Thoughts on modern pop culture references in transmigration stories?

[N0N4M3_MONK]

I'm thinking of introducing these into the protagonist's internal monologue but I've only seen it done successfully mostly in comedy web novels and some well-written dramatic ones, when it's done in more serious novels it sometimes comes across as cringey. I'm not a comedy writer so I suspect it will come across as cringey if I do this as well. What do y'all think?

 

[TASTYLEADPAINT]

Depends on the tone of your story. If it fits the tone then it's fine but if it's a.more serious story it probably won't fit

 

[Puji-Maki]

Write what you want. You'll be put under pressure if you try to please readers instead of being free to write what you want.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I would suggest, if you have the patience and an available "victim," you write two versions, one with pop culture references, and one without, and see which they prefer.
However, if it is just internal monologue for the character, as long as you keep the personality consistent, it should be fine, as a "character quirk."

 

[Zagaroth]

I'm not doing much in pop culture references for my (currently unpublished) reincarnation story, but I am having fun with translation issues.

She's been gifted with knowledge of the local language, but while this includes grammatical rules and such, it does not always provide more contextual information so she uses a modern composite word that gets auto-translated. This has forced her (fortunately nerdy/geeky wizard) ally to occasionally pause and parse out the actual meaning.

Note: I do it all in English; I am not a Tolkien and I am *NOT* going to create a brand new language. Not my hobby/passion.

 

[N0N4M3_MONK]

I'm not doing much in pop culture references for my (currently unpublished) reincarnation story, but I am having fun with translation issues.

She's been gifted with knowledge of the local language, but while this includes grammatical rules and such, it does not always provide more contextual information so she uses a modern composite word that gets auto-translated. This has forced her (fortunately nerdy/geeky wizard) ally to occasionally pause and parse out the actual meaning.

Note: I do it all in English; I am not a Tolkien and I am *NOT* going to create a brand new language. Not my hobby/passion.

This sounds cool. I enjoy this kind of specificity in a book when authors go out of their way to share their interest in language. The way Tolkien did it was pretty intense, lol, I could never do something like that.

 

[Zagaroth]

This sounds cool. I enjoy this kind of specificity in a book when authors go out of their way to share their interest in language. The way Tolkien did it was pretty intense, lol, I could never do something like that.

Yeah, I love learning *about* languages and how they work etc., but I have little talent for actually learning other languages.

Creating one's own language is Next Level.

But I do delve into random bits of lore. And if I talk about the properties of a real world gem, you can be fairly certain I'm correct given that my wife is a gemologist and the source of much of my knowledge. And she's my editor.

 

[N0N4M3_MONK]

Yeah, I love learning *about* languages and how they work etc., but I have little talent for actually learning other languages.

Creating one's own language is Next Level.

But I do delve into random bits of lore. And if I talk about the properties of a real world gem, you can be fairly certain I'm correct given that my wife is a gemologist and the source of much of my knowledge. And she's my editor.

Specificity is where one's talents can shine. I need to work on that. Personally, I get too caught up in the melodrama between characters, and fast progression. I need to learn to slow down.