Hey guys. Long time lurker, long time viewer, but don't post here much. Being blunt. I hate to talk down to you guys when I'm a newbie but this is kind of needed.
I'm really sick of coming here every time and one of the top pages is usually a blog post about Flame Princess or Princess Bubblegum, almost always with half the comments being just obsessive posts for the other side to STOP HATIN' AND GET OVER IT, GLOB. You know, the Adventure Time fandom looks so, so attractive, and then I see all this shipping junk and it makes me feel like hanging around here is a total waste of time. And I'm sure it's not. I'm sure there's plenty of absolutely fantastic people here who are being overlooked in all this drama, so first let me say...
Can we shut up about the ships?
First things first... Adventure Time isn't a romantic drama show. I've seen people complain about how Flame Princess hasn't appeared so far in Season 5 (excluding "All The Little People") well, that just shows you how important the show's romantic plotlines are! This show is about action and comedy, not about romance and drama. That's why Flame Princess isn't in every episode, and why despite making numerous further appearances, Bubblegum hasn't been brought up as a love interest again. You're all arguing over probably ten percent of the actual show.
Now, there's a few things people need to accept here...
- The romantic storylines are a secondary element to the show. See above.
- Flame Princess is a character and will remain a character. Even in the event she leaves Finn or dies, she will still have been a character, and will almost certainly not be immediately forgotten in Ooo. While I understand all of the complaints about her lack of characterization, we have to give her a chance and she can grow. Just look at Lemongrab's character development in just a few eps. If you dislike her, just be glad she's only in a few episodes at this point.
- Finn and Bubblegum's friendship and 'romance' was and still is a part of the show, too. Just because they aren't dating and possibly never will, doesn't mean their interactions aren't important, and that Finn's crush wasn't important. In fact, Flame Princess fans owe in-universe Fubblegum for being the reason Jake actually went and found Flame Princess. It's still a part of the show, and they remain close friends and allies despite everything.
- Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princess accept each other as part of Finn's life thus far. Bubblegum, even if she still loves Finn, is making no move to break up the new couple, and supports them. Flame Princess indicated no ill against Princess Bubblegum in their brief meeting either. The two girls seem to get along fine enough, so why can't their fanbases?
- The possibilities remain open. The TV show's still on air and will continue for a while. Anything can happen - we don't make the canon, after all. What happens on the screen, will happen, and it will be canon, and there's no such thing as an open and shut case. Anything can happen!
So in short, what have we learned?
There's absolutely nothing wrong with shipping Finn/FlamePrincess, Finn/Bubblegum, Finn/Marceline, or anything else - just be respectful to other fans about it, shipper or not, and don't shove it down people's throats, and we can all get along just fine! Even if people are disrespectful about their ships, don't stoop down to their level. All that does is discredit you and make you AND your cause look stupid! :(
By the way, "All the Little People", to me, was a pretty clear way of saying to fans to let go of all the shipping drama. Satire's beautiful.
John out!