The Disambiguation Thread

[sholio]

This followed from a conversation with with_apostrophe, who pointed out (very aptly) that American fic writers don't tend to consider people from other countries when they throw cultural references into their stories. I was trying to figure out how to annotate mine in a way that wouldn't be obtrusive or annoying, and also trying to figure out just what needed to be annotated. What's obscure and what's well-known? Eventually I came up with this instead.

Here is where you post questions about my stories. It can be a reference that you didn't get, or something plotwise that didn't make sense, or why I made a particular story decision, or, heck, somewhere that I screwed up on technology or medicine or grammar. Remember:

- There are no stupid questions (no matter what Rodney McKay might claim).

- Questions that are critical of my stories are fine. I wouldn't have posted this thread if I minded being asked about something.

Ready ... set ... ask!

(Note: The word disambiguation is snurched from Wikipedia.)

Comments

[drufan.livejournal.com]

Funny you have this discussion. I am so guilty of this. I even received a review saying as much. She had no clue what I was talking about but thought the chapter was funny!

Sometimes, I forget who's in the audience and geek out and get just too clever with myself. Definitely something to consider as I write. People should feel free to ask the author, I know I'd love to explain anything.

When I am referencing, I'm thinking of things my husband and I quote or things our friends remember. I'm in the same age group as John and Rodney, so it's not such a stretch to think of things. Yes, Gen X is in the house and coming to power.

[sholio]

*grin* Honestly, I don't think it's a problem at all as long as it's something that the characters would conceivably recognize. I mean, that's their *life*. I can totally see them geeking out about something and annoying everyone around them.

But it wasn't 'till with_apostrophe pointed it out to me, that I realized that I really ought to be explaining this stuff for people who want to know what all of the cultural references are.