I didn’t add a ton of Easter Eggs in Grunge. While there may be some references to 90s pop culture, I didn’t really think about adding in much beyond that. I guess one Easter Egg that I can think of are the names for the characters. Here are some characters whose names reference popular culture or other well-known figures:
- Sheng Lee = named after Li Shang, the bisexual icon from Mulan, and my forever crush. (Sheng, however, isn’t bi.) I just knew I wanted him to be named after Shang, but I didn’t want his name to DIRECTLY copy Shang’s, if that makes sense.
- Monae = named after Janelle Monae.
- Karenina = she is of Russian descent, and I loved the book Anna Karenina as a kid, so I named her after it.
- Nina Simone High School = named after a famous singer and civil rights activist, who was actually born in North Carolina.
- Keke = named after actress and singer Keke Palmer
- Rachel = named after Rachel Berry from Glee because, of course
- Edd = named after Double D from Ed, Edd, and Eddy
- Billy = named after one of the characters from the movie It
- Mrs. McGrady = named after the lunch lady from the PBS series Arthur
- Brandy = unintentionally named after singer Brandi Carlile? I literally just liked the name Carlile, for some reason, and then found out it was attached to an actual famous person.
- Kenny Rogers = unintentionally named after country singer Kenny Rogers. I knew I got the name from somewhere. It’s weird because Kenny isn’t even into country.
- Michelle = Michelle is named after Michelle Obama, and shares her maiden name, Robinson.
I borrowed the names Malik, Eman, and Dulce from people that I’ve met in real life, but those actual characters do not have their namesakes’ personalities in any way whatsoever. The Malik I knew wasn’t a bully, he was actually super sweet.