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Taika Waititi arrives at the 2024 Met Gala

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man i hate to say it but

it’s giving ✨ somebody’s kinda mismatched living room ✨ (affectionate)

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Hi! I have a question about wfu and specifically about the tags. I'm among those who have always read it exclusively as rpf (and I'm completely okay with it) and I was curious about what prompted you to tag it also as stede/ed. Was it just because of the names swapping? Or was it a choice to make it all meta-ish? I find it super interesting either way, and the fic itself is amazing

hi! thank you so much for this question and your kind words!

"is this rpf?" was always a central question of wfu, and one that i wrestled with a lot on my own while writing it. an intended part of the thought experiment was to publish it in a way where "is this rpf?" remained an open question for the reader to answer for themselves. my first beta had a strong knee-jerk reaction that the text was rpf, like, as early as the scene where they're having drinks on the back porch, leaving comments like "this is definitely rpf". at that point, i actually made a second doc where i swapped the names back and considered publishing it as regular rpf. instead, at the encouragement of my beta, i added two small additional meta scenes to the stede/ed version (the conversation with jim, wee john, and frenchie at the party, and then the bit at ed's house when ed and stede are crying on the couch and ed brings up fan fiction again), and gave that to a second beta.

my second beta had a strong knee-jerk reaction in the other direction, to the point where they didn't even think i needed to tag it rhys/taika. that was when i knew the thought experiment was going to work--it wasn't that either beta was right or wrong, but that every reader was going to have their own unique reaction to the text and whether it was rpf, an actor au, or some secret third thing. it was an extremely cool moment in my life and i will never forget it.

i decided to tag it as stede/ed, rhys/taika, RPF, and Actor AU, because i suspected as long as i did not definitively say what it was, there would be readers who would read it as just rpf or just an actor au. and this is exactly what happened, and continues to happen; there is a pretty wild diversity of interpretations and justifications for why wfu reads exclusively as either rpf or an au, in addition to everyone experiencing some secret third thing. it's really beautiful and i think there's a lot to be learned about how different people engage with and negotiate the relationship between fiction and reality.

and then there's also just the readers-finding-it-on-ao3 factor of tagging a fic: lots of people who never read rhys/taika love wfu as a stede/ed fic, and also if you love rhys/taika, you'd probably be happy to stumble across wfu in the rhys/taika tag. of course, there was also a small twitter wank when i published it from a few people who, it seems, did not engage with anything else about the fic beyond seeing the rpf tag and strapping into their moral superiority outrage pants. this too was beautiful, because what lovely experimental evidence of what incurious, reactionary morality will lead you to miss about all the vast murky gray of the world.

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OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH

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Watched Deadloch.

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throwback to the Our Flag Means Death embroidery i made last year 🏳️‍🌈🏴‍☠️

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Taika Waititi in Main Attraction’s Behind the Scenes

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This is the best one

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@veeagainsttheday

Links to Pacific Rim creator Travis Beacham's own posts on drift compatibility and drifting

Drift compatibility is psychological, not genetic

The better you know someone, the more likely you are to be drift compatible

Drift compatibility is potential, not fate

Drift compatibility can be a choice

Friendship is the foundation of drift compatibility

The drift requires trust

Trust is fundamental; also drift compatibility can be determined with anything that tests how well you can anticipate each others' moves

That even includes multiplayer video games

Many cadets wash out during Pons training when secrets come out in the drift and shatter their relationships

A lot of pilots get messed up by flinching over sexual thoughts

Trying to avoid thoughts just makes them worse

Not everything you see in the drift is always real; also the way to deal with thoughts is just let them flow by

Pilots communicate through "headspace"

Illustration of a conversation in headspace

First drifts can be very confusing, because partners don't understand each others' minds very well yet

The drift exposes pilots to each others' raw, unfiltered thoughts

Raleigh knew what Yancy was going to say

The drift doesn't let you read your partner's mind like a database, and you may not necessarily understand what you see. Also when Pentecost says he carries nothing into the drift he means he's calm and stable.

Pentecost gained this calmness through meditation

Trying to block your partner from your mind will make you lose control of the Jaeger

Pilots who fall below 90% sync will be in trouble

General information plus info on RABITs

You can chase your partner's RABIT

Another post confirming you can chase your partner's RABIT

More RABIT info

More general information

Travis Beacham defines ghost drifting

Partners' personalities can rub off on each other

Neural overload doesn't hit you all at once; it accumulates

The time a pilot can go solo varies, and it's a steep curve from fine to dead

More info on solo piloting

Being high in the drift probably makes it harder to avoid chasing the RABIT

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on this day, 6 yrs ago, bruno mars was surprised to see pete wentz

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But, you see, I have this belief, this conviction that it wasn't just an accident and that, I was wondering if the fact that we were friends, if that played any part. JUSTIFIED 1.02

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Chris Pine attends the Los Angeles premiere of "Poolman" celebrating Chris Pine's directorial debut at Vista Theatre on April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

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Watching Rhys smile and keep looking at Taika to see if his improv will make Taika crack while also remaining in character as Stede radiating absolute sunshine are some small moments in the show I live for.