#SIMON AND BETTY BACKSTORY ALSO. IT HAS EVERYTHING

[bisaster-energy]

FIONNA AND CAKE IS SO FUCKING BALLER?????a

[jakesuit0]

Memory of a Memory Review

Finn and Jake rush to help Marceline at the calling of a wizard. It’s sweet that Finn and Jake run faster when they find out it’s their friend in peril. Finn and Jake show a lot of care for Marcy in this one. We’re at the point where they view Marceline as one of the most important people in their lives. This is really the last episode where Finn and Jake’s relationship with Marceline feels ever-evolving, this is basically the status quo of their dynamic for the rest of the series. The “wizard” knowing to turn to Finn and Jake, implies that Ash has done his research on the current state of Marcy’s life, and has probably been spying on her. Claiming he’s her spirit animal is absurd but funny. It’s an obvious hint that he’s lying, but it’s easy to believe that it could be true in this weird world.

Ash claims he can’t be the one to help Marcy because he has no arms. It’s a funny excuse that works to add more suspicion. Finn and Jake enter Marceline’s memories to erase a sleeping spell. It’s an exciting premise on the face of it, given we still know almost nothing of her backstory. We start at an early point in Marceline’s life, and move mostly in chronological order throughout. We see a destroyed city, our first brief look at the world five or so years after the mushroom bomb dropped. It also serves as confirmation that Marceline lived through the apocalypse. She looks two or three years older than in the “Simon & Marcy” flashbacks, but maybe two years younger then when Simon abandons her. Her age, and possession of Hambo, places it between “Simon & Marcy” and the second flashback in “Everything Stays”. So, where the fuck is Simon? She’s running around all by herself. There’s a couple possible hand waves. Simon could be behind a tree taking a shit. He was at a period of his life where he had less control over the crown, so maybe he flew off on a crown-induced escapade, or purposefully distanced himself when he knew he was going to have an episode. He could also be searching for ways to summon Hunson Abadeer. It’s not exactly canon-shattering, but it's definitely a bit of a continuity error. The crew had some idea that there’s a deeper connection between Ice King and Marceline, as evidenced by hints in “Holly Jolly Secrets” and “Marceline’s Closet” this season, but this scene is clearly a result of them not really having the Simon and Marcy backstory planned yet. The most striking disconnect is little Marcy calling Hambo her “only friend”. In “Betty”, Marceline instead refers to Simon as her only friend during that period of her life. Marceline sews Hambo’s button eye back on, like Simon how sews a button back on Marcy’s overalls in “Simon Petrikov”. Simon must have taught her how to sew in the interceding years. She tells Hambo she’s hurting him because she loves him. This might be a coping mechanism she picked up on from Elise and/or Simon.

Finn and Jake pass by Marceline picking her nose, showing for the first time how gross she can be while by herself. Next we get to see the infamous fry eating incident, and they even got Martin Olson back for this short cameo. Marcy looks a few years older than in “Marcy & Hunson’s” flashback. I don’t think Marcy was with Hunson this whole time, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be on Earth together for a few years. This must have been one of Hunson’s infrequent awkward visits, possibly the first time they saw each other since their reunion in the previously mentioned episode. She may have even gotten the bass axe during this visit. It’s cool seeing Adventure Time already building on its pre established backstory, and they continue this trend in the next memory. Ash helps Marcy move into the treehouse, referencing “Evicted!”.

Next, probably a couple years later, we see Marceline clearly feeling checked out of her relationship. Ash comes home, revealing he sold Hambo to a witch (Maja) to get a new wand. Marceline dumps Ash, and Olivia Olson’s voice acting here is incredible, especially the “it’s over you psycho!”. Marceline dated Ash during a time when her self-esteem was at its lowest, feeling like a monster that didn’t deserve any better. Ash was probably a rebound after her relationship with Bubblegum, probably starting a relationship with him within a few decades of her breakup with PB. Ash and Marceline’s relationship is very uncomfortable to watch. The “Mar Mar” pet name makes me queasy. Ash still somehow manages to have one funny line, saying he didn’t ruin “all” of her life to defend himself. The episode just gives us tiny glimpses into a few parts of Marceline’s life. Later episodes make this up, but it would have been nice to get just another couple memories in this one. It’s funny in hindsight how we skip over all the biggest parts of Marceline’s past (Elise, Simon, the vampires, PB). If this was a later season episode, Simon and Bonnie definitely would have made appearances. 

Finn and Jake jump into the memory core, which has an unbelievably cool design, with white silhouettes over the black background. Each of the memory balls has a corresponding symbol, and I’ll do my best guess to analyze the meaning behind many of them:

-A portal to the Nightosphere: a memory involving Hunson, possibly the events of “It Came From the Nightosphere” -A roll of yarn: the first memory Finn and Jake entered of Marceline sewing Hambo

-A weight: working out after her break up with PB or Ash

-Marceline’s high heels from “Evicted!” and “Henchman”

-A tree: the memory of Marceline moving into the treehouse

-A wolf: her dog Schwabl 

-A snowman: Simon and the ice crown

-The shovel and/or grave: the death of Elise

-A hand: no idea, maybe meeting the tribe of humans in “Everything Stays”?

Finn and Jake return to the physical world, and Ash reveals he had Finn and Jake erase the memory of their breakup. Her memories of moving on from the breakup must have been altered by this too. Ash intends on bringing her back to his place. This is basically just a metaphor for date rape drugging and has to be the most traumatic thing Marceline has experienced in the present timeline of the series. Another sign of abuse is Ash’s negging, with the “that’s a relief” to Marcy saying she’s going to freshen up. 

Jake tracks Ash and Marcy down with his rarely used super-scent. Jake bashing the shed to get Ash’s attention, only to find it's the house of a defenseless goblin, is the funniest joke of the episode. Finn runs in to tell Marceline the truth. Marcy says that Ash doesn’t like her hanging out with “mere mortals”. In addition to showcasing another red flag, controlling who she sees, it provides more context to the time of their relationship. It’s the second Marceline episode in a row where bad people from her past are shown to reinforce Marcy’s past ambivalence to the lives of mortals. She was probably part of the ghost gang from “Heat Signature” shortly before or after her breakup with Ash, more company that reinforced her low self-esteem. 

Finn brings Marceline into his own memories, set inside his childhood home with Joshua and Margaret. We can see Jermaine in one of the pictures. There’s other dogs too, presumably from Joshua and Margaret’s extended family (maybe the grandmother mentioned in “Ignition Point” is one of them). Marceline sees baby Finn perform the “Buff Baby” dance. It’s second only to “Bacon Pancakes” in terms of viral sensation. It’s funny and cute, but a bit overrated. It also shows how young Finn was when he became obsessed with fighting evil. Finn looks a few years older than the flashback in “Memories of Boom Boom Mountain”, but a couple years younger than in “BMO”. Finn showing Marceline his memory of seeing her memory is such a clever solution, foreshadowed by the cleverly named title of the episode. She immediately seems to believe Finn, even before seeing the memory. This shows the trust she’s gained for Finn over the series, and that she has always known that Ash is a terrible person capable of evil. She has a muted reaction to this, but you can tell she is hurt inside. 

They really go all the way with portraying Ash as a stereotypical misogynist, with him literally telling her to get back into the kitchen. He’s a loser who can’t even make his own sandwich. Marceline and Finn beat up Ash, which is a justified response to attempted sexual assault. He’s one of the most sociopathic characters in the series, and the most despised character among the fans. He has his own hatedom. He’s fun to hate, but he’s a good character that provided a great foil to Marceline while showing the reality of how some men behave towards women. Jake stomping him with a giant foot is a perfect ending. The episode follows the route of “It Came From the Nightosphere” in using Marceline as a way to explore trauma more specific to the experience of a young woman or teenage girl. It’s also really nice to get some good Marceline drama that’s not tied to Princess Bubblegum or a parental figure for once. 

Grade: A

[icanttypo]

Yknow, at first, when I saw the latest episode, I had been a bit disappointed with the route that they took Simon and Betty's romance; but after thinking it over quite a bit, I think I appreciate the route they took, despite how differently it makes me see the characters. Sometimes, the right thing for a story isn't always the best thing, just like how in life, not everyone makes the right choices all the time. Emotions make life beautiful, but they also muddle things up.

I've never been one for a teacher x student type romance. That whole power imbalance always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Since Simon was just a guest speaker, it wasn't quite the same, but I think a lot of people, including myself, saw those parallels. But, I think the whole idea of unhealthy/obsessive/codependent love has always been centeral to their relationship.

Unlike some may assume, the unhealthiness doesn't stem from that part, though. Yes, there's a small age gap. Yes, Simon made a ton of mistakes. But with further analysis, nothing about it is painted as your stereotypical incredibly unhealthy teacher/student ship. Instead, it's their issues and strengths that create chaos.

There's nothing about their relationship that can be considered grooming, and I say this as someone who's personally been groomed. They didn't get into a relationship until after Betty tried to leave the second time, and there's absolutely nothing about Simon that screams "predator." You know how he is with Marcy and Finn, and pretty much every child he comes in contact with (when he isn't throwing away their favorite books). Hell, even Ice King had standards and lines he wouldn't cross. Their issues stem from their insecurities as professional nerds, and as two broken, lonely, people.

When you're a student, especially one who's passionate about the subject matter you're learning about, you can't help but put your teachers (the good ones, I mean), on a pedestal. They're these untouchable gods who have somehow cracked the answers to questions you haven't even asked yet and who are there to guide you. And as a teacher, you want nothing more than to see a student thrive, be happy, and enjoy your lessons. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing your student take your lesson, and run with it, and go farther than you ever could. From the start, these two towed the lines of codependency.

Simon was laughed at by his fellow professors and other archeologists for believing that the Enchiridion existed; which couldn't have been a good feeling as a professional. Sure, after the expedition with Betty, he was rewarded with all the glory one could wish for; but that isolation must've been horrible. He must've been seen along the same veins as the "Ancient Aliens" guys, as a crackpot conspiracy theorist, barely deserving of his PHD. I can imagine just how much of a relief it'd be to have someone so brilliant as Betty agree with your findings, and be willing to help you prove once and for all, that you aren't crazy.

Betty seemed to struggle with connecting with her peers. I'm mostly gathering this from how willing she was to sacrifice everything for Simon, I'd bet he was the only genuine close relationship, romantic or otherwise, that she had. We (or at least I) don't know much about Betty's backstory, but I think at least that much can be surmised. In Ep 8 FC, she mentions her mother, and in season 9 or 10, we see her calling someone before she met Simon... But, that's about all we have for close relationships. How many people would you jump through a portal for? Become god for? Sacrifice your sanity for? To have someone you admire, think that you're basically the strongest, bravest person they ever met in the world and to actually be needed by them... From what we know about Betty, she definitely had a savior complex of some sorts. Happens to the best of us, but still. She got so used to sacrificing things for Simon that she never thought about going back to Australia with him to continue her study, or both studying different things together, just helping him.

They both gave each other what the world deprived them of: validation, love, and respect. But because neither of them had anyone else to rely upon, to provide them with those bare necessities, they became unhealthy for one another. Neither of them has truly lived without the other because they were eachothers home. Their food, water, and shelter.

So, in a lot of ways, I think it was for the best they added this extra layer. It helps you truly understand the imperfections of their relationship, just how desperate both of them were as two nerdy little archeologists, to find and keep the love they had alive.

[randomuser678]

EY YO GREAT POST I love how you highlight things about the show that feel intentional (and honestly after Temple of Mars basically telling Betty that her life would have been better without Simon) and it's so good to notice small moments like how Simon's first thing he says on Betty is "I forgive you for leaving me" and I really hope we get to revisit that on the show because that's amazing character work if we keep diving on how selfish Simon's love is.

And one thing I think adds to this is how like, this is the statue Simon has on his office

It's of Persephone, the Goddess of Spring who was kidnapped and wed to Hades.

This type of stuff feels so subtle but the fact that Ice King kidnapped princesses, Simon keeps saying stuff like "my princess" about Betty and "I want you". I'm not saying this is like, Simon's true persona just that the grounding for Ice King may be more present on Simon than people like to think.

This is brilliant because Simon and Betty are both tragic backstories first and people second on the first time they were introduced, they are a tragic man lost to the crown and a lost love interest, Betty increasingly reminds us how she has nothing going on aside from Simon, how she sacrificed life changing job opportunities to him, how she sacrificed her life on the 20th century, her sanity, her magic, her body and entire life to him, and everything just for Simon to live miserably on Ooo afterwards, it feels like they're gonna implode at some point when they have nothing left to sacrifice for the other.

And I'm also fascinated by the world inside Simon's head, because Gary and Marshall's dates parallel Simon's headspace at the time, the weather and scenery changing depending on where Simon is. I wonder if that's just a cute reflection, if it's meant to show how Simon sees self-sacrifice as a form of love, or foreshadowing because at the end, Gary, who parallels Simon on the "BAD DAD/BAD MOM" scene, ends up being the one to sacrificing his job opportunities for his love, when in Simon's life he never had to do that, his career only improved after he got with Betty while Betty's entire life got worse. Idk I just want to see what small details will matter.

Adventure Time and Fionna and Cake Theory: The Victimhood of Simon + How the Series Might End

Prerequisite Watching for this Theory:

Adventure Time: Temple of Mars, Betty, Come Along With Me, Broke His Crown, I Remember You, Holly Jolly Secrets Part II

Gonna start this loaded theory with a bit of a hot take. I’ve never liked how Simon and Betty’s stories concluded in Come Along With Me.

For Simon, I’ve always had trouble considering Simon and the Ice King as the same person. Holly Jolly Secrets and I Remember You, the pinnacle of depicting the dichotomy of the two characters is built on us seeing Simon as suffering irreversible memory loss and how his loved ones can grow to accept that. The context is most apt when viewed as a metaphor for dementia, Alzheimer’s, or simply old age.

The scenes in which Ice King reacts so superfluously to characters desperately wishing for his old self to return are striking because of the cruel finality of his condition. Alternatively, the ones in which his loved ones hang around with him despite his condition are sweet in their own right.

One of my favorite Ice King scenes is in Broke His Crown where Marceline invites her girlfriend to meet her surrogate father.

Bubblegum: What's this?

Ice King: It's a present, to bribe you for coming over!

Marceline: You don't have to bribe us silly, we're here because we WANT to hang out with you.

Ice King: No one has ever said that to me before.

*snatches present*

Ice King: You didn't say no takebacks.

There was a real poignancy to depicting an old man with memory-loss slowly having people come to accept him and realize that he’s still a swell guy to hang around. It may be depressing to see this good person who was once so unconditionally caring into a buffoon who could forget your name so easily and turn on you in the flip of a coin.

But even he deserved love from others. And in time, as a result of that love, he did improve.

Which is why, even in Fionna and Cake, I find myself still disturbed seeing Simon in his normal state and Ice King completely erased from Ooo. It kills me that Betty and in extension, the show itself could not accept Ice King as he was and felt that his best course was to undo it all.

All of his experiences for 1000+ years all of a sudden no longer matter, and the acceptance of his peers no longer mattered as well. He's just back to who he used to be in a world where everything he's known is gone.

Happily ever after

Even worse, however, is remembering the wish that allowed Simon to be cured. The person who sacrificed her individuality to get that good person back, because she couldn’t accept reality as it was.

And I’m going to put a second hot take. A spicy one. Simon needs to take the fault in Betty's fate and Fionna and Cake (the show not the characters) seems aware of this.

Throughout Adventure Time, Simon Petrikov was never developed as a character. As far as the audience and the characters within Adventure Time knew, the only traits about Simon that mattered were: that he was intelligent, he was a kind man, and he loved Betty.

This wouldn’t really be a compelling character on its own, but when juxtaposed with the Ice King it’s a tragedy that he lost these traits. The compelling part of Simon was his victimhood to the ice crown and not really him as a person.

It’s why Obsidian’s version of Simon feels somewhat empty, he’s back to his intelligent, kind self but there’s no real hints to how he’s mentally adjusting other than that brief glimpse in Ice King’s robes again.

And he looks really weird in this special too. Color me surprised when Simon Petrikov reads out the problems I've had for years about his ending while also making Simon into his own person. In many ways it just completely redos what we see of him in Obsidian.

He's still a kind man but even he can't handle being so maladjusted to a world so beyond his time. He's still intelligent but his passions aren't reciprocated, and that seems to have always been the case even in the past. Rather than a guy who doesn't take shit from guys like Marceline's ex or a first responder to his daughter's problems, he's a normal guy unable to handle the threats of Ooo's world even after 12 years of living in it. Rather than singing to large communities in bliss, he's a lonely alcoholic who can't even relate to his fellow humans anymore. He loves his adopted daughter but there are even some days he can't muster the courage to be honest with her. And most importantly, he doesn't seem to know how to live beyond his curse or his loneliness.

His mutual obsession with Betty is the only character trait of his that's ever had some distinct flaw and with this new show, the writers must have finally found a way to tackle the subject further. Betty is ultimately a greater victim than Simon. She ends up in a far worse fate than Simon has ever been in. Perhaps more disturbingly, she willingly chose to strip herself of her individuality.

Fionna and Cake brings a contradiction to light about Simon and Betty’s seemingly perfect relationship. Simon and Betty's love is real and they do make each other happy. But there does exist a co-dependency that has worsened throughout the series as a result of their insecurity of letting a bad memory conclude their relationship. Betty's patterns are pretty clear throughout her tenure as Magic Woman but not too much with Simon. Not until now.

In Jerry, Simon stops Betty from pursuing her dreams because he didn’t want her goodbye to be his last memory with her.

In Betty, Simon rewrites history and inadvertently summons her to Ooo because he didn’t want Betty’s look of contempt to be his last memory of her.

And through all of Fionna and Cake, Simon has turned into a suicidal man willing to resummon GOLBetty regardless of the reasons she can’t see him again. All because he didn’t want her sacrifice to be his last memory of her. Despite the fact that Betty’s final wish was to keep Simon safe.

There's also this uneven power dynamic between the two. Simon was far more accomplished as a professor with PhDs even if no one took him seriously. Betty was just a student offering some help, knowing she wouldn't take any credit for helping.

I’ll preface that Betty is a consenting adult in the relationship and made many self-determined rash choices that Simon would never approve of with full context. We’ve enough scenes to show that Simon actively refuses Betty’s help if it means endangering her.

However, Simon’s perception of Betty and his own inadequacy did influence her personality for the worse. Fionna questions Simon on two occasions about how strange it was for “someone she just met to drop everything to go with you”. Even within the flashbacks Betty verbally describes her internal conflict between her individuality vs. her infatuation with Simon and the guy never picks up on it.

Whether he’s aware of it or not, Simon always ends up becoming the center of attention during Betty’s greatest life-changing events because he’s always suffering in some way. And sadly in-character, Betty always prioritizes him first because of how sorry she feels for him.

Simon: Just hold my hand to your face, this will be my… last sensation.

Betty: Don’t be a wimp, Simon!

I don’t want to be too hard on Simon, his suffering is cosmologically depressing. An undeniable tragedy that no one deserves to be alone on. It would be unfair to say he’s being dramatic about something most if not any human would ever go through. He’s not a leech for desiring help, especially from his significant other.

But I do think it’s important to point out that he does have a major flaw in not reflecting on the consequences of Betty’s choices.

Fionna: Damn, that’s romantic. So, you got on the bus with her?

Simon: Yup. Uh what? No. No. Why would I-

This is the reason this post exists. This is the show explicitly telling us that Simon has never really thought about what Betty lost because he thinks his love was greater than the passion Betty once had.

Let's go back to Betty once again for what is honestly the most justifiable takedown you could make of Simon's character prior to the miniseries.

As stated earlier, Simon opens a portal to ask for Betty's forgiveness with a few seconds on the clock. And in that time, he essentially just unloads a giant drama bomb, trauma dump of his suffering leading Betty to ask what she can even do without him. And if the plan went as it was, Simon would've just left her a hundred questions that she'd never have answered for the rest of her life.

Simon: Just know that I love you and I forgive you for leaving me. Author's Note: I dunno, isn't there something a bit off about how he worded this?

Now Simon didn't ask for Betty to jump into the portal, but he certainly was asking for it subconsciously. How else would he have expected a person who loves him dearly to act after this?

Taking any measures necessary and finding a way back together obviously. That's what he's doing too!

And reiterating again, this is the reason why Betty goes on her ego-suicidal quest. This is Simon's greatest mistake, his greatest moral failing as a person and he doesn't seem aware of this.

He’s not wrong that Betty lived happily with him. In spite of losing her dreams, Betty and Simon did love each other unconditionally. But he’s missing the bigger picture about how he could’ve been self-centered in deciding Betty’s fate for himself.

And maybe to stretch somewhat, I think even the quest to become Ice King again is somewhat motivated by his inability to live as anything more than a victim. Some of it is because the citizens of Ooo were being a bit inconsiderate about how much they liked Ice King yes, but Simon should be perfectly aware that Marceline, Betty, and now Fionna would be extremely concerned about him for doing this. Yet, he doesn’t really consider their feelings too much on the matter. He’s too used to the suffering.

Please have one scene with Marceline, I'd be sad if we don't get to see at least one.

This leads me to how I believe Fionna and Cake may rewrite Simon’s ending.

The key is in the episode Temple of Mars.

Upon rewatching the episode, I’m convinced that the Adventure Time cast had a greater plan with the Betty and Simon arc that just never came to be due to production constraints. A lot of Betty’s history and the deconstruction of her relationship with Simon in Jerry are surprisingly details that have already been told.

I thought it was an animation error that Betty’s glasses were different in Jerry but it turns out the continuity director is just that good.

The trip in six months, Simon stopping her, and the realization that Simon superseded her identity. Seeking independence from Simon is the lesson that Normal Man was trying failed to teach her.

Betty: I’ve spent so much time dedicated on Simon that I’m not even sure if there’s any “me” left anymore.

But the most telling detail is how Betty passes Normal Man’s test.

Finn: Even if you are a lost cause, she is not!

Betty: No, Finn’s right. You’ll thank me for this later past Betty.

In an alternate pocket reality, she changes her trip to the day before, preventing Simon from stopping her. And I think Simon will have to change fate once again to do the same.

If Simon comes to realize that he was the one who set Betty to her terrible fate, that all this time his rose-colored lens of their relationship had been detrimental then he could give her identity back. But it can’t be as simple as changing the moment Betty turns into GOLB or Magic Woman or even bringing her through the portal in Betty.

He needs to let Betty go on the bus. Alone.

It’s the only way for Betty to have her life back. If not for his Betty, maybe at least to save one in the multiverse doomed to the same fate.

They both need to cherish their time on the Enchiridion trip back when it wasn’t too late for Betty to go on the trip. Back when they were both equals and not tied to Simon’s needs.

Jerry is absolutely setting up something big with Simon and Betty’s relationship for next week and now that we’re going to the GOLB dimension, we’ll see how he remembers these moments again.

Personally, as someone who has been skeptical about Simon's peace for years, Fionna and Cake's second episode was like a sigh of relief. Simon hasn't found his ending yet, and my hope is that this epilogue will help me see the man happy without having to relive Betty's sacrifice for the rest of his life. Just like the rest of Adventure Time, it'll have to end with him cherishing the time he had with Betty regardless of the inevitability of losing that relationship.

PS. Isn’t quite strange that at one point in time, Simon sought after magic objects that ostracized him from the normal world and now, he lives in a house full of 1980s-1990s objects that ostracized him from the magical world? Maybe he was never really satisfied with where he was in the present.

PSS. I really wanted to write something on Fionna for the Ep 3-6 releases, and I still have the idea, but I couldn’t make it coherent due to how much my brain overthinks everything to the point of cognitive collapse. If there’s enough interest, I’ll go back to write it again.

[dex-xe]

I’ve made Spotify playlists inspired by each of the ghosts and I’ve made these little written pieces to talk about them. if you wanna read them, please go ahead - if not then enjoy the music!!

This is the Captain's playlist:

Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller

This is one of my favourite like old WWII style songs, I just think it’s beautiful and really great to dance slow to (at some point in my life I will dance with my husband or wife to this song in our little kitchen, and then my life will finally be complete). It’s in Doctor Who (in The Empty Child) and Jack and Rose dance to it in front of Big Ben, like it’s a really great scene in one of the best episodes of Dr Who ever. So good and a great WWII song.

Soldier - Trixie Mattel

Yes, I know this is about Katya’s issues and everything that happened with that but like it is also like very accurate to the Captain’s arc. Like “soldier, take your time” is like yeah?? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t believe the Captain is even remotely aware of the fact he’s gay cause like I don’t reckon he understands love or the fact that he’s got feelings like that, I don’t think he knows so yeah take your time to figure it out yeah, Captain.

We’ll Meet Again - Vera Lynn

This song seems to have taken a new meaning in pandemic times but Havers leaving Button House and (I assume) never returning but like the Captain staying at Button House completely in the dark as to what happened to Havers and therefore living with the possibility of Havers returning.

HEAVEN - Troye Sivan & Betty Who

Obviousssss, but this song was such an integral part in me figuring shit out about my life. Like, I was 14 and a massive Troye fan when it came out and (growing up in a working class, strict religious, small town family) the music video was literally my first understanding of the fight for queer rights. I knew about LGBTQ+ identities and identified as a variety of queer labels at the time I was completely unaware of the entire struggle that had come before me and seeing photos and footage of this fight for the first time was O.o Anyway, I'll stop talking about myself and say that I’m incredibly happy with the hc of the Captain trying to learn a bit more about queer history in his journey to accept himself.

In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars

The poor Captain, let the man love I beg. I have so much love for stories and hcs of the Captain being sweet and being in love like pls ily.

Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths

This might actually kill his gay little soul but by good it would be worth it!! I’m gonna go off on a bit of a philosophy tangent but what were ya expecting from me honestly: the sample used in Achilles Come Down is an extract from a 1942 essay by Albert Camus who, alongside Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the like, wrote about the concept of ‘the absurd’ which is a tricky concept but a reallyyyyyy simplified version of it is basically the idea that humans constantly search for a meaning and purpose for life and the universe but the universe does not provide answers to that which causes human distress. Basically, what I mean to say like isn’t that concept just so Captain?? Like he searches for meaning in war and can’t see life beyond the war because that provides him purpose, you know?? But yeah, it’s a banging song and I’m sorry about the tangent.

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

Ya saw this one coming :P Well he just is a good old fashioned lover boy so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

William, It Was Really Nothing - The Sm*ths

Even just the name being right is like *chefs kiss*. Yes there are lines in this song that are just shit and reallyyyyyyy show the views of M*rrisey and his general shitty behaviours.

It’s a Long Way to Tipperary - John McCormack

It’s just a fun song.

You’re Somebody Else - flora cash

LGBTQ+ staple really, ik it’s about being trans but I wanted to include it because of the recent Ben Willbond interview when he talks about how he’s interested in the contrast of a confused authoritative figure. Like the Captain is such a contrast and I love that in characters.

It’s Been a Long, Long Time - Harry James

Like I’ve said repeatedly, I wanted at least a little bit of time specific music for each of them I could. So yeah there’s a few for the Captain, WWII music is such a vibe tbh.

The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel

I’ve always interpreted the song as being about loneliness and well, Captain my boy that you. Like he’s literally surrounded by people 24/7 but is so very alone. When the others are all watching tv in Redding Weddy and the Captain is just sat in the window watching for Havers is just so pretty and I think it’s really telling of the relationship he has with the others.

The Arrow and the Aim - Nadia Reid

Pretty pretty song, the voice is *mwah* but that’s irrelevant.

Ramblings of a Lunatic - Bears In Trees

Okay but like yes. The Captain is so alone like despite being around people literally all the time - not being able to escape you might say. Is he aware he’s different? Like what goes on in his head, will we ever know?? Cap, you gotta start talking to people, man. You gotta open up cause you will go crazy, Ik it’s been 70 years fella but seriously you’re gonna go crazy soon.

Death with Dignity - Sufjan Stevens

Just a beautiful song, and yeah with the Captian being the way he is and so focused on the war and military and the idea of "death with dignity" is pretty prolific. Given that we're fairly sure the Captain never saw any action, would he be considered to have died with dignity?? Maybe, maybe not idk.

I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General - Arthur Sullivan & John Reed

That one scene where Alison is trying to sleep and the Captain is just sat beside her bed singing this. Like that’s so funny XD It’s his little head bob as he sings like that’s so good.

Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major - Arthur Askey

I remember my nan had an Askey record and she used to play it all the time and this always made me laugh cause 5 year old me couldn’t get the image of a really strong and tough soldier being all motherly and yeah I just wanted to include it :D

Teddy Boy - Paul McCartney

The Captain’s name is Teddy, I take no debate on this. Just the idea of the Captain’s backstory, like a childhood backstory for the Captain genuinely makes me cry. I know a lot of people have shared their stories of their interpretation of the Captain’s childhood and they’re all sad and I love them all :’) (Specifically a big fan of Operation Keep Calm on AO3 and what they’ve done with the Captain’s character and story, 10/10 would recommend but it’s not finished and I really hope it is at some point ily).

O Captain! My Captain! - The Static Shift

Just an interesting song, yeah? “I believe I’m in my prime”/“In my bally prime”, you get it XD

John My Beloved - Sufjan Stevens

I love this song (no I’ve never seen the film and no don’t really intend to) It’s just sweet, you know, and the religious elements etc yeah that’s good.

[thecrimsonjaguar]

A Short List of Adventure Time AUs

So I got a google doc of adventure time aus I’ve made over the past two or three years. Here are some of my favorites (and also the ones I came back to and edited)

If you’ve got ideas for an au or ideas to add onto the preexisting ones I’ve got here, please tell me! I’m always up for some au discussion. 

1.) Jermaine AU: Jermaine comes to live at the treehouse after his house blows up. This, unlike canon, happens rather early in season 3. The rest of the series mainly stays the same, except this time there's three brothers instead of two. He's a kinda anxious dude with demon hunting expertise and a painting hobby. He sometimes wonders if he made Dad disappointed by letting all his work explode. Finn and Jake help him out, and he helps them. Despite this, Jermaine is the only one with a brain, and Finn and Jake share exactly one (1) braincell that they trade every so often. Jermaine is tired. (Jermaine is the only one who tries to clean regularly, and he's also the one to keep Neptr, Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant, and a few others company. He's a bit of real wisdom the early series Finn and Jake needed.

2.) Melted Ice AU: Mid season two, IK is hit with something that de-ages him. He turns six. Maybe this mystery de-aging thing blows up the top of the ice mountain, who knows. Maybe he wakes up in the snow, with no memory of how he got there or why. No memory of the last one thousand years. Finn and Jake don't know about his backstory since that happens in season three. Simon is carried by a snowman out of the ice kingdom where he breaks down in the plains. Finn, of course, finds him and is ecstatic to meet another human. Completely missing the fact that this small child is, in fact, the Ice King, Finn declares to help this boy no matter what. That promise soon becomes difficult when people hear about the second human in Ooo, and whatever effect that's keeping him young starts to wear off. (Marceline comes to visit and has a heart attack)

3.) Adventure Falls AU: AT x GF baybee!! Seventeen year old Stanley Pines hops on the Stan O' War and sets sail when he's kicked out. Unfortunately, that boat is nowhere near sea worthy, and all it takes for him to go overboard is one sudden (magical) storm. But, miraculously, Stan doesn't die. He washes up on Ooo, the island of misfits. Where there's daddy issues galore and punching things and getting gold is a legitimate career. He's found on the shore by none other than Finn, who asks if he's okay and if a dungeon adventure would soothe his worries. Stan accepts, because that sounds awesome, and they maybe date. For the next ten years, Stanley is a professional hero. He travels with Finn, he lives in a tower with tons of gold, he's respected, adored, and has made a family for himself. Ooo has a habit of forcing traumatic therapy onto to people, so Stan gets (read: is forced) to work his issues out. And then, somehow, he gets a postcard from his brother.

4.) Young Pups AU: Jake's kids grow up fast- but not that fast. He stays with lady for a few episodes being Dad and when the Pups are old enough, go visit Finn and Jermaine. Also Jermaine is there when the pups are born that always bothered me in canon like what the fuck. This whole AU results in Jake the Dad being a better father than in canon, because he actually has time to make mistakes and learn from them. He sometimes shapeshifts into one of those baby carriers but suited for five kids instead of one. Finn and Jermaine fight for best uncle privileges. Finn is considerably more awesome but Jermaine's got magic junk and juicy stories about Jake. So far the votes are: FINN: Jake Jr, T.V.  JERMAINE: Kim Kil Whan, Charlie. Viola remains undecided.

4.) Evilgreen AU: Evergreen was evil. His idea to make the crown to stop the comet was actually a cover story to take control of all the elements and freeze everything. Of course the same thing happens here as it did in canon, Gunther gets the crown and wishes to *be* evergreen. This is bad. Very bad, so bad in fact, that things get FUnKy. A couple eons later, Simon gets the crown as per canon, and then things start to slide downhill. Since the crown is significantly worse, Simon tries to get rid of it. No amount of magic pull is going to get him to put on the eldritch hat. It teleports back. When things go to shit, the crown tells him he's got two options: He can either live, or he can live unwillingly. This all coalesces in super angst and mild horror as Simon has to fight off evil urges and somehow keep both he and Marceline safe. Things start looking up, though, when he summons Hunson Abadeer.

5.) Nightmare Therapy AU: Simon, now himself post canon, has some funky nightmares. Problem is: he's due for a visit from the cosmic owl due to some mystical bureaucratic bs. If that were to happen, Simon's dreams of Golb and Orgalorg and the world ending and everyone dying and maze would come true, without the veil of metaphoric junk dreams are known for (also due to bureaucratic bs). So, Simon gets a dream therapist. An OC, probably, that would fight off his nightmares when they came and talk to him about his issues.

6.) High School AU: Except they're all still magic and crap. Finn's a jock that's part of the LDnD club(Literally Dungeons and Dragons), Jake's got a job at a pancake place and hosts the Card Wars clubs on Wednesdays, Jermaine's in college and their parents were still detectives/demon hunters. PB is preppy/nerdy girl with weird fucking family and is absolutely a mad scientist. Marceline is still a demon/vamp (vampire biker gang, they all died, deaths pending) and her uncle is Simon. Simon is a history teacher whose ex wife might be an eldritch abomination (the students wonder, but there are no answers)((simon says cryptic things every so often that are the subject of much ridicule, but he's a nice guy)). Ooo High has all of the AT characters in some shape or form. Tree trunks is the lunchlady, Mr Pig is a janitor. Lemongrab is just there. LSP(Q?) is a teacher because that's hilarious. Hunson is dead along with Marceline's mom because fuck hunson. Magic Man is a hobo that snuck onto campus and can't be chased off (his brother is the superintendent, Glob). there's a lot more but that's for a different word doc.

7.) Back to the Future AU: So PB fucks around with time travel, right? For science. She gets sent back in time a thousand years, before the war. Now, she's a pink lady who can shoot jelly beans from her hands, of course needs to lay low. And of course she needs to get home, but she's in a Futurama situation where she only has one type of time machine; the one that can go into the past. Not to mention her own time machine got busted on her way there, so she's double screwed. But, she remembers something. There is an individual (two, actually) that knows about time travel in this time period. She knows him, and he's likely to help her if she plays her card right. She needs to find Simon and get back to her own time, preferably without dooming herself in the process. (perhaps she tries to steal the notes Simon has, and Simon's completely oblivious, except Betty can smell trouble from a mile away and immediately notices some pink woman trying to steal books and she goes ham. Perhaps she goes ham in such a way that Simon doesn't notice. Perhaps this goes on for seven acts.)

8.) Bread and Butter AU: Bella Noche during the episode Betty creates a huge black cube that engulfs all of Wizard City. This box acts as a cage and prevents Wizards from escaping the magic purge. Simon is unable to bring Betty back from the past, and he's fading fast. In a desperate attempt to stop things from escalating, Simon chugs a bottle of anti-magic like a fucking god. He gets through the cube that surrounds Bella Noche and knocks their lights out. He passes out, and when he comes to, the anti-magic he consumed as merged with him. This is because of a simple rule: Magic sticks to magic, anti-magic sticks to anti-magic. And since humans have always had just a little bit of anti -magic present within them, humans and anti-magic go together like bread and butter (badumtish) ((I have actually written a fanfic about this, you can find it here))

9.) Swapped AU: Through various shenanigans Ice King's and Magic Man's powers gets swapped. These shenanigans somehow land them in space as well. This happens before Magic Man's trial. The swapping of their powers results in Simon getting his memory back. It also gives Magic Man the Ice Crown, unfortunately for him though, it seems to hate him. Simon's glad to back, but quickly realizes one issue: He's still crazy. So the pair try to make it back to Ooo. MM needs his powers to swap himself with some other shmuck so he doesn't croak when his trial comes, but Simon's made it clear he isn't giving his powers up without a fight. The pair starts off rocky, neither trusting the other, but space trouble forces them to work together. Simon's a nice enough guy he wouldn't leave someone to die and MM really needs Simon alive so it works out. A weird friendship forms, and they learn get along. Just a couple of crazy space wizards. Then the crown is destroyed. MM is freed from the crown's control, and he's freed from magic. He gets his sanity back, just in time for his trial.

that’s all I’ve got for now!

[femalechibiblogger]

My Top 10 Most Tragic Villains

1. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

Anakin Skywalker is one of the most important characters in the Star Wars franchise. In the first movie, Anakin is only mentioned and is described as being a skilled Jedi Knight, a good pilot, and was also a good friend. Even in the prequels and cartoons that came years later, Anakin is shown to be kind, caring, and determined to save those closest to him. However...no one would have expected a great Jedi and friend to become the most infamous villain in the series. Anakin’s darker feelings, such as anger and jealousy, made him vulnerable to the Dark Side of the Force. When he has visions of his pregnant wife, Padme, dying in childbirth, Anakin is determined to do anything that he can to stop his vision from coming true...including betraying his friends, killing children, and helping a Sith Lord conquer the galaxy. However, Padme still dies, and Anakin becomes the Sith Lord: Darth Vader. Anakin had lost everything...his friends, his wife, everyone...and now all he had left was Emperor Palpatine and the Empire. But for many years, Anakin was unaware that his children had survived: His son Luke, and his daughter Leia. In the end, Anakin chooses to save Luke from Palpatine, and dies knowing that his son never gave-up on him. 

Despite Darth Vader having been a villain, he is only a villain because he was deceived and tormented until he lost everything and everyone who loved and cared about him. For many years, Anakin was haunted by his past actions, and lived in great regret of what he had done. But in the end, we see that he still had some good left in him, as Palpatine could never destroy Anakin’s love for his children. 

2. Arthur Fleck/Joker (2019)

Arthur Fleck is the main character of the original DC Comics story in the movie, Joker. Arthur is shown to be a mentally ill man who suffers from uncontrollable laughter due to a brain injury, who lives with his delusional and emotionally disturbed mother. Arthur worked as a clown, but his dream was to become a comedian. However, Arthur had been mocked by many people in Gotham, which caused him to kill three men who were harassing both him and a woman on a train. Arthur’s actions cause an uproar consisting of people who are either poor, unemployed, mentally ill, or all of the above. As the story progresses, Arthur discovers from shocking truths about his life: His mother had lied about him being the illegitimate son of her former boss, billionaire Thomas Wayne... His mother was actually his adoptive mother, and that he allowed her boyfriend to abuse Arthur...abuse that had caused him his head injury which is the reason for his uncontrollable laughing. Tired of being lied to and ridiculed all his life, Arthur kills his mother, dresses up as a clown, and kills people on live television. Not only that, but the protests that Arthur had unintentionally caused resulted in the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, whose murders were witnessed by their son Bruce. 

This is one of the few stories that actually features Joker’s backstory. This movie is not based off of any comics, and is therefore an original story. While Joker is one of Batman’s most dangerous villains, this may be one of the greatest portrayals of his former self. Arthur Fleck had suffered his whole life, until he snapped and would become one of the Gotham’s greatest threats.

3. Simon Petrikov/Ice King

The Ice King was the main antagonist of the cartoon, Adventure Time. Throughout the series, Ice King would attempt to kidnap princesses, especially Princess Bubblegum, and would often fight the two main protagonists: Finn and Jake. However, Ice King’s past was unexpectedly revealed in the episode, Holly Jolly Secrets. At first the episode is comedic and shows videos of Ice King’s hilarity...but it all becomes serious and sad near the end. Ice King is revealed to have once been a human named ‘Simon Petrikov’, who specialized in mysterious, supernatural artifacts. Simon had a great career, and was madly in love with his fiance: Betty. But one day, Simon found a mysterious crown buried in ice and snow. When Simon put it on his head, it gave him visions that made him act insane without him even realizing it. This drove Betty away, and Simon began to slowly change physically, emotionally, and mentally. In the end, Simon was driven completely insane and lost all memories of his past. His obsession with princesses is because he used to call Betty his ‘princess’...though he did not remember calling her that. In the series finale, Simon is freed from the crown’s power and is returned to his old self.

While Ice King was introduced as a comedic villain, and was the main antagonist for most of the series...he is still a tragic villain do to him once being a sane man with a good life, but began to lose his mind because of the crown’s magic. At least he was transformed back into his old self, in the end. 

4. Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze is one of the most famous and tragic villains in the Batman universe. Mr. Freeze is, of course, a villain who uses the cold in his crimes. But in the past, Mr. Freeze was a scientist named ‘Victor Fries’ who had a loving and caring relationship with his wife: Nora. Victor loved Nora more than anything in the world. But at some point, Nora was diagnosed with a fatal disease with not long to live. Desperate to save her, Victor had Nora cryonectically frozen in order to keep her alive until a cure for her illness was found. Unfortunately, however, the equipment malfunctioned, causing the lab to explode in ice with Victor in it. Victor survived, but the explosion caused his body to only be able to survive in extremely cold weather. Nora had also survived...but her condition was even more serious than before. Victor created a suit to help him live, and began to commit crimes so he could continue keeping his wife alive.

Mr. Freeze’s motive for his crime spree is his wife’s life. He would go to extreme lengths to save her life...even if it meant becoming a bad guy.

5. Zack Foster and Rachel Gardner

While number 5 on the list consists of a duo...Zack and Rachel make one heck of a team. Zack and Rachel are the two main characters in the anime, Angels of Death, in which all of the characters are, in fact, mentally unstable individuals who like to kill people. 

As a child, Zack had lived with his mother until her boyfriend set him on fire for his own enjoyment. While Zack survived this attack, his mother abandoned him at an illegal orphanage, where many other orphans were mistreated and starved by the couple who owned the orphanage. Zack was forced to bury the bodies of the orphans who died there, and was treated as a pet by the couple. One night, Zack watched a slasher film, which gave him the idea to stab the couple to death while they slept. Afterwards, Zack left the orphanage and was soon taken in a blind, homeless man who was the first and only person to ever show him kindness. However, the man was killed by a couple of sociopaths. Zack found out and killed them. For many years...Zack would kill people who were ‘happy’ and lied to him, thus earning him the title of a serial killer. 

Rachel had lived with her parents before the start of the series. Rachel’s father was a cop who had a drinking problem, which resulted in several fights between him and his wife. Both of them blamed each other for Rachel’s lack of emotions, but only stayed together because of Rachel. Rachel’s father saw her as an insane girl, and her mother hated her and would even beat her. One day, Rachel found a stray puppy and wanted to keep it, but her parents wouldn’t listen to her and just kept on fighting with each other. But later on, she went back to where the puppy was and it bit her. This caused Rachel to blackout, but when she came to...she saw that she had killed the dog without even remembering what she had done. She then “fixed” the puppy by sewing it back together, thus “making it her’s”. When Rachel returned home with the puppy that night, her father snapped and stabbed her mother to death. Rachel witnessed it and ran back to her room, with her father chasing after her with the knife. Rachel took out a gun that her mother had hidden from him, and shot her father in self-defense. Rachel then sewed her parents’ bodies together, as her way of “fixing” them and creating her “perfect family”. A week later, the police arrived at the house and saw Rachel with the sewed up puppy and her parents. The police thought that Rachel was a surviving victim who was in shock, and was sent to a mental institution for treatment. 

Zack and Rachel are quite complicated, as they have both protagonist and antagonist qualities. They both kill people and use each other to escape a building full of death traps and killers...but they also care and understand each other, as they have both suffered years of abuse to the point of developing murderous instincts.

6. Dr. Doofenshmirtz

Dr. Doofenshmirtz was basically the main comedic-antagonist of the cartoon, Phineas and Ferb. Doofenshmirtz is the arch nemesis of Perry the Platypus, and is always making some kind of ‘inator’ device to conquer the Tri State Area...though many of his “evil” plans backfire and are not really THAT evil. Though the reason why Doofenshmirtz is an evil genius, is because of his bad childhood. 

Both of his parents neglected him, he always lived in the shadow of his younger brother, his only friend was a balloon, no one ever came to any of his birthdays, he was forced to wear dresses after his brother was born, and he was even disowned at one point and was forced to live with ocelots. So, yeah...it’s no wonder he turned to a life on crime. 

Doofenshmirtz is quite hilarious and not very evil...but his terrible childhood makes you wonder how he hasn’t killed anyone! At least his arch nemesis and teenage daughter care about him. 

7. Denzel Crocker 

Denzel Crocker is one of the main antagonists of the cartoon, Fairly Odd Parents. Crocker is a fourth grade teacher who is obsessed with catching fairies...which makes the people around him see him as crazy. Of course, there is a reason for his obsession with fairies.

When Crocker was a child, his single mother worked two jobs and left him with an abusive babysitter. Because of this, he had fairy godparents...just like Timmy Turner. His life with his fairies was the only time in his life when he was happy. However, after Timmy went back in time and accidentally revealed that Crocker had fairies, his fairies were taken away from him and his memory was erased several times. People even forgot all of the good things that Crocker had done with his fairies, and was now hated by the townspeople. Because his memory was erased more than once, his appearance changed...but he still did not forget the existence of fairies, only forgetting that he himself had fairy godparents as a child.

Crocker’s obsession with proving the existence of fairies has caused him to become a laughing stock, to the point where he was expelled from Harvard, was denied funding for his fairy research, lost his girlfriend, and he never moved out of his childhood home. Crocker is capable of building extraordinary machines and is quite smart, but he wastes his talents on trying to prove the existence of fairies. If only Crocker had never became obsessed with fairies, he may have been able to live a normal and decent life.

8. Wellies

Wellies are the residents of Wellington Wells in the game, We Happy Few. Wellies are known to be decent citizens in Wellington Wells...but their minds and emotional states are from from decent. They kill or throw out anyone who becomes a Downer (a person who either won’t take Joy, or cannot take Joy due to having a bad reaction towards it). But their villainous characteristics are all caused by denial and drug usage. 

In an alternate timeline, England surrendered to Germany during WWII and the citizens of Wellington Wells were forced to send their under 13 children on a train to Germany. The children never returned, even after Germany lost the war, and all of the townspeople were so traumatized by what had happened that they now rely on a drug: Joy. Joy is a pill that makes people forget the past, and put them in a state of constant happiness. The Wellies are addicted to this drug, as they cannot bear to remember what had happened to the children. To make matters worse, their whole civilization is now on the verge of collapse due to many problems caused by them always being on Joy: Broken machinery, plagues caused by pollution, towns beginning to collapse due to poor maintenance, starvation due to lack of food production, and a government who cannot bear to face the reality of their situation and would rather be on Joy than solve the problem. 

Because of their reliance on Joy, Wellies are completely unaware that the town is collapsing, and would rather be in denial than face reality. 

9. Mary

Mary is the hidden antagonist in the game, Ib. At first, Mary appears to be an innocent girl who claims to be trapped in the Fabricated World like the main protagonists, Ib and Garry. However, it is revealed that Mary is actually a girl from a painting who wants to escape the Fabricated World by replacing either Ib or Gary in the real world. 

Depending on the game’s ending, Mary either replaces Ib or Garry in the real world by leaving one of them behind in the Fabricated World, or is defeated by Ib and Garry and remains trapped in the Fabricated World. 

Mary was the last painting made by the artist: Guertena. She saw him as her “father”, because she was created by him, and was devastated by his death. Mary is very lonely in the Fabricated World, and wants so desperately to exist in the real world. Mary would do anything to become real and have a friend and family of her own. Years of loneliness can make a person desperate and insane.  

10. Zombies

Zombies are always the villains in anything zombie-related. They are undead humanoids who eat human flesh, and drive survivors to do questionable things and fight for survival. 

However, there is something that some people seem to forget: Zombies used to be normal, ordinary humans who did not become zombies by choice. They were turned into zombies either because of a mysterious virus, or a nuclear weapon that mutated them into creatures of the undead. 

Zombies do not remember who they once were, and some even end up killing and eating their own loved ones without even realizing it. They have basically been ripped of their humanity and are now walking shells of their former selves.

[bitchterra]

Adventure Time Episode Guide Post!

With Adventure Time ending, now is the perfect time to catch up! But the amount of episodes can be a little intimidating. So the list of (at least semi) plot driven eps. I wrote down every arch episode as well as every episode with continuity and foreshadowing so...it ended up being...long. But there’s a summery of why each ep is on my list so you can choose your own adventure (time). Also not that my opinion matters but my fave eps have a star next to them! 

season one

 s1e1: Slumber Party Panic- This is the pilot so you gotta watch it 

s1e3: Prisoners of Love- Character introductions. Antagonist introduction. Sets the tone for for the show. Continuity. 

s1e4: Tree Trunks- Character introduction. The beginning of a story line.  

S1e5: The Enchirdion -Important for continuity reasons. Will be relevant later on

S1e12: Evicted!- Character introduction.

S1E16: Ocean of Fear - Foreshadowing. Important continuity.

S1E20: Freak City -Character introduction

S1E22: Henchmen -Character development. Character growth.

S1e25: His Hero- Character introduction.

Season two

S2e1: It Came from the Nightosphere -Character introduction. Character development. Scenes contain World building elements.

s2e8: crystals Have Power- A continuation of the story line for the episode Tree Trunks

S2e18: Susan strong - World building. Character introduction. An ark-ish episode 

s2e22: The Limit- It’ll be relevant like 20 seasons later I promise 

S2e24: Mortal Folly -Season ark episode. Antagonist introduction (the big bad)

S2e25 Mortal Recoil -A continuation of Mortal Folly

Season three

S3e3: Memory of a Memory- Exposition and foreshadowing. ⭐️

S3e5: Too young - Plot episode. Character introduction. A conclusion for the story line following Mortal Recoil.

S3e7: Still -Minor foreshadowing for waay in the future. 

S3e12: The Creeps- Foreshadowing.

S3e14: Beautopia - Continuation of a series plot line.

S3e18: The New Frontier - Foreshadowing.

S3e19: Holly Jolly Secrets Part 1 and 2 - Character development. Contains world building elements and exposition.

S3e25: Dads Dungeon -Small plot point as well as look into Finn and Jake's childhood. 

S3e26: Incenduim-  Plot episode. Character introduction. Character growth. New love interest for Finn.

Season four

S4e1: Hot to the touch -Continuation of the season three finale

s4e5: Return to the Nightosphere- The beginning of a story line

s4e6: Daddy’s Little Monster- The conclusion to the episode Return to the Nightosphere

S4e7: In Your Footsteps -Bridge episode for a season story line

S4e15: Sons of Mars -World building and continuity. Some good info to store in the back of your brain.

S4e16: Burning Low -Character growth. Character development. ⭐️

s4e18: King Worm-  Foreshadowing 

S4e19: Lady & Pebbles - Plot twist!

S4e20: You Made Me: Continuity for a plot line later on

S4e25: I Remember You -Plot reveal and character development. It's b b b backstory time! ((Lil bit)) *

S4e26: The Litch -Ark episode!

Season five

S5e1&2: Finn the human/Jake the Dog- The continuation of the season four finale. Lots of foreshadowing and insight into the AT universe. Character introduction.

S5e6: Jake The Dad- Character(s) introduction.  

S5e9: All Your Fault- The beginning of a very strange story line

S5e14: Simon & Marcy- Marcaline and the ice kings past is revealed! The laws and reality of the AT universe are once again expanded upon. It's fffflashback time! ⭐️(!)

S5e16: Puhoy: Not essential but minor foreshadowing for that one...thing. ⭐️

S5e24: Another Five More Short Graybles- This seems like a filler but it actually has content that furthers the lemongrab story line.

s528: Be More- World building. Minor character Introduction. Character development.  

S5e29: Sky Witch- Character introduction. Antagonist introduction. The beginning of a series story line  

S5e30 Frost & Fire: Season ark episode. Plot development ⭐️

S5e31: Too Old: The continuation of the lemongrab story line as well as character growth for Fin. Character introduction * 

S5e32: Earth & Water: Character development. Character growth. Plot twist. It's fffflashback time!

S5e34: The Vault- Explanation for the foreshadowing in the episode The Creeps. More foreshadowing. Timeline development.

S5e35: Love Games- Non essential but we do see some emotional character development for fin.

S5e36: Dungeon Train: Character growth and more foreshadowingTM

S5e37: Play Date: Continuity. The beginning of a story line.

S5e38: The Pit- The conclusion of the story line for the episode Play Date. 

S5e42: James: The beginning of a story line. Continuity.

S5e44: Apple wedding: Series antagonist introduction.

S5e45: Blade of Grass: Series plot episode.

s5e46: Rattleballs- Character exposition. Character development. Exposition. 

S5e48: Betty -Series plot episode. Introduction of character (kinda)

S5e50-51: Lemonhope part 1 and 2: The conclusion to the lemmongrab story line ⭐️

S5e52: Billy's Bucket List- The conclusion of season 5 and set up for season six. Plot twist!

season six

S6e1: Wake Up-  Part one of a story line, that follows up on the end of s5. Character introduction. Lots of plot.

S6e2: Escape from the Citadel- Part two of the season premier. Soo much plot and set up for the season. ItTM finally happens.

S6e4: The Tower- Emotional development for Fin

S6e6: Breezy- More emotional development for Fin. Plot progression.⭐️

S6e10: Something Big- Follow up for the episode Sky Witch in season 5

S6e16: Joshua & Margaret Investigations- Relevant exposition Plot twist!

S6e19: Is That You?- Important season/series plot episode. ⭐️

s6e20: The Dentist- Its sort of the start of a story line...or at least there is continuity thats semi relevant later on 

S6e22: The Cooler- Character growth.

S7e23: The Pajama Wars- character growth. Establishes something that will be relevant this season.

S6e24: Evergreen- Very important series plot episode, as well as a continued set up for the finale of season six. Important exposition. Major world building. Its fffflahs back time!⭐️

S6e25: Astral Plane- Another season ark episode. Important exposition. ⭐️

s6e26: Gold Stars- Plot build up. Character development.

S6e27: The Visitor- Character Development.

S6e33: Jermaine- Character introduction.

S6e36: Hoots- Season ark episode. Foreshadowing. Plot twist.

S6e38: You Forgot Your Floaties- Series ark episode.

S6e39: Be Sweet- Foreshadowing/ anticipation build up for the season finale.

S6e40: Orgalorg- Season ark episode. Follows up on some foreshadowing really funny foreshadowing from way back in season two. Continuity. Plot twist. Follow up on hoots.

S6e41: On the Lam- Character development. ⭐️

S6e42: Hot Diggity doom/ The Comet- Season finale. Exposition. A lot of Continuity/ foreshadowing. 

Season seven

S7e1 Bonnie & Neddy: Follows up on the end of season six. Character introduction 

S7e4 Mamma Said: Mostly filler but ends with some plot progression

ITS MINI SERIES TIME!

Stakes: I would strongly recommend watching every episode of Stakes. There are lots flashbacks, world building explanations and character growth. Just watch the first eight episodes before you decide if you like it or not. ⭐️

S721: Kings Randsome-  Plot progression. The beginning of a story line. 

S7E23: Crossover: It relates to the episode Fin the Human, at the start of season five. Probably a series ark episode. So much continuity. 

S7e25 Flute Spell: Character Introduction. Love interest introduction.

Season 8

S8e1: Broke His Crown- follow up on the episode Kings Randsome

S8e5: I am a Sword- Plot progression. The beginning of an overarching story line

S8e7: Normal Man- A resolution episode for the Magic Man story line.

S8e7: Elemental- Set up for a story line. Antagonist introduction

S8e13: Preboot- Season arch episode. Story line set up. Antagonist introduction. Continuity. ⭐️ (Also she is the worst villain and nobody talks about that!)

S8e13: Reboot- The continuation of the previous episode "preboot". Season arch episode. *

S8e15: Two Swords- Continuation of the current story line. Character introduction. ⭐️

S8e15: Do No Harm- Foreshadowing. Character development. 

S8e19: Jelly Beans Have Power- Bridge episode for the story line that was introduced in the episode "Elemental" and will take place next season.

It's mini Series Time!

Adventure time: Islands! There are some really creative world building, reveals as well as character introductions. A lot of questions are answered! Also, it's fff flashback time!⭐️ 

season 9

It’s Mini Series Time!

Adventure time: Elements- We kick of immediately with another miniseries (for some reason...) ... :(

s9e10: Abstract- A follow up on the end of the mini series elements

s9e13; Whispers- The beginning a story line.

s9e14: Three Buckets- A follow up on the episode Whispers. 

WELP there’s still season 10 but thats not finished yet so I’ll add it on later! anyway now instead of watching 246 episodes you can just watch....115...  :(

also!

Au episodes:

s3e9: Adventure Time With Fionna and Cake (gender swap series)

s5e1: Fin The Human

s5e9: Bad Little Boy (gender swap series)

s5e15: A Glitch Is a Glitch

s6e7: Food Chain 

s6e9: The Prince Who Wanted Everything (gender swap series)

s6e22: Water Park Prank 

s7e20: Bad Jubies

s8e9: Five Short Tables (gender swap series)

s9e12: Fionna and Cake and Fionna (this actually not an AU episode but it technically still concludes the gender swap series) 

My Favorite Filler Episodes

s3e10: What was missing *

s3e20: Marceline’s closest *

s4e7: Princess Cookies 

s4e12: Gotcha!

s4e17: BMO Noire 

s5e5: All the Little People * 

s6e17: The Diary *

s7e16: Summer Showers

s7e26: The Thin Yellow Line 

s8e16: Wheels 

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 25 February 2019

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1008 continues “Leviathan Rising” from Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Epting, Brad Anderson, and Josh Reed as the DEO is the next organization to be taken out. Great art from Epting and Anderson as the intrigue continues to unfold .

| Published by DC Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #16 gives us a prelude to “Hunted”. The mix of Nick Spencer’s humour with the subject matter of Kraven setting up an animal villain hunting network feels a little weird, but I want to see where he’s going with this.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: No Road Home #3 adds new wrinkles to the tale as we find out that Nyx’s quest has affected Nightmare while another bunch of the Avengers search for a shard of her power. Love the narration and spotlight on Rocket Raccoon this issue. Great work all around from Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Mark Waid, Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco, Jesus Aburtov, and Cory Petit.

| Published by Marvel

Batgirl #32 concludes “Old Enemies” as Batgirl and Jason Bard reluctantly team-up to stop Cormorant. It doesn’t go as well as you’d hope, with Mairghread Scott leaving a lot of questions for future issues and setting up a continued rivalry. The levels of intrigue through the story are very compelling.

| Published by DC Comics

Betty & Veronica #3 continues the conflict between Betty and Veronica over a misunderstanding. It’s interesting as to how these things come about simply through a lack of communication and willingness to discuss the problems between two friends. Jamie Lee Rotante, Sandra Lanz, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Jack Morelli capture the high school drama very well.

| Published by Archie

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #8 sees the return of Dean Ormston to begin a new arc on a strange new world. Like the revelation before of where the heroes were, this is another big change as we follow Lucy Weber in a relatively “normal” world. 

| Published by Dark Horse

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2 sets another high water mark for this rebooted series, capturing the spirit and essence of the original, but updating it for current audiences. The reintroduction of Spike, Drucilla, and Cordelia are great, especially the characterization that Jordie Bellaire gives her. She’s not presented here as a catty mean girl and I think it will lead to a more nuanced, interesting conflict between her and the Scooby Gang in the beginning. Also, the art from Dan Mora and Raúl Angulo is perfect. Seriously perfect.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Captain America #8 continues this trend of Adam Kubert delivering some of the best art of his career. Kubert has always been a good to great artist, providing memorable work with Wolverine, Uncanny X-Men, and The Incredible Hulk, but in recent years he seems to have given a concerted effort to top his own already high bar of quality. The visual storytelling, panel compositions, layouts and transitions through this issue are phenomenal. Thoroughly gorgeous artwork from Kubert with colours by Frank Martin. 

| Published by Marvel

Crimson Lotus #4 twists the tale again with a bit of misdirection and a demon monkey with a revolver. I think more stories need demon monkeys with guns. John Arcudi, Mindy Lee, Michelle Madsen, and Clem Robins up the stakes heading into the conclusion.

| Published by Dark Horse

Daredevil #2 is incredible. Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles seem to be shooting for a masterpiece with “Know Fear” and it’s shaping up very well so far. Gorgeous artwork, coupled with an intriguing mystery, this really isn’t something that should be missed.

| Published by Marvel

Detective Comics #999 concludes “Mythology” and it basically convinces me that Batman is completely batshit insane at this point. I’m not sure if that was supposed to be my takeaway or not, but it seems to be the most logical conclusion to “Bruce tries to kill himself every year”.

| Published by DC Comics

Fantastic Four #7 continues Doom vs. Galactus. The artwork from Aaron Kuder, John Lucas, Marte Gracia, and Rachelle Rosenberg is incredible. There’s a very nice epic scope to the action.

| Published by Marvel

Fight Club 3 #2 is incredibly inventive. There are quite a few moving pieces that aren’t exactly wholly explained, but it’s amazing as to just how much information is really in the art, with this issue giving more context to what was happening last issue pretty much right in front of us, and I suspect the following issue will likewise better inform this one. This kind of recursive storytelling really fits the fractured mindset of “Balthazar”. Also, the art is insanely good, with very unique application of mirrored concepts and a frame that acts as a portal to somewhere else. Chuck Palahniuk, Cameron Stewart, Dave McCaig, and Nate Piekos are really creating something special here.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Flash #65 concludes “The Price” crossover with Batman from Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Tomeu Morey, and Steve Wands. Spinning out of Heroes in Crisis, it’s a dark conclusion, leaving the heroes kind of beaten down despite a “victory” and Flash’s world more or less in shambles. With an epilogue hinting at worse down the road with “Year of the Villain”, while this is interesting now, I’m not sure how much of a repeat of bleak futures where heroes distrust heroes and everyone loses I can handle. That said, “The Price” itself has been an entertaining arc with some heavy development between Flash and Batman and another important puzzle piece in what’s going on in regards to whoever’s working to bring Batman, and likely every superhero, down. With some phenomenal art from Sandoval, Tarragona, and Morey.

| Published by DC Comics

The Forgotten Queen #1 begins a mini-series focusing on the villain War-Monger, fleshing out her backstory as an unwitting marine archaeological salvage crew search for her, from Tini Howard, Amilcar Pinna, Ulises Arreola, and Jeff Powell. You needn’t know anything about War Monger’s, now Vexana, previous appearances before as this can pretty much be enjoyed on its own and seems to be acting as a way to really build her up into something greater. To that degree, this is a great start. Compelling stories both in the present and the past, showcasing Vexana seducing Temujin, with very nice art from Pinna and Arreola.

| Published by Valiant

Freedom Fighters #3 pushes hard the plot point that in order to truly help America rise again and fight back against the Nazi occupation is to give the people hope and have them believing in Uncle Sam again. It’s a quaint idea and I love that Robert Venditti tackles the approach from both angles amongst the Freedom Fighters in regards to application of their efforts. Also, again, the artwork from Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Adriano Lucas is stunning.

| Published by DC Comics

Hardcore #3 pushes the narrative further over a cliff to the point where Drake is now essentially falling, trying just to survive, as everything pretty much explodes. The action in this series is palpable as Andy Diggle, Alessandro Vitti, Adriano Lucas, and Thomas Mauer seem hellbent on making this as exciting a thrill ride as possible.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Hellboy and the BPRD: 1956 #4 is a bit of a turning point with Bruttenholm suffering a loss, the set-up for what happened to Varvara in the intervening years between her early days and the present, and what prompted Bruttenholm to drag back Hellboy. I really quite like Mike Norton’s take on Varvara.

| Published by Dark Horse

Ice Cream Man #10 is part two of “Hopscotch Mélange” and this strange reveal of the history of the Ice Cream Man and his brother the Cowboy. This one gives us a tragic love story, partially in Spanish.

| Published by Image

Invaders #2 deepens the mystery of Namor’s motivating factors and his apparent secret history with Professor Xavier. Carlos Magno handling present day scenes and Butch Guice the past works very well for the storytelling. It gives the flashbacks a dark, gritty feel that separates it from the current day.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Odyssey #6 sees Dan Abnett take over writing duties, joining Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ivan Plascencia, and Andworld Design as the stakes in the Ghost Sector are raised a bit. Among the chaos of this area of space and the repercussions of Darkseid’s designs, there’s a nice character moment between Jessica and Cyborg.

| Published by DC Comics

Martian Manhunter #3 dives into J’onn’s arrival on Earth and how he became John Jones from Steve Orlando, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, and Deron Bennett. While I’m riveted by the overall story, the art from Rossmo and Plascencia continues to be thrilling. Amazing layouts, character designs, panel compositions, and an almost psychedelic approach to the colours elevate this story so much.

| Published by DC Comics

Marvel Comics Presents #2 is still an oddball little anthology, with the serial Wolverine lead and this time a Fantastic Four and a Gorilla-Man back-up. On the one hand, it deals with time and the past, which is a key theme in the Wolverine story and a byproduct of the nature of the Fantastic Four tale, which takes place in the ‘50s. It’s kind of weird seeing something like this taking place in the actual time that it would given the original release of Fantastic Four back in the ‘60s, but Mark Waid, Djibril Morissette-Phan, Dan Brown, and Joe Caramagna give us a decent Cold War story. And then there’s the Laphams’ (with Lee Loughridge and Caramagna) Gorilla-Man story, which is good with Ken dealing with his attitude toward his gorilla spirit, but doesn’t necessarily fit that time or out of time theme.

| Published by Marvel

Oliver #2 delves deeper into the social structure of this world and into Oliver’s nature. Gary Whitta, Darick Robertson, Diego Rodriguez, and Simon Bowland are giving us a very interesting reimagining of Oliver Twist, with drop dead gorgeous artwork.

| Published by Image

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #2 is brilliant. Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou are creating a story here that acts as a de facto sequel to Watchmen on one hand, but is also a very clever deconstruction of that story, its structure, its characters, in order to present something unique. The little human elements of Peter and Tabu are sweet and the art is freaking awesome.

| Published by Dynamite

Punks Not Dead: London Calling #1 is the welcome return of Sid and Fergie in this second series from David Barnett, Martin Simmonds, Dee Cunniffe, and Aditya Bidikar. It picks up pretty much right where the first book left off, and continues the pair’s quest to find Fergie’s dad while the rest of the world deals with the paranormal fallout.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Quincredible #4 sees Glow help Quin rescue his parents, then launch into an investigation of the powers behind the escalating gang warfare. I’ve really been enjoying what Rodney Barnes, Selina Espiritu, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Tom Napolitano have been doing on this book, with the coming-of-age tale and family drama, but this one really cinches things as it brings together the shared universe aspect of the Catalyst Prime world.

| Published by Lion Forge / Roar / Catalyst Prime

Redlands #11 is somewhat disquieting as we learn more about Z’s dead friend, Jake, who is currently inhabiting Nancy’s dead body. Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa Del Rey, and Clayton Cowles are doing a wonderful job of continuing the disturbing horror elements of this series, while broadening the characters and wider plot.

| Published by Image

Savage Sword of Conan #2 travels deep into Stygia as Conan and Suty search for the treasure from the map burned into Conan’s mind, while navigating through the terror unleashed by Koga Thun’s cult. While a bit more straightforward in its narrative, this tale from Gerry Duggan, Ron Garney, Richard Isanove, and Travis Lanham is holding its own against the equally excellent story unfolding in Conan the Barbarian. Like that one, this feels like Conan. It feels weighty, bloody, and dangerous with a compelling quest in front of him.

| Published by Marvel

The Silencer #14 starts a new arc from Dan Abnett, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Mike Spicer, and Tom Napolitano as Honor gets accustomed to her new old role as Leviathan’s cleaner. Great action sequences as always, plus the added benefit of Honor’s husband investigating her life since he can’t accept that she’s dead. That should add some interesting complications down the road.

| Published by DC Comics

Star Trek: The Q Conflict #2 divides up the crews amongst teams for the immortals and sets them off on their first challenge, to recover an Iconian gateway device. I think this is a very interesting way for a crossover between the different eras to occur and the art from David Messina, Elisabetta D’Amico, Alessandra Alexakis, and Carola Borelli is wonderful.

| Published by IDW

The Superior Spider-Man #3 concludes Ock’s battle with Terrax. This is really a wonderful showcase for the art from Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, and Jordie Bellaire. The action throughout the issue is very well done.

| Published by Marvel

West Coast Avengers #8 has Jeff, the land shark puppy, and that’s all you really need to know about whether or not you should buy this. Because you should. For Jeff. Do it for Jeff. Also, there’s an interesting plot regarding abductions that Noh-Varr thinks is Skrulls, but you mainly want this for Jeff. Kelly Thompson, Gang Hyuk Lim, and Joe Caramagna deliver a fun start to this next arc.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #65 concludes “The Grudge” as Wonder Woman confronts Nemesis again, gains a new understanding, and sets off on a new quest. Nice art from Jesus Merino, Andy Owens, and Romulo Fajardo Jr.

| Published by DC Comics

Wyrd #2 continues this entertaining madness from Curt Pires, Antonio Fuso, Stefano Simeone, and Micah Myers, with possibly and even more out there back up from Rockwell White, Pires, Martoz, and Myers. This go around, we get the British Prime Minister getting his kit off with a pig and gaining supernatural powers. It’s dark, it’s strange, but it’s also very good.

| Published by Dark Horse

Other Highlights: Atomic Robo: Dawn of a New Era #3, The Avant-Guards #2, Black Panther #9, Bone Parish #7, Books of Magic #5, Captain Marvel: Braver & Mightier #1, Cloak & Dagger: Negative Exposure #3, Corto Maltese: The Secret Rose, Die!Die!Die! #8, Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror #5, Firefly #4, Hack/Slash vs. Chaos #3, Hex Wives #5, Invader Zim #40, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Coronation #11, John Wick #5, KINO #14, Mage: The Hero Denied #15, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #36, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #40, Old Lady Harley #5, Outcast #39, Princeless: Find Yourself #5, The Realm #11, Rick & Morty #47, Rose #17, Spawn #294, Star Trek vs. Transformers #5, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #29, Summit #13, Wasted Space #7, The Wicked + The Divine #42

Recommended Collections: Barbarella - Volume 2: Hard Labor, BPRD: Vampire, Clankillers - Volume 1, Cold Spots, Cyber Force: Awakening - Volume 2, Euthanauts - Volume 1: Ground Control, Faith: Dreamside, Fire, Ninja-K - Volume 3: Fallout, Redneck - Volume 3: Longhorns, Spider-Geddon: Covert Ops, Typhoid Fever, The Unexpected: Call of the Unknown, The Weatherman - Volume 1

d. emerson eddy is running out of things to say in his end piece credit attribution. Tune in next time to find out if it’s finally done him in.

[gunterfan1992]

Episodes Review: ‘Elements’ (S09E2–09)

Airdate: April 24–27, 2017

Story by: Ashly Burch, Adam Muto, Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis

Storyboarded by: Sam Alden, Polly Guo, Seo Kim, Somvilay Xayaphone, Laura Knetzger, Steve Wolfhard, Graham Falk, Kent Osborne, Hanna K. Nyström, Aleks Sennwald

Directed by: Elizabeth Ito, Cole Sanchez (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

As with Islands, instead of doing a recap of the entire miniseries, I’m going to jump right into what I have to say about the 8 episodes that aired this week.

Whereas Islands went for a more serious and philosophical stance, Elements went the opposite route, emphasizing humor throughout. There are a lot of great character moments, funny bits of dialogue, and goofy fare that you’d only find in an Adventure Time episode. The miniseries’ second episode, “Bespoken For” is perhaps the best example of this fun blend, allowing the Ice King to tell his side of a pretty wacky story. In fact, the Ice King is on grand display in this miniseries, and the show really lets his amiable goofball side shine.

Another strong part about Elements is the sheer number of characters that we revisit. Marceline. Lemongrab. Fern. Flame Princess. Cinnamon Bun. Elder Plops. Party Pat. They’re all in this miniseries, as are many more. And what is more, they all have decently sized parts. In the commentary for “It Came from the Nightosphere”, Adam Muto noted that the episode included many characters who had appeared throughout season one to really emphasize the scope of Hunson Abadeer’s doings. At the same time, that episode also made the audience see how truly huge Ooo actually is. Due to the sheer amount of characters in this miniseries, Elements does something similar, allowing us to tour the sprawling lands that a boy and his dog (and by extension, ourselves) have roamed through for almost eight seasons now.

On the production side of things, everything is pretty grand. The background artists conjured up some truly beautiful element-infested set pieces, and the character designers went all out, ensuring that those who befell the slime elemental are noticeably goopy, and those who were tainted by candy are sacchrine to the point of horrifying. In fact, the candyfized denizens of Ooo are some of my favorite designs that the show has ever produced. In regards to the storyboarders, everyone turns in consistently solid work. There are no duds, but at the same time there are no real standouts, with the exception of Graham Falk and Kent Osbornes work on “Cloudy” (discussed later). I’d argue this is a good thing, since a miniseries should be a consistent whole. In fact, Islands struggled a bit because it was sprinkled with some really, really good episodes, which were surrounded by episodes that either were not quite there, or detoured from the main plot.

So, as you can see, there was a lot to love about this miniseries. At the same time, there were a few elements of the miniseries that felt kind of deus ex machina-y. Finn magically have the Farmworld Enchiridion came out of nowhere, and while this plot development is not something that makes or breaks the reality of the series, it would have at least been nice for the show to have established that Finn snatched the book after the climax of “Crossover”. In a similar way, having LSP be the ‘anti-elemental’ was not unreasonable, but it was set up in the quickest, most out-of-left-field way. The show should’ve made why LSP was unaffected a central mystery to be solved.

The miniseries also struggled at times with how it characterized the main players, with perhaps the worst offender being Betty. The episodes featuring her that led up to this have suggested that she’s a bit off her rocker, but near the end of Elements, she was downright mean to Finn and outright hateful to Ice King. Her behavior left a rather sour taste in my mouth, and so when she was zapped to Mars, presumably to pay for her magical meddling, I really wasn’t that saddened. After all, she very nearly did destroy Ooo due to some selfish desire. I only wish that the show would have placed her in a more empathetic positions—after all, losing a loved one is really hard, but it doesn’t justify treating others like total jerks.

Patience St. Pim also suffered in terms of characterization. In season 7′s “Elemental”, she was defeated and understandably angry. Then, earlier this season, she seemed to be setting up some diabolical master plan. Both episodes suggest she is crazy-powerful and about to unleash something really bad upon Ooo. In Elements, however, we learn that her plan was simply to super-charge the other elemental gals with magic, but that this ultimately backfired. Wah wah. Patience makes an appearance in “Winter Light”, largely to mope about how her plan backfired, and then she pretty much disappears from the miniseries’ plot. Frankly, this is disappointing. To put it more bluntly, she’s a wasted villain, emasculated for seemingly no good reason. Why did not the show use her as the main problem to be overcome?

But ultimately, my biggest complaint, if you can really call it that, is that the Elements miniseries was not much different from Adventure Time’s usual fare. In fact, this miniseries was almost like they took a normal, 11-minute episode and stretched it until it was 8 times its original size. Stakes used that extra time to delve into Marceline’s backstory and explore the psyches of her adversaries, and Islands made us of this extra time to explore Finn’s backstory in detail. Elements, on the other hand, drags out a “collect the gems” plot for the last half of its run. This means that the excitement promised by the first few episodes is largely evaporated when Finn et al. set out to find yet another gem. In other words, I’m not quite sure why the crew felt it necessary to tell this story in a miniseries format.

What all of this means is that Elements isn’t bad—honestly, far from it—but that it rather isn’t that amazing, either. I’d consider it, in terms of tone and plot, to sit among other ‘standard’ Adventure Time episodes that succeed at telling a fun story, but are nonetheless not on the same level as “Simon & Marcy”, “Min & Marty”, or “Evergreen”.

But let’s talk about “Cloudy”.

I know that my above rantings might sound like I hated this miniseries, and I didn’t. In fact, I absolutely adored the fourth episode, “Cloudy”. Based on a scrapped first season plot, this episode places Finn and Jake on a cloud for 11 minutes and just lets them be. They give each other imaginary haircuts, talk about their feelings, and try to hold their bladder. It’s cute and relaxing, and it really affirms why I love these two characters. Ultimately, the episode doesn’t have much to do with the Elements miniseries, although it does serve as a sort of interlude, allowing the episodes to shift from the creepy-drama of the preceding three episodes, into the more find-the-jewels mode of the final three. It’s a respite and a pivot, and in that regard it works wonders.

It’s also a delightful episode on its own, even viewed outside of the miniseries. Were I to have never seen Elements, I’m pretty sure I could’ve still enjoyed “Cloudy”.

Mushroom War Evidence: Nothing.

Final Grade:

Elements was Adventure Time’s final foray into the art of the miniseries, and I think it was a decent note to end on. It could’ve been better (as my review makes clear), but it was ultimately a fun trip. In terms of how I’d rank this among the other miniseries, it goes:

Stakes > Islands > Elements

Ultimately, I liked all of the miniseries in their own ways, but I only felt that Stakes really knocked it out of the park consistently. But then again, I love Marceline more than most of the other characters, so what do I know?

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 11 June 2018

Quick Bits:

30 Days of Night #6 concludes this retelling of the original 30 Days of Night story. The art from Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson has been great, but as the series has progressed, I’ve increasingly been wondering what’s the point? While there have been minor differences, this essentially amounts to the same story extended out further. Personally, the decompression doesn’t add a lot for me.

| Published by IDW

A Walk Through Hell #2 continues this weird and creepy horror story, with Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, and Ive Svorcina giving us an ever present sense of dread with this story. It’s heavy. It’s dark. Ennis is dealing with some dark and depressing subject matter through politics, homophobia, and child sex trafficking and that’s just the backstory in the flashbacks. In the present, we get more terror and the appearance of one of Ennis’ favourite recurring story items. Also, the art is gorgeous.

| Published by AfterShock

Analog #3 takes a bit of a detour following up on Oona’s night out and the ramifications of it. I really like how Gerry Duggan and David O’Sullivan are teasing out this story, giving us glimpses into Jack’s character and supporting cast, making us really care about them and their predicaments, even while his job and being snatched by the government continue to simmer.

| Published by Image

Animosity: Evolution #6 begins the next stage in this story, as Adam continues to search down what exactly happened in the death of most of the lex animata. I love the mix of politics and thriller that Marguerite Bennett is throwing at us with this series.

| Published by AfterShock

Astonisher #8 kicks things into high gear as we approach the end of this arc. We get some impressive action sequences from Al Barrionuevo in the second half of this book, as Magnus begins to enact his plan to stop his brother’s nefarious plans and save his girlfriend from the clutches of Dr. Saperstein.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Babyteeth #11 nicely plays with conventions as Sadie trains to enter the hell dimension of the Red Realm to rescue Clark. In a typical action/horror story the hero trains and finds herself ridiculously good at everything, Donny Cates doesn’t play it like that. It’s kind of hilarious. Also, Gerry Brown shows off some impressive hellscapes as we get a little more information on the Red Realm.

| Published by AfterShock

The Ballad of Sang #4 takes an interesting turn as we focus on the Dandies capture of Sang and Lucy trying to talk some sense into the Black-Eyed Betties. This series has been over-the-top violence and fun, this issue is no different.

| Published by Oni Press

Betrothed #4 sees the crap hit the proverbial fan as the betrayal of Kieron and Tamara lies out in the open and everything goes to hell pretty fast. The action from Steve Uy is particularly nice.

| Published by AfterShock

Bloodshot Salvation #10 takes us almost in sync to when the series began, giving us a look at why Magic and Jessie were on the run, and what Ray was doing in 4002. It’s interesting how Jeff Lemire has been using time in this series.

| Published by Valiant

Bloodstrike #0 is an oddity, beginning the “Brutalists” arc that runs through this issue and then the two missing issue numbers from the original ‘90s series, #23 & #24. I’m not exactly the target market for this, as I have no real affinity towards Bloodstrike, but this is still interesting. Michael Fiffe is presenting a kind of origin story here, so you needn’t worry about having read any Bloodstrike before, but what makes it stand out is Fiffe’s approach to the artwork and storytelling. It looks and feels like an indie book out of the ‘80s, the offbeat and highly violent stuff that was out there and it has a nice appeal about it.

| Published by Image

By Night #1 is a fun debut issue, featuring all of the charm and humour that John Allison brings to Giant Days, plus some great art from Christine Larsen and Sarah Stern.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Coda #2 is every bit as good as the first issue, possibly even better, as Hum finds himself the prisoner of an old wizard with dementia and his doting daughter. I loved Matías Bergara’s art in Cannibal, but the art here, with Michael Doig, is incredible. Bergara makes it look like he was born to draw this kind of weird fantasy.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Damned #10 begins “Daughter’s Danse”, with Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt kicking off Maura’s scheming. It adds another wrinkle to the already complex mess of the series’ crime drama.

| Published by Oni Press

The Dead Hand #3 keeps this thriller chugging along, with a new obstacle in an obstinate MI-6 agent trying to find his missing friend. The missing friend who, last issue, was murdered after stumbling upon the series’ mysterious test city in Russia. Some particularly nice action sequences from Stephen Mooney and Jordie Bellaire this issue, great layouts and use of colour washes.

| Published by Image

Deadpool: Assassin #1 reunites Cullen Bunn with another Deadpool mini-series, this time with some impressive art from Mark Bagley, John Dell, and Edgar Delgado in tow. Bunn writes some good Deadpool.

| Published by Marvel

Death of Love #5 ends this series in an unexpected way. Sure, some people are likely to be angry about it, but when you think about it, and read Justin Jordan’s missive in the backmatter, it makes sense. Dudebro Eros is also pretty funny. Good art from Donal DeLay and Omar Estévez.

| Published by Image

Dejah Thoris #5 is a bittersweet end to this first arc, with Dejah finding Ephysium and the source of the waters of Mars. Amy Chu and Pasquale Qualano are largely playing this as straight-forward adventures and it certainly works as that.

| Published by Dynamite

Domino #3 begins to give us some flashbacks to Neena’s childhood. I’m somewhat reticent when characters who bank on a mysterious past start to have their backstories filled in, but I trust what Gail Simone is doing here.

| Published by Marvel

Dry County #4 goes into the expected territory of an amateur detective’s professional (and personal) life suffering due to obsession with a case. Despite being expected, it’s still highly entertaining.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda #2 continues this bunch of New Avengers members search for Wolverine. It’s still one of the groups investigating that makes the most amount of sense, and the picture of what’s going on here comes even more into focus with a couple of other character reveals. Good stuff from Tom Taylor, RB Silva, Adriano di Benedetto, and Guru-eFX.

| Published by Marvel

Kick-Ass #5 shows again how easy it is to get in over your head when doing the wrong thing and addicted to the cheap, “easy” fix. Then everything goes to hell. Definitely like what Mark Millar, John Romita, Jr., and Peter Steigerwald have been doing with this story.

| Published by Image

The Magic Order #1 is an interesting start to this first series borne of Millarworld’s sale to Netflix. The art from Olivier Coipel and Dave Stewart is suitably gorgeous, with some really nice designs for the villain and one of the tricks to take the family off the board.

| Published by Image

Marvel Two-in-One Annual #1 is possibly one of the best things that Chip Zdarsky has written. This is an excellent character study in Doom, wrapped in revelations of bits of Victor’s past, the end to Secret Wars, and more. All with gorgeous art from Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by Marvel

Nancy Drew #1 is a great first issue, presenting the kind of fun and exciting, beautifully illustrated mystery adventure that I’m used to seeing mostly from Boom these days. Kelly Thompson, Jenn St.-Onge, and Triona Farrell pack a lot into the initial salvo, giving us a conclusion to a goat-napping adventure, before propelling us into a personal crisis for Nancy Drew, while delivering a fairly large supporting cast. It’s fun and the art is wonderful.

| Published by Dynamite

New Mutants: Dead Souls #4 has the X-Men of all sorts coming together for Rictor’s funeral. Matthew Rosenberg and Adam Gorham put Magik through the wringer as she tries to deal with the loss and the burdens of leadership. Then the other shoe drops.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #4 has a lot of quiet moments, allowing for Lorenzo de Felici and Annalisa Leoni to really show off their chops.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Old Man Logan #41 begins another two-parter. I like how Ed Brisson is structuring these arcs, contributing pieces to the larger whole of the elder Logan’s story of his diminished healing factor, while telling discrete, entertaining stories in their own right. Also, some really nice art here from Francesco Manna and Carlos Lopez.

| Published by Marvel

Port of Earth #6 foreshadows something horrible happening at the port, as the introductory interview starts diving further into potential problems with one of the agents, looking for what looks like a target for blame. I like how Zack Kaplan is setting this up, even if the story does move relatively slowly in execution.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Proxima Centauri #1 is some very weird sci-fi. It’s being done by Farel Dalrymple, so it should come as no surprise that there are odd visuals, strange characters, and bizarre occurrences, just as it’s rather entertaining and beautiful to look at.

| Published by Image

The Punisher #226 pivots Frank’s direction a bit to attacking Hydra. Matthew Rosenberg is layering a lot of humour into the script and it’s working very well.

| Published by Marvel

Quicksilver: No Surrender #2 continues what is an excellent character study of Quicksilver. I would argue that Pietro’s characterization of himself is a little too favourable, but don’t we always cast ourselves in a better light than we often are? Great work from Saladin Ahmed, Eric Nguyen, Rico Renzi, and Chris Brunner.

| Published by Marvel

Stellar #1 sees the return of another creation from Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri’s turn at Top Cow’s Pilot Season back in 2009/2010 after Demonic in 2016. You don’t need to have read the original one-shot to follow this. Joe Keatinge and Bret Blevins handle the creative and this is, well...stellar. Blevins’ artwork is amazing, with some truly breathtaking sci-fi imagery. This is a damn fine looking comic. The story of a reticent soldier trying to make amends for her horrible past is a common one, but it’s entertaining. Especially when you add the mix of possible unreliable memory and fuzzy reality. This looks like another winner for Skybound.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Thor #1 begins the third act in Jason Aaron’s epic run, turning towards the War of the Realms and the previously Unworthy Thor reclaiming his name and mantle. The various Thor series have been blessed with god-tier artists from Esad Ribić through Russell Dauterman, and this book continues that traditional with Mike del Mundo handling the main story and Christian Ward the back-up. Even if the story wasn’t exciting, with an added amount of humour that’s been missing for a bit as the last volume took a serious turn, the art alone would be worth the price of admission.

| Published by Marvel

Tomb Raider: Inferno #1 follows on from the story in the Survivor’s Crusade mini, with Lara travelling to Antarctica to discover the secret that Trinity is willing to kill to protect there. It’s nice to see Phillip Sevy doing more Tomb Raider artwork. If you like the games since the 2013 reboot, I largely consider these comics a must. 

| Published by Dark Horse

Transformers: Lost Light #18 continues this arc that, like its counterpart in Optimus Prime, is bringing all the chickens home to roost.

| Published by IDW

Venom #2 is just as excellent as the first issue, with Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Frank Martin building upon Eddie Brock’s legacy and adding new lore to the history of the symbiotes. Stegman is probably doing the best art of his career here, this book looks incredible.

| Published by Marvel

The Weatherman #1 is an interesting debut, bringing to mind to me some of the weird, offbeat, and humorous sci-fi like The Fifth Element. Jody LeHeup and Nathan Fox start this series off straight enough, with a future Mars mourning the loss of Earth, seemingly transfixed only by the “extreme” antics of the titular weatherman. It’s a weird premise, sure, but it’s entertaining, and gets even more so when the other shoe drops. Some really great art from Fox and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Image

Witchblade #6 sees Alex assemble her Scooby Gang to help investigate the kidnapping of her guardian demon, Asher. Caitlin Kittredge is doing a great job of building up the supporting cast, as well as giving us glimpses into Alex’s past. This continues to be one of Top Cow’s best looking books, with phenomenal art from Roberta Ingranata and Bryan Valenza.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Xena: Warrior Princess #5 brings the first arc of this series to a conclusion. The art from Vicente Cifuentes and Triona Farrell has been a real high point for the book and this issue is no different.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Men Blue #29 jumps ahead a bit, taking us past the original five’s return to Earth and the events of Venomized, to spotlight a transformed Jimmy Hudson on the run from the team. It’s a good follow-up to the Venom event so far with some very nice art from Nathan Stockman and Matt Milla.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Accell #11, Betty & Veronica: Vixens #7, Copperhead #19, DuckTales #9, Exiles #4, The Fix #12, Invader Zim #31, Kaijumax: Season 4 #1, Mage: The Hero Denied #9, Marvel Rising: Alpha #1, Mech Cadet Yu #9, Monstress #17, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #305, Resident Alien: An Alien in New York #3, Rose #12, SHIELD #6, Spider-Man vs. Deadpool #34, Star Wars: Darth Vader #17, Star Wars: Thrawn #5, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #33, World of Tanks: Citadel #2

Recommended Collections: Babyteeth - Volume 2, The Beauty - Volume 4, Dakota North: Design for Dying, Defenders - Volume 2: Kingpins of New York, Invincible Iron Man - Volume 2: Choices, Rumble - Volume 4: Soul Without Pity, Slots - Volume 1

d. emerson eddy thinks it’s probably a bad idea to eat deep fried mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce at one in the morning, but is doing it anyway. Clearly, he’s a demented rebel just asking for a heart attack.