#and Fionna and Cake came out RIGHT when it got really bad

[awakefor48hours]

I haven’t bumped anything like the opening to Fionna and Cake in a while. I mean “I’m not really feeling like myself today” superb. Amazing. Love it

[amazingmsme]

Blue Halo

AN: Making up for lost time, 3 fics in a day eat my ass. Jkjk, these fics are so much fun, it’s just a lot, especially when I let myself get carried away like this. But y’all are about to go hog wild, because here’s another lee!simon fic, dare I say better than the first? Idk man, today’s prompt is unusual spot & the whole head portal thing just screams ticklish scalp to me.

Fionna stared at the back of Simon's head, still trying to wrap her mind around it. It felt weird when she leapt from the portal and found herself staring at an old man laying face down.

Since entering his world, she hasn't had much time to dwell on it. Now that they seemed to be in a relatively safe world, her mind began to wander off to places she hadn't had the time to dwell on.

"I can feel you staring," Simon said, looking over his shoulder at her. She panicked and looked away, causing him to chuckle softly. "You'll get them too ya know."

"Wha-?"

"Gray hairs. It's what you're staring at, right?"

"Oh no! I wasn't staring at that!" she assured, but Simon rolled his eyes fondly.

"Really, it's okay. I know I'm old as dirt. You start going gray, that's just life," he explained casually. Fionna snorted in amusement and shoved his shoulder playfully.

"You don't have to explain the concept of aging Simon!" she teased. "I was just thinking... About home, and where we came from..." she trailed off, staring at the back of his head. Simon connected the dots.

"Oh..." He looked away, a small frown on his face as he thought of a way he could comfort her. "Well, once we get me a new crown, then you can go home and everything will be okay," he offered a soft smile, one which she returned.

"Yeah, I'm just a little worried about going back in," she mused aloud. Simon cocked his head curiously, so she elaborated. "I mean, you're head's only so big, and my hips are definitely bigger," she joked.

He snorted in amusement, "Oh please, you made it out just fine! I think all this craziness is just gunking up your head and making you nervous. I promise, I'll get you and Cake home safe and sound," he said, patting her shoulder.

"I guess I'm still just, confused about it all. And curious," she shrugged.

"Well... you're welcomed to rummage around the ol' noggin; see if there's any remnants of the portal hiding behind my hair," he offered.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" she asked, sitting down behind him.

"Not a bit. I'm honestly a little curious about what's back there myself." Fionna started carding her hands through Simon's hair and he let out a chuckle. "I wonder if this is how Jane Goodall felt," joked aloud.

"Who?" Fionna asked, not understanding the joke at all. His short lived laughter trailed off with a sigh.

"Oh, never mind. Just a scientist from a long time ago." His voice sounded dejected and forlorn, reminiscing on a time long since past. Fionna frowned to herself at the change of mood.

"What did she study?"

"She was a great conservationists and anthropologist who studied primates. She even got to live with them for awhile," he explained.

"Whoa, that sounds pretty cool," she said and Simon agreed. She continued parting his hair, looking for any sign of the portal.

"Well, your scalp's pretty pale, but I don't know if that has to do with- wait!" she cut herself off, shoving his hair away excitedly, in doing so shoving his head down abruptly. Simon let out a quiet oof and braced himself on the floor.

"What- what is it?" he asked nervously, craning his neck to see despite knowing it was a fruitless effort.

"Oh, it's nothing bad!" she was quick to assure. "I think." Or maybe not... "It's just, I think your skin might be blue." Simon felt himself relax.

"Don't scare me like that Fionna! I thought it was something serious!"

"Blue skin isn't serious?" she asked, voice soft and concerned. Simon leaned back to look at her.

"Well, I was Ice King for a really long time, and he had blue skin," he reasoned. "So it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. You said you followed a sparkly blue portal?" She nodded, and he continued. "See, that explains it. No need to worry," he reached back, patting her hand to put her at ease.

She hummed, not fully trusting the explanation but deciding not to dwell. "Whatever you say," she said skeptically. "Man, your hair's soft. What shampoo do you use?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know, Marcy picked it out for me. But it's the conditioner that makes it soft,” he gently corrected. Suddenly his calm demeanor took a left turn when he arched his back, shoulders shooting up to his ears as he shrieked, a full body shiver overtaking his body.

He jumped away from the sensation, landing in the soft ground and spinning around to face Fionna. He he had a hand slapped over the back of his head, rubbing furiously. His eyes were wide and he was… blushing?

Fionna pointed at him accusingly, “I knew it was a bad omen! And you just tried to shrug it off!”

Simon shook his head, “What? No! No, it’s fine, I guess the portal just made my scalp a little… sensitive is all,” he grumbled, arms crossed as he adverted his gaze to the ground.

“Well that doesn’t sound good. And you hit your head pretty hard when you fell down those stairs at Prismo’s,” she pointed out, brows furrowed with concern.

“Oh, well I-“

“Let me just make sure you aren’t hurt, okay? If it really is blue it could be bruising.” Simon had to admit she had a point. Hesitantly, he sat back down, though much stiffer and guarded than before. Fionna playfully punched his arm.

“Relax dude, I’m not gonna hurt you!”

Simon rubbed his sore shoulder. “You just did,” he teased, though the smile on his face let her know he was only kidding.

“Oh shut up,” she mock scolded, parting his hair to try and get a decent look at his scalp. She hadn’t cut her nails in a while and they grazed the tender skin beneath his hair and she noticed how Simon’s shoulders hitched up towards his ears and a startled gasp escape him. She immediately pulled away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

Simon was quick to put her mind at ease, especially with her growing guilt over hurting others. “It’s fine, you didn’t hurt me. Like I said it’s just, um, sensitive,” he said vaguely.

“Huh?” Fionna gave him a puzzled look before connecting the dots, confusion morphing into an ecstatic grin. Simon felt his stomach drop. “Oh. Ooooh! You mean sensitive as in ticklish! This is great!” she exclaimed, plopping herself way too close to him in his opinion.

“N-now wait a second!” he tried to protest, yelping when Fionna grabbed him in a headlock. Not strong enough to choke or hurt, but he certainly wasn’t going anywhere. Uh oh.

“No way! You had me all worried for no reason! And you’ve been a sad sack o’ taters this whole time! So I think it’s about time you cut loose,” she decided, lightly scratching against the back of his head. Now that she wasn’t holding back, it was so much worse than before. He snorted, biting his lip to contain any more unwanted sounds. Soft snickers managed to slip past the barrier despite his best efforts.

“Oho man, this is hilarious! Who even knew scalps could be ticklish! I gotta try this out on Gary when I get home!” she rambled as she continued tickling.

Simon was halfway in her lap from her ambushed attack, his legs kicking and scrambling against the ground for purchase. Her nonchalant enthusiasm was more flustering than he thought it would be and he covered his red face to hide from the teasing. What else was he supposed to do? Her hold made it so that he couldn’t even reach her hands to stop her. Though in second thought, maybe that was a good thing: she’d probably go after his armpits and then he’d really be in trouble.

“Fihihionnahaha! Lehet mehehe gohoho!” he whined, unleashing the hoard of giggles that had been trapped in his chest for far too long. The sound was bright and high pitched, and so unlike the Simon she knew.

“Aaawww, you have, like, the cutest laugh ever!” she cooed, causing him to blush even more.

“Whahat? Ihihi dohoho nohohot!” he denied, shrieking when she started scratching closer to his hairline. His giggles grew faster and more breathy, snorting loudly when she traced a circle in the center of his head.

“I don’t know dude, have you ever heard yourself? Pretty fuckin’ cute,” she teased, then thought back on her own words, an idea forming in her mind. “Wait, where’s my phone?”

Even while giggling hysterically, Simon tried to be helpful. “Ca-Cahahake!”

“Ugh, she has it!” she groaned, still scribbling anywhere that warranted a reaction. She leaned her head back and yelled, “CAKE! I NEED MY PHONE!”

In the distance, she could just barely make out a Cake-colored shape. The shape responded, “I’M BUSY!”

“IT’S MY PHONE! I NEED IT FOR PROOF THAT SIMON CAN LAUGH!” she yelled. That seemingly got the cat’s attention.

A leg stretched all the way over to them, followed shortly by the rest of Cake. “Now this I GOTTA see- oh wow, you weren’t kiddin’,” she said once she made her way to them, clutching the phone to her chest. She chuckled to herself as she walked up to them, getting up in Simon’s face as she filmed them before Fionna pushed her back with a giggle of her own.

“Cake, that’s too close!”

“Hey, I’m a director! Y’all just keep doin’ what you’re doin’,” she said, trying to decide on the best angle for the video.

“Cahahake, hehelp mehehe!” he pleaded, reaching an arm out for her.

She looked up to the sky in thought, “Hmmm, no. I’m Fionna’s cat, not yours,” she sassed, fangs peaking out behind her smirk.

Simon shrieked when she found the weak spot behind his ears, his laughter reaching a new pitch. Once he started hiccuping through his giggles, Fionna decided to grant him mercy.

“Welp! Think it’s safe to say that you’re in tip top shape!” she chirped, patting his arm as he laid on the ground wheezing. He held up a thumbs up.

He composed himself enough to sit up, playfully glaring at the two of them. “That was the worst. You’re the worst.”

“Naaah, I play with my friends like that all the time, and you took it like a champ,” she complimented, smirking at the way he flushed at her words.

“Wha- you had me in a headlock!” he defended himself, throwing his arms in the air for dramatics. Cake couldn’t help herself and stretched over to tweak his sides. He yelped and curled in on himself, falling onto his side. They all laughed.

“You coulda tapped out,” Fionna taunted smugly. Simon was dusting himself off and fixed his glasses.

“Well if I knew that, I would’ve,” he said curtly.

“Bet next time you won’t,” she challenged, hands on her hips. He froze, balking for an answer before a calm, almost smug expression found it’s way on his face.

“Well, I’m an old man Fionna. I’m sure I’ll forget by then.”

[cakeontheloose]

Something I took note of is the fact that Astrid apparently came to Simon's exhibit like 4 days in a row, and then either camped out in front of it or got there first thing in the morning the next day. Does she have nowhere to be? Does no one care about where she is?

I wonder if she's got some issues in her personal life and this is the reason why she's so obsessed with the Fionna and Cake stories — she probably uses them as escapism.

Interesting, since this is mostly how Ice King viewed them too, which is why he constantly self-inserted himself into them, despite already having a counterpart in their world. (Also quite ironic that Simon finally got to go on a magical adventure with Fionna and Cake, right when he really didn't want anything to do with them)

Something could be said about how your old art that you don't resonate with anymore (that maybe reminds you of the bad place you were in when you created it) can still help and be meaningful to other people.

(Also is it any wonder that Astrid thought the Ice King was cool if she only knew him from his own stories)

[moonangel022]

Oh, I remember piece missing ice king and fionna ’s eps timeline. How about simon and fionna each other love in hidden dream. 

Holly jolly secret part 2 

Hello, my name is Simon Petrikov.  I am recording this tape so that people will know my story. I was studying to be an antiquarian of ancient artifacts. Now I never believed in the supernatural stuff myself, just had a fascination with superstitions. But everything changed when I came into contact with this item. After purchasing this crown from an old dock worker in northern Scandinavia, I brought it home and excitedly showed my fiancee,Betty. I jokingly put it on my head, just for a laugh or something, and that's when it started the visions. I fought with them, shouted at them until I realized it wasn't real! It was the crown! I quickly took it off and saw my fiancee in front of me, looking at me with such contempt! What had I said? What had I done when I wore this crown? All I know is, I never saw Betty again. Since then, I now see the visions always I'm really scared I know my mind is changing, but I'm already too far gone to know what to do. I want people to know that if I do things, if -- if I do things that hurt anyone, please, please forgive me! Just watch over me until I can find my way out of this labyrinth in my brain and regain my sanity! And then maybe Betty, my princess maybe you will love me again. [VOICE BREAKING.] Please love me again, Betty! [CRIES.] 

simon become ice king born

I studying psychology romantic health... I feeling bad about poor simon because betty run away from him need help love each give his mind control but failed.  

he is right, he need try his control mind figure key is love but betty feel scared not want see him insane try kill people.. I know betty and simon are not health together in ep betty and king’s romson and his broken crown and hero heart and skyhook 2 (worst) and temple of mars and come along with me sad betty into glob fuse. Betty goodbye simon take crown again in fionna tv jerry. 

ice king/ simon suffer though his mind go lose sanity forever and crown keep simon live like immortal and simon’s memory sleep, he waiting 1,000 year waiting love soon arrive fionna born in his brain by prismo creation fionna.

Prisoners of Love    finn and jake fight meet ice king, ice king voice sound serious and adult and mature as Finn and jake says nerd and sexy hot. That hint simon is nerd and ice prince is sexy hot. Nuts finn and jake not know says. Ice king said marriage is a serious thing and lasts forever. Hint he reach key happiness and love in future fionna. 

When Wedding Bells Thaw 

Ice king learn old swans kiss try tell him show. Ice king say marriage is a thing that allows me to capture a Princess forever and let her live inside of me and marriage. Hint wait year few later his mind live with fionna born her world from primso the wishmaster ep 4, he ask ice king, can I store a fan-made alternate universe in your cursed dome? Ice king says  Sure, magic flashlight! You can put anything you want in there. 'Specially if it's got a hot lady. Primso says Cool. Hold still for upload. Ice king says Whoa! Fire in the hole! ( Modem buzzing ) Fionna and Cake: What time is it? Ice king says ( Laughs ).. uh past i watch saw everything I found learn about ice king has hidden romantic with her in mystery dungeon, i know that proof he says feel strong and true is fall in love fionna. but primso not know ice king has hidden romantic with fionna in dream is real. I saw notice fionna and cake episode, she say cant wait and marry him in fionna tv ep1 was ice prince. Notice he sleep take kiss with his hand self in dream with fionna in mystery dungeon.. You see!! Omg! 

Come Along With Me/ Obsidian 

Simon lose his crown magic and normal by cured glob. Simon can't remember of ice king and fionna and cake fics wait. I notice simon habit ice and use dresss old ice king in Obsidian, but I think that ice’s soul/memory is sleep. I feel miss ice king. Too fionna and cake cant remember. 

Finally time 12 year now 

Thanks Astrid love fionna and cake fanFics and reach get ice king aka simon, she question explain fionna and cake at him being unlock his mind ice king’s soul finally wake as he behave slight madness and sadness, he can't stop still mind fionna and cake for 3 day both mind and dream ice prince find fionna. Ice king/simon want find get fionna and cake out portal his brain, Because ice king vow for fionna wish want see his home OOO in bad little boy ep. Evil goose witness/know seen Simon being behave as ice king by astrid bother ask his mind wake of ice king. Nuts, I praise astrid give key his mind unlock of ice king wake! 

You seen simon smile look only fionna and touch hand each other and he protect fionna. obviously That simon is ice king’s soul person. 

But not yet simon and ice king has share memory soon and hope his new form ice prince after simon take ice crown again. Cross fingers. 

[spicedfink]

Break down of Lumpy Space Princess (or something? Idk)

LSP is one of the few characters we know the age of being listed as 15 when Finn was 12/13 so we know by the finale she's 19 or 20 years old

The basic time line is that she lived in lumpy space and only visited Ooo every now and then before getting into an arguments with her parents and running away to prove she can make it on her own

LSP then spends a good chunk of her teenaged years living out in the woods

LSP has complained about her parents through out the series and even gone as far as to compare them to monsters in her Fionna and Cake fanfic - the show frames these complaints as unreasonable. The problem with this is that children rarely act out for no reason and she continues to resent them even when she's had time and distance away from them

Her parents think she acts out on purpose - this sort of mentality made LSP feel like they saw her as a villain and was extremely frustrating since she didn't actually understand what she was doing wrong

Her parents are at the very least don't know how to meet her needs at worse are intentionally abusive towards her (there isn't really enough shown of them to determine a solid placement)

LSP has a hard time understanding how her actions effect others and is easily upset when people express displeasure with her - either from the delay between her actions and their reactions or she has a knee jerk stress from past experiences (probably from authority figures)

LSP is deeply insecure. Her insecurities can be seen in cases like risking life and limb for a plump lip potion, punching herself smooth for "the nice king" and when she asked Finn and Jake to preform plastic surgery on her to make her hot

Her confidents isn't faked however, her desire to change isn't based on how she actually feels about her body but instead based on wanting to be liked by others - a theme in LSP's story is wanting to be liked by others (especially romantically) Even though they don't really change how they draw the characters much it could also be implied that LSP's insecurities came from the changes her body had during puberty

But also Brad messed her up. They had an on again off again relationship where Brad would date her friends to make her jealous and ignore her boundaries and yet LSP spends years focusing on their relationship. He's a creep who tore LSP down and made her think she was somehow underserving of anything better

When LSP got with Johnnie it showed her as really supportive and loving, the second she was flirting with someone who actually liked her back it went smoothly things only went wrong when Johnnie said she couldn't go to the dinner because it's a private business dinner with PB. She immediately thinks PB is trying to steal him from her, this is a clear reflection of her trauma from having Brad betray her trust and playing with her feelings so much

Side note on "Bad Timing" PB threaten to go to war with lumpy space because LSP was being rude despite knowing full well LSP has very little if anything to do with lumpy space's politics at this point (girl is homeless and PB is treating her as if she's a spoiled brat with a sliver spoon in her mouth)

I'm going to have to mention "Breezy", I know we want to collectively ignore it but I want to make a point about what this suggest about LSP's character. Her actions are a reflection of her own boundaries having been crossed repeatedly through out her life and she was told by the people crossing them that they weren't doing anything wrong which leads to her thinking that's what normal people do. It doesn't make it right but it's insight towards her world view where she rather see it as normal behavior then accept that people she cared for didn't care about hurting her

On how LSP communicates with others, she knows that other people don't say what they mean and that she is suppose to read between the lines but she doesn't know how so that leads to misunderstandings as she fills in the blanks (alt she's filling in the blanks based on lumpy space's social norms and can't wrap her head around Ooo having different ones) I think the best example is in "Gatcha" when she assumes Finn is in love with her because he's being nice to her and ignoring the part where she's flirting with him (he isn't taking her too seriously and doesn't know what she's talking about) The problem is others don't try to talk to her in a way she can understand: they get annoyed, frustrated or feel it's pointless so they ignore her. They yell and lecture at her for doing things wrong (she can't understand what people are trying to tell her when they lecture). Or they walk on eggshells and treat her like she'll go off at any random little thing, they just go along with what she says to keep her happy or go out of their way to make sure she doesn't get frustrated because they don't want to deal with her

The exception is Marceline. In "Princess Day" Marceline compliment LSP showing an appreciation for her bad girl behavior, she doesn't tell her she was in the wrong and supports her actions. This leads to them taking things too far but at no point does Marceline shame LSP for it, Marceline also owns up to her own part in the escalation. When LSP expresses concern about if these actions mean they're bad people Marceline doesn't dismiss LSP's feelings on this, she instead explains her own view saying she doesn't think there's such a thing as a "bad person" and that people just make mistakes. This was the first time LSP was able to explore her own guilt without being shamed or told she hadn't done anything wrong. Marceline supported and validated LSP's feelings through out the episode. This was the kind of support LSP needed the entire time but this is the first time she actually got it

LSP wouldn't have been able to grow as a person without that connection. Up until that point LSP had been become more and more detached from others, lashing out with emotional fits. After becoming friends with Marceline however she seemed to regulate and truly mature

One thing that reflects her growth is in her date with Lemongrab, when he gets up to leave she says he's afraid of intimacy, which while this shows she's still putting words in other people's mouths at this point there is a key difference in the words she using and even the tone of voice she says them. She says it as if she feels genuine concern for him, it's not indigent or aggressive it's soft. And she isn't talking about how his actions reflect on her looks but instead she thinks it's an insecurity he's feeling. She wants him to be able to face this supposed fear not because she feels cheated out of her date but because she doesn't want him being personally held back by it (Lemongrab doesn't actually have this issue)

You can also see growth in the Elementals episodes where she's the calmest she's ever been towards Finn. She's still hitting on him (I'm assuming it's a reflection of the fact she thinks everyone else is stuck in these changed forms and is seeking comfort via romantic escapism)

The finale shows her growth the most. She went to war to aid PB compare that to when LSP barely helped Finn cure Jake and treated it like a huge inconvenience that she isn't responsible for (despite them needing a cure because she accidently bit Jake)

Marceline is LSP's closest friend but Turtle Princess is LSP's BFF Turtle Princess and LSP can talk for hours, they listen to the other info dump and love trashy books, romance and gossip. They have trouble talking about other things and both become uncomfortable if they try. Turtle Princess thinks LSP is really hot and cool and looks up to her a lot. LSP thinks Turtle Princess is also hot and cool and will hype Turtle Princess up all the time

In summary, I think she has a lot of trauma and made a lot of bad decisions but is able to grow once she has a support system with friends who actually care about her

[theprinceandthewitch]

The reason why I'm equal parts excited and nervous for the Fionna and Cake miniseries is because this is going to actually canonize the lore of The Fionna and Cake universe:

So it's got me very curious...

What are they going to keep and what are they going to throw out?

While Ice King was receiving information about Fionna and Cake during sleep, anything he says about them will be wildly incorrect because the crown distorts his mind. I mean... he literally thinks Fionna would be into him, so he's clearly not a reliable source of information about her and her universe.

Would they keep Marshall Lee's, Gumball's, and Fionna's dynamic the way it was presented in Bad Little Boy and the Fionna and Cake comics [the ones that were written and illustrated by Natasha Allegri] or would they throw it out completely because this information doesn't come from "reliable sources".

Bad Little boy was basically Marceline's Finnceline propaganda a Marceline episode w hich gave us a deeper look into how Marceline views her relationship with Finn, Finn's relationship with PB, and her relationship with PB.

The FAC comics illustrated and written by Natasha Allegri were a continuation of Bad Little Boy BUT these comics were Gunther's Fionna/Marshall Lee/Gumball OT3 fanfics.

All the information we have about Fionna and Cake come from in universe fanfic... technically, none of it is true to the FAC universe - every Fionna and Cake story is told by an Adventure Time character, so they are all unreliable sources of information for the FAC universe.

So what do you do?

Do you throw out all the Fionna and Cake information that came before the miniseries since none of it is technically canon? Do you really throw out the most popular Fionna and Cake episode and well received comics because they're told by characters who wouldn't be able to see into the FAC universe? Or do you use these dynamics but create completely different backstories for the characters?

Fionna doesn't actually have to meet Marshall Lee and Gumball the same way Finn did - she doesn't even need to be the same age as Finn when she meets them. She could meet them when she's older [like 17-18 years old], since she's going to be a young adult in this new show... I mean why wouldnt she be a young adult... in a show aimed at young adults...

I just dont see them copying and pasting Adventure Time into Fionna and Cake. This new universe gives them a chance to explore new dynamics and ideas they wouldn't have been able to in Adventure Time.

Then there's taking the shipping into account... how do you tackle this monstrosity without pissing too many people off? Fiolee and Gumlee are BOTH very popular pairings, so how would you go about presenting these pairings in this alternate universe?

A thing people dont really realize is that Fionna and Marshall Lee could be a possibility because they're going to have different backstories from Finn and Marceline. Again, it would be boring as fuck to just do Adventure Time a second time - they're going to give these characters different backstories and they're going to meet each other under different circumstances.

As for Gumballs and Fionna's relationship... it might not be as creepy as Finn's and PB's relationship. They would not be able to get away with the creepy shit they pulled with PB and Finn', because people are going to see the red flags right away. People didnt notice the red flags with Finn and PB because we're not used to seeing older women creep on and exploit boys/young men nearly as much as we see older men creep on and exploit girls/young women. And again, it would be boring to to the same thing AT did with Finn and PB.

Oh wait...

Okay I know how they're going to tackle the shipping issue, and I dont really like it because I think it's spineless: Since this is a multi-universe adventure they are going to make different relationships canon in other universes. This will prevent fans from flipping their shit TOO MUCH and the writers can have their cake and eat it too.

Based on the summaries of the show I just dont see Marshall Lee or Gumball helping Simon, Fionna and Cake. First of all, that is way too many characters to manage. Secondly, based on this part of the summary:

Fionna and Cake with the help of the former Ice King, Simon Petrikov embark on a multiverse-hopping adventure and journey of self-discovery. 

The multiverse is going to be used as a way to develop Fionna. I mean.... it's been a hot minute since ive watched Adventure Time but Im pretty sure Simon isnt going on a journey of self discovery. This show is targeted at young adults... Simon isnt a young adult so i dont know why the story will be focused on him... if anything he's going to be the character who will offer Fionna guidance.

But yeah... the multiverse is the perfect opportunity to explore different pairings and ideas they wouldnt be able to do in a single story. So I dont see why they wouldnt use it to it's fullest potential.

[eclipses-prince]

Fionna and Cake universe theory :3

So every universe they visit was created by a wish made in Prismo's room. The only wish we know is entirely canon is the one that created farmworld. The wish that the Lich never existed. But, they never actually revealed the other wishes, so what are they? That's what my theory is about so here's my entire list of every wish I think made the universes

1. Baby-verse my guess is that this universe was created by the wish that Finn and Jake never got old, never aged, and never had to leave each other, possibly made by Prismo right after Jake's death. So he created a world where that never had to happen at all.

2. The Vamp-world My personal theory is that Vamp-world was created by the wish that Petrigoff was healthy. Simon never finds the crown, and therefore never gets the chance to save Marcy from the vamp king with the crown. He dies due to the vamps, and marcy is found and taken in by the vampires.

3. The wasteland-verse This wish is hard to pin down, but my theory is that this universe was created by the wish that Finn never lost his arm . Now, why do I think this is the case? Because during the fight where Finn loses his arm, is also the fight where the lich gets babyfied (yes that's canon). However, we have seen that most universes created in the Prismo room usually get twisted, so my guess is that, in this universe. Finn doesn't fight for his father, but loses to the Lich, which wipes out all of humanity. There is also something to be said about the theory that Wasteland-verse wasn't created by a wish, but a lack of one. This universe was created when Finn and Jake were too late, and the lich's wish came true, which wiped out all of humanity. Which leads us to the universe where no humanity exists.

4. The final universe, the Winterking-verse This is the hardest one to pin down, I don't really have a strong theory, but I have a couple ideas.

4.1. This is the universe where Simon never finds the note that Betty left. He looks for the crown alone, he finds it, finds Marcy, but doesn't defend her to the end, and loses her while he's still sane. Which means that he never starts his redemption. Until he corrupts Bonnie and gets his memory back, with all the crushing grief from Marcy, he makes his own Marcy and escapes into his own personal world where he never has to lose her.

4.2. This is the world where Betty never went through the portal, and because they actually spent their lives together, they naturally grow apart because of the power issues and then the Marcy stuff happens (see theory 4.1) and he doesn't care about Betty because they broke up on pretty bad terms.

4.3 This was the universe where Simon was more cruel and vindictive. He abandons Marcy when she's too hard to care for, he ignores Betty for his quest for the crown. However once he gets his sane mind back, he misses the ones he abandoned, so he recreates the perfect world, where he has his Marcy and doesn't care about Betty. (this is really shakey I'm sorry)

[keefwho]

September 15 - 2023 Friday

11:01 PM

This morning I had left over rice a roni for breakfast. I watched the most recent Fionna and Cake while I ate it.

Stream didn't go so great. Warmups were fine but when it came time to do commissions, the annoying motherfucker I needed to talk to about it wasn't awake so I couldn't do anything today. Instead I started a new YCH and ended 45 minutes early.

I cleaned the lower part of my closet out and got rid of a few things. I did my whole workout. I ran out of liquid soap today but I happened to have 1 bar of soap as backup that convinced me to switch to bar soap forever.

Lunch was a chicken burger with way too much onion. I played HOI4 while eating. When it came time to work, I just didn't. I played more HOI4 and ended up squeezing in 40 minutes of drawing this evening. I played a little Starfield too.

My big problem today is how horny I got because Daisy clearly wasn't in the market for it and I felt shameful having brought it up. I think I feel shame because of when overly sexual people bring it to me, I feel disgusted. So when I approach someone else and they reasonably just aren't in the mood, I assume they feel disgust and are judgmental. It's a problem on my part, I keep seeing things the wrong way. I hate this about myself. I hate that being horny is a problem at all. It makes me feel like I'm like all the other freaks taking it way too seriously. I don't like that my body has urges like it does.

The other thing that happened tonight which is also my fault is how I was banking on hanging out with Daisy sooner than it actually happened. I thought she was gonna be good to go after she ate dinner at about 7:30 but we didn't hang out until 9:30 for understandable reasons. But my stupid fucking brain was taking those 2 hours personally and combined with a drink, I was in a bad mood by the time we hung out. And I was trying to keep that secret but I just couldn't. Then I started getting upset about everything in general. The state of my life, how today went, etc. And now I just wish I had someone to talk to because she fell asleep. I wish she had stayed up a little bit like I had for her awhile back. But it's not like I asked for that so I can't take that personally either. I'm just in a really stupid headspace tonight and I know it. Something I'm gonna look back on and feel shame at.

Right now I feel like it would be best if I wasn't around. One of those times I feel like I've done enough damage to people around me and need to get away from everyone until I can be sure I'm not going to be destructive.

[silyabeeodess]

FusionFall Retro 2019 Holiday Event Fic: Icy Imagery, pt. 2

Previous: https://silyabeeodess.tumblr.com/post/189843252259/fusionfall-retro-2019-holiday-event-fic-icy

The next day—bundled in layers of clothes with a large, black sweater draped over her—Silya marched up the spire to find around a dozen soldiers at one of its lowest bases all gathered by the Ice King’s all but forced invitation.  Everyone had a holstered weapon, but fortunately, the area had already been cleared of Penguin Pests.  The Ice King had manifested a table beforehand, and had laid a small spread of chips, veggies, dip, liters of Super Porp, and what looked like some kind of potato salad, but they were either slushed or frozen by the time anyone got there. Despite this, everyone had one snack or another pushed on them.

Waiting for the last of the stragglers to arrive, Silya sloshed her iced drink around in its cup without taking a sip, not for the first time that day rethinking her decisions in life. She wondered how insane she had to be to let herself get talked into this and whether or not it would amount to anything.  Maybe she’d just spent so much time as one of Dexter’s lab rats that rational thought had abandoned her a long time ago.

Whatever the reason—passion, desperation, or her own madness—there she was, standing in the cold, about to take lessons from a raving lunatic.  Well, at least she wasn’t the only one crazy enough to be there…

Even if only a few others showed up after her.  Their pitiful numbers didn’t deter the wizard: He just glanced them over with a thoughtful pout and affirming nod before deciding to himself that they’d waited long enough. He raised his arms in a calling gesture, “Alright, alright, everybody, settle down.”

No one was saying much to begin with, all dialogue confined to a dull murmur, but they stopped to fire incredulous glances at him all the same.

The Ice King took on an authoritative persona that was almost comical, pacing in front of them as if he were their commander, ready to lead them into battle.  “Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here… It’s because your brains are all mush!” He waved his arms at the group. “You’re telling me that you all are capable of drawing from some kind of superpower, but you can’t even use it without a bunch of sciency junk? If it’s imaginary energy, then you should focus on using your imaginations a little.”

“Easier said than done…” someone muttered to Silya’s left.  They were right.  This was just the kind of thing she was worried about.  IE went a lot farther than what the Ice King described—if it didn’t, then it would’ve been seen used in almost every aspect of human life—so, no, just ‘using their imaginations’ wasn’t enough. She glanced back the way she came, already considering her escape.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.  Who knew what kind of response he was expecting, but clearly whatever speech the wizard had prepared didn’t go much farther than what he’d already said.  He glanced over the group again, the kind of look of his face that begged for someone else to step in.  When no one did, he held his hands up, “Uh… look, maybe it’d just be easier if I show you.”

A light blue aura shimmered around his fingers, a clear sign to everyone of Ice King’s elemental magic. Some recoiled instinctively, hands lingering by their sheathes and holsters. Instead of directing it at anyone there, however, Ice King instead aimed for the ground.  The magic scattered at their feet, manifesting in crackling icy, geometric patterns.  Then it swarmed around them, a cold chill pouring over them like a sudden, snowy blast of air.  Silya shielded her face from the winds with one arm, reaching for her sword with her free hand in case a stray bolt of ice trapped her legs.

Despite the Ice King’s bad history of encasing people in ice, however, none of them were harmed. Instead, the frosty cloud distorted their surroundings into some kind of strange, starry void washed in shades of green. The spire was gone and they were left hovering in the air.  A mix of excitement and panic took over the group.

“What is this? Where are we?!”

“Is this some kind of imaginary world?”

“It can’t be.  I’m checking the readings now, but I’m only picking up low traces of IE.”

Silya said nothing, taking it all in.  There was no way this could be an imaginary world.  Not that she’d ever had the chance to explore one herself, but no one could just summon one up like that!  Besides, it didn’t look like much of any kind she’d seen from the reports about them: They were always spawned with some kind of wonderland-like element to them. There was nothing here.  Nothing besides them…

Her eyes fell on the Ice King as their brief talk from yesterday entered her mind.  Sure enough, he called them back to attention with a proud grin on his face, “Fellas, you’re in my imagination zone!  Pretty cool, right?” He wiggled his brows. “It’s like a mindscape where anything goes.  Even Finn’s got one of these—and he’s got the imagination of a missing sock!”

“Mindscape?” a young man echoed to her right.  

Were they all currently somehow connected to the Ice King’s thoughts then?  Like some form of telepathy? She grimaced, unsure of how comfortable she actually was with that…

“Yeah, everyone’s got one they can go to.  Or should, I mean, I guess you shmoes never figured that out.  But that’s about to change.”  The Ice King hunted through his robes until he withdrew a worn, ruddy blue book.  “You guys read my fanfiction, right?  Since the ideas are all written out for you, it shouldn’t be a problem bringing Fiona and Cake and the rest into the world.”

Caught between a mix of irritation and guilt, Silya didn’t know what to feel worse.  Did he make us come here just to see if we could bring his fanfiction to life?  It didn’t exactly surprise her: Of course there was a catch.  There was always something like this no matter what villain joined the Fusion Fighters.  On the other hand, he had such an eager, puppy-like expression on his face that she felt bad for him.  She bit her lower lip.  While she didn’t have the hurt to dump her copy, she’d buried that brick of text somewhere so deep into her storage bank she didn’t even know where to find it without combing through everything.  

One look at the others told her that none of them had read it either.  Few of them answered him, and the ones that did had some excuse or another:

“I’ve been fighting fusion monsters, so I haven’t really gotten a chance to sit down with it…”

“Y-yeah! A-and it’d be a shame to rush through the story: It’s so… detailed.”

Miraculously, it worked, although the wizard still seemed disappointed.  He lowered the book, muttering a faint ‘oh,’ before a sudden anger took over him directed at no one in particular. “Well, this was a waste of time!”  The charge of emotion came and went, replaced with an excited smile, “Oh wait!  I can just read some of the good parts aloud right here then!  Makes sense, since it’ll keep us all on the same page.”

This time, at last, Silya finally interjected, raising her voice as a look of dread passed over the soldiers, “I think we’re good, Ice King.”  Caught under his curious stare, she thought up something quick, “Think about it: No one’s gonna know your characters quite like you do anyway, so even if we managed to create them, they wouldn’t exactly be the same.”  

She wasn’t lying: It was a case that happened all the time with imaginary friends.  People had their own needs, desires, and impressions, and those things always imprinted on imaginary beings.  It was even the case with their nanos, who took traits from themselves as often as they did their original counterparts.    

“Artistic interpretation and all…” she finished, scratching the back of her head.  “So, if you want to see Fionna and Cake, don’t you want them to be just like you’ve written them?”

He stared at her hard for a long moment—so long that she wondered if he’d snap again—but instead his expression turned a little sad and he dropped his gaze to the book in his hands with a casual shrug.  “Yeah, sure, but I tried all that before.  Even kidnapped some buddies of mine to find a life-giving mage to do it, but it didn’t work.  Took forever to write all the stories again after that…”

She wasn’t even going to ask: Somehow, she just knew that they and the Ice King had extremely different ideas about “buddies.”  However, it gave her an idea for how they all could get what they wanted.  “How about a trade then?  There this place called Fosters’ that specializes in imaginary friends. They might be able to help out.   You show us how to enter our own imaginary zones and we’ll get you in contact Fosters’.”      

Silya could feel the eyes drilling into the back of her skull from her fellow soldiers.  They could judge her all they wanted.  Frankie would probably kill her for passing the Ice King along like this, but after all the times she’d had to look after Cheese in the Darklands, the young woman felt that turnabout was fair play.  If this was their chance of getting one step closer to mastering IE, then it was worth it: He could make an army of Fionnas for all she cared.

Before she could get an answer though, one of the other Fusion Fighters spoke up, “Wait… If this is a mindscape, then what about our physical bodies?”

The area went so silent that you could hear a pin drop.  All heads turned to them, eyes wide with growing realization.  The wizard answered somewhat dismissively, “Duh, this is an imagination zone: It’s not like I could bring those here.  You’re lucky I was able to get everyone here at all.  I never tried it with so many people.”

“But if we’re all here, then who’s watching our backs in the real world?!”

Continued through the following fic... 

[tedlyanderson]

Annotations for Adventure Time: Beginning of the End issue 3!

Did you enjoy my annotations for issue one and issue two of this miniseries? If so, good news! (If not, shove off!) I have annotations for the third issue, right here waiting for your lovely eyes! Obviously, as with the previous posts, this will have great big massive spoilers for the issue, so take that into consideration. Please enjoy, my pals!

Pages 2&3: Okay, there’s a lot to unpack on these pages, haha. First and foremost is a reference to something other than Adventure Time for once: Jake’s monologue on these pages is a loose reference to one of the very best issues of classic Fantastic Four, number 51, “This Man ... This Monster!” In that issue, among other events, Reed Richards travels through the Negative Zone and muses to himself about the nature of reality:

There are cameos on these pages from a bunch of the “cosmic” things of the AT universe, including the Catalyst Comet, the Lich, a copy of the Enchiridion,  Glob Grob Gob Grod, the Finn Sword, and Prismo (in a rare 3-dimensional appearance). There’s also a herd of Time Lards with clocks on their bellies.

Also in this image, note the most minor and in-jokey reference in this entire series: the satellite on the middle-left with the word “FELIS” on it. In the episode “Fionna and Cake and Fionna,” someone asks Ice King where he gets the ideas for his Fionna and Cake stories, and he replies that they’re “beamed into [his] melon every night.” Later that episode, we see him sleeping as a pink laser zaps into his head, carrying images of Fionna and Cake. I chose to interpret this as a reference to one of my favorite authors, Philip K. Dick, who believed that he was receiving knowledge in the form of an information-rich pink laser beam from a satellite called VALIS. So this satellite, FELIS (get it? like cats?), is the source of the Fionna and Cake stories—in my version of the universe, anyway.

Page 4, panel 4: Chronologius Rex declares that he is the lord of Time, not meatloaf. Meatloaf has been established multiple times as Finn’s favorite food.

Page 5: And here we come to the crux of this issue: Finn’s possible futures. Issue 1 of this series was about Finn’s past, issue 2 was about his present, so naturally issue 3 is all about his futures. Obviously none of these should be taken as “canon;” I just came up with three possible paths Finn might take based on what we’ve seen him do throughout the series. I’ll explain my thinking after the third sequence.

All three of the futures are color-coded—the Candy Knight future is pink, obviously.

Page 6: I love Mari’s designs for Queen Bubblegum—the high ‘80s shoulders are great! My suggestion for Old Peppermint Butler was that he be smoother and shinier, as if he’s a candy that’s been sucked on for too long.

In panel 2, the “Dinner Kingdom” is kind of a half-reference to the Breakfast Kingdom in present Ooo.

And in panel 5, note old Finn’s Jake medallion.

Page 7, panel 4: I am not sorry for the “bunch” of banana soldiers joke.

Page 8, panel 1: Beards are indeed a factor in many of Finn’s futures: pretty much every time we’ve seen an older or artificially-aged Finn, he’s got a beard of some sort. I continue the trend in this issue.

Page 8, panel 5: This is a futuristic version of Founders’ Island, the main human settlement outside of Ooo, fixed up and fully repaired. The implication is that Finn not only returned to the human islands, he also helped fix the place up.

The color scheme for the Teacher Finn future is blue, connecting with the water and sky surrounding them.

Page 9, panel 2: I love Teacher Finn’s design so, so much, you guys. I described him as a lovable old professor, someone with his mother’s compassion and his father’s roguish charm, and Mari knocked it out of the park. Note his Jake hat.

Page 9, panel 3: “Homies help homies: always!” is the Adventure Time philosophy in a nutshell.

Page 9, panel 5: Note that Finn is still using his old, trusty sword Scarlett in this future. She’s even more nicked and battle-scarred, but I’m sure she’s still good in a fight.

Page 10, panel 2: Dodging eggs while fighting was part of Finn’s training from Rattleballs in his eponymous episode.

Page 10, panel 2: When it came to Finn’s human wife, I told Mari to make her look a little bit like a human version of Flame Princess. I figured Finn if has a type, it’s her!

Page 11: The third and final possible future is the Space Captain Finn future, which is green-themed for no particular reason. This future is based on the idea that Finn and his Candy Kingdom pals team up with the remaining humans to build a spaceship to take them away from Earth, which is about as likely as anything else in Adventure Time, haha.

Everything in this sequence is of course heavily inspired by Star Trek: the Next Generation, a show that I love and grew up watching. The Minerva A.I. is the ship’s computer, obviously, warning of “excessive sparks detected on bridge.” Jake is Finn’s right-hand-man, just like Riker was to Picard (and Finn even calls him “numero uno,” like Picard’s “number one”). Lady Rainicorn is the equivalent of counselor Troi, Fern is a bit like Data, and Jake’s skateboarding granddaughter Bronwyn is the hotshot kid pilot, like Wesley. Princess Bubblegum is the engineering chief—she always struck me as preferring the role of scientist rather than royalty, frankly—assisted by Frieda and BMO. Flame Princess, upgraded to Plasma Princess, powers the ship as a whole. And Finn himself sports a beard similar to Commander Riker’s—which is appropriate, as a future version of Finn was voiced by Riker’s actor, Jonathan Frakes!

When coming up with these futures, I thought about what the Finn we knew might be most drawn to doing, and boiled it down to three major options: fighting and defending (the Candy Knight future), teaching and training (the Teacher Finn future), or exploring and leading (Space Captain Finn). For what it’s worth, I don’t really have a preference, or any opinions on which future is most likely—one of the strengths of Adventure Time has always been finding ways to surprise its audience with something that makes total sense in retrospect. If Finn does have a “canonical” future, it’s probably something I would never have thought of, but which makes perfect sense.

Page 11, panel 4: Princess Bubblegum yet again mentions “zanoits,” which are maybe some kind of mysterious particle? It’s a funny word and deserves to be used more often.

Page 12, panel 1: I mentioned in my annotations for the previous issue that I felt bad making Susan revert to her simpler speech patterns, since by this point in the series she’s perfectly capable of using big words. I tried to make it up to her by making her the ship’s communications officer, who would use big words all the time.

Additionally, the “Tuffbone sector” is a reference to Meredith Gran’s Adventure Time miniseries, Marceline: Gone Adrift. In that series, Marceline explores space and meets other races, including the Tuffbones, dog-like alien critters.

Page 12, panel 2: Note that Shelby (the worm who lives in Jake’s viola) is wearing a bandolier similar to Worf’s. I was particularly proud of that idea, haha.

Page 12, panel 4: Jake’s exclamation of “Outrageous!” is a reference to another role by his voice actor, John DiMaggio: it’s the catchphrase of Aquaman, from the Batman: the Brave and the Bold series.

Page 16, panel 3: A “dead world” is another bit of unexplored Adventure Time lore: they’re apparently where people go when they die, but they’re not quite the afterlife as we think of it? Or it is, but there’s a lot of them, like at least fifty? Unclear.

Page 16, panel 4: I had to work in the title of the show somehow.

Page 17, panel 3: I wanted to make sure I referenced my favorite song from the show, “Everything Stays” by Rebecca Sugar, and this seemed like the perfect time to bring it up, as Jake discusses the inevitability of change.

Page 17, panel 4: When I described this panel in the script, I specifically mentioned the series Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the weirder depictions of the end of the world you can find. I love the image of the enormous stone blocks sinking into an endless sea.

Page 18, panel 5: Chronologius’s epithet for Jake, “starchild,” references Jake’s actual origin as a half-alien creature. I checked the dates, and apparently I finished the script for this issue just a couple weeks after the episode “Jake the Starchild” aired, in which Jake’s parentage was fully revealed.

Pages 20-21: Finn’s final “confrontation” with Chronologius might feel a bit underwhelming—essentially, all he does is convince Chronologius to give them an opportunity to escape. There’s no big battle, no war of wits; it’s already been established that Chronologius is basically invulnerable, so it’s not like Finn could beat him in a fight. It’s not terribly exciting, but that’s kind of the point: over the course of this issue, Chronologius becomes more sympathetic to Finn and his plight, particularly after seeing all the good he did (and might have done) in the world. So it’s less about beating up some big bad dude, and more about convincing someone to act like a pal. In a way, Finn beats Chronologius by making him into a friend.

Would it have been better if the ending was more exciting, action-packed, crazy-style? Maybe! Looking back on it, I feel like I could have given Mari more chances to do cool art stuff—the first half of this issue has some pretty far-out sequences and nifty new things to draw, but the second half is basically three characters talking against a mostly boring background. Thematically I feel like it’s better to have Finn succeed by befriending the villain, rather than just punching his lights out, but it definitely doesn’t have the same visual impact. Overall, I’m still proud of it, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

That’s it for issue three! Join me next time for—issue four?!? Yes! This three-part miniseries is in fact a four-part miniseries, ending with Finn and Jake’s adventures through time! Look forward to it, my chums!

[popcultureliterary]

Framed Stories: Fiction Inside Fiction with Adventure Time and Ponys

If every author followed the exact same formula for crafting stories, their readers would languish in boredom! Creators constantly combine different storytelling techniques and literary devices in order to make their works shine amid a sea of other brilliant works. One available narrative device is the framed story.

Perhaps one of the most popular stories told using this device dates back to the 9th century: One Thousand and One Nights, also known as, Arabian Nights. The tale’s protagonist, Scheherazade, tells her husband awe-inspiring stories with intense cliffhangers in order to avoid execution and to rescue other women from the same fate. The majority of the action occurs in the stories that she tells in between the pockets of narration detailing her life.

Framed stories can be found in today’s popular media as well. TV shows often use this device to create playful episodes in which characters take turns telling stories. Examples include Futurama’s “What If Machine” episodes, Gravity Falls’s “Bottomless Pit!” and episodes of Family Guysuch as “We Three Kings.” Popular examples of movies include Forest Gump, Tangled, and Big Fish.

What Exactly is a Framed Story?

Imagine a painting hanging on the wall, decked out in an ornate golden frame. You stand and appreciate it for a while, taking in the average-looking home and admiring the way that the artist used blue around the old woman sitting in the middle of the room. You get a lonely feeling looking at her, and can’t quite make sense of the soft smile on her face. Then, you notice a painting hanging on the wall in the background. It contains a young woman laughing with children. You realize that it is a portrait of the woman and her family. They seem quite happy. It gives you insight into why the lonely old woman smiles.

Framed stories are just the same: a story (or a set of stories) within a larger story that gives you a deeper understanding.

These works typically begin with a framing narration that introduces a character, or multiple characters, who will tell a tale. They set the scene, and launch into the telling. At the conclusion of the tale, the framing narration returns in order to show the impact it had on the listeners.

Creators can use this narrative technique in several ways. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular ones.

Fiction Within Fiction in Adventure Time

Sometimes the framed story comes entirely from a character’s imagination. Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time gives us great examples in its Fiona and Cake episodes.

These rare but well-loved gender-bending episodes follow the adventures of Fionna and her magical cat companion, Cake. The first of these episodes, “Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake,” opens right into the adventure. Fans don’t find out what is really going on until the end, when the scene switches to Ice King reading pages from his book of fanfiction.

Unlike other framed stories, the episode does not open with a framing scene introducing the story, but that doesn’t disqualify it from being a framed story. Authors occasionally use creative license in order to end their work with the framing narration instead of starting with one in order to leave the audience in the dark until the close. What’s important is the purpose that the story serves. Ice King’s imaginative “Fionna and Cake” episodes give the audience (and maybe even other characters) some important insight into Ice King’s personality.

It’s no coincidence that his two protagonists resemble Fin and Jake. At first, it seems like just a fun nod to the fans (which it might be!), but further examination tells a much sadder story.

The ancient wizard constantly tries to befriend the heroic duo, only to have his efforts fail time after time. Ice King just wants to feel included in the adventures and lives of the people of Ooo. He doesn’t have the social skills to do so, and creates his fanfiction to make up for it. We can see this in the episode “Bad Little Boy.”

It starts with a poorly crafted Fionna and Cake adventure told by Ice King, who inserts himself into the story’s climax and rescues his heroes. They tell him that he’s a super cool guy, and Ice King cries for joy at having the opportunity to meet them. Fionna tries to cheer him up, and invites him on the sort of adventures he wishes he could take with Finn and Jake. In the end, Ice King visits a room in the depths of his ice castle devoted to the fanfic’s heroes. He kneels before two massive ice sculptures of his protagonists and discloses his hopes that he will meet them one day in the real world.

We see him wishing to meet Fionna and Cake in another episode as well. In “Mystery Dungeon,” Ice King tricks various denizens of Ooo into helping him through a dungeon in order to bring his stories to life. After the adventure fails his expectations, Ice King tells Fionna in his Imagination Zone that he believes she’s real. Watching from a distance, Finn comments that nobody in the world is as sad as the Ice King (except for Shelby watching the situation play out, perhaps).

We can infer that Ice King, isolated in his land of snow with only a surly group of fleetingly loyal penguins for company, lacks companionship. Knowing this casts his princess-nabbing antics into a new light. He isn't kidnapping the royal ladies out of malice, but out of a desire to fill the void with the companionship that he can’t seem to earn on his own. Failing time and time again, he writes fanfiction in order to know what having friends feels like.

A few novels that utilize the framed narrative in a similar way include The Canterburry Tales, Frankenstein, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

BONUS: The Ice King’s imaginative tales aren’t the only framed stories featured in Adventure Time. What time is it? Scavenger hunt time!

It Came from the Past

Framed stories aren’t limited to fictional stories told inside of fiction. Many creators utilize the technique to delve into the past of the framing narrative. These stories start with a character introducing a riveting tale about their past, and launching into it for the majority of the work. Just like the fictional frames, these past-delving narratives can happen in different ways depending on the creator’s wishes. It might continue uninterrupted to the end, with the framing narrative coming back to wrap things up, or it might revisit the framing narrative throughout the work in order to introduce new elements of the story.

Let’s take a look at My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The first season’s twenty-third episode, “The Cutie Mark Chronicles,” uses this narrative style to explore the history of the Mane Six.

The episode opens with the Cutie Mark Crusaders conducting their usual shenanigans to find their cutie marks. After another epic failure, the determined trio set out to ask their role models for cutie mark origin stories. Along the way, they run into each member of the Mane Six and get their cutie mark history. Each of their histories occurs inside of the framing narration of the Crusaders running around Ponyville on their quest.

The framing of the episode serves several purposes. First, it gives Lauren Faust and team an engaging way to tell their intended story. It also discloses the protagonists’ cutie mark history in an engaging way and sets the stage for future episodes.

So why didn’t they just tell the whole story in the past? That’s where a third purpose comes in. Using the framed story technique allowed the writing team to give more information about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Here, we see the trio trying a new technique to solving their problem: asking the older ponies how they did it. Telling the story this way gives the creative team a chance to demonstrate the Crusaders’ resourcefulness while also exploring the relationship between the Crusaders and the Mane Six.

Finally, their choice to tell it this way allowed the episode to end with the Main Six sharing their stories in the bakery. They reach the essential conclusion that they all got their marks from the same event, which serves to cement their friendship even deeper.

Flashbacks aren’t Framed Stories

An important thing to keep in mind is that framed stories are different than flashbacks (a narrative device where the author gives us a glimpse of events that occurred in the past). You can determine the difference by asking yourself one question: does most of the action take place in the past, or the present?

If you answered that it takes place in the past with occasional narration from the present, you have a framed story. If instead, you determined that the majority takes place in the present, you have a flashback. The events of a flashback usually serve the main story in some way, such as explaining an important event, revealing information about a character, or creating contrast between past and present.

Both My Little Pony and Adventure Time make use of flashbacks in multiple episodes in order to give the audience a glimpse of what happened. Let’s take a look at “Memories of Boom Boom Mountain” from Adventure Time’s first season. Flashbacks throughout the narration show the audience scenes from Finn’s past that guide his actions in the present. These glimpses take up only a short portion of the overall story. The majority of the action takes place in the present as Finn works hard to keep everyone happy.

Video Games Put a New Spin on Things

Video games also utilize this narrative device. Games like Assassin’s Creed and Fable 3 use a framing story to launch players into the heart of the game.

Video games as a genre have also created a unique spin on the framed narrative. Many RPGs, especially open-world RPGs, feature books and letters hidden throughout the world that players can discover and read. The items, while not always important to the player as a tool, often contain the history and lore of the world. Sometimes, they just tell the story of characters who the player will never meet, or ones they interacted with on various quests.

These items give the player a deeper understanding of the world as they run around exploring it. Occasionally, they provide insight into certain characters’ actions, or hints on the location of an obscure quest. Framing these tales within the game’s overall narrative gives players a more in-depth understanding, and allows them to create their own experiences of the journey throughout the game. Players can generally complete the game without reading any of these, but taking a moment to pause and peruse gives them a more wholesome experience.

Tag, You’re It!

Do you have any favorite shows, games, comics, or movies with a framed story? Don’t forget to leave a note! Tell us your take on what purpose the framed story serves in the work.

You can also connect with me on Twitter at @Popliterature, or send me a message.

And as always, if you have a literary device you want to know more about, or a game, comic, show, or movie that you want to see make an appearance on the blog, leave a shout-out!