#also ages are based on how old they were at the beginning of the season

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I'm very definitively positive on clone/Jedi relationships, both platonic and romantic.

I'm going to hit the biologically children thing first because like... no, they're not. If you want to go that route, then you have to count Grogu as a middle aged adult because he's 50 years old even though his official name for a while was literally "The Child" and he's definitely treated like a child in the narrative more often than he isn't. Jango Fett was (as far as I'm aware) a regular human. The clones, the altered ones at least (so not Omega or Boba), are almost an entirely different species. They LOOK human, but they've been engineered to be different from the baseline human they were based off of to the point that they aren't necessarily all that similar to a regular human beyond cosmetics. So if you don't view them as "fucked up humans who should be treated like children because they're technically only 10 years old" and instead view them as "subspecies of human that reaches maturity around 9 years old", then it's a lot harder to view them as children.

I think that it's fair to claim that the clones are SHELTERED and likely fairly ignorant and naive about a lot of things in the world due to their upbringing, sure, but that doesn't make them children. They're also relatively young regardless of whether you'd consider them children or not, the youngest ones we know about are sent out to war at what would be the equivalent of about 20 years old and they're only around 26ish by the time the war ENDS. So even accounting for the accelerated aging, they're still pretty young and there's going to be a lot about the galaxy and how to live in it that would be new to them. Their understanding of how relationships work is going to be skewed given everything we know about their childhoods and the way the Kaminoans canonically seem to view them.

So I think that the Jedi and clones would likely often end up in a sort of mentor/mentee relationship, especially in the beginning. We see this most strongly with Yoda and the three Coruscant Guard characters and Plo Koon with the three 104th characters in the first four episodes of season 1, as well as with Shaak Ti and Fives and Echo during the Clone Cadets episode of season 3. The Jedi are natural teachers and I think they'd start to get to know these young men who are so devastatingly intelligent but who were only ever taught about how to fight a war and they'd immediately take the opportunity to help guide the clones towards figuring out who they are and who they want to be. We're pretty much told that this is true point blank when I believe it's Nala Se or Lama Su speaks to Dooku during season 6 and they say that the Jedi have been encouraging individuality in the clones. Fives says that the Jedi respect the clones and calls the Jedi their best friends at two separate points in the narrative. The Jedi literally use their OWN PHILOSOPHIES to help the clones learn what it means to be PEOPLE and to embrace that for themselves.

The relationship between the Jedi and the clones is honestly one of the most beautiful and heartwrenching dynamics in the entirety of Star Wars to me. Their destinies are entwined irrevocably and they are each the others' doom and salvation all at once. The Jedi help the clones discover who they are, but they're also going to end up being the reason the clones lose all sense of themselves. The clones are a light in the dark for the Jedi during the war, but they're also going to be the weapon that helps plunge the entire world into darkness by eliminating the Jedi. These two groups that are SO similar in so many ways but for vastly different reasons who are thrown together by forces beyond either of their control and learn to understand each other better than anyone else ever has and love and trust each other implicitly for it and that love and trust is then used to destroy them both. It's absolutely devastating and really gets me in those feels.

As far as romantic ships, I sort-of said my piece on the age thing earlier, but I honestly find that fussing about characters' ages in Star Wars is more ridiculous than it usually is. These characters are literally ALIENS and it's a universe where human characters who are twelve years old are allowed to hold office. I have my personal preferences in terms of clone/Jedi ships, but I am a very ship and let ship sort of person (yes, even with the ships I DESPISE), so I'm not going to make a big deal out of clone/Jedi ships. I also like clone/clone ships which tons of people find problematic for other reasons, so whatever.

I HAVE seen the superior/subordinate thing get addressed in clone/Jedi fics before. Sometimes it ends in the characters deciding to wait until after the war and when the clones are given rights and official citizenship status or something before they begin a romantic relationship, and sometimes it ends in the characters recognizing that a lot of the rules shouldn't really matter when they're at war and they could die literally any day and they deserve to find happiness and pleasure where they can find it so long as they work to ensure that this doesn't impact their respective responsibilities. Again though, this is a space fantasy and absolutely nobody on the writing staff for The Clone Wars was taking the structure and internal dynamics of this fantasy military particularly seriously, so I'm not sure why I or anyone else should have to if they don't want to.

So yeah, I love relationships between the clones and Jedi, it's probably my favorite dynamic in the whole franchise, regardless of whether it's platonic or romantic.

#star wars #jedi #pro jedi #clone troopers #clones

[allhalesterekstilinski]

I want to talk about the Teen Wolf siblings, particularly their age differences.

Brett is a freshman in season 4. We don’t know how old Lori is, but later she says Brett only accepted the scholarship at Devenford if they would accept her as well. This means either Devenford includes some middle school as well as high school, Lori was smart enough to skip a grade or two, Brett and Lori are 9 months apart, or they’re twins. It’s also possible she’s a couple years younger and was only recently accepted, but since he bargained for her from the beginning, I don’t think it’s as likely.

Based on the short audio clips from “Motel California” it sounds like Boyd and Alicia were close in age, both pretty young, but when we see her body she looks a little older. I would assume he’s older since he was in charge of watching her.

Malia and Kylie were close in age based on the framed photo in her room. In “Ghosted” Kylie has mysteriously aged from about 7 to about 12. Though this is likely due to forgetting information and not caring enough to fact check their own work.

The same could be said for Theo and Tara. They seem to be close in age, but the actresses playing Tara look like different ages. I would guess in season 5 flashbacks she was 11 or 12 when Theo was 9, but in season 6 she looks 17.

Isaac is 16 in season 2 and Camden would have been 24. There is a discrepency unless I’m missing something. Since season 2 is early in the year I’m willing to bet Camden would be 25 later in the year. If Isaac is 16 and Camden would be 24, that’s an 8 year gap. But if he graduated in 2006, he was born in 1988 and is approximately 6 years older. There’s no concrete evidence of when either of their birthdays are, so perhaps Isaac’s birthday is before Camden’s and there’s a short period of time the gap is 7 years. The calendar puts his birthday in February.

Kate said that growing up Chris always tried to make her look like the bad guy.  In 3B Chris says he was 18-years-old 24 years ago putting Chris’s birth year about 1969. Kate was born in 1983. That is a 14 year gap. Either she exaggerated or lied, which I would believe, or Chris was an incredibly shitty brother, which I would also believe. Could you imagine 17 year old Chris blaming 3 year old Kate for him coming home late one night or breaking their mom’s favorite vase?

We don’t know how old Gerard is. Alexander was 27 when he died. Alexander was 19/20 years older than Chris, so Gerard was probably in his early to mid twenties when Chris was born. A lot of actors’ ages coincide with their character’s approximate age. Michael Hogan was born in 1949, so if Gerard is around his age, he’s 20 years older than Chris and 34 years older than Kate. But then he would one year older than Alexander. Not impossible, but he is likely older.

Hayden is about 16 in season 5 because she can drive. The youngest a cop can be is 20, so at the very least Clark is 4 years older. It sounds like Clark had been her guardian for a while, so the gap is likely larger.

If we are going to believe the “In Memorium” video from MTV, Laura was born in 1982 and Peter was born in 1976. We never actually know how old Derek is. Jeff said his ID, putting his birthday in November 1988, was fake, but why? What is the significance of it being fake? It served no purpose and I think Jeff just wanted to fuck with us. Especially because it’s not canon in the show, he said it outside of the show. And if we believe the calendar that makes Derek a Christmas baby, why would he make himself only a month and a half older?

I’m going to assume Derek was “with” Kate leading up closely to the fire, meaning late 2004. If Derek was 16, or almost 16 if his birthday is Christmas, that would put his birthday in 1988. So in the pilot he’s 22. In the script he was meant to be 19 but then he was aged up because Jeff thought it was more important to traumatize him than find a way around it. In 3A Cora says she’s 17, which would put them at a 5 year gap. Laura is 6 years older than Derek and 11 years older than Cora. And if Cora was 11 by January of 2005, she was born in 1993.

I don’t know if this is canon or fanon that Talia raised Peter. Regardless, he is about 5 years older than Laura, 12 years older than Derek, and 17 years older than Cora. But Talia would have to be at the youngest 8 years older than Peter, and that’s if she had Laura at 13. In “Visionary” she appears to be about mid-forties. If this is within a year of the fire, then Peter is 26/27. The gap between Peter and Talia could range from 8 to 20 years.

I’m just so interested in these dynamics.

#teen wolf #teen wolf meta #derek hale #peter hale #cora hale #talia hale #chris argent #kate argent #brett talbot #lori rohr #lori talbot #vernon boyd #gerard argent #hayden romero #valerie clark #isaac lahey #malia tate #theo raeken #i want to know how many of the younger siblings were accidents #or maybe the older ones

[thorsvinur]

Resources for Those Wanting to Learn about Pre-Christian Time Reckoning in Northern Europe and its Application in Modern Heathen Traditions

Throughout the history of the modern Neo-Pagan movement, the calendar that has been used by most practitioners has been either the Wiccan Wheel of the Year or another calendar heavily influenced by it. The Wheel of the Year draws largely upon a mixture of Celtic (Gaelic) and Anglo-Saxon traditions, splitting the years into quarters with quarterly and cross-quarterly celebrations and beginning the year at the end of October with the originally Gaelic festival of Samhain.

The calendars that have come to be popular for the majority of the modern Heathenry movement have undoubtedly been based in this calendar, with the major changes being to the names of certain celebrations. On the calendar created by Stephen McNallen for the AFA, Lammas became Freyfaxi, Mabon became Winter Finding, Samhain became Winter Nights, etc. Other organizations such as Forn Sidr of America, The Ásatrú Community, etc. have created their own versions of the calendar as well, but at their roots they all exist essentially as a modification of the Wheel of the Year concept.

More (relatively) recent research and scholarship has brought a greater awareness of older time reckoning systems within Heathen circles as well as amongst history enthusiasts. Some of this has focused on the Old Icelandic calendar as well as the primstav tradition, and while both of these have validity to them the Old Icelandic calendar already had some changes to how it worked from the older system and the primstav used a standardized dating system based in the Julian calendar. Still, these are both useful tools in attempting to reconstruct the pre-Christian (or at least pre-Julian) calendar systems of the Germanic, and particularly Scandinavian, peoples of Northern Europe.

Why is this at all important in an age with the Gregorian calendar used most everywhere and especially for those outside of Scandinavia? Because for those trying the build an understanding of or relationship with these cultures, or even just more connected to the earth in general, the way they reckoned time helps to understand their relationship and connection to their environment, the flow of seasons, how they viewed the different parts of the year and adjusted their activities accordingly, etc. It helps to understand the "why" behind the ritual cycle, even in the names of the months themselves.

Below are a few of the primary resources that I have found helpful in learning about these topics, as well as a graphic representation that I have made based on my research so far to represent the reconstructed Old Norse lunisolar calendar. Note that I don't claim to be an expert on this topic, so I could certainly be wrong in some of the details, and some of the months also have multiple names from which I chose one to use. Also, there were multiple time reckoning systems in use during the period, including a week-counting system, so there can also be conflicting information depending on which is being considered.

Sources:

"Jul, disting och förkyrklig tidräkning: Kalendrar och kalendriska riter i det förkristna Norden" by Andreas Nordberg

- Available as a free PDF, the majority of this is written in Swedish, but it contains a fairly concise English summary at the end. It focuses primarily on Old Norse Jól (Yule) as well as the Dísaþing/Disting and Dísablót in Sweden, but it touches on other celebrations and uses these to establish the overall scheme of the lunisolar calendar system.

"The Festival Year: A Survey of the Annual Festival Cycle and Its Relation to the Heathen Lunisolar Calendar" by Josh Rood

-Also available as a free PDF, this paper expands upon Norberg's work as well as others' and goes through the overall festival year of the pre-Christian Scandinavians.

"The Lunisolar Calendar of the Germanic Peoples: Reconstruction of a bound moon calendar from ancient, medieval and early modern sources" by Andreas Zautner

-This book is sort of a dive into a number of different ancient to early modern calendar systems, but it uses all of these to reconstruct lunisolar time reckoning systems not only for Scandinavians, but for other Germanic peoples as well. It's a great read for those interested in pre-Julian time reckoning in Northern Europe as well as Medieval calendar systems in general.

"The Nordic Animist Year" by Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen

-Similarly to Zautner's book, Rasmussen draws upon a variety of Medieval calendar systems in his work, but his goal, rather than reconstructing an Old Norse calendar is to create a modern calendar based in animist traditions of Northern Europe. It undoubtedly uses the lunisolar system as a base and takes a lot from Old Norse sources, but it also incorporates later traditions which are based in animist knowledge and have value in establishing a system of seasonal animism.

And lastly, my Old Norse lunisolar calendar representation. Each month starts on a new moon, represented by a black dot, and the festivals are shown at the full moons, being white dots. You may notice the lack of Þorrablót and Miðsumar (Midsommar) on here. Regarding Þorrablót, I'm not as well researched on the origins of it and how widespread it may have been. For Miðsumar I have long refrained from including it due to the absolute lack of mentions in literary material from during or shortly after the period, but I have been pointed to some instances of it marked on primstavs as July 14th (Julian calendar), suggesting a possible lunisolar observance of it earlier similar to Jól's relationship to the winter solstice.

#heathenry #fórn siðr #asatru #forn sed #pagan #lunisolar calendar #norse #heathen #forn sidr

[sunflowhamato]

ROTTMNT Curiosities Part.3

The turtles honored Karai, and would talk to her whenever they needed guidance

Originally Karai would have been in 8 episodes (11 minutes) or 4 (22 minutes), she would help Donnie with his desire for recognition, Raph's anxiety, Mikey's aversion to family conflict, and Leo in his potential as a leader, as well as April letting him know that she is also a Hamato

The Rise movie takes place months after the end of the second season

The photo at the beginning of the movie was taken just before the Krang arrived.

If the series were renewed, they would touch on the theme that humans already know about them, addressing issues of misunderstood heroism to maintain their reputation as full-time heroes, and that some people hate them, as well as how they adapt to this new change

The crossover between the different versions of TMNT was never discussed, but it can happen (Although it is complicated to use two types of animation in the case of 2012)

2012 Leo and Rise Leo would get along badly at first, but would end up being great friends. The Mikeys would get along well from the beginning

There was a story to tell about Big Mom and Stinkbomb

The team never realized that there was no episode with the duo of Raph and Donnie (but they would if the series is renewed)

In the apocalyptic future it may be that Donnie is taller than Leo, and Raph is at least 6 feet, Mikey would have grown, but due to the use of the Ninpo on him he would become smaller

Mikey could be enough for multiverse episodes

In the series the invasion would not have happened like in the movie

Ron would like to see a Spin-off of CJ and Cassandra wandering the world and fighting the remains of Krang (Where Draxum could join)

There are Krang everywhere, there may be some good Krang

The Rat King could be the next villain, Shredder could return, Bishop could be a thorn like J. Jonah Jameson for the turtles, he would be like an ally, but don't trust the turtles (a few ideas if the series is renewed)

Baxter Stockboy would mutate, and become a man, but his voice and mentality would be that of a child

There were no plans for Beebop and Rocksteady

It could be that Mikey from the future communicated with his dead brothers

There are other hidden cities such as Tokyo, where it was thought that they would be

The prison dimension is to get rid of the villains

In terms of power with the Ninpo, Mikey is the strongest, followed by Donnie, Raph the next, and Leo is the one who depends the least on the Ninpo, he uses physical and mental abilities

CJ is around 20 years old or a teenager. Leo from the future would be in his early 40s. Young April is 18 just like Raph

The movie was already planned before they found out about the hiatus, it didn't change much since it was set a little far from the series, so it didn't receive many changes

Don Suave is attractive to any gender or orientation Leo has a little insomnia

Donnie's fear of beach balls started at a young age as seen in “Lair Games”

His favorite video game is “Crazy Copter”

The bounty hunters in the first episode are called “Garm and Freki”

Baba Yaga was planned to be introduced

Donnie is the team doctor

Ant and Andy had the idea that the turtles were of different species

Kids would put cereal before milk (haha, good tip)

In Origami Tsunami the test audience thought Leo was the leader

Kendra is Indonesian

Raph feels bad when he is alone, because his brothers are the strength he needs to survive.

Leo's hair reference in Bad Hair Day is because of the guy in the middle

A rivalry between Baxter and The Purple Dragons was thought of

A little HeadCanon that Donnie has a pumpkin-growing rivalry with a woman named Ethel Crabtree

Hypno is New Zealander

In Al Be Back, Raph was Raphy White in “Barry White”, his hair is similar to James Brown, Leo is a glam rocker in the vein of David Bowie, the New York Dolls or Sweet

“Othello Von Ryan”, is a reference to the strange Liz Taylor commercial in the 80s

Dale is based on Dale Malinowski

The boys' nickname is: Othello Von Ryan, Dr. Delicate Touch, Cool Teen Randall, Neon Leon and the Red Angel of Preventing Harm

Mikey knew that April's apartment upstairs was unoccupied, where he sent Draxum

Raph's hero names, he doesn't realize they spell his name R.A.P.H until later

If the series is renewed, several discarded episodes could return without a problem, and everything would resume from the end of the movie

There is a completely complete episode that Nick never released

If the series were renewed it would be at least another 3 seasons

The pitch process for an episode is organic, a writer has a pretty solid idea, people propose ideas, the key piece is finding the growth story not only of the story, but also of the character

The difficult part of the series was fitting the entire plot into 11 minutes for one episode, there were great things that were eliminated for this reason, the general opinion (from high ranks) was that action shows lasted 22 minutes to sell toys, while comedies got ratings

#rottmnt #rottmnt leo #rottmnt raph #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt april #rottmnt cassandra jones #rottmnt casey jr #rottmnt draxum #rottmnt splinter

[celestial-specter]

So I finally got around to watching the first three episodes of the final season, and I’ve got to say, I’m very intrigued by the addition of the three clone cadets! Most of my interest comes from their names- and since I haven’t seen anyone else discuss them yet, I thought I’d throw my own thoughts out there.

As we have seen in many star wars projects over the years, character names seem to be overwhelming literal, either revealing elements of their background, or foreshadowing their future (think how in Rebels, Kanan means ‘little wolf’, while his true name, Caleb, means ‘dog’, foreshadowing his link to the Loth wolves.)

Of course, we know that the clones either name themselves or have the name bestowed on them by their brothers (think of Echo getting his name). The trio of clones that we meet in Paths Unknown are named Deke, Stak, and Mox. There hasn’t been much information released regarding at what age clones typically receive their names, however in the Clone Wars episode Clone Cadets, we see Cutup take his name from a trainer who criticizes him for his attitude. As that episode focuses on Domino squad’s final training simulation before graduation, and that they all appear to be fully grown adult clones, it can be assumed that they are all around ten years old, the same age of most clones sent to war. Given that we see Cutup choose his name during this episode, and that Echo is struggling with his nickname and remembering Fives’ name, it suggests that Domino squad had only recently begun thinking about what name they would choose for themselves.

While we haven’t been given a definitive age for Deke, Stak and Mox they are all still clearly children. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even have names by the time they were taken off Kamino, and had to create names for each other while trying to survive on the planet they were stranded on.

To begin with Mox, his is the name I could find the least amount of reference for. There seems to be three possible interpretations:

Mox is a type of fuel designed for use in nuclear reactors.

Mox is a shortened version of moxie, meaning ‘energy, courage, and determination.’

Mox is the Latin word for ‘soon.’

I’m not overly drawn to the first idea, but I can understand the second - as Mox is clearly the eldest and protective over his younger brothers, I can see him taking a name which shows that side of his personality. I also see Mox as a direct parallel of Hunter; both are the eldest brothers of their respective groups, and are both incredibly wary of outsiders due to their need to keep their brothers safe.

However, I much prefer the third choice. The idea that Mox’s name means ‘soon’ can have both good and bad implications. For starters, Mox is clearly the most emotionally conflicted throughout the episode, unsure of his place on the mission, and of his place once they leave the planet. Hunter assures him that he has time to consider being something other than a soldier, and Mox offers his hand to Hunter. This action could be foreshadowing that soon, Hunter himself will be able to retire from this lifestyle, by finding Omega and Crosshair. Alternatively, Mox’s name meaning soon could be a very bad omen for the batch, as it could foreshadow the clone cadets being used as leverage against them (I’m thinking this could come into play when the empire attacks Pabu if the cadets are there).

Moving on, the word Deke was originally coined by Hemingway as a shortened form of the word decoy. We do not see him act as a decoy in any way during this episode, so I believe it is solely to foreshadow future events. Considering the many parallels drawn between Deke and Tech during this episode (e.g. Stak dubbing Deke ‘the smart one’ and Deke almost falling to his death in the base) his name meaning decoy only makes me more convinced that Tech is still around in some capacity (even if that capacity is just his body being used for cloning experiments).

Finally, Stak is most commonly considered to be an old version of the word stick, which makes sense when you consider the basic stick-based weapons that the cadets carry, and Wrecker’s first words to Stak and Deke when he meets them: ‘Blaster beats stick, kid!’ Knowing that the Star Wars writers love foreshadowing, this comment has me thinking things might not end so well for Stak. Interestingly, another link I found while researching this is that Stak is a common phrase in the Rogue Trooper series, in which a war is fought between facist Norts and democratic Southers (you can already see the obvious parallels to Star Wars here). In the series, in an attempt to win the war, the Southers create genetically engineered soldiers, but only one, known as Rogue, survives. Even more links involve one of the main stories of this series being titled ‘The Marauders’, and each one of the genetically engineered soldiers having a bio-chip in their body. While not a direct link, these coincidences do make me think there is a direct link between the two medias, it is possible that there is a fan of the Rogue Trooper series within the team behind The Bad Batch.

Either way, I’m very happy to finally be getting some explanation into what happened to the young clones who never saw the battlefield during the clone wars - though I am a little concerned that their worth being tied to their unexplored identity as soldiers could lead to them taking risks in further episodes in the hopes of proving themselves.

#star wars tbb #star wars analysis #star wars spoilers #star wars the bad batch #star wars #sw tbb #sw:tbb #sw #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch theories #the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch #tbb mox #tbb deke #tbb stak

[andsomemaniacgotridofthewheel]

Our Flag Means Death vs. The Magicians

I was not sure whether I should even write something, but the closer the season 2 finale and, hopefully, a 3rd season of OFMD comes, the more nervous I get. So it's gotta come out.

Thing is, I trust David Jenkins. Or, more accurately, I want to trust David Jenkins.

But 4 years and *checks watch* 6 months ago I also trusted the showrunners of "The Magicians".

Because they, too, responded thoughtful and kindly on Twitter to their fandom's worries. They assured us they were aware of how important queer representation was, and that they would handle their show's queer pairing of two main (!) characters with the utmost respect and sensitivity. They said they knew how badly queer people were treated on the media and they did not want to do that in their show. They had done their research, they carefully listened to their fans, and they were different.

A lot of fans were NOT convinced by that and maintained that it would still turn out to be queerbaiting. We others, we trusted. They obviously knew what they were doing!

For those of you who were not around here back then or simply not in the fandom, and who have no idea what I am talking about, let me try to summarise the shitshow what happened.

"The Magicians" was a very original, weird, entertaining and, for 3 seasons and 12 episodes, good urban fantasy show about a group of young, well, magicians. It was based on a book series of the same name by Lev Grossmann.

The main character, Quentin, was canonically struggling with clinical depression. At the beginning of the show he had admitted himself to a mental health clinic, and he was on medication, and his illness was treated as a part of his character throughout the show. And they received a lot of praise for their sensitive, realistic representation of people with depression and their continuing struggle.

Around Quentin there was an ensemble of other main characters. His (male) best friend (Eliot) was gay and played by a gay actor.

Season 1 ended with a drunken decision from Quentin, Eliot and Eliot's (female) best friend (Margot) to have a threesome; which basically ended Quentin's het-relationship (with Alice) that had developed during the season. This was the first indication that the depressed main character Quentin might also be bisexual.

In season 3 there came a mind-blowing episode where Quentin & Eliot spend the entire rest of their lives living together in a cabin in the woods and raising a son, in what turned out to be an alternative timeline. Basically, in order to solve a plot-arc relevant puzzle, they move to the cabin where the puzzle was set, not knowing how long it would take. After a few months together Quentin initiates an affair with Eliot. A little bit later a woman, with whom Quentin then has a child, moves in; a couple of years later she dies, Quentin & Eliot raise the kid together, and when Eliot, the older one, finally dies of old age, leaving Quentin alone behind, the puzzle named "The Beauty of all Life" is finally solved, the timeline reset, and young Quentin & Eliot in the past receive the solution of the puzzle together with the memories of their life together in the other timeline.

It was a beautiful, beautiful episode. Heartbreaking and life-affirming and queer and just wonderful. It also established beyond a doubt that the depressed main character Quentin was definitely bisexual (and polyamorous).

Then, for the whole 4th season, Eliot was separated from the rest of the group and in great danger, while Quentin and the others tried to find and save him. And when Eliot had to do some soul searching, he remembered something the audience never saw from that one season 3 episode, they added a brand new scene: after they both had been stunned into silence by having the memories of a whole other life dropped onto them, just where the original episode had ended, Quentin had actually asked Eliot if they should "just try it", because "who gets proof of concept like that"? And Eliot, scared of the gravity of it and full of abandonment issues, had shot him down. Present Eliot decides then, if he ever sees Quentin again, to stop being scared and just go for a relationship with him.

(On the other side of the plot, Quentin gets more and more desperate and frantic, trying to find Eliot and save his life. He is clearly masking a steadily worsening spiral into a severe mental health crisis.)

It's queerbaiting, said the nay-sayers and skeptics. It will never happen. At the end of season 4, Quentin will get back together with his ex-girlfriend Alice, they're End Game, and Eliot will end up dead alone at the sidelines, undergoing character development through loss, as a gay character should. /s

They thought we were naive, but we thought they weren't paying attention. Two (2!) episodes in two (2!) seasons with the sole purpose to set Queliot up as a couple, in canon. This wasn't subtext, it wasn't queer-coding; it was text, it was spoken aloud, it was named, it was shown. Why would they do that if nothing else would come of it? Also, they had promised us. The gay actor who played Eliot repeatedly stated how proud he was to be on a show where this was happening, he was just as excited as us, he was one of us.

Then the season 4 finale came, and it wasn't exactly queerbait.

It was much, much worse.

I was on Tumblr right after the finale aired, and it was eerie. No episode reactions, no gif-sets, no comments or shitposts or anything. Even the nay-sayers and skeptics couldn't bring themselves to utter the well-deserved "told you so"s to break the stunned silence. All that was missing from the scene were actual tumbleweeds blowing across our dashboards.

Even from the actors of the show who were on twitter, usually very active and involved, came only radio silence. The last tweet for a while came the day before the finale aired. It was a tweet from the POC actor of an unrelated character, who had spend the last season supporting queer fans and assuaging our fears that something bad might happen to Queliot. And this tweet from him simply stated that he had just found out he had filmed a fake finale scene, one that was never intended to be aired, and that it had served its purpose: he had no idea how the season would actually end.*

And here is how it did end: with the clinically depressed and queer main character blowing himself up in order to permanently ban that season's big bad. He had saved Eliot before that, but he didn't get a chance to talk to him, instead he did get a final scene straight out of the suicidal ideation fantasy handbook: after he killed himself, he witnessed his friends, unseen by them, grieving for him and acknowledging how his sacrifice had made all of their lives better in various ways. And no, I'm not making this up.

And it wasn't even the end of the showrunners stupidity, because in an utter display of tone-deafness, they were taking to Twitter celebrating themselves for the progressive (!!!) decision to kill off their White Male Main Character™, to focus more on the POC characters in the show. And, of course, the recently introduced cis-het male white dudebro character, who had started as a guest but somehow kept getting more and more screentime lately.

They had pulled a Bury Your Gays, but With A Vengeance. In only 10 minutes of screentime they had completely destroyed everything that had made their show critically acclaimed, retroactively un-deserving all the praise and recognition they had gotten for good representation of mental illness and the courage to introduce a canon queer relationship between their established main characters.

And they didn't even get it. They honestly expected praise for their "woke" decision to kill of their White Male Main Character™ (they kept repeating it like a mantra), and they reacted like children when they were instead confronted with an epic shitstorm from upset and angry queer and mentally ill fans.**

In hindsight we realised that what had fooled us was them just parroting the right words and phrases back at us. They had no idea what queerbaiting was. They had even less of an idea what a Bury Your Gays was. They didn't know what we meant when we said that queer representation was so important, and that we were worried if they would do it right; and they didn't understand that they themselves were lying when they answered that they would handle the queer representation in their show with care and respect, because they didn't understand what care and respect in relation to queer representation even was. They didn't even realise that his depression alone, and even more so combined with his absolute lack of toxic masculinity, separated Quentin from the usual White Male Main Character Trope they somehow so desperately wanted to fight - and for some reason they didn't even seem to have realised that they (accidentally?) written him as bisexual? (I am still not too clear on how that even could happen.)

And that's where my worry for "Our Flag Means Death" and David Jenkins comes in. Yes, he was publicly flabbergasted when he learned about queerbaiting and how deeply it had traumatized queer fans and destroyed our trust. He publicly noticed, he publicly cared.

But does he really understand?

Even if he knows and understands queerbaiting (now), does he also know what a Bury Your Gays is? Does he understand?

The historical Edward "Blackbeard" Teach died November 1718. The historical Stede "Gentlemen Pirate" Bonnet died a month later, December 1718. That's at the very most less than a year from when our favourite gay pirate couple is now. And yes, David Jenkins makes it a point to screw with history, he does what he wants no matter what. But their death dates are pretty huge. A fixed point in time, if you will.

I want to believe that all the faking of deaths talk is indeed foreshadowing, that they will be officially dead to history, but actually have run off together to open Jeff's Inn by the Sea, with a Bar & Grill and Other Delicacies & Delights, Snake Snackery, Gift Shop and Fishing Gear in the back. That we will get our Happy Ending. That they will get their Happy Ending. No Bury Your Gays. Everyone lives, just this once, everyone lives.

But what if it is a red herring instead of foreshadowing? What if it is supposed to make their eventual deaths even more heartbreaking and tragic? WHAT IF DAVID JENKINS DOESN'T ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT BURY YOUR GAYS? What if he says he does, what if he believes he does, but what if he doesn't actually understand?

What if he just says what he believes we want to hear, without really understanding the reason?

For me personally, that's not even the worst of it.

When "The Magicians" season 4 aired, I had just gone through the worst depressive episode of my life. It was actually the reason I hyper-fixated so strongly on the show and why I had repeatedly binge-watched the first three seasons in a span of only 3 weeks. It was the reason I obsessed over Quentin, the character who was in a place that I was in just months before, I place I had lost and felt I would never reach again, a place that gradually and painfully I did reach again by the end of those weeks. When I had caught up with season 4 and the finale aired, I was actually a lot better. But even then, Quentin's death and the way he died hurt me, confused me, triggered me, set me back. Talking to other fans with the same problems helped. Removing myself from the fandom and not looking at anything Magician's-related for near-on two years helped also.

And I was in luck. Only one month later "Good Omens" was released. I had liked the book, I had looked forward to its adaption, but I was completely unprepared for what Neil Gaiman had done with it. It healed me, it fully filled the void "The Magicians" and Queliot had left inside me, and it made everything better.

In "Our Flag Means Death", Stede is clearly on the autism spectrum. I was bullied at school, just like him, not for being queer, but for "being a fucking weirdo". Because I have ADHD, like Ed. Unlike Ed I don't have the hyperactive kind, but the inattentive kind. I can never tell if someone is sarcastic or sincere. I also have difficulty with and anxiety in social situations, and I have almost never felt accepted by my peers or my family. I am permanently masking. I relate deeply to Stede's belief that he has to change in order to be worthy of love. I also related deeply to Ed's mental health spiral and suicidal ideation in the beginning of season 2. I obsessed for days over the moment when Ed decided to finally let go, only to be saved in the very last moment by love. It felt way too real, way too familiar, and it was so important for me and my state of mind that it ended in hope. They managed to take the trauma and make it cathartic. So even if my genderfluid ass didn't relate better to mlm relationships than to any cishet relationship, relating a whole lot to Stede and only a little less to Ed because of their neurodivergent traits will be enough for their deaths to destroy me. Just like Quentin's death almost had. And I don't even know if there will be a "Good Omens 3" to stop my fall only a month later.

*= with the exception of the actor leaving the show, none of the actors on "The Magicians" knew. They had all been given fake scenes to film. They didn't even know their colleague was leaving them until the day the finale aired.

**= when I had finally distanced myself enough from the show emotionally and wondered if I should maybe watch season 5, it was included in my Prime subscription anyway, I was told not to, because a) apparently the showrunners had written it as a giant FUCK YOU to everyone who was upset by the season 4 finale, and b) because they had done all the characters dirty, but especially fan-favourite (and mine) Eliot, apparently he fared even worse in season 5 than in season 4. But I am glad to be able to at least inform you that season 5 pretty much tanked both critically as well as in viewership, I have never seen a show go from successful and popular to irrelevant and hated so quickly and so completely.

#quentin coldwater deserved better #the magicians #david jenkins #our flag means death #queliot #gentlebeard #edward teach #stede bonnet #quentin coldwater #eliot waugh #ofmd #bury your gays #queerbait #queer representation #cw: depression #cw: suicide #good omens #neil gaiman #nikku.txt #nikku #blackbonnet #quentin coldwater x eliot waugh #eliot waugh x quentin coldwater #ofmd blackbeard #stedeward #ed teach #blackbeard #ed x stede #stede x ed

[faketokufan]

Now that we’re finally to the premier of King-Ohger, I think it’s time I gave my piece on what DonBrothers was really about... Every season has it’s themes and Donbrothers is a little hard to pin down, but I think I got it nailed down.

Donbrothers is about bonds. More specifically it’s about Taro’s bonds, and how he grows them from passing acquaintances into the true family he desperately wants.

In the beginning. All Taro had were superficial and surface level. His coworkers, the old man at the Oden stand... and the people he would deliver packages to.

This was all he had. These small bonds that he would put so much weight behind because he didn’t know that they weren’t real. He was naïve and fully ready to believe that these were what real bonds were. Surface level and transient. 

But now lets look at the bonds of the other Donbrothes at the start of the series.

Haruka’s entire social standing was based on her manga. Once that fell through, all of her bonds broke. Her friends, her fans, even her boyfriend all turned on her overnight. Her bonds were shallow and spread thin, all balanced precariously on her status as a mangaka.

Saruhara didn’t really have any bonds, though for him it was by design. His Wabi Sabi lifestyle and detachment from the world around him left him isolated and alone. Alone in his big house (which like... how did he afford that?) Sure he had customers who came to him for advice but... no friends, no family, no bonds. 

Kijino only had his Miho. His one and only bond that consumed his entire being. Kijino gave everything he was and everything he had to the one person he had in his life. He lived for his bond with Miho... Which left him utterly alone otherwise. His coworkers hardly noticed him. He had no friends to speak of. Without Miho he was nothing... And when it turned out there was no Miho, there really wasn’t a Kijino.

On the other hand there’s Tsubasa, the other side of Kijino’s coin. Like Kijino he gave everything for one bond. One connection that he lived his life for. Only unlike Kijino, his was real and he lost it. While Kijino reveled in something he found, Tsubasa languished in something he lost. Tsubasa is broken, just as broken as his bond.

Then there’s Jiro...

... yeah...

Each of them either lost their bonds to those they held closest to their hearts, or they were never real to begin with. These are all broken and lonely people separated by circumstance and misfortune. 

Then, along came a peach.

Floating down the riverbend.

And inside that peach was a young boy.

That young boy was raised by a kind old man and grew into a fine hero...

Who forged many bonds.

And touched many lives. 

Donbrothers is a mess of a story about extra dimensional beings that eat human thoughts and the age old civil war that now spills into the human world. About monsters taking human skin and about twisted desires running out of control... Its about Don Killers, Don Killer Killers, Shark Swords, True Heroes, The Dragon Fires, First Love Heroes, Wabi Sabi, run away criminals, delivery men, cafe’s, true love, fated rivalries, the Nato and the Donbrothers...

And it’s also about 6 broken people who found a way to be a little less broken by fitting their pieces together. 

A true win for the ages.

#Good bye Donbrothers. #Thank you for the past year of stories #avataro sentai donbrothers #super sentai #Toku #tokusatsu

[liquidstar]

Ok so, I have only ever watched one episode of Adventure Time, and it was on a hotel room TV, in terrible hindi dub, and I barely remember it on account of being 10(?) but it horrified me.

I remember the MCs trying to get Ice King a girlfriend or something, but he keeps being a gross asshole so they take him to a lake and point at some swans to try and explain love to him. They point to two swans kissing like ':D' and he's like 'ewww' and then the male swan suCKS IN AND EATS THE FEMALE and IK's like ':)))' while the boys stare in horror.

IDR how the episode ended or how much I watched, but I remember thinking 'wow american cartoons are hardcore. I'm sticking to pirated pokemon from now on.'

And you are telling me that show had lesbians in it leter????

oh my god im so sorry but imagining you watching that swan scene as a 10 year old is so fucking funny, i can understand why you stuck with pirated pokemon LOL

adventure time is absolutely very fucked up in a lot of different ways. the early seasons leaned into that type of absurd shit you just described a lot more especially. while the later ones actually started getting more existential and building on the worlds lore.

there wasnt exactly a focused plot, per say. i mean, there was, but it wasnt something methodical and planned out, it was played by ear. and i think it really worked. the way they did it turned out a really cool magic system (based on the idea that reality is just collective perception, and magic users are aware of this and can manipulate perception ergo reality. but the more cosmic knowledge you have the more insane or depressed you become etc especially if youre mortal), and also cool world building (it takes place in a post apocalypse after a nuclear war, now far into the future the face of the earth has completely changed but the horrors unleashed still impact it today), and also a lot of really amazing themes (the world is always changing and nothing is ever permanent, but no matter how things change things also stay the same, in a different way. especially where bonds and love are concerned. everything stays.)

and YEAH there are lesbians (i mean i always hc marcy as bi but still). and they also come from the shows improvisational nature. theres a lot of genuinely really amazing relationships and plotpoints born out of that to me. like, as the show starts to get a lot more thematically dense later on it can seem like a weird shift. some ppl say it got pretentious over time bc its not as goofy (its still pretty goofy lol), but i think it worked... like... perfectly.

because its a coming of age story where the main character actually ages, it actually feels so right that the world around him begins to seem different too. it makes sense that when he was 12 we were doing stupid goofy adventures, when he was 15 we were watching him deal with a lot of really fucked up trauma, and when he was 17 we watched him learn to grow as a person who thinks beyond simple terms of good and evil.

i know im tottaaallly rambling at this point but theres really an insane amount to talk about with adventure time. the timeline alone is ridiculous. but mostly i think my passion comes down to the fact that i was also growing up with the story, always around the same age as the mc going through similar stuff... even now, the story is focusing on a depressed 20-something trying to find whimsy in her life again. and technically the last episode timeline-wise is about accepting death lol

so like idk how exactly id recommend it to a new viewer, its really possible that a lot of ppl wont be able to really tolerate the early seasons as adults (i mean, i think theyre charming, but i have nostalgia goggles lol). that being said i think that its a series totally worth a shot for everyone... eventually. if it sounds interesting you just gotta accept the goofiness at first and trust that youre in for something wild in a totally different way later on. and totally unique and cool and special in a way nothing else has really been able to capture for me since.

TL;DR: no yeah the show was incredibly fucked up and that swan did eat that other swan. but it does have themes and also lesbians.

[notquitedeadpod]

Today Not Quite Dead turns 365 days old!

A little over a year ago, feeling very disheartened and a little depressed, I decided to take the story about vampires I'd been piddling away with in the background of making Spirit Box Radio and turn it into a single narrator audio drama.

When I did that, I came up with a bunch of anti-rules:

I'd only work on episodes when I felt like it would be fun to do so

I'd make decisions about the story based on what was most emotional to me in the moment, rather than letting myself get stuck in the process of writing something with very restrictive plot goals

If I wasn't asking myself if I'd gone too far at the end of every episode's writing process, I wasn't going far enough

And so, the show was born.

This approach is radically different than pretty much every other writing project I've completed, and that's by design. At the time I started making NQD, I'd faced a pretty big set back with SBR and was struggling to work on it at all. I had a very clear vision for the show which at times made writing it very challenging and restrictive as an experience, and when I was faced with altering that vision, though I'm now convinced it worked out better that way anyway in hindsight, it was really difficult. It made me really rethink my entire approach to working on audio drama.

Writing NQD this radically different way was really good for me. I felt excited and giggly most episodes, and it was the first time I started to feel partially confident about my vocal performances. I noticed it was having a positive impact not just on my relationship with the writing on SBR, but how I felt about its quality overall. By working on something so different that required such a different energy, I came to value SBR more, and by the end of the show's run, I was in love with it the way I was at the beginning.

There's also the fact that I absolutely LOVE vampires. I always have. They're my favourite horror monsters, for reasons which are probably obvious to those of you who have listened to the show. They are almost indistinguishable from humans at a glance, they can live among us undetected, for the most part, but they are NOT human. They're different in importnat and unresolveable ways. As someone who has always struggled to fit in, this has forever resonated with me, and for most of my adult life, I've had an unserious vampire project or two being whittled away at in the background.

There were also some problems with how I wrote season one. NONE of the dates, times or ages lined up properly, and I frequently found I'd written myself into very boring, unfunny plot corners I'd have to spend a lot of time reasoning my way out of, which is no fun at all.

Something interesting, but not really good OR bad, is that LOTS of people found the show felt very trans to them, though none of the characters are transgender in canon. I'd not written the show this way intentionally, but it was very cool to see that other people had found this thematic thread buried in the story.

By the time I got to the end of Season One, I had to admit to myself that despite my best intentions, I had written a show with plot and themes. This was entirely an accident, but I was pretty happy to realise it. I also found that this show, something I'd written primarily for myself, had a real audience. This was a delightful thing to realise. You're all freaks, and I adore that for you, and I hope you're incredibly proud of yourselves, and I mean this entirely seriously. I am a freak too, otherwise I would not be able to write the show at all.

Anyway. We're over halfway through Season Two now, and my approach to the show has changed quite a lot. Though it has remained a project that is predominantly vibes-led, I've also found it exciting to spend some serious time thinking about the show's arcs and future and really indulging in making it As Much As Possible. As you will see over the next several episodes, that is So Much, actually.

On this year's first anniversary of Not Quite Dead, I find myself once again disheartened and depressed, because it's the slow slide into the long nights of winter, and as much as I love the cold and the dark, I struggle with my mental health year-round and this particular change of seasons is the one I feel is the hardest. But I'm also damned proud of this show, and not despite it's silliness, but BECAUSE of it. It's made me a stronger character writer, a better performer, and it's been a disgusting amount of fun.

Here's to another year of this ridiculous show about vampires.

Live. Laugh. Bite.

#not quite dead #audio drama #not quite dead pod #not quite dead podcast #gay vampires #vampire podcast #vampires #vampire #nqd pod #horror #nqd #eira speaks

[fluffypotatey]

Random but how old do you think the knights, Gwen, and Merlin are?

*pulls down that giant rolled up projection screen they use in classrooms* okay sO

from what i remember, BBC Merlin canon timeline is 10 years (give or take) with some timeskips here and there just to speed up the process for a 5 season show.

now, here is a list of my assumptions of the characters' ages based on what hints canon provides us as each season begins

s1 character ages:

arthur - 21

merlin - 19

gwen - 20

morgana - 19

the knights? come back to me in 5 business days

s2 (i'm assuming there's a year timeskip here but y'all can correct me if i'm wrong)

arthur - 23

merlin - 21

gwen - 22

morgana - 21

s3 (year timeskip, meaning we miss 1 year of stuff)

arthur - 25

merlin - 23

gwen - 24

morgana - 23

s4 (year after finale; missing a year of arthur being a regent)

arthur - 27

merlin - 25

gwen - 26

morgana - 25

s5 (timeskip of 2 years according to the wiki)

arthur - 29

merlin - 27

gwen - 28

morgana - 27

s5 finale

arthur - 30

merlin - 28

gwen - 29

morgana - 28

more analysis under the cut because goddamn did i go off

-

edit: ok so first time it didn't cut off so hopefully i fixed it

s1 ep9 the show celebrates Arthur coming of age and being officiated as the crown prince of camelot. ergo, it's his birthday and he's turning 20/21 and it's been about 20 years since the Purge Uther started after the death of his wife wherein he directed all his anger and blame to the magic community because the man can't take failure well

however, short research shows that a typical age chosen for coming of age falls around 15, 18, and 21. doing process of elimination, it can't be 15 or 18 because arthur would have to be born after the Purge began, and Uther started all of this when Ygraine died, making arthur's birth very strange if he was born after her death lol.

so, we can conclude that arthur is 21 in s1 because he turns 21 on his birthday.

Merlin, following what the canon storyline gives us, is born a year or so after Arthur's birth and Ygraine's death. given Balinor's account on how he fled camelot, he was tricked by Uther into leading many dragonlords and dragons to their death which possibly happened a couple months (at most 6 imo) since Ygraine's death. then he fled and spent some time in ealdor, meeting Hunith and they were probably together for a year? until he left again some time before she gave birth to Merlin.

so, Merlin falls into the 18/19 age range by s1

Gwen I feel could be the same age as Merlin or she's just a year older. I know she's older than Elyan but by how much i don't remember the show saying. so it's possible Gwen started off as 19/20 in s1

given these estimations, we will now try and fit them into the story's timeline and see if we're able to find a somewhat accurate assumption on where the characters' ages fall by s5.

in my mind by "Moment of Truth" (s1 ep10) it's been a year (or close to, like 10 months) since Merlin's been serving Arthur. and by the end of s1 it most definitely has been at least a year since Merlin came to camelot.

by s3 there's been a time jump: Morgana has been "kidnapped" by Morgause and Uther's had his men searching for his ward for a year at most. doing the math, that means Arthur is 24, Merlin is 23/22, and Gwen is 23/24. in s3 we do celebrate Morgana's birthday (s3 ep5) but it's never clear how old she is.

i, at first, assumed she was older than Arthur simply because she was older in the legends. of course, the legends are used more as an outline than a set script so they have her younger than Arthur. also, in the show Morgana is the illegitimate child of Uther, so, to me, it'd be strange for Uther to cheat on his wife (who he mourns in the show) rather than him just having and affair with Morgana's mother, Viviane, after Ygraine's death.

using that string of logic, Morgana probably was born a year or so after Arthur, making her closest in age to Merlin which....plot-wise is interesting now that i think about. what if they were born on the same day, same time, cementing the idea that they are one in the same yet foils of the other, each other's doom.

anyway,

i don't think i'm going to touch the knights' ages simply because that will make this post so much longer than it needs to be. i might do a separate one when i have time or when i'm ignoring my midterms lol.

but yeah, long story short: BBC Merlin is very good at being vague with time and ages but not in a way that super confusing and takes away from the plot. also it's fun to piece together the timeline of this world with the hints provided.

tldr: story takes 10 years and began when our lovely characters were in their late teens/early twenties and ended with them in their late twenties to early 30s

#fortunately for you: i have a thing for timelines #unfortunately for you: i have thing for timelines #and i also had way too much to say about this #longpost #really long post #you can just read the list tbh because that's the actual answer to your question i just had a lot of thoughts #capitalizing characters' names in the analysis just so they can be easier to find my beloved #bbc merlin #merlin meta #timeline #bbc merlin timeline analysis #arthur pendragon #merlin emrys #gwen #morgana #headcanons #i mean this is my interpretation of what their ages are so it can be considered a headcanon

[destinygoldenstar]

My headcanon on the ninjas ages throughout the series. (Feel free to disagree with me or if you think my logic is off)

Pilot/Rise of the Snakes/Legacy of the Green Ninja

Lloyd / 9/13

Kai / 16

Jay / 16

Cole / 17

Zane / 60

Nya / 14

Starting off, the ninja are definitely teenagers at the beginning of the show. I’m splitting this up based on how many seasons do I think can realistically happen in the span of one year. Also, this is obviously not the case in the movie so this applies in the show only: I don’t think Ninjago has a ‘middle school’. My idea is Elementary School, High School, and then you graduate, not counting optional college. So it’s at least a few months after Nya had graduated school by the time the Pilots happen.

So with this logic, Kai could be old enough to run a blacksmith shop. That, and another headcanon of mine is that he didn’t go to high school due to money problems, and he sacrificed his education for Nya’s. Canon that there’s a two year age gap between Kai and Nya. And I have Jay be the same age as Kai so that his relationship with Nya doesn’t become creepy from some huge age gap. (Sailor Moon, in the books, Usagi is 14 and Mamoru is 16. In the show Mamoru is 19 and… WHY?!)

Everyone says Cole is at least a year older and I do agree with that.

Lloyd is a kid. I kinda put both ages here. Because again, canon, Lloyd is the youngest, even with the potion. Spoiler, but by Sons of Garmadon has he never been aged up, he’d be twelve. Old enough for his voice to hit puberty. Now I’m not a man, I’m a cis female, so I can’t tell you how accurate man voice puberty is. But I did have a classmate in chorus class in middle school that was dormat due to vocal puberty, and he was twelve, so I’m going off of that. Again, sorry if that’s not accurate.

Zane… Ngl. I BS’d this one. There is NO WAY you can make a reasonable age for him. It just can’t be done. We don’t know how old Julien was when he made Zane, we don’t know when he died of old age, we don’t know the gap between that passing and Zane being found by Wu. There could be several years of a gap. So I most definitely got this wrong. I don’t care though. Robots don’t age. He has no canon age.

Rebooted

Lloyd / 14

Kai / 17

Jay / 17

Cole / 18

Zane / 61

Nya / 15

This season is just its own year. Gap between season 2 and 3 with the teachers career. Gap again after Zane’s death, as the ninja got all these jobs. You could argue there’s more years in the gap because of the bs technology renovations, but my argument is that Ninjago is not Earth. Earth is our world. Ninjago is its own world. Ninjago has smarter more advanced intelligent humans (Lego creatures). Earthlings are slow learners/morons.

Tournament of Elements/Possession/Skybound/Day of the Departed/Hands of Time

Lloyd / 15

Kai / 18

Jay / 18

Cole / 19

Zane / 1

Nya / 16

There’s really no significant time gap I can see. I can see all this happening in one year. You could argue Wu’s Teas makes it a year gap between Day of the Departed and Hands of Time, but Possession established the tea shop and that’s pre-shorts. If you consider Shadows of Ronin canon, I’d still say this. The whole thing is a story being told by Kai over a pizza night, so he could just be making that stuff up. It’s not clear, honestly. The only difference here is Zane. He died. He’s in a new body now. The body is what’s aging, not the soul. I almost DON’T consider Pilot-Rebooted Zane and Tournament-onward Zane the same character. But I think that’s just because of the writing quality for this character.

Sons of Garmadon/Hunted/March of the Oni

Lloyd / 16

Kai / 19

Jay / 19

Cole / 20

Zane / 2

Nya / 17

This is very obvious that the Oni Trilogy is one year. I don’t think anybody’s going to argue with this. And again, Lloyd, age potion or not, would realistically hit puberty at this time. And the others wouldn’t.

Plus, this works because they said that Kai and Jay were 'still teenagers' but 'grown up teenagers'. And 19 fits that description. The only other questionable thing is Nya, as Jay proposes to her. On Earth, the marriage qualified age is 18, unless you’re pregnant or stupid, which is obviously not the case here. So again, Ninjago is its own world with different rules. If you can graduate school at 14, you can probably marry at 17. Not that unreasonable. Can I just say that I love the vibe of the Oni Trilogy? It allowed the ninja to grow up with the audience. We get to see them transition into adults in this trilogy. And I LOVE IT.

And they become mentors to Wu?! Golden.

I wish the Wildbrain era didn’t revert back to the status quo with their dynamic with Wu. I wish it was a follow up to their new chapter of their life and Wu was retired. Doesn’t mean you have to get rid of Wu, but the ninja would be well independent at that point. No, they didn’t de-age, but the narrative acted like it to silently push the ninja back into the teenager attitude they had at the start of the show. Because the show is for children and children can’t relate to young adults. Therefore we must keep the ninja under the roof of a sensei FOREVER.

Until Dragons Rising, anyway.

Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitsu/Prime Empire/Master of the Mountain/The Island/Seabound

Lloyd / 17

Kai / 20

Jay / 20

Cole / 21

Zane / 62

Nya / 18

I can’t see much gap between the Wildbrain era minus Crystalized. It’s all kind of one collective story if you put these together, as they act as build up for the Finale Season. Again, the only change is Zane, because canonically he’s been in the Never Realm as Ice Emperor for DECADES.

Don’t ask me how the ninja get to the Never Realm in the present but Zane was taken several years back, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitsu LOVES its plot holes. As if this show needed any more plot holes than it already had.

Crystalized

Lloyd / 18

Kai / 21

Jay / 21

Cole / 22

Zane / 63

Nya / 19

Canon. Year has passed. The reason I didn’t give Nya the treatment I gave Zane is because she returned to her body. There’s a difference between returning to your body and reforming into a new one.

I think.

I live on Earth. Idk how reincarnation works.

Pre-Merge

Lloyd / 19

Kai / 22

Jay / 22

Cole / 23

Zane / 64

Nya / 20

Arin / 8

I do think there’s some gap with the end of the main show and the prologue for this show. Can’t tell you how big of one so I’m just gonna say a year.

Dragons Rising

Lloyd / 24

Kai / 27

Jay / 27

Cole / 28

Zane / 69

Nya / 25

Arin / 13

Sora / 13

Then again, we don’t know how many years have passed since the Merge. But long enough for the ninja to be considered adults.

Keep in mind I am very weary on Jay and Cole, because they have not appeared in the show yet. We could get another Zane situation for all we know. I kind of see Arin and Sora as the same age as post-potion Lloyd, because of their attitudes being similar to Season 2 Lloyd in my opinion, especially Arin. There’s nothing YET that confirms to me that they’re different ages, but if there is something in the future, I might say Sora is a year older. (Sora’s a queen btw)

And if anyone else joins this new Ninja team, like Wildfyre or that wind girl (forgot her name), then I’ll include them.

Wow, we went from Gen 1 having only one girl in a team to Gen 2 having only one boy in a team. We’ll see. I am on board for that if that’s the case.

#ninjago #ninjago lloyd #lloyd garmadon #ninjago kai #kai jiang #kai smith #ninjago jay #jay walker #ninjago cole #cole brookstone #ninjago zane #zane julien #ninjago nya #nya smith #ninjago arin #ninjago sora

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Erica The Great Review

Warning: The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS from this graphic novel, as well as from Season 4 of Stranger Things!

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my other Stranger Things reviews, and let me know what your thoughts/theories are about the show or the upcoming season! :)

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things "The Game Master" and "Erica's Quest"

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Synopsis: Following the events of season 3, Erica has embraced her love for Dungeons & Dragons and begins organizing campaigns centered around her new D&D character: Erica The Great. At the suggestion of her mom, she enlists her friends to play the game with her. However, Erica's attempts to control D&D cause her friends to turn on her with disastrous results. Now it's up to Erica to fix things before everyone ends up in trouble.

Observations:

This is the third graphic novel since Zombie Boys and The Bully, and it's once again penned by Greg Pak, this time alongside Danny Lore. Released on January 26, 2022 (four months before season 4 premiered), it serves as an interquel between when Erica was first given the D&D books by Dustin and Lucas at the end of season 3, and when she substitutes for Lucas at Hellfire Club in the season 4 premiere. The graphic novel chronicles one of her D&D campaigns with her friends (Kelly, Tanya, and April). Compared to comics/graphic novels like Kamchatka or Into the Fire which were dark and intense, this one is light-hearted, which is welcoming. This story focuses on Erica's personal development, both in how she plays D&D, and as a person.

When it comes to discussing character development in the series, most of the fan discourse usually centers around Steve's growth and how he's evolved since the show began. While I 100% agree that he has, and that it's one of the best aspects of the show, there are times fans tend to overlook other characters who have changed as well. Two examples that come to mind are Lucas and Erica. I will cover Lucas's development when I review Lucas on the Line, but for this discussion, I'm focusing exclusively on Erica.

Erica's growth has been interesting, and as she's evolved as a character, so has my perception of her. When she was introduced in season 2, I didn't care much for her. IMO, she came off as little more than a bratty younger sister who made disdainful remarks about Lucas and his friends, and at one point (unintentionally) acted as a hindrance when Dustin was trying to get in contact with Lucas. I know there are fans who loved her snark, but I found it mean-spirited and off-putting. I get she was 9-10 years old at the time, and I know some kids tend to act like this at that age, but it doesn't make it any more pleasant to deal with. It also doesn't help she didn't have much to do with the main plot, so I didn't see a reason at the time to get invested in her.

Season 3 was different. I know fan opinions about Erica were mixed at the time, but in spite of that, I liked her better in season 3 for two reasons: 1.) From a narrative perspective, she actually had a point for being there, namely in helping Steve, Robin, and Dustin infiltrate the Russian base underneath Starcourt Mall, and later aiding Dustin in rescuing a drugged Robin and Steve. 2.) This was the season Erica's character development started to kick in. Her reasons for getting involved were initially about "Free Ice Cream for Life," but once things go horribly wrong and she's informed about what's really going on, she finally realizes the danger everyone is in and starts taking the situation a lot more seriously. On top of that, after her talk with Dustin about how she's secretly a nerd, she begins embracing that aspect of herself rather than snidely putting it down like she's done in the past.

Season 4 is where I liked Erica the most. The sequence of her helping to win Eddie's D&D campaign was fun, and it's noteworthy she didn't have to be bribed by Mike and Dustin either. She aided them because she loves the game and she see herself as Dustin's friend. As she tells Jason later when he's asking about Dustin: "Know him? I've bled with him." She still retains her snark, but it's more directed towards people who actually deserve it: Like when Eddie acts condescending towards her initially when she shows up at Hellfire Club, or even some of the barbs she throws Jason's way. This exchange especially is golden:

I love how a.) Erica clearly likes Max and approves of her relationship with Lucas, and b.) Even if she is being snarky here, she's not disapproving of the idea of Lucas going out with guys, but thinks Lucas could do so much better than Jason. 😂

Jokes aside though, I also appreciate how, in an entire room full of adults who were silent and complicit during Jason's speech at the town hall, she is the only one who wasn't afraid to stand up to Jason and call bullshit at his attempts to paint the Hellfire Club as a Satanic cult responsible for every bad thing happening in Hawkins. She knew this was going to turn into a lynch mob that would target her brother and his friends, and she was having none of it.

Initially, she does throw shade at Lucas and Dustin when they're caught by the police and lie about what they're doing, but when she's informed about what's actually going on, she willingly drops everything to help them escape (and judging by her unsurprised look at Lucas's explanation, she probably already figured out the recent deaths, combined with Lucas and Dustin's suspicious behavior, had something to do with the Upside Down). She later does everything she can to stop Vecna along with the rest of the group, and helped save Max's life (following El restarting her heart) by getting emergency respondents there to stabilize Max's condition before it got worse.

Adding on to this, I love how season 4 subtly shows Erica caring about Lucas without the constant snide jabs. Like Erica coming to all of Lucas's basketball games on her own accord (minus the one she missed for Hellfire Club). Or staying in the hospital with Lucas while Max recovers. Or even rushing to Lucas's aid after overpowering Andy. Lucas on the Line also expands on her protective side towards Lucas, such as getting angry when Lucas gets called a racist slur by someone on the basketball team, or even being worried for Lucas when he's made the target of a bomb threat at school.

In Stranger Things tradition, Erica is someone who appears one way on the surface, but has a lot more hidden depths to her character.

This brings me to the interquel Erica The Great: Much like the short story "Erica's Quest," Erica is still developing her skills as a D&D player at this time, and is looking for people to play with her. The story kicks off when her mom suggests inviting her friends to do a campaign despite their unfamiliarity with D&D.

Her friends eventually agree, but problems arise when they have a hard time understanding how the game is played. Erica doesn't help by being impatient and dismissive when they question things. There's also the fact Erica is more interested initially in getting the glory and credit for herself rather than genuinely wanting to work with her friends, resulting in them feeling inconvenienced.

Naturally, this pisses Tanya off, and she leaves to get her mom's bird (a parakeet) to show off to April and Kelly as a way of one-upping Erica. A fight breaks out between them over this, resulting in the parakeet getting loose and flying next door to the house of Erica's neighbor, Miss Dorothy.

Because she knows Tanya will get in trouble with her mother for losing the bird, Erica agrees to get it back for her, all the while dealing with Miss Dorothy's dog and a bunch of other obstacles.

If you've followed along to this point, you can already guess what kind of story this is, and how it plays out: Main character starts out selfish and self-centered. Catastrophe occurs, forcing them to work with others to solve the problem. Through trial and error, they eventually learn the value of teamwork, acknowledge their faults, and grow as a person.

While the plot itself is formulaic, it works here for Erica in bridging parts of her character development. Not only is she learning to be a better player and Dungeon Master, but she's also learning to be a better friend to those around her. She was already beginning to show signs of this towards the end of season 3, and season 4 acts as the culmination of that. This graphic novel shows the big leap forward for her. She's starting to shed her "It's All About Me" attitude while also taking responsibility and learning that it's okay to rely on others for assistance instead of doing everything on your own.

On top of that, regardless of whether or not this was intentional from the writers, I like how the graphic novel serves as a nice deconstruction of the "Mary Sue/Author's Self-Insert" archetypes and how obnoxious they are. The character Erica creates and uses in D&D initially resembles that: She's presented as perfect in the game with no meaningful flaws she has to work through. She's naturally great at everything she does, and both the game's narration and her "companions" are just there to prop her up. Rather than making her look awesome, it just makes her character an uninteresting scene-stealer. This contrasts hard with Erica outside of the game where she's called out for her flaws, works through them, strengthens her friendship with the other girls as a result, and likely takes what she's learned and applies it to the game to make "Erica The Great" a better written and more compelling character. By the end, she's even giving her friends the chance to add their own spin to their D&D campaign because she recognizes it's important for them to try out their fun ideas.

And I get that through all of this, Erica's still a kid who's around 10-11 years old at this time, and that certain levels of being self-centered are expected. I even get creating fantasy worlds at that age where you're the main character of your story, who does everything perfectly and is constantly hailed for your amazing accomplishments. I did the same thing myself when I was growing up, so I recognize I'm not in a position to judge others on that account. However, in the context of this story, it's still nice seeing that growth from Erica.

Something else that's fun is how the quest to get the parakeet back is viewed through Erica's imagination as a D&D adventure. From Erica's perspective, the parakeet is a fiery Phoenix, Miss Dorothy is a mysterious witch, and her dog is a Cerberus. You can tell the artists had a lot of fun with these scenes:

I also love the small detail of Erica starting her D&D Campaign at "Starcourt Tavern," which is fittingly symbolic for the place where her story and first encounter with elements from the Upside Down began:

One tiny question I have though: Where is Tina in all of this? She's been repeatedly name-dropped by Erica and Lucas in seasons 3 and 4, and yet she hasn't made any appearance on the show or in this graphic novel. We get Kelly, Tanya, and April, but we don't get Tina.

Oh well! 🤷

On a final note, in regards to where they take Erica's story in season 5, I'm wondering if she and Lucas will spend most of their time together for the last season as they deal with Vecna's impending invasion. The ominous ending for season 4 certainly suggests that:

Since Erica's also in the hospital with Max at this time, I wonder if she might even have a role in resuscitating Max from her current coma.

Additionally, I also believe that since the comics and season 4 placed a heavy emphasis on Erica's skills and knowledge as a D&D player, she may end up employing them in a way that brings Vecna's downfall in the final season. There's even an argument to be had that the scene of Erica in "The Hellfire Club" rolling a 20 for the team and defeating the D&D version of Vecna is foreshadowing that she'll have an important role to play in the Party's fight against Vecna.

Overall, a fun graphic novel that does a great job enhancing Erica's continuing character development. Check it out when (and if) you get the chance!

#stranger things #erica sinclair #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #eddie munson #max mayfield #jason carver #vecna #stranger things comics #stranger things season 4 #stranger things season 3 #tgh opinions #tgh reviews #the duffer brothers

[indieyuugure]

i don’t think i’ve seen anyone mention it but i love how you changed art styles for the 12 boys, like while they were in their universe they looked more round with their anime eyes, whereas when they transfer into the rise universe they take on the rise style. i love that little detail it adds so much. i also wanted to ask how old the 12 boys are? i know they were celebrating their birthday in the beginning but i don’t know if you specifically stated how old they were turning?

OMG! Thank you! I took me so long to decide how I wanted to draw the ‘12 boys in the rise universe. I based the whole concept of this off the last three episodes of season 5, the one were the 87 turtles go to the 12 universe. I loved how they didn’t just stick 2D characters in a 3D world and vis versa, so I wanted to copy that! I’m so glad you noticed! ^v^

And as for your other question, I’m just going with 16, since in the series it seems that other then their 15th birthday being the first episode, they never mention having another birthday pass, which seems like if it did, that’d be a great episode plot. Plus, I mean if you add it up, s1-3 is supposed to be roughly 6-8 months with a 3 month jump between s2 and s3, and half of s4 is the same 6 months relived. Then there’s s5, but I don’t consider a lot of s5 to be canon just cause it seems a little too wacky to be real, so I just assume the entire series spans about a year.

I’m not actually sure if I ever specified their age. I thought some of 12 April’s dialogue stated that, but it’s possible it got cut in re-wording, idk

Thank you for your question! 🤩

[saltygilmores]

In Defense of Jess Mariano's Summer Birthday

This is my loose theory on his birthday and there will definitely be big gaping holes in this. Please also bare in mind it's been three years since my last full rewatch (of the first 4 seasons anyway) and I'm currently in the middle of crawling through season 2 again. This post is a disaster so please bear with me lol There seems to be pretty a consistent timeline established within the show (new seasons of the show almost aways begin in September/ late summer within their world, which helps a lot when you're trying to date something that happened). Since it's been 3 years and my brain is swiss cheese, please feel free to chime in with your thoughts and deflate my theory as you may. Jess arrives right as Rory is starting school. September. It is immediately established he's already 17 years old at that point (pokey hole: they retconned a lot of things that were established in his first episode, like how long his parents had been together so who knows, maybe he was actually still 16) His age is rarely mentioned outright, although I do remember one of his season 4 episodes where Luke and Liz are discussing his whereabouts; she says he’s 19 now and wants nothing to do with her.

Season 2=17 Season 3=18 Season 4=19 With that in mind I afforded him the longest possible timeline to have a birthday and decided it would have been right before he arrived in Stars Hollow, in August or September. If he had had a November or December birthday he would have turned 18 quickly early in season 2 and by season 3 he would be 19 already. Rory's birthday is in October. In 6x8 she had just celebrated her 21st. He acknolwedges that it had just passed, so this episode would have taken place in November? My theory was he would have already had to be 21 (the drinking age in the US) to get into the bar where he drank with Logan and Rory so at the very least that would have eliminated most of November or a December birthday. However people like to poke holes in this theory stating that either the bar wasn't carding anyone (since it was a college bar) or he had a fake ID. Jess says to Luke in 3x6 that he's still a minor, but going by my loose observation of either the Gilmore Girls or a real world timeline, over a year had already passed at that point since he arrived in Stars Hollow as a 17 year old. He was already 17 in early September when he arrived in s2 and in this s3 episode (the one where Rory and Lorelai egg his car because they suck and are awful) it appeared to be deeper into fall rather than summer (the episode aired on November 5 2002). It's only 3 episodes ahead of Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving takes place in late November, just for your information if you're not American). So I've decided to poke my own hole in the "I'm underage" comment and chalk it up to Jess being a sassy asshole. A sasshole. Besides this episode being the one where Luke finds out he has a car AND he makes the comment about being a minor, it is also the episode where it's revealed he's been working at Walmart (driving a forklift). I don't know about the laws in 2002, but as of 2023, in the state of Connecticut you have to be 18 to drive a forklift. Maybe this was a shady Walmart that happily violated child labor laws, but seeing as Jess' Walmart manager was one of the only people who ever believed in his potential, I don't think he would exploit him like that. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Feel free to deflate them to death and I will update the post if need be. I do want to add one more thing: Based on her mugshot (lol) we know Rory was born in early October 1984 but graduated high school in 2003. I was born in February 1984 and graduated in 2002. Clearly Rory missed the kindergarten cutoff due to her October birthdate and had to start school a year later than most of her fellow 1984 babies. I support the theory that the same thing could have happened to Jess in order to put him in the same grade as Rory. But school cutoff dates vary so wildly that could really put his birthday anywhere from September-December. Even though this would contradict my own theories, it’s an idea that makes sense for the November/December birthday theory so I can support it.

#jess mariano #jess mariano's birthday #this post is a mess #forgive my swiss cheese brain #gilmore girls #feel free to share your thoughts #and if I left anything out #Luke probably mentioned his age once or twice #the girlies on Twitter would 'celebrate' it on some arbtirary day in April #I think they got it off a Gilmore Girls wiki or something #but no idea where they sourced that date from #I'm team “last 6 months of the year”

[mindflayerapologist]

Just posted one rant gonna post another that doesn’t even fucking matter but this has stayed with me since 2016 and it still pisses me off especially given Noah Schnapp coming out earlier this year…

I remember when Stranger Things first came out in ye olden days of 2016 a pretty sizable portion of the fandom was already married to the idea that Will was gay (and like, obviously, it was implied from the very beginning and now we have actual confirmation), and although he had less of an active fan base given his admittedly small role acting wise (even though the entire season/show revolves around him) people who latched on latched on hard. Anyways, all this is to say that Noah saw this online and made an instagram post saying he didn’t know why people had to make Will gay and couldn’t he just be a sensitive kid and yadda yadda, yadda… now I have my own thoughts about how a 10 almost 11 year old was given an incredibly large platform from a young age and how that was probably incredibly scary and maybe we shouldn’t force kids to be spokespersons even if it is about their own character, but the thing that was insane to me is that people were getting genuinely pissed at him. Like, it’s unfortunate but you can’t really expect an 11 year old to be comfortable with most romantic stuff (does anyone remember the jimmy fallon or whatever episode where Millie Bobby brown described how after kissing Finn Wolfhard she got up and yelled “kissing sucks!” Or whatever), let alone speculation about sexuality even if it’s their character. It’s not like he was mean about it anything either, but he was, again, literally 10 years old when season 1 started filming.

I remember in particular this one tumblr user who has since deactivated I’m pretty sure essentially berate him on their blog for not being open-minded enough, and at the time they had their age as 20 in their bio! I know that Noah came out with a somewhat jokey video but he also did say in it that had been scared to come out for years, and I can’t help but wonder if shit like that, not the headcanons or theories ofc, but the confronting him or at least posting about him in a mean tone, made him more scared to come out. And this is just one example of adult fans being awful to the ST kids when they were younger. Finn Wolfhard was sexualized for years by adults before he turned 18, which he was open about being uncomfortable with. I was 14 when the show first came out and I fucking remember that people had to make memes/put on their blog that they don’t sexualize the cast because it was such a prevalent issue. God. I miss the feeling of the first two seasons but I do not at all miss the way the fandom used to be.

#stranger things #noah schnapp #will byers #finn wolfhard #rant #ST

[curiositydooropened]

Apple Scent

You worked for the apply orchard off Curly, how festive

Pairing: Eddie Munson x female!reader

Wordcount: 1228

Warnings: Fluff? Pining, maybe? Please let me know if there's something I missed. It's just cute, this one.

---

You worked in an orchard off Curly. Eddie knew because you’d dropped the ole truck off at the garage and didn’t give your name. Your grandpa, or your boss, the Crypt Creeper, picked it up a week later, that grumble busted out of the engine. He also knew because he asked Robin, described you in perfect detail, like the treasure trove of The Lonely Mountain, and Robin knew your name and occupation with a wave of her hand. 

“She’s older than you,” she scrutinized. You were Robin’s sister’s age. “So like, ancient.” 

That one hurt, but Eddie refused to bristle, instead forcing her and Steve to help him plan his trip to the orchard to see you again. They were, of course, no help. Steve asked if he had anything “less… black” in his wardrobe, and Robin suggested he bring Henderson along for the ride. As if Dustin wouldn’t open his stupid, adorable mouth and ruin the suave demeanor Eddie liked to pretend he possessed.

“So you’re just going to the orchard… by yourself?”

He felt the crease in his forehead, furthering this idea of being an old man, and he nodded, hair tickling the sides of his cheeks where stubble at begun to grow. “Is that a problem?” 

“Your funeral, dude,” Steve shrugged. It was Harrington’s favorite phrase lately, you know, after Eddie’s actual funeral.

“Whatever. Fuck you very much. I’ll see you tomorrow when I have a date.” 

Eddie really was all bark and no bite, wasn’t he? His hands actually trembled against the steering wheel as he pulled into the little embankment of a parking lot. Three or four other cars scattered the spaces, too early in the season for proper festivities or too early in the day for families. He turned off the ignition and wiped clammy palms on the torn thighs of his jeans. 

The barn greeted guests with brightly painted signs promising cider and caramel just inside. He made a loop, the scent of cinnamon and sugar tickling his nostrils and filling him with the warmth of nostalgia. He’d come out here with Jeff’s mom when he was a kid, three-wheeled it with Gareth and a girlfriend once. He glanced around display tables overflowing with shiny apples, reds and yellows and greens, and the only employee that particular morning was a jolly man whose cheeks resembled the merchandise. 

Eddie shuffled through his earnings from the garage to exchange a wad of bills for two dozen fritters. He knew the sight would bring that twinkle of joy into Uncle Wayne’s eyes, and Dustin would be able to smell them in his car, so he’d be required a handout there too. He thought about asking the jolly man if you were working, but decidedly quickly against it the moment the jolly man’s face fell to scrutinize Eddie’s wardrobe. 

Eddie gulped and thanked the man, cheeks aching from the widest of grins, heart thundering as it did with any social interaction anymore. Terrified they’d call the cops on him, pull out a shotgun. Hawkins never fully went back to trusting him. Even after he saved their asses. 

With slumped shoulders, he carried his haul back to the vehicle, but stopped when he spotted a little white sign on the far end of the lot, with handprinted red lettering. “U-PICK.” He deposited the goods and locked his doors before following a little wooden arrow down a weather-worn path into the orchard.

Lush greens faded to bright yellows, the beginnings of autumn kissing the leaves of trees along a root-hobbled path. Eddie made sure to step around rotted droppings after the soles of his Reeboks had squished into a few, expelling sweet sticky juices and adding a slip in his footing. He kept on the trail, darting around and under mangled limbs until he could see a red wagon at the base of a tree, just up ahead.

The red wagon was brimming with apples in baskets, and a gloved hand dropped another onto the pile, creating a ripple effect as they all rolled downwards into the basin of the wagon. His sightline followed the rungs of a ladder and denim-encased thighs, and he ducked around one last low-hanging branch until he saw you, nose scrunched in distaste exactly as the day he met you in the garage. 

“Hi,” he breathed, in awe at the way the sun kissed the frizz of your hair golden delicious. 

You yelped, surprised at his appearance, and you would have fallen from the ladder had he not caught it. You clutched at your chest, gloves dampening spots in your t-shirt, and you heaved a few deep breaths. “Jesus fucking Christ.” 

“I prefer Eddie.” 

You didn’t look impressed, but Eddie hoped smiling at you would help. You huffed hair from your eyes, in vain, and proceeded to shake out of one oversized glove to slap your hair up away from your forehead. “What do you want?” 

“Is that any way to speak to a customer?” He wrapped his knuckles against the top rung of the ladder.

You furrowed your brows so tight a cute little crease formed between them, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss it away. “You’re the kid from the garage.” 

He nodded, held a hand out for you to shake. “Eddie. Or, Jesus fucking Christ.”

You rolled your eyes, didn’t shake his hand, but he felt successful when he heard the snort of air out of your perfect nose. “Shouldn’t you be in prison?” You climbed down from the ladder, which he held against its rattle, and tossed both gloves atop the mound of apples in your wagon. 

Eddie shrugged. “Didn’t do anything wrong.” 

You hummed and scrutinized him for a moment. 

He wrapped a new rhythm on the ladder, a Metallica beat worming its way through his brain, and he watched the trail of your eyes from his sneakers back to his eyes. He smiled again.

“You want apples or what?” 

“I uh…” He puffed his chest up, mind immediately racing with the shit Harrington had pounded into his brain. None of it felt applicable. He shook the hair from his eyes and took a deep breath before absolutely spewing, “I actually want to take you on a date.” 

You blinked at him then, face alarmingly neutral. 

He leaned forward, balls of his feet squishing into wet grass, the scent of ripe apples sickeningly sweet in his nostrils. A bee buzzed nearby, or maybe that was just the ring in his ear due to the silence you left him in.

You leaned down to pick up the handle of your wagon, and turned to walk off, the apples tumbling off in your wake.

As much as he enjoyed to watch you walk away, he scurried to your side, narrowly ducking under a rogue limb. “So… what do you think?” 

You sighed, but never stopped your stroll, no matter how many apples fell from the buckets and onto the ground behind you. He watched your shoulders roll to your ears and drop. “Okay.” 

He stopped dead in his tracks. “W-what?” 

You threw your head over your shoulder with a laugh. “I said, okay. Pick me up here at 7 tonight.”

Eddie swallowed and nodded, that familiar kick filling his stomach. He nodded. “Alright.” 

“I like Chinese!” You yelled over your shoulder before disappearing off between the trees. 

---

A/N: Is there anything more festive and autumnal than working at an apple orchard? I just love the vibes. All vibes. And now I desperately want apple fritters. Yummmm. (And Eddie, also yum.)

#eddie munson fluff #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #eddie munson