What do you think about Popculture References in your Stories

[blackorchid]

Reference like that are always a: proceed with caution.

On one hand, having a story that, in a way, acts as a time capsule can be wildly fun to read.

Like all things, if it serves a purpose in the story: to tell time, to show a character's interest; then I see little to no fault.

Really though at the end of it, if you're having a blast writing and using those references, then do it!

[ble]

I try to never do that. For two reasons:

1)It will make the work too dated when read in the future.

2) The biggest problem with references, especially in jokes, is that it will fail if the reader/watcher/listener doesn't know what the reference is about. If you have to explain it, then It loses a lot.

But, it probably depends on the setting, like if what you are doing is a slice of life story or a political comic, then yeah references may be necessary, but in a fantasy story, idk.

[dasruedi]

As I explained before I make hidden references, more like easter eggs. For those who know them, it's a reference, to those who don't it's mostly just normal dialogue or something. You can check out what i mean if you read it wink wink. Also 2 of 3 so far are from books, whose Authors have already died, this makes them quite timeless in my opinion.

[Phantomlight]

I make small references about other works I make. Sure, a little shameless but references to things outside just feel really jarring and unnecessary.

I like this idea actually, it's fun, it's something Disney/Pixar do and I personally don't see shame in it, they're your creations and you own them, so there isn't that looming fear that you could get into trouble with copyrights or whatnot. I also like how Moriah Elizabeth on YouTube does the same thing, I find it unique since not many people decide to use their own clips as memes, they usually take audio, images, or video clips of other people. It's just different methods, I like both personally ^^

[disqette]

I aspire to achieve the level of meta in Dangan Ronpa V3. How the writer managed to shove that many pop culture references in a video game about kids killing each other is beyond me. Goals. I love love love love love when series do this stuff. I don't care how cheesy or annoying it is.

I think I've added somewhere between 4~8 references in my series so far. Those are rookie numbers!!!

[Phantomlight]

In my all-animal comic, I put Easter eggs or references to pop culture but it's the animal equivalent so it's not the real deal. I find it fun! I love making pun names like in my latest episode William Snakespeare was mentioned My comic is a bit of slice of life and comedy so I think the setting does have a lot to do with whether references are more or less appropriate ^^

[Llyrel]

I like pop culture references! I think they're kinda like salt, though: a bit is fine, add too much and it probably won't taste as good (though there will always be people who appreciate it ).

I'm going to have a bunch of pop culture references myself in my comic: a few of them will be easter eggs more than anything else (a retired professor whose surname is White, a broody green eyed/black haired vamp- uh, I mean werewolf named Louis), while others will be far more obvious (e.g. someone straight up mentioning a LotR character or the movie Terminator).

Generally speaking, however, I try to make it so that my more "obvious" references are to older works that already passed the test of time, so that readers should still be able to understand them a few years from now (...hopefully I mean, I had a student asking me "who's that hairy guy?" when Chewbacca made a guest appearance in the movie "Wonder", so I wouldn't be surprised to find out that even some of the most "obvious" pop culture references could be lost on younger audiences no matter what XD).

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

I never put it into the narration, unless it's from a character perspective (like my current novel is written in) Generally, I'm fine with my characters making them, because my characters are nerds (like me) I also like to differentiate the different kinds of references different characters make to show differences in personality. For example, at some point in the story Eryn, the narrator calls out their friend Rose for quoting ninja turtles, specifically next mutation, because according to them "Who quotes Next Mutation?" It shows the kinds of things Rose likes and is also a good example of their dynamic.

[UniqueFAYS]

Popculture references give me pure joy most of the time, sometimes it's okay if they are mainstream but references from underrated works make me scream in joy. Though I do like them in moderation, they should be the cherry on top, not the sprinkles.