Ah yes, Ayanami Rei, the First Child, also the first to die. Mr. Adrian
Forest, I'll try my best to describe my ideas and suggestions in a myriad of
thoughts.
I cannot say that I am a great writer, but I can say that I specialize with
Ayanami Rei. That is, almost anything I write these days is somehow
influenced by this unique and special girl, even and especially if she is
not the topic of whatever it is that I am writing. There are few writers
who can capture even an essence of Ayanami Rei, and fewer still who can put
it on paper. I believe that I am like that, that I can glimpse a little at
times into what makes Miss Ayanami such a beautiful person, but I can never
put that onto writing just way I think it.
However, I do have some tips. I suggest that you go to almost any populated
area that you find superficial. Think Brave New World by Ardous Huxley.
That is, visit a place (physically or mentally) where people constantly
trudge through life working aimlessly, living aimlessly, all for a trinket
that was oriinally a long-term goal but ultimately a short-term high. A
world of happiness as you see it rather than be it. I'll tell you now that
this kind of place is a busy place, and it seems incredibly exciting, as
everyday is nice and routine, but apparently not without purpose.
When I saw a world like this (and I tell you, I'm living in this world, in
Palo Alto, California -- the most expensive place in the world to live in
currently, even more expensive than Tokyo, Japan) and then saw a character
like Ayanami Rei, whose still and simple presence embodied conflict aiming
towards truth and a more ... transcending ... happiness, I fell in love with
her being and character right away.
Rei was a person who reminded me many things I promised myself when I was in
the middle of a family conflict before moving to Palo Alto as my family
split apart. Somehow, I found she embodied my ideas of never being
ambitious to the point of greed, she embodied a calmness as a passive view
on life that could be ripe and blooming (I'm thinking of how her character
develops as Rei II here). Also, I found that as she came the closest to a
"normal" and/or happy life of the main cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it
was fitting that she was a pale blue girl. Somehow, I find that phrase --
"pale blue girl" -- fitting, not because she has blue hair or is pale, but I
wonder if Anno intended this thought: Rei is pale because she's newborn,
pure, innocent, without corruption (or, sadly, the sun) to hinder her
purity. Somehow, the idea of her being blue also ignites that same
cannotation for me, and also that she is supposed to be strange in that way,
that she's truly got the essence of a child in her. At this point, most
people are either calling me an exxagerating dream-struck nitwit or just
plain not listening, so I'll digress, hoping that this paragraph left some
sort of image in your mind.
So how do you write her? I'm a slow writer, not because I'm out of ideas,
but because I can't seem to piece them into a story that works without
rushing to what I want to write about specifically and disregarding anything
else. This is why I call my homepage "Scenes," because I see scenes in life
and stories when I think of the whole. That is, it is the scenes that
capture and leave a thought. So when I have to write, I promise myself that
sometime in the future, apart from my busy-work life, I'll go out to a
peaceful place, and think. What I did before I wrote "Scenes," a fanfic,
was go to a nearby elementary school, climg up to the roof, lay down on my
back staring at the sky for about twenty minutes, and then head home. It
worked for me, at any rate.
Now, Rei is not all fluff and dandy. Obviously, there are aspects of her
that lead to the terms "strange," "weird," or just plain "wrong." But those
aspects are easier to decsribe, point out, and write about, so I'll let
someone else who responds to Mr. Forest's e-mail talk about that. I'm
writing about something else that I see, because perhaps other people agree,
but like me, can't quite describe it.
I hope this e-mail that you've graciously given your time into ready has
helped somehow. For a more objective (?) summary or Rei's beauty one can
head to my website.
Good luck to the dreamers out there,
Jon
http://members.xoom.com/yaanathn
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