>We all know that I am a Rei fan. We All know that I enjoy Rei and Shinji
>pairings. What you don't know is that I also believe that for Rei to be an
>entertaining love interest, she has to be played out of character.
>
>That's right, original Rei and original Shinji are boring as hell where it
>comes to romances. The fic "The one I love is..." is a great fic but plays
>Rei so far out of character that she acquires some of the aggressive
>personality that attracts us to Asuka in the first place.
>
>Whilst I put my vote in for Rei/Shinji pairings, I also know that in my
>heart, Rei has to become a little more like Asuka in certain regards for
>it to work. Mind you I'm not saying that Rei has to be exactly like Asuka
>or even terribly close. She just has to pick up that element of excitement
>that comes with an outspoken or aggressive personality.
>
>The Rei in "The one I love is..." was not like Asuka at all in the over
>all picture. But she had picked up those qualities in Asuka that make so
>many people vote for Asuka/Shinji fics.
>
>That, is the truth.
>--
>Kind regards
>Disaster

True...Very true. But fanfics like Two Hearts of One Mind seem to show a
different way for a Shinji/Rei pairing to work. IIRC, Rei picks up emotions
from Shinji, and as it turns out...Rei just could never really show emotion
before Shinji changed her. I wouldn't really say that Rei picked up any traits
from Asuka because the traits in Asuka could be present in other characters of
the story. If you really think about it, Asuka and Misato basically give off
the same kind of vibe. Except Asuka chooses to be angry while Misato makes it
fun.

I will agree though. When writing a Shinji/Rei fanfic, you do have to make a
few adjustments to their personalities and that may seem a little OOC, but it
needs to be done to make it work. To make it romantic. To make it sensible.

-Fill my heart with song
 And let me sing forever more...

John