# Easter Eggs in your writing



## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (Mar 23, 2015)

This isn't an important thread, I'm just curious to see if any of you like to "Easter Egg" up your writing, throwing in little jokes and nods to other books and stuff. 

I, obviously, do. Just to give you an example, the merc group that my main series follows, ride horses (and a bear) named after Malazan marines, an inordinate amount of them are of noble blood (but not royal) (and they know it). My MC also has a shit ton of "Magical weapons" but they  are depressingly mundane. 

In an Urban Fantasy work of mine, lots of the mages and the Blackened Claw (their military arm) makes nods and references to strange goings on in Chicago and rumors of powerful practitioners.....


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## Svrtnsse (Mar 23, 2015)

I like the idea of easter eggs, but I'm trying to be really careful with putting them in as I don't want them to bring the reader out of the story.

I did put one in though. At one time my MC drinks cider that's meant to be drunk when the first snow falls, and it has a faint after-taste of fir needles. It's a reference to a favorite book from my childhood, but I think it's subtle enough most people won't notice.


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## Jabrosky (Mar 23, 2015)

It's no substitute for wit, but quoting a few memes or pop-culture references here and there can be fun. And in many cases pop culture can have an impact on how we imagine things. For example, I _love_ hearing tyrannosaurs in certain cartoons roar like the one in _Jurassic Park_, as that's become the definitive T. Rex roar in my mind.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm not sure if you'd call it an Easter egg or just an homage/tribute, but I've put nods to other fantasy writers in books like Winter's Queen. My MC's dad and uncle explicitly reference Neil Gaiman's _Stardust_ when they're looking for info on how to get into Faerie, and they use "please" as a magic word to open a doorway. Gaiman's character Tristran Thorn also uses "please" to do small magics, though the context is a bit different. They also wield cast-iron frying pans against the Fae, and make mention of Tiffany Aching from Terry Pratchett's novels, who does the same thing in _The Wee Free Men_.

The MC compares herself to Belle in _Beauty and the Beast_, and the main villain to Gaston and the Beast; she also references Dorothy from _The Wizard of Oz_, and half-heartedly tries clicking her heels while wearing silver slippers in order to get home. The main plot as a whole is a nod to O.R. Melling's _The Hunter's Moon_, which is what gave me the idea in the first place. I put my own spin on the idea of a human girl kidnapped by a Fae; Melling's Fae prince is largely benevolent, and mine is a total a**hole. The subplots and climax, etc. are also very different.


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## Mindfire (Mar 23, 2015)

One that comes to mind (though I haven't actually used it yet) is that I plan to introduce the crew of a pirate ship called the _Queen Sparra_. Thumbs up to anyone who understands the reference.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Mindfire said:


> One that comes to mind (though I haven't actually used it yet) is that I plan to introduce the crew of a pirate ship called the _Queen Sparra_. Thumbs up to anyone who understands the reference.



Redwall, perhaps?


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## Mindfire (Mar 23, 2015)

Ireth said:


> Redwall, perhaps?



I have been discovered! I was pretty sure no one would get that.


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## Gryphos (Mar 23, 2015)

At one point my protagonists visit a pub called _The Lesser Weevil_.

Later on they visit another one called _The Gross Incandescence_. (This one's perhaps a tad more obscure, but definitely chuckle-worthy for anyone who does get it).


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## Svrtnsse (Mar 23, 2015)

Gryphos said:


> At one point my protagonists visit a pub called _The Lesser Weevil_.
> 
> Later on they visit another one called _The Gross Incandescence_. (This one's perhaps a tad more obscure, but definitely chuckle-worthy for anyone who does get it).



The Curse of Milhaven?


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## Gryphos (Mar 23, 2015)

Svrtnsse said:


> The Curse of Milhaven?



Nope.

Hint: "If only I could be so grossly incandescent."


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## Svrtnsse (Mar 23, 2015)

Gryphos said:


> Nope.
> 
> Hint: "If only I could be so grossly incandescent."



I'm clueless then. I was thinking about the song with the title I mentioned:





It's got the following phrase in the middle: 


> Since I was no bigger than a weavil they've been saying I was evil



And goes on to:


> And the fire of '91 that razed the Bella Vista slum



It's one of my favorite (top 100 probably) songs.


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## Gryphos (Mar 23, 2015)

Oh shit you're talking about The Lesser Weevil. That ones a reference to Master and Commander. It's the Gross Incandescence one which is the obscure one I'm talking about.


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## Svrtnsse (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm still clueless. And trying to google it would be cheating.

Anyone to take a guess at the taste of fir needles?


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## Incanus (Mar 23, 2015)

Ah, Master and Commander!

Hmmm.  This makes me want to reference the 'nautical phasmid'.


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## buyjupiter (Mar 23, 2015)

Svrtnsse said:


> I'm still clueless. And trying to google it would be cheating.
> 
> Anyone to take a guess at the taste of fir needles?



I don't know about fir needles, but I'm sure it's a similar taste to pine needles, which I have had in tea. It was rather good, even though I looked at the mug thinking that pine needles had just fallen in it rather than being the whole point of the tea. Earthy and slightly sharp were the impressions I was left with.


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## Svrtnsse (Mar 23, 2015)

buyjupiter said:


> I don't know about fir needles, but I'm sure it's a similar taste to pine needles, which I have had in tea. It was rather good, even though I looked at the mug thinking that pine needles had just fallen in it rather than being the whole point of the tea. Earthy and slightly sharp were the impressions I was left with.



It's from the moomin trolls. Every winter before going into hibernation they drink fir-needle tea to help them sleep better.

And you're right about the taste, it's about the same. There was also a type of vodka scented with fir needles while I was in uni. It wasn't very good.


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## Feo Takahari (Mar 23, 2015)

Svrtnsse said:


> I'm still clueless. And trying to google it would be cheating.



Do you even praise the sun? I bet you've never engaged in jolly cooperation, either.

(I swear, this character fountained memes almost as fast as Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.)

On-topic, every time I reference a corporation in any modern setting, I call it Go! International. They exist everywhere, fill every niche, and somehow never go bankrupt despite their tendency to make everything way more complicated than it needs to be. It's corporate policy to always pronounce the name so customers can hear the exclamation point in your voice.


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## Jabrosky (Mar 23, 2015)

Mindfire said:


> One that comes to mind (though I haven't actually used it yet) is that I plan to introduce the crew of a pirate ship called the _Queen Sparra_. Thumbs up to anyone who understands the reference.


If Ireth hadn't got it right earlier, I would have guessed the captain was going to roar out the ship's name while kicking someone off deck.



Spoiler: Fun aside



I _knew_ that would become a meme the moment I first heard it in the trailer back before the movie came out.


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## Mindfire (Mar 23, 2015)

Jabrosky said:


> If Ireth hadn't got it right earlier, I would have guessed the captain was going to roar out the ship's name while kicking someone off deck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I actually don't know what movie you're referencing. Lol


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## Jabrosky (Mar 23, 2015)

Mindfire said:


> I actually don't know what movie you're referencing. Lol


...you haven't noticed "Sparra" sounds suspiciously like a certain city-state in southeastern Europe?


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Mindfire said:


> I actually don't know what movie you're referencing. Lol



It's 300. You know... "This! Is! SPARTA!"


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## Mindfire (Mar 23, 2015)

Jabrosky said:


> ...you haven't noticed "Sparra" sounds suspiciously like a certain city-state in southeastern Europe?


Nope. Still no clue.


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## Mindfire (Mar 23, 2015)

Ireth said:


> It's 300. You know... "This! Is! SPARTA!"


Okay now I get it. But tbh the two words sound nothing alike.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Mindfire said:


> Okay now I get it. But tbh the two words sound nothing alike.



That probably depends on one's accent/pronunciation. *shrug*


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## Tom (Mar 23, 2015)

I don't think I have any easter eggs in my stuff. Gonna have to work on that...


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## Reilith (Mar 23, 2015)

I actually have a lot of them. Some are nudges to particular friends of mine, some are general references to irl people (one of the MC's name is Madden and his nickname is Mads - guess who I took it from?), some are homages to my favourite works of fantasy and one was an easter egg even for me(I made a place called Harkenstone ruins, knowing I've heard it somewhere before, until a friend reminded me where my brain got it from - can't get away from the father of fantasy). I am going to weave some more pop cultural references, I wanna include Doctor Who, Poe's poetry etc.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

I tried to have the main villain of _Winter's Queen_ make a Poe reference, since his name is Irish for "raven". Unfortunately it didn't work out. So I named a minor antagonist Lenore instead. XD Also had her mention Poe by name. That same story also has two characters named after a friend of mine, a pair of twin brothers -- I used my friend's first name for one and his middle name for the other. XD


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## Tom (Mar 23, 2015)

Hey, I just remembered one. When trying to trick my MC into giving up his humanity and entering the Otherworld, the Faeries basically paraphrase some verses from W.B. Yeats' poem "The Stolen Child". That four-line refrain at the end of each stanza is so haunting.


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## Caged Maiden (Mar 23, 2015)

I referenced Poe in a short story about ravens.  I didn't know his name meant raven though.  Here's the line:  I crept through the forest, my eyes on the floor, searching for the trail I lost.  If I’d been a better tracker, I could have kept my mind focused on the task at hand, rather than drifting into a not so distant past, the day I’d encountered my first harbinger of doom.
His name was Po and not because of any damned poet from the western shore.  I named him that because when I met him, he was sitting on a road marker, one sign pointing north to the village of Glasburg, the other pointing east to Po.  The bird was perched on Po and he didn’t look inclined to move.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hey, I just remembered one. When trying to trick my MC into giving up his humanity and entering the Otherworld, the Faeries basically paraphrase some verses from W.B. Yeats' poem "The Stolen Child". That four-line refrain at the end of each stanza is so haunting.



I frickin' looove that poem!  Have you heard Loreena McKennitt's arrangement? Beautiful.


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## Tom (Mar 23, 2015)

I don't think I have, but I'll definitely check it out! Yeats is one of my favorite poets--he's the one who taught me to appreciate and embrace my Irish heritage.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Tom Nimenai said:


> I don't think I have, but I'll definitely check it out! Yeats is one of my favorite poets--he's the one who taught me to appreciate and embrace my Irish heritage.



Also worth listening to is basically anything by Heather Dale. She does a ton of mythology/folklore related stuff -- Arthurian legends, Fae, even Inuit myth. Frickin' awesome.


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## Ireth (Mar 23, 2015)

Caged Maiden said:


> I referenced Poe in a short story about ravens.  I didn't know his name meant raven though.



I meant that my _villain's_ name means "raven", not Poe's. Sorry if I worded that confusingly before.


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## Lunaairis (Mar 23, 2015)

In a recent work I've been making it a point to name any of my "bat-people" after classical vampires. At least their first names anyway. To top it off I named their race the Ahool which any Google search will give you an answer to what that is.

Then there is my ant-people i called the Hotogami. Its unlikely that anyone will guess where I got that name from. They are based on the Hopi indians' drawings. 

 I haven't made many references for anything in my story yet, but I should get on that.


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## Trick (Mar 24, 2015)

I've definitely laid a few Easter Eggs in my work (desperately erasing mental image) but I tend to hide them with anagrams. Alektin Sola is a character in my book responsible for great inventions and innovations. His scheming partner's name is Haimes Dotson. Another off screen inventor's name is Heriker Nhitz. They're all pretty obvious but none are main or even secondary characters so I don't mind if they're spotted. 

I sometimes find them when I didn't intend to. I have a thief character who has a small stature and I imagine having a Cockney accent and there is a famous, small English thief of the same name who is similar in other ways. I, of course, bought an old movie and book about him off Amazon right away.

I know I have others but I can't think of them at the moment.


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## Fyle (Mar 24, 2015)

I have a town that a character passes by with homes build into hills. Similar to Hobbit holes, but that's the only similarity. There are no hobbits of course. Humans live in them and they are regular size...  

It's unimportant and the charcter takes notice and just keeps traveling.


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## Penpilot (Mar 24, 2015)

To the best of my recollection, I've only ever planted one Easter egg. And even then, I wouldn't really call it an Easter egg. One of my characters has the initials R.C. and everyone calls her by those initials instead of her given name. It's a reference to an '80s cartoon, and for the most part I just liked the name, and like I said not really an Easter egg. More of a subtle bit of theft. Be some what surprised if someone gets it.


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## skrite (Mar 24, 2015)

Gryphos said:


> At one point my protagonists visit a pub called _The Lesser Weevil_.



that's awesome. i get that one.


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## Reilith (Mar 24, 2015)

Trick said:


> I've definitely laid a few Easter Eggs in my work (desperately erasing mental image) but I tend to hide them with anagrams. Alektin Sola is a character in my book responsible for great inventions and innovations. His scheming partner's name is Haimes Dotson. Another off screen inventor's name is Heriker Nhitz. They're all pretty obvious but none are main or even secondary characters so I don't mind if they're spotted.
> 
> I sometimes find them when I didn't intend to. I have a thief character who has a small stature and I imagine having a Cockney accent and there is a famous, small English thief of the same name who is similar in other ways. I, of course, bought an old movie and book about him off Amazon right away.
> 
> I know I have others but I can't think of them at the moment.



Alektin Sola is Nikola Tesla right?  Props for Serbian inventor! XD


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## skrite (Mar 24, 2015)

I have named three characters in one book after songs by the pixies.


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (Mar 24, 2015)

Skrite, I also like to chuck some of my favourite songs in my work - either I try and work song titles in, or i change their names slightly - for instance, my MCs favourite song, which he whistles quite a lot, is Five Rode Through Casa Bay... (if anyone realises what that's from, well, I'll be shocked, and if somebody does guess, feel free to feel very smug)


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## Xitra_Blud (Mar 24, 2015)

In everything I write I always have a hidden reference to another story that I wrote.


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## Trick (Mar 24, 2015)

Reilith said:


> Alektin Sola is Nikola Tesla right?  Props for Serbian inventor! XD



He's a favorite of mine. History is finally starting to do him justice and I thought I should make a little shout out to him if it works. Haimes Dotson is Thomas Edison... notice that I called him scheming


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## Reilith (Mar 24, 2015)

Trick said:


> He's a favorite of mine. History is finally starting to do him justice and I thought I should make a little shout out to him if it works. Haimes Dotson is Thomas Edison... notice that I called him scheming



Tesla was so under-appreciated during his life, at least now people are starting to understand the impact his inventions had concerning what is everyday life to us today.

There is that great Oatmeal post about Tesla and Edison


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