I’m really taken aback (in a pleasant way) by the massive outpouring of fan love for this pairing since that barely 5 minute long episode clip leaked.  On the other hand, I’ve seen a couple people asking, “Why is it such a BIG deal?” (generally, people who don’t ship it) and I thought an explanation was in order.

First off, if you aren’t a queer person who watches cartoons, it’s probably NOT a big deal to you.  Asking why this scene is important is like a straight person at a Gay pride march saying “Why don’t I get a parade?” The thing is, you DO get one. It’s on every other street, every day.

If you’re a queer person who likes cartoon series, you will be extremely hard pressed to find any representation of someone like you.  You cling to every bit of subtext you can find, make up your own headcanons, so that you can feel some identification with the characters.

So when a moment like this leaked Adventure Time clip comes out, where it’s not even subtext, it feels pretty canon… it’s kind of an earth-shatteringly huge deal.  It’s a feeling of, “Wow, I can relate to this!  Wow, they aren’t treating people like me as nasty freaks who must be erased from all public media!”  

I suspect if you aren’t a member of a minority group who is constantly erased or misrepresented, you will never understand what a big deal it is to have a moment of representation.  And by that token, you will never understand why people of such groups react SO STRONGLY and with such unbridled joy and celebration when it happens.