#while also knowing Reeve looked Like That before Keanu Reeve even Looked Like That

[icharchivist]

REEVE!!!!!!!!!

Genuinely ADORING that we keep cutting to him like that, i love that it really shows how invested he is in what his work is SUPPOSED to be (Urban planning, meaning he's officially supposed to help the PEOPLE living in Midgar even though the President doesn't care all that much about it) and that he just can't swallow what Shina is doing.

I also love that they're really hitting on the fact he's a sleep deprived sad man who's probably taking cocktails of anti-depressant and coffee all at once trying to do his goddamn job. It makes the contrast with how the crew will meet him all the more exciting. god.

[ulteri0rm0tives]

They sooo could've made Johnny romancable if they wanted to.

And I know technicalities were a big part of it, it being Keanu Reeves' face. But honestly I don't even think V and Johnny's romance would've needed a sex scene. I don't think I would've even wanted it. And I also know reception can play a big part of it too, with the fact half the dudebro fan base would've flipped the fuck out if they weren't being catered too, but. I don't know. I just wish the option was there.

The thing about Johnny is, I don't want a romance with him like I have with the other romance options. I'd want it to be something different, not necessarily deeper as I feel that just minimizes the other relationships you can have in the game, but definitely something forged through a connection that is literally quite not possible with the others.

Something just.. knowing. Something that if you choose the right dialogue options and actions, it's a slow natural build up to something unspoken, something that you know they feel for each other by the end of the game and the tragedy of that. Where the only 'physical' affection they can ever show each other is that lingering handshake at the bridge before V gives up the body.

Something to contrast with the other romances. Something that highlights the tragedy of not being able to physically exist with the one you love, the tragedy of knowing one of you won't be able to make it out of this, that one of you will have to leave eventually, always eventually. That one of you will have to sacrifice yourself for the other.

I wanted the lingering looks, the quick turn aways of being caught, the trail offs of meaningful dialogue, the cut offs of almost saying something too revealing. I wanted the subtle snark of jealous dialogue, or even possessiveness, the ones that are played off as jokes and teasing while V is with the other romances. I wanted him sitting on the couch during hangout dates with the others trying his hardest not to look bothered, distracting himself by playing music. I wanted Johnny saying shit with the same vulnerability as him admitting how scared he was for V at the bridge (the closest thing will ever get to a confession I swear).

Something to really, really drive home like a slap across the fucking face how much he changed, how much he learned about himself, how much he learned about how to genuinely care and love for others in ways that weren't just destructive and selfish, but in ways that were literally transformative and life saving, and how fucking sad that is that it comes at a time that's too late. That it's too late for him to do anything about it besides give up his life for V, or betray V, or watch helplessly as they give their life up for him when that isn't what he wanted.

Something. I just wanted something.

Like maybe they didn't add the option because Johnny being a romance option was never something they had in mind, but you cannot tell me Johnny and V's story doesn't play out like a tragic love story. That they weren't starcrossed, doomed from the start. Doomed from the moment they realized they started to care for the other or at least like each other in some capacity.

V would've never given Johnny the keys to the body again after the talk in the oil fields if they didn't start trusting the bastard, caring enough about him to help him find closure or make amends with his friends or reconcile with his past. Johnny would've never entrusted these tasks to V, or open up about them, or open up about how he finally saw how much everyone had hated him yet it seemed like V didn't. He would've never asked V for a second chance if he didn't think V could do right by him, if he didn't care about V. If he didn't trust them. If he didn't want that from them.

And the fact that none of that will matter by the end, how they feel about each other, because there will always be a choice to be had. Which of them will get to live? And which of them will have to leave?

If anything, it'd just make the choice all that much harder. Do you sacrifice yourself for the one you love, or do you sacrifice the one you love for yourself? Do you watch and stand by as the one you love sacrifices themselves for you, or do you try to convince them that it should be you instead? Is this a choice either of you could make?

There could've even been a secret option in Mikoshi if you had achieved a romance with Johnny just like the reaper ending if you had achieved a high enough affinity with him after selecting all the right dialogue. Where if it wasn't a decision either of them could make, or V didn't want to make, which one of them to sacrifice, that V could've convinced Johnny that they could both just leave behind the blackwall, that they both could be homogenized into Alt's code. At least then they could've been together. At least then, in some way, they could still live with and within each other for the rest of their digitally constructed lives. At least then, they could've been something.

(The calls from the others in the end credits could've been much like the ones you get in temperance too. Where it's either assumed V died or offed themselves or ran off, or that even Johnny took the body and ran off. Just a lot of accusations and assumptions and grief that could still come with an ending like this.)

Idk, I just wish we could've had the choice with Johnny is all.

[trashpandato]

Twilight

“In hindsight, I probably should have known what it meant,” Alex groans, bringing both hands up to cover her face. “I made sure that I only hung up the posters that had Kristen Stewart on them.”

Kara remembers all those posters, the too pale boys possessively flanking the movies’ main female character. She’d always wondered why Alex was so into the Twilight series; they were all just…so bad. Now it made more sense.

“Aw, babe,” Kelly teases, “let me know if you want me to reenact any of your teenage dreams about biting. I’m game.”

Alex groans again, but this time it’s accompanied by a bright blush. 

Laughter fills the room. They’ve been sharing stories about their first significant celebrity crushes for the last few minutes, the board game temporarily abandoned in front of them.

Kara has learned that Nia had a thing for Keanu Reeves after watching that bomb on a bus movie one too many times, but that she also “wouldn’t have kicked Sandra Bullock off her bed”, as she put it. 

Brainy mentioned that he went through a rather intense phase of trying to learn more about Earth culture, specifically American pop culture, and that he got stuck on the OG Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, for a while. Not a bad choice, Kara thinks while Nia jokes that she’d be more than happy to tie him up with a lasso. 

Kelly then rattles off a few actors that Kara thinks were on the L Word, with a particular emphasis on Jennifer Beals. Kara half expects Alex to make a joke about Flashdance, but instead, Alex simply leans into Kelly and presses a soft kiss to her cheek. 

When they get to Kara, she has to disappoint.

“I don’t think I have anything to offer here. Not really.”

Alex hums. “The posters on your walls were all images from the Hubble telescope. I mean, I know you liked NSYNC for their music, but I don’t think you ever swooned over any of them. Not really. There was definitely a mental love affair with Lilo and Stitch, though.”

When Alex mentions the Hubble images, Kara feels a cool pale hand slip into hers to give it a short squeeze. It’s brief, a quick show of support, but it means everything to Kara. She turns to Lena and smiles gratefully. At the same time, the attention of the rest of their friend group shifts to Lena as well.

But Lena just shrugs. “I definitely wasn’t allowed to hang up any posters in the Luthor mansion.”

“Yeah, but what about boarding school? Come on, Luthor,” Alex probes, “you can’t tell me there wasn’t a ton of celebrity gossip going around at an all-girls school.”

“Oh there was gossip alright. I can’t say I ever really knew what it was about, though. I didn’t really watch movies or TV growing up, so most of the names the girls were talking about meant nothing to me.”

This time, it’s Kara who squeezes Lena’s hand. She knows that Lena doesn’t like to talk about what growing up was like for her. She doesn’t like the pitying looks, or the constant assumptions that just because her family was rich, Lena must have had everything she ever wanted. But before the mood in the room turns too gloomy, Lena sits up a little, a small smirk on her face.

“So maybe I was a bit of a late bloomer that way. I would say I had my first real celebrity crush in my early 20s.”

That gets everyone’s attention.

“Oh really? Who was it?” Nia asks gleefully.

“Well, I was still in Metropolis at the time. But I had watched them on TV, followed their budding celebrity status.”

Lena pauses for a moment before she turns to face Kara more fully.

“And then I gave Jack Spheer an impassioned speech about why I had to move to National City, about how important it was to me to be the Luthor living in the same city as Supergirl. I believe I even said I wanted to share my home with her.”

There’s a stunned silence in the room for a few seconds before Alex barks out a laugh.

“Really? Your celebrity crush was Supergirl?”

And Kara considers if she should intervene, tell Alex to lay off on the heavy teasing she knows is going to happen now, but Lena is looking at her and she’s still smiling, calm and confident, and Kara simply smiles right back.

Lena chuckles, her eyes never leaving Kara’s. “Of course it was. I mean, have you seen that skintight suit and very, very short skirt she was in at the time?”

“Ugh,” Alex huffs, “I didn’t need to hear that. That’s my sister you’re talking about.”

Lena shrugs again. “You asked, I answered.”

And then she leans in and kisses Kara and Kara makes a mental note to figure out how to send a message to Winn into the future to thank him for his incredibly “male gaze” costume design for her first Supersuit. 

(She does very much prefer the pants these days, though.)

[doamarierose-honoka]

IMAGE COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

After being introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the Idris Elba-voiced Knuckles got a spin-off TV series and also returned for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. With this third installment also debuting Keanu Reeves as Shadow, fans have already wondered if the adventures of Shadow will continue. The stars themselves confirmed their interest in seeing continued collaborations in this franchise, and even have a pretty straightforward suggestion on what the project would be called. Additionally, Elba expressed his interest in returning for a Season 2 of Knuckles, regardless of whether Shadow factors into those plans. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 lands in theaters on December 20th.

When speaking with ComicBook about a Knuckles and Shadow team-up, Elba affirmed while nodding along to the idea, “I’m telling you…” While there’s an opportunity for a clever combination of the two characters into a unique title like “Shadow Knuckles,” Reeves was quick to suggest, “No, Knuckles and Shadow.”

Elba teased, “Shadow Knuckles sounds like a band.”

Dating back to before the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog, there seemed to be concern with the titular character’s big-screen debut, largely centered around his on-screen design. Fans weren’t won over by the movie’s first trailer, resulting in a character redesign that would become the official look of the figure.

Despite those initial obstacles, the debut Sonic the Hedgehog was a major success, with each subsequent adventure expanding the mythos of the video game character in exciting ways. One of those expansions was Knuckles, which set major records for Paramount+ when it premiered earlier this year. A Season 2 hasn’t officially been confirmed, but Elba expressed his interest in a sophomore season.

When asked if another season of Knuckles or a Sonic the Hedgehog 4 would be Elba’s next foray into the franchise, the actor joked, “Oh, wow, is there a Sonic 4? You know more than me, my guy.” He continued, “I would say I’d love to do it. Any chance to understand the characters a little bit more, in the different episodes … If [the filmmakers are] in, I’m down.”

Even without a Season 2 of Knuckles on the horizon, fans can see Knuckles and Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which is described, “Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the big screen this holiday season in his most thrilling adventure yet. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.”

Even without a Season 2 of Knuckles on the horizon, fans can see Knuckles and Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which is described, “Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the big screen this holiday season in his most thrilling adventure yet. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.”

Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Sonic franchise. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hits theaters on December 20th.

[barksdalesballs]

headcanons abt Donnie b.

PART 1.

word count: ≈670.

TW: s/a, domestic violence, the MENTION of racism & homophobia & LITERAL OPINIONS DON'T BE MAD.

Alright, I want to begin this by discussing the way I personally view Donnie Barksdale. Unlike a lot of people who have seen The Gift, I don’t view Donnie as this great and terrible monster. Some people simply see the racism and abuse and run with it, and while I see that, I also take into consideration that Donnie could have REASONS for behaving that way. Of course, nothing actually justifies racism or abusing your spouse/partner.

This post won’t JUST be headcanons, either, but instead it will be a mix of headcanons and some evidence that I have picked up.

---

Starting with evidence that is most believable: I think Donnie Barksdale was molested or sexually groomed as a child, as well as being physically and mentally abused. Why would I believe that? Well, Keanu Reeves himself HAS said those exact words himself. Not only that, but Donnie deliberately cheats on his wife, even though he knows it is “unchristian” and makes him a bad husband, to have sex with another woman. For some victims of S/A, hypersexuality comes from it as a result. Just because he is aware that it could be wrong, doesn’t mean that he will stop. Hypersexuality can override logical thought processes for some. This desire to go out and cheat on Valerie could also be a projection of childhood trauma involving a father figure. There is no telling WHO did it, but it could have been his father on a drunken night, or maybe some of his fathers friends. It could even be his mother for all that we know.

The emotional and physical childhood abuse could come from MANY different aspects. Donnie’s father could have been cheating on his mother and could have hit Donnie to ensure that his lips stay shut, but it could also be something as quiet as his father infiltrating his thoughts with racist thoughts and opinions that he may not have had before. One of the biggest things I think his father engraved into his head is homophobia. BUT, I strongly believe that Donnie is bisexual or queer of some sort.

It may just sound like I am projecting onto him, but if his mind IS filled with those thoughts, why would he be SOOOO insecure about Valerie leaving him? Sometimes, a queer man like that will force himself into a marriage with a woman, happy or not, just to disguise the fact that he is queer. Perhaps he really is so dependent on Val’s loyalty because he is hiding something like that. Also, if his father would have found out about potential queerness as a child, it would give him another reason to hit Donnie. This physical abuse could have left Donnie with a desire to scare “weaker beings” (his wife, Annie, Annie’s kids), because he NEEDS to be seen as a tough, dominant man, not as a queer weakling, like his father would have seen.

On top of probably hitting / S/A’ing Donnie, his father most likely hit his mother, too. Donnie could have been raised in an environment where it was “normal” for a husband to beat wife—after all, sometimes kids don’t know better until they are in their teens.

And lastly, for discussing the reasons as to why I think he behaves this way, I think his fear re-manifests inside of him. I mean, look at the scene where they find the body in his pond. He’s obviously terrified to see her body there, but then a few seconds later he’s yelling and spitting at Annie while he gets dragged away by the police. The one officer, when Annie calls them to her house after Donnie breaks in, quite-literally says that Donnie is “high-strung”. Which…if you don’t know what that means, it means to be nervous and easily upset.

---

here's the video of Keanu mentioning Donnie being possibly abused so I don't look crazy:

anddd this isn't everything I want to post, I'll eventually add more head canons about him in the future. for now I wanna focus on his background.

[deltastra]

My Thoughts on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Trailer

ITS HERE. AFTER NUMEROUS RUMOURED RELEASE DATES, THE TRAILER IS FINALLY HERE. GUYS I DREAMT THIS TRAILER LIKE 4 TIMES THESE PAST 6 MONTHS I WAS GOING INSANE. SPOILERS FOR THE TRAILER BELOW!!

THE DETAIL?! I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I JUST KNOW THE SHADOW ESCAPE SCENE IS GOING TO BE FIRE.

Ok so I love how compared to Sonic's soft-looking quills which looks more like fur, Shadow's quills look more spiky and rough. It's so clear that they are parallels that even their designs beautifully contrast.

"Shadow's story began a lot like yours Sonic. But where you found family and friends, Shadow found only pain and loss"

This gives me hope that they will actually adapt Project Shadow in its truest form. Especially seeing the G.U.N agents point their guns at Shadow and Gerald Robotnik who appear to be grieving. While I don't expect them to show Maria's death, I hope they at least imply it. (I feel bad for the actress but a lot of fans will cheer for her character's death because it shows that the writers care about following the source material lol)

Okay so one thing that is different is that instead of Sonic being framed and hunted by the government, he is instead asked for assistance to track down Shadow. Makes sense for their universe given the first two movies. However, I do hope Team Heroes end up betraying the authorities and let Shadow escape.

WE ARE GOING TO GET A NIGHT CITYSCAPE FIGHT I LOVE THESE TYPES OF FIGHTS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

ALSO KEANU REEVES SOUNDS GREAT AS SHADOW!!

AND THE TELEPORTATION? I LOVE IT! Looks like they won't portray it as "Chaos Control" but it's fine I guess!

THAT RUNNING ANIMATION ACTUALLY LOOKS MORE MENACING THAN THE GAMES WHAT THE HECK?! THAT'S SO WELL DONE!

THE FIGHTS DEFINITELY IMPROVED BASED ON THE FEW SCENES WE GOT!

Okay so this is giving me hope that they won't make Team Sonic work with the authorities. Looking at their faces, it gives me the impression that they took away their dad (possibly he is the one being framed?)

Well Jim Carrey did ask for the fat suit! Looks like he's going full Eggman now!

Bro they're doing this on purpose at this point. Man I love Agent Stone so much.

OKAY SO I KNEW THAT HE WILL HAVE A MOTORBIKE CAUSE OF WHAT PEOPLE SAID THEY SAW AT THAT CON WHERE THEY PLAYED THE TEASER BUT MAAAAAAN.

HE RLLY PULLED UP ON SONIC WITH A BIKE.

OH MAN THAT DETAIL

AKIRA REFERENCE OF COURSE THEY HAD TO!!!!!

OH HE LOOKS SO COOL IM GOING TO EXPLODE.

THIS. This is why I love night cityscape battles. They look so beautiful.

WAIT SO GERALD IS ALIVE IN THIS UNIVERSE...INTERESTING. I love how the actor matches Jim Carrey's Eggman!

OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL GUYS, GOD THIS TRAILER WAS LIKE 5% OF WHAT I SAW IN MY DREAMS SO IM HAPPY.

Jokes aside, perfect. I love this trailer so much and it was worth the hype. I'm so excited to watch this movie despite the few minor events that they changed in order to properly incorporate this story into the movie universe.

I doubt Amy or Rouge will appear but that's fine. Maybe for a post-credit scene I think.

Shadow is definitely the star of the show here. The detail on his quills, his voice, and his behaviour is all so good. I'm sure they'll give Shadow's character justice. I'm assuming Project Shadow will be the prologue in the movie before the title card drops but thats just me predicting stuff!

AAAAAAAAAAAAH IM SO EXCITED GUYS HEHEHEHE

[espighty]

More scattered thoughts and comments on Sonic 3

Of course they could not actually shoot Maria what with the age rating guidelines and all, so they have a nondescript explosion kill her instead. I'm not bothered at all by that. In fact, I genuinely like that they had a guy go "hold on don't shoot them they're kids!!!". It's a brief flash of humanity and a take we haven't seen before.

I was hoping we would get more Tails character development, because that was still a thread from last movie, but it seems to have happened more between movies than actually on screen. Though it is still nice to see him so confident and sure of his place now.

It's really funny that the go-to way to show a character is heavily injured is to just put their arm in a sling. The commander disguise that Tom put on while undercover, Tom himself sporting one post-adventure even though he was hit in the torso region and didn't even fall that hard. It's harder to visually show broken ribs I suppose. But cmon man.

They got one "damn" into the script and it wasn't even Shadow who got to say it. Kind of fuming about that. Why would you give it to Eggman in his first scene when Keanu Reeves is RIGHT THERE

The entire Stobotnik divorce arc. It ending with Stone tearing up at the worst apology known to man. Actually made me laugh out loud in the theatre. I'm sorry for your loss sir but nobody else can take it seriously.

WADE WITH THE EMERALD. KNUCKLES SHOW REFERENCE. AUGH. (<- spoken by man who has not yet watched the knuckles show but knows it was peak silly).

When Tom turns on the hologram disguise and becomes Randall I just kept thinking of Freaky Friday by Lil Dicky. The one where he wakes up in Chris Brown's body. If you know you know. I know Tom would never but the thought was still killing me.

The G.U.N. helicopter guys just letting Tails put on a helmet and take the front seat was Adorable. AND TALK ABOUT LOW BUDGET FLIGHTS. I smiled so hard.

Knuckles just casually decimating Big Ben. No one acknowledges it. Also Knuckles had so many awesome saves in this movie he is the GOAT for real. We love Knuckles.

Keanu Reeves was a good choice for Shadow. A little lackluster in the melancholy emotional scenes, but when talking casually and fighting he is Perfect.

Speaking of Shadow, I'm glad they didn't dwell too much on the "Sonic and Shadow look the same let's get them confused" plot point that the game pulled. They just acknowledge they are both alien hedgehogs and that is that. Surprisingly, G.U.N. doesn't even take advantage of it. I thought they would given how scummy they were in the first two movies. I was kind of waiting for it, but it never happened. Can't say I was disappointed about it though.

And finally, this time around we got TWO post-credit scenes. Metal Sonics (Yes, multiple) seemingly not made by Eggman (evidence that he's really dead this time). AMY coming in with the steel chair hammer. And Shadow being still alive. God I can't wait for Sonic Movie 4.

[randomheros]

Sonic movie 3 spoilers (again, cause I got more to say)

I love that this movie just immediately goes to the prison break. Like this movie really said "we know your here for him, we're not gonna make you wait." XD

The entire break out scene is so good. The lighting, the stasis tube thing is cool, the animation of Shadows little sleepy twitches. The subtle build up to the fact he's waking up (cause if he's twitching, that means he'd be in REM sleep, a stasis should be deeper, right?) The heart monitor alerting the guards to him waking up. Then there's the scene of him leaving the island, where he races across the water, and maybe I'm just imagining it, but I SWEAR you can see a learning curve in his initial animation. Like it looks like he takes a moment to figure out how to race across the water, which makes sense cause he's never done that before. It's some subtle but good animation and I appreciate it.

I love that he isn't immediately on a revenge spree, he's just kind of unsure what to do with himself. Like he hates GUN certainly, but like, yeah, he should. I wouldn't advise someone to trust the people that attacked his home and killed his best friend. Dude has every right to be defensive, and it was FULLY GUN's idea to attack him in a highly populated area.

I like that Shadow wasn't really too intent on harming Sonic and the gang, he was mostly trying to avoid and prevent them from following. I also like Shadow not being really cocky and arrogant, cause frankly I'm not sure that ever fit his backstory.

I like that it was Gerald who put the revenge idea in his head-annnnd as I say that, I understand that it was a way of doing the memory alter thing but in a less complicated way. NICE. I love the little haunted house moment in mountain base, loved seeing ma boi Casper. XD

I love Super Sonic's fight with Shadow. I love love LOVE Shadow's super form being more white gold, I'm sure that's not new, but he's real pretty. XD It's also really funny cause like...he has no idea what's going on but just goes with it. He has no idea what the chaos emeralds are, has no idea why Sonic is gold now, no idea why he's now gold, but is still unfazed. He is the epitome of the John Mulaney bit; "This might as well happen today."

I love that Shadow just kind of wants Sonic to kill him. Some good character writing. He wants justice/revenge for Maria, but he also just wants the pain to end. He just wants it all to go away.

tHE LIVE AND LEARN MOMENT WAS GREAT. NO NOTES. JUST PERFECTION. (The little genuine smile Shadow gets is so nice. Oh my god. It was hype)

HE TOOK OF THE POWER CUFFS! IT WAS NEVER STATED, THEY JUST FULLY TRUSTED THE FANS TO UNDERSTAND(at least...i don't recall the power cuffs ever being explained in the movie...)

While part of me misses the whole "Gerald made Shadow to cure Maria" thing, it doesn't really take away from the movie, and it does make it easier to do a Black Arms story line in the future, if they wanted to. Like they left that door WIDE open.

I think the only thing in this movie that I wasn't sure I liked was Gerald...we didn't really get any scenes of him before the 50 year imprisonment, so I kept having to remind myself that he likely wasn't this weird 50 years ago. But I also know they had to make him weird cause it's fucking Jim Carrey. XD Regardless, I think it ever so slightly took away from the emotional impact of the Eclipse canon scheme, cause I can't take him seriously for even a second. I'm also not sure how I feel about Keanu Reeves voice acting...like, he suits Shadow, but ...sometimes it feels like it's lacking some emotion. But maybe that's just the intended direction? Idk, I'll have to watch it a second time before I can really make a judgment. Maybe I'm just not used to it. XD Regardless, it would be the fans fault and not Sega cause yall asked for Reeves XD

I CALLED THE END CREDIT SCENE! I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE METAL SONIC! Eggman has had that quill thing forever, it's been established that his quills can power things, it only makes sense for Metal Sonic to appear.

I did not suspect MANY metal sonics however, or AMY!?! YOOOO??? Never have I been so hyped to see Amy XD

I had a blast at this movie X3

[keldjinfae]

these are a few (12) of my favorite things

Twelve characters from twelve fandoms, twelve tags. Nobody tagged me, but I have been agonizing over this damn thing for about five hours now, so I feel I owe it to myself to give it a go anyway. Some of these characters really did come out as a draw because I love them equally and I could not decide.

Teen Wolf - Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski

It took me an hour of trying to pick one of them before I decided "fuck it, they're a unit." They're two sides of the same coin, they're my OTP in a way no other pairing has been, I love them both equally for similar and different reasons. I identify with both of them so much that making a choice is like disregarding a part of my own thought process.

2. John Wick - John Wick

Curse this 'verse, seriously. Every character is so nuanced and interesting, even the despicable people (and really, they're all despicable people), and it was ridiculously difficult to choose between people like Sofia, Gianna, Caine, Winston, Charon, Nobody, the list goes on. But. John Wick is what binds them all in this particular story. And then there's the fact that Keanu Reeves made John Wick interesting--this is a character who had the potential to be buried in Main Character Energy, but instead, there are all of these subtle moments where you see John's underlying rage, his gallows humor, his fallibility, etc. He views the stories (legends) about him as running jokes; they happened, and they weren't even exaggerated, but he is annoyed that people keep talking about them.

3. Inception - Arthur

Again, it was so hard to choose between Arthur and Eames. Actually, I also had to watch Mal be sad and neglected in a window. Again. But I ultimately went with Arthur because he's my deadly cinnamon roll. I'm making myself want to binge-read Inception fic again, send help.

4. Supernatural - Dean and Sam Winchester

Like, even the overlying message of the show was literally "these two do not know how to exist without each other." Their codependency made me feral from the get-go back in 2005. The amount of meta I have written about these two, on top of all of the fic, just. Chuckdamn.

5. Dawson's Creek - Pacey Whitter

He's the mouthy, oft-overlooked son of a sheriff. He was my precursor to Stiles. Actually, he was my precursor to Derek as well, given how he fell for an older woman and the relationship wrecked him (not the same as what happened to Derek, but it still screwed him up for a while).

6. Song of the Lioness - George Cooper

Okay, he's the King in the Court of the Rogue--of course he's going to be my favorite. That's not to say that this choice wasn't also nigh impossible, considering the wealth of fantastic characters in this fandom, but George outclassed everyone in charisma. George and Alanna were also the first "age gap" teenage romance I ever read, so. That was formative as fuck.

7. Dragon Age: Origins - Zevran Arainai

Look, I'm basically here because otherwise I'd have to pick a favorite in the entire series, and that's just not happening--having to choose between Zevran and Morrigan was already difficult enough. If there's a personal avatar for me in this whole franchise (other than the player character), it's Zev. He's the one who hides in the open, who tells nothing but the whole truth, but tells it so abrasively that nobody listens to/believes him.

8. Dragon Age II - Fenris

If Awakening were also in this list (I figured that would be pushing it), then that would be a toss-up between Nathaniel Howe and Anders. As it stands, this one was a toss-up between Fenris and Anders. The only reason I went with Fenris is simply because I prefer his rivalmance over Anders's romance. I still have to clench my teeth to get through Anders's second act resolution without romancing him because it is good, but Fenris's rivalmance is delicious. That being said, both boys have that deep-set, impotent rage against the whole world, and I love how both of them deal with it. But. Fenris is voiced by Gideon Emery, and his romance cutscenes are all kinds of fantastic in their physicality.

9. Kingdom Hearts - Riku and Sora

Yeah, again, just like with Derek and Stiles, or Dean and Sam, these two boys don't like it when they're not together. The entire series is about the two of them trying to save or find each other. They also have one of the most awesome limit breaks in the entire series--I spam that one even when there aren't any enemies around.

10. Captain America - Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers

Same as above, but over the course of an entire century and more. They are each other's entire world, and *feral noises* Like, do you realize how many times I went to see TWS and CW in theaters? Do you? All I have to do is hear "End of the Line" and I go into a fugue state for hours just thinking about them.

11. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Spike

I'm cheating again here, thanks to the spin-off, and even then choosing between nearly every single member of the cast was a brutal death match. Cordelia and Oz and Giles came so close, and honestly, Giles should get honorable mention status. What I loved about Spike most was how he was unapologetically and unabashedly himself. He wasn't a mastermind, but he also knew just where to push to drive the Scoobies apart. He didn't mind being overlooked, unless it was Angel, and then he was all but compelled to get up in his face like "Genghis Khan" just started playing in the background.

12. Angel - Angel

Thank fuck there's a spin-off to choose from. I love Angel at his best (when he's with Buffy or Cordy), I love him when he's at his worst (also with Buffy), and I love him the most when he's petty as fuck, and nobody brings that out in him more than Spike. Out of the entire series, my favorite episode is "The Girl in Question" because it's one of the most perfect examples of their centuries-long relationship. They go seamlessly from fighting each other to fighting everyone else, and it just humanized Angel in a way that few others did. Like, yes, he has a soul, and yes, there's a prophecy that he will become human again. But in the meantime? Spike makes him fall back on his human nature just by being in his proximity.

As for the 12 tags... uh... @nerdherderette @greyhavenisback @ephemeronidwrites @ice-mage @jacyevans @twistedamusement @wildamongwolves @renmackree @allybugg888 @caseyvalhalla

And then anyone else actually reading this, if you want to play then consider yourself tagged.

[litsnobconfessions]

A Year of Animation Day 38: A Scanner Darkly

Date: February 7, 2025

Day: 38

Content Watched: A Scanner Darkly

Year: 2006

Rating: R

Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

I picked Nimona for my sister's birthday, and I picked A Scanner Darkly for my brother's. I'm guessing he's seen it (he's seen a lot of stuff), though I don't know if he likes it. But I think of my brother as a cerebral fella, and he's the person who introduced me to science-fiction, if not to Phillip K. Dick specifically.

I watched this movie once before, in high school. And shortly thereafter, I read the book. There were two things that really struck me while reading: (1) This book is super trippy and hard to follow, but I'm guessing Dick did that on purpose and (2) this is a really solid adaptation.

My favorite part of the movie is The Sins of Feck, mostly because I remember reading the book and thinking, "I've already read this. Except I know I haven't." I couldn't remember how it had played out in the movie, but I knew that somehow that scene had occurred word for word. So today I got to go full circle and see how it played out all over again, knowing already that it was word for word taken from the book. My other favorite scene is probably the one with the bicycle, again because I remember it vividly from the book.

Watching it this go around, I'm struck by how beautiful Dick's prose is. Because so many lines are taken word for word, you can hear it here, and he's a masterful writer. And I noticed the foreshadowing with the blue flowers being mentioned several times before the end. Also, the book has this habit of skipping back and forth between scenes, sometimes in the middle of sentences, and the movie does that a bit, but not as much as the book (though the DVD I watched had a scratch that forced me to skip even more than normal.) Nevertheless, the movie is very trippy, which again, I'm sure is on purpose, as I suspect the point is to make you feel like a user. A lot of that is due to the animation.

This movie is rotoscoped and, like Persepolis and Loving Vincent, is one of those films where, once you see it, you realize there is no other medium or art style that is better suited to the story it is telling. From what I understand, rotoscoping by its nature can come off as disjointed and wonky, but the animators definitely leaned into that, as is seen in several scenes in which inanimate objects move in ways they should not. These movements were quick enough, however to make me question whether or not I really saw them, and it wasn't until I honed it on it and looked for it that I was sure.

The scamble suits are definitely my favorite part of the animation, not only because they are interesting to look at, but because I can hardly imagine how difficult they would have been to create. I'm impressed at how synchronized the lips are, even as the image of the speaker shifts frame to frame. Apparently, they had 20 people working on the scramble suits alone.

As for the rest of the movie, it still took hundreds of hours to animate a single minute of the film. The animators considered different line wieghts for different characters, drew in facial highlights that shift as the characters move, and even changed elements of the actor's appearances, such as drawing Keanu Reeve's character as clean shaven in the final scenes (not to mention all the aphids). All of this flies in the face of hypothesis 6. I also really like that the actors apparently got in on the action in their own way. Reeves, knowing that in many scenes, his character would be wearing a scramble suit, focused on bigger body language rather than facial expression to communicate Fred's thoughts. Other actors purposely performed their scenes in a... well, in a more animated way, knowing it would better suit the finished product.

I think I'd like to end in the same vein as the movie (and, I'm sure, the novel as well), in which Dick dedicates the work to friends who died or experienced extensive physical and/or mental harm due to drug addiction. I am struck by this line from Barris toward the beginning of the story: "Substance D needs no genetic predisposition. You're either on it, or you haven't tried it." I would fall into the latter category, but I believe Dick when he says these others suffered a fate far greater than they deserved.

[ritsusoma]

Favorite Films of 2024

For some reason, I found it difficult to connect with a lot of the new releases in 2024, but some I liked.

There were some memorable theatrical experiences though, and plenty of movies released before 2024 that I saw for the first time and enjoyed quite a bit. So here are some I thought worth mentioning, in no particular order.

The Taste of Things (2023) - This cozy cooking movie is gorgeously shot and a delightful celebration of food and the relationship between those preparing and enjoying. The Baked Alaska in this movie was absolutely inspirational.

Dusty & Stones (2022) - This is one of the most wholesome documentaries I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t stop smiling. Seeing the joy in these men as they fulfill their dreams was delightful.

It made me think how random it is how people latch onto aspects of other cultures. Sometimes they’re made fun of for it, but you never know what it means to them. We find emotional connections in many different, sometimes unexpected, places. I think that’s alright.

Kim's Video (2023) - Another really interesting, adventure of a documentary that touches on themes of obsession and how things can become lost to time.

Fitzcarraldo (1982) & Burden of Dreams (1982) - A wonderful double feature. Werner Herzog is wild. Witnessing his commitment as he struggles to make his movie is more entertaining than the movie itself. His pontifications about the obscenity of the jungle is hilarious.

Speaking of Herzog, his version of Nosferatu (1979) is my favorite of the ones I've seen. Quiet, eerie, and brooding with classic contemplations on death from Herzog.

I saw the "Silents Synced" version of the original Nosferatu (1922) with Radiohead's Amnesiac and Kid A as the accompaniment which made it more enjoyable, but I think I just find it hard to enjoy silent films.

Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) was wild and flamboyant, while Robert Eggers' Nosferatu (2024) had all the sensibilities of a modern horror movie that I just find fatiguing at this point - also, his Nosferatu looked like a zombie Robotnik.

I was able to revisit some of my favorite movies in the theaters this year...

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - The extended editions were rereleased in theater. It was wonderful to see this on the big screen and be fully enveloped in that brilliant score. Still a perfect movie.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) - I was like 7 years old when this came out, so I don't remember the theatrical experience, if I even went. It was fun to experience in the theater. Sure it's CG backgrounds galore, but they're more aesthetically pleasing than many of the CG backgrounds we get these days. And the amount of random unique characters just on the periphery is impressive. Star Wars used to be my favorite thing, but I've completely lost interest at this point. Still, this movie fills me with nostalgia, and made me think that even bad movies back then had more charm and took more risks than most movies today.

My local theater had a Keanuthon which was incredible. I wish I had gotten to see more films in the the lineup, but I did make it to the John Wick marathon! I just think Keanu Reeves is so damn cool, and these movies are a ton of fun. The first John Wick (2014) is excellent in its simplicity, but I think Chapter 4 (2023) is basically perfect - I've seen it five times in the theater now, which is nuts for me. Also, my girlfriend sat with me through all of them and enjoyed them too for the most part, which is just so wonderful of her and a testament to her dedication to me <3

Which brings me to the interesting theatrical events of the year...

Johnny Mnemonic (1995) presented in black & white. This movie is goofy, a bit long and nonsensical, but it's a good time with some pretty quotable lines. Somehow the cyberpunk noir style comes through so well in the black & white edit, giving the movie a bold and gritty look. But it was the Q&A with the director, Robert Longo, and Academy Award winner (and Milwaukee-native) John Ridley that really made this a memorable screening. Usually when there is a Q&A at the local cinema, it's a member of the cinema asking questions and can feel, at best, like a basic interview and, at worst, extremely cringey. So it was fascinating to be able to listen to these two filmmakers talk about Longo's experience making this - the only feature film he ever made.

Wildcat (2023) - The Q&A with Ethan Hawke and Barry Poltermann after the screening was more fascinating than the movie itself. It was surreal to see Ethan Hawke on stage at MKE Film telling great stories about the making of this. I already love him, but it made me love him more. It made me want to read more Flannery O’Conner. Then maybe on a rewatch I'll appreciate this movie more.

Two of the most stressful movie-going experiences of the year...

I saw the Halloween showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). I was a virgin. This is not the way I want to experience a film. I could see enjoying that experience if I was familiar with the movie, but I found it frustrating and stressful trying to watch and hear the movie as chaos reigned around me.

Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (2023) - I saw this at a "Super Secret Members Only Screening" in a packed house. Hundreds of people turned out, ready to be surprised by what exciting movie Milwaukee Film would screen just for members, during the film festival no less! I've long been skeptical of Milwaukee Film's decisions as an organization, but this is by far one of the most ridiculous. To expect hundreds of people to sit through two hours of a guy playing piano, shot in black and white, is ludicrous for an event like this. Less than ten minutes in, the energy of the crowd shifted as we all realized this was the movie. Some settled in, others collected their things and headed out. After each song, handfuls of people exited the theater. A couple in front of me represented the dichotomy of the audience - one crying, moved by the beauty of the music; the other hardly able to sit still, eager to leave. As the credits appeared on screen, the remaining 80% sighed in relief and got up. Ryuichi Sakamoto was still there on screen playing just as he had been for the last two hours, but, as it turns out, as soon as credits roll, people are done with a movie.

I honestly don't even know what I thought of the movie itself. I was so distracted by everything going on around it. Just an absolutely bizarre experience.

One final mention so I don't leave off on that note...

Suzhou River (2000) - I love the opening of this movie. It's dreamy and poetic and blends that line between fiction and reality. In sparked in me a desire to pick up my camera again and not be afraid to makes something kind of ephemeral. The rest of the movie is interesting in its filmmaking techniques, and the story is sort of Murakami-esque.

Well, that's it for now. I saw hundreds of movies in 2024 and most of them leave my mind soon after they are over. But I want to be able to remember the ones that affected me at the time, so that's the purpose of reviving this old tumbly blog.

Cheers, and happy watching.

[keanuquotes]

The Enduring Appeal of Keanu Reeves He battles evildoers in 'John Wick 4,' manufactures two-wheel pieces of art, and is worshiped by the internet, but Keanu Reeves swears he's just a normal guy. And he’s got the scars to prove it. Ky HendersonMar 15, 2023 9:00 AM EDT It’s easy to look cool when you’re riding a motorcycle, but it’s hard to look cooler than Keanu Reeves on a brisk, sunny afternoon in Los Angeles. He rests his left hand on his thigh and steers with his right, which gooses the throttle as he weaves around slow drivers. He wears a form-fitting black canvas motorcycle jacket that accentuates how trim he is—even more fit than he appears on-screen—and a beat-up Shoei helmet. He leaves the visor up, choosing instead to shield his eyes with sunglasses the Terminator might wear to a Hamptons garden party. Reeves looks at home and at ease on a motorcycle. He looks cool.

At a gas station stop, he suggests switching bikes. We’re each riding cruisers made by Arch, the motorcycle company Reeves co-founded with designer Gard Hollinger in 2011. The company produces high-end, highly personalized production bikes; I’m on a 1s, the company’s new $100,000+ sport cruiser. Reeves is on an older model, KRGT-1, but it’s his personal Arch, a true one-of-a-kind. It's the only Arch ever painted YK Blue, a color Reeves and Hollinger commissioned based on the ultramarine pigment famously mixed by mid-century French artist Yves Klein. Reeves says all that’s left of the paint is in a tiny can stored somewhere at Arch in case the bike’s paint ever needs touch-ups.

Which it most certainly would if, let’s say, some idiot were to put the bike down in front of a horrified Reeves while riding down the Pacific Coast Highway. Thankfully, there’ll be no lowsides today. Although the bike is beefy, with a 2,032cc V-twin powerplant, it’s easy to maneuver and comfy as a BarcaLounger.

Keanu Reeves stands in motorcycle factory holding blue mug Brian Bowen Smith

Reeves eventually leads us back to Arch’s factory building, which is nondescript from the outside but artfully decorated inside using shipping containers to separate working areas. Metal fabrication is done behind one; customer bikes are lined up in another with technicians hard at work. After Reeves dips outside for a cigarette—the 58-year-old both looks like a much younger man and smokes with the frequent abandon of one—he leads us to a small conference room.

“I like meeting people, but I’m a little reserved,” he warns as he settles into an office chair, looking far less comfortable than he did on a motorcycle. “How much of my private life do I want to talk about? I don’t know. Otherwise, let’s hang out.”

When Reeves was growing up in the Yorkville neighborhood of Toronto, he was consumed with existential thoughts. He discussed death a lot more than the average 11-year-old, for instance—but not because he wanted to die. He just wanted answers to big questions. Perhaps not entirely unrelated to his interest in mortality, he was also obsessed with the biker gangs that periodically motored into the neighborhood. It wasn't pods of dentists letting loose on weekends. It was leathers, patches, menace—the whole deal. And Reeves loved it.

“They looked exotic,” Reeves says. "They looked to me like they were free. Plus the bikes were cool and sounded great.”

Despite his childhood fascination, Reeves was in his early 20s before he first rode a motorcycle. It happened at a movie studio in Berlin—where else?—when he saw a woman on an off-road enduro bike in a parking lot. He approached her and asked if she’d teach him to ride, which she agreed to on the spot. (If you’re wondering why a woman would do that for a total stranger, search “Keanu Reeves in the 80s” in Google Images.)

Not long after he got back to Los Angeles, he bought a 1973 Mk2a Norton Commando, having long admired the classic brand. That bike currently sits in the Arch shop, which is notable for two reasons: One, few longtime riders are lucky enough to be able to hold onto their first bike. Two, over the years Reeves has…suffered some mishaps.

“Yeah, I’ve fallen off a few times,” he admits of the accidents he’s had on a variety of bikes. He takes a swig of water, then corrects himself. “Not ‘fallen off.’ Crashed. I’ve got a couple of hit-by-cars. A couple of going-too-fast. I’ve laid a couple of bikes down but I was riding in the winter, so that’s not really ‘crashing.’ That’s about it. The usual stuff.”

He’s broken ribs, knocked out teeth, sliced his leg open so deep that bone was visible. His most spectacular accident occurred in 1988, only a couple years after that day in Berlin. Reeves was riding alone at night in Malibu’s Topanga Canyon when he took one of the twisties too fast. By the time he came to a stop, he was lying on the pavement wondering if he was about to die. As you know, he didn’t—but he did fuck himself up pretty bad.

“I ruptured my spleen,” he says matter-of-factly. The widely reported version of the story goes that he needed the organ removed, but Reeves says it’s still intact. “They sutured it up and put a Band-Aid on.” He has a gnarly scar running vertically from his sternum down to his belly button, but in the right light it just ends up accentuating his abs because, well, he’s Keanu.

Reeves first met Hollinger through a mutual acquaintance about two decades after that crash, when Reeves wanted a custom sissy bar—basically, a backrest for a passenger—added to his 2005 Harley Davidson Dyna. Hollinger, who at that point was a relatively well-known, well-respected customizer with his own small LA shop, wasn’t interested.

“I knew I could build him the world’s most expensive sissy bar,” Hollinger says, “but I also knew it wouldn’t be satisfying for either of us.”

Instead, Hollinger spent the next five years completely reimagining the bike. He’d work in spurts, changing or adding something, then handing the bike back over to Reeves for months. By the time the bike was finished, Hollinger says, about the only parts of the original Dyna still remaining were the engine and the serial number on the chassis. Today that bike—a chromed-out ride fit for Mad Max—is displayed in the shop, the inspiration for what eventually became Arch.

Keanu Reeves on motorcycle wearing black canvas jacket and sunglasses Brian Bowen Smith

Eventually being the key word. When, during the long process of modding the bike, Reeves first suggested to Hollinger that the two team up to start a motorcycle company, Hollinger didn’t have to think about his answer.

“I knew what a tough business it is, what a challenge it would be—and that it would not be a great investment,” Hollinger, now 63, says with a laugh. “It was a wonderful motorcycle I built and it was wonderful getting to know Keanu, but starting a motorcycle company sounded like a horrible idea.”

Reeves didn’t relent. As the pair became better friends—and as the motorcycle continued to take shape—they’d have long conversations about the realities of starting the company. Hollinger would show up to their discussions with pages of questions written on a legal pad, but what gradually eroded his hesitation was the thoughtfulness with which Reeves described the experience of riding a motorcycle.

Finally, nearly convinced, Hollinger asked Reeves to boil everything down to one reason why they should do something as seemingly crazy as starting a motorcycle company. The actor came up with it on the spot—a reason Hollinger immediately understood, which allowed him to envision the company and its worth as an opportunity to do something meaningful and long-lasting.

“Because,” Reeves told him, channeling the mortality-obsessed 11-year-old kid gawking at dudes on motorcycles, “we’re going to die.”

Related: 2023 Arch 1s Sport Cruiser Is the American (V-twin) Dream

There have been many jokes made over the years about Reeves being a dummy, but after spending about 8 seconds with the guy it’s obvious he’s keenly intelligent. I mention that I read lots of sci-fi and fantasy books as a kid, which prompts him to ask whether I have opinions on several titles, followed by recommendations to read several others.

Thing is, his idiosyncratic public persona—which is sort of like Ted (not Bill) if Ted were a little more shy and a much better dresser—isn’t an act. Reeves isn’t trying to fool his critics or fans. And he isn’t really putting on an act in an attempt to prevent people from knowing who he is. He’s just this very singular, introspective, likable person who happened to become a pop culture icon.

All of that said? He can be pretty goofy. His physical mannerisms are sometimes at odds with what he’s saying, like he’s being controlled by feuding puppeteers. He speaks haltingly, stopping and starting and stopping again, often all in the same sentence, as he considers what exactly he wants to say or, just as likely, what he doesn’t want to say. More than once over the course of an afternoon he giggles—yes, giggles—at something he says or thinks, placing his cupped hand over his mouth like a theatrical school child hiding laughter; the gesture is as strange as it is endearing. He's somehow both laconic and verbose, calm and keyed up.

Although Reeves has long been known as “The internet’s boyfriend,” he’s currently dating—sorry, internet—acclaimed visual artist Alexandra Grant. The pair first collaborated on the 2011 book Ode to Happiness after having known each other previously; in the following years they collaborated on other projects and co-founded the small book imprint X Artists’ Books. Their romantic relationship began about five years ago but only became public knowledge two years in, when they arrived at a red carpet event together.

When asked about Grant, Reeves leans back in his chair as though trying to put both metaphorical and literal distance between himself and the idea of discussing his personal life.

So, uh, maybe it’s best to make it about bikes: What’s Grant’s opinion of Reeves’ (occasionally injurious) motorcycle fixation?

“She used to have a motorcycle, so she’s fine with it,” Reeves says. Then he pauses, as he so often does, seemingly considering whether to say anything more. “She hasn’t ridden in a while.”

Despite his lifelong love of bikes, Reeves hasn’t ridden them much in his movies. There’s a brief scene in the landmark 1991 indie film My Own Private Idaho. There’s some riding in 1996’s Chain Reaction, including one scene in which he manages to outrun an exploding hydrogen reactor. He’s technically on a bike in John Wick 3 while battling bad guys, but that was all done while stationary in front of a green screen. He has no interest in shoehorning Arches into his movies, though a couple of Arches are featured in the futuristic 2020 video game Cyberpunk 2077, in which he also played a major role.

Reeves says there’s a brief motorcycle scene in the upcoming John Wick 4, a movie whose eventual existence might have been laughed at when the original film debuted. Despite the series’ current status as an unstoppable franchise juggernaut, it originally wasn’t even planned as a franchise—and it certainly didn’t appear destined to be one after John Wick received a somewhat tepid theatrical reception in 2014.

“It had some success in the theater, but it really became more popular in second viewings,” Reeves says. “So the studio asked if we wanted to do another one.”

Reeves does more than just kick unbelievable amounts of ass in the movies; he’s also had a hand in plotting out the sequels. The genesis of the third and fourth installments, he says, took place while he and director Chad Stahelski were on the road promoting the second and third movies, respectively.

“Generally, Chad and I cook ’em up while we’re doing press tours,” Reeves says. “We talk about what we’d do next if the current film does well. I’m like, ‘I want to ride a horse and do a horse chase!’ And Chad says, ‘Yeah, we can do it in Central Park!’”

Reeves says he doesn’t know what comes next for him, but John Wick 5 will almost certainly be an option—if he wants to do it. He’s currently developing a TV series, and maybe he’ll make the motorcycle road movie he’s long thought about making. He’ll also no doubt continue riding bikes and growing Arch because he loves doing both.

He says he may continue BRZRKR, the comic series he co-writes. He won’t stop helping others via his philanthropy (he declines to discuss other than to say it’s “in health and the arts”). And he’ll burnish his already-glowing reputation as, in his words, “a pretty respectful and considerate person,” because that’s how he likes to treat people.

“I’m just,” Reeves says as his mouth curls into a smirk and his arms shoot out in front of him as though he’s pleading to be believed, “a normal guy.”

via keanuworld

[adamwatchesmovies]

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

John Wick: Chapter 4 delivers the kind of expertly coordinated, clearly shot action you rarely see in movies today. 169 minutes sounds long but in execution, it isn’t. You’re excited the whole way through. The conclusion, however, leaves me with mixed feelings. Is this the last episode in the series? If it is, there are many elements that ultimately, didn’t go anywhere. If it isn’t, John Wick: Chapter 5 will have to do some serious limbo-ing to get out of the weird corner it's gotten itself into.

Continuing his campaign of vengeance against the High Table, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) provokes the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård). His plan? Challenge him to a duel. If John wins, he will be free of all obligations towards the High Table. Unfortunately, John can only do this if he is readmitted to a crime family, a feat easier said than done.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is an action movie but I’d also compare it to an art film. The plot almost doesn’t matter. The Marquis, Elder (George Georgiou) and Harbinger (Clancy Brown) all fulfill complex roles and enforce policies/rules I’m not sure anyone understands. Narratively, the secret (?) society has all sorts of honorary traditions, which makes the plot complex but also not really. If you miss why this person is now on John's side when they weren’t before, that’s ok. What matters is the stunt coordination, cinematography, special effects and the way the results make you feel. Why do civilians keep dancing while men kill each other in the middle of a club? Because it looks good. That's why.

A world as obfuscating as this one should push you towards not caring about anything but this third sequel engages you with crazy characters and concepts that make you go “Where is this going"? Donnie Yen plays Caine, a blind assassin forced out of retirement to kill John Wick. How can someone who can’t see belong in a world that begins and ends with guns? You want to know. You want to find out what his ties to our hero are and what circumstances turned him into this Zatoichi-like warrior. Did he lose his eyesight? Was he always blind? Similarly, Scott Adkins plays Killa Harkan, this supremely greasy member of the German Table you just know has a thousand stories to tell just looking at him.

As nice as it is to have colorful characters living in a world that stretches beyond the borders of the screen, what you came for are the action scenes. Can they top what we saw before? Yes. The biggest and most impressive is a long battle shot from above which has John making his way through seemingly endless ruined rooms, taking out opponents with incendiary rounds while tracking - and being tracked - by two other opponents. You can’t even imagine how it was choreographed. The fights are flashy, full of bone-crunching stunts that will make you wince and often end in some kind of wild turn that takes you completely by surprise while giving you a tour of multiple cities. The film isn’t all that concerned with realism and is that much the better for it.

My primary criticism is that John Wick: Chapter 4 is both too close- and open-ended. This film's fallout should keep the story going but it's also very definitive as a final chapter. It's like director Chad Stahelski couldn't pick one or the other. If this is the end, it's not fully satisfactory. John Wick doesn't even share a single scene with his dog and his relationship with man's best friend is what started this campaign. Elements and characters introduced previously are forgotten (Halle Berry's Sofia, for example) or don't have the kind of payoff that makes the detour we took to get there seem worth it. Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody for example. His interactions with John and the Marquis are terrific, but at the end, he feels like a cool character writers Shay Hatten and Michael Finch wanted to include but ultimately, didn't know what to do with.

Anyone who has seen the previous John Wick films should see this latest installment. Even if you haven't, the visual razzle-dazzle of John Wick: Chapter 4 is worth it. Whether this is the last time we see John Wick and this world is hard to see but I hope not. Despite everything good about this picture, there are still many unanswered questions. (Theatrical version on the big screen, May 12, 2023)

[popculturebuffet]

Lightyear of Two Worlds Part 1 (of 2): Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins: A Rope of Sand (Comissoin for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy Space Rangers. And welcome to a special two part set of reviews as we look at one of the biggest animated franchises out there, and what happens when it does the same basic concept two very diffrent ways, and said basic concept is clever: Since Buzz Lightyear clearly came from a tv show or movie or something in-universe as we see adds for the toys on tv and Andy heavily implies theires more to the character than just a toyline and see a cartoon Buzz on the packaging (something I ddn't even notice till watching Defunct-Tv's look at this series in preperation for this review) , what would this look like? The answers are a goofy self aware space opera that still manages to pack in plenty of character, action and heart and a more hard sci-fi take that takes itself entirely seriously but still throws in a robot cat.

It was a question I was ready to find an answer to when Kev suggested this, even more after finding out Lightyear is supposed to be a movie in universe that lead to the toyline and to this very series. I'm going to save pointing out all the ways that makes absolutely no sense until i've actually seen lightyear but the fact I already have SEVERAL without even having seen the movie is NOT a good sign.

Still I grew up with Toy Story: I saw the first three films in theaters and have no real intrest in the 4th one. It has things that intrest me like a thorughly sympathetic villian played by Christinia Hendricks, KEanu Reeves as an evil kenivel style stunt toy, and the return of the always wonderful Annie Potts as Bo.. but the whole arc for woody feels.. wrong. Maybe i'm wrong about that, maybe i'm not. Maybe i'll give it a look someday.

Point is I loved this franchise as a kid and as an adult and still feel it was a strong start for Pixar, and I did seen BLOSC plenty as a kid and remember watching the pilot when it aired on tv, complete with cool CG lead in. So I was happy to revisit it and see how it held up, and to see how it's sorta succesor did. I love shows within shows and this idea was brilliant, a way to have a space opera with Buzz while still couching it perfectly in the universe. So let's go to infinity and you now the rest and see how Buzz LIghtyear of Star Command holds up.

For starters I was NOT prepared to find out who the shows creators were: Mark McCorckle and Bob Schooley... and if those names don't ring a bell their next project should

Yup I bet many of you who weren't aware of this fact are having the same reaction

So already in this shows corner is not only are it's creators legends, but with this being their first show as creators, it was likely what gave Disney enough confidence to grant them their own show and bless us with Kim Possible. Also it's getting me and Jess to binge re-watch kim possible so that's three. So already I had high expectations, but I still had to know how did this get made. Lucky for me Disney Researcher, theme park historian and cool dude Kevin Perjuer of Defunctland had done an episode of his other show, Defunct-TV on this show that went into how it happened. It's worth a watch and can be found right here if your intrested.

The short version is that Toy Story was a MASSIVE hit. While Disney had hopes for the film, they didn't automatically expect a giant cash cow the likes of which the world had never seen. Simplier times. So naturally so they could have more money for their bins, the execs asked Pixar to make a DTV sequel since Disney was at the height of making as many cheap sequels as possible and as for Pixar head Steve Jobs

So it was decided. And this being back when Disney KNEW how to actually captalize on something instead of plugging their ears and acting like it's a failure or assuming it'll be a huge hit before it actually comes out and underwhelms, they wisely decided to go with a two pronged offense: a dtv movie AND an unrelated new series. There were several intresting ideas floated around: A noir/western Following Woody, a LGM spinoff and for some reason the Combat Carl Action hour despite him being mentioned but not showing up until decades later with Toy Story 4. Naturally the idea to make the Buzz show implied to exist in the movie a reality won out, especially with the ideas for the DTV film fleshing out Zurg, giving them a nemisis.

In fact said DTV film was going so well.. it became Toy Story 2. Yes folks one of Pixar's best films.. came out of them working so hard on a side project that Disney wanted to make it a real thing. I swear hearing Disney make sound, logical decisions that ended up benefiting them seems so.. bizzare> Like they aren't incapable but they do it so little these days it's weird looking back to a time when doing so netted them two successes. When the spinoffs and sequels felt organic instead of just

Don't get me wrong we still get good or decent sequels on occasion, but it feels like most are made ENTIRELY out of money instead of a goal. Here despite being driven by profit Pixar still had a genius idea for an even better film that built on everything before. Where as now a days Disney Animated Sequels lead to thinks like Frozen 2: It has Good Music?, Ice Age: No One Asked for This or Ralph Breaks the Internet aka

Toy Story 2 came out of Disney wanting more money bins sure, but Pixar had a clear idea of how this would work, and Star Command came out of an honestly brilliant idea. I.. I don't know what Disney is doing half the time. I was going to say I was looking forward to D23 this weekend and while there are some promising new projects coming that were already announced or were just announced animation wise (Strange Worlds, Elio, Elemental, Inside Out 2, Win or Loose), we also got acrapton of live action reboots dumped in our lap. So yeah not exaclty PUMPED for Disney's future . Pixar's yes provided they aren't forced to Disney+ constantly. The MCU if it keeps giving me things like She Hulk, absolutely. But Disney's as an animation studio?

The ONLY reason they aren't the worst at this right now.. is that David Zaslav was born in a stygian hole two thousand years ago and is just now going foward with his grand evil design. HOpefully we'll get more series wise over the weekend to ballance it out. I may do something on D23 when this is over and we leave this all behind us, deep in the moonless night when the rescue team finds us.

... I was talking about a Buzz Lightyear Cartoon wasn't I? Oh yes. So how did this pilot bear out? Honestly, if unsuprisingly given whose involved.. it was excellent.

For starters the series has a pretty stacked voice cast. While I was sadly not subjected to his dulcet tones as the movie version I was paid to cover replaced him, the legendary Patrick Warburton, aka one of my faviorite VA's of all time, voiced Buzz in the series proper and actually dubbed his lines for the pilot. He was replaced for the movie only when they managed to get Tim Allen, as they delayed the series till AFTER Toy Story 2 and wanted this to be hype.

While I prefer Patrick as a VA and Human Being, Allen is still as great as he's always been in the roll, and adapts greatly to the tragic parts of the story, taking Buzz through loss, we'll get to that, but also having great comedic timing as always and giving Mr. Lightyear that true heroic hammy quality. Patrick from what clips i've seen is just as good in the roll, so it's really more a matter of prefrence than either being geninely bad at it and I dont' blame disney for wanting to use the Toolman if they can get him.

Buzz isn't too much diffrent from Toy Story. He's noble, Loyal, and brave to a fault while still being cocky, thickheaded and quick to rush into things. He's perfectly traslated us here, showing him how kids both in the toy story univers and out saw him: A well meaning, cool as heck hero who knew his stuff, would safrifice himself for anyone and while not flawless said flaws only made him more likeable.

Case in point the pilot has an intresting arc. It's one that's been done before sure but it's a great way to give Buzz something to hold him back to add tension.. and to make it so he accidently surrounds himself with what will be his team. Early in the pilot Buzz looses his best friend and partner Warp Darkmatter. With a name like that you can probably see where this is going but we'll get to him in a moment. Buzz is understandably a bit genre blind. So he vows to not have a partner despite his Commander ordering one on him and this isn't helped by his Robot partner XR getting blown to bits. You see why Buzz is wrong: Even as good as he is he needs backup, and while Warp's loss is tragic and he was CLEARLY sent back out too early, he can't do this alone. The kinds of missions Buzz Rimmer Lightyear need more to him, something to push him to victory.

I like it because i'ts a better take on the work alone thing: Buzz isn't pushing people aside because he's THAT cocky, it's because his PTSD and Guilt Complex is so great he dosen't want to loose anyone else, kinda like Batman in the Lego Batman Movie after him. The incident with XR helps reinforce this and it takes being captured to realize he was wrong.. that not asking for help nearly cost HIM his life. Granted he also finds out Warp was, shockity shock, a traitor this whole time.

But it's clear it's Buzz realizing he let his own guilt nearly kil him instead of accepting the truth: Sometimes you loose good people in the hero buisness, but if he dosen't accept help, more people will die and the whole universe would've fallen to Zurg's mind control scheme, long story, if he'd simply accepted that. That it's better to risk being hurt or loosing someone and let them in than to not live at all and let other people get hurt. IT's a good arc for Buzz. It's nicely contained for a pilot episode but still feels well earned and is a nice setup for him taking in an entire team instead of just one partner.

The rest of the cast is no slouch to Pat and *Manly Grunt*. Starting with our team we have Nicole Sullivan as Vera Nova, a princess who was rescued by Buzz when she was younger and inspired to follow in his example, being his equal in combat and having neat ghosting and psychic powers. She's his number two, willing to question him and call him on his no partner crap, and is plenty scrappy.. but also able to back it up and will listen when he's actually right.

Next up is Booster, who I loved. He's played by Stephen Furst, best known as Vir from Babylon Five aka that show I shoudl've watched by now but haven't. Booster is young, eager, and trying to join star command and when talked by XR, we'll get to him, into playing around in Buzz' craft ends up on the adventure> He's big, he's strong, but he's also kind, eager and endearing. He knows his stuff, but it's clear he's just loving being here and wants to be a ranger to geninely do good just like Buzz and Mira and it's just so endearing to see him at the end , fully decked out living his dream with even Commander Nova , whose gruff as hell and we'll get to in a moment, smiling at the kid having earned his wings.

Finally for our main quartet we have XR, who I loved as a kid and had a toy of (and want to get it again). He has a really neat design too, a floating head in a dome, with extending arms and tread feet. Naturally he's a robot, standing for eXperimental Ranger, designed to give Buzz an unkillable partner since he can be rebuilt. He's voiced by hair care salesman and comedy legend Larry Miller, and in a few eps but not here but still worth noting, equal legend , sometimes janitor and sometimes gravelman Neil Flynn. Naturally XR gets blowed up real good early on but since the LGM's that built him are off their game due to the pilots plot they accidently give him sapeince, making him into a cowardly, snarky, weirdo and all the better for it. XR gets tons of great lines across the first few eps and is a great fourth, not sharing the others professionalism but sharing their sense of duty.. even if he'd rather run in the other direction.

For our big bad Zurg we've got Patrick's Seinfeld costar and perptual snivling jerk whose likely a peach in real life Wayne Knight, who perfectly fits the goofier over the top villian their going for while still being utterly repuslive in the right way when needed. For instance when Buzz finds out Warp's a bad dude, Zurg mockingly plays Buzz' Eulogy he gave earlier in the movie...

Wayne plays him perfectly as is to be expected but it's still nice to see him in the roll.

Playing Warp, who seriously in additoin to the name just looks evil at the camera a few times, is my boy Deidrich Bader, who is amazing in the roll. He has his usual snark and gruff tone, but adds a sheer sense of cool and snide evil to Warp: he's only in this for the money, and Zurg paid better and gladly brushes off Buzz that it's not brainwashing or antyhing he's been on Zurg's payroll since academy and the death was going full time. He's also a perfect anti-buzz; Greedy, working for the bad guy and every bit as deadly. He's also sharp and clever. While he spends most of the film as "Agent Z", he NEVER underestimates Buzz. Talks down to and mocks him sure but when Zurg thinks he's dead, Z isn't sure and turns out to be right. Warp knows our hero as well as he knows himself if not better and that's what makes him so dangerous. The only thing that turns the tide is the unknown element of his new partners.

Back at star command we have the LGM's, also played by Warburton. Their here primarly because why not, but the creators did find a clever use for them as the ones who make Star Commands tech. Their endearing as they were in the movies and Warburton does such a godo job playing them I had no idea it was him. Their also the center of the plot as the unimind they use to connect is what Zurg steals to try and conquer the galaxy and a mission to rescue some of them is what kicks off the movie as a whole.

Finally major character wise we have Commander Nebula, played by of all people Adam Carolla. He does a good job and him getting the roll meant Kevin, who used only projects from the time to describe the actors, said "The Man Show's Adam Carolla" I didn't think the Man Show would ever get brought up on any version of Defunctland but here we are. Then again I also didn't think i'd eve rhave to bring it up on this blog but here we are again. He's great as the crotchety but resonable commander. Not a lot to him in this ep, but I do like his design: a bigger golden insignia, a missing leg and a mustache that is only rivaled by Ron Swanson.

So that leaves us with the show's presentation which is glorious. The art style is gorgeous, bright, poppy, uniquely angular. I'm shocked they got this good an art style out of a one second bit of packaging but it just shows how GOOD Pixar is and this shows crew were that one small piece of art was distinct enough to model an art style on. The character deisgns are memorable. There's a reason despite forgetting his personality XR was still burned into my brain all this time.

Writing wise.. it's not a huge shock given what they'd make next that it's good, a fun sendup of space operas that still takes itself JUST seroiusly enough to have real tension, deep fleshed out likeable characters who are geninely heroic, and genuine bits of pathos like Warp's "death" and XR's dismantling. You can have that.. and still have jokes about Agent Z having "the refreshing scent of lingonberry" listed as one of his features, Team Lightyear arguging about noserings and the subtitles for "top secret area of limits" Being followed by "We really mean it" It's looney tunes style insanity mixed with some real action and heart and works beautifully and it'd only get better in the next series.

So yeah as you can tell.. this pilot was TRULY excellent and is worth digging up since, thanks to John Lassiter wanting the series buired and Disney still honoring his wishes despite you know, firing him, the guy going on to compettion despite a history of sexual harassment disney clearly enabled, and common sense to tie in to the new movie, it's NOT on Disney+. Granted Disney Logic for what goes and what dosne't has never made sense, but it's one of the most glaring holes in the lineup as theres nothing keeping the show off, they just had a movie it coudl've launched alongside, and the creator of SAID MOVIE found a way to still keep the animated series around despite the movie suplanting it as the basis for buzz. Like... you can't call brand confusion when all three avengers cartoons are on there alongside the movie. It's called a tie in. Kids will get it's defintely something diffrent, but they'll still watch it. Gah. Watching this was great, seriously going to consider checking out more of the series... but man this was depressing and I don't have a ton of joy going into it's spirtitual succesor next week. Maybe it'll suprise me. I mean.. at least it has Jason Mantzokus and Chris Evans. So it's not a total loss. Anyways this series is fantastic and like MANY things, should be on Disney+ right now. Go find it and watch it till they actually make it legally avaliable, for now i'm out.

[maxwell-grant]

If someone were trying to make a new character inspired by pulp heroes, but the new character had to be a teenager, what existing pulps heroes should they look to for inspiration?

I'm not exactly in touch with the yoof so I could be off the mark here, but let's talk about teenager characters for a bit.

Now, I could just tell you to look for characters that appeal to you and use them as a baseline and that's probably the best advice here, but if you want the essay and history lesson: American pulp fiction didn't used to market much to teenagers. Teenagers as a consuming market haven't always been the all-encompassing force they are considered today, and the pulps were largely marketed either towards young boys, or for working class men, mostly the latter. This is part of why teenagers tend to show up in these stories largely as sidekicks, which was something carried over to comic superheroes, and part of why Spider-Man was such a breakout hit, because he was a teenage superhero who was not a sidekick.

The biggest pre-1950s traditional pulp hero I can of who was a teenager would be Jack Harkaway, an 1871 penny dreadful adventurer who would go on to be published overseas, one of those characters who was big enough in his day to inspire imitators a plenty but didn't quite make it past a specific time period. Comic strips had plenty of kid or teenage protagonists who are a bit closer to pulp heroes, like Tintin or Terry Lee, one in particular I'm highlighting above is Ledger Syndicate's Connie Kurridge, arguably the first female adventure hero of American comics. Overseas you can find a couple of prominent examples of teenage adventurers published in what we call the pulp era, the biggest and most influential of which being The Famous Five, but as I stated in answering whether Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys were pulp heroes, these were not published in pulp magazines, instead their direct opposites in glossy and reputable paperbacks.

There are other examples of pulp heroes who were teenagers and not sidekicks, but nearly all of them are very obscure and you will probably not find much material for them. And the thing is, these characters were not made for teenagers. They were made, for the most part, by grown-ups, and for grown-ups, and I can't say any of them ever really grabbed a teenage audience. Usually, it's the 60s as an era that really starts to pander to and include teenagers at the forefront of storytelling, so a good start for you might be to look at what was going on in the 60s-onwards worldwide in the realms of pulp and pulp-inspired works, which probably means you're going to have to look outside of the US.

Another word of advice would be to look up characters that are beloved by teenagers. I don't think "teenager" is a great baseline trait to start building a character, but if that's the number one priority to you, then ideally you should look for a good baseline of what appeals to that demographic, what appealed to you at that age and why. You're probably going to wind up with a lot of anime anti-heroes in your research though, because teenagers are deeply miserable creatures and few things appeal more to them than characters who are miserable but they act cool and badass and edgy about it. Teenagers are forced to live with the miserable reality of being teenagers with little to no upsides, so I think teenage characters could benefit more from being based on the kinds of characters teenagers would ideally want to read about.

So, "cool, badass and tortured character super popular with angsty teenagers", "rooted in and subverting older storytelling traditions for a fresh new audience", and "60s pulp hero". I think Elric is probably as good of a place as any for you to start.

Elric wasn't just popular, he wasn't even just popular with teenagers (boys and girls alike, which is also quite the feat), he was "cool". He was avant-garde, he was the hip new thing on the block. He wasn't Conan or Bond or Batman, and you'd hardly mistake him for a hero. He got the rock albums and fans tattooing him. He was penned by the guy who was openly called the "anti-Tolkien". Elric was Loki before Loki, the edgy anti-hero before them all. The emaciated warrior with white hair and black clothes and a demonic sword who suffered in a cool way, cool in his uncoolness. When I think of pulp heroes who achieved a substantial popularity among teenage audiences, Elric is definitely the first that comes to mind.

Another good example might be Captain Harlock, easily one of the premier Pulp Heroes among manga and anime due to how heavily Leiji Matsumoto incorporates pulp space opera into everything he does. Not only directly influenced by it, Matsumoto even has actual pulp credentials as an illustrator for C.L Moore's Shambleau, Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry. The space pirate, while not created in manga and anime, is one of Japan's premier pulp hero archetypes, and Harlock's as good of a baseline to work with as any.

The most popular pulp-inspired works nowadays among teenage or younger audiences are definitely the ones derived from pulp horror, several creators have been getting a lot of mileage these past decades out of plundering and remixing stuff from it. The big ones are Lovecraft and related works like The King in Yellow, but because they soak up all the attention, it also means that people are sleeping on authors like John W. Campbell, William Hope Hogdson, Clark Ashton Smith and Karl Edward Wagner, Nictzin Dyalhis and Olaf Stapledon, and many, many more, which gives you a lot of narrative real estate to work with should you take this direction.

Additionally, one thing that you could consider is that, for a very large portion of the history of pulp fiction, a significant amount of the most popular stories and characters were those that were based on celebrities and real life figures. The biggest of dime novel protagonists was Buffalo Bill, and following him was Nick Carter, a literary equivalent to Eugen Sandow (the Schwarzenegger of his day). Thomas Edison inspired an entire subgenre of dime novel fiction, even Jack the Ripper was a pulp protagonist in Dutch magazines, because sometimes the term "pulp hero" doesn't take the "hero" part much into account.

The precedent for celebrity stories is older than pulp fiction itself, but it was in the dime novels and novelettes and pulps that the idea really found it's footing. The Shadow's exploits took a lot from Gibson's own experiences with Houdini (who himself starred in fictional stories, one famously penned by Lovecraft). Doc Savage was visually modeled after Clark Gable and supposedly inspired on Richard Henry Savage. Eddy Polo, Charlie Chaplin and Tom Mix were the protagonists of several pulps and comic strips across the world, as well as Al Capone (who starred in pulp magazines in Germany and Spain), who fought Nick Carter in a Brazilian story guest-starring Fu Manchu (reportedly based on real figures Sax Rohmer claimed to have met) and Fantomas. Today obviously there are much greater restrictions at play concerning celebrity images, but if dime/pulp magazines were around today, we would have quite possibly seen figures like Keanu Reeves, Tilda Swinton and Lil Nas X either star in their own magazines or be used as models for rising protagonists.

So I guess one other way you could go on about creating a pulp hero, who's either a teenager or appeals to teenagers, would be the route of taking a look at some celebrities that either are, or appeal to those demographics, because if pulp magazines had stayed around unchanged past the 60s and 80s and whatnot you definitely would have seen the likes of David Bowie, Will Smith and Dwayne Johnson get their own magazines. I don't know much about what celebrities are popular with teenagers these days and I'm not about to start caring now, but you could take a look at some icons you like, or liked when you were younger, and think about what made them appealing to think about as characters, and how you could apply that to something closer to a pulp story.

A word of advice would also be that, if you want to make a character inspired by pulp heroes, if you want to create a convincing modern pulp hero, you might want to look less at the pulp heroes themselves and instead those that they were inspired by or working to defy and stand out when compared to. You take the building blocks and rearrange them in a different way. If you have a specific character you want to design yours in reference to, you can send me an ask or a DM about them and I'll dig into my files to give you a few pointers, and what kind of history or cultural predecessors they have that you could take a look at to make something more genuine.

[shurisneakers]

shut in [5]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, threats, implied ptsd, violence

Word count: 2.9k

A/N: sam wilson nation how are we feeling after that trailer. only about a month to go for my two dumbasses to get the recognition they deserve!!

i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

“Where are they?”

“We don’t know, boss.”

Their eyes glossed over with rising anger, masking its earlier aloofness.

“I’m going to need more than ‘I don’t know’.” Their voice was acidic, dripping with faux politeness. A bad sign.

“Police say they pulled off the highway at one point and then they lost track of them because there were no cameras.” The agent looked at his partner who only nodded in confirmation.

“They could have ditched the car before going on foot,” the partner suggested rather unhelpfully,  “We have no idea where they could be”

They were silent, mouth pressed in a hard line, leaving everyone in silence.

“Have I told you about the time my dad hired someone to fix the sink here?” they finally asked, looking away from the agents. “Some drunk fuck got in a fistfight and absolutely decimated the thing. Dad got someone to fix the hole in the wall and the fitting.”

They turned away, facing the wall.

“He did an alright job, that guy. Fixed up the place, installed a new sink. But there was a problem that he said he’d be able to fix only the next day, something about water dripping through an unsealed pipe.”

The agents just sat there on their chairs, feet cold. They knew where the story was going. It was a myth at their organisation, a cautionary tale to everyone who joined.

“My dad, he agreed. Said ‘Yeah sure, come back tomorrow’. Guy packed up his bag and was on his way out when my dad called him back. Asked him to hold out his hand for the money and then he just,” they paused, “cut one of his fingers clean off. Told him that he’d get his payment and his finger when the job was done.”

“I loved my father,” They skipped a beat before whipping their head around to look at the two agents. “But he was a coward. I would have shot him in the head.”

The agents looked paler than what they were a few seconds ago.

“If I tell you to do something, either do it perfectly or don’t do it all because the next time you’re here and those two are still alive,” they sneered, lunging forward to grab one of their collars, “I’ll blow your fucking brains out. Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes boss,” the partner was barely audible, speaking for the one who was breathing heavily, looking like he was on the verge of passing out.

“Go on then.” They smiled, letting go of the agent’s collar as he stayed frozen in his place. They dusted their hands off before straightening up. “Don’t return without good news.”

The frustration of not knowing something was not one you were used to.

You were used to knowing. The satisfaction of a puzzle. The ease of a predictable pattern.

So when this mystery wasn’t getting solved within twenty minutes, it was starting to affect you. You spent hours staring at the ceiling, replaying every detail for months leading up to the case. Every client you shook hands with. Every coworker you greeted with a nod. Every vile sicko you had killed.

And yet, no matter how much you thought and rethought and rethought again, it simply didn’t make sense. There was a piece missing. A hidden variable.

Sam helped wherever he could. He offered up arguments and rebuttals. If you had a theory, he’d find the flaw or the lack of proof. He was keeping it reasonable. Only snorted when you suggested that maybe the president was involved in a large scale extermination of underground mafias. A absurd theory that had no roots in reality.

“You could point out any official on the damn senate and they would have some connection to our gang that you can dig up with one Red Bull and twenty minutes on the internet,” he had said. “It’s too much of a liability if we get caught. They’ll just get exposed for all the nasty shit they’ve been hiding under the carpet.”

You knew this, of course, and it didn’t help to be reminded of it again because it also meant that one more theory was ruled out. And with each theory ruled out, the further away you were from your answer.

It was frustrating.

Sam was in front of the TV, lounging on the couch with the copy of Pride and Prejudice in his hands. You were working on plausible solutions, drawing up flow charts to see what could be connected.

If Pierce wasn’t the common link then it had to be something else. You couldn’t proceed with the other spies theory because no one else immediately sprung to mind. There was one... but you decided against writing it.

If Ransone was telling the truth, and there was no way of knowing he was, Sam and you were unrelated and his being there was coincidental. You just had to rely on the employee-employer relationship you shared, if you could even call it that.

“Fuck,” you cursed loudly, tearing up the piece of paper and crumpling it. You groaned, holding your head in your hands. Your eyes were burning from straining it for too long and your shoulders were in pain from slumping over the table all day. 

You took a deep breath, shaking your head before instinctively reaching for another sheet. Your hand came up short so you fumbled around the table blindly, trying to grab at a piece of paper without spending the extra effort of searching.

“You’re not getting another sheet,” Sam’s voice came from above you. “You’re going to watch some shitty movie, eat some soup and relax for today.”

“Give it back, Wilson,” you muttered, reaching out your hand.

“No. You can use your unhealthy coping mechanism when I’m not around to see it. Half of this is my mess too and I’m not going to watch you have a breakdown over it.”

He was going to be annoyingly persistent; somehow he had exhibited that magnificently over the last few days. You knew better than to argue with him over something that he had made his mind up about by now.

“I don’t want to watch a movie.” You let your head fall onto the table, wishing that the cool wood would do something for the headache you felt coming.

You heard him set the paper back down, not saying a word. Your head was throbbing and all you wanted was the frustration to ease. It was killing you.

“Come on. We’re going outside.” That piqued your interest. Sam had never invited you anywhere before.

“Where?”

“Y’know; the outside. I know you haven’t seen it in a while but see if these words jog your memory. Sun. Grass. Win-”

“I know what the outdoors is, Wilson.” You smiled against the table, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing it. “I’m asking where exactly we’re going.”

“You’ll see. Put some shoes on.”

By the time you looked up he was already walking away from the table, leaving you to follow.

You sighed. He sounded too determined and you didn’t have many other options.

Pushing your chair away from the table, you went to go put on your shoes. __

“If in care you were planning to, I’m just going to tell you right now that you can’t kill me.”

The both of you had been wandering along the path for a while. When you met him by the backdoor, he had a bag with him filled with who knows what.

He declined to tell you what was in it either, despite you asking thrice.

“Calm down, Keanu Reeves. That’s not what I was going to do.” Sam gave a short laugh.

“I’m serious. I know karate.”

“So do I.”

“Krav Maga.”

He hummed in agreement. 

“Kickboxing.”

“Now you’re just insulting me. That’s level one.”

The path was littered with tree roots that stuck out of the soil, stray branches and leaves that crunched satisfactorily under your feet. One second of distraction and you were sure you’d fall flat to the ground. 

You both continued for a few more minutes before he finally came to a stop.

It didn't look very different from the rest of the woods until something caught your eye. In front of you, one of the trees stood out. The bark had large concentric circles, resembling a large dart board. A few indentations were already made in it; clearly it was being used for practice regularly.

“Here you go,” he spoke from beside you, handing you a tomahawk. “Go ahead, throw it at it.”

You looked at the tiny axe in his hand.

“Think of it as adult darts,” he encouraged, “Here, I’ll throw the first one.”

He extended his arm in front of him, pulling his wrist back before effortlessly throwing it at his makeshift board. It was two circles away from the bullseye he had carved out. It must have taken a while to make.

“This doesn’t look very safe,” you commented as he picked up another one, launching it at the tree. You followed its trajectory, watching it embed itself into the bark closer to the centre than the previous turn.

“That’s what makes it fun.” This man had no regard for safety protocols. Given, these were things that came with the job but it didn’t mean you did it in your free time. “It helps, just try.”

“Why are you doing this?” you asked curiously, trying to assess his reaction. Pulling you out of the house for a bar game wasn’t exactly the type of thing people generally did for you.

“Because I wanted to.” He shrugged, not giving you any further explanation. “Try one.”

“Okay.” You followed his example, watching as it glided smoothly before landing close to his initial throw.

“Nice shot.”

A smile made its way to your face automatically as he handed you another one. You repeated your action, an unusual sense of pride establishing itself in you when it came closer to the middle.

“Now what?”

“Now we collect and do the whole thing again till you feel better,” Sam replied, making his way towards the tree and plucking the small axes out easily. His back muscles tightened against the material of his shirt in the process. It wasn’t a bad sight at all. “Endorphins and all that.

“Is this where you keep disappearing to?” you inquired, taking two of them from him when he returned.

“Sometimes.” He took aim before throwing it at the board. “There’s a few things you can do around here.”

“Your coping mechanism is extreme sports without proper guidelines.”

“You gotta do what you gotta do.” Sam took a step to the side, giving you space to take your turn.

“Have you always been this wise, or?” you teased, concentrating on the circles in front of you. Your shot came pretty close. 

When you didn’t receive a reply, you glanced at him through your peripheral vision. He wasn’t moving, a thousand yard stare in his eyes.

“Hit it.”

“I can’t.” His fists were bleeding through the bandages wound around them. He could feel the tear in his skin, the burn of flesh against sweat soaked clothes.

“I said, hit it,” Emil commanded once more. Sam could feel his chest rising and falling steadily from beside him, his putrid breath making him want to vomit.

“I can’t.” He could barely stand up. Exhaustion seeped through every muscle in his body.

“You’re weak,” his trainer spat. “Nothing but a fucking child.”

“He’ll die.” Sam looks down at the boy, bloody and mangled on the floor. He had passed out ages ago but that did nothing to stop them from forcing Sam to continue relentlessly.

“It doesn’t deserve mercy. You hear that Wilson?” He leered right into his ear. “Do you fucking hear that?”

Sam flinched, nodding his head. The saltiness of his sweat was fresh on his tongue, burning where it dripped onto his busted lip from his forehead.

“So fucking finish it.” He knew that if he didn’t listen this time, there would be consequences. He didn’t want to find out what it was because he had no doubt it would pain a hell of a lot more than bruised knuckles.

“No,” he whispered, eyes wandering over the body on the floor. “I won’t.”

“What’d you say?” Emil straightened up, taking a step towards him.

“I said no.” Sam turned around on his heel. He could barely stand straight but the spite running through his veins was driving him, giving him enough energy to not collapse right there on the spot.

“He said no,” his trainer repeated, leaning away from Sam. “He said no.”

He turned to look at Ransone. Sam had forgotten he was there in the darkness of the room, observing the fight for the past two hours.

“He said no.” He started chuckling. His chuckles soon gave way to hideous laughter. Stomach clutching, tear inducing laughter.

Before Sam could even realise the change in attitude, Emil’s entire demeanour shifted. He stepped forward, forcefully gripping Sam’s neck. He shoved him backward until his back was pressed against the wall, no doubt bruising his spine further than what it was.

“Say that again, you fucking idiot,” he growled. But Sam couldn’t say anything. He could barely breathe. He was terrified, but determined not to let it show on his face. “When I say something, you better fucking listen.”

His trainer observed his expression for a few more seconds. Sam didn’t open his mouth.

His trainer finally loosened his grip, letting go of his neck.

Sam’s knees nearly buckled but he kept his balance, coughs racking through his body. He felt lightheaded, swollen eyes watching Emil walk towards the body on the floor. The only friend he had.

“Maybe this oughta teach you a lesson.” Emil flashed a quick smirk at Sam before raising his fist above Riley’s face.

Within a split second a guttural cry escaped his throat as he launched himself at the much larger trainer, taking him by surprise. The pure rage he was feeling had him seeing only red, the adrenaline steering his body on autopilot.  

With their position suddenly switched, Sam found himself on top of Emil, bloody fists beating down on his face without a break. The pain didn’t even matter anymore.

“Fuck you,” he screamed, not giving him even a second to defend himself. “Fuck you, you fucking dickhead.”

When he could feel his trainer raising his arm to grab from behind, he took a pause from pummelling his face to grab his arm, twisting sharply it till he heard a crack. The roar escaping Emil’s throat didn’t dissuade him from finishing what he started, returning to landing a punch wherever he could.

He didn’t even know how long had passed before his body was being pulled away, kicking and cursing.

“You see how good it feels Wilson? You feel that relief?” Ransone held him tightly as he squirmed furiously trying to get back to beating the shit out of that asshole on the ground. “Next time you’re angry, remember that’s the only way to feel good. If you’re in pain, you cause pain.”

Sam’s flailing was reducing as the adrenaline wore off. The exhaustion was beginning to take hold of his body as he looked at the onslaught of blood splatter everywhere, two bodies side by side on the ground. He did this to both of them.

“Violence is your only friend. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Ransone let go of him. His feet gave out beneath him, chest rising and falling heavily. His shoulders ached as he dragged his body towards Riley, praying to every force in the universe that he wasn’t dead.

He was still breathing. Sam nearly cried out of relief, collapsing next to him. Ready to defend him if Emil woke up.

“Next time you want to let out some anger, come find me,” Ransone called out. “I’ll find you your next victim.”

“You okay?” You waved your hand in front of his face. “Earth to Wilson.”

It seemed to work as he snapped back, blinking rapidly.

“You zoned out a little there. Everything alright?” you asked. He looked at you blankly for a second before realising what you asked.

“Yeah.” He gave you a half smile. “Yeah, I’m good. You done with your turn?”

The light that was there behind his eyes a few minutes ago had dimmed considerably. He looked weary. You recognised what had happened, what he was probably thinking of. You didn’t bring it up, not risking the chance of him reliving it.

“Kinda.” You pointed towards the target where a tomahawk was sticking out of the centre.

“Damn,” he whistled, resting his hands on his waist. “Best of three?”

“Didn’t know it was a competition.” You went to collect it. It was harder to pull out than you thought. You wondered how many times Sam had practiced it to make it look so effortless.

“Only if you want it to be.”

“Nah.” You walked towards him, handing two of them back to him. “Maybe next time.”

“Next time, huh.” He tested his throw before letting go of the handle. Bullseye. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

You only smiled.

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