#I've watched Fionna and Cake and it made me want to watch the original Adventure time in its entirety | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

abhorsenkatiel · 2 months

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Just finished watching the new Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake and I really want to say how much I appreciated the way they handled the Simon and Betty relationship.

I legitimately cringed when they when went into depth about the beginning of their relationship. It was established back at the end of the original series that Betty had made a big sacrifice by giving up her expedition in order to stay with Simon, but now we also learn that she was a student and he was an established professor who she deeply admired when they met. The love between them was genuine, but there was also a very clear power imbalance. I cringed because I believed this would just go unacknowledged, as it does in so many stories, as if the authors are not even aware that such a power dynamic would have an impact on a relationship regardless of how real the love is. Or worse, that such (gendered) power imbalances are a natural thing to be expected in romantic relationships and are therefore not worth commenting on.

But then we get to episode 9, literally titled "Casper and Nova" after the hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer obvious metaphor, and it becomes clear that it was absolutely the writers' intention to highlight and critique the power dynamic of Simon and Betty's relationship. Betty had already realized her part in the tragedy back in the original series, that she had given up her own life too readily and that she regretted it. But now we finally get acknowledgment of Simon's part, that he was irresponsible with Betty's love and devotion. That he didn't see how much he was taking and took for granted how much she was giving up. His tragedy is not that he passively lost Betty to some outside force, but that he made active choices which eroded her autonomy and didn't notice until it was too late. That their relationship, despite being genuinely and passionately loving, was unbalanced from the start, and he used that to his advantage and her detriment even if it was unintentional.

The gendered dynamic of this story is important too. I've met so many women throughout my life, even some who are my age now, who when you ask them about their lives come to a point where they shrug and say some variation of, "and then I met the man who I altered the course of my life for" and that's the end of their story. I remember hearing those stories when I was a child and something about the expression those women made or their phrasing, or their tone of voice gave me a visceral negative reaction. Some of them were openly bitter about it, and told me to never make sacrifices for a man, but even the ones who weren't bitter, who seemed to be happy in genuinely loving relationships, would still give some sense of longing or regret when it came to that part, like they were still thinking about what their life could have been.

It's a common story for women. Even now it's still an expectation that we give up everything for love. It's romantic sure, but I appreciate that we have a story that really makes you look at the tragic side of it as well.

#adventure time #fionna and cake #adventure time meta #simon petrikov #betty grof #simon and betty #petrigrof

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theywontletmebeprincipal · 7 months

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okay I've watched Fionna and Cake and WOW I enjoyed it a LOT more than I originally thought I would.

I had to sit with the last episode for a while. Trying to decide my feelings on it, you know? My first reaction to how they painted Simon and Betty's relationship was that they did that so the audience could better cope with Simon's choice to move on. Thought about it more and yeah, I was wrong. It just removed the rose-colored glasses. I think the one thing I didn't like was Beth spelling the whole thing out, like yeah I got it. The chose your own adventure allegory worked! I got it. I like the last episode! The part when GolBetty was still protecting Simon when Scarab kept trying to fuck with him got me emotional

Winter King was the biggest tumblrsexyman bait I have EVER seen- selfcest bait and all! Pretty funny, I respect it.

Loved both what Gary and Marshall Lee were doing and what was happening with the main characters. I wasn't sure if I would be too interested in them, but fucking. I got invested in the baking!

BRO THE THEME SONG!?!?! I had only seen the one for the first episode beforehand, so the real intro was a surprise to me! I love it!

Trying to organize my thoughts is hard uuhh just I liked it and will probably rewatch it :]

1. ok the thing about the choose your own adventure allegory isn’t that it’s just that. I thought it was the one weak aspect at first too but in the ending sequence there’s a reveal that totally recontextualizes it

remember the little girl who wanted to be a writer because of ice king’s fionna and cake books? she sketches casper and nova during that sequence. casper and nova isn’t just some random allegory they pulled in — it’s HER BOOK. those are her ocs based off of the stories simon told her about him and betty, and ultimately it was that girl’s portrayal of them, not beth’s explanation, that made him realize what was going on

re: beth, I think it was at least a very interesting dynamic. simon is usually paired with characters either much younger than him or just less worldly than him, and he’s very book/world smart, so I think people tend to forget how immature he can be. ice king was just simon to the extreme after all, not to mention the way simon acts in the earlier episodes (him refusing to run from scarab because he just doesn’t feel like it is a great example). he’s a very smart guy but sometimes he gets so caught up in that that he doesn’t step back to consider anything except surface level logic. pair that with him going slightly mad with worry and I fully understand why beth thought he was shermy doing a bit

simon isn’t childish per se, but there’s a lot of things he doesn’t know because he doesn’t ever really look outside his own perspective, and I like how casper and nova illustrated that. simon has always been this sort of fatherly figure that everyone else admires but nobody else sees the worth in, he’s always trying to shoulder so much for no reason. there’s been this imagery the whole season of simon caring for people younger than him (baby finn, normal finn, fionna, astrid, etc) but he never actually lets himself be cared for. so it makes sense that him being given the grace that a kid would be given and ultimately realizing his wrongdoing after seeing himself through the eyes of a child would be a thing that happens

2. you’re so right about gumlee me too man. the scene where they kissed while pb n marcy were hurtling to their toxic codependent yuri deaths was crazy. holy shit

3. I honestly think there’s a LOT to winter king I have a couple posts worth of analysis on it. I think the idea of simon doing something so wildly unethical is very fascinating I loved watching him spiral into madness. slay

4. the biggest surprise for me I think was cake’s arc? like looking back I totally should’ve seen it coming but it was I think my favorite ongoing plotline from the show. her wishes being at odds with fionna’s presented this really interesting dynamic that finn and jake never had and the way she was a narrative foil to simon was like. ohhhh that was fucking evil of the writers . simon desperately wanting to destroy his mind and cake desperately wanting to keep hers. the way that translates into their dynamic with each other. the terrifying dawning realization that fionna might prefer her non sentient. of course it isn’t true, but it would’ve felt that way, no?

also just fucking. “everybody dies. they should get to die as themselves.” “fionna, I am myself. like this.” what if I spontaneously combusted killing everyone in a 3 mile radius. what then

#sanswers #sorry this is a LOT of text but I have Thoughts #you can tell it’s serious too bc I’ve actually taken the time to write out ‘and’#adventure time #fionna and cake

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spacevixenmusic · 8 months

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Fionna and Cake thoughts so far

I like what they're doing, but there's a nagging part of me that's really of two minds about the whole thing. It's hard to explain.

There's something I don't like about the constant callback cameos by the original AT characters. Don't get me wrong, I understand why they're doing it - mechanically, thematically, nostalgically - but it is bothering me a bit. I don't think it's even a fault of the show itself, so much as it is a fault of The Current State of Media In General.

Listen, I have quite literally been watching Adventure Time religiously since the very first episode aired. I LOVE noticing all the subtle and not-so-subtle cameos in the Fionna and Cake series as they pass by, because I recognize them all from all this time I've spent immersed in this little universe. But there are times when it starts to feel like Fionna and Cake is a series of nothing BUT cameos and callbacks, and that kinda sours things for me.

I know, I know. Mechanically, that's how it's SUPPOSED to be, since Fionna and Cake is - by definition - a fanfic of Adventure Time. It's an AU. It's a crossover. It's a spin-off. It's SUPPOSED to be that. But just like with all the other big name reboot and remakes and re-imaginings we've gotten in the past 5-10 years, it's all just a big game of who's-who and tugging on nostalgia's heartstrings to make this IP emotionally impactful (i.e. Sad, because sadness is the only emotion people ever seem to give a shit about - but that's another opinion for another time).

The Current State of Media In General is that very few new original shows are being made. Studios aren't taking any risks. A significant percentage of shows in the past decade are all just carefully constructed, reimagined, retooled, re-tellings of every possible IP you ever felt attached to as a child. DuckTales, TMNT, Castlevania, Animaniacs, Trigun, He-Man, Super Mario Bros, even fucking FLCL has multiple new spin-offs. It's all about spotting the obscure references and fawning over the little ways they changed things into something meant to tickle the emotion centers in your brain (oh look, Della is singing the Moon Theme from the NES game but now it has lyrics and is sad!). After a while it starts to feel very...formulaic? Manipulative? Corporate?

Idk man, sometimes I just want something to be completely New and original, and not feel like a cut-and-paste heartstrings-playing nostalgia-fest. Sometimes I don't want my childhood to eat well. I want my adult self to have its own new things to enjoy, that mean something to me NOW. I want something that feels Fresh, like, oh I don't know, Adventure Time when Adventure Time first came out?

Again, I get why Fionna & Cake is all cameos. I get it. I understand it. And there's a big part of me that still even loves to see it. But I also sometimes feel kinda cheated by it at the same time. Like there's a glimpse of a show in there that could have been its own cool thing if it weren't so laser-focused on Expanding The Lore. I wish I could describe this feeling better. It's complicated. I'm complicated.

But hey, if you're out there and feeling the same way, congrats on finding this post. I'm right there with ya, buddy.

Now, let's get back to enjoying Fionna and Cake for what it is.

#adventure time #fionna and cake #discourse me if you want to but I'm not gonna pay much attention #I'm still enjoying the show and fully intend on watching it to the end and probably making dozens more gif sets and happy posts about it #but this is a subject that's been weighing on my mind a lot lately and F&C might have just been the straw that broke the camel's back #it's all opinion and no fact so you don't have to @ me about it #but if you wanna discuss it then sure I'm listening

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