Headcanon that after Hermann accepts that Newt is ghosting him, he still sends him emails like all the time. But not really because he expects a response or even Newt to read them. It’s just like sending messages out into the void, writing only for himself about whatever’s on his mind and his day and all that. And he finds out later Newt read every single one and he has Thoughts.

hermannsthumb:

god this is my hc for how the separation went too pretty much? i think hermann kept emailing even when newt stopped replying regularly and i think maybe the precursors let newt make the most basic replies every now and then (ie avoiding discussing work/only making boring small talk) just enough that it doesn’t arouse too much suspicion like newt cutting out hermann entirely would (and newt’s replies got shorter and less and less frequent each time before they stop altogether)

hermann just. continuing to send him stuff anyway after newt seemingly stops caring is so SAD. but at the same time i feel like newt (once he’s freed from precursor control w the power of love thanks) would really, really appreciate it, because he’s already been forcefully separated from the man he loves for ten years but at least he wasn’t cut off from him entirely? he still sort of has an idea of what the decade’s been like for hermann even if he couldn’t reply, current hermann’s not a complete stranger to him

So I’m very good at English, right? In my college English class every week we had to read an essay from our book and discuss it. I never did because I was lazy so I just skimmed it during the class…but I’m very good at English and participating and whatnot. So one time the teacher lectured the class about how more of us needed to read and namechecked me as an example of someone super prepared. So what I’m saying is this is totally Newt in school, particularly for his non-science subjects

hermannsthumb:

newt spent his early school years finely tuning his ability to bullshit work he was too lazy to put effort into and he 100% carries those skills over into his shatterdome days. newt will type up reports for stacker approximately twenty minutes before they’re due in a frantic sleep-deprived haze whereas hermann will have spent a week on his, but somehow stacker always compliments newt’s work and never hermann’s. hermann is perpetually furious about this

Some things I learned while wearing the Newt Tattoos for several days (as I sob brokenly at the prospect of washing them off in time for work stuff):

– They’re super badass. I mean, goes without saying but should be mentioned up front. They’re colorful and cool and when you roll up your sleeves you feel cool. The contrast between a rolled up white shirt and the colorful forearms is like the most amazing accessory you’ve ever had. 

– Meta note: Newt is definitely a nerd with some self confidence issues he makes up for with being brash and loud. Unless you have long sleeves on, you can’t FAIL to see these things on you, and even then the “hands” of the Kaiju peek out above the wrist. Personally, I think Newt derives a great deal of confidence from seeing these “rockstar” marks on him at all times, a good bolster/pick-me-up whenever things get tough. The fact they’re Kaiju and he’s a, if not THE, Kaiju specialist adds another element of pride. He has a constant, visual reminder in his field of vision pretty much at all times of what he has accomplished. It’s a psychological aspect of his character brought on by his tattoos I’d definitely incorporate into fic going forward. If he should ever feel cruddy about his own intellect or his own accomplishments, he can’t help but see his tattoos in his field of vision (then again, post-Uprising, those could easily take on a different emotion altogether, again, always in his field of vision unless he wears long sleeves, like he does in most of Uprising until the final scene). 

– As someone with ADHD, the tattoos were interesting to have too. I’m on the fence as to whether they’re a mild distraction OR if they provide a fidget-spinner level of distraction, IE just enough low-grade stimulation to make listening to other people easier. I think it could be either, but for Newt, playing off the first Meta note, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the latter, and serve a psychological role for him above simple confidence booster, but actually the myriad colors and focus on his favorite hyperfixation help stabilize him emotionally and give him something to focus on to keep his stimulation level up during boring situations where his mind would wander. 

– They make you move differently. This is because the fake tattoos provide a very slight pressure on your forearms. But consciousness of that, combined with the leather bracelets on the left wrist made me gesture differently, and once I was astonished to realize that without meaning to, I gestured very similarly to Newt in the ‘Just give me a second, please’ moment in the lab in PR1. You resist crossing your arms or moving in a way that could brush or scratch the tattoos against something, because the temporary ones can be damaged. So as a result, I noticed I was gesturing palms down a lot more, forearms exposed to the air and protected from each other and any surface. It was an immediate, unconscious difference in how I carried myself that suddenly made aspects of Charlie’s visual performance much clearer, especially since I haven’t necessarily seen him make those gestures in any other role. You can’t help but gesture like Newt (if you’re a gesturer, like me) once they’re on you, you just move differently.

– I was a little freaked out by the Kaiju the first time I saw PR1 so I was worried that it would be freaky to have them tattooed on me for even a day, but I’ve actually grown immensely fond of the design in a short time and they don’t feel monstrous at all after awhile. If anything, I’m regretting that I have to get rid of them. 

– Final meta note: people comment on the tattoos a lot less often than you’d think. Granted, I’m in NYC, but I didn’t field a single question about them. I’d even argue that in the Pacific Rim world, you’d have to be pretty close up to Newt to notice they were Kaiju and you’d have to “have a good eye” like Raleigh to notice they are Kaiju and which ones they are, because they’re so stylized. Otherwise, from a distance, they just look like any other colorful full sleeve, and especially with the millennial generation those are getting more common in the workplace. You’d have to be very old fashioned (like Hermann) or very strict (like a military organization, then again tattoos are common there too) to take much issue with them. My point being, I don’t think Newt’s getting regularly harassed on the streets because of his choice of tattoo BUT I bet he DOES in the PR universe get an unexpected attack maybe once a month or once a year from a nosy bystander who figures it out. So it’s not a daily thing I don’t think, he’s used to people pointing them out, but he’s not scared even when Raleigh notices Yamarashi. Again, they’re so stylized you’d have to be incredibly nosy to tell what’s going on with them and you’d have to stare for awhile. 

I think that about sums up my findings, off to wash my forearms off and go back to being a normal person *weeps*

(Guide to how I made them here, and how they looked here.)