#what i love about

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Love About Fionna and Cake (Vaugish spoilers ahead)

For those who follow me, this isn't going to be an EXTENSIVE review, but it's not going to be a "Quick Thoughts" either. It's more like an in-between option because, gosh dang it, I NEED to talk about Fionna and Cake.

When it was announced there was going to be a Fionna and Cake spin-off series, my stomach immediately filled with dread, and for two reasons. First of all, I just wanted Adventure Time to be done. Not because I hated the series. Far from it, in fact. It's because with the show's finale being this big conclusion that left me feeling empty inside and with "Together Again" feeling like a better, satisfying end to the franchise AND Finn and Jake, the last thing I wanted was MORE Adventure Time. I know the show's tagline is "The fun will never end," but the fun HAS to end at some point.

Also...I wasn't really into Fionna and Cake, both as a kid and as an adult. As a kid, I found it weird that Adventure Time just had this random episode where all the characters had swapped genders for some reason and my dumb young boy brain went "Ew, girly nonsense!" I matured past that now and actually learned to appreciate how it's actually a playful jab at the fanfic community and their occasional cringiness. That being said, I still wasn't into...how weird things got with Fionna and Cake, and I was NOT ready for a whole series based on them. I mean, why would I want a series of a genderswapped Finn and Jake when I could have...Finn and Jake?

But then the show came out...and I was NOT expecting the ten-episode long emotional roller coaster that had no right being as good as it was. NOR was I expecting it to be for adults this time.

I heard about...two weeks? Yeah, two weeks before hand, I heard that Fionna and Cake would have a TV-14 rating, and that's primarily the reason why I got more interested in the show. And a part of me kind of wish I didn't know that beforehand because I kind of wanted the surprise of characters going "God dammit" and Finn stabbing a monster in it's snout, leaving a gaping bloody hole in it. Like...could you IMAGINE?

But before you say anything, Fionna and Cake, thankfully, isn't rated TV-14 JUST BECAUSE it has swears, violence, and its main character topless for...more than half the series, to be honest. In actuality, the show's rated TV-14 more or less for the themes and messages that appeal more towards adults than it would have for kids. This show is more or less for the fans who grew up with Adventure Time, whether they're the kids now in their early twenties like Fionna, or the adults that watched the show for some reason and feel the same existential dread as Simon. The show is about the two of them and their growth to learn the lesson every body and their grandma needs to learn: Just cope.

Some of us yearn for a magical world with adventures that saves us from our boring, mundane lives. Others, even as adults, feel like they don't belong in certain spaces and wish to have back their loved ones who made them feel like they DO belong. So Fionna and Cake is there to just give the harsh truth, but instead of making the show feel like a downer, it gives a beautiful yet tragic experience that says you shouldn't yearn for what you WANT and appreciate what you NEED. Fionna wanted a magical world, but she didn't NEED it. Simon wanted Betty back or to return to his madness, but he didn't NEED to. The journey these characters go on leads to Fionna needing to learn that her life is fine just the way it is and that Simon needing to learn that his life HAS purpose even if it's without his true love. As for how they go through it and what conclusions they come to...I'm not going to spoil it because it's all brilliantly done and best left for you to see for yourself. Trust me when I say there is so much about their journeys that's best left to see for yourself if you haven't. But the bottomline is that it teaches audiences that your life is just fine the way it is. You just need to see the beauty through the dread and/or tragedy.

And despite this overlaying maturity, the show is still very much Adventure Time. It's filled with characters saying goofy things and acting silly, it's just now the show can go FARTHER with its mature messages, no longer having the kiddie gloves on for the sake of the children. They can go ALL IN on the existential dread much more than they did in the past, is unafraid to explicitly kill characters, and can make the gay characters kiss and date...Okay, they probably COULD have made that last part for kids with Steven Universe and The Owl House popularizing LGBTQA+ representation in children's media, but they definitely couldn't with those first two options! And I'm so glad that despite being mature, Fionna and Cake stuck with Adventure Time's brand of charm, heart, and fun times. It's just that those fun times can be interrupted by your favorite characters dying...But don't worry. They're not the REAL characters you grow up with.

Fionna and Cake is a multiverse story, meaning the show jumps between world after world. Not only does it provide peeks into new, interesting worlds based on these "what ifs" I didn't know I wanted to see, but it also allows the writers to basically kill off every character you loved as a kid. Sometimes it's explicit by showing viewers unmoving, withered, and sometimes even BURNT corpses, and other times it's implicit with nothing viewer interpretation guiding what MIGHT be true. Adventure Time HAS gotten dark like that in the past, but this is a time when the writers really go all out without holding back an inch, and I respect that.

And as for this being a multiverse story, I know we're all starting to get sick of those, but Fionna and Cake does it in a way that takes advantage of its premise. Each universe provides a dark and twisted version of Ooo, to the benefit of teaching Simon and Fionna to find what they NEED, not give them what they WANT. Again, I won't give away HOW, but it all works really well and it's why multiverse stories like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and The Flash tend to fail. I talked about this last night with a buddy of mine, but a multiverse story works better when it's used to help the characters grow and provide interesting views of things that COULD HAVE happened if things went differently. Not to spit out cameos for specific fans or make jokes about how pizza is in balls or how Aquaman's dad didn't marry the queen of Atlantis. Fionna and Cake has cameos, but they're again to show how different each universe is, teach Fionna and Simon, and even reveal the tragedy that they present at times. It just happens to be done in a way that's a fun cameo for fans.

Speaking of which, it's hard to recommend Fionna and Cake because this is a spin-off that's clearly for the fans of Adventure Time. The ones who watched the show from the beginning and get all the little in-jokes, references, and call-backs that were frequent of the series. If you HAVEN'T seen the show...I'm willing to say you'd enjoy it ENOUGH, but you'd still be left confused. You COULD watch the show beforehand, and I definitely recommend you do that, but that means watching ten seasons and four specials of television just to watch ONE spin-off. Not everyone is going to have the patience to do that, and I can understand why. Just know that if you're fan, you'll definitely enjoy this.

If there's anything to complain about, the only real nitpick I have is Cake. Despite being the OTHER titular character, she...doesn't really do much or have a journey to go on. Her character is just being there for Fionna and wanting to be the magical cat she wanted to be. Only instead of coping with what she has, Cake...doesn't do that. She gets what she wants and she's fine with it, which is kind of disappointing. And as a character, she's kind of selfish, not really caring what happens to Simon just as long as SHE gets exactly what she wants. Now, she still has some great one-liners and still has an engaging purpose as a counter-argument to what Fionna needs to learn, but that doesn't change how she's pretty much the weakest part of the show, at least to me.

Fionna and Cake is definitely a show that has more strengths and weaknesses, completely shattering expectations and making a show I didn't know I needed. Would I want another season? Eh, not really. I'm fine with how things end here. But I'm glad I watched it and I'll likely rewatch it over and over again.

If you're not a fan of Adventure Time, this probably won't be your cup of tea. But if you are, then this is a solid A series for you. Check it out and see that just because the fun will never end, that doesn't make it a bad thing.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[inkskinned]

you said you were stuck in a time loop, which was fine. i feel like late-stage capitalism has us all in a time loop, ammiright? you came barging in at 5:33. in the morning. i hadn't even processed the idea of coffee.

but you had this look of utter panic in your eyes. terror like the ocean. you grabbed my cheeks. im in a time loop.

i don't know why in movies the first reaction is to deny it. when someone is panicking like that, it's not appropriate to ask them to calm down. it didn't matter if i believed it, what mattered was that you believed it so much that it was consuming you.

so here we are. i pour you some of the dark roast. "you look like utter and entire hell," i say.

you push your fingers into your eyes. "you always say that."

i try to think of something funny to say that i wouldn't have said on previous time loops, but jokes don't land without the proper timing (lol). "remind me to think -"

"-yeah, of a joke that only works in the future. and before you say anything, i know you're pissed i just stole your punchline." you bolt the coffee, which is wild. it's very hot. you don't seem to notice.

i blow on mine to cool it down. i both am very pissed at you and also i can't see you in this amount of panic without wanting to help. but i'm also not really sure what we are, not since i saw you kiss her like that, no offense. it just was like, kind of rude when you knew i liked you.

and besides. i'm just like, barely a person. i write omegaverse fanfiction. i love the concept of a time loop, but what the fuck am i gonna do? send an alpha in there? i open my mouth.

you point at me. "you're about to ask why me. and then say some disparaging shit about yourself. i'm just a nerd who plays dnd or something. that self-own is slightly different each time." you sigh. "i know you think you can't really help me. i don't know who can help me. i only came to you because you fucking believe me." you check your watch, sigh, and throw your head back. you cover your eyes with one hand. "i've come here on 26 separate revolutions," you say. "you have believed me every time. and yeah, i have no idea how you fit into this but i just -" you sigh again. "i just like fucking talking to someone about it."

"do you need more cof-" i start, but you're already holding the empty cup out. i frown at it. "you're not getting any more until you promise not to bolt this one like an animal."

you laugh a little and sit up, pushing your hair out of your face. "okay, that's new dialogue. but to be fair to you, i'm not usually this rude. i'm still pretty new at all of this." you check your watch again. another sigh. i guess you're cruising for a personal best in the Sigh Olympics.

i almost tell you im not an NPC but i've played enough video games to know i'm very much an NPC. i pour you another cup. "so what happens in the loop?"

"really bad explosion." you mutter into the mug. you put your elbows on the table (rude) and bury your face in your arms like an angsty teenager. one hand floats up while you talk, because evidently you literally can't talk without your hands. "i have to save the day and there's this bomb and i have no bomb training and it keeps moving, you know."

"do i die?"

you peek up from your arms. "yeah. bigtime. you keep trying to run or stay or do anything and you always super die."

"oh."

"to be fair, like, everyone dies in it though.... so you're in good company."

i hate that you make me laugh. i hate that being around you always feels tingly and strange, this electric tension between us. something that is evidently (given how you stuck your tongue down a stranger's throat literally 3 days ago) (well. 3 for me) super one-sided. i take a sip of my coffee and close my eyes.

i die today, i guess. a little spark of panic starts at the top of my hands and starts whipping up my wrists.

"shit," you say. you look at your watch and jump to your feet. "i have to go. if i can come back, i will. i am still trying to figure out when is best to do everything, you know? the order of stuff. maybe morning isn't good for us."

i look up at you and think about how you keep kissing me in the back of my car and in alleyways and in the dark. and i can never fucking get a read on you. and i also think about how incredibly panicked you look. how broken. how long have you been doing this? "i don't want to die," i say.

you glance downwards. "well, you're not really dead, you'll come back in the loop."

"but i will have died." my hands are shaking. i am trying really hard to stay calm.

you push your hands through your hair again. "i really have to go. i will have this discussion with the next version of you, though. it is like, something i am thinking about."

"but i don't get a next version," i say. i don't really have the language for this, because i haven't had 26 tries with you. i only have my memories: you, a week ago. drunk and telling me you loved me in my ear. you, kissing her anyway. you, months ago, throwing up on my birthday, whispering to me i ruin everything i touch, always, over and over. please don't ask. i can't ever fucking have that be you.

i run my finger along the rim of the mug. "i don't want to die in this one."

you seem baffled by this. "i get that but - time will reset, you'll be fine, you won't even remember we talked about this."

"but i know now." i stand up too. "i have to live the rest of this day knowing i could die. knowing i probably am going to."

"you could always die, to be fair."

i feel my hands get out of control. "earlier, you said i always say a different insult about myself. what if you're just going through different parallel universes and those are all just different - but real - versions of myself? what if you're not in a time loop, you're in a fucking universe loop?"

"if it helps, i've wondered this too. also, you're hot in all of them. if that helps."

i point at you. "no flirting. i'm trying to figure out if i die today."

"who's flirting?" you catch my wild hands and give me that long, perfect smile. like we're in this together. "i won't let ya die." you check your watch and sigh again. "well. maybe not this time."

i grit my teeth. you are so not making quips at me while i try to explain the existential dread i'm having. "does the time loop reset if i fucking kill you?"

"honestly i don't know how long it continues after i die, because i just wake up. it could be that the loop goes until the explosion for everyone, and we're all in the loop, or it could be that when i die, the loop restarts. when i die i wake up, is all."

i pull away from you and stalk into the kitchen and start doing all 3 of my dishes. "okay, first, you know i was joking. and secondly, this is exactly my point. you don't know if this is just a parallel universe. maybe in the ones where you died, the explosion happened and nobody reset and it's just you travelling." i have to stop and push the heel of my palm into my eyeball. "... how often have you died?"

i look at you. you look at me. you give me this very sad, halfway smile and a little what can ya do shrug. something in that action seems so old and weary that i want to burst into tears.

"i have to go," you say. "really. for real. there's this family of five i save from getting into a car crash. and i know it's like oh but we're all gonna die in the explosion anyway, what's the point. and..." you shrug again. "it matters to me, is all. at least i saved them for now. at least i saved anything."

you pad over to me and wrap me in a tight hug. you always seem so tall against me. i feel your cheek rest against the top of my head for a moment. for a second, it's just us, and the space is warm, and my heart is a little broken hare.

you leave me there, and i stand in my stupid badly lit kitchen with my stupid mugs. i think about you. i start texting my mom that she needs to get out of the city, but it feels pointless.

i don't know what to do. tomorrow is the same day for you. but i have to prepare to die in my today.

[cronchy-baguette]

double posting this comic bc tbh it deserves its own post.... thinking about how elphie was definitely crying after she runs off to hide somewhere following popular... what do the two of them think about afterwards....

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

historical drama/sitcom where two gay best friends (woman and man) get lavender married--and proceed to spend the Fancy European Honeymoon their parents paid for acting as each other's wingman

[noelledeltarune]

EVERY SINGLE DAY there are MILLIONS of characters in their late 20s who get falsely accused of being father figures to teenagers when in reality the description of "weird older cousin" or "step-sibling that moved out before you were born" is 1000000x more apt

[sunbloomdew]

do you ever see a person and you are overcome with incredible fondness? and you just think "oh." but not in a romantic or sexual way you are just filled with warmth and it makes you happy, it just does. and you think "i'm so happy you exist. i'm happy you are somewhere out there in the world, doing your thing". it's love but also not entirely

like people are lovely and i feel it in my entire chest like a burning candle that smells like roses and a sunny day

[snarkspawn]

did I doodle this mostly so I had an excuse to draw this spite reaction image?

(YES HAHAHA YES!!!)

[hollis-art]

ngl im not even a superman fan. i just REALLY like clark kent,,, (thank you, Smallville, for that.)

[chloesimaginationthings]

Everyone loves FNAF music man.. even Michael

[s0up1ta]

"so grunkle ford how do you know bill?"

"... that's not important."

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[hoofpeet]

Doing a full pivot in 2025 into dedicating this blog to Between the Lions fanart

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[sonykatzen]

pretty boy