#pacific rim spoilers

[californiannostalgia]

Things I noticed on my Pacific Rim rewatch:

1. Raleigh had his left arm ripped off while he was piloting the left hemisphere, then had his right arm and leg shredded while he was piloting the right hemisphere. Holy fuck he has been through it. His resilience and battle focus is enough to be recognized by Pentecost, whose solo Tokyo battle was three hours long.

2. Implied that Hercules Hansen was one of the OGs, like Cherno Alpha. Wonder what happened to his copilot before he began drifting with his son. Wonder what happened to the Jaeger he piloted before Striker Eureka.

3. Pentecost says he carries nothing into the drift, but that just means he knows how to match with anyone, right? Wonder what that final drift was like in Chuck Hansen's head.

4. Tendo Choi is in command of the bridge when neither Pentecost nor Herc Hansen is present. I forgot that he reverts to Cantonese in stress situations, love these details.

5. I enjoy the bilinguals of this film. Also really interesting choice to focus on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean: Australians, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, and a badass Marshal who strikes deals with the black market and literally anyone else who will fund the Jaeger program. We get to have industrial apocalypse, alien thriller, and cyberpunk in one film. (Side question: are the Americas' coastlines devastated?)

6. Mako's expressions are so. Agh. Her face shows what she's feeling with unshielded honesty (she feels so much, like Raleigh) but she carries herself like Pentecost: deliberate, controlled. Very much his student (daughter).

7. Newt and Hermann are obsessed with their scientific theories being right, even if it means the possible doom of humankind. Iconic Academics. Also they must be important enough to have helicopters on call, since they run out of one to get to the bridge in time for the final fight.

8. Final goodbyes between Stacker Pentecost and Mako Mori.

9. Mako and Raleigh are two of many orphans who had no intention of surviving the war that took their families. Raleigh's last sacrifice was simultaneously the most selfless and selfish thing to do. Good for him to have survived, Mako would've found it hard to forgive him.

10. "Stop the clock."

[lemonlinelights]

Ten Years to THE pairings <3

Drift Compatible💕

[swivel-seat]

If there's one thing Pacific Rim gave us, it's the concept of ripping someone's other half away.

It's been a while since I've seen it, so I may be misremembering some parts, but what I remember is- The movie starts with two brothers who pilot a giant monster-killing mech together, because it's too much of a strain on just one person. It's kind of a a left brain right brain thing. While duking it out with a monster, the mech fails and one of the brothers is killed while still attached to the mech, and bi extension his brother. Lots of trauma and emotions happens, and it's a big plot point in the movie.

I love the concept of "we're attached, we're two halves of something bigger, and- now it's just one..."

There's so much a writer could do with it!! Anyway, I'm clearly having writing thoughts XD Its fun.

[misscrazyfangirl321]

Platonic Topher and Adelle + "We need to talk about your life choices"

(Here, have some Pacific Rim AU!)

-

"We need to talk about your life choices," she tells him, proud when her voice doesn't shake. The metal of the gun is cold in her hand, the weight of it more than its sum, but it does the trick: He puts his hands in the air, pausing his calculations.

"Okay. Sure thing, boss. Talk away." But any facade of fondness has fallen away (not needed, not anymore); the smirk he gives her is cold, his eyes empty. So different from the warm, lovely smiles he used to offer on even the darkest of days.

Her beautiful, beautiful boy. What have they done to him? "Topher, I know you're in there."

He rolls his eyes. "Look, we've been over this already: he can't fight me. None of you can. He's-"

"-not strong enough. Yes, you've mentioned." It feels like a betrayal to even say, but she will not fight that war when a far greater one is raging around them. "But he can still hear me, can he not? There are a few things I've like to say to him. Two, really."

Apparently satisfied that she isn't going to shoot him, he lowers his hands, turning back to his computer. "I mean, go for it. Not sure why he'd listen to you after you did this to him, but-"

"I didn't!" She protests before she can stop herself, but then forces herself to inhale. Focus; this isn't about them. "Very well. First of all, I want you to know that I forgive you. The things you're doing aren't your fault; they're forcing your hand."

Topher-or rather, the thing now using him-scoffs, continuing to push the buttons to usher in the apocalypse. "Wow, that is just... Super touching. Might even shed a tear about it when he kills you."

The image of that-of poor Topher having to live with that-is too dreadful to even contemplate, and she pushes it firmly aside. "And the second thing is that I love you. I always have, as dearly as if you were my own child."

He's too caught up in his laughter, in his mockery of pathetic human emotions, to catch the shift in her tone. She steps forward, gun long replaced by a thin syringe, and plunges it into the side of his neck.

As he collapses, she catches him, cradling him close as they both sink to the ground. Pressing her forehead to his, she murmurs, "And I promise you, I will find a way to save you. But I can't let them destroy us all."

[necarion]

I know a lot of folks are really invested in the romantic subtext and relationship between Gideon and Harrow. And I have to say I’m glad that it hasn’t necessarily been going there.  There’s something kind of refreshing about a story with two characters who are definitively lesbian (and at least one definitively sexually lesbian) growing to love and trust each without it being a romance.

Related to my appreciation of the end of Pacific Rim where the two characters, who have amazing chemistry, go in for what could be a kiss, and then don’t. There are lots of romance stories, and very few non-romantic “bromances” (for lack of a better word).

[sintiendoelastre]

I think they're neat

Bonus points if one of them gets possessed

[themilanobitch]

favourite ship dynamic: pair of scientists (one of which is a cane user) single handedly saving the world with the sheer power of their love for each other

[fisherrprince]

having visions

[littledozerdraws]

preview of my piece for the @edgeofhopezine --- pre-orders are open now and until August 4! ⚡️ here's a link to the shop ⚡️

[avelera]

Oh man, what if there IS a time skip for Good Omens S3 and we DO flash forward to Supreme Archangel Aziraphale and Duke of Hell (There Was A Vacancy) Crowley as bitter exes, WHAT IF??

[theinternetisaweboflies]

Jägermeister

Chapter Seventeen: Black Market

PPDC-43-CA-10963842491 ATTN: UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES  HONG KONG SHATTERDOME BUNKER 47B (17-B-3) 01/23/25 1441  TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT ORCON Classified by: LER-OPNS-IDH Dated: 2025JAN23 Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals

R. MORI: Excuse me! 

DOG HOWLING 

R. MORI: I need to see the Marshal immediately! 

DOG HOWLING 

S.O. TEBUTT: He’s in a meeting with the Secretary General!

DOG HOWLING 

R. MORI: It will only take [unintelligible]!

DOG HOWLING 

S.O. LINDUM: You can’t just [unintelligible]!

DOOR OPENING

DOG HOWLING 

S.G. KRIEGER: What the [unintelligible] is going on?

DOG HOWLING 

S.O.: TEBUTT: Ranger Mori is here to see you, sir!

DOG HOWLING

S.G. KRIEGER: I’m in a meeting! 

DOG HOWLING

R. MORI: I’m so sorry to interrupt, Secretary General! It’s Max- He won’t stop crying! 

DOG HOWLING

M. HANSEN: Come here, you ugly old mutt. 

R. MORI: I think he’s missing his master.

M. HANSEN: Yeah, I know you miss him, Max. I do too. Thank you, Ranger Mori, I’ll take him from here. Dismissed. 

R. MORI: Yes, sir. 

DOOR CLOSING

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: Oh, that’s right. I don’t believe I’ve expressed my condolences yet. 

HANSEN: Thank you, Secretary Krieger. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Please, call me Dustin! There’s no need to be so formal when it’s just the two of us!

M. HANSEN: Oh, well, thank you, uh, Dustin. You can call me Herc. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Of course, Herc!

M. HANSEN: I’m sorry about Max, and once more, I’m really sorry for being so late. There was a fire in the men’s loo off the Jaeger Bay. I don’t know why they called me. I’m not that kind of bloody Marshal. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Don’t worry about it! I know what it’s like to get bothered with a problem well below your paygrade! 

PAUSE

M. HANSEN: Right. Well, enough small talk. Why don’t we get down to brass tacks? 

S.G. KRIEGER: You're a straightforward guy. I like that. I’m the same way. 

M. HANSEN: Glad to hear it, Dustin.

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: Since the end of the war, there have been talks to dissolve the PPDC. I know, that’s gratitude for you, but people want to put the war behind them. If we want to save the PPDC, we need to restructure it as a fully civilian organization, bringing everything under my umbrella: Security, Medical, transport- even the eggheads in the science division. 

M. HANSEN: To do what exactly?

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: Robots for Humanity. 

M. HANSEN: I beg your pardon?

S.G. KRIEGER: Just picture it. Jaegers rebuilding the regions around the Pacific Rim that were most damaged by the kaiju. We would rebrand as the Pan Pacific Development Corp. Wouldn’t even need to print new mugs. 

M. HANSEN: You want to use Jaegers to.. build houses? I think they’re a bit better at knocking ‘em down, mate. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Oh, it would mostly be for publicity, of course. We don’t want robots taking away people’s jobs! Just kidding, but we can get labor for cheap with the Wall of Life project now defunct. The Jaegers would ostensibly be to bring in donors, but we would keep development going, just in case the kaiju came back. 

M. HANSEN: The Breach is closed. 

S.G. KRIEGER: For now. Even if it’s closed for good, well, there have always been wars of one kind or another. How long do you really think we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya, Herc? Soon enough, peacetime will come to an end. There will be war. Jaegers will be used to fight it. By the time that happens, the UN will have ceded control of the PPDC to the United States of America.

M. HANSEN: Wh- What? Why would they do that?

S.G. KRIEGER: We have a plan in place, but I’ll be honest: If we could bring the Jaegers directly into the U.S. Armed Forces, it would turn our ten-year plan into a five-year one. The only reason we were going to jettison the military division was because we knew Pentecost would never go for it, but I think you might be different, Herc. You know how the world works. You could still have a place at the new PPDC. Now, I know you’re technically Australian, but you don’t have to be.  

PAUSE

M. HANSEN: That’s very generous of you. I feel obliged to accept. 

S.G. KRIEGER: I knew it. I’ve never gone wrong trusting my gut. 

M. HANSEN: Do you really think people will let the U.S. take control of the PPDC like that?

S.G. KRIEGER: Of course they will! We stopped the war. Everybody knows Mori ejected before the payload was delivered. That was our guy! An American! Not to mention your Dr. Geizer. I will admit, I didn’t anticipate his level of celebrity, but well, if anything… people love a martyr even more. 

M. HANSEN: What are you saying?

S.G. KRIEGER: Don't act naive, Herc. I thought you were supposed to be the war-hardened vet. The doctor is an important asset, but we aren’t unrealistic about his chances for long-term survival. We’ll tell everyone it was a tragic consequence of his drift with the kaiju. It'll barely be lying. 

PAUSE

M. HANSEN: Let me make sure I understand. Dr. Geiszler is part of this- our plan?

S.G. KRIEGER: It’s called Operation Keepsake. Well, his involvement was also unanticipated, but now we’re hoping to use him to understand the hive mind. That was how he put it in his official report, right? A hive mind. Fascinating stuff, I’m sure. Of course, I didn’t understand most of it myself, but I got the gist. If two humans can pilot a 250-foot Jaeger, just think about what we could accomplish by applying hive mind technology.

PAUSE

M. HANSEN: So that’s why you asked Dr. Geiszler to meet you off-site.

S.G. KRIEGER: Well, he could hardly disappear from the hotel either! We needed to take custody of him, officially, but we needed an excuse to do it, since he was about to be cleared by medical. Fortunately, the Buenakai were already providing us with a Kaiju brain. All we had to do was pay them a little extra. 

M. HANSEN: Then why did you raid the bunker?

S.G. KRIEGER: Oh, well, that’s not important. The import-

M. HANSEN: Oh. I get it. They cut you out. You were used to the American Buenakai, who come from Kentucky and have never seen a Kaiju outside the 1:100th scale statues in their megachurches, but this wasn’t them. This was the Hau Wong Buenakai, who saw the double event and didn’t blink. Basically, they took the ransom and tried to kill the hostage anyway. Did I get that right?

S.G. KRIEGER: Well, of course the Chinazis sold us out, but we had everything under control.

M. HANSEN: So now you’re going to make Dr. Geiszler drift with the kaiju brain again. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Exactly!

M. HANSEN: Which is exactly how the damn doomsday cult was planning to reopen the Breach.

S.G. KRIEGER: That’s completely different. Besides, with the hive mind on our side, we could take the fight to them!

M. HANSEN: Well, I can see why you’re so keen on the idea of the hive mind.

S.G. KRIEGER: I knew you would be-

M. HANSEN: Considering you don’t seem to have one of your own. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Excuse me?

M. HANSEN: Well, you did just monologue your evil plan. The cult didn't even do that.

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: You- You’re making a big mistake, Marshal. You have no idea what you’re going up against. It'll be your word against mine, and Representative Taylor is an old col-

M. HANSEN: Actually, it’ll be your word against the both of ours. 

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: What- What are you talking about?

M. HANSEN: Secretary Taylor isn’t going to want anything to do with you if this recording goes public.

S.G. KRIEGER: You bugged the damn dog?

M. HANSEN: He has a name, you know. 

S.G. KRIEGER: Officer Tebutt! Get-

M. HANSEN: Before you try anything especially stupid, you should know that I took some precautions. I had Dr. Gottleib handle the cybersecurity, so this recording is already backed up to the cloud. If he doesn't enter a code once a day, the news goes straight to the UN and TMZ. You should also know that he is a very punctual man. 

S.G. KRIEGER: This is blackmail! 

M. HANSEN: I’m so glad you understand.

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: What do you want?

M. HANSEN: Dr. Gottleib will keep entering that code on three conditions. One: You leave the Hong Kong Shatterdome now. Two: You resign from the PPDC tomorrow morning. Three: You never come near me or mine again.

S.G. KRIEGER: You- You’re just a damn grunt. I should have known you wouldn’t understand politics. You forget that I still have a piece in the game.

M. HANSEN: This isn’t a damn game, mate.  

S.G. KRIEGER: I still have your man. 

M. HANSEN: No, you don’t. 

PAUSE

S.G. KRIEGER: Dr. Geizer-

M. HANSEN: Dr. Geiszler is safe and sound. You can check in with the officers you assigned to him, if they pick up for you. The Security Office is still under my command, and more importantly, they’re my goddamn comrades- brothers, sisters, and siblings-in-arms, every last one of them. We were here at the end of the world, while you were cooling your heels Stateside. I may not understand politics, Dustin, but I don’t think you understand war.

...

@lastdaysofwar

[baronessmeinster]

Last year during Dracula Daily I saw a post about how it's extremely difficult to read someone else's shorthand. I was telling my partner about it, and how the fact that Jonathan and Mina can read each other's shows how close they are.

Except I decided to say they're Drift Compatible.

And since I said that out loud, my brain immediately latched on, as it does.

So, since Dracula is cannonically a Scholomance graduate/alchemist/general arcane magic-user, he uses Evil Powers to open the dimensional rift and let the kaiju through.

Mina and Jonathan's jaeger is the Lucy's Revenge.

Quincey and Arthur are copilots, as are Seward and Van Helsing.

[sh1za-kun]

Why there is still no Pacific Rim AU for Ghostflower?

[ladybender]

In Between Clear Blue Water

Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb (Pacific Rim)

Tags: 

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Slow Burn; Ghost Drifting; Canon Disabled Character; Not Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) Compliant; this is my hate letter to uprising; Post-Movie: Pacific Rim (2013); Post-Kaiju War; POV Alternating; Angst with a Happy Ending

Chapter summary:

On the morning of their test drive, Hermann is sick to his stomach. He'll have to drift again with Newton and he is not ready. But it's too late to turn back.

[irradiate-space]

Tuesday Typings

I came back from the North American Science Fiction Convention with so many books. Notes on costume stuff, one giant costume todo list, and recent reads/watches as well.

Books acquired recently

The Archive Undying, Emma Mieko Candon, 2023, bought

This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, 2020, bought — finished and enjoyed

The Sng of Achilles, Madeline Miller, 2012, bought

Translation State,, Ann Leckie, 2023, bought

Francis: The People's Pope, Ted Rall, allegedly autographed, 2018, bought

The Stars Like Dust, Isaac Asimov, 1996 paperback printing, gifted

The Courier, Gerald Brandt, 2016, free pile

Alliance Rising, C. J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher, 2019, free pile

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett, 2019 Broadway promo printing, free pile

Mica, fille de Transyl, Michèle Laframboise, 2012, free pile — I do not read the French; this is going on a gift pile for a Francophone friend

To Climb a Flat Mountain, G. David Nordley, 2009?, bought after the author gave me an answer to a worldbuilding problem

Burning Days, Glenn Grant, 2011, free

This Virtual Night, C.S. Friedman, 2021, free

To Each This World, Julie Czerneda, 2022, free and signed

The Complete Smoke Trilogy, Tanya Huff, 2019, free

She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan, 2021, free

All of the free books are from Pemmi-Con; half are from DAW Publishers who were really, really generous.

Recent Reading and Watching

This is How You Lose the Time War surprised me with the identity of the Seeker; mid-book I thought there might be another operative tailing them, or a Purple child, or a third side to this war. That last prediction was quite close!

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn - Bande Dessinee Episode: 0 wasn't particularly thrilling, but I value it because it fills out the characters of Full Frontal and Angelo Sauper, and how the Zeonist public sees things before the initiation of the Third Neo Zeon War, aka The Laplace Incident.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been good through season 7; I ned to track down season 8 to see if they later appearance of Ashoka in Star Wars Rebels makes any sense.

Legend of Galactic Heroes: I have finally finished this. RIP to a legend, but we all knew that the death flag for the last person to die was waved at the end of the third season. Rubinsky's end was also fitting: reflecting of how he was no longer part of the plot, he was also no longer part of politics. His last gasp felt irrelevant, and really was.

Pacific Rim: The Black is a 3dcg film that's reminiscent of RWBY and Dragon Prince in style, but with the same Ramin Djiwadi soundtrack, and some neat twists that really delve into the fridge horror of the setting. But this is a kids' show, so there's little blood, the decapitations happen out of frame, and the heads don't roll too far. Episode 7 has a nice "it's dangerous to go alone; take this" moment.

Computing

A 2.1A powerbank is not enough to stably power a Pi 1 B+ with a 4.0" square Hyperpixel Touch display and a wireless keyboard. Big Sad. Next question is if a PiSugar 3 battery controller will work with a Pi 1 B+ or if I should splurge $75 on a Pi 4 for this device.

I'd like to have a mobile compute terminal that's smaller than a 13" laptop, but still has USB ports. Scrollwheel and a button to toggle the OSK would also be nice.

Primary nonwork laptop's keyboard continues to degrade; It's becoming a desk item. Its degradation is the primary driver of the new palmtop development.

Actually, wait, I have a spare CM4 from a StereoPi 2 device. I could use that, with a compatible breakout board maybe. Or I could test the Hyperpixel screen on the Stereopi board directly. Then I'd have a 4" touchscreen mated to a … 5" wide board? Well, it'll at least let me test some things, like whether the CM4 works for this use case. Bonus dual cameras is a questionable bonus.

Crafting

KInda burnt out on crafting, tbh. Last two weeks were full of crunch before Pemmi-Con/NASFiC, which netted me a "Judge's Choice in Novice Class" award and "Best Use of Modern Tech" in the Masquerade competition.

Next up, over @glowingskull, I plan to post rundowns of the stuff I made, and maybe some shapefiles, but there's a lot of work left in this costume and I plan to redo large parts of the headgear.

Because, let's be honest, the post-con todo list for that costume is basically:

Better photographs?

Write up the project

Print off a holder for these parts, because I'm retiring them to mount on the wall

Redesign snout, again, to remove grilles and double-thicken all the parts

Resculpt temples and ears of skull

Put a visor in the eye holes

Eye-lights in visor?

Enclose head: back of skull, ventilation, neck sock

Redo the flame staff's camera monopod mount attachment point for durability (may require welding?)

Sculpt a model for the chestpiece, so it's plastic instead of foam

Sculpt a model for arm bracers

And then on top of that I also want to:

Document the Servicer outfit

Sew on a Masonic patch for the Servicer outfit

Build some DIY NVGs for use in costume projects like this one

Write up the Baba Yaga's Hut costume which won Best In Show

I think my next costume goal, after the revised Turaga Vakama, will be an Earth Federation Space Forces officer uniform, so I can give the planned "WTF is Zeon" lectures in character.

The next head goal will be a Deinonychus head with articulated jaw, which requires advancements in augmented reality. Need to get the StereoPi working, or ditch/sell it and switch to paired NVG monocles.

Music

I think it's time for Pacific Rim soundtracks. Pacific Rim: The Black sounds somewhere between the Pacific Rim movies' soundtracks and the tense violin work from the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie with RDJ and Jude Law, soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Not particularly Australian, unfortunately.

Lego Stuff

Gotta merge the two submarine kits, and build the Emperor's Throne Room that I won at pinball at Pemmi-Con.

[apinchofm]

I haven't finished Castlevania Nocturne but Richter and Annette are becoming my new Raleigh and Mako.

Oh my gosh, I was wondering who they remind me of and yes!!