Reference you make for yourself because...

[lovecraft68]

It's unlikely anyone else will get them. A lot of people will reference song lyrics, movie quotes, maybe some other pop culture type things like comics, TV etc, maybe famous events, but usually these things are popular enough at least some readers will catch it.

But for this thread its one of those references you're putting in for your own enjoyment, a homage to something big with you, but most people wouldn't catch.

Example...in the novel the Exorcist(I don't believe it made it into the movie) a doctor asks Chris where Regan's father is(they're divorced for anyone that doesn't know the book/movie and the father hadn't bothered seeing or even trying to call the daughter in some time.) and she answers Europe. The doctor suggests she should let him know what's going on with his daughter and have him come back to see her.

Her line is "I'm trying to drive a demon out, not invite another one in."

In my last e-book I pay tribute to the line when a therapist suggests to the father that maybe he should find the MIA mother and get her to see her son, his reply is. "That's like trying to perform an exorcism by inviting in another demon."

I'd be blown away if anyone ever contacted me and told me "Cool, shout out to the Exorcist"

Your examples?

 

[onehitwanda]

"I rather think that ship has sailed, Sir Malcolm," my lover said, tall and proud as Dido.

The few who've commented have thought I was referencing the singer.

I was referencing a different Dido.

 

[lovecraft68]

The few who've commented have thought I was referencing the singer.

I was referencing a different Dido.

If it makes you feel any better I would have caught that because...I know a lot of random useless things, and few important ones.

 

[StillStunned]

It would have been really impressive if you'd been referring to Dido Twite.

 

[AchtungNight]

I do this sort of thing all the time. Examples- “you don’t want their bushel to hide your light” from Compensation. A biblical reference is appropriate for a Christian musician.

From “Fear, Lust, and Vanity”- Scarlett isn’t the first large breasted woman to meet a lewd Jim Carrey in an elevator.

 

[MrPixel]

I have multiple references to In-and-Out Burger which have never drawn comment. Somebody else may “get the joke”, but since it’s a regional chain it’s entirely possible that an understanding audience might not be big enough to matter. They’re sort of famous, but you would have to experience them firsthand and somewhat know the menu to get the passing references.

 

[jaF0]

Didn't we do the Easter Egg thing before?

I had a character named Alice. Someone asked a question and the reply they got was 'Go ask Alice, I think she'll know.' There was also a reference to a restaurant she used to own. They didn't know the name, so they just referred to it as Alice's restaurant. At one point while talking to another, she commented 'Please don't think I have malice'.

That's Jefferson Airplane, Arlo Guthrie and Chic Corea all in one story.

 

[lovecraft68]

Didn't we do the Easter Egg thing before?

I had a character named Alice. Someone asked a question and the reply they got was 'Go ask Alice, I think she'll know.' There was also a reference to a restaurant she used to own. They didn't know the name, so they just referred to it as Alice's restaurant. At one point while talking to another, she commented 'Please don't think I have malice'.

That's Jefferson Airplane, Arlo Guthrie and Chic Corea all in one story.

If I'm correct, Easter Eggs are things planted that refer to other works by the same author(or director etc) or hint at what's to come in future stories.

This is just about things you have referenced that can be from anywhere and are one offs, not leads into anything else.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I'm not really sure how to answer this. I guess it'd be a few secondary characters in a fanfic I'm writing, that are references to other characters, that makes it seem like a crossover, but in reality it was just lazy writing.