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sirthisisa-wendys · 1 year

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please, any Mochi, Mucho, and/or Izana talk or content. ✨️P✨️L✨️E✨️A✨️S✨️E✨️

I beg. There is so little out there about them. It's depressing. Please, sir , could we have some more (of those 3)? We are so hungry and thirsty, and much aggrieved for it. 🥺

Yeah, this is something I can do tonight. Yes, it's all coming together... and I'm going to hell for this lol

Fresh Out: Kanji Mochizuki/ Yasuhiro Muto /Izana Kurokawa x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.3k

tw: office smut, oral, handjobs, blowjobs, edging, overstimulation, c*ck milking, you name it, we got it.

masterlist

Kanji "Mochi" Mochizuki

"Mochi..." Your fingers curl into a fist and knock on the professional's door. Mochi is in his chair, staring at the screen and solving what appears to be an unsolvable problem.

"What's going on, y/n?" Mochi asks distractedly, turning a little so he can see you walk into his office.

"We're out of creamer in the break room." Mochi turns away from his computer fully, his gaze trained on you. You look so upset, so desperate, but Mochi can't understand why you're in here and not complaining to the administrative assistant instead.

"I'm only IT," Mochi notes, gesturing at his computer. "Why don't you ask one of the interns to get some creamer for you?"

"My coffee will be cold by then." You pout, and Mochi sighs, feeling the urge to tell you "no" subside. Maybe he could do you this one favor. "I know you have the best creamer in here." His right hand slides up to wipe his face, but Mochi gets p anyways and moves towards the mini-fridge to reveal his secret stash.

"You can't tell anyone about this," he begins, opening the cold box with a grunt. "This is just a one-time thing. Do you want French vanilla or regular?"

"Ew." His eyes slide toward your figure, which is now leaning against the door, pressing it closed with a soft click. "I don't want that creamer."

"That's all I've got, princess," he quips, shutting the fridge door. "Looks like you'll have to drink it black."

"That's not what you told Annie last week." Mochi grips the door once more.

"I owed Annie a favor."

"You can do me one right now, and I'll owe you one next time." Mochi resists the devilish urge to take you up on the offer, but when you flip up your skirt and flash him - no underwear - Mochi forgets about the false show of genteel manners.

"You want it in the cup or in your mouth?"

"In my mouth. I'll wash it down with some coffee."

Mochi isn't sure why he's the hot item at the office, but as you bob up and down on his length and fondle your tits, he feels the masculine urge to not give a fuck crest.

"Fuck, just like that..." he whimpers, wrapping his fingers into your hair. "Suck a little harder, pumpkin." You apply as much pressure as you can, and he jerks, bucking into your mouth.

You gag slightly, drooling after Mochi's thrust as he stands up from his chair and holds your hair in one hand. He pistons his hips forward, touching the back of your throat with his tip. You make slurping noises and do things he's never felt a woman do to his cock before, and it coaxes his cream quickly.

"Yeah," Mochi moans, letting his cock throb angrily in your mouth as you swallow repeatedly. "Get every last drop." Once he finishes, you do as you said and wash his cum down with the coffee.

"Next time," you purr, wiping your mouth. "I'll ask you to give it to me straight, no chaser."

Yasuhiro "Mucho" Muto

"Mucho, are you listening?"

"I... Yeah," he grunts, trying to keep his composure in the group call. There's no video this time - thank God - but you're beneath his desk, on your knees, and sucking his cock roughly. If his boss wasn't so adamant about remote work, he would be totally fired.

Mucho mutes his mic and leans back to look at you. Your eyes are lidded - not quite shut - but it's obvious you're enjoying tormenting him.

"You seem to enjoy edging me."

"It keeps you sharp," you note, lips wrapped around his tip. "Keeps you alert for the sales pitch meeting."

Like hell they do. Mucho's found himself wired in front of clients, practically selling his own soul for a chance to cum inside of you if the sales went through. So now...

Mucho feels his muscles tighten. "Ah, ah..."

"Awww," you murmur under the table, changing from sucking him off to holding him by the balls. "Don't cum yet. It'll ruin the fun. I want to make a nice pie for you tonight. Do you think you can wait?"

Like hell I can. Mucho strains to hear anything besides your chiding voice, but when he comes down from his almost-high, he hears his name being mentioned in the work conversation.

"Alright, I'm going to make this sales pitch short and sweet so we can all get what we want." The hand around his cock shifts upward, and Mucho tries his best not to react. "I won't need any more than five minutes of your time."

"Mucho's fast and furious with his pitches," his boss notes with pride. "He's always been a man on a mission."

There's laughter, but no one knows Mucho's only mission is to drain his balls in your cunt tonight.

"Alright, gentleman, how about we turn to page three of the report?"

Izana Kurokawa

"One more orgasm for me... Then I'll let you get back to your duties."

Izana's earned this; he knows he's earned this milking for weeks. He's been nothing but the top performer in his field, the best person to have as a mentor, the best of the very best.

And you - his direct supervisor - knew it, too.

"You really worked hard this quarter, hm?" If anyone knew Izana - COO of your company - let you strap him to a contraption on the wall and blindfolded him while wringing his dick of every ounce of cum he produced that day, they'd never look at him the same way.

"I heard you gave your managers a nice... long break since they worked so hard."

"I did," Izana pants, working himself in your hand. He eases his hips back and forth, stimulating his prostate. "I worked so hard for you, y/n."

"I know you did, baby." You press your lips to his cockhead. Izana wants to moan as loud as he possibly can, but that would alert everyone to the things going on in your office. And the last guy that did that was quickly sacked and hasn't recovered.

You continue to stroke his cock with care, and Izana writhes back and forth, trying to fight off the sudden urge to cum and cover you with it, even though he couldn't see you. He'd already made a mess he'd have to clean up off of the carpet, but that would be after aftercare and cuddles and pressing his face into the crook of your neck.

He'd clean it up for you later.

"Are you going to cum for me?"

"Please," Izana croaks, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his face. "I want to cum for you."

"Cum for me..." Izana wants to; he desperately wants to tip over the edge one more time. "I know you want to," you hum, standing up and stroking his cock forcefully. "What if I let you cum in me?"

Izana cums so hard at the thought of even touching your pussy that he almost blacks out. His eyes roll into the back of his head, and you place a hand over his mouth as he lets go all over your plush thighs. He'd clean that up to, and with a joyful spirit. His tongue slaivates at the memory of cleaning your breasts after he came prematurely his first time. It tasted like heaven...

"That's a good boy... Ready for me to take you down?"

"Yes," Izana whimpers, parched and aching and needy. When you press the man against your chest, he exhales deeply, feeling the warmth of the love he thought he'd get from a mother figure. But alas, he's here with you, cumming to your tune.

"You did so good," you murmur, patting his head. "And you'll keep doing good for me."

"Yes," Izana breathes. "Yes, I will. Only for you."

#izana kurokawa x reader #izana kurokawa smut #izana kurokawa #yasuhiro muto smut #yasuhiro muto x reader #yasuhiro muto #kanji mochizuki x reader #kanji mochizuki smut #kanji mochizuki #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers smut #tokyo revengers

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untitled-gem · 11 months

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compiling EVERYTHING we know about fionna and cake

NEWS: EPISODE 1 PREMIERED AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON. There are no known recordings of the episode as streaming it was not permitted, however you can check my newer post for some described details (minor spoilers warning but nothing too big!)

WE HAVE GOT A SECOND TRAILER!

youtube

There was also be a half hour panel about Fionna and Cake, which brought us A TRAILER WITH A RELEASE DATE OF AUGUST 31! Starting from this date til Sept 28th, we will get 2 episodes a week.

youtube

MORE UNDER THE CUT!

The show is aimed at a young adult audience

There will be 10 episodes, each with a length of 30 minutes (most likely 30 minutes *TV* time, meaning the true length will probably be around 22 minutes)

It will be about multiverse hopping

Fionna is older and has a job in a different universe where everyone is genderswapped + human

It will, supposedly, premier on CN Canada in fall, probably after all of the episodes have already been released in September.

Prismo seems to be involved, according to the trailer (he's also apparently in the intro sequence)

An older version of Finn is in it! (As seen in the trailer)

Gumlee is almost certainly going to be a thing (as confirmed by someone who worked on it)

The entire intro/opening sequence was described as "going inside Simon's psyche" and it ending with Fionna and cake jumping out of Prismo's time room. Please note we haven't seen the actual intro sequence yet, just the trailer.

Fionna has a slight outfit change, she no longer wears a skirt and has shorts instead.

Simon also appears to be older — and judging by Finn's age in the trailer, it's presumably because this will take place between Obsidian and Together Again.

The most recent plot synopsis states that Fionna and Cake will be coming to Simon for help. An earlier plot synopsis said that at some point, they would need to rescue him

The synopses also state that they team up with him to help stop a new threat to Ooo that is tracking Fionna and Cake down to try to erase their existence

As seen in the trailer, we will be getting Simon and Marcy flashbacks.

Fionna's sword in the snippet also may have something to do with Ice Thing, as it has a pretty similar design

Cake's eye color has been changed to blue

According to Tom Kenny, recording Simon's lines for this was "the most emotional thing he's ever done"

Adam Muto is returning as showrunner

Hanna K Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, and Steve Wolfhard also return for this

The credits(?) theme of the series is the song that can be heard in the trailer

According to an attendee, a middle-aged Finn also appears in one of the episodes (as learned from a clip shown at the panel, also unavailable as of right now) and also says a light swear

This is most likely in the same clip as one where Simon is fishing and accidentally catches a monster, and Finn having to save him

Rebecca Sugar has returned to write two original songs for the series

It seems like Donald Glover is returning as Marshall Lee's VA!

According to Adam Muto, this show takes place about 12 years after Come Along With Me, making both Finn and Fionna around 29+

Jake gets shown a bit in the series, most likely as a flashback

Tree Trunks also gets a bit of screentime

Lumpy Space Prince/Princess is confirmed to still be voiced by Pen Ward

Adam Muto says they they don't know what a season 2 would look like, but it wouldn't be off the table

There will be a vampire episode (which will probably be where Marceline comes in)

The unknown enemy of the series might be the unfamiliar face we can see in this poster, between Marceline and Ice King:

NOTE AS OF THE NEW TRAILER: I will not be updating this post anymore. If I have any theories surrounding the new stuff we saw, I will be putting those into a separate post. The show premieres in 2 weeks!

#adventure time #fionna and cake #Youtube

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jakesuit0 · 4 months

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What Was Missing Review

Finn is revealed to regularly have alone time with the wad of Princess Bubblegum’s hair she gave him in “To Cut a Woman’s Hair”. It’s essentially a PG version of a guy still holding on to their ex’s underwear for personal use. The allegory is pushed forward with Finn checking to make sure he is alone. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t exactly shocking behavior for a thirteen year old boy, but it’s the first big sign that Finn’s crush is getting unhealthy after “Too Young”. It’s time to move on! Unlike “Wizard Battle”, I like the incorporation of Finn’s feelings, despite the arc feeling like there’s nowhere to go after “Too Young”. It’s not the main conflict in the episode, and serves to build to a climax in the season finale.

The Door Lord steals Finn’s gum, Jake’s blanket, and BMO’s controller. It’s hilarious that he only speaks in loud mumbles. He’s supposed to be related to Key-per from “The Enchiridion!”. The Door Lord steals a toy from a candy person and Finn reassures him “I’ll get your kid back, toy!”. The episode wasn’t originally written this way. Adam Muto misspoke when he was pitching the episode and they thought it was funny to keep it like that. Door Lord steals something from Bubblegum and attempts to steal Marceline’s bass axe. With Maja being in possession of Hambo, it makes sense for her bass axe to be her most important item. Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, and BMO have to team up to solve the riddle of the door. It’s great getting to see this group of characters together for the first time. It’s the entire main cast minus Ice King, and they get so few opportunities to all be together before Stakes. Their group dynamic is so fun too. The episode is set in Red Rock Pass, which is a really pretty setting to choose for a (mostly) bottle episode.

Marceline chastises Bubblegum for not executing the door lords, as they kept breaking out of jail. I’m not sure if PB is really above just killing them, considering all the fucked up stuff she’s done in the past. But, killing might be a bridge too far for her. I know she committed robot genocide, but I argue she didn’t see them as sentient beings. Jake decides to pretend to be the jerk in the band. Since Jake doesn’t have a grand emotional arc, this is a funny role to put him in. Marceline starts singing “Just Your Problem”:

-“I’m gonna drink the red from your pretty pink face”. This pretty much gives the game away about PB and Marcy not being platonic. She’s singing about kissing and biting PB.

-PB calls it “distasteful”, causing Marceline to accuse her of just not liking her. This ties into PB not liking Marceline’s behavior when she got more and more consumed with her princess duties. Marceline became well aware of this by their first mission to the Glass Kingdom (“Oh c’mon, you love it.”).

-“Sorry I don’t treat you like a goddess. Is that what you want me to do?” She’s calling out PB’s god complex. Marceline assumes Bonnie thinks she’s better than her, like how she sings “you’re self-obsessed and all the rest” in Distant Lands.

-“Sorry I don’t treat you like you’re perfect, like all your little loyal subjects do. Sorry I’m not made of sugar. Am I not sweet enough for you?”. Marceline thinks Bubblegum demands absolute loyalty from everyone as she does with her citizens. She thinks PB would prefer Marceline to be a dum dum juiced moron that never questions her. We don’t know if Marceline is aware of the dum dum juice, but I like to think that she’s partially referring to that. It also relates to Marcy viewing PB as a dictator as she sings in “Woke Up”. She thinks PB wants her to turn down her edginess and be sweeter, like when she wasn’t taking the situation in the Glass Kingdom seriously, something I’m sure wasn’t an isolated incident.

-I’ll lump together “Is that why you always avoid me?” with the later line “I forgot what landed me on your blacklist.” Some people question why Marceline wonders this considering her singing “Woke Up” is the obvious answer. I think she’s partially referring to PB’s actions before their breakup. Bubblegum grew more distant as her responsibilities grew, something that confused and hurt Marceline. PB talks about this in “Varmints”. She’s also referring to PB being cold to Marceline for centuries after their breakup. Even when they were around each other in “Power Animal” and “Video Makers”, we don’t see them talking. Bubblegum was very dismissive of Marcy in “Go With Me”. This is partially Marceline’s fault, as she can be really rude and mean to Bonnie, as seen in this episode.

-“I shouldn’t have to justify what I do.” Marceline doubles down on acting the way she thinks people perceive her. If people think she’s a monster, it's less painful for her to embrace it. This is something she picked up on from thinking she scared her mother away.

-“I shouldn’t have to be the one who makes up with you so why do I want to…” Marceline thinks that since PB is the one who pushed her away, PB is the one who should take the initiative of making things right. There is some truth to this, but as we see in “Obsidian”, they are both more at fault than Marcy is willing to admit. The faces on the door glow brighter and Marceline gets closer to the truth. The truth is she wants to at least be friends with Princess Bubblegum again. That’s the real reason she joined the group here. Reconnecting to PB is something we’ll see her try to do in episodes like “Sky Witch”, “Princess Day”, and “Varmints”.

The song itself slaps. “Just Your Problem” is super popular, so much so that tons of non-fans know the song. A big reason being that it’s probably the most relatable Adventure Time song ever. A lot of people have friends and lovers that drifted away from them or became downright cold to them due to their differences. Rebecca Sugar even based the song off of her experience with a roommate. Princess Bubblegum’s face during this is also pretty telling. She was definitely having flashbacks to the last time Marceline humiliated her with a song. PB’s face turns to shock when Marceline is on the verge of revealing she wants to make up with her. I don’t blame Bonnie for not realizing this. Marceline’s general nastiness towards her, and of course what she said about her while singing “Woke Up”, would give PB the opposite impression.

Finn doesn’t fully grasp the tension between PB and Marcy, but is able to diffuse the awkwardness and get everyone (besides Jake) to have fun together. I also like how sweet Marceline is to BMO, gently calling him “baby”. I like PB’s quirky attempt at a science based song, which is more fitting for her than singing her heart out like Marceline and Finn. Her song fails and Marceline uses it to antagonize PB. She fixates on Bonnie’s failures as she feels insecure in her presence. The words “monster trash” are definitely echoing in her mind here. Marceline is still really nasty to PB. A lot of it feels like unwarranted bullying without the context of future episodes, but even with the context, it still feels that way to an extent. Spitting on PB is pretty inexcusable and Bubblegum is totally right to walk away after it. Their conflict boils down to Princess Bubblegum’s ego and Marceline’s insecurity clashing. I also like the detail of Shelby slithering back into Jake’s smashed viola.

As a final effort, Finn sings “My Best Friends in the World” after realizing the key to the door is the truth:

-“Am I a joke…?” Finn worries that Marceline doesn’t respect Finn, and perhaps only hangs around him because she enjoys messing with him. This is an understandable fear with episodes like “Henchman”. It’s still fundamentally untrue, squashed by the end of “Henchman” and in “Heat Signature”. There is no denying, however, that she loves trolling Finn. She likes messing with everyone, Finn’s young mind just makes him an easier target.

-“...your knight…?” This could be taken to mean Finn wonders if PB only keeps him around, and entertains his advancements, just to use his service to the kingdom. It’s true that Bubblegum employs Finn a lot, and isn’t above manipulating him for her benefit (“The Other Tarts”, “Too Old”, “James”), but she still genuinely enjoys his company whether they are working or just hanging out. He might also just be referring to this positively, as her knight in shining armor.

-“Do you look down on me because I’m younger?” All of Finn’s closest companions are older than him, and it makes sense that this weighs on him. Even Jake, who is often close to Finn’s level and acts as a best friend, also often acts as his parental guardian. This line applies most of all to Bubblegum, given how recent “Too Young” is. The events of that episode are still raw for Finn, and PB’s behavior to him after her age was restored came across as condescending and dismissive.

-“I just wanted us together and to play as a band. Last night was the most fun I��ve ever had.” Finn loves getting to finally hang out with everyone he loves together and feeling like part of a family.

-“Even liked it when the two of you would get mad at each other.” Finn prefers honesty between friends, and appreciates seeing their more vulnerable side as they are usually more closed off from their true emotions in front of him.

-“You are my best friends in the world. And that’s right, I’m talking about the two of you girls. And you Jake.” With his parents dead, the three of them are by far his closest companions. He’s even grown very close to Marceline in recent times. It’s kinda mean to exclude BMO, who’s right there, but BMO becomes more of a part of Finn’s family over time than he is here.

-“I’ll forget that I lost a piece of your hair. I’ll remember the pasta that we shared over there”. Very sweet line about how the wad of hair doesn’t really matter, the time he spends with PB and getting to be her friend is what’s meaningful to him. I like how the pasta has a double meaning. He obviously just shared pasta with her, but he also had a pasta dinner with Bubblegum when she gave him the hair.

Finn’s song is my favorite moment of the series so far, and one of the best scenes ever in the series. I thought “Just Your Problem” was Adventure Time’s best song up to now but it’s then immediately topped. I love everyone participating in the song, especially Marceline singing along with Finn for parts of it. Finn’s song causing even PB and Marcy to harmonize together is great symbolism for Finn helping to bring them back together. Even Jake finally breaks character, he’s too caught up in the moment! Rebecca Sugar drew on her feelings of being a young newcomer when she joined the Adventure Time staff to write this song. Worrying about how your friends see you and if they respect you is another very ubiquitous concern.

The group realizes that the Door Lord showed them that the real treasure is friendship. It’s very cheesy but the contents of the episode does enough to justify it. It’s cool how well the episode ties two themes into this episode: friendship and honesty. The quick cut from the Door Lord happily seeing they got the message to him being bruised and tied up is hilarious. They get their items back, including the famous rock shirt. It’s not at all PB’s style, going to show how much its pure sentimentality means to Bubblegum. The reveal that PB kept the shirt comes as a shock to Marceline. She realizes that Bonnie doesn’t see her as just her problem. Marceline blushing and PB revealing she wears the shirt all the time as pajamas are heavy hints to their romantic pairing. Their interactions in this episode are very queer-coded, even though they aren’t hitting us over the head with it like they do in season 7 onwards. The episode itself gives enough to figure out the broad strokes of Marceline and Bubblegum having a past and a falling out without giving the details, and it’ll be a long time until they are willing to explore it more at all. It’s revealed that Marceline only joined to hang out with them. Beyond reinforcing the theme of friendship, Marceline and PB now know that the other is interested in reforming a connection again, even if Marceline will have to be the one that ends up instigating it.

“What Was Missing” is a fan favorite for good reason. The two musical numbers are the biggest draw and they are incredible. Rebecca Sugar using her own personal experiences to write them makes them feel so raw and personal. It’s some of the most direct the series ever is about Marceline and especially Finn’s thoughts and feelings, with them explicitly singing them. It’s refreshing to get some clear cut insight as the show is usually much more guarded. I wouldn’t want the series to always be this direct, but it's nice to have moments like these every once in a while to help provide insight into their other appearances. The episode is essentially a precursor for Steven Universe. You could slot in Steven for Finn, Pearl for Bubblegum, and Amethyst for Marceline quite easily. I also really like PB in this one! Despite “What Was Missing” having not one, but two characters that are in love with Princess Bubblegum, she gets to shine. It’s definitely more Marceline-heavy, but I like PB standing up for herself, getting to see her side of the conflict, and the return of her quirks with her scientific song. PB and Marceline also have pretty great outfits here, and it’s definitely their most iconic looks besides their default outfits.

Rebecca Sugar has since stated that she wrote PB and Marcy as exes in this episode. She felt their interaction in “Go With Me” read that way. The episode does a great job extrapolating from that brief interaction. According to Rebecca Sugar, she pitched this idea to Adam Muto, who she boarded the episode with, and he approved. They ran this by Pen who also liked it. Cartoon Network forbade the crew from being explicit with it. They still did a good job making it as clear as they could with the restrictions and the fandom picked up on it. Rebecca Sugar wanted to include LGBTQ representation and felt that exploring it through the lens of two exes with a past was the best path to getting it in. Despite it only being subtextual, it was a big deal for 2011.

This episode stirred up quite the firestorm. It’s possibly not a coincidence that it would take almost two years for PB and Marcy to interact again. The Fredator associated Youtube channel Mathematical! posted recaps after the airing of Adventure Time episodes. After the airing of “What Was Missing”, their recap speculated on the possible romantic pairing between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline, interlaced with overtly romantic drawings of Marceline and Bubblegum from character designer and storyboard revisionist Natasha Allegri. As a result, Fredator fired Mathematical! producer Dan Rickmers, deleted the video, and cancelled the Youtube series. Times were different then, but that’s no excuse for such an overreaction. Fred Seibert offered the following explanation:

“Well, I completely screwed up. There’s been chatter on the internet recently about our latest Adventure Time “Mathematical!” video recap that we created, posted, and removed here at Federator. I figure it’s time to clear up the matter. In trying to get the show’s audience involved we got wrapped up by both fan conjecture and spicy fanart and went a little too far. Neither Cartoon Network nor the Adventure Time crew had anything to do with putting up or taking down our latest re-cap. The episode ”What was Missing” remains a terrific short and will be shown again and again just like any other Adventure Time episode. I let us goof in a staggering way and I’m deeply sorry it’s become such a distraction for so many people.” It’s a really weak reasoning as Mathematical! had always been a fan oriented show and that’s what the entire fandom was talking about. Still, I’d expect this from an executive. What was unexpected were Adam Muto’s comments:

“If it was just a fan video there would be no problem at all. The problem was that it was made by a production company actively involved with the show. The video took something that was a possible subtext and declared it, in effect, text and made it seem like the production was actively seeking out input on plot development. That's all there is to it.” Considering Sugar said that Adam Muto agreed with that interpretation, it would have been for the best if he just stayed out of the situation. That’s what Pen Ward did ("It’s hard to comment on that, because there were so many extreme positions taken on it all over the Internet, and it happened so quickly. I don’t really want to comment on it because of that, because there were so many extreme sides taken. It was a big hullaballoo.")

Now that we know Bubbline was in fact the crew’s intention, and it’s since been explicitly canonized, the situation is just even dumber. Dan Rickmer is definitely owed an apology. But what’s really important is the series no longer having to keep their relationship a big secret.

Grade: A+

#adventuretime #adventure time #what was missing #finn and jake #jake the dog #finn the human #princess bubblegum #marceline #bubbline #rebecca sugar

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gunterfan1992 · 7 months

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Episode Review: “The Star”/“Jerry”

(Fionna & Cake, Eps. 7–8)

Airdate: September 22, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Airdate: September 22, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued!

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

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

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

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

Final “The Star” Grade: A-

Final “Jerry” Grade: A-

#adventure time #atimers #marceline #review #marceline the vampire queen #princess bubblegum #bubblegum #bubbline #fionna and cake #fionna campbell #cake the cat #simon petrikov #ice king #lich

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itsanotheridiot · 7 months

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Gonna start this off by saying everyone’s opinions are valid and it’s okay if you don’t agree with me and I am open to discussion

Anyways I enjoyed Fionna and Cake ending was it flawless definitely not but I felt it did stay true to what the series is. Adventure Time is literally about how the adventure never ends so did the story leave MANY questions and felt VERY open ended yeah but that’s also how the mains series ended and how distant lands ended and I felt everything served the narrative purpose they were meant too. Winter King waking Fionna up from her fantasy mindset. The Star reminding Simon that he did make a difference even if he doesn’t feel like it. The nature of Simon and Betty relationship was address.

Did the series end very simple and kinda quick paced yeah it did but not surprised adventure time has always ended in the simple things are good right now attitude I do wish HBO will give them more pace time like the battle with scarab could have been longer or more action but adventure time isn’t really known for action so whatever also kinda feel like Tom over exaggerated Simon’s last talk with Betty but I think it’s emotional in the sense that for almost 12 years we thought their relationship was perfect but there was this major flaw that structural the whole relationship

also Adam muto did mention how if they are allowed they want to make more spin offs so it might not be the last we see of the characters so maybe more answers like why prismo face glitched or who is his boss, etc

#adventure time writers are masters at retconing unanswered questions from the main series and giving us new ones #they probably won’t ever tell us how Finn & Jake died or how BMO got all that treasure in the finale or wtf happened with the mushroom war #of course I do wish we could more from the series of course I do like more Simon and Marcy for example #but ultimately the series focus was Fionna cake Simon and globetty #adventure time #fionna and cake #adventure time spoilers #fionna and cake spoilers #it was very adventure time with the way the series ended not mad not disappointed but also not unsatisfied #adventure time was always good at having me in a mixed of those 3

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deludeddreemurr · 7 months

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fionna and cake finale spoilers!!

holy shit??? holy shit.

i’m gonna be so honest and say i have mixed feelings about the finale. I both love and feel unsure about jr

as someone who loves petrigrof so much i find it sooo fascinating their direction with the finale. Showing people it is OKAY to grow outside of love and love is not just obsession and sacrifice is so exciting to see done in a cartoon. god that’s a message i needed as a kid. Love is not obsession. YOU ARE MORE THAN LOVING OTHERS.

it felt so bittersweet to see them together again for it to end in such a way. I do understand why betty showed simon how she felt in the way she did. She’s spent years merged with the god of chaos after jumping through a portal a thousand years into the future. showing to people that sacrificing your everything over and over again isn’t exactly healthy is soooo nice to show your young audience.

simon learning his worth through the worth of others and allowing himself to be free of his guilt and self loathing is so nice to see. I see many people argue that ice king deserves to live as his own person but ice king is such an abnormality i’m not sure of how to properly explain him? He’s not like a headmate in a DID system he is more similar to people with dementia. Ice king himself is so deluded and warped , it’s not a happy life. And for simon to live forever trapped in a body he could not control would’ve been horrifying. i love ice king but i do think his ending as simon is a better outcome.

with fionna accepting her world as it is and seeing the reality of what it would be to erase it all with magic was a route i wasn’t expecting and also am mixed about

because like !!

dude if i woke up magical and having to fight every day of my life or get kidnapped or have to worry about the threat of the lich when i was just in a nice silly world i would’ve been pissed !!!

Fionna’s development from needing magic and something more to being okay with the mundane times in her life and learning to love it is really nice. Escapism is a common coping mechanism and the way it was done makes me think about this reality of ours and the positives of it. Magical mental realities aren’t always peaceful and better! and to see it on the screen was !!!! really cool !!!

i loved everyone’s dynamic in these episodes.

ALSO HUNTER WIZARD IS LATINO????? a win A WIN.

i’m really hoping for more info or episodes because i feel it would be really awesome to see what will happen with Fionna’s world now that it’s canon. I also desperately want to see more of simon and the main group interact and see marceline have a duet with bonnie. I understand Adam Muto’s point of view in being a bit hesitant because of the way it overshadows other projects, but i do still hope and dream.

#fionna and cake spoilers #fionna and cake #petrigrof #rambles #long ramble

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finncomet · 8 months

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u know, I always tried to write Finn as close to canon in the past - and personality wise, I still do! 'cuz that's what makes him Finn after all

but obviously after the main series ended I had a lot of fun coming up with my own ideas and headcanons and developments. 'cuz I was honestly heartbroken that Adventure Time had ended and didn't know if anything else would ever come of it in the future. so I wanted to find ways to keep it alive for myself, and anyone who wanted to join me

but it did continue! and it's amazing and beautiful and perfect and I can't even describe how happy I am with how far it's come

and I've been thinking a lot abt how much I want to adjust my Finn to fit into this new 'canon' but I'm gonna be honest. I've gotten really attached to my own version of Finn

so anyway, I'm just babbling abt this 'cuz I just read this article interview with Adam Muto (AT's showrunner) and he makes me feel so valid

( from here https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/adam-muto-interview-adventure-time-fionna-cake)

#fox post (ooc)

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squill79 · 11 months

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Stormo

Finally wrote another Adventure Time fanfic! This is actually based off of an unused episode concept that Adam Muto once mentioned. I always wished that Goliad and Stormo would get a follow up episode after their debut in Goliad's titular season 4 episode. Enjoy!

(We open on Finn and Jake on their way to the Candy Kingdom. It is Stormo's fourth birthday. Finn is carrying a gift)

Jake: "Man, I don't see why you insist on doing this every year. That thing gives me the creeps."

Finn: "He's not a thing, he's my son. And I don't wanna be a poo-brained washed-up loser of a parent like my bio-dad."

Jake: "Yeah I get that, but that eyeball dude. It freaks me the bajeebs out!"

Finn: "Oh come on Jake, it's not so bad! If it weren't for his big ol' eyeball keeping Goliad in check, the whole Candy Kingdom would be all donked up."

Jake: "Yeah I guess. I still don't like it."

(Finn and Jake arrive at the Candy Kingdom. They get to the top of the castle where Stromo is still holding Goliad back)

Finn: "Why if it isn't the birthday boy! Four years old and not looking a day past two. How's it been Stormo?"

Stormo: "..."

Jake: "You know he can't speak right?"

Finn: "Yeah but I like to pretend he does. (Finn grabs the gift and presents it to Stormo) Unkie Jake and I got you a present Stormo!"

Stormo: "..."

Finn: "I'll open it for ya. (Finn unwraps the gift and holds up a pair of scissors and razor) Whaaaaat!?! It's a haircut! Come on, let's trim that beautiful scalp of yours buddy!"

Jake: "Are you sure he wants a haircut? I don't think he cares man."

Finn: "Awww come on! He doesn't want all that hair in his face, (Finn starts trimming Stormo's hair) besides, if he's anything like his dad then his hair will grow quick as heck."

Jake: "Uuuuh... Finn"

Finn: "Yeah?"

PLOP

(Finn looks down. He sees Stormo's severed eye. He looks back at Stormo and sees that he accidentally cut his eye off)

Finn: "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Jake: "Dude that's sick!"

Finn: "DUUUDE! NOW GOLIAD CAN GUNK UP THE WHOLE KINGDOM WITH HER MIND CONTROL JUNK!"

Jake: "OH DUDE WHAT DO WE DO?!?!?"

Finn: "We have to get PB. She'll know what to do-"

(The castle crumbles and Finn and Jake fall to ground level. They look up to seee Goliad mind controlling all of the candy citizens, including Princess Bubblegum, into forming a huge body, with Goliad taking place as the head)

Goliad: "Ha ha ha ha! Now that I have control, the kingdom is mine! I'm gonna demolish it all! Pretty soon the Candy Kingdom will be the Goliad Kingdom!"

Finn: "Dang man, Goliad's gunking things up hardcore! How do we stop her?"

Stormo: "Her eyeball."

Finn: "What?"

Stormo: "You need to cut off her eyeball like you did to mine. Then she'll lose her mind control powers."

(Jake fights off Goliad in the background)

Finn: "Dude you can talk?"

Stormo: "Yes. I've managed to pick up on your language from your previous birthday visits."

Finn: "But how come you never said anything?"

Stormo: "I never needed to. My sole purpose is keeping Goliad under control."

Finn: "Aww dude. You're more than just that."

Stormo: "That's very sweet but that's not important right now."

(Goliad slams Jake down on the ground)

Goliad: "Brother! You had the option to join me! We could have ruled together! But here we are! You chose this!"

Jake: "Hey man, how do we stop her?"

Finn: "Stormo says we gotta cut off her eye."

Jake: "Yeah but how do we do that? She's like crazy tall now."

Stormo: "I can give you two a lift."

Finn: "Yeah let's go Stormo!"

(Finn and Jake get on top of Stormo and he rides them up Goliad's body of candy people)

Finn: "Hey Stormo, how are you able to see Goliad without your eye?"

Stormo: "It's our shared psychic link we have as siblings. I can sense her being even without my eyesight."

Finn: "Oh rad."

(Stormo finally reaches the top of Goliad and Finn takes the Night Sword out of his backpack and points it towards Goliad)

Goliad: "Brother, why would you help them? They are the enemy!"

Stormo: "I'm sorry sister, but you have gone too far."

(Finn slices Goliad's eye off. Finn, Jake, Stormo, Goliad, Princess Bubblegum, and all of the candy citizens fall to the ground)

Princess Bubblegum: "(Hazy and confused) Dude what???"

(Cut to about three hours later)

(Bubblegum is seen repairing Stormo's eye in her lab)

Princess Bubblegum: "There we go, good as new!"

Stormo: "Thank you princess."

Jake: "Sorry for being grossed out by your eye."

Stormo: "That's ok. It is crazy nasty."

Finn: "So now that Goliad is locked up, what are you gonna do? You can stay with me and Jake if you want."

Stormo: "Thanks, but it's time I explore the world for myself and find a new purpose. I have been static for far too long. I'll see you around dad."

(Stormo jumps out the window and runs off into the sunset)

Finn: "Happy birthday Stormo."

#adventure time #fan fiction #writing #storytelling

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t4r0tc4rdz · 1 year

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I hear that you’re a fan of Adventure Time, so what are your thoughts on the series as a whole? How do you feel about the shift in tone from goofy adventures to existential philosophy? Do you feel that the arcs the characters went through were satisfactory?

Thank you for your time and i hope that these questions weren’t overwhelming for you

Oh my god I have been waiting for a question like this. For like. Ever.

My thoughts on it? I’m short, I absolutely love this show from its gags and jokes to its morals and lessons taught within it. It’s a perfect blend of happy and goofy to existential and depressing.

As for most character arcs, yeah! They were all really nice and well thought out! Only problems I had were that Fern and Minerva’s arcs were too short, but that’s probably my bias as I love them both so bad.

I love Adventure Time for its flaws and its perfections. It’s actually helped me build up dynamic characters as well, along with including my own fan-story/extension of the show itself, as a passion project of sorts. I hope someday someone will pick up where Pendelton Ward, Adam Muto, and Rebecca Sugar left off, but if not, at least is fans have out imaginations :)

Thanks for asking!

#paypurr speaks #adventure time #rambles #paypurr asks #ps: if you can’t tell my fav character of the show ever has and will always be finn :)

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fluffy-critter · 5 months

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#crosspost #busybee

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phantomtrader19 · 2 years

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10/09/2022 matinee

First of all before the performance began a member of the crew came out on stage and asked the audience to participate in a minute of silence to mourn the death of the Queen, lovely recognition.

Something I was not happy about was an usher brought in 2 groups of people who were late DURING THE OVERTURE!!! Right in front of me too I was slightly furious😭

The show, James was on for Phantom today and was so so beautiful once again his final lair never ceases to destroy me completely, GORGEOUS performance and can’t wait to see him again in t minus an hour and a half ahaha. I enjoy Killian to an extent but I’ve seen him around 10 times i’m sure and like I’ve said before I absolutely do not dislike his phantom I just personally don’t connect with him.

Lucy was glorious this afternoon and I imagine will be even better this evening! Her think of me ending note was the best and strongest I’ve heard from her, always a pleasure seeing Lucy.

Matt as Raoul…I Love him I really do. He is the perfect Raoul and like Rhys a definite candidate for a future phantom due to his stunning and commanding voice!

Kelly as Carlotta was even better than she was previously her voice literally blows the roof off she has such a commanding stage presence too! her Hannibal cadenza is my favourite by far!!!

Matt & Adam are the most loveable duo adore seeing them!

Francesca as Madame Giry is a personal favourite of mine her voice is so unique and overall just really breathes so much more life into the character.

Ellie as Meg always a fantastic show but my god she was trying not to combust with laughter during Notes & Prima Donna she was just grinning like a Cheshire Cat which made me laugh ALOT

The past few times I’ve seen phantom I’ve got to see Simon Whitaker on as Piangi with some crazy luck that was my 5th time seeing him! He’s a very young Piangi but stellar voice!!

Other cast:

Edward was on as Auctioneer who I saw last time as James was on holiday, very different take but fab nonetheless

Hywel Dowsell was on for Buquet

Andre York for Passarino

Hollie Aires and Olivia Holland Rose were also on!

A lot of swings which is always lovely!

Also a little mishap…Kelly came out for Il Muto without her huge rococo wig on so done the whole of il Muto in her Carlotta wig

AUDIO AVAILABLE TO TRADE

#phantomoftheopera #poto london #poto #phantom of the opera #poto west end revival #holly anne hull #lucy st louis #her majesty’s theatre #matt blaker #james gant

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sometipsygnostalgic · 3 years

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This is the post I was working on that I accidentally sent privately before I’d finished it, LOL. Thanks @imorahtarm107 for sending it back after what must have been a confusing request.

CONT: Rebecca Sugar has spoken before about how much they dislike the statement by press that Bubbline only became “canon” in the finale, because Sugar and Muto were working on that pairing all the way back in s3, those characters have been canonically queer the whole time. It’s not some novelty thing that was canonized at the very end just because everyone else was doing it, or that the characters were only queer and dating if they got to kiss on the mouth!

So yeah, I was a bit salty abouta few things. I mostly thought that season 10 had been underwhelming compared to the spectacular seasons 7 to 9. Honestly, I still stand by that opinion because those seasons were really good.

I felt that there were some other things missing from s10, but some of those got followed up either in the finale or in Obsidian, albeit less in depth than I’d have liked (primarily the fallout to Elements on the side of the Elementals themselves - I thought this was only appropriate considering what happened in Jellybeans Have Power. Are they not terrified of themselves? What are the long term consequences of that takeover, if any? It seems much bigger than the stuff with the Lich that barely anyone knew about.)

HOW MY THOUGHTS HAVE CHANGED

Well, honestly? Just hearing more from the crew about the problems they faced on CN, not just the AT crew but also Rebecca Sugar with SU, it clears SO much up.

Kent Osborne said to Ghostshrimp in a podcast that, even though they knew the show was ending, the team had no idea how many episodes they had left! Unlike the earlier seasons where CN just made block orders of 52 eps, it seems like from s6 onwards, things were far less stable. CN no longer ordered consistent season lengths. I’m not sure if they instead ordered blocks of eps, or if they gave the crew a flexible budget to work from, like Legend of Korra had.

From my observations and theories, the reason seasons 7 to 9 have so many miniseries is possibly because Adam Muto was using those as a way to appeal to what CN wanted out of Adventure Time, and therefore, to prolong the lifespan of the show. It worked really well as both standalone miniseries and as episodes of the show. Olivia Olsen commented that there were many times they thought they were on the last season but it turned out they weren’t. Adam Muto pitched the first eps of Distant Lands originally as miniseries to “extend” season 10. He was probably hoping he would be successful!

Unfortunately, this time he was not successful, and Kent Osborne said that the crew were taken off guard by Come Along With Me being their last ep. When they started work on it, they thought it was a special in the middle of what could be a longer season. Kent even believed they would’ve had another 26 eps left. Adam had to beg for an extra couple of months so they could figure out how they could turn what would have been a gumbald special (whatever that would have entailed) into a finale for the entire show!

Watching Come Along With Me with the knowledge that the crew were taken so off guard changes entirely what I think of it, because what originally seemed like lazy rush jobs - Simon turning back but not having any time as himself, the ep havingt so much going on, the conflict between Bonnie and Gumbald being a bit empty - now feels like the best possible outcome!! How on earth did they make Come Along With Me as good as it was?? They gave so many characters good moments, they had the whole thematic resolution to the land of Ooo and the themes of the world going in circles but nothing staying the exact same, they paid respects to Finn’s growth, and had the outro as the finale song while showing life goes on!

Now that I’ve had so long to process exactly what happened in the ep, I greatly appreciate so many scenes that I previously overlooked or dismissed. The intro sections by Steve and Tom are brilliant at building up tension, which is part of why the second section feels so jarring. However, the dream sequence is so funny, with interesting imagery that it’s still nice to pick apart. Jake gets to be a good brother, Finn gets to battle Fern, and you have that chilling swapperoo epiphany with Gumbald and PB. The scene where they’re all on the beach is so cathartic.

Then the second half of the special is just intense start to finish - everyone working together at the culmination of their character arcs, to take down GOLB! Until the power of a little robot’s song turns out to be the best tool of holding it back, and Betty performs the ultimate sacrifice for her mistakes with a smile on her face. So good. The ending scenes with Finn and the treehouse, Shermy and Beth, the music hole, those are a thematic conclusion to the show.

So, yeah, it did a great job. To an extent it’s better enjoyed if you pick it apart than if you watch it all at once, since it’s unfortunately not as hard-hitting as a lot of the single 11-minute eps of Adventure Time, including the previous season finale Three Buckets. However it absolutely does its job.

As for Bubbline, well... Adam was trying to get the show extended, and if anyone looks at the twitter comment I currently have as my pinned post, then you’ll understand that there’s no way PB and Marcy could have kissed or made their relationship undeniably explicit unless it was the very end of the show :/

Adam said himself that he didn’t see it as much his fight to battle the decisions of execs as Rebecca did. And while that hurts, it makes sense - he was the owner of someone else’s show that is a smorgas board of a large number of people’s ideas, whereas Rebecca was the owner of their own show and felt that if they weren’t able to express themself in their own show, Sugar was willing to completely take down SU. And that actually happened - Steven Universe got cancelled immediately!!! Adam was not prepared to do that with AT, especally when CN were already talking about cancelling it.

The good news is he didn’t give up on having PB and Marcy’s relationship be at least fairly clear, especially s7 onwards. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but it’s likely a number of the crew members taken on at that time found it important to press for Bubbline, and Adam decidedly agreed. If someone other than him had taken over as showrunner, or even if Pen stayed in charge (he supported it but didn’t want to be wrapped in controversy), I wonder if they’d have never interacted after What Was Missing :/

So yeah, with that in mind, as annoying as Marcy and Hunson still is, I can forgive the crew for doing a finale kiss. Rather, I can really thank Hanna K for pressing for one - she knows how important it was to at least confirm what people had expected, without a retroactive tumblr post ala Korrasami.

#adventure time #atimers #bubbline #come along with me

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sabertoothwalrus · 3 years

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Hi longtime follower here love ur stuff! Genuine question, (sorry if this has been asked n answered already) I've been seeing ur miraculous ladybug comics n thinking "oh wait was ML better than i thought??" since i watched like part of the first season years ago but stopped bc it was just. Such A Kids Show. So i wanted to know, does it get better somehow? or is the show Just Like That n anything interesting about it is fan interpretation? Should i push thru the first season for the good stuff??

So here’s the thing. Many recent show creators such as Rebecca Sugar, Alex Hirsch, Pen Ward, Adam Muto, Owen Dennis, etc all made their shows to be honest and introspective and able to be picked apart. They take their audience seriously and don’t underestimate the intelligence of their younger viewers.

Miraculous Ladybug is…. Not That….

It’s definitely not a show that you watch because it’s “woke” or gonna make you strive to be a better person gsgdhfjf. You can uhh, tell it’s adult, cishet, white men writing about teenagers. The plot is somehow extremely basic and contrived at the same time, and reading too into things you think might be potential foreshadowing is more likely going to lead to disappointment than something Deep.

but also the network doesn’t really respect the show or its audience either. Season 4 so far has had more plot development and changes to the status quo than the past 3 seasons combined, except the network still cannot be bothered to air the episodes in production order???? Like,, how do you expect someone to successfully tell a story when you’re scrambling up all the events???

why did I pick it up again? I dunno…. It’s fun. It’s addicting— the suspense of secret identities and the constant “will they/won’t they”. I find the whole secret identity/love square thing very compelling. Even though it’s the same two people, to the rest of the world and all its inhabitants, they are four separate people, each with their own unique public perception. Even their self-perception changes based on their current identities.

The show can also have very good designs sometimes. Sometimes they are very bad.

And like I said, season 4 seems to actually be progressing things?? And there are theories that SEEM perfectly plausible (like the Felix/Adrien is a sentimonster, or if it’s gonna delve into Adrien feeling inferior and insecure) but at the same time the show gives me the impression it will never go there, or at least not in a way that I’ll want it to.

If you want to enjoy this show, I highly suggest consuming it with friends. The secondhand embarrassment can be… quite severe in some episodes (puppeteer 2….), but watching it in a voice call with your friends helps to hear them audibly cringe, and setting it to a language other than your native one helps a bit too. Just go into understanding that it’s ok to enjoy things that aren’t all that great, and that you can take the bits and pieces that have Potential and be creative with them on your own!! Once you start taking it too seriously, you stop having fun. So have fun with it!

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love-takes-work · 3 years

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Live on Instagram, Rebecca Sugar and Ben Levin (with help from Ian Jones-Quartey) have given us a two-hour fundraiser to benefit the Trevor Project, in honor of Bi+ Awareness Week.

It was a lovely evening hanging out with them. Please see below for a little breakdown of what songs they played and what was discussed during the stream in terms of bi+ youth resources, Rebecca’s experiences, and the importance of having support for bi+ people.

Please go to The Trevor Project and learn more about what they do and how you can help. Their Resources for Bi+ Youth packet is available on the site! You can also donate through Rebecca’s specific fundraiser.

More below:

Rebecca announces this event is for Bi+ Awareness week for the Trevor Project. Ian Jones-Quartey is giving some help with the fundraiser in the background.

First Rebecca plays "Love Like You" on guitar. It's a lovely stripped down version. They're a little bashful about making a couple glitches on the guitar. It's very sweet and charming, Rebecca, no one minds. :)

Next Ben Levin joins on bass and they play "Fries," a longer version than was in the Adventure Time show.

Then Rebecca talks about the Trevor Project and its suicide hotline that they provide for the LGBTQIA+ youth they support. After some tech glitches, they discuss how great Trevor is and what resources and research they provide on why it's so important to support these communities. Since this is Bi+ Awareness Week, they have put together a resource guide. They encourage us to donate to this organization.

Rebecca discusses Ben Levin's involvement on Steven Universe and Craig of the Creek. They decide to play Jeff Rosenstock's song "Illegal Fireworks and Hiding Bottles in the Sand" as a mashup with the Craig of the Creek ending song.

Then they give an update on the donation amounts and Rebecca gets so excited about the support. They admit to being really nervous after no performances for so long.

Rebecca decides to play a solo song and doesn't announce the title at first but Steven Universe fans all know "Escapism." It's a slightly different version with some great guitar additions in an added interlude, and they even throw in some fun super-high squeaky notes at the end.

They give a shoutout to Jeff Liu for the beautiful guitar part. They tell a story about Adam Muto (who worked on "Escapism" with Joe and was Rebecca's board partner on Adventure Time), and how he asked Rebecca to write a song for the Adventure Time finale. Rebecca goes on to play "Time Adventure."

Then they bring Ben back to do the bass while Rebecca sings "I'm Just Your Problem." Rebecca does a cool guitar solo in the middle while Ben rocks on the bass.

Then they do a nice little instrument switch and bring in the omnichord and set up "True Kinda Love." They shout out Chance the Rapper, aivi and surasshu, and of course Estelle for the help writing this song.

Rebecca gets excited again about the amount of people who have donated and gives us info about the hotline for the Trevor Project, how their hotline is available for phone, chat, and text. They also point out the existence of Trevor Project's available pamphlet, which can help people understand their Bi+ friends and family, as well as helping actually Bi+ people understand how they can expect to be treated, how to understand themselves, and that they aren't defined by their partner.

Rebecca then takes a moment to set up with an acoustic guitar (so they can have their foot on a box since they don't have a strap) and they cut out briefly to get it organized. Then they do indeed come back with their foot on box.

With a shoutout to Kate Micucci (who is watching on Instagram Live), Rebecca says she will play "a Lars and Sadie song" that she's figuring out on guitar, and plays "Be Wherever You Are."

Rebecca goes back to getting excited about the donation amount and they can't believe it's as high as it is with the concert less than half over! They say they'd like to make a tradition of doing a Bi+ Awareness Week fundraiser every year. She didn't have access to information that Trevor is now providing to bi youth when she was growing up in the 2000s, and thinks their resources are so vital. She suggests using their resources yourself or that you slip the resources to people in your life who want to support (or need to know more about how to support) bi youth.

Rebecca says they're about to play a "really really hard" song that they're nevertheless excited to go for. They said maybe we can guess what it is. They shout out Nick DeMayo, who's in the audience, the animation director of Steven Universe who is Greg's namesake and taught them a lot about music. And then they jump into . . . a guitar and bass version of "Other Friends"!

They shout out aivi and surasshu, Jeff Liu, and Sarah Stiles for all their contributions to that song, and how cool it is to play a "campfire version" of the song even though it's different.

Next, she wants to play a solo (but will need Ben again right after!) but takes a moment to thank everyone in attendance for supporting the stream and the Trevor Project. They say "thank you for bearing with me" regarding the performance rockiness.

They talk about Marceline and how they felt so connected to this character--writing episodes like "What Was Missing" where Marceline would be revealed to have had a relationship with Bubblegum and be known to be a bi character, and Rebecca felt so astonished that the audience understood Marceline was bi and understood she would always be bi, not fluctuating in orientation based on current relationships defining her. Rebecca explored this about herself only after she saw it explored with Marceline, and understood it was so important to have media that helps people understand who a bi person might be. She never related to the "party person" or extrovert stereotype of bi people as they’re usually shown in media, and thought as a nerdy person who was shy, she couldn't be bi if that was true. Cartoons helped her connect with people who understood those things about Marceline and eventually about herself.

Trevor is so important as an organization to help the next generation understand all of this. Rebecca has felt that knowing herself wasn't possible if she didn't understand her bisexuality or accept it as what it is, and it spread instability throughout the rest of her life. What brought her to finally being able to process and understand this aspect of her identity was cartoons, and she hopes cartoons can bring some others in as well. With that, she brings out the song she was asked to write for Marceline even though she had left the show. Rebecca plays "Everything Stays."

Rebecca then says they were a little conflicted about whether they were going to say all that stuff, about why this issue is personal to them. (It's okay, Rebecca, this is the best!!!)

She says that song was about her stuffed black rabbit that was her favorite toy that she thought she loved so much, but she forgot it in the garden and it was damaged. That it was so surprising to her that she could have loved this rabbit the way she did and not realize it was missing, and that it could change without her. "Everything Stays" was obviously about that, but she also says the situation with Spinel was inspired by the same toy. She switches to electric guitar to sing and play "Drift Away" with Ben back on board on bass.

They point out that they're rocketing through the set list and Ian suggests maybe they'll have to do some encores. In thinking about what songs to play, they point out that so many songs were written about their mental health journey and coming out to family and friends. A song that was "at the end of that whole arc" for Rebecca was "Change Your Mind." It can go on forever, they point out, but they'll only play it a few times. On we go with a really smooth guitar version of "Change Your Mind." (It's the extended looping version.)

They announce that now with the Instagram contributions and the landing page we've reached the goal of $20,000, and they can't believe it's at the halfway point of the stream and we have already reached it despite that the show's been done for a long time and they "broke a lot of social media rules" by stepping away for so long, but that's been crucial to their mental health and their journey.

After they come back from a break, they discuss some funny artifacts that they finally got to take home that were left in the office--a Steven Universe piñata that they were supposed to smash in celebration of a pickup and they didn't want to because, you know, hitting a representation of their younger brother is kinda wack? Haha.

They also had a model of Marceline's bass.

These items were left in the office and just kind of frozen in time because Rebecca's last day (written on the white board, still, when they returned!) was March 13, 2020, just as the pandemic was coming down. Returning to collect stuff was like visiting a room that had been frozen in time!

Rebecca offers a stretch goal to get to $30,000 instead of the original $20,000, and talks a little more about the Trevor Project, discussing how important representation has been, to have bi representation in terms of DIRECT support for LGBTQ+ youth. What they've gotten to do with cartoon representation, having queer characters who can just have fun the way heteronormative kids can and see representatives of themselves is great, but these specific resources are also so important.

Rebecca then plays "Heart of the Country," a Paul McCartney song they're learning that has a hard solo they hope they'll nail. After playing it, they say they flubbed some of it but it was super fun.

Rebecca comes out with an old ukulele--older than the one they wrote the Steven theme song on and auctioned off for National Bailout--that they wrote a bunch of Adventure Time songs and got as a Hanukkah present. (They mention happy 5782 for those of us who celebrate Rosh Hashanah.) Ben is also using his first bass! They recommend musical instruments as gifts for bi people because those are the gifts that keep on giving! They mention working on guitar during the lockdown (which has been therapeutic!) and not having played uke in a while because of that. With that, she dives into "Here Comes a Thought."

They decide to talk about the background of "Mindful Education," how they were coming out at the time they were writing that episode and song. They said coming out was like having the ground spin around. They thought mindful meditation, being so wonderful and helpful, could become an 11-minute episode where Steven leads kids in mindful meditation. With help from Ben (and Matt Burnett), Rebecca realized it would work better if they show characters benefiting from the lessons. They have a little joke about how the episode number was 108 and they prided themselves on knowing the episode numbers. Then they put aside the uke and pick up a big black guitar to play "Found."

After this, she talks more about Trevor Project's hotline, chat, text, and resources. They remind us that bi+ people experience very specific forms of marginalization and this organization can help everyone who wants to understand. She thanks everyone for helping with donations and she can't believe the Instagram fundraiser has gotten to $10,000. She's amazed that "the thermometer is bursting" and promises to draw it later. Ben thinks he could be part of future fundraisers and Rebecca reminisces about times they've played together, like in 2016 at SDCC and a Gallery Nucleus show.

Rebecca goes back to the other guitar to do some audience requests for repeat songs and talks about the song "Fries." The story behind this one, when she was writing it--the first song she wrote for television and the first episode she boarded--since she was introverted and struggled with pitching, she went on the roof of Cartoon Network to practice being louder until she was actually audible. Ian helped.

They decide to do the ending Craig song again and Ben says Jeff Rosenstock's song is really nice and Rebecca talks about getting teary over the Craig ending with people sitting around the dinner table. Rebecca's favorite line is "speaking in a stupid secret language." She feels like she still hasn't moved on from that in her life and likes to surround herself with people who speak that language. After it's over, Rebecca says hi to Jeff Rosenstock in the chat.

They do more shoutouts for the Trevor Project and then discuss encore songs. Rebecca decides to do "Love Like You" again because they were sad they messed up a chord during the first performance. It's another lovely version.

After more great discussion of the Trevor Project's resources and Bi+ Awareness Week, Rebecca says hi to her Brazilian friends and how awesome it was to visit there for a convention, and she loves that Trevor is trying to expand resources to be more global. She knows how important those resources would be to help people worldwide. She thanks people for coming out to see her, and admits to being surprised that her life has come to include actual performances since she always thought she'd just be behind a desk as an animator. She gets very nervous about performing but loves that people support her. They love being able to perform and once got a sweet comment from John DiMaggio (the voice of Jake on Adventure Time) who would hear the early demos that were a struggle to be audible, and he told her that she's come so far that it now sounds like she enjoys performing, enjoys the sound of her own voice now. She feels that coming out and all the support from friends, family, and organizations has made that confidence and comfort with herself possible.

With that, Rebecca plays the Steven Universe theme song on guitar!

And then, they play "Time Adventure" again.

Rebecca talks more about the astounding amount of support for Bi+ Awareness Week, how moving it is and how hard it is to hold it together while talking about what it was like to be an adult who didn't know if they were even allowed to be bisexual and nonbinary, how much of their adult life was in such a quagmire over not knowing fully who they were.

For their next to last song, they play a song written by aivi and surasshu with lyrics by Rebecca: "Being Human" from the ending theme of Steven Universe Future.

Finally, Rebecca says thank you to everyone who's been involved in the songs--the performers, aivi and surasshu, Jeff Ball, the Crew, Ben Levin, Ian Jones-Quartey--and everyone who's helped raise over $11,000 just through the Instagram concert. She plays "Change Your Mind" one more time, adding that the journey is ongoing even though this song was written at a time she considers at the end of an arc of self-discovery for her.

Thank you!

(Yes, I did a donation.)

Links:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/how-to-support-bisexual-youth/

#rebecca sugar #steven universe #adventure time #the trevor project #ben levin #craig of the creek #myblog

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