends of the head of NERV’s operations team were rare enough, but the fact he somehow became an emergency contact for the Ikari kid was, well, outright bizarre. It reflected poorly on the organization’s internal security.

Glancing down one direction of the hall, he noticed someone familiar.

“Please, don’t even start,” he grumbled.