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gunterfan1992 · 3 years

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Episode Review: ‘Wizard City’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 4)

Airdate: September 2, 2021

Story by: Adam Muto, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, & Charley Feldman

Storyboarded by: Maya Petersen, Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, & Aleks Sennwald, & Haewon Lee

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

An episode focusing on Peppermint Butler’s dark side is something that the fandom has craved ever since the little guy demanded Finn and Jake’s flesh in season two’s “Death in Bloom.” While installments like season five’s “The Suitor” and season six’s “Nemesis” did much to scratch that itch, the story of the Dark One remained mostly unknown…

And after “Wizard City,” it still remains largely unknown. But that’s OK, because instead of focusing on the character’s history, this special focuses on Peps’ quest to relearn magic at a magic school. Put most simply, this special is largely a fun excuse for the show to riff on Harry Potter and The Owl House-style “magic school hijinks,” and it mostly all works.

The special follows Peps quest to go to WizArts (a definite play on CalArts, the school that Pen Ward and Adam Muto, among many others, went to) so that he can relearn magic and once again become one of the greatest dark wizards of his time. Initially, Peps tries to make friends with cool kid Spader and his posse, but once they learn that Peps is not as talented at magic as they had initially thought, they kick him to the curb. It is at this point that Cadebra, Abracadaniel’s adorkable niece who is fascinated with stage magic, enters the picture. Cadebra tries everything in her power to befriend Peps, but Peps pushes back, since she’s not “cool.” It does not matter, though, because both Peps and Cadebra are sorted into the same “house”—the “Skink House—and are forced to work together.

While Peps and his cohort begin learning more and more complex magic, a secret cult of school professors, led by the otherwise caring Dr. Caledonius, are scheming to resurrect Coconteppi, a powerful dark wizard whose putrid heart has been discovered underneath the school excreting a very powerful ichor. The school cult kidnaps Spader and gives him some of the ichor to drink; they hope that because of his talent, he will be able to house the spirit of Coconteppi. This does not go as planned, and Spader is graphically killed (albeit off screen). (In a more humorous moment, Bufo, the scam wizard from season one’s “Wizard,” also ingests some of the ichor, believing himself powerful enough to handle it, but it kills him.)

Eventually Peps and Cadebra learn what is going on. Dr. Caledonius welcomes Peps, believing that he is strong enough to handle the ichor. When Cadebra’s life is put in danger, Peps reluctantly gives the putrid fluid a swig, which infuses him with the power of Coconteppi. Coconteppi-Peps then kills all the cult members before Cadebra manages to remove the ichor from Peps body. For uncovering a heinous plot, Peps is promoted to the highest house, “Salamander,” but he decides to remain a Skink and learn magic “the hard way” with Cadebra as his friend.

As I mentioned near the start of this review, “Wizard City” spends most of its time riffing on the “magic boarding school” trope, with much of the episode feeling like a light-hearted parody of Harry Potter: The characters, after all, are “sorted” into “houses,” they learn various types of magic from skilled “professors,” and they bunk in different parts of a large castle-like campus. Of course, Harry Potter didn’t invent the idea of a boarding school, but when setting your story in a school for magic, it is very hard not to lean at least somewhat into the Hogwarts relation. And this really is a double-edged sword, for while Harry Potter references can be fun here and there, they can also make the overall story feel like a fanfic parody. This special does a good job focusing more so on the characters rather than the setting, but I won’t lie, at times it did feel as if they show was really trying to make you realize it was making a Harry Potter joke.

Of all the characters introduced in the special, the breakout star is easily Cadebra, voiced by Chloe Coleman. Radiating a sort of Mabel Pines energy, Cadebra is the beam of optimism who shines brightly in an otherwise macabre special. There is something about her plucky personality and sense of wacky individualism that charms the viewer. I appreciate how the show compared and contrasted her with her uncle, the one and only Abracadaniel: like her uncle, Cadebra is a good person who wants to help others, but unlike Abracadaniel, she has a sense of courage and fortitude that results in her taking on a Coconteppi-possessed Peps at the episode’s climax. (Say what you will, Abracadaniel stans, but our favorite custodian would never have done that!) Thanks to her bravery and dedication to Peps, Cadebra is easily the heart of the special.

The episode throws an interesting little curveball into the mix by having the ‘ghost’ of Past Peppermint Butler constantly haunt Peps in the here-and-now. Past Peppermint, it seems, was so determined to become a great wizard, he cursed himself, so that if anything were to go awry, his Past self could materialize and set him straight. It’s confusing, but I do think that mixing the “overbearing parent” trope with a curse is a clever idea; it gives the whole special some dramatic heft. The whole setup is made even funnier by the special’s conclusion: After Future Peppermint Butler is ‘defeated’ and the day is saved, Peps reveals to Cadebra that he still wants to be a great and powerful dark wizard… but he wants to earn that power through hard work and determination. (Peppermint Butler might commune with demons, but he would never sell his soul to one for power; Glob helps those who help themselves, ya know?)

One of the special’s strongest points is its background art. Adventure Time always had some beautiful set pieces, and this special goes above and beyond to give WizArts an ancient sense of grandeur and mystery. Ghostshrimp, a freelance artist who was the show’s lead background designer during seasons 1-4, return for this special as a “visual developer”—basically, he mocked up a bunch of rough designs for the locales, and then the episode’s background artists worked up the final pieces in his style. On his podcast, Ghostshrimp mentioned how hectic he found Adventure Time to be, because he was used to taking his time on pieces. As such, the decision to bring him on for just development was smart, as it allowed him to still come up with iconic background designs while also playing fast and loose with everything. Hopefully the show will continue this approach with the Fionna and Cake miniseries that is coming up. After all, Ghosthsrimp’s style is the look of Adventure Time.

Another strong point for the episode is its voice acting. For one thing, you have your regulars like Tom Kenny and Dana Snyder, and Duncan Trussell, who all give a solid performance. But to voice many of the special’s new characters, the show brought on a bevy of fun actors: Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader, for instance, is now voicing Bufo, and he does a solid job hamming up his role as the old fogey. And then there’s Toks Olagundoye, whose British accent gives Dr. Caledonius a sense of knowledge and expertise. To my delight and surprise, SungWon Cho, an internet personality and voice actor perhaps better known as ProZD, was tapped to voice Brain Wizard, and he does an excellent job. And finally, Anthony Stewart Head, a very talented actor who I know best as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, voices Con Wizard, and is even given a fun little ditty to sing. I can safely say that the voice acting in this special is likely the best of the bunch, and it’s obvious that the actors were all having a great time playing their parts.

What drags the whole thing down, in my opinion is the excessive murder. (I joked on Twitter that during the climax of “Wizard City,” it felt like I was watching an Adventure Time-ified version of Invincible!) Infused with the power of Coconteppi, Peps goes on a brutal killing spree, boiling Potable Wizard into steam, zapping Dimension Wizard into another plane of existence, smashing Berdzerd, and—perhaps most graphically—excerebrates (had to look that word up!) Brain Wiz. On Twitter, @sometipsygnostalgic argued that while, yes, the scene is startling, it does wonders to transmute “a poor Summer Camp Island knockoff [into] Adventure Time chaos.” The more I think about it, the more I think that’s a fair point; after all, this is hardly the first dark thing that has happened in Adventure Time. But the part that I cannot really stomach is the fact that Spader was murdered for no real reason, and the special ends without anyone really expressing their horror at the situation. Sure, Spader was a schoolyard bully, but he was also a child. And killing a child—either for the drama or the lulz—feels decidedly out of place in an Adventure Time episode. It’s hard to express, but it just felt unnecessarily nihilistic and mean-spirited.

All things considered, I think this was a fun episode, but it was somewhat underwhelming for a ‘finale.’ Much of this is because it had to air after the perfection that was the back-to-back “Obsidian”/”Together Again” wombo combo. But I can’t help but feel like this special just felt a little... off. A little too meanspirited, and it leaned a bit too much on standard tropes. Still, it was a fun spin, and I know that I’ll rewatch it.

Mushroom War Evidence: As Peps rides the bus to school, he passes a bunch of abandoned houses, some of which are buried in the ground. There is an unexploded bomb above the fossilized elephant in the school. Cadebra has a dream that takes place in the ruins of a city.

Final Grade: B+

#adventure time #atimers #atdl #distant lands #adventure time distant lands #wizard city #peps #peppermint butler #abracadaniel #Cadebra #Ghostshrimp #Adam Muto #Hanna K #ProZD

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sometipsygnostalgic · 3 years

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so we know bubbline were dating at some point in season 10 and was confirmed on screen by the finale but when do you think they officially got back together?

long post? yes. this deserves nothing less

After the episode Sky Witch, the two started spending a LOT of time together.

In the episode Red Starved, Marceline is with Finn and Jake on a quest that Princess Bubblegum assigned to them. In the past, she would have probably told them to ditch the quest and goof off with her instead.

At the end of the episode, she drinks the red from Bonnie. Hilariously, Bonnie is really pissed off and half-dying ( >:[ ), while Marceline just says “thanks lol :)” and puts her hand on her shoulder. n

In the episode Princess Day, they’re texting each other. Marceline invites PB to goof off with her but PB was too invested in her crossword puzzle.

In the episode Graybles 1000+, Marceline’s sock is suspiciously on the floor in PB’s bedroom 👀 this is pretty queerbaity ngl

And in Varmints, we see Marceline literally sneak into PB’s room at night. She wakes her up and invites her to go on a midnight Squeeze-e-mart run to get slushies. It’s basically a date. It’s implied they were doing this regularly.

However, while they were probably dating or flirting, I don’t think that they had hooked up officially until later on - more specifically, they didn’t get committed until after Stakes.

This is because in Varmints, Marceline hasn’t spoken to PB for at least 2 months. She has no idea about anything that happened in the season 6 finale. And PB is still pushing people away. But at the end of this episode, when PB fully opens up to Marcie for the first time, and Marcie provides much needed support and understanding, I think this is when things got a bit more serious between them.

Marceline and Bonnie in Stakes are crushing hard on each other, and they’re starting to think about the future. However, I think their feelings about each other are complicated enough, as are their feelings about Marcie’s de-vamping, that they can’t have a sincere discussion about how Marceline’s mortality will affect their future. Bonnie provides her full support, and says Marcie will live a fully happy mortal life, and she’ll be the one to bury her in the ground when she dies. The romantic implications of this are obvious. However, the underlying subtext is that PB is pushing down her true feelings of the matter, and Marceline hasn’t thought about the impact on their relationship.

In the episode with the Moon, Marceline starts dying due to poison. She starts dreaming of her desired future life as a mortal. Bonnie has to deal with the concept of Marceline’s death then and there - taken away so suddenly, without any time to process it. Bonnie is struggling to keep herself together, and asks Peppermint Butler for help using suspicious methods that she doesn’t understand. Marceline imagines her own death, with PB at her side still young and pretty, and it’s not a bad reality at all - Marceline lived a happy life in her dream world - but she’s also started wondering what it means to get old and die while her partner has to watch. It’s a difficult situation. Bonnie’s crying ends up being the thing that wakes Marceline up, alerting her to the presence of the Moon.

Anyway it’s in this episode that they were hit with a steel chair reminding them of what they mean to each other.

They still had some more obstacles. Marceline had some growing up to do in Stakes, and she kind of ditched PB at the start of the final battle. But Marceline spoke to Ice King and realised that she’d been strong the whole time, and she took destiny into her own hands. It was the power of her bonds with others and of her newfound respect for herself that she used to kill the Vampire King. Bonnie got to watch this happen.

Even though Marceline had been re-bitten, she was at peace with this now. She’d reclaimed her vampirism with dignity, and owned her trauma. She is happy to remain a vampire because this time, she has her friends to help her. “Now I guess we can be together forever.”

PB is clearly interested at this point in pushing their relatioinship forward, because she invites her to live in the castle. Marceline rejects at the moment, but in this episode, they had become committed.

It’s after this that you see far more moments with them holding hands, Marcie taking PB to a dinner date with Simon, both of them hanging out in the skate park, Marcie singing more love songs ripped from lgbt artists, both of them REPEATEDLY trading clothes (sometimes within the same scene like in Islands Part 1), the whole situation where Marcie was by PB’s side singing songs about love for the entirety of Elements and it was revealed later that she CHOSE to get elementified because she thought there was no way to bring PB back... and then the final season, where Marceline is seen as PB’s strongest ally by her worst enemies. The final episode, where Marceline confronts PB about the war and asks her not to do this, but even though they’re together and having a sincere conversation, they’re still not on the same page because PB is putting this battle above everything else, even though she shows her first signs of conflicted feelings when Marcie talks to her.

When Marceline sees PB “die”, she is overcome with rage, and the power of her heartbreak causes her to turn into Dark Cloud and DEMOLISH the enemy horrorterror. When PB survived, Marceline launched herself at her into a hug, and PB seemed unsure of how to respond to Marceline just pouring her feelings out about how even when they weren’t talking, she was still so worried something would happen to her (makes me wonder if Marcie ever found out about Mortal Folly/Recoil). PB tries to reassure her that nothing will happen, which turns into a funny joke because of her concussion, and they laugh and kiss like it’s the most natural thing in the world. After all, they’ve been a couple for 3 seasons.

What a good pairing. That was a beautiful scene hidden in a chaotic finale.

#adventure time #bubbline

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dcusrclicta · 5 years

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Character Bios

Parenthesis means they have a Harry Potter AU verse

Name: Severus Tobias Snape Year: Cute. House: Slytherin Blood Status: Befouler Antichrist Eye colour: Cobalt nowadays Age: Old enough to say no. Birthdate: 1/9 Height: 6′7 Patronus: Horned Viper Description: I still hate my job. I still hate people. I’m just immortal now. Please leave my office & don’t touch anything on your way out.

Name: Brittnay Matthews Year: College Junior (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: Human (Pureblood) Eye colour: Blue Age: 21 Birthdate: 6/15 Height: 5′5 (Patronus: Pitbull) Description: Cross me & I’ll hurt you. Otherwise I’m Brittnay Matthews you’re new best friend. People think I’m arrogant but in reality they’re angry I’m better than them. I used to go to Overland Park high school. I’m glad I don’t anymore.

Name: Rhaegar Daeron Targaryen (Year: Graduated/Verse Dependant) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: ??? Eye colour: Violet Age: 34 Nameday: All I remember was being born in the high summer Height: 7’1 (Patronus: Hungarian Horntail) Description: I’m believed to be dead. Walking about when one is believed to be dead is actually quite boring no matter how much it may benefit the Realm. I do admit I made. Many mistakes however in my defence not all prophecies are interpreted in a straight forward manner. I did better than any of you would have in the situation so save your criticism for until you watch a man identical to you get his chest caved in by a war hammer.

Name: Lilith “Lily” Sophie Evans Year: Graduated/Verse Dependant House: Slytherin Blood Status: Demon/Witch Eye colour: Green/Blue/ Sometimes they go crimson. Age: Doesn’t matter. I won’t die. Birthdate: 1/30 Height: 5’3 Patronus: Bold of you to assume I have one Description: My sister was right. I’m a freak. Even my parents saw something... Wrong in me when I was younger. They tried to pretend I was fine. ”Just a few odd occurrences here & there.” Until an older boy who couldn’t keep his hands to himself suddenly found that a hand could very easily be turned inside out. In the long run it was a good result. They found quite a bit of child pornography in his little hovel of a bedroom. My parents knew I did it but couldn’t quite figure out how until the Hogwarts letter came. They were both horrified & relieved. But to make a long story short. Once I met Severus Snape & we put our interest in the Dark Arts together... I got WORSE. & it felt good. I became addicted to the draw of dark magic, occult magic in particular & now Tom Riddle wants me to tell him what I said to Lucifer to get this new body. I might tell him if he begs in the right tone.

Name: Brahms Hillshire Blood Status: Half-demon Eye colour: Green Age: 16 Birthdate: Don’t care Height: 5′11 Description: I’m a child serial killer. I want to play around in your innards. & blood. I want to play around in your blood too.

Name: “Andrew” Antisepticeye McLoughlin Blood Status: Computer Virus Entity/Demon Eye colour: Lime Green Age: 29 (Existing for 3) Birthdate: 10/10 Height: N/A Description: It’s better if ya dun run. It’ll just drag et out. Plus sometimes ya lot chip my knife on one of yer stupid bones. & I dun really li’e runnin much ta be honest.

Name: Chase Brody Blood Status: Human Eye colour: Blue Age: 29 Birthdate: 4/11 Height: 5′10 Description: Hey bros! I’m Chase! Uh, some of ya already know tha! Anti brought me here! He said it’d be fun an’ I trus’ ‘im! I swear ‘e’s actually always been kinda nice ta me! Besides the ‘ole threatenin’ the kids thin’ but we’re frien’s now! He says he’ll teach me how ta shoot a real gun someday!

Name: Brian Griffin Blood Status: Dog(?) Eye colour: Green Age: ??? Birthdate: ??? Height: 6′4 Description: I used to be an alcoholic dog. Now I’m an alcoholic. Not much to say after something like that happens. I’m really confused to be frank. Maybe now I can actually get someone to take me seriously & publish my book.

Name: Carlos De Vil (Year: Sixth) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: Half-demon/ Sorcerer Eye colour: Blue Age: 16 Birthdate: 3/20 Height: 5′7 (Patronus: Red Fox) Description: Hi, I’m Carlos & life is pain, only valid things in this world are only science & Evie Grimhilde, bye. Gemini De Vil is my midget brother who I love. Devil De Vil is my crazy ass dad. My mom is dead, thanks for asking.

Name: Danny Flint Blood Status: Shade Eye colour: Grey Age: Old Nameday: ? Height: 5′4 Description: Being dead was less droll.

Name: Eileen Tabitha Prince Snape Year: Graduated House: Slytherin Blood Status: Pureblood Poltergeist Eye colour: Black Age: Well. I died at 35 so let’s go with that Birthdate: 12/18 Height: 6’11 (Used to be 6'6 but I had this weird growth spurt two days before I died.) Patronus: Didn’t have one apparently

Description: … I really don’t have anything to say to you. I died, I decided I wanted to come back. Er. Awkwardly enough the old castle I was haunting is now inhabited by my son and his family. They’re all really bloody loud. No wonder the rest of the ghosts make so much noise back. And no. I have not introduced myself to any of them. I mean. Sometimes I talk to ‘em but I’ve never gotten an answer. Plus unlike most of the floating assholes here I’d much rather keep to myself, thank you.

Name: Griffin “Finn” Merterns Blood Status: Human(?) Eye colour: Blue Age: 19 Birthdate: 3/14 Height: 6′3 Description: Hey bros! I’m Finn, a radical kid that makes it his business to help people out and kickin’ monster tail! Mostly when I’m not doin’ that I’m chillin’ it up with my bro Jake in the tree house so as long as you’re not some wacko monster that wants to eat up my face you can swing by and we can fire up BMO or something.

Name: Henry Harry Jameson Hook (Year: Slytherin) (House: Seventh) Blood Status: Half-demon/Sorcerer Eye colour: Blue Age: 17 Birthdate: 10/23 Height: 6′2 (Patronus: Savannah cat) Description: All it takes is one wrong look & I’ll EVISCERATE ya... Taken by Uma daughter of Ursula. Ya want me? Ya have ta ask her permission & pray she likes ya & is in a SHARIN’ mood. Jamie Hook is me mum an’ she taugh’ me all I know about bein’ scary. Me da??? He’s a dumbass.

Name: Karl Vreski (Year: Graduated) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: Human (Pureblood) Eye colour: Blue Age: 19 (Typically) Birthdate: 10/25 Height: 6′1 (Patronus: Jackal)

Description: I’m Karl. Lacrosse. Tacos. Boxing. American football. Whatever activity that involves either Hans Gruber or hitting something? I like it. Tony’s alright. Good brother at least. Not at all annoying like the normal younger sibling M.O. Far nicer than me. I’ll likely end up being a lawyer same as my father. Boring but Hans and I are already working at the damn firm so it’s an easy job. I’m sure Hans’ll come up with a more fun idea. He always does.

Name: Tony Vreski (House: Hufflepuff) (Year: Seventh) Blood Status: Poltergeist (Pureblood) Eye colour: Blue Age: 17 (Typically) Birthdate: 9/3 Height: 5′10 (Patronus: Rooster)

Description: I’m Tony… I uh. I play some football. Real football not American. I’m Karl’s younger brother and… To be honest Hans scares me a little bit even if we’re all like brothers… Uh more often than not I just go along with their crazy plans because. Well because my brother says it’ll be fun. And. It usually is. Even if some of it’s a little illegal.

Name: Loki Friggason (Year: Graduated) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: God of Mischief & Chaos Eye colour: Green Age: Don’t be rude. Birthdate: Mind your business Height: 6′0 (Patronus: Corn snake) Description: I am Loki of Asgard. & I’m so fucking tired of all the gards.

Name: Beverly Marsh Blood Status: Human Eye colour: Green Age: 14 Birthdate: 8/26 Height: 5′3

Description: I’m Bev. Looked into that stupid clown’s deadlights & lived. I’ll be a loser to the end & I’m honestly real proud of that. Losers have no where to go but up, after all.

Name: Marceline Abadeer Blood Status: Vampire Demon Eye colour: Green Age: 1003, Approximately Birthdate: Unknown Height: 5′9 (Various) Description: Marceline the Vampire Queen, dude. Sure you’ve heard of me before so I wouldn’t be surprised to see you shaking in your boots right about now. Been traveling and terrorising the Land of Ooo for a while now though it’s nothing too irreversible. Mostly I’m just a radical dame that likes to play games as a very special someone once said about me.

Name: Nathan Clarke (Year: I died in seventh) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: (Verse dependent) Poltergeist (Half-blood) Eye colour: Blue Age: 17 Birthdate: 8/13 Height: 6′2 (Patronus: Some squiggly thing I dunno) Description: Hi I’m Nathan & I wanna die... Haha gottem!

Name: Richmond Richie Wentworth Tozier Blood Status: Human Eye colour: Caribbean Green Age: 14 Birthdate: 8/10 Height: 5′10 Description: I’m only afraid of werewolves & girls with eyes that are hard to not get lost in.

Name: Robyn Black Robin Blood Status: Poltergeist Eye colour: Hazel Age: Hm Nameday: Some far off winter Height: 6′5 Description: “The Gods above all knew his crimes The lord read off his lists The Gods above all knew his crimes The men's hands balled to fists His legs they kicked, they jerked, then slowed The crowd not once did cheer His legs they slowed, then finally stopped The crowd not once did jeer”

Name: Sadie O’Connell Blood Status: ??? Eye colour: Blue Age: 19 Birthdate: I don’t remember Height: 5′6 Description: I tried to kill myself over a boy who didn’t love me back. Someone brought me back & now here I am, I guess.

Name: Scorpio Felix Sepelio Tobias Exodus Snape Blood Status: Vampire Eye colour: One is jade one is cobalt and they swap sides frequently Age: 91 Died at 36 and it’s been a while. You do the math, mate. Birthdate: 11/10 Height: 5’3

Description: Surprise bitches. I bet you all thought I was dead…In a matter of speaking that’s still accurate. The greasy little snot did indeed best me when I was human. I respect that victory &even though I miss them.. My children don’t need me. I wasn’t good to them when they did. I doubt they’re aware I came back and I’ll keep it that way for all our sakes. There’s no point in asking me how exactly I returned to life. I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. Maybe Hell just can’t handle me yet.

Name: Thomas Marvolo Riddle Year: Graduated House: Slytherin Blood Status: Demon Fledging Eye colour: Blue Age: Rude. Birthdate: 12/31 Height: 6′4 Patronus: Hmmm, my little secret. Description: Join my cult. Satanism is actually very beneficial if you’re respectful. No. You don’t have to slit your wrist to join... Please. Stop slitting your wrists to join.

Name: King Aerys Targaryen Second of His Name King of the Andals & the First Men Lord of the Seven Kingdoms & Protector of the Realm (Year: Graduated) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: Human Mine is the blood of Old Valyria (Pureblood) Eye colour: Violet Age: Hm. Nameday: High summer. Height: 6′8 (Patronus: Gila Monster) Description: Burn them all.

Name: Ser Jaime Lannister (Year: Graduated) (House: Hufflepuff) Blood Status: Shade (Pureblood) Eye colour: Green Age: I’m dead. Sorry. Nameday: Does it matter? Height: 5′6 (Patronus: Munchkin Cat) Description: I stayed loyal to the Targaryens & they won. But I died when Robert Baratheon caved in Rhaegar’s chest... At least I got to watch him die for it.

Name: Daenerys Visenya Targaryen (Year: Fifth) (House: Slytherin) Blood Status: ??? (Pureblood) Eye colour: Violet Age: 15 Nameday: During a violent storm Height: 4′9 (Patronus: Blue-tongued Skink) Description: My family’s way is fire & blood... But my heart sings a softer song... & I don’t know which way is right.

#x: Words From His Mouth (Headcanon)#x: Well Then Write! (Character Bio)#c: All #((AHHHHHHH I FINISHED THEM))

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ohthehypocrisy · 7 years

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In a Moment

Drabble idea by @atfubblegum. If you have a fubblegum drabble idea, I’d love to hear it.

“What would you define a ‘moment of weakness’ as, Finn?”

That question had caught him off guard.

Here he was, staring at a simulated sunset that seemed ageless, sitting next to one of his best friends, when she suddenly asked him a strange question. He turned to her, her focus still on the virtual sun, expecting clarification but receiving none as she sat silently.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

She tilted her head upward in thought, “Well, it’s not exactly a well defined concept, but I...”

She turns to face him, her posture leaning back and the virtual sun illuminating half of her face.

“I’d like to know what you think it means,” she says to him, “You are a hero, my knight, my champion, so what does it mean to you?”

Finn and Princess Bubblegum had spent the past half hour or so simply enjoying each other’s company, touring through the Candy Kingdom castle halls, indulging themselves in the secret gardens and labs and resident pet giant cat named Timmy. It was all fun and games until it came upon them the introspection and reflection of their lives and, consequently, their friendship.

Princess Bubblegum had gone through some major changes in the past month, the weight of which was greater than the past hundred years she had been alive for. Her confrontation with Flame Princess had forced her to reexamine her methods and her trust issues, finally coming to face the centuries of paranoia and tyranny she had installed in her brain for the sake of protecting her people. She had always told herself it was worth it, a means to an end, but after eight hundred years of self sacrifice, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

But it hardly compared to the tribulations Finn was going through. He could’ve talked about anything, from breaking up with Flame Princess, the death of Billy, losing an arm, his crippling depression, but he chose to offload his father issues to her. She wasn’t fond of the idea of Finn accepting his father’s denial of his role as a parent, but Timmy the cat had quashed any potential conversation on that subject.

All had slowed to a gentle stillness now. Timmy had retired to his undersized cat bed, they were exhausted from walking around so much, and they had returned to the secret virtual reality room to unwind.

Finn was on his back, staring at the candy stone ceiling, mulling over her question, trying to find an answer that would satisfy her, as well as himself.

“A moment of weakness is...” he started, but trailed off as his words failed him, “I dunno, doing something bad?”

The princess hummed, “It’s not like surrendering yourself to the intrusive suggestions you lock away in your thoughts and immorally acting despite yourself?”

Finn tilted his head, “Huh?”

She turned to lock eyes with him, “Giving in to evil.”

“Oh,” he looked away back to the ceiling, “No, I wouldn’t know what that’s like.”

He heard the princess huff, “No, you do.”

He straightened himself up and leaned up slightly off of the treadmill they were sitting on, “Wait, what do you mean?”

Princess Bubblegum leaned forward as a futile means of distancing herself from Finn, “Remember how you and Flame Princess broke up?”

Finn reflexively looked away, “Uh, yeah.”

“That was your moment of weakness,” she explained, Finn looking back to her, the princess staring into the virtual sun, “You defied common sense and tricked two people into fighting each other for your own amusement.”

He leaned back onto the floor, unable to look at the princess as she recounted his shameful memory.

“That’s not just wrong, Finn,” she looks over to him, seeing him more focused on the ceiling than listening to her. It was the expected response, she knew, “It was evil.”

“I said I was sorry,” he muttered just loud enough to be heard, a hint of defiance in his tone.

“And I understand that,” she said, placing an assuring hand on his knee, “And I’m not saying that makes you evil, it was a moment of weakness for you.”

Finn patted his stomach and wiggled his feet, as if he was physically processing her words. He tightened his lips and flexed his cheeks, unsure of how he was supposed to respond.

“Well, how about,” he leans up slightly to look at her, “What was your moment of weakness?”

She sighs in frustration, the feeling of which was aimed not at him but herself, “You can’t even begin to fathom how many of those I have had.”

There was a pause, a moment of processing the magnitude of the many years she had been alive for and the countless things she had done for her kingdom, before Finn responded, “How about something recent?”

She leaned back, supporting herself with her skinny arms, head craned in thought, “How about...” she started, looking above the setting virtual sun, “That time Ice King infected the Candy Kingdom with his freezer burn, and I had you and Jake take him hostage?”

It was years ago, but Finn remembered it clearly, particularly because it was the first instance of many that he realized the princess was capable of doing wrong, in contrast to the perfect image she and his mind had painted her in.

“Yeah, you wanted us to beat up an innocent old man,” he simplified, resting his head back on the floor, “Yeah, I get’cha. ‘Cuz, like, it didn’t matter if he got hurt, as long as your peeps were okay, right?”

“But it was still wrong and you knew it,” Bubblegum had taken to leaning and laying down beside him, staring at the ceiling as well, “It didn’t matter if he deserved it, or if he even knew what he did. It was below me to treat him as such, but I thought saving my people justified the means.”

Finn patted his chest to quell the distraction of the ensuing silence, remembering how he had told the princess of her wrongdoing, even after seeing for himself the horrifying disease the Ice King had unleashed onto her people. It was pitiful and deplorable but, most importantly, it could be cured, and the princess was prepared to extract it through any means necessary.

But even he had to put his foot down, unable to bring himself to mistreat the Ice King so, and he made sure she knew all about it. It surprised him, however, that she knew what she was doing was wrong, that she would be reviled for it afterwards, and if it weren’t for Finn, who knows where that path would’ve led her to?

“You’ve changed a lot since then,” Finn brought himself to comment.

He felt her hand on his shoulder, “So have you.”

Finn chuckled a bit forcefully despite himself, looking over to see the princess’s soft, understanding face.

“So, I guess,” he fiddled with his words as Bubblegum retracted her hand, “A moment of weakness would be, like, being too weak to stop yourself from doing something bad.”

“That’s a flawed definition, contextually speaking,” she brought up, turning to face the ceiling again, “Because, like, what if I eat one cupcake too many, even though I’m on a diet?”

“Wouldn’t that still be bad?” Finn asked, looking back up, “I mean, not following your diet is bad for you.”

She giggled, “Okay, that was a dumb example, but you know what I mean,” she leaned up until she was on her side, arm propping up her head as she faced him, “A moment of weakness by definition isn’t exclusive to morality.”

“Not even a little?” he speaks up, leaning slightly to face her, “I mean, if you do the opposite of the right thing, and you can’t stop yourself, isn’t that rooted in moral basis leaning on the bad side of the scale?”

The princess smiled. She couldn’t help but find his poor string of words endearing and admired the fact that he was trying to make sense with them.

“Okay, you have a point,” she turned to lay on her back again, “The magnitude of morality widens the further down the spectrum you go, and the same goes for succumbing to moments of weakness, I suppose.”

“That should be true of the opposite, right?”

“Huh?” she turned to face him, watching him lean upwards until he was sitting straight.

“You know, the opposite of a moment of weakness?” he asked with a gesture of a hand.

“Like...a moment of strength?” she asked, slowly lifting herself up.

“Yeah. What is a moment of strength?” he asked, looking at his two hands as if they were the plates of a scale, “Is it just being strong for a moment, or something deeper?”

Princess Bubblegum had righted herself and had taken to mulling over the philosophy of the principal of morality.

“If the opposite of a moment of weakness follows a polarized definition word for word,” she said, almost muttering to herself, “Then yeah, a moment of strength is the acting of the best interest despite yourself.”

“Like fighting a strong monster trying to save some peeps,” Finn pointed out, feeling brief pride at his professional definition, “Even though it might be too strong for you.”

“Or shutting down your entire security system,” she said nonchalantly, looking back up to the virtual sunset they had been neglecting.

“Yeah, something like that,” Finn tapped his fingers on his knees, finding the courage to say to her, “Why d’you ask?”

“Huh?” she had been snapped out of her train of thought as she looked to Finn.

“Why’d you get all metaphorical on me, Peebs?” he had taken to subconsciously patting his legs with his hands, “I mean, philosophylis, I mean, soul searchy?”

Princess Bubblegum couldn’t help but giggle, brushing aside her hair over her shoulder, “Well, I thought about having a moment of weakness right now.”

“Say what now?” he looked to her, finding that she had scooted a bit too close.

“You know, acting despite myself in this very moment,” she briefly looked away, “But, I suppose if I’m aware of it, would choosing to act on it be a moment of strength instead?”

Finn had two whole years to get over this feeling. He had quashed it time and time again whenever he looked at her, thought about her, cementing the respect he had for her as a close friend. And yet, something in him decided that she would look so enchanting if there was a strong breeze to swat at her hair as the virtual sun was setting.

Finn had fought himself from acting on the suggestions intruding on his mind, a moment of weakness.

But in a moment of strength, he disregarded those childish notions and acted on his own.

“It depends...” he said calmly, quietly as he inched a little closer, “Is it a good thought or a bad thought?”

Bubblegum turned to face him, surprised but pleased that he was so close to her now.

“I don’t know...but I wanna find out,” she said, staring into his eyes as her own widened.

Their hands moved into each other as they closed in.

Finn and Bubblegum were surprised to come back to the slumber party with half of the invited guests having been chucked into a pit of bath water that was definitely NOT there before they left. The candy people were rescued, their bodies dried off, and order was restored before everyone had to be tucked in for the night.

“You guys were gone for a while,” Jake said to Finn as they unfurled their sleeping bags, “What were you two doing?”

“We were just hangin’ out, man,” Finn answered, climbing into his bag.

“You didn’t do anything, did’ya?” Jake said skeptically, his face baring an expression of wile.

“Nah, man. We just had a moment, that’s it,” he zipped up his bag.

“What kind of moment? You can tell me, bro,” the dog nudged him with his long arms.

Finn giggled, then said with a happy breath, “A moment of strength.”

#adventure time #fubblegum #finn #princess bubblegum

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liambaileyjournalism · 6 years

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Cratinus was an Ubdurian male and the identical brother of Prashee. The pair were fond of games of chance and would use their identical appearances to swap identities during profitable scams. In 34 ABY, both brothers were present in the castle of the pirate Maz Kanata on the planet Takodana. They sat together by a fire pit playing a game and interacting with another alien before the castle was attacked and destroyed by the First Order.

K-OHN was a manumitted L-1 tactical droid that provided people with his programming skills in exchange for energy and credits. K-OHN’s personal goal was to gather enough funds to obtain a processor upgrade that would allow him to comprehend the idea of spirituality, but he also shared part his earnings with a band of street urchins he once befriended. K-OHN was present in Jedha City shortly before the Galactic Empire’s Death Star destroyed it. He was equipped with an AA-1 VerboBrain.

Slowen Lo was a male Abednedo who resided on Canto Bight. He made a fortune selling driftwood sculptures and lived on the beach in the coastal city on the desert planet Cantonica. In 34 ABY, Lo saw Finn and Rose Tico illegally land and abandon their ship on a Canto Bight beach. Annoyed, Lo told Finn and Rose they were not allowed to leave the ship there, but they ignored him and proceeded to the Canto Casino. Lo informed the Canto Bight Police Department about this and accompanied officers to the casino, where he observed Finn and Rose and confirmed their identities to the police. He was startled as the officers stunned and arrested Finn and Rose.

How does working on Star Wars compare to all your work on other projects?

There is absolutely no comparison. Until now I’d never worked for a Production or a movie franchise that I had dreamt of working for. I find that regardless of how little we may or may not know about the story or script while I’m on set, that because I know and love Star Wars from the ground up I have a good idea of how to perform (which would be tweaked by Paul Kasey) and also how to conduct myself. I’ve worked on various obscure little productions as well as those a little bigger and found that the real difference working on a Star Wars movie, for me it’s probably being able to give 100% to a project that you feel everyone and every department is also giving. You don’t always get that on other productions; Yes some of it can be put down to a production’s budget and how people feel about the projects they’re working on but very few movie franchises have the ability to reach into your childhood and be everything and more than you could’ve ever expected like Star Wars.

How did you get the role of Cratinus?

Tom Bell (who went on to play Prashee, the twin brother of Cratinus) and I were originally brought in to see Neal Scanlan about playing Hassk creatures supporting Paul Warren who played the principle Hassk Varmik and was later teamed up with Nathan Plant to play the other one. I and Tom were going to be another two Hassks, I’m guessing when I say ‘we were probably going to be a part of Varmiks gang’. But no sooner had we been in for fittings we then found out that they’d given those parts to the actors from the Raid movies. Neal had said ‘Let’s see if we find something for Dee’ But I wasn’t holding my breath, because at this point I thought well that’s it, this is as close as I’m going to get to Star Wars and began celebrating thinking at least I was seen for Star Wars, because there was no way the sun was going to shine twice on me for something this huge, or so I’d thought.

But then a call came through asking me how I felt about working on my knees? And knowing that it was Star Wars asking there was no other reply than; ‘Of Course!’.

Over the weeks that followed, I was then brought in for fittings and was given these little slippers to put on which had these incredible kneepads attached in case they wanted me to walk around. I also got to try on the head which was unpainted at the time. Eventually, I was also reintroduced to Tom and found out that there would be two of us! On our final day of wardrobe Tom and I were waiting for them to bring in our heads, and as they did so they brought out what I thought was my head as it was the only one I’d been trying on, but they gave it straight to Tom, and told me mine was on its way. When they gave it to me I wasn’t sure whose smile was bigger, mine or the one on Cratinus’s face. They couldn’t have tailored that to me any more than they did, it was such an amazing moment. I love that little Ubdurian Dude, I think it was Jake Lunt Davies and Luke Fisher who designed them, with Luke designing mine.

Playing Cratinus wasn’t your only role though, you also played K-OHN and Slowen Lo.

K-OHN & Neal Scanlan.

K-OHN The Manumitted L-1 Tactical Droid came about very early on in production, as he was intended to be the K-2SO droid, but as the project began to grow, so too did the development of the droid and began to make more and more sense to evolve the droid from the Super Battle Droids that were seen in Attack Of The Clones. But it was Neal Scanlan who put me forward for this role telling Gareth I was a perfect choice.

It was amazing to be apart of the whole development as my makers Neil Ellis and Toby meticulously built my suit to fit me perfectly, which it did. It was such a joy to be encased in that suit, I keep hoping that one day they’ll put me back in it, so fingers crossed we’ll have to see.

Slowen Lo & the Canto Bight Police.

Slowen Lo was just another character I was coming in to play (so I thought) not knowing if he’d be seen much or what it was they were going to need me to do. Originally I was told he was going to be a beachcomber with a metal detector who looks up to spot a ship flying overhead. Then he became a swaggering local as he was then going to be a player in the Casino, to then finally becoming the concerned citizen he is in the movie.

Are there any other characters you have played that have not been mentioned?

Lexo Sooger.

Letrun Pay

In The Last Jedi, I also play an alien called Brother Letrun Pay who appears just as the Fathiers break through a wall after Finn yells out ‘Too Much Cover!’

“Brother Letrun Pay was an alien male who spent time in the city of Canto Bight on the planet Cantonica in the year 34 ABY. He stood at a railing looking out over the edge of the city and speaking to a human female when a fathier carrying the Resistance agents Finn and Rose Tico crashed through an archway behind him at high speed and lept over the railing. Pay recoiled in surprise at the sudden appearance of the fathier, which was followed by a herd of riderless fathiers also fleeing the city. Pay had blue, light-sensitive eyes which he shielded with over-sized droptacs. He had white and pink skin and wore the white and black Vestments of the Sacred Circle.”

I was stood with actress/stuntwoman Claire Lawrence who was helping to guide my movements as I couldn’t see out of that head at all, while I had more guidance in my ear from Olly Taylor in between him singing.

I also play Lexo Sooger who appears in the Canto Bight book. The scene was cut from the movie but we hope to see him somewhere on the DVD behind the scenes. I was puppeteering this one. He’s Canto Bights best and most famous masseuse. This guy was beautiful to operate and was designed by Ivan Manzella and operated by Pete Hawkins.

“Lexo Sooger was a Dor Namethian male who was the star masseur at Zord’s Spa and Bathhouse in Canto Bight. He was sought after by the gangster Sturg Ganna, who eventually kidnapped his daughter Lula.”

How did you get these roles?

As one of their Actor/Creature performers it’s up to us to make sure we can provide the production with the types of performances they’re after and we’ll be called in based on creature suits made to our specs, only sometimes will we be given a heads up on who or what they’d like us to perform. Some are massive suits that may need two people to operate or a really big suit they’ll need someone like Ian Whyte to put on etc.

It’s a beautiful team that is ready and willing to throw themselves into whatever’s being asked within reason of course, but that’s where the rehearsals come in handy. The type of work they call on me to do usually falls in Paul Kasey’s arena where he’ll get us up to speed with a better understanding of our specific range of performances, and then he’ll run off to go jump into a suit himself like Admiral Raddus or C’ai Threnalli to name but a few he has to his credit.

Even things like that are just awesome because I get prepped and trained by the best who are also part of the team/cfx family.

Can you describe your time doing creature and droid performance for Star Wars?

I’m beyond words to describe the feeling, I know Star Wars and love Star Wars, I played with the toys as a kid, watched the making of’s and eventually the movies. To be able to work and perform at such a high standard for Disney & LucasFilm on a Star Wars movie feels like I was always meant to be here doing this, in a realm far beyond it being a dream come true.

I feel very humbled every day to be able to contribute to Star Wars and work with all the puppeteers, wardrobe etc. All in production. I think due to the fact that it’s always so surreal helps me never to take anything for granted.

How did you get into this line of work?

I’d been acting for a good few years doing various Shakespeare projects here and there and also being involved in a few concept projects from people who were filming and making their own. But during this time I’d been acting at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and also doing Christmas Pantomime shows, both for seven years; At the Opera House I got to wear a 15’ft costume in Wagners Ring Cycle for two years and in Pantomime I got to play Dick Whittington’s cat Tommy for five years. To be honest I think the suit and creature performing I was doing due to growing up watching the Muppets, Sesame Street along with their movies, and even though I knew they were either being operated or worn by people never seemed to spoil my enjoyment or understanding of what was taking place, which is why I think I’m able just to connect with this Galaxy Far, Far Away etc.

What are some of your fondest memories from your time in Star Wars?

That’s a very hard question, I’m currently not being given the time to ponder upon everything, I can grab moments here and there to look back on but you gotta understand that for me every day I turn up to work is like the best day of my life, genuinely each day is outdone by the next. Right now I can tell you that being taken away on location to Dubrovnik for The Last Jedi was just incredible. The performers I was out there with, the crew I was out there with & the location pre-dressed for our arrival, not to mention how beautiful Dubrovnik is, it’s an absolutely incredible place. You see, I can recount this for you today but ask me this same question tomorrow and I’ll have another amazing moment to hit you back with.

Was there much interaction between yourself and the directors, if so, what sort of things would you discuss?

Yes, I think we all do at some point, which is beautiful because there’s this thing where if you’re performing and no one says anything to you by giving you a note or something, means you’re doing just fine. But occasionally a director may want to give us a specific note. J.J Abrams had a few notes for me on The Force Awakens in Maz’s Castle, where he directed me to acknowledge Han Solo like everyone else does when Maz calls out his name. It wasn’t used in the end but that’s filmmaking, you kind of just do everything that’s asked of you because sometimes the director/s may just want editing options later down the road.

Rian Johnson was lovely, I’d been told that I could be asked to play Slowen Lo a few different ways in regard to his walk and movement mannerisms and it wasn’t until the very day where I was due to go on and shoot my first performance in the Casino, that Rian told me to play him as a ‘Chilled Out Hippie Dude’. Now here’s the thing about how things get developed; All those ‘Hippie’ body movements were still able to support Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s voice performance of his non-hippie character and vice versa. When you’re aware that this is part of how they do things and have grown to do these things since the prequels especially, it makes me feel that much more honoured to be apart of the process.

You have appeared in three Star Wars films now, how does that feel? Out of the three, which has been your favourite to work on and why?

Yes, I have. How does it feel ??? I struggle with questions like this because I find it hard to find the words. I know the words are tucked away deep in my emotional feelings somewhere, but to push them out of my mouth is tough. I never thought I’d get to appear in any! Ever!

There was no chance on any of the prequels and when they were done most people thought ‘Well that’s that then’ Only to discover that there was a plan to complete Georges original vision for nine movies in the Skywalker saga, while plans would be made to continue telling other newer stories within the Universe George Lucas has created. So to have appeared in three is beyond a dream come true and to love the entire process as much as I do is just nuts.

My favourite? That’s tough, but maybe playing that little dude Cratinus alongside Prashee, because I think If I had totally messed up on that character I doubt very much if Neal would’ve had me come back so through Cratinus everything became possible I think.

If you could play any other characters, who would it be and why?

I don’t really know when I was a kid I never watched any movie even Star Wars wanting to be any of the characters, not even Lando. I had the toy figures for that sort of thing. I just wanted to be a member of the team helping really.

Who are some of your favourite characters from the franchise and why?

I’ve always loved R2-D2 his little beeps, his size and his attitude. Between him and C3-P0, their banter has always been brilliant. I love the moment in the first movie where they’ve just landed on Tatooine and he decides he’s going on his mission with or without C3-P0 which meant he’s not dependant upon his companion.

I also loved it when C3-P0 told him to mind his language, which told us that he just swore! The only character to do that in the entire franchise I think, and I’d say he must’ve said something far worse than ‘Poo-Doo’.

Oh, and I loved it when Captain Antilles was told to wipe the protocol droids mind and R2 starts cracking up! How could anyone not love this little droid?

What does Star Wars mean to you?

Star Wars is more than just movies to me.

I was already a huge Sesame Street fan and a Muppet Show fan and knew a small amount about Jim Henson and Frank Oz and it was one weekend where they showed the making of the Star Wars movies. I think they showed them individually at first until all the movies were made and I got to see them all back to back. It was like watching a more organised pretending session in the playground. And then I saw Jim Henson and Frank Oz on the Dagobah set and I was sold.

It’s also that continuation of storytelling in a palatable tone I had as a kid from the Ray Harryhausen movies, giving us those Greek fairy-taled myths of the past. And it wasn’t anything like watching Gene Kelly dancing with little Jerry Mouse, this was a fairy-tale sincerely acted by real people acting opposite people in creature suits, puppets, stop motion and ‘whatever it was they did’ to make me believe that they were in the model ship flying through space. Not to mention the laser blasts that travelled across the screen. That amazed me just as much if not more than the Lightsabers.

This was a big deal for me because I began to realise that these guys were doing what I and my friends were doing in the playground ‘Pretending’ but getting to show and tell a really good story. And Still, this is all before me even seeing the first one. Then I finally saw the movies and was blown away at how different some of those shots looked pieced together.

It was later that I then began to watch all the documentary’s on George Lucas and his struggle to get the movies made, some of this had been mentioned in the previous making of episodes I’d seen before, so his struggle and perseverance in making these movies all came hand in hand with my love of the stories and his personal struggle that told me; It doesn’t matter if no one believes in you, as long as you believe in you!

No one believed the music band MN8 I was in would succeed and we did. No one believed before, during and after MN8 that I would achieve my dream to become an Actor, working on feature films instead of dreary soaps.

When you see all the charities LucasFilm/Disney work with, and see just how far reaching the love for Star Wars goes it’s impossible to ignore how special this franchise is and to see how many people it has and will go on to continue inspiring. Nearly everyone I work with on these movies has been inspired to do what they do because of Star Wars or even the Muppets with Frank Oz being involved. If George Lucas could achieve everything he did and has with little to no support, what excuse do I have, is how I’ve always seen it.

I’m guessing that I’ll never work on anything else that I know and love as much as Star Wars.

What are some of your favourite scenes from the Star Wars films and why?

My favourite scene in the entire franchise has to be watching Han and Luke riding on their Tauntuans on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back, merging my love for the Ray Harryhausen movies that came before with this new story set in space, and not here in some near biblical relatable past.

Do you attend many comic conventions, if so, what does fan interaction mean to you, and do you have any appearances coming up?

No, not unless I’m just visiting to look around or even to do a podcast interview. At the moment I truly prefer to have a chat on a podcast actually talking about Star Wars to a Star Wars loving audience. So not sure when and if I’ll do any conventions just yet, but we’ll have to see.

A huge thank you to Dee for answering all of my questions and sharing lots of information about his time working on Star Wars. Hopefully, we will continue to see him feature heavily in all the upcoming films from the franchise.

May the force be with you!

I recently managed to interview Dee Tails about his time working as a creature and droid performer in The Force Awakens, Rogue One & The Last Jedi. His roles in the franchise consist of, Cratinus, K-OHN and Slowen Lo. I recently managed to interview Dee Tails about his time working as a creature and droid performer in

#actor #creatureactor #deetails #disney #droid #featured #film #interview #puppeteer #rogueone #sci-fi #star wars #theforceawakens #thelastjedi

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culturalgutter · 6 years

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It is hard for something to be good forever, as much as when I am in it, I want it to last forever. I have gotten to the point where I would rather something end while I still feel like I want it to last forever than that it continue long past when it probably should. It’s sad to lose something you love, but there is always something else. Adventure Time is ending soon and I have some unfinished business. It’s possible I’ll write about it again—even likely—but I have things to write about endings, change and a little about fashion. And a heads up–I am being more careful than usual in talking about plot elements and things that happen in the recent episodes, but if you are avoiding all spoilers for season 10, you might wait till you’ve watching everything but the finale to read this.

It’s important to know when to end things. Beginnings can be wonky, but I can move past them. I tend to think the first issue or episode of any new story tends to be the weakest. It’s before everyone has found their stride–the artists, the writers, the crew. Sometimes, though, things go on too long. And it seemed like maybe Adventure Time had, but then it went on a little longer and found itself again. Things got shaky after show creator Pendleton Ward quit as showrunner.

When I started writing this piece, I didn’t have any sense of how Adventure Time’s ending might play out. Whether there would be a final arc or if the show would end in media rēs, as it began. But Cartoon network just released four more episodes and a teaser for the series finale. While these are not another miniseries like “Stakes,” which explored Marceline the Vampire Queen’s days as a vampire hunter, the episodes are leading towards a final confrontation between Princess Bubblegum’s Candy Kingdom, and Gumbaldia, founded by her Uncle Gumbald.

As Adventure Time nears its conclusion, it’s gotten harder to summarize. It is a fantasy/science fiction story centered on Finn the human and his best friend and adoptive brother, Jake, a talking dog with stretching powers. The live on the outskirts of the Candy Kingdom on the planet of Ooo, neé the Earth, after an apocalyptic war. Finn has been a hero of Ooo, but he begins his career working for the Candy Kingdom’s Princess Bubblegum. In the ten seasons and eight years or so Adventure Time has been on tv, Finn and Jake have also traveled to space, cleared many a dungeon, cared for some robots, uncovered mysteries and met many, many other characters. When it started, Finn the human was a tween and now he just celebrated his 17th birthday–almost the same age as Princess Bubble gum, at least legally*.

These last two seasons, there would be months without an episode and then several dropped at once, often as miniseries like “Stakes”; “Islands,” in which Finn tries to find his mother; and, “Elements,” in which the very elements of the world: candy, slime, ice and fire were explored.

Treetrunks the Pirate Queen

In the current season, we have learned about Treetrunks the elephant’s past as a pirate queen, explored the duel mystery of that time Jake was blue and his stretching powers, learned about Princess Bubblegum’s childhood and her family, Aunt Lolly, Cousin Chicle and Uncle Gumbald. I love her post-apocalyptic yak and its 3D goggles.

Postapocalyptic Bonibel Bubblegum and her yak.

Sweet goggles on both

These have been a mix of chill episodes, offering a bit of an interlude before the end, and episdes doing the narrative work of reminding us what has happened and who we have met over the course of the series.

Of course, all the things above are interesting and well-handled But what I love about Adventure Time is not the comprehensive world-building being presented explicitly to the audience. I appreciate that there is so much that is never filled in. So much of Adventure Time happens in media rēs, even as it expands on character relationships or happenings from years ago. And it’s been that way from the start. The first episode, “Slumber Party Panic,” begins in the middle of a zombie outbreak. The zombies are already attacking. The candy people have already taken shelter in the castle, although they don’t know they are. Instead, they believe Princess Bubblegum has invited them all over for a slumber party. The princess charges Finn with protecting them without ever letting them know they are in danger. He can’t even tell Jake. Meanwhile, she works to create a cure. And we aren’t only starting with the zombie attack already happening, all the relationships are already in progress, too. Who Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum and the candy people are is something we figure out based on what they do and say. Origin stories come later, if at all. And some of the origin stories that are shared, are happening now in the final season. I like that. I much prefer it to starting every story with an origin, because it recognizes that not everything is explained through an origin story, that not everything is simple, and that things change. Besides, origins are often most meaningful in retrospect.

Finn’s growing up has been so gradual that it reflects what it’s like being with someone when they are growing up. It’s hard to see the change that is always happening unless you are dipping in and out. When we drop back in to Adventure Time, we see the characters continuing with their lives in the same way it happens when we talk with or visit people we haven’t seen in a while–even if it’s just a few days. I like the acknowledgment that other people’s lives are happening, even when we are not around, even when they are not the heroes of this particular story. The characters in Adventure Time take their lives and the changes in them for granted. At the same time, they do reflect on them. In the most recent episode, “Gumbaldia,” Jake and Finn talk about Finn’s changing as they begin Finn’s kick-butt diplomacy effort to prevent a war. “I used to be all about violence and now it’s like I’m different,” Finn says. “You’re a beautiful flower and I love watching you grow,” Jake responds.

Candy Kingdom preparing for war.

Finn is troubled by the idea of war. In the past, he would have embraced the idea of defeating evil and never questioned Princess Bubblegum. But this time, after a long trajectory of being increasingly uncomfortable with some of the things Princess Bubblegum does, Finn works himself up to tell her that it’s a bad idea. Princess Bubblegum tells him he’s sweet, but “sometimes we just have to buckle down and do things the ugly way.”

When the commander of Bubblegum’s army tells him, “It’s going to happen, son. The best thing to do is sharpen your sword and stock up on flower wreaths.” Finn replies, “You’re dark, Colonel Candycorn.”

The show reflects change in smaller, far more cheerful ways, too. Say in Princess Bubblegum and Marceline’s changing fashions. Both have a wardrobe. They wear their hair in different styles. Old outfits return or are mixed and matched**. For his part, Finn has worn the same outfit for the entire series, but because he has done a lot of adventuring and growing, he must have gotten new blue shorts, t-shirts and bear hats. His changing tastes and the predations of time are revealed in his changing swords, his changing arm and the length of his hair under his bear hat.

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This attention to the passage of time through such seemingly mundane matters as clothes and hair incidentally resulted in Marceline becoming one of my fashion icons, along with Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive.

When I watch or read serial stories, I have generally assumed I am not watching or reading all that is happening. I have assumed that I am seeing notable things. Or am just dropping by now and then. I don’t feel more immersed the more complete a chronological and expository narrative I have. In part, I think, because there are no living things with complete chronological narratives that explain everything about them. On one hand, almost inevitably, more does not lead to better. And on the other hand, stories with all the perceived gaps filled in start to feel dead–a story completely walled in and meowing to be let out like some poor black cat.

There is a part of me that is amazed by people who can write about single issues or single episodes of an ongoing, serial story. It is always easiest for me when the story is complete. And yet, here I am, preferring the open ended. Maybe it’s not as contradictory as it might sound. I like the spaces. I like giving stories space to breathe. Like panels or paintings that have enough space around them that you can appreciate them. Not too crowded with everything filled in. I like unfinished business. I like the gaps and the evocative lacunae. I like the open-endedness, the unexplained and the unexplainable. I like how in Adventure Time so many things are just they way they are. Not in the way that we shouldn’t question or wonder, but in the way where it is still left open for question, wonder and possibility. Space to ponder. I don’t think a story feels more immersive or more real when it has this space, but it certainly feels more ossified, less alive to have every gap filled, every element explained.

Unexplained ghost lady phenomenon.

I am writing about the end now, before it happens, because I don’t know what I’ll think of or how I’ll feel about the finale. It’s hard to end something, particularly to create an ending that gather all the narrative threads together and ends them satisfyingly. So I am deciding whether to watch the teaser for the finale, but the ending hasn’t happened yet for me. I will leave it to my future self to write about, if I have more to say. It seems like there there is always more to say about Adventure Time.

*Princess Bubblegum is more like a thousand years old, but in past episodes she has been both 18 and 13, which caused her trouble in being of legal age to run the Candy Kingdom.

**You can see not even remotely comprehensive galleries of their outfits here and here.

~~~

Comics Editor always brings a techno-harpoon to a techno-harpoon fight.

Comics Editor Carol and Screen Editor alex have both written a lot about Adventure Time on this very site. You can find their pieces here.

What Time Is It? It is hard for something to be good forever, as much as when I am in it, I want it to last forever.

#2010s #Adventure Time #animation #cartoons #endings #fantasy #fashion #science fiction #USA

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sometipsygnostalgic · 3 years

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Reviewing Adventure Time graphic novel: “Thunder Road”

by Jeremy Sorese (Steven Universe comic writer) and Zachary Sterling (Adventure Time main comic artist)

Okay, so after purchasing and reading it today, I can safely say the DESCRIPTION of this graphic novel is ENTIRELY INCORRECT:

Marceline starts feeling restless and comes across a motorcycle gang of storm clouds. Taking this as a chance to try something new, Marceline sets off on the open road with her new friends but things take a turn when she realizes that the storm clouds might be taking things a bit too far when it comes to their pranks. Marceline has to make a choice, to join in and create a natural disaster bigger than Ooo has ever seen or to go back to her boring quiet life--luckily, the answer comes from an unexpected source who just happened to be trailing the clouds...for research, of course.

No, nonono. This doesn’t even remotely resemble what happens.

Actually, there is still a motorcycle gang, but this isn’t really a book about Marceline - it’s mostly about a drama with Bubblegum, and how she ends up taking her frustration out on Marceline. It’s about some difficulties they have communicating with each other, too.

The Candy Kingdom is being flooded by non-stop rain. Jake is acting as a giant canopy to try and protect the castle, but it’s not working, and everything is falling apart - candy people are getting seriously injured, and it seems this has been going on for weeks. Everybody is exhausted, and things are looking dire. This was an eerily familiar situation for me, living in the RCT, which got demolished by flooding last February before the Corona crisis, and which is still recovering. They’re all working together to solve this crisis, and PB is glad to see Marceline caring about other people. Marceline flies up in the sky and discovers a motorcycle gang is making the clouds rain down.

PB is entirely at her wits end, she yells at the motorcycle gang, gets bullied by them, and decides to challenge them to a race. If she wins, they leave. If they win, then they will drive all over the Candy Kingdom and destroy it. Bubblegum gets incredibly angry at herself for making such a reckless bet, when she’ll have to race in the goddamn sky, and she insists this problem is her fault, so she needs to solve it by herself.

Marceline gets fed up that PB wants to solve it by herself and is pushing her away, so as a ploy of reverse psychology she says, “Fine, I WON’T help”, and flies away to investigate the gang further.

Bubblegum thinks Marcie has fucked off and ditched them. Marceline hasn't actually given up on her - she tries to perform some secret reconnaissance, befriending the gang and sabotaging their bikes. Marceline returns bits of cloud to the kingdom as well, to a still-bitter PB who won’t thank her. However, things turn for the worse when the biker gang discover the bikes were damaged, and they confront PB about the sabotage, with Marceline's life possibly on the line.

Thankfully, the gang let Marceline go. Bubblegum proper goes off on Marceline for not trusting her to be able to do things by herself, while Marceline says that she should have just accepted help in the first place. They have a falling out. Marceline is upset that PB keeps taking out her anger on her, and lashes out a bit, tells PB this is her fault so she’s on her own.

Shenanigans ensue. After a tense and highly dangerous bike race, Bubblegum manages to scrape a victory - without Marceline’s help - due to electromagnetic shenanigans with her cloud bike’s fuel tank.

I don’t want to post images of the race, because it has some awesome moments that I want you to see for yourself in the novel.

However, she realises she had accidentally cheated, and apologises to Marceline for taking everything out on her earlier - she says that it shouldn’t be that way, that she shouldn’t just get mad at Marceline whenever she’s stressed.

She tells Marcie that she doesn't want to treat her like shit every time she has a bad day.

They have a motorbike race. PB forgets Marceline can fly, and drives off a cliff to save her. Marceline ends up saving PB. Lots of cute moments.

It turns out, also, that PB has become a bit of a legend in the sky biker community.

[EDIT: I just realised the jackets say “We Talked It Out”! They’re proud that they were able to have a conversation about their problems! Awwwww]

So, this comic seems to take place during season 6. Most likely between The Cooler and Hot Diggety Doom - when PB is still kind of hyper-aggro and overworked, but is trying to cool down, and when Marceline hasn’t learnt how to communicate properly with her. At the same time, the stakes are high enough that it does make sense for the characters to behave in this way at ANY time after Sky Witch, provided it’s not after the series finale. Finn, notably, still has his right arm. He doesn’t pick up a sword. If he did, I might have been able to directly tell where this fit in the show’s continuity.

Anyway, it’s outstanding. Easily the best of the Adventure Time graphic novels I’ve read. What I loved is how tense the situation really felt, how the emotions the characters were feeling were extensions of what they would feel if this happened in the show. It didn’t feel out of character for PB to be breaking down and acting like a tool, or for Marceline to be secretive and indirect, and then lash out a bit when PB hurts her. It was an awesome character study on their relationship and how it could have its toxic moments. The situation seemed genuinely dire. The biker gang were genuinely hateable and intimidating. The threat they made to the characters felt real, which is rare for this show. And the emotional moments hit me hard. It works super well after watching Obsidian, wherein you saw PB in the past take her anger out on Marcie and how that contributed to their breakup.

It also has Marcie and PB racing around on motorbikes, which is funny because that's what they did in Obsidian.

You can tell that Jeremy Sorese did work on SU comic stuff, because he does a good job at capturing those brief emotions, those epic moments, that SU did so well. This comic is also more dramatic than the usual AT flare.

The art is okay. It is in graphic novel format, and it’s meant to look a lot like the show. It is nice and colourful. It is clean, and sells emotions perfectly fine. However, Zachary Sterling has historically had issues drawing the arms of the characters - he makes them look far too much like stiff bendy tubes, when they are more free-form and can bend at full right-angles in the show. I feel like he was trying to stay too on-model, and didn’t take his art to its full potential. Some panels are also recycled and slightly edited.

8/10 - A good read for fans of PB and Marcy, a plot with convincing tension from the first page, with an interesting character study on how PB’s stress can cause her to hurt the people closest to her and she needs to manage that. However, the description on the back of the book is entirely incorrect for no reason. Well worth the £11 I spent to get a paperback copy sent today.

You can buy a copy on Amazon for same day delivery. You used to be able to buy a copy on Comixology, but for some reason, it’s been removed.

#adventure time #atimers #bubbline #jeremy sorese #zachary sterling

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gunterfan1992 · 6 years

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What Became of Marcy and PB?

I thoroughly enjoyed the finale, but I was left with one nagging question that is still bothering me: what became of Marcy and PB? I’m not talking about their relationship status. (The epilogue of the episode makes it pretty clear that they ended up as a happy couple.) I’m talking about 1000 years in the future.

In an interview with TVLine, executive producer Adam Muto noted, "I don’t want to lay out their entire future ... but there are enough pieces there that you can kind of construct what their life will be like going forward.” If that’s the case, then let us follow the hints and try to figure out what became of our two favorite (quasi-)immortals.

Reader be warned: this post is full of half-baked conspiracy theories and cherry-picked data points, all assembled in a way that vindicates my theory that Marceline and Bubblegum are still alive in Ooo 1000+. I make no claim that this is 100% full-proof. I just don’t want to believe that they are dead!

Let’s start with the King of Ooo: BMO. After Beth and Shermy question the robot about what happened to Marceline, Bubblegum, Finn, and Jake, BMO responds that they “kept living their lives.” This, combined with the fact that Marceline no longer lives in her house and the Candy Kingdom is in ruins, suggests that the two are dead. But while this answer might seems obvious, it leaves a lot to be desired.

First off, Marceline’s cave-house being abandoned is not indicative of anything too major. Remember, she used to live in the Tree Fort before eventually abandoning it, too. By the time that Ooo 1000+ rolled around, she could have easily moved to another locale. In fact, I would argue evidence within the episode suggests that sometime (probably awhile) after the Tree Fort was destroyed, Marceline gave her cave-house to Finn, Jake, and BMO, and then likely moved in with PB (given that at the end of Stakes, Bubblegum offers to let her move into her castle, an offer which Marceline initially declines, but implies she might one day take up). Not only would this be thematically fitting, as it was she who “gave” Finn and Jake the Tree Fort in the first place, but it would also explain how some of Finn and Jake’s belongings found a home at the house (1) and how BMO came to be in possession of a few of Marceline’s items, like her DARE shirt, sunscreen, or Simon’s broken glasses. These were items that Marceline probably didn’t care that much about (2) and consequently left behind when she moved.

Perhaps a bigger issue is that Marceline, for all intents and purposes, can’t easily die—if at all. She is immortal, and while she has her weaknesses, it’s unclear if they truly are lethal weaknesses: we’ve seen her survive being exposed to sunlight (“Henchman”, “What Was Missing”), cut in half (Stakes, “Everything Stays”), bombarded with garlic (”Henchman”), and poisoned (Stakes, “May I Come In?”). You might be asking, ‘The previous Vampire King was killed? Could not someone have staked Marceline, too?’ Unlikely. We know from Stakes that the Moon—the vampire from whom Marceline derived her healing powers—could survive being staked in the heart (remember, she was only defeated when Marceline absorbed her vampiric essence, not when she was staked). Marceline absorbed the Moon’s power, therefore it follows that Marceline can’t die from being staked. Perhaps Marceline had her vampiric essence removed by Bubblegum, and she grew old and died, just like her fever dreams in Stakes? While this is certainly a possibility (we know that Bubblegum can remove the Vampiric Essence from Marceline, given that we have seen her do it), it negates the main themes in Stakes, which focused on Marceline coming to terms with her immortality and learning to love her lot in life. If Marceline can die even in her undead state, then all the suffering unleashed upon Ooo during Stakes was for naught, and that just doesn’t seem like something Adventure Time would do.

And what of Bubblegum? We know that Bubblegum’s biological age is correlated with her candy biomass (“Mortal Recoil”, “Too Young”). This means that her “rate of mortality [is] decouple[ed] … from chronological age,” heavily suggesting that she is ‘biologically immortal’. This concept—which is a real thing, fyi—does not mean that she can’t die, just that she won’t die from old age (3). Thus, she likely lived hundreds of years into the future after the age of Finn and Jake, probably into the Graybles 1000+ world. This is implied by the state of the Prizeball Guardian: it looks rather pristine, in comparison to pretty much the entirety of Ooo, suggesting it is a somewhat new creation. Given that the guardian was almost certainly created by Bubblegum (I mean, just look at it), and the guardian is new-looking, it suggests that Bubblegum herself was alive at least recently (4). (This is also suggested by admittedly non-canon drawings that Steve Wolfhard made clearly showing his belief that Bubblegum is alive in the Ooo 1000+ world.)

Given that Bubblegum cannot die readily from old age, the only other thing that could have killed her, I argue, would be some sort of calamity. Ooo 1000+ looks pretty wrecked, and was not the Candy Kingdom destroyed? Yes, and in both “Lemonhope” and the intro to “Come Along with Me”, we catch glimpses of the ruins! But, if one peruses the storyboard of “Lemonhope II”, one will notice Tom Herpich’s purposeful note that the kingdom is “abandoned (not bombed out)” [emphasis added]. Indeed, the kingdom looks overgrown and desolate, but not like the site of a war zone (e.g. the main citadel is mostly intact, and a number of skyskrapers are unscathed, unlike others we’ve seen that we know were caught in the crossfire of war). This, coupled with the fact that the Prizeball Guardian exists suggests that, rather than having her kingdom extinguished in a war, Bubblegum loaded up her citizens into the Guardian, put them in what is effectively cryogenic sleep, and then abandoned her old realm (5). Why? We’ll come to that in a second.

But before we jump into that, let me entertain the idea that Marceline and Bubblegum are dead and living together somewhere in the afterlife, say, the 50th Dead World. While a sweet idea, it is complicated by the fact that Bubblegum is the embodiment of the candy elemental, and will almost certainly be reincarnated in the future. [I now enter into headcanon territory] Also, Marceline is the daughter of the Lord of the Nightosphere, a deathless entity. Given how much he wanted Marceline to “take over the family business” (“Daddy’s Little Monster”), do you think he’d really let her succumb to a mortal’s demise? Almost certainly, he would have had a few words with Death. While this is extrapolation beyond the text, I think it’s worth thinking about.

Now, let us jump back into the main discussion by considering BMO’s collection of Ooo memorabilia. Eagle-eyed viewers will note that BMO’s trove of junk is made up almost entirely of bits and pieces from the show’s past: including Finn and Jake’s clock, a King of Ooo figurine, Simon’s glasses, Carol’s elf drawings, Ice King’s drums, and a collection of princess crowns. While a handful of the items almost assuredly belonged to Marceline (e.g. Simon’s glasses, sunscreen the DARE shirt) and Bubblegum (e.g. one of the crowns), there is one item of immense sentimental value missing: Marceline’s ax bass. Surely, if BMO were to keep sentimental reminders of previous friends (notice, BMO has both the shattered remnants of the Finn and Jake clock, as well as Jake’s favorite cup, which has been glued back together) the robot would have kept the vampire queen’s most prized possession? Its absence suggests one of four things: a) Marceline is still alive and in possession of the bass, or Marceline was killed and the bass was b) buried somewhere (a la Finn’s robot arm or as a grave marker), c) carted off by scavengers, or d) returned to the Nightosphere. All are viable possibilities, but the fact that BMO tracked down some rather valuable items (GGGG’s groovy Martian headgear, the crowns of power, etc.), it seems strange that the robot could not have also tracked down the bass, given that BMO liked Marceline (“Ketchup”) and probably knew how much the instrument meant to her (based on their interactions in “What Was Missing” and “Ketchup”).

Given all the issues above, there is one answer that I believe solves the mystery: Marceline and Bubblegum are both alive, but have chosen to abandon the portions of Ooo that we know. Perhaps they are off exploring on their own, or perhaps they have left Earth far behind. Why would Bubblegum abandon her realm? Simple. She was ‘tired’. She expressed these exact same sentiments in “Varmints”, only after her citizens had ‘voted her out of office’. Perhaps by the time Ooo 1000+ rolls around, Bubblegum was once again exhausted by the duties of office (having ruled for 1800 years), but decided to leave on her own terms. Simply abandoning her kingdom would have caused it to quickly collapse (cf. “The Pajama War”), and every time she created and/or appointed a successor, they turned into a tyrant (”Too Young”, “Goliad”, “Bonnibel Bubblegum”). Thus, the only option left was to load up her citizens in a device that would keep them safe until she eventually returned at some point in the future to resume control of her realm.

But could not the Prizeball Guardian simply be a defense mechanism in case the kingdom is attacked and/or Bubblegum is killed? Possibly, but cryogenically preserving candy citizens would do them no good if their creator—the one who could wake them up and then take care of them after some calamity—was gone (consider, for instance, that during times of war or natural disaster, governments don’t load up refugees onto buses, anesthetize them, and then drive them around in circles for decades). Indeed, the Prizeball Guardian seems less like a disaster-evasion project and more like a stasis chamber to keep the candy people safe until some future time. The storyboard for “Graybles 1000+” seems to back this up: when Crunchy is removed from stasis, he mumbles, “What time is it? Did it work?” In other words, it is as if Crunchy was expecting to be displaced in time and to be revived at some future date, rather than simply ‘saved’ (7).

The theory that Marceline and Bubblegum are still out there sidesteps many of the problems we have considered. It explains why some of Marceline’ stuff was picked up by BMO, whereas other items of greater sentimental value (e.g. the ax bass) are missing. Likewise, it nicely explains what happened to the Candy Kingdom. But where did Marceline or Bubblegum go? That is the real question. Perhaps they hopped down to the Nightosphere (unlikely), or perhaps they set off to find parts unknown. Maybe the went to Mars. (There’s even substantial evidence that they might be in the finale’s intro sequence!) The Oooniverse is pretty much unlimited, meaning that so too are the possibilities. Given that the Prizeball Guardian was designed to one day ‘wake up’ all the candy citizens, it is likely that Bubblegum (and Marceline) will one day return to Ooo, but for now, they are outies.

Still not convinced? Think I’m grasping at straws? Then let me present one final piece of evidence. Into 2016, Cartoon Network released a bonus video on their YouTube channel that features Marceline singing a song about “someone kind of special” to her. This song is a cover/reworking of the shows ending theme, "Come Along with Me”, in which Marceline lovingly intones:

Run away with me And the poltergeists and ghouls. We can wander through the darkness And play by our own rules.

Run away with me To a cavern shaped like home Where we'll build our own forever And never dance alone.

[emphasis added]

While rife with similes and rich language, the lyrics of the songs are pretty easy to decipher: Marceline cares deeply about someone and yearns to literally run off with them, living forever in a state of happiness. And what’s the name of this song? Why, the “Happy Ending Song”! While one could argue that the song isn’t canon and thus shouldn’t be considered as evidence (6), I think it nicely foretells what Marceline and Bubblegum‘s future holds. For one thing, the song is a play on "Come Along with Me", which in many ways is canonically 'prescient', as it is the song that plays during the montage depicting the future of Ooo's citizens. By alluding to and building off this tune, I would argue that "Happy Ending Song" arguably absorbs some of the original’s 'prescient' nature post facto (8). For another, the very last shot shows two feminine figures silhouetted against the setting sun, holding hands. Notice that this shot follows the lyrics and Marceline’s dialogue, subtly implying that it is depicting some future event. Ultimately, both the imagery in the video and the lyrics themselves hint heavily that Marceline and her paramour (which the series finale finally confirms to be Bubblegum) end up living together happily, free from the cares of modern society, as they “build [their] own forever” [emphasis added]. This nicely echoes what Marceline told Bubblegum at the end of Stakes: “Now, I guess we get to hang out together forever.”

Long story short: I believe that Marceline and Bubblegum are still alive and kicking, but have left Ooo far behind.

Footnotes

1. For instance, the the weird diving bell that used to hang from the Tree Fort is on the porch. While Marceline certainly lived in the Tree Fort at some point in the past, it's not entirely clear why she would've hauled this item all the way to her house and then abandoned it. It's more likely that it was scavenged by Finn and Jake, who arguably had a much more sentimental attachment to the old fort.

2. But Marceline loved Simon like a father! Why would she leave behind his glasses? Likely because these glasses were the ones that Simon wore while he and Marceline wandered the wasteland (you can tell because the left lens is broken). When he was returned to his normal state, he likely got new glasses, and these older ones were forgotten about.

3. While Bubblegum fully admits in “Goliad” that she will likely one day die, it is heavily implied that she believes her death will come from some horrible accident (like the Lich possession), rather than just old age. Furthermore, Bubblegum and Marceline’s discussions about mortality in Stakes suggests that Bubblegum would outlive Marceline were the latter to turn into a mortal. Remember, that in Farmworld, Marceline lived 1000 years as a mortal before she was killed by the Mutagenic Bomb. This means that Marceline as a mortal in Ooo Prime would likely live 1000 after turning mortal again (with the 1000 years she lived as a vampire not counting, since she was essentially ‘stuck’ at age ~20). Putting these puzzle pieces together suggests that Bubblegum believes she can easily live another 1000 years.

4. Notice also that in “Graybles 1000+”, the interior of the Guardian is dark but not dusty or abandoned. In fact, it looks quite well-lived in (and the storyboard for that episode, described as “cozy”); this suggests that someone was living here not too long ago. Given Bubblegum’s love of knowledge (note that books are strewn about as if they were recently read), and the portrait of the candy kingdom on the wall, it is heavily suggested that Bubblegum herself was the one who was occupying the space.

5. You might asking: what about Neddy and his love of the Candy Kingdom tree? Is not the tree dead in “Lemonhope”? Yes, but you will also notice that on the Prizeball Guardian, there are trees very similar to that which grew out of the Kingdom’s main tower.

6. The song was neither featured in nor written for a specific episodes, per Adam Muto. However, because Muto is very good about confirming/denying what is and is not canon (e.g. “The Adventure Time comics are as canonical as a Funko Pop”), the fact that his answer does not immediately decanonize the song is notable. Furthermore, the song is sung by Olivia Olson (that is, the official voice actress of Marceline), and the video even features new footage (albeit, mostly composed of flash-edited scenes from “Marceline’s Closet”).

7. Also, consider how hopelessly bleak and cruel it would be for the Prizeball Guardian to have been destroyed in “Graybles 1000+” if Bubblegum isn’t around anymore. The candy citizens would either sleep for eternity, or die a la 2001: A Space Odyssey. Neither fits with the arguably bittersweet (but certainly not mean-spirited) world of Adventure Time.

8. Perhaps this is why Marceline ends her song by noting it is an example of how "totally deep" she can be.

* As an aside, I also like the idea that Bubblegum, before she left, gave her crown to BMO (after all, were PB to have effectively abandoned her post, she would have no longer needed the crown), jokingly anointing the robot the “One True King of Ooo”, or something like that. It’s fitting that a joke like this would be taken up by BMO and turned into a veritable legend. It would also serve as one last dig against the charlatan King of Ooo, whom we know Bubblegum hated.

#adventure time #atimers #marcline #Marceline the Vampire Queen #bubblegum #princess bubblegum #bubbline #Ooo 1000+#Ooo 1000 #speculation #headcanon #denial #season 10 #finale #come along with me #spoilers

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liambaileyjournalism · 6 years

Text

How does working on Star Wars compare to all your work on other projects?

How did you get the role of Cratinus?

But then a call came through asking me how I felt about working on my knees? And knowing that it was Star Wars asking there was no other reply than; ‘Of Course!’.

Playing Cratinus wasn’t your only role though, you also played K-OHN and Slowen Lo.

K-OHN & Neal Scanlan.

Slowen Lo & the Canto Bight Police.

Are there any other characters you have played that have not been mentioned?

Lexo Sooger.

Letrun Pay

In The Last Jedi, I also play an alien called Brother Letrun Pay who appears just as the Fathiers break through a wall after Finn yells out ‘Too Much Cover!’

How did you get these roles?

Even things like that are just awesome because I get prepped and trained by the best who are also part of the team/cfx family.

Can you describe your time doing creature and droid performance for Star Wars?

How did you get into this line of work?

What are some of your fondest memories from your time in Star Wars?

Was there much interaction between yourself and the directors, if so, what sort of things would you discuss?

You have appeared in three Star Wars films now, how does that feel? Out of the three, which has been your favourite to work on and why?

If you could play any other characters, who would it be and why?

Who are some of your favourite characters from the franchise and why?

Oh, and I loved it when Captain Antilles was told to wipe the protocol droids mind and R2 starts cracking up! How could anyone not love this little droid?

What does Star Wars mean to you?

Star Wars is more than just movies to me.

I’m guessing that I’ll never work on anything else that I know and love as much as Star Wars.

What are some of your favourite scenes from the Star Wars films and why?

Do you attend many comic conventions, if so, what does fan interaction mean to you, and do you have any appearances coming up?

May the force be with you!

Dee Tails Interview – The Man Behind Cratinus, K-OHN and Slowen Lo in the Star Wars Saga! I recently managed to interview Dee Tails about his time working as a creature and droid performer in

#actor #creatureactor #deetails #disney #droid #featured #film #interview #puppeteer #rogueone #sci-fi #star wars #theforceawakens #thelastjedi

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