Designations Congruent With Things

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Fanfiction
Title: Designations Congruent With Things
Author(s): cleanwhiteroom
Date(s): April 26th, 2014
Length: 253,776 words
Genre(s): Canon Divergence
Fandom(s): Pacific Rim
Relationship(s):
External Links: https://www.cleanwhiteroom.net/

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Designations Congruent With Things is a Newt/Hermann Pacific Rim fanfic by cleanwhiteroom. It was originally published on fanfiction.net on April 26th, 2014, and moved to AO3 along with cleanwhiteroom's additional works in May 2015. Later in 2015, their works were also removed from AO3, though they remain accessible on their website and in copies archived by fans.

Summary

Anyone who wants to drill into Dr. Geiszler's skull must first build him a ziggurat. A study in cognitive dissonance and emotional devotion.

Designations deals with events following the ending of Pacific Rim. After the apocalypse gets cancelled, Newt deals with the aftermath of drifting with a kaiju hivemind. The PPDC wants to ensure that Newt, the still-alive pieces of kaiju brain on Earth, and the troubling presence lingering in Newt's mind (potentially an occurrence of Ghost Drift) are not still connected to the Anteverse: as Newt struggles to stay lucid, the PPDC induces a third drift with the kaiju brain. This leaves Newt in even worse health and potentially brain damaged. Hermann smuggles him out of Hong Kong and to the U.S., where he gets a job as a professor and takes care of Newt, keeping an eye on him to to make sure no disasters of the death-by-neurological-dysfunction or kaiju-mind-melding variety occur. Prominent themes include identity issues, humanity, government overreach, and the undefined nature of Newt and Hermann's relationship after years of unresolved tension (as established in several additional in-universe stories).[1] Although it is not the narrative's main focus, the romance between Newt and Hermann is an important part of their dynamic; toward the end of the story, their attraction to one another is made explicit, and they get married off-screen.

Designations Congruent With Things was podficced by elementals, with a download available on their website. The Designations universe also includes stories such as The Blue Guitar, Out of Many Scattered Things, and Aftermath (a sequel published in early 2021).[2]

Writing Style

The fic contains a great number of philosophical references, largely to Descartes, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard. It is well-known for its verbosity, both in its use of long run-on sentences and in its extensive vocabulary.

Quotes

"What happens to a fraction of a hive mind?"

"You would still like me even if I was intellectually uninteresting?" "The point is, Newton, that you would never be uninteresting to me."

Reception

At the time of its publication, the fic rapidly grew in popularity and was one of the most well-known stories in the fandom even years after it was removed from AO3. It faced some controversy regarding content warnings, the slow pacing of Newt and Hermann's relationship development, and the responses of both cleanwhiteroom and elementals to criticism.[3][4]

Reactions and Reviews

You guys, this fic. THIS FIC. Some of you have already heard me flailing about it while it was still unfinished; it’s complete now, and it is an utter joy. By which I mean that it has reduced me to tears, laughter, awed silence, muffled shrieking, and rocking back and forth in my seat, singly and in various combinations. And has made me actually love these two nerds even more than I already did, which I did not think was possible.

Fair warning: it’s got some pretty immersive descriptions of PTSD and related mental/emotional states, which are helpfully flagged by the author at the beginning of each chapter for your reading convenience.

It's also got some heartmelting cameos by Mako (and yeah Raleigh too), a handful of thoroughly delightful OCs including at least one debatably sentient car, some excellent examination of likely media reactions to the ending of the movie, some backstory so convincing that I forgot it wasn’t canon, and a scene with pancakes.[5]

goddamn like Designations Congruent with Things is a fucking masterpiece i will rec until im dead, and by that point i will continue reccing it as a ghost. just spookily adding it as a bookmark in ppl’s computers. u kno what imma use this as an opportunity to rec it. bc its So Important To Me

DCwT is quite possibly one of the best fanfics ive ever read, and ive read a lot of fic. it’s the almost painfully cerebral newt/hermann fic set post-movie that is so goddamn good i forget it didnt actually happen. be warned that it’s a difficult read, for various reasons (i.e. angst, Oh God So Much Science, run on sentence rambles to die for. did you think your paragraphs were long? oh boy get ready for a ride) but gosh is it worth it. to be honest, the things that make this fic difficult are what makes it incredible. language to die for. characterizations that feels unreliable and real at the same time. so many references. tbh whatever i say will not do this fic justice bc it’s just….so much. i cant believe it exists. i cant believe we were this lucky.

i followed that piece of art ever since the 1st chapter. did u kno that for a brief period of time, the author had ended that fic at ch10? there was a brief period where ch10 was the EPILOG. IT WAS PAINFUL. BRUTAL. check the first few comments for that chapter like 4 real. i had an existential crisis over that. and then it came back like the fic messiah and we rejoiced. this fic was one of the reasons why i didnt get the Punnet Square back in sophomore year. because i was using up my time trying to get the fic instead. 

Designations Congruent with Things by cleanwhiteroom is so good. im never going to shut up about it. if you ever wanted to read a PR fic that will make your brain do all sorts of things in awe, pls read it. this fic grabs you by the shoulders and does not let go. i need to go…..sit down……[6]

Fanworks and Fan Activity

Designations inspired many fanworks, including fanart, fanmixes, physically-bound copies, and music.

The Superconducting Supercolliders

In the Designations universe, Newt was once part of an indie rock band called the Superconducting Supercolliders (or "Supercos"), which achieved mainstream popularity following Newt's role in saving the world. The fic references several of their songs and lyrics. A full body of music under the Superconducting Supercolliders' name was eventually released, including two albums (Superconduction and Supercollision), an EP (Dreaming Correctly), and acoustic versions of several songs. Band members included Ally Spock, Friend King, cleanwhiteroom, and elementals. Lyrics were typically written by CWR, though some songs were co-written with elementals and Ally Spock. Supercos performed live on several occasions, and featured guest performers including Anthime Miller, Liz Smalls, Sean Devare, and The Skates. Cover art for their music was produced by narcomaniac.

There was a third album in the works toward the end of 2014, intended as "a departure from designations and fandom," but it was never released.[7] Ally Spock was reportedly ghosted by other band members at some point,[8] and when cleanwhiteroom's works were removed from AO3, the works of Supercos were also removed from the internet. They have been archived on Dropbox by fans,[2] and several of the songs are available for download on Friend King's bandcamp page. More recently, the full discography has re-appeared for download on cleanwhiteroom's website.

Fanart

References

  1. ^ anon ask answered by cartoonsaint, Archived version, 2 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b designations congruent with things plus extras and audio masterpost, Archived version by seserakh, 18 November 2015.
  3. ^ anon ask answered by irisbleufic, Archived version, 29 March 2018.
  4. ^ HELLO FRIENDS, I bring you RECEIPTS, Archived version, by drhermannhottlieb, 30 March 2018.
  5. ^ untitled tumblr post, Archived version, by animatedamerican, 13 May 2014.
  6. ^ anon ask answered by actualbird, Archived version, 9 May 2016.
  7. ^ untitled tumblr post by aspocko, Archived version, 7 June 2016.
  8. ^ anon ask answered by aspocko, Archived version, 30 June 2016.
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