#anime meta history

[centrally-unplanned]

Speaking of Anime Discourse ,Trixie/The Golden Witch, formerly Digibro, retired from Youtube last week. For most people this is just an obit for a long-gone career - Trixie’s videos haven’t been reaching audiences for years now. Extremely happy she is moving on; in the ‘goodbye’ video its harsh to watch how much discussion of money is the focus of the long downward spiral. Which is not a criticism, paying bills is good, but its obvious that 95% of the actual drive for making anime videos vanished, replaced with whack-a-mole attempts to chase the ghost of lost glories from ~2017. Real “Romanov-adjacent in 1920′s Paris, bedecked in whatever furs and jewels fit in the suitcase lugged onto the last steamer out of Petrograd, smoking away the years at the Ritz bar awaiting the inevitable Restoration” vibes, even down the mismatched furs. It was never going to work, primarily because it never works for almost anyone and the lack of passion is openly transparent. Absolutely quit, there is nothing for you here, I hope you go be happy.

Though it is funny to hear a decade+ YouTuber discuss subscriber counts like they are meaningful metric, like she needed to ‘recapture’ an audience that is still there due to a 300k subscriber count. Those account aren’t real, if your videos are getting 3k views its because the ‘active’ accounts ditched, all that is left are dead emails & spambots juicing a number. Another ghost from the past, hard to admit that the one thing you do have means nothing. I am not trying to roast here, I just don’t want to pretend that this whole process wasn’t a negative thing. Her trajectory in life was tragic, and it was painful to watch.

At least she admitted she got ridiculously addicted to weed for a time there, heartening for the obvious to finally be acknowledged.

Still for how sad the last chapter was, as Digibro Trixie was one of the most influential anime YouTubers to ever do it. Youtube has era’s, and starting in like ~2014 there was a big upswing in higher-effort ‘analytical’ videos, and Digi was absolutely a leader of the pack the anime space. She brought the caustic, humor-laden but actually-substantiative analytical style of Red Letter Media to the anime sphere and blended it with gonzo-inflected, despair-laden personal rants. The peak of her legacy is of course turning the tide on Sword Art Online, which was an immensely popular anime in 2012 but Digi’s viral 2014 review started a floodgate of counter-appraisals in the western fandom such that a few years later liking SAO was the hipster stance. Pedantic Romantic even documented the ‘digi effect’ on SAO & the fandom in a video, which is exactly the kind of investigative journalism we need more of.

At the time Digi spawned waves of imitators and also was the center of a crew of other creators, people like Endless Jess & Best Guy Ever, she was a member of the PCP crew, and there were others less directly connected but still strongly influenced like Steak Bentley, who’s video on Cowboy Bebop & the West is still one of my absolute favourites. Digi was really good about highlighting other interesting anime YouTubers and giving you an idea of what could be out there, being responsible for half of their viewership, and through that building a sense of community.

Of course I chose those specific names tactically - they are mostly gone now. Some off the internet entirely, others occasionally appearing once a year with a tweet or a video, others pivoting to video games or Twitch streaming, etc. Just like that era of YouTube is now gone, Anime YouTube still exists of course, but it isn’t just the names that have changed; the content, the style, the market, expectations, all moved on. Even Trixie’s later content showed that, making fun of the depression-inflected rage she used to exhibit at properties like High Guardian Spice, because while rage-merchants are a thing on Youtube, oh for sure they are a thing, its now its own thing, not part of the analytical-emotional melting pot in the same way anymore (and pretty inextricably tied to politics). And we are in the golden era of western creators doing serious dives into production histories, industry reporting, etc, but that's too serious, there is also no place for Digi there either.

Or I am wrong, and I just don’t know the new generation doing it out there. Would love to see them. From my vantage point, Anime YouTube’s “Gonzo” era is over, and Digi was the center of it. Maybe itll come back. But its certainly over for Trixie, and I am glad she is finally letting the ghosts fizzle out in the wires of the internet in peace.

[artist-issues]

I know, “enough with Snow White, Rapunzel!”

But I was thinking about now part of the “One Song” sequence that I think says so much with so little.

It’s this part right here:

When he’s surprised her by joining in on her song (which is literally about the love she wishes for most, a very vulnerable and revealing song) she understandably runs into the castle. That could be for lots of reasons: I think the one we jump to immediately is “stranger danger.” The Evil Queen could also have forbidden her to talk to anyone; she might also just be shy. Regardless—

This part where she looks down and seems to remember that she’s in rags, and think of her appearance. It’s so interesting.

I maintain that this is the part of the movie where the Prince and Snow White learn the core of who each other are, fall in love, and get engaged all in one song. But this part where she looks at her rags is such a good argument for that.

She’s listening to him start his song, and she literally looks down st what she’s wearing right at the moment when he says, in the song, for the first time, “only for you.”

It doesn’t matter if she’s thinking, “Oh, I’m about to go back out where he can see me, how do I look?” or “he loves me even though I’m dressed like this?” Doesn’t matter which. The animators hand-drew this moment of her looking at what she’s wearing, not when she first realizes he’s there, but after that—when he declares his love for her.

He’s expressing that she’s won his heart, and she’s realizing that she’s in rags. He’s choosing her even though she’s dressed like a scullery made. He doesn’t know she’s a princess, you also have to remember that. So obviously she’s still the Fairest of All in spite of what she wears, but her clothes also signify her place in society, and that’s still not stopping him.

No wonder she follows this up by going out onto the balcony, favoring him with a smile, and sending him reciprocation by way of a kiss on a dove. No wonder she instantly accepts him—not just because she’s a love-starved child who’s longing for her dream to come true, but because of who he is demonstrating himself to be.

He’s a guy who heard her deepest wish and was bold and secure enough to come offer to fulfill it—even though she’s a scullery maid dressed in rags. Even though he has no assurance of being accepted. Even though she ran away. He’s not afraid to tell her that he has one love that has possessed him, thrilling him through, and wants to be constant and true and give it to her.

If a guy were confident and secure in who he is enough to hear your fondest desires, and treat them gently, and offer to give them to you no matter what, even though there appears to be a huge class disparity between you and you didn’t exactly respond in a gracious manner off the bat, wouldn’t you feel like you’d found a treasure of a human? No wonder.

No wonder she’s able to have faith in his promise and sing “Someday my Prince Will Come.” What a prince he is!

[sapphire-weapon]

so while it is a cool little attention to detail thing that one of leon’s idle (and sometimes running) animations in RE4make is him stretching out the shoulder where he was shot in RE2, it does add an extra layer of fucked up to his character lmao

like. that gunshot wound happened six years ago. if it’s still bothering him, that means that there’s some kind of permanent damage there -- and it’s probably nerve damage. and since it was a government doctor who patched him up in the first place, it’s not like they don’t know that that’s a thing. so the federal government is basically like “hey leon we’re going to send you into the most dangerous combat situations on the planet by yourself. hope your shoulder doesn’t lock up and/or your arm doesn't go numb at the worst possible moment and get you killed. good luck!”

and then you keep thinking about his nerve damage and remember that las plagas specifically attack the body’s nervous system and it’s like lmao oh that’s why leon’s plaga progressed so quickly, and why it was on par with ashley’s despite her having been injected with one days, if not weeks, earlier than he was -- and why he didn’t have to go through any of the additional “rituals” that she did in order for saddler to take over his shit.

it’s like the RE4make devs looked at leon and were like “so how can we make him even more pathetically miserable” and the animator who’d already decided to retroactively break his nose was like “hey i got another idea”

[matan4il]

Some days, coming home, getting on Tumblr and looking at my activity log, seeing people liking and reblogging, commenting in replies and tags on posts I've shared from different fandoms or dealing with different subjects, it's like...

It's like I prepared a buffet before I left my house for work that morning, I opened a gigantic table in the living room and I put there every dish and drink I could think of, just a huge assortment for whatever people's taste in food might be, I sent out invitations to all of my friends and left the door open for them. Then I came back home to find them all eating and drinking in my living room, enjoying the different dishes, chatting away happily... and most days, being disabled, I don't have the energy to join the buffet. I go and lie down to rest in my bed. But I can hear the chatter from the living room. And it makes me happy. It just makes me so, so happy.

Thank you for coming to my buffet, friends.

[salmon-daikon]

fuck shit FUCK SHIT AO3 IS DOWN

i dont know what the fuck is happening maybe its a me problem but im crying i cant fucking open ao3 im about to shit myself fucking holy shit im going to bawl

[chaos-has-theories]

In lieu of anything more creative today, here's an

Incomplete List of Fairy Tale Motifs

in the Septimus Heap books

Snow White: Red as a Princess' tunic, black as a Princess' hair, white as Jenna's fandom interpretation is not. Seven sons/seven dwarves; a Hunter; and a Sorceress as a stepmother. ("Mirror, mirror on the wall, make me 8.2 percent thinner")

Snow White, parte the seconde: The whole motif gets repeated during Physik, when Esmeralda (who specifically looks just like Jenna) has to hide in a cottage somewhere to escape the man the evil Queen is sending after her. Plus Etheldredda gets introduced using a magyk mirror for evil.

Sleeping Beauty: Syrah Syarah, though it feels like the Dragon Boat also gets some of those characteristics. And it's been forever since I've read Darke, but the whole Quarantine and Safety Curtain has something of the bramble hedge and sleeping spell, no?

Red Riding Hood: Red cloak? check. Forest full of wolve(rine)s? check. Family members to visit there? check. Combination thereof? …uh…

Cinderella: "'But what about Aunt Mitza?' 'What about her? I've caught tons of fish. I'm going to cook it - as usual. She's going to eat it - as usual.'" And yes, that makes Ferdie the Fairy Godmother, even if the dress she sews is very much not for Tod.

Rapunzel: Or is it more Maid Maleen? On the one hand, Lucy gets locked in a tower for wanting to marry the wrong boy and spends some time working as a kitchen maid. On the other hand she does have very long braids, and she reunites with Simon out in the Badlands. To my delight that isn't where her association with towers ends: there's always her chimney-building enterprise.

It's been a hot second since I read most of the Sep Heap books, so I'm bound to have missed a few - add them on if you can think of anything?

What I've noticed writing this out is that there is a distinct lack of princes. Simon does sort of take the role of prince to Lucy's Rapunzel, but she very much just runs off on her own and fights her way back to him. And it very specifically does not have women competing with each other in the typical fairy tale sense - Marcia has no motivation to usurp Jenna, since she doesn't need a husband or a throne to have power. Etheldredda wants Esmeralda dead not because she's jealous of her looks, but because she won't need or want an heir if she'll stay on the throne forever.

*points at the Septimus Heap books* I just think they're neat.

[mintytrifecta]

The difference in explaining Mickey’s family tree vs Donald’s is so funny kgvkjvdbsdfgb

[medicus-mortem]

Reading Poneglyph Script

By the time Law leaves Wano I believe he can read the Poneglyphs, or at least knows enough to pick out key words and phrases. Law spent enough time between Zou and leaving Wano with Robin that she would have been able to teach him the basics at least. I don't think she would want to keep that knowledge to herself, especially not from an ally and someone her captain trusts. Nor do I think Luffy would want her to keep that information from Law. In fact, if he knew he'd encourage it. After all, Law having access to the same info he does would make the journey to the One Piece even more fun for Luffy.

Additionally, I imagine Robin gave Law both a copy of the Road Poneglyph rubbings and her own translation. Law is certainly smart enough to use these as a tool to help him decipher the language. So with his combined genius and Robin's lessons I don't think it's a huge stretch to assume Law can read the Poneglyph language.

I also believe he would have made copies of Robin's translations. Law is a meticulous man and would not risk losing such valuable information. Which leads me to believe Law won't actually be losing all his information to Blackbeard if he loses this fight. One could say his claim that 'Winner takes all,' means he will give over everything he has but I do not think Law is that honourable. Especially since Blackbeard specified only the Road Poneglyph rubbings. Never said anything about translations so in the end it's highly likely that Law isn't going to be massively disadvantaged if he loses this fight.

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: November 20…

Rick and Morty's old nemesis Story Lord makes his return and plots his revenge on the duo when Rick and Morty find themselves caught in a confusing, meta-powered loop of adventures, leading to a showdown with their nemesis. “Full Meta Jackrick” premiered on this day, A Year Ago.

[userpeggycarter]

@lgbtqcreators creator bingo 💖 animation.

PEGGY WEEK 2024

day seven — birthday extravaganza 🥳

OMG its Blorbo Bleebus!

[in ● sp] [id under the cut]

gifset about Peggy Carter from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

gif 1 of 7. two close-up shots of Peggy are blended together. at the middle, there's a static image of Peggy with her arms crossed. the text says, "OMG this motherfucker is Peggy Carter".

gif 2 of 7. two gifs of Peggy are blended together. there are stats bars at the bottom of the gif. the pairings (extremities) are:

just some guy - the protagonist of life head empty - too many thoughts awful company - ray of sunshine hated by all - loved by all trauma 3000 - untouched by history sadistic for fun - helps others for fun stupid as shit - scary-smart 1000 weapons - 1000 tools enemy of god - at peace with life break the rules - change the rules

gif 3 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together, one of them being of Captain Carter. the text says, "evokes" and the options are the following:

spontaneous gushing powerful violent urges raw, unbridled affection the horny meta-posting on main creative drive defensive feelings distraction delight symptoms of projection absent-minded doodles on tabletops the most godawful takes known to mankind

all options have a checkmark next to them.

gif 4 of 7. two close-up shots of Peggy are blended together. there's a chart at the center of the gif, titled "subclass". the subclasses are:

angst lady enemy of the state friend shaped girlboss soft and sweet brain cell haver just like you fr aspirational character chew toy

the angst lady, enemy of the state, girlboss, brain cell haver and aspirational character options are marked with a circle.

gif 5 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together. at the center of the gif, there are three stats (intense, complex, and fruity) with 10 points each. Peggy has all 30 points. while the intense and complex points are green, the fruity ones have the colors of the bisexual flag (blue, pink, and purple). at the bottom left corner, there's a big asterisk with the following text next to it: if you or a loved one is attached to a character that fills all of these boxes, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

gif 6 of 7. two close-up shots of an animated Peggy are blended together. the text says, "you want them to have...". the list is the following:

a better time less trauma more romance more friends catharsis revenger sympathy a better situation more healing more sex The Realization and a trademark symbol next to it.

all options have a checkmark next to them.

gif 7 of 7. two shots of Peggy are blended together, a close-up and her silhouette entering a room. "select all that apply", the text says. the list is the following:

tragic backstory? orphan? frequently violent? divorced? has enemies? sidekick owner? no friends? pets stray animals? chronic insomniac? murderer?

there's a checkmark next to "tragic backstory", "frequently violent", "has enemies", "sidekick owner", "pets stray animals", and "murderer". each checkmark has a color that corresponds to a small static image at the bottom of the gif. the tragic backstory one is an image of Peggy crying. the frequently violent one is an image of her holding a gun. has enemies: a picture of Dottie. sidekick owner: a picture of her and Jarvis. pets stray animals: a picture of Peggy holding a puppy. murderer: yet another picture of her holding a gun. end ID.

[balkanradfem]

List of Youtube Documentaries and Video Essays on Tumblr Lore, for anyone wanting to learn or re-live it:

Meta

The Story of Dash Con

Tumblr Etiquette Manual

The Tumblr Calendar Explained

Tumblr Gimmick Blog Iceberg

Tumblr Live Explained

The Bizarre Story of Cole Sprouse's Tumblr Experiment

Cursed Tumblr History (heritage posts)

Aesthetics of the Tumblr Past

Life and Story of the Tumblr's CEO

The Story of JustGirlyThings

The Evolution of the Tumblr Girl

Evolution of the Hipster Trend

Fandoms

Sherlock: The Story of TJLC (The JohnLock Conspiracy)

The Supernatural Finale (Destiel Becomes Canon-ish)

Destiel Is Canon

Harry Potter: The Story of Snape Wives

The Onceler Fandom

Hamilton: The Insane Scandal of Hivliving

The Tumblr SexyMan Iceberg

The Lies of Tumblr

Alexandria's Genesis: The Internet's Fakest "Disease"

Hey Peebrain, You Teleport? Tumblr's Dark Mystery

Oppa Homeless Style

Tumblr's Infamous Fake Stories

Tumblr Fake Stories Part 2

Fake Tumblr Posts

That Time Tumblr Invented A New Greek Goddess

The Unreality Blogs

Clown Husbandry

Goncharov (1973)

Drama&Cores

The Tumblr Controvery Iceberg

Color Theory

The Rise And Fall Of 'Common White Girl'

Sonic for Real Justice (strange aeons)

The Bizarre Tumblr Saga of Sonic For Real Justice (izzzyzzz)

This Tumblr Blogger had a Child Slave

Iceberg of Infamous Tumblr Blogs

Tumblr Adds

Heterosexual Pride on Tumblr

Rabies Pride

Goblin Core

The Tumblr Needle Cookie Story

Scams:

The Story of 'All or Nothing'

The "Woke" Tumblr RPG that Scammed Thousands of Dollars

Tumblr's 80,000 dollar animation scam (Miss Officer and Mr Truffels)

[centrally-unplanned]

I have a particular affection for the ways non-cultural designs & choices can create cultural artifacts. Anyone remember ToHeart2?

An ero visual novel coming in at the tail end of the VN era Tokimeki Memorial ushered in 1994 and Kanon crystalized in 1999, it was released in December of 2004 and was the ‘it’ game of its genre for the next year. It got an anime release in 2005, spin-off games, OVA’s, drama CD’s, the works. It was really big at Comiket in the next year, selling ‘image CDs’ of risque art, promotional manga, and a…car billboard?

ToHeart2 did not last though. Its known among visual novel fans for sure, but it's currently ranked #609th on Visual Novel Database in popularity - totally respectable, but no one is recommending it today as the “oh you gotta play this” game and if you aren’t into visual novels it is not coming up in your day-to-day anime-fandom conversations the way Clannad or Doki Doki Literature Club is. It had its era and the fandom moved on, like almost any other property.

But I bet way more people have encountered it than they know, because something else was released pretty much right after ToHeart2 was, in May of 2005 to be precise:

Oh yeah, this is that kind of essay. Danbooru is the original ‘successor’ to the 2ch-style imageboards that was art-first, non-hierarchical, and easily searchable, making it absolutely perfect for porn. The style quickly swept the competition and for a while Danbooru, and its architecture-clones like Gelbooru, ruled the hentai roost on the internet. If it's the year 2010 and you want some pics of Asuka in a school uniform stepping on you, Danbooru was your very first stop.

How you found those pictures is important here; Danbooru is 99% of the time used via searching for tags. Those who don’t have an account - aka most users - can only search by two tags, so you do the best you can; to take the above prompt you go “soryuu_asuka_langley stepped_on” and bam:

Only 4 results, are you kidding me?? Jesus get it together ero artists, some low hanging fruit here. Let's go with something more popular:

There we go, “red_hair school_uniform”, that is more like it. Okay, so sometimes you want Sailor Pluto + Zettai Ryuoiki or bust and you are gonna get what you are gonna get with those search terms, but other times you are exploring, you wanna see what you will find, any red-head will do, and you get this absolute sea of results. What are your options for navigating it?

Pretty…basic, right? And you can’t easily narrow down your search, you only get two search terms. So you do what comes natural, you look at each page, select out images you like, and hit next. But that is…a lot of pages, you aren’t going to read them all.

A funny thing about UI design is that if a button exists, humans are going to press it. We are just inherently curious, we want to try things. And this UI essentially gives us three buttons: “First”, “Next”, and ….“Last”, in this case Page 43654. So as you are building your stache of auburn-topped white button-ups, you are gonna click Page 1, then Page 2, then Page 3…and at some point your curiosity will get the better of you, and you are gonna click Last

And the posts are organized chronologically by order of submission. You get it now, right?

For large searches, which the two-tag cap encourages users to do, Danbooru’s UI gives you the option of showing you the *latest* posts…and the *first posts ever submitted to Danbooru*. If its 2013 you are not gonna stumble on anything from 2008 without actively looking for it, but there is always a button flashing in your face to show you every post from 2005.

When ToHeart2 was the most popular ero game around.

As you can bet Danbooru on opening day was flooded with ToHeart2 images. It generated so much content applicable to this site concept too - it's a split path harem game! Look at these girls:

You got your big titty red-head, white-haired soft kuudere, your lolis your genki’s, this is the OVA so it isn’t even all of them; option coverage is the point of these games. And it clocks in at, help me out here VNDB…

55 hours are you fucking kidding me?! This is the Anna Karenina of visual novels, this work is someone’s magnum opus, my god. Point is it had a lot of art - and you add in the anime, the Comiket CD’s, the promotionals, the manga, the doujin, its a lot. Wait, I don’t have to guess:

Its 6.2k images worth of ecchi art as of today. Every single ‘basic category’ search term people would commonly use had some ToHeart2 character in it, stored at the back of the history log. Far beyond its popularity as a visual novel, due to the inherent UI design of the site, anime fans got all the ToHeart2 porn they could handle just organically. And as time went on the ‘gap’ in between today and 2005 grew, cementing this little cultural artifact in place. Obviously other works from 2005 got similarly cemented, ToHeart2 is just the most prominent one to me.

I love how some of them have their context just buried in there too, like this one I pulled from the site:

This is the cover of a Comiket 70 doujin collection - actually a mix of characters, not ToHeart2-specific - by doujin group Spread-Pink, a talented group; something the median non-Japanese searcher saving this to their hard drive would have no clue about. Here is a link to the full doujin, it has Haruhi SOS Brigade propaganda, absolutely choice. This is of course a trait inherent to a lot of the older art on the internet - so much of it was taken, often without attribution or with edits, from random professional-adjacent works and repurposed into the context the internet needed it to be. Today the internet of Japan & the West is way more merged, and tracing back an image is way easier, but in the early days it was anarchy, and so early Danbooru is full of that, in comparison to the modern uploads.

And yes I cropped the image here, but it was for sizing purposes I swear, don’t judge me, the full one is in the link!

I do have one more reveal before I wrap this up, however - I have been lying to you. I doctored that Danbooru screenshot up there, because that isn’t how the search in Danbooru looks today. It looks like this:

Yup, the Last Page button is gone. I pulled a screenshot from the Wayback Machine for the edit, I am not sure when it vanished but I think it is sometime around 2015? Now this phenomenon lasted longer than that - at that time Danbooru clone Gelbooru had grown to higher popularity due to ease of use but imported all of Danbooru’s content including its chronology meta-data when it was made in 2007, and it kept the button. Gelbooru grew to such sizes that in the late 2010’s however, if you try to hit Last Page on a large enough search, you get:

Alas, a pagination cut-off (unless you upgrade your account, which is like paying for WinRAR). 

So this isn’t a present cultural artifact, but a past one - a generation of internet users for a decade+ had privileged access to the ToHeart2 Hentai Collection, but in the 2020’s it's gone now, lowered down to equality with every other historical work. Alas ToHeart2, your reign was brief but beautiful, and may we all hope for an elysian future where Danbooru re-implements the Last Page button and your rule is restored.

[brujahinaskirt]

Just some lil' thangs you might not notice about the level of detail RDR2 puts into Arthur's interactions with horses if you aren't personally experienced with horses:

[Sorry if this has been done! I couldn't find a post like it in recent tumblr history, and hope I can at least add some thoughts that haven't been analyzed to death already!]

(First, a note about me: I was raised on a quarter horse ranch and trained by a cadre of old-school cowboys in the Western tradition. Some of them were excellent teachers and some of them were crabby-faced bastards who thought "horsemanship" = engaging in a constant war with your horse... which gives me a little insight into positive and negative horsemanship styles on display in RDR2.)

(Second, thanks to fellow horsegirl @mangocats for helping me compile this list!)

(Third, a simple note to say that although I playfully use the term "horsegirl" in this post, the notes here apply to any gender. Same goes for the use of terms like "horsemen," which is not commonly used in the Western equestrian world to indicate a rider's real gender.)

Now, without further ado:

Press X to Calm. Arthur uses a tried-and-true low-stress, gradual escalation method of approaching and calming a spooked horse that begins with establishing physical contact with one hand and slowly increasing contact until the horse is fully calm and is once more amenable to human direction & commands. This is usually a preferable method to getting a frightened horse under control imo, but it's a "soft hand" method, and not something you always see in machismo-loaded equestrian circles. I've written about this a little in another meta post, so I won't get too deeply into it here.

Overall Horsemanship Style. You'll notice that while he does occasionally drive them hard in emergencies such as escaping the law or chasing a train, Arthur never "forces" his horses to comply with commands; in other words, he doesn't use his strength to try and bully a horse into doing something, like crossing a river, or physically punish a horse to "desensitize" it. "Forcing" horses to do things using tack designed to create discomfort or using raw bodily intimidation + fear & pain-motivated negative reinforcement is a tragically common tradition in old-school Western riding (and still advocated by some popular TV equestrians whom I think are straight-up animal abusers... if you know you know). It's dismal, but for a lot of the cowboys I know/knew, when a horse isn't obeying, you need to "show it who's boss." Arthur never approaches animals this way. By contrast, especially for the time period, he is exceedingly patient with horses and animals in general. We can even see this in his dialogue to wild horses; when they gradually calm down after the initial "breaking in" process, Arthur usually says something companionable like, "See, we're friends now."

And a sub-point on that: Horsemanship Temperament. Arthur never gets mad at or yells at his horse. Even when he gets chucked to the ground, he'll yell DAMN, THAT HURT, and then it's back to trying to calm the spooked horse. Which is exactly the right attitude to have. (Though if you've never been hurled face-first into a pile of sun-baked manure because your horse saw, idk, a twig on the road, you might not appreciate how even-tempered a character Arthur is for never succumbing to the temptation to yell, "COME ONNNN GIVE ME A BREAK IT'S A STICK YOU SILLY BITCH!")

Horse responsiveness. The horse emotional cues in this game are incredible, from their reactions to other animals and weather events to their reactions to Arthur. You can see the horse's neck muscles tense and relax when being calmed, their eyes changing in size, their head drop and raise in response to the reins, and their annoyance seeping through with stomps and pinned ears well before they start to spook. When Arthur speaks to his horses, you can even see a subtle ear flick backwards as they listen to him. When he gives certain commands (such as a mild squeeze of the knees to speed up a bit), a calm and attentive horse will often issue an affirmative snort; this is incredibly lifelike and essentially a "roger roger" between horse and rider. I was also impressed that Arthur uses his thighs and his knees to cue his horse more than his heels. Usually you just see the dramatic heel cues in in video games, but in real life, a rider gently but firmly squeezes their knees/thighs far more often than laying into their horse with boot heels, which is a fabulous way to get sent to the moon. One thing I would have liked to see is more riderless idle horse animations. Lazy or bored horses do a very classic pose where they rest their weight on one side, cock a hip out, and jauntily kick a back hoof up. It would have been right at home at the hitching posts in RDR2, and the horses are otherwise so lifelike, I find myself missing this little pose.

Historical bits. As players, we don't have much choice with this, since Rockstar matched bits to saddles rather than letting us customize them. With that disclaimer out of the way: Arthur uses a wide range of bits, some of them much harsher than others, designed to offer more control over a difficult horse's head through pressure points within the mouth. This is historically sound and far from obsolete in modern horsemanship, though I would certainly avoid using some of the harsher bits in RDR2 on my horses to avoid hurting them accidentally. That said, it's important to note that "harsh" control bits (like those wickedly straight-shanked bits you see with some of the cooler saddle styles) aren't instantly or automatically painful. While many of us modern horsegirls may frown upon the just-for-the-hell-of-it use of many styles of old-school, Wild West bit, in the hands of an experienced horseman with a good sense of appropriate rein pressure (which we can assume Arthur is), even a curb bit should not be a tool of pain. In the hands of a novice, however, some of those bits would absolutely hurt a poor horse's mouth and are typically reserved for troublesome (potentially dangerous) animals who may need to be curtailed quickly. I'm assuming Rockstar chose them for style more than characterization... but I do wince when I see those hard stops with the straight shanks, every time.

Horsetalk. We all know Arthur baby talks horses, and that his babble to his horse increases in affection with bonding level and varies a little depending on the horse's sex. But he also does something peculiar and frankly delightful with his vocal modulation on certain horse chatter lines. In those moments where he seems to go a little vibrato, warbling his voice as he talks ("waiaiaiaiaiaiaiat! come bahahahahack!" he calls after a fleeing mustang), Arthur is actually mimicking calming/positive horse sounds (usually a friendly nicker or a greeting whinny) in an attempt to communicate in horse language. While I think a TON of horsegirls have secretly nickered at our horses when no one else is around the stable, making horse noises at your horse is not a "traditional" training technique, and imo is something other gang members would definitely make fun of him for. It is also very adorable. I wanted to add that while horses are excellent at noise commands (like whistles, clucks, kisses, etc.), they usually aren't very good at identifying spoken word commands, including their own names. Therefore, the majority of the talking Arthur does to his horse is just free companionable chatter, much like we babble to our house pets. The command is in the cluck, the leg pressure, the yah, the rein slap; it's not the spoken, "Come on, girl, here we go!" That's just Arthur being a horsegirl.

Saddle checks. If you pay close attention, in cutscenes and in the map, Arthur will occasionally reach down and test various pieces of his saddle. This is particularly true with checking the cinches (those big straps that loop behind the front legs and under the belly), which good riders often do, as saddles can adjust during a ride. Straps that are too tight or too loose will cause a horse discomfort, since they change the way the saddle rests upon them and distributes the rider's weight. You can even watch the saddle shift when Arthur mounts and dismounts, reflecting the changed distribution in weight! This honestly floored me the first time I saw it. Rockstar really consulted people who know their stuff.

Bad Habits. IMO, Arthur's a little slouch-backed in the saddle. This is noticeably worse if he's hungry or sleepy, but even well-fed and rested, his shoulders drop and curve out his spine more than is ideal. This won't hurt his horse, but it will come back to bite him directly in the lower back as he ages, and I argue it's probably biting him in the ass a little now. (More on that below.) Arthur's "behind the horse" etiquette isn't particularly lifelike. In RDR2 (as in life), sometimes idling or benignly messing around behind a horse will cause them to randomly kick, and any equestrian knows not to hang out aimlessly in the kick zone. IRL, if you're about to walk close behind a horse, it's good etiquette to reach out and gently lay a hand on a horse's hip to let them know you're going to pass behind them before you step into the kick zone. I would have liked to see an animation for this, but I'd guess this would have been a real pain to animate without "locking" Arthur in place (as with the petting and brushing animations), so I can't really count this against him in good conscience. He also holds his reins in a full fist rather than between the appropriate fingers. This is a novice mistake, but I'm guessing this is an animation choice more than a characterization one, because I can't imagine getting those wobbly rein physics to rest perfectly between a model's wee little fingers. Which brings us to...

Reins. Arthur keeps a pretty tight (though not oppressive) grip on the reins when he has a horse in motion, facilitating quick communication from rider to horse and increased emotional response from the horse, and he tends to use both reins when he isn't holding something else. This increases control and often allows for clearer communication between horse and rider in comparison to the laxer "rein knot" one-handed Western style. More on that point: Arthur sometimes holds the reins in one hand. This is not lazy horsemanship, but rather a mainstay of the Western riding tradition; holding the reins in one hand allows for a rider to keep one hand free for whatever they might need... usually rope/weapons. Using two hands, one rein in each, does deliver much more refined control (especially with a nervous or inexperienced horse), which is why you often see Arthur switch between one- and two-handed riding. Rockstar also makes the clever choice to make reins “stretchy” so they move with the neck and simulate rider give and restraint, rather than having them just flop around at a static length. This makes reining feel a lot more dynamic and responsive, in my opinion.

Bareback vs. Saddle: To Rockstar's credit, riders' carriage when bareback is entirely different from the saddle carriage animations, and displays a lower center of gravity.

This note is a bummer, but it is, I feel, an important one to know. Arthur is WAY TOO BIG to ride a significant number of horses in the game. Horses are not bikes or cars. In real life, it's extremely important to consider a rider's weight and height and general carriage when matching them with a horse, especially for long-distance rides... and unfortunately, Arthur is prohibitively huge. If I saw a man Arthur's size astride that teeny little Morgan, boots tips damn near dragging, I'd give him a piece of my damn mind. That said, it's just a video game, so if you love that white Arabian or that sweet little Morgan, ride without shame; you are not hurting a pixel horse! But if you're into max realism or a horse an experienced rider like Arthur might conceivably choose for himself, go for something larger, leggier, and stronger. Though Rockstar fictionalized their breeds a little bit, I think one of their taller well-balanced styles like the Dutch warmblood, standardbred, Hungarian, Andalusian, or even one of those svelte Americanized Belgians suits Arthur much more comfortably. Online's Kladruber would also be an excellent choice for Arthur. (Ain't nobody saying SHIT to Arthur Morgan on a heavy breed like a Shire, though they aren't well suited for everyday long-distance all-terrain riding, and I feel sympathy pains about that leg spread just thinking about it. Speaking of...)

Real talk about Arthur's "swagger": Though I'm 100% sure it's a dominance thing for some crusty ol' cowboys, most equestrians don't saunter around Like That TM because they are listening to Rod Stewart croon If You Want My Body And You Think I'm Sexy at all times. That "swagger" is just... well... to be blunt, it's sort of what happens to your gait after you spend all day with your legs straddling a big animal moving on rough terrain. Hang out with some adults who have ridden horses daily since they were wee beans and they'll tell you allllll about what it can do to your posture. Contrary to cowboy jokes, it's not so much about being bowlegged (which is massively exaggerated as it pertains to horseback riding) as it is about lowering one's center of gravity to compensate for things like muscle strain, spinal compression, and lower back pain. Due to the high impact nature of riding, many career horsepeople develop chronic back problems and "swaggers," and for some it's eventually more comfortable to ride than to walk. Not saying you can't hc an Arthur who struts his stuff, of course! Just saying that, for those of you who might struggle to reconcile Arthur's blisteringly low self-esteem in his physical appearance with his "swagger," here's a horse world answer.

Knights Templar'ing it. This is another bummer for a ton of cute fanfic scenes, but riding two-to-a saddle is really not good for a horse. It's not just about raw weight, but about the distribution of that weight and where the pressure rests on a horse's back/organs. A bean like Little Jack sitting right in Arthur's lap isn't going to add too much stress to a horse big enough to carry a tanky dude like Arthur comfortably, but a whole second adult sitting behind a saddle is a very different story. Imagine the difference between carrying someone piggyback versus having someone stand on your spine! It's all about the position. Larger breeds can tolerate riding double for a while, but it should not be done for long distances, and it definitely should not be done if a rider expects to need heavy exertion from the horse. Adults riding double doesn't happen too often in RDR2 (usually just during an emergency), so this isn't a critique of Rockstar or Arthur; it's more so a helpful realism note for fanworks. An experienced horsegirl like Arthur is sure not to ride double casually. Pro-tip: If you want someone to teach your (non-bean-sized) OC how to ride a horse, consider having the teacher controlling the horse from the ground via a lead/lunge line while your OC sits in the saddle.

Oof, that smarts... When Arthur picks up hay bales with short sleeves on/bare hands, he makes a soundless "OOF OOOH EEEE OUCH" face. The first time I saw this, I absolutely lost it with glee. Anyone who has moved hay (or straw; they're different!) with bare arms knows how prickly and scratchy and itchy it is, and it's loving little touches like this that make RDR2's horses feel so darn real.

That's all I can think of for now! I hope this list was at least somewhat helpful, even if it's far from an all-encompassing resource on horsey stuff in RDR2. Happy riding, meatverse horsegirls & virtual horsegirls, and remember to always thank your horse :)

[tired-hellowl]

here' a comprehensive list as to every problem I have with the current *unecessary characters known as 'Glitz and Glam'

Do they expand the story/worldbuilding in any meaningful way? Do they explore a new hidden dynamic/past conjunction with a differing character and is that explored meaningfully? What was the point of having them animated when Mammon can portray the same level of humiliation/degrading/on stage lack of positive reinforcements. 😐

I'm so sorry but I view these characters as necessary garbage that caused some animators arthritis via too many patterns, not enough screen time to have meat and potatoes worth of dialogue, or really any pretense within the story whatsoever and yes this extends towards every female character on screen but let's not worry about that !!! Even if they are IMPLIED to be from the ring of envy-a color or ring we haven't seen nor meaningfully conveyed to the audience that it even is possible to go in/exists- it isn't conveyed to the audience well enough besides the visual implication of colors???? Instead of having shitty b-plots that go nowhere via Stolas and Blitz goofing off in seeing stars, Moxxie and Millie getting C-plots for no reason, or loona getting a rabies shot- all of that time could have been exploring hell, going to different rings, focusing on other characters besides the main 5, literally I would prefer a quiet episode like BoJack Horsemans 'Fish out of Water'where we can actually see the personalities of the main characters be appreciated and shown to us but that's never gonna happen :/

What I've been worried about is not even the on screen racism/out of touch 'rap/hip-hop parody' leaves a terrible taste in my mouth, if that isn't enough then the sexualization/implication of an incest type dynamic and nothing else besides fetish bait with these characters constantly grabbing one another and not really acting like siblings moreso someone who has never had siblings attempting to write sibling banter and failing terribly :/

Why do you have a problem with 'Klown Bitch' it's so catchy! Uhm, no??? I feel bad for anyone who attempts to defend helluva/hazbin as good modern musicals let me grit my teeth in silence as to the glorification over white people dominating black culture

HERES A HISTORY OF FEMALE HIPHOP ARTISTS: X

Pictured above is very old concept art about twin characters and its the same hairshape viv kept to transfer over to glitz/glam- despite clearly being over designed and way too much going on Alá vivzie style. It just goes to show she recycles even from herself and not every design is always new hot and fresh :/ AND SPEAKING OF CONCEPT ART-

Also also don't forget salems' concept designs thst got passed even though they loon toony, loony, clown enough, and definitely majorly way easier to have animated besides the mess that is the current design meta ???

Love how you can clearly see the silhouettes being so easily identifiable comparably towards the actual amalgamated mess that is their current limbs attempting to hold onto their toothpick body for their head.

All this screams to me is viv using the artists thst try to come onto helluva and they try their best with what their given, viv only picks the best bits SHE thinks is worth her time rather then thinking about the audience or animating anything else besides overglorified white people rap 🤔

Also the episode literally presents its full internalized misogyny/racism within this episode because vivzie herself literally admitted to typing into script with a full chest that

'Women just ain't funny'

. . .

why present misogyny within the series if you as a creator aren't willing to tackle the subject matter? Why write about it or present it as if you're smart over including the joke in your script when it isn't even funny because it just further pushes women out of the entertainment/comedy business which mind you IS ALREADY VERY WELL MALE DOMINATED SO PUTTING OTHER WOMEN DOWN TO PUT YOURSELF UP ISNT HELPING YOUR CASE VIV???

So then what was the point of adding female clowns if all you were going to do with them was make fun of them out of their expense and then profit off of the fact that they are incest coded????????????

?????????Are we watching the same fucking series????????

[charcubed]

Disneyland's Rogers: The Musical, propaganda that turns Steve Rogers into more myth than man, and revisionist history (possibly) to a purpose

Any of my thoughts in this post could just be me reading too far into things. I'm very aware of that, and please know that this post exists just because this sort of thing is fun for me! This is a thought exercise where we propose "What if we live in a world where the MCU is actually doing a cool and interesting thing as a longcon?" If you have anger at Marvel, that's valid and relatable, but please don't get angry at me or imply I'm an MCU stan who doesn't think critically about the mouse. Thanks!

Breaking news: I'm back on my bullshit!

A quick personal recap: I infamously hated Avengers: Endgame for a long list of reasons (and I even rewrote the movie). One of those reasons is that I've always taken issue with Steve's ending. But in the years since then, and as the MCU's phase 4 has evolved, my frustration at Steve's "ending" has turned into an ongoing and legitimate theory that the MCU could be slowly leading into a loosely adapted Secret Empire plot line. I know we've all been joking about Steve being trapped or about an imposter Steve since 2019, but uhhh, it's kind of not a joke to me anymore? It feels weirdly plausible at this point and so I enjoy discussing the potential.

You can find a full elaboration on that here, where I wrote out my "Steve was snatched by HYDRA" theory in 2021.

In that post, one of the things I mentioned at the time was Rogers: The Musical being in the Hawkeye trailer.

[The musical's] very existence is an example of how in-universe the stories of the lives of the heroes are being commodified, especially (in terms of how they’re framing it) for Steve’s. The heroes are no longer seen as people, if they ever were. They are, as Kate Bishop says to Clint in a recently released clip, more about “branding.” Sam Wilson will be redefining the shield moving forward in a Cap context, but simultaneously, the world is still enamored by Steve Rogers as a symbol in his own right. And that is ripe for manipulation as a Trojan horse to control public opinion… whether in the context of things like this by themselves (is the musical portraying Steve accurately, or is it painting an inaccurate picture of him the world accepts as fact?) or in future (is this propaganda that makes the public see Steve a certain way and continue to love him, to set up a fake or brainwashed Steve coming on the scene later?).

Now a form of the musical exists in full, at Disneyland and all over Youtube. Considering some of its baffling content – which I will break down below – this perspective seems even more strongly worth considering.

I have two main reasons for why I'm defending examining this musical so closely:

1. It is (arguably) an in-universe piece of media that has bearing on the MCU canon. It isn't like any other typical Disneyland attraction; its very existence is meta and it was in canon first. Obviously it's seen in Hawkeye, but there are also posters for it in several different phase 4 properties. It's lurking in the background indefinitely. So what can this musical tell us about what the wider public within the MCU is being told about the life story of Steve Rogers?

2. This Secret Empire graphic – which is animated in the center of the stage of a prolonged period of time – feels like a literal sign to pay attention.

Granted, this is obviously still ancillary material. 99% of the MCU audience will never see this musical, whether in person or on YouTube. But just because it isn't a vital piece doesn't mean it's automatically an entirely irrelevant piece.

They've given me an inch with that sign and I'm taking a mile.

So if you're interested, please join me on this journey :)

For the record, let me just say that I salute the creative team behind this show. It's pretty fun and the songs are catchy, the sets and costuming are cool, and the cast is overall very talented.

It's also fucking maddening. LMAO.

Why? Firstly, because of the seemingly deliberate ahistorical inaccuracies. We all know Ant-Man is wrongly shown in the Battle of New York, which originally "came from [the Hawkeye showrunner] and Marvel, as something to further aggravate Hawkeye as he watched the show, and also as a comment on how movies and articles and people always get something wrong." It seems like they expanded those meta nods, but most inaccuracies are now in service of glorifying Steve and Peggy's "love story." Yes, romance objectively makes for good theater; but again, I feel that this is worth examining considering the full context.

And secondly, Steve's ending is framed as an offer presented to him, convincing him it's the happy ending he deserves because he's tired. In my mind, these two big elements go together, and I'll walk you through the details of what happens in the musical before I tie the thought threads back around into some theorizing.

For your reference, here's a list of the main songs and story beats:

• "U-S-Opening Night" - the Starkettes (who are basically a Greek chorus) frame the show's story, and then it turns into an ensemble that loosely takes place at the Stark Expo. • "I Want You" – Steve's "I want" song about trying to enlist in the army. • "Star-Spangled Man With A Plan" – Steve performing on the USO tour obviously, and then there's a reprise with an added voiceover that (very briefly) covers the Howling Commandos' rescue + the war via comic book imagery. • "What You Missed" – Fury and the Starkettes tell Steve some pop culture things he missed while he was frozen, + they tell him about the Avengers. Then Fury goes down a list of other hero characters, including the Guardians? Doctor Strange? Wanda?? It plays loose and fast with time, because many non-2012 characters are bafflingly mentioned in this nonlinear Avengers list – including the Winter Soldier (???). • "Save the City" – this is the song seen in Hawkeye, with the civilians + the Avengers all involved, but it's slightly different here and expanded to also reference other battles. • "End of the Line" – Old Steve presents main Steve with the time stone as an opportunity for his happy ending, and they reflect on things together. (Yes, this is insane.) • "Just One Dance" – Steve and Peggy reunite and sing about their love. • And then there's basically a reprise of "Save the City," with the Starkettes and the whole cast closing the finale out.

Right out of the gate, let's address this: the main reason you're going to see some fans pissed about this musical is not only that Steve and Peggy's ~epic romance~ is made a pillar of the story... but also that Bucky's importance/involvement in Steve's life is minimized as much as possible.

And they took Bucky-related elements from canon and made them center more around Peggy instead.

• For some weird reason, Peggy is in the Stark Expo scene. When a soldier is hitting on the Starkettes ("hey sweetheart, I wanna dance!"), Steve tells the soldier to show the ladies some respect. The soldier grabs Steve and throws him down, and then Peggy swoops in to yell "Pick on someone your own size!" and punches the guy before walking away. So she's given Bucky's TFA line verbatim, and she is given the role he had of saving Steve from bullies. There is blatantly no reason they couldn't have had Bucky still serve that function and be truer to "history," because he briefly enters this scene in uniform less than a minute later to announce he's shipping out to the 107th – and then he spins off with a date on his arm. (We don't see Bucky on stage again until the full cast comes out for the finale!)

• After the Star-Spangled Man show, Peggy rushes in to talk to Steve. Steve is excited about his USO performance (???) but she urgently tells him to listen as she says that the 107th has been captured. Peggy apparently knows it's Bucky's division, and she knows Steve is going to go, so she tells him that she's already arranged transport for him. This is a subtle twist from the truth of how it went down in TFA, in which Steve recognized 107 as the number of Bucky's division, and his dogged determination inspired Peggy to relent and help his rescue mission. Here, Peggy is given a stronger role in the Cap origin story. And before Steve rushes off, Peggy sings a short untitled ballad hoping for their dance, so Steve pauses before he leaves to ask her to go on a date with her when he returns. • The most egregious Bucky-to-Peggy change of all is the song "End of the Line," in which the infamous Steve and Bucky line/promise (that broke Bucky's brainwashing...) is re-contextualized to be about ???? Peggy waiting for Steve in the past??? Old Man Steve and regular Steve sing it together. But we'll go back to that in a minute.

Again, I get it, yeah? It's for theater. Whatever. But in reality, the obvious logical truth is that Peggy is centered (to the point of taking elements from Bucky's story, and in turn Bucky is downplayed) because they needed to convince the audience that Steve going back in time to be with her makes sense. Steve's time travel ending had to be justified, so the Peggy and Steve "love story" had to be a pillar in this with everything else being given lesser weight.

And the inherent selfishness of him doing something as big as going back in time also had to be justified... which is why they do their best to convince you Steve fought so much he deserved it.

Let me elaborate on that by describing the lead-up to the "End of the Line" song.

So, right before "End of the Line" is "Save the City" – which includes Steve belting "I can do this all day!" repeatedly, of course. It's the 2012 Battle of New York as the Avengers come together to win.

As they begin to disperse, the song then transitions to a voiceover alert mentioning Sokovia being under attack by artificial intelligence (a.k.a. Age of Ultron). The Avengers group rushes back to center stage to say "Save the city! Help us win!" together for battle again.

And then things get fucking weird.

Because the next voiceover threat is "Washington DC. Attack: the Winter Soldier." This is not accurate to the order of events! The Winter Soldier events were before Age of Ultron; the public of the MCU would also know this.

And suddenly on stage Steve is now in the center while everyone else gestures to him. Instead of singing with him, they're telling him "Save the city! Help us win!"

Then, another voiceover: "Wakanda, under attack" (Infinity War) and again, Steve is centered while everyone else points to him. The ensemble says, "Save the city, help us win! Save us all from the state we're in! Got to hear you, got to hear you, got to hear you say..." as Steve is buckling to his knees under their pointing. And as the lights go down to one spotlight on him and everyone else leaves, he says "I can do this all day" one last time, but now it's subdued.

The implication is that Steve has been fighting and fighting, people leave him or he loses them, and he's tired.

And then fucking Old Man Steve arrives.

He says "On your left," because yes, they gave him Sam Wilson's line. BATSHIT.

So now there's two Steves on stage! There has been no mention of Thanos or infinity stones or anything up to this point! (I can only assume that's because in the MCU universe no one would want to be reminded of the trauma of "the Blip" – though it's pretty wild that they're allowed to know about magical time travel?)

Steve is baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival. I, too, was baffled by Old Man Steve's arrival.

As Steve questions how this is possible, Old Man Steve shows him the time stone from his pocket – and only the time stone – which Steve recognizes.

OLD MAN: "You've got to remember where you've been to know where you're going." STEVE: "Where am I going?" OLD MAN: "A date with destiny." STEVE: “Destiny. So we’re the hero till the end?” OLD MAN: “That’s the thing about endings, Steven. They can be rewritten.”

Lmao???????

Steve starts singing about how he hopes this means they "win" and calls himself a "tired hero."

STEVE: "But sometimes I wonder, who will save the savior? Can we really do this all day? So here I am, now and also then. Just a man, looking back at where he's been." OLD MAN: "The road is rough but wounds are healed by a thing called time. You can't forget what's waiting at the end of the line."

Me, watching this: the fact that he says this out of the blue makes absolutely no sense.

There's a bit more singing, including "end of the line" repetition, and then Old Man Steve pulls out the time stone to essentially show visions of... I don't fucking know. Past, present, and future?

That's pre-serum Steve, Steve with Mjolnir, and Sam Wilson as the new Cap. This is the only reference to Sam in the whole thing.

More singing, and then: Peggy's silhouette.

OLD MAN: "Can't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "I can't forget who's waiting..." BOTH: "Don't forget who's waiting..." STEVE: "At the end of the line."

At this point I'm like, what in the hell?

Did Old Man Steve just brainwash normal Steve into thinking "end of the line" is now about Peggy? Because uhhhh, sorry, that's what it feels like!

Then Steve uses the stone to go back in time, reunites with Peggy, etc. etc. finale.

It's truly some crazy shit.

[drags hands down face]

Look... there's a lot to unpack here, and there's a lot that gets me about it. I know this is dramatized for the stage! I KNOW! But the fact that Old Man Steve shows up to convince Steve he should go back in time makes me want to gnaw on furniture.

Another person essentially uses the lure of a life with Peggy to tempt Steve into doing this, dramatized or not. That is how it's framed.

It's a hell of a way to frame it, and it makes Steve's ending stand in even starker contrast to so many other things in phase 4. Desperately trying to go backwards when you shouldn't or to bring back a lost lover is an evil temptation, and it results in a trap or negative cosmic consequences for basically all of the other characters in the MCU.

• In Shang-Chi, Wenwu is tempted by the Soul Eaters beyond the Dark Gate. They use the voice of his deceased wife to convince him to set them free. • In "What If" episode 4, Doctor Strange becomes evil in a desperate bid to save Christine and he destroys his universe. Along the way, he tries to tempt/trap the good Strange who's fighting him by using visions of Christine, but good Strange knows she isn't real. • Wanda's grief and desire to bring back Vision leads to – well, you know. • In No Way Home, Peter trying to undo things is what causes the multiverse problems.

And the fact that they frame it as Steve being tired, so basically the argument is he deserves that time travel ending (just like MCU fans who defend Endgame say in real life)... Well.

There's no way to make it hold up, especially because in "What If" they explicitly subverted that and had Captain Carter not go back in time despite how she felt she'd "earned" it.

Lastly, in this musical as Steve decides to pursue time travel as his course of action, he basically has the meaning or memory of "end of the line" rewritten for him. I refuse to not think that is some nefarious shit. Yes, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it's just some general Disney erasing Steve and Bucky nonsense.

But... this is on another level to me. I do think that it's a blatant choice that they had to be aware even general MCU fans would call bullshit on. Everyone knows it's inaccurate. "End of the line" is embedded in pop culture consciousness as being connected to Bucky. It just is! Surely that means it's not a stretch to theorize it could be deliberate meta commentary.

How, in the MCU world, would the in-universe playwrights even know the phrase "end of the line"? How the fuck would it be accidentally applied to Steve and Peggy? Not to sound like a crazy person, but who the fuck was rooting around in Steve and/or Bucky's personal business or their brains in order to obtain that knowledge and then remix it, and why? Neither of them would flippantly mention it in the public eye or interviews ever. So where did its inclusion come from?

And in the finale ensemble, this is Bucky's line when he comes out on stage and salutes + points to Steve: "Don't forget who's waiting..." And Old Man Steve completes it with "...at the end of the line."

What on God's green earth am I meant to do with THAT?

Smh.

The vibes are fucked, folks.

The MCU public wouldn't know enough to say the vibes are fucked. The MCU public wouldn't know the origin of "end of the line" as a phrase. But us? The ones who know the "true story" via the movies? We can call bullshit.

Whether the creative team behind this musical did every aspect of this consciously or not, in my opinion the fact that they had to tweak canon "history" to A) make Peggy's involvement in Steve's life more central and B) emphasize Steve as a tired hero all works as commentary on and almost a condemnation of Endgame's frustrating ending. In a way, it's also what Endgame did with the compass and 1973 moment with Peggy as well.

Steve's ending had to be convincing.

It's theater.

And so, maybe the same is true for the in-narrative perspective of this musical in the context of the MCU world. What purpose would it serve to tell the MCU public a feel-good narrative about how all Steve Rogers wanted was to no longer be a tragic man out of time and get to make a life with his best girl? To frame it as being about how he fought so hard for years and so he earned a happy ending? To minimize and nearly erase Bucky's importance in his life?

Who would want to do that sort of propaganda, and why?

The MCU civilians are given this happy explanation and maybe don't widely question it. Who cares about the details or logistics if it makes a good story, I guess. It's a stretch, but maybe they mostly applaud it. Maybe they're happy for "America's favorite son" (not unlike people who uncritically liked Endgame). In a way, it's even a rehabilitation of his image (after the Accords) like putting the shield on the Statue of Liberty. And maybe they'd even be ready and waiting to applaud if Steve ever made a dramatically selfless and de-aged return to the spotlight or a position of authority.

But mostly, the public is being conditioned to not know or to forget that anyone else like Bucky Barnes or Sam Wilson would possibly know Steve Rogers the person well enough in the modern day to call bullshit on any of this – or on his hypothetical miraculous future return.

So. Sure, it's probably nothing.

But what if it's not?

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UPDATE: @faeriecap added to this post with some incredible information and further behind-the-scenes context about the MCU/Marvel stuff at Disney parks! Check it out here :)

[veinsfullofstars]

⭐ Memories of friendship ⭐

(ID: Kirby series fanart, Childhood Friends AU, featuring young Dedede, Meta, Para Dee, and Bow Dee hanging out and interacting in various cute and silly scenarios. More detailed descriptions and bonus headcanons under the cut. END ID.)

Just a buncha li’l guys. The littlest of lads. I could literally fill pages with all the wholesome slice-of-life nonsense I have in mind for these kids (and maybe the smallest touch of angst, too, but that’s for later). Also might’ve made DDD’s overalls a little brighter to match his coat in the future. Also made refs for Para and Bow.

UPDATE 03/11/24: Added a few misc. details.

Sketches started btw 11/23 and 12/23, render started 12/13/23, finished 01/07/24. NOTE: This was originally posted on my deleted account on 01/08/23.

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Image descriptions

Top-left: Meta carrying DDD by his hands and lifting him (with great difficultly) into the air (probably only a few inches off the ground), the latter laughing happily and kicking his feet, the former grimacing with effort and flapping his little wing as hard as he can.

(HC: Even at a young age, Meta is built more for dexterity than strength, and DDD isn’t exactly as light as the rest of his buddies - not that it stops either of them from doing something dumb in the name of a dare.)

Top-middle: Meta and Para holding open a large book between them (the image of Planet Popstar on the cover), reading and discussing its contents (as indicated by a wall of blue and green “Blah”s behind them), while Bow (slumped on Meta’s side) and Dedede (reclining back on Para’s side) are both fast asleep from boredom.

(HC: Needless to say, Meta and Para are huge nerds, often seen checking out half a dozen books at at time from the local library and finishing them before the week is out. Bow and DDD try to be interested, but they just don’t have the attention spans for huge walls of tech jargon and dusty old history.)

Top-right: Para floating with his parasol (patterned the same green-and-brown plaid as his bowtie), sweating and kicking his feet wildly, looking down in terror; Meta hovers nearby on his wings, looking on in surprise at his panicking friend.

(HC: Despite his proficiency, Para rarely uses his parasol for anything besides keeping himself dry in the rain. He is deathly afraid of heights and has gotten himself stuck in trees more than once thanks to his buddies’ daredevil antics.)

Middle-right: Bow - angered by something off-screen - furiously kicking and flailing about, her face red with rage, as DDD casually holds her up off the ground by the top of her head, looking annoyed and bored.

(HC: It doesn’t take a lot to set Bow off. Despite her tiny size, she can be an absolute terror when she’s upset about something, and the boys know this well. DDD is often the one to hold her back when she gets too rowdy, a role he’s not particularly thrilled to have. Stars help anyone in her line of sight if no one’s around to calm her down.)

Middle: Meta and DDD sitting side-by-side, the former in a rare excitable mood as he fidgets and chatters on about all kinds of things (indicated by several word bubbles with images inside, including ice cream, swords, bats, planets, stars, rockets, and Galacta Knight’s mask); DDD listens with surprising patience, a fond (if somewhat exasperated) smile on his face.

(HC: Meta is usually a very quiet kid, his silence filled by DDD being his typical boisterous self. Sometimes, though, when they’re just hanging out by themselves, Meta will find an opening - usually provided by DDD - and go off on tangents as random and hyper-focused as his more talkative buds. Not many people get to see him this animated or comfortable, and DDD - who’s seen them the most - cherishes these moments, even if it’s embarrassing to admit.)

Bottom-left: DDD dashing to our left, a determined grin on his face, as his friends ride Piggyback on his back - first Meta, wings out and free arm waving in excitement, then Para, clinging desperately to Meta with a look of panic on his face, and finally Bow, hanging off of Para and laughing merrily.

• (HC: DDD is always dragging his friends into one crazy scheme or another, usually at a full-tilt sprint and without much forethought beyond “C’mon, it’ll be fun!” Meta is often swept up in the excitement, too curious and eager to learn to worry much about danger. Para is the embodiment of “I don’t know about this, guys…” but too lenient to really stop them. Bow will literally follow the boys off of a cliff as long as there’s fun to be had.)

Bottom-right: Bow, DDD, and Meta sitting in the grass surrounded by butterflies (their bodies black and wings white with dark edges, save one in the back with yellow wings rimmed in orange and red). One lands on DDD’s beak, and he pokes at it curiously, staring cross-eyed. Bow trembles behind him, staring at the butterfly in watery-eyed terror over his shoulder. Meta tilts his head to look at her with an expression of bemused concern, a butterfly settled on his foot.

(HC: Bow will tell you she isn’t afraid of anything. In many cases, this is true. She will routinely stare down threats ten times her size and promise to beat them up on the spot before someone more rational pulls her out of harm’s way. But, if there is a bug anywhere in her immediate vicinity, she will absolutely run for the hills. DDD used to tease her about this, hiding bugs in his hands to scare her. He stopped as soon as she started panic-smacking him.)