#adventure time reviewed

[fandom]

Congratulations to the Writers Guild of America.

The Writers Guild of America reached an agreement and ended their strike on September 27, though the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake wrapped up and folks will be processing that finale for a long time. 300 years have passed since we've seen The Belmont family and they're still our favorite vampire hunters on screen. Genshin Impact players are working their way through the Fortress of Meropide and rejoicing for those anniversary primogems. Project Voltage, the Pokémon x Hatsune Miku crossover, has fans feeling positively electric. This is Tumblr's Week in Review.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

Baldur's Gate 3

The Writers Guild of America strike

Good Omens

Simon Petrikov | Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

Artists on Tumblr

Genshin Impact

Castlevania: Nocturne

Astarion | Baldur's Gate 3

Crowley | Good Omens

Halloween

Aziraphale | Good Omens

Ineffable Husbands | Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens

Pokémon

Betty Grof | Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

One Piece

Ahsoka

Project Voltage

The QSMP Minecraft Server

Petrigrof | Simon Petrikov & Betty Grof, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

[svtskneecaps]

my personal pipe dream is that one monday the egg statistics drop and flippa (and maybe tilin) are just there. at the end. with one heart, and one gray checkmark.

what i imagine is the server flips their shit. alive!!! alive!!! but they log in and they don't see the eggs. instead they get a message. i do not care who it's from or how it's delivered. they're told the eggs are being held captive somewhere, but they're alive. all that's left is to find them, before sunday at midnight pst. bc if their tasks aren't done, they die (one checkmark, one quest set. once rescued they become triple check like the other eggs)

slimeriana come CRASHING back into the server, they don't know jack shit, ESPECIALLY mariana who doesn't recognize 90% of the island anymore but holy fuck, flippa is alive somewhere and they have to find her. and maybe mariana's still in the old server days mindset of raising his kid alone but slime's slowly been indoctrinated into "it takes a village" and honestly the absolute second mariana logs on, someone's gonna be in chat already like HEY MARIANA CAN I TALK TO YOU? be it baghera or cellbit or forever or bad or I DON'T KNOW, COULD GENUINELY BE ANYONE LMAO but like mystery and eggs in danger is chumming the water for this server

which is great bc A) mariana has a concrete goal for logging into the server (finding his daughter) and B) he would be interacting with the rest of the server along the way, because he's not going to be doing this alone (he wouldn't even be allowed lmfao the rest of the server would be at his doorstep asking to help him in like 15 seconds flat) which means C) he might get reasons to log in extending outside flippa and slime. bingooooo

i call this a pipe dream bc i can poke so many holes in this even rn (does cc!mariana want flippa back, like fr? i'm not up to date) but can you IMAGINE. LIKE DAMN. i'm putting this idea into the public domain fr go nuts with it.

[jasontoddiefor]

webcomic rec of the day:

Kill the Villainess

Plot: I reincarnated in a novel inside the body of a villainess named Elise who poisoned herself when her fiancé, the prince, married her childhood friend, the maid Helena. From the moment I realized this, I had only one goal. Escape from the world in this novel. To succeed, however, I must play the part of "Elise" and die her foretold death, even as the events of the novel start to change.

Comment: Oh, man. I've heard many good things of this webcomic to the point where I was annoyed and refused to read it out of spite. However, one day spite was not enough to keep me away and I gave it a try and now I have to admit, yes, it more than deserves its praise.

In a genre full of villainesses turning out to be good guys, getting the man and the happy ending in their new world, this story breaks convention. It doesn't just linger on the passing trauma of transmigrating into a new world, it makes it the core theme. On top of that, without spoiling too much, this story never loses sight of its start. Too often these stories get caught up in adding yet another villain and conspiracy, shifting the goals ever so slightly, but Kill the Villainess says this is a story about death and holds to its promise. This, of course, doesn't mean there isn't a happy ending.

Also, I'd die for Anakin and not just because he's called Anakin. In a world of golden haired red eyes Male Leads, he's a knight in shining armor.

[thingsaday]

It's time for this blog's 2023 Year In Review!

These are (some of) my favorite pieces from every month this year! Check out the links below to see full animations + uncropped versions of the pieces above :0)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

[offline-nobody]

oh boy, can’t wait to spend my day watching an hour and half of someone explaining the entirety of a show i already know everything about, and then follow it up with 6 and a half hours of someone explaining a show ive never heard of before

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: “The Star”/“Jerry”

(Fionna & Cake, Eps. 7–8)

Airdate: September 22, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jacob Winkler, & Sonja von Marensdorff

Directed by: Ryann Shannon (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

It is hard to believe that we are already privy to the penultimate episodes of the Fionna & Cake miniseries. So far, this series has been hit after hit. So do "The Star" and "Jerry" live up to what has come before them? Read on for more...

The plot to "The Star" is deceptively simple: Fionna, Cake, and Simon are transported into a universe where Simon was killed by vampires, which led to Marceline being abducted the ice crown-wielding Vampire King (once again played by the wonderfully sonorous Billy Brown) and turned into his protege, known as "The Star." While the world has been almost entirely overrun by vampires, a Mad Max-esque version of Princess Bubblegum is still putting up a hell of a fight (Mad Max Bubblegum is aided in this task by Peppermint Butler-as-a-Tank, a human[?] version of Huntress Wizard, and a non-psychopathic version of Martin). Cake's shapeshifting impresses Mad Max Bubblegum, and so she decides to enlist Fionna, Cake, and Simon's help in defeating the Vampire King and his evil 'daughter.' Alas, as goes the best-laid plans of mice and men... The episode ends on a purposeful anti-climax: Fionna, recognizing that all is effectively lost, forcibly teleports herself, Cake, and Simon away from Vampire World while Mad Max Bubblegum and The Star struggle in the sky, with neither wanting to land a killing blow. The fate of Vampire World is thus left unresolved.

As a major fan of Stakes, I was delighted to be transported back into the world of vampires in "The Star." And this time, the show does a very solid job showing just how powerful and scary these monsters actually are (despite their Kermit the Frog-meets-Nosferatu appearance). And let us not forget Evil Marceline (oh, where to start)! I quite like that Ooo's Marceline is a heroic anti-anti-Christ, but even I found the titular antagonist of "The Star" to be a terrifying delight. It has been a good long while since Marceline has rightly pranked someone, and while I don't know if killing people or sucking souls count as pranks, it was nonetheless wonderful to see her ornery side return—only this time, turned up to 11. You can tell that Olivia Olson had a lot of fun recording her lines for this episode; her performance is energetic, her tone mocking. When I heard The Star taunt Mad Max Bubblegum and Co., it took me back to when I first heard Olson's voice acting in "Evicted!"

It was a clever move having The Star and Mad Max Bubblegum be sworn enemies, as it allowed the series to explore their dynamic as a couple without focusing on their past or present relationship. In the Vampire World, we learn that the two have never been in a relationship together. But despite this, still found themselves pulled toward one another in an almost preternatural way. Who knows… Just as the souls of Finn and Jake seem to be destined to always find one another, perhaps Marceline and Bubblegum are "soul mates" in a similarly metaphysical sense? Regardless, the hesitancy to kill one another that both characters show at the end of the episode speaks volumes as to how they feel about one another, even in a universe where they are sworn enemies. (Man, I really hope we get a Bubbline spin-off one of these days…)

Ah, I feel like I could talk about the Star for days, but there is more to consider, so let me move on to…

Airdate: September 22, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Jim Campbell, & Jackie Files

Directed by: Steve Wolfhard (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

"Jerry" begins with Fionna, Cake, and Simon finding themselves in a dead and desolate world—humorously dubbed "Crapworld" by Cake—that we later learn was created by the Lich's wish in the season five premiere "Finn the Human." (As a mythological aside, when the Lich made his initial wish, it seems that Prismo did not simply wipe out all life in the Oooniverse; instead, he effectively created a copy of the Oooniverse within the Oooniverse. After killing off all life in this bubble dimension, Prismo then transported the Lich to his new wish-altered reality. Really, it is turtles all the way down…) While searching for the Crapworld ice crown, Simon tries to cheer up an increasingly despondent Fionna by telling him the story of how he and Betty met.

Eventually, our heroes run into Crapworld BMO, who upon learning that Prismo's remote is out of juice, attempts to recharge it with his robot heart. This does not go as planned (it actually results in Crapworld BMO spectacularly exploding, which is somehow both horrifying and funny), and Simon, Fionna, and Cake decide to track down Crapworld BMO's oft-mentioned friend "Jerry" and tell him that BMO has passed. Upon finding Jerry, however, the trio discover that he is actually the Lich… albeit a depressed Lich; it seems that after fulfilling his mission of ending all life, the Lich lost a sense of purpose. (I've been there, dude...) Simon sees this as an opportunity, and using the Crapworld ice crown and the Lich himself as a conduits, he manages to summon GOLB just as Scarab materializes to deliver divine punishment.

To be continued!

"Jerry" is a decidedly bleak episode that more than anything radiates the creative sensibilities of its supervising director, Steve Wolfhard. For those out of loop, Wolfhard was a storyboard artist on the original Adventure Time series, and he helped write some of the show's strongest outings (e.g., "Puhoy," "Lemonhope," "Escape from the Citadel," "Graybles 1000+"). Wolfhard has a unique approach to writing, often using humor/cuteness to paste over more existential horrors, and while he did not storyboard "Jerry," the episode nevertheless feels like the apogee of his "voice," brimming as it does with a darkness that is only lightly covered with a veneer of humor. Indeed, many of the episode's funniest moments (e.g., the scene in which BMO cheerfully, stupidly kills itself, the reveal that the Lich has depression) cannot be described as anything other than gallows humor. Wolfhard often joked in interviews that many of the episodes he pitched involved main characters dying. With "Jerry," he finally got his chance.

Ultimately, what prevents "Jerry" from becoming a bummer-fest is the way the episode is interspersed with flashbacks that tell the story of how Simon and Betty fell in love. Despite their being the emotional heart of the episode, I do not have much to say about these scenes other than they are sweet. They largely expand upon details that we already knew, but in doing so, they enliven those details, infusing them with a sense of affect that exposition or background detailing could never convey. There's a couple easter eggs thrown in for die-hard fans (e.g., several relics from the main series are name-dropped, we see when a photograph of Simon from "I Remember You" was taken), and its all tied-up nicely with a new HALF SHY song, "Everything in You." All in all, these scenes are the sweet, sweet eye bleach we need, given the tone of the episode's other half.

My biggest gripe with these episodes is that they both lean too far into Fionna's failures while somehow not leaning in far enough. The former issue is most noticeable in "The Star," the beginning of which sees Fionna follow up her candy genocide by making a series of increasingly bone-headed decisions, one of which leads to the direct death of a character (although, Mad Max Bubblegum was also quite bone-headed for letting Random New Girl put everyone in danger immediately after introducing them to her few crew members). Put simply, I feel the episode excessively plays up Fionna as a gullible girlfail, which seems a bit much. Paradoxically, in "Jerry," the show did not have Fionna properly, fully, believably consider the ramifications of the mistakes she had made; instead, the episode focuses much of its emotional energy on the story of Simon and Betty's relationship. Yes, Fionna does have a realistic breakdown in the middle of the episode, but almost immediately, the show decides to have Simon distract her with more of his own love story. None of this sinks the episodes, but it does make them less than perfect.

For some, the episodes' bleakness might also be a defect: indeed in both "The Star" and "Jerry," lots of characters die, and the fridge horror is off the charts. But while I have criticized the show for such cruelty in the past (e.g., my review of "Wizard City"), the bleakness in these episodes is not meaningless. Instead, it arguably serves to underscore that without Simon Petrikov existing and doing all that he has in the Ooo Prime universe, the world (any world) quickly goes to hell. (This is perhaps most noticeable in "The Star," given that the big twist of that universe is that Simon was killed by vampires, presumably before he placed the ice crown on his head, thus resulting in Marceline's capture and indoctrination by the Vampire King.) Even in his crazed "Ice King" state, Simon is something like a cosmic lynchpin holding together reality! Considering how much Simon/the Ice King is a woobie in the original series, it is nice to see Fionna & Cake accentuate just how important he actually is.

Final “The Star” Grade: A-

Final “Jerry” Grade: A-

[speak-on-it]

So far, Fionna and Cake is a strong fucking series. The way the writers had the characters grow up with the audience is indicative of how in touch they are with the viewer base.

The jokes land every time, the animation is simple, but beautiful and detailed, the writing is strong, and the characters are relatable, flawed, and entertaining.

The addition of blood and swearing is really exciting and I love seeing how the concepts from Adventure Time have been modified for an older audience. Adventure Time could handle mature concepts and themes, but Fionna and Cake really drive it home.

Can't forget the fucking amazing score and soundtrack.

Idk what else you could want out of a show.

[taviokapudding]

Simon's joke of "soup of theseus" is so damn good & way more layered than most people think.

Okay so first- what is the ship of Theseus?

So amongst his many misadventures and legends the ship of theseus was a ship the Athenians believed connected them to the divine living person that was Theseus. The thing is, he was maybe Poseidon's adopted kid/the King if Athen's son and probably not real (or at least if he did his misadventures were super exaggerated as royals = divity stories are) but the fate the Athenians had for him & Apollo (the 6 labors is a fun legend that explains their connection and what the original ship may have been) was so intense, they would constantly give maintence as a form of religious worship to said ship on the island of Delos (where Apollo's most sacred sancutary is) every year it would dock to pay respects.

Btw we don't need to know the specifics of Theseus but he did infamously slay a minotar and Finn did have a good exchange with the Mannish Man to get the enchiridion aka the book that sets Betty & Simon on the paths they are on now so that's neat af

So if you've ever heard about the ship of Theseus being paradox- it comes from the critique that's always existed about that ship's maintenance & religious practices tldr if you are constantly replacing each rotted and borken part of a ship, is it still the same ship?

The soup is a paradox like the ship

That paradox exists in many many scifi and adventure stories like the Nier series & Ghost in the Shell but in this instance we got to first look at the joke literally. Farm world's Finn's wife's soup is the same as the ship. The original soup farm world HW made no longer exists on a technicality, but the way Finn and his kids continue to add on and consume the soup is exactly like the Athenians. It's about the intent of carrying on the memory and keeping the soup around to honor the dead rather than the soup's original recipe {which also is incredibly sad & imples that farmworld Finn is both coping and never learned the original soup recipe}. It's a beautiful way to honor their dead mom/wife and it makes you wonder if that Finn did die if his kids will continue the practice.

But the paradox goes beyond the soup & into our reality

A lot of people have noticed that Fionna's last name is Campbell and Campbells is a real soup brand that would've been around before the great mushroom war. When Marceline gets sick as a kid, Simon goes great lenghts to get her chicken soup- that only worked out because the primordial version of the Mother Gum assisting {which is extreme Bubbeline foreshadowing}. And in that scene the can low key is a campbell design. But what if I told you there's more?

In Cheers, the tv show Simon is seen constantly watching and referencing throughout the original run of Adventure Time & in the recent Fionna and Cake had Carla Tortelli work at a Canpbell's Factory.

Neat references aside the soup ends the moment the main trio hit the remote button and I have a BA in psychology & interest in childrens media and entertainment that I want to milk for once. Metaphorical intention is beyond relevant episode specifics but actually the foundation of Fionna and Cake when it comes to the paradox.

Simon making the soup of Theseus joke is the main problem Fionna and Cake has to address

If Simon can summon his & Prismo's au from his head without proper MMS (Magic, Madness, and Sadness) where does Simon the human start and Ice King end?

As viewers who grew up alongside the series, the majority of 25+ watchers are finding Simon, older Finn, and Fionna painfully relatable because good fucking god we are all traumatized because of the ongoing pandemic.

If you want to focus on the main topic you can skip this part. But if you want to get very serious for a minute, please stay. The majority of people wont to accept what I just said about the pandemic being ongoing because global governments pretending the pandemic is over, the rise of depression and escapism in real time at a social level at a global level but especially in the US where the series is being made, and the daily interactions we have with most people refusing to mask up {with a violent reaction} when there still isn't a cure for COVID has created the perfect enviroment for most people to not accept change or crave extreme change. Fionna and Cake tackles these 2 very common forms of how depression tends to manifest when it's not fully manic to be displayed through Simon (self isolation from poor coping due to loss, detachment from society, dwelling on the past to the point it effects social interactions, extreme forms of religious practice, etc.) and Fionna/Finn (pretending everything is fine, avoidance, going through the bare minimum motions to survive, escapsim and dream of grandure, not caring about sel preservation, no/lack of self control with sweets/coffee, etc.). And I've noted there's a subset of AT viewers who don't relate or find the depections too real to the point they're upset the show's tone isn't as light hearted as AT. The thing is when a global disabling event happens, unless you were under 10 when it happened and even then it's a 50/50 because you probably did lose or know somebody who did die these last several years, you will have some kind of trauma response to it whether you like it or not. Hell, some of you unknowlingly have a gap in your memory about 2020 specifically due to inconsistent sleep schedules that have nothing to do with the shrinking of the brain mass COVID causes that we all call "brain fog" and now that I pointed it out you're probably going to go stare at a wall for 5 mins {sorry btw, doubly if you have long COVID and this is how you found out what brain fog partially is}. As someone who's been dealing with depression since I was a child, it's okay to be not okay given the last several years and doubly if you've been conscious long enough to see the US freefall into fascism too {which I hope encourages those who weren't aware that's been happening to go look into that because we can't get into it right now}. Because I unfortunately know what manic depression can look like - if you find yourself relating to Simon a little too much during ep 3, please talk to somebody who is licensed and trained to do so {not me, I haven't done suicide prevention work since 2017 and am not licensed- I genuienly won't be enough of a resource} okay? Don't throw away yourself nor change yourself for others only. You need to work to accept the past, move on to live in the present, and change yourself for yourself. It won't be easy and resources are out there to not do it alone, alright?

Becuase of how paradoxial and fluid mental health (espeically undiagnosed depression) can be and how AT has it's own version with MMS, could Simon have unconscious MMS still because of Betty's with without a battery but can't tap into it because of his mental state? And could Ice King as we once knew him even be considered a proper person Simon could return too?

The original wish of why Ice King's appearance & abilities is the way it is IS because of Evergreen's impression on Gunter {Evergreen was one of the ice elementals of the past btw- go watch the original Adventure Time for that context}. So Ice King isn't even an original character, just the crown building off the wishes and manifestations of each bearer by emulating a warped version of Evergreen. And that's the main reason why I speculate Ice Thing aka Gunter the Penguin is chill af to the point he got married and can exist with less gems. His wish didn't build off of power to protect Marceline (Simon) nor the power to copy Evergreen (Original Gunter).

As the main trio jump from connected universe to connected universe, more Simons and crowns will appear that are even more removed from our Ooo's crown and it's version of Ice King or Ice Prince or Winter King will only manifest because of the prior and current wishes made. So if Simon does get a crown that isn't the Ooo crown, will the Ice King that once existed even be THE Ice King he wants to be? And will Simon want to be Ice King or an Ice King when the trio do return to his Ooo?

The crown and it's many versions is a paradox that can only be resolved if Simon and Fionna can work together but also set aside their depression to address what they both really want and what that wish's intention will do to themselves and those around them. In short, shit's deep

I applaud the team for Fionna and Cake for tackling such a layered problem and I'm excited to see how Simon's soup of emotions, Fionna's growth, & magic crown of Theseus is addressed.

[horse-reviews]

Pls,,,pls review Lord Monochromicorn from Adventure Time he's my boy He communicates in morse code and can summon black holes

Adventure Time Lord Monochromicorn

Rating: ƱƱƱƱƱ (perfect)

I adore his design it is such an excellent example of how you can make horses into silly fun fantasy creatures while still maintaining their horsiness. I wish I had a steed as powerful and noble as him

[thecrimsonjaguar]

ok. ok but. ok but betty right. right??

she was devoting her fucking life to curing simon because simon was all she had. almost all she WAS. he was the only thing in ooo she could cling to (because she'd always clung to simon, and simon had always clung to her) and she held on for dear life through the trials + tribulations she faced in ooo, through the hell that magical induced madness is on the brain, through the end of the world. betty needed simon back because betty needed simon to be whole.

but also. but also-

can you imagine the fucking guilt she must have felt. can you imagine?? the last conversation she had with simon SANE was when he was dying in her fucking arms asking for death. telling her that he can't do it, it can't be fixed and he doesn't want to Live like That anymore. And betty was so determined to keep him alive she put the curse back onto him- of course she'd want to fix that.

and it brings to mind the lesson she learned in Temple of Mars, because it was there that betty realized that she had carved out such a space for simon in her life she forgot to leave room for herself. and she admits as such. And I think now that maybe Betty did learn that lesson. Yeah, she should've had more time for herself, she should've had more Betty in her own story.

And then there's the contrast- because saving your cursed fiancé is just. it's not on the same level. it's just not the same as not following through on a trip you planned. like. I think that's the reason why Betty doubled down on saving Simon.

because letting go of simon isn't about giving her more time for herself. Letting go of Simon isn't giving herself relief, it's just admitting defeat. It's letting their last real conversation be Simon begging for death in her arms, it's letting her last interaction with the man she once knew be turned back into the ice king even though that's something he desperately did not want.

betty needed simon to be Betty but she also couldn't go back on her word and let simon down. not when the last thing he did was beg.

[femmephantasm]

WIZARD REVIEW: THE ICE KING

Welcome to Morgana's Wizard Review, where I analyze fictional characters of the wizardly, sorcerous, witchy and magic nature and see how hard they fuck. Today our canidate will be that frost moanrch of the Ooo, Simon Petrivok AKA the Ice King,evil thwarter of finna nd jake, pricness stealer and a lainpilled babygirl.

WISDOM

The Ice King is often shown as scatter-brained and his plans are often not well-thought out, he captures princesses that do not even like him to sate his loneliness. Despite this he does have rare insightful moments and later in the series begins to understand his role in things.

2/5

INTELLIGENCE

The Ice King is somewhat of a "man-child" at a glance, despite his mild helplessness in some situations, he has been shown to be talented on the drums with implications he knows how to play multiple instruments. Despite his sick ass golden hat causing him to lose many memories, he has still acquired some magical artifacts such as the demonic wishing eye and ghost pouch. In addition to this he is a scholar of fridjitzu, branching out from his seemingly innate magical prowess.

3/5

ZENITH

We see the ice king at the height of his power very early on in the series, his arc is not about an ascension in power but one of vulnerability. The crown is shown to keep his body from deteriorating in old age and could even be considered strong physically as well as magically in certain scenarios. He only seems to get weaker in the form of being metaphorically de-fanged, the only true strike to his power being digestion from a literal god.

5/5

ARCANA

Ice King is what we call a Specialist, a tried and true cryomancer, and he is very potent in this art, having the ability to extend his senses throughout his realm and even influencing the animals that dwell in ice and snow. It seems this icy expertise extends to other frozen arts that he has picked up as well such as the aforementioned fridjitzu. Though he has a focus on ice magic, he is no one-trick pony, and seems to have a knack for charms and illusions as well as the ability to detect spirits using his "Wizard Eyes". It is also shown that he has immunity to extreme heat conditions and hypnosis. So in spite of his hard lean toward ice and snow, his tertiary spells and abilities are quite powerful rather than being a typical mage's sidearm or obscure tool.

4/5

RECLUSIVENESS

Ice King is a classic wizardly recluse, he has such trouble in romance he needs to kidnap girls to even talk to them, and his closest friends he met because they were beating him up for said kidnapping. He is often surrounded only by minions that do not speak the same language as him and he lives in a tall, far-away mountain, a natural wizard's tower. Despite this start he does begin to warm up to people, only to return to his reclusive ways once he is completely free of the crown's magic. In spite of his isolation and reputation, he is not sagely or hermetic, he is not this way by choice but simply an evil fucking loser, and we respect him for that. It seems not only his magic is innate.

3.5/5

Dignity

This is one quality Ice King lacks, he is not airbrushed-on-the-side-of-a-van material. His coolest and most confident is in the opening of the show. Despite how cool and powerful his crown is it sometimes looks like a paper crown a child might make from construction paper, and his baggy tunic and garish and plain. His plots often require him to stoop to schoolyard trickery and forced marriage not for political reasons, but out of simple loneliness, the ice king lacks grandeur, he wears bandaids on his penis wenis. He is only cool because hes an epic wizard that plays the drums.

1.5/5

And the total score for the Ice King this wizard review is...

3.16/5

The Ice King is an alright wizard, his magic is strong and he is a potent and authoritative figure, but he is the pure definition of "it gets lonely at the top", this man's conquests are unsuccessful if they do not involve prostrating himself, reconciling, atoning. Being a powerful mage is somehow at odds with him being a fulfilled individual. He is at the limits of his power when we first see him, his only room to grow is to embrace being a lame ass old man, the antithesis of the lich (as in the occupation, I do not know what comparison I can make to the titular necromantic archmage of Ooo who usurps Simon as the baddest mana-slinging motherfucker in all the realm) who seeks to become sick as fuck and avoid being old at all costs. I honor this pursuit and am glad to see him happy eating oatmeal in his shitty house, but alas in wizarddom he allows himself to be easily outclassed to gain this inner peace.

Did you enjoy this episode of MORGANA'S WIZARD REVIEW?? Give it a nice comment or like, and maybe send me an ask for a request to review one of your favorite wizards (or witches or mages or sorcerers or warlocks or spellblades or whathaveyou) other characters I plan on covering in future episodes include;

Patchouli Knowledge from the Touhou Project series

Jafar from Kingdom Hearts and the Disney TV Programme "Aladin"

Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White

Gerald of Rivia from the Witcher VideoGame-Book-Netflixs

Flemmeth that milf from the dragon ages

[fandom]

We're running out of things to say about Good Omens tbh.

A new episode of Helluva Boss dropped yesterday, and y’all were so thirsty for new content that it rocketed up to the #6 spot for the entire week—well done. Blorbos abound in Baldur’s Gate 3, and everyone is having fun putting their favorites into a little box and shaking it. The live-action adaptation of One Piece has fans thrilled, and we’re loving all of the edits comparing it to the anime and manga. The first few episodes of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake are everything fans hoped it would be. Olivia Rodrigo’s second album, Guts, is here, and it’s 🔥. Finally, in world political news, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion. This is Tumblr’s Week in Review.

Good Omens

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

Baldur's Gate 3

Crowley | Good Omens

Artists on Tumblr

Helluva Boss

Aziraphale | Good Omens

Ineffable Husbands | Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens

Astarion | Baldur's Gate 3

Simon Petrikov | Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

One Piece

Olivia Rodrigo

The QSMP Minecraft Server

Star Wars

Twisted Wonderland

Undertale

Critical Role

Mexico

Pokémon

Doctor Who

[thethirdbill]

My video about the new episodes of Adventure Time Fionna and Cake is up and I’m still not okay

[mrhearty-arts]

Doodles I did during class!

[grouchythefish]

a woman at work today was taking about cheers and she was like "oh but I guess you're too young to know what I'm talking about" and I was like "no no, I totally know about cheers!" and started singing the theme song while internally thinking "under NO circumstances can I let my coworkers know that I only know that much because of a cartoon about a magical world 1000 years in the future with people made of candy and a series of 4-8h videos about nickelodeon shows I haven't watched"

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: "Fionna Campbell"/"Simon Petrikov" (Fionna & Cake, Eps. 1-2)

If you had told me on the day that Adventure Time was canceled that almost a decade into the future, I would still be writing reviews about new episodes, I would have never believed you. And yet, today saw the release of not one, but two new episodes. (It seems that the fun really will never end!) What a world we live in!

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When I first heard that Fionna and Cake would be the focus of the newest Adam Muto-produced Adventure Time spin-off, I was a touch apprehensive. It is not that I disliked the characters... I just worried that they might not be able to anchor ten 22-minute episodes. After all, the two were always something of a funny gimmick. Other than explaining if they were real, what more was there to say about them?

My tentative apprehension started to dissipate when I learned that the one, the only Simon Petrikov would play a major part in the miniseries. Simon was always a strong character, and there was much to his story that still needed to be teased out. His presence in the miniseries signaled one thing: Fionna and Cake would not just be a fluffy romp, but rather one of mythological significance! Needless to say, my interest was fully piqued, and I began to count down the days when the miniseries would debut.

And now that the first two episodes are out, I am happy to say that my tentative fears were likely misplaced. Indeed, if "Fionna Campbell" and "Simon Petrikov" are indicative of the overall quality of this miniseries, we're in for a good time!

So let's dig in!

Airdate: August 31, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Haewon Lee, Jacob Winkler

Directed by: Ryann Shannon (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

The miniseries kicks off with "Fionna Campbell," which follows the story of Fionna the human... No, not that Fionna the Human. This Fionna does not live in a magic land, and it is only in her dreams that she's a swashbuckling hero. Instead, the Fionna we meet lives in a mundane world very much like our own. This Fionna seems to feel as if she fundamentally lacks any sense of purpose. Accompanying her throughout her non-adventures in this alternate reality is Fionna's (non-magical) cat, Cake. The main plot of the episode begins after Cat and Fionna have a strange dream, whereupon Cake begins to act erratically; it is almost like she desperately needs to be in contact with ice of all things. After a series of humorous set pieces in which Fionna repeatedly discusses the dullness of her reality with a variety of uncannily familiar characters, Cake goes bananas and makes a mad dash for an ice cream cart. As Fionna gives chase, Cake dives into the cart, which turns into a magic portal and teleports Cake to a different world...

Of the two episodes discussed in this review, "Fionna Campbell" was the least impactful. Do not misunderstand me: It was still a fun, charming episode, but it did little more than introduce us to our heroines and set up the plot of the miniseries. The issue with this is that it makes much of the episode, on a strictly narrative level, superfluous (for instance, were you to have Cake dart over to Fionna's ice dispenser and have it—rather than an ice cream cart—the overall story would still work just fine). But while much of this episode is technically "unnecessary," it nevertheless mines a lot of goodwill and humor by introducing us to gender-bent "real world" versions of beloved Adventure Time characters (e.g., "Queen" [Queen of Ooo], "Ellis P." [Lumpy Space Prince], "Gary Prince" [Prince Gumball]). Perhaps I am biased as a Marceline fan, but hands-down the best of the gender-bent bunch is Marshall Lee, played once again by the uber-talented and oh-so-witty Donald Glover. (That said, Pen Ward's oddball hobo-vet character, "Ellis P.," is a close second.)

Regardless of any narrative weirdness, I applaud Muto et al. for approaching this Fionna and Cake storyline from a different angle. It would have been very, very easy to simply drop us back into the genderbent world that we have already visited in the main series. This, honestly, is what I was expecting the series to do. Instead, the writers decided to introduce versions of Fionna and Cake that feel more like they are from our world. This makes them solid audience surrogates. Over the course of the episode, I came to see Fionna as a character in and of herself, not just as a female version of Finn. Likewise, Cake felt less like "feline Jake," and more like a goofy house cat (albeit one that has a case of the Zoomies from Hell). "Fionna Campbell," in a word, gives Fionna and Cake a chance to become their own people before throwing them into the wider world of Ooo.

Airdate: August 31, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jim Campbell, Lucyola Langi

Directed by: Steve Wolfhard (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

After the purposefully abrupt ending to "Fionna Campbell," we are suddenly thrown head first back into the familiar Land of Ooo with "Simon Petrikov."

This episode picks up several years after the main series. Simon is now living a, shall we say, "unorthodox life in a museum-like facility, where he is treated as a relic of the past. He has lost his sense of purpose and direction, and he struggles with loneliness and boredom. Simon, in a word, is depressed. It does not help matters that people keep asking him about "his" Fionna and Cake novels--novels that he repeatedly emphasizes Ice King wrote. Alas, it is no use, and so Simon goes to the tavern owned by Dirt Beer Guy (A+ cameo) to drink his sorrows away. It is here that he runs into a 20-something Finn in all his himbo glory. Finn sees that Simon isn't doing well and insists that he must go on an adventure to reclaim his joie de vivre. Simon reluctantly follows Finn into the most primordial corner of Ooo, where the two are nearly killed multiple times.

At the end of the episode, Simon returns to his museum-home feeling just as bad as he did before. After sneaking off into his closet, we learn that his depression has driven him to create a shrine to GOLB; using the demoniac power of Evil Choose Goose, he subsequently attempts to summon the deity, presumably to reconnect with Betty. But, just like the best laid plans of mice and men, Simon's scheme fails to summon any eldritch abominations, but it does open up the portal we saw at the end of "Fionna Campbell." And out from this portal pops Cake the Cat!

The episode immediately shifts to Prismo's time room, where we see an alarm on the wish-master's remote begin to blink ominously…

Wow, what an episode!

I appreciate the focus "Simon Petrikov" places on depression and the struggle against nihilism. Simon, after all, is a man thrust into a new world. Everything he used to strive for is gone. Even the madness that took his old world away from him is gone. This might sound like a good thing, but interestingly, it seems to have had a deleterious effect on Simon’s psyche: Previously, when Simon was metaphorically locked within the recesses of Ice King's mind, he had something to strive for: He could overcome the crown’s curse and regain his sanity. And then he did! Thus, Ice King ended and Simon was back. But alas, his arrival occurred at the literal end of the story. The big bad was gone. The goal had been reached. All that was left was the ride into the sunset. But Simon could not do that, because even though he regained his sanity, it ultimately cost him his love, Betty.

I won't lie: I found Simon's story to be deeply relatable. For those who don't know, I recently earned my PhD. It was a long, uphill battle, and after I earned that degree… I didn't know what to do. In truth, I still don't know what to do. I have been a student almost my entire life, and now the rest of that life lays out in front of me. I achieved what I originally wanted; it is time to figure out what I currently want. Honestly, it has been an occasionally gloomy time, and I won't lie, I have struggled quite a bit with depression these last few months just trying to figure everything out. In doing so, I have realized just how much of my life I have sunk into my degree. It has been a bit disheartening to realize that while I have a doctorate, but it cost me the entirety of my 20s to get it. So yes, while I did not lose the love of my life to an eldritch demon-god, I still empathize with Simon's listlessness and his existential angst. (As an aside, post-PhD depression is very a real thing, y'all!)

When you have gained what you thought you wanted and lost that which was really important, what do you do? Of course, it is easy to simply collapse in despair. This is capitulation to vulgar nihilism, and it is something that I have struggled with ("Why even bother doing anything..."). At the start of "Simon Petrikov," the titular character is very close to this collapse, too. Indeed, Simon starts off in a dark place, but paradoxically, this darkness holds the seeds that can grow into a life-changing journey. After all, when we are at our lowest, the only (productive) way to go is up. Put most simply, Finn was actually right: Simon needs an adventure to reignite within him that sense of drive and purpose. But the catch here is that that adventure needs to be meaningful to Simon. It needs to spark something unique within his soul. The bizarro arrival of Cake may thus be exactly what he needs. Cake is not just a mystery—she's a mystery that perhaps only Simon can solve, since it was Simon (or, at least a version of him) who dreamed her up in the first place!

Simon now has a purpose.

Purpose.

Once again, Adventure Time is reminding us of the importance of "purpose." Purpose, the show seems to be saying, is what gives meaning to our lives, what motivates us to overcome challenges, and what inspires us to contribute to society. Without purpose, we may feel lost, empty, or hopeless. What, then, is the show suggesting we do to gain this sense of purpose? It is hard to say, given that the miniseries isn't over, but my guess is that the show is emphasizing that while meaning can emerge from even the most chance of occurrences, it is not enough to just recognize these coincidences. Instead, we have to seize them, embrace them, and make them our own. We have to act on our purpose, and not let it slip away. At the end of "Simon Petrikov," Simon is put in this exact spot, and while he might show some reluctance to seize the moment, something tells me that he'll eventually act in a major way.

Am I on the right track? I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks to find out!

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When news about the series first started to leak, I remember there was a lot of hubbub about its more "adult" tone. I was a bit apprehensive when I heard this; part of what I love about Adventure Time is that it is capable of being scary and profound without having to stoop to the shock value of cheap swears and bloody violence. After seeing these episodes, my worries have mostly been put to rest. After all, most of the "swearing" is pretty mild, and it seems to be used rather judiciously. (That said, I did a double take when Cake told Fionna to "Puke [the bad guy] up"—I thought she said another "-uck" word!) On top of all that, it was often just funny! Queenie shrieking "Jesus!" when Fionna ripped her pants off was comedy gold, as was Finn's line about "bust[ing Simon's] balls" back in the day. I'm a bit more ambivalent when it comes to the gorier elements (e.g., Finn killing that mudskipper in a bloody splatter), but that's largely because it feels a bit incongruous with the lighthearted Land of Ooo that we know. Adventure Time was often violent, this is true, but it was rarely gory. That said, the violence in these episodes is not over the top—this isn't Superjail! or anything—and I hope the show continues to maintain that nice balance. Right now, everything mostly feels "right."

All in all, these were solid episodes. In addition to all the positives that I outlined above, there were a variety of other things that made me smile. I'm quite happy that the show is returning to the multiverse lore, as I always felt that was a story thread that the show never explored to the fullest. The various cameos were also delightful (I had a lot of fun guessing who all the gender-bent normies were supposed to be representative of), and I loved the little post-Mushroom War Simon & Marcy moment. And of course, hearing Marceline say that someone is "pissed" is something that I didn't know I needed to hear!

I cannot wait to see what the series has in store for Simon, Fionna, and Cake.

Final "Fionna Campbell" Grade: B

Final "Simon Petrikov" Grade: A