Art of the day:

Evangelion character art by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Today was a challenging day. It didn’t have to be challenging, however sometimes people around you make it challenging in small ways. Each of these characters in Evangelion is said to represent parts of Hideki Anno, its mad director who weaves subtext deep into each one. After viewing the series, and all of its rebuilds, a word comes to mind: Passive. Rei, a clone of Shinjis mother, is nothing but a tool for Gendo, Shinjis father. Seemingly innocent, she blindly obliges him, accepts her circumstance, and showing no emotion passively agrees to everything with almost total apathy. She is not alone in presenting “passive” as a personality however. Shinji is also passive, in that he would rather do nothing. Shinji is an introvert, suffers what is referred to as “the porcupine” personality and naturally distances himself from conflict out of cowardice. The majority of Shinji’s motives are selfish – he’d rather not be involved, but due to his desire to be accepted, he begrudgingly accepts his circumstances. Asuka is also passive… passive aggressive. Often described as one of the original “tsundere”, Asuka’s motives are driven to prove herself worthy of the station she has been assigned. When she is not readily acknowledged by her peers, a head in the clouds Shinji and silent Rei, she lashes out. The other characters are also passive in their own ways, Kaworu kind of being the merger of all three major character traits – and Misato drinking her sorrows away, allowing her feelings to invade her judgement.

Song of the day:

Kx5, a collaboration between deadmau5 and Kaskade – we have a heavy hitter deep bass-line produced by Elderbrook. Elderbrook is a singer/songwriter that explores the sensitive and introspective themes of identity and mental health. Passive. Questions about being visible as a person, if anyone cares, is anyone listening. To me, it’s all internalized, and the lyrics a reflection of what is going on in someones head. It expresses most of what was discussed above, particularly Shinji’s dilemma. If you are passive, you suffer – and like the porcupine, those that try to get close will get harmed by a defense mechanism.

Thought of the day:

Right now, I’m a bit frustrated by my own circumstances. The worst thing you can do, is be passive about something you don’t want to do and waste other peoples time sitting there and letting it happen. “Let sleeping dogs lie”. That’s what most people will do. Consider they wake that dog. Will it wake up for a moment and go back to sleep? Will it become aggressive? Will it run away? They don’t have to be passive, and stay quiet. It’s not like anyone’s starting conflict. You aren’t doing anything wrong if you want to have an open discussion on a subject either. Just consider your audience. Consider your feelings at the time. Consider your reaction. Consider the subject. Is it really worth it? If anyone has a shred of respect for you, they’re going to reply with the secret fourth option: Listening. But don’t waste someones time dancing around something, or worse, guilt trip them. If you can’t cope, just tell it like it is. Don’t be mad if you don’t like someones response, though.