several more local teens are dead, bringing to an end the harrowing mystery of the masked killings that has terrified this peaceful community like the plot of some scary movie.
18+. they/he. Black. 21. mcon. white ppl dni. @gracetrack1 .
it all began with the scream of a ‘911’, and ended in a bloodbath that has rocked the town of Woodsboro.
Or maybe you watched up to like season 3 when you were twelve, or caught a few episodes while high in college. Regardless, you've seen images of that wet meow meow old man or the the cute sword chick or the gay vamp/sugar queen pair and you're curious. You want in, and you don't wanna slog through 10 seasons of TV first.
Absolutely valid. That said, I do think that Fionna and Cake is… nearly impenetrable if you don't have at least some grounding in the original series.
So here you go: a curated list of 19 episodes to get you more-or-less up to speed. Most AT eps are only 11 min long so it shouldn't take long to get through! And while you'll definitely still be confused about some elements in the series, i think sitting there going 'huh, wha?' is an important part of the Adventure Time experience.
Enjoy!
S3, E10: What Was Missing
Establishes key character dynamics
S3, E9: Fionna and Cake
The first gender swap episode
S3, E19+20: Holly Jolly Secrets
What's up with the Ice King's VHS tapes?
S4, E25: I Remember You
Why is Marceline hanging out with the villainous Ice King?
S4, E26: The Lich
Finn's idol tasks him with defeating an ancient evil.
S5, E1: Finn the Human
Finn struggles to fight off some raiders.
S5, E2: Jake the Dog
Jake makes a wish.
S5, E11: Bad Little Boy
The second gender swap episode
S5, E14: Simon and Marcy
Flashback!
S5, E48: Betty
Simon tries to fix a past mistake
S7, E6-13: The Stakes Miniseries
Technically optional, but great backstory and character development.
S7, E23: Crossover
Can Finn help another version of himself?
S9, E12: Fionna & Cake & Fionna
Finn meets a mysterious woman claiming to be THE Fionna.
S10, E13-16: Come Along With Me
The series finale, which sets up where the sequels move on from.
Distant Lands: Obsidian
Marceline and Bubblegum set off on a quest which brings up unpleasant memories of their youth.
WHY MAYDAY IS A MIRROR OF REX (AND ALL OF CROSSHAIR’S BROTHERS)
AKA How Crosshair predicted his own redemption arc.
There have been many comparisons made between Mayday and Rex/The Bad Batch, but I have kept myself from ranting about The Outpost for too long and I figured I should get this out there before this week’s new episode hits.
Crosshair is cynical and snarky when we meet him in The Clone Wars (as is the norm for his personality, but there’s a special edge to it in S7 E1). The first words out of his mouth are “we don’t usually work with regs.”
(I am not sure who first posted this image set, so if you know who to credit please reach out).
Now in TBB E12, the episode opens with Crosshair watching regular clones being told about the retirement bill by an imperial officer. His helmet is off and they have no armor on. He’s face to face with them. He seems interested in their conversation but is still removed, separate. He still thinks this doesn't affect him.
Once he ships out to Barton 4, we meet Mayday by hearing his voice before he rounds the corner into our view. The immediate thought that flew into my mind was, “that’s Rex’s voice.” Other than Rex himself, we as the audience and especially Crosshair as a character have not heard that warm, snarky, calm tone that signifies that commanding officer’s “regular clone voice” much this season. Mayday’s voice is a little deeper than Rex’s, but he has the same commanding yet casual tone and demeanor. As weary and frustrated as he is at the lack of support from the Empire, Mayday chooses to express it with a level of snarkiness that would have made Tech, Echo, or Rex himself proud.
Or as Rex once said, "It's Captain, sir."
"Experience outranks everything."
Mayday and his squad are wrapped in mummified cloth strips, and he states that his men are all “dead. We’re all that’s left.” Three of them, to mimic the three troopers being forced into retirement that Crosshair had seen before arriving. They are dead men walking. And so are the rest of the clones.
Mayday brings the light to Crosshair. And starts talking to him, man to man, like a friend. Like a brother. He asks him his name. Crosshair’s first encounters with Rex were Rex going after Echo, pulling him free from mindless programming and reminding him what his name really was.
“What brought you here.” “Just lucky, I guess.” Luck isn’t a word that Crosshair typically uses to describe his experiences. He usually relies on and points out his superiority, his skills, his uniqueness. He knows he hasn’t engineered this meeting, and yet Mayday’s mannerisms are already starting to find the chinks in his metaphorical armor.
“I’ll give you the lay of the land.” Like Hunter would. “Conditions have degraded our equipment.” Like Tech could have helped with. “I’m not an explosives expert.” Wrecker is.
Mayday lays out the helmets of his fallen squad in a memorial, the same way Rex and Ahsoka do after order 66. Reverence and respect for the dead, even when it seems meaningless. Crosshair has let himself be deadened by the Empire, yet Mayday treats him with interest and respect, drawing him back out of himself. Mayday even shows the same respect for the raider who had been attacking his base, saying that he was bothered that his men had left him there to die.
Crosshair is still throwing up his shields, like he did at the end of season 1 when he tried to convince his brothers to join him. “We’re not like the regs, we never have been. We’re superior.”
And all of a sudden, Crosshair will die if Mayday doesn’t save him. If he doesn’t fully trust him to disarm the pressure mine he has gotten himself into. He has continued to choose to step in places that are a pressure mine waiting to go off, waiting to swallow him whole. And until now he has made enemies of anyone who has tried to help him.
Mayday saves his life, and now they’re working as a team, silently and in unison. They realize that all this effort and loss of life has been for mere equipment (that’s for their replacements, no less). Their lives really are worth even less than the epithet "used equipment" that Nolan spits in Crosshair’s face when they first meet.
Hunter had tried to tell him on Kamino: “Can’t you see they’re using you? We’re loyal to each other, not some empire.”
Crosshair: “YOU weren’t loyal to me. I was one of you. You may have forgotten, but I haven’t. I’m going to give you what you never gave me–a chance.” Only now, after Mayday gave him that chance, is he willing to admit that Hunter was right.
How many times have those words haunted Crosshair’s thoughts?
Now this was interesting to me. Crosshair incidentally causes an avalanche by targeting a group of explosives in order to end their shootout, cracks fissuring up the mountainside. Once before he was maneuvered into a situation not of his own free will (when his chip is enhanced on Kamino), yet he stubbornly pursued that scenario when he chose to stay on the platform at the end of season 1. Once again, he is put into a situation against his will by being brought to Barton 4, but this time, he ends up creating a scenario where his choices from this moment will now have the opposite effect.
Mayday shoves Crosshair out of the way, saving his life once again. A pile of snow rips Crosshair’s helmet off of his face, and as Mayday is buried, Crosshair re-emerges his true self.
“We have to move.” Rex’s words throughout almost all of their Clone Wars arc. Rex is selfless, telling Echo to go with the Batch if that was the best place for him. Letting Echo leave him behind, essentially. Mayday begs Crosshair to leave him behind and save himself. They both want what’s best for others. And their examples rub off on the men they save. Echo constantly does what he can to help his brothers escape the Empire. Crosshair’s sheer stubbornness that up until now has kept him tethered to the Empire, refuses to leave Mayday behind. He can’t watch another brother die in front of him. Not anymore.
"You're still their brother, Crosshair. You're my brother too." Omega's plea to him.
So Crosshair risks his life to carry Mayday back. A REG. He refuses to let go of him the whole journey. He lets him use his sniper rifle as a crutch. All of his defenses are finally down, and he not only cares, but is willing to show he cares, BEGS ON HIS KNEES to his commanding officer for help, to show that he DOES CARE.
Finally, this struck me. We almost never see Crosshair using a hand blaster. He’s a sniper. Yet both in his encounter with his brothers on Kamino in season 1, and his confrontation with Nolan here, Crosshair picks up a regular blaster. He’s not being the sniper, distant and removed, making a kill from afar with his own rifle. This is up close, personal, a messy choice. With a hand blaster, a regular clone’s weapon.
Crosshair’s conversation with Hunter on Kamino reads back as though he is pleading with himself to not make the same mistake twice, to stop running from his fears, to finally embrace who he is–a clone. To embrace his real purpose–protecting his brothers.
He’s made his choice. He doesn’t expect to survive. The vultures are circling both of them. In season 1 Hunter stuns him and he falls to his knees and then to the floor, passing out. Here, he snarls “Lieutenant,” in a sarcastic tribute to how Mayday had first addressed Nolan, and becomes an Angel of Death. He avenges Mayday and redeems himself, and once again falls forward and passes out with the last of his strength gone.
We’re all in clone limbo for now, so let’s scratch the itch
What’s your completely, utterly, forever favorite line said by a clone? Any clone! Clone wars, Bad Batch, prequels, Book of Boba Fett even! Anywhere there are clones!
I’ll go first!
“Better to feel something than nothing old buddy” - Rex, TCW S7 E3 (will find me rendered useless and sobbing on the floor every time I hear it what a freaking amazing line)
Honorable mentions
“Lieutenant” - Crosshair TBB S2 E12 (yes a one word line makes me cry please don’t tell my therapist)
“Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you” - Tech TBB S1 E16
“You’ve never even met a girl” Fives (corrected!) TCW S3 E1
according to an autistic person with a special interest and the ability to make a list.
if youre really serious about supernatural spoilers then maybe stay away :)
None of the season one episodes made in on the list but I will give an honorable mention to S1 E2 Wendigo.
S2 E11 Playthings - A classic, creepy girls in a creepy hotel. Special call out to Sam getting SLOPPY
S2 E16 Roadkill - There's a ghost haunting the highway. the Boys help the spirit move on. This is an early example of monster empathy
S2 E18 Hollywood Babylon - Dean loves hollywood. I love dean. this episode makes me kick my feet like a little girl and i will not defend myself.
S2 EP 20 What Was Shall Never Be - all I have in my notes for this one is "Dean Djinn Dream" which was enough for me to remember the episode and get misty eyes. This is SEASON 2 my son will never know peace.
S3 E5 Bedtime Stories -I had to check the wiki on this one, I think i liked it cause it referenced classic fairytales
S3 Ep11 Mystery Spot - "HEAT OF THE MOMENT" RISE AND SHINE SAMMY!
S3 E13 Ghostfacers! - Im a Facer through and through
S3 E16 No Rest for the Wicked - S3 finale and the Boys are facing consequences! Classic Dean, Sam and Bobby episode.
S4 E1 Lazerus Rising - First Cas Episode. That handprint makes me feel things.
S4 E6 Yellow Fever - What if Dean had anxiety (The Eye of the Tiger blooper is also at the end of the episode which gives it bonus points.
S4 E17 Wishful Thinking - Make a wish? was it for your teddy bear to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder? Well thats what youre getting!
S4 E17 It's a Terrible Life - Sam ~ the sales rep. Dean ~ middle management.
S4 E18 The Monster at the End of the Book - There are books about Sam and Dean?! Written by this guy who loves self insert character? Surely the entire show isn't about to take a tone shift?
S5 E3 Free to be You and Me - Sam and Dean are fighting again, but this time Dean has a new heavenly boy toy to play with instead. (Cas has no rizz yet it's actually a little painful to watch)
S5 E5 Fallen Idol - Okay the Wax People episode is on here for one reason and one reason only. Paris Hilton.
S5 E7 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester - Old man Dean and old man Bobby. This is also the episode for HH Husk kinnies.
S5 E8 Changing Channels - Dr Sexy MD is that you?!
S5 E9 The Real Ghostbuster - *in a grizzly voice* "I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam. Have you experienced anything strange?" "Dude that was so good! Now we can go solve the puzzle" "Man you're breaking the immersion!"
S5 E10 Abandon All Hope - This is here for Crowley's first appearance and not because the end will make you cry.
S5 E12 Swap Meat - "uh... its Audi Nos". Freaky Friday starring Sam Winchester! An angsty teen and April Kepner from Grey/Sloan Memorial Hospital.
S5 E16 Dark Side of the Moon - The Boys lives flash before their eyes. Dean is pissed forever about Sams.
S5 E19 Hammer of the Gods - this is for all my pagans out there!
S6 E4 A Weekend at Bobby's - What do you think this episodes about idjit.
S6 E15 The French Mistake - “For whatever reason, our life is a TV show.” “Why?” “I don't know.” “No, seriously. Why? Why would anybody want to watch our lives?”
S7 E4 Defending your Life - consequences? for fucking people over? how about you stand trial.
S7 E20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo - The self insert character made for us :) Luv u 4ever Charlie XD
S8 E4 Bitten - found footage will always scare. this one reminds me that this show started as a psuedo horror.
S8 E8 hunteri heroci - Cas tries his hand at being a hunter
S8 E12 As Time Goes By - FINALLY THEY ARE CARVING TRAPS INTO BULLETS
S8 E17 Goodbye Stranger - verbatim here are my notes for this episode "Cas chooses Dean, but the way he handles Meg... Fuck Naomi"
S8 E18 Clip Show - If you only want to watch just one episode of Supernatural this should be it. It's not actually a clip show, theres a broment, bonding time with favorite characters and crazy plots that only supernatural could get away with.
S9 E5 Dog Dean Afternoon - Dean is finally a dog person
S9 E11 First Born - Another bro fight leads to shipping <3 SamxCas + DeanxCrowley <3
S9 E15 #thinman - the slender episode feat. GHOSTFACERS. You come away from this episode thinking "supernatural is so fucking gay why wont the boys kiss"
S9 E21 King of the Damned - my favorite crowley era change my mind. Also the way the Boys interrogate an angel is so funny
S10 E5 Fan Fiction - I would unironically fuck w a supernatural musical and if helluva/hazbin taught me anything the rest of you would too
S10 E6 Ask Jeeves - The Clue episode. (Pay attention to the improvised weapons Dean chooses. It brings me joy)
S10 E9 The Things we Left Behind - Cas is suffering a midlife crisis and his besties are there to help him repair his relationship with his daughter. Funnily enough, Crowley is also getting some family bonding in.
Okay, I'm all caught up on my list. Should I have stayed up late transcribing this with an 8am class tommarow?
Probably not but it did bring me great joy. Tell me your favorite episode! I'll continue to add to my list as I continue my rewatch :)
🥰 Art Thief, Heart Thief (odetteandodile) - 58K, stucky white collar inspired AU - enjoyed how author took the WC set up (fbi art agent, criminal consultant) and made it theirs & perfect for stucky
💖💖 +195K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖
Midlife Crisis (profoundalpacakitten) - MCU: stucky, 7K - reread, forever fave - the quiet, piercing, understated tenderness in this fic is unmatched
Progredi (justanotherStonyfan) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 37K - the next installment in the fabulous Honey Honey series
Pistachios and Rose Water (goldsaffron) - The Old Guard: kaysanova, 15K - J&N spend 10 years putting down roots, building a home & collecting a found family as Nicky learns to express his love through food
Consensual Catfishing (foresthearts) - Stranger Things: steddie, 32K - modern AU, told via social media - delightful story! adored these characters & their voices and using all different sorts of SM to tell it. brilliant idea, adeptly executed. the art is also pretty great
they're going to send us to prison for jerks (greatunironic) - Stranger Things: steddie, 16K - another really fun modern steddie with a strong social media AU premise
Os Impurum (the_deep_magic) - The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth: Marcus Flavius Aquila/Esca Mac CunovalMarcus/Esca, 18K - solidly good fic about marcus/esca post canon, esp marcus discovering some new things about himself 😉
📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺
Ghosts (US) - s3, e5
Game Changer - s6, e3
D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "For the Hoard!" (s7, e15)
D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Treachery at Gramercy" (s7, e16)
D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 1)" (s7, e17)
D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 2)" (s7, e18)
D20: Adventuring Party - s3, e12-16
Um, Actually - s9, e2
D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Cursed Out" (s21, e10)
D20: Adventuring Party - "Cool Ranch Communion" (s16, e10)
D20: Tiny Heist - "Big Little Crimes" (s4, e1)
D20: Tiny Heist - "Chicanery at Shoeby's Casino" (s4, e2)
Agatha Christie's Marple - "The Secret of Chimneys" (s5, e2) [shout out to @leupagus for this rec; they were not wrong about the acting choices made here 🤩]
🎧 PODCASTS 🎧
Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep001 The Open Door
What Next: TBD - Instagram’s Pedophile Problem
Desert Island Discs - Cillian Murphy, actor
WikiHole - Lenny Kravitz (with Paul F. Tompkins, Drew Tarver, and Heléne Yorke)
This Cultural Life - Andrew Scott
Pop Culture Happy Hour - Our 2024 Oscars Recap
The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Grave of XYZ
Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Morgan Parker
WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Fear of Dolphins (with Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon, and Jonah Ray)
The Allusionist - 190. Craters
WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Tetris (with Adam Pally, Jon Gabrus and Blair Socci)
The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Lighthouse Keeper
⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Afeef Nessouli
Short Wave - What We Know About Long COVID, From Brain Fog to Fatigue
⭐ Decoder Ring - Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
⭐ 99% Invisible #573 - Toyetic
You Are Good - My Best Friend's Wedding w. Sam Sanders
If Books Could Kill - Lean In
The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Law of the Tongue
Imaginary Worlds - The Nine Lives of Red Dwarf
Today, Explained - Lip gloss, gum, and the Pill
Dear Prudence - My Ex Had Sex With My Brother. Help!
What Next: TBD - Is TikTok Cooked This Time?
Short Wave - Are We On The Brink Of A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough?
Pop Culture Happy Hour - Love Lies Bleeding And What's Making Us Happy
Endless Thread - The Music Man, Part 1
Welcome to Night Vale #244 - A Multiplicity of Kevin
Today, Explained - Hollywood’s still not back
99% Invisible - The Power Broker #03: David Sims
Off Menu - Ep 233: Frankie Boyle (Live in Glasgow)
it's totally doable! there are 7 days when you do two-parters (ie. two episodes back-to-back), and for the rest, you can watch one (1) episode per day, including the Clone Wars S7 intro arc! 😄and that will take you right up until Feb 20th!
below, i've added calendar images (dunno how good the quality is, sorry!) and a bullet point text list, for those interested 😊
Jan 23, 24, 25, 26: Clone Wars S07 E01-04
//
Jan 27: S01 E01 Aftermath
Jan 28: S01 E02 Cut & Run
Jan 30: S01 E04 Replacements
Jan 31: S01 E05 Rampage
Feb 1: S01 E06 Decommissioned
Feb 2: S01 E07+08: Battle Scars & Reunion
Feb 3: S01 E09 Bounty Lost
Feb 4: S01 E10 Common Ground
Feb 5: S01 E11+12 Devil's Deal & Rescue on Ryloth
Feb 6: S01 E13 Infested
Feb 7: S01 E14 War Mantle
Feb 8: S01 E15+16: Return To Kamino & Kamino Lost
//
Feb 9: S02 E01+02 Spoils of War & Ruins of War
Feb 10: S02 E03 The Solitary Clone
Feb 11: S02 E04 Faster
Feb 12: S02 E05 Entombed
Feb 13: S02 E06 Tribe
Feb 14: S02 E07+08 Clone Conspiracy & Truth and Consequences