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An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

One way of building background is to have the characters refer to things without explaining exactly what those things are. The slight confusion caused is balanced by the sense given of a larger world, outside the plot. If a story is extended to a long enough series (especially when there's a high turnover of writers), most of these cryptic references are explained and/or used as Canon Fodder, but often one or two will never appear in story. What such references really mean is a favorite subject for fan-clubs. The rise of the web has reduced the incidence of such things (creators get asked), though not totally eliminated them.

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  • Cryptic Background Reference
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  • One way of building background is to have the characters refer to things without explaining exactly what those things are. The slight confusion caused is balanced by the sense given of a larger world, outside the plot. If a story is extended to a long enough series (especially when there's a high turnover of writers), most of these cryptic references are explained and/or used as Canon Fodder, but often one or two will never appear in story. What such references really mean is a favorite subject for fan-clubs. The rise of the web has reduced the incidence of such things (creators get asked), though not totally eliminated them.
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  • One way of building background is to have the characters refer to things without explaining exactly what those things are. The slight confusion caused is balanced by the sense given of a larger world, outside the plot. If a story is extended to a long enough series (especially when there's a high turnover of writers), most of these cryptic references are explained and/or used as Canon Fodder, but often one or two will never appear in story. What such references really mean is a favorite subject for fan-clubs. The rise of the web has reduced the incidence of such things (creators get asked), though not totally eliminated them. The effects of world-building are diminished, the more references are made. Continuity Nods are hard enough to follow for story elements that have actually been depicted. The more you reference events, characters, and plots that the audience never sees on-screen, the more apparent it becomes that they are references to things that only exist in the author's imagination. Compare to the closely-related Noodle Incident, Canon Fodder, Narrative Filigree and What Happened to the Mouse?. Great Offscreen War and Cataclysm Backstory are a commonly played as sub-tropes of this, as is Famous, Famous, Fictional. See Hufflepuff House for organizations with this treatment more referred to than seen. If the reference in question is actually explained later on, it becomes Foreshadowing, Chekhov's Gun, or Brick Joke. If not, it becomes a Noodle Incident. Interestingly, if you start following a Long Runner series from the middle (rather than from the start), every Continuity Nod in it effectively becomes a Cryptic Background Reference for you, so it's all just a matter of perspective, really. Examples of Cryptic Background Reference include:
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