Talk:Teenage Kicks (short story)

Panda and the Bus to Space?

It's a neat coincidence, sure, (fun to note in behind the scenes sections, I guess) but is there any evidence that Paul Magrs was inspired by this story for the character of Panda? For what I understand, "Panda" as a character originates from an actual stuffed panda toy owned by Magrs. I kinda think it's informative to readers of the wiki that it be made clear that Panda was a later addition to Iris Wildthyme's world, rather than mentioned in a story a decade before. CoT ? 15:59, June 21, 2020 (UTC)

I have a very strong feeling it was intentional, considering that Teenage Kicks was set in Putney Common. Three visible ties to the Iris Wildthyme series, so I honestly believe Margs had read this and took inspiration from it. The Teenage Kicks story didn't specify if the Panda in question was a ten inch tall stuffed toy, so Margs could've easily gotten the whole toy aspect from the stuffed toy he owns.

Epsilon the Eternal ☎ 16:08, June 21, 2020 (UTC)

My theory would be that Magrs had already invented Panda, the Bus and Iris by that point, and talked about them as a loose project with Cornell, who decided to drop a reference to his colleague's then-upcoming project. It's well-known that the name of Iris Wildthyme had been trotting around Magrs's mind, and showing up in his fiction, long before he finalised her inoculation into the DWU; it could easily be the case of Panda and the Bus as well. --Scrooge MacDuck ☎ 16:14, June 21, 2020 (UTC)