#foreshadowing some shit I'm actually upset about

[unholyanathema]

[hughjidiot]

Thoughts on Episodes 7 and 8 of TDI Season 2

Well I got to see the two newest episodes, and I have quite a few thoughts on them. As always spoilers below the cut.

Well it looks like Axel and Ripper are our double eliminations. And in a... really stupid way if I'm being honest. Axel gets voted off, Ripper freaks and grabs on as the Drone of Despair flies away with her and Chris just calls them both eliminated? Kind of an ass pull, won't lie. Oh well, that's Total Drama - you gotta take the good with the bad.

At least Axel lasted longer this time and we got some more depth to her, like that she has an artistic side being into painting and poetry and is somewhat of a romantic. And as I mentioned previously I found Ripper's character to be greatly improved over how he was last season, I found him way more likeable.

Also out is Zee. Not sure how exactly he knew everyone's secrets like that, it felt kind of out of nowhere. I'm gonna miss how hilarious he was, but at least he set up some drama before he left...

Caleb and Priya's subplot has taken a sharp turn: Caleb finally acknowledges he actually likes Priya as more than an alliance partner, they had their first kiss... and Zee goes and spills Caleb's original plan of only being nice to make an alliance. I can understand how some fans aren't happy that Priya is part of another major subplot after she was already one of the main characters of season one, but again this isn't a new thing for Total Drama. All I can say is I am interested in seeing where this goes, but it's not the subplot I'm most interested in.

Wayne and Raj didn't do a whole lot these episodes so I don't have too much to say. I like them well enough but still hope one gets eliminated so we can get some solo development for whoever remains. My guess is that Wayne will be going home at some point, and him getting separated from Raj in episode 8 was foreshadowing of that.

Damien has already found the immunity idol! Will be very interesting to see how that comes into play, especially with how Julia sent anonymous letters about the idol making Damien paranoid.

And speaking of which, Julia continues to increase her villain cred by messing with Damien's head and wearing down Zee until he spilled those secrets. She even messed with MK during episode 7; something MK wasn't surprised by and doesn't seem to be too upset about, but we'll see what comes of that.

And speaking of MK, holy fucking shit the start of episode 7? MK flat out teasing Julia for "liking her"?? And the way Julia awkwardly tries to deny it??? At this point I'll be genuinely surprised if Mkulia doesn't become canon.

Oh yeah, and Owen was the special guest star of episode 7! And apparently he has some great genes since it looks like he hasn't aged in 15 years. And he's now canonically the winner of season one. I always preferred to think of Gwen as the real winner (she was one of my faves in Island) but oh well.

And that's everything. Wasn't crazy about a couple of things in these episodes, but overall I still really like this season. Somewhat interested in what happens next with Priya and Caleb, and very interested to see what will go down with MK and Julia.

[yennas-stuff]

I saw an e/riel talk about how what Rhys said to Azriel in the bonus chapter was character assassination because Rhys would never talk to him like that. But here’s the thing, Rhys gave Azriel multiple chances to explain himself but Az ignored all his questions (in particular the Mor question), referred to Elain as the third, questioned the cauldron (his behavior/the way he was acting might’ve reminded Rhys of Tamlin) and Rhys saw what was happening for what it really was: Azriel being jealous that he doesn’t have a mate and filled with lust that’s only surface level. If Azriel gave Rhys a tiny hint of there being something more, actual romantic feelings or denied having any feelings left for Mor, then Rhys would’ve said “be patient and wait until she breaks off the bond with Lucien” or “I understand how you feel but wait until things are sorted out”. Rhys would want his brother to be happy, he loves him. Rhys had to call Azriel out on his shit (I love Az but someone needs to) and pull rank on him for a reason - I know Rhys brought up political complications, but I don’t think Lucien would be messy and cause problems if Elain did choose Azriel. Would he be upset? Yes, but he would want Elain to be happy and most definitely would not invoke the blood duel.

Azriel has defied Rhys plenty of times. If Azriel wanted to defend himself and his feelings and fight for Elain then he would have. I know some e/riel’s say that this is foreshadowing for the next book and Azriel will ignore Rhysand’s command, but would he not have done it in the bonus chapter or thought about it? Reminds me of how e/riel’s say Azriel couldn’t think beyond his fantasies because it pained him too much. If you want someone that bad then you will constantly think about them (and not just in a sexual way), your mind if your safe space, and you will do anything you can to be with them. And after leaving Rhysand’s office Az didn’t think about Elain and how she might be feeling, or immediately finding her, or think about making things right the next morning.

There’s really nothing forbidden about e/riel. Rhys said in acowar that if Elain didn’t want the bond then she would be protected, Nesta and Feyre would also support her (and Nesta called Elain a wench for not sitting next to Lucien at solstice). I don’t understand why e/riel’s call it forbidden when there is literally nothing stopping them. You actually think the courts give a shit? You actually think Lucien (who hates violence) would demand a blood duel?

Hi anon! Thank you for the message. I will try to add something since you said it all already.

The bonus chapter was actually the first time I agreed with Rhys and liked him in a while.

Seeing as Rhys knows Azriel better than any other person, I would say his reaction is supposed to tell us how we should feel about it as a reader. He was shocked by his behavior, so we can tell that Azriel's behavior was disturbing and out of ordinary. And as you said, Rhys would do a lot for his brothers. If Rhys knows that what Azriel is feeling is not love, I would say he knows him best. And yes, Azriel had so many chances to say something to change his mind or to fight for his case but he didn't.

I also don't think Lucien is the type of person to use violence to win Elain over. We already had a glimpse into his psyche. Feyre felt so much of his pain and self-doubt. He probably feels very conflicted about even having a mate and deserving her. He experienced so much loss, I'm guessing he would feel like the rejection from his mate was something to be expected. So, Rhys is probably not worried about him doing something to Elain/Az/Night Court. It wouldn't make him have any fond feelings for them, tho, that's for sure. Would it be a threat to them? Not at all. Lucien has no court to rally behind him as of now. Rhys probably just feels for him as a mate who was in a similar situation.

From what we know, Azriel did not apologize to Elain or tried to comfort her or make her feel better the next day. He didn't seem to think about her feelings much. It read very one-sided and cold. I don't think it's the real him. It's just these feelings and self-esteem issues manifested in a very toxic way. I don't think that Azriel is a bad guy. It just showed us Elain does not bring the best out of him.

I don't see any further tension between them. There is nothing to build a book on. Nothing forbidden about it. I think it would be close to impossible to come back from this messy situation. It's been a while since the winter solstice, and he left it that way. Comfortable with letting the other person think she's a mistake and she's been rejected again.

[chibitorra]

I am actually so fucking mad at how Coral Island handled Charles.

They showed us a gourmet meal of potential angst-with-a-happy-ending and they served us fucking day-old McDonald's.

Huge rant and kind-of spoilers under the cut

Charles was introduced as someone who was disowned by his parents in his youth, and was previously cheated on by his ex-partner (and for some reason I'm remembering a wedding night in that too but I can't find the source for that rn) and struggled to find love ever since.

But all we got was Charles being a doctor, losing a book, getting his hair dyed, and-- we started getting somewhere when scott threw that party at the seaside place-- how no one would talk to him about anything but his job, how upset that made him, and his little 5-second-long snippet of angst where he was crying alone on the couch. He even said in one of those events that "if love were to find him it would march right through his living room and into his lap" which I was CERTAIN was going to be foreshadowing of the PC doing just that.

But instead we got more of Charles being a doctor, but to kids this time, and the abomination of pt2 of that where you two just garden. Which, afterwards, he admits to secretly liking you for a long time (which is EXTREMELY funny because Charles honey it's not a secret I've been dating you for a quarter of a month now skdhfkjdhad) and he also admits to never feeling this way for someone before like the man didn't almost get married before having his heart violently ripped from his chest!!

Like, his backstory got left behind and forgotten like cargo luggage that fell off the roof of your car on a long road trip. He only mentions Brooke like... once (twice if you count the book with their name on it in his room) his whole ordeal is treated like an afterthought. All he became in the end was a doctor who's sole personality was just... being a doctor.

and I KNEW someone like Charles, who was cheated on by someone he trusted and that shit stays with you forever, the pain from something like that doesn't just go away, even for a doctor like Charles I imagine.

I wanted so badly for Charles to be this secretly broken man who the PC warms up to, and slowly over time teaches him that it's okay to love to love again, teach him how to trust again. Show him that they love him for who he is, he doesn't have to change his hair or worry about how he looks because they will always love him for him.

God I am so actually sad over the state of his heart events.

And like, it's FINE if anyone else doesn't have a problem with them, I'm not out here trying to shame people for liking the direction they took, it's just not at all what I expected with what info we were given on him.

[notshelbyuwu]

HI!! PORTAL 2 x MINDVERSE :33

I'm so sorry for my cringe btw :((

What if I added 4 idiots to your Portal 2? :3

Summary: After Chell leaves the hospital she basically thinks over the events of Portal 1 for a week, not leaving Felix and their shared apartment, eventually Felix and Barmey get them to spill about what happened and she does, telling them about the advanced portal technology and the crazy evil sentient robot who killed the whole facility and tried to kill them so she killed her first, aaaaand they didn't believe her, thinking they probably got fired or they quit and was just embarrassed about it, with Gordon (who was overhearing) instigating the idea, in his words "if they were stupid enough to put a killer robot in charge of the whole facility they would've shit down a looong time ago". Chell is upset/annoyed that her friends (+ Gordon) don't believe them and, after a lot of pestering, agreed to show them the wreckage of Aperture Science.

Felix was the one to drive them there, they all travel deeper into the facility and Chell tries to find the remains of GLaDOS while the others explore, little did they know, they accidentally activate the party escort bots and get ambushed by multiple of em, being knocked unconscious for struggled against them and placed in statis in the Relaxation Centers, being mistaken for volunteer test subjects.

Chell Nanako (Attempt #4)

-The last one to wake up

-teams up with Wheatley to find her friends and escape

-Wheatley isn't too fond of the idea but doesn't try to sway Chell

-Chell was told she's only been asleep for 5 years

-won't admit it, but they actually have fun testing again

-They feel guilt for giving in and bring everyone to the facility, hoping they're not hurt or worse

-Grows attached to Wheatley because hes endearing to her, taking their mind off... Everything.

-plus, he's all she really has right now.

Gordon Freeman (Attempt #3)

-the 3rd to wake up, he was woken up by Wheatley who loudly knocked on his door

-Found an aperture science jumpsuit and boots in the closet

-Gordon saw how incompetent and wreckless Wheatley could be and ditched him at the first opportunity, choosing to traverse Aperture by himself

-actively avoids Wheatley

-stole a red portal gun from a tall deactivated robot

-ties his portal gun around his waist with a belt

-while traveling through what was left of Aperture, he came across the Oracle Turret, Gordon had never heard a turret speak like it did, so he took it with him, the turret helping him avoid danger while saying the vaugest and foreshadow-y things

-carries the turret on his back with a blanket

-Gordon is trying to find everyone, but his main priority is finding Felix.

Felix Freeman (Attempt #2)

-2nd to wake, Felix woke up on his own and looked around to see nature taking over his room

-Felix has no memory of who he is or where he is but he's absolutely terrified and tries to find a way out, ultimately giving up after what feels like days

-he camps out in the back rooms of Aperture, near some of the ramblings of Doug and a Chell mural

-Felix gets dresses and leaves him room, basically trying not to trip over a vine or fall in a hole.

-found a prototype portal gun in a pile of rubble, had no idea what it was and almost shot his head off

-ran into a companion cube and found it strangely comforting, he doesn't take it everywhere but comes back to it when he needs to calm down

-Felix sometimes runs into Doug Rattmans writings and secret rooms, he has no idea what they mean but it causes him to be super paranoid and suspicious of anything, getting an awful feeling about his situation

-recognizes the woman in the art, he finds them slightly comforting

Barney Calhoun (Attempt #1)

-first to wake up, Wheatley broke his door down and scared the hell outta Barney, also found vines growing around and almost grabbing his legs, ew

-was told to get dressed and he did, got a two piece jumpsuit instead of a one piece jumpsuit.

-immediately asked Wheatley what was happening and Wheatley told him they were escaping, when asked where his friends were, Wheatley, very bluntly, said "I don't know- probably dead, a lot of people died in their room, no one even told me the power went out in some rooms!" And this freaked Barney out, refusing to believe his friends were all dead

-this lead to Barney leaving Wheatley to find someone, anyone. He didn't want to believe that he was all alone in this

-he tied his jacket around his neck like a cape as a way to comfort himself

-found a blue portal gun from a small deactivated robot

-heard a small almost soft voice greet him from around the corner, as he turned the corner he ran into a turret that began to open fire at him, he just barely took cover, but not before a bullet grazed and scared under his left eye

-absolutely hates turrets, thinks the innocent voice they use is cruel considering how dangerous they can be

[the-solar-system52]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️FNAF FANDOM WAKEY WAKEY RUIN DLC TRAILER THIS IS NOT A DRILL ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

IM GONNA RANT ABOUT THE DAYCARE ATTENDANT NOW CUZ WHEN I SAW THEM I START PACING AROUND MY ROOM, STOMPING MY FOOT, JUMPING UP AND DOWN, FLAPPING MY HANDS AROUND AND CLICKING MY FINGERS FROM EXCITEMENT‼️‼️‼️‼️ (my body does that sometimes I dunno why though)

IM SOOOO EXCITED TO SEE THEM AGAIN!!!!!!!! IVE BEEN OBSESSED WITH THEM SINCE FNAF SB FIRST CAME OUT BUT THE FANON VERSION OF THEM IS ALWAYS SUPER OOC SO IVE BEEN STARVED FOR CONTENT BUT NOW THEYLL ACTUALLY GET MORE SCREENTIME IN JULY AHAHAJSLSKDNDNDJSJDJNDNDNDDNNE IM SCREAMING RN IM SO HAPPY RAHHHHHH

Ok ok analysis time!

HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THEM?? DAYCARE ATTENDANT MY GUY WHAT HAPPENED!? It's pretty clear the fire damaged them enough so now they are a mixture of Sun and Moon (that eclipse arcade game was foreshadowing!!) Their design is so cool and also super creepy holy fucking hell!

Slowing down the clip, we can see that they first open a closet the player was in, so maybe their segment will be some sort of hide-and-seek minigame?? We also see that they first jump at us super aggressively, but then step back at wave at us, more friendly-like. My guess is that Moon will be trying to kill us as usual but Sun will be trying to be nice to us and the two will have to fight for control of the body 'Malachite from Steven Universe' style! This would explain why their movements seem almost frantic and clumsy.

Judging by this, I'm not sure if turning on or off the light will have much effect on them anymore since they are both conscious at the same time? Jesus Christ I feel super bad for Sun someone get this dude some therapy :(

You can't really see this with tumblr image quality, but in the shot of this endoskeleton, I can make out caution tape around the entrance to the daycare? I don't remember this being in the main game so that means someone must've been there to put them up? I don't know if it was put around the entire pizzaplex cuz of the fire or if it was a reason specific to the daycare attendant, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!

As for the daycare itself, it ain't looking to good. I know ALL of the Pizzaplex got damaged in the fire but something about seeing the once bright and happy daycare destroyed like this makes me really upset :(

EITHER WAY IM SOSOSOSOSOSOOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO EXCITED AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[charliespringverse]

iwbft — tuesday: a brief summary of my annotations

all highlighted quotes: 136

· ouch/ow/owie: 12

· real/felt/relatable/so true: 5

· aroace: 2

· ☹/☹☹/☹☹☹: 9

Rowan is on his front, one arm slung over Jimmy's chest. Jimmy's head is tilted ever so slightly towards Rowan. — i've woken up like this with at least half my friends

The shipping itself isn't a major inconvenience to any of us. If anything, it keeps the fans interested. They think Judgement Day will eventually come and there'll be a big reveal that Rowan and I are secretly in love. There won't. We're not. — @larry shippers in the year of our lord 2023

It's always sort of been Rowan and Jimmy, plus Lister. We still love him of course. But that's just the way it is. — PAIN (note: this is all caps, huge, and triple underlined)

'I talk about The Ark all the time. I don't know why this was a surprise.' 'Fereshteh, it was a little bit of a surprise to me too.' 'Why?' 'I suppose... I suppose I never thought you actually cared about this band that much.' — parents vs actually listening to and validating their interests (failed, always)

Juliet chuckles weakly and looks away. I know she's had some bust-ups with her parents in the past. — understatement of the millennium

I'm an optimist. I like to believe that love exists. — it Does it just isn't always romantic/sexual. but it exists So Much

'I feel bad... feeling so happy when they're probably upset,' — ur so close to getting it queen

'Can't we just go home?' Lister mumbles. 'No,' she says. — foreshadowing innit

Rowan and I follow him immediately, like there's a string attaching us — ... invisible string addition to the folklore trilogy?

Lister tells us to go away, but Rowan just walks up to him and starts rubbing his back as he throws up. — ♡ listerowan bestieism

There's a big window on one side of the bathroom. Big enough to climb out, probably. We're on the ground floor. We could just climb out and run. Get up and go. — FORESHADOWING INNIT

Being trans has been a pretty you can big part of my life so far, thanks, but that shouldn't be particularly relevant here, in an interview about our music. — u can Never escape other ppl's obsession w ur transness

Dave laughs and says again, 'Now that's honesty.' — FUCK YOU DAVE (note: this is all caps, huge, and quadruple underlined)

I ask God to give me a bit of extra patience. Because every time Mac speaks, I sort of want to put an entire bag of cotton wool in his mouth. — what God is for x

Being a male fan of obscure old bands is, for some reason, more acceptable than being a female fan of a twenty-first-century boy band. — (also the obscure old bands are rarely that obscure. they're one direction for old white men)

They know exactly who they are. They put it in their blog about' page, they put it in their Twitter bio. I never know what to put in my Twitter bio so I usually just put an Ark lyric in there. — and when u enter ur confident aro-ace era? what then?

I like to think God does have a plan for everyone. But I also think there's too much shit in the world for all these plans to be perfect ones. Or maybe God doesn't have time to write a plan for everyone. And some of us are just trying our best and getting it a bit wrong. — i think this is why faith doesnt work for me

Everything's still there, though. My journals, my guitar, my main laptop, my childhood teddy bear, and the knife that Grandad gave me when I was sixteen. — now i want to know what he would admit to in one of them essentials interviews

It'd be useless as an actual weapon, since it's completely blunt - you can run your finger along the edge and not even get a scratch. — hhhh foreshadowing innit ☹

Not that he particularly goes seeking it. Everyone just wants to be friends with Lister Bird. — and yet he cares most abt getting closer to the two he shouldn't have to try for ☹

David [Tennant] thought she wanted a selfie, when in fact she was just trying to find the nearest toilet. — iconic

'Now, there'd better be some fucking Capri-Suns somewhere around here.' — me @ every function

When they were together they both seemed to stop worrying about everything else in their lives - Rowan was no longer an overworked band boy and Bliss was no longer a struggling student. They were just together. — ☹ justice for laimondi

Then he leans in and presses his lips against mine. Oh. Okay. Fine. This is fine. Can't say I realised this conversa- tion was going in this direction, but fine. — BAD (note: this is all caps, huge, and double underlined)

'But we're gods, Jimmy. What's better than that?' — pain. suffering. agony. heartache. torture, torment, anguish.

Holding it makes me feel real. It reminds me that I was born. That my life is something other than this birdcage I'm trapped in. Isn't it? Isn't it? — has his therapist ever discussed depersonalisation with him?

[hello-nichya-here]

So, what make you see Zuko's dream about the blue and red dragons as a sign of him being attracted to Azula? I always just saw that was a foreshadow to the scene in the catacombs where Azula and Iroh were urging him to join different sides.

Oh, it absolutely was meant to be just foreshadowing for that big moment in Crossroads of Destiny. However this is one of the things that makes me say Zucest is the kind of ship in which context makes it worse because the writers did not think of the implications of some moments.

At that point in the story, Azula was not trying to influence Zuko or make him join her. Quite the contrary. She's an enemy hunting him down, and ocasionally toying with him when they are in the same place. It makes no sense for Zuko to feel like he has to choose between Iroh and Azula when any relationship with Azula, even purely familial, is just not in the realm of possibility.

Or rather, it makes no sense, unless we take that scene as Zuko processing how he sees his family (fitting considering those fever dreams are meant to "reveal his true self"). Iroh is wise mentor trying to guide him to the right path, Ursa is implied to be dead (we get confirmation in The Day Of Black Sun that Zuko really thought she was gone), Ozai is absent and thus Zuko is finally in a position of power AND without the scar (aka trauma).

And then there's Azula. Apparently happy that their mom is gone (Zuko is proven to be wrong about that in The Beach and in The Finale), and wanting... something from her brother. Offering him... something.

Again, if Azula has not actually offered Zuko anything, WHY is his mind putting her in the role of TEMPTATION away from the correct path? Any pretence of "I'm not your enemy" has been dropped at the start of the season, so the only reason why Zuko could be so hung up on it is because he wants something from her.

And what exactly is it that he wants from his sister?

Attention? Likely. Zuko doesn't like being ignored, and we see him actively DEMAND an Agni Kai with her just to prove himself.

An actual, normal, healhty sibling relationship? Possibly. They were significantly less hostile to each other for the majority of Book 3, he looks upset seeing her "about to die" in The Southern Raiders, and the Last Agni Kai has the soundtrack of a tragedy.

Submission? Boy oh boy, does Zuko want Azula to submit to him. He literally said in the finale that he wanted to "put her in her place", and this weird fever dream of his she's an (evil) advisor/dragon, while he is the freaking Fire Lord, and she has to be all proper and adoringly call him "My Lord."

That last one, by itself, already can easily come with LOTS of implications - especially when this desire of "finally putting Azula in her place" is being shown, once again, as TEMPTATION.

And WHY, oh God, WHY does Zuko's idea of Azula "tempting him" include her being all submissive, whispering in his ear, asking him when he's planning to go to his bedroom, and trying to make him "sleep" by saying weird shit like "Relax. Just give into it"?

I know my mind is always in the gutter, but come on, with stuff like this dream and the freaking Bedroom Scene, the writers are not exactly making my job difficult here.

[alastryona]

oh damn I didn't even think about poor barret having to be here without Marlene. hard to have fun in a park knowing your kid can't be there. especially when you can't even contact her or know fire sure the city isn't gonna collapse another plate and blame you for it or some shit

fantasy disney world

oh gbike is way easier than ps1 version

yeah even when I'm not mad for unrelated reasons. 3d brawler is frustrating I don't like it. the dodge controls really throw me off at least let me dodge with both/either sticks not just specifically how it is I don't like iiittttt

I think it's that theres no input response. you've either gotten it or not but there's that tiny wait between input and knowing the result

if theres any harder tiers of 3d brawler after that I'm gonna. be a little upset about that. at least I eventually got the rhythm of dip (not his up right tho he never used it enough to get used to which was frustrating)

QB TIME I love qb

oh easy PEASY the space shooter was so fucking hard in ps1

shoutout to this guy who looks like a barbie movie boy

OUUUUGHHHHH aeriths quick chocobo racing commentary and cloud didn't even hesitate to finish the bit when she passed it to him now that's character growth

also aeriths theme mixed with the gold saucer theme in the main areas has been so good

so the kid g story in event square is for sure foreshadowing a future sidequest

OK I gave 3d brawler another shot now that I'm not externally annoyed and it's actually kinda fun

I wonder if all these collectables are gonna be for somethingater or just To Have

Jessie...

I talked to yuffie once and I cannot for the life of me find her again

They're hiding thr shop npcs under the floors aren't they

I wonder who was in charge of making dio's nipples

I love this weird little man

[amtrak12]

Thinking about this post about the mainstreamification of fandom and it was both too relatable and got me thinking about the early days of fandom going 'mainstream'.

I'd argue Community was one of the earliest fandoms to really become -- if not mainstream, then at least highly visible as the show was still airing. But it was so so different to what's happening now.

I think the main difference, other than it was 2010 and again one of the first fandoms to hit mainstream, is that no one treated what the writers said as the gospel truth. Fans and the showrunner/writers were in a two-way conversation with each other, and usually the format of that conversation was "No but...." It was a mutual rejection, while still inspiring a cult level of adulation from fandom. Because Community writers engaging with fandom was just another fourth wall broken, another genre parody in a show chock full of them. The writers didn't purposefully spite the fans (only the haters). They didn't shift to bashing a character because the wrong people loved them the wrong amount. They didn't stuff plot points down the garbage disposal because fans understood how to read foreshadowing. (Of course, Community was a sitcom that didn't have long term plot points to foreshadow, but still.) At most, the writers lovingly mocked the fans ala spoofing the Jeff/Annie S1 Gravity fanvid with their own Gravity edited montages in a canon episode -- which in turn only spawned more Gravity spoof fan vids by fandom. It was a mutual mocking the way siblings poke at each other.

And vice versa, no one in fandom cared whether the writers would ever make Jeff/Annie (or any ship) canon. If the writers couldn't see it, that was their problem! The fans could see it! And wrote a shit ton of fic about it. That was the point. Most people didn't even get upset when Dan Harmon and company claimed the Jeff/Annie shippers were all teenage girls shipping themselves with Jeff. We just busted up laughing because MOST of the fandom was 30+ year old women. Me at 22 was on the younger end. And sure, most of them did want to date Jeff themselves, but lbr being attracted to a fictional character is 90% of shipping. (And some people like myself were subconsciously shipping themselves with Annie because Alison Brie is absurdly hot.)

IDK what my point is here. I guess just that I was there at the beginning of fandom going mainstream and it's hard to regret that exact moment in time because it was fun! And rewarding! And spawned so so many creative works and discussions just like fandom is supposed to do.

But my god is it depressing that it ended up rotting fandom from the inside out. To the point that I try and say a S4 plot point is connected to S6 in a recent show when there's absolutely nothing to contradict this in canon -- and immediately get someone 'well actually'-ing me about what writers said their intentions for those plot points were in interviews and how that meant I was wrong. And it's not even because that fan preferred the writers' interpretation! They hate it actually! But they're so convinced that what a showrunner says is the absolute, irrefutable truth that they refuse to analyze the show for themselves and draw their own conclusions. Oh they'll complain about it all day long, sure. But engage with the narrative on a structural or meta level? Literally beyond them, and I can't wrap my head around that at all.

Fandom is not bound by writer intentions and never has been. Fandom isn't even bound by canon!!! Why the FUCK would writer intentions that can only be found in outside interviews be binding? Why would you slap shackles on yourself and then get mad that the chains cut into your wrists? Babe, look at me! No chains! I am free and happy not giving a fuck about what a show runner said! So why do you think I'm a problem that needs to be solved instead of your new life goal? Join me over here in headcanon land! Please!

[mswyrr]

tlou ep 8, changes to david (ep 8 spoilers!)

cw references to rape, religious abuse

I think they did something interesting and v intentional by making it that David uses Christianity and scripture to control his group. This was a change from the game, where he doesn’t use religion like that, so I am trying to understand the implications. I am going to go into that - warning this will, of course contain extended discussion of religious abuse and Christianity.

Craig could have chosen generic verses, but he mainly picks ones that are about the love of God and parents - the comparison exists in those verses because the idea is that humans are flawed and *only* a good parent comes close to knowing what unconditional or perfect love is like.

Craig has David quote "there is no fear in love" while trying to rape Ellie - that full verse reads "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" - perfect love, unconditional love. The comparison of God & father/parent isn't meant to be about power, it's about that.

Because the full context is that in other verses that perfect love is "humble" - patient, kind, self-sacrificing. Something beyond the abuses of power of a bad parent. So ellie wanders outside & finds safety/peace in the actual unconditional love she has with her actual dad.

There's one verse where Jesus says - people are kind of crap (I'm paraphrasing lol). But good parents know what it is to give someone only good love and that if you know what it’s like to love your child like that as a good parent you have an understanding of how God loves. Because even an "evil" person who is a good parent can love their child with a love that approaches perfect love.

So yes - Tess was right: she and Joel are not good people. He's done evil shit. He will do it again. He's honest with himself about that. But he is also a truly *good* parent and capable of approaching something beyond himself through that at the same time. Both are true.

I think it’s significant that they have David outright admit he doesn’t believe any of the shit he’s talking. His ideal world is one where *he*--and everything he wants--is God, not where he tries to reach high enough to be like the love of God.

I actually found it upsetting at first that Craig had David use that verse--one of my favorites--while attempting to rape Ellie, but I've been mulling over the why and it clicked together for me.

It'll take seeing how they shade the choices in the final episode to fully contextualize why they turned David into someone who uses religion & compares himself to a father God and "perfect love" only a good parent comes close to though.

I don't think it was a generic "how do we make the bad guy bad? let's toss some Christianity on that mfer!" All the changes from the game have been very intentional setting up contrast/foreshadowing/etc. Ultimately what they’re trying to say about the love Joel is capable of and the evil/violence he’s capable of is up in the air until I see the finale. I’m very interested to see how it all fits together!

[theprinceandthewitch]

I saw the trailer... and the only thing I'm surprised about is that they actually followed through on the dream trap scenario. Back before FTF aired one of my theories was that Luz was going to get put into a dream trap. She was going to get put in a dream trap as a way to contrast WBW, where a magical entity takes advantage of Luz's current emotional upset to get something out of her.

And see... here's what's interesting to me: this dream trap clearly happens after The Collector puts Eda, King, and The Collector through a game. Something happened to Luz that made her susceptible to this kind of trap. And in this dream she sees herself as a villain. This is very strange given her conversation with her mother in FTF. Through this conversation you'd think Luz would have moved on from the whole "I helped Philip meet TC so im clearly an awful person" thing... but she hasn't. Another thing is: The Collector is clearly tampering with this dream to keep her trapped in it. He takes the dolls of her friends away from her when the Amity doll gives Luz the light glyph. And THEN the trailer spoils Luz getting out of the dream by using the glyph Amity gave her... like really? You are just gonna spoil that? Okay...

But yeah uh... what exactly happened to Luz to put her in this dream trap? She sure as hell didn't get stabbed because that's something Philip is going to do to her at the end of the episode. He isnt going to do it now because hes preoccupied with something... So its like... what happened to Luz?

For some reason, The Collector feels it is necessary to put her in a dream trap AFTER his initial game with her. But not Eda and King. Eda and King are separated from Luz for some reason. Theyre standing in a field with eyes everywhere.

They are still going to follow through on sending King to the past. Its still going to happen because as you can see, The Collector is not hanging around King in any of the scenes in the trailer. And now it looks like King and Eda are going to do something stupid like try to fight the literal god child. I said before that The Collector was going to hurt King in a way he can't take back. He's going to send Luz back in time first. Hes not going to kill Luz, because Belos is foreshadowed to be the one who kills Luz.

As for that weird eye shit on the ground... I dont think it's Belos. Because if Belos was capable of possessing the titans body, he would have done that first before wasting so much time doing the Day of Unity thing. This feels more like a Collector thing, because hes actually capable of producing nightmarish stuff like his star servants. If this was a Belos possessing the isles thing... the Collector would put a stop to it. Because he hates Belos more than he hates Luz. And I really dont think Belos actually possessed The Collector because like... how could he do that when he couldnt even get him while he was asleep?

One last thing: Lilith getting turned into a doll basically confirmed my whole "Belos is going to kill Eda" theory lol.

[bonesandthebees]

Ranboo's twist makes sense. So much sense, because it doesn't just put Ranboo's actions into perspective, it puts Phil and Techno's into perspective as well

Starting with Ranboo themself: So shady. So odd, and so damn nosy. You've been making a particularly big deal of Ranboo's nosiness lately. You've directly pointed it out in the text and you've talked about it in asks. You drew so much attention to it and that is excellent foreshadowing. I applaud you

This means that his friendship with Tommy... at the very least, it was built on a lie. Ranboo might care about Tommy, I'd say that he most likely does, but he didn't at first. He didn't organically grow to care for and respect Tommy. He wasn't the Jack to Tommy's Wilbur. He was another Tubbo - a Tubbo with much less dangerous intent, but a Tubbo nonetheless.

Side note, god i love dysfunctional bench trio. I know that's not what the fic is based around, but I love when there's just vague shit happening with them. It was one of my favorite parts of Clinic. A part of me is really hoping that Tommy meets with Tubbo again by the end of the fic and something happens there.

Anyway, Ranboo's intent - what he's doing is reporting information about the boys to Philza and Technoblade. He could be doing worse. Much worse. Collecting info for them - while ideally he wouldn't be doing that, Wilbur expected it. It was something that was bound to happen. Tommy was probably aware that somethign like that could happen as well, he just didn't want to believe it would

It's not the information being conveyed that really screws the boys over. It's the fact that Ranboo broke Tommy's trust. And with the way Ranboo's speaking... it sounds like he cares more about proving himself as a spy than being friends with Tommy and Wilbur. If he actually cared about Tommy and Wilbur, he would've asked Techno if he could stay on the case so he could spend more time with them. But instead, he made it clear that he wanted to prove himself. He wanted to prove he could do it

Tommy's hearing one of his closest friends easily admit that their friendship is a lie

Worse yet, Tommy's hearing his trusted mentor casually admit that he's trying to collect information about Tommy and Wilbur. Information that can easily be used to manipulate them

Both Wilbur and Tommy are going to be questioning their relationships with their mentors now. But Tommy's going to take it so much harder. And Wilbur is going to be so, so mad that they did this to his little brother

Both boys were about to agree that Eldingvegr should be handed to the empire... but I think both of them are going to be much more reluctant now. In fact, I think it might be Tommy who doesn't want to join the empire now

It's like everything has come full circle, and Wilbur could not be more upset about that

I might come back with more thoughts about this chapter, but for now, I've gotta go work on my own WIP. It's going well, btw! I added in that fight scene, and now I'm working in a complex, slightly unhealthy codependent crimeboys dynamic. Your fics always make me so inspired because your're just so great at storytelling that it makes me think about how I could make my fics more complex and hard hitting

Really hope you enjoy your trip! And thank you for such a great chapter!

(5/5) 🔥

Lmao from the very beginning I knew what Ranboo’s deal was. His dialogue even early on in the fic was specifically chosen to show how he asks questions he shouldn’t. He’s always digging for information. He just gets more obvious about it as time goes on, and he can’t break through to Wilbur. I’ve been foreshadowing since the beginning. Remember when Ranboo told Wilbur and Tommy about the badlands, and specified Bad was super nice when he was so clearly not? And wilbur wondered how Ranboo had gotten that wrong?

Yeah. He didn’t. He lied.

And yup, that’s the thing with Tommy, he didn’t organically grow to be his friend. He was ordered to become Tommy’s friend. And maybe some it got more genuine with time, but he didn’t seek Tommy or Wilbur out from a place of actually wanting to befriend either of them.

The thing is about Tubbo, is that Tubbo and Tommy’s friendship was still better than Ranboo’s. Because Tubbo genuinely cared about Tommy, he just was put in an impossible position by his King. And he was promised Tommy wouldn’t be hurt. (Also, yes, Tubbo will be seen again near the end)

I’m so glad you like dysfunctional bench trio, it’s one of my favorite dynamics to write. Tbh it’s kind of the only way I really love writing bench trio. Makes it more interesting to me.

But yeah the issue isn’t necessarily what Ranboo did. Collecting information is kind of expected. It’s the fact that not only was he betraying Tommy’s trust, but that he didn’t even become friends with him because he wanted to. That’s what hurts the most. Their friendship is a lie. Ranboo is a people pleaser, and he wants to prove himself to Phil and Techno so that they like him. He’s spineless and wants to be liked by everyone, especially his mentor and the Emperor, so yeah, he pushes to stay on the job.

Tommy… he fought so hard to try and convince Wilbur that Ranboo and Techno were trustworthy, and now that’s been thrown back in his face :(

They’re both going to be questioning all of their relationships now. What was truth and what was lie. Was it all manipulation or not? But yeah, Tommy’s certainly going to take it harder. He got an ice cold wake up call to a reality Wilbur has been trying to show him this whole time.

Yoooo that sounds so good for your fic!! That’s the ideal crimeboys dynamic tbh. Codependent and slightly unhealthy chefs kiss. It means so much to hear how my fics inspire you!! Tysm for sending in your thoughts, it makes me so happy to see :D

And ty for the well wishes for my trip. I’m at the airport rn waiting for my flight!

[cafalla]

Dorothy, Volume 1 (2005) Scans - Chapters 1 & 2 // Part 2 of 3

Here is Part 2 of my Dorothy comic post!

Please refer to Part 1 for some background info about this book and its old website!

In this post (Part 2), I'll cover Chapters 1 & 2 of the comic! See the end of the post for the link to Part 3.

In chapter 1, we are introduced to our main character, Dorothy Gale. She is a rebellious teen girl who feels misunderstood and aimless in life.

It is implied her parents died five years ago. She is upset that her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are treating her like a kid, when they "aren't her real parents".

Dorothy steals her Uncle's truck and begins driving off with the intention to run away from home, despite being warned of a terrible storm incoming.

Confronted with the tornado, Dorothy tries to out-drive it, but winds up being pulled into the storm.

I enjoy this panel of Dorothy getting flung around the truck while in the tornado. She's quite funny, even if she is a bit self important. But what teen character isn't?

She thinks about her parents, and decides she'll do anything not to die in Kansas.

Comically, Dorothy somehow manages to get on top of the truck and just…dives off of it? While still probably thousands of feet off the ground inside a tornado?

Miraculously, Dorothy lands on the ground and just passes out, while the truck explodes into flames near her.

She then gives us these iconic lines after waking up.

Queen shit, honestly.

Then Dorothy looks around and again, delivers a banger of a line.

Oh god, love love love this cgi/editing. I truly do. It's so fun and creative.

I'm being 100% honest and genuine, not ironic at all. I adore this.

The chapter then shifts to the Evil Queen's castle. We meet a character called Graybones, who is implied to have been a powerful man once, but is now just a servant to the Queen.

The Queen tells Graybones that "the one from her dream" has arrived, and then says Dorothy's name out loud.

But all that is boring part to me, so I'm not including it here!

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Chapter 2 begins with a flashback of Dorothy at eleven years old. Aunt Em tells her that her parents have died. It then cuts back to the present Dorothy, exhausted after having wandered around for an hour in this new world.

She is the title of this chapter: Lost.

She assesses her resources, aka the random stuff she brought in her bag.

There is actually some foreshadowing here!

Dorothy continues walking on, trying to think positively, when she is attacked by a flying monkey. We get to see the panel that was used as an example back in the behind the scenes screenshot from Part 1, remember?

Ouch.

Dorothy runs away, then trips and lays on the ground while trying to give herself a pep talk. She notices a funny little robot dog approach her, and the dog jumps on her.

It's Toto!

I mean…To-2!

Dorothy and To-2 find a strange looking person passed out, and Dorothy gives them some of her water. The person claims they are a witch, calls Dorothy a sorcerer, and says they knew Dorothy would arrive.

We then shift over to the Evil Queen, where her and Graybones are discussing finding a magical necklace.

Going back to Dorothy, we see the witch entrust her with a necklace, saying it has always belonged to Dorothy.

The witch instructs Dorothy to walk to the munchkin village. Dorothy and To-2 begin walking, and the witch disappears in a flurry of bubbles.

Dorothy expresses that she hopes they don't run into anymore weirdos, while the back of an ominous scarecrow is present on the last panel.

If you'd like to read the comic for yourself, please feel free to check it out on my Internet Archive account.

Part 1 -> Intro & Background Part 2 -> You're Here! Part 3 -> Chapters 3 & 4

[butterboy69420]

Butterboy's Bizarre One Piece Rambles Part 3: Jaya

Hey guys, so I just finished Jaya. I know there's also filler stuff, but TBH, I just put those in the background while I did other stuff, so I didn't really pay attention to them. Hence, I actually have nothing to say about them. I liked the Post-Alabasta stuff. I thought it was wholesome and gave us more insight to the other characters. I especially liked the episode with Sanji (not because he's my favorite of the Straw Hats) because it showed him helping out a kid with cooking and it's clear he saw his younger self in that kid as well. I dunno, man. It was cute. Sanji's so goated man, he's really kind underneath his layers of simping.

And now, onto the main course.

JAYA

So the arc basically begins with Luffy and his crew sailing in the sea when all of a sudden, the log pose is going bonkers and is pointing up. Apparently there's an island in the sky. They encounter some monkey characters who do diving stuff for treasure, which is foreshadowing, ooooooo. The first couple of episodes of the arc were pretty laid-back and more light-hearted. But then it starts picking up once they actually get to Jaya.

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami actually end up stepping foot on Jaya, where it's just filled with a buncha cynical bastards who shit on people for having dreams. And HOLY SHIT IS THAT BLACKBEARD?! I knew of his existence, I just didn't expect him to show up this early on.

Anyways, they're on Jaya cause they wanna hear more clues about the Sky Island, and Nami asks the bartender about it. It turns out that asking that caused the whole bar to lose their fucking shit and suddenly everyone there are just a bunch of assholes. Notably this fucking twat named Bellamy and his group of fucking losers. Although I'll make an exception for that one pink-haired girl because she's kinda cute. Anyways, those guys start beating the others up. And then Luffy tells Zoro, "Whatever you do, don't fight back." Which at first, I was confused as to why he wouldn't just fight back. I guess it's also cause Nami told them not to. TBH, I'm still kinda confused as to why, but that's partially my own fault for not really paying all that much attention to it. Then it kinda clicked that it's supposed to be a throwback to that episode with Shanks when those mountain bandits attacked him and he didn't fight back. And I realized that Luffy was replicating what Shanks was doing.

After they get their asses handed to them at the bar, hey look, it's Blackbeard again. He seems to be made of the same cloth as Luffy as he's telling him to not give up his dreams and shit, which I thought was sweet because I'm pretty sure Blackbeard's supposed to be a villain? Also Blackbeard with the they/them pronouns... One of my friends mentioned that it's very possible that Blackbeard has DID and that's why Luffy says "they" instead of "he". I'll have to wait and see though.

Nami's fucking pissed off which is funny. But luckily for us, Robin has the information. That's when we're introduced to the fairy tale of Noland, which leads them to Mont Blanc Cricket. In typical One Piece fashion, they first beat him up due to a misunderstanding. Anyways, Mont Blanc Cricket turns out to be a descendant of Noland's who's more of a skeptic than the rest of his family. But with the help of the two monkeys from earlier, Shojo and Mashira, it seems that he's becoming less cynical and is even starting to believe the legends himself, as they're collecting gold stuff from their diving exhibitions.

Cricket offers to help them with shit, but you can really sense Usopp's insecurity kicking in and he snaps at him, suspecting him of being a liar and shit because he's being really kind and helpful to them right off the bat. He's clearly upset over the Going Merry being somewhat of a wreck and it doesn't help that Cricket essentially told him, "Hey, your ship's not gonna survive the current in this state." I definitely suspect some sort of foreshadowing and I'm hoping he gets a bigger arc for himself and his own development because holy shit, I love him. I also think Cricket is a genuinely kind guy, TBH. He's cool and it's so wholesome how he's slowly falling into his ancestor's footsteps with supposedly believing crazy shit, like an underwater city made of gold. He's proving the rest of his island wrong because he can still dream and be honest about shit. He lets Shojo and Mashira stick around because he genuinely enjoys their company despite them always fighting and shit.

The gang are tasked with finding a strange bird that will help them along the way, and meanwhile, Bellamy and his cronies are here to fight and steal the Saruyama Pirates' gold collection. And when they get back to them, Luffy gets real pissed and vows to beat Bellamy's ass, which he does. Luffy really seems goofy at first, but when it comes to other people's dreams, no matter how crazy they are, he really wants to protect them and stuff. He gets real serious about it. So he beats up Bellamy and his bozos and gets the gold back.

NOW. THIS IS THE PART THAT GETS FUCKING CRAZY. We have some sort of Marine conference meeting and then there's Mihawk and two of the other members of the Seven Warlords, DONQUIXOTE FUCKING DOFLAMINGO AND BARTHOLOMEW KUMA??? I didn't know Doflamingo got introduced this early on, since he's the main villain of Dressrosa. But either way, it's clear he's not a good guy either. He literally uses his powers to make one of the guys choke another. We dunno his powers yet. Also, look at the way he walks. No straight person would walk and dress the way he fucking does.

At the conference, they're talking about replacing Crocodile (oh my god Crocodile mention 💙💙💙) because he's been a naughty boy. And this pale ass mf shows up and is like, "I know a replacement." And it turns out he wants to advocate for Blackbeard.

THEN WE FUCKING CUT TO A FUCKING SCENE WHERE WHITEBEARD IS INTRODUCED? AND HE FUCKING TEARS UP SOME LETTER OF RECRUITMENT OR SOME SHIT? AND HE'S ON LIFE SUPPORT? AND HE'S APPARENTLY THE STRONGEST MAN? HOLY SHIT. Something about Shanks too, that's crazy. Shanks barely gets any screentime, so it's good to see him again too. I did not know Whitebeard got introduced this early on as well but goddamn.

Also...there was a shot of a flashback between Mihawk and Zoro, where Mihawk slashed Zoro's chest. And I dunno guys, I really feel like the art style has changed somewhat between East Blue and now because I saw that scene and was like, "Holy shit, Zoro, you look different." So there's definitely some subtle art style change going on here.

The arc ends with them going up some water pillar to the Sky Island in question. Oh yeah, and Blackbeard's there too, but it doesn't look like he made it. Honestly? The scene where they went up the pillar was super exciting. I look forward to see what the rest of Skypiea has to offer.

[charcubed]

Char please I need to hear more on your Steve was snatched by Hydra theory, like how and when did that happen? Up until which point in time do you think Steve was still Steve and not some imposter? My money’s on the end of IW, IW was the last time we saw the real Steve Rogers

Here’s my theory, even though it doesn’t involve HYDRA: what if Nomad Steve was captured by the TVA right after the end of IW because he did some real Steve Rogers shit out of grief and altered the timeline so they had to arrest him and send a variant from an alternate reality which is EG Steve….. And one day he’s gonna pop back up thinking the TVA had him for just a few months but it’s actually been 6 years because time passes differently at the TVA (I sent this ask to someone else some time ago so I just copied and pasted it hsgfhd)

Hello Anon! Great news: I'm going to procrastinate doing freelance work by spending a great deal of time answering this!

Firstly: I salute you and your theory. I would probably read 100 different variations of What Happened To Steve Rogers, including this one. Why NOT involve the TVA? Fuck around and find out! Sounds fun!

However, that is not my personal theory about what's going on in canon. So, by request, I will elaborate on my theory for you.

When Was The Last Time We Saw The Real Steve?

To your question on when was the last time we saw the real Steve Rogers and not an imposter... In my heart? At the end of IW. In terms of what I think is unfortunately most realistic moving forward in the MCU, in terms of story / business decisions? More or less the last time we see the real Steve is at the end of Endgame, when he gets on the quantum platform to go ~put the stones back in the timeline~ (which, of course, made zero sense.)

I'll tell you why that is: while I think there's a solid argument to be made story-wise for Steve being an imposter for all of Endgame, I don't think in practice they'd actually ever do that or have that be the reveal.

Why? Because...

• Endgame is their crowning jewel in the MCU, it's theeee ultimate hero movie, Steve wields Mjolnir, etc. and logically they wouldn't want to retroactively compromise any of that. Much to my personal disappointment. Cowards.

• If Endgame Steve was always a villainous imposter, that means in the end he gets all of the infinity stones to himself. There's really no way to make that work in context of future plot points.

Instead, I feel Steve's out of character behavior in Endgame, his slightly unusual clothing/appearance, and his lack of mention of the people he lost from the snap could have all been a deliberately-curated red herring to keep casual viewers from questioning the end Stevepeggy scene. If you take out the Stevepeggy end scene, his behavior by itself is not really that damning. Steve looking at the compass with Peggy’s picture can actually be explained as him being encouraged by her memory and past wisdom; Steve looking at her in the 1970s can also be simple nostalgia. And as upsetting as it is for those of us who know and love Steve's character, him not mentioning Bucky / Sam / Wanda in the few scenes we got doesn't mean that we can't infer he was mourning them off-screen; not having him mention them on-screen just insures that they wouldn't be as strongly top-of-mind for casual viewers right before the Stevepeggy ending.

So they could have carefully placed all of Endgame's little weird OOC bits for Steve like breadcrumbs to make casual viewers think the Stevepeggy end scene makes sense from a character perspective, and then those viewers were automatically a bit more inclined to hand-wave the ways it logistically doesn't make sense. "Who cares if we don't understand how Old Man Rogers got there? Steve deserved his happy ending." or "Obviously Old Man Rogers got there because of XYZ reasoning. It's not that big of a deal. Just roll with it because he deserved to be happy with Peggy." Etc. Convince them it was foreshadowed by dangling Peggy throughout the movie, and then those viewers say it shouldn't be questioned.

Steve's Ending: Weird & Getting Weirder

Casual viewers aren't questioning it, maybe, but we are questioning it, because...

• We know Steve Rogers' character, and we know he wouldn't have left his friends behind to go live with Peggy in the past or in an alternate universe's past.

• The writers / director couldn't publicly agree on how the logic of that scene worked when they were questioned, which I maintain is bizarre as hell.

• The Loki show demonstrates that you cannot fuck with the timeline and get away with it, because of the existence of the TVA. Or at the very least, at the time of Endgame, the Sacred Timeline was still being enforced by the TVA. We're told that the thing with time traveling to get Infinity Stones was TVA-sanctioned, but not Steve's ending. We hear nothing about that.

• They've had multiple chances to clear up once and for all where Steve Rogers is or if he's even still alive, and the fact that we don't know what became of him is emphasized in TFATWS. It means that, for some reason, they're keeping his whereabouts a mystery and thus open to future relevance.

• Steve has been name-dropped in nearly every phase 4 Marvel media property since Endgame; "What If" even directly addressed his ending and subverted it. Even when he's not named explicitly, the themes of his ending with Peggy are also repeated multiple times throughout phase 4, but in a way where a surface level reading of that ending is being actively contradicted at every turn. We have been shown over and over that that kind of scenario–an idyllic life with a lost love–is never happy truth, or created without consequence.

In short, fuckery seems to be afoot!

So, suppose you operate under this simple baseline premise to start the theorizing:

Old Man Rogers is, somehow, not Steve.

Therefore, the first question: where is Steve–or more accurately, who could've taken him? And the follow-up: why?

I Think It's HYDRA

The prevailing theories people talk about are Skrulls or HYDRA. I land on the latter, and I'll do my best to break down why.

• Red Skull. Steve certainly could have been snatched at any point and by anyone during his jaunt with returning the stones (because how fucking asinine is it that we're meant to believe it took all the Avengers to get the stones but only one to put them back when they aren't even in their original forms?), but I think it's fairly notable that Red Skull was on Vormir. There are two different times he was technically freed: 2018, when Thanos got the stone after sacrificing Gamora. And 2014, when Clint goes back in time and Natasha is sacrificed. He was cursed to be the guardian of the soul stone, so the soul stone being removed means his curse was broken. This means Red Skull is canonically out there, and he's batshit crazy. That's one classic HYDRA villain in play.

• Zola is alive. "What If" has helpfully informed us that there was a copy of Zola alive and well in the Siberian base seen in Civil War, which was not destroyed in the main timeline of the MCU. Two HYDRA villains.

• Madame Hydra. Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has only had 2 small cameos thus far, and we don't know for sure what her version in the MCU is going to involve. It's true that we don't know what she's up to. But it's not unrealistic to speculate that she could have some sort of connection to something HYDRA related, considering her varied comics history. Two and a half HYDRA villains, ish.

• Steve Rogers is being turned into a symbol. For one thing... The shield. That was wrestled with in TFATWS: Captain America as symbol, what that shield means to different people in different ways, Sam's reluctance to take up the mantle, etc. Now, going forward, the shield will be redefined by Sam Wilson becoming the new Captain America. But also... now we are also getting things like Rogers: The Musical. We don't know much about this yet, obviously, but I'm really interested to see how it's involved in the Hawkeye show especially considering it's already been teased in the promotional material. Regardless, its 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?). [EDIT – Rogers: The Musical was brought to Disneyland! In July 2023, I wrote an analysis of it in the context of this theory, regarding propaganda and revisionist history.]

• It fits the MCU going forward, and plot-wise, it makes the most sense. Connecting to the above point, one of the many things openly and repeatedly being tackled in the MCU is the theme of legacy. And sure, Old Man Rogers could be a Skrull, but... what would be the point of it, other than just retconning Steve's ending? Narratively, what would that convey and how would it be interesting? How could it be used to enhance the stories of the MCU at all, and/or what layered story could be told there other than "Steve Rogers is trapped somewhere and was impersonated by a Skrull"? It doesn't really set much up other than acting as a retcon, and that's not a good enough reason to pull that kind of a rug pull.

Whereas if Steve was taken by a group like HYDRA... it's actually to a purpose. They'd do it not just to kill him, but to remove him, use him, and tarnish his legacy. If you want to create further instability to control a country, you manipulate or sow doubt in a patriotic symbol. We got a taste of this with John Walker in TFATWS, and the ways the government wanted to / tried to use him. But now, the MCU is teeing up the idea that not only was the shield a patriotic symbol, but also that Steve Rogers himself was a symbol–or is potentially becoming one in the eyes of the public. How can that be utilized for HYDRA's purposes?

This is what the controversial Secret Empire arc comics storyline was about, where an evil Steve shows up and supposedly it's revealed that Steve was always a HYDRA double agent, but (for readers) it's quickly subverted as untrue. Events unfold from there.

(Side note: It's also worth noting that the Secret Empire story starts out with an old man version of Steve being de-aged after having a jaunt in an alternate timeline before being co-opted by HYDRA. Much as I hate the idea of the Old Man Rogers concept being kept so that he was actually the real Steve on any level, they could try to go with this angle, even though I really don't think it jives with the existence of the TVA. With my "HYDRA snatched Steve" theory, I tend to operate under the assumption that Old Man Rogers is someone else using a convincing technological mask, like the kind we've most recently seen in Black Widow. But if they try to say that Steve lived a life in another timeline and aged there, that doesn't mean that A) the Stevepeggy scene was real for sure or B) he lived a whole lifetime with her. He could have gotten old doing whatever the fuck, been snatched, and then de-aged by HYDRA. I do think a variation where Old Man Rogers was actually Steve is less strong from a logistics perspective, though, again because of the TVA / Sacred Timeline stuff.)

Anyway.

So in the MCU, they could do a loose adaption of the Secret Empire comic storyline somehow. And/or they could combine the Secret Empire arc with a loose adaption of the comics storylines where Red Skull implanted his mind into the body of a Steve Rogers clone (yes, that exists lol).

But regardless... the baseline of what I'm implying as my theory is that Steve is trapped/taken somehow in connection to HYRDA. Then, an evil HYDRA version of him could later show up on the scene, and the public would either listen to him or become distrusting/jaded by his villainous existence because he's Steve Rogers. It's a gateway to a fascist takeover, and it would be right up MCU HYDRA's alley.

Depending on how it shakes out, you would then have a situation that includes tackling story elements of things like... Steve's friends have to insist they know that's not Steve, but what's true? What's real? Can they trust themselves to know? When was Steve taken, and how, and why didn't they all notice? Also, can they arrest or attack or try to interrogate a fake Steve Rogers / Captain America who's on the national stage, and who's being openly analyzed by the public because he's just returned from the grave yet again?

If Bucky and Sam and co. know it's not Steve, then is the real Steve trapped in this evil Steve's mind somehow, like what happened to Bucky as the Winter Soldier? Then they can't just kill him in case that's true and there's still a version of Steve to save, right? How do they figure all this out, what are the answers to these questions in the MCU version, and how do they simultaneously stop HYDRA from taking things over if HYDRA's corruption once again runs deep within the United States government?

You've got a spy thriller + political intrigue + further commentary on heroes as symbols, legacy as a tool that can be molded and manipulated, the past coming back to haunt us in the present, and the insidious endurance of white supremacy contrasted against Captain America now being Black. Etc. It would tie together a lot of nice seeds and themes that have been threaded through phase 4 so far already in multiple corners.

Soul Stone Potentials

Couple this with the potential second half of the baseline premise about Endgame:

Let's presume Old Man Rogers is, somehow, not Steve–and then let's also presume the potential for the dance between Steve and Peggy not being real.

So, how could it be fake?

The soul stone's powers have been deliberately shrouded in mystery so far. We've not seen it do much of anything yet in the context of the MCU, but in theory, we're told it can manipulate souls. We've also seen a glimpse of the Soul World, its own version of a pocket dimension that also has comics basis. Thanos sees baby Gamora after using all the stones; originally, in Endgame, Tony was meant to see an older version of Morgan after using the stones himself. The latter scene was cut because it was confusing to audiences, since Morgan isn't dead. But recently I've started wondering if maybe that's because Thanos didn't see baby Gamora just because Gamora was the sacrifice. Instead, maybe he saw baby Gamora–and Tony was meant to see "older Morgan"–because in the MCU's version the Soul World was projecting images of their loved ones to them so they had to mentally reconcile with the consequences of their choice.

If the soul stone is in play in this regard, Steve's dance with Peggy could be part of some kind of vision keeping him trapped in a pocket dimension of the Soul World–whether literally physically trapping him, or just trapping his consciousness while his body is taken over and used. (The other time we saw Steve and Peggy get their dance in oversaturated warm colors, it was Steve's brain being manipulated by Wanda, and it became a nightmare.) In the aforementioned Secret Empire comics arc, the Cosmic Cube was used to this effect: the real Steve was preserved in / trapped in parts of the Cosmic Cube and shown visions of his friends and family, while evil HYDRA Steve was taking over America. (Real Steve was eventually restored / pulled out, and physically fought evil Steve to defeat him.) They could use the soul stone in a similar way, since it's not too far off of its Soul World dimension, and since the Cosmic Cube / Tesseract already has its own established powers in the MCU.

Why Would the MCU Do This?

Well, other than "why not? It's good storytelling," I can think of a few reasons. None of those reasons are about "retconning" Steve's ending, because that's not how I see this at all.

First, this would be way down the line in a few years, to be clear. A lot of people always bring up "Wouldn't this ruin Sam being Cap, especially if Old Man Rogers didn't hand him the shield?" and my answer to that is "No, not at all." By the point this all rolled around as a significant plot point, the way I see it, Sam would be well-established as the new Captain America. And if we eventually got a reveal that Old Man Rogers wasn't our Steve, there's a very easy way to tackle this: Steve's proud of Sam and tells him that he only wishes he could have given him the shield himself because it was always the plan. Boom, done, Steve's blessing given.

(You might ask: well then, why would HYDRA give Sam the shield via Old Man Rogers? How would that help their plans? Quite possibly they banked on Sam not accepting it, which he initially didn't. Or, if he had accepted it and tried to be the new Cap immediately, they banked on being able to convince him that he shouldn't. Remember how TFATWS opens up? They thanked Sam for being a good man who gave up the shield to a museum, and then they immediately turned around and give the mantle to Walker, who was a symbol the government was explicitly manipulating before things went off the rails. Sure, now Sam is Cap, but that seemingly wasn't the government's original plan. How is that actually going to go in Cap 4 now? Is everyone going to be happy about this new Captain America? Etc.)

A tentpole of the reasons for my Steve's Ending Is Fucky theorizing–back when it was a joke, but now it's really not a joke anymore lol–was that they had to pull Steve out of the picture so that Sam and Bucky could develop as characters independent of their existences revolving around Steve. That was part of the function of TFATWS, and presumably will only continue with whatever we get in Cap 4. So by the time Imposter Steve comes to the forefront as a plot, Sam as the new Captain America will be established (and probably hard-won), Bucky will be a fully-formed character in his own right who's rediscovered himself outside of his connections to Steve, and the two of them + many other characters will have had their time to shine. Only then does the past come back to haunt them to clash with the present, in ways that are narratively interesting.

This would also bring Chris Evans back to the MCU as Steve in something beyond a mere cameo, with an interesting twist that would drum up significant hype. Steve Rogers as an antagonist? Are you kidding me? Even people who may or may not have turned from invested fans to more casual fans by that point will come yeeting back in horrified fascination. It would be newly loved figures having to go head-to-head with previously loved figures and story elements.

And lastly... look, eventually they're going to run out of unique stories to tell lmao. That may sound strange considering there's a nigh-on limitless bank to pull from for comics, + the MCU likes to make shit up in addition to that (as it should), but... A lot of the ways the MCU has tended to handle the Captain America storylines (which you can critique) tie into ~real world~ concepts, the insidiousness of corruption in governments, the alphabet agencies going rogue, and old threats coming back in even worse ways. There's only so many ways you can spin that. (Again, keep in mind this would come after Cap 4, in the same way TWS came after Cap 1.) Something like this fits the rough mold, and it's got several twists. If they did it right and treaded carefully to avoid the pitfalls of what made the comics iteration controversial, it has the potential to be as game-changing as TWS was, in the ways that make TWS still unanimously heralded as one of the greatest pieces of the MCU. It's like a TWS variation, but out in the open with the villainized and victimized hero's identity known from the start, which almost makes it worse.

And ALL of that would make a hell of a lot of money, baby!

Also, if I was Kevin Feige... I would simply have a longcon where Bucky is repeatedly queercoded and then Bucky has to rescue Steve, which is a role reversal that puts them on even footing as characters, and then they can kiss and completely change the course of pop culture history, which would ALSO make money! But, I digress! I digress.

A Brief Summary

So, in a nutshell, here's where I'm at:

• Old Man Rogers wasn't Steve. Somewhere between going to put the stones back and Old Man Rogers showing up by that lake, fuckery occurred, and our Steve Rogers is trapped somewhere. Alternatively: Old Man Rogers was Steve who went on a mysterious AU timeline jaunt somehow without the TVA revolting (?), and then he got snatched by HYDRA and was de-aged directly after that.

• The Stevepeggy scene is some kind of fake, false idyllic narrative, perhaps used to trap Steve somewhere. Alternatively: at minimum, it's a scene that doesn't exist without negative consequence that's befallen Steve, based on all the themes of phase 4, but we don't know what that consequence is yet.

• The real Steve was taken and trapped by HYDRA, and it's part of a long-con plan that will see HYDRA insidiously manipulating the Captain America / Steve Rogers symbol in some way to take over America with fascism.

• All of this would strongly align with the themes we've seen in Marvel's phase 4 so far, and–crucially–would act as a completely unique plot branch in its own right, not simply a "retcon" of Steve's ending.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I think this post took me like... 3 hours. Maybe longer. God I have regrets lmao. But at least it's done! Thanks for asking, Anon!

I hope you enjoyed me finally writing out the reasoning for all this that's constantly marinating in my brain and repeatedly being fed every time new MCU content is released <3

WHERE IS STEVE ROGERS, MARVEL STUDIOS, I AM NO LONGER ASKING!!!