#none left for prismo

[arkos404]

this started as me thinking abt scarab & prismo's constrast in heights & colors between their 2d & 3d forms, it ended as a scarab x old man prismo post and im not apologizing for it

partly inspired by this post

[gin-juice-tonic]

Last thing Im gonna say re: fionna and cake ending

I was really really hoping the finale would touch on the fact that they repeatedly went into these other realities and meddled in them for their own ends. And didnt really treat these places like they were real or that they mattered?

Farmworld Finn mightve gotten seriously hurt. They straight up killed evil Simon (and by association little ice Marcy) and destroyed that world's crown. They abandoned the vampire world without a care and left baby Finn there. BMO EXPLODED. Cake has now experienced life as a magical being and is scared to go back!

But none of it ended up mattering? Its fine, the couple you didnt know before and dont care about are okay. Baby Finn is fine. The other lich is gone forever. Cake can just be magic who cares

Prismo gets off Scott free and Scarab gets community service?

WHAT ABOUT THE RAMMYS??

PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS

SIMON STILL ELECTROCUTED CHOOSE GOOSE! AND IT DIDNT MATTER

[hxney-lemcn]

Here to Stay — Farmworld! Finn Mertens x gn! reader

summary: reader moves in with Finn.

tw: none.

a/n: The finale! I hope you all enjoyed this series! I never write series' cus it's hard for me to keep writing so much for one plot but this had me in its claws.

wc: 0.4k

Epilogue [Ending A]

Master List | Chapter One

“Okay guys,” I laughed lightly as they had all just taken turns giving me a hug. “I gotta talk to your dad now.”

A chorus of ‘awes’ filled the room, but they trudged out of the room anyways. I turned to Finn, who watched with a blank stare. I fiddled with my fingers, knowing I left on a sour note. 

“Uhm, I’m really sorry about last night,” I muttered.

“Where did you go?” Finn asked, arms crossed as he leaned against the counter. 

I sheepishly smiled, explaining how I managed to get back to Ooo. How I had a talk with the Finn from my world, and decided it would be best if I stayed here. “If that's okay with you of course,” I finished. 

Finn’s face softened, and he uncrossed his arms, “This is your home now, it always will be.” 

I felt myself fluster, heart beating wildly at the warm gesture. I looked off to the side, unsure how to respond. I was so wrapped up in my feelings, I missed the fact that Finn closed the gap between us. It wasn’t until he placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face up that I realized the gap was nearly gone. I took in a shuddering breath, flashes of the previous night filling my head. 

“May I?” He asked, his breath hitting my face lightly. 

Not able to say anything, I nodded. Finn closed the gap and kissed me softly. I kissed back, holding onto his bicep for stability. He pulled back quicker than I would’ve liked, but I wasn’t complaining. His hand caressed the side of my face, cupping my neck, before letting go completely. 

Suddenly, a bunch of bags poofed onto the kitchen table, a little note in front of them. I felt my face flush as the moment was ruined. I felt embarrassment rush through me as I read the note.

‘Hey, so I realized all your stuff was still in Ooo so I transported the more important stuff.

-P’

I blinked, silently cursing Prismo for being an all watching deity. But also silently thanking him for moving my stuff for me. Without a word, Finn picked the bags and my eyes widened. Where was he gonna move them? I didn’t exactly have a room. 

I followed after him as he walked up the stairs. He entered his room and placed the bags down on his bed. I felt giddy at the implication.

“There's a few empty drawers,” Finn explained, motioning to his dresser. “You can put your clothes there. Anything extra can be put where you’d like.”

“Thank you,” I thanked, already starting to put my stuff away.

I felt at peace, happy with the choices I made.

[eyesteeth]

my thoughts and theories on fionna and cake

so from the trailer alone i’m pretty sure this is going to be very Simon-centric. as established in the main series, Fionna and Cake is genderbend fanfiction written by Ice King. however, it seems likely that the Fionna and Cake focused on in this series will not be the one within Simon’s mind - not fully, anyway.

i initially believed that the Fionna and Cake we see in this series would be entirely figments of Simon's imagination - fanfiction used as a coping mechanism. Fionna's world is realistic and bland and mundane because Simon's "lost the magic in his life", and Fionna's world gaining magic would be a sign of changes in his mental state.

i no longer believe this because i took too many screenshots of the trailer. however, i do think that the Fionna and Cake of Simon's mind will be relevant, and Fionna's world mirroring Simon's is an intentional comparison.

my take is this - Fionna and Cake is going to have an overarching a-plot of Fionna figuring out what's gone wrong with her world and defeating the threat, and a b-plot of Simon facing his mortality and his trauma and coming to terms with both.

that's my tl;dr. long post below.

Simon’s a character with a lot of depth to him, but none of the Distant Lands specials focused on him, so it’s his turn to hold the Trauma Ball. we know that he isn’t immortal anymore with the crown gone. he’s visibly aged in the trailer, growing some white hair, and is wrinklier.

(Tom Kenny also said in an interview that this is the most emotional thing he’s worked on, and Tom Kenny’s been in fucking everything, so you know it’s gonna be big. i cannot for the life of me find the source for this so you're gonna have to trust me on this one.)

aging is clearly gonna fuck Simon up for multiple reasons - beyond the normal stuff, aging means he's going to look like Ice King, making himself a visual reminder of the worst time of his life. he also spent a very long time as an immortal, and adjusting to the idea of death after centuries of being the same age is probably gonna fuck with him.

he’ll also be dwelling on his past - there’s shots in the trailer of him and Marcy together right after the Mushroom War, likely filling in some gaps from that time. we already got a whole episode dedicated to their time together in the main series, so there's no need to tread that ground again - this will likely show new moments with them or recontextualize things with the state Simon's in now.

(there's also a shot of both of their feet but i couldn't fit both sets of shoes on one frame)

then there’s a shot of what’s very obviously a musical number from the in-between state of Simon and Ice King. this could be the first time he puts on the crown (or an early time), resulting a darkly upbeat moment of juxtaposition, or it could be an equally dark current-day moment along the lines of “wasn’t it so nice when you had the crown on and you didn’t have to think about anything? when you were immortal and too out of it to realize how bad of a spot you were in?”

or it could be a secret third thing. keep this image in mind, it'll be relevant later.

as for some miscellaneous screenshots, takes these two:

Simon's coat is missing in the first but he still has it in the second, so either he goes on two separate adventures in Ooo, or the first image takes place after the second. i stand by this being Ooo in the first image because of the trees in the background. as for the second image, that's Finn in the top right, and the treehouse on the left. because of how old Finn looks in the big promo image, i assume this takes place between Obsidian and Together Forever - Jake is dead but Finn is not. Finn and Simon might have a talk about death and dying if the mortality thing gets brought up, or Finn might just be here to help Simon get where he needs to go.

to where they are going, one can only speculate. it might be Prismo's cube, but i'm a little iffy on that. the cube is massively relevant by the way and is likely how Fionna and Cake end up crossing paths with Simon.

because Prismo's whole deal is alternate universes (gestures at Farmworld Finn) i believe that this is how Fionna and Cake come to Ooo. Prismo's cube is even in the logo for this show, it's that important.

(Simon is no stranger to Prismo, we got the above moment in the Adventure Time finale, so him traveling to Prismo with Finn's help is a possibility.)

anyway, time for the people the show is actually named about!

for their side of the plotline, the description of the trailer is quite enlightening:

"Based on characters from the beloved “Adventure Time” franchise, this brand-new 10-episode series set in the land of Ooo follows the alternate universe versions of Finn & Jake on a multiverse-hopping journey towards self-discovery. When Fionna and her sidekick Cake find themselves in the crosshairs of a powerful new foe, they have no choice but to seek the help of former Ice King Simon Petrikov." (emphasis mine)

notably, they are referred to explicitly as alternate universe versions, so they are indeed their own people. i also find it curious that Fionna's life is somehow mundane enough to lack magic, yet wacky enough to have a "powerful new foe". unless that something is actively sucking the magic out of their universe, this particular foe is a mystery to me.

however, because multiverse hopping is mentioned, i believe that the big foe is gonna have ~some weirdness~ about it, possibly attacking universe after universe for its intended goal ala [insert your preferred bagel-based multiverse movie here]. i'd also like to present the following screencaps to the court:

the use of line color, color choice, and shading in between the two on the left and the two on the right are like night and day. so, given the multiverse theme, i propose that these are two different Fionnas - the Fionna and Cake as presented by Simon on the left, and the real magicless Fionna from her universe on the right. alternatively, the one on the left could be Fionna after she comes to Ooo, and she just gets a costume change.

(also, the musical number shot has coloring similar to the set on the right, potentially indicating that scene takes place in the same location/episode/universe/etc as those shots. this is the third secret thing.)

(also also, this is probably way too off the wall to be true, but the ones on the right look incredibly similar to Bee and Puppycat in terms of color, and given that Natasha Allegri is responsible for both Bee and Puppycat and the creation of Fionna, this series could get into ideas of creation, using Simon's Fionna vs the real Fionna as an allegory somehow. i will be shocked if this happens, i think it's just visual flair tbh, i just wanted to get this thought out of my brain)

if this wasn't a spotty post before here's where it gets Real Spotty:

i believe this is Fionna in Ooo, she's in a bunny hat and she's with a kid in Finn's clothes. i believe this is Ooo because of the fire people at the bottom. Fionna is also still wearing the outfit she had on in the bus in the beginning of the trailer, leading me to believe that she gets to Ooo after that set of scenes.

i further believe this is Ooo, because we see the same kid in this shot. that's Simon's leg on the right, muddied up, so this could be after his adventure with Finn. on the left is the Fionna and Cake script in the bin, this being the Fionna and Cake Simon came up with. my guess is that this kid is a fan of the Fionna and Cake Simon came up with and this outfit is a cosplay. maybe he published his fanfiction. good for him.

as for the city behind the closing door...

... maybe it could be this? i'm not sure if this city is on Ooo, frankly. the trees are different. maybe Fionna, Simon, and this kid all went to an alt universe together by accident? and that's why the kid looks so distraught in the shot with the bin?

for my last image-based comment, simon's sleeve has been torn off here (bottom of his-right-our-left arm) so it's possible that whatever muddied his pants in the bin shot also got his coat messed up, possibly his adventure with Finn.

to recap this meandering post

here's an extremely weak guess of plot points from the previously proposed concepts

Fionna lives a normal, bland life, realizes something is wrong, and ends up in Ooo over the course of a day. within this day, she does her job on the bus, sees something's up with Cake, experiences some dimension weirdness, chases Cake at some point, her and Cake end up falling, and then it's Ooo time.

in Ooo, she meets a kid that's a fan of Fionna and Cake - from the stories Simon wrote and published.

Fionna decides she needs Simon's help, possibly because he's apparently written books about her, so they go to get him

meanwhile, Simon's had a bad mental health day and is spiraling.

he ends up in the woods with Finn for some reason, possibly to death talk, and they have an adventure that takes the length of the day. by the end of it, Simon's clothes are torn up and he just wants to go home.

he goes home and sits down for like A Minute before Fionna and the kid show up at his place.

(there is no evidence for this but i feel like seeing the character you made up in your genderbend fanfic irl would be freaky so Simon's like "wow i've fucking lost it i'm hallucinating my oc")

situation gets explained to a very non-receptive Simon

the three/four of them head off onto a multiversal quest with widely varying levels of enthusiasm

over the course of the quest shenanigans ensue and Simon has many moments of contemplation on his past and future

Fionna gets the situation with her home universe figured out

You Will Cry Your Eyes Out

the end

that's all i got. feel free to go crazy in the notes.

[j4gm]

SPOILERS!!! REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS IN F&C ep. 5: DESTINY

I'm a week late on this post because I had some stuff going on last week, but let's go!

The opening scene reintroduces us to Ice Finn, who was briefly cursed by Evergreen's crown. We see him abducting a family, who will become part of the pile of frozen bodies that made up the area where he and the Lich opened a portal to the Multiverse in Crossover. At the end of that episode Prismo moved the crown to the site of the Mushroom Bomb's explosion, freeing Farmworld Finn from the curse. But he remains a frightening figure in Farmworld's mythology, as demonstrated by this scarecrow that Simon steals his new clothes from.

Fionna telling Simon to relax because she's an expert at post-apocalyptic RPGs is ironic considering that Simon has survived and raised a child in an actual apocalypse.

Big Destiny appears alongside returning Destiny Gang members Tromo (far left) and Trami (fifth from left, just next to the mast). Tromo was assumed to be a boy in her first appearance; it's possible she's transed her gender. Big Destiny claims he was the one who defeated Ice Finn, which is most definitely not the case, but it seems like nobody is in the mood to dispute his claim.

This is Farmworld Wildberry Princess. She's a butcher just like her Ooo counterpart. Fionna also assaults Farmworld Starchy, and Farmworld Chet is the guy who was surprised to hear that Cake could talk. I'm not sure if there are any other recognisable characters amongst the crowds at the Farmworld meeting place, except of course for...

Choose Bruce! He was the person who gave Farmworld Finn his sword-arm in his debut episode, and is obviously the Farmworld version of Choose Goose. The evilness of his Ooo counterpart doesn't seem to have manifested in quite the same way, except that he is as shady a salesman as ever.

Fionna has a copy of a magazine called Mle, which seems to be the Fionna and Cake version of Ble. She also has Finn's iconic flute.

Peanut exclaims "magic fist" when he sees Cake use her powers, which was the name of Finn and Jake's wizard disguise when they entered the tournament in the episode Wizard Battle.

Peanut also mentions Fionna's missing nose, which is the first time someone has brought up the art style discrepency in canon. Fionna does in fact have a nose. It's just not drawn in her universe's art style.

Farmworld Finn's house is reminiscent of the Tree Fort, with its corrugated roof, haphazard wooden construction, steel chimneys, and the ladder steps leading up the trunk of the tree behind. But it still has its own unique design.

And here is Farmworld Finn himself! His retractable axe-arm is cool.

He is a widower with five children. As you probably already know, Jay (previous image) and Bonnie (third on left) are named after Finn's kids from Puhoy, who were themselves named after corruptions of Jake and Princess Bubblegum's names. The other three kids on the right are unnamed in the episode's credits, but have characteristics of some of Finn's other "children". The first on the right could represent Neptr, who Finn created in the episode What is Life. The middle on the right likely represents Stormo, who was spawned from Finn's DNA in the episode Goliad. The far right can't really be identified with any existing characters, but he has green eyes like Huntress Wizard, perhaps symbolising the potential of Finn's relationship with her or even being an explicit indicator that Farmworld Huntress was the mother of these children.

Jake is still alive in this universe. He was possessed by the Lich for a while, but was freed at the end of Crossover.

Finn throws a stick of bubblegum into the soup for some reason. I've seen various theories about what this is meant to mean but none of them really seem likely to me. It was probably just a nod to the fact that Princess Bubblegum doesn't appear anywhere else in Farmworld.

Old lady Marceline's broken laser gun and Farmworld Finn's sword arm are mounted on the wall, alongside other artifacts.

Bonnie has doodled a Candy Kingdom on the wall.

This is the first of at least two times that Cake suggests selfcest.

This is the crater from when the Mushroom Bomb blew up. Just like in its original appearance, it remains unclear why its impact was small compared to the bombs that exploded during the war. Perhaps time dulled its power, or perhaps the Lich's spirit was enough to make it more threatening than any conventional nuclear weapon. As previously mentioned, the crown got blown up here because Prismo teleported it here in Crossover. Out-of-universe, this was an explanation for a minor continuity error where the crown was present in a scene it shouldn't have been in during Finn the Human.

Little Destiny is afflicted by a lesser version of the curse of Evergreen's crown, since she's only wearing one of the jewels. This is why Jay says she feels cold.

Bartram! This is Farmworld Finn's beloved mule. He was reluctant to sell Bartram in order to pay off the Destiny Gang, which was the catalyst for his discovery of Evergreen's crown. It's good to see that he was at least able to keep his mule after that whole ordeal.

This show has conditioned us to expect blood when someone dies, so perhaps Farmworld Finn isn't dead despite this looking like a killing blow. Either way, I don't think we'll be seeing him again.

The dream in this episode's credits is a bunny with a sword.

[frogspond200]

𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖𝚘

Requested by: Anon

Ask: Hi! Can u do a Prismo × reader where Reader is comforting Prismo about Jake, Maybe also having Reader also be pretty upset about what happened to Jake too? Bonus if the reader is a cosmic entity as well. (Btw I love your work!! sorry if this request is a bit long)

Warning: None

Date: 9/15/23

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As the reader approaches Prismo, they can sense the sadness emanating from him. They understand the weight of loss and are deeply affected by what has happened to Jake as well. With empathy in their heart, the reader gently places a hand on Prismo's shoulder, offering solace in their shared sorrow.

"It'll be ok, you always have another version of him" you reassured. Words spoken softly, the reader assures Prismo that they are not alone in their grief. They express their sadness, acknowledging the void left by Jake's absence. Sharing their memories and moments of joy with Jake, the reader shows Prismo that their feelings are valid and understood.

Prismo smiles, feeling a sense of comfort that they are not alone in their grief. They take a deep breath and hug the reader, grateful for the support. They take a few moments to process their grief before slowly moving on with their life. "Do you wanna hang out in the time room?" He asked

You nod, he starts to feel a newfound sense of optimism. They take a deep breath and follow Prismo into the room, watching other versions of their friends...messing around with the Cosmic Owl, Etc.

they did have a goodbye party for Jake, which got crashed because one of the entity's broke the screen... Everyone was disappointed, but Prismo reassured them that the party wasn't over yet. He showed the group a room where the screen was fixed and they could all have their goodbye, party. Everyone cheered with delight and the party continued.

"You know, we should hang out more...also you need to shave dude. You look like my birth father..." he gave a laugh and rubbed his face. He rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know, I just don't see why since people hardly make a wish anymore."

"It'll get better dude, trust me, you've got a lot of power, you just need to be a bit selfish sometimes, it can be a healthy thing. Trust me"

"Yeah your right"

[void-ink-studios]

Arrival of a Little Star

Alrighty folks, it's part two of the kid fic!

Don't mind me, let me just put Scarab through the emotional wringer of his life. It all ends well, don't worry!

Also, there's art for you! But it's at the end, so you'll have to read for it :)

Enjoy, as always!

Word Count: 2,500

As seemed to be the recent trend in Scarab's life, the next life altering event did not come in the form of a bang, crash, angel choir, or any other appropriately urgent sounds.

No, this one came in the form of a whimper.

It was quiet at first. Quiet enough that Scarab wasn't even certain he was hearing anything.

Another day guarding the burrow had made his brain turn to mush. He was tired. So very tired.

Prismo had managed to coax a few hours of sleep out of him, occasionally. But only when the beetle looked like he was about to fall over, and only after many reassurances that Prismo wouldn't leave the burrow unguarded and would wake him up if anything had happened.

But Scarab was trained for this. He'd been trained to patrol and protect many brood burrows, he was built for this, he could protect one. Never mind the fact that he was one of several guards, who all traded off shifts so the others could rest and socialize. No, he could do this.

His sleep deprived stupor didn't do much other than let his mind play with memories. Memories that mutated into fear, and fear that projected onto his task.

He thought of disgruntled gods, ones who still hated him for his job, barging in and destroying the burrow in a rage.

He thought of the Boss, of them finding out and deciding this was a waste of pantheon resources and erasing everything.

He thought of Orbo, deciding to punish him once again, this time by taking away something far more precious than his wings.

He knew none of these things would happen. Nothing could enter the Time Room if Prismo or himself didn't allow it.

The Boss didn't care enough about affairs like this to get involved, not unless his tiny little brood somehow threatened the architecture of the multiverse.

And Orbo was in no position to try anything for now. Not with him sequestered away in the Archives, at least.

He rationalized as much as he could. But that wasn't enough, not enough to prevent his thoughts from rampaging through his heart.

Scarab had taken to explaining away his tears as left over hormones when Prismo fretted. But he knew from the look on the Wishmaster's face that the lie was a poor one. Those were the moments Prismo was most successful in tempting sleep out of him.

But Prismo wasn't here right now. He was up in the main chamber of the Time Room, monitoring the TV Wall and waiting for potential wish makers. And Scarab was alone, fighting his own lead heavy body to stay alert.

It was in this half asleep, anxious stage, only a few months into the brood period, did the whimper begin.

At first, Scarab didn't hear. It was so quiet, it blended into the background strange humming that was ever present throughout the Time Room. So quiet that it was unclear if a noise was made at all.

But it didn't stay that quiet for long.

There were a few moments of silence. Then the whimpering returned. Louder this time. Loud enough for Scarab to notice.

His antenna perked up, and he blinked the tiredness away from his eyes. He hummed, letting his mind follow the sound.

Yes, whimpering, that was the noise.

Hmm...

Wait, what?!

His entire body shot up as the realization hit his frame. He pressed his ear to the wall of the brood burrow, listening carefully.

There it was again, soft little whimpering, and the distinct sound of tiny claws scratching at the wall.

Scarab's body felt freezing cold as he listened.

No...

No no no, this wasn't right...

This was far too soon for them to be trying to leave... They still had several months to go, potentially even a year left! And that's not even counting their pupa phase.

They weren't ready, they're too little, there's no way they weren't, there's no way they've pupated already, much less be ready to emerge.

He remembered, back in the Mounds, a few of the grubs under his watch emerged early. It happened every once in a while, one of the many reasons only a few eggs from every clutch made it to nymph hood.

It could be because of a number of reasons. Parasites attacking the grub, environmental stressors, or just plain bad luck.

The ones that emerged early never made it very long afterwards. They were far, far too tiny. Sickly. They were often missing limbs, or their lungs were too weak, or their shells were too soft. They never stood a chance.

And now Scarab was listening to a tiny hand try and dig their way out far, far too soon. His one and only grub.

His body shook, trying to hold back tears. He needed Prismo. But he didn't want Prismo seeing this. His heart was already breaking, he didn't need to see the Wishmaster's expression when their little one took their final breath.

The longer he waited, the louder the whimpering became. It sounded like crying, with awfully familiar sounding distressed chirps.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to leave them like this, but dear Glob he was scared of opening this burrow. He couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

So he decided to chirp back.

He made soft, soothing noises, loud enough to hopefully be heard through the wall. He called to them, gently tapping his own talons against the wall.

The whimpering hiccupped but called back. They chirped, so clearly distressed, little claws trying to make progress on the wall.

Scarab had thought ahead in that regard. He had made the wall here weaker than the rest of the Time Room. Soft enough for new talons to dig their way out. Not exactly like the burrows back home, but similar enough to achieve the same effect.

"Come on, love... you... you need to dig your way out."

He didn't know why he started speaking. Maybe it was the only thing he could manage. Maybe because he remembered when he first emerged, how scared he was being surrounded by the darkness.

At least not let their few moments be full of fear and uncertainty.

He continued to chirp, thanking Glob that it at least made the crying settle, even for a moment. The tiny chirps continued, the scratching become more and more certain.

"Th-That's it, love... You can do it."

"What's happening?"

Scarab's breath hitched, taking every ounce of will power to not burst into tears at the Wishmaster's voice.

"P-Prismo... L-Listen."

The Wishmaster raised an eyebrow, but focused. Scarab halted his own chirping for a moment, but the moment was long enough. Long enough for the whimpering to return, and the distress call to vibrate painfully into his heart.

Prismo's eyes widened, immediately joining Scarab's side.

"Wh-Why didn't you come get me?! C'mon, we need to get them out of there!"

Scarab resumed his reassuring chirps, keeping his head pressed against the wall, but still holding back the pink dream.

"Prismo. S-Stop. Just... Listen."

Prismo startled by how upset Scarab's voice sounded. He took in the Auditor's face. A face of deep fear and... despair.

His stomach fell out from under him, that was clear on his face.

"...Lovebug...?"

Scarab shook his head, just continuing to chirp and encourage the little one to keep going. The noises were getting louder, clearer. It was obvious, the wall was getting thinner. He let his eyes meet Prismo's.

"I-It's part of our development... W-We have to dig our way out..." His eyes turned back to the wall. "N-Nearly there, love, keep going... I'm here, we're both here..."

Prismo looked like he wanted to help. He wanted to help them, help Scarab, do anything other than sit there and look at the beetle's heartbroken expression.

"Scarab... why are you so upset...? This is a happy time, yeah?"

Scarab squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "I-It's too early, Prismo... Th-They're not supposed to be e-emerging right now... They're too l-l-little... Th-They won't make it... I-I-I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Prismo had a sobering expression. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, stopping himself from shedding tears, and listened. He listened carefully to the tiny chirps responding to Scarab's trills, to the razor edge his partner's voice was on, to the small cracking from the Time Room wall.

"Lovebug..."

"I'm sorry, Prismo... I'm sorry..."

"Lovebug, listen to me."

Scarab held his breath, but nodded.

"Scarab, whatever happens... I love you. You know that, right?"

He nodded again.

"Good. Whatever happens, I'll be right here."

Scarab's antenna started picking up on smells, new smells, yet so achingly familiar. He opened his eyes, looking down as small pieces of the wall fell to the ground.

"You're s-so close, little one... Come on, love, finally push..."

"You can do it, sweetie. I know you can."

Scarab let out a shaky breath at Prismo's added encouragement. It made the ache warm, just a little bit, knowing the little one wouldn't be alone or afraid in their few moments here.

The beetle squeezed his eyes shut as he heard a crack, then pieces of the wall falling away. The chirps were so loud now, they must've broken through.

He heard Prismo gasp a little, more pieces falling away. Scarab pushed through the last chirps he could manage before he collapsed. He couldn't look. He couldn't bring himself to face what was shaping to be the worst moment of his life.

"Oh my glob" he heard Prismo whisper. The tiny chirps echoed all around his head, squeezing every ounce of breath out of his body. His antenna trembled, picking up the new smell in the air.

It was so much like Prismo, but also so much like himself. It was sweet, something akin to spiced honey, something so familiar, something that should've been comforting.

But it wasn't... It just made everything hurt, hurt in a way Scarab didn't know he could feel hurt.

He heard Prismo either conjure or dissipate something, and the tiny chirping petered out. He flinched at the sound. So it was over then...

"Scarab...?"

He shook his head.

"Scarab? Open your eyes."

"...Is it over...?"

"N-No, Lovebug. Look."

He sighed. Nothing to do but face fate.

Scarab willed his eyes open, fist looking at the new hole in the wall. It was small, so so small... Too small...

He turned slowly, to look at Prismo. There were tears there, and for a moment, Scarab's heart shattered. But... wait, he was smiling. These were... happy tears...?

And then his eyes caught the little bundle of blankets in the Wishmaster's arms.

"Come here... Come look."

Scarab took a few steps closer, talons hesitantly pulled the blanket to peer at their little one.

"They must be tired after all that... They fell asleep as soon as I wrapped them in this."

Asleep?

They were so little, smaller than any nymph he had ever seen. They looked comfortable in Prismo's arms, and, blessedly, asleep. He could see their chest rise and fall, steady.

Scarab's breath caught as he got a look at them.

The first thing he noticed was their color. Their shell was such a lovely rosy, red, a perfect mix of their colors. It dipped into almost a purple at the ends of their limbs, which appeared to almost float apart, similar to Prismo's legs. They also had the same star core as Prismo, floating gently in their chest, pulsing with cosmic magic. Their feet sparkled with little hints of stars.

Their hands were so little, tipped with yellow claws. They indeed seemed to have a second set of arms, but much smaller than the primary set. Still articulate, but much too small to be used the same way as their upper hands.

Their face was pink, more like the Wishmaster's shade than his own. The head, which seemed almost too big for them, was cradled in a collar of fluff, a deeper shade of red speckled with patches of yellow. They had only one set of mandibles, as opposed to Scarab's two, and tiny. Their eyes were closed but clearly huge. Their antenna waves in the air like grass caught in a breeze, feathery and light.

They were perfect.

Scarab didn't know what to do at first. His antenna twitched, his breath unsure of where to go.

"Th-Th-They're... They're alright...?"

Prismo sniffled, but nodded. "They're alright... They're actually a bit big for a baby this young..."

"B-B-But... But they're so small... Nymphs aren't supposed to be that small..."

"Well... Maybe that's why they came out so early... Maybe they spend a bit longer as a nymph than what you might expect. They are partially me, after all."

Scarab took a moment to process those words.

A baby.

His baby.

Tears spilled from his eyes as he shook with relief. He felt his legs give out from under him, barely catching himself on the wall to slide down to the floor. Prismo joined him there in a heartbeat, kissing and nuzzling the side of the beetle's head.

"You want to hold them...? I know how much you need to touch."

Scarab wordlessly nodded, feeling the weight of his little one settle into his arms.

The reaction was almost immediate. He silently sobbed, leaning his head down to nuzzle affectionately. His mandibles chirped softly, gently tracing the edges of their soft little face. His antenna reached to brush up against theirs, taking in their scent and letting them smell his.

The little one slowly opened their eyes, chirping curiously. Blue, they were huge and blue, just like Prismo's. He smiled, sobbing through a laugh as tiny hands reached and patted his face.

He chirped right back, letting the sound wash over them.

They immediately cuddled closer, their chirps becoming louder, more confident.

"I think they recognize you, Lovebug."

Scarab nodded, unable to stop crying. "H-Hello, little one... Oh, my little s-s-star... You're so beautiful... You're perfect, so, so perfect. You d-d-did so well."

He couldn't stop chirping, heaping praise upon his little one. Not as long as they kept responding with tiny little squeaks and trills of their own, even giggling as he nuzzled into their neck and cheek.

"They're here, Lovebug. They're here."

Scarab nodded. He let the Wishmaster pull him into an embrace, just like he did all those weeks ago.

"Can you get some rest for me...?"

Scarab shook his head. Not now. Not when he was still greeting his child.

"Hmmm... Well, if you won't sleep, at least help me name them."

Name them...?

Yes, they can't name themselves, can they? No, they're far too little for that. He looked into their little face, into their big blue eyes.

"...Luna."

"Luna?"

Scarab nodded. "Luna. I know it in my shell. This is Luna."

Prismo gave a wobbly smile, curling around his little family.

"Luna it is. And they're safe, Lovebug. They're safe."

Scarab nodded, having finally stopped crying. Prismo gave the both of them a sweet peck on the cheek.

Safe...

They were safe.

His little star was finally safe.

[elleashling]

it has occurred to me that allegedly none of the universes fionna and cake travel to were created by accident/through the butterfly effect like a typical multiverse

the way prismo explained the universes was “people wish for things and subsequently universes come into existence following the lines of what they wished for”

so someone had to make a wish to create the vampire world universe… and the main early difference in plot-important characters is a dead simon… hmm m m…

or maybe someone, maybe MARCELINE, wished for simon not to lose himself using the crown the way he did in the original universe, because we see little marceline stopping him from doing so. and then… at least he died as himself? which left marceline wide open to the influences of the vampire king as a young child without simon’s upbringing to give her morals

i don’t know if this has been said but i’ve been thinking about it all day okay

[via-the-cryptid]

Ive been thiking a little about some things:

1.- I dont remember if one of the Rules of Prismo's Wishroom was that you have to arrive on your own to get a wish or you could be invited, but even if thats the case they could still have Farmworld's Enchiridion (because here there is no backstabbing that ends with the book destroyed) to open a portal so Simon gets his wish the right way.

2.- Talking about Farmworld, I cant imagine how Finn, who has been living with a magical snow mom for a couple of months/years by now, would react to seeing a magical ice version of himself in Crossover.

3.- Continuing with Farmworld, we assume that both that and the regular timeline advance at the same time, so if they go into the multiversal adventure with Finn still being a Teenager, that would mean that Farmworld Finn would also be a Teenager when they arrive. But that could open another story, maybe they find him after his parents and brother died/left for some reason and he is on his own with normal Jake and Bartram, maybe when he meets his future wife AKA Huntress Wizard.

4.- If you think about it regular Marceline its indeed stronger than the Star we saw on canon because while the Star has the powers of all the Vampire Council, Marceline has that +VK pure vampire soul. Also idea, this Star was raised by The Empress instead of the VK, because she was the one who wanted to create an Empire on Stakes and in this AU maybe she trained Marceline to take down VK and get the throne. Also that opens the chance to have Betty saying "Empress! You're a bad Mother!"

answering in sections again:

1. I don’t think it’s ever specified if you have to arrive naturally or if you can be invited when it comes to making a wish — the only rule I remember (and there may be others that I forgot, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) is that you can only have one wish per person. as far as I know, Magic Simon should be able to make his wish when he’s first invited to the wish cube in order to explain the Snow Queen situation. however, if you do have to get there naturally and you can’t be invited if you’re making a wish, he’d probably just tell Finn, Jake, and Marceline what he was doing so they could help him collect the jewels and open the portal with their own enchiridion.

2. Finn would probably be very weirded out by Ice Finn, and it would also make him consider the whole Snow Queen situation even more. He sees this version of himself who’s absolutely destroyed by the crown, and then he turns around and sees his mom, who’s just… kinda senile and obsessed with her husband. I feel like that’s gotta mess him up, to know that the crown that made Betty obsess over Simon, also turned Finn into a monster in a different reality. if he talks to Snow Betty about it later, she’ll probably be able to explain the way the crown corrupts and what she was like at the start, as well as Ice Finn’s motivations for doing what he’s doing (because it’s not purely malicious, Ice Finn clearly talks about keeping everyone safe with his ice and trying to protect them), but that will be have to come later since they’re pretty busy avoiding the interdimensional cops when the two Finns meet.

3. you are right, and I actually didn’t consider that before, but I definitely should have. in that case, Farmworld Finn probably still has his wife (could be Huntress Wizard, Phoebe, or even Rosalinen from the Puhoy episode) and might have already had Jay, maybe? but probably none of the either children, and Jay would still be a baby, as would Little Destiny. I think Magic Simon and Snow Betty & co would probably still follow someone out to the crater, but in this case it’s more likely to be Farmworld Finn showing them that the crown is already destroyed, at which point they find the Jewel and decide to use it to find another version of the crown, and then Scarab shows up and they gotta book it real fast. Magic Simon may be way more powerful than he has any right to be, but nobody wants to risk him or anyone else getting put in one of those eggs if Scarab manages to hit them at the right moment. Farmworld Finn runs as soon as Scarab arrives, specifically because the Ooo gang told him to and because Magic Simon immediately started having a wizard showdown, and Farmworld Finn ain’t getting involved in wiz biz.

4. you’re RIGHT, she IS! and you’re also right about the Empress probably being the one to take a front role in raising her, because it seems like the VK is definitely following Empress’s plans here. Snow Betty would definitely yell at her and probably chuck a rock at her head, which I doubt would do anything but it would certainly make Snow Betty feel better. Marceline and the Star also get to have a showdown while Vampworld Bonnie watches and realises that maybe perhaps she has a bit of a crush on this alternate Marceline. just a small one. maybe actually a really big one. regardless, I think that VK is still the one with the crown and is ‘in charge’ of the empire, but he’s a little senile and it’s really Empress pulling the strings and mildly grooming the Star as her replacement if she or VK ever falls.

[fandom-with-no-hope]

Ranting about that pokemon rp because I can't be normal anymore. We've had this going for two years. And a lot of shit happened

-All the drama from Unova and the bw games is canon + some things that we added for fun. It was with our main ocs

-we created a new region called Akkosia, with two legendaries & all. Unethical experiments & shit happened, someone was fusioned with his pokemon (it was my best friend Polaris), we overthrew the government, had to murder some evil people, took over the damned league, and had about 16 near death experiences. The whole Akkosia arc was insanely fun except that I probably cried 17 times because of Polaris alone.

And this is where it gets messy because we have like. 5 perspectives, all at once.

- had a sort of "beach episode" where our main characters spent a few days planning a festival in Alola. One of my oc (Sacha, whose best friend is Hoopa), met the love of his life (Marisa, whose best friend is Celebi). They also met Fukaku (he'll be more relevant later) *

-while this was happening, a guy from Akkosia (Mizuki) went to Kalos with his girlfriend (a former member of the Akkosia league / she was a villain but then she was spared). Most events from the Kalos games happened except like. 10 times worse. There was a second criminal organisation at work.

-Eden (former team Flare member, who was badly injured when the Supreme Weapon fired) was saved by Ringer (former member of the Black Eagles, the second evil organization) and they both had a lesbian escapade in. Spain. Where, after they got engaged, lost their house to a dramatic incident involving Darkrai (note: Darkrai used to belong to Mizuki).

-Darkrai Was caught by someone who can casually break the fourth wall, who gave an existential crisis to Eden, before she tried to find an "entertaining solution" in order to avoid catastrophes.

*going back to the main cast for a second. They went to Kalos because Sacha is looking for Hoopa's vase. Did I mention there's a cult in Kalos? Marisa traveled back in time hundred of times, in order to prevent Sacha from getting KILLED and he couldn't remember any of it

After this, they avoided problems a bit. Oh. No they didn't. Sacha and Marisa left to go on vacations in Kanto. It ended up terribly.

-Ringer faked her death. Eden joined team Rocket alongside Livio and Ekuren. They took over Kanto, became literally the best trio. Until they found Polaris (who is an escaped experiment), so Livio went ballistic (he's an experiment aswell and used to know Polaris until he abandoned him) so there was an entire arc where team Rocket was after Polaris (and they succeeded in catching him)

-The leader of team Rocket was eaten by Giratina and thus set Polaris free.

*A big cult, calling themselves "The Family" gained in influence. A small girl ran away and met the main group. Unfortunately, she's always been a bit different, but she befriended Fukaku, and they had a sibling - like relationship.

-Fukaku hunt down. And killed. All leaders of the Family. With one exception, being Mei, since she was mostly endoctrinated and not beyond reasoning

-Got tracked down by one experiment / daughter of one of the leaders (Orion), who was, in fact, spared. And who had to live with them, in order to repair her mecha

-Every single character was invited to a wedding (Sacha and Marisa). Even team Rocket.

Team Rocket got their redemption arc when the leader almost died so it's fine.

ALL THESE STORIES HAPPENING ALL AT Once and it's so hard to keep track of everything. I can't I legit cant'.

I have been mentally ill about this rp for. Years. And. Lukas. My bestie. Has the audacity to kill Fukaku after shit went down

So many character I didn't even mention Arael & Prismo, nor the Kalos dlc with Lyn & Floyd. I didn't even mention Yumeko (my boy) & Mikoto (Livio's lost brother)

So many things.

And the main characters

None of them had died thus far.

Unti' NOW.

But hey, at least I get to be happy Sacha and Pola are finally together again and this time they have something in common: they're both trans.

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.

[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!