Jeff was still getting used to everyone knowing of him here in Tazmily. It felt oddly like being a young child at Snow Wood again - a small, isolated place where everyone knew everyone, just much warmer in climate. It also helped the comparison that here, too, everyone knew him because of his father.
He’d replied to questions with affirmations that he was Dr. Andonuts’ son many times before in his life, always pretty aware of the large shoes he had to fill. On Nowhere, though, no one knew of the contributions his father had made to science, and really didn’t know much about him at all besides that he was from the past, and dealt with technology.
That was a rarity here, and Jeff felt almost like he was intruding on the village by having it with him.
There were a few people that were interested in it despite... whatever had happened before Jeff arrived in this time. Like the young couple that had approached him now about Tony’s Walkman he’d borrowed before his trip in the Phase Distorter. Dr. Andonuts had talked about the Tazmily residents before: that many of them didn’t understand or held biases against modern (or ancient?) technology, but the ones who were intrigued, like these two, he’d bluntly said would not leave him alone about it.
Jeff didn’t mind explaining what it was, though. The couple seemed nice enough, and he figured it would be polite to try and be nice to his father’s neighbors.
“Oh, this?” He takes off the headphones and shows them the little gray device.
“It’s a portable music player from my time. Bands record songs onto tapes, and then you can listen to them. You can try it, if you want.” Hopefully they liked The Who.
The verbal warning was appreciated but not really needed, Duster dodges Kumatora’s playful punch easily.
“If you were trying to sneak up on me, I don’t know if yelling is the best idea.” He adds, amused. The thief can always feel the hairs on his neck stand up when someone is behind him, anyway. It’s just all the training engrained into him. Simple as that.
“But hey, if you wanted to spar, you can always just ask.” It’s not like he goes anywhere without his toolbelt anyway, so he’s ready. Kumatora can bring it on!
Betelgeuse: What’s something you can never forget about?
"I mentioned the happy feelings when we went to go fight Giygas, though the other side of this was that I can't forget the feeling before and during that battle with it, either. Every time I think about that operation we had to endure in order to go into the Phase Distorter, the Cave of the Past... even looking at the Phase Distorter... it gives me this icy feeling down in my stomach and I get dizzy and can't think straight.
That tension is something that creeps up sometimes, especially after a nightmare, so unfortunately I can't forget that fear quite yet."
Asteroid: What does your dream life look like?
"Well... I'd like to help people somehow. I know I've been told I'd make an excellent engineer, but I think I'd like a career that I know really impacts others... So I would be doing that.
I'd also like to always be close with Ness, Paula, and Poo. And Tony, of course. And besides them... I'd like to have a family, I think. Even if I don't think I'd be the best parent, I know I wouldn't want to live alone. Oh, and I'd like a lot of pets."
Shooting Star: If you could bring back one thing, what would it be?
"I'm not certain... in terms of things, maybe the submarine I got to pilot? Though I don't know where I'd keep it. Perhaps... some more detailed records of when and where I was born, and who my family members are. I have no idea who my mother is, either... that information I really would like to know."
Gonna answer 10 under a cut because it talks about some of the, uh...more difficult subject matter in End of Evangelion
∗ 26﹕ who was your very first muse ? would you consider writing them now ?
I answered this already, but just to humor the question, I'll refer back to my other answer last time this question came around the blog. Old Vocaloid self insert that predates tumblr.
Hm...I dunno if I'd consider writing her as she last was before she kinda retreated into the recesses of my brain. I'd probably end up completely reworking her into her own OC ( she was already sort of evolving into her own character in her later stages anyway ).
∗ 10﹕ is there a piece of your character’s canon that you refuse to accept ?
I've talked at length before about how I feel about the infamous hospital scene in End of Evangelion. EoE Shinji is just overall a very different, more vitriolic character compared to what we see in the anime. I'll go ahead and link this meta I reblogged a while back because I basically directly quote it whenever I'm asked about this, they were able to put the vague feelings I had into words way better than I ever could LMAOSDHKDFJLG
I don't really outright say it didn't happen, but rather I try to figure a mental process that's a little more in line with the anime that would result in...yanno...that. I just feel like it's a little bit more of a challenge to do it that way you feel? Writing it out entirely feels like the easy, "it's problematic therefore it doesn't exist" solution, which really doesn't work for what Eva tries to be. In the past I've explained it as a lapse in judgement that not even Shinji knows how to explain ( not the most satisfying or in-depth, I know, but this is something I've been struggling with for years ). With him strangling Asuka on the beach, I've written it as some combination of him acting on pent up rage about how Asuka treated him, plus him needing to know he exists in the physical world again, therefore being able to touch someone. Mind you — holding up a big flashing neon sign here so no one gets it twisted — that's not to say any of this is justified behavior. It's not. EoE Shinji does fucked up shit, there's no two ways about it. I've just...tried getting into Anno's head about the whole thing, I guess. I've tried to think whether there's a universe in which this stuff happens. And of course, I'd NEVER actually write this shit out in RP. Not the time or place.
I just...I have a lot of complicated feelings about End of Eva. I don't actively dislike it as a film overall — it has some good things that can connect back to the anime, like "anywhere can be heaven as long as you have the will to live" and Shinji's ultimate rejection of Instrumentality. But it's hard to reconcile several elements of it with the ending of the anime ( which I prioritize over EoE as the conclusion to anime Shinji's character arc ), even though I've tried over the years. Maybe it's just my weird reluctance to just outright change shit about canon, idk.
If anything, I guess my answer to all of this is my post-EoE verse where things start to rebuild and look up for the cast. It's something I like about the manga and rebuild — they're a little more unambiguously optimistic, which I think ultimately does Eva's message of self-love and self-improvement better service. Post-EoE Shinji is generally in a better place mentally and regrets his actions in EoE. He chose a world of individuality, which means he needs to take ownership of those actions and do better.
confutatis - what does your muse think about their childhood home / home life? is it a safe place? how did it impact the way they grew up? regardless of whether it is or isn’t, does your muse think it is a good place?
[ I'm answering this question for Snow Wood, as that's the place that Jeff legitimately sees as his childhood home. He doesn't really remember anything from Dr. Andonuts' lab, and even if he did, he regards Snow Wood much more fondly.
Jeff's childhood was anything but perfect - much of his early childhood was spent in and out of hospitals because of first catching pneumonia as a toddler, then from various developmental delays due to Dr. A's neglect. However, Jeff's of the opinion that, given the circumstances, the staff at Snow Wood did all that they could to give him a loving childhood. It always felt warm and safe, and even on the occasions that no one was able to look after him during certain holidays, someone would always stay at the school to make sure that little Jeff wasn't alone. The professors and a few families - Maxwell's, and later Tony's - made sure to teach him what they knew and were always very kind to him, and for that Jeff's very grateful.
He feels very indebted to the school for doing such a large part in making sure that he had somewhere not just to stay, but to thrive. It's partly why he teaches there for a short period while working on his various master's degrees, and I've always headcanoned that he donates money to the school as an adult. He also ends up inheriting Dr. Andonuts' lab a few years after his disappearance, and Jeff, not wanting to go through any of it, donates that to Snow Wood to use as well, as a science lab for the students, just to give the building a more helpful purpose in his eyes. ]
kyrie - what are your muse’s thoughts on the afterlife?
[ What happens when someone dies is something that Jeff doesn't much consider past a few debates with friends, mostly because he hasn't really had anyone's passing to grieve. He mostly thinks that nothing happens when someone dies, and that there's no afterlife at all. However, not only have the confirmation of ghosts shaken that resolve, but there's always been something about what happened at the Cave of the Past that shakes him. He doesn't think it's exactly someone reaching from the afterlife, but perhaps another plane of existence, and maybe something like that is the closest thing humans can perceive as a heaven, hell, or purgatory. ]
Venus pats Jeff's head affectionately, ruffling his shaggy hair. "Hey, Mini-Donuts, promise me that we're gettin' out of this town soon. I swear I'll getcha whatever you want if you do. You name it, I'll get it." She flashes him a bright smile.
unprompted
"Don't pack your bags yet, but I'm hopeful I'll get it done soon."
At the friendly gesture from Venus, Jeff breaks out into a wide grin, laughing a little at the nickname - though the long hair in his face afterwards has him shake his head to get it to fall back into place, even if it doesn't look any less messy than it did before.
"Venus, you don't owe me anything; we're friends... and headed back to virtually the same place in space and time, anyway. It’s no chore.
Though if I were to take you up on your offer... it'd probably be a car. No one back home seems to think that me driving is a good idea."
“it’s well known that one day, soon, artificial intelligence will take over.” ( with the double jeffs )
Internet Historian Prompts - No Longer Accepting
Jeff smiles a little, looking up at his counterpart from the machine he was fixing and turning his little wrench around in his hands. He knew that he enjoyed discussing ideas like this (though the idea of anything “taking over” in a violent sense, perhaps not as much), and this gave him the impression that the other Jeff did, too.
“Well, of course. However, I’ll have to argue, despite the rapid rate at which technology’s been advancing in recent years, I doubt that takeover will be anytime soon. People tend to be more resistant to instilling that sort of change when it comes to advanced technology, even at a time where humans could have made anything that would have the ability to ‘take over.”
He taps the end of the wrench idly to his cheek at he talks, but gives his counterpart a grin.
“Though I’d have to say that after dealing with alien artificial intelligence, I rather like my chances with human-created ones, too.”
