Most egregious pop culture reference in one of your stories

[Stimtheone]

If I recall correctly, Empire isn't a character in the books. It's very cool concept in the show, and in Season 1 at least they're the best part.

(I've wondered whether they stole the idea from "Among Thieves" by Douglas Hulick, which refers to the Emperor constantly being reborn again.)

I went through the first season. Empire is the "title" and honorific of the emperor. But this series is sure helping with my writing. Mine just has an eternal GOD that might as well be ruling the empire, but instead lets others do it. The reason why it's named the EMPIRE despite being actually quite democratic in its rulership election is because they wanted a name to not reflect some factions in their past, which were respectively a Union, an Alliance and a Republic. They were all bad for different reasons. Also because the god called attention to the fact that "empires don't last" so they just adopted the name despite having nothing close to an imperial rule.

 

[StillStunned]

Empire is the "title" and honorific of the emperor.

I know, that's what I meant. In the books, at least those that I've read, Empire (i.e. the emperor) doesn't feature as a character. They were introduced purely for the television show. And they're a great addition, and wonderfully written and acted.

 

[AchtungNight]

The most egregious pop culture reference in one of my stories? Well, Joseph Conrad being mentioned in another thread brought this to mind tonight.

I was asked to write an East Enders fanfic in 2006 shipping Kellie Shirley and Jessie Wallace. I had never watched the show living in America vs England, so I had no idea who these actresses were. Internet research told me that Jessie had a drinking problem and Kellie was the type inclined to help others. So I ended up writing a story where Kellie pulls Jessie out of a bar and takes her to rehab, having sex with her in the cab on the way. Link here- https://literotica.com/s/a-request-for-help

Jessie’s crying for help, her friends and family requested she get help, Kellie is their instrument. The title “A Request for Help” fits.

Two egregious pop culture references in the story. The cab driver Kellie hires is named Frank Martin- like a certain transporter. And the villain of the piece is named Lord Jim Kurtz. He’s a Joseph Conrad fanboy who happens to be an East End crime boss. His main goon is Russian, of course, and he believes he will always be allowed to exploit people with society’s grace. Nope- he is powerless against the angels like Kellie. And his nemesis Inspector Marlowe of Scotland Yard did eventually win.

 

[Unblemished]

In one unposted draft of mine, there managed to be tangents mentioning the Flintstones, Alien, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the video game series R-Type, and the X-Files. Mostly in the context of a college student rambling about r/K selection theory (which is outdated, especially in ecology, but still sees use as a teaching tool/model) while her boyfriend has no choice to listen (because she is sitting on his face). It's silly enough that I might cut most of it, but then again sex shouldn't always be super-serious and there's plenty of torrid bodice-ripping to go with it, so who knows. My stories are short and shallow things, but I do try and practice different things in them when I'm not just porting over ancient tales from elsewhere. Referential humour might be worth trying.

"So some animals just fire and forget, yeah? Like flying ants, or rats. They have loads of kids, they don't put much effort into them, they just figure that by the law of averages, some of the offspring will turn out okay. That's an R-type reproductive strategy, got it?"

I couldn't exactly speak under the circumstances, and I was already making a sort of humming noise, because apparently she liked the vibrations. But I managed to modulate it, making a muffled "mm-hmm", even though 'R-Type' just made me think of the old Playstation game. You know the one. Side-scrolling shooter, very retro, bad guys look a bit like the alien from, well, Alien-

"Like, how many potential partners do they think our ancestors had access to? They were probably living in small tribal groups, extended family units, something a bit like a monkey troupe. They weren't hitting on a new cavegirl every Friday with Fred and Barney and the guys! If anything, I reckon a good bunch didn't get a chance to mate, and just propogated their – go for the clit now – genes...ah, indirectly, via helping with the survival of their...nephews and nieces and shit. Trying to explain modern behaviours with 'ancient biological truths' is bullshit when those ancestors weren't in anything like our situation, and you can't even test anythi-oh shit, yeah, keep doing that, fuck, and Rosie says that guys can't find it..."

Normally I'd get engrossed in the show, or maybe fantasise about Dana Scully depending on my mood, but it's hard to pay attention to the pretty redhead on the screen when another pretty redhead's just pinned you down with one hand and-

There was also a joke about 19 Kids and Counting in that 'flying ants, or rats' bit, but I recently found out that dude was a freak, so. Nah. Might have to change the sequence now. But I guess that's what the draft process is for.

In another half-written tale (I have a huge number of stories I'm either unhappy with or haven't finished for every one I publish, can you tell?) the same pretty redhead from above cameos briefly, and is referred to with a Brat Pack joke: "...talking to some girl who looked a bit like Molly Ringwald used to look back in the 80's".