(a thread)
My favorite tv show is Adventure Time. I am here to argue that if you look at the show from an angle of mental health and managing it, Finn and Jake are not the lead characters. Princess Bubblegum is. 1
The most compelling character on the show, to me anyway, is Lemongrab. He was created by PB, the first of the candy people she created to “go wrong”. Lemongrab has devastating anxiety. He doesn’t know and can’t learn how to interact with the world. 2
When he’s lonely, he sneaks into the castle to stare at people while they sleep. PB tries to teach him to cuddle and play with a candy person but he can only poke and slap. He screams, he calls things “unacceptable”, he sentences folks to the dungeon. 3
When given a castle of his own and a clone to keep him company, everything gets donked up. He and his clone make living messed-up people out of their food, they eat each other, it’s a horrifying place. 4
Lemongrab just CAN’T with other people. The more he tries, the more frustrating it gets, so the more he screams.
For the purpose of this thread, Lemongrab represents ANXIETY. 5
