About this Blog
(I am remaking my pinned post since I cannot add a read-more to the old one as I had a different blog identity crisis back then. XD)
This is a Finntress space full of Finntress love. You will find Finntress content here, both reblogged and original.
I may end up making this an overall AT side blog, but for now, it's Finntress all the way.
Contrary to some of my points beneath my readmore, I do wish to point out that this is a Bubbline safe space too. I also like Fern x FP and some of the other ships. I may reblog some Fionntress too and Finn x Hunter, but I will likely not draw or write anything myself.
Old Post:
Romance Sucks: How Finntress Grew on Me
(Note: This pertains to Finntress prior to Fionna and Cake.)
Romance in fiction, especially adventure fiction, was never my cup of tea, not unless the story was believable or decent; and they rarely were. Finntress, the subtle romance between Finn and Huntress Wizard in Adventure Time, was, thus, not always a ship that I favored because I felt that, overall, Adventure Time’s un-conventionalism and somewhat nihilistic approach to life and problems in a wacked out, fictional world just, in my opinion, did not meld well with the concepts of idolized traditional romances. In fact, romances in AT seemed pointless because in some way they would be doomed to fail so long as those involved knew not how to work through their problems. Even Bubbline, which was arguably more interesting than Fubblegum could have ever hoped to be, felt out of place as did Finn’s super unbelievable and unhealthy relationship with Flame Princess. So by the time Finntress rolled around in the series, I honestly could not have cared less, especially since the episode, itself, seemed to squash Finntress the instant it was born. I, honestly, believed that Finn would go out content with being single because no further hints of romance showed up after Huntress Wizard; I, honestly, took that to mean that Finn was, at the very least, proud and happy to have not obsessed over her in contrast to his previous two romantic efforts and that he was content having his friends and his life until either Huntress Wizard changed her mind or until someone else came along. To me, this was the end of his romance arc.
Never in my life did I imagine that the writers would choose to bring Huntress Wizard back and have her as Finn’s last love interest in the final series. Never…but that’s what happened, and I am glad because I fell head over heels in love with their casual chemistry in the Wild Hunt and their slightly fluffier chemistry in Seventeen as studying Finntress helped me to study myself in a refreshingly positive manner. Finntress actually helped me to learn quite a bit about myself relationship wise and gave some small sense of validation for what it was I wanted for myself in a relationship. For that, I cannot help but be grateful.
For me, Finntress became a ship not about sappy, over-the-top romance or declarations of love—which I absolutely loathed because fiction was rife with these unrealistic and bombastic stories that, if enacted in life, were doomed to heartache and failure—but active declarations of love via supportive acts, open and honest communication, trust and faith, maturity, and compassion.
For me, Finntress subverted the traditional romance story of the boy trying to earn the woman’s love and getting the “prize” of her affections for simply being a good fellow (which…is really all sorts of messed up in its own right) and, instead, replaced it with the tale of an independent guy and an independent girl finding love through mutual compassion and respect with no gender role play in affect whatsoever. In fact, one could argue that with HW gender rolls get turned on their head as she initially comes off as the more masculine of the two with Finn seeming to respect and favor this just fine without feeling threatened in anyway about his own masculinity.
For me, Finntress represented the real-deal relationship—the types of relationships I had grown up seeing around me that actually worked—of two people who have no special reason to get together; they simply do, and why they do is purely a matter of choosing to love one another (not letting the emotion of love choose for you) hardships and all, of saying “man, I care about her/him, and I want to make the best for her/him happen” and acting upon it in a straightforward and honest manner to overcome trials and to simply enjoy one another’s pressence; no expectations, no strings attached, no desire to make the other person into something he/she wasn’t—just pure mutual affection. And, for me, that was a ship worth sailing; it was the ship for Finn! It was the type of ship I felt more youth television needed…because while relationships are important, they are also not the be-all-to-end-all thing one should go for as a lot of relationships in real life, sadly, just don’t last. They can last, though, and it’s important to show where to start healthily at least. To me, that was Finntress.
Unfortunately, because the series got cancelled long before the ninth season and because the episodes of that last season were all about wrapping up lose stories for various characters while also setting up the Gum War and GOLB, Finn and Huntress Wizard did not get a definitive ending, not past Seventeen at least, and that was heartbreaking. One could argue that the Wild Hunt was their set up and that Seventeen WAS their ending–that after all was said and done, Huntress Wizard had ultimately chosen to stay by Finn’s side and as part of Finn’s life while continuing to be herself and live and share her own with his and that Finn was satisfied and content with that happening because he’d definitely need all the help and support he could get (and because he actually liked Huntress Wizard); thus, by the time the finale rolled around, Finn and Huntress Wizard were already an established couple (as established as teenagers can be), freeing the writers to pursue other parts of the story they felt needed to be wrapped up.
Absolutely nothing in the episodes leading up to the finale suggested a break up between the two. Nothing, so the lack of interaction felt kind of forced. Huntress Wizard did have a few scenes reflecting her supporting Finn and protecting his dearest allies (like Fern and NEPTR which WAS imperative to show for HW’s character), so, one could assume that the two are like Jake and Lady at this point and simply do not react like two people who are freshly in love, especially since Finn and Huntress Wizard were never a fluff couple but a more casual, working one. Even so, their lack of directly speaking to or even physically interacting with one another led many to believe that Finn ultimately ended the series single, and while not an unfair surmise, I firmly disagree with that idea or the idea that Finn NEEDED to end single to “subvert traditions” and show “how important it was to be happy and single” (especially since with the latter, we actually got that in Season 6). Just as it was important to show people being healthy and happy single (which AT already did with Finn), was it not just as important to show that healthy relationships are worth striving for as much as a healthy friendship? We had plenty for friendships, so why not relationships?
Many hints scattered throughout the finale as well as HW’s entrance and scene of the montage (along with the song lyrics potentially notating her house and a life in the forest) all led me to believe that Finn and HW were simply a young couple doing their own things without letting a relationship wrap up or define their identities, and that was a very important thing any relationship story in fiction should say. You shouldn’t have to stop being you for another person’s happiness. You should have the freedom to be yourself and still be able to care for the other. You should, ultimately, let the other’s happiness become part of yours and vice versa.
And where that goes? It is up to you. That was the story I took from Finn amd Huntress Wizard in the end.
Where Finn and HW went after the finale? That was anyone’s guess. Because of how their relationship was founded and how that foundation played out from the Wild Hunt forward, I personally believed that Finn and HW continued to cross paths over time as they each lived out their own individual lives and eventually wound up together permanently once Finn grew older and finished helping humans settle down on Ooo. His statue in the finale intro suggested that he never stopped being a hero and probably died a hero’s demise, so there’s no reason to believe that Finn and HW stopped keeping in touch or that they were Billy x Canon 2.0 (and even if they were, Finn and HW would have been together into Finn’s old age…so yeah… This comparison is so lazy and trash to me).
(I feel that if Finn were meant to have a human love interest, she could have been introduced in Islands to at least give us someone to think about after the humans returned to Ooo. Or he could have ended up with Tiffany; you just really never know.)
All in all, Finntress became my ship because it was not romantic, not in an idolized way at least. It was real, and because it was real both Finn and HW grew into believably stronger characters without unnecessary fluff behind it; Finn became romantically content while HW managed to reconnect with an important person of her past and then grow to accept her own inner “softness” without it diminishing her identity in anyway. It was not forced to become a relationship right away and was, instead, given distance and time to blossom into something sincere and straightforward; and while it did this, we were given enough subtle hints about each character still thinking about the other or shown how HW’s influence had had a positive impact on Finn’s life to have enough understanding of how and why they reunited and chose to be together. The show was not obsessive in how it illustrated this; it did not shove it in our face or promote being obsessive and winning over the other’s affections (which is so overdone and unhealthy in fictional media); both characters respected each other’s space. When the time for both Finn and HW to address their feelings came, they did so without making a big deal about it and simply moved forward from there with HW slowly becoming more integrated into Finn’s life as she saw fit and, most likely, vice versa.
By the time we hit the finale, I felt that Finntress had more than enough on-screen illustration to support it, which is why I went in prepared for little to no Finntress whatsoever; and even though this did ultimately happen in the most unsatisfactory manner possible, I ultimately felt that Finn and Huntress Wizard ended the series as one of Ooo’s healthiest and straightforward couples and that their future together was as bright as the sun in her montage image. I also loved how the ship allowed for Finn and HW to simply be themselves without an immediate and drastic lifestyle change needing to occur. In time, I imagined them growing close as a couple and become a steady pair akin to Jake and Lady, at the point of Adventure Time’s end, they got to go on living as Finn and Huntress Wizard, and for me, that’s what Finntress was always about.
Thus, while romance in fiction tends to suck, especially in Adventure Time, Finntress grew on me, and it was because Finntress was legitamitely a decent ship. There are no regrets about my loyalties to Finntress whatsoever even though it did hurt hearts to not get something in the finale. Still, as far as one true pairings go for me, Finn and Huntress Wizard shall always hold a very special place in my heart not only because it was refreshing to watch but encouraging to see. Finntress inspired me to be a more optimistic and hopeful person. (Maybe one day, there can be a Finn for my inner Huntress. That I can believe.)
