About

Hit the Road or Stay in Beacontown GIF refers to a scene from season two of the Minecraft: Story Mode video game showing the character Jesse deciding whether to leave with Petra or stay in Beacontown. He looks to Petra and then looks back to the other characters. The scene became a popular reaction GIF on Twitter / X in 2024, as people used it for GIF Captions to portray making a difficult decision. The two choices outlined in the memes were often hyperbolically extreme.

Origin

On July 11th, 2017, Minecraft: Story Mode – Season Two was released.^[1] In episode 5, there's a moment in which the character Jesse must decide between hitting the road with Petra or staying in Beacontown. Gameplay of the scene was shared by YouTuber^[2] AFGuidesHD on December 18th, 2017, gaining over 238,500 views in seven years (shown below).

The earliest known viral usage of the scene as a GIF was shared by X^[3] user @datbx_ on July 23rd, 2024, reading, "wash dishes or kill myself," gaining over 81,000 likes in four months (shown below).

Spread

On July 24th, 2024, X^[4] user @SLAVESOFFEAR posted a recaptioned version of the abovementioned meme, reading, "drawing or killing myself," receiving over 43,000 likes in four months (shown below).

In the following months, viral usage spread across social media. For instance, on September 15th, TikToker^[5] @z1th0s posted a video with the scene, adding a top caption about Hawk Tuah. The video received over 1.7 million plays and 237,800 likes in two months (shown below).

On September 20th, 2024, Redditor^[6] BlyatMan502 shared a version to /r/2bharat4you about staying in India or going abroad to make "that immigrant money," gaining over 210 upvotes in two months (shown below).

The meme evolved going into late 2024, as meme creators began exploiting the GIF. For instance, on September 27th, X^[7] user @useraqua_ posted an iteration about being in Warioland, amassing over 55,000 likes in two months (shown below).

Various Examples

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Search Interest

External References