#keanu reeves out of context

[discoscoob]

May I ask for a snippet of Ludlow x Reader x Neo, pleeeeeeeease? 👀🖤

Of course! I’m having so much fun writing this 🤭

“Fuck.” he groans, pulling off his glasses and burying his face in the palm of his hands with his elbows resting on the few clear spaces left on his cluttered desk.

“What’s wrong?” Neo hears a faint mumble from behind him. His head shoots up. His heart practically leaps out his throat. He nearly gives himself whiplash with how fast he turns to look over his shoulder. Tom, in a half-dazed state, still sprawled on his stomach with his cheek pressed against the cushions and his arm hanging off the side of the couch, is just barely starting to come to his senses.

“N- Nothing… just…” Neo’s tone wavers with a hint of panic, his jittery fingers scramble to urgently close the tab. “I was… uh… I- I was watching porn.”

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

This fic may take 90% of my brain but I’m determined.

“Wayne,” Eddie’s voice cracks. Tears are rolling down his face. He was having some difficulty breathing or getting words out. Trying to compose himself he takes a deep shaky breath, it hurts his chest.

“You killed him.”

“Eddie-” Wayne starts, hands moving in the air in an ‘Everything’s alright’ gesture.

“No Wayne, you killed that man. What if he had children?” Eddie hisses out. Stumbling back a little more. He felt drunk with how bad his balance is.

-Prologue: Fade To black

-From my upcoming fic Zombie Stomp

[sofiaal-azwar]

OOC: currently nearly 4:30 AM here. It was fun to roleplay with everyone, introduce myself, etc etc. Don’t forget that asks are available at any time, as for responses…I’m going to head to bed. See yall in a few hours!

[toast-the-unknowing]

on fanfic plagiarism

Almost five years ago, in January of 2019, someone I'd never met before reached out to tell me that one of my Pynch fics, "Word on the Street," had been plagiarized.

I remember that the stolen fic was posted in k-pop fandom, though not what specific band it related to -- I'm not into k-pop, or really into pop music at all.

I remember that the person who messaged me told me that they had found my fic because the plagiarist had a reputation for stealing fic, so when they'd posted a new story, this person had known to do some digging.

I don't remember what the plagiarist's username was. I remember scanning the stolen story, trying both to read every detail and to avoiding taking any of it in, because looking at that right-but-wrong, not-quite-there, uncanny-valley-ness of it made me queasy.

I remember being darkly amused that the plagiarist had cut out the reference to the main character suffering physical abuse at the hands of his father -- I guess it didn't make sense in the context of the new character. It's almost like the story wasn't written for him. It's almost like someone wrote the story about Adam Parrish, instead.

I filed an AO3 complaint, on the grounds that this was a blatant and unarguable violation of their plagiarism policy. Within twenty-four hours, they got back to me, and the story was removed.

It was a weird, uncomfortable, gross feeling, knowing someone had taken words I'd written and passed them off as their own.

But at the same time -- "Word on the Street" was a silly thing I dashed off pretty quickly, during a period of my life when I was doing a lot of writing. It hurt to have it stolen. It was a violation. But…I had other words, that were more important to me. Maybe that was a buffer.

-

Last month, about six weeks ago, someone I'd never met before reached out to tell me that one of my Pynch fics, "there's talk going 'round this town," had been plagiarized.

I was, bizarrely, amused.

I was less bizarrely furious. I was understandably, relatably, I would say rationally, furious. But in a way (and as always, when I say in a way, I am calling back to the scholars of overthinkingit.com for whom in a way is meant as the thing I have just said or am about to say is false) -- in a way, I was amused.

The plagiarist clearly did a 'find and replace' on the character names, to replace Adam and Ronan's names with those of k-pop characters. They did a bad job of it, since the name "Ronan" still appears in one paragraph and the name "Parrish" still appears in two paragraphs. The fic is here, in case anyone doesn't believe me, under the name "i do(n't remember)". At first when I complained about the fic on tumblr, I didn't mention the name, or which fic they'd stolen, because I was worried about anyone…I don't know, making a scene. I've stopped caring. AO3 user springguk is bad at find and replace and they should feel bad. About their computer skills, and also about their blatant plagiarism.

springguk also did some more edits to my fic, I have to give them credit for that. I wrote "there's talk going 'round this town" within a relatively short time span, for me. I tend to either finish things within one week, or else take several months. I believe this one took about five or six weeks completely to write -- I was very inspired.

(I was inspired, specifically, by the press coverage of Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves 'discovering' they might be 'accidentally' married. I mention that in my author's notes. springguk doesn't mention what 'inspired' them in their author's notes. I wonder how they talk about it with friends. They do, in their author's notes, include a link to their ko-fi, and a request that people buy them a coffee.)

If I'd taken longer with this fic, I might have made some edits. Even at the time, I knew I was being self-indulgent in letting the scene with my teenage female OC talk at such length with Ronan about what his non-canonical film career had meant to her, a person the audience didn't care about. But I had fun. I liked Fox. I didn't want to cut her, and what the hell, it was fanfic. I decided to self-indulge.

I was darkly amused to find that springguk did cut out the scene with Fox from their plagiarized version. Maybe springguk is a more disciplined editor than I am. Maybe springguk just didn't have a good k-pop character to map Fox onto. Maybe springguk didn't even realize that Fox was an OC. Do you know anything about the fandom you steal fics from, springguk? I can't help but wonder. Have you read The Raven Cycle? Do you care about teenage OCs who steal cars because of fake films that are clearly meant to be stand-ins for The Fast and the Furious franchise?

Maybe springguk just didn't give a fuck, because none of their heart and soul was poured into this fic. I cared too much about Fox. springguk doesn't care about a single word in the fic they published. Why would they? They didn't write it.

I'm being a little mean in naming them so many times. But I'm able to, this time, because although I filed a plagiarism complaint with AO3 six weeks ago, springguk's stolen fic "i do(n't remember)," is still available to read on AO3 to this very day. I don't have to wrack my brains to remember what their username was, or which k-pop band they recast my work with. I can just look at their fic with its 24 comments and 151 kudos. Hell, maybe that fic is even better than mine, if you don't mind that by cutting the sequence with Fox they've sacrificed a fairly substantial development in the romantic relationship, and also if you don't care that at one point the characters names switch from Jeongguk and Taehyung to Ronan and Parrish, because seriously, for fuck's sake, if you're going to steal a fic at least do a goddamn ctrl+f at the end.

I was mad. I was amused. I made a complaint that the AO3, six weeks later, has still not acted on. I mostly moved on.

-

Tonight, someone I'd never met before reached out to tell me that one of my Pynch fics, "while we're on the subject, could we change the subject now," had been plagiarized.

I wanted to vomit.

I was supposed to be playing Dungeons and Dragons online with friends tonight; I spent the entire call unable to focus on anything anyone was saying. I had to keep reminding myself that I was on camera and my face wasn't supposed to look like that.

"while we're on the subject, could we change the subject now" is the first of a series of, currently, twelve fics. skytoseungmin, the person who stole it to pass it off as their own work, knew this. Their stolen version was published as part one of a series, though they hadn't published any of the sequels. Presumably, they wanted to wait long enough to make it plausible they'd gone and written the follow ups, instead of just finding them.

skytoseungmin likely didn't know that this fic and this series are intensely personal. They didn't know that the apartment that Adam -- Seungmin, in their ill-gotten version -- lives in, that was based in part off of the apartment I lived in for a year in Pico-Robertson with talldecafcappuccino. They didn't know that the 7-Eleven Adam buys coffee at is the same one I used to tease talldecafcappuccino for buying coffee at. They didn't know that the strip club where Adam and Ronan have their humorously ill-timed romantic revelation outside of, that was the strip club I used to use as a landmark when giving people directions for how to navigate the confusing as fuck freeway exit I lived near, which once caused me to accidentally tell my highly Catholic parents "just go past the strip club and you're good!"

skytoseungmin didn't know that the apartment Adam -- sorry, Seungmin, thoroughly, they were better with find and replace than springguk -- lived in, was also based off of my ex's apartment in Palms, where I as the mere visiting girlfriend was never allowed to park in the parking lot. Where I would sometimes have to spend twenty or thirty minutes circling the neighborhood before I could find parking, often a walk of several minutes away. skytoseungmin doesn't know that when Ronan's car get towed from a McDonald's parking lot, that that was a specific McDonald's on Venice Boulevards, the same one my ex's asshole roommate used to just roll his eyes and say that I should park at. skytoseungmin doesn't know that I once wished passionately that I had just parked in that McDonald's parking lot and risked getting towed, on the occasion that a man followed me several unlit blocks from my car. skytoseungmin doesn't know that when I talk about how helping someone park is the truest love language there is in Los Angeles, that that was what I meant. Has skytoseungmin ever had to circle to half an hour to find parking in Los Angeles? Has skytoseungmin ever loved someone enough to do that, instead of saying, fuck it, they can come to me or we're breaking up? Has skytoseungmin ever loved someone in Los Angeles enough, to do as my ex did, and come running as fast as humanly possibly when their girlfriend called them whispering and crying on the phone, someone's following me, please, I'm scared, I wish I just parked at the McDonald's?

"while we're on the subject, could we change the subject now" is a very personal fic.

It isn't half as personal as some of the fics that come after.

skytoseungmin marked their plagiarized version of the fic as part one of a series. Were they planning on stealing part two, where I, through an alternate universe characterization of Ronan Lynch, dig into my experience of grief and trauma surrounding my grandmother's dementia? Were they planning on stealing any of the explicit fics, where I play with kink and desire in ways I haven't even exposed to my actual sexual partners, but where I felt able to through the guise of fandom? What else was skytoseungmin planning on stealing, with charming little author's notes apologizing for how they missed the fandom-relevant date they were shooting for, because they were so busy with exams, tee-hee! Why the excuses, skytoseungmin? how long does it take you to ctrl+f, even if you are more thorough about it than springguk?

If I seem too accusatory and mean-spirited toward skytoseungmin, well, the LA verse is a very personal fic.

And it's also, it turns out, only one of eight different fics that they stole from me.

I didn't even notice at first, to be honest. I was too stunned. But my friend Jessie, my Lady Galahad, went to my defense and clicked through to the author's page, while I was still reeling at the horrible possibilities of part one of a series. It turned out, of eight fics on skytoseungmin's author's page…I had written every single one of them.

Some were short and pretty lighthearted, things I hadn't had to invest too much of myself into -- like I said, sometimes, I can write a fic in under a week.

Other things…

They stole the space western AU.

I don't think I can articulate to any human being how much that hurt me, to look at it, to see.

I wrote that as a thank you gift for someone who donated to Fandom Trumps Hate.

I spent nearly two years of my life on it -- two years during which, because of mental health issues and life situation changes, my words per year dropped precipitously. I still haven't recovered. I still think of what a failure I am for not writing more, currently, actively, and I remember how the space western AU was both a symptom of that and a defiance of it: yes, writing has become fucking hard, fucking NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE, but I'm still doing it, goddamn it, you can't stop me, even if all I produce is the tiniest trickle of words a month. it can still add up, somehow, if we just keep TRYING.

To see the space western AU, casually nestled amongst a half dozen other fics that were all apparently casually dashed off in the same month…I know it was theft, I know it was a lie, but it still felt like a slap in the face, why can't you write this fast?

Jessie, my Lady Galahad, went on a campaign of commenting on all of skytoseungmin's (my) fics, and I am so thankful. The k-pop fans who heard Jessie have been reaching out, to her, to me, to each other on Twitter, and I am so thankful for them too. skytoseungmin has deleted all of their (my) fics on AO3, and their entire AO3 account, and their entire twitter, apparently. Maybe they were hoping to get enough clicks to parlay them into some kind of book deal, and they'd now rather give up what was a low investment effort on their part than be associated with accusation of plagiarism.

I suppose they can always start over with a new user name and someone else's fics if they really want to.

I suppose they can always start over with a new username and my fics, if they really want to.

And after all, AO3 has still not reached out to me about springguk, and "i do(n't remember)" is still sitting there. Maybe springguk is also going for a book deal. Who knows?

Why complain about any of it?

In a way* (and remember what "in a way" means), isn't it a compliment, if someone loves the words I wrote, even if they don't know it was me that wrote them? toast-the-unknowing and shinealightonme, if they're the same name (and they are), then why not springguk or skytoseungmin, too?

Am I making too big of a deal out of this? Does everyone just have their work stolen from them, all of the time? Is that simply the cost of doing business in an era and an ecosystem where we all can copy and paste twenty-four thousand words with greater ease than our ancestors could transcribe a single phrase? Are more prolific, more famous, more successful fan authors looking at my piteous cries and thinking, bitch, you've only been ripped off by k-pop fans ten times, come back when you have real problems?

And yet in a month, a year, a whole life phase of not being able to write as much as I would like to, because of my health, because of my work, to have someone else just casually pass off the words I have managed to eke out, as though they have no value, as though it were no more than photo copying a shitty flier to stick under a windshield wiper…

I can't imagine springguk or skytoseungmin give a shit how I feel about any of this. At best, they roll their eyes; at worst they laugh to know they hurt me -- and what's the difference between the two? I'll never know either way.

I know that some of the people they duped do care, and are also upset. That helps. And also, it doesn't help.

I just fucking hate all of this, and if all I have are words, and if my words are valuable enough for someone to steal, then here, here are enough of them to choke on. I know I did.

[rad-roche]

i have seen, and have takes on, sonic 3

so just from the get go i have to make you aware, i cannot be unbiased in this. i love shadow the hedgehog. he is very near and dear to my heart in a way that would read as patently ridiculous if i spelled it out. so i'm going to approach this in two ways. the first is the adult, serious way. and the second is full hogbrain. spoilers, obviously

this is a perfectly fine children's movie. the emotional core, of shadow and maria, is very solid. 'what if elliot died and you gave ET a massive fucking gun' is always going to be strong. there is a sufficient amount of reverence for the source material. not in a 'they did the reference!' type way, though there is a lot of that, but sincere consideration of what parts of sonic adventure 2 work in the context of an adaptation and what should be changed. live and learn being the leitmotif up until you hear it in full at the end, fantastic. completely doing away with the idea that maria's relationship with shadow is, at least in part, a fabrication by gerald after her death, absolutely. leaning even more into sonic and shadow as two sides of the same coin, excellent. i've heard mixed things about the jim carrey eggman japes and it undercutting the tone of the movie, which i get, but personally i didn't mind them, though i am enjoying the pull away from the other human characters (stone notwithstanding, i love that guy). overall i think this is a fun kids movie with a very strong performance by keanu reeves, who to my shock was the highlight of the whole thing as i didn't think i'd like him in the role. really enjoyed it, but get the criticisms, and i don't know how this holds up if you have no attachment to the characters whatsoever

okay

here's the full hogbrain review:

it's peak............

[drkineildwicks]

So we went and saw Sonic 3 in theaters....

Did it because my uncle paid for it

For context the very last movie I saw in theaters until this one was Sonic 1 so this was functionally the triumphant return

My honest thoughts:

*Crush 40 voice* YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I've been singing Sonic music, specifically Shadow's songs, ever since going that movie was excellent I loved it and Mom had to stop me several times from vibrating apart in my seat XD

Also Sonic movie 4 is confirmed??? 2027 let's gooooo

Seriously I was all excited for the new Palworld expansion but after this movie that one has to wait I'm replaying SA2 XD

And it beating Mufasa into the ground is absolutely hilarious to me XD

Now that I've seen it I'm listening to podcasts covering it and the fact that Sonic 3 is showing in fewer theaters and making double the money HA!

And disney trying to lie and getting completely trolled by the fans

Three d's or whatever the lady said that got her arrested but Sonic is handing broke disney its head and I am here for it

Spoilery stuff under the cut, if you haven't seen it yet go see it

Also fair warning this gets long

Okay let's open up by saying that whoever makes these movies are MASSIVE GameCube era fans

Because they were pulling from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Heroes

And Eggman's final outfit was his Sonic 06 one!

Was Gerald's Nega-Robotnik from the Rush games? IDK I only played the second one

They finally gave him his theme song as his ringtone!

I was elbowing Mom and pointing out what was from which game I did this with Sonic 2 as well

Sonic 1 when we came home from the theater I sat her down in front of the TV and booted up SA1 and SA2 and showed her the bits that the movie had pulled from

The guy in the Prison Island control room reminded me of the computer nerd from White House Down but Mom and I can't confirm yet

But he did have Omega on his computer console X'D

Shadow escaping from Prison Island

SHADOW MEETING TEAM SONIC AND BASICALLY REINACTING THE OPENING TO SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

SONIC 3 WITH A CHAO GARDEN SEGA COULD NEVER

Listen I LIVED in those gardens with SA1 and SA2 I was able to identify every single one of those Chao types XD

THEY HAVE CHEESE THE CHAO!

Me spending 90% of the movie pointing like Leo DiCaprio in that one movie like they did the thing! They said the line! and the rest just vibrating apart

I warned my uncle before going in, multiple times, that I would not be normal about this movie

I am not normal about this movie

And I keep joking with Mom that these movies were tailor-made for her XD

Reason being she liked movie 1 and ever since then they've been adding stuff she likes like Uptown Funk, Shemar Moore, Keanu Reeves, etc.

Now they added the Beach Boys X'D

Also Shadow joining Knuckles on the TV women deserve more respect couch

Seriously was that bit with Shadow and the telenovela a reference to Ghosts of the Future? Did they actually reference a fancomic???

Gerald Robotnik still being alive is interesting and framing it with him having one of Shadow's quills makes me wonder if that energy was what kept him alive

It would explain how Ivo Robotnik survived the end of Sonic 2

And with the fourth movie confirmed and Jim Carrey saying he loves the character, I'm left wondering if he's somehow going to come back again

Like realistically there should be no way but I said that about Sonic 2 as well

Also I love that he's retired but for playing Robotnik at this point X'D

That also makes me wonder if Sonic and company are rubbing off on Tom, Maddie and even Wade the same way

Like realistically Team Sonic was only gone for maybe two days? HOW did they get all that done in two days if they aren't operating at Sonic's speed honestly

Also SONIC HEROES REFERENCE

MULTIPLE Sonic Heroes references because when Tails carries the others it's how they do it in that game, Tails throws Sonic like he does in that game, Knuckles throws Tails like he does in that game, etc.

So I was wondering if they were going to bring in Silver so they could go into Sonic 06 but with introducing Metal Sonic and AMY ROSE they look like they're heading for a combo of Sonic CD and Sonic Heroes

More the latter because they've got like half the main cast of that game by now XD

Oh give me Team Chaotix

Also I'm glad they're evidently going with Amy's later characterizations of being a competent fighter instead of just running into danger because she's boy-crazy

Although when Knuckles was trying to talk Sonic down from using the Master Emerald in his enraged state (coupled with the Chaos energy Shadow could generate) I was wondering if that was leading into Chaos coming out of the Emerald and a SA1 adaptation

Also me telling Mom "he left it with Wade" for the movie to immediately hard-cut to Wade X'D

Knuckles series reference!

That show was good y'all just out here acting like it stole your firstborn you'd have never survived the 00s era

BLACK DOOM REFERENCE

I never finished Shadow the Hedgehog but him using a device that summons a black hole makes me think that was Black Doom tech

Shadow coming down in a meteor that looks like the big eye thing that follows you around if you take the evil route

And I find it interesting that they softened Maria's death from getting straight-up shot

I did not tell anyone in my family how she goes out until after the movie, btw

But arguably being that close to an explosion is worse and there's probably good reason she was in shadow in those scenes

GUN having to account for rings being able to take you anywhere you can visualize was a nice bit of worldbuilding

Didn't like the one lady tho

Don't know who the actress is but I don't think I'm fond of her either so that didn't help

I will say that I agree with Mom on the pacing of some of the jokes, I had that problem with the first two movies as well where a joke went for too long

But in listing the parts I would trim down (the two Robotniks dancing, the first telanovela scene, the bits in the gravity scene, etc.) it's all stuff that couldn't be thrown in because of all the work that had to go into it

Like Jim Carrey had to sit in a chair for hours with the Gerald makeup and then had to film it all twice

On that topic, the line with them hanging a lampshade on him playing two characters didn't need to be in there and made the scene run too long

Look, the biggest thing about comedy is that it has specific timing and if something runs too long or too short it throws the whole thing off

Although I kept expecting Stone to come up to Space Colony ARK with one of the Robotnik vehicles to save Robotnik

Eggman ends up broadcasting like he did before and it's to talk directly to Stone

And to be fair to Stone: after three movies of Robotnik saying he hates organics and only needs his machines, being upgraded to syco-friend is the best those two can do

Like dang Robotnik's out here like help me Max, I'm FEELING!

Robotnik's heart grew three sizes that day

They still managed to destroy the moon with the Eclipse Cannon XD

Shadow hurting so badly from what they did to Maria that he was willing to die firing said cannon and he was actively egging Sonic on and telling him to kill him...ouch

I do want to question them being able to have a whole chat on the moon considering there's no air and no atmosphere

Legit my first thought when they were doing that was Stitch and cousins from Lilo and Stitch: the Series because they didn't need suits either

And when I was picking it apart with Mom over breakfast this morning I eventually reasoned that the levels on Space Colony ARK towards the end of SA2 all do the same thing since if you miss a landing there you go, plummeting towards earth in a fireball

I love that of the three of them, Knuckles was the one who could handle the stress of reentry

My boi is as tough as he says

So is Tom apparently dude should not have survived that

Getting hit in the chest like that can stop your heart, as we found out with that football player a few years back--dude is very lucky his plot armor is thicker than the general's

I also like that Shadow, for all his planning to destroy the world and everything in it, looked like he felt genuinely bad for hurting Tom by mistake

And him and Sonic having that heart-to-heart

LIVE AND LEARN INTENSIFIES

Like they teased the song through the whole movie to have it BLARE OUT IN THE CLIMAX

Me trying to resist singing along in the theater X'D

Also petition to have the scene where Sonic and Shadow shake hands and clasp the others before going super be the new handshake meme

HAVING GUN ROBOTS COME OUT OF THE ARK

"Don't tell me you have your own catchphrase" X'D

Shadow with his motorcycle, casually doing a Ghost Rider straight up Tokyo Tower

Me elbowing Mom when Sonic follows: "I told you he could have run up the side of the Trans-American building in the first movie!"

Mom: "Oh yeah!"

They had the same posters in the background of the Tokyo shots as they did in the game YES

Also I noticed during one of the close-ups that Shadow's gloves have that same little smartphone-friendly patch that most modern gloves have??? In the seventies??? Dang Black Doom made sure he got the good gloves X'D

Like seriously I could pick apart this movie for YEARS it makes me so happy it was worth all the hype :D

I wasn't even expecting the first movie to be any good but three great movies and a TV show Sonic fans are eating good and apparently we're not done yet

I am SO ready \.o./

Anywho *goes back to running outside belting "Live and Learn" at the top of my lungs*

also good stuff for that one BH6 AU

[jadevine]

The new adaptation of Lilo and Stitch sounds like yikes on bikes.

Among several changes I've heard of that don't sound like a good idea, the actress playing Nani (Lilo's older sister) is not a native Hawai'ian girl, but a mixed White/Asian girl claiming to be part-Filipino.

There's a related tangent on how Filipino-Americans are said to be "confused" by claiming Pacific Islander heritage, but an even worse sign is that we have to confirm if she's FILIPINO to start with.

They can't find records of her family AND no Filipino locals in Hawai'i have gone onto social media and said so much as "yeah, she's my cousin" which is a VERY BAD SIGN to this Filipino in California.

Nobody with sense should be taking roles from ethnically Hawai'ian characters, but the least they could do is cast a BROWN Filipino with CURLY HAIR who actually looks like a Pacific Islander, instead of falling back on "mestiza/fair-skinned Filipinos are the only ones who matter in show-business."

To put this in context: Filipinos normally worship mestiza/o Filipinos who are pale as fuck. Darren Criss? PINOY PRIDE! Keanu Reeves? PINOY PRIDE! We practically claim anyone with a Spanish name and like 4% Filipino ancestry, but if Filipinos suddenly have nothing to say about this girl, IT DOES NOT BODE WELL.

Here's me just side-eyeing the fuck out of this movie.

[maytheamazing]

Saw another "Keanu is a zionist" post with no supporting evidence or citing and this annoyed me so I'm making a post about it. To preface, this is all in good faith and to educate.

Zionism is, to be put simply, the belief that Israel has a right to make their own homeland, to create a "place for all jews" by clearing out the native population and culture. As Israel is committing a genocide, it is perfectly acceptable for those supporting Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people to be labeled a zionist.

Specifically we are going to be talking about Keanu Reeves and his involvement with the zionist company Paramount, who expressed their explicit support of Israel and has not issued another statement changing their stance as far as I am aware. I will also be adding film making information as needed.

To start off, we only know of two examples of Reeves interacting with people who have a connection to Israel. He has not stated his stance on any social or political movement, full stop. The first of two such instances is his weapons trainer for John Wick 2, who was hired by the producers specifically. And the second is his attending of a party in 2014 by producer Arnon Milchan, who you may know from movies like; Fight Club, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Chipmunks sequels, and more. At this party Reeves was photographed speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [image description in alt]

This photo is the only information we have on this party and their interactions. Here is an article gossip mag MalibuTimes released on it. This article also goes to say that Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife made sure to interact with multiple actors- in fact the photo they used for this article is them posing with James Caan.

Seeing as this appears to be their only known interaction and Reeves has been photographed candid and not posed, it is a fair assumption to say they aren't friends catching up. On the film/actor side of things, parties like this are a fantastic way to network within the industry. Arnon Milchan is a well known name in producing movies with a long history and it would not be a smart move to decline or spur his invitation.

Now back to Paramount and Sonic 3, as is our main discussion. Paramount this last October in response to the Oct. 7th bombing announced that they stand with and support Israel.

As you should know by now, six months later, Israel has far gone past "defending itself" as some may claim it has a right to do, and firmly and undeniably into genocide. In this time Paramount has doubled down on their support, donating large sums of money to Israeli based charities and military. In their new Sonic spin off series, Knuckles, one of the human characters openly supports Israel and practices a form of martial arts invented by the Israeli armed forces.

When it comes to Sonic 3 and staff and cast involvement, a little more context is needed. Filmmaking takes a long time and a lot of hard work. The script needs to be written before the cast can audition and then rehearsals, prop design, set and location set up, rigging and prepping Sonic character stand ins for their CGI coverups, and more all need to be done before filming can ever start. According to Collider this last summer Sonic 3 was set to start filming in August of 2023; meaning that cast had been hired months before that. Contracts for movies from big studios like Paramount or Disney often include Non Disclosure Agreements so that staff members wont leak anything before its ready and/or a legally binding punishment should a leak happen. We only found out Reeves is playing Shadow the Hedgehog this last week, and filming has completed earlier this month according to ScreenRant who cited James Marsden for that confirmation. Meaning that Keanu has been done for a little while now, if he was only in booth voice acting rather than some combination of on set and in booth. Depending on the NDA the agreement can last for years, according to BrewerLog Attorney's Office the average amount of time a NDA lasts is 1-5 years and depends heavily on what is outlined and what information the business in question wants to be kept secret.

Reeves nor his PR team has yet (as of 4/28/24) to make any statement regarding his role of Shadow the Hedgehog in the upcoming film, but that's the norm for him. Keanu Reeves rather rarely does interviews or public outspeak; he doesn't even make a statement or announce when donating or setting up regular funding to charities in the past.

To wrap things up there simply isn't enough to say Keanu is a zionist. Circumstantial at best, and heavily assumptionist and bad faith at worst. If in the future there is confirmation that Keanu purposefully or willingly sides, supports, or is politically aligned with anything to do with Israel and their genocide of the Palestinian people and their destruction of Gaza Strip then I will absolutely change my tune here. But there's ACTUAL people who are vocal about their support of genocide who I see get no negative feedback. Jerry Seinfeld openly support and even donates to Israel- why say nothing about him? Or Gal Godou. I have literally seen zero posts about either of them.

TLDR; Keanu isn't a zionist, and explaining why

[grumpkinpumpkinhead]

(Spoilers for Sonic the hedgehog 3)

So Sonic the hedgehog 3 was great, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping it to be. But I'll cut it some slack, considering that I sort of overhyped it to myself because Shadow is my favorite Sonic character.

So I'm going to talk about Shadow for a moment. First and foremost, I'm actually surprised that Maria was more than just mentioned in the movie - her relationship and significance to Shadow in general is actually shown too (albeit in a strangely modern context concerning that Shadow makes a comment that's supposed to imply that all the flashbacks between the two are taking place in the 70s). I guess that isn't something I should be too surprised about, considering Gerald Robotnik was shown in the trailers, so it's not like they would just completely forget about her, I guess...

For Shadow himself...I mean, he was Shadow. Brooding, edgy, husky voiced Shadow the hedgehog who uses guns and rides motorcycles. He was depicted the same way in the movie that he has been for years and I take zero issue with that, because that's what I (and I know many other people) love him for. There was only one major problem I had with Shadow's characterization in the movie - it's the part where he goes on like "what kind of hero abandons their friends?" to Sonic during their climactic fight. I don't know how anyone else felt about this (I'm willing to discuss it), but is it just me or did that part feel...out of character, for Shadow? I mean, Shadow's never really been a "friends" guy in the franchise, you know what I mean? It feels like the line was sort of just tacked on for the sake of reinforcing the thing about "being true to yourself" from the beginning of the movie, which from a writing standpoint I get, but it just seemed a bit messy.

My one minor issue is that Shadow didn't say "chaos control" when he got the emeralds. Like, come on. That's his thing, that's one of his biggest things, how could you forget that?

Final note, I didn't know until I was already in the theater (Tom's "Disney Death™" actually legit got to me, man, I was willing to spoil the movie for myself just to confirm he'd be okay) that Shadow was voiced by Keanu Reeves. I'm sure there are people who are very uppity about how Shadow is supposed to sound (Cough cough Sonic Boom cough), but I'm not one of those people. I personally don't think there's many requirements for doing Shadow's voice (sound gruff and mean, basically) and Reeves did a great job in my opinion.

[fedorahead]

Is there a masterlist of, like, actors and celebrities that have come forward for trans rights?

I know the internet has all sorts of collections of people who've done something messed up and those always depress me but reading about David Tennant being supportive in the face of the UK government and current legislation and stuff really hit me and I'd love to be able to see who else is out there standing up for us and what's right.

If not, here's a list I'm putting together, feel free to add to it or add context in the notes if you want! I'm including celebrities who have affirmed their support for trans family members even if they're not doing other activism. I'm also only listing celebrities I know of, and this list does not in any way endorse any problematic stuff any of them may have done outside of the topic.

Just making this list is cheering me up a lot tbh

David Tennant

Daniel Radcliffe

Emma Watson

Rupert Grint

Pedro Pascal

Jamie Lee Curtis

Ariana Grande

Lady Gaga

Don Cheadle

Taylor Swift

Gabrielle Union

Colin Mochrie

Andrew Garfield

K. A. Applegate

Cher

David Arquette

Jannifer Lopez

Angeline Jolie

Vanessa Carlton

Kevin Bacon

Nick Offerman

Sheryl Crow

Hayley Williams

Sade

Anna Paquin

Jon Oliver

Jon Stewart

Colbert

Keanu Reeves

Anthony Rapp

Charlize Theron

Zendaya

Kate Winslet

Shawn Mendes

LeBron James

Anthony Stewart Head

Gerard Way

Bea Arthur

Hozier

Wil Wheaton

Warren Beatty

Lynda Carter

Selena Gomez

Billy Ray Cyrus

Rihanna

Megan Thee Stallion

Cardi B

Shania Twain

Anna Kendrick

Kendrick Lamar

Dolly Parton

Drew Barrymore

Mark Ruffalo

Bruce Springsteen

Taron Egerton

Orville Peck

Charles Barkley

Yungblood

Sigourney Weaver

Bad Bunny

Emma Thompson

Liev Schreiber

Magic Johnson

Anne Hathaway

Chris Pratt

Ryan Reynolds

Chris Evans

Margot Robbie

Sandra Bullock

Christina Aguilera

Mariah Carey

Adele

Dua Lipa

Tony Hawk

Matt Berry

Harry Styles

John Leguizamo

Patrick Stewart

Jon Bernthal

David Lynch

Russel T Davies

Garth Brooks

Paris Hilton

Lucy Lawless

Bill Nye

Ally Sheedy

Miley Cyrus

Joan Jett

Mike Shinoda

Dick Van Dyke

Eric Idle

Ian Mackellan

Benedict Cumberbatch

Matthew Lillard

P!nk

Adam Conover

Megan Fox

Gwen Stefani

Terry Pratchett

Mara Wilson

David Attenborough

Michael Sheen

Joaquin Phoenix

Halsey

John Lithgow

Jim Norton

Mr Beast

M Shadows

John Cusack

Hugh Jackman

Penn Jilette

Janet Jackson

Brie Larson

Bjork

Britney Spears

Jenna Ortega

Selena Gomez

Alice Oseman

Rihanna Pratchett

oh man there are so many more i can't even keep listing but here's a list of 500 feminists who signed an open letter supporting trans women and girls

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Out of context line

Thanks @paeliae-occasionally here, @frostedlemonwriter here, and @the-golden-comet here!

Shaking things up. This is from my final project back in my creative writing class in high school!

From "It Was All Just a Dream"

“Well, we’ve decided to give you all of these awards!” Ms. Dakota gestured behind her, and a man with long, dark hair in all black pulled out a wagon stacked high with awards. “Wow,” I said. “Thank you, Keanu Reeves.”

Tagging @illarian-rambling @mk-writes-stuff @somethingclevermahogony @honeybewrites @elsie-writes

+ ANYONE ELSE

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

i want shadow to call sonic dewey duck to his face and refuse to give any context

we all want sonic to call out him being voiced by keanu reeves (allegedly) what if shadow calls him dewey duck. what will he do when the turn tables

[sweetchcolate]

Small missed opportunities in Sonic Movie 3 imo:

no in-movie reference to Keanu Reeves (or Sonic freaking out about Shadow sounding like Reeves) despite: 1. Pretty much the entire Sonic fandom freaking out when it was revealed he would voice Shadow 2. Sonic being such a big fan of him in movie 1 3. the movie's playful acknowledgement of Eggman and the professor being so similar because it's 'almost like they're two characters in a movie, played by the same guy'

no 'faker' line. I know the 'why do you look like me' bit was meant to call back to the faker scene while also doubling as the 'it all starts with this, a jewel containing the ultimate power' scene where Sonic and Shadow first meet, but honestly, the use of the term 'faker' here would have felt very appropriate. After all, Shadow just saw Sonic, a hedgehog looking exactly like him, drop from a GUN helicopter. What other conclusion can he come to other than GUN having made a (obedient and controllable) copy of him, having created a literal fake version of Shadow.

no 'sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog' I know Eggman's 'goodbye, you stinking hedgehog' (or something along those lines) was meant to evoke the same feeling, but imo it doesn't hold the same punch as when Sonic says it at the end of SA2. In the game, that specific line holds quite a lot of weight. Those are Maria's parting words to Shadow, and later, they become Sonic's parting words to Shadow. But whereas Maria died and Shadow lived, the second time around those words are said, it's Shadow who dies and the other party who survives. There's a poetic irony to this: fifty years ago, Shadow lost his world, and fifty year later, the world lost Shadow. Plus, the context in which that line is said lends it even more importance. The end of SA2 is one of those rare moments where we see game-Sonic visibly affected by the events that just transpired. Sonic is a very relaxed and fun characters, full of confidence, spitting one-liners and bangers one after the other. It's rare to see him full on angry, desperate or sad, which makes this segment where he seems to mourn Shadow in his own quiet way hit hard. In the movie, considering how Sonic and Shadow reached a mutual understanding of each other's pain and trauma as well as some level of respect for the other, I find it a bit of a shame and disappointment there was no comment of Shadow's sacrifice on Sonic's part. Especially considering [Event: The Last Scene] was playing in the background. It didn't even have to be the 'sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog' line too! Anything, any sort of acknowledgement, would have been fine.

Once again, those are what I consider small missed opportunities. I fully recognize that an adaptation, by virtue of its nature, cannot translate the og material one for one and cannot include every single detail. I'm also very appreciative and thankful for how the movie was packed full of references, down to the tiniest details (the Biolizard in 'beware the alien freak', the og Green Hill theme, Shadow being an alien from a comet, the Sonic Heroes flying formation, etc.).

Big props to everyone involved in the making of movie 3!

[bambiraptor9blog]

Crush 40--On Shadow the Hedgehog, Keanu Reeves, and Grief

(and maybe an impending mid-life crisis)

I will be 40 years old soon.

Somehow, I feel like I am 40 going on 14. My obsession with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has yet again reached a zenith with the release of two amazing things: Shadow Generations, an add-on to Sonic Generations focusing on my favorite character, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Movie 3, one of the highest grossing video game films of all time.

I can’t stop listening to Crush 40, the band that plays for the 3D Sonic games (and whose song, ‘Live and Learn,’ was featured in Sonic Movie 3), and revisiting that back catalogue of songs and game titles. I feel like part of me has been revived—reawakened—as I let Sonic music, movies and games guide me on my own healing journey.

In addition to this, I have developed a crush on Keanu Reeves. At 40.

I know what you’re thinking: Whoa. Wait. What? I know, I’m going too fast. It’s kind of my thing. Let me back up a bit to give you some additional context. Just try to keep up with this stream-of-consciousness blog post in the meantime. 😉

I also know what you’re thinking: Hey. That was a bit from Ben Schwartz, the charismatic voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. Stealing others’ lines to write is the wo-o-o-o-o-rst!

Well, yeah. I enjoy using echolalia to communicate how I’m feeling. Deal with it. *sunglasses emoji, CGI explosion in the background*

*blows ash off the laptop screen, wipes keyboard with sleeve, keeps writing*

Silliness aside…it’s been a rough past few years for me, personally. I’ve experienced a lot of loss in a myriad of forms. And while I have managed to do some incredible things—I’ve self-published a dinosaur fantasy novel, I’ve solo traveled to Australia, and I’ve got 15+ years of teaching experience under my belt—writing and creating in general have taken a back seat thanks to anxiety and depression…and grief.

I’ve been in and out of therapy for years, I’ve been managing my symptoms with medication, dietary changes, journaling, even walking places when I have the energy. I have my beloved gray cat Mochi too, with her insistent chirps, yowls and purrs to help me feel present and grounded and most importantly, loved. And my online/offline friends and family—you know who you are—are here for me, too.

Still…I keep yearning for more in my life. For fulfilling my creative destiny, as it were. And my heart is begging me to open up again.

Is it gonna be alright? Therein lies the question that plagues me night and day.

After I finished my novel, I found myself in a creative rut, in a desert of epic proportions with a looming storm on the horizon. It’s like I’m sitting there in my computer chair, the dust swirling around me, and the Word document page is there on my laptop screen, bright white, screaming, For God’s sake, write something! I think I took the wrong pill, I want to tell whoever my Morpheus is. I think I don’t like this freedom you’ve promised me. So I sit and stare at the screen…waiting…waiting for inspiration to strike like a lightning bolt before the flash flood.

And…nothing. No white rabbit to follow, no magic to chase, no one has come to my rescue except me. Sitting there, some nights unable to sleep well, some days I struggle to eat. And yet, probably due to sheer stubbornness of will, I move on. I keep going, I keep trying, I keep putting myself out there on forums, on Discord, on so many applications and message feeds. I walk away from the computer chair out of frustration, because once again—my energy has gone elsewhere instead of the place my heart so desperately wants to be. Wherever that is, I am uncertain. And this uncertainty eats at me worse than the wind and water erodes the coastline.

I go to the beach on weekends, I feel the wind and admire the ocean, only to smell and taste the ash from the beloved towns near Hollywood burning, and again, I think in song:

Is it gonna be alright?

Instead of writing, I’d turned to Sonic video games and rewatching the first two movies to cope. This is a lifelong habit of mine, ingrained in me since I was young. When my world has crumbled to chaos, the only certainty I can salvage is in a blue blur and his black and red nemesis. The blue rat is a source of comfort, familiarity, and attitude that I deeply enjoy. Reciting the lines from Sonic Adventure 2 since its debut in 2001, bouncing joyously to the music, reveling in the teenage me that I never fully appreciated nor understood—these things kept me going at low ebbs in the tides of life.

I was binging Sonic and Shadow YouTube videos late at night when I saw it: a comic by a Sonadow shipping artist. A very well made comic, sourced from tumblr. And when I saw Sonic and Shadow kiss passionately, something stirred within me. Something was not the same. I was tired of playing by the rules of society’s game…

Unfortunately, I could not defy gravity, but I could decide to start somewhere with my writing.

And on hearing Shadow’s new voice, I felt a similar thrill. So I started again. I decided to write fan fiction based on the Sonic movies, in particular emphasizing Shadow from Sonic Movie 3.

I admit I didn’t think much of Keanu Reeves in a crush kind of way decades prior. Oh yes, I knew of his work—there was no doubt there—I, like Sonic, loved him in Speed, and enjoyed teasing everyone I knew when I took the bus back and forth to school and work that it couldn’t go faster than 55 miles an hour, thus the reason why I was perpetually late (ADHD? Pfft, what’s that?).

I loved his voice in Dracula and in Shakespeare’s works, because I too have the dreaded SoCal accent—what some typecast as Valley Girl or Skater/Surfer Boi—and I thought he was rather handsome then as well. I remember his smile, too, that brilliant grin that made me smile back.

But my heart in my teen years was stolen by an Aussie knight in shining armor—Heath Ledger—so I let Ted from his Excellent Adventure days slip from my mind. Yeah, I know—bummer.

The Matrix was a film I barely remember seeing, probably because the body horror still makes me squeamish—even though comics and writings with such scenes don’t detest me in the slightest. But I do remember the trenchcoats and the sunglasses, how popular that look became. I rewatched the film recently, and I enjoyed it, although its messages have aligned very well with my internal quicksand of existentialism.

I couldn’t place why I liked the toy stuntman Duke Kaboom when I saw Toy Story 4, but I really liked his character, and then I found out Keanu voiced him—well, shoot.

And when I learned about his personal tragic backstory, with glimpses in the entertainment media channels—well, this is interesting.

Why is it that people who create my favorite things—musicians, voice actors, writers—all share a similar trajectory traumatically with me? I’m sure there’s some psychoanalytical thing here. Maybe an energy thing, like a vibe check. Who knows—but oof. The resonance intrigues me.

Because Keanu, a very private man, embraces grief in every role, in every creative thing he does. It’s an outlet for his pain, for his personal growth. And he works really hard, too, to bring that message of hope in chaos. I admire that deeply. Because unlike Keanu, I tend to run and hide from my own healing process, tend to dismiss the impact grief has on me right now. And I struggle with channeling my grief into my writing beyond journaling and therapy homework.

An even more interesting parallel, is that Keanu is a writer too. He recently published a comic series and then a follow up novel about an ageless man who becomes a weapon of war, with…get this…a thirty-something scientist WITH MY RL NAME that revives his memories and well…!

Spider-Man pointing meme is activated!

And so too was my storytelling.

Days before Sonic Movie 3 was released to theaters, I challenged myself. At first, I thought, ugh. No one is gonna want to read my goofy Sonadow story. So I slept on it. And then, I thought, what the hell. And I published the first chapter to Archive of Our Own.

Within hours, dozens of kudos notifications hit my inbox. I had set off a deluge in my personal creative desert. And my heart began to pitter patter in a way I hadn’t let myself feel in years.

Holy shit. What have I done?!

John Wick: "Yeah. I'm thinking I'm back!"

The more I wrote the story, the more I referenced the Sonic Movie 3 actor interviews after seeing the film in theaters twice. Is that research? I guess. I don’t know, I tend to think of it as, oh look! Another form of my obsessions taking place—neat!

And I admit I love the Shadow the Hedgehog video game from 2005. Yes I played it, yes it was fun. I mean, come on, I get to be the cool guy on a motorcycle—which in reality, my ex was into that stuff for a time, to try and impress me I guess? Never me haha—with a gun—which I will never wield, I’m more of a pacifist than that—and I get to sass Sonic into submission while I kill aliens?! I mean, sign me up!

Shadow as a character is also meant to be voiced by Keanu Reeves. His gruff demeanor, his anger, his fear, the volatility of his emotions—it’s there, in his character arc, as well as held nicely by Keanu’s inflection. Shadow is the quiet rebuke to Sonic’s effervescent chatter, the sobering steel of his gaze and voice merging to tone down Sonic’s wild, rebellious, fun nature. While Sonic represents young boyhood—all over-confidence, bragadocious sass��Shadow represents maturity when he wasn’t ready for it. Shadow is suspicious of the world, and given his upbringing, he has every right to be. When we experience loss at a young age—before we can talk and think for ourselves—it makes healing from depression an arduous mountain to ascend. Add to that later moments of trauma, and it’s like you lose a foothold somewhere on the way up, only to land on your ass in the pouring rain, wondering why in the hell you decided this was a good idea in the first place. Get outside and see Nature, everyone says. Feel the sunshine! Touch the grass! All that stuff. Oh yeah don’t forget yoga, meditation—that will keep the internal horrors at bay. At least, for a little while.

What really helps in healing is connection. Connection in parasocial ways is just as valid as connection in the real world, though it is rare the two shall meet. I’m honestly just happy to be creating again, and finding meaning in my stories and making connections through it too. The connections I’ve made through seeing the Sonic Movie 3 actors, in seeing the passion the director and writers brought, ignites a fire in me that I’ve denied for a really long time. And for that, I thank them. Always.

My wish for the year ahead is to continue forging new connections, to strengthen the ones that matter most, and for me to continue on in my journey of self-discovery through creativity. Because at my heart, at my core, I am an artist.

And in connecting to my younger self, in writing again and seeing the response to my work, I’ve decided yeah.

It’s gonna be alright.

[maswartz]

It's amazing seeing people crawl out of the wood works trying to smear Keanu Reeves, using photos from decades ago, removing context or just flat out lying about him.

[sebastiankicksrocks]

Meet Sasha

(the second image is the very first picture I drew of her so she looks a bit different in her current character sheet)

This post won't go totally in depth into her backstory its mainly just random facts about her, so if you are interested in her backstory go to this post where you can read about her and the other warriors

Anyways long story short just for context, Sasha was born and raised in Russia but when she was 10 she was taken to the USA by a demonic entity where she was raised by the warriors in the town Lotville Arizona (the warriors basically protect the town from supernatural beings such as ghosts, vampires and zombies) and when she was a teenager she decided to join in on their training

A lot of people think Sasha is one of those "strong cold silent types", and in a way she is, but she's mainly quiet because she has really bad social skills and not because she's "edgy and mysterious"

Sasha is great at speaking English, a lot better than her friend Krista from Sweden, though that's mostly because she's been learning it since age 10 and Krista has only been learning it for 2-3 years at that point

Sasha's favourite colour is pink but she wears more muted colours to not stand out, but when she's in her casual clothes she often does wear pink

Her design was based on Laura Croft

She has a part time job of working at a bakery (Duke, the leader, doesn't really pay the warriors that well even though they literally risk their lives all the time oof)

Like Krista, Sasha was also named after the character from Attack On Titan

Also like Krista, Sasha cannot read books, though unlike Krista its not because she has a bad attention span (Sasha is actually very patient and good at paying attention), its because she always falls asleep when she reads books for more than 8 minutes

Sasha's favourite music artists are Britney Spears, Dua Lipa and Eminem

Sasha has a problem with sleeping in

Sasha and Aiden have a brother-sister like relationship

Sasha has a Barbie and Bratz doll collection, she even makes clothes for them to wear

She has a YouTube channel where she posts tutorials on how to make doll clothes, despite her being good at making clothes the videos are low quality so she only has 8 subscribers (4 of which are from the warriors and 1 is her friend Bethany)

Sasha's favourite movie is Happy Feet because her favourite animal is penguins

Sasha likes salad, chicken, fish fingers, coffee, pineapple, watermelon and sushi

Sasha hates bacon, eggs, croissants, lasagna, and milk

Her favourite actor is Keanu Reeves