Hi, I started planning my own KND fic, and started with figuring out the ages and birthdates, and I have to ask.
1. How was it for you the process of coming up with a chronology of a show that doesn't really have a set and consistent timeline?
2. In what year does your fic takes place?
My process and answer is long so have it at under the cut
The first part of my process was deciding if I wanted a set timeline or just to go with what worked for me from fic to fic. Over the years (and after watching the series hundreds of times and taking novels worth of notes and screenshots), I’ve settled on a set timeline that works for me and what I like to do.
(Fun fact: I have 3 different timelines! 1 is the main one I use, and the other two are bit more loose depending on the AU I wrote. In one, the GKND doesn’t exist.)
First, I would decide how religiously you want to try and make sense of the timeline the show tries to give us. There aren’t many, but there are a few events that have specific years that can be pinned down. For example, one is the Great Junior High Rebellion of ‘99 where the recommissioning module was allegedly “damaged beyond repair” (maybe they didn’t try turning it off and back on again?). The next one is 1969 where the KND faked the moon landing so adults wouldn’t discover the Moonbase. They’re small throwaway mentions, but important if you need some dates to anchor to.
Also consider that (probably almost) everything in season 6 that’s not a flashback happens AFTER Op. ZERO due to the shots of the Moonbase being the rebuilt Moonbase Zero.
Now, saying all that, my next piece of advice may be weird, but honestly, I think it’s important: don’t stress too much about it! Details are essential, but getting hung up on them can be a headache and stop the process. As you mentioned, the show doesn’t have a consistent timeline, so trying to make sense of everything will run you up a wall.
Just breathe and pick any year or era you want that makes sense or resonates with you! Wanna set it in 2018 or even in 2024? Go for it!
But why aren't kids/teens seen using smartphones? Maybe there’s super duper strict regulation that keeps anyone under 13 (perhaps even 18 because Father apparently controls the Teen Ninjas) from not having smartphones, and the KND uses 2x4 tech as a way to get around it. There’s already legislation in the works in the US that does this already to ban kids from using social media.
How come sector V are all in the same grade yet are different ages? Again, maybe in this world, there’s some super weird law the adult villains lobbied for that keeps kids in certain grades for extended times. There was literally an episode that ended with a 4th Grade President going to City Hall and coming out and saying, “by the way, school day ends at 8:25pm now. Sucks to suck, also Father is the best.”
Let the show's lack of a consistent timeline be an unexpected strength! Besides one or two cultural nods as the show evolves, there's not too much to date it. For example, they make up corporations and franchises to parody real ones and never give the name of a sitting world leader.
Also, it’s a cartoon, and their world is not bound to the same laws as ours. It’s not real life! Be silly and stretch things if you need to! If trying to take the show and make it more realistic is your goal, then, of course, do that as well! Just for me personally, I try not to get bogged down with “this event or timeline doesn’t exactly match up or happen how it would in real life” because I’m not writing real life: I’m writing Kids Next Door fighting candy monsters or the living avatars of puberty.
I’m getting off-topic. Anyway, the last piece of help I offer is just (if you can) rewatching the show and paying attention to context clues in the background! In season 5, two shots of a gravestone end with 2005. So, with that in mind, we can infer a few things:
1. From wherever you put that episode in timeline, it at least happens during or after the year 2005.
2. The same gravestone appears again in IT, so everything that has happened up to Rachel deciding to call a game of tag, again, happens either during or after the year 2005.
Take that as you will!
For the next part of your question! If you’re talking about Cold Reception SPOILER AHEAD BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER BE DIRECTLY STATED IN THE FIC!
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you really wanna know?
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The year Cold Reception takes place is 2011.
Hope this helps! If not, let me know and maybe I can give more specifics! Good luck on your fic! Writing is fun.
I just spent literally all night (still recovering from working nights over the weekend) putting together a timeline of events for my WIP and doing math of all things to make sure all the travel time is realistic and everyone gets to where they need to be at the right moment.
Growing up I never realized how much math is involved in writing. I somehow always find something that requires math, like travel time or food requirements or population densities.
Also I discovered minor plot holes and the like. Still no names, but now I have plot holes to fix.
On Saturday morning, our team reviewed the survey results we have received from the market. We found that many girls were not as bothered about contraception packaging and sustainability as they were about the limited knowledge of alternatives to the pill. This was interesting to us and crucial to the product moving forward. We realised that Little Moon Packet may be successful to a very niche market, but many girls wouldn’t have incentive or motivation to use a more sustainable and reusable option. This led us to believe that the market really needed more education and support around contraception options and accessibility.
We immediately began brainstorming how this could link to sustainability and what MVP we could create to embody our vision. Renee helped us to realise that family planning was a major issue identified by the UN, and therefore contraception education was closely linked with sustainability.
The ultimate for our new venture would be to create an educational app and supportive community, where users could sync their period tracking apps and make use of peer and professional advice regarding contraception. This was a bit unreasonable as our MVP however, so we decided that we could establish a presence on Instagram and TikTok to begin building a following, putting out content and gaining traction to develop an app in the future.
We planned as a group a timeline of the tasks we had to complete, and began assigning each member different tasks based on our
It's a Completely Arbitrary Tuesday, and you know what that means --
//Raz and I are making a timeline!
And this time, we’re offering YOU pre-opening/planning stage chance to join us!
The idea is Ancestor Godstuck, but with the worst catch I could think of. Your character’s domain CAN’T suit them. At all. Think of the worst thing for your favourite ancestor to rule over. They’d hate it. There’s your concept!
I’ll be playing the Handmaid as the goddess of Flowers and like harmless things, Raz has Redglare as Patron of Liars and Criminals.
I suppose just send me an ask/message me if you have interest/questions/warnings of an ominous future.
