Marceline and Princess Bubblegum spent years in limbo. Scenes depicting the slow growth of their romance were subtle. Fans were divided based on whether they saw the relationship as a simple friendship or something more intimate. The finale kiss scene settled all arguments and just about everyone was overjoyed to see the couple confirmed.
The years that it took for the writers to confirm Bubbline make people hesitant to admit that the pairing has its flaws. But, Marceline and Bubblegum spent half the series arguing. When their rivalry turned to romance, the impact on the overall story was immense. Factors like this leave the fanbase divided on this couple yet again.
Perfect: They Can Be Together Forever
Marceline stopped aging when she became an immortal vampire. It’s confirmed that Princess Bubblegum lives longer than humans since she was already over 800 years old at the start of the series. In “Mortal Recoil” she chose to regress to age 13, implying that she doesn’t have to age at all.
Immortality comes with many goodbyes as mortal friends pass away. Marceline and Princess Bubblegum will never have to cause each other that kind of pain. They can take comfort in the fact that their love is eternal.
Not: Princess Bubblegum Already Has Too Much On Her Plate
Managing the Candy Kingdom takes up the majority of Princess Bubblegum’s time. She devotes herself to keeping her people safe from threats like Gumbald. What free time she does have is dedicated to science. That lives little to no room for relationships.
Bubblegum implied that this contributed to her abrupt separation from Marceline in “Varmints”. The disagreements that occur in normal relationships would add to her abnormally high-stress levels. When factoring in Marceline’s temperamental nature, the pressure on Princess Bubblegum would be even worse.
Perfect: Marceline Knows What It's Like To Be In Charge
Princess Bubblegum has the entire Candy Kingdom to worry about protecting. While other characters, like Lady Reinicorn and Lady Space Princess, help her when possible, they’re free to come and go as they please.
Marceline the Vampire Queen can relate to Bubblegum’s struggles, even though she isn’t royalty in the traditional sense. She became queen by slaughtering all of the vampires in existence. Twice. She was bitten in the process, thereby sacrificing her own humanity to protect humankind. By the end of it all, she was the queen of a dead empire. Marceline is totally capable of understanding the challenges Bubblegum faces.
Not: It Already Failed Once
The breakup happened for a reason. Issues that revolve around personality flaws rather than outside forces don't just disappear. The problems that caused Marceline and Princess Bubblegum’s breakup were a mix of the two.
Bubblegum struggled to communicate her worries to Marceline as the pressures of her princess role increased. After the couple reconciled, the same problem cropped up again when Princess Bubblegum didn’t notify Marceline that she’d been usurped by the King of Ooo. Marceline’s passive-aggressive reactions to the situation helped turn their broken relationship into a rivalry. Neither woman has completely overcome these flaws by the end of Adventure Time.
Perfect: They Balance Each Other Out
These two women are nothing alike in personality, which is why they mitigate each other’s faults so effectively. Princess Bubblegum resorted to atrocities to protect the people of the Candy Kingdom. Stress from such unwinnable situations made her uptight and reserved, despite her overall kindness.
Marceline, on the other hand, is a carefree soul. She encourages spontaneity and her unrestrained emotions force Princess Bubblegum to confront her own. Bubblegum returns the favor by giving Marceline someone to care about again. Without family or purpose, Marceline was spiraling out of control until Bubblegum came to ground her.
Not: It's Costing Them Their Friendships
One of the reasons fans struggle to support the relationship between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline is because it required the sacrifice of their other friendships. In every episode where Bubblegum and Marceline were shown together, they refused to be separated. Friendly scenes between Finn and Bubblegum grew more sparse. The romance overtook Marceline's entire storyline, leaving her with nothing that wasn't also Bubblegum's.
It is not only disappointing for viewers to watch, but also unhealthy from a relationship standpoint. This couple is nearing dangerous levels of codependence.
Perfect: No One Knows Each Other Better
It’s unclear how far back the history goes between Bubblegum and Marceline, but it is long and winding. They knew each other long enough to fall in love before Bubblegum could take the throne. Constant references are made to their shared past. Writers mention the shirt that Marceline gave to Bubblegum and the time they spent together in the mines.
Events like these are so intimate that they’re rarely discussed with the other characters. Even the audience is left in the dark on most of it. A bond like this can’t be easily recreated in a new relationship.
Not: Time Apart Is Needed For Exploration
All of the main characters explore romantic relationships throughout the series. There are mentions of exes from the past, too. Though neither Princess Bubblegum nor Marceline seems to have dated anyone else for long. They never had the opportunity to discover a better match. After the breakup, they were still too obsessed with each other to take their suitors seriously.
Their inexperience also comes into play when talking about dating women. No lesbian relationships are brought up beyond the one Bubblegum and Marceline share. Failing to explore these avenues now could result in future regrets.
Perfect: They Aren't Bored Of Each Other Yet
Couples struggle to keep things fresh after a few years. These women have managed for centuries. The clashes of their contrasting personalities provide them with endless entertainment and the love between them never grows old. Even when they were on bad terms with each other, presumably for years, Bubblegum kept souvenirs from their relationship and Marceline wrote songs about their love.
They’ve proven themselves incapable of total separation. That isn’t the worst character flaw since both their lives are much better when they’re together.
Not: The Relationship Came Out Of Nowhere
The most common issue anti-Bubbline fans have with the relationship is that they were given no indicators to help prepare them for it. They claim the two women were depicted as close friends and nothing more. It makes the finale kiss feel out of character. If Princess Bubblegum and Marceline must be written out of character to be written into a relationship, they shouldn’t be in one at all.
However, other fans cite the gradual reveal of their romantic feelings as the characteristic that makes Bubbline the most well-written LGBT+ relationship in the animated world.