#November 1 1986

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer 1986

"Livin' on a Prayer" is a song by the American rockband Bon Jovi, and is the band's second chart-topping single from their third studio album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, the single was well received at both rock and pop radio and its music video was given heavy rotation at MTV, giving the band their first number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and their second consecutive number 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit. It also hit number four on the UK Singles Chart.

After Bon Jovi performed in New Zealand on January 28, 2008, while on their Lost Highway Tour, the song re-entered the official New Zealand RIANZ singles chart at number 24, over twenty years after the initial release. In 2009, the song returned to the charts in the UK, notably hitting the number one spot on the UK Rock Chart. In November 2013, the song made its return to the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 25, due to a viral video.

"Livin' on a Prayer" is the band's signature song, topping fan-voted lists and re-charting around the world decades after its release. In 2013, the song was certified triple platinum for over 3 million digital downloads and has since sold over 13 million worldwide making it one of the best selling singles of all time. The video reached 1 billion views on Youtube (the band's second song to do so) on February 1, 2023. The song describes two characters, Tommy and Gina, who are also referred to in Bon Jovi's 2000 single "It's My Life".

"Livin' on a Prayer" received a total of 88,6% yes votes!

[loz-furbies]

Zelda ages based on when their games came out. Welcome to the team EoW Zelda!

Characters and design thoughts under cut:

For starters, I did a similar Zelda piece a few years ago and ran into the problem that I can't really draw anything else than anime teen girls, which is kind of a problem in a drawing where half the characters are above 20 and their age differences are the whole point. And in addition almost everyone is supposed to be royalty with very similar clothes too. But in my defense, in general it can be pretty hard to tell the ages of 25 to 40 year old anime women anyway.

I needed a reference for the body proportions in order to even get started, so I quickly thought "who is an anime woman who doesn't look like a teenager", and used Yor's character sheet for assistance. The younger characters' proportions are a little inconsistent, since I couldn't choose if I would look at realistic growth chart or go with the anime look (where teens and children are often shorter than they would be in real life) so the result is this weird hybrid.

Four Swords (December 2, 2022) & Four Swords Adventures (March 18, 2004) - Chronologically they are different Zeldas even though they use the same promo art/character design, so I used the promo art design for the original FS Zelda and drew the FSA Zelda based on her sprite. There's not much to these designs, they have very little going on in terms of story or personality to use as inspiration and their character design doesn't offer much anything original when compared to the other more well known Zeldas either. Their only distinct element is the big red hair bow, but I thought it would look too childish when they're supposed to be in their twenties here.

Minish Cap (November 4, 2004) - There's not a lot MC Zelda that I could use for inspiration. But then I remembered that a while ago I wrote about how the pointy hat Queen Ambi wears should be used more often, so I thought I should put my money where my mouth is and draw it here, since Zelda does wear a red cap for a couple seconds in MC. In general the MC Zelda and both FS Zeldas are at a little awkward age for this picture, since they're too old for youthful child designs but not really old enough for more mature queenly designs either.

Skyward Sword (November 18, 2011) - Her design is based on her concept design, which I assume is meant to be her casual look and not the ceremonial costume she wears in the game.

Ocarina of Time (November 21, 1998) - I decided that age-wise she makes the cut of when I start using updos. Why do the Zeldas have such similar canon hairstyles anyway, it was surprisingly boring to work with them. Still not sure about the curls though, my fancy dress design artbook that I used for inspiration had so many cute curly hairstyles but I couldn't really use any here because I worried the characters would become unrecognisable. But since OoT Zelda had some curls in her "sideburns" she fell victim here.

Hyrule Warriors (August 14, 2014) - HW Zelda has a distinct enough design from the other Zeldas that it gives a lot of elements to work with, though her age here limits it a little since she's too young for bikini armour. Also because HW is a spin off, I also considered including the Cadence of Hyrule Zelda, but that led to the realisation that it would have opened the doors to CDI Zelda as well. Which I guess would have been fine, but this is already a pretty wide drawing full of adults, so while a Cadence of Hyrule Zelda would have been easy to fit on the front row, I couldn't justify adding even more adults just for the CDI games. So only HW is included because I've played it and actually like it.

Zelda 1 (February 21, 1986) - The original Zelda is at an age where it's a little awkward how there's little difference between her (38 years old) and OoT Zelda (25). But I couldn't think of any anime that would help me as reference here, and I don't think she's old enough to have that "this character is getting old" wrinkle under her eye (you know the one).

Echoes of Wisdom (September 26, 2024) - I think she looks a bit too old here to be a zero-days-old newborn but work with me here.

Breath of the Wild (March 3, 2017) - She's actually at the age where her mum died, poor girl. She's very refreshing to work with since her look is so different from the other Zeldas.

A Link to the Past (November 21, 1991) & A Link between Worlds (November 22, 2013) - Originally I also had the Oracles Zelda in this since she does have a unique design, but then again I consider the Oracles Link to be the same as in aLttP which ought to apply to Zelda as well, plus the design isn't unique in any interesting way and is just a combination of the OoT & aLttP designs, so in the end I just gave the Oracles Zelda sprite's hair buns to aLbW Zelda. Overall having to use the essentially same design for both aLttP and aLbW Zelda wasn't much fun, especially when neither really offers anything notable in terms of story or personality, but at least they're pretty far apart when it comes to age.

Twilight Princess (November 19, 2006) - I haven't played her game so I don't know a lot about her (other than reading the manga which didn't give me anything to work with either) and she's also close to her canon age (?) here so she ended up looking pretty similar to her canon design.

Spirit Tracks (December 7, 2009) - This was a tough one because technically ST Zelda does have a lot of elements to her story and character that could work for a redesign, but not really for the purposes of this picture. Anything train related is more of Link's thing, and anything ghost related doesn't really fit either since she's not supposed to be a ghost at this age. And as for the Phantom, I got the impression that while she learned to appreciate it, she didn't exactly like using it, and that personality-wise she would prefer not to go on another similar adventure. So In the end I just replaced the regular armour parts many Zeldas have in their designs with the Phantom armour and used the ghost palette for the rest of her look, and I kind of like the result. Her personality looks a little out of character though but I couldn't resist the opportunity to draw this with Grandma Tetra.

Wind Waker (December 13, 2002) - I haven't played WW so I'm not sure how accurate this is, but drawing her with the pirate design definitely added some much needed variety to this picture. I really like her twirly hairstyle in canon, but I also really wanted to draw her with short hair, so it had to go. Maybe ST Zelda can style her hair in a twirl when she gets older to compensate?

The Adventure of Link (January 14, 1987) - Really don't know what happened here, not particularly happy with the end result. I prefer to draw the Zelda 2 Zelda with her sprite design because just reusing the OG Zelda design is boring, but I really should have kept it closer to that since now she's practically unrecognisable.

[kevindavidday]

Twinyards Timeline:

Ages have been adjusted due to them being born in November. For e.g., they would turn 12 in 1998 but would spend majority of 1999 as 12 year olds.

November 4, 1986: Andrew and Aaron are born a few minutes apart. (Andrew is older.)

November 5, 1986: Tilda Minyard gives both of the twins away

November 12, 1986: Tilda takes Aaron back, leaving Andrew to foster care.

November - December, 1986: Andrew is registered as Andrew Doe in the foster system

1994: Andrew (Age 7) is sexually assaulted for the first time

1999 (January - October):

Andrew (Age 12) is moved to the Cass & Richard Spear's household (12th foster home.)

His foster brother, Drake Spear is somewhere between the ages of 18-28 as he has already joined the Marines.

Drake's abuse towards Andrew begins.

November 1999:

Aaron (Age 13) and Tilda Minyard go from San Jose to Oakland to meet her boyfriend at a Raiders game.

Aaron finds out about Andrew through Officer Higgins.

Officer Higgins gives Tilda's number to Cass Spear, who calls to set up a meet and greet, which Tilda declines.

Drake begins to threaten Aaron which makes Andrew disinterested in meeting him.

Aaron goes behind Tilda's back to contact Officer Higgins. He gives his information for them to pass along to Andrew.

Andrew sends back a letter which 'basically' says "Fuck you. Go away."

Aaron withdraws his attempts at communication (being the first to respect a rejection from Andrew)

Cass writes to Aaron telling him to try again in spring.

March 2002: Andrew (Age 15) goes to juvie in an attempt to get away from Drake. He begins to play Exy at juvie.

May 2002: Aaron moves from San Jose to Columbia

2003:

Luther Hemmick flies to California to meet the Spears and Andrew in juvie.

A month after his visit, Luther sets up a supervised 30 minute meeting between the twins (Age 16) where they meet for the first time.

2004:

Andrew (Age 17) receives early parole and Luther convinces Tilda to take him in.

Andrew confirms Tilda is abusing Aaron. He makes a 'no girlfriends' deal with Aaron till highschool graduation. Tilda's abuse continues.

A few months after staying with them, he stages a car crash in which Tilda passes away.

Nicky (Age 20) returns from Germany and takes up role as the twins legal guardian.

Andrew locks Aaron in the bathroom as a DIY rehab attempt.

Andrew beats up 4 people, almost killing them, and is put on medication and court-ordered therapy.

Early 2005:

Kevin approaches Andrew with an offer to join the Ravens which he rejects.

Wymack approaches Andrew, Aaron & Nicky with an offer to join the Foxes.

Fall 2005:

Andrew, Aaron & Nicky join the Foxes. Andrew and Aaron extend their deal to college graduation.

December 2005: Kevin arrives with a broken hand

2006:

Andrew makes a deal to protect Kevin.

Andrew gut punches Neil Josten with a borrowed racquet.

Thirteens:

1) Aaron and Nicky are simultaneously Andrew's thirteenth and first family.

2) The twins are thirteen when they meet.

3) Betsy is Andrew's thirteenth therapist.

Unknowns:

1) The pace at which Andrew's foster homes were switched.

2) When Aaron began to play Exy, presumably to stay out of the house to avoid Tilda.

3) When Andrew began to hurt himself.

Other Timelines: Kevin Day, Jean Moreau & Neil Josten (234)

[corrodedcoffinfest]

Corroded Coffin Fest Pop-Up: Good Fortune

As we head into 2025, let's all look for a little Good Fortune where we find it. All entries must be posted on January 1st, 2025.

Your prompts come from this group of fortunes I collected and saved from fortune cookies. Use either side of the slip to find your inspiration:

(A text version of the fortune prompts can be found under the cut at the bottom!)

You may interpret these fortunes into prompts in any way you'd like, as long as you've focused on one or more members of Corroded Coffin. Use the fortune, use the word, use a lucky number, or if you're extra ambitious, use a full slip: Fortune, word & a lucky number! It's all up to you. Just read the guidelines below and have fun!

GUIDELINES:

Please tag us here at @corrodedcoffinfest when you post your entries so we can reblog them!

Ring in the new year with a fic word count between 250-2025 words. I'll use wordcounter.net to check your word count before reblogging. You'll get a comment from this blog with a "🥠" when it's been checked and added to the queue.

Submissions can be connected to other prompts from the pop-up, but they should still be able to stand alone.

Feel free to use the ao3 collection after you've been reblogged here!

All submissions should include which fortune you've used, any pairings featured, a rating and any content warnings (CW) or tags that you think are appropriate. All explicit material needs be under a cut. All ships are welcome, as long as they include at least one member of Corroded Coffin: Eddie, Jeff, Gareth & Freak. Please put the prompt you are fulfilling as well, just to keep things straightforward. A sample could look something like this:

Prompt #4: Your example will inspire others. | Word Count: 1986 | Rating: T | POV: Gareth | Relationships: None | CW: None | Tags: Corroded Coffin, Famous, On the Road

For the artists! Art is definitely welcome! Any entries for the prompts must be Corroded Coffin focused, using any combination of the guys, together or solo. Of course, other characters can be included, too! But you need to have at least one of the CC band members in it for it to count for this pop-up event. Thank you!

Please submit your entries between 12:00 AM EST and 11:59 PM EST on January 1st, 2025.

Good luck! 🥠

Text versions of the prompts:

#1 - Your love of music will be an important part of your life | November | Lucky Numbers: 6, 47, 17, 56, 51, 55

#2 - You have a heart of gold. | Neck | Lucky Numbers: 33, 21, 2, 19, 4, 53

#3 - It is sometimes better to travel hopefully than to arrive. | Family | Lucky Numbers: 55, 41, 32, 54, 28, 5

#4 - Your example will inspire others. | Mayor | Lucky Numbers: 39, 34, 4, 44, 5, 52

#5 - Adventure can be a real happiness. | Quench one's thirst | Lucky Numbers: 44, 50, 10, 19. 56, 23

#6 - Everyone feels lucky for having you as a friend. | Strawberry | Lucky Numbers: 1, 8, 56, 25, 19, 30

#7 - A single kind word can keep one warm for years. | Mouth | Lucky Numbers: 48, 13, 46, 27, 31, 18

#8 - Your mind is filled with new ideas, explore them. | Supervisor | Lucky Numbers: 4, 33, 38, 18, 54, 20

[liliesmultiverse]

⋆ˊˎ-•̩̩͙- *̩̩̥͙ pretty little liars reality intro!!

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ reality info!!

: ̗̀➛ it is currently august 25, 2024 just before the start of season 1)

: ̗̀➛ ella was born in 1984

: ̗̀➛ ella doesn’t ever get back with byron bc he’s a judgy little shit and i don’t like him. at all. 😌

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ about me!!

name: liliana amore black

nickname(s): lily, lils, lil, anne, annie

age: 16

date of birth: september 10, 2007

birthplace: rosewood, pennsylvania

ethnicity: french-italian

height: 5'4"

occupation: high school junior

sexuality: bisexual

pronouns: she/her

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ my backstory!!

: ̗̀➛ i was born on september 10, 2007 in versailles, france to sirius orion black iii & cerese kaia black née di angelo. i am the paternal niece of regulus ara black ii. my parents & i moved to rosewood when i was 3 years old. i've been best friends with alison dilaurentis since we were 5 years old after we met in kindergarten and the two of us became as close as sisters. a few weeks after she disappeared, my parents moved us to paris, france and that's where i've been living for the past year. a few days after moving to paris, i met scarlett & elias and the three of us became close very quickly. three weeks ago though, me & my parents moved back to rosewood into our old house.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ my dad!!

name: sirius orion black iii

nickname(s): dad, siri

age: 37

date of birth: november 3, 1986

birthplace: versailles, france

ethnicity: french

height: 6'1"

occupation: lawyer

sexuality: bisexual

pronouns: he/him

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ my mom!!

name: cerese kaia black née di angelo

nickname(s): mom

age: 37

date of birth: january 30, 1987

birthplace: florence, italy

ethnicity: italian

height: 5'3"

occupation: artist

sexuality: bisexual

pronouns: she/her

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ my future husband!!

name: sterling aaron rose

nickname(s): ster

age: 22

date of birth: march 27, 2002

birthplace: rosewood, pennsylvania

ethnicity: greek-mexican

height: 6'4"

occupation: bartender

sexuality: pansexual

pronouns: he/him

our trope: best friend's brother, secret relationship

other info: he's the older half-brother of aria & mike, he was an accidental pregnancy, he’s never met his birth father and doesn’t really care to, he’s been best friends with jason since they were 5

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ my best friends!!

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The Year In Doom & Gloom

Doom & Gloom From The Tomb celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, which is crazy. But what can I say, I keep finding cool live tapes and keep feeling compelled to share them with you ... whoever you are! A lot of this website is just me talking to myself, hashing and rehashing and re-re-hashing various obsessions, getting impossibly niche about some of my favorite artists, trying to shine a light into the darkest corners of music history. But that makes it sound like it's a serious endeavor. Mostly, it's fun. I hope it's fun for you too. So, if you need to catch up, here's a tip-of-the-iceberg rundown of what we checked out over the last 12 months ... as always, thank a taper!

Lou Reed - Sister Ray in the 70s

“Candy Says” - Lou Reed, Kongress Zentrum, Hamburg, Germany, March 29, 1979

Lou Reed - October 1974

Lou Reed - Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge, England, October 13, 1972

Lou Reed - City Hall, Sheffield, England, June 1, 1974

Lou Reed - Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, May 14, 1974

Lou Reed - Parc Des Expositions De Colmar, Theatre De Plein Air, Colmar, France, August 12, 2004

The Modern Lovers - Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 27, 1972

The Modern Lovers - Sword in the Stone, Boston, Massachusetts, 1972

The Modern Lovers - Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, February 23, 1974

Foggy Notion - The Bowery Ballroom, New York City, December 13, 2023

The Feelies - Daniel Street, Milford, Connecticut, July 22, 2011

John Sinclair - BAR, New Haven, Connecticut, September 28, 2003

Meg Baird + Chris Forsyth, Cafe Nine, New Haven, Connecticut, October 26, 2022

John Fahey - McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, December 1979

The Go-Betweens - The Gatekeeper To Your Soul

Frank Black - Wetlands, New York City, June 13, 1994

Jacobites - Hearts Are Like Flowers

The Replacements - The Ritz, New York City, June 21, 1986

Willie Nelson - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, California, December 20, 1997

Neil Young - Razor Love (1984-2020)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Control The Violent Side

“Peace Of Mind” - Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Community Theater, Berkeley, California, November 2, 1976

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan, March 4, 1976

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, October 31, 1996

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, California, October 1 / October 2, 1994

Fairport Convention - Harlow Town Hall, Essex, England, June 15, 1974

Richard & Linda Thompson - Dublin Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, November 10, 1979

Robyn Hitchcock & Richard Thompson - “First Girl I Loved (Incredible String Band),” The Barbican, London, England, July 19, 2009

Can - Nordseeheilbad, Cuxhaven, Germany, January 7, 1976

Bob Dylan and The Band - “Nobody ‘Cept You” (Outtake)

Bob Dylan & The Band - Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 3, 1974

Patti Smith - Max’s Kansas City, New York City, September 1, 1974

Patti Smith Group / John Cale / Television - The Palladium, New York City, December 31, 1976

Television - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, California, December 9, 1992

Television - Roseland, New York City, October 2, 2004

Grant Lee Buffalo - Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, England, October 11, 1994

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Vredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands, December 4, 1982

Wilco - Orpheum Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, October 19, 2002

[voguefashion]

Bond Girls on Vogue (Part 1)

Ursula Andress

British Vogue, April 15, 1966, by Duffy

Vogue Paris, June/July 1972, by Rene Chateau

Tania Mallet

British Vogue, July 1961, by Eugene Vernier

British Vogue, July 1962, by Henry Clarke

British Vogue, October 1, 1963, by Duffy

British Vogue, April 15, 1964, by David Bailey

Claudine Auger

Vogue Paris, November 1971, by Henry Clarke

Britt Ekland

British Vogue, June 1966, by David Bailey

Vogue Italy, July 1967, by David Bailey

American Vogue, April 15, 1969, by Gianni Penati

British Vogue, September 1969, by Barry Lategan

Maude Adams

British Vogue, September 15, 1966, by Saul Leiter

Barbara Bach

American Vogue, July 1966, by Richard Avedon

Carole Bouquet

Vogue Paris, May 1994, by Dominique Issermann

Talisa Soto

British Vogue, September 1983, by Patrick Demarchelier

British Vogue, December 1983, by Albert Watson

Vogue Germany, December 1983, by Albert Watson

Vogue Italy, May 1984, by Hiro

British Vogue, August 1984, by Albert Watson

British Vogue, September 1984, by Paul Lange

British Vogue, February 1986, by Lord Snowdon

American Vogue, April 1989, by Patrick Demarchelier

Vogue Spain, May 1988, by Eric Boman

Famke Janssen

Vogue Italy, March 1987, by Hiro

Michelle Yeoh

Vogue China, October 2022, by Agnes Lloyd-Platt

Vogue Taiwan, November 2022, by Agnes Lloyd-Platt

Sophie Marceau

Vogue Paris, August 2003, by Inez & Vinoodh

Vogue Paris, May 2007, by Mario Testino

Vogue Paris, May 2014, by Mario Testino

Vogue France, April 2024, by Quentin de Briey

[heroesriseandfall]

Canonical Batfamily Birthdays

Here are all the birthdates I know of that are canon somewhere in DC, with a preference for the main comics continuities. I have included exact sources and image references when possible. I am not including character introduction dates, just actual birthdays.

If you find any other sources for Batfamily birthdays, please do share!

A moment of silence for Batfamily characters who don’t have canonical birthdays yet, so far as I know. This includes Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, and more. :(

Summary

Source images will be further down, but here’s an overview in roughly age order (I’m not sure of Kate vs Selina’s ages) with the dates the birthdays were introduced and used:

Tim Drake: July 19th (from 2003)

Jason Todd: August 16th (from 2004)

Cassandra Cain: January 26th (from 2002)

Helena Bertinelli: February 14th (in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold universe, from 2010)

Helena Wayne: September 7th (from 1984), potentially October 20th or the 22nd of unknown month or maybe October 22 or maybe Feb 28th (all the New 52 on passports from 2011-2012). These could also be New 52 Helena Bertinelli’s birthdays or nobody’s birthdays. who even knows.

Dick Grayson: March 20th (from 1995), October ~24th ish (from 1990), November 11th (from 1976), December 1st (on Earth-16 in animated Young Justice universe, from 2012)

Barbara Gordon: September 23rd (from 1976), sometime in fall (from 1987)

Selina Kyle: March 14th (from 1976)

Kate Kane: January 26th (in Batwoman TV series from 2020), March 21st? (word-of-god by J.H. Williams III from 2012)

Bruce Wayne: October 7th (from 2021), February 19th (from 1970s various to more recently), April ~7th (from the late 1940s)

Jim Gordon: January 5th (from 1976)

Alfred Pennyworth: April 8th (from 1976), August 16th (in the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, from 2016)

Note: in this post when I say “main comics continuity(s)/universe” I’m referring to anything that’s been a “home” continuity for the comics at some point. For example, pre-Crisis Earth-2, Earth-1/New Earth, and Earth-0/Prime Earth, as opposed to Elseworlds or DCEU earths that are still part of the broader DC multiverse but have never been the primary continuity of the comics.

Below are further details and source panels.

Details and Sources

Tim Drake

Tim has only been given one canon birthday. He turned 16 on July 19th in Robin Vol. 2 #116 (cover date Sep 2003).

Robin Vol. 2 #116 (Sep 2003)

Jason Todd

Jason turned 18 on August 16th in Detective Comics #790 (March 2004). This is his only canon birthday.

Detective Comics #790 (Mar 2004)

In post-Crisis/preboot (1986-2011) continuity, there was a gap of six months between when Jason died and when he was resurrected (Batman Annual 25). Jason died April 27th according to his death certificates in Batman Annual 25 and Batman Files 2011, so he would’ve resurrected near late October.

Batman Annual 25 (May 2006)

So, it could be that post-resurrection Jason is biologically 6 months younger than he chronologically should be. But honestly, do we even really know what multiverse-breaking resurrection punches and then a Lazarus Pit on top of that do to someone’s body??? Either way it’s just much more simple to just use his chronological age.

Cassandra Cain

Much like Tim and Jason, Cass has only ever been given one birthdate: January 26th from Batgirl Vol. 1 #33. With that birthday, she turned 18 in Batgirl Vol. 1 #37.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #33 (Dec 2002)

When Jan 26th actually comes, Bruce suggests David Cain could’ve lied about it, but Cass denies that idea and continues to treat the day as her birthday.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #37 (Apr 2003)

Why it's likely her real birthday: Bruce initially believes Cain must’ve lied because he doesn’t think Cain could’ve known her birthday. However, we later learn Cain had lied about her origins and was actually her biological father. Batgirl v1 #62 and #73 show he was there for her birth and could absolutely know the date.

On top of that, in Batgirl #37 Cass remembers celebrating her birthday with him as a child, so he did seem to actually keep track of it. I honestly don’t see any reason to believe he’d lie (Bruce is just a jealous spoilsport).

Helena Bertinelli + Wayne

I’m combining them here because the New 52 gives me a headache.

Helena Bertinelli celebrated her birthday on February 14th in a spin-off comic from the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold series. This is obviously not part of regular comics continuity and the characters differ from the usual comics in many ways. And yet, for reasons that will soon be clear, it’s my favorite for actually being about Helena Bertinelli the Huntress and for not being an utter mess.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14 (Apr 2010)

In a character profile at the end of Infinity Inc. #7 (Oct 1984), Helena Wayne’s birthday was September 7th, 1959. Calculating back from October 1984, that would make her 25 at the time.

During the New 52, Helena Bertinelli was initially portrayed as a long-dead (secretly alive but don’t worry about it) mobster’s daughter and replaced by Earth-2’s Helena Wayne who got stranded on Prime Earth. This H. Wayne stole H. Bertinelli’s identity in the form of several forged passports and IDs, which had hints toward birthdates. The question is, can we take any of those birthdates seriously, and if so, which birthdates and for which character? (Cue my headache.)

Skip ahead to Dick if overthinking fake passports sounds boring.

When comparing to a real Italian passport, the date on H. Wayne’s fake Italian passport appears to be a birthdate. Note that the fake name is Carol Bertinelli, not Helena. H. Wayne said her IDs were inspired by H. Bertinelli but clearly she’s taking liberties for the IDs so that’s a point toward these being useless for H. Bertinelli birthdays.

Huntress Vol. 3 #1 (Dec 2011)

I don’t recognize the month abbreviation as a real abbreviation, but from the visible letter O I’m going to assume it means October. If it is, then the date is 20 October 1985. Sidenote: a 1985 birthdate during 2011 could put her age at about 26, which is actually quite close to how old she could’ve been based on pre-Flashpoint! 1985 has been given as Helena Wayne’s death year before, so it’s an interesting choice of a birth year for her. (Thanks to DC’s sliding timescale, though, birth years don’t actually mean anything in the comics.)

They don’t show her complete US passport, but I can see a “22” in line where the day of the month should be for her birthdate. This already contradicts the previous passport. This one uses Helena Bertinelli’s actual name, though–does that make it more relevant than the Carol one or this all still ridiculous because of the discrepancies?

Worlds’ Finest Vol. 1 #1 (Jul 2012)

We can try to glean the US passport birth month from the passport number at the bottom. The first two digits (“12” here) indicate the agency that issued the passport. 12 means the Honolulu agency. Right after “USA” is supposed to be the birthdate plus an extra number, in the order of year/month/day with the year being the last two digits of a year. Here we encounter another problem. It says 810228. This would imply her birthdate is 1981/02/28. That’s February 28, 1981. Since the earlier line indicated her birthday fell on a 22nd, this already contradicts itself.

Interpreting a Machine Readable Zone (MZR) on a Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD)

However, I’d bet comic writers and artists aren’t always well versed in passport numbers (it’s already a stretch for me to bother checking it…). If they put the extra digit before the birthdate instead after, and the date is formatted month/day/year (the most common format in American English, so probably their first instinct), then we can drop the first 8 and it’s 10/22/8[?] with the last digit unknown. This would put her birthday as October 22, sometime in the 1980s. The 22 matches the earlier line, the October might match the previous passport if that really did say October (but contradicts the 20th), and the 1980s year could be 1985 to match the Italian passport.

At the end of the day I’m personally just going to let Helena Bertinelli be a Valentine’s born baby and call it a day, unless/until she gets a better one in the comics. For Helena Wayne I’d easily pick September 7th.

(My question is: did they give the crossbow vigilante a Valentine’s birthday as a Cupid joke??)

Dick Grayson

Dick has probably had the most birthdays of everyone (unless Bruce has more I don’t know about). All of them have their drawbacks.

In a main comics continuity, his most popular and most recent is “the first day of spring” so probably March 20th. This comes from Robin Annual 4 when his mom says she calls him Robin because he was born on the first day of spring. That presents some problems since there are other explanations given for the origin of “Robin,” including that his mom said he was “always bobbin’ along” (Dark Victory #12, page 17) or the original inspiration of Robin Hood (Detective Comics #38, p3).

Robin Annual 4 (Jun 1995)

Before that, in Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990), Marv Wolfman wrote a version of Dick’s origins where Dick turned 10 a week before his parents died on Halloween. That would make his birthday October ~24th (presuming that “a week” before Halloween literally means 7 days here).

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #50 (Aug 1990)

The first drawback of the October birthday is that it’s tied to Dick being 10 when his parents die on Halloween. Dick’s age and the date his parents die change a lot depending on the writer (Nightwing Vol. 1 #1 says his parents died June 27th, Dark Victory #8-9 says May, etc.). The second drawback is that few people remember this version of his birthday even exists.

Dick’s birthday is November 11th in Super DC Calendar 1976. Note: Despite being a non-diegetic calendar from almost 50 years ago, this source remains well known and used among comic enthusiasts (including those working at DC). Generally, I would say it should mainly apply just to pre-Crisis continuity, but it is also useful for characters that haven’t gotten updated birthdays ever since (like Roy Harper, Barbara Gordon, or Selina Kyle, for example).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Sidenote: Since Damian doesn’t have a canon birthday, November 11th is favorite to steal for my own fan canon Damian birthday. Dick has plenty birthdays to share and I think it’s cute. @ DC, give Damian and Steph birthdays, they’ve been birthday-less for decades!

Indeed, DC writer Tim Sheridan and editor Mike Cotton debated whether Dick’s birthday was in March or November. They favored March 20th and wrote a birthday scene in Teen Titans Academy #1 (published March 23rd, 2021). The publishing time near Dick’s birthday was intentional, though the date isn’t mentioned within the comic itself.

Link to tweet

The above birthdays were all meant to apply to a main comics continuity at some point. However, Earth-16, better known as the animated Young Justice universe (therefore outside of main comics continuity), says YJ Dick’s birthday is December 1st.

Young Justice Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 2012)

Unlike Helena Bertinelli, Dick has plenty of comics birthdays to choose from, so personally I’ll only count Dec 1st as being the birthday for YJ animated/Earth-16 Dick Grayson until or unless it’s ever mentioned to apply to main comics continuity.

Barbara Gordon

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Barbara’s birthday is September 23rd.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Since then, the only time I recall her birthdate hinted at is in Secret Origins #20 when her adoptive mom says her birthday is in the fall. This could support her birthday being September 23rd.

Secret Origins Vol. 2 #20 (Nov 1987)

Although she has celebrated her birthday on panel since then (the end of Nightwing Vol. 2 #153), she hasn’t been given any other actual birthdate. So I’ll keep September 23rd and call it a day.

Selina Kyle

Super DC Calendar 1976 says Selina’s birthday is March 14th. Once again, although it hasn’t been mentioned within a comic, it’s stuck around in popular consciousness (see: Catwoman actress Zoë Kravitz wishing Selina a happy birthday on March 14th).

Super DC Calendar 1976

Selina celebrated a birthday on panel in Catwoman (2002) #37 but the date was never mentioned. I don’t know of any other reference to her birthday, but my reading of Selina is thus far more sparse than my reading of the others.

Kate Kane

Kate’s birthday options all come from outside of the comics themselves.

In “An Un-Birthday Present,” season 1 episode 11 of Batwoman, a parallel version of her twin Beth had a driver’s license showing her date of birth as January 26, 1990. She and Kate later celebrated their birthdays on an episode aired Jan 26th, 2020. I don’t keep up with live action DC shows so I unfortunately can’t offer a screenshot (if anyone has one or the timestamp, please let me know!).

(I kinda wonder if somebody looked up Batwoman’s birthday for these episodes, saw Batgirl’s (Cass’s) birthday, and just ran with it. Batwoman and a Batgirl sharing a birthday is just. Ughhh.)

In 2012, one of her comic writers tweeted to choose a random date for her birthday and picked March 21st, which so far as I know has never been used as her birthday in comics.

Link to tweet

Bruce Wayne

Bruce’s most popular birthday is February 19th, but his most recent one is October 7th from the digital-only comic Legends of the Dark Knight. I believe that’s the only time October 7th has been referenced, but I’ve heard the animated show The Batman said his birthday was in October (can’t confirm, haven’t watched it recently).

Legends of the Dark Knight #10 (Jun 2021) - Note: two pages have been combined into one for this post

Still, even associates of DC seem to remember his February 19th birthday better. In February 2023, Warner Bro’s Gotham Knights game did a sale for Bruce’s birthday. I’ve also heard the birthday was used in the Gotham TV show, but again, I don’t watch much live action DC shows.

The February 19th birthday appears to come from the 70s and 80s. It’s his birthday in the Super DC Calendar 1976, and in Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (May 1977). Bob Rozakis (known as DC’s “Answer Man”) said Feb 19th was Bruce’s birthday in the letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980).

Letter column of Detective Comics #494 (Sep 1980)

Batman Family Vol. 1 #11: “Suprise, Suprise!” (Jun 1977)

Super DC Calendar 1976

Way back in the 40s, his birthday was in April, possibly April 7th. During a birthstone murder mystery, Bruce says his birthstone is a diamond, which is traditionally the April birthstone.

World’s Finest Comics #33/6 (Mar-Apr 1948): “The 5 Jewels of Doom!”

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949) might imply the exact date was April 7th but we’d have to assume the party is on his birthday and that “this month” refers to the publishing month of April. I believe this is where people get the April 7th birthday when they bring it up.

Star Spangled Comics #91 (Apr 1949)

Early April also shines in Batman: Year One where it shows Bruce’s first night out as Batman being either the night of April 6th or the early morning of April 7th (Batman #405). So although the April Bruce birthday hasn’t been used in decades, it’s still a Batman birthday in a way.

I have also heard people say Frank Miller considered Bruce’s birthday to be in November. However, I have yet to find an original source of him saying that, and honestly (just like the “March 21st” birthday for Kate) if he never used it in any canon material I don’t put much weight in that.

Jim Gordon

The only birthday I’ve ever seen for Jim is January 5th from Super DC Calendar 1976.

Super DC Calendar 1976

Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred’s birthday in Super DC Calendar 1976 is April 8th.

Super DC Calendar 1976

In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe (an alternate reality where the video game of the same name is set in), they show Alfred’s birth certificate, where it says his birthday is August 16th, 1943.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Five #26 (Jun 2016)

Maybe you’ll notice that August 16th is Jason’s birthday. A little funny considering the issue features Alfred refusing to share his birthday only for us to learn it’s the same date as Jason’s. Still, annoying. There are so many days in the year! Stop choosing the same ones!

This Alfred birthdate runs into a similar problem Helena’s birthdates did: it’s not part of main comics canon, it’s an alternate universe, so it may not be applicable to the main comics universe.

Note: if we calculate that 1943 birth year from Jun 2016 when the comic was published, that’d make Alfred 72 soon to be 73. Does that mean anything in canon? Probably not, but oh well. Also...token British character born by Windsor Castle? …of course.

Personally, I would rather go with the April 8th birthday than the Injustice one, since Injustice is an alternate universe. Also, outside of the humor of it, the idea of Alfred and Jason sharing a birthday is a bit too much for me. Still, it’s up to people’s own cherry picking.

Chronology

The birthdays in publishing order alongside notable reboots. A soft-reboot refers to reboots that only changed a few details with minor consequences, keeping the overall continuity mostly intact. A major reboot has significant effects on continuity (too many to list).

1935-1986: Pre-Crisis era (Golden Age begins ~1946, Silver Age runs from late 50s--early 70s)

Mar-Apr 1948: Bruce’s birthday is in April

Apr 1949: Bruce has a birthday party on the 7th of “this month”

Skipping a good three decades because I barely even know what’s in there. Sorry lol

Mid 70s to early 90s: Bronze Age era

1976: the super dc calendar says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th, Alfred’s is April 8th, Dick’s is November 11th, Babs is September 23rd, Selina’s is March 14th, Jim’s is Jan 5th

Jun 1977: Bruce celebrates his birthday on February 19th

Sep 1980: letter collumnist says Bruce’s birthday is February 19th

Oct 1984: Helena Wayne’s birthday is on September 7th, 1959

Mar 1986: the major Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot (begins post-Crisis/New Earth era, many previous comics are now considered Earth-2 instead)

Nov 1987: Babs birthday is in fall

Aug 1990: Dick turns 10 a week before Halloween (probably October ~24th)

Sep 1994: Zero Hour soft reboot (Batman and Robin become urban legends so Robin is not allowed on video, Bruce’s parents’ murderer is changed to unknown instead of Joe Chill, Selina is no longer a once-prostitute)

Apr 1995: Dick’s birthday is the first day of spring (probably March 20th)

Oct 2002: Cass learns her birthday is January 26th

April 2003: Cass turns 18 on January 26th

Sep 2003: Tim turns 16 on July 19th

Mar 2004: Jason turns 18 on August 16th

Jun 2006: Infinite Crisis soft reboot (Joe Chill is restored as the arrested Wayne family murderer, Superboy-Prime's punch retroactively resurrects Jason)

Apr 2010: In the Batman: Brave and the Bold universe, Helena Bertinelli celebrates her birthday February 14th

Oct 2011: the major Flashpoint reboot (end of post-Crisis/preboot, begins the New 52 and changes the primary universe to Prime Earth; significant character/timeline changes and erasures)

Dec 2011: Helena Wayne’s fake Carol Bertinelli passport seems to list October 20th as a birthdate

Jul 2012: Helena Wayne’s fake Helena Bertinelli passport lists some 22nd unknown month, Oct 22nd, or Feb 28th birthday

Sep 2012: Batwoman writer J.H. Williams III randomly picks Kate’s birthday as March 21st on Twitter

Nov 2012: Earth-16/YJ animated Dick Grayson celebrates his birthday on December 1st

Jun 2016: In the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe, Alfred’s birth certificate says his birthday is August 16th

Jul 2016: Rebirth reboot (restores some pre-Flashpoint continuity, some characters regain previous histories but now semi-synchronized with the New 52 era)

Jan 2020: Batwoman TV show Kate celebrates her birthday on January 26th

Mar 2021: Writer Tim Sheridan says he & his editor chose March 20th as Dick’s birthday over the November option

May 2021: Infinite Frontier holds all previous continuities as potential canon, restoring more of pre-Flashpoint

Jun 2021: Bruce says his birthday is October 7th in a digital-only comic

Feb 2023: Gotham Knights game has a sale for Bruce’s birthday

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things (1x06): “The Monster” Review

If I were to pick an episode that’s arguably my least favorite from season 1, it would be “The Monster.” Ironically, it has nothing to do with the writing (which is just as good as the previous episodes) or even the production value (which remains top-notch). Even in terms of the episode’s place in the overall mythology, it’s an important one in giving answers about the Demogorgon, the Gate, how El knows about the Upside Down, and who El is and where she came from. It’s also the one that starts the trend of the last few episodes of a given season taking place within a 24-hour period:

Episodes 6-8 in Season 1 take place on November 12th, 1983.

Episode 6-9 of Season 2 mostly take place on November 4th, 1984 (give or take a few hours from the day before and the day after).

Season 3 has Episodes 6-8 take place on July 4th, 1985.

Season 4 has Episodes 8-9 take place on March 27th, 1986.

Meanwhile, the events of each season happen over the course of a week (not counting the time jumps in the season finales). A lot goes on in a short period of time, and it’s amazing how much these characters have to process during all of that.

From what tidbits have been given about season 5 starting in the Fall of 1987 and continuing through to 1988, it looks like the show will finally break this pattern and have the last season take place over the course of several months. Considering how the S5 BTS photos hint at a war breaking out between the U.S. Military and the Upside Down, this should be interesting.

Getting back to this episode, regardless of how important it is to the show, and what trends it kicked off, it’s one I don’t enjoy rewatching for the same reason I don’t enjoy “Holly Jolly” and “The Flea and the Acrobat:” It spikes my anxiety, and it features all of the characters I’ve grown to loathe this season (Tommy, Carol, Troy, James, Connie, and Brenner) in the same episode. Joy. 😒

It could be worse though. This may not be my favorite episode, but I don’t think it’s awful, and there are positive parts to it that help balance out its uglier aspects. “Vecna’s Curse,” on the other hand, was an episode so steeped in mean-spiritedness that I was left questioning if I was going to enjoy the rest of season 4. Thankfully, things got better afterwards, but I HATE that episode with a fiery passion, and still feel a spike of anger whenever I think about it. At least with “The Monster,” given the way things turn out in later seasons, I’ve made my peace with it.

Let’s get started…..

Part 1: Steve’s Lowest Point

Ordinarily, I’d wait till the end of the review to talk about song choices, but I’m breaking that rule here because the particular song they chose for Steve doesn’t just factor into this episode and his character, but has also been used as part of the promotion for season 5: "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart.

I remember listening to this song constantly in high school. The ominous synth combined with the enigmatic lyrics always made it intriguing. The fact I was going through an 80s music phase at the time also helps. As I’ve gotten older, I still enjoy listening to the song, but I have noticed it has a certain “edgelord” quality to it, and while it doesn’t lower my opinion of the song, it gives it a certain context that I’ve started to view it through.

The singer is projecting a specific image on the surface to the listener: He’s in control. He’s an observer coldly watching events play out before him. “I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can, watch you weave then breathe your story lines.” The first part of the song initially gives the impression this is someone who is dangerous enough that you wouldn’t want to mess with them. Wearing sunglasses at night, when people can’t see your expression, reinforces the idea that they are masking their emotions.

But then we get to the singer’s inner thoughts, and it specifically refers to a woman. We don’t know what their relationship is in the context of the song, but we do know she causes conflicting feelings in the singer: “While she's deceiving me, It cuts my security, Has she got control of me?” This woman, whomever she is, has brought out an insecure side to the singer. His confidence is an illusion. We don’t know the circumstances behind why he feels this way, but we know he believes this woman has deceived him (whether or not she has is ambiguous), and left him vulnerable. And it leads to him lashing out:

“I turn to her and say: Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades, oh-no. Don't masquerade with the guy in shades, oh-no. I can't believe it, Don't be afraid of the guy in shades, oh-no. It kinda scared you, 'Cause you got it made with the guy in shades, oh-no.”

The song eventually builds up to a crescendo, and there’s a sense of panic and desperation in the song, including the lyric “I cry to you” which sounds more like a plea than an affirmation.

Insecurity is probably one of the ugliest emotions one can feel. Lack of self-confidence. The feeling of inadequacy. If one isn’t careful, it can lead them to making seriously damaging choices down the line that they’ll later regret.

And that’s exactly what happens with Steve in this episode.

It’s not a coincidence narratively that this song plays while Steve is driving to Nancy’s house with Tommy and Carol. I’ve talked before about the subtext regarding Steve’s interactions with Tommy and Carol, and how he’s slowly starting to lose patience with their nasty behavior. We even see this when Steve gets angry at Carol snide jab about his sensitive side. These two are the epitome of toxic friends feeding into Steve’s worst insecurities, and there’s an ugly implication that if Steve ever showed any vulnerability in front of Tommy and Carol, they would have ripped him to shreds for it by belittling him, calling him weak, or engaging in some other mean-spirited put-down.

In any case, Steve was savvy enough to realize something was off about how Nancy acted in the previous episode, but he wasn't expecting to see Nancy and Jonathan together in her room. The way Joe Keery plays the scene of Steve peeking through the window is brilliant, going from brief happiness, to shock, to hurt, to anger. All within a scene that lasts about 10 seconds. Never let it be said Joe Keery can’t act.

Then we get to the infamous slut-shaming at the theater and how bad Steve’s behavior gets.

I remember the first time I saw this (when I still had a negative impression of Steve) that I had reached my limit with Steve at this point. I don’t hold it against Nancy for slapping him. I also don’t hold it against Jonathan for finally snapping after the nasty comments Steve makes about his family and Will. My sister even pointed out this aspect on rewatch: Contrary to what Flo tells Nancy at the police station, Jonathan was trying to get Nancy to leave with him. It wasn’t until Steve brought Will into the conversation that Jonathan struck back.

And just like when El smashed Angela’s face in with the roller-skate, I cheered when Jonathan started punching Steve. This confrontation had been building up for several episodes, and it finally explodes here.

Rewatching this scene again, knowing how Steve turns out in later seasons, my feelings of anger towards Steve aren’t as intense as they were back in 2017. Don’t get me wrong: He deserved the beatdown he got, but I did notice subtext with him that I missed the first time.

First thing noteworthy is that, while Tommy, Carol, and Nicole are spray-painting the slut-shaming rhetoric on the walls (I wouldn’t be surprised if they all grow up to be future internet trolls when social media becomes a thing), Steve isn’t. He doesn’t look happy to be there. Just angry and disgusted. Even when Nancy confronts and slaps him, his demeanor doesn’t change. This isn’t like Angela from season 4 who relished in her cruelty and looked for any excuse to bully El. However awful Steve’s behavior is here, I buy that he’s genuinely hurt at what he perceives to be a betrayal from Nancy, and he wants her to know that. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, but it puts his motivations in a different context beyond Tommy, Carol, and Nicole who are just doing this for shits and giggles.

The other notable thing is that once Jonathan throws the first punch, Steve fights back. It weird, but I remember a few years ago I had a former mutual (who has since deactivated her account) that was a Jopper (Joyce/Hopper) shipper who told me this was the moment they grew to like Steve. When I asked them why, they mentioned that it demonstrated another layer to Steve's anger beyond “I’m just acting this way to be an asshole,” and that he was willing to put his fists where his mouth was. They also pointed out how Steve prevented Tommy for stepping in during this moment, even though it would have given Steve an advantage in the fight against Jonathan, because this was Steve’s fight alone and he wanted to see it through, win or lose.

I didn’t think much about this at the time, but given what season 4 did with Angela and the Lenora arc, this makes me respect Steve a little more in hindsight. He may be many things, but even at his lowest, he isn’t a Dirty Coward. Angela, meanwhile, was the kind of person who felt empowered to kick others she deemed beneath her when she thought they wouldn’t fight back, when she had the support of others to do so (whether at Lenora High School or Rink-O-Mania), and when she thought she could get away with it. Sadly, I’m aware there are plenty of people online who behave like this. Social media is full of Angelas, and it’s one more reason her character continues to be the worst.

Getting back to Steve, even the comments he hurls at Jonathan (guess Lonnie’s reputation for being a loser is common knowledge in Hawkins) sound more like he’s trying to provoke a fight with Jonathan as opposed to Angela who was stupid enough to think she could say whatever nasty thing that came to her mind and not be punished for it. Well, Steve got what he wanted. Unlike Angela though, he actually learned something from it.

Part 2: Nancy on the other end

This isn’t in reference to Nancy being in the Upside Down. We’ll talk about that later. This is in reference to the slut-shaming she experiences.

I’ve always found it bizarre how this fandom reacts whenever Stranger Things does social commentary that was relevant in the 80s and continues to be relevant today. I remember there were all these snotty criticisms (even back during season 2) about how the show was simply “popcorn entertainment” that pandered to 80s nostalgia, all while glossing over or ignoring themes those seasons explored that were grounded in reality.

Cut to season 3 when the show featured story arcs like Nancy experiencing sexism and misogyny in the workplace, or Russians meddling around in U.S. politics, and suddenly those same people were complaining about the show being “preachy” or “woke” or “SJW” or whatever derogatory word they throw at a show that dares to explore social issues. Nancy’s arc in season 3 came under fire from these bozos, who complained about the lack of subtlety, all while insisting this was never an issue for Nancy before, and that the show had no business bringing these issues up. 🙄

Given how this episode deals with how Nancy gets treated when it’s believed she cheated on Steve vs how this would have gone down if Steve had been the one cheating on her………not only do I find those criticism stupid, but also deeply unserious.

One of the shows that inspired Stranger Things was called Friday Night Lights. Set in the fictional town of Dillion, Texas, it ran for 5 seasons (2006-2011) and was centered around the Dillion Panthers football team and various other characters who made the culture of football a part of their livelihoods (especially since this was a small town that had little to offer beyond a good football team). For those who whine about Stranger Things doing any kind of social commentary, buckle up because Friday Night Lights DID NOT hold back on covering hard topics: Mob mentality, Drug addiction, Biased media, Public scrutiny, Economic instability, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Bullying, Rape, you name it and Friday Night Lights has probably covered it.

One of the arcs from the first season of that show involved a three-way love triangle between the characters of Jason Street, his then-girlfriend Lyla Garrity, and his best friend Tim Riggins. Without going into the full story (which could take a while), Jason and Lyla’s relationship was beginning to fall apart after Jason suffered a football accident that permanently paralyzed him and left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. This derailed any long-term plans Jason and Lyla had in regards to their future, and caused fractures in their relationship. For various reasons, it culminated in Lyla cheating on Jason with Tim. Jason finds out about the cheating, punches Tim, and angrily ends his relationship with Lyla. Eventually, rumors circulate around the town, and it’s outed that Lyla cheated. And just like with Nancy in this episode, the slut-shaming was as ugly as it came, with the big difference being it lasted several episodes for Lyla.

I’m not interested in talking about the reasons for why Lyla cheated as I am about the disproportionate response she got, especially in comparison to male characters like Tim and Jason. She was targeted by her cheerleading team, there were a bunch of nasty online posts calling her misogynistic names, and she got ostracized. It was vile. Meanwhile, the worst that happened with Tim is that his pick-up got trashed by the football team (who were angry over his betrayal of Jason, but didn’t want to physically hurt Tim since they needed him as a Fullback) and getting slapped by his ex-girlfriend Tyra. Even then, that was small peanuts compared to the hell Lyla went through. Jason, meanwhile, remained angry with Lyla for several episodes before they eventually reconciled and he proposed to her. However, the relationship was already having problems, and through a series of events, Jason later cheated on Lyla. Unlike with Lyla however, Jason received no blow-back from the town the same way Lyla did. The most he gets is Lyla ending their romantic relationship for good.

Both Lyla and Nancy’s arcs in the first season shed light on a common double-standard when it comes to the way men and women are judged for their relationships: If a man cheats on a woman (like Jason did) or has multiple flings (like Steve or Hopper), it’s accepted as “boys will be boys,” and the blow-back is minimal at best and nonexistent at worst. If a woman were to behave like that, they would immediately get labeled as “sluts” with all the derogatory insinuations to accompany it and an ugly reputation they’d be hard-pressed to live down.

This is a big reason I roll my eyes hard at fans who complain about the show doing social commentary in regards to Nancy working in a sexist environment at the newspaper in season 3, as if the writers haven’t been dealing with themes of misogyny pertaining to her arc since the first season. Hell, even Joyce’s storyline this season has focused on how other people judge her for being “the crazy lady” when she’s been a survivor of gaslighting from her abusive husband, and is also dealing with finding her missing son. The exploration of misogyny in the 80s (which has sadly carried over to today’s culture) has been clear and present since the beginning. If some fans missed that, and are only recognizing it now, that’s on them.

This isn’t just limited to female characters. Caleb McLaughlin did an interview after season 4 aired where he noted how dismissive fans had been of Lucas’s trauma and the racism he experienced during the show, which included Billy hating Lucas for being a black man dating Max. It really says something about how so many fans refuse to acknowledge how these characters are discriminated against to the point the actors have to go on-record and spell it out for the audience. 🙄

I seriously question if the reason the social commentary become more direct and “in your face” in later seasons is because the Duffer Brothers saw the way fans reacted (i.e. dismissing Nancy experiencing misogyny, or Lucas experiencing racism) and decided they needed a more direct approach to tackling these themes in a way the fandom couldn’t ignore. We’ll talk about whether that was successful when I review the later seasons.

Part 3: The Upside Down (and its connection to Dark Souls)

Nancy’s brief visit to the Upside Down was intense, and the way they filmed the environment felt claustrophobic. The Duffer Brothers have cited the Dark Souls video games as one of the major inspirations for how they crafted the Upside Down, and boy does it show. When Nancy was frantically running through the woods, it reminded me of the Darkroot Garden that the player is forced to venture through in the first game, with shrouded fog, ominous trees, and monsters lurking around every corner.

A big difference seems to be while the Upside Down is veiled in a never-ending night (or so it appears), Dark Souls still has sunlight as the player ventures through the land. Interestingly, when the Upside Down was initially conceived, the Duffer Brothers had the idea that it would have a time change that contrasted with Earth's. For instance, if it was night on Earth, it was daytime in the Upside Down, and visa versa. This was some of the original concept art for that:

They eventually abandoned this idea as they continued to build the world, but it is an intriguing “What if….” situation.

Regardless, both Dark Souls and the Upside Down convey worlds that are dying, with everything and everyone beginning to decay. In Dark Souls, this is based on the Age of Fire coming to an end, where the First Flame is withering, causing a curse of undeath to be placed on humans where, every time they die, they will be brought back to life, but will lose their sanity and humanity in the process until they become hollow, undead husks. The quest in Dark Souls for the first game centers on the player making a choice: Reignite the First Flame and usher in a new Age of Fire, or refuse and allow the Age of Darkness to begin. While this might seem simplistic on the surface, there’s a whole philosophical debate in the games about whether reigniting the First Flame is a good thing and the Age of Fire should be prolonged, especially since it’s a vicious cycle that’s either caused multiple people to be sacrificed to continue something that wasn’t meant to last, and whether this truly benefits humanity or the Gods who have gained power from it.

While this kind of philosophy and its parallels to the Upside Down might not have a lot to do with the situation in season 1, it does come into play in season 2 with the introduction of the Mind Flayer. It’s heavily implied that something's broken in the Upside Down, and that this isn’t the natural order. I don’t believe the Mind Flayer is similar to the gods from Dark Souls, but I do think it’s a being that has benefited from being the apex predator in that dimension's hierarchy, and it will do anything to maintain that position. Dustin speculates in season 4 that the Upside Down has existed for thousands of years, and considering its inhabitants haven't evolved in all that time, it makes me question if the Mind Flayer has intentionally suppressed any attempts at evolution to remain in power. It certainly adds a layer of motivation to the Mind Flayer beyond simply being a multidimensional conqueror: Its survival depends on keeping the status quo.

There’s also this little tidbit from Dark Souls that connects with the whole idea of the Upside Down being trapped in the past:

Will was snatched by the Demogorgon, and ended up in a replica of his world frozen in time on the day of November 6th, 1983. Even though he eventually escapes, the Upside Down still remains stuck on that day, and hasn’t evolved past that. Was this intentional on the Mind Flayer’s part? Or was this an accident that the Mind Flayer is upset about and wants corrected?

Finally, in regards to the flashback El has of meeting the Demogorgon for the first time, we see it eating from some kind of egg (see the first picture above). When asked what the egg was supposed to be, Aaron Sims Creative, the visual artists who worked for the show, offered this explanation:

“The egg was a design for something you actually see a couple times in the show, whether you recognize it or not. There are a couple encounters where we see the Demogorgon hunkered over, eating something - when Nancy goes into the Upside-Down through the tree, and when Eleven finds the creature in her “vision”, it’s hunkered over this egg, feeding off of it. It’s not clear whether or not this is the creature’s offspring - we don’t even know if it’s the same species. The only info we have is that the creature is feeding off this egg somehow.”

Considering what’s been revealed about the slugs and pollywogs from season 2, I’ve gone with the theory that the egg belongs to a different creature in the Upside Down that the Demogorgon eats, and one that could possibly be introduced in season 5 if the Duffer Brothers intend to expand on the type of monsters lurking in that dimension.

Part 4: Nancy and Jonathan

In regards to Nancy getting out of the Upside Down, The Other Side reveals that Will was present in the area when the Demogorgon was hunting Nancy. The reason it didn’t chase Nancy down is because Will intentionally used himself as a distraction so that the Demogorgon would come after him and Nancy could escape:

Something I should have mentioned before: I want to be careful about referencing the tie-ins because I know it’s hotly debated about which ones are a part of the canon (and in some cases, like Suspicious Minds, Six, Into The Fire, and Summer Special, they are not), but considering that the Duffer Brothers gave approval for The Other Side to be written (and likely shared details with Jody Houser regarding what was happening with Will in the Upside Down during season 1), and until they come out and say otherwise, Will enabling Nancy to escape is something I accept as canon because a.) It allows Will to be an active participant in the story, and b.) It showcases his selfless side, which I admire.

Getting back to Jonathan and Nancy, their interactions were the highlight of this episode for me. Jonathan comforting her was sweet, and that image of them cuddling together lives rent-free in my head. It’s two scared teens finding solace with one another after a traumatic event. Jonathan also trying to reassure Nancy that Barbara was still alive (even though we now know she wasn’t) is also heart-warming.

Nancy’s line about the Demogorgon hunting alone causes me to raise an eyebrow on rewatch, especially given how we see demodogs attack Hawkins Lab as a unit in season 2, and later would work with a different Demogorgon in slaughtering the Russians at the Kamchatka Prison in season 4. I get she's acting with what limited knowledge she has in this scene, but given what's revealed later, I still believe the Demogorgon they’ve encountered this season is under Vecna’s control, and that its actions are more calculated than that of an animal. I’m sure Vecna allows the beast to feed (because even Demogorgons need good protein), but the idea it operates alone has been disproven by what we've see in later seasons. It operates according to how Vecna and the Mind Flayer want it to. Maybe there’s some kind of animalistic instinct that can override that control (like Nancy’s suggestion that it can smell blood from a distance), and we will see that played with in season 2 when Dustin briefly adopts D’Art.

On top of that, while I buy the Demogorgon hunts at night (when it’s colder), it still showed up briefly at Steve’s house during the day in “Holly Jolly” when Nancy went back to check. Was it just lurking in the area at the time, or did it have the intention of taking Nancy before she left?

The scene of both of Jonathan and Nancy at the store buying the bear traps, gasoline, and bullets for the gun was fun. I’m glad the show revisited this idea in season 4 when the Party went to buy weapons and supplies to take down Vecna. Their storyline of attempting to trap the Demogorgon to kill it reminds me of the plot of Stephen King’s Christine. Even the movie itself inspired the teens' costumes for season 1.

Christine was the first Stephen King book I ever read (back in 9th grade), and I was excited to see the movie when I started doing these reviews. I wouldn’t say it’s the best adaptation of his books, but it is decent and has fun moments that make it worth rewatching. The fact John Carpenter directed this movie is a major plus. 

In any case, Jonathan and Nancy’s story parallels what Dennis and Leigh go through: Both teenagers deal with a malevolent entity that’s “taken” someone close to them, and they are fighting to get that person back while stopping the monster behind it all. In Stranger Things, it’s Nancy and Jonathan trying to rescue Will and Barbara from where the Demogorgon has them trapped. In Christine, it’s Dennis and Leigh trying to rescue Arnie Cunningham from Christine’s corrupting influence (in the book, it’s the spirit of Christine’s previous owner, Ronald D. LeBay, that acts as a corrupting influence through Christine). Both groups of teenagers eventually set a trap for the monster. In both cases, it ends bittersweet.

Another aspect that’s paralleled has to do with the romantic relationships. While Jonathan and Nancy don’t sleep together, Steve believes they did, and it leads to Nancy getting slut-shamed and Steve having the crap beaten out of him by Jonathan (who had reached his breaking point). In Christine, Arnie’s arc is an inversion of Jonathan’s: He’s initially a bullied nerd that Dennis has to protect before he buys Christine and gets a boost of self-confidence, to the point he begins dating the popular girl, Leigh. However, that initial self-confidence takes a darker turn when Christine’s malevolent influence begins to corrupt Arnie, driving away Leigh (who can sense some insidious presence within the car) and putting a wedge between him and Dennis, eventually resulting in Arnie becoming an antagonist. As for the bullies who targeted Arnie, they end up on the receiving end of Christine’s wrath when she hunts them down and gruesomely butchers them. Dennis and Leigh’s fight against Christine has more to do with Arnie’s soul, though it eventually becomes for his life towards the end. It doesn’t particularly help that Arnie’s behavior drives Leigh into Dennis’s arms (similar to how Steve’s behavior drives Nancy to Jonathan). While Arnie and Leigh had broken up at that point, he still sees Leigh getting together with Dennis as a betrayal, and it sends him over the edge. Compared to Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan, who at least manage to reach some kind of peace by the end of this season, that doesn’t happen with Arnie, Leigh, and Dennis. Stranger Things is a lot more hopeful. Christine is a tragedy.

Part 5: Joyce, Hopper, and Terry Ives

Time to talk about another movie that was inspirational for Joyce’s costume design, and even factors into Joyce’s and Terry Ives’s story: Silkwood.

Silkwood is a 1983 biographical film based on a former laboratory technician named Karen Silkwood who worked at a nuclear fuel production facility in Oklahoma (Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site) owned by the Kerr-McGee Corporation. This facility specialized in making MOX fuel rods for nuclear reactors. Because of the facility’s unsafe practices, which led to employees getting radiation poisoning, as well as upper management’s willingness to cut corners (like altering weld sample radiographies to hide defects) and punish employees who spoke out against them, Karen became a union rights activist who attempted to gather documentation about what was going on while also fighting for the rights and safety of workers.

The movie explores how Karen did this, while also showing how it put a strain on her personal life, led to her getting the cold-shoulder in the company from employees who were afraid of losing their jobs, resulted in her getting contaminated with plutonium, and ultimately led to her death.

If the movie sounds bleak, that’s pretty much how it played out in real life: On her way to a meeting one night for an interview with The New York Times to expose Kerr-McGee’s corrupt practices, Karen was found dead on the side of the road in what appeared to be a car accident. The circumstances surrounding her death have been hotly contested, with some believing it was a deliberate attempt on her life to prevent her from speaking out. The fact that documents she gathered and allegedly had with her the night she died were never found in her car only makes this more suspicious.

Karen’s death sparked public outrage and led to a federal investigation into the Cimmaron Plant. After finding that huge amounts of plutonium had been misplaced and that security there was below standards, it led to the plant being shut down within a year. Several years later, Karen’s family sued Kerr-McGee. While the company refused to admit to any wrongdoing, they did settle with the family out-of-court in 1986 for a total of $1.38 million dollars.

While Karen was an inspiration for Joyce’s character (both in costume design and personality), I was struck by the parallels between Terry and Karen. Both women ended up going against “The Man” (as Becky would put it) and in both cases, “The Man” won (at least in the short-term). Terry’s lawsuits against Brenner amounted to nothing, and as we see in season 2, when she finally took drastic action by breaking into the Lab to rescue El, it ended badly for her.

Terry’s character from the Montauk pitch was drastically different from how she is on the show. It’s one of the changes the Duffer Brothers made that was for the best:

I made this clear in my first review, but in case it needs to be stated again: Given our current climate of people on the Right AND the Left who’ve promoted misinformation/disinformation that's caused a significant amount of damage, I have zero patience for conspiracy theorists. It’s why I’m glad the Duffer Brothers moved away from the Montauk conspiracy crap and developed their own mythology. It’s also why I prefer how Terry is written on the show: While her story is tragic, it’s also sympathetic. This is a woman who was taken advantage of (and most definitely had Vecna’s blood given to her during the experiments when she was pregnant with El), was repeatedly gaslighted, had her daughter stolen from her, and yet did everything she could to bring her back while also trying to locate other special kids (like Kali/Eight) who'd been taken. This isn’t a conspiracy creep looking to have their theories and ego validated, but a mother who was fighting on behalf of her daughter. That look that Joyce gives Terry right before she leaves says it all: She understands EXACTLY where Terry is coming from.

The most depressing aspect over what happened to Karen Silkwood and Terry Ives is that, even though both Kerr-McGee and Brenner eventually faced some kind of consequences, it wouldn’t happen until years later, and it still can't fix the damage they caused. In Karen’s case, since her death was a real event that happened, it’s an ugly reminder of how people in power can get away with destroying lives. Given what’s going on with Trump and Musk’s rise to power, that message couldn’t be more relevant.

Part 6: El and Brenner

You might have noticed I've made references to season 4 multiple times in my reviews. That's because the revelations from that season recontextualize everything about the show’s mythology and character motivations, including for season 1.

Take Brenner for instance: The First Shadow establishes he’d been aware of the Upside Down for decades, ever since his father was a part of the Philadelphia Experiment in 1943 that led to the U.S.S. Eldridge being transported to the Upside Down and back, with Brenner’s father being the only survivor and telling his son what happened. Cut to 1959 when he was introduced to Henry Creel (who’d also been transported briefly to the Upside Down and came in contact with the Mind Flayer), would later have Henry imprisoned in Hawkins Lab for 20 years, and used Henry’s altered blood to create multiple kids like El. Then there was the Massacre at Hawkins Lab, Henry being banished to the Upside Down by El, and Brenner’s suspicions that Henry had survived and was out there in the darkness.

So when Brenner tells El to allow whatever it is in the Void to make contact with her because it’s reaching out to her, we know at this point that Brenner suspects it’s Henry/One/Vecna, and that El is making contact within the Upside Down. Given the government employees and scientists present on this “special day,” Brenner likely expected El would give them a breakthrough regarding decades of research and speculation about this world.

Well………he got what he wanted, but not the way he would have liked it.

I speculated back in my review of “The Body” that the reason El has such a violent reaction wasn’t just because she was scared of the Demogorgon, but because she could sense Vecna's presence within the Demogorgon. She may have repressed memories regarding Vecna and the Massacre at Hawkins Lab, but coming into contact with him again likely opened a floodgate of trauma that contributed to the intensity of El’s powers going haywire and opening a gate. As we see in season 4, once Vecna assimilated El’s power into him via the Meat Flayer, he would target individuals with severe trauma and killed them in violent ways to create rifts that would lead to a bigger gate. Makes one wonder if he took notes from what happened here and worked to perfect that years later.

Also, listen closely to the scene with El and the Demogorgon in the Void.

Am I the only one who notices a ticking sound in the background? It's not the grandfather clock chimes we hear in Vecna's visions in S4, but it does sound like a ticking clock. Coincidence? Or future foreshadowing to Vecna's role in the story?

I want to talk for a minute about the Void that El uses to remote-view because there was a specific movie that inspired this concept: Under the Skin.

Under the Skin is a 2013 experimental science fiction film dealing with an alien (played by Scarlett Johansson) who disguises herself as a woman in Scotland targeting single men who think they’re having a one-night stand with her. Once she makes sure said men have no connections and won’t be missed if they disappeared, she lures them into a dark void where they become trapped until she comes back with another victim. What ends up happening to these men is horrific:

The movie is very minimalist. We don’t get a lot of explanation about who this alien is and why she’s doing this, and the movie isn't heavy on dialogue either. It’s implied that this isn’t personal, and she’s doing it on behalf of her employers (who are aliens disguised as human men). At some point though, after meeting a deformed man who reminds her of what she is “under the skin,” she allows the deformed man to go free, breaking whatever arrangement she had with her employers, and attempts to live among the humans. She even develops a brief relationship with another man who’s kind to her, but is forced to break it off after she tries to have sex and is unable to because she doesn’t have the human anatomy for it.

If I were to describe this movie in simplistic terms, it’s the antithesis of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Instead of being a heartwarming movie about an alien developing friendship with humans and having a happy ending, Under the Skin is cold, detached, features a protagonist who starts out manipulating the human desire for a relationship only to grow to genuinely want one herself and being unable to have it in the long-term, and the movie itself ends on a bleak note. The black void in that movie acts as a prison for the alien’s victims whereas the void El uses (at least in this episode) is for locating people or things.

The scene with El going to the grocery store to get Eggos reminded me of how Scarlett Johansson’s character acts in that movie: They’re both silent (or at the very least say little), they have an unnerving presence, they’re on the run from those they initially worked under, and they’re trying (unsuccessfully) to fit into human society. Even Scarlett Johansson's character leading men to their gruesome fates in the Void holds similarities what El had originally been trained for: Remote assassination of enemies to the U.S. Government. Using the Void for malicious purposes.

YMMV on how much you’re willing to sympathize (or can sympathize) with the alien in Under the Skin given what she does, but just like with El, there was a desire to have some kind of human connection. She doesn’t get that, and it’s debatable if she deserved to.

In El’s case though, given her age and how she’s been raised and groomed a certain way and is actively working against that programming, it’s easier to relate to her. It’s also understandable why she comes back for Mike and Dustin: She found that loving connection and she wants to hold onto it.

Part 7: The Party

One more movie that needs to be discussed that is important to this episode, and the Party’s arc specifically: Breaking Away.

Released in 1979, the movie deals with four 19-year-old high school graduates from Bloomington, Indiana, named Mike, Cyril, Dave, and Moocher as they attempt to figure out what they plan to do with their lives. Coming from families known as “cutters” (i.e. those who work in the limestone industry), the boys have a rivalry with the local college students due to being looked down for their low socioeconomic status, and it eventually erupts into a brawl, which leads the Dean of the University trying to force a peace between the two sides by having both groups compete in a Little 500 Race. Due to Dave interest in bicycle-racing and Italian culture (with an Italian cycling team coming for a different exhibition race that Dave is training for), the friends take up the challenge.

At its core, the movie deals with the friendship of these four, and their attempts to keep the group together as they chart their course through life, similar to what Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will attempt to do over the course of Stranger Things. Even the quarry featured in season 1 is a shout-out to the quarry the boys in Breaking Away hang out at:

While The Party's friendship would be tested in later seasons as well, this is the first time fractures have appeared in the group's camaraderie, and the boys are figuring out how to deal with that.

I find it amusing Dustin is the latecomer to the Party (only joining them in 4th grade), yet seems to act as the peace-keeper in the group. He’s the one who acknowledges everyone was out-of-line at the junkyard, is pushing for Mike to reconcile with Lucas while they also try to locate El, and he’s the one smart enough to recognize that splitting is a bad idea. Though in this particular instance, Lucas breaking off from the Party might have been for the best since it allowed Lucas to see Brenner and his men heading for Mike's house and enabled him to warn the others before Brenner got there.

In any case, because Dustin's a latecomer to the Party, there’s some insecurity over how close he is with the others (as he notes in his conversation to Mike). I find that ironic since Dustin seems to be the one in the Party who’s able not just to socialize with them, but also with others outside of the group like Steve, Erica, and Eddie. Tie-In materials like Science Camp and The Dustin Experiment emphasize how much of an extrovert he is and how good he is at winning over strangers. He’s a friendly guy to be around, and I’m sure Mike, Will, and Lucas recognize that and admire him for it.

Dustin’s comments about Lucas being jealous of the time Mike spends with El……………I’m not sure how to feel about that. That might have been more of a thing with Will in season 3, and the fight he and Mike have over the time he spends with El (especially considering Will’s feelings for Mike). In Lucas’s case though, I don’t see it as jealousy so much as Lucas’s fixation on finding Will and not trusting El (which is understandable from his perspective, given that El sabotaged the compasses last episode).

Also, for as dismissive as he is towards El while insisting that she isn’t a member of the Party, Lucas never betrays her despite having multiple opportunities to turn her over to the authorities. He easily could’ve done it last episode given what happened in the junkyard, but he doesn’t. Lucas might have his flaws, but he is loyal to a fault, and whatever distrust he has of El, he’s not going to destroy Mike’s trust by betraying him like that, or do anything that would screw up any chance of finding Will.

As for Mike………for all the bullshit criticisms fans have directed at him in later seasons about how callous he is as a friend, I think his actions at the quarry, where he was willing to walk off a cliff for Dustin despite knowing it would kill him, says it all. He considers Dustin his friend just like Will and Lucas, and he would sacrifice himself for them. His whole motivation this season has been trying to find Will while also hiding El from Brenner. You could argue he’s been insensitive at various points in the show, but name me any kid or teenager who hasn’t in general. I swear, the hatred Mike gets sometimes from fans for not acting the way they think he should is disproportionate to what he’s actually done.

Part 8: Troy and James

I should talk briefly about Troy and James since this is their last episode acting as duo antagonists to the Party (Troy will make one more appearance in the next episode, but not as an active threat). Personally, I am about as sympathetic towards Troy getting his arm broken by El as I am towards Angela going to the hospital with a broken nose and Grade 2 Concussion: Not at all. This was long overdue.

I've said before that the bullying and cruelty demonstrated by the human characters is a lot more upsetting for me than the Upside Down and the science fiction elements, and that is true. This was a disturbing scene on so many levels. I even question whether the writers truly understood the severity of what Troy did here: Not only did he show up with a switchblade with the intention of harming Mike and Dustin, but he also threatened to cut out Dustin’s teeth unless Mike walked off a cliff that would have led to his death had El not been there. This is the same quarry everyone thinks Will died at, so this isn’t like Troy didn’t understand what he was forcing Mike to do here. The show itself never truly explored the ramifications of this for Dustin and Mike afterwards, but The Dustin Experiment (which takes place years later) briefly mentions that this moment has haunted Dustin:

This is why I'm not impressed with fans who try to infantilize Troy by using his age to excuse what he did. Just because you're under the age of 18 doesn't mean you're incapable of understanding right from wrong, or choosing to do evil to another person. Like the 13 year old brat who broke into multiple girls homes with a knife with the intention of attacking them. Or the two 10-year olds who butchered a 2-year old named James Bulger. Or any number of real life cases involving teens and kids committing horrific acts of evil knowing full well what they are doing. Troy and James absolutely deserve to be held responsible for their actions here.

It would be one thing if Troy and James disappeared permanently after this season (which I guess you could argue they technically did since they don’t appear on the show after season 1). But then you have godawful graphic novel, The Bully, which brought them back, tied them haphazardly into season 2’s storyline, and tried to guilt-trip the audience into feeling bad for Troy without doing anything to redeem him or make him likeable.

There was an episode of Freaks and Geeks called "Chokin' and Tokin'" that parallels what I’m talking about in regards to a character doing something vile and then the show trying to make you feel bad for the bully instead of their victim. In that show, there was a bully named Allen who’d spent multiple episodes tormenting the named geeks in various ways. All of it culminated in Allen putting peanuts in Bill’s sandwich, which Bill was deathly allergic to and have even informed others about, resulting in Bill getting sent to the hospital and nearly dying. Allen claims he thought Bill was lying about the peanut allergy, and later tells a comatose Bill that the reason he’d always bullied him and his friends is because, one time in 4th grade, they wouldn’t let him shoot rockets with them, resulting in him holding a grudge all the way to high school.

If this sounds like a petty and pathetic motivation, that’s exactly how I felt about it when I saw that scene.

What deeply irked me is how, aside from Allen barely facing any consequences (not even getting expelled, or at least a suspension, which is the least of what he deserved), they end up downplaying the severity of what Allen did in favor of trying to get us to feel bad for him, like what The Bully attempted to do for Troy.

I have no clue if the Duffer Brothers had any input into that graphic novel, but it’s telling to me that they haven’t brought Troy or James back. Some fans will claim the Duffer Brothers forgot about them, but I believe it’s similar to Lonnie’s situation where they served their purpose as asshole characters and have no narrative reason to return.

Plus, given the scope of their actions, it's for the best that they're gone. Lonnie showed up to Will’s funeral to profit off his death, and Troy and James tried to force Mike to kill himself by threatening bodily harm on Dustin. There's really no way to come back from that kind of vileness, and I have zero interest in seeing Troy, James, or Lonnie return to season 5. It's too late to make me ever care about them.

Part 9: Song Choices

I already talked about “Sunglasses At Night” by Corey Hart, so I’ll move on to the others. Keep in mind that (with a few exceptions) I’m not covering all the instrumental music. I will just cover the songs they chose for each episode.

First song is “I See The Future” by Andrew Pinching. This plays when Karen comes upstairs to check on Nancy, but she’s already left with Jonathan to buy hunting supplies to trap and kill the Demogorgon. The song is pretty self-explanatory in its one lyric, and the fact it's playing in this scene gives the impression Nancy knew her Mom was coming and was one step ahead of her in clearing the house.

Second song is “The Bargain Store” by Dolly Parton, which plays over the intercom at the store when Jonathan and Nancy are buying the monster hunting supplies.

The bargain store in the song is meant as a metaphor for a broken relationship where the singer is looking to begin anew again.

“Why you take for instance this old broken heart. If you will just replace the missing part. You would be surprised to find how good it really is. Take it and you never will be sorry that you did.”

Considering this song is playing right before Nancy finds out about Steve’s betrayal, which damaged their relationship, and how the episode ends with her comforting Jonathan after Steve’s fight, I’d say this song is right on the nose in foreshadowing what was about to happen.

[shunderdome]

The House of Usher: Children's Timeline

I've attempted to put together a timeline of the Usher children's birthdays, ages, arrivals in the family, and one big missing question.

1975/1976?: Frederick (no specific indication, but apparently two to three years older than Tamerlane) d. age 47/48?

1978: Tamerlane (per gravestone, ep. 8) d. 45

Her age is listed as 40 in her newspaper clipping (ep. 1), but this seems both impossible given she was born before New Years 1980 and also a potentially in-character lie if she was trimming her own age for commercial success in the wellness industry.

1984: Victorine (per gravestone, ep. 8) d. 39

1986: Napoleon (year per grave, ep. 8, and age per newspaper, ep. 1, must be a late November/December birthday) d. 36

1988?: Camille (per posthumous press release, ep. 4) d. 35

The press release after her death lists her age as 35, which Tamerlane insinuates is a lie.  However, Camille is younger than Napoleon (36/37), and Tamerlane herself seems to be lying about her own age.  This may also be a touch of the two “legitimate” children not getting the ages of their half-siblings correct, either consciously or subconsciously (see Prospero).

1996: Perry (per sales pitch to Roderick and Madeline, ep. 1) d. 27

Frederick references his conception as 25 years ago (ep. 2), but this may either be general rounding or refusing to remember his half-siblings ages accurately.

2004/2005: Leo joins the Ushers (age 18, ep. 3)

2007?: Lenore (per gravestone, hard to read) d. 16?

2008/2009: Camille joins the Ushers (age 20, ep. 3)

2012/2013: Perry joins the Ushers (age 16, ep. 3)

The major missing piece for me is when Victorine joins the family.  As the first half-sibling to emerge, her existence would be a major turning point for the family and the full siblings in particular.  My impression is that she may have joined the family at a younger age, especially given her reference to the three youngest as “The Littles," asking Frederick and Tamerlane if they remember when The Littles showed up and how annoying they were (ep. 5). She is only two years older than Leo, but her longer time in the family may lead her to seeing them as younger/newer additions. In the same conversation, Tamerlane also references remembering when Victorine herself showed up, so there was some time in their youth before Vic's parentage was revealed.  Victorine also calls Roderick “daddy” and speaks to him as a younger child in her death scene (ep. 5), which may be their dynamic from her adulthood only but suggests they may have known each other in her youth.

She mentions being raised by a single mother who was a nurse, uses her maternal surname, and still retains her British accent – so my guess would be that she joined the family after age ten but younger than the ages of 18/20. I can think of a few options:

She could have known Roderick for some time in her youth but been raised by her mother/in England with that knowledge

Her mother is not present at her funeral – her mother could have died, speeding up the process of her joining the family as a child or preteen

Roderick simply could have brought his first “illegitimate” child into the fold much more quickly because it was his first rodeo

Whatever happened, my suspicion is that she joined the family in some capacity around age 12/13 (1996-ish) and was the only outsider child for a good eight or so years before Leo arrived.

[spookyfoxdreamer]

[muclunga]

My theory/head-canon on how old Abed is

(Wasnt sure whether to label as head-canon or theory due to how this is mostly just a bunch of coincidences, in this essay i will-)

I believe his birthday is March 24th 1987, making him 22 years old at the beginning of season one.

Facts-

1. His birthday is March 24

2. Season one takes place in the fall of 2009

3. He had to help his dad in their falafel restaurant because post 9/11 racial-profiling was destroying the business

4. He grew up watching the 1964 Rankin Bass movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every Christmas

5. Abed is older than Troy

6. Abed is younger than Britta

7. Dan Harmon, in the behind the scenes for the episode G.I. Jeff, cited Abed as being “too young” for the G.I. Joe episode to be centered around him

Why these matter-

1. See #4

2. See #5

3. Abed would’ve been 14 at the time, making him the youngest possible age he could legally work in a restaurant

4. Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s first, and earliest, home media release was on VHS in 1989. This would’ve made him two years old, closer to three years old by Christmas of ‘89, a very formative age and good time to start a tradition. One could argue that he and his mom watched it when it aired on tv but we see at the end of Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas that they are watching it on a VCR. It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch as we see multiple times in the series that Abed has an extensive dvd/vhs collection

5. In Mixology Certification, Abed’s ID and being legally able to drink are not considered an issue, unlike Annie. He is seen legally drinking (presumably) in Communication Studies, making him at least 21. In the same episode, Jeff references the fact that Abed apparently doesn’t drink. This makes it sound that he can, but just choses not to.

6. Amongst other instances, in Investigative Journalism, Britta says “Vacations are wasted on the young” while referring to Troy and Abed.

7. In this Interview/Behind the scenes, Dan Harmon talks about how the plot came to be, “‘This must have something to do with Abed’s psychosis, why is Abed seeing things as 80’s G.I. Joe? Why would he do that? He’s a young fella.’ And that conversation led to ‘Why are we asking about Abed?’.” G.I Joe ran from September 12, 1983 –November 20, 1986. I personally don’t believe this rules out that he wasn’t born yet or that he never watched it, it’s more so Dan Harmon and the other writers being so adamant that this was before Abed’s time, to the point where they opted for Jeff instead, that makes it seem worth noting.

Anyway. That’s it. Just thought it was neat. But hey, that’s just a theory, a fILM THEO- *gunned down by firing squad*

[ace-of-d1am0nds]

i couldn't find a full timeline for fellow travelers anywhere and if u couldn't tell this show all i'm gonna be able to talk about for at least the next week. but w the help of reddit user stellamystar and the comments on that post i figured this shit out

Fellow Travelers Timeline, by episode

Ep 1: November 1952 - Election Night, Eisenhower (R) wins the presidency

Ep 2: April 1953 - Executive Order 10450 signed, the EO recited in the episode and that furthered the ante about the Lavender Scare

Ep 3: November 1953 - G. David Schine drafted into the army

Ep 4: Christmas 1953

Ep 5: April-July 1954 - Army-McCarthy hearings/Senator Hunt’s (whom Smith was based on) death/Roy Cohn resigns

Ep 6: September 1968 - David Miller, who was said to be Tim's mentor's friend (i could be remembering this line wrong tho), was among the first Catholics to burn draft cards

Ep 7: November 1979 - Harvey Milk assassinated

Ep 8: October 1956--May 1957 - Russian invasion of Hungary/Joe McCarthy’s death

Series ending: 1986--October 11, 1987 - couldn’t find the exact date for the die-in at Lonigan’s party but the AIDS quilt was first displayed on the second date

[ducktoonsfanart]

Donald Duck, Three Caballeros, Darkwing Duck, Ducktales and Duck family in Dragon Ball Universe - Duckverse and Dragon Ball - Crossover - Quack Pack Week - Tribute to Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball - My version

I wanted to do this later, but since I found out last month about the bad news that Akira Toriyama died, I decided to do something special in his honor, but not to cry because I believe that he is safe in the other world and that which left behind a great achievement for all of us who love manga and anime, so I made a crossover of my favorite characters from Dragon Ball or Duckverse in Dragon Ball Universe.

Yes, and in honor of Akira Toriyama, in honor of one of my favorite manga and anime even though the action takes place in China and certainly dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the creation of the best Disney duck, Donald Duck. I drew three separate drawings of the crossover Duckverse and Dragon Ball characters and combined the various Duckverse and Dragon Ball variants into one. I wanted to add more, but not all characters would fit, so I'll post it separately another time. I mean especially the villains.

Akira Toriyama was born on the same day as me, April 5th, but in a different year, which is 1955 in Kiyosu, Aichi, Japan, and he started his career in 1978 working for a Japanese magazine and later published the manga Dr. Slump continues to write and draw the Dragon Boy manga after 1983, so that from November 1984 he writes, draws and publishes the famous Dragon Ball, which will later become very popular and even the most popular in the world. He was particularly inspired by Osamu Tezuka, who created Astro Boy and is the father of manga. In 1986, the Dragon Ball series began airing and it would become one of the best anime I could enjoy. Yes, it will come out through various series like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, etc. Unfortunately, Akira Toriyama left us on March 1, 2024, and many were affected by this, including me that this happened. Thank you for everything, good man that you have done for all of us! Rest in peace, amen!

The first drawing I drew shows Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, Panchito Pistoles, Aracuan Bird and Drake Mallard as Saiyan warriors along with famous Dragon Ball heroes. Not to be outdone, I drew Duckverse characters that they could relate to and be similar to. So Donald Duck is like Goku (Kakarot), Drake Mallard is like Vegeta (who says OVER 9000!), Panchito Pistoles is like Yamcha, Jose Carioca (Ze Carioca) is Piccolo and Aracuan Bird is like Majin Buu (I don't have to say why ).

Another drawing I drew shows other male characters and boys with other Dragon Ball characters, like Ducktales and Dragon Ball. Scrooge McDuck is with Master Roshi (I don't have to say why), Fethry Duck is with Krillin, Dugan Duck (Fethry's nephew) is with Oolong Pig, Huey Duck is with Gohan (Goku's older son), Dewey Duck is with Trunks (Vegeta and Bulma's son) and Louie Duck is with Goten (Goku's younger son).

The third drawing I drew represents the female characters and girls of Duckverse and Dragon Ball. Daisy Duck is with Chi-Chi (Goku's girlfriend and wife), Morgana Macawber is with Bulma, Gosalyn Mallard is with Videl (Gohan's girlfriend), Lyla Lay (Paperinik New Adventures) and Kay K (Double Duck) are for Launch (in the works about one woman, but with a split personality and one of her natures is good, the other is very awkward).

Yes, I combined from the comics Donald Duck, Duck Avenger (PKNA), Double Duck, Darkwing Duck, Three Caballeros and Quack Pack into one along with various Dragon Ball variants in my own way and drew them to wear the same clothes as in Dragon Ball. I hope you like this idea and this crossover. Feel free to like and reblog this and if you support this idea feel free to say so, just don't use my same ideas without mentioning me. Thank you! Also, happy 90th birthday to Donald Duck as well as 40th birthday to Dragon Ball and Goku himself!

Also, dedicated to the topic Crossover for @quackpackweek . And finally this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK1ZrwR5NWQ

[love-byers]

How do you think the timeskip for season 5 is going to work? (I forgot how many years, is it two or three??) Is The Crawl going to begin (after the flashback ofc) in 1988-9 or is it going to start in 1986 and later on do the timeskip?

If it's the first option, would they say Vecna is dormant/recharging/healing during those years? How could the military cover up a town broken in four for so long? I don't think they could force a sense of normalcy onto the people who'll remain in Hawkins. I say that bc of the bts pics and clips that show the Party at the school hallways and at the cafeteria -they're obvs there because Hawkins High continued to be an emergency shelter, right? not because they'll have been forced to pretend everything's "normal" and continue to attend school in the middle of a dimensional clash, right?? (that'd be both too sad and hilarious fr 😭)

The second option is also wonky to imagine, but then again, the episode length might allow something ike that. What do you think?

oh man i literally have no idea

i saw people saying it must be fall 1989 since one of those cds from a set came out in august 1989 but if it was fall 1989 the kids would be graduated

their senior year is 88-89. if it was fall 89 they'd be graduated and we've clearly seen them at school

i remember seeing people say the first 2 eps pick up immediately after the end of s4 but i don't think there's any proof for that

and i'm assuming since they've been big on saying s5 will have s1 vibes that it'll take place in fall/november, but i doubt it'll be fall 1986

then there's that leaked hospital report about karen saying it happened in summer 1987, so s5 being fall 1987 would make the most sense since every other season has had a 1 year change

83 -> 84 -> 85 -> 86 -> ?87?

and nah i'm pretty sure they're going to school like normal since we've gotten bts of them with their back packs and students everywhere + cafeteria. i'm assuming it was under control enough that they could go back to school since..yknow...kids have to be in school

i think part of the reason s5 will have the s1 small town vibes again is because so many people left town at the end of s4

but i really can't be sure