#the only exceptions are like the Lich and Golbetty

[jincheeto]

I think one of my favorite things about adventure time is the fact that gods and deities are portrayed as mostly normal people.

Death is a punk rock enjoyer and hangs out with Pep Butt

Prismo hangs out with other immortals and special friends at time room parties

Cosmic Owl struggles with his dating life and kind of a dorky bachelor

Even Finn who is a LITERAL REINCARNATION OF A CATALYST COMET is a just a completely normal dude

And then there's Scarab who thinks he's hot shit despite literally being the biggest snitch ever

[myddle]

"Casper & Nova" And "Cheers": The Beginning Of My Anime Villain Arc

After ruminating on it for a long time (this is the second draft of this goddamn post), I've come to understand what my issues were with the Fionna & Cake finale, and I'm ready to discuss it.

Big thanks to @bettycrockerscookbook and his post, "Fionna and Cake is a narrative about loss of agency, and I don't know if that was on purpose", it really helped me get my thoughts in order. There is some overlap between that post and mine, but my views predate reading it, although they are reworded for clarity.

Warning: Big Post, Spoilers, Opinions

I get what they were going for. I have full respect for everyone who loved the finale, and I give them all hugs and kisses.

But... it just didn't click for me. I still love the rest of the show, but I couldn't believe it's conclusion, and it left me feeling all hollow and rotten afterwards. I don't know it there's going to be a second season, but the ending felt very "happily ever after", so lets just presume not for now, and get into some things.

That Glitch Glitched Right Out Of The Plot

I probably should have seen this coming after BMO's corpse glitched in front of everyone and they didn't react, but it still sucks we didn't get an answer to this mystery, or at least some commentary on it. Heck, even back in "Winter King", Simon's tone describing the normalised Ice crown is more of dissapointment than confusion. It just feels like a waste, after all the set-up; I was excited to learn what was really going on there, or see how it would affect our protagonists.

Credit Where It's Due: The Lich/GOLB Scene Is Kinda Perfect

I don't wanna be too negative, so I must say I LOVED THIS SCENE. The Lich has been an insurmountable force of destruction for the whole series, both physically and morally, so seeing the one thing that could finally break him - his success - is fascinating to me. And then, without a word, GOLBetty dissassembles him in a horrifying display and turns him into one of those Tetris Blocks... I guess they must be GOLB's literal building blocks for crafting it's machinations. A terrifying glimpse into the Chaos God's methods.

Do We Have Time For A Choose Your Own Adventure Right Now, We Only Have Two Episodes Left

The Casper & Nova segment was super neat, and it was cool to see 1000+ Ooo again, but... I don't know. This framing device within a framing device is an awful lot of setup to do in the second to last episode. This is honestly more of a time-constraint issue though; I'd probably be more forgiving of it if I was on board with the rest of the finale.

Petrigrof Did Nothing Wrong (Except For The Things They Did That Were Wrong)

Simon and Betty's final goodbye was beautifully made. A heartfelt message of recognising and accepting the mistakes of your past. I just don't think I agree on what those mistakes are.

The concept of someone going along with everything their partner wanted, and the partner not realising because they were still happy, is an amazingly nuanced arc, but I don't think it fits Simon and Betty's relationship. Betty had agency, and wasn't afraid to disagree with Simon; just look at the way she dealt with the snakes, or how she kept Simon alive as Ice King against his wishes in hopes of curing him. And speaking of which, I don't think Betty was wrong for wanting to cure Simon - he DID NOT WANT to be Ice King - she just became too reckless and self-destructive. Summoning and merging with motherfucking GOLB was unambiguously a mistake, there were other things she could have done (I reckon Simon being vampirised by Marceline, then destroying the Crown would've worked, but that's not as good of a story).

I think a message on stopping the cycle of sacrifice would've been stronger, more coherent, but this sequence is still incredible.

Who Needs Stakes: Just Barf Up A Fuckin' Dandelion For The Class

Most of the stuff before this was nitpicks, and I wouldn't need to make this post if that was it. This is where we get into the things that I actually take issue with.

So the chain of events is Simon doesn't want the responsibility of the City of Um in his head, so GOLBetty (I think) compells the world out of him in the form of a dandelion. He gives the dandelion to Fionna, who blows on it to give it to everyone in the City, and then the world... becomes authorised? Huh? What? Like, I get the sentiment, but this feels like an asspull. And such a waste of plot, too! The idea of an entire universe being descriminated against by a celestial corporatocracy is so cool! I wanted to hear about the ideology behind that, and I wanted to see that injustice fought. But instead, they just... made it okay now, in a way that wasn't established as an option at all.

Doctor Petrikov: Multiverse Of Messed Up Implications

Most of my bigger points are really just differences of opinion: me not being happy with what the show turned out to be. But this? This is actually a plot hole.

To assist our heroes, Prismo decides to send in Jay and Little Destiny from Farmworld, Baby Finn from Baby World, and the Peppermint Tank from Vampire World. And after the dust settles, they just... stay there. Worse, the other characters from those worlds are never touched on again, despite the huge opportunity to do so in the ending montage. Are we just not supposed to care about those worlds? Is Farmworld Finn alive? What about Jay's siblings? Did Vampire World Bonnibel and Marceline kill eachother? Is the Vampire King just free to rule unopposed? WHAT ABOUT JAY'S SIBLINGS!?

Also, why didn't Prismo just teleport Scarab out of there? The tank didn't even do anything.

While I'm on the topic, check out OSP's Detail Diatribe on "The Multiverse Problem", it was very informative for my perspective here.

Alright, I Get It, Fionna Is A Bad Person For Wanting More Out Of Life

The series ends with Fionna learning to be happy in a mostly unchanged City of Um, and I just... I don't buy it. I cannot believe that Fionna is happy there after the song we opened this series on.

I'm not really feeling like my self today Hated every job I've had, what's wrong with me Every day's the same; Painfully mundane 'Cuz I'm running from my feelings and my fear of sudden change Everytime I leave my room, I wanna die Even when I'm with my friends, I'm alone inside 'Cuz nothing really matters, and I don't know what's sadder The fact I even try or that my hopes and dreams are shattered I'm not really feeling like my self today

It's probably not supposed to be one to one, but this paints a very dark picture of Fionna's psyche at the start of the series. This isn't boredom, this is a young woman being crushed by her environment.

Fionna struggled in the other universes because she didn't have her memories of Ooo, her experience of dealing with this kind of stuff. Throwing her in the multiversal deep end with none of her old life experiences didn't teach her she was wrong to want Ooo back, it just traumatised her, to the point she was arguing it was better for her universe to die than risk changing the people inside. Yes, her outlook at the beginning was childish and needed to change, but her mind overcorrected, giving her a nightmare of her desires hurting her loved ones.

And I was waiting for Fionna to realise that; that she doesn't just crave excitement, but autonomy, and heroism. That she wasn't wrong for wanting something else for herself. For being unhappy in the City of Um.

But... she doesn't. She just gives in, ready to die fighting when things looked bleak, and resigned to her fate when they recovered. Her world has functioning toilets. It's not so bad, right?

Easy to regret wanting to change your world when it's getting ripped apart in front of you.

This wasn't an either/or situation; after Scarab was dealt with, Fionna and Cake could have just pulled a Lemonhope and fucked off (Prismo would have done them the favour), but noooooo, being responsible means surrendering yourself to your own bleak existence, I guess. SPEAKING OF WHICH,

"I am myself. Like this."

When I heard Cake say this line, I was convinced that leaving the City of Um as it is would not be a happy ending. Setting aside the fact that Genderswap Ooo is technically the original version, Cake doesn't even need her memories to know that her stretchy Ooo form is her authentic self. She likes having options.

Condemning Cake to her City of Um form would be unethical, and the show knows this, because it doesn't. But what about the rest of Um's residents? Which side of the coin would they choose? They don't get that choice, because they don't even know. Gary and Marshall worry about losing their new relationship, not knowing about the potentially hundreds of years of history they've already lost. And how many more Cakes are there? Animal residents of Ooo that lost their autonomy and personhood in the shift? Lord Monochromicorn made it out alright, but I doubt Cake was the only one to suffer.

Of course, the situation isn't black and white. Some residents of Um, like Female Fern (should've been called Flora, but whatev), the Lemoncarbs and maybe Human Ice Queen (I like to call her Ice Creem) might be better off in the City of Um than Genderswap Ooo, presuming their stories resolved the same as their Ooo Prime counterparts (Considering only one Lemongrab was alive during "Come Along With Me", when the shift happened, but Um has two Lemoncarbs, I'm not convinced on that).

But ultimately, this lack of knowledge denies the people of Um the agency to choose what world they want to live in, and what form is their authentic self. Which makes Fionna's gesture of giving the world's fate to them ring pretty hollow. And as someone who is fighting very hard in hopes of living as my authentic self, this ending kinda hurts.

Disclaimer and Conclusion (unrelated pic, I just love this shot)

I'm not mad at the team behind Fionna and Cake for this ending. I definitely don't blame them for my problems with it, I don't think these dissonances were intended (unless they are gunning for a second season to resolve some of them, in which case globspeed) I respect their creative vision, and everyone who took home the good message they intended wasn't wrong to do so. From what I've seen, most people did, but some, like me, did find this ending unsatisfying.

Thing is, I'm still thankful. I loved the first eight episodes of this show, and my reaction to this finale has stirred within me the desire to make my own fan ending, as a creative excercise of sorts. Certainly fitting for a series about an in-universe fan-fic. I lost my creative drive some years ago, and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get it back. I'm not sure how I'll go about making this fan ending, but if i manage it, I'll be sure to keep y'all posted.

So... thank you, Fionna & Cake. You got me to care about your story, and that's half the battle.

[mii-2]

Hii, I'm very curious if there's a post explaining the Lich “A New Purpose “ episode, since I've seen your art for it and I LOVE IT, I wanted to know if there's a post explaining it like the Flame Mertens post that I missed

Oh well id like to animate it soon but basically the lich that succeeded in killing all life was transported into a new reality created by golbetty herself. His new task was to make sure the BMO from his world was kept alive and safe. (The BMO from this lich’s original reality was brought back by golbetty too.)

He lost all his magic too but was given a red crown with gems around it that looked like golbetty’s eyes.

Of course the lich tried to put it on to regain some magic and go rampant but he lost all control over his body. He only regained control when BMO chucked it off his head. Golbetty then told the lich that if BMO was killed then he’d be punished.

He just looks around and thinks “there isn’t anything in this reality except myself and BMO”

But then the lich hears some rustling from a bush and sees one of the blocks surrounding golbetty start to move and walk. It spots the lich and BMO and starts to chase them. The lich just books it and carries BMO on his back.

Basically in this reality, BMO and the lich develop a bond like how Simon and little Marcy did!

Also thank you for the kind words!!