Hey guys look, it's Santa!

Maybe it's that damn Eevee in Meta Journey, or maybe RPs are just changing a lot, but I seem to be getting quite a few ideas for threads these days, so here's another one. This is kinda two questions in one, but...

To what extent do you enjoy other players directly referencing pop fiction or cultural figures(Santa, Easter Bunny etc. SPOILERS: They arent real) in the IC of RPs, and to what extent do you enjoy doing it yourself? Do you feel it to be fun, or do you feel it ruins the immersion? Personally I feel the latter, but I'm asking you
Does it matter to you if it's a real life setting or not? I feel this is a no-brainer, but some may disagree

My Second core question...How do you feel about players bringing canon characters or events up in RPs in established universes? Do you feel that way for the same reasons as your answer to the first question or no?

Question the first:

It all depends on the setting and context for me. If the RP states that it takes place in the modern day world then I'm more than happy having my character or others referencing things like Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, other holiday norms, etc. etc. It doesn't break immersion if it's on that level with holiday faces in particular. It won't break my immersion especially if the subject of the story is focusing in on a topic relevant to said character at the time. If when you say pop culture however, you are also referring to faces and characters of the broader media... then this is a BIG no no. Like if a character suddenly starts talking about Superman or batman... or something even more obscure then it tends to put a huge dent in my immersion. UNLESS it is done in a satirical manner and it is done at an appropriate time and is executed very well at that. Otherwise I dislike the notion.

Question the second:

This, I believe, is up to a GMs discretion... regardless however it is something I dislike for various reasons. When talking about the canon of their favourite Universe or characters... people who don't know the lore as well as a veteran lorebuff who studies intricacies and stories of their favourite universes can often get things confused. It's another way to break immersion in a character is talking about a franchise and starts messing up details about certain characters. There can also be a lot of misinformation if a topic surrounding a character is debated and not definite. "Han shot first." So, unless the GM expressly says "you can and should mention them", then I tend to ignore their existence entirely and act like the RP story is taking place in an alternate Universe or different timeline / time period.

1) It depends.

The idea of, say, "Santa", is more so about a mythical figure who gives gifts to those who have been good, and something poor to the bad eggs, and is the peak of a festive holiday season. In that sense, he holds no more weight than just another fun story to be told, that perhaps happens to be paralleled in a role-play's universe. The best part about that is that you don't even have to call it "Santa", you could make up your own lore concerning something similar for your universe, if you are the GM. The concept is still the same, and it isn't disconcerting.

I tend to abhor you if you bring in real-life persons to directly, unabashedly reference. And I don't mean dropping a few hints and similarities, I mean just outright having your character say something like, "I'm gonna name my Bidoof 'Justin Beaver'" or describing an encounter with President Barack Obama as he jogs his Shiny Furfrou named Bo. I personally don't like to mix fiction with real, actual persons. What I do like, and have done myself because I frankly find it punny and sometimes cute, is make a parodic reference, so that you may know who I'm talking about, but I'm adjusting them to fit the universe they are in. My favorite one I've done myself so far is having a Pokemon Trainer listen to "Smells Like Teen Mespirit" by a grunge band called Carvanha.

I mean, every generation, Pokemon mentions Nintendo's own consoles at the start of the game, so when it comes to video game pop fiction, I think it's fair game with that.

But that's in modern fantasy settings like Pokemon. If we're doing some realistic slice-of-life role-play, I would say it just doesn't matter.

2) In my experience, people who bring up canon characters to feature and control in their role-play... well, they tend to end up flat themselves. I don't care if the execution is good, but everyone has different standards. Some characters come from a background of extensive lore as well, so then you get into a big mess if some greenie comes in and tries to assert one thing over another. Concerning events, it all depends on the role-play's timeline. Otherwise, yeah, why not mention a little history to tie something together, or make a callback.

1st question:

I tend to enjoy it, when I am playing a character in the modern times. It can be enjoyable for a quick quip for a character to throw in there. That being said, I'm terrible at being funny, so I tend not to do it so much, but it can be enjoyable others doing it.

2nd Question:

This is actually quite a coincidence, seeing as how I just finished the second season of Arrow and am getting an idea in my head for an RP in the DC universe... That being said, I'm usually opposed to that sort of thing. It usually doesn't make sense to throw established characters in there, and like Deceptico said, if there is a person who didn't really read up on the lore things can get confusing. If a GM decides to include characters from other universes, I think that they need to be careful in the information that they use for those characters to avoid confusion.

1st: I agree with Stardust that I personally like it and can be funny if done right. I find that I'm not very good at it bringing in those kind of references and tend to stay away from them as such.

2nd: I do think it depends on the GM as well. I haven't really gotten into that kind of situation yet, I can see the fun that it could bring to the RP while I can also see the problems. Overall, I would probably stay away from it as it can be very confusing if someone doesn't know the lore as well, leading to the consequences of doing it outweighing the any potential benefits.

1st: I think I remember referencing Jesus in Gunpowder really early on and got some shit for it, so I think it has to do with the setting a lot. If certain things don't exist or aren't relevant they shouldn't be brought up. But if you're doing plays on pop culture things, like in GP's Pokemon Redux I referenced Sailor Moon by saying Sailor Gardevoir. Things like that can be fun and don't break the immersion.

2nd: If you're playing in that same established universe where the characters are and the same time period then bring them around. If you're not then don't do it and try to be a little creative.

Jauntier said:

"I'm gonna name my Bidoof 'Justin Beaver'"

Click to expand...

If you ever find this person, slap them for me.

Deceptio said:

-Snip-

Click to expand...

Gosu totally hasn't been subtly referencing TV shows and other obscure pop culture in like every post I've made with him. Of course its been so subtle that if I didn't point it out you wouldn't be able to tell, a Crowley style "Hello boys" here, and maybe a Matt Smith "Geronimo" there. Totally didn't try and get him in a Fez, but sadly I've been denied on every attempt... One day.

Sheog also quotes his namesake quite often, but he also sang a line from the headless waltz while decapitating someone. Being insane, I feel like he can poke at the fourth wall without too much consequence, as long as I don't completely smash the thing down.

So I like subtle references, but I wouldn't want to just randomly start talking about Batman, unless there is context that could make that suitable.

As for mentioning characters in the universe itself... Its really up to the GM. Its fun to just make your own characters, and you have so much more control over them, so personally I don't like doing this as much anymore.

I love making pop culture references in RPs if it is set in the real world. If we're in a high-fantasy RP, I'm not going to be making Beyonce references (though, I'd really want to...).

Also, I hate canon characters in RP. Hate hate hate. It seems, to me, that everyone flocks to them and tries to make their character related to them or bffs or enemies to them. They sort of lose all creativity and base all their RPing on canon-story-telling. Basically, re-creating an episode/movie/dialogue scene with the canon character and their character. They mirror themselves after the canon and that can be annoying. So, I'll always avoid those type of situations.

First question: I honestly don't care much when referencing these kinds of things (as long as it is believable, i.e. mentioning Kanye in a medieval RP isn't really logical.) As long as it doesn't kill the mood or vibe given by the RP, I'm perfectly fine with it.

Second question: This, on the other hand, is something I am not really comfortable with. If it is not mentioned specifically in the RP when it was set (like how I mentioned Trumpets to happen specifically after the Delta episode), I tend to ignore the canon universe and just go on my character's life. Any interaction with the canon universe might interrupt the canon timeline.

To me, it depends on the world and time that the RP is in. I myself, usually just make Festivals or something similar to make a reference to said holidays.