Thoughts on Parody Names in Stories?

[TheWritingGroup]

If I can offer an actually thinly veiled example… In one of my stories, a character “read about something on WhiteCloud.”

My not-Reddit is "Seddit".

--Annie

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I use both. Some of the Webtoons I read have some comical parody items, like a character wearing an ADADAS track suite. What would that even stand for? Or the bicycles in Yawamushi Pedal; Trak, Cannondolt, Scolt.

The only time I'd say a parody would be needed, is if song lyrics are gonna be in a story.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

TikTok in my series has become DikDok because it had to be sold.

A strip club in DC named Good Guys became Bad Boys.

A strip club in Vegas named Sapphire became Emerald.

A porn studio is named Reyn, short Reynard, which is French for a male fox. My tip of the hat to Vixen

I’m sure there are others I’ve done but these are off the top of my head. It’s fun to do these.

 

[Wifetheif]

I got away with a real subtle one. I named a character, Clay Terran basically Earth Earth.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I got away with a real subtle one. I named a character, Clay Terran basically Earth Earth.

Not here, but I've done that with Clay Adams. Adam is Hebrew for "clay".

--Annie

 

[SkyBubble]

My not-Reddit is "Seddit".

--Annie

That might not be a bad name, actually. "You Seddit."

 

[Abbafan]

Nothing wrong with it. Writers of non-porn/mainstream fiction will often do that for various reasons, too, including some you mentioned.

Like in Stephen King's Cujo, there's a sugary breakfast cereal that ends up causing some problems for people who eat it. He made up the name of the cereal, I'm sure so he wouldn't get into any trouble with real cereal makers.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Even if you say, "she pulled up in a red Typhoon convertible" it sounds silly.
Just name a show, or car, or movie or whatever.

What is the downside?

It only sounds silly, to me, because I know what a GMC Typhoon is. Anybody who doesn't, could probably picture it as something else, probably an american muscle or pony car that came as a convertible, like a mustang.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

What if it was a red Spitfire?

An MG Spitfire?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It only sounds silly, to me, because I know what a GMC Typhoon is. Anybody who doesn't, could probably picture it as something else, probably an american muscle or pony car that came as a convertible, like a mustang.

Which illustrates another reason not to do it. You might inadvertently create an entirely wrong impression.
We add details to make a story feel real, and to provide information to the reader.
A fake name/product does neither.

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red Mazda Miata convertible"

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red Porsche 911 convertible"

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red 76 Cadillac Eldorado convertible"

Almost identical sentences, but they each create a different impression of the character.
Where does "red typhoon" fall on that spectrum?

 

[TiberiusPrime]

"OnlyFun" is a clever name. I used "SeeMe"" instead of OnlyFans. I've never been on the real site and no nothing about how it works beyond the very basics.

I agree, you can't please everyone. I'm just surprised by how upset people seem to get about it. Then again, I've seen some weird complaints.

Oh. Nice. A story I'm currently writing has a character who's essentially an Onlyfans "star". I've been stuck at to what to call the site. Would you mind if I borrowed "SeeMe"?

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Which illustrates another reason not to do it. You might inadvertently create an entirely wrong impression.
We add details to make a story feel real, and to provide information to the reader.
A fake name/product does neither.

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red Mazda Miata convertible"

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red Porsche 911 convertible"

"MK Babalon pulled up to the curb in a red 76 Cadillac Eldorado convertible"

Almost identical sentences, but they each create a different impression of the character.
Where does "red typhoon" fall on that spectrum?

As a real car, a GMC Typhoon is the suv version of thr GMC Syclone; both are performance vehicles with all wheel drive, and a turbo charged v6. At the time, the Syclone was the fastest vehicle in the world, just like the Buick Grand National was, before it. Probably more aptly, or technically quickest, but that's what they were considered. And I believe the suv only came in black.

One could presume importance on the product, whether it mattered to parody, or not. I don't care either way. I've had characters play, or want a new GameStation, before. Sometimes parody products do come off as corny, which could make the story feel less real. And written media is different than visual media. Like my earlier example of Yawamushi Pedal; an anime about bicycle racing. A character riding a Canondolt over a Canondale, doesn't lessen the story.

Somebody asking "for a coke", isn't really the parody, or genericness, folks think it is. Coke is Coke-a-Cola. It's surprising tv and movies get away with it, but they probably pay for the whatever. Properly, the generic term would be Cola, because that's the type of soda Coke, Pepsi, RC is. I don't think parody/satire products are a bad idea, if they seem real, because it's obviously on the nose, like GTAs version of Twitter; Gawker, I think it's called. And doesn't come off like a joke. But it has to be obvious enough.

Like going back to vehicles, I've used "real" fake vehicles in stories before. Cars from video games. But one would need to know the games to know the vehicle. Like in some old story, a character drove a Phaedra Palamino. That's the Interstate76 and Vigilante8 version of a Ford Mustang. Now I just use real cars, that don't need extra discriptions. It was a bad choice. If somebody was drinking Bepsi, I don't think that's a big deal, especially if it's insignificant. But I can see how somebody that "eats WacArnolds everyday" could be seen as disrupting implied reality.

Speaking of GameStation; I have thought about doing a wikipage about it, because it's a common generic gaming console, that's been in different tv shows and movies.

I don't see parodies as a big deal, depending on how they're handled, but like I said; if it came to songs being in stories, I would advise those being parodied, than not, due to plagarism laws. "Slap me daddy, one more time," she sung to her dom, dressed as Tiffany Halberd.

 

[GoodnessO]

Harry Pooper & The Pet Log.
Not that I'm into poop play... I'm definitely not... this is just an example parody title that came to my mind.