App: Lifeaftr

Player Information
Name: Nikki
Age: yes
Contact: nikkernoodle @ plurk
Current characters: n/a

Character Information
Name: Dr. Newton Geiszler
Series: Pacific Rim
Appearance: look at this nerd with his dumb face i hate him
Age: 35
Canon Point: Mid-Drift with Dr. Hermann Gottlieb
Canon History: Convenient Wiki Link
Personality: “[Marshal Pentecost and Sergeant Hansen] won’t give you the equipment [for your experiment] and even if they did...you’d kill yourself!” Doctor Hermann Gottlieb declares.

“Or I’d be a rockstar!” Doctor Newton Geiszler protests, and that, in a nutshell, defines the latter almost utterly. Brash, irresponsible, brilliant and reckless, Newt is 35-year-old man with the maturity of a 12-year-old and who dresses like a 25-year-old hipster. Whether it’s hooking himself up to a drift machine made out of garbage or running straight into the den of a drug lord in search of a new Kaiju brain, Newt rarely looks before he leaps. “Fortune favors the brave, dude!” says he, and, as cheesy as that statement sounds, means (and exemplifies) every word of it.

As one of the two remaining members of the Pan Pacific Defense Corp’s Kaiju Science department, Newt is a genius. No, but seriously. Despite all appearances to the contrary (the skinny jeans and even skinnier tie, the colorful Kaiju tattoos, the thick-rimmed glasses,) he is, in fact, a genius. Newt started teaching at MIT when he was twenty and received six doctorates before the age of twenty-five. What subjects these doctorates are in is a mystery, but it’s safe to say that they’ve had something to do especially with science and biology (and, possibly, since his family life was so steeped in it, music.) He shows an especial knack for DNA and is the one to recognize that the Kaiju, though they all look vastly different, genetically they are the same. He also theorizes that the Kaiju aren’t just acting on instinct; that their behavior doesn’t line up, and do defeat them, they need to be understood. He can identify parts of a Kaiju and what category they’re from on sight. He’s even able to tell that the defeated Kaiju corpse of Otachi is pregnant just from hearing a sound over a crackly walky-talky.

Newt also incredibly talented when it comes to electronics. He invented a machine that was specifically designed to draw the toxins out of Kaiju glands in order to classify them. He ended up calling this machine the “Milking Machine,” so perhaps he’s not so great in the ‘naming things’ department, but well. At least he invented the thing. This, however, doesn’t even come close to the fact that Newt built a drifting machine out of, as Hermann calls it, “garbage” and then uses it to drift with a piece of a Kaiju brain. Not only does the machine actually work the first time around, but it hooks Newt right up into the Kaiju Hivemind and, though it only gives him little glimpses, it’s enough to prove his hypothesis about there being another driving force behind the Kaiju. The machine is later used a SECOND time, with Newt and Hermann diving into the Kaiju psyche for longer this time and allowing them to subsequently help save the world from total destruction.

As it is, though, this genius seems to come with a price. Newt is not-so-great at socializing. He has many interactions with many different types of people in the movie, and every single one tells us several things about how Newt interacts with other human beings.

Newt has no filter; no concept of what is appropriate to say and when. When we are first introduced to him, we’re treated to a man who talks about the Kaiju not just in front of, but to Raleigh with great enthusiasm (Raleigh, who Newt has just been told is a Ranger, someone who risks their life fighting the Kaiju,) calling one of the Kaiju tattooed on his arms “2500 tons of Awesome.” After an awkward pause, Newt finally seems to realize he said something Not Quite Right, and it is amended to “…or awful, whatever you want to call it” about the same time that Hermann calls him a Kaiju Groupie as an explanation for his behavior. Despite this interaction, he never seems to fully grasp that he made a major social faux pas with that entire conversation, looking to Hermann in confusion once Marshal Pentecost and Mako escort Raleigh away.

Newt is a larger than life “borderline manic personality.” He is loud, direct, and not shy or bashful about who he is, what his field of study is, and what he believes. He wears his obsessions on his skin, rolling up his sleeves constantly to display the bright monsters permanently residing on his forearms. He makes no effort to hide them and even touts them, talking about them proudly when asked. He makes sure everyone knows who he is and completely refuses to apologize for it. Newt is smart: he knows it, everyone else knows it, and therefore he refuses to consider the idea that what he comes up with might be wrong. On the surface, this can be easily interpreted as arrogance. However, considering his background, there is more to it than that. Newt’s constant energy and enthusiasm is anything but normal, and, if his plan to drift with a bit of a Kaiju brain is any indication, his ideas are sometimes far out to left field. He’s probably used to having to defend every idea he has come up with from a very young age considering how early on he attended (and taught at) MIT. It would explain his constant push to get his idea about drifting with the Kaiju brain heard by Stacker Pentecost and Herc Hansen, pursuing his idea even after they’ve told him no, and going ahead and doing it anyway (not to mention risking his own life in the process.) He is so obsessed with being right that he is willing to put himself in harm’s way. He doesn’t take being right gracefully, either. Instead, the first thing he says to Pentecost after the drift is: “I told you it would work.”

This isn’t the only time we are treated to how immature Newt can be. It is the most visible when he’s with his colleague and lab partner, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. Hermann is the left brain to Newt’s right; the order and numbers and logic to Newt’s riot of bright blue Kaiju parts and colorful tattoos. As such, they grate on each other almost constantly. They tear down each other’s work in front of Pentecost and Herc without a second thought, like two children in competition, trying to curry more favor than the other. “And here’s where I gotta chime in, because really, I wouldn’t want to go in there with that limited amount of data,” says Newt, in response to Hermann’s explanation about the Breach. “Newton, don’t embarrass yourself,” retorts Hermann.

They literally fight like cats and dogs. Newt mocks Hermann openly and in front of others (“Hermann, these are human beings. Why don’t you say hello,”) laughs at him when he’s speaking seriously, and even makes a ‘blah blah blah’ hand motion behind his back. He is completely disrespectful of Hermann’s space, tossing Kaiju parts carelessly and making a mess. However, whatever Newt throws at Hermann, he gets back in equal measure. The two are seemingly constantly at odds, picking and tearing at each other with a verbal viciousness. When he’s with Hermann, Newt is at his most cruel, and it shows in every single scene they’re with each other.

Yet somehow, they work side-by-side in a tiny laboratory divided straight down the middle. The Shatterdome is a humungous place that used to house, as Pentecost informs Raleigh, somewhere around 30 Jaegers. Now it has 4. If the work situation is as horrible as Hermann’s many complaints filed makes it out to be, it should be easy enough to find another spot for one of them to work in. Thus it leads us to a more interesting conclusion: their outwardly tumultuous and often vicious relationship actually works to make them better scientists.

Both Newt and Hermann are geniuses. Where Newt has six doctorates and pioneered research in tissue replication, Hermann wrote the original code for the Jaegers and was the one to pinpoint the location of the Breach. It’s fairly safe to say that they’re pretty comparable to each other in the intelligence department. Instead of one leaving the other to their respective fields, they instead seem to poke and prod at each other’s theories and ideas, creating holes that a normal person might miss. This means that neither of them have any room for error or sloppiness in their work, as their lab partner is sure to go straight for whatever weakness they present and tear it apart. For many people, such a thing might be defeating after a while, but it seems like, for Hermann and Newt, this sort of thing really works to push them farther and to press the boundaries of what they know (and Newt seems more than happy to poke holes in the theory that Hermann presents to Pentecost and Herc.) Thus, proving to Hermann that he is right and that his work has validity is, when combined with Newt’s borderline mania, a driving force behind many of his actions, even if just subtly and secondary.

Here’s the really interesting part: Newt and Hermann are drift compatible. It is impossible for two people to drift without one very important element: trust. And not a casual “yeah okay I’ll trust you just this once,” but trust as a reflex. Implicit trust, as the brain wants to instinctively protect itself. How interesting is it, then, that they are able to drift together (and with a baby Kaiju along for the ride, but details) successfully when they should be each other’s worst enemy. Instead they open themselves up and hand over literally the worst ammunition against them: access into their mind, psyche and memories. Yet, it is done without hesitation. “You’d do that for me?” Newt asks. “…with me?” Together they take the leap into the void, and, in doing so, are able to save the world.

In a roundabout way, it is possible to call Newt’s actions brave. However, it is more of a “brave to suit one’s own needs,” rather than “brave for honor” in the sense of Raleigh or Mako. Yes, he does go running blindly into danger. Drifting with a Kaiju initially could have killed him, but he did it anyway. Heading straight into Hannibal Chau’s black market Kaiju den and putting himself face to face with the terrifying drug lord would have scared off most people, but Newt just shouts and raves and doesn’t leave Hannibal alone until he gives Newt what he wants. He then drifts with a Kaiju (with Hermann’s help) a second time, even after he was found seizing and hemorrhaging from his nose the first time around. However, this is all done in the pursuit of understanding the Kaiju. Saving people-nay, the world-is an afterthought. A happy side effect. When he’s scared, really scared, he becomes far more obviously self-centered, as is evidenced in his push to get down into the public shelter. “Make way, coming through, I’m a doctor,” Newt shouts, as he pushes past similarly terrified crowds. Not to mention when the baby Kaiju comes bursting out of Otachi’s corpse, Newt run/stumbles away, scrambling and finally curling into a fetal position. Newt is not fearless; it’s more a combination of sheer obsessive determination and his inability to judge social situations that allows him to continue to run headfirst into danger without a second thought.

To be honest, Newt isn’t the best guy. However, he isn’t anywhere near the worst. His heroics may be self-motivated, but at the end of the day he still does want to help, even if it is a secondary benefit. Despite his reverence for the creatures bringing about the Apocalypse, he is firmly on the side of good, running as fast as he can to learn and discover and create to save the world, always willing to try something new and throw caution to the wind (and often common sense along with it.) He may not be the best in social situations (perhaps a gross understatement,) but his genius and dogged persistence seems to get him through anyhow. At the end of the day he’s the guy that might drive you absolutely crazy, but there’s something charming in his madness, shining with a brilliance you can’t look away from and thus becoming what he’s always proclaimed he could be: a rockstar.

Abilities: Newt is ridiculously smart. In fact, it's safe to call him a genius. He can create complex machines out of garbage, has a vast knowledge of many forms of biology, chemistry, mathematics and has an obsessive personality that can keep him on the trail of a problem for years and years. Aside from that he's, uh...human? That's about it.

Inventory: A torn up leather jacket, a flashlight, a pair of glasses with one cracked lens, and his wallet.

Sample

Q&A: What’s more important: the way others see you, or the way you see yourself? Uh, the way you see yourself, obviously. Who cares what someone else thinks? It's way more important for you to be you. Besides, most people who are that judgy aren't worth your time. The most important person you gotta be concerned with is yourself and if you feel like you're happy with who you are.

Is it more important to follow your own code, or the code of an authority above you? Your own code! You know what's right and what's best better than anyone else. Usually more so than someone in an authority position. Sure, they might hold your funding, but the rules that they follow will just hold you back. So fuck 'em! As long as you aren't, like, hurting other people, there's no problem. Besides, if you're the expert, they should be listening to you anyway instead of getting their heads stuck up their asses about technicalities and going all: "well, Dr. Geiszler, I don't think that's technically possible, even though I know absolutely nothing about the subject other than what I was briefed on five minutes ago." Assholes.

What kind of impression do you think you give to others? Dude, I legitimately just told you that the way you see yourself is way more important than the way others see you. So who cares what kind of impression I give others? I can't control what they think, and they're usually wrong anyway. So fuck 'em. People are gonna think what they're gonna think, and I'm just gonna keeping doing me.

How do you think you measure up compared to your peers? I mean, not to brag, but I'm at the cutting edge of some of the most impactful and dynamic kaiju science to come out in the past 10 years. I'm good at what I do, and what I do is xenobiology, biomechanics, bio- and mechanical engineering, and DNA sequencing, among many other things. I created the Milking Machine: a device to remove the toxins from kaiju blood, which has helped cut down on the number of deaths related to Kaiju Blue. I've also sequenced their DNA and figured out that they are, in fact, clones. Also, I figured out that it's possible to drift with a small piece of a kaiju brain and not die. So there's that, too.

All in all, I think I'm doing pretty well. But...it doesn't really matter, honestly? I don't really give much of a shit about whether my peers are doing "more" or "less" than me. What matters is whether whatever their doing is interesting; that's all I really care about. Otherwise, as long as they don't bother me, we're cool.

What kind of person do you find worthy of respect? Someone who really follows their passions and does their own thing. Someone who isn't afraid to say fuck you to the people that doubt them. Someone who puts their whole being into what they love, and isn't afraid to fight for it. Someone who thinks outside the box.

Who is the most important person (or persons) in your life, and why?Mmmm...probably my dad and my uncle? They've always been there for me and have been really encouraging and supportive in whatever it is I wanted to pursue, whether that was my fifth doctorate at MIT or joining the PPDC to study the kaiju. And, uh...Hermann, I guess. He's, uh, been...he's...I mean, he's super annoying and stuffy and honestly who told him that sweaters were in because they're so not and he's such a...a...He's my lab partner. And he drifted with me, which kinda maybe a little bit may have saved my life. Y'know, if this place isn't, like, the afterlife. Or something. In which case, he totally didn't save my life but possibly also survived when I didn't because he's not here. ....Uhhhh, anyway, next question?

What would you change about the world, if you were able? I'd make all the people on the Pan-Pacific Council more interested in actually saving the world than their politics so they'd realize earlier that the Wall of Lies program was a bunch of horseshit and our funding would've never been cut. Fuck all of those people.

Do you think things like art, music, and literature are important? Why or why not? Hell yeah it's important! It's super important! In fact, I think it's something that we don't even begin to appreciate enough in our society. Everyone needs art in their life in some form, whether that's fine art or music or literature or what have you. Besides, no matter how much people try to push the idea that the Arts and the Sciences are two separate things, in reality, both of them actually are really interwoven and work together! You can't write music without knowing math--you need to be able to subdivide the beats and use your spatial awareness to figure out what sounds good, which is the physics of sound right there! You may not be able to talk about exactly why it sounds good or why you want to put the strong notes on the downbeat, but you know it anyway innately through your study of music. Or how to mix colors; that's chemistry right there! There's so much science in art and vice versa. You can't have one without the other, and one shouldn't be valued more than the other even if, unfortunately, that's the case right now.



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