my mind hand touched a hot memory stove

Cloud Hunt fascinates me. Somehow, in the Adventure Time universe (the land of Ooo), the game of Hide and Seek has morphed in the 1000 years since the 1980s apocalypse. Societal collapse occurred on the mainland maybe a decade later, so there has been no communication with human culture for maybe 900 years. So, we have this “cloud” reference to the mid 80s apocalypse preserved a millennia later, I assume taught to Finn by his dog parents or other children. In this version of Hide and Seek, you still count to a certain number and then recite a specific phrase that doesn’t change over time. You can’t just say “go,” you can’t just say “here I come.” You must say “ready or not, here I come.” But in this version, Finn recites a quatrain.

Over the mountain, the ominous cloud

Coming to cover the land in a shroud.

Hide in a bushel, a basement, a cave,

But when cloud comes a-huntin’, no one’s a-safe.

This piece of verse, combined with the name of the game being Cloud Hunt, suggests the player takes the role of a cloud who comes “hunting” for other players. It’s kind of fascinating that they use the word “hunt” for a non-sentient gas that wafts through the wind. We don’t call it Hide and Hunt, we’re just seeking. But this cloud is hunting. It’s coming to kill us. All of us.

It must be so strange to feel like that. That you’re hunted by something as powerful as the air, blocking out the sky in a horrifying choking poison. But as I’m reflecting on the bomb footage in my head… there wasn’t just smoke and debris, was there? There are green lich fireballs wafting from the detonation site. Maybe that is to convey the idea of nuclear radiation and fallout.

That must be what it FEELS like. And the glowing is maybe real. The fireball against a choked black sky? I’ve never seen a nuclear bomb but I know they’re blindingly bright. Idk how long they stay bright like that for. I suppose if you were a human in this situation there would be 2 things to do in this situation. One is to look up, take it all in, and realize you are doomed. Two is to turn around and run.

This vision and the ensuing chaos and struggle to flee, being forced underground from the toxic air, has carved a deep wound in the minds of the human race. We’re scarred from COVID, aren’t we? But I think we are healing well and we have learned some lessons about hygienic safety and we are all the more thankful for our connection with others. This is much more severe damage. It’s like a scar vs an amputation. And, indeed, the earth is missing a huge chunk of land in the show from the blast.